The Earth After Rebirth

For a second, it felt like he was lying on his bed back home. He could feel the warmth in the atmosphere his home always brought him, poor as they were his parents made that little place a home for them.

He smelled his mother's cooking from where he was. He could even feel the texture of his bed, the stinking feet of his younger brother. He tried getting up because he was hungry, and the breakfast smelled really delicious.

He groaned, as he couldn't get his body to get up, but he could move his eyes. The vision was clear now. They darted from left to right, he couldnt recognise the room he was in, but he concluded it was a makeshift house, made by a very inexperienced builder.

He wanted to move his hand to feel the wound that had him sleeping for a very long time. He could feel it was still there. But because his body refused his every command, he failed to.

He laid there, thinking about the experience he just went through. He tried to make sense of everything he saw but couldn't, it bothered him how real it all felt.

'Oh right, I was in that room. What happened in there, why did I get ejected so fast, was that war something I shouldn't have seen, perhaps. What a mindbender—'

His thoughts were disturbed by a burning sensation in his bones. There was only one foreign energy that took residence in his body, so he didn't need to crack his skull to know what was causing the pain.

By the looks of it, it was overflowing, it wanted to be used. It gave him a feeling he didn't quite like, he wanted to kill. He was thirsty for blood, not just murder too, the torturous gut wrenching kind.

His lips moved into a smirk, he couldn't believe that, even though he subdued the energy, it was still this suggestive to him. It awaited for any moment of weakness to snatch away his sanity.

It was unfortunate for it, because that was one thing Kiro refused to let go. Even in his past life, he never let his sufferings take away who he was. It was a priceless thing, something his parents gave him that nobody could forcibly take from him. If he did lose it, it would be out of his own volition.

His resolve had always been strong, he just needed a little push to get himself out there. Self-confidence was something he lacked back then, but it was something he gained now and it was ironclad.

Kiro noticed at a distance a big shadowy figure, lying on the ground with his muzzle on his paws, his body was moving at a slow even pace. He smiled, seeing his beast by his side made his insides all jittery.

Though the times when he nursed him came to mind, he unintentionally recoiled. It was the most painful thing, but he glad for him. He was glad to have someone there for him no matter what.

"Hubris," he said, his voice barely a whisper.

"Master, you're awake." Hubris was napping, but he heard the whisper, he got up really fast and went to stand by his side. He couldn't help himself, he was too excited, as he licked Kiro on the cheek.

Kiro attempted to laugh, but it came out as a smile instead. He was truly happy for a companion, he couldn't imagine how this experience would've been if he was all alone.

"My wound, how is it?" He asked as he couldn't see or touch it himself.

"Completely healed." He couldn't hide his excitement and relief.

'Huh? Is this what they call phantom tail?'

"It's probably hard to move because you've been laid like that for 6 months, at least that's what I've counted."

"6 months—you're kidding, Hubris? Where are we?"

"I don't know." He said suddenly sheepish.

Kiro was still out of sorts but he knew this must still be the game, why else would Hubris be there if it wasn't. He also sensed hesitation and a slight deception in Hubris' answer, even then he didn't pry further, he figured he'd tell him when he's ready.

"System, are you there?" He held his breath in anticipation, hoping the sassy, full of attitude system would answer back.

Silence. His heart dropped to the pits of his stomach. If this was the game, then where was the system? The more he thought about it, the more none of this made any sense. He reckoned it must have been a dream, maybe he's back at his dorm room, sleeping and will wake up and go to class.

"System... Status...Call Hiro—"

He tried different game commands but none of them worked. His body was getting used to the idea of him being awake now, slowly, he got up. Using Ryu as a crutch. He walked toward the shabby door, every step carried unfathomable anticipation.

He felt like a baby just learning to walk again, the shelter Hubris built wasn't all that big but it took Kiro everything in his being to just reach the door. The view was well worth the trouble, he thought.

He was in awe of what was before his eyes. The sky looked like it was riddled with clustered dust instead of stars, the dust had different colours. The sun was just at the horizon about to rise, the 5 moons were fading in the background since the sun was just about to come out.

"Hubris, where the hell are we?" He asked again, hoping this time, he'd tell him a bit of truth.

"Home... I think."