Serene was the only way to describe it. A fresh, cool breeze that carried the anticipation of winter with it, swirling and dancing through the garden. The soft, rustling leaves that grew slightly more yellow each day but still held tightly to the entangled branches. Soft bubbling noises from the nearby stream flowed and bounced within the garden's walls, echoing seemingly for infinity. It was the closest one could get to Heaven on Remnant.

A few birds and butterflies fluttered across the garden, weaving in and out between tree branches and flower patches. They appeared to be playing, but it was probably more like a hunt for the birds and a desperate escape for the butterflies. Still, everything was quiet and peaceful as they darted around. Nature was normal. Everything was normal.

"I think this is a little abnormal. What about you?"

"Well, based on all that we know, I would have to agree with you."

Lie Ren's mouth flashed a tiny smirk before returning to its stoic, unwavering state. He was getting distracted, again, but this time he was determined to not let it get to him. They always tried stuff like that, interrupting his methodic thought process with their own smart remarks. Sometimes Ren wished he could shut them up so they would let him meditate in peace and quiet for once. In any case, they remained quiet after the second comment, and Ren decided to use every second of quiet to his advantage.

First, he stilled his body. Located and relaxed each muscle, knees sinking lower in his lotus position. He sat up a bit straighter, noticing that the leaves of the lowest branches lightly brushed across the top of his head. When had he grown that tall? The palms of his hands slowly turned skyward, and he took a short moment to admire the sunlight's dance on his pale skin before slowly closing his eyes. Deep breaths cleared his lungs and steadied his mind.

If they started talking again, Ren didn't notice. Maybe he'd gotten much better at ignoring them for all these years? No, that wasn't quite it. It was more of Ren still heard them, but was able to keep himself from responding, giving them more reason to bother him, and keep himself from losing his focus. It was probably bound to happen eventually; with them stuck in his head for his entire life, it was only natural that he could ignore them, right?

"You're losing focus again." Damn it. He just wanted them to be quiet for a few minutes.

Ren continued to meditate as best as he could. Today, he wanted to continue searching for his semblance; this ever-elusive power that he supposedly had somewhere inside him. Some days, he felt as if he was on the brink of discovery, like he was balancing on the edge of cliff that dropped off into a tumultuous sea. He had pulled himself from the dark and swirling waters and began a journey up the cliff. No ropes, no anything to catch his fall. But as he neared the top of the cliff, two things awaited him: a world of knowledge and discovery, and...

"She's here."

Ren sighed inwardly, knowing that if Nora was here already here, there would be no more meditation for the day. Unless, of course, it was one of those rare days where Nora wouldn't want to go exploring or spend their hours reading the vast library of books and texts kept away in Ren's home. At this point, Ren wondered why Nora still lived somewhere else...

A sudden rustling overhead called Ren even further out of his meditative state, as he could tell Nora was engaging in yet another futile attempt to scare her friend. She had tried it all before; leaping over the wall with a ferocious roar, dumping a bucket of cold water right over his head, pretending to be a thief invading his home. Ren admired Nora for her determination to such a funny little task. This time, Ren decided to do nothing but silently follow her movements. She was clambering around in the tree above him, slowly getting closer.

Nora soon climbed closer to where Ren sat, and Ren could tell that the girl was hanging down right in front of his face. Her soft hair brushed across his bare forearms and it both startled him and calmed him. Her warm breath tickled his face. She smelled like cinnamon...

"Tell her!" Not a chance.

Ren waited a beat or two before snapping his eyes open. He had prepared his body for a playful lunge, but upon opening his eyes, he saw that she was incredibly close to his face with her right pointer finger almost touching his nose. This stilled him, and the two companions stayed still as if neither knew what was transpiring.

Ren moved first, just making himself more comfortable, but this surprised Nora and she fell out of the tree, ungracefully landing upside-down on her upper back, legs dangling in the air. Her skirt began to fall from her knees, and Ren looked away.

"Crazy Thursday, huh?" Nora chirped cheerfully through a wincing face, sitting up and adjusting her skirt. Her face was pink with physical activity and... that was probably it. She brushed some leaves off her torso and started to run her fingers through her slightly disheveled hair. Ren watched her and spotted one or two leaves stay stuck in her hair. Should he reach out and grab them?

"Do it!"

"Okay, come on, leave the poor boy alone this once. Don't want to be stuck here seeing him be all awkward like it always happens."

He restrained himself and settled for watching her from afar as she found the leaves herself and pulled them out of her hair. She took a deep breath, taking in the fresh garden air before turning her full attention back to Ren.

"Discover your semblance yet?" Ren shook his head. "Well, just keep working at it! I know you'll discover it any day now!" She was always so chipper, even when she had plenty of reason not to be. Not that this moment was a reason. Just given their early lives, Ren was often grateful that Nora had elected to be so positive. "I'm so incredibly bored today. That's why I came over early. I know you like meditating and all that boring stuff but, come on, don't you want some type of adventure? I mean, the best days are when we go into Forever Fall or some other exotic place, right?"

Ren sighed and a soft smile came to rest on his lips. "Forever Fall is not exotic. You want exotic, go to Vacuo." Nora rolled her eyes and rubbed her neck.

"Okay, fine, Forever Fall is not exotic. But come on, Ren, at least acknowledge it's somewhat more novel than a place like the city center of Vale! All they have here is bread stands and textile stands and all that boring stuff. You know what they have in Forever Fall? Big forests! Trees that are always red! Isn't red an exotic color?" Nora paused to take a breath, since she had a bad habit of not breathing in between sentences. Ren chuckled to himself. "Ren, we've been stuck just hanging around here for our entire lives, don't you want to go out and accomplish something? No, that's a rhetorical question. I know you do! Some rich kid who lives in what is basically a castle with a bunch of servants tending to his every need doesn't have to bother trying to figure out his semblance or learn combat from his eccentric, electrifying friend now, hm?" She took another big gulp of air.

Ren laughed a bit louder and stood up, extending his hand to Nora, who also stands. "Nora, you're right. I do think I want to go out and do something –" he's cut off by an incredulous look from Nora. "Fine. I do want to go out and explore Remnant. Get better at fighting. Find my semblance. Whatever you want to add in there, I'll do. But can I really just leave this place? What if someone here needs me? What if there's an attack? What if my parents..."

For the first time since falling on her neck, Nora's face houses a frown. "What if your parents come back?" Ren nodded. "Ren, they've been gone for ten years. I don't know what happened to them, but if they're still out there, don't you want to try and find them?"

"Come on, Ren! You owe it to yourself, you owe it to us. Let's go somewhere, do something!" Ren frowned, disliking the idea that he owed anything to them. Certainly, it wasn't Ren's fault he was like this and he hoped it wasn't their fault they were stuck with him. If they were different people at all. And it wasn't as if they were parasites, eating away at his life force. All Ren knew was that ever since he could remember, there were voices in his head that weren't his and he had no control over them. He didn't owe anything to them, but if they continued to nag Ren about this and that, he would likely eventually give in to them.

Nora blinked as if she's realizing something. "They're bothering you about this aren't they?" Ren nodded again. "Come on then, Ren! Everyone wants you to go!" A smile returned to her bright face.

"Fine, fine. What are we doing?"

Nora spoke immediately. "Let's become huntsmen! It would be so great if we did, can you imagine it? We could kill any type of Grimm and fight bad guys and protect people and explore Remnant without having to worry about anything! We could earn money so easily and have fun with it and work together as partners. We would be the unstoppable duo!"

Ren gently shook his head. "You know I don't have the health, and definitely not the stamina to become a huntsman. I would probably just weigh you down in a fight."

Nora crossed her arms and stuck her tongue out. "You can't deny that you want to do it. And hey, if you don't like being 'watched over' or 'protected' then you just have to work hard enough until you feel like you could go out on your own. Come on, Ren! We could kill lots of birds with one stone if we really wanted to! Find your parents, travel the world, find out why there are voices in your head, you name it! I'm sure becoming huntsmen will allow us to do anything we put our minds to." She took a few steps towards Ren and casually draped her arms around his torso. Ren's face grew warm. "Ren, I know you want to be able to do these things on your own. And you will. It will just take time and practice." She dropped her arms and looked up at him. When had she grown taller too? "I know we can do it if we stick together. It hasn't failed us yet, has it?"

Pale green light flooded from tinted glass windows into the vast hallways of Ren's parents' grand estate as the young man slowly made his away around it, gathering various belongings he would need on his journey with Nora. For years, the place had been so empty and lonely in Ren's mind. It was still larger than it needed to be when Ren's parents had been here; for a moment, Ren's mind toyed with the idea of a bright, lively house where he could have had siblings. What would be different now if that were the case?

Li and An Ren had been influential nobles in the kingdom of Vale before they went on a diplomatic trip to Haven from which they would never return; nobody knew if they had even made it to Haven in the first place. A month or so after they had failed to return, other Vale noblemen had named Lie Ren the successor to the estate, all its lands, and the family's duties. Still, he was just a child, and upon seeing the chronic distress in him, the Vale council elected one of the high-ranking servants to serve in Ren's place. After meeting Nora, he had begun to recover, but was never the same lively boy he had been

Ren had loved his parents, and his parents had loved him too. So why would they not return? The only answer could be that they were dead.

He had never told his parents about the voices in his head, because the voices themselves told Ren to never tell anyone. Why, he never got out of them. Perhaps they weren't sure themselves. But after meeting Nora, a girl whose parents had died fighting in the huge fire of Vale that happened the night of Ren's birth, he found it difficult to hide anything from her. Maybe they were kindred spirits, drawn together by some reason or another. That part wasn't important. The only thing that mattered was that they stayed together, protected each other, learned from each other, and probably couldn't live without the other.

Ren first made his way up the grand, emerald green staircase and took the right turn towards his room. He grabbed a few bags of gold and silver Lien coins, a thick woollen blanket, a fur lined cloak, two intricately decorated green daggers from his father, and a large knapsack before taking one last look around his room. He almost left without another thought, but then he spotted it: an old, dusty book lying under an old pile of parchment documents. Upon further inspection, he saw the gold and pink designs dancing across the front cover and remembered it immediately. Stashing it inside his bag, he headed back down the stairs towards the kitchens. They were probably only going to Vale... but who knew where their travels would take them?

"Go get more hot water," a voice called out from a room Ren had just passed. Stopping and turning back, Ren sawlight coming through the doorway leading to the servants' quarters. Suddenly, a servant burst through the door, almost knocking Ren off of his feet.

"Sir! I'm terribly sorry. Please excuse me!" And with a short, hurried bow of the head, the uniformed girl rushed off to the kitchens. Confused, Ren was stuck standing there for a few moments. Peering in through the doorway, he saw several servants standing around one of the beds, murmuring in hushed voices. Quickly, the servant from before rushed back into the room, carrying a bowl of steaming water. She shut the door behind her, and Ren was alone again.

Entering the kitchens, Ren quickly grabbed a few pieces of fruit and bread before filling up two waterskins. Stuffing all of this inside is bag and tying it closed, Ren stopped for a moment and turned to look at the kitchen. A memory flashed through his mind; him and his mother, chopping vegetables from the garden as his father comes in with a big smile, a freshly killed goose in hand. Snow softly fell outside as the family prepared a holiday meal with each other. Ren shook his head and turned to leave.

By the time Ren sauntered through the estate's gatehouse, Nora appeared over the hill, running towards him, burdened with her own bags upon her back. This didn't seem to burden her, however. Nothing so little as a heavy bag would hold Nora down. She was always brimming with strength and energy, and Ren really, truly admired her. Nora was the strongest person he knew.

"You don't know that many people." Of course, Ren knew that too. But still... something about her led Ren to believe that she was stronger than most others. There was one thing he didn't know about her, though.

"If we're going to become huntsmen and work together, you should probably tell me your semblance," Ren called out as Nora got closer. She skidded to a halt on the dirt road and gave Ren a stern but playful look.

"I've told you a hundred times, Ren! I can't show it to you until the time is right." She adjusted her bag on her shoulders and lightly punched Ren in the arm when he started to make a pouting face. In what seemed like a split second decision, Nora reached for Ren's ponytail and snagged the leather tie on her pinky finger. She quickly pulls it out of Ren's hair, the leather tie quickly sliding off. Ren's long black hair immediately caught in the breeze and covered his face. "Come on, let's go!" Nora laughed, skipping ahead. After a few moments, she stopped and turned to look back at Ren, who continued to walk at his own leisurely pace, trying to brush his hair out of his eyes, a soft grin on his face.

"Oh my god, dude. You're going on an adventure with your lover!" Ren's positive expression fell and he groaned inwardly at the continued presence of the voices. Nora was not his lover; nothing of the sort. They were good friends. Nothing else.

"Stop lying to yourself. We're a part of you and trust us... we know how you feel." While Ren always wished he could be normal, these were the times where Ren really wished he could be. He basically had two other people inside him, who could think and speak for themselves, knew everything Ren knew, and they just happened to remind Ren of their presences when he least wanted it.

"Nora!" In an attempt to make them shut up, Ren decided to take charge of the situation. Nora cocked her head questioningly, and Ren jogged up to her. "Thanks. Thanks for making me come along. I would've never decided to do something like this if it weren't for you."

The orange-haired girl's face grew pink and she shrugged. "I knew that if I bothered you about it long enough, there wouldn't be a problem. If I left Vale anyway, you would probably tag along." She technically wasn't incorrect. The two continued to walk in silence for a few minutes, and Ren couldn't tell if it was awkward or not. If Nora felt any awkwardness, she didn't show it; but Ren knew what to talk about anyway.

"Did you bring it?"

Nora scoffed. "Is that even a question? The only place I don't bring it with me is your house." She pat the large bag upon her shoulders and dulled metallic noise could be heard. The thing weighed so much that Ren could rarely ever build up enough strength to even drag it around, which made Ren admire her even more for her strength. She turns back to Ren. "Did you bring yours?"

He nodded. "You know they won't count in the real world, though." The daggers that his father had given him suddenly felt heavy in Ren's bag.

"You'll have time to find or make a better weapon. I don't think we'll be fighting in a big war where real weapons are necessary any time soon. At least you know how to use them well. I'm sure the right weapon for you will come along when you least expect it. It's like an extension of yourself! Work towards who you want to become and one day it'll present itself to you on a silver platter or something. Thats practically what happened to me!"

Right. Keep moving forward; no turning back now. They had already taken the first step.