Nick awoke with a headache. His instincts instantly kicked into high gear the moment he did, registering he laid on something soft. He groaned lightly and opened his eyes, for them to be met with a white ceiling. He groaned and sat up, taking in his surroundings. It was a small bedroom, lit by an open window. The light made Nick wince a little. Once his eyes had adjusted, he saw a simple dresser across from him and table next to the bed he laid on. The knife and it's sheath that he's carried under his shirt for so long was resting on the top of the dresser.
Nick pulled the covers off himself and climbed out of the bed awkwardly. It's been a year since he last slept in a bed, it felt too soft almost. He realized after he was out of the bed he was wearing fresh clothes. A simple pair of jeans and T shirt, but they were fresh and dry. Before he could do anything, he heard a door open at the end of the room.
"You're finally awake." a familiar voice said. Hunter stood at the other end of the door, holding it open and looking inside. He changed out of the cloak into normal clothes, which revealed his overly muscular build.
"How long was I out?" Nick asked bluntly.
"Two days, given everything you two have been through, I guessed you would've been out longer." Hunter responded.
Nicks eyes widened, remembering Indigo.
"What happened to her? Is she okay?" Nick asked worriedly. Hunter looked down at the ground for a minute.
"She woke up yesterday, kid won't leave her room or eat anything." Hunter explained, Nick sighed.
"I want to talk to her."
"Give it a minute kid, let's get some food in you first." Nick protested, but Hunter insisted. Nick was led through the hallway of the house a little until they reached a main room. The whole room had an simple Vale design with a table, chair, and sofa in the middle of it. Nick sat down on the couch, and Hunter disappeared down a hallway. A few minutes later, he brought back some food on a tray.
Nick had practically wolfed it down. It was more food then he was used to at one time.
"Slow down there. It's not going anywhere." Hunter warned, causing him to slow down a little. After he had finished, Nick sat the tray down at the table.
"Alright now can I talk to her?" Nick persisted, Hunter sighed.
"Yeah, sure kid. Just, good luck with that. She's in the room across from yours." Hunter said. Without hesitating, Nick stood up and walked back down the hallway he came from. He still wasn't sure how he felt about Hunter, but so far trusting him was beginning to pay off. He stopped at his room and turned his attention to the door across from it.
Nick sighed and knocked. He got no response. Slowly, he began to open the door. The room looked just like his, though he barely had time to register that before he saw her. Indigo was sitting on the edge of her bed, staring at the wall. He was already walking over before he could think of anything to say. He walked around the bed and sat down next to her. He pulled her into a hug. She didn't react, she kept staring at the wall and seemed lost in thought.
"Indigo..." Nick said slowly. As he tried to think of what to say, she sniffled.
"I... Wasn't there... I wasn't fast enough..." She muttered.
"You did everything you could, it's not your fault." Nick consoled, Indigo shook her head.
"I... I wasn't strong enough to save them... I... I'm not strong like you..." she said, barely able to contain herself. Nick didn't know how to respond to that. They sat there for awhile like that, before Nick finally tried to say anything.
"Indigo... Let's get you some food." Nick said quietly. He didn't wait for her to refuse. He practically pulled her off the bed and toward the door.
She seemed to understand he wouldn't take no for an answer. She followed him out of the bedroom and into the main room, where Hunter sat in the chair across the table. He had already prepared another tray of food for her and left it out. The two sat down on opposite ends of the couch and Indigo slowly began to eat.
Hunter took in a breath and put down his book.
"So, Kid. You sure you still wanna be a huntsman? There's no going back once we start training you for it." He asked gruffly and included the warning. Nick nodded.
"I'm sure." He said. Before he could say anything more, Indigo put her tray of food down on the table.
"I want to be one too." She said emotionlessly. Hunter gave her a curious look.
"You sure you want to do that, kid? It's not an easy life." Hunter asked. Indigo nodded.
"It's the only way for me... I need to be..." Indigo said, but stopped herself. "Look, can you train me like you're offering him, or not?" She asked grouchily. Nick was the one now looking at her, concerned.
"If you're sure, but don't say I didn't warn you kid." Hunter said, and looked between the two kids.
"Alright... First thing we need to do is get your auras fully unlocked. Nick's got a little bit of his already active, but most of it seems to be still dormant." Hunter stated.
"Aura?" Nick asked. Hunter sighed.
"Aura, it's basically a source of power derived from our souls. It helps protect us from harm, heals small wounds. That stuff. Each persons aura is unique in amount and toughness. An easy way of thinking about it is like a portable force field. It's not perfect by any means, but it certainly helps to have. Besides, it powers semblances, and we definitely need that." Hunter explained to the two. Indigo listened in silence, her face remained unreadable the entire time.
"Wait, semblances?" Nick asked. "What are those?" Hunter took a breath.
"Ya know those stories you sometimes read about a hero who can do superhuman things? That's basically what a semblance is, a superpower of sorts being the easiest way to think about it... Most of the time, semblances are unique to each person based off personality and strengths. Though there is one hereditary semblance out there I know of, and I've seen ones that are similar before." Hunter explained. "Any more questions?"
"Can we get this over with? What do we have to do?" Indigo asked grouchily.
"Give me your hands." He responded.
Hunter held out his hands, Nick put his hand cautiously in one, Indigo did the same. Hunter took in a breath and began concentrating. It didn't take long before Nick started feeling results. He felt power flow through him, he felt like he could take on the whole world. It was a rush. Just as fast as that rush of power came, it dissipated. Hunter pulled hands away. He looked winded.
"Alright. That's one thing out of the way... You both have some pretty strong auras. It's impressive. You should be able to call on your full auras it at will now." He said. "Now, if you're both up to it, let's get you both started on your training."
Hunter put the two to work quickly. Indigo was unusually eager to start to the point it made Nick nervous. Indigo focused on building muscle and strength, while Nick focused more on techniques styles. Many months passed as they worked, beginning to show their more unique styles of fighting and training. Hunter always kept the two busy, constantly pushing them to their limits. What annoyed Nick was how Indigo avoided them, training by herself a lot. After a year, they unlocked their semblances.
It was another cold day out, Nick was outside the house, surrounded by forest. He stopped bothering to wear a jacket after he had unlocked his semblance, he didn't need it. He just stuck to a pair of ripped jeans and a long shirt. He was practicing with a pair of sticks by maneuvering them. Though he didn't really need too, it just helped him think. He heard the door from the house open. He stopped and turned his attention. Hunter stood in the doorway, wearing the same hooded cloak they met in. Along with his staff that he used as his walking stick and weapon.
"I need to go retrieve supplies from the nearby town. I trust you two can take care of yourselves." Hunter said, Nick nodded. Hunter closes the door behind him and walked up to Nick.
"Also, kid could you do me a favor while i'm gone?" Hunter asked. Without waiting for Nicks response, he continued.
"I'm getting a little worried how hard Indigo's been pushing herself. Maybe you could talk to her or something. I don't know. It's not really healthy for her to be going that long for so hard and she won't listen to me." He explained.
"I'll do what I can, though I doubt I'll be able to do much better." Nick sighed.
Indigo didn't interact with them much, and it's only gotten worse. She's been training all the time, and it's made both of them concerned. This has been her longest training marathon so far, and neither of them liked how hard she was pushing herself. Hunter nodded, satisfied.
"Well, i'll be off. Take care." He said, and began walking into the forest, through the small trail that connected the house to the main road.
Once he had disappeared into the forest, Nick jabbed the sticks into the dirt. Might as well try. He wiped the sweat off his face and began to walk around the house. He could hear the sounds of her bench pressing already. When he got around the other side of the small house, which served as a training clearing, he spotted her. She was wearing exercise clothes, lifting a dumbbell loaded with more weight then most people their age could lift. What concerned him was she looked exhausted. She was drenched in sweat, her arms shaking a little as she lifted it and her breathing was heavy. Nick knew he had to stop her before she hurt herself.
He controlled himself from running up to her. Instead, he approached her at a normal pace.
"Indigo, you have a minute?" He asked.
"No, go away." She responded, her voice tired. Nick sighed.
"It's important, you don't look so good. You need to rest." Nick warned.
"I'm fine. Leave me alone." She said, and did another rep. Nick sighed, there was only one way to make her stop. Eyeing her weak grip on the dumbbell, he activated his semblance. He thrust his hands out, and a blast of raw flame exploded from his arms. He overshot the blast. The force from the blast sent the dumbbell out of hands and back to the edge of the house. He stumbled back a few feet, breathing a little harder then he was a few minutes ago. He didn't have full control of it yet.
Indigo sat up from the bench, an angry look on her tired face. She opened her mouth to speak, but Nick spoke first.
"Look at yourself! You're a mess. You need to down before you pass out. You don't eat, sometimes you don't even sleep over training! You're going to kill yourself overdoing it!" Nick yelled. "Why are you hurting yourself like this?!" He asked, his voice was filled with worry for her.
She seemed to be hurt by that.
"Why do you care? I don't need you looking out for me anymore!" She replied angrily.
"Because you're my only friend! I want to help you! I can't do that when you're working yourself to death!" Nick snapped.
"Well I don't need your help anymore! I'm strong enough to stand on my own now!..." she yelled, she was beginning to cry. She pulled herself to sit on the bench normally, and held her head in her hands. Nick sighed, and walked over to the bench. He picked up her tail so he wouldn't sit on it, sat next to her and laid it back over his lap.
"Indigo... What are you trying to do?" He asked comfortingly. He put an arm around her and waited for her to calm down enough to speak.
"You... You always take care of me... I'm always relying on you... I... I just wanted to be strong like you... So you wouldn't have to be burdened... by me... So I wouldn't need your help... I... I don't want to be that little girl who couldn't even reach her grandparents in time!" she finally said through her crying.
Nick sighed.
"Indigo... Hunter once told me that real strength isn't being able to do everything alone, it's knowing when to ask your friends for help. You can build yourself up your entire life, but if you can't ask for help then you'll never be strong." Nick said, doing his best to comfort her. "It's okay to need someone to lean on, I need to sometimes too... Please, come rest. Slow down, train with me some time. I miss my friend." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug.
"I... I'm sorry..." she mumbled. Nick returned the hug.
"Hey, let's get you cleaned up and rested. Just promise me if you want to tell me something, you will." Nick said. She nodded. The two broke away and got off the bench.
As she walked inside to clean up, Nick looked over at the dumbbell. The rod was bent from the shockwave of his blast. Hunter isn't going to be happy about that. He walked back around the house, finding the sticks he stabbed into the ground. He pulled them back out, and began practicing swinging them again, hoping their new mentor would return soon.
