Chapter 2: A Calm Before The Storm
Kaede and Aiko followed their new adoptive mother, who introduced herself as Ingrid, through the woods until they came upon a wooden shack, it was small, but welcoming.
"Well, here we are, it's roomier than it looks." Ingrid said with the same warm smile.
"It's home, that's what matters." Kaede said, secretly beginning to believe that they hadn't been saved and instead had died and gone to heaven, this was just too good to be true.
As if she had jinxed it, the woods to their right parted way for a newcomer, a man with pale skin, a scruffy face of pitch black hair that flowed unkept as far as her own, less tangled, mane.
More terrifying than his face were his clothes, pitch black armor that was serrated anywhere possible, and on his hip was a pitch black sword handle in an equally dark scabbard.
Kaede began to uncoil her vectors when Ingrid called out to him. "Ah, there you are Thogrom, our daughters have arrived."
The dark armored man, Thogrom, turned to them and smiled, which on his face looked very out of place. "Yes, He contacted me and told me that it was time."
Kaede blinked, this was their father?
Kaede then realized that the man had approached her.
She eyed him cautiously as he knelt down to speak at eye level to her. "You are not the only one who has rejected a villainous destiny little one, I am here to show you how to be dark, but also good."
Kaede took in the message, still weary of him, as she was of everyone.
Within their home
The two were sat down and given food, rabbit stew with wild grown vegetables, and a warm bath and a good night's sleep, in the morning, explanations were given.
"What do you know so far, so that we know where to start explaining." Ingrid inquired.
The girls looked at each other and then Aiko broke the ice. "Well, when He sent us here, He gave us the knowledge of the Grimm, but He only explained that they were soulless monsters whose sole purpose was to destroy life of any kind, He also showed us that the humans of this world fought the Grimm with something called Dust which is magic...well...dust." Aiko paused for a moment and Kaede continued.
"He also showed us that there is another race of sentient creatures, called Faunus, who look mostly human, but have animal ears, tails, claws... and horns, and humans and Faunus alike can have an Aura, which is a projection of their own life energy that acts like a forcefield of sorts, and they can have a Semblance, which is a kind of superpower that is unique between wielders, I think that these are the reasons that He sent us here." Kaede concluded.
"Those are the basics, but they're far from the whole story." Began Thogrom.
"The world of Remnant was created by two gods, the god of light, who created the earth, the ocean, and the animals, and the god of darkness, who created diseases, disasters, and the Grimm." Thogrom paused and Ingrid continued.
"Then the two gods created humanity together, and gave them the gifts of Creation, Destruction, Knowledge, and Choice." Ingrid explained.
"And among them are some more powerful than others, such as the Maidens, four women who wield true magic based on the four seasons, among them, I am the Winter Maiden." Ingrid said, summoning a small snowman in the palm of her hand.
"However, there is another who wields the power to control the Grimm and seeks to rule, or even destroy Remnant, her name is Salem." Thogrom concluded, making the girls a bit nervous.
"So, this Salem woman, can she be stopped?" Aiko asked.
"That has yet to be determined, but there is a contender, if you're willing to leave it up to others." Ingrid stated.
Aiko looked to Kaede with pleading eyes, and Kaede returned the gaze. "Aiko..I-I don't wanna fight, I never have, I just want to live in peace."
"I know you don't want to, but what if Salem wins, what if we're sent on the run again like last time, and it could've been avoided if we just helped drive her back?" Aiko argued, not wanting to lose another home.
"There is an alternative." Thogrom voiced.
"Each of the four ruling Kingdoms has academies for warriors who fight against the Grimm, only the most elite fight, or even know about Salem, the rest guard villages and travelers, and it's a well paying job, the two of you could become huntresses, but not elites, keep to the easier tasks and let the heroes of this story cut the head off the snake, or if they fail, take their places before the damage gets too great." Thogrom proposed.
"But of course, not immediately, why you're not even old enough to enroll in an Academy for huntresses, even the hero of this story hasn't enrolled yet." Added Ingrid.
Again, Aiko looked to Kaede, this time with conviction. "Well that settles it, when we're old enough, we can be professional huntresses and keep an eye on Salem from the sidelines only intervening if we need to, I'm going to enroll... I'll understand if don't want to come with me."
Kaede didn't reply for the longest time "...I'll...I'll think about it..." she said unconvincingly.
Author's Note: Okay, this is out of the way.
Next chapter will a series of time skips explaining the necessary parts of their training for three years, Kaede and Aiko will then be the same age as Lucy and will enroll into Beacon Academy.
They will have OC teammates, one will be based off a Disney character and the other will be a combination of two American warrior types, feel free to guess which is which and their team name (KA--).
To explain the parents' names, Ingrid is the name of the Snow Queen from Once Upon A Time and Thogrom is a mirror spelling for Morgoth, as Ingrid and Thogrom are villain archetypes made caring parents, The Ice Queen and The Dark Lord.
Tell me what you think in the comments below, and I'll see you next time.