On the beautiful morning of May twenty seventh, two thousand three, Astral was born a healthy baby. Being taken home on the same day that he was delivered. For much of his early childhood, he was mentored by the adults around him, learning the basics of life way before your standard kid. He would follow around anyone that would let him be around.
As a toddler, he would waddle around asking many questions. "Why do we exist?" "Who are we as a people?" "What is at the end of life?" these questions would always be answered half assed. Never straight to the point. No one ever showed the same amount of wonder and creativity with him. If they did it would be small answers to try and have him understand it better. With his knowledge the baby talk felt insulting. He would slowly stop asking these questions to anyone but himself. His household was always a mix of unfamiliar faces. His parents both worked a lot, fueling their bad habits so they could enjoy life while he got to be alone. So he didn't get the chance to be around them. His aunt and uncle both babysat him often. Both of them were terrible role models to look up to as they were both socially inept, it showed as he was quiet around most people he hasn't met yet. Waiting to see what would be acceptable to do in public or with other people.
He lived isolated. Being an only child, thankfully. Being able to play with his own toys, the seldom few that he owned, for long periods of times. Using his imagination to fuel a massive pretend battle to dull the sharp edge of boredom and loneliness. Seeing other kids his age wasn't much of an option, between his parents slight bickering, their inconvenient schedules, and just not liking people. He was wicked smart, on his first day of preschool he was able to break every end year goal that they had set for the class. He got his handprint in a foam cast to hang on the wall for the entire year. He spent most of his time sitting back and playing with toys that expressed his creative side. Showing his love of building. Using his imagination to fuel what he wanted to see. Explaining it to others sometimes, but they didn't understand, they just brushed it off as a kid being a kid.
Once he moved up to kindergarten, he was still top of his class. Bringing him more into isolation, as the kids his age could not keep up with his level of conversation. He would then begin to love the concept of history, and the study of it. Following his passion as an off time topic he would be slowly losing touch with everyone around him. Mainly inspired to do his own thing he wouldn't get the chance to do much outside of his hobbies. It would cover simple subjects like playing flash games. Studying all types of history and creating with whatever toys he had, his creativity would show him all types of scenarios that he could picture.
This didn't change as he aged, he would finally begin to come out of his shell by going to a in school speech class, he could talk just fine, it's just that he didn't make friends with anyone. The speech therapist utilized his love for history to get him to talk more and become someone who can talk comfortably around others. Eventually, his parents moved away from his school district. With their lack of funds they had to make the cost of living easier. Moving from a decently sized house to renting a trailer for its cheap prices. With the move he lost any friends he had at that point. So he decided to try and make new friends. He may have not been the most gifted kid as his passion for being smart, and doing his work was slipping. He changed his goal from being smart to being someone who was unwaveringly kind and nice. He wanted to be the one people looked up to.
This only became worse with age. Him gaining friends was quite the inverse of his studies. He was talking to a select group of people, started to do sports and expanded on his interest in athletics. He would partake in art class, studying ceramics. He loved to create as much as possible. The pottery he would make with one of the friends in his grade. Him and this friend would be proficient honing their craft. He was able to make goals and work towards them as his home life slowly came down on him over the course of his teenage years. When he first started to do sports, he was a very raw person, needing to be coached and molded into what was needed. His development was utilized to the fullest using his potential to help guide him in the right path.
His history teacher kept him involved with his lifelong passion of history ever since he was younger. While being coached by his teacher, Astral would feel like he had so much to learn, Listening to every word with such interest. Doing his three sports he would slowly become a better and better athlete by working at it. His coaches directed his growth and wanted to help them him as much as possible, seeing how he was troubled, they made it work for him. Guiding him to be the person he wanted to be. With his excited personality and happy demeanor, he was molded to be everyone's sports hero. At the end of his sophomore year he would help the track team win conference by filling in for the events they needed.
It was his junior year, his home life was sketchy at best. Constant arguments between his parents would cause him to fall into a musical depression. Relying on music to fuel his mood rather than have it be naturally built. It sparked him to work harder than ever to maintain his happiness and ideals. In football and basketball, he would be starting varsity and one of the elite players on the team. Basing most of his skill off of his technique rather than strength or speed. He was a team player, putting others in spots to succeed while making sure the team won as well. Academically he would be one of the top kids in class, not the best. Worth the mention but someone who didn't challenge themselves, only pushing himself to brag to the perfect kids with their grades on tests. With this he kept up his history passion and took a college history class. He was by far the best history student being so detailed with each assignment, everyone else looked to him. He would take as many elective history classes as possible out besides his one art class. Track was the same as last season, being their plug and play person to do any needed events. Being the person everyone cheered for.
By his senior year. He was the elite person he had strived to be. His personality was to always be kind and caring no matter what. Anyone that came to him he would offer advice and help to. His kindness let everyone look up to him for guidance and help. He was involved with three different friend groups. Finally becoming the social butterfly that he wanted to be. Everyone knew his name and he was the person who was so busy and wild that he would be the one they look for to get advice. Never being home people would take him in to keep him safe. Bouncing around being unstable. His manners made sure that he would always be accepted anywhere. His grades weren't his priority. They were suffering before he was never home. Now he just didn't have much care, having his scholarship locked in already. He already had the credits to graduate before the end of the year. The college he was going to was his states major college, he had ivy league offers from his test scores and athletics. Caring about his passion over anything else. He became the leader that his senior class needed. For football, he would be the offensive bellcow and defensive anchor. He seemed to always have an open hole to run through and get yards, and know exactly where the other team was going to be and what they were planning on doing. Constant studying of the plays was his go to. Breaking down how each person acted and how they had certain tells. Using these he was able to lead his school all the way and win state.
Basketball was slightly different. He could do as much as possible on both sides. But without one key piece able to assist him. He felt like he was going to fall short. That's when he realized he can take advantage of the people around him and elevate them higher. The team started to click even better and became the caliber to win state. In the final game of the season, the three seniors, including Astral, who started all played well. Having their best games ever. After winning the three would all hug each other. Celebrating their hard work with their reward. Track was more or less the same. He was amazing as a plug and run person, while wanting to exceed in his own events he liked. His coach let him choose what he wanted for events and he went to state. After winning his four events, he would prepare for college life and live happily in a dorm away from home. Which had fallen to ruin.