I did not have a happy beginning. Let's just get that clear.

When I was born, the doctors said it was miracle that I had made it, my parents, on the other hand…thought of me as a curse. Still, they brought me home since they would get paid to take care of me. They spent this monthly income on themselves rather than on me. Any food they got was for them alone, and I would only get table scraps. They would buy themselves a new bed, pillows and blankets, but I was left with an old, lumpy mattress and nothing to cover myself up, or to lay my head on.

They treated me like a slave, beating me even when I didn't do anything wrong. Sometimes, my dad did horrible things to me, things that continue to give me nightmares. This went on for years on end. I would look out the window of my tiny room, watching parents and kids at the park. I would watch them play catch and other games with each other, and wondered why my family was not like that.

By the time I was ten, I couldn't take it anymore. I'd had enough of their selfishness, their cruelty, and the horrible things they did to me. So, on my tenth birthday, I ran away.

After making sure that my parents were asleep, I silently made my way down the steps and out the door. I ran onto the streets of Manhattan, taking a shortcut through an alleyway near my house. As I ran as fast as I could, I forgot about the many wounds that covered my body. That is, until I tripped and fell to the ground. My impact with the ground opened up my injuries as blood poured out onto the concrete.

I tried to get back up, to move my battered body, but the pain was too much. Exhausted and hurt, I just turned onto my back, looking up at the stars through the smog filled sky. As my vision went cloudy, I could only think of one thing. Won't someone help me?

When I opened my eyes, I was staring at the dark sky again, but I felt something was off. I didn't feel the hard ground of the alley. Instead, it felt like I was laying on grass. I lifted my head and gasped as I found myself lying in a field of flowers. Having never seen anything like it, I was struck by the ethereal beauty of the sight.

Suddenly, the pain from my wounds came back, even more intense and I was forced to lay my head back down. I began taking deep breaths, trying to alleviate even a fraction of the pain. As I laid there, I began hearing footsteps approaching me slowly. Curious, I cautiously and slowly turned by head towards the noise. From my position, I could just make out the legs of the person, and I could already tell something wasn't right.

The feet had only three toes that were sharp like claws, but that wasn't even the beginning. The skin was a strange lavender color that stretched up the well-muscled legs that resembled that of a predatory cat. The figure wore only a leather loincloth held by a black belt, leaving a ripped chest and strong arms open to the elements. The figure's face was most definitely inhumane, small horns replacing eyebrows and slight fangs poking through thin lips. He had long, dark brown hair that framed his face, and seemed to be wearing a cloak around him.

When my eyes locked with his, I felt a kindness that had been absent from the eyes of my family. He seemed to be genuinely concerned as he surveyed my wounded body. The man then slowly picked me up, doing his best not to injure me any further. He cradled me in his arms before turning back towards the direction from which he came from.

My vision was darkening rapidly as unconsciousness threatened to take me again. Just as I was about to pass out again, I heard the figure speak to me. "Rest now, Child. You are safe."

Goliath's pov:

I looked down upon the human child I had discovered whilst out on my patrol. It was rare to find a lone traveler that deep in the forest, but when I had caught the scent of fresh blood, I knew I could not take the risk on an enemy reaching the castle. Part of me still wishes that it had been an enemy out in that field and not this innocent child.

I approached her cautiously, not wanting to startle her. However, when I met her gaze, I could see no fear. Instead, I felt a childlike innocence, as well as pain, both physical and emotional. From the amount of blood that coated the grass around her, I knew she had little time. I gently picked her up, promising her that she was safe, then quickly made for the castle.…..

I brought her straight to the castle's best healers. I knew that if anyone could save her, it was them. The old human examined the girl as I gently laid her down on a small table. He said not a word, but simply got straight to work. He cut through the thin garment that covered the child, unveiling a maze of scars and wounds both old and new.

A wave of horror washed over me at the sight. Having seen more than my fair share of battle, I knew these wounds were not inflicted by animals, nor by a Gargoyle. A human had harmed this child, had hurt her in innumerable ways, and then left her to die in that field. "Poor child." The healer whispered as he grabbed a bowl from a nearby shelf. "God only knows what horrors she's seen."

The healer filled the bowl with water, then took a clean rag and dunked it in the water. Very carefully, he began to clean away the dirt and dried blood that covered the child like a second skin. As I watched the healer work, I felt my horror give way to a festering anger.

"What kind of monster would do this to a child?" I muttered.

The healer didn't answer as he finished cleaning the girl, placing the bowl of now red water aside and reaching for a new tool. He took a long, curved needle and some thin thread and begun closing up the wounds. Within a few minutes, the girl's wounds were closed and bandaged to the best of the healer's ability. "Will she survive?" I asked.

The healer took the remnants of the girl's blood-soaked clothes, disposing of them in the fire place before retrieving a nightgown from a nearby trunk.

"She will require a great deal of rest, but she will recover." He explained. "She is quite lucky you found her when you did, Goliath. Had you been any later, she would not have lived."

I let out a sigh of relief as I gently picked her up again. The healer watched me leave, promising to check on the girl later. I carried her out of the healer's tower, approaching an empty room near my daily roost. There was a small bed inside that I gently placed the girl on. She was now sleeping peacefully, much to my relief. I pulled the bed's blankets over her, reaching down and brushing some hair out of the girl's face. Knowing she needed rest, I walked out of the room, closing the door behind me.

I stared at the door for a moment, listening for the girl's breathing through the wood. I then placed my hand on the door and sighed before dropping it and walking away.

The Trio pov:

Goliath was unaware that while he was tending to the girl, three sets of eyes watched him from the shadows. They waited until Goliath left before stepping into the light, revealing themselves. They were three child-like gargoyles, each of them unique in their own way.

One had red skin, black eyes, and a long beak-like mouth and jaw. He had a wild mane of snow-white hair with two horns sticking out of it. Like goliath, he wore only a loincloth, though his was a dark blue with no visible belt.

Another was a very large, both in stature and in weight, with aquamarine skin and fin-like ears. He had no hair or horns, but had very sizable fangs sticking out from his lower jaw. He too wore a loincloth, blue with a dark brown belt.

The last one was the smallest of the trio. He was an olive green with large eyes and pointed ears. Like his oversized companion, he was bald, but his most distinguishing feature was his wings. They were attached to his arms, running down his body to about the middle of his legs. Despite this, there were small piercings in his wings, allowing him to thread a belt to hold up his loincloth.

The trio ran to the door of the tower Goliath had just left, looking over their shoulders to ensure they were not being watched. The young red one reached for the door, only to stop by the olive one. "Are you sure that we should be doing this?" He asked, unsurely.

"Yeah, what if Goliath comes back?" The aquamarine one asked as he looks around the corridor, afraid Goliath could show up at any moment.

"Look you guys, this was your idea in the first place. You were the ones who wanted to see the strange human Goliath brought back to the castle. Now that we're here, you want to change you minds and go back?"

"It's because we are scared that we will get into trouble." The aquamarine creature said, waving his arms around.

The red one sighed, throwing his arms up in surrender. "You do what you want. I'm going to check out the human."

He opened the door, holding it open for his friends. They exchanged unsure looks, but eventually made their way into the room. The red one smiled, closing the door behind them. "I knew you couldn't resist." He said with a smug grin.

He joined his friends, who were huddled around the small bed looking at the young human. She was fast asleep, the only movement coming from her chest rising and falling with each breath. The trio looked at the human in amazement. There weren't that many children in the castle, and those that did live here were usually asleep before the trio awoke from their stone slumber. More than that, the trio had never seen a human outside of Prince Malcolm, and even then it was from a distance. This was their first human up close.

The red and olive gargoyles climbed up onto the bed, reaching down and grasping the arms of their aquamarine friend to helped him up. They all leaned in to get a closer look at the young human, the red one gently picking up the girl's hand and examining it carefully.

He was immediately amazed by the softness of the humans hand compared to the toughness of his own. Her claws were very blunt, unable to serve as any sort of weapon like he had been taught with his. Even more peculiar was that she had an extra finger on each of her hands.

"Look at this." He called. "Humans have no claws, but they have five fingers instead of four."

His friends looked at the girl's hand, their claws gently squeezing and caressing the soft hand and playing with that inexplicable extra finger. Now more curious then before, the aquamarine one uncovered her feet to examine them.

The foot shared the same softness of her hands, though there were places where the skin was tougher. She had five toes, same number of her fingers, and on each foot there were once again talon-less. What really surprised the trio was the shape of her foot. It was completely flat, connected to a straight leg.

"No claws down here either." The aquamarine gargoyle said as he poked a toe with his finger. "But she has two extra toes instead of just one."

"Maybe they help her balance on those straight legs." The olive one suggested.

The red one gently put the girl's hand down before taking the cover completely off of the girl. Seeing the bandages on the girl's body, all three of them gasped.

"That looks bad." The olive one hissed.

"Was she in some sort of battle?" The aquamarine one asked.

"Maybe," The red one replied. "Let's be careful. We don't want to hurt her any more than she already is."

Being as gentle as he could, the red gargoyle turned the girl on her side, running his hand along her back. He knew that humans did not have wings, but was surprised that they did not have tails either. He gently set the girl on her back again, pulling the covers back over her. He then looked over at his friends, who were examining the other foot.

"She has no tail." He told them. "Not even a short one."

The olive one shook his head in confusion.

"No talons to defend themselves, straight legs and flat feet, no wings or tails, soft skin, and more fingers and toes than us?" He listed. "Humans are really strange."

The red one shrugged in reply before turning back to the girl to examine more. However, he found himself suddenly pinned down by a pair of eyes bluer then the ocean. The girl had awaken and was now staring at the Gargoyle. The red Gargoyle felt frozen under her gaze, and judging by the silence of the room, the others were in a similar state.

After they stared at each other for a good few minutes, the red one finally spoke. "Uh..." He let out a cough and tried again, trying to smile and appear non-threatening. "Um… hello."

To his surprise, and immense relief, the girl giggled at him before smiling. "Hello."

Goliath pov:

I found my mentor upon his usual scouting position, where I informed him of what had transpired beyond the castle walls. When I told him of the human girl I had discovered, his face grew grave.

"You did the right thing, lad." He told me. "Though it pains my heart to think of what the lass must have endured."

"Perhaps Prince Malcolm will allow her to remain in the castle." I suggested. "She seemed to have been abandoned, so I doubt she has anywhere to go."

"If that is the case, I am sure that the Prince will allow it."

He would have said more, but that was when my Angel Love came out of the sky. "My love!" she called.

I smiled warmly at the sight of her, taking her in my arms as I hugged her. Releasing her, I saw that she wore a worried expression. "What is it, my Angel of the Night?"

"My love, three of the young ones have gone missing." She explained. "Our Rookerie siblings and I have been scouring the grounds, but we have yet to find them."

I knew instinctively which ones were missing, and I had a fairly good idea of where they were. The trio, as many had come to know them as, had always been curious about humans, perhaps a bit too curious for their own good. If they knew about the child, there was no doubt in my mind that they would be drawn to her by curiosity.

"Tell our siblings that all is well." I told her. "I will return the trio to the Rookerie momentarily."

With a final embrace, I glided off the battlement, gliding towards the tower where the child was resting. As I got closer, I felt a twinge of fear beginning to manifest. It was human nature to fear that which they did not understand. The girl would most likely be fearful enough after whatever happened to her, and I believed that our monstrous appearances would only make a bad situation worse. However, as I landed on the walkway in front of the tower door, I heard a curious sound on the other side. Quietly as I could, I opened the door, and was met with a sight that stunned me completely. The little girl was wide awake, propped up by pillow so she could comfortably sit in the bed. She was smiling widely and laughing. The trio were perched on the end of her bed, all three of them making a variety of strange faces. Their antics seemed to only encourage the girl's contagious laughter.

I was stunned. Here I was thinking that the little girl would be trembling with fear, but instead, she was laughing and enjoying herself as if the scene was a normal occurrence for her. Returning to the task at hand, I cleared my throat, announcing my presence to the room. The sound made the trio, as well as the little girl, snap their heads towards him. "Goliath?!" The trio shouted in shock at the older creature in the doorway.

I walked into the room, making my way to the girl's side. With every step, I kept my eyes on the trio. "You are not supposed to be out of the Rookerie." I told them.

The trio all lowered their heads, no doubt in their minds that they were in deep trouble. I crossed my arms sternly as they all climbed off of the girl's bed, making their way towards the door. "We were just curious about the human." The red one explained sheepishly. "We didn't mean any harm or anything."

I went to scold them further, but was cut off by a gentle voice. "Excuse me."

The trio all stopped in their tracks, looking over at the girl. I too found myself looking at her, surprised to hear her speak. She met my eyes a bit nervously, but clenched her fists and spoke up a second time. "They weren't causing any trouble," She explained. "They were nice, and even tried to make me feel better. Please, don't be mad at them."

I looked at her, then down at the trio. All three of them were looking at him with hopeful, pleading eyes, as if begging me to let them stay with the girl a bit longer. I let out a sigh, unable to keep the smile off of my face as I nodded in consent. The trio all let out a breath that they had been inadvertently holding, then clambered back onto the girl's bed. I walked over to the bed as well, looking down at the girl who was now smiling widely again. "Now that you are awake, perhaps you can tell us what you are called."

I got down on one knee, extending my hand for hers. She took it as I placed my other hand over hers. "The humans of this castle have called me Goliath."

The girl smiled shyly, her cheeks turning a bit red. "My name is Hailey." She replied.

"Hailey…" I repeated. "An interesting name."

Hailey smiled again, then cocked her head as she continued to look at me and the trio. "May I ask you a question?" she asked.

"Of course." I replied.

"What are you guys?" she asked. "I've never seen anything like you guys before."

The trio all smiled as I gently squeezed Hailey's hand. "We are known as Gargoyles."