#luin

Kaito's Friend of the Day: Luin

luin! (wacca)

Writing Prompt: Surrogate Word Count: 717 ---> masterlist

These cries… The cries of what sounded like a newborn babe. Resounding within the forests and brush. With not a hint of stopping anytime soon.

Garen sought out these distraught cries. Playing the role as a Warden of the forests, it was up to him to take care of the lands and those persons who were swept up in its bounty. Those who were lost, those with ill intent to harm the forests, those who unintentionally encouraged its wrath… all sorts of people who were in need of his attention in one way or another.

In all his days amidst the Black Shrouds, not once did he ever expect to find what he did on this day.

As Garen approached the source of the wailing, he found himself beside a babbling brook. A slow moving stream that snaked around the trees and would eventually join into the river farther down. Again he heard the cries—closer. Oh so closer. Which bade him fear the worst as he dipped into the waters.

…There it was. Caught betwixt some rocks and lodged in place. The smallest woven cradle which carried within a lone baby. A rather large one in fact. One that had to belong to one of the tallest of races.

“Oh no no no… it couldn’t have possibly been abandoned here of all places. Who would do such a thing?”

Dismayed but resolute all the same, Garen trudged through the waters and rescued the babe from its holding. Any longer and its woven home might have broken apart or been swept away eventually. So lovingly was it wrapped in softest cloth and blanket, it broke his heart to think of how it ended up in this predicament.

As he made his way back to land with swaddling babe in hand, he looked around with keen eyes for something… anything that might prove where it originally came from. He followed the stream upward to the point its mouth widened and a waterfall was just a malm or so away.

“Where are your parents little one?” Garen murmured as he held the youngling close. The more he looked upon the child, the more he realized it was likely that of either a highlander or a roegadyn. Both a rarity in Gridania of all places.

With no proof and nothing left to go on, he turned his sights on the Gridanian town. Checking around the paths, asking the locals if they recognized to child, going between the inn and guilds to see if anyone had reported a lost babe.

Nothing. Absolutely nothing came out of his attempts in finding their parents. Much less anyone who might possibly recognize their caretaker for that matter. Sure, there was the chance they might belong to some lost wayward travelers from out of county… and he banked on that hope as he opted to care for the newborn while awaiting further word.

Over days… weeks… months and more… no one ever came to claim the child. Even when he visited the other nearby villages and cities to ask around. The only thing Garen learned in his searchings was that the child was a roegadyn infant in fact. Destined to outgrow his stature by leaps and bounds over time.

At the point, Garen had cared for them long enough to forge a bond. One that would break his heart to give up to a system where the youngling might never know a long-lasting family. No guarantee for their future. His romantic partners were less than ecstatic to learn that Garen was highly considering taking on this task of raising a child.

But he couldn’t help himself. Not when his end goal was the same wish his mother always held.

To love freely and build a great family of one’s own.

“Luin.” Garen eventually decided upon a name. Though he would pale in comparison to his true parents, Garen hoped that he may prove to be the best option of family for this child.