Beast of Shadows

》Prologue《

A small blond-haired child sprinted through the woods, panting heavily as taunts followed after him. He was being chased by Tommy and his gang yet again, he already had a few scratches and bruises from their abuse. He ignored the pain the best he could, focusing on getting away.

"Sanji! You can't run forever!" Tommy called, his friends howling with laughter as they ran through the forest. He knew these woods well enough to mentally map out an escape route, if he could only make it to the orphanage...

"There he is!" A voice yelled, the blonde's eyes widened and he pushed his legs faster. Faster.

"Where do you think your going!?" They were gaining, he could hear them getting closer. A shout rang out and Sanji stumbled, that was an adults voice. He ducked to the right, following the sound. If he could find the source of that voice, Tommy would surely leave him alone.

He shoved through some bushes just as a hand gripped onto the back of his shirt, he and Tommy tumbled into the small clearing. Sanji struggled to get out of the other boy's harsh grip, Tommy wrapped his hands around the blonde's neck and squeezed as Sanji thrashed.

"Oi." Their attention snapped up to the figure that towered above them. He held a whimpering man with horns sticking out of his head in one hand, in the other was the chunk of horn missing from the trembling man's temple.

"Scram." The man sneered, he leaned down, giving both kids a clear view of him. Green hair is what caught Sanji's gaze first, the sharp claws that replaced fingernails gained the blonde's attention next. The man's red eyes had an unearthly glow, his pupils a thin slit, reminding Sanji of a cat. His lip twitched and Sanji caught a glimpse of a large canine, the three gold earrings in his left ear slightly clinking against each other with the breeze. He wore green-tinted black pants that tucked into his black boots, a neon green hamarki around his waist with a white shirt covering his muscled chest.

"I said get lost." Tommy's weight was gone before the man even got through his sentence, the boy hauling-ass back into the woods to get away from the stranger. Sanji sat up slowly, gingerly rubbing his neck. The man looked less angry now, the rage in his eyes simmering down to a more mildly irritated expression.

"M-My Lord, you must-" The horn-man was cut off with a choke as the man's hand tightened around his neck.

"I don't have to do anything. My contract still holds." The man snarled, tossing the coughing horn-man onto the grass. Sanji made a strangled noise at the pathetic sight. The man's gaze flickered to the blond, his eyes narrowing in aggravation.

"You're still here." He stated, looking anything but friendly, Sanji's knees locked up and he just stared.

The man had wings.

They shuddered on his back, resembling a bat's wings. They looked soft to the touch, the deep black color seemed inviting to Sanji's fingers. A grin broke out on the six-year-olds face, his sea blue eyes glittering with wonder. The man seemed to startle, taking a step back from the blond; scrunching his brow at the lack of terrified screaming.

"What's your name, human?" The man demanded, Sanji being oh-so-happy to oblige.

"Sanji." The blond answered, pushing up to his unsteady feet.

"Roronoa, you shouldn't be speaking to such filth!" The man, Roranoa? Rorona? Sanji decided to shorten it to RoRo. He looked pissed, stomping a foot onto the horn-man's chest to pin him down.

"The only filth I see here is you." RoRo growled, turning his attention back to Sanji after a moment.

"It's time for you to go home." RoRo stated ominously, Sanji nodded as he peered around for something familiar. He found he recognized nothing, his eyes burned as he blinked up at RoRo miserably. Who eyed Sanji for a second longer before he sighed, stepping closer to the boy.