A single children's story from long ago, far before human civilization would ever reach its peak, states that there once existed an era of beasts bearing magic potential far beyond what modern humans could ever conceive in either dream or reality. Some of these beasts were said to have kept to themselves, ruling over their own territories akin to royalty. Whilst others lived for bloodshed, always on the move, seeking to kill its prey and predators alike. These beasts couldn't be classed with regular animals or creatures, no, they bore their own title being known only as Tyrants.

But this story doesn't start with them. It starts in the modern day, a few miles past the border between the Clover and the Heart kingdom, dwelling within the Grand-Mana-Zone between. There exists a small tranquil and unknown region known as Panjura by its… unique residents. It's a place where the leaves of a green and serene forest that surrounded a lone mountain could flutter in the gentle breeze of a nice summer day, the scent of untouched nature would fill the sinuses and the calming sounds of singing creatures could soothe the ears.

At the base of the mountain existed a clearing, harbouring a large lake where many beasts big and small would meet to drink and interact with each other. A small island decorated with a white wooden gazebo sat in the centre of the lake, connected to the surrounding land by a wooden bridge. A beautiful lady sat, drinking some tea, in the gazebo while she petted a small two-legged lizard with a long tail and wearing a bowtie that was asleep in her lap.

The lady wore an elegant red dress with a graceful yellow sash around her waist. Her silky hair was a gorgeous red colour, stretching half-way down her back and she had faint brown markings around her bright yellow eyes that gleamed with contentment as she gazed over the calm, blue lake to a large group of peaceful and unique looking creatures.

The beasts were diverse in their appearance, coming in many different sizes and yet all bore some form of scales, many of them were all reptilian-like with some being heavy quadrupeds and others being smaller bi-pedalcreatures. Many bore claws, teeth and long tails, however some would bear more fish and or birds characteristics, like feathers, fins and or beak-like mouths.

But one stood out from the other beasts. A human child with long rough, brownish reddish hair, held in a loose ponytail halfway down his back. He was barefoot and shirtless but wore a pair of shorts with some animal hide around his waist, revealing the monster tooth necklace that hung around his neck, somewhat resembling a caveman fashion. His bright blue eyes beamed with innocent child joy as he played with the friendly beasts with his non-stop high-pitched laugh being contagious enough to even turn the cloudiest and gloomiest day into a bright and sunny one.

A heavy, large-bodied four-legged beast with 3 horns and a frill around its head, nuzzled the boy's cheek with its beak-like mouth.

"Hey, that tickles." The boy couldn't stop smiling, not that he'd ever want to. "Oh?" He felt a tug on his hair and glanced behind him to see 2 more of the same small bi-pedal lizard that was on the woman's lap, chasing after his hair as it waved from side to side. His joy-filled smile grew even bigger as he purposely swung his head from side-to-side to make his hair sway more.

The woman sitting on the porch put her drink down and smiled as she placed her hand over an old, weathered book. "He looks just as happy as you were, even though you always tried to hide it behind that serious act." Her eyes moved to the book with a slight depressed look.

"Haha!" The boy's laughter quickly stole the woman's attention, she couldn't help but smile again as she kept watching the boy from afar.

She noticed the shadows from the trees were getting smaller as the sun was reaching the middle of the sky. "I wonder what we should have for dinner today." She moved the small lizard from her lap to the chair next to her and stood up before walking to the edge of the gazebo. "Ciel, come here!" The woman called the boy's name.

The boy, hearing his name called, stood up. "Kay!" A lizard that towered the others and bore an extremely long neck offered Ciel a ride on their head, to save him the journey of having to go around the lake and Ciel was happy to take the offer.

"Yeah, mom?" Ciel jumped into the gazebo and petted the large lizard's head to thank them for the shortcut.

"Would you please go hunting and catch something for dinner tonight? It should be the right season for rabbits to come out of hibernation." His mother asked.

"Rabbits!" Ciel's face showed his excitement, He immediately sped off towards the forest before his mother could say another word. "I'll make sure to bring back enough for Grandma as well!"

His mother watched him speed off, before walking towards a path that spiralled up the lone mountain. "He's going to be gone for a while. I suppose I'll go take a bath while he's hunting."

Sometime later in the forest. A lone rabbit sat in a small clearing as it cleaned its ears, unaware of the arrowhead that was sticking out of the bush just behind it.

"Slow your breathing…" The whisper of a young boy caught the attention of the rabbit, as it lifted both ears up to listen for the danger. "Steady your hands…" The string of a bow croaked and the rabbit heard it, jumping away from the danger as quickly as it could. "Keep your ey- No!" The arrow shot out of the bush and completely missed its target. The young boy quickly stood up from behind the bush with a heavily frustrated look on their face. "Damn it! That's the seventh one I've missed today!"

The boy's earthy green hair blended in with the forest and covered one of his, sharp, vibrant red eyes, that strongly stood out from his surroundings. The boy stepped out from behind the bush to pick up the arrow that dug itself into the ground, revealing their dark green and grey coat bearing a large collar that covered the bottom of their face, along with their dark grey trousers that were tucked into a pair of black boots, matching their black fingerless gloves.

"Damn it! Why are rabbits so jittery! Out of the nine I've seen, I only managed to hunt two!" The boy's voice never calmed even after they roughly and repeatedly kicked a nearby tree.

"What did that tree do to you?" Another young boy's voice said.

The angry boy, after hearing the voice, quickly drew back the arrow and aimed it towards the voice, only to find a boy similar in age to him with long reddish brown hair and bright blue eyes, hanging upside down from a branch. "A kid? This far into the forest?" The angry boy relaxed his arms and aimed their bow and arrow down. "Go home, don't you know it's dangerous this far into the forest." The boy began to walk away.

"But this is my home?..." Ciel said quietly to himself before letting go of the branch and landing on his feet. "Hey, you missed the rabbit."

"Yeah no shit!" The angry boy grew instantly annoyed at Ciel's comment. "Who the hell even are you?! I know none of the other kids in my village are dumb enough to go this far into the forest."

Ciel innocently tilted his head to the side as he tried to figure out what the random boy meant. "Does that mean you're dumb enough?"

The angry boy just stared at Ciel for a few seconds before muttering his next words and quickly walking away. "Go away!"

Ciel didn't listen to the boy and followed behind.

The boy noticed Ciel curiously following him and sped up a little more.

Ciel sped up too with a joyful smile on his face.

The boy sped up into a jog.

Ciel did the same.

The boy suddenly stopped and turned to Ciel, unzipping the collar of his coat, showing the bottom half of his face. "Okay! Who actually are you?!"

Ciel pointed to himself with his smile still on full display. "Ciel. I'm eight."

"Same age as me… But that's not what I meant!" The boy said harshly.

Ciel took a second but thought he understood the question. "I'm human."

The boy loudly groaned thinking Ciel was messing with him.

"So what's your name?" Ciel didn't seem fazed by the boy's anger.

The boy sighed as he looked away, realising that his insults weren't landing on Ciel. "Ryuji. Furuno, Ryuji." He felt cool saying his name like that.

Ciel put his finger to his chin as he thought to himself. "Weird…"

"Huh?! In what way is my name weird?!" Ryuji shouted out as he pointed to Ciel.

"I've never met someone with two names before." Ciel said with an innocent curiosity.

"Furuno is my family name! You dumbass!" Ryuji frustratingly went to walk away again but stopped as Ciel asked a question.

"Family name?"

Ryuji came to a stop and slowly turned around. "You're kidding right? You have no idea what a family name is?"

Ciel shook his head.

Ryuji's face palmed as he spoke to himself. "This kid… really is a dumbass." He looked back to Ciel and closed his eyes before he started to explain. "It's a second name that everyone in your family shares as a way to distinguish yourself from others. Though it's mostly nobles who prefer to actually use them." Ryuji opened his eyes and saw the dumbfounded look on Ciel's face. "You… barely understood that, didn't you?"

"Nobles? Distinguish? Well whatever." Ciel's innocent smile came back as he walked past Ryuji.

"Where are you going?" Ryuji asked.

Ciel turned around and looked back at Ryuji. "Hunting rabbits."

"Wha- Without a bow and arrow?"

"Bow? Arrow?"

Ryuji could tell that explaining what they were would be like talking to a wall. "Nevermind. Do you even have a knife at least? Or do you not know what a knife even is?"

Ciel nodded. "Oh, I know what a knife is but… cooking comes after hunting, so why would I carry one?"

"Knives aren't just for cooking!" Just talking to Ciel was taking every ounce of strength Ryuji had. "You use those tools, a knife for example!, to hunt more effectively. Or else you're going to have an extremely hard time catching anything!" Ryuji took a deep breath to compose himself. "Let me ask, what do you use to hunt?"

"Mostly my bare hands. But for faster prey like rabbits… I like to use magic." Ciel held out his hand as a small bone-like material began to appear.

"Magic? I knew you were lying." Ryuji scoffed. "A kid the same age as me might be able to use basic magic. But there's no way they would have the experience needed to hunt efficiently using it. Especially not one living on the outskirts of the kingdom!"

"But…" Ciel reached behind him and pulled out the carcasses of four rabbits that were attached to his waist by a rope. "I've already caught some."

"Eh?..." Ryuji took a second to process the info. "Th- They have to be fake!" Ryuji got closer and examined the rabbits, before going pale and falling to his hands and knees. "They're real…."

Ciel looked down at Ryuji. "Are you okay?"

"I've been outdone by some random kid, with an IQ, a number too low to be found."

"I… Q?"

From Ciel's point of view he could see Ryuji's head turn away. "How?..." His voice was low.

Ciel knelt down so he could hear Ryuji better. "Hm?"

Ryuji suddenly looked Ciel in the eyes with frustration in his eyes. "How did you do it!? I've been trying all goddamn day and have only been able to catch two!"

"Oh, you need help hunting." That comment hurt Ryuji's pride deeply. Ciel held his hand out towards Ryuji. "I can help you if you want?"

Ryuji's face turned slightly red from embarrassment as he took Ciel's hand and got pulled to his feet. "Just… don't tell anybody about this, okay?"

"I'm not sure who I'm going to tell, but okay." Ciel pulled Ryuji to his feet.

Ryuji zipped up his collar to hide the red on his face. "So… what first?"

Ciel put his hands on his hips. "First things first, we find ourselves a rabbit."

"I would not have guessed…" Ryuji started to walk away to find a rabbit.

Ciel watched Ryuji slowly walk past him. "Where are you going?"

Ryuji stopped and turned his head to Ciel. "To track a rabbit, what else?"

Ciel's face showed his confusion. "Walking?"

"What do you want me to do, sprout wings and fly!?"

Ciel shook his head. "Even I know humans don't have wings…" Ciel looked Ryuji in the eyes. "They don't, right?"

Ryuji fully turned to face Ciel. "Of Course they- I mean, we don't! I was being sarcastic, dumbass!"

Ciel's face showed his cluelessness as he spoke to himself. "Sarcastic?" Ciel decided not to ask and turned and pointed to a tree. "As we can't fly, I'll let you know that I prefer to use the trees."

"You want me… to climb a tree?" Ryuji saw Ciel nod and sighed before walking to the tree. "This better get me a damn rabbit." Ryuji grabbed a low branch before using every strength he had to pull himself up… slowly.

Ciel watched for the whole four minutes it took for Ryuji to climb to a high-ish branch. He then proceeded to make that same climb into three and a half seconds.

Ryuji looked Ciel in the eyes after seeing him climb up. "Show-off… What now?"

Ciel crouched on the branch with perfect balance whilst Ryuji hugged the branch. "We wait for a rabbit to appear."

"Wouldn't it be faster just to find one ourselves?" Ryuji finally gained enough balance to sit upright on the branch.

"No. Moving around would disturb them. For small creatures like rabbits, it's better to let them come to you. So we need to stay still and be patient." Ciel's eyes were fixed on an opening in the tree's leaves that showed the small clearing.

"And how long will that take?"

"Not long." Ciel sat down, dangling his feet over the branch. "You picked a great spot for hunting though."

Ryuji looked over to Ciel. "And why's that?"

"This area contains the most rabbit holes in the whole forest. So you have great senses." Ciel smiled at Ryuji.

"I just followed the rabbit tracks until they got more recent." Ryuji lent against the tree as he kept an eye on the opening in the tree, wanting to fill the silence as it felt awkward to him. "Y'know, I'm not even allowed this deep into the forest."

"Why?" Ciel's smile faded into a curious one.

"The adults in my village don't like the children going this deep into the forest for two reasons. One: Because it's impossible to tell where the border of the Clover kingdom ends. And two: Because of the witch." Ryuji crossed his arms and leant back against the tree's trunk.

Ciel didn't know what a witch was or what it could be referring to. But he did know that this forest was far from a dangerous place. "Do the people in your village think this place is really that dangerous? My mom and I have spent our whole lives in this place. I don't think it's dangerous."

"Your whole lives?" Ryuji said to himself. "The people in the village do think it's dangerous to go too deep, because of the stories relating to the witch I mentioned."

"What stories?" Ciel couldn't help but be intrigued.

Ryuji reminisced on when his parents would tell him the stories. "The stories say this witch has the ability to command armies of monsters that people have never seen before. And if you go deep enough into the forest then you'll be chased out by one of these monsters, some people have even come back injured."

Ciel nodded, wanting to hear more.

"I personally haven't seen any monsters yet, but one of the adults says they saw a shadow of a large, hunched bi-pedal creature with curved claws and merciless eyes. But he could just be lying."

Ciel thought he knew a creature that resembled the description but he knew that the one that came to mind wasn't as scary or dangerous as this story said the monster was.

"So anyway, the village sent a request for the Magic-Knights, specifically my parents, to investigate. But even they couldn't find anything. No witch, no monster, nothing."

"Magic Knights? Oh, you mean the people that are split into nine squads, overseen by Captains so they can protect the kingdom using their magic?"

Ryuji's head slowly turned to Ciel. "I'm genuinely amazed you know that much."

"Well my mom always carries around my dad's diary and it talks alot about Magic Knights. She used to read it to me every now and then."

"So your dad's a Magic Knight?"

Ciel put a finger to his chin to try and remember. "I think. My mom said he was a well-known Magic-Knight or something like that. Now that I think about it, I don't really know much about him."

"Was? Oh…" Ryuji realised what Ciel meant. "You're dad's not with you anymore, isn't he?"

Ciel shook his head, answering Ryuji's question. His innocent smile never faded though. "Last time I saw him I was… six-months old, I think. Though I can barely remember his face or name." Ciel recalled a single image of his father holding him as a baby, and although Ciel could remember what his father's mouth, nose, hair and eyes looked like, he struggled to piece them all together into a single image.

"You can remember your memories from that long ago?" Ryuji was amazed, but he didn't want to show it.

Ciel nodded again. "Yeah. My mom says that I have a… photogenic memory."

"I think it's photographic."

Ciel shrugged as he couldn't remember the word and grew bored of the conversation. "Anyway, tell me more about the stories of the witch?"

Ryuji was surprised by Ciel's sudden demand to hear about the witch. "Oh, um… Well the adults say that this witch apparently comes to the village to buy some food every few months, accompanied by two of these monsters. Though I've never seen her in person."

Ciel knew every kind of creature that lived in the forest, but he's never seen anything that he would call a monster. "I don't believe the forest has any monsters or witches."

Ryuji looked back to the opening in the leaves. "Personally, part of me believes this witch exists. But another part of me thinks it's just a lie the adults made to keep us away from the forest. They even have a detailed description of her appearance, but that kind of thing is easy to fake." Ryuji giggled as he remembered something. "They even got the doctor in the village in on it. They got him to say that he helped the witch give birth eight years… ago…" Ryuji's speech suddenly slowed as he came to a realisation.

Ciel also glanced through the opening the same time a rabbit appeared. "Oh hey, there's a rabbit."

Ryuji's eyes slowly turned to Ciel as the realisation hit him harder. "You said that you lived in the forest your whole life with your mom? And that you're eight years old."

Ciel got into a crouching position and began to create the bone-like material in his hand again, taking the form of a needle. "Hm? I did, yeah."

Ryuji suddenly grabbed Ciel's shoulders. "What does your mom look like?!"

Ciel almost lost his footing and dropped the bone-like material in his hand as Ryuji grabbed him. "Huh?! W-well, she has long hair, she's human and… her name is Mary." Ciel had trouble thinking of what to say as he's not the quickest thinker.

"Does she have blood red hair and golden piercing eyes?!"

"Not exactly the words she would use but… I think so."

"No way, you're mo-" Ryuji lost his footing as he leant back and fell from the branch he was on. "Ah!"

"Ryuji!" Ciel grabbed Ryuji's coat to try and help him but got dragged off the branch too. "Wah!"

Ciel's instincts told him to quickly twist their bodies in the air so his arm and shoulder could protect Ryuji's head from the ground and while they weren't too high up, it was still enough to hurt badly.

Ciel sat up and grabbed the back of his head. "Ow, that really hurt…" He looked over to Ryuji who was lying on the ground completely still. "Ryuji…" Ciel reached over and shook Ryuji's shoulder. "Ryuji?" After he didn't get a response back he rolled Ryuji onto his back and put his ear to Ryuji's chest to hear his heartbeat. "Oh, he's just asleep." Ciel stood up but then felt an immediate sharp pain in the shoulder Ryuji fell on. "Ow…" He repeatedly rolled his shoulder to see if that would ease the pain, but it only made it worse. Ciel grabbed his shoulder and stood up contemplating what to do, as his shoulder hurt and Ryuji was unconscious, eventually realising that they'd need his mom's help.

Ciel struggled to pick Ryuji up with one arm, but he eventually managed to get Ryuji over his unharmed shoulder and start walking towards the lone mountain. It took about twenty minutes of walking for Ciel to carry Ryuji to the lake at the bottom of the mountain, where the creatures from before ran up to him bearing a concerned look.

Ciel smiled through the pain to help soothe their worries. "I'm okay. But I could use help carrying him to my mom."

One of the creatures, specifically a large friendly-looking two-legged lizard, bearing feathers and sickle-like claws, crouched down so that Ciel could place Ryuji on its back. "Thank you." Another creature picked Ciel up by the fur tied around his waist and placed him on the lizard's back as well. "I'm good enough to walk."

The creature shook its head as if to say. "I don't care."

The large lizard stood up and started walking the trail that spiralled up the mountain, making sure not to shake Ciel and Ryuji too much so as to not hurt them any further. The lizard turned into a large cave half-way up the mountain, revealing a large wooden home that was nearly as big as the cave itself.

Mary, Ciel's mom, was sitting on a chair on the porch of the house and saw the lizard carrying Ciel and some random unconscious child she'd never seen before. "I would have preferred if you gave me a warning before we turn to cannibalism, Ciel."

Ciel gave a guilty smile to his mom as she walked up to him.

As she got closer Mary noticed that his shoulder was completely swollen and covered in a giant bruise. "You've been climbing trees again haven't you?" His mom crossed her arms, her eyes bearing a frightening aura before sighing. "You can tell me who that child is and what happened when we get inside."

During the time it took Mary to make sure Ryuji wasn't injured and Ciel's shoulder was in a make-shift cast and wrapped bandages, Ciel had told her everything. About how he met Ryuji, how they both got injured and also how Ryuji's village thinks there's something called a 'witch' living in the forest, which seemed to annoy her somewhat, but Ciel didn't notice.

"There, all done." Mary finished bandaging Ciel's shoulder and looked over to Ryuji who was still unconscious on the couch. "I'll take him back to his village."

Ciel's ears perked up at the thought of seeing Ryuji's village. "Ca-"

"No! You're grounded for a week for disobeying me and climbing trees." Mary's voice was incredibly strict and annoyed as she grabbed a book bearing a three-leaf clover that was laying on the table, before picking up Ryuji from the couch. "And you always get scared when we fly."

"Aw… And you're using the magic book?! No fair!" Ciel deflated onto the couch as he watched his mother carry Ryuji out the house, closing the door behind her.

The slowest week Ciel would ever experience goes by, doing nothing but recovering and chores before he could go back out to the forest, hoping to catch a glimpse of Ryuji hunting like he had before. But unfortunately there was no sign of him, nor was he there the next day, or the day after that. It didn't take Ciel long to come to the conclusion that Ryuji wasn't going to come back as Ciel was the reason he got hurt in the first place, which did hurt but he understood. More days passed as Ciel returned to his normal carefree and smiling life, never seeing a single sign of Ryuji. Or at least that was until 3 more weeks had passed.

Ciel was sitting up in a tree completely focused on two squirrels, Squirrel-A and Squirrel-B, fighting for a single acorn in the tree next to him and his shoulder, while mostly healed, was still bandaged as it was in the later stages of recovery.

"Ciel." A familiar voice called out to Ciel but was ignored.

Ciel smiled as both Squirrel-A and Squirrel-B took serious boxer-like stances and ran at each-other, going back and forth as they blocked, dodged and or countered each other with moves that could rival professionals.

"Hey!" The voice grew louder but was ignored again.

Ciel giggled as Squirrel-A headbutted Squirrel-B, before picking Squirrel-B up, paraded them around like they were a sign and then slammed Squirrel-B down hard onto their bent knee.

"Hey!" The voice started shouting.

Ciel laughed out loud as Squirrel-B got back up and drop-kicked Squirrel-A onto the floor. Squirrel-B then grabbed Squirrel-A's legs, spinning them around and around, before letting go, sending Squirrel-A flying before harshly slamming into the tree's trunk.

The familiar voice gave up on shouting as they clicked their tongue, soon followed by the sound of a bow-string being drawn back.

Ciel's smile grew way bigger as Squirrel-A got back to their feet and ran at Squirrel-B, grabbing them by the waist from behind and proceeded to lift Squirrel-B off the ground, suplexing them into the floor. Squirrel-A then picked up the acorn and placed their foot on Squirrel-B's body, before lifting the acorn up in well-earned victory.

At the same time an arrow flew by Ciel's head making him jump, slamming itself into Squirrel-A's acorn, shattering it.

"Huh?!" Ciel turned around to see where the arrow came from, spotting Ryuji on the ground with his bow aimed up at Ciel. "Ryuji?"

"Finally you heard me… I need to ask you something." Ryuji hooked his bow onto his belt and watched as Ciel jumped down.

"I thought you weren't coming back." Ciel said.

"I couldn't. I was grounded for a whole month, because I went too far into the forest. My grandparents can be really strict about rules." Ryuji noticed the bandage covering Ciel's shoulder, his voice going quiet. "Sorry."

"Hm?" Ciel tilted his head in confusion.

Ryuji gestured to Ciel's shoulder. "You protected me when I caused us to fall out of the tree. I wanted to apologise for that."

Ciel looked at his bandages. "Eh, I've had worse. I also broke the main rule in the first place."

"The main rule?"

Ciel rubbed the back of his head with an innocent smile. "My mom doesn't like when I climb trees as I used to always end up getting hurt. So she forbids me from doing it."

Ryuji looked at the branch Ciel was just sitting on. "Weren't you just in the tree?"

Ciel quickly looked away with a guilty look on his face. "No."

Ryuji didn't notice the slight smile that appeared on his face.. "Anyway, I came here to ask you for two things. The first thing is a favour."

Ciel looked back at Ryuji as tilted his head. "Hm?"

"As I mentioned before, my parents are Magic-Knights and well I want to be a Magic-Knight just like them, then one day become a Captain of my own squad. So I need to get better at hunting and also using magic." Ryuji looked away embarrassed, but then forced himself to look Ciel in the eyes. "You're the only kid I know that's better at hunting than I am and you mentioned that you're skilled enough to use your magic to hunt. So… please can you help me become better at them."

Ciel smiled. "I already said I would when we first met."

"Thanks." Ryuji cleared his throat. "And the other thing is well… less of a favour and more of an offer."

"Offer?"

"It's okay if you deny it, but you mentioned before that your dad was a Magic Knight and a well-known one at that. Yet you barely know anything about him, right?"

Ciel nodded, wondering why Ryuji brought that up.

"I didn't ask then but it's been playing on my mind. Don't you want to know more about him, like the type of person he was, how good he was at using magic or what it took for him to become as well-known as your mom said he was."

Ciel put his hand to his chin and closed his eyes. "I barely ever thought about my dad until we talked, but he has been on my mind ever since. So yeah, I guess. Why?"

Ryuji took a deep breath to gain the courage to say his offer. "Well, I don't really get along with the other kids in my village, but when I hung out with you, I actually… I had fun. So I guess my offer is this: Would you like to become a Magic Knight with me? That way you can learn more about your dad and I can finally have a friend."

Ciel stared at Ryuji for a few seconds before looking up to the sky, seeing two adult birds and their younglings flying above the trees. "Become a Magic-Knight… That would mean leaving the forest, wouldn't it."

Ryuji's look turned sombre as he nodded, worried that Ciel would turn around and reject his offer. "Yeah, it would…"

The adult birds flew higher into the sky, but the baby birds stayed, almost as if they were afraid. Until just one worked up the courage and decided to go for it, starting a chain reaction of all the baby birds following their parents higher, eventually flying out of sight, causing Ciel to smile brightly. "...I'll do it."

Ryuji looked up and his eyes met Ciel's. "Huh?"

Ciel's eyes turned bluer than the sky above as he became even more excited than he's ever been. "I've always wanted to see outside the forest. So I'm in, I'll become a Magic-Knight with you so I can learn more about my dad. Oh, but you'll have to help me convince my mom.

Ryuji's eyes and his smile grew just as big as Ciel's, showing the wave of joy that had just washed over him, as he gained his first friend. "Ofcourse!"

They stood there looking at each other, neither really knowing how to end the conversation in a non-awkward way, until something came to Ryuji's mind.

"Ciel, raise your fist to me."

"Why?"

"Just do it. It's something people do to commemorate the beginning of their shared goal."

Ciel didn't get what they were doing, but he did as Ryuji said and held his fist out.

Ryuji pressed his own fist against Ciel's. "To become a Magic-Knight and one day become a Captain."

In that moment Ciel felt a feeling he'd never felt before, it was different than when he was with his mother, or when he played with the beasts. It was warmth, happiness, excitement, comfort and strength, all in one. Ciel pressed his fist more against Ryuji's. "To become a Magic-Knight and learn more about my dad."

A few moments pass as they stand their fist-bumping and smiling at eachother, until Ciel broke the ice. "So…"

"What is it?"

Ciel tilted his head as he asked a question. "So when do we become Magic-Knights?"

"We can't until we're fifteen."

Ciel's face lost all excitement. "But that's so far away…"

Ryuji smirked. "Plus, we'd need to get our grimoires first."

Ciel's head slowly titled as his eyes narrowed. "Grimoire...?"

Ryuji's hand slowly raised and met his forehead as he let out a long deep sigh. "This is going to take a while."