Dear potential reader:
Please note that I own none of the characters appearing in this tale, nor is this tale intended to generate profit. It was merely a diversion, written for the joy of writing and hopefully, your enjoyment in reading. Now that the legal matters are taken care of, please enjoy...
Beacon come spring.
Nora should have been excited about it, but she was feeling uneasy...an emotion that she wasn't familiar with. Why did they have to go to Beacon? They were finally doing fine. Sure, they weren't proper huntsmen, but that didn't keep them from making a comfortable living doing a huntsman's job. What was a school going to teach them that they wouldn't pick up out here, while making lien in the process?
Nora sighed, realizing that she was overreacting to things. She knew her real problem, and it was only getting worse. Ren had delivered the news, after reading it on his scroll, in his usual, calm manner; but Nora could tell that he was excited. They had worked hard for years, getting references from all of the people they had worked for, getting comments from all of the trainers they had hired and the officials they had interacted with. Despite her companion's stoic expression as he had sent in their applications, she knew that he had been nervous, almost depressed. Instead of moping, he had decided that they may as well take on another job while waiting, so they were now in this chilly cabin in the mountains, huddled near the stove as he cooked and she made preparations for the days mission.
It was the way they worked together; he cooked and she did the dishes, he made long term plans while she concentrated on the here and now. In an hour or so, the sun would come up and they would escort the mine's produce from the high mountains, down to a village in the much more comfortable valley. They would spend the night, while the caravan unloaded and reloaded with supplies, then escort it back up to the mine. It would be a break in their routine, as Winter was closing in, the mine was going to shut down until the weather got warmer. They would escort the miners back to the village, then they would have to find another job...one to put more lien in their pockets and keep them busy until it would be time to make the long journey to Sanus...and their future.
She smiled and did her best to act excited about making the journey...the long one come spring, not the shorter one in a couple of hours...but she was sure that Ren was seeing through her act just as easily as she could see through his. As crazy as it sounded, their long friendship could make things as awkward as it made things convenient.
Awkward...
Still, her smile was genuine when Ren put a large platter of pancakes and other food on the small table. The news that they were going to Beacon had put him in a good mood, so he had added a touch of vanilla to the batter and fried up the last of their bacon. While he was never frugal to the point of suffering...or at least he hadn't been since their income had gotten to the point that they could live properly...making things better just for the sake of it wasn't in his nature. This was another example of how the two of them fit each other, how they completed each other. It was a thought that should have made her happier, but it left her feeling more uneasy.
Chores were chores, no matter how grumpy she was feeling. She washed the dishes while Ren prepared his pack and other equipment, routines that washed away her melancholy, at least for a little bit. The mountain air was cold and bracing as they made their way from their tiny cabin to the mine's marshaling yard, where the caravan was forming up. In the kingdoms, manual labor was assisted with power tools and transportation was done via airship and truck. Here, outside of Mistral, copper was pulled from the ground with manual labor and a little explosive dust, refined into the base metal, then hauled down to the village on mule carts. After a quick word with the mine's owner, the two, future hunters slipped from the compound to make a sweep of the immediate area while the teamsters and miners finished loading the copper. When Ren and Nora returned to signal that the way was clear, the large gates opened and the last caravan was on the way.
Mules don't travel fast, and mules pulling carts are even slower, so Ren and Nora spent most of their time circling the caravan on foot. Occasionally, they would take a rest by riding on one of the carts for a short time. This leisurely pace gave Nora entirely too much time to think about the upcoming move to Vale. She should have been excited about it. In fact, if she had learned about this in the few years after she and Ren had fled Kuroyuri, she would have been jumping for joy...quite literally. Even just a few years ago, she wouldn't have been faking her enthusiasm...the thought of a new place and new opportunities would have been wonderful...but now they weren't.
At noon, they stopped so that the mules could rest and the teamsters could enjoy a light, quick meal. She and Ren circled the resting place, eliminating a lone beowolf that had apparently been attracted by the inevitable strains and blisters that a long haul, through the first snows of late autumn, brought along. After that, the two returned to the teamsters, where they shared the hot tea that the hard-bitten men had brewed. Shortly after that, it was off again, with the snow picking up, but changing to rain as they worked their way down out of the mountains.
They camped that night at a location they had many times, with the same caravan. The trailed crossed a stream over a sturdy, wooden bridge. Here, the banks were high and stony, so there was no marsh to contend with to get at the clear water. The forest provided enough dead wood for a cooking fire...and a bit of a bonfire to keep the spirits up. The friendship and familiarity lifted Nora's spirits, even as she wondered why the couldn't just continue doing this. Of course, she knew why.
It had been over ten years since that terrible night in Kuroyuri, when his parents had been killed. While the folk in the towns outside of Mistral were usually friendly, they didn't have a lot to spare, so the two had been forced to make themselves useful. They had swept floors and washed windows, scared birds from fields and mucked out stalls. More than one villager had shown an interest in adopting one or the other of them, a couple of them had even brought up the idea of adopting both, but Ren wouldn't hear of it. Somehow, his quiet and determined manner spoke louder than shouting.
He wasn't going to become a villager, or even a townsman.
He had never shown any particular interest in becoming an huntsman before the...thing killed his parents and destroyed his home, but that act had put him on the path with a determination that went well beyond his tender years. From that moment, he had promised himself that someday, when he was bigger, stronger and more skilled, he would return to whatever was left of his childhood home and face his nightmare. By that time, the two had latched onto each other so strongly that even is she wanted to, Nora couldn't turn away.
As they had gotten bigger, and able to perform more vital tasks, the lien became better. They were able to take in a bit of training; a beat-down from the village tough guy in one village, a few lessons from the occasional, retired huntsman, or a bit of sparring with true huntsmen and huntresses out on their own missions. Ren quickly mastered the skills of being a camp cook, skills that made them welcome with traveling groups, where the escorting huntsman was all to happy to pass away the evening hours by showing the kids a move or two. By the time they had reached their teens, they were able to handle common grimm, and were making even better money...which put Nora in her current state of funk.
Still, the small fire was lively, a jug was being passed around and a few instruments had been produced to be played by somewhat skilled, and very enthusiastic, hands. She joined in the singing, which pushed her melancholy away, then dragged Ren into the clear space by the fire and got him to dancing with her. Her disquiet was pushed away for the night and except for her turn on watch, she slept like a log.
Dawn greeted them with a cold drizzle, the sort of weather that made the miles longer and the loads heavier. The spirits of both man and beast were less, and the hurts that the trail could put on you were worse for it. It was the type of weather that brought the grimm, so Nora was too busy to worry about the changer her life was about to go through.
As odd as it could sound to someone who wasn't in the same life, she enjoyed fighting the grimm; she enjoyed using the skills that she had worked so long and hard to acquire. She also loved hearing the murmurs of admiration that rumbled through the teamsters when a particularly good shot sent a dark creature flying through the air. On particular skirmish took her and Ren a bit farther away from the caravan than was comfortable, and for a moment she was tempted to jump on top of the last ursa and ride it back...but Ren was a spoilsport and finished it off. She made a mental note to try that move sometime and set the pace back to their charges at a brisk trot.
There was no fire or warm tea at the noon break, nor was there much cheer. For all of her energy, Nora couldn't fight the fact that they were all cold, wet and sore. Instead of songs and gossip, there were a group of people huddled and shivering under their cloaks, grumbling about the fact that the caravan master wouldn't allow them to open a jug while there was still traveling to be done.
It was a busy afternoon for her and Ren; while the sparsely occupied area they traveled through didn't sport many grimm, those that were around were drawn to the miserable caravan. Travel was slow in the mud, and Nora fully approved of the master's decision to keep traveling into the evening. The teamsters knew the route, and hearts lifted as they got closer to the village. When they passed the occasional farm, spirits had risen to the point that they knew they weren't endangering the farmers by drawing grimm. Shortly before midnight, they spotted lights from the village wall.
The villagers knew the caravan's schedule as well as the teamsters, so there were plenty of folks awake and ready to welcome them. Nora had a few moments' thought that they were awake to welcome the teamsters money, but she knew better than to hold this thought. The teamsters lived here, so the villagers were happy to see their friends, family and neighbors make it in without loss. Despite the late hour, there was hot stew waiting in the inn, dry warehouses to park the wagons, and warm stables for the mules. While the celebration was muted, due to everyone's exhaustion, she knew that tomorrow night would make up for it.
Nora woke late, which wasn't like her. She looked around the small room that she shared with Ren whenever they stayed in this village. It was homey, familiar, and she once again felt the bit of melancholy and disquiet that she felt at the mine. However, this was a new day and it was time to get moving. You could waste too much time just laying about; life was for living! Since the bathhouse was available, she took advantage of Ren still being asleep to have a good soak, getting back to the room just as he was stirring, which gave her the perfect opportunity to heckle him about being a layabout. As always, he absorbed her jibes with his stoic good nature and stumbled off to the bathroom. Again, a touch of disquiet washed over her, but she forced it down. There was work to be done.
Out in the village, after breakfast of course, it was obvious that the teamsters had been unable to sleep in. The whole village was buzzing with activity, but almost everyone had time to offer a wave and a greeting for the two. This was one of the places that came very close to being home, yet she accompanied Ren to the docks. This was a river village, and barges made regular trips from here to the coast. Right now, the last of the harvest was coming in, so all sorts of goods were being loaded for shipment to a port city down river. They found out that there were more barges coming in, delivering goods from outside the area and although the outgoing vessels would be full, there would be room for a couple of young people who had proven their ability to fight off grimm. Satisfied, Ren allowed Nora to drag him through the village.
The river port meant that there were good available that most villages this size just didn't have. There were bolts of cloth, both sturdy and exotic, that the local seamstress could turn into comfortable and/or flashy clothes; there were dust rounds and other weapons. Of course, there were street vendors selling food and drink, this was usually a lively village, and it was all the livelier because of the caravan.
Even now, craftsmen were shaping some of the metal while buyers were bickering with the mine's representative, purchasing raw metal for shipment. Still more buyers were talking to the craftsmen, arranging purchase of their finished product...even before it was finished, for both local consumption and export. Nora loved this village, the activity level and the fact that she and Ren were well known, and liked, made her feel at home. But...home was where Ren was...and he had made up his mind long ago to grow stronger and return to his childhood home.
This was a day for the caravan's mules to rest, and for the teamsters to maintain their wagons for the return to the mine. Ren and Nora would accompany them for this last trip; which would bring back the miners to winter in the village before returning to their underground labors in the spring. This added to the excitement, as husbands, brothers, fathers and boyfriends would be back in a couple of days. Nora laughed, knowing that some of the younger miners, upon returning to their winter homes, would find out that they were now boyfriends, having been selected by village girls who were tired of waiting for them to make some kind of a move. She quickly sighed, wondering how she could have the courage to face a horde of grimm...but not have the courage to speak to her closest friend.
The day passed in a blur, as activity always made the time fly for her. That evening, the village held a party in honor of the harvest and the caravan. Of course, this village took every excuse to hold a celebration; a warehouse that hadn't stored products in years was lit, local musicians belted out tunes, people brought food and drink, neighbors and friends talked and joked while strangers who had come in on the trading barges became integrated into the community. Of course, there was also dancing.
She and Ren had been together so long that they could perform just about any kind of dance together. They knew the lively steps that went well with the village songs, could waltz when the musicians decided to slow things down and could polka when the music stuck a compromise between wild and sedate. She was pretty; she knew it and her open and friendly nature meant that she had no shortage of young men to dance with. Of course, she always found her way back to Ren.
For his part, there were no shortage of girls who tried to get his attention...at least at the beginning of the evening. He was always polite; dancing with those girls who had clearly struggled with their doubts to approach him while graciously declining to dance with those who were bold and brazen. He was always courteous to those who wished to speak, but never worked hard to maintain a conversation. As the night wore on, he received fewer and fewer offers to both dance and speak, until he faded into the background, a pleasant but quiet presence.
Just as she sometimes had to prod him to wake up in the morning, he occasionally had to remind her that it was getting late. The caravan would be leaving at sunrise and it was a very bad idea for guardians to be sleepy and sluggish. She danced their last dance of the night with him and they left to the hearty farewells of most of the townsfolk, and a few sullen glares from young men who were hoping she would stay later and without her companion.
Without much cargo, only enough supplies to keep the miners and teamsters for couple of days, the caravan should have made better time, but the worsening weather meant that it took just as long to return to the mine than it had to get to the village. It was close to midnight on the second day's travel when they reached the mine. While the miners were happy to see the caravan, there wasn't a lively reception. Instead, there was the cold cabin and not enough time to start a fire to warm it up. They ate cold bread and cheese, joined their sleeping bags together and curled up together. Ren lay on his side, offering his back to her and she leaned her back up against his, sharing their warmth. Despite the cold, this felt like home and she wondered why they had to leave.
The miners and teamsters would spend the next day preparing for the trip. They day after that, they would start the return trip to the village. Two days after that, the locals would be home, to spend the winter with friends and family but she and Ren would take a barge to the coast, where they would arrange for passage to Vale. In this cold cabin, curled up and sharing his body heat, she again wished that they wouldn't have to leave.
This could be home. The locals knew and liked them. They had friends here and a good living here. They could get a small place in the village and continue to guard both the town and the caravans traveling between it and the mine. Before she drifted off, she admitted to herself why she didn't want to leave, and it wasn't because this was a happy place to be. Instead, it was her own attitude that was changing.
She was about to enroll in one of the most prestigious huntsman academies in the world, along with her oldest and dearest friend. The problem wasn't that they were leaving this village, or even Anima. The problem was that she was having more and more trouble thinking of Ren as her friend.
Soon, the two of them would be continuing with their lives, following a plan that he had put together when they were children. They would be at Beacon in the Spring/ Nora knew her real problem with this.
Being his friend just wasn't enough for her.