The first hunt

Green forest canopies swayed gently as the thud of hammer and metal reverberated through the trees. The sun shone through the leaves like tiny pillars of bright golden warmth. All throughout the forest the floor littered with seed and insects and all types of organic clutter. Except for one clearing, the place where the hammering was coming from. A grizzled old man hammered away. sparks spat from the red-hot iron occasionally, and occasionally in turn the old man would stop to examine his handy work. inspecting the red-hot shape to determine what is needed next and if it has reached a satisfactory enough level to progress to the next phase.

"ahh, perfect" Mr Anderson.P.Grey was a hard man to please, so hard in fact even he had a hard time doing it. However, it was not impossible, everything just had to be as close to perfect as any rational human can think to get it.

"finally got it right" he exclaimed as he quickly plunged the sword shaped metal into the quenching solution.

A familiar low growl is heard coming from the front of the cabin.

Mr grey then got up after taking out the unfinished sword from the solution. leaving it to air cool he then took another sword from a huge pile of discarded swords that just did not meet the cut. The pile stood at his waist with a couple strewn around the general area.

"i wonder what brings them so far"

Mr grey walks around the large wood cabin, dried leaves crunch under his weight as the shape of his son's car comes into view. He walks to greet him and his daughter-in-law when a gleeful voice could be heard from the back seat.

"grandad..." a small excited figure could be seen getting out the opposite side's back seat. Asura ran around the car to meet his granddad. He was a small boy of six but even so he was still short for his age. However, what he lacked in high he made up for in energy.

"quite a handful isn't he"

"yh tell me about It?" asura's father replied. Can you keep him for a while? Ashly and I had a couple things we needed to get done and we didn't have enough time to keep an eye on him.

Mr grey's face changed from one that said welcome to one that was slightly perturbed.

"very well, I suppose it can't be helped"

He helped asura unpack and get set up, He even showed him around. After getting a tour, Asura settled into the living room where his parents were sitting reminiscing.

"in here takes me back"

Ashley "hey I remember how much you used to boast that you were building a house with your dad"

MR grey "you were quite the hand-full"

"what do you mean hand-full, I was an angel"

Ashly"angel ? You were so prideful that your first words in class were and I quote "hi I am Haiden.Z.Grey son of Petterson Grey do your best to beat me or I will leave you in my shadow "

Haiden "i seem to remember you going by queen tamari at some point"

Ashley "well I had to make you notice me somehow, very few things can be seen over that big nose of yours you know "

The hole room chuckled

Mr grey "you two seem not to have changed a bit I see"

Asura chimed in "not even a little"

Haiden "wait what do you know?"

The room laughed again. Soon night came and Asura's parents prepared to leave.

"that is right, I haven't asked you to yet. How long am I to keep little asura here"

Ashly "about six months"

Mr grey paused slightly and ran his fingers along his beard. "six months? Don't you think he would be better off with a more suitable babysitter?"

Haiden "we already tried, from the time asura was told about the cabin you built he was fascinated about the place"

It was not that Mr grey was not the type that liked children, quite the opposite. He adores children, but one may say he adores his peace and quiet even more. On top of that he had quite a rugged life, he was a tall man about six-foot six. He had a medium build but from how toned his muscles were at his age one could assume when he was at his prime, he looked much different. He had been in the military and had served in a special unit that was designed to fight crime. The training throughout his life made for many days out in the sun. Either he was mastering his powers or fighting other people who were missing using theirs. As a result, even now, his skin was a type of black rarely seen. A striking jet-black tone which stands as a testament to how much time he put into his work. He had a strong jawline and gaunt cheeks; his beard came full but was cut low and splashes of grey could be seen here and there.

Mr grey ran his fingers along the parts of the cornrows in his head. taking a deep breath, he then said "do you really think that a six-year-old can survive out here with me for six months"

Ashly Hadden knew what he meant. Anderson was getting up in age and it was for that very reason that he came out into the forest to live out his days. He was always a very particular man; he got angry even at himself when things were not done to a satisfactory level. Normally this would not be an issue but when you add possible outburst of psych energy then you get a less than ideal situation.

Mr Grey "one or two is fine but I can't make any promises for more than that"

Hadden " I'm confident he'll be fine"

Mr grey "you know that was different circumstance"

Ashly brought the car into position to leave "are you come"

Hadden "he's going to be fine I'm sure of it"

Tiny footsteps sauntered from the living room to the door." are they... gone?" he said, the words almost getting stuck in his throat.

"yup..."

"were they upset?"

"no …, did something happen?"

"no, it's nothing I was just wondering why they never said bye"

The room fell silent for a couple seconds.

"let's get you bed, you've got a big day tomorrow"

"what's happening tomorrow"

"we'll see how to make you useful"

"okayy '' Asura chimed and the patter of his feet flew straight to his bed. Asura jumped, Tufff, the sheets rippled on impact. "good night" asura yawned. "goodnight kiddo"

Bang bang bang

Asura jolted awake "what , what is going on"

Mr grey "time to get up "

Asura looked around and noticed there wasn't any natural light. "but it still night "

"nope it's dawn, and we are going hunting"

Asura's face cracked a small smile. "what do I need to get ready?"

The lack of complaining took Mr grey slightly by surprise.

"follow me"

Mr Grey led Asura down into the basement and showed him the door to the infantry as he liked to call it. It was medium size, about thirty-by-thirty square feet or about ten by ten square metres. shelves lined the walls and the stone floor and wooden support beams at each corner of the room made it resemble a medieval inventory. Many cupboards housed all kinds of tools, all forms of knives to hammers and even flints. The cupboards stood near the middle of the room with reserved walking space all around them, the wheels they stood on allowed for them to be moved around the room.

Mr grey reached into one of the cupboards and pulled out a bow and quiver, a small knife and then a crossbow.

They both got dressed, geared up and headed out.

the cold wind nibbled at asura skin and he shivered slightly quietly lamenting how little he had mentally prepared for his first hunting. while making his way through the forest due drops littered the leaves and grass, every now and again they would brush against his small body and the cold due drops would make the arduous journey to asura skin.

"come, stay quiet, move quietly, move quickly"

Asura crept close behind Mr grey and they both made their way to the middle of the forest, Mr grey motioned for asura to stop. Just ahead of them a wild boar stood at the river bed, it's long-brown fur meant that it was quite healthy , it was the first of many that came to get some water. Mr grey pointed his bow and held for a couple seconds. Asura watched Mr grey, his chest rose and fell, once.... twice ….shuooo. The arrow flew true and lodged itself in the neck of the bour, it squealed and scampered into the water.

Mr Grey's face turned straight and his expression resolute. Pulling and drawing once more, steading and releasing, this one lodged in the eye. The arrow pierced through to the other side; another struck the head again. He kept hitting that area over and over again while getting up and walking in a crescent to get closer. Asura crouched in alert, something about how Mr grey moved made him feel like things were getting serious.

"now, pull it out"

Asura dashed forward even surprising himself with how fast he got to the river bed. " The head or tail which is better," Asura thought as he hesitated for a second. Bounding forward a second time this time for the back legs, pulling hard the bour thrashed and screamed. asura struggled against the weight of the bour lurching with the thrashing. Bit by bit it moved, making its way to the bank or the river and even further once he got far enough, asura dropped to the ground knees first then back. Mr grey came to stand above him." you did good" asura smiled riley.

Asura and Mr grey talked as they made their way to the cabin Mr grey carried the bour.

Mr grey "so what do you think? Do you think you can keep doing that for six months"?

Asura "yeah I can, I wanna be able to do what you do though"

"Well then son let start small, but after food "

Asura and Mr Grey sat and sheared stories as the meat roast. Mr Grey talked of his time in the special forces. As he recounted stories about the people he took down and the lives he saved, Asura's eyes showed with passion, a smile painted Riley across his face.

"oh I almost forgot I have something I think you should try"

"what's that"

"I have it in the cabin, give me a minute and I'll be right back just leave enough back for a couple bites"

They had set up camp about thirty feet away from the back of the cabin. As Mr grey approached the back of the cabin and made his way through the stone area he used for smithing. The muttering of the tv coughed his attention. It was in a small room that stood at the back of the cabin on the right-hand side. It also laid next to a window that faced a stream which cut his property in half and ran next to the place they had set up the can up. The sun shone a peaceful red-orange and one particular ray shone through the window hitting a large bag of dried grapes hang ring in the middle of the window sill. After Mr took some and placed them into a wooden bole, covering them with a piece of tissue Mr grey began to leave the room.

"out of the thirty convicted felons five was seen robbing a pizza shop near to route 110" the noise of the tv coughed his attention. That was near where he lived.

"The unpredictable and unknown nature of their powers make them extremely dangerous "

Outside, Asura waits patiently, rocking back and forth taking his mind off of the meat in front of him. steam wafted through the air carrying with it nothing but temptation to his taste buds. He focused his attention on anything else: the forest, the sound of the birds, the scampering of rabbits, the blond hair blowing in the wind …

"wait what "

Several locks of long blond hair swayed in the wind but the distance and rows of trees blocked the view of what it was attached to.

"-*gulp*-"

Asura slowly made his way towards the long flowing hair but then, it moved, almost like whatever it was, sensed him. The long hair meandered through the forest, appearing and disappearing throughout the trees. Asura began to run just to keep up, curious as to how it could move so seamlessly, so smoothly. the speed at which it could traverse the forest was mesmerizing. Asura soon stopped to catch his breath, his chest burst with pain as he clenched his knees in his hands trying not to pass out. through his panting he saw a small pale arm reach from his periphery and place a small apple on a flat stone in front of him. This startled him and he stumbled back. The figure was startled as well and hid behind a tree.

"are you ...real"

The figure peeked from behind a large oak tree and as asura looked at it he began to get a feeling. Even though he could not see its face It was as if he knew that the figure was pouting, Goosebumps ran down Asura's spine and he slowly stepped back. The figure seemed to move ever so slightly but somehow; he knew that motion was meant to be a yes and goosebumps shot down his spine again. The atmosphere suddenly shifted, temperatures plunged and the forest dropped bone quiet; at this point Asura's hair was on end and his only priority was getting back home. Cautiously and quietly, he put some distance between him and the figure. First taking the apple and saying thank you. As he continued to step back the figure wiggled forward to say don't. However, Asura's mind was already made-up, thud, flutter... a loud noise causes a nearby flock of birds to dart across the sky. Asura went from scared to terrified and flight over took as asura barrelled back towards camp.