Chapter 24

Disclaimer: I do not own D. gray-man

So here is just something I randomly stringed together, just a little food for thought. What if, 7000 years ago, or whenever innocence was created, Neah was the one who created the innocence? This is the story of Allen, who is saved by Neah, but is also destroyed by him.

Roughly 7000 years ago

In the Ark, fourteen Noahs sat around the table. Each wore a tan cloak with their hoods down, their ashen skin contrasted against the color. However there was one man with a black tailcoat who sat at the head of the table, the Earl.

"These humans have been putting up a good fight. Three years since they created this 'innocence' and since then they have been growing in numbers. However in a year's time during the time of the dark sun, we will strike. We will keep them at bay with some Akuma until that time, by then we will crush them." The Millenium Earl looked around the table for any complaints. When there were none he dismissed them to do whatever they liked. Everyone had left except for one individual who simply sat there.

The Noah grinned as he walked over. He hugged the other Noah from behind, smiling when he heard the other chuckle.

"Always so tense, aren't you brother?" Neah said softly as he stood up.

The Earl laughed as the two walked out of the room and into the black buildings of the Ark.

Neah wrinkled his noes, "Did Maitora have to make this place all black?"

The Earl chuckled softly, "I suppose so."

The two walked in comfortable silence. The Millennium Earl couldn't help but keep a small grin to his face. Now that Neah was a Noah like them, they could finally truly be family.

"So how have you been? It's been a month since we last saw each other." Neah, the younger one started up a conversation.

Since he had been helping the humans, the family found it more and more difficult to move as a whole and opted to move however they liked. This made it easier to help them without his brother from finding out how he was betraying his family.

The tall man smiled, "I've been good. A bit boring without you." He admitted. Neah let out a small laugh as he hugged his brother goodbye. "I should get going now." He said as he nodded towards a door.

The Earl gave him a sad smile before waving him off, he really wished Neah would stick around longer. The said Noah walked through the door with a pang in his heart, was he really the right thing? He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he walked into a forest it was too late now.

He closed his eyes as the stigmata on his forehead disappeared, but his hair and skin color stayed the same. His golden eyes were replaced with soft brown ones as he walked towards a village where many of the accommodators were currently stationed.

On his way there, he bumped into a short teenager. His eyes widened in surprise as he took a step back, watching the white haired boy stumble back and fall over.

Neah inspected the boy with mild interest. He was wearing a pure white cloak, used to identify exorcists and easily spot them if necessary.

He was surprised when the boy scrambled onto his feet and bowed in apology. "I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going." He mumbled, turning around to head back towards the village.

The Noah smiled as he walked with the teenager.

"No problem. Where are you heading to?" he asked casually.

The teenager glanced up at him before he kept looking straight ahead.

"The village where us exorcists are stationed."

"What a coincidence, I happen to be heading there as well. I'm Neah by the way." The Noah introduced himself.

The boy barely glanced his way. "Allen." He responded. The entire trip back was a question and answer by the Noah and Allen. The dark skinned man was whistling as the village came into sight. He was impressed, Allen was only fifteen but had the skills qualified to fight with Innocence.

His innocence was in the form of a one edged sword with a with a wolf's head at the bottom of the hilt. The smile on his face got a little bit wider when he saw the weapon; this kid Allen had his favorite piece.

He noticed the odd scar on the left side of Allen's face and asked about it. When he didn't get an answer, he tried to ask a different question but was met with silence until they reached the village. When they did, he let out a sigh of relief when he saw a familiar green coat.

He waved to the man and the man waved back. "Neah! I'm surprised to see you so soon!" he called as he walked up to the Noah.

He had short brown hair and beard and was well built.

Neah shrugged, "I didn't think so either. You look well Abraham, how have you guys been faring?" he returned pleasantly.

The two continued to exchange formalities before the large man paused when he saw Allen. "Allen, finished your mission early have you? You aren't supposed to be back for another week." Abraham remarked, his tone was more surprised than suspicious.

The boy shrugged as his grey eyes averted Abraham's. "I found Gwendolyn's corpse earlier than expected. I destroyed the Akuma that were swarming around her body and was able to retrieve the innocence." Allen stated as he handed the man a bloodied necklace.

The two stared at the necklace and Abraham's smile had vanished. "You can hand it over Warren over there. You can do whatever you want for the rest of the week." Allen nodded and quickly walked towards a small house. Neah raised an eyebrow by the albino's indifference and Abraham sadly watched the boy go.

"The poor kid. He and Gwen were pretty close to." He commented sadly as he motioned Neah to follow him. The Noah shot the man a doubtful look as they walked. "He may seem indifferent, but he really was sad about her death. Once you get to know him you can easily read his emotions." Neah nodded, not really convinced.

The green cloak was reserved for the top 5 fighters among the 109 who were able to wield the innocence. The Heart was also in this category, but almost no one knew who it was. "So that boy Allen, he looks new, when did he join?"

The brown haired man shot Neah a look before they sat down at a table. "Believe it or not the boy has been here for only a year, and has cleared out more Akuma than myself." he leaned forwards as he spoke and propped himself up with his elbows.

Neah shot him a disbelieving look; the man across from him has been an exorcist since the creation of the Heart.

"Actually I wanted to talk to you about Allen."

The Noah gave the man a surprised look but nodded for him to go on. A sad look spread across the exorcist's face as he started to tell the tale of Allen's past.

"That boy, Allen joined us about a year ago. That day, the only piece of innocence that wouldn't synchronize with anyone started to glow and it shot up into the sky. It went to Allen, who was running for his life. His entire family died due to an Akuma attack and in his grief, he turned his father into one. He cursed him, and gave him that odd scar on his left eye, enabling him to be able to see the souls of the Akuma bound by chains."

Right as the father cursed him, the piece of innocence took form of the sword you saw at the boy's side and he killed his father not once, but twice. He was quickly found by Gwendolyn who tried to get him to open up, but no one has ever seen him smile.

"It turns out his dad died protecting the boy and then died once more by his own hands. He has kept his emotions all bottled up, the most emotion I've seen out of him is on the battlefield. I'm concerned for the boy, all he does is eat, sleep, and go on missions.

"I'm afraid if this keeps up he might fall into a pit he can't get out of." A sad look was in his eyes as he told Neah the story.

The Noah suddenly felt sympathy for the young boy, to be able to see the soul of a human that is forcefully bound to the earth by dark matter wasn't a pretty sight. "So what do you want me to do about it?" Neah asked, he had absolutely no experience with children.

Abraham gave him a tired smile, "I'm asking you to become the kid's father."

If Neah had been drinking anything, he would have done a spit take. "You are joking right? First off, I'm a Noah, the kid's sworn enemy. And Secondly I've never had kids before, please tell me you're joking." Neah's now brown eyes bore into Abraham's.

"I'm not joking. Allen already knows who you are, and now is a great time to learn. I just need him to open up a bit, no one wants to work with him because he's so cold and makes terrible conversation." He smiled when he saw the Noah start to cave.

"So does that mean I'm going to travel with him?" He asked in a resigned voice, he always had a soft spot for kids.

The large man grinned, he knew he could count on him. "You don't have to. Just become something the kid looks forward to when he comes back." On that note, the green cloaked exorcist stood and walked away from the table.

"Hey, where does the kid sleep?" Neah shouted. Abraham laughed and pointed to a small wooden house, then the trees. The Noah groaned and let out a huge sigh, what had he gotten himself into?

He lazily stood up from his chair and wandered around the village, he would bump into the kid sooner or later right? After a few minutes of walking, he could hear some shouting and woman crying hysterically.

Neah made his way through the crowd and was surprised at what he saw. A female exorcist was on the ground crying while another male exorcist was towering over her with anger on his face. "What do you mean he's dead?! You helped him with your innocence right? Right?!"He shouted at her, the woman only cried harder.

"I-It's only temporary! E-Even though I h-healed all of his wounds it was only temporary. I-I told him but he just kept getting injured and and and. I'm sorry!" She cried harder, covering her face.

"Bullshit! It's your fault!" He roared. He raised his fist, his eyes full of blind rage. Neah was about to step in, but was pleasantly surprised, and slightly horrified, when Allen intervened. The boy stood in front of Miranda and took the punch to his stomach.

Everyone's eyes widened in shock when Allen didn't even flinch from the hit, but the man who hit him winced in pain. "I think that's enough Cyrus. You shouldn't hit a woman, have you cooled down now?" Allen asked his emotionless gaze sent a shiver down everyone's spine. The blond haired man rubbed his right hand and scowled at the kid.

"If it isn't the freak. Come back from gathering Gwen's innocence have you? You didn't feel anything when you saw her dead body. All you did was bring back her innocence like it was a little piece of rock, no tears, no nothing. Fucking monster." He shouted.

Everyone carefully watched Allen's reaction but was met with the same empty gaze. A shorter brown haired man tugged Cyrus away. When the fuming exorcist was led away, his friend sent Allen an apologetic look and mouthed 'thank you' before they walked out of sight.

When they did, Allen turned around and helped the woman up. "Are you alright Ms. Miranda?" He asked, his face never changed. Miranda sniffed as she was helped up by the teenager and gave him a smile. "Yes, thank you Allen. Are you okay? That punch looked like it really hurt." She sent a concerned look to his stomach.

To Neah, it seemed as if Allen's face didn't change at all, but to Miranda it looked like he was giving her a huge smile.

"I'm fine. The punch wasn't that hard, he shouldn't be fighting with his own comrades." His tone was flat, but this time Neah could sense a slight change in his voice.

The black haired woman ruffled Allen's hair, such a gentleman.

She waved goodbye and rushed into her house to get something. The white haired boy just stood there, watching her go before he walked off in the direction of the forest.

Neah watched with interest as the boy bought an apple and a piece of raw beef before he made his way to the trees.

Unknown to the boy, he had a Noah silently following him. He had to admit, the teen was very fast as the two stealthily made their way to what Neah knew was a clearing with a small stream.

He watched the boy in the bushes, what was he doing all the way out here? He watched in amusement as the boy let out a series of low whistles. Neah couldn't help but smile when he saw what came out of the trees. A beautiful black horse along with a white wolf ran out to meet him.

The two animals looked strong, the wolf tackled Allen and licked him without mercy on his face. He saw Allen wince slightly at the weight being put on Allen's stomach; it was surprising to see him now openly show his emotions.

"Easy Zella" He mumbled as he picked himself up from the ground, only to be pushed by the horse with its head. He stumbled forward a bit, his eyes lit up playfully as he pushed the head away.

"Not you to Rosalind, I was only gone for a few hours." He affectionately stroked Rosalind's neck, the horse was easily half a foot taller than Allen and leaned into his touch.

The boy let out a contempt sigh, he could only relax when he was with these two guys. He fished out the apple from underneath his cloak and cut off a generous piece of meat from the large slab he had.

It was obvious that nobody knew about the two animals, after all Allen went to great lengths to conceal the existence of his two friends.

"Are you alright? You seem a little tense." Zella spoke, her muzzle was now a light pink from the meat. The Noah had to conceal a gasp, it couldn't be.

The white haired boy gave her a small smile, "It's nothing. Cyrus just let out his rage on Miranda. Byron died while on duty with her and she couldn't stop him from dying." He explained as he took off his white cloak.

Rosalind softly nickered, nudging the exact spot he had been punched. "You should be more careful." Rosalind sighed, her voice was very motherly as she spoke.

As the three talked and interacted with each other, Neah was watching all of this with amazement. It's true some species of certain animals were more intelligent than others, but he had assumed they had all died out.

This was interesting. He froze when Zella suddenly grew tense, sniffing the air she frowned. "Are you sure you didn't come alone Allen?" She growled, scanning the forest. The white haired boy frowned and his hand went for his sword. Neah sighed, he had been found out. He popped up from the bushes and was once again met with Allen's cold stare.

"Hey there, remember me?" Neah asked playfully, Allen nodded stiffly.

"What're are you doing here?" The black horse asked curiously, it wasn't often Allen had a stalker.

The Noah grinned, "Well you know, Abraham was worried about him so he asked me to try and make you… open up?" Neah made an opening gesture with his arms. Zella grinned, "I like him." She declared, earning an uncertain glance from the exorcist. "I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone about this." Allen gestured to the clearing.

Neah walked from the bushes and sat on a large rock near the stream. "Only if you tell me about how you know those two over there." He nodded his head towards the two animals. Allen gave him a suspicious look, and was taken aback when Neah laughed.

"It's better when you show your emotions like with those two over there." He mused, watching as the boy's eyes narrowed slightly.

"We'll tell you." The wolf said happily, ignoring the surprised look on her human friend's face. Rosalind nodded, it was rare that they were able to talk to another person. Allen reluctantly agreed and shot Neah a 'if you tell anyone I'll kill you' look before he sat down next to his two friends.

Neah listened intently as she started to talk.

"It was about ten months ago when I first met Allen. I was about a year old back then, I was in a pack. We were all 'speakers' able to speak the human language." Her eyes grew distant as she spoke.

"We never had any problems with the Akuma. We steer clear of them and they don't mess with us. For some reason though, when we ran into a large group they attacked us. Maybe they could sense our heightened intelligence that so resembled a human's. I don't know, but we fought with them tooth and nail. In the end I was the only one left, barely alive I managed to drag myself into the forest near a stream before I collapsed.

"I thought my soul was about to meet its maker as I saw a figure come over me before I lost consciousness. When I woke up, this guy was right next to me changing my bandages and taking care of me. Ever since then I've kept him company with all of his missions.

"I have to admit in the beginning it was like I was talking to a brick wall that could talk. But eventually he started to relax and that brings us to where we are now. Couldn't be happier." Zella's tail wagged as she leaned against Allen's right leg.

So the boy was a real softy at heart. He turned towards Rosalind for her story. The large horse let out a sigh as she remembered their encounter.

"I was with Allen about a month before Zella. If you don't already know, most of the accommodators have horses for long distances. Allen had just recently become an exorcist so they had brought him to a larger village about ten miles south of the one you guys are staying at.

"My entire herd had been captured and put up for auction. I was the only speaker amongst my herd, so I kept quiet about my abilities. However when they captured us they kept us in the worst possible conditions.

"A week later when Allen and Abraham came over to the auction, we were in horrible condition. I was all skin and bones, pretty small and scrawny to. Abraham bought a strong male chestnut horse for Allen, but the boy's eyes never me as they rode away on the horse.

"I was surprised when the next day the very same boy came back and bought me. He hid me right here, and the grass combined with the fruits and vegetables he brought helped me regain my strength until about two months later where I was introduced to Zella.

"This guy right here didn't know I was a speaker until the day I talked to this little girl. The chestnut horse he had died in combat about three months later, and has been using me ever since. He just tells everyone he's faster on foot, but in reality he just doesn't want me to get horse napped so he has never revealed us because of what we are.

He's pretty protective you know. Just so you know I'm 20 years old, and I'm still a fine mare." She said, lifting her head high.

Allen rolled his eyes and Zella snorted, the mare was pretty sensitive about her age. Neah looked at Allen with a newfound respect. Maybe the kid was just shy. He was definitely a kind person, but maybe not the best at conveying his emotions.

He grinned as he hopped off of the rock, "I see, of course I won't tell anyone about these two but is it really necessary? Wouldn't they be safer at the village?"

Allen's eyes had conflicting emotions in them as he spoke. "Perhaps in terms of wild animals and Akuma, but I think they would be in much greater danger if people knew they were speakers." He mumbled, it wasn't any of Neah's business.

The Noah shrugged as he stroked the black horse's neck. "You never know. Do you have any friends?" Neah asked suddenly. The young exorcist's face quickly became guarded. Bad subject, Neah thought as Allen told him he didn't.

During the entire day the four of them just talked, Neah trying to get Allen to open up and the other trying to hide. For the most part, Zella and Rosalind stayed quiet for the most part, watching the exchange with interest. "Do you ride Rosalind bareback most of the time?" Neah asked as he suppressed a yawn. The sun was setting and night was falling upon them.

"No, I have a saddle hidden in a nearby cave." The tired exorcist responded, Neah had been interrogating him for roughly about four hours. The Noah nodded, they should go and hit the hay soon.

Allen bid his two companions a goodnight as they walked back towards the village. You could easily see the stars in all of their glory along with the waning moon.

"I'm guessing you're sleeping in my house?" The exorcist asked as he started to neatly fold his cloak. Neah nodded and grinned sheepishly, "Hope we get along roommate."

At first it was awkward at best, the two sleeping side by side each other on different beds. Eventually they fell asleep, and both waited for morning.

When Allen woke up, he could feel a dreadful ache on his stomach and groaned. He could barely move without causing the injury to his stomach to pulsate with pain. He suddenly remembered that someone else was in the room with him and suppressed a sigh.

Neah had woken up from Allen's loud groan and was wide-awake. "Good morning!" Neah sang as he jumped out of bed. The white haired boy groaned once again, great his new roommate was a morning person to.

Allen couldn't help but wince as he propped himself into a sitting position. Big mistake, Neah was on him within Nano seconds and pinned him to the bed.

The young exorcist cried out in shock and pain at the sudden movement and was silenced when Neah had pulled his shirt to reveal his severely bruised stomach. The ugly purple bruise was about the size of a grown man's fist and was slightly red on the edges of it.

"… Do you need help?" The Noah asked uncertainly as he carefully got off of the young boy. A few failed attempts later, Neah was supporting Allen as they made their way to the mess hall.

Allen put on his emotionless mask again, but his eyes slightly showed the pain he was in. The young exorcist and Noah silently ate at the table, Allen groggily munched on a piece of toast. Neah silently sipped his orange juice, the boy was obviously not a morning person. As they ate, Abraham sat right next to Allen and grinned at the young kid. "Up early aren't you?" he mused as he started to eat some bacon.

Allen politely nodded and suddenly seemed attentive. Neah let out a long sigh, he had a lot of work to do.

Chapter one done :)

-Cooly