The two had been running through the muddy streets for a few minutes now. Nick practically dragged her half the way there after telling her he knew a place they could get out of the rain, which she readily agreed to. Though she seemed to get a little nervous once they went back through the market, and into the Vale built part of town.

Finally, they stopped at a small building, a tavern.

"Are you sure about this?" The girl asked him.

"No, but it's dry and I know people there." Nick responded casually, and began to walk to the entrance.

"Umm, I never asked... What's you name?" She asked. Nick realized they never really did tell each other that.

"Oh, right. It's Nick Veras, what's yours?" He asks.

"Indigo Kani." She says. "Great, can we get out of the rain now?" Nick asked jokingly, she nodded and they walked inside.

The Vale styled tavern was practically empty. Wooden tables and chairs were placed throughout the wooden building. On the other end, an older looking barkeeper was cleaning a glass. He raised an eyebrow at Nick and Indigo when they entered. Nick walked up to the bar and pulled himself up a stool. Indigo nervously took a seat next to him, as the bartended walked over.

"Aren't you two a little young to be in here?" The old bartender asked, his voice slightly teasing. Nick rolled his eyes.

"Aren't you a little old to be working?" Nick shot back, an amount of sarcasm in his voice. The old bartender laughed lightly.

"Always a pleasure to see you too Nick. So I can get you the usual?"

"Well it's all I can afford so yeah and it two." Nick said, the bartender laughed again.

"Well, Water is free after all, given how you two look like wet sponges. I figured you might have had enough for one day." he said with a chuckle."Two waters coming up." The bartender walks away to retrieve the order, and Nick turns his head to look at Indigo.

"So, been awhile." He said, starting off the conversation. "You're looking good."

"I wish I could say the same about you." She responds sheepishly. "What happened to you?" She asked. The bartender returned with two glasses of clear liquid.

"I'll let you two kids have your space," the old man said with a wink. Nick shot him a rude gesture jokingly as he walked away, leaving them alone. Nick sighed.
"Well, spending a year on the streets does that to a person." Nick said. She stared at him in shock for a minute.

"She really kicked you out over that?!" Indigo asked in surprise. Nick nodded grimly and sipped his drink.

"Isn't so bad, it's mostly pretty boring." Nick shrugged. They sat there in silence for a minute; Indigo took a sip of her drink. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could, the sound of faint screams could be heard outside.

The old bartender hastily walked back behind his counter. "You two need to leave, now." He said worriedly. "Grimm are attacking." Nick instantly felt his stomach twist in fear. He only ever saw a Grimm once. They're why he never tried to leave town on foot. It was the only reason he stayed, because he wouldn't survive five minutes alone outside town. Indigo looked like she was about to be sick.

"M-my grandparents... They're sickly... They won't make it far without help." She said, her voice trembled in fear.

Nick's brain kicked into high gear, he jumped off the stool and drew the knife he carried.

"Let's go get them then," Nick said. Indigo stared at him in shock at what he just suggested.

"Are you insane?!" She exclaimed.

"Maybe, but it's definitely not safer to stay in here. Plus we have to leave before the town is destroyed, we should check to see if they got out on the way." Nick replied. His voice shaking from what he had suggested, but he knew they had no choice. Indigo pulled herself off her stool, she was shaking slightly. Before the duo could take a step towards the door, it shattered into splinters. In it's place, a small monkey-like Grimm stood in its place. Before it could charge in further the sound of a gunshot rang out directly behind them. The Grimm cried out, before it melted into a pool of darkness and faded.

Nick turned behind him, to see the old bartender was holding a pistol. "Go," he said, "It's not safe here." Nick nodded sadly.

"Don't forget to leave too, old man." Nick responded. The old bartender sighed.

"Don't worry about me, see you around." he said. Nick nodded, grabbed Indigos hand, and began pulling them both put the door.
A few of the buildings were on fire, people had crowded the streets, panicking and fleeing. The roars of the Grimm sounded nearby.
Without stopping, Indigo began to run along with the direction of the stampede of villagers. Nick grabbed her before she could get far and pulled her to the edge of the road.

"Stay on the edge of the road!" Nick shouted over the screams of people. Indigo nodded and they began running again.

The two broke off from the stampede of villagers back into the residential area. The streets were empty, and more houses were burning. Nick noticed Indigo was beginning to cry seeing this, and he wondered to himself how long they could stay here. Indigo stopped running, and stared at a house. Nick stopped a few feet after her and turned around to face her. Her face was covered in shock, tears were running down her face as she stared at the burning building.

"G-grandpa... Grandma..." She whispered to herself.

That's when Nick heard it, a growl. Behind them, almost like a pure shadow, a Grimm shaped like a wild boar emerged from the darkness behind them.

"Indigo!" Nick shouted, as the Grimm began to charge. Nick readied the knife in his hand, aware of what he had to. Without having missed a beat, Nick shoved Indigo out of the path of the charging Grimm and jumped in the air. He pressed his feet the beasts tusks and pushed himself forward between them. Nick jabbed the knife forward, burying between the Grimm's red eyes. Using the momentum of his body beginning to fall, Nick forced the blade down the Grimm's heads though it only cut a few inches down. Nick, resisting the intense urge to scream and run away, pushed the knife in deeper and twisted it. The Grimm roared and struggled, but it was too late for the beast. It collapsed and began to dissipate into a puddle of darkness.

Nick pulled his knife out of the head of the Grimm, and fell to his knees, panting heavily. He looked over at Indigo as he began to control his breathing. She was staring at him in surprise.

"Guess... That we're two to zero... now..." Nick joked in-between breaths. He stood up, and held out his free hand to help her off the ground. She didn't take it, instead, she curled up into a fetal position, and burying her face in her knees and wrapping her tail over it. Nick bit his lower lip. They didn't have time to sit around and mourn. He couldn't take another Grimm like that. He just got lucky.

Unsure of what else to do, he put the knife down and wrapped his arms around her in a hug.

"Indigo... We have to go," Nick says softly. She doesn't respond. He sat there for a minute and tried to comfort his friend enough so they could run. Then, the growls of the Grimm sounded from behind him. He turned his head back down the street, his heart almost skipped a beat. Larger Grimm, a Beowulf pack was beginning to run down the street, snarling and growling. Nick realized this was probably the end and decided he wanted to go down fighting.

He forced himself not to run and leave Indigo, he doubted he could outrun them anyway. He pulled away from her and picked up his knife. He might as well go down defending his only friend. He readied himself a little, his knuckles white from the grip on the handle. He took a breath and readied his stance. Nick wanted to cry, but he held it back, he had one last job to do.

Just as the Grimm closed in, and Nick was ready, the world turned grey. The Grimm stopped in their path, staring intensely at him, that's when he heard footsteps behind him. A split second later, one of the beowulf Grimm had exploded into darkness. He caught for a split second, a grey cloaked figure holding what appeared to be a spear. Nick barely processed this before the figure moved again, impaling another Grimm with the spear. After that, he almost felt sorry for the Grimm it was so one-sided.

The cloaked figure cut them down like they were cake. Nick barely even saw him move before he moved again, and quickly the pack was gone. Nick sighed in relief, staring at the figure with the spear, as the world returned to color again.

The figure turned around to face them while pulling the hood down. It revealed the face of a mature man, his short grey hair and strong but slightly wrinkled face was filled with seriousness. A scar running down the side of his face seemed to twitch.

"We must leave this place, come with me." He said, his voice deep and rough. Nick nodded and looked back at Indigo, her head was still buried into her knees.

"I can't just leave her." Nick stated. The old man grinned slightly.

"You got a good heart kid, of course we're not leaving her." The cloaked man said. The old mans spearhead collapsed into the handle, until it was just a simple walking staff. The man walked over, and picked up Indigo over his shoulder. She squirmed in his arm for a minute before stopping, as if she didn't have the energy to fight anymore.

Nick followed the cloaked man down the streets, never sheathing his knife. He didn't like this, but didn't really have a choice in the matter. The man saved their lives and was getting them both out of there. Eventually, the three found the back end of the fleeing locals. Fire had spread to most of the town now, and the howls of the Grimm from inside the dying settlement made the scene much more haunting. Nick realized he was trailing behind the cloaked man a little and picked up his pace. They were in the clearing between the woods and town now. The flames shouldn't spread to the rest of the forest this way.

The majority of fleeing settlers had crowed by the edge of the woods to rest. Nick remembered the next town wasn't too far off and with the Grimm still busy overrunning the town, it wouldn't be a bad walk.

"Hey, kid." The old man said.

"Yeah?" Nick asked, he tried not to show he was intimidated by the older man.

"Ever thought about being a Huntsman?" The question resonated with Nick. The huntsman and huntresses of Remnant were admirable in Nicks eyes. They had the strength to handle anything thrown at them head on, they didn't have to spend their days hiding and begging in a wet ally. If they wanted something done, they fought for it.

Nick took in a breath, being strong enough to overcome his problems was all he ever wanted.

"Well, being a Huntsman is a honorable thing. I'd be lying if I said no." Nick responded finally to the mans question. The older man grunts.

"You got the heart for it kid, and definitely a leg up on others already in terms of skill. I've been watching you for awhile now, you have what it takes." The man said. Nick was taken back by this.

"What?" Nick managed to ask. The man shrugged.

"I don't know how long you've been living in a gutter, but you have a quite a promising history to keep up with. Todays stunts rescuing this girl from attackers and killing a Grimm without adequate equipment just because it was right. Those perhaps impressed me most. It's the essence of being a huntsman." The man said. Nick shook his head, he shouldn't have been surprised he was being watched, but he wasn't expecting it to be a guy like this.

Nick grunted, he wanted to believe this guy, but he felt something might be off.

"Three questions. One, how do you know so much about being a huntsman? Two, even if I wanted to become a huntsman, who would train me, you? Three, who even are you?" Nick asked. The man laughed lightly.

"To answer your first question, it's because I am a huntsman, until I retired anyway. As for the other two, my name is Hunter, and you got any better options?" The man said, throwing a little sarcasm in at the end. Nick wasn't sure how to feel about this huntsman, by he did have a point.

"Well then, Hunter if you're offering to train me. I would accept, though I would obviously need equipment and the likes." Hunter just laughed. "I can arrange those details. Though it will be rigorous." Hunter said. Nick smirked, he didn't have any more options then to trust this man. He might as well go all in.

Hunter began leading Nick around the now dispensing crowd, who were beginning their trek to the next village. Eventually starting down a rougher, smaller trail nobody had noticed or cared to explore.

As they walked, Nick began to feel tired and lightheaded. He stopped as everything around him began to spin, the last thing he remembered before passing out were the trees.