Ten years ago
Edge of the Solarian jungle
Withdrawing his spear, Damien dodged a spear slash to the face. He countered by stabbing at his opponent's midsection, which was deftly parried, unbalancing and leaving him wide open for his opponent who stepped in closer.
Panicking, Damien tried a desperate attack with his unarmed left hand, which was easily batted away, leaving him completely wide open.
His opponent took the opportunity by sweeping Damien's legs off of him with a swift kick. He landed flat on his back with a grunt and a temporary loss of breath, courtesy of the wind getting knocked out of him. He attempted to get back up when his view was blocked by the spear tip pointing in between his eyes.
Damien looked up at the grinning face behind the spear. Sighing, he said. "You win, again."
"Not for much longer," Keilan said. "You keep improving at an alarming rate. Soon enough, I'll be the one on my back," He looked a little morose.
"I'm not so sure about that," Damien replied, now trying to comfort the other boy. "You're also improving at a fast rate, too."
"Not as fast as you. Eventually, you're going to surpass me in sheer speed and skills," Keilan said. "We are already equally matched in speed, and soon enough you'll also match and eventually surpass me in skills, too."
Damien wanted to argue that maybe Keilan was wrong, that maybe Keilan would continue to take the lead in skills, but was interrupted.
"He's right, you know," Said Elias, Keilan's dad. "You keep improving at an outstanding rate that in a few months or a year, you might surpass me." Instead of sad, as Damien worriedly expected, he looked anticipated.
Elias had been the hunter who'd saved Damien from the jaws of a wild cat in the jungle, saving him from a slow, painful death. He was also Keilan's father, too.
Having discovered an interest in the spear just from watching Keilan and his father train every day for weeks. Elias had noticed Damien's interest and had invited him to join. Damien had quickly taken to wielding a spear like a fish to water. In a few short months, through diligent and constant training, he had learned what took Keilan years to learn.
"I can't wait to witness the level of skill you'll achieve in a few short years," The man said, wistfully. "That's enough for today, though. You two should go wash up and get some food. If you need me, I'll be at the tavern," He then stopped and looked at both boys. "Keilan, I know you like the view of Damien on his back with you standing domineeringly over him, but sometimes, try to lend him some helping hand." He pointed at Damien who was still on the ground, having forgotten to get up.
Taking the hand extended to him, Damien rose and dusted off the sand from his body.
"We should go take our baths, I'm really hungry," Keilan said, his stomach loudly grumbling just in time.
They waved goodbye to Elias and then walked into the house.
The house wasn't too large. It contained three bedrooms and a sitting room, with a comfortable kitchen. Bathrooms and toilets were in each room, thereby avoiding bathroom traffic.
There was a yard both at the front and back of the house, with the one at the back used for training.
Walking into the house from the back door, their paths to the bathroom was hijacked by the smell coming from the kitchen. Following the smell like wolves to a kill, they approached the kitchen to find Mara busy with a salivating soon to be done meal.
Noticing them before they could enter, she scolded. "Out, both of you. Go get cleaned up. I won't have dirt dragged into my kitchen." She shooed both of them from the kitchen.
"But maaa! We're so hungry and the food smells fantastic," Keilan whined.
"Quit whining and go freshen up. The smell coming out of you both is beginning to overwhelm me," She said, waving them away while covering her nose. "Look at Damien," She pointed at the retreating Damien. "He's already leaving to go take his bath. First come, first serve."
Keilan turned around to pursue Damien, but by then he was already running for their shared room.
"Betrayer!" Keilan shouted while he chased Damien. "Wait up, I need to tell you something," He called as if Damien would fall for such tricks.
By the time Keilan got into the room, Damien had already gotten into the bathroom, shutting the door.
"I'll get you for that! You hear me!? I'll get you!" Keilan shouted from the other side.
"Oh, I hear you!" Damien shouted back. "Keep shouting and maybe I'll hear you better!" He snickered.
Ever since he had agreed to stay with them, they had taken good care of him and treated him like one of their own. He and Keilan had quickly gotten along with each other, the other boy had taken it as his duty to stay with Damien all the time, making them almost inseparable.
Apparently, finding a boy his age who he actually liked was rare. Damien never understood what was about the village boys that Keilan didn't like; the other boy refused to say anything, though, so Damien didn't push. They did almost everything together, from training with the spear to learning how to hunt. The parents even knew them well enough to send them on chores together, even the villagers had begun to call them twins.
Damien never figured out his age, so he had taken the age of fifteen as his official age since he looked like a fifteen-year-old.
After Damien finished taking his bath and was freshly cleaned up, he opened the door, smiling.
"You can go take your bath now," He said to the other boy, grinning.
"I'll get you back for that," Keilan said, standing up from where he had been sitting, facing the bathroom door.
"I'll still get to eat before you, though," Damien snickered; he then mimed, licking his lips and rubbing his stomach to taunt the other boy.
Keilan murmured something that Damien didn't hear, and then he took off his dirty shirt and threw it at Damien.
Damien dodged the thrown projectile, laughing at Keilan. "You have such terrible aim," He said. The other boy grumbled and then got into the bathroom, slamming the door.
When Damien had accepted to stay, Keilan had requested for them to stay in the same room, which had then led to a little rearranging.
They had taken away the big-sized bed in the middle of their room and had brought in two comfortable single-person beds, placing them on the side of the room, with double windows between them. The large wardrobe had then been moved to the wall facing the room's entrance, with the reading table placed opposite their beds.
Taking a black shirt paired with black pants from the wardrobe, he put them on and then walked to the mirror placed over the reading table. He took a comb that was left on the table, probably by him.
Combing his grey hair. A few days after he had arrived, he had begun to grow hair, and shocking everyone but him, it was grey. At the start, they had been worried about him. They had even called in healer Salem to take a look at him, thinking he had some wasting sickness that was turning his hair grey.
The Healer had also been worried about the prospect of a young child having a wasting sickness. After checking him thoroughly through magical means he couldn't figure out, she had proclaimed him free of every form of sickness and disease, which they also found odd but were still comfortable with. Over the months, he had taken care to prevent his hair from reaching his shoulders to prevent his vision from being blocked.
Done combing his hair, he went on to the kitchen.
The food was already served when he arrived. Rice with cut vegetables placed on top, combined with the wafting aroma of a large slice of fried meat placed at the side.
Not waiting, he took his seat and began digging into his food.
"Slow down there, or you might choke," Mara warned, stepping into the kitchen.
Damien took the advice, although he struggled to ignore his stomach as it urged him to dig into the food with abandon, with his nose supporting it.
"The food is delicious," Damien complimented. "I don't like vegetables, but this one doesn't taste like the other."
"Thank you, and the reason it doesn't is that it was fried, and I mixed some ingredients into it, too," Mara replied.
"What are they?" Damien asked, intrigued.
"Come learn how to cook and I'll teach you," She replied, looking at him with a knowing smile on her face.
Damien scrunched his face, which made Mara laugh out loud.
"What are you two talking about?" Keilan asked, walking into the room.
"Damien wants to know my secret ingredients for the vegetables but doesn't want to learn how to cook," Mara answered, eyeing Keilan head to toe.
"Did you actually take your bath, or did you just pour water on your body and call it bathing?" Damien said, a smile beginning to show on his face.
Keilan gave him a side eye, silently telling him to shut up. Damien's smile widened.
"Of course, I took my bath," Keilan said, trying to put on an innocent face. Mara saw through it. "You can smell the scent of soap on my body."
"Aside from the aroma of the food, the only smell entering my nose is the smell of an unwashed body," Damien's smile was turning into a full-blown laugh.
Keilan glared at him, finally making Damien laugh. The other boy turned to his mother with an innocent face and tried to smile sweetly. She didn't buy it.
"Don't for one minute think I believe you, but you can go eat your food. Afterward, you'll help me with the dishes, deal?" She said.
Keilan quickly agreed, taking his seat on the chair beside Damien.
They were already way into their food when another person stepped in.
"Mother! Look what father got for me," She showed her mother a little female doll made with threaded cloth and patchy strands of hair on its head that made it hard to identify. To Damien, it looked monstrous.
Leira was Keilan's younger sister at seven. She had long, wavy brown hair with black eyes, just like her mother, unlike Keilan,, who took his blonde hair from his father.
She had this innocent face and a cute smile that made her instantly likable, unlike Keilan who looked like he was up to no good whenever he tried the look.
"I'm pretty sure Dad made that and then told you he bought it," Keilan said. "No wonder it looks like a horrific monster."
"Keilan!" Both Damien and Mara scolded at the same time. Mara tried to calm Leira before she got angry while giving Keilan the silent look, warning him not to escalate things further. Damien just sat there, covering his mouth and trying to hold back laughter.
Leira gave Keilan a look which was supposed to be intimidating but it just made her look cuter.
"You wouldn't know monstrous if it looked you right in the face," Leira replied. "I've seen how you act around the mayor's daughter."
Keilan laugh was cut short, which made Damien burst out laughing again. He laughed till tears began streaming out of his eyes.
Leira sat on her chair with a triumphant look. Mara tried to stay neutral, but Damien saw the mirth in her eyes.
"Enough of that. Keilan, stop taunting your sister, and Leira, don't imply such things about another person," Mara said, looking at them until they both nodded in agreement.
They got back to their food. When they were done, Leira said. "I saw Borvin boasting about how he was going to choose a fire aspect during the affinity ceremony."
"His funeral," Keilan said. "When he eventually burns himself, at least it'll teach everyone a lesson not to let a dumb overgrown bully play with fire."
"Language," Mara scolded. "Besides, you aren't meant to see the elements physically, but by going at it with feel alone and a sense of rightness."
"I want a leaf aspect," Leira said.
"There's no such thing as a leaf aspect you du–," He stopped at the look Mara gave him. Continuing, he said. "Besides, you can't be picking any aspect this early, you still have years to go before your affinity ceremony comes,"
"Can't I do it now?" Leira asked, her eyes pleading.
"You can't do yours now, baby," Mara said, rubbing Leira's head affectionately. "You'll have to wait till your body can take in energy safely before you think of participating in an affinity ceremony."
Leira nodded, a determined look on her face. "I'll wait till I'm old enough to take in energy, and then I'll get the leaf aspect," She looked around the table challengingly, daring anybody to refute her claim.
Nobody dared.
"Alright, finish your food, Keilan, don't bother running, you'll be helping me with the dishes," She looked at Keilan who had a guilty expression on his face.
"Mum, can I help too?" Leira said, a smile on her face.
"Yes you can, honey," Mara returned the smile.
Leira's smile widened.
Finishing their food, Damien joined them in washing the dishes. Leira demanded to be allowed to wash too, to which she was obliged. Mara eventually had to rewash everything Leira did.
When they were done, Mara went on to the market to get the ingredients for dinner, while Damien, Keilan and Leira went outside to play.