Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me, except my original characters and the plotline. I know this because I'm not rich.

A/N: This is my first fanfic! :D Flames are welcome, I honestly don't care. This is not an authentic view on The Pale Man's past…I was looking for the authentic story, but couldn't find it. Wrote my own past. So yeah. R&R.

"You're deathly pale, you know," Nina said, chastising her new guest. His tall, thin frame bristled slightly as he chuckled, nodding in agreement. "You should get out in the sun more often," she continued. "It can't be that you're in good health. Hungry?" Nina scooped some hot, steaming rice onto his plate. The man chuckled again, his two, blue eyes shining. Ravenous, he hastily grabbed his fork and began to tear into his rice. It tasted marvelous, and he hadn't eaten in days. He had always preferred meat, though, and asked shyly if she had any. Nina smiled sadly. "There hasn't been meat for us to eat in many years. I hope you do not mind. You must come from a rich family to expect such gifts. Please, what is your name? Where have you come from?"

"My name? I could not venture a guess. I don't remember where I have come from, or who I was when I left," he answered, staring straight ahead, embarrassed that he had put her in such a position. He did not mean to be so rude.

"That's alright," she said cheerily, and then laughed. "Shall we just call you Pale Man, then? This is what the entire village is calling you now, you know. What else could we call you? Scar Hands? That would be rude, would it not? No other feature stands out, and the people did not know your name. I am not so skilled in reading and writing that I could give you one, either. Unless you have one to give yourself?"

"Pale Man is fine," he laughed back, not at all offended by her remarks. Honestly, he was astounded and impressed with her unbridled sense of humor. It was a refreshing feeling. Still, he subconsciously looked down at the strange scar like crevices on the palms of his hands and touched them gingerly with his claw-like nails. When he looked back up, Nina was cleaning the dishes before she had touched a bit of food herself. "Are you not eating?" he asked, concerned. She seemed almost slimmer than himself.

"My siblings need plenty of food if they are to grow up healthy and strong. I eat only twice a day, if that. The children are worth it, and they are grateful. Sometimes they beg me to take their food. They are kind children." Her eyes were smoldering and proud. She opened her mouth as if to speak, but closed it again, thinking better of it. She continued washing, looking over to the window every so often to look at the children play in the grass. A group of fat, well dressed children stared at the thin romping figures, and then continued their less physical idea of play, occasionally looking distastefully at Nina's younger siblings. Their faces were round and plump, and their small eyes were hateful. The Pale man did not care for these small, corpulent imps that dared stare at the kind and caring creatures just outside the window. How did they get so fat, with food in such shortage as Nina had suggested?

"Could not those children give up some of their food? They look like pigs, ready for slaughter. Certainly they need no more." He pointed to them, and Nina's gaze fell beyond them, staring into space with a look of pure malice apparent in her eyes. The Pale Man felt a combination of anger at the greedy children and guilt that he had stolen some food that could have been given to the frail frames of Nina and her siblings that did not settle with his stomach. Nina's eyes grew smoldering as she looked to him.

"They are pigs, and they are ready for slaughter. Their looks are just. They tease poor little Maria, for she is the smallest and cannot protect herself. Her brothers help her when they see, but Maria likes going off by herself. They are sons and daughters of aristocrats, and they take everything. They take our food and our land, they take our health and our work. We receive nothing from them. Pigs, all of them," Nina sighed. Though said with a certain air of calm and control, Nina's copper skin grew hot and her dark eyes became fiery with an internal flame that leapt and burned through the Pale Man's skull. Her gaunt face was tight and expressionless as she dried her hands and moved into the next room to start cleaning. When the Pale Man offered his help, Nina rejected it and asked him to rest. Still, he helped her pick up after the children's things and a few other small chores before they both sat down on comfortable chairs. Nina had seemed to calm a bit, and her face was now relaxed, her eyes exhausted and soft. Waves of dark, shiny hair fell about her face and shoulders and caught the light coming in from the window, revealing brilliant reddish highlights that sparkled and glinted as she moved her head about. The Pale Man could not remember anything so beautiful.

Nina smiled at him from her chair and asked him about his pale skin, encouraging him to guess his origins. She wondered if he were a Frank, but he shook his head. If he were a Frank, how should he know such Spanish? They talked of his past for a while, and then spoke of hers. Her parents had been farmers, but the aristocrats greed had stolen them from her. Her mother grew ill, and in a frantic effort to save her life, Nina's father had allowed her all of his own food, taking none for himself, no matter how hungry he became. When her father passed, her mother died shortly after. Whether it had been of shock or of illness, Nina could never tell, but once they had gone the little band of siblings had to farm the land themselves while the aristocrats sat in their beautiful homes and wasted the day, growing almost as pale as the Pale Man himself. By the time Nina finished her tale, the Pale Man's eyes too were angry. How could anyone be so heartless? Neither the young woman nor the young man had an answer.

Somehow, without either noticing, the sun had moved slowly down towards the Earth, and Nina became frantic. She had allowed the children play far too long, and the crops needed tending to before dark settled over the village and the insufficient light of the moon made even the most rotten pieces of food look milky and succulent. Her once smiling face was terribly troubled and filled with dread. She had almost lost the entire days work, and her frustration and anger was apparent in her staccato movements and harsh cries to her brothers and sisters. "Now look what you've done, I've lost nearly the whole day!" She yelled back to her guest as she ran out the door, hurrying her stunned siblings to hard labor.

Hours passed slowly; Nina would not allow the Pale Man to help her in the fields, for he was still recovering, though he begged her to allow him to make up for the time he had caused her to lose. Only the day before he had still been unconscious, and she asked him to be mindful of that. Her tone was hard and almost sarcastic, so he did not try to contradict her. So the Pale Man sat in solitude, falling into a dreamlike state where the taste of meat combined with his hatefulness of the greedy children that hurt poor little Maria. It was not until Nina returned with her siblings that the Pale Man realized that these visions were so closely intertwined, and he stared fearfully at his scars as his stomach growled, demanding flesh.

A/N: There you have it folks. Random fanfiction from my own head. Wanted more on the Pale Man so I MADE more. End of story. Well not technically. I plan on updating this. NOW REVIEW!!!!