A boy awoke in his room, the rays of the sun peering behind the curtain, filling the stone cracks of the wall. As he slowly drifted back to sleep, a muffled voice called to him. It felt like a voice he already knew.

“Hey! Hey! Hey! Betto!” The voice called, a yellow and red puff entering his view, the culprit.

“Gramps… Did you purchase a new exotic bird?” Betto asked, half awake. 

The boy brushed his turquoise hair. The orange puff stood and stared at him for a bit. As he came to his senses, he made out the shape of a person.

“Exotic bird? Nonsense! It is me! Your best friend since we were kids! Tev! Tev the future flame knight!” He declared, ripping open the curtains. 

The onslaught of sunlight blinds his best friend Betto momentarily. His appearance and smile beamed with the sun. 

“C’mon, get up so we can officially become knights!”

“Five more minutes Tev, I need my beauty sleep,” Betto responded as he rolled back into his bed, prompting Tev to assault him with a pillow.

“Did you forget already? Today’s the Gemming Ceremony!” Tev reminded him. “18 years of hard work leading to this moment! We can’t be late!” He added, pummeling Betto with his pillow.

“Okay, okay, I get it.” Betto bellowed while slid off his bed.

Today was the day he would officially become a knight and have a sworn duty to defend the kingdom. It was his dream to become a knight, like his grandfather and his father.

“Gramps! Are you ready to attend the Gemming Ceremony?” Betto hollered into the house. “We need to get good seats for you!”

“Way ahead of you.” An old, frail man replied, waiting in the doorway. “Let’s have you officially become a Gem-Knight,” he said, patting his grandson on the shoulder. “Your parents would be so proud of the man you’ve become today.” The old man added as they both left the house, closing the door behind them. Taking the first steps towards Betto’s future as a knight.

“Gramps, it was you who raised me to become who I am today,” Betto admitted as he embraced his grandfather. Albeit a little too hard.

“Let go, Grandson! You’re going to break my bones!” He scolded Betto.

“Sorry!”