After having the air knocked out of him, Sebastian took some time to rest.
He truly was exhausted.
The fight took a lot out of him. He munched on his snack while thinking about things he should be doing.
'If I'm gonna be better, a lot of things are gonna need to change.'
He started making a list of things.
'The way I present myself needs to be better.'
Everyone in the village knew Sebastian as a slacker who never took anything seriously because none of it interested him. He also never dressed well or did his long hair, even if a major event was taking place.
'Everyone thinks well of my dad, and he always dresses and prepares himself well.'
He then kept listing things off.
'I need to start reading too; Jade knows a lot more general information on beasts than I do.'
He paused. 'My dad reads a lot.'
The pattern made itself clear.
'I might need to be more like my dad.'
Sebastian cringed at the idea.
'Become more like that old man? No way! All he does is sit around, read, and have meetings. I'd probably be so bored I would jump off a cliff.'
He finished his snack at that point and started taking his clothes off so he could clean himself while still thinking.
'I don't need to be exactly like him, just a little more. Plus it would definitely make Mom happy.'
The person Sebastian cared about the most was his mom, Samantha. He'd do anything for the lady.
He took off the rest of his clothes and entered the spring.
This was a place that he had found and told no one about. It was a body of water tucked behind a hill that no one else had found yet, fortunately.
It was also heated to the perfect temperature.
The warm water was the perfect place to not only clean yourself but also relax. Sebastian put thoughts of his parents to the side and enjoyed his break.
After a few minutes he felt breathing on his neck.
He looked to the side to find a pair of red eyes staring at him and a wagging tail.
"Right, you've never seen water before."
Sebastian dipped his hand into the water and cupped it. He brought it out of the water and to her face.
Cindy cautiously sniffed it before deciding to taste it. She licked it and enjoyed it.
Sebastian then splashed the rest of the water in his hand into her face.
Cindy hissed, jumped back, and ran away behind a tree.
"Cindy, it was just a joke. It's nothing but water."
He hopped out of the spring, and a strange situation took place. A boy wearing nothing ran around a small part of the forest chasing a small white beast around trees.
Cindy had the idea to hide behind a tree but didn't take into account her long tail, which obviously stuck out to the side.
Sebastian pretended not to see her and then grabbed the tail.
"Come on. I'm gonna teach you the way my dad taught me."
He walked her over to the spring and threw her right into the middle of it.
Cindy flew through the air, and to her credit, she did orient her body to land on her feet.
Her feet just went straight through the surface of the water.
Cindy began struggling in the water in an instant.
"Someone's obviously not an aquatic breed."
Sebastian cracked jokes from the side and watched with full confidence that she would figure it out.
Cindy only splashed more.
"God, they grow up so quickly."
Cindy splashed even more.
He then recalled that the first time his dad tried this, his mom had to dive into the water to save him.
'Yeah, I definitely don't need to be exactly like my dad.'
He dove into the water and rescued the drowning creature. He brought her to land, and Cindy ran away from him and up a tree.
'She'll get over it.'
Sebastian went back to bathing and finished cleaning himself. Once he got out, he found Cindy sitting in a tree cleaning herself.
He walked over to her and stuck his arms out.
"Let's go home, Cindy."
She continued cleaning herself.
Sebastian thought she didn't hear him.
"Let's go, Cindy."
She only continued cleaning herself.
'Maybe water got in her ears.'
He started climbing the tree to grab her, and just before he could, she jumped away and continued licking herself.
"Really, Cindy? You're mad at me?"
More licking took place.
"Fine, I'll head home without you."
Sebastian hopped down and did just that. He walked towards the village and looked back towards her.
It didn't seem like she moved and was doing the same thing.
"I'm leaving now, Cindy!"
He kept walking and looked back again after several more steps. She was still cleaning herself.
Then Sebastian noticed something.
'Wait a minute. She wasn't on that branch before.'
He kept walking, and instead of turning his head completely, this time he only peeked backwards.
Sebastian saw her crouching forward slowly from branch to branch. He then turned his head suddenly, and she stopped and began cleansing her skin.
"I see you moving stupid."
Cindy ignored his statement, and the process repeated all the way home.
By the time they reached the village, the sun was setting, and the people who had to resort to hunting were making their way back.
Sebastian hadn't had an actual meal in a long time and decided to head home. He walked into the house with Cindy, who reluctantly entered, to find his mother preparing a meal.
"Look who decided to come home. Just in time for dinner, what a coincidence." She yelled.
"I do what my stomach desires." He responded.
Sebastian sat down at the dinner table and began reading the book he stole from his father.
Once his mother saw him, she dropped her spatula.
"What have you done with my son?"
"Mom, what are you talking about?"
He never looked away from his book while saying this.
This made tears well up in his mom's eyes.
'He's growing up to become just like Simon.'
She didn't want to ruin the moment, so she picked up her spatula and continued cooking.
Soon his father entered the house and dinner began.
They all sat around the table and had a meal and conversation as a family.
"So, how has Cindy been?" Samantha asked.
Cindy was sleeping under the table next to Sebastian's feet.
"She's been fine. She really likes to play, and she's really smart."
His father backed his statement up.
"She really is highly intelligent. If she grows to be big, she'll be dangerous."
"That's great to hear." His mother said.
Sebastian didn't want to make the conversation awkward, but he really wanted to bring up a specific topic.
"How did Twain do with the rock golem?"
His father finished chewing.
"Elder Kasim says he did great. He adequately used the defensive properties of the creature to tire out his opponent and then went on a relentless offense to fell the beast. Of course he probably slightly exaggerated to give his son a better chance of being chosen to be sent to the tournament."
Sebastian wouldn't be surprised if that took place. Elder Kasim had always been really rude.
'Maybe that's the reason I don't like Twain. His dad's just the worst.' He thought.
He considered it seriously for a second.
'Nah, I wouldn't like him either way.'
"Speaking of the tournament." Sebastian began. "How will the participants from this village be chosen?"
"We're still talking it over, but the idea we're going with for now is to host our own tournament."
Sebastian got excited once again at the mention of a tournament. He had beaten his peers enough times to get bored of it. Their new powers would pose a challenge that he looked forward to.
"How long till this takes place?" Sebastian asked.
His mother answered.
"Like Kasim stated, three years from now. Though this differs for other villages."
Sebastian was confused.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"The big clans have arranged it so that different villages send their children at different times. So some villages are sending their kids at 13, some 14, and so on and so on. This way they can adequately gather information on what age to implement their new training methods."
'That makes a lot of sense,' Sebastian thought.
Sebastian changed the topic again.
"Hey mom, can you cut my hair?"
"Um, sure, sweetie. Where is this coming from, though?" She pondered.
Sebastian decided to lie.
"It just gets in my face while fighting."
The real reason was to be able to style it like his father's, but she didn't need to know that yet.
His mother decided to change the topic once again.
"Your father told me you did well in the competition today."
Sebastian began playing with his food.
"I did okay."
His dad intervened.
"He did great; he just needs to be a little less cocky. You would've easily won if you had decided not to grab her tail and just stuck with what worked before."
He thought back to the fight and realized his father was right. Deflecting her stinger attacks worked perfectly fine. There was no reason to change the strategy all of a sudden.
"Every opponent you run into from now on is going to have a surprise for you. You have to keep things as simple as possible." His father concluded.
Usually he would've brushed off his parent's comments, but he decided to take them seriously.
His mother added on.
"What about that pretty girl named Jade?"
"MOM!"