Note: Hello! Thank you for reading my story, I appreciate it alot. I am currently thinking of a short Renora series and thought to experiment with the one-shot below. If I do a Renora series then it will continue off of what is below so please let me know what you think. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Peace and quiet. At last. Ren couldn't seem to find enough of it these days. Between the increased pace of training and, what seemed to be, the growing persistence of Nora in including him in all of her inner adventures, the chance to meditate and fully relax eluded him. He had improved on his reclusive nature over the years thanks to Nora and her friendship, but Ren still appreciated the solitude of his thoughts to relax. As a child, Ren had been even quiter than he was now. His home life not being the most nurturing of environments; he had often gone wandering outside to avoid his father and had met Nora while doing this one day. They had been together ever since, not initially what Ren had desired but to the benefit of them both. Falling into his meditation with these thoughts in his head, the memories of their first encounter played through Ren's mind.
It was some sort of vehicle, Ren thought to himself, or construction equipment. He had been lying here beneath his favorite tree, staring at the same cloud for twenty minutes and was still no closer to deciphering its shape. Cloud watching like this had been a hobby of Ren's ever since he discovered this tree. Its branches seemed to always block the sun at just the right angle and the shape of the trunk was formed in just the right way for a ten-year old boy to lay against it in comfort. This really was his favorite spot, quiet and away from everything.
He sighed as he resigned himself to not coming to a real conclusion about this particular cloud. Ren couldn't help but think that the cloud would prefer it that way, a unique aberration. Special. After all, the desire for expression and being unique pervaded so much in this world now, why not in the clouds as well?
The combination of these thoughts and the beautiful spring day began to have the desired effect on Ren now as he felt himself start to dose. Not wanting to fight it, he closed his eyes and embraced the darkness, dreams being another escape.
"Boop." a voice said, seemingly in the distance as he slept. Ren's instinct was to ignore it until he felt pressure of somone poking his nose. He opened his eyes and they widened immediately. A girl's face was directly in front of his own, up-side down with her short orange hair hanging towards the ground. Ren looked up and saw her legs hanging onto the branch directly above him. He moved his head back down towards her face and was greeted by the largest smile he had ever seen, the cheer of it extending all the to the girl's turqoise eyes.
"HI!" the girl said "I'm Nora. What's your name?" The way she asked this made it seem as if the answer was possibly the most exciting knowledge she would ever gain.
Ren simply stared at her for a moment, partly out of the fact he had just woken up and partly because she seemed so strange to him. The girl, Nora, must of sensed how uncomfortable he felt with the situation because she dropped down from her hanging perch and stood directly in front of Ren now. With this actual look at her, Ren could tell that they must be the same age or very close. Nora offered him her hand and he grasped it to get up. He was caught off guard though as she pulled him up herself with an incredible amount of strength for a girl her size. Ren stumbled slightly once he was upright.
"Sorry." Nora said still smiling "My mom says I don't know my own strength sometimes. But that's okay because it's what makes me special!"
Ren was still feeling uncomfortable, he had never been good with meeting people but knew what he was supposed to do. " I'm Ren." he told her, feeling slow and stiff compared to the energy he could feel flowing out of Nora.
"WOW!, you have pretty eyes!" Nora leaned in towards hims and responded by leaning back and away.
"Uhhh, thank you." was all he managed
"You're welcome." She said, simply standing there and rocking on her feet.
"Look," Ren began "I need to be getting back home now. It was really nice meeting you and all." He began to walk away from her but was cut off, whoah she was fast.
"Hehe, no you don't" she the possessed a smirk of someone with secret as she said this. "You don't like home."
Ren was about to ask how this stranger knew that when she answered first.
"You're always coming here and watching the sky and stuff. I figure if doing nothing is better than being at home then home can't be that great." Nora smiled again, proud of her skills of observation and bouncing in place.
"How do you..." Ren began before Nora exploded with more words.
"Because I like to play in the trees around here!" she spoke loudly "My mom says I have too much energy for the house but that the trees don't mind." Nora continued to bounce in place, where is this energy coming from, Ren wondered.
"I'm sure your mother is right," he said "but I do mind so I'll be going now." Ren knew he was being rude but he had never interacted with kids his age because of his father's training and his discomfort was making him lash out.
"But, we're friends!" Nora declared, moving to stand in front of Ren everytime he attempted to walk in a direction. "Let's go play!"
"I don't want to play Nora" Her eyes lit up as he said her name, maybe that was a bad move he thought. "And I really do need to get back, I have training to do or my father will be mad."
"Just one game" Nora pleaded "then you can get on the train."
"Not a train..." Ren began before choosing to ignore the ridiculous correction. A game did sound like fun...he had never had someone to play with before. "What kind of game?"
Nora's eyes grew even larger now that she had hooked him. "Let's play Hunters and Grimm!" she said quickly, clearly having this particular game in mind the whole time.
Ren didn't know that game and had to ask how to play.
"Oh, it's easy. And sooooo much fun. I want to be the Grimm though." Nora said before explaning the rules. The game really was simple, Ren noted. It only required two players, one who took the role of a hunter and the other a Grimm. It started off similar to hide and seek, only with both sides hiding somewhere and then attempting to find the won by launching a surprise attack on the other player. Easy, thought Ren.
They began the game by walking into the treeline in different directions, both sides had five minutes to hide, set up an ambush or do whatever else they wanted until they were allowed to hunt the other. Nora skipped her way into the trees while Ren began to walk.
Ren had explored these woods quite a bit and didn't feel the need to rush or scout locations. His plan was to simply use his skills to quietly make his way through the trees until he found Nora before she found him. With this plan in mind, he walked slowly between the foliage; he had five minutes to waste.
Ten minutes into the hunting portion, Ren moved silently through the woods. He hadn't spotted or heard anything that might indicate Nora was near. He hoped they weren't searching perpendicular to each other. A rustle brought him from these thoughts and Ren focused in the direction of the sound, stopping and remaining silent.
When the sound didn't repeat itself, Ren began to creep towards where he had heard it. Five feet from the bush, it rustled again. Nora thinks she can catch me from a bush as I walk past, Ren thought to himself, she's probably too busy laughing about her great plan that she doesn't notice me.
One foot from the bush, Ren lunged forward and parted the leaves. All he found was a white and pink shoe lodged on the branches. Confusion set in until he saw the shoe lace had been removed and one end was tied through the top hole of the shoe. He began to trace the lace with his eye as it led to the right when it happened.
"RAWWWRRRRR" screamed a girl's voice in the same direction as the lace led. Ren turned his head but was only able to make out the outline of Nora as she tackled him from the side. He fell on his back, Nora leaning over him with her smile and turqoise eyes.
"I win." she declared. "I always want to be the Grimm so I can go RAWWWRRRRR!." Nora laughed and fell onto her back beside him. "I told you this game is fun."
"Yeah," Ren found himself agreeing "it was actually." He began smiling himself, it had been a long time since he had fun like that.
"I want to play again, but it's dinner time." Nora said, sounding anything but happy for the first time all day. "Will you be here tomorrow?"
Ren hesitated for a moment before saying "Yeah, I'll be here."
"Great!." The joy returned to Nora's voice "I'll see you then. BYE!" She was running in what must be the direction of her home now.
Ren stared at her as she disappeared before reality asserted control.
Oh no! Ren began to run home, he had been out far longer than planned. He hadn't been lying when he told Nora he needed to leave earlier. Ren ran as fast as he could, making it home in half the time it should have taken him. He was out of breath when he made it through his home's entrance and continued to the training dojo.
His father was waiting for him there, sitting crossed legged on the floor with his usual stern look. "You are late."
"Yes father." Ren said "I am sorry. I lost track of the time and have no excuse."
"This training is important Ren."
"Yes father."
"Do you want to end up like me or your mother?"
"No father." Ren replied. He had heard these questions his entire life. Both of his parents had been hunters but his mother, who he couldn't even remember, was killed by a Grimm and his father maimed in the same incident. Now he was obsessed with training Ren to avoid the same failures and to make him the great hunter that his father never was. This training dominated the household, to the point that Ren's father was more of a teacher than a parent to him. The lack of communication in the house perhaps leading to his quiet nature.
"We are short on time and can talk of your failures later." Ren's father stood as spoke. "Let's begin tonight's lesson..."
"Boop." Nora's voice and a poke pulled Ren out of his meditation. He opened his eyes, calm and unsurprised; this had happened too often over the past seven years for it to affect him anymore.
"I know you don't like it when I interuppt your naps but you looked upset." Nora's voice possessed concern while her face showed a nervous smile.
"It's okay." Ren said to her. He smiled as he told her "I was remembering how we met."
"Oh!" Nora stood up straight now, flushing slightly.
"Don't worry, it was only the ending that brought anything but joy." Ren reassured her, misinterpreting her blush.
"Good!" Nora declared as she returned to her usual bubbly self "Lunch is almost over, we should head to class!" She began to skip towards the school building but turned back towards him to say "You know, that was the only time I've ever beaten you at anything."
Ren smiled back at her and began to walk. "That was the only time I've ever underestimated you at anything."