![thomas-bormans-HSzIqM2BuCQ-unsplash.jpg](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/internutter/23ycydPNP2stUatT7xK54mPE45NGv92zEHSWpgnWABe2D5MDeFrs2FynyBfH6Zmyf4ZJs.jpg)

> The Hellkin traveler met an unwanted human child. Left in the woodlands to die. The child was very thin, blisters on bare feet from walking, thin, exhausted, young, and frightened. The Hellkin had a new child to raise, and some to give lessons to, the hard way. -- Anon Guest

Horizon never expected to become a parent, but life has its way of delivering little surprises. Ze'd been foraging for dinner and almost loosed hir arrow at a Human toddler.

Filthy. Starving. Scorched from the sun and blistered of foot. Parched of lip and so throatsore they couldn't even cry. There was only one conclusion, and only one thing to say about it.

"Who'd throw away a perfectly good baby?"

Horizon had to spoon-feed the poor little scrap so they wouldn't get sick from trying to gorge themselves. Broth, with thin little scraps of food floating in it, was the lost waif's first meal in days.

Horizon named them Tesoro, and had them on proper food inside five days. A bath, and fresh clothes, and careful work with a comb had done a lot to improve the tiny Human. As did purchasing a goat for Tesoro's milk needs.

Tesoro clung to Horizon like a burr. No wonder, since their own parents had turned them out into the woods with nothing. When they did talk, they didn't _want_ to talk about their life before Horizon. The nightmares were hint enough, so Horizon didn't push.

The little villages they passed through didn't give them much trouble, but Horizon knew... sooner or later, someone might try to steal Tesoro "for their own good". So Horizon started teaching them "the essentials".

"If you're ever in a place you don't want to be in, and you need to get away, there's some things you can do," Horizon began. From simple strategies on how to run away, to complicated plans on how to escape if someone locked Tesoro up, as well as how to survive and escape a rotten household.

Tesoro was three when Horizon found them. By age six, they could not only read and write, but could also escape any cell in the realm. They learned a very _Hellkin_ paranoia in regards to the long arm of the law. When to behave, when to avoid scrutiny, and when to call out 'normal' people for any prejudice.

It certainly helped Horizon's case when Tesoro went running to hir for comfort and security. And on the rare cases that Horizon met with other Hellkin on the roads... there came The Joke.

"You sure that's your kid?" was the prompt.

"Of course they're mine," said Horizon with a pointy smile, "I stole 'em myself."

[Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@thomasbormans?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Thomas Bormans</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/a-close-up-of-a-fire-burning-in-a-fireplace-HSzIqM2BuCQ?utm_content=creditCopyText&utm_medium=referral&utm_source=unsplash">Unsplash</a>]

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