"Don't know, what if he-"
"We can't just-"
"He looks fi-"
"Passed out?-"
As the lude of unconsciousness receded from my mind, my senses slowly came to me, as always, hearing returned to me first.
"You can't seriously think I'll entertain this whim of yours, I can't afford you lazing around again." a feminine voice, slightly deep but pleasant on the ears.
"She's right, Talc. Maybe if the kid was strong and worth the effort. It would've been a different story, but seeing how he was only a few miles into Vacuo before we found him passed out. I doubt he could even take on a Beowolf, let alone any of our stronger Grimm." a much deeper and very masculine voice, he had quite some logic but were they talking about me?
Twitch
"Bah, ya two worry too much, this is my decision and last I checked, it ain't-cha business. Now, I get it sis, the kid looks weak but he's got some muscle on and if he's still too weak for ya, well. I'll just make him stronger. Ain't like we got much strong folk in our little family." This was a new voice, it was different from the other two, far more relaxed and easy going. Come on, do I really look that weak to them?
Finally, the fog of unconsciousness cleared from my sight and smell. Which made me regret ever being able to smell, by the brothers the smell was atrocious enough to fully rouse me from my semi-conscious.
Standing up, I nearly puked as the smell was getting to me, it was everywhere damn it! Clamping my hand over my mouth as my stomach kept rolling like it was in a washing machine, before I froze at the glare of three eyes.
The man to my right who laid on the ground with only a carpet under him, he had long sandy blonde hair with long and loose fitting clothing made of a velvet with gold highlights that made a strange and distorted symbol. He had rich almond skins with only the hints of a goatee on his face, though that could be because of how blonde he was. But that wasn't what caught my attention nor was it his lazy smile that seemed to show just how at ease he was. What caught my attention was his eyes, the eyes of a predator.
Cold and calculating, he was ever analyzing me; searching for any and all weaknesses, his eyes seemed to pierce right through me as if he knew all there was to me. He was most definitely a strong human. Thankfully, he was the only one not glaring at me, if he did, I might've just died right here and now.
Across from him, stood a much broader man, with skin the shade of a walnut and a glare to match, though why it was directed at me could be anyone's guess. Like seriously, look somewhere else! He just looked like he was searching for anything to complain about me, his clothes weren't as loose fitting as the other man's, it made his form, muscles, more defined and it could be a form of intimidation. Though his clothing was a dark green with black highlights, he wore a very bushy yet somehow well groomed beard. Although he was probably going for an intimidating look, aside from me, he was the only one standing.
And lastly, between the two and across from me, sat a beautiful woman. Had I not been me and trust me, I'm probably never having a family, I might've blushed, she was undeniably beautiful with almond skin a shade lighter then the lazy guy to her left, with clothes that were just as baggy. Similar design to the lazy guy's even, though given their similar facial features, the two were probably related. Unlike the serious guy, her glare was more irritated than anything else.
Finally, having identified every living person in the enclosed area, I had a quick look around. Well… I was in what a blind man would call a tent and even that was pushing it, an old and very obviously stitched together tent that worked, it looked so fragile that if the winds were just a bit stronger, it would tear through it.
My looking didn't seem to go unnoticed, "heh, what do you think of my masterpiece, a beauty isn't it? It took me a whole two months to complete it." the lazy guy said, he actually looked quite proud of himself. Even if they maybe kidnapped me, maybe saved me, it was just sad to see. Thankfully, before I was expected to respond back, the woman slapped him across the head. It was loud and sounded painful but he looked not the slightest bit in pain.
"I'll take a rain check the day you actually do something that creative." The woman scoffed at him, slowly raising her eyes and lost any form of softness. Looking at me with a stare similar to the lazy guy's though of course with her added irritation, it was clear from the way she carried herself with her head held high, square shoulders and steady eyes, she was strong."Oi, kid. You any strong?" she tilted her head as if to accentuate her question, Obviously, my answer was no. I could barely even take on multiple Beowolves, but this was Vacuo, not Vale, only the strong survived here. I might as well take full advantage of that and grow as strong as I can before finding my way back to Vale, eventually.
"Yeah, I'm strong enough." seeing something move from my peripherals, the serious guy seemed to have just rolled his eyes, at me probably, come on man, I know we don't know each other but have some faith.
"Enough?" I could feel my skin tighten as my hairs stood on end, the presence around her completely changed. I clearly chose the wrong words to say and she was about to make me pay for it. Damn it, why can't I ever get a break?
Shift!
I felt something under me move and giveaway, crap, jumping up. I made sure to keep an eye on the woman, but aside from her eyes glowing a lavender colour, she hadn't moved.
Strange
"Ugh!"
Barely maneuvering my body in the air, that seemed to make her raise an eyebrow as I managed to dodge her tendril of sand that would've speared me. "Now this is getting unfair." complaining seemed to be the only thing I could do as the tendril then coiled around my stomach.
"Now, now. Opal, don't scare tha kid, didn't cha hear him? He's strong enough, heh." The man had to stop himself as he started to laugh, and in my face too. "Kiddo can't use Aura for shit but ya otta give him some credit, most kids his age can't do what he did." The man still had an amused smile on his face as if he was going to laugh at me again but was only just barely holding back.
He then seemed to lean closer to Opal as he whispered something into her ear, emotions flickered through her face and I didn't know which one was scarier; that he said, or what they'll do with me.
The sand that held me soon lost the little life it had, making sure not to make a fool of myself. I landed on my feet which wasn't very hard as I was being held upright but these people are strong and scary, I don't want to show any weakness.
What if they eat me?
"Now, why don't we see what kinda skills cha have kid?" The Lazy man finally stood up himself, looking down at me because he was somehow taller than me and by a short ways too. His smirk did make me just not want to show them anything but I had to survive somehow, can't go on and make this accidental trip be for nothing.
"Uhh, how?" I kinda didn't want to know because I mean, these guys are strangers. They could just kill me and be over with this or they could be nice people. Yeah… nice people, in Vacuo, totally…
I'm so dead.
"Why, how else kid? Through a spar of course." No sooner did he pick me up by my shoulders before throwing me out the tent. Landing in a crouch as rolling would just mess up my clothes even more and I didn't need the camouflage right now, my Aura enhanced knees could handle the force. Feeling a subtle shift in the sand under me, I seemed to be in the epicenter of a circle as sand rose roughly 20 meters from me in a near perfect circle. The work of that Opal woman, no doubt.
The sand rose only a few inches, enough for you to know it's there but not enough to be a hassle to walk over, could trip someone clumsy though. Wait, get your head in the game, you're just letting them push you around however they want, at this rate they might actually eat me!
Okay, I'm at a disadvantage, I don't know a thing about this guy. Not his habits, nor his training or even his main weapon. I'm without Crocea Mors, looking down at myself, yep, they took everything from my pockets. My only advantage is that my Aura feels stronger now, firm in a sense which makes no sense because you can't really feel aura as soft or hard.
"You're as impatient as a scavenger is to a Molecrab, Talc. the boy just woke up and you already want to fight him? Does your lust for battle know no bounds?" the serious man's voice reverberated throughout the entire village-esk thing that they took me too.
"First of all, don't use the word boy and lust with my name in the same sentence. Second of all, the kid's fine-" I watched for a few seconds before it became clear that they would be bickering for a while. Taking this chance, I looked around, there wasn't much really. The sand looked the same as before though I didn't recognize where I was but that could be because of the constantly moving sand.
The "tent" I was thrown out of seemed to be a massive circus tent from at least 50 years ago. It stood in the center of the village which was organized in a circular pattern surrounded by smaller tents, some huts made of hardened sand and even vehicles. Most of the folk seemed to have taken to watching the show, figures probably not much to do out in Vacuo aside from surviving. All in all, it looked like it was hasty and recently made as if it wasn't made to last long.
"Who's the kid?"
"Is Talc really arguing with Culate? Again? Who's kid is that?"
"He looks pretty scrawny"
"Damned battlejunky"
"Oh shut it Culate, shove it up a sandspinner. Anyways, seeing as you're weaker then me kid, you get the first hit." Talc's voice seemed to have silenced the crowd, it seemed like he's pretty important or respected at least. Taking a quick glance at the people, they seemed to sport clothes similar to that of Culate, though some of the older looking folk seemed to have something dissimilar from Talc.
Not one to back down, I'll be humiliated in front of so many people if I do. lunging forward, aiming to break his nose, that would be a good enough distraction to get a few repeated liver shots followed by a spinning back kick.
Except, he moved to the side by a hairs length, before disappearing from my vision entirely. With my other hand, I swung behind me but I must've just missed him as I was soon brought to my knees.
Bam!
"Ugh!" feeling the pain spread through my calf, I forced my eyes to stay open as I used my good leg to jump away, close to the edge of the circle, while I sailed through the air, I whipped my head to Talc, losing sight of him even for a second would cost me dearly.
The bastard was smirking at me, for what reason. Only the brothers know but it sure didn't make me feel any better.
He's strong, too strong really.
Pouring Aura into my legs, he seemed to take a step back, don't know why but that gave me time to fix up my leg because yes, he nearly shattered my knee by kicking my calf. He has huntsmen training, all the good that does for me that I'm now getting beat by a professional.
Steadying myself, I jumped high into the air.
Boom!
Sand exploded everywhere, making for perfect cover as gravity took hold of me. I thought finding Talc through all the sand would be hard but his glowing white eyes made it easier than bee catching. But the way he was able to know exactly where I was, that made me swallow, his senses were top notch, maybe even better than mine. As I steadied my mind, I couldn't let doubt cloud it.
BOOM!
sheeen
Snap!
I felt something within my leg snap as I landed on him, gritting my teeth. I made sure to get a good look at that Aura technique he used. Frankly, it should've been impossible to have your Aura manifest outside your body just felt wrong on so many levels. That's not how Aura wants to circulate, that would be forcing Aura which would require a mass amount of effort and control.
Damned Huntsmen training.
"Was that Aura?" I asked even though I knew it was but how he could do it was what was confusing me. I could feel my heart faster and it wasn't because of how much I was moving.
"Of course it is kid, every Aura user worth their salt knows how to make an Aura cloak. Which is why you're so weak." hearing him chuckle, only made me want to bash his head in. How is anyone meant to do that.
I kicked off his Aura technique and bent my knees as I went for a leg sweep. Only to be met with pain as something struck my face.
"Hmm, crude use cha have"
Going into an awkward side roll, I steadied my vision as I looked at Talc, or at least where I least felt he was at.
"Tch, this is so unfair"
Starting to sprint on the perimeter of the circle, to dodge the charging man, he somehow predicted it and nearly donkey kicked me out of the arena.
Well, he did kick me but I was able to grab onto his leg to stop myself from being pushed out. I couldn't help the smirk that overtook my face. Driving my knee up into the side of his leg, had his stupid Aura technique not held, I would've broken his leg.
"Jeez kids today are so vicious, can't you use that Aura of yours for something more than making your body strong, kid?" twisting himself, he used my hold on his leg as an anchor to spin with his other leg and kick me in the ear.
The whole world shook as I started seeing triple, I didn't even know when I let go of his leg but If I even let him press his advantage for a second. I'd have no way of countering him.
Think, think, think! How do I win!?
"Damn it, to hell with planning." flooding my body with Aura, I didn't care how much I wobbled, I grabbed him by his loose clothes and decked him in the face.
Boom!
My feet rose a full foot into the air as he uppercut me, a metallic taste filled my mouth. So I did the only thing I could, I mixed it with my saliva and spit it in his eyes.
"Gah, what the hell?" he seemed to recoil as he wasn't expecting it, giving me a grand opportunity.
Grabbing hold of his arm, I used my dominant hand which was previously holding onto his clothes to punch him in the face.
Boom!
Our similar physical capabilities meant that neither of us could overpower the other and how I had him in a punch out.
This is my victory!
Bam!
"Ugh-!"
Crunch!
Though temporarily blind, the bastard could still fight well. Somehow managing to palm my face and crush my nose. My eyes started to water as I could feel the hot red liquid slowly start to seep into my lungs.
"Now this is a dog fight!" he still somehow had the energy to laugh as we dogged it out on each other, he couldn't, or just wasn't, using his superior skill to break out of my grip.
Boom!
The skin on my shoulder was twisted and tore at places from his punch.
Boom!
His Aura technique lost a large portion of its stability as he nearly doubled over from my gut punch.
Jab!
He stabbed his fingers into my eyes, damn well knowing I couldn't do the same because of his stupid Aura technique.
Boom!
I could feel something in his chest snap, probably a few ribs.
Then, nothing…
***
"Ugh, what happened?" my face scrunched up as I looked away from the blaring sun, a killer headache like no other pounded away at my head further stirring me into wakefulness. Taking a quick check of myself, I was fine, my body had probably fully healed when I lost my consciousness which meant I was at least unconscious for half an hour.
"That's some serious strength you've got there kid, you actually gave me a good bout." Talc? Yeah, Talc seemed to say it as a compliment but his damn smirk made it feel more demeaning than anything else.
"Or you've grown old Talc"
"Oh, shut it Opal. the Kid's a serious monster… physically, not so much in the skills or Aura department, but that kinda makes sense for his age." The shit eating grin did not leave Opal's face as Talc tried to defend himself.
"Sure, oh sure. Just admit it, Talc, you're not as spry as you used to." Opal purred as her eyes gleaned with glee, honestly after getting beat by Talc, I was routing for her.
"Oh, we're twins you Hag-gah!"
"Don't you ever call me-argh!"
Just like that in the matter of seconds, she lost her composure and attacked him. All the dust made it hard to see who was winning but by the sounds of it, neither were.
"..."
"You gave quite the show out here kid, it's not often anyone can entertain Talc." The serious man, Culite. Stood over my shoulder, his eyes were softer, his glare no longer strong. Now that I think about it, that's probably just how his face looks naturally.
"Thanks, is he always- no. Are they both like this all the time?" I asked as for a brief moment I could see Talc just bite Opal's scalp, ouch.
"Only when we're not too stressed, it's rare but your help will be needed to keep everyone from feeling down" and with that, Culite left, with in ominous words only registering moments later.
"Wha- huh?" That was barely even a conversation!
Okay, they just kidnapped me and took me in. show I be happy or scared? Screw it all to hell, I gotta learn that thing Talc did. Hopely this isn't some Stockholm syndrome crap.
What to do now; do I make a run for it while they're all distracted or do I stay and see if they can make me stronger. Hmm, decisions, decisions.
It's not like I've got much to live for anyways.
Closing my eyes, I laid back down, before I stopped focusing on the world around me and put my full attention into my Aura. recalling the sensation from everytime I felt his Aura technique, the fundamental use of my Aura made such a thing impossible. It just shouldn't logically work like that, it was an unintuitive manner of Aura use.
But if I put my Aura into that technique, it would leave my body quite weak as I would have none of my Aura enhancements.
Gah! Why is this so hard!?
What if, instead of putting all my Aura into my recreating Talc's Aura technique. I only used a bit, so that I could be both strong and durable.
With that plan in motion, I first had to figure out how to copy what Talc did, while I could see what it could do. I had no idea what he did with his Aura to make it happen
If I imagined my Aura reserves as a constantly refilling lake, and thought of the bank of the lake as my own body, I just had to build a channel so that my Aura had somewhere else to be, namely outside my body.
Focusing further inward I could feel my Aura, it was warm. Hot to the touch even, which was really weird because it was inside of me and it's not like I could touch Aura in a conventional manner, it's more of a mental touch and that just made it more weird.
Quickly focusing again, I started to circulate my Aura. Every revolution had a small loss as it was used to heal and strengthen my body but I was still in the green as I recovered more Aura then I lost.
Small victories. yay…
Still, I had no idea how to just make my Aura leave my body, so I did the first thing I could think about and started to circulate faster and faster.
It felt hotter, smolder under my skin as I could tell. Something was going to happen, so I pulled the brakes on purpose. Because I would put a hard stop in my Aura but that level of momentum doesn't just disappear-
Wait! Uh-oh.
BOOM!
"Okay, maybe I should've thought it through." I said to myself as I waved away the sand, having to hatch up some that entered my lungs when I gasped.
I looked around and was met with sand, okay… I'm in a crater, great..
Booming laughter interrupted me before I could sulk further, I didn't even need to look up to know the only person who would laugh is Talc.
"Now, that's just otta be the more creative way anyone's ever tried to make an Aura cloak!" his head then disappeared over the creator as I heard a soft thud, was it really that funny.
If only the crater could cave in and swallow me whole.
Feeling something coil around my stomach, a tendril of sand lifted me out, burning face aside. I was met by a bemused Opal and a tuckered out Talc.
"Uhh, hello miss?" I tried to wave but it felt more awkward than I did. I tried to laugh but it was just so fake that I just chose to stick with looking at the ground.
"Now, that's pretty impressive, you don't even look tired after all that. Hmm, you're not anywhere near huntsman material but you've got the potential. Talc, the kid needs to learn to control his Aura, get to it." I flicked as she turned to yell at Talc and whipped me with her long sandy hair. Talk said many curses to her but he didn't say no. "Now, he may not look it but he's pretty strong even if he could use a fresh look. Welcome to the family kid, you've got potential to become something big." Her vicious smile did not put me in any sense of ease.
Seriously, what have I gotten myself into.