The Riddler

Kiro

Kiro was in his room, reading a scroll that had many riddles on it. He was solving them and scrawling the answers on the blank spaces where many people had failed to solve them. His mother, Clarissa, knocked on his door without warning.
"Kiro! Come out here! We need food, so could you go hunt or get to the market today? We've run out."
"Okay," he said, rolling it back up. He walked out to see his bow sitting on the table next to a quiver full of newly-made arrows. His mother was very smart and loved creating things. She was great at sewing and making arrows, wooden bows, and she was great at woodwork in general. She had dark brown hair and green eyes.
Kiro had black hair and piercing blue eyes. He had pointed ears, which he was confused about since he was sure his parents were both human, though he truly didnt know very much about his father. He was very tall for his age - nearly six feet - and extremely intelligent. He was very studious and clever for a thirteen year-old, and could notice patterns like the weather and where puzzle pieces go unconsciously. Everyone in his town came up with very difficult riddles and logic puzzles for him to solve, and he liked to challenge everyone to figure them out before he tried them. Nobody had figured any of them out except for one boy named Mathias who had figured out three so far. They were easy anyway, thought Kiro when he looked at them.
He picked up his bow and the quiver, and his mom gave him a backpack full of supplies for the trip. Bread, a waterskin, more arrows, two sleeping mats and blankets - in case one got damaged or dirtied, and a long, strangely shaped fighting knife for protection. He attached the sheathed knife to his belt. His mother had told him before that his father made the knife and that he had wanted Kiro to inherit it. Kiro wore it proudly, and had never lost a fight when he used it.
"Okay, I'm leaving now. Love you mom," he said and gave her a hug. He opened the door and left, waving goodbye to his mother who was standing in the doorway. It was snowing lightly, a white blanket covering everything in sight. In the town, the butcher, Arrod, was carrying a deer to his shop, and the rest of the people were milling around, looking at goods, and talking to one another. The young children were chasing each other around the houses, laughing and shouting. Kiro walked to Arrod's shop, and found the butcher cleaning his knife. Kiro shivered, feeling bad for the deer. Arrod noticed him and waved, saying,
"Kiro! Come over here! What do you need today?" Kiro walked over and explained that his family was running out of food.
"I wanted to know how much a deer was. If we don't have enough, I'll just go hunting." Arrod nodded.
"A deer would cost you fifty jewel. Do you have enough?" Kiro sighed and shook his head.
"I guess I'll have to go hunting, then. See you later, Arrod," he said, and with that, walked out of the store.
"Be careful, boy!" shouted Arrod, waving goodbye.
"No worries, I will be!" Kiro replied. He started off toward the mountains that surrounded their little town. They were known for having many dangerous monsters and robbers loved to gather in there, hiding in the plentiful bushes and undergrowth.
Kiro trekked up the trail until he found a stick he shoved into the ground to mark the place where he had found a way to the secret waterfall he loved to visit. Nobody had ever been there except for him and people from long ago who found it. Everyone had said that they tried to find the waterfall, since they could hear it splashing off in the distance. They swore that every time they followed the sound from it they always found themselves back on the trail. What they didn't know though, was that they had to solve the trail. There were many paths that they hadn't noticed, and it was really a simple trail. The least marked path was the one that led to the waterfall. Kiro started following the trail, looking for the markers. They were patterns carved into the trees. They looked like the sign for Aquarius, which was Kiro's zodiac sign. Around the sign, there was a gear-like shape. Kiro guessed that the person who had carved it was a creative person.
When he arrived at the waterfall, about seven deer were drinking from the pond underneath the falls. He strung his bow, pulled an arrow from his quiver, and laid down in the bushes. His bow was a sniping type bow, which had a very taut yet stretchy string, which would shoot very far if he drew enough. He aimed... and saw something he never thought he would see... ever. An elf. The elf was a man, with black hair and piercing blue eyes. When Kiro looked closer, he realized that the elf looked very familiar. He stopped aiming and put the arrow back into his quiver and just laid there for a few moments. Then, the elf looked up, quickly.
"Who goes there?" Kiro stiffened. He stared at the elf. Something about him was familiar... The elf looked right at him. Then, a look of complete surprise took over him. "What... how... you're... s-son?" Kiro just looked at the elf. It can't be... this is an elf... I was told my father was dead... "There's no doubt. You are my son! Your name... it's Kiro!" Kiro was completely dumbfounded. The elf walked over to him, his face an expression of fatherly love. "Kiro... my son. I can't believe that my own son is here... before my eyes..." Kiro finally found words to speak.
"You're... my father? Then, that means that I'm... a half elf?" His father looked at him, one eyebrow raised.
"Half? No, you're the real deal. Your mother was an elf as well. Who told you you're human?"
"Then... she's not my mother? She lied to me...?" Then his father's face was an expression of guilt and sorrow.
"She adopted you, Kiro, by my request. I hadn't told her to tell you that you weren't an elf, though. You see... there was a war going on in the land of the elves at that time... we had to protect you. So, we brought you here and found Clarissa, who was a trusted friend of ours, and gave you to her.
"Then... near the end of the war, your real mother was killed by the enemy. It was a truly grievous time... she had been my everything. That was three years ago..." He sighed. "After I had gotten over her death, I came to this country to find you. This place is one that I came to many times in the past - I carved those runes into the trees. I had come here to see the waterfall and deer again... but I never expected to find my own son here. How did you find this place?" Kiro sat up.
"I'm very talented with puzzles and concentration. Finding this place was a cinch, though everyone else had never been able to find it. They followed the sound of the waterfall, but I looked for clues, and I found your runes. I usually hunt here, since the deer come here so often." His father nodded.
"You truly are just like me. I had done the same thing, though finding the waterfall for me was harder than it was for you. I had to rewrite the magical barrier to this place so that anyone who had my blood or your mother's blood running through their veins could pass through and enter here. No human or elf not of our bloodline is able to come here." Kiro grinned.
"I would have done the same thing. I guess I take after you, father." Then, out of nowhere, his father burst into tears and embraced Kiro.
"Son! Your mother would have been proud of you... she would have loved you unconditionally! If she were here right now... oh, what would she say? Our son... Kirya, our son is here!" With those words, he sobbed onto Kiro. Then, Kiro joined in, and they were just a heap of hugging and tears. This went on until Kiro had no more tears, as did his father, and they finally let go of each other. Sniffling, Kiro opened his pack and pulled out his sleeping mat and blanket. Upon finding out that his father didn't have one, he lended him the extra Clarissa had packed. When Kiro fell asleep that night, his dreams were full of happiness and wistful thoughts.