Consciousness : Youth

Opening his eyes as a gentle breeze washed over his face, a young boy with light brown skin, curly hair, and a confused look on his face, stood as he looked around.

"The sky… is this my home?"

Scanning the pale blue sky and the vibrant fields of green grass around him littered with occasional homes and farming fields, the young boy suddenly turned worriedly as the feeling of fear ran through his body.

No, my home is… my home is… MY HOME?!"

"Mooooooom!" The boy shouted as he rose to his feet and spun around in circles repeating his cries for someone until a middle-aged man with short black hair, a handsome face, and a body in peak physical condition ran up to him.

"Kíro stop yelling, your mother is at the house." He said, getting on one knee as the startled Kíro took a step back.

"Who are you?!" He shouted, causing the man to adopt a slightly shocked face as he replied, "You don't remember me? I'm your father…"

"Father…" the young boy said in his mind as he began to tear up, causing the man to quickly pick the boy up by his armpits and start carrying him back towards the house on the hill behind them.

"Your mom will see if you're hurt anywhere ok?" He said softly as he quickly took the boy up the hill and inside of the small cottage-style home.

This came as a slight shock to his mother, a beautiful redhead with a curvy body that has gained weight in all the right places.

"What did you do this time?!" She said, noticing the tears in Kiro's eyes, causing her to glare coldly at her husband. Not wanting to spend another night outside the bedroom, he quickly explained the situation as he placed Kíro into her arms.

"Hmph! He's 5! He clearly gained awareness a moment ago, why didn't you just take the time to calm him down yourself?!" The woman said as she looked towards Kíro, his skin clearly the opposite color of the two but her gaze still filled with love and care as she gently pinched his cheek.

"Kíro you don't need to be scared of us, remember we are your parents." She said softly before giving him a peck on the cheek. "Your home is here with us…"

Nodding slowly to the two, Kíro wrapped his tiny arms around her as best as he could while placing his face into the woman's neck, wanting to enjoy her embrace a while longer.

"Still acting like my precious baby…"

…

..

.

3 Years Later…

Exhaling the air in his body, a young boy around 8 years old slowly raised his arms again, the wooden sword in his hand pointing ahead at the man across from him.

Kíro, the young boy who has slightly grown-up, rushed forward as his father took a step to the side, dodging his son's initial horizontal swing before blocking the follow-up attack, using a bit of force to push Kíro back.

This elicited a frown from Kíro as he put more energy into his movements, swinging his sword harder than before as his dad blocked his again while slowly receding his strength causing Kíro to lean forward more as he lost his balance.

Seeing his son's mistake the man quickly spun behind Kíro and hit him on the back with the flat of his sword. Seeing his son fall onto his hands and knees, he slowly watched to see what he'd do. This was a daily occurrence as he saw his son constantly losing his composure the more prolonged the practice fight went on.

"Are you finished?" He asked as tapped Kíro on his leg with his foot, seeing his small hand ball into a tiny fist he knew one of two things would happen. "Now will he let his anger take control…" He thought as Kíro got to his feet, causing him to slightly adjust his posture to defend quickly, "or he will get angry and complain to Lara…".

Watching as Kíro turned around, he quickly scanned his face to see what the result is. "Annnnnnnd he's crying…" he said he saw the tears filling Kíro's eyes as he dropped his wooden sword to the ground.

"Crap…" he thought as he quickly took a step forward to try and salvage the situation. "You did good Kir-" unfortunately Kíro wasn't in the mood for one of his dad's speeches, he quickly began to cry, progressively getting louder as his father felt a chill run up his spine.

Slowly turning around towards their home's back door, he spotted Lara glaring at him before she marched outside. If looks could hurt someone he'd sure be missing limbs right now.

"You asshole! I told you that Kíro is too young for combat practice every day! What do you not understand huh?!" She shouted as she held her palm to her side, a crimson fire spontaneously starting a few inches from her hands she stepped closer to her husband.

"He can't learn to defend himself if he does simple practice all day! I'm helping him in case he finds himself in a situation where he needs to fight!" Rudy said as he stood his ground, albeit half-heartedly.

"You're lucky I don't burn your clothes off and make you run around the forest for the rest of the day."

"You'd enjoy me not wearing clothes !" He responded as a smirk appeared on his face, causing Lara to disperse the fire in her palm as she pushed him out of the way and crouched down in front of Kíro remarking, "I'm sure the beasts would too if they saw you!"

Sniffling some as Lara looked at him and ran her fingers through his hair, styled in a twist-out fashion, Kíro locked eyes with her as he asked a question her as the memory was fresh in his mind. "Mom! Can I make the fire in my hand too?"

Wiping the tears from his face before smiling as he waited for a response, Kiro was excited at the idea of doing something similar to his mom.

"Fire?" She asked as she thought for a second before smiling as she realized what he meant. "Did you mean magic?" She asked.

"Magic… can I learn it?!"

"Of course, you can, your mom is one of the best mages in the world!" Lara said with a matter-of-fact tone as she nodded a few times while lost in thought.

"Mage?" Kíro asked as he tilted his head to the side a little.

"It means someone who can use magic." His father, a man named James chimed in as he saw Lara momentarily distracted.

"Can I learn that too?"

"Of course, you can! I'll teach you well then maybe you can go to the magic academy when you turn 12!" Lara said happily, grabbing Kíro's wrist as she stood up with stars in her eyes.

"Let's go! I'll start teaching you right now! She said as she quickly began leading him back to the house.

"He is still practicing the sword in the morning!" Rudy said as he followed opposite her, trapping Kíro between them.

Thinking for a moment, Lara nodded before looking seriously at Rudy while saying, "Fine, but if he has a talent in magic then we are prioritizing that over his sword practice!"

"Then if he doesn't have a high talent in magic he'll practice the sword more!" Rudy said, not backing down as they reached the door to their home.

"Fine!"

"We agree then!"

Kíro simply stood there happily as he watched his parents arguing while his mind wandered to learning magic from his mom.