In the outskirts of the Kingdom of Fricia lightning illuminated the sky, as it zipped through the harsh whistling wind to whip the ground in delight. The crackling roar of thunder following after it, tearing through the stormy night time sky into the ears of the unfortunate victims caught in the unforeseen force of nature.
At the center of the storm sat a small village, forced to endure the battering winds and torrents of rain. Some of the villagers, knowing their poorly made homes had no chance of surviving, had chosen to hunker down in the only building with a chance of sheltering them, a small cottage with stone walls and a thatched roof.
Among the 15 villagers squeezed into the cottage, there sat a woman, her white skin had a slight tan to it much like the rest of the villagers, and her brunette hair was lightly bleached from working in the sun. Her eyes were just as ordinary, a dark shade of brown, however, what brought attention to her was her rounded, protruding belly.
The woman sat on a wooden chair, her head facing down and shoulders rising and falling as the sound of her ragged breathing could be faintly heard.
“I’m here for you Honey,” said a masculine voice, likely the woman's partner.
In reply the woman turned her head upwards to look into the man's eyes. She didn’t need to say anything, the man could tell just from the look in her eyes. She was scared. As a response the man held the woman's hands, whispering words of comfort into her ears.
The man knew there was nothing he could do to stop what he could see coming. His wife would give birth to their child tonight, and it frightened him as much as it frightened her.
“MARIA I NEED YOUR HELP!” cried the man, making sure that the people in the cottage could hear him over the sound of the storm.
The other people in the cottage were not unaware of what had been going on, they knew that the woman's child would be due any time soon, and the woman's ragged breathing had easily convinced them that the time had come. Albeit, the threat of the storm was foremost in their thoughts, and so they had been too worried to offer the woman any comfort.
The shouting of the woman’s partner had got them moving, and a small path cleared to allow the woman called Maria to get to the man’s partner.
The older woman called Maria took a quick look at the other woman before saying something.
“Gerald, we need to move Ella to the bed,” said Maria.
Acknowledging what Maria said, Gerald picked up Ella and carried her to the cottages bed, it didn’t take long considering the cottage wasn’t large, but the other people in the cottage had to move out of the way which required a bit of shuffling.
“Well?” said Gerald, only seeking to confirm what he knew was coming.
“She’s going to have the baby Gerald,” replied Maria in a solemn tone.
Gerald’s grip on his wife’s hand tightened, whether he was trying to reassure her or himself that everything would be ok, he didn’t know. It would be a painful birth, and all he could do was be by Ella’s side. How much this meant to Ella however… he could only tell from the look in her eyes.
As time passed, Ella gave birth to her child, and with it, the storm raging around them vanished.
(Break)
‘I feel… I feel?!’
Leo liked to think that having spent so long in an endless void he would be at least somewhat immune to getting surprised, but what he was experiencing right now exceeded everything he had thought of.
‘Warm… moist… small… wait a second… small?!’
It goes without saying that Leo was having another “what the fuck is this” moment, however, this time he didn’t feel angry. The sudden entrance of his senses made him feel something he never expected to feel ever again.
‘Am I… crying?’
Just as Leo thought, the sound of a baby's cry was ringing in his ears, but his cry was not to be taken as him being sad, no, it was the exact opposite. He felt beyond happy - so happy that all he could do to express it is cry.
His cry did not go unheard though, and as he cried in joy he felt someone’s hands gently hold him. Despite the loss of the blinding light in his vision, his eyes were still blurry, and so he could only faintly see the image of a woman with brunette hair, and dark brown eyes. The woman held him against her chest, looking at him straight in the eye.
‘So this would be my mum… she looks… normal.’
Leo’s thoughts about the woman were not meant to sound rude or ungrateful, no, he really did feel ecstatic to know that he had been reborn, and as the child of a human who looked completely normal as well.
‘It’s good to know I’m not a fly.’
‘Though, if I had the option of being a fly or staying in Limbo, I'd be the happiest fly to ever live.’
Perhaps he meant he would be the most annoying fly to ever live? Who knows.
As the woman held Leo against her chest, he heard a sound, a sound which had carried his mind through the hopelessness of Limbo.
Thump Thump-
The heartbeat of the woman who held him soothed his rampaging emotions, silencing his cry until all he could focus on was the gentle rocking of the woman's arms, and the affectionate look in her eyes.
“I love you,” whispered the woman in a quiet, but sweet voice.
It only took Leo a moment to think of how he wanted to respond.
‘I love you too’
However, since his body was still that of a newborn, all that came out of his mouth was a cute attempt at making sound.
“What should we call him Honey?” spoke another voice, in a more masculine and louder volume than the woman’s.
‘I guess that’s my dad, he sounds… buff?’
Leo didn’t know how to describe his father’s voice, after a few seconds he just settled for the next thing that came to mind.
‘Manly, that’s definitely the right word.’
The discussion of Leo’s new name didn’t end though, and during the few seconds he’d been thinking, his parents had been thinking as well.
“How about Semaj?” said Leo’s mother.
“Oh c’mon Ella, do you want the kid to get bullied?” said Leo’s father. “Give him something strong, like Xaj!”
Leo was mentally cringing at the mention of the two potential names.
‘Please just call me something normal…’
“Gerald don’t be silly.”
‘Yes, Dad listen to my mum!’
“Um… how about Lewis then? Sounds pretty normal to me,” said Gerald, whilst scratching his head in thought.
At the sound of the name “Lewis,” Leo made as good a sound as he could form with his still new body. To the others in the room, they heard a high pitched giggle like sound from the child Ella held.
“I think he likes it Gerald,” said Ella, as she gazed into her child's eyes.
“Hmph, of course he does! He’s my son after all,” replied Gerald, with a smug look on his face.
Ella rolled her eyes, she could only hope her son would grow to be more dignified than his father.
“We’ll call him Lewis then, he does seem to like it after all,” concluded Ella.
Unknown to the two new parents, Leo - who will now be called Lewis - was mentally sighing in relief.
“He’ll make a fine Wulf, I’m sure of it Honey,” said Gerald, in a more serious tone as he looked Ella in the eye.
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Ella's lips formed into a smile as she prepared to say something. She never stopped gazing into Lewis’ eyes, refusing to break the bond between the two of them.
“Welcome to the family Lewis Wulf.”
(Break)
For the first 4 months of Lewis’ life he remained essentially inactive. He felt delighted to just enjoy the feeling of being alive. The cool caress of the wind against his flesh, the warm embrace of the sun against his cheeks, and the fervent loving of his parents. Each of them were sufficient to help gratify him, despite the vacant feeling left in him from his time in Limbo, but combined, it left Lewis wondering what more he could possibly want.
Moving on, it had been almost 5 months now, and today Lewis was accompanying Ella as she worked, his family didn’t have the luxury of Ella taking a break to raise Lewis, and so this had been how Ella cared for him since birth. However, Lewis didn’t mind, laying at home all day would be much more boring for him compared to going out with Ella everyday.
The after-effects of the storm were still being felt in the village; which he’d learnt was called Eston. Due to this, Eston was still earnestly in the process of rebuilding; but, most of the villagers had opted to just move on, which meant that those who stayed had to work even harder. The decision to move on wasn’t selfish though, and from what Leo had overheard commoners like him often migrated as a result of their homes being destroyed; whether it was always a natural disaster, or something else that destroyed the homes, he didn’t know.
Lewis was currently watching Ella work as he suckled on her breast, despite finding it awkward at first, he’d learnt to accept that she is his mother, and as her child being breastfed by her is completely normal. Additionally, Lewis found Ella’s initial concern with him not breastfeeding to be amusing.
‘I never thought a woman would be worried that I wasn’t sucking her breast…” is what occurred to Lewis at the time.
Of course when Lewis realised Ella genuinely felt worried that there is something wrong with him or herself, he, being the hero he is, came to rescue her by drinking her ‘...sweet, but slightly nutty...’ breastmilk.
As Lewis absorbed the nutrients Ella so graciously served him, she continued to work from a seated position outside. Lewis wasn’t exactly sure what his mother's profession really was. In the time he’d been with her he’d seen her doing an assortment of things, and so had just determined her to be a general purpose worker; however, having overheard talk of her weaving, butchering, tinkering, and doing many more unrelated skills, he honestly had no idea.
‘Maybe she’s like Superwoman in disguise?’
‘Wait… does that mean I’ll have super powers?’
Unlike Lewis whose mind was prone to going off on wild tangents, Ella was more focused. She was currently working on adding joints to the timber being used to rebuild homes in Eston, although it wasn’t easy work, it didn’t depend on her moving around a lot, and thus, she could stay with Lewis to nurse him. The other villagers had assigned this job to her knowing she had an infant to take care of, of which Ella considered extremely lucky of her.
Lewis’ father, Gerald, was a hunter and lumberjack from what Ella had told him, although she didn’t speak to Lewis directly, but just rambled on about things, he learned a few things about the world he had been reborn into. Of course she didn’t ever think Lewis could comprehend what she was saying, but she did it anyway to help develop his speech, and because whilst Gerald was working she had no one else to talk to.
From Ella’s rambling Lewis had learnt that he’d been born in a small village called Eston, and that Eston was situated on the outskirts of a nation called the Kingdom of Fricia. He’d learnt other things, but this was all he’d learnt about where he was.
“Oh! Your dad should be coming home today Lewis, he took a trip to a nearby town called Raydin to get some new tools.”
Leo didn’t make an effort to respond to what Ella said most of the time, but at the mention of a place she’d never mentioned before his interest peaked.
‘So there’s a town nearby,’ thought Lewis. ‘I should go there someday.’
Lewis felt reluctant to admit it, but he was gradually getting very bored. The mention of a place bigger than Eston excited him, and as he still had the mentality of a young man, staying with his mother every day for 5 months was taking a toll on him. At first he’d gotten an oddly perverted satisfaction from being able to stay with Ella everyday as his personal milk bottle, but that only lasted for a couple days, and now it just made him go ‘meh.’
Therefore, this time when Ella mentioned something that intrigued him, he decided to try something he hadn’t tried before.
“Mum, where’s Raydin?” asked Lewis.
The sound of Ella working stopped, she’d dropped her chisel.
‘So i’m not the only one who hates surprises,’ thought Lewis as he looked upward to take in Ella’s expression.
“Lewis, can you say that again for mummy?” asked Ella. Her left eyebrow was raised, and her mouth sat slightly open; she was eager to hear his response.
“Mum, where’s Raydin?”
Ella’s expression changed at once. Her eyes now had a twinkle in them, and her lips stretched into a smile so wide that it became comical.
“Lewis you’re amazing! You can talk!” said Ella.
Ella felt thrilled. She now had someone who she could talk to all day, and no matter what, they had to listen to her! Was it possible for her to want anything more?
On the other hand, Lewis had other thoughts.
‘I didn’t speak too early did I?’ thought Lewis. ‘By my estimate, it should be around 5 months now… I’m sure that’s normal, right?’
Lewis was concerned. His mother seemed extremely happy that he’d started to speak; however, since he didn’t know the age an infant normally started to speak, as well as what an ordinary reaction from Ella would be, he was concerned he may have done something that would potentially result in his true origins being found.
He still didn’t know enough about the world he was in, but he was confident it wasn’t the one he’d died in, after all, there is no such thing as the Kingdom of Fricia where he’d come from. Seeing that being reborn may not sit well with people in the world he’d joined, he’d decided that it would be better to keep it under wraps.
‘Kinda feel like a secret agent, handling secrets and all.’
“Lewis when your dad comes home you can show him that you can say Mum!”
‘Wait… I said more than Mum…’ thought Lewis, slightly confused at why Ella had ignored the other half of what he’d said. ‘Oh. I see how it is. I said Mum before I said Dad… that’s a victory for her I guess?’
Frankly, Lewis would have said Dad if it were Gerald here instead, but he wouldn’t tell his mum that. Ella still seemed to be wondering if she could possibly want anything more, after all, she’d just gained someone to talk to, and the first word that had come out of her son’s mouth was Mum.
“Um, Mum? Where’s Raydin?” said Lewis, Ella still hadn’t answered his question.
“Huh? Oh, um, it’s to the north-west of where we are Lewis,” said Ella. “Do you know what the north-west means?”
“Yes I know what it means Mum, that would be upward and to the left of here on a map.”
The whole time Ella had been holding her breath, her son was a genius! She didn’t know how to react, he was only a bit past 5 months old and was currently holding a conversation with her, how was she meant to react to this?
“Is it large for a town?” asked Lewis.
And so, for the rest of the day Lewis and Ella talked. Lewis asked questions about the world and anything else which intrigued him, and Ella tried her best to answer as she was eager to satisfy her son's curiosity.
As the end of the day approached and Ella had finished working, Lewis had already fallen asleep. The limits of his body had been been reached and he’d gotten too tired to stay awake.