So I finally got around to rewriting this! I felt the original story was rushed and had a lot of bullshit so I decided to rewrite what I have before continuing. I already have most of it rewritten, I'm close to where I left off last time. I've really been getting back into writing so hopefully I can get this story really moving! I want to rewrite the majority of what I have for most fics so expect that!

Part 1: The Escape - Chapter 1

He watched his hand pass through the flames in front of him. His flesh did not burn or hurt, he simply felt the warmth of the fire on his hands.
"Kirino!" A voice called out from nearby, "Kirino dinner's ready!"
He heard the call but he didn't move away from the fire. The sound of footsteps against the dirt ground gradually became louder and Kirino soon felt a hand on his shoulder,
"You alright?" Asked a girl who had called him earlier. Without making a sound, Kirino nodded. The girl sat down on the ground beside Kirino with her legs crossed, "You thinking about that day again?" Kirino gave another soundless nod. It was 3 months ago, when his life had been very different.

It was a warm sunny afternoon in late spring. Today was an important day in the small medieval seaside town of Ferriel.
"I'm going now! I'll be home by sunset!" Kirino called into his home, a small stone orphanage close to the shore. He closed the door and picked up a basket he'd set beside himself earlier so his hands were free to lock the doors. He hopped down the grey stone steps in front of the building and hurried down the dirt path into town.
The town was alive with the music and joy of the town annual festival. Kirino walked below a colorful banner that read 'Happy Triumph Festival!'. He looked up to the town clock to check the time, 'it's almost 3!' Kirino thought, 'I'm late!' He picked up his pace upon realizing this, being stopped every few steps by a cheery townsperson greeting him. Finally he made it to the town square. A girl with 2 blue buns in her hair and violet eyes stood by one of the shops, tapping her foot impatiently.
"Beta!" Kirino called to her, waving as he approached her, "Sorry I'm late!"
Beta sighed, "Took you long enough. What was it this time? Kids flooding the basement? An overdue pile of laundry?"
"Getting the kids dressed for the festival." Kirino supplied. The two of them started to walk through the main streets of the town together.
"Thanks to you, I missed the whole morning of the festival!" Beta said with a frown, "Do even remember what this festival is for?"
"Of course I do!" Kirino retorted. Beta gave a small smirk when Kirino needed a few moments to remember the reason they had this festival every year. Eventually Kirino remembered and spoke up again, "It's when the users of water-magic defeated the users of fire-magic in the great war!" He gave a cocky smile after stating his explanation. Beta on the other hand, just laughed,
"Maybe I should get my dad to pay for you to go to school to!"
Beta's father was an important army officer who received a generous pay. Because of this, Beta went to a fancy boarding school just outside of town, which was the reason she lived in Ferriel alone. Kirino on the other hand was found on the edge of town as a baby and spent his time working in the orphanage he lived at. Despite the gap between their classes, the two of them managed to find something in common and became friends.
"That reminds me," Kirino said, reaching into the basket he had with him, "This is from one of the ladies at the orphanage." He pulled out a pile of paper from the basket, "She's learning how to make paper. She made some but didn't have anything to do with it, so she asked me to give it to you. Maybe you could find some use for it."
Beta took the paper and inspected it, "Hm, good quality for a beginner." She looked up and a smile spread on her face, "Hey, why don't we go to the bookshop?" without waiting for an answer, Beta grabbed Kirino's wrist and pulled him into the store. Kirino scanned the bookshelves, staring the words on the spines of the books. He never learned how to read, but he managed to teach himself a few words. Beta loved to read and always dragged Kirino into the bookstore. Beta pulled down a big book on the great war,
"My dad told me that during the war, the users of fire magic would set our history books on fire and fire them at us with canons!" Beta always told stories of things her father told her about a war that raged for hundreds of years, only ending about a hundred or so years ago. She had a lot of stories about things the users of fire magic did; they were the arch-rivals of the water magic users after all, "I'm so glad there are barely any fire magic users around anymore! They sound awful!" Beta said as she returned the book to its spot on the shelf. Everyone knew what happened to the once plentiful users of fire magic. The water users had killed most of them off when they defeated them in the great war.
"Now we're missing the festival! Let's go play some games!" Kirino followed Beta outside the store and down the street as the short girl struggled to see around the large crowds in front of the stalls.
"You've just been following me around all day, Kirino!" Beta pointed out later that afternoon, "Why don't you try one of the games?"
"All of these games require water magic, remember? I don't even have any magic." Kirino replied flatly. Beta giggled in reply,
"Oh I'm sure your magic will awaken soon!" She insisted.
The two sat down on a bench on the side of the road and Kirino shifted nervously, "I don't know… hey how about telling one of those stories about the great war?" Kirino said, attempting to change the subject. He breathed a sigh in relief when Beta started to get wrapped up in another story.
"and father told me that the users of fire magic killing her triggered the war and that's when we…" Beta trailed off when she realized Kirino wasn't listening, "Kirino. Something's off. Why bother to ask me to tell a story if you're not going to listen!?"
"Hm? Oh, I was listening!" He claimed. Beta frowned,
"Yeah right. What was the last thing I said?"
Kirino stared off into another direction, "Something about someone's death starting the war?" Beta gave an exasperated sigh, "oh it's hopeless with you." She stood up, "My father's coming to visit me for the festival. I'm meeting him at the edge of town so we might as well get over there."
Kirino simply nodded and stood up, following Beta through the crowd towards the forest on the edge of town. When they arrived, Beta paced back and forth, occasionally looking towards the forest. She only saw her father twice a year at best and even then he was usually too wrapped up in his military business to pay even the slightest bit of attention to her. Sometimes Kirino would wonder why she still likes him, but then he would remember that he gets Beta basically everything she wants. He knew if he had someone paying for his expenses he'd love them no matter how little attention they gave to him.
"He's here!" Beta exclaimed, giving an excited jump as she saw her father's horse come out of the dense forest. Her face fell when she saw what came after. At least 15 knights followed behind Beta's father. 'Strange.' Kirino thought, 'he only brought 2 knights with him last time. Maybe they need to plan for something going on at the capital.'
"Why so many guards this time, father?" Beta asked. Her father didn't take his eyes off the path in front of him,
"We will announce it to the town soon, once we get to the town square."
Beta nodded, following her father and his entourage towards the town square. Kirino walked behind them, wondering what was so important.
"We are here to give a warning!" The military leader announced once he got himself on top of a performance stage in the town square set up for a festival, "A warning about illegal magic!"
Kirino started to back away to the edge of the square, separating himself of Beta when he heard the statement. There was only one kind of illegal magic in the water magic empire: fire magic.
"We know all about the fire magic users already, sir," The mayor said, "What could you be warning us about?"
"As you know, every 10 years we have powerful magicians use their magic to sense the magic types of everyone in the kingdom to ensure we have no users of illegal magic in our midst," He began. Kirino knew about these 'scans'. The only other one that had happened in his lifetime was when he was 5, but at that time he was out of the kingdom, travelling with Beta and her family for summer vacation. Beta's father continued, "But a recent search has concluded that there is a user of fire magic hiding in this very town!" A sea of gasps emerged from the crowd. People looked at the people around them, mothers pulled their children closer to them. In a town where everyone knows everyone, the people were wondering which one of their friends has been hiding something.
Kirino froze. Today was the day of the search. How could have he forgotten!?
"But fear not, citizens of Ferriel! We are here to find and eliminate this wrenched scum!" He proclaimed, raising his shiny silver sword into the air. The people below cheered in response. Kirino did not cheer. He wanted to leave the area, leave the city, leave the kingdom. He wanted to leave existing. When he thought it couldn't get any worse, one of the knights behind the captain of the guard dismounted his horse, stepping up to the front of the stage and removing his helmet. He was a middle aged man with a grey beard and bushy eyebrows above his icy blue eyes.
"We have asked the royal magic expert to come and identify the person for us, so do not fear!" Beta's father continued, "We shall begin the search tomorrow!"
Kirino let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding. He had until tomorrow, he concluded.
"Wait." The royal magic expert interrupted, "No need to start tomorrow. He is here now."
The crowd gasped, including Kirino. He put up his hood and inched closer to the crowd, hoping to blend in more.
"The fire magic user," He paused, narrowing his eyes and scanning the crowd, "Is him." The old man lifted his hand, pointing directly at Kirino. Everyone turned to stare at him and the people around him backed away. Beta pushed through the crowd, standing on the edge of it,
"Kirino, is it true? I know it's not true. Tell me it's not!" She went from quietly whispering to basically yelling in the course of one sentence. Kirino could feel everyone's eyes on him. They were waiting to say that it must be some mistake and show them his clear use and understanding of water magic. The stares only got worse the longer the silence got. His mind was blank. He didn't know what to do, so he did the only thing he could do: He turned and ran towards the edge of town. The only way to get out of this situation would be to get out of the kingdom.
"After him!" Beta's father yelled behind him as he ran. Kirino heard the sound of horse's hooves hitting the ground behind him. They'd catch up in no time. He knew he couldn't run. Kirino looked up, seeing a beacon of hope: The forest. At the other side of that forest was the border of the water magic empire. He could manage to lose the knights in the forest he might manage to get out of the kingdom. He felt the terrain suddenly change under his feet from grassy field to the dirty forest floor. He didn't hear the knight's horses behind him, but he didn't stop running. Even though he had already pushed himself to his limit, he forced his body to keep running. He ran until he finally collapsed against a tree. He heard no horses and he heard no people. He was alone. That's when it hit him: He was alone. Kirino pulled his knees to his chest as tears began to form in the corners of his eyes. He couldn't go back, Kirino knew that. Kirino had been born with fire magic and knew it from a young age, but he just hid it in fear that this would happen. His life spent lying had finally back fired on him. He had no idea where he was and was essentially lost. He had no idea how to survive on his own in the wild. He didn't know what he'd do or where he'd go. He just ran away from everything he ever knew. He suddenly looked up in fear when he heard footsteps approach him, but the person who had walked up to him while he was crying was not one of the knights. It was a young woman who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had brown hair tied up into a bun, tanned skin and dark eyes.
"Why are you crying?" She asked. When Kirino didn't reply, the girl reached into the basket she was carrying and removed a small cookie from it. She held in her right hand, while in her left hand, she snapped and a small flame appeared in it. Shocked by this, Kirino stared at the flame, but he didn't let his guard down yet. The girl held the pastry above the fire to warm it up before handing it to Kirino.
"Was that…Fire magic?" Kirino asked. The girl smiled and nodded, "Yes it is! Why do you ask?"
"It's just…" Kirino paused, "I have fire magic to."
The girl beamed, "Really!? It's always nice to meet another fire-user!" She extended her hand down to Kirino to help him off the ground, "I'm Grace, you are?"
"Kirino. Kirino Ranmaru." Kirino replied, shaking Grace's hand, "Wait, another fire-user? There are more?"
Grace nodded, "Yeah! Me and my friends travel around the land together, we're all fire users!"
"But aren't you afraid of getting caught by the royal knights?" Kirino asked.
Grace shook her head, "Of course not. We have to pass through this forest to get to a town at the other side of water-user territory so we always plan our entrances to make sure we don't get into any trouble!" Grace glanced around, "Why are you all alone in the forest though? I thought there was supposed to be a festival in this kingdom today!"
Kirino looked at the ground, shuffling his feet, "Oh, yeah…About that…I was kind of forced to run away."
Grace nodded, deciding against asking for any further details. She suddenly grinned as if she had an idea, "I know! Since you're all alone and it's getting dark out, you could stay with me and my friends!"
"Really?" Kirino asked, "But you just met me?" Grace nodded,
"Of course! I'm always happy to help another fire-user!" She insisted, "Follow me, our camp is nearby!"
After some hesitation, Kirino started to eat the cookie previously offered to him as he followed Grace to a clearing in the forest. A covered wagon sat close to the outside of the clearing, and some horses were eating grass nearby. In the center of the clearing there was a campfire with 3 people sitting around it. The first one who noticed their arrival, a young boy with tall pointy black hair and a red headband looked up from the fire, waving at Grace and Kirino,
"Hi Grace!" He called over, drawing attention to them.
"Who's with you?" Asked a pale girl with long purple hair accessorized with a black and green headband. A blonde boy with glasses sitting beside her seemed appalled, "Meia, he's not going to replace me, is he?" He asked, seeing Kirino. Meia, the girl, gasped dramatically and grabbed both of the boys hands, "Oh Giris, no one could ever replace you!"
The black haired boy just looked at them and sighed, "Their point to prove they're in love aside, Who's with you?" He asked.
"Kanon, I'd like you to meet Kirino Ranmaru! He's a fire-user who'll be staying with us!" She stepped to the side to expose Kirino, who was hiding behind her. He gave a small wave to Kanon. Kanon reached into the fire, hand unaffected as he grabbed hold of a metal stick that was sitting inside it. There was a cooked fish on it. He reached out to hand it to Kirino, "you hungry?"
"Go ahead." Grace insisted when Kirino looked hesitant. He gave Kirino a little shove forward and he took the food that Kanon offered him. Kirino admit that he was hungry. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and it was now dark out. Kanon moved over, shoving Meia and Giris aside as well, interrupting a moment they were having, "Oh get a room you two!" He said jokingly. Kirino sat down on the space that Kanon had made and started to eat. When he got talking with the people there, we decided that maybe something good did come from this experience.

Kirino stared up into the starry night sky. Even 3 months later the memory of that night was clear as day. Beside him, Grace's gaze also took to the sky. She could understand why those memories would trouble Kirino now. They were stopping for a night in that same clearing on their way to Tasslebury, a small city state on the beach at the other side of water magic territory.
"Sometimes I just think about my old life. What it would be like if all that didn't happen." Kirino finally said.
"Do you ever wish for your old life back?" Grace asked. Kirino opened his mouth his to reply, but someone else spoke before him.
"You can have that life back, you know."
Hearing such a familiar voice, Kirino turned around, his gaze instantly going towards the speaker. He stood up, narrowing his eyes, "Beta." Kirino hissed, "What do you want?"
Beta frowned, "No need to get snitchy. I came to ask you to come back."
"Why on earth would you-" Kirino cut himself off upon processing what Beta said, "Wait, you want me back? Why? Aren't I, a user of fire magic, your worst enemy?"
Beta shrugged, "My father wanted you back really badly. He didn't say why but I'm fully supportive of it."
Kirino continued to glare at Beta, "Well forget about it. I don't want to go back."
Beta shrugged, turning around, "Well. Father did say he'll use force if he needed to. Let's hope it doesn't come to that." She said, walking off.
"That doesn't make sense." Kirino said after Beta was gone, "They ran me out of town in the first place. Why on earth would they want me back?"
Grace frowned, something she didn't often do, "I'm not sure, but I don't like the sound of that threat. We'll leave first thing in the morning and hopefully they'll leave us alone to get to Tasslebury. If they follow us there we'll just wait in town until they leave." Grace stared at the spot that Beta disappeared into for a few more seconds before adopting her usual smile, "Now we can't travel on empty stomachs! Why don't we go eat dinner?"
Kirino gave a small smile and followed Grace towards their covered wagon.

So how was it? hopefully better then the original... I feel like the pacing is better now and it makes a little more sense. While you're here why not leave a review before leaving?