A/N: Reason I'm re-doing the first chapter was because AJR3333 is right. I've got to slow it up. The next couple chapters will be about him spending time with the family before getting thrown into the pirate crew. It's still the same paring.

I own nothing you recognize

Chapter 1

Large grey clouds hung over the once clear blue sky, blanketing the once lush forest in a sheet of snow and freezing winds. The animals knew well enough to seek shelter and warmth. That notion was lost on one being slowly trudging through the snowy forest.

It was a boy around eight with eyes as silver as steel and hair white, which fluttered in the wind of winter, as the snow his bare feet crushed in his path. Cloths were torn in multiple places with a ruined coat barely keeping him warm. The most shocking thing about this boy was the look in his eyes. Emotionless. It was a sight many would cringe at if he looked at you with those lifeless pools.

Nothing mattered to him anymore. He didn't even know why he was still walking, silver eyes on the path before him. A flash of hair as white as his and a warm inviting smile flashed before his eyes. "Know that I will always love you, my little Abel. Make sure to live a full and happy life. Do what you think is right and never regret."

The now named Abel blinked away the tears that threatened to spill before those silver eyes shined back to life, showing determination to do that the warm female voice said. "I will…mother." The boys voice was weak and tired just like his shaking body that refused to slow less he die.

How he ended up in such a terrain flashed before his eyes. Abel and his mother were just enjoying their dinner before a rather loud knock alerted them. He still remembered the fear in his mother's eyes when she seemed to recognize the knock. The child did as him mother commanded him and hid somewhere in the house.

Hiding under his mother and passed father's bed, who had passed when he was five, he heard a loud scream, his mother, a slap, before it all went quiet. Fearing for his mother, he went as silently as he could to where his mother was. What he found would be something that he'd never forget. His mother was in a pool of her own blood, barely holding onto life. Abel had rushed to his mother, begging her not to leave him all alone. That's when she told him those words.

It was when he sprinted out his house, out the window he broke, when he heard the fire beginning to encompass them, not even knowing it was happening as he cried to his passing mother. Having to run from his dying mother, forgetting her to burn in those flames, tore him apart and always would for the rest of his life.

But, in that sadness came the rage. Rage for whoever killed his mother and ruined his happy life. Whenever he found the person who did this, he'd gut them like a fish and enjoy it as the life drained from their eyes like it had his mother's. But, he wouldn't let his life be for revenge. His mother and father didn't raise him like that so he could throw his life away like that.

All this happened a month ago. He had traveled to his town's port and snuck on the boat heading wherever he was now. He survived by eating whatever he could grab on the ship. When they docked, he quickly moved out of the boat without any one knowing he hitched a ride.

And now here he was, alone, freezing, and slowly losing the energy to live as the warmth of his body was dropping like a stone. "No." Abel whispered. "I won't…die like this." He declared, trying his hardest to keep standing as his legs shook like leaves that would return in the spring.

Continuing his path, he was unaware of the tree-branch hidden under the thick snow. His face was planted deep in the snow that quickly piled on. Too weak for anything, the boys vision slowly blanked, his eyelids closed in acceptance of death. Tears rolled down his eyes as the only thing he could think before passing out was 'I'm coming to see you soon, mother.'

The death of Able wasn't foreseen in the stars as two occupants in the forest saw a child's prone body. "Arthur! Come quick! There's a little boy here, freezing!" A woman's voice called to this Arthur.

Taking off his jacket, he wrapped it around the injured, freezing, boy before picking him up. "We need to get him back home, Celica. He's still alive but we need to warm him up, fast!" He took charge and ran as quickly as he could, knowing the woman named Celica was behind him.

~Later~

Able was expecting himself to see his mother when he opened his eyes. He was in for a surprise when groggy silver orbs opened to see a roof over his head and his head on top of a soft pillow. "W-What…happened?" Voice still weak, he asked aloud, hoping to find some kind of answer as to why he wasn't dead and reunited with his loving mother and father. Weakly, he raised his head and found his body being wrapped up like a mummy.

Confused as hell, he was about to get out of bed and get a reading of where he was, the door to the small room he was in opened. Silver locked onto widened amber, obviously shocked to see him up. It was a girl two, if he was guessing, years younger than him with long hair that was as black as the night tied in braids that fell in front. She wore rather county-like clothing and had some soup in her hands, obviously for him.

Silence permeated through the room as the children stared at one another. "Um…hello?" The silverette asked, confused as to why this girl wasn't moving or speaking.

It seemed to have knocked her awake and she ran out the room, yelling. "Celica! Arthur! He's awake!" Abel took down the names to his memory when he heard larger footsteps coming to the room.

Reappearing was the little girl with two adults. One was a woman looking like an older version of her, wearing an apron and dress that covered her legs and a long-sleeved shirt. He could assume this was Celica.

Next to her was a man that kind of made it feel like he was in front of a titan of power, even though he didn't have the height for such a title. Arthur had long dirty-silver hair tied in a high ponytail and matching eyes. He wore a while long-sleeved jacket, black pants and workers brown boots and a lean figure that showed he kept himself in shape.

"You're awake!" Abel was startled a little when Celia was in front of him in an instant with a happy smile on her face. "We were worried about you." She said. The warmth and concern in her voice made him wince a little as it reminded him of his mother.

While Celica didn't notice it, Arthur did. "Now, now, Celica. Give the child some space." The man said, walking up to his wife and gave the boy a smile. "Hello, young man. My name is -Arthur. This is my wife, Celica Crowe and the girl over there is Velvet, her younger sister. It's nice to meet you." He said, his voice calming.

It did the trick as Abel's tense form loosened up a little. "H-Hello. My name is Able. Where am I? The last thing I remember was being buried in the snow." Able recalled.

"That you were. And you would have if Celica hadn't found you." Arthur said. "Right now, you're in our house. You've been asleep for three days." He informed.

Abel's eyes widened in shock. "Really, three days!?" Celica and Arthur nodded. "Man…" He trailed off before looking at the bed in thought. "Thank you for saving me and sorry for the trouble I might have caused you." He thanked and apologized.

"It's no trouble at all, trust me." Celica said gently, her eyes just as soft. "We're just happy your awake. Velvet and I have made sure you've been well. Come on, Velvet. Come say hi to Abel." She waved her little sister over.

Velvet blushed a little before shyly walking to the older boy. "H-Hello. I'm Velvet." She introduced herself. Sure, she had male friends in the village but this was the first boy to ever really stay in her house, other than her little brother Laphi and big brother Arthur. It also didn't help that she found him cute.

Abel was thinking the same thing about the girl but didn't let it show. "It's nice to meet you, Velvet. Thank you for taking care of me." He thanked with a nod. Celica was a little bit troubled as the boy hadn't smiled once. Arthur noticed it as well and it piqued his curiosity as it reminded him of before meeting Celica. 'Who did you lose, child?' He asked himself with sympathetic eyes.

"Might we ask you some questions, Abel? If you don't want to, that's alright." It was because he understood the pain he was going through that Arthur asked softly.

'They did help me…' Abel thought to himself as he looked at the three in silence, thinking if he should talk a little. Deciding he nodded. "Alright. I'll try my best." He said.

"Don't worry, we won't ask anything too personal." Celica said, letting herself sit on the bed, next to him. "Let's start out with an easy one. Where are you from?" She questioned.

"I lived on Warg Forest. My family had a small house there." He said, hiding his pain of talking about his destroyed house where his mother laid burned.

"That's some trip away." Celica said, knowing where he was talking about. Arthur didn't miss the fact he said 'lived' and 'had'. "How did you get here?" She asked. "A boat." Abel answered a little shortly, remembering why he had to leave his home.

Arthur intervened when he heard the tone. "Why don't you go get cleaned up? Velvet. Could you show him to the bathroom?" He asked the girl.

"Sure." Smiling at her big brother, she turned to the older boy. "Follow me." Abel slowly got off the bed and followed her a little slowly as he has been in bed for three days.

When he was out of ear shot and the door to the bathroom closing, Celica turned to her husband. "What do you think could have happened to him to come this far from his home?" She asked, worried about the rather emotionless but still polite boy.

"I feel like something like my own situation when you found me. He even said lived' in." Arthur said, making Celica sad as he had told him about being lost when his master died and without a purpose and direction.

"Well, we'll have to help him then." Regaining her smile, she decided. Arthur returned it with a small smile of his own, already knowing she might say that. "I agree." He nodded as he wouldn't let the boy be lost like he was.

Abel sighed in pleasure as the warm water rained down his body. The heat was well welcomed as it ended the shiver's he's felt for the past two days of hiking through the forest. It had been the first time in a month since he had a nice shower. He missed his mother. He missed her so much. Like he thought though, he wouldn't allow himself to drown in his anger and need to get back at whoever killed her. Abel knew his mother would roll in her death if she learned that's what he was doing.

"But…what am I supposed to do now? I can't stay here with these people, even if they saved me." The boy thought aloud, not wanting to be a burden to these people anymore. Shaking those thoughts off for later, he decided to just get clean, not hearing the voices outside the room.

"Hey Velvet. Would you go and check on Laphicet? We'll be having dinner soon." Celica asked while kneeling down to her little sister. Little Velvet brightened a little at the mention of Laphicet. "Sure." She left without a thought to check up on him.

"Heheh. Such a good girl." Celica said with some pride. "She takes after her sister." Arthur said as he gave her a kiss on the cheek, making her blush.

Getting out of the shower and drying himself off, Abel looked for his clothes but was surprised to see them gone and was replaced with new, fresh, clothing. His eyes softened at what they did for him.

"Velvet, Laphicet, Arthur! Dinner's ready." The mature woman of the house announced, reaching Abel's ears. The mention of dinner caused his stomach to growl.

Putting the white shirt and pants on, he slowly opened the door to see the family plus another. He assumed it was Laphicet. He looked to be two with a head of blonde hair and sharing some of the characteristics of Velvet and Celica. "Able. Did you enjoy the shower?" Celica asked the youth who stood near the table.

"Yes. Thank you, mam." He thanked the woman. Abel wasn't expecting the small bob to the head. While it wasn't powerful, it seemed like it to his weakened state. "Ouch!" The boy finally let out an emotion for the family as he gave her a light glare, questioning why she hit him when he was being polite and respectful, something his mother taught him to always be in front of people who helped you.

"Now, now. No need to be so formal. You can call me Celica." She told him with a smile. "And come. Sit down. We're having dinner and you must be famished." The beauty giggled when she was proven right by the growling on his stomach. She found it cute how he looked when he blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

"Here." Abel turned to Arthur who pulled out the chair next to him. Nodding, he sat next to the man of the house and looked around, taking in his new environment. He was in a small cottage with an upper portion of the house and three rooms, one for the boy, girl and couple. "I'm sorry to the person whose room I took." Abel apologized.

"Don't worry about it!" It was Velvet's room as she answered. "As long as you're alright." She reasoned with a smile. She got a small nod of thanks.

The little two-year-old was wondering who the new older boy was as he looked at him in curiosity. His hair reminded him of the white stuff outside and his eyes looked cool to his little mind. "Hi! I'm Laphicet!" Waving, Laphicet said with a smile. Abel's eyes softened when he landed on the kid. "Hello. I'm Abel." He introduced himself to the youngest.

"It's nice to meet you, Abel. Where are you from? I've never seen you around here." Laphicet asked.

Abel was impressed with the youth. He was talking unlike any two year old he's ever seen before. 'Must be a genius.' The still mourning male thought to himself. "That's right. I come from a place called Warg Forest." He explained.

"Neat! So, that's like far away, right? Did you sail on a ship to get here?" While he didn't mean to ask questions he Able wouldn't like answering, the older boy couldn't be mad at the kid. "Yeah." Abel nodded.

"That's so cool. When I grow up, I want to travel around the world!" Laphicet said, stretching his arms wide when he said the world, his smile never resting. His smile was so infectious that Abel let out a small one, something that made Celica smile.

"Alright, alright. Dinner's ready." The beauty set down four bowls of soup. "Dig in. It's my specialty; Prickle Boar Stew."

While the family dug in, Abel glanced at the food, never having such a meal before. That, and soup wasn't his favorite meal. His stomach had other ideas though as it made him grab the bowl and gulp it down. the second he tasted it, he saw stars. Putting it down, his silver eyes shined with life. "Amazing! That was amazing! Thank you, Celica!" He thanked the woman who prepared the food.

"Hehe. Why thank you, Abel. I knew my food could make any one feel better." Celica patted herself on the back.

"I know, right? Celica's the best cook ever." Velvet added as she also inhaled the soup. Laphicet and Arthur ate at a more sedate pace but were both happy by the smiles they wore.

The hours passed and it was time for the children to go to bed. "Guess I'll be going then." Seeing that this might be the time to leave, the male said as he got off the chair. "Again, thank you for the hospitality and saving my life. May we meet again." Bowing, the eight year old was about to leave when Celica called out.

"Please don't go." She said, turning him around gently and smiled at him. "There is something I wanted to ask you. Arthur and I talked about it and…if you'd like…would you like to join our little family?" The married woman prayed he would say yet.

For the second time that day, Abel was shocked and a little pained at how much this woman reminded him of his mother. She was just so kind and caring to him, a stranger she's just talked to for a couple hours. Glancing over her shoulder, he saw that Velvet was looking at him with a smile and blush while Laphicet had little tears in his eyes, sad that the cool boy might be leaving. Arthur gave the boy a small nod and smile, telling him it was alright.

Abel took this time to think about the situation. He lost his mother and home, in a place he had no knowledge of, and if he left this safe haven, he knew he'd die. That…and these people were just so warm to him. Their smiles were all he needed to answer. With another smile, genuine, smile he nodded. "Thank you, Celica. I'm in your debt and this is my way of hopefully repaying you. So yes, I'll stay here."

Letting out a happy cheer, she hugged the boy tight. "That's wonderful! I'm sure you'll love being here!" Celica said.

END

I'll be doing the real second chapter soon but that'll have to wait.

Storm Out!