Flower Girl

"Uhm hello there"

Ashton froze in place and looked at the girl who had very suddenly gotten much closer to him while he was thinking

'Note to self Don't get distracted and let my guard down just because somebody is far away from me'

"Are you deaf?"

Taking a moment to get a good look at the girl Ashton was immediately drawn to her violet eyes, despite what he believed to be common sense there was no fear in the girls eyes merely what looked like curiosity.

What's more interesting is that his instincts were telling him this girl is dangerous. Despite only being a little over five feet tall and wearing a pretty floral dress. Aside from her eyes her raven colored waist length hair also stood out to him.

"... ... ... HeLLLo"

'Fuck I've never tried to speak while like this I sound so stupid!'

"So you do speak, what are you doing out here by yourself? Wait you must be the one who awakened last night! My master sent me to check out who had a sudden duel awakening. Turns out it was just a cheater with a beast soul. Let me guess you turned 17 very recently?"

Even while speaking in her condescending down her melodious voice drew Ashton in. It didn't help him that she was the most attractive girl he had seen to this day.

'How does she know all of this are beasts more common than I thought?'

"Yees Hhhow Diid YoU Know?"

'I curse never bothering to learn how to talk first before just doing it'

"Well aside from the fact you've had your guard down this whole time, you also sound like an angry child while speaking plus i saw you run head first into a tree just a few minutes ago. Leave that form so we can speak like regular people maybe I'll be able to help you out"

'Bone claws'

Ashton thought to himself while hiding his arms behind his back

"Im SorrY I'm unable to trust you at this point in time, I can tell you're not a simple girl and my gut tells me you're dangerous"

Moving far faster than Ashton was prepared for the girl appeared behind him and observed the entirety of his form as well as his bone claws. With a flash she was back in her original position

"If i wanted to attack or kill you. You would already have died."

'She spoke matter of factly and my senses were screaming danger at me at this point.'

"Okay well there's another reason I can't revert at this moment"

Ashton spoke as he dismissed his claws and scratched the back of his head with shame.

".... Don't tell me you're naked under all that fur"

Ashton chuckled which sounded more like charcoal being ground up than a laugh.

"It is as you say"

The girl stood there for a moment before speaking again

"Go gather your things and meet me back here, I'll wait."

Ashton had the feeling there was a thinly veiled threat about trying to run away. Ashton made his way back to his mini cave and reverted, got dressed, and headed back to the spring.

"Not bad on the eyes wolf boy. Do you have a name? My name is Isabella"

"Ashton, nice to meet you Isabella"

Ashton shifted in place uncomfortably under her calculative gaze

"Well Ashton what is a wolf pup doing out in the woods by himself. Don't wolves stay close to their pack and travel in at least pairs?"

"Uhm I don't have a pack? It's always been just my father and I."

Ashtons eyes threatened to release tears at the thought of his late father. However he steeled himself and put on a brave face so he didn't give Isabella any extra information.

"Then where is your father wouldn't he want to be near you in case you went out of control last night?"

"My father has passed away recently from being an old man"

"I'm sorry to hear about that" Her gaze softened "It's never easy to lose a loved one more so when they are all you have."

"Thank you for your sympathy. Now can I go? I need to get to the capital and get into an academy"

'Dammit I just gave away too much information!'

"Oh why do you need to get into an academy? If you're in such a rush is it because you're running from something or somebody? Maybe you ran away from home and your father is just worried about you?"

"NO my father is dead! He was murdered right in front of me!"

'FUCK I JUST THREW A TEMPER TANTRUM AND GAVE EVERYTHING AWAY'

"Now the truth comes out. So you're going to try to get into an academy for protection to bide your time until you can defend yourself or is revenge your goal?"

"Is being a good guesser your cultivation powers?"

"Cultivation powers? No I don't have a spell for guessing, I'm just good at it. That and after mentioning your fathers death I could feel your killing intent surge out of you. It was weak but it's there. Now let's go meet my master, if protection and revenge is what you want there is nobody better than my master!"

"Wait you can't just expect me to come with you just like that?"

"Why, but we can help you?"

"Your master may not want to teach me, or he may not be able to teach me I don't know how any of this works!"

"Your father never explained how cultivation works or anything like that?"

"No I didn't even know I had a beast soul until I saw my father change and fight two other wolves in front of me."

"Wait he kept it hidden from you your entire life? Your body looks well beyond the power somebody your age should have even if you hadn't just awakened you would clearly still be stronger"

"He has had me doing extreme exercise since I was a kid as well as taking me hunting every single day since I could walk"

"So he was preparing you for the change without ever telling you why.... Did you never question why your life has been the way it was?

"No I thought that was just how it was honestly"

Ashtons senses had long stopped warning him of danger, this mixed with his attraction to her caused him to drop his guard around his words more than he should have.

"So you were suddenly thrown into the bloody world of cultivation by yourself? No wonder you're seeking power, come with me. My master will surely teach you! Plus you will be much more refreshing to be around than the other disciples since you have a fresh perspective! I bet the master will be so proud of me for bringing him a new student."

'Not only that but I may be rewarded for it' She thought to herself hiding her grin.

"I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter, I'll come with you but if your master is unable to help me I'll be moving on."

"That's okay! Trust me he will be able to help you!"

"You're a little too enthusiastic about this but lead the way"

With that Isabella began to guide Ashton through the woods

"That sword and crossbow you're carrying were your fathers?"

"No I took them off the bodies of the men who killed my father"

"Your Father took them both out before dying? Impressive"

"Uh no my father died to a wolf named Grant who then tried to kill me but I got lucky he seemed to be on the verge of going insane and dropped his guard much too low and I killed him with these bolts from his partners crossbow"

Ashton showed the silver tipped crossbow bolts he had with him

"He was just standing there laughing so I shot an arrow through his eye, another in his shoulder after he charged at me, then a final one in the back of his head"

"You defeated a cultivator with a crossbow?"

"In the book I got from my father after his death he had mentioned that he crippled Grant whatever that means, He also said he had his cultivation crippled so I assume he meant the same for Grant. My father said this happened seventeenish years ago"

"Ah so your father and the man who killed him were both mortal then no beast energy to support them anymore, what about the other wolf?"

"I'm not sure he didn't use any abilities or do anything special"

"Then he must not have been able to cultivate after awakening or he was also crippled i'm not sure"

"Well now you know all the important information which led me to this point"

"It does seem that way, however where is your mother in all of this?"

"My father's book said she had her heart ripped out in front of him much like how he had died. However before i killed grant he had mentioned my mother was still alive and imprisoned by my grandfather for her sins or some stupid shit like that. My father stole my mother from Grant in Grant's version of the story and my Father had written that when they eloped and ran away she was betrothed to another."

"A classic love story gone wrong, so they were from a clan of beasts. Do you know which clan?"

"Yes the Dark Crescent Clan"

Isabella stopped in her tracks turned and stared directly at Ashton

"You're in more danger than you think then. You're also the luckiest boy in the world since I found you and not somebody else."

"What do you mean?"

"The Dark Crescent clan has eyes and ears almost everywhere though their presence this far from the capital is limited they still come around here on occasion. You're in luck because my master harbors an old grudge against the head of the Dark Crescent Clan much like you do."

"Do you know why he has a grudge?"

"Something about them claiming his son as one of theirs or something along the lines of that. You can ask him yourself as were almost there"