Yuui and Wall: The Beginning

Yuui was back in the tower. That awful place where the bodies of the dead were stored so that they would never rot. He could do nothing but stand there in the middle and watch as they piled up. Something was killing the people of Valeria but surely it couldn't be the curse of the twins. All he'd ever done was be born with his brother. How could that be such a sin? How could that cause such a curse?

"Yuui!"

He could just make out the faint voice of his brother calling for him. He looked up but all he could see was the tower stretching up above him. It never seemed to end.

"Fai!" he called back. His voice echoed off the walls. He did not hear a response in answering. "I'm coming, Fai!" he said. He piled the bodies against the wall. He tried to ignore that they were people. Dead people, forever remaining in that moment when they had died. He tried not to look at their faces, to think about how his birth had caused their deaths.

But even with all the bodies it was never enough. He could not reach his brother, stuck at the top of the tower. But he had to keep trying. Even without enough bodies, he used his hands and his bare feet and carefully climbed up the wall. His hands were blooded and raw from all the times he'd tried. The blood began to flow freely again the higher he got. It made the stones of the tower slick and harder to hold onto.

His fingers burned. Tears ran down his face. But he kept on going until his young hands gave out and he slipped back down the wall, falling onto the pile of bodies. As he lay there, he just wanted to give up, but he couldn't. Fai was counting on him. He had to reach him. So he got back up and started climbing again though his fingers and toes burned and bled.

"Yuui..." The voice was behind him now. He stopped, listening.

"Fai?" he asked and turned around. His brother was standing on the bottom now. He was covered in blood and his eyes were empty and hollow.

"It's too late, Yuui. I'm already dead. We're all dead. And it's all your fault," his twin said in a voice that was garbled and strange.

"No! I can still save you!" Yuui protested. "I can do it!"

"It's too late," Fai repeated again.

The bodies at Yuui's feet rose up and pulled him down.

He screamed and screamed.

The quiet one had been resting against the wall outside of Yuui's room. He only ever slept lightly. So that any weird sound would wake him.

The screams from the room behind him, was definitely weird. He immediately moved, his giant size moving slowly at first before suddenly moving with a swiftness that denied his weight.

The door to the room exploded, splinters showered across the room, the floor. Everywhere and stood the quiet one, poised and ready to fight.

His chest heaved as he surveyed the scene before him. His body immediately relaxed as there was no threat. Just Yuui was having a nightmare. He looked awkward as he realised that he couldn't fix this with his fists.

He walked over to the bed and leaned down to look at the poor boy, who was seriously terrified of whatever haunted him in his rest.

"Yuui." He croaked, his voice so unused that it was hard for him to speak. He swallowed and tried again as he took the boys shoulders. "Yuui," he said, this time louder. "Turn away from the darkness," he said and then lit a candle. "Come back to the light. Come back where it is safe."

Yuui struggled with the darkness in his dreams. He fought against the bodies that tried to drag him down but he was losing. It was hard to do anything on your own when you were a kid. Without Fai he felt weak and powerless.

And then he heard an unfamiliar voice calling his name. Calling him back to the light. It wasn't Fai. It wasn't any voice he'd ever heard before. But it was still calling to him. He fought even harder but still the bodies dragged him down.

But the voice was still there and calling to him. He closed his eyes and focused on the voice. The bodies weren't real. He wasn't really in that tower. He just had to focus, clear his mind, and...

Wake up!

Fai's blue eyes opened. The light of the candle was the first thing he noticed. It was so small but enough to see the giant figure looming over his bedside. He just about jumped out of his skin until he realized it was just his silent bodyguard. Looking passed him he could see what remained of his door.

"Did...did you come to rescue me?" he asked quietly.

"Yes." The quiet one answered. He left the candle going beside the bed and he sat on the floor next to it as well. "It is my job to save you now. Even from darkness that tries to ruin your heart. Don't let it win, Yuui." He said, looking at the wall in front of him. "You can't let it win."

Yuui's eyes widened to hear the giant man speak. He'd never spoken before. But now that he heard his voice, Yuui recognized it as the one that had called him out of the nightmare.

His little body trembled with leftover fear. His nightshirt was splotchy and wet in places from sweat. He kicked the blanket off and rolled over onto his side to look at the giant.

"I don't...I don't know how to win," Yuui admitted quietly. He was only a little boy. "I've never won before. I always lose no matter what I do," he lamented. "I couldn't save my brother and I can't save myself. I don't know how."

"Your brother saved you." The quiet one replied again. He knew that he had to talk, that this wasn't something Yuui could just say to him and not get replies. "Do not let it be in vain, little mouse. You win by being stronger in here." He said and turned around to tap Yuui on the forehead. "You realise it is a dream and then the dream cannot hurt you."

Yuui listened. If someone was usually silent and they started to talk then what they had to say was likely very important. He wished he could be strong enough to make the nightmares stop happening completely but he wasn't.

Yuui got down from the bed and sat down on the giant man's lap. He wanted comfort so badly. He didn't want to feel alone anymore. He faltered a little in raising his arms out to the giant. Fai had been the only one to show him affection and comfort. Everyone else had been repulsed by him.

The quiet one didn't say anything. He wasn't used to affection and it took him only a moment to wrap his arms around Yuui and hold him.

"Rest now. This monster will keep away all others." The quiet one promised.

"You are not a monster," Yuui said and looked puzzled. "Your eyes are too kind. Monsters do not have kind eyes..." He has seen monsters. This one was not one of those. For if he was then yuui would not have rested his head against the man's large chest and fallen asleep so peacefully.

The quiet one didn't answer. He had been called a monster for as long as he had remembered. But he was surprised at how easily Yuui fell asleep against his chest. It was a nice feeling, to be trusted.

It was a feeling that would continue for every night after that Yuui would sneak out of his bed and find his bodyguard only to climb into his arms and sleep there. He would never see the massive man as a monster. He would show him nothing but what trust he could have in someone with what remained of his mostly shattered innocence.

And he would give him a name. Not a very good one, for children had such odd imaginations and didn't understand how to properly name things.

"Wall!" he shouted as he ran up to the giant man one day, his bare feet making such a racket through the usually quiet temple. "Look what one of the priests gave me!" he said, holding up an instrument.

"... What is it?" Wall asked, confused. Which was written all over his gentle face. His eyebrows crunched together and wrinkles appeared on his nose. "Can I kill people with it?"

"What?! No!" Yuui said and laughed at the giant. "It's for making music. Not for killing people." Yuui did not want to kill people. He didn't want that kind of blood on his hands to stain them more than they already were. "It's an ocarina. Listen!" He brought the instrument to his lips and played a gentle tune.

The giant tilted his head to the side. It was a shrill tune, different to what he was used too but he liked it he closed his eyes and let the music wash over him.

Yuui had a natural talent for music. It helped him to control and center his gift. He was a child but his magic was very strong and having had no training or even access to it for such a long time, he tended to lose control often. That usually came with disastrous results. But music helped to give his magic focus so he'd been practicing a lot.

Wall didn't seem to mind it any which was encouraging for the young boy. When his lips got tired he stopped. "I'm going to practice a lot now. I hope you don't mind all the noise. Head Priest said it would help me focus my magic to use music. I think the others are upset he gave me an excuse to make more noise..."

Wall chuckled. "I like it. It soothes the beast within." He said simply, "please, make as much noise as you like, little mouse."

Yuui grinned. He'd been practicing smiling. It was not easy to do especially when he didn't feel it. But somehow it wasn't has hard to do with Wall. "Good, because I really do plan to." He brought the thing to his lips and started playing again, this time manipulating the wind and air around them as he did so.

Yuui breathed in the fresh morning air. He adjusted the light pack on his shoulder and looked out at the road that stretched before him. The road that would take him away from the Temple of Mew and into the world. He was both excited and nervous. A part of him wanted to start off at a run and get going as quickly as possible, to see as much as he could and learn even more. But another part of him wanted to vomit.

He sighed. How could plain bread sit so heavily on his stomach?

He turned his head to look back at the Temple that had served as his home since he'd been found in Valeria by one of the priests. He was seventeen now. He had trained hard and gotten as good of a control as he would ever have on his magic. He had also been accepted as a priest of Mew, something he was quite proud of.

But now it was time for him to go out into the world. There was no better way of learning about the different cultures, creatures, and things out there than to be among them. He had said his goodbyes the night before and some this morning for those he had missed. Leaving his mentor was one of the hardest.

Wall the second hardest. Probably the hardest, actually. The man had of course said nothing. Yuui was not surprised but he was somewhat disappointed. Wall had always been by his side and now that was ending. He was going to be alone. It scared him but..he could ask Wall to come. This was Wall's home as much as it was his. And the giant had never indicated that he ever wanted to leave and go back into the world.

Still, the first few steps forward and away were the hardest ones to make. But once he was further along on the path, it helped. After a while he couldn't even see the temple any longer. He felt a little insecure when he realized that. It wasn't too late. He could turn around. But he didn't want to. He wanted to go out there and do some good in the world. It was all he could do to make up for the thousands of lives that had been lost in his kingdom.

Wall had been hurt by the goodbye. He had thought that Yuui would ask him to go with him. Part of him felt scorned, as if the boy hadn't ever cared for him at all. But the rational side of him, said that wasn't true.

So he had spent the night packing. He'd said goodbyes and at first the others had been apprehensive but they knew that yuui calmed him like no one else could.

They had given him extra of everything because he wanted to be sure that Yuui would be okay. He stepped out of the bushes though and walked beside the boy silently, his pack was large but he wouldn't tire from it. He even eyed Yuui's to take it from him.

Yuui felt like he should have been more surprised when Wall stepped out of the bushes and started walking with him as if they'd planned that to happen. Yuui looked at the large pack that Wall was carrying. It was much bigger than his own. But then, Wall was also much bigger than him. Yuui was no longer a child but Wall still towered over him. He didn't think that was ever going to change. Not even if he kept right on growing.

He found himself quite happy to have Wall join him though. A smile appeared on his face. "Are you coming with me then?" he asked.

"You don't get a choice, little mouse. Rude of you to not have invited your tall friend." Wall said, without looking at Yuui. Instead he took the boys pack and then carried it in his hand as if it was nothing. "Pack make little mouse too slow. Now we will walk faster."

"I didn't know that we were in a hurry," Yuui replied, still smiling. He wasn't going to try to fight to carry his own pack. He wouldn't win when it came to Wall. He couldn't and he knew it. So there was no point in wasting precious energy needed for travelling over something like that.

"Wall...is this okay?" he asked, his smile faltering. "I want you with me," he admitted. "I don't want to be alone, without you. But I...I didn't want to take you from your home. I want to see the world but you chose to leave it behind for the Temple..." He didn't know why.

"Wall and mouse need each other. I need you to tame beast. And you need me to protect you." Wall said, it was pretty simple to him. "World is cruel and unkind sometimes, but also very beautiful in places."

"We do need each other," Yuui agreed. He couldn't really imagine what his life would be like without Wall by his side. "You know, I think I would have gotten to the first village and had to come home and get you..." He'd thought about that but he'd been going to try to do it on his own. He was visibly relieved that he didn't have to. "So...let's go have some awesome adventures worth writing home about."

"Yes. Adventures for little mouse." Wall agreed, he didn't think he needed to say much else. The little one needed to adventure and have fun. They could do thst.