A/N: This is my first ever Halo fan fiction, so if it's no good, please just tell me, and don't kill me with a plasma grenade!

Me: Yes, I am paranoid, but only as it is my first story for this section of the site. Now, I hope at least someone likes this.

Thel 'Vadam: What am I even here for? I was on a killing spree!

Me: Yeah, I need you to read this.*hands over a paper*

Thel 'Vadam: Reader does not own Halo, only his OC? What the hell does that even mean?!

Me: You'll see later. R&R!

Prologue

The Sangheili looked around the battle field, his golden armor coated with blood from many of the dead. Carnage was everywhere, with the bodies of Covenant troops and humans lying on the ground as their blood soaked the dirt.

Thel 'Vadam smirked as he walked among the bodies, seeing the many dead humans. He looked for any signs of movement, to see if any of the bodies still had some life in them. He walked past a horribly destroyed building, and never would have checked inside had sounds not escaped it.

Thel growled, hoping that he wouldn't waste his time by checking the building. He shook a device in his hand, and twin blades of pure energy appeared on either side of his hand. He kicked down the door, which was already about to fall off the hinges, and stepped in.

What he saw was a couple of humans, a man and a woman, sitting in a corner, obviously trying to hide something. The man stood up, his hands in fists, as he told the woman to run and hide. The man ran at Thel, throwing a punch in hopes of distracting the elite as the woman grabbed something and ran to another part of the building.

Thel sighed as he let the fist make contact with his armor, cracking bones. The man cried out in pain, holding his crippled hand. The elite ran the energy sword through the human's gut and twisted it. The man gasped for breath as the sword was removed and the warrior walked away, allowing the man to collapse and bleed to death.

Thel pushed open doors, one after another, searching each room for the woman. In the fourth room he checked, he saw the woman, but without the item she had ran with. She was curled in a ball, and the Sangheili found it pitiful. He pulled out his plasma rifle and pulled the trigger, shooting the woman in the head and killing her instantly. He put the rifle back and continued to search, now curious about the item.

"Fleet master 'Vadam, do you read me? This is ship master 'Vadumee. What is your location," a voice asked over the communication system in the elite's helmet.

"This is fleet master 'Vadam. I'm in a building on the battle field. A couple of humans, who have been disposed of now, were in here, trying to hide something. I'm currently trying to find it."

"Okay then. Just hurry. The hierarchs are growing impatient, and will order the phantom to return to the holy city if it doesn't depart soon."

"I'll be quick. I have just a couple more rooms to check." Thel ended the communication and entered the next room, which was also empty. He scowled, hoping that what ever had been hidden was worth the search. He kicked down the door to the final room to relieve his frustration, only to grow more annoyed as cries were heard from the corner.

Wait, crying, the fleet master thought, turning to the corner. There, a bundle of blue fabric was twitching, as if there was something inside that wanted out. 'Vadam used a single finger to move one of the folds, and jumped back at what he found. In the bundle, a small human was fidgeting, making the crying noises.

Thel naturally lifted his sword, ready to kill the human as he'd been trained to. But something made him hesitate. He didn't know why, but he couldn't bring himself to kill the child, as he had the other two humans, who must have been the newborn's parents. He tried to forget about what it was, except for the fact that it was human, but still could not kill it.

Why am I having so much trouble with killing this one puny human? I've killed hundreds of them, as well as some not much older than this one. So why is this one different? He sighed and turned of the sword, putting it back where it attached to his armor.

Thel reached down and poked the child curiously, and it laughed, grabbing his finger in a tight grip. He cocked his head, wondering why such a small human would laugh at him, instead of become frightened as others did.

The newborn pulled on his hand with surprising strength, and Thel actually was almost pulled on top of the child. He was surprised by its strength, and picked it up, holding the child in front of him. The child laughed again, and let go of his hand, instead grabbing his mandibles.

The Sangheili flinched a little as his mandibles were crushed in the newborn's grip. He pulled away, picking up the cloth and put the child in it. A crazy idea entered his mind, and he couldn't shake it. The idea clung to the front of his mind, and he sighed, unable to think of anything else.

He wrapped the child up and held it close, beginning to walk out. But rather than use the doors, Thel jumped out the shattered window of the room, landing in the battle field. He stood up straight and began walking in the direction of the phantom that would bring him back to the holy city.

On the way back, he was questioned about the child by several of the troops, who saw the child as an abomination. He answered whatever he could, staying silent for others. When will this end, Thel wondered. The trip itself was long, but to make it to the council, that took longer.

Many members of the Covenant looked at him strangely as he carried the child through the city to the council. The council, however, was rather disgusted.

"Fleet master, what are you thinking, bringing a human to the holy city," the prophet of Regret said upon seeing the human.

"I believe that if we watch the child as it grows, the Covenant will be able to defeat the humans with more ease," Thel said, speaking only part of the truth. The three prophets, Regret, Truth, and Mercy, looked to each other, whispering. Mercy nodded, as did Regret, who was less willing, and Truth spoke.

"Fleet master Thel, we will go through with this proposition," he said, and Thel sighed in relief inwardly. "But, you must be the one to raise it."

Thel went wide eyed at the thought of raising the human. He had no idea what was to be done with a child, let alone a human child. "Hierarchs, surely there must be someone else who can-"

"Are you questioning our decision," Mercy asked, and Thel sighed.

"No, hierarchs. I will raise the child to the best of my ability. I shall report anything that is of importance." The three prophets nodded in unison, and 'Vadam strode out of the council building, pondering what having a child under his care would be like.

The newborn human laughed, grabbing at his mandibles once more, and Thel tried not to show that he was in discomfort. He moved quietly through the city, hiding whenever he saw another member of the Covenant. He reached his quarters quickly, yet somehow the human had fallen asleep in the short time, breathing deeply in his arms.

"Fleet master, you're back," Rtas, a ship master, said, waiting outside for Thel. "So, you still have the human with you?"

"Sadly, yes. And my proposition did not go entirely as planned," Thel told the ship master. "I was hoping that someone else would raise this human to watch it, but," he stopped there, and Rtas got an understanding for the situation.

"So you got stuck with raising a human." Thel nodded, opening the door and heading in.

"I have no idea what to do about it. It's a human! Sangheili do not raise humans. We kill them."

"Yet you did not. Is there a reason why?" Thel froze at the ship master's question, as he still did not know why. The answer continued to elude him.

"I simply do not know. For some reason, I couldn't bring myself to do it. And I had killed its parents possibly."

"Possibly? That is rather strange for you to say, fleet master. Do you even know what to call the human? Because I don't believe the child will respond to simply being called human."

Thel groaned, as he hadn't even thought about that. He laid the sleeping child on a piece of furniture, and noticed a slight sound, like metal tapping on metal, coming from a fold of the cloth the human was wrapped in. Out of curiosity, he dug into a few folds, and one of his fingers touched cold metal.

He pulled out what appeared to be tags of some kind, with a few words he could recognize, written in the human language. He read the few he did know, and found that the tag held the child's name, its date of birth, and even the fact that it was a male, like himself. He read the name a few times, and realized that it was a Sangheilion name, and surprisingly, the child was named after a fleet master.

"His name is Hyak," Thel said.

Thel 'Vadam:*steams in anger* You force me to raise a human child!? I should gut you!

Me: Yeah, yeah, get over it. You'll like where this goes. I hope everyone liked this prologue! Hyak will be a lot older in the next chapter, as this is supposed to be four years after Halo Wars. So, enjoy in the future!

Thel 'Vadam: Wait, there are others? Why must it be me tortured like this?