When you can't blow people away with brilliance, you baffle them with nonsense.

This is one of those kinds of stories.
~~~
You glanced over at the yellow, energetic hare. He was zooming about, happily munching leaves.

"Hey (Y/N)! Hey (Y/N)! Hey, hey-"

"What?!"

"Let's have a race right now!"

You rolled your eyes. Seriously? You're a tortoise, he's a hare. He would obviously win.

Noticing your hesitation, he smiled softly. "You get a one hour headstart."

Much better.

As he shouted the words "Go!", he proceeded to cheer on as you slowly made your way to the finishing line, the end of the forest. You panted, going as fast as possible. How long had it been? One minute? Half an hour? You didn't know.

Three-quarters of the race and Kilios still couldn't be seen. You were sweating more profusely, although you had slowed down.

"Kilios can't be that slow, right? But if that's the case, where is he?"

No sooner had you crossed the 'finish line', a barrage of other animals started coming into view. Hiding in your shell, you waited for them to pass. Suddenly, someone picked up your shell.

"(Y/N), are you okay?"

Luni the duck set down your shell as you told her what had happened.

"...By the way, where's Kilios?"

Luni waddled away, dramatically glancing into a puddle. "I'm sorry, (Y/N). He's... Kilios is dead..."

You would've fell backwards in shock. However, you were a tortoise so you could only afford to stand still as Luni proceeded to tell you that he had evacuated the animals of the forest so that nobody would be killed in the forest fire.

Nobody except him.

"Luni! I found Kilios' body!"

Sana the cat dropped the burnt corpse at Luni's feet. "I tried but...it's burnt. I can't bring him back."

You numbly looked at him, the next few sentences stabbing your heart.

"It's okay, Sana. His body can't handle his soul anymore. He's gone, dead."

~~~

You lived a long life before being taken away by the Grim Reaper of Tortoises. You thought that would be the end.

You'd finally see Kilios again.

But there's a reason the universe is so full of beauty and pain. It's full of surprises.
~~~
You looked up to see a blonde boy staring at you. You noticed the little black lightning mark under his eye.

Being the little six-year-old pest you are, you immediately said, "Tattoos are illegal for kids."

The boy smiled slightly. "It's a birthmark, not a tattoo."

Extending a hand to you, he said. "I'm Kilios, nice to meet you."

"(Y/N), have we met before?"