Can i really do this?

-Badump, badump, badump-

The pounding of asura's heart made a sickening symphony as he stormed through the forest eagerly awaiting the sight of the campfire. Bounding from rock, to root, to pile of Leafs, making sure not to make a mistake else risk being caught by the looming doom that was chasing him. "wait, what am I running from? the figure did not seem threatening in fact it even seemed friendly, was he alone? "." she'' words popped into asura's mind almost like if he was correcting himself and just as it did a familiar chill ran down his spine again. asura looked to his right and he saw it. A small blond girl flying through the trees next to him. She was moving with amazing speed, however what was perhaps more amazing about how she was moving was the fact that she did not seem to be touching anything. As she moved, even the bark of the trees, it seemed like she never touched them, she just hovered near for a couple seconds. She would line up her next tree and then use it to bound off of. It was as if she had invisible springs at the bottoms of her feet. "where are you going", words popped into asura's head again followed by a familiar chill, "why would I tell you?" Just to see what would happen he tried talking back with his mind. "I'll walk you home"

"wow it actually worked,…... how are you doing this?...." asura's excitement got the better of him "

"ooowwwaah shut up that hurts!!"

"oh sorry "

"better, don't do that again"

"yes please"

Asura focused on getting away

as they bounded and rushed through the forest a loud crash could be heard from where they came. "this way". They soon came to the clearing where Asura's camp was. "it's right up ahead"

"i can see it now"

"i gotta ask though, how are you doing this"

Asura never got a reply, after getting back to camp Asura spun around to see what had happened. To his surprise, in the forest line a small blond girl stood slowly fading into the distance. "no wait!..."

"be safe", her expressionless form faded into the tree line like a dream.

The dread that he felt before left and as he sat down his senses calmed down as well and a heavy tiredness fell over him, his limbs were led and his eyes rocks, sinking forever into a river of dreams. When.

Crash. Woosh.

A pillar of dirt rose about thirty feet into the air. It towered over the house.

At that moment asura's eyes widened and he thought…... "granddad!!". he ran as fast as he could into and throughout the house." Granddad!" he called frantically, dirt from the blast clouded the air creating a thick fog like atmosphere," granddad!" oh no the blast" asura tried going back through the back-door but it was blocked and his tiny stature could not hope to push pass. no matter how hard he pushed against the door it would not move. "the front!", running for the front door he hears a now familiar voice and chill, "don't!" he stopped just barely on the threshold of the wooden part of the house seconds before it implodes trapping him in the stone rooms left behind. Asura slumped to the floor feeling defeated but merely moments after. "the window!" he sprang up and turned on his heels sprinting for the backroom window with everything he had. …-

-Crash - -crash- -crash-

one by one all the windows in the house exploded into shards throwing asura into the centre of what was left of the house. There was now nothing but fragments of glass surrounding a frame. The situation seemed hopeless. Every time asura rose to escape through one of the windows he was knocked backwards with an unseen force. Hours passed and louder blasts could be heard from off into the distance the only comfort was that it was getting further and further away. Asura's helplessness took over him and he curled into a ball." granddad" he whimpered shaking quietly, waiting for the nightmare to end.

-Bang- - bang- -bang-

"Get up kiddo you're going to have a long day ahead of you", The voice of his grandfather travelled the room meandering into asura's ears. He awoke in a dazed state, slowly and registered what he heard, tears welling up in his eyes." granddad" Mr grey quite puzzled at the sudden burst of emotion ask "what's the matter kiddo"

"the house the girl in the forest so much happened my dream"

"I forgot you were still a kid for a second there"

Asura's expression dropped as he took greater stock of what was around him. The room they were in was the still proudly standing stone part of the house, despite the condition of the windows. However, the wooden part of the house was completely crumpled like a juice box ready for the garbage.

"are you...okay"

"yes, I am fine no need to worry"

"alright let's get to repairs I guess"

Mr grey smiled jokingly "no need to act tough in front of the girls asura I saw how your face looked" Mr grey playfully teased asura even tried to pinch his cheeks." get away from me that hurt"

"can you guys stop; you still need to gather materials and I rather not have you stomping around my forest at night"

"but I wanted to collect night lilies tonight" the small blond girl spoke for the first time since asura saw her in the forest.

"Why are you collecting those of all things?" the older girl responded, seeming a little perplexed.

They exchange glances and the smaller one seems to blush at something, then her head vigorously shakes. Her gaze became resolute as she stared up to the older girl.

It was an interesting sight to behold. The taller girl had long black kinky hair, it was platted into two large cornrows that guided her hair to either side of her face. It framed it and drew attention to her broad face and piercing eyes. Her figure was small, it seemed she was Asura's age and her skin, the thing that stood out most of all, it carried an uncanny brown that resembled the forest trees.

The small blond girl was pale and her long hair draped over her like an additional layer of clothes. they wore the same thing, green shirts and pants that seem to resemble leaves. Most of her frame was covered by her hair and it fell covering most of her face. her golden eyes shone through and at times casted an eerie glint to her gaze. But when her face was seen it was surprisingly gaunt, her lips were shaped like a fairy's wings and her jawline was sharp.

It seemed like they were communicating by telepathy like she did with Asura when he first met her.

"what do we do about the cabin"

"Well, it becomes a stone hut, and you're gonna help me build it" he said while playfully ruffling asura's uncombed cow peppers." that reminds me do your parent still practice Rastafarianism"

"rasta-what?"

"Have you ever seen your parents eat meat other than fish '' Mr grey recalls the earlier meal, kicking himself for his carelessness.

"no, they eat meat all the time, even that nasty salty kind that is always fatty"

"you mean pork, your parents eat pork ??"

"yes that, is there something wrong"

"no, I just knew them at a different time, people change"

"I'll teach you a way of life that should help you"

"Does this mean no meat?" Asura replied softly, the disappointment plastered all over his voice.

"no kiddo it's one that you can live out and change as you see fit, it should give you the building blocks to live life as free as you can, because it should make you independent of the world and it's stresses"

"how is that?"

"well, let start with building the house first"

The blond girl stepped forward and placed an apple on a rock in front of asura.

"thanks", as asura reached for the apple, she bounded back and hid behind the taller one.

"that's right I never asked for your names. My name is asura what's yours"

The small blond girl spoke "r-re,rem" she was so quiet asura struggled to hear her. The "rem" quiet words crept across Asura's mind.

"rem?" he said questioningly, she nodded. The taller one looked at rem teasingly and she pouted.

Asura looked at her waiting for her to respond.

"Oh right, my name is Eden nice to meet you."

"nice to meet you", Asura smiled. Mr grey tapped his Shoulder

"we are ready to head out"

"right"

Asura said his goodbyes and left with his grandfather to head to the store. they arrived at a nearby hardware store and Mr Grey got to work picking stuff out. He was widely known for getting steel and other metals and smithing equipment delivered to his cabin in the woods.

"hey, back already? Don't tell me the metal we got you went that quickly. you're going to run yourself into the ground doing that much smithing you know"

"no please, today I am doing some renovations"

"again? you sure like to give yourself work, why don't you ever just hire a contractor, soon you'll be up in age you know"

"yeah, well that day hasn't come yet"

The store clerk laughed and shook his head "you never change, do you?"

"you know it"

while Mr grey and the store clerk were talking asura snuck away to explore the store, while venturing through the isles he saw a pair of figures entering the store both carrying guns." I need a couple of hours without something crazy happening." Asura lamented. A tall man was with a small boy, he had short dreads, a round face and chubby cheeks. He wore a baggy dyed-out long sleeved camo shirt with long brown pants and black combat boots. The man was in similar attire, the only major difference was that he was wearing a hat and had an assault rifle with a sniper scope on it. Asura tried to get the attention of his grandfather with a few rhythmic whistles while moving closer to get a better look.

"ttttsh tsssh thhhssh" unfortunately asura could not whistle and just ended up sounding weird.

as he approached, he saw the smaller one, his gun was smaller and also had a scope on it. they moved through the store swiftly and soon reached the counter." now or never" asura jumped for the smaller one first. But panic took over his mind when a sudden force lifted him into the air.

"what are you doing?" Mr Grey's voice rumbled as he spoke, holding an Asura by his jacket's collar.

"robbers" asura, stunned at the aggressive reaction, just pointed.

Pinching his nose bridge and taking a deep breath Mr grey quietly explained.

"These two are hunting, those guns are likely to kill game to take home", looking up at the pair he asked "you two good? ".

the pair nodded.

"wait, it's not illegal either?" Asura timidly asked.

"not if you hunt in and you have the needed papers" Mr grey ruffled asura's hair "now apologise".

"I'm sorry"

"it's fine, just an honest mistake" the tall man just nodded and his seemingly unbothered demeanor was a comfort to asura" at least I wasn't too much of a bother" the small boy stepped forward and spoke "don't worry about it, no harm done" his voice was so soft yet audible, it was like the sound a perfectly tuned violin makes when it hits low notes and Is played softly.

"what in the world " asura thought to himself as the pair walked away.

"sorry gramps"

"don't worry about it kiddo" Mr grey smiled and pulled out a notepad.

"they don't have the bigger things but we may still be able to get some of the smaller tools here"

After asura and Mr grey picked up what they needed they made their way onto the road and started heading into town.

The ride was quiet for a while.

"whatcha thinking about?"

"nothing just felt like I missed something back their"

"ok let's start teaching" Mr grey was going on the assumption that he was a little scared of him so he wanted to try something.

"you can meditate right?"

Asura shook his head" dad taught me when I was four, I practiced a lot since then, he said it helps me to stop shaking when I am in crowds".

"your six, your life can't be that stressful, be straight with be" Mr grey jokingly poked asura's arm

"it's the last thing dad taught me before he got his promotion" Mr grey's face dropped a bit

"well get into the back I wanna show you something"

Asura claimed into the back of the truck "get into the meditation position and before you close your eye try to keep the image of me in your mind"

Asura did as Mr grey suggested and soon saw a large ball of vapour with a humanoid shape in the centre of it.

"woah what was that"

"keep your focus"

"right "

" wh-what am i seeing?"

"not seeing sensing"

"I can't keep this up for very long so listen up." Mr grey stopped white knuckling the steering wheel and slowly ,..." what do you see now."

"it is fading, it's gone ...what was that?"

"That is my energy, I would like to say ruk but I don't know that much about it yet.it is Kinda like a signal, I think you have one too but I am not sure. If you do, I will show you how to manipulate yours and since others" Mr grey turned and gave a smile" this way we can communicate even when your by your parents "

"woah really? "

"yup we might not be able to talk long but it should serve a purpose for emergencies. It might also be possible to develop abilities from training with your energy like this, we'll call it ruk for convenience's sake"

"woah really??" asura's eyes popped and he sprang to the front "I thought that wasn't possible"

"hey now I could be wrong but I think it is possible, or at least there is a notable chance"

"what makes you say that?"

Mr grey shrugged "I can't really say it's mainly just a hunch"

"oh" asura said disappointingly" but the experts"

"The experts have been wrong before you know" Mr grey cut asura off mid sentence "be very careful what you believe from people, even me. watch, listen but question everything, figure things out for yourself."

"yes please" asura had heard this speech from his parents for years he knew it well and already started putting things his parents had said into practice.

Mr grey began to white-knuckle the steering wheel again "my only hope is that I can set you up with the needed foundation. "