Survival Instinct

Dyn's first emotion was shock, that a parent would just abandon her child like that. Seeing the pity and self-doubt in her eyes before she walked away, he was sure she was his mother, but he wasn't sure why she left him there. His shock was closely followed by, fear, wondering how he, as a newborn baby would survive all alone with not even a blanket to keep him warm.

Since it was getting dark, Dyn decided to survive the night and then he would figure out a solution. He promptly closed his eyes and pictured himself in his apartment, reading a medieval strategy book. Those always put him to sleep.

When he awoke in the morning, it was quite early. He could hear people talking, or maybe yelling at each other would be a better term for it. There were screeches, and he could still smell the rotting garbage mixed in with the campfire's burning wood smell. However, no one looked in the alleyway that his mother had placed him in. This caused him to go an entire day without human contact, however, Dyn resolved to cry for help the next day. Sleeping for an entire night was easy for Dyn as he had stayed awake for nearly the entire day, aside from one nap around noon. He swiftly drifted off to sleep, eager to find someone the next day.

This day would be different, Dyn promised himself. He would find a home for himself, a cozy home where he could grow up and live a happy life. In his status page, it said,

He believed it to mean that his powers were locked until he reached 16 years of age, upon which time, he would slowly regain them. Dyn put these thoughts out of his mind for the moment, he was hungry and he was tired after sleeping on cobblestone for the past two nights. Putting these emotions into his voice he began to bawl like a true newborn. He cried all afternoon until his voice became hoarse, and his throat started to hurt, but no one came. His entire body hurt, if he didn't have the willpower of a grown man trapped in a newborn's body then he would've long since given up.

He rolled his head to the side to shift positions, and that's when he heard it. A deviation from the typical sounds of the alleyway, a clip-clop sound, almost like... A horse's hooves hitting the cobblestone!

He waited until the sound was closer to him before unleashing his loudest cry yet. He continued crying until he heard the footsteps approaching his alleyway, but they passed right by without stopping. Dyn realized this may be his only chance at survival, and increased his scream a level higher. He was now producing sounds that were so loud that his head, throat, and ribs were starting to give off increasing levels of pain. Dyn was screaming so loudly that he didn't realize that the owner of the footsteps had moved in front of him. He suddenly stopped crying as a gentle hand lifted him up.

Dyn found himself staring into the eyes of a man. The man had a beat-up face, with a thick beard and squinted eyes, almost as though he couldn't see very well and had to constantly squint his eyes to make up for it. He let out a gentle sigh at seeing Dyn and began placing him back down on the ground.

Dyn was momentarily shocked. His savior had come for him but was leaving him behind? What was the logic of this world? At this moment, Dyn realized that he had to get this man to take him anywhere but here. He would die if the man left now.

Dyn quickly thought of a plan. Before the man had placed Dyn on the ground, Dyn, with much effort, managed to move one of his arms to place his hand on the man's forearm. Gripping tightly with his fingers on the man's armor, he looked directly into the man's eyes, pleading with the man not to leave him behind. The man paused for a moment and seemed to be considering taking this intelligent newborn baby, somewhere other than this dank alleyway within the Beggar's District. After what felt like an eternity for Dyn the man raised Dyn to his arms and carried him back to his horse. Rummaging around in one of the saddlebags the man found a small towel, most likely used for wiping down his horse and placed it around Dyn. The towel was warm and dry, very much in contrast to Dyn's previous state.

The man then silently got on the horse with Dyn in his hands and started making his way down the alley.