A bad day in Kuroyuri (Lie Ren's P.O.V)

(This isn't going to follow 100% canon)

A very small action can have profound impact into someone's life. And for those who are aware of the future, someone's fate may be changed more than they could possibly account for.

And a certain someone, had an event that would later define who he is altered thanks to one of these changes.

Whether it was for better or worse, only time will tell.

This is the story of a little boy living in an isolated village that will soon face great peril...

...

"Uhmm... Dragon's tongue?"

"Good, now tell me the name of this one."

In a small hut surrounded by the forest, there could be seen two figures inside it having an interaction.

One was a kid that's roughly 10 years old, has straight black hair with a pink strip on it, pink eyes and a very lean physique. He's currently sitting at a table focusing on an assortment of herbs that were laid before him, his expression being very calm overall but showing himself to be slightly flustered by the task.

The second being of an middle aged man that was about 70% similar to the boy in appearance with a few grey hairs, a beard and no pink hair strip being the main difference, a very mature and stern voice comes from his lips but in truth his eyes contain a hidden trace of fondness and amusement as he stares at the boy.

As it might already be obvious, the two of them are father and son, the boy's name is Lie Ren and the man is Li Ren.

Li Ren is a hunter living in the village called Kuroyuri located in the wilderness of Anima, together with his wife and son they live a simple but fulfilling life. And currently he's passing on the knowledge he accumulated over the years to his only son in hopes that it will help him in the future.

...

|Lie Ren's P.O.V|

After spending a good part of the afternoon appraising herbs and describing their uses to my father, I finally couldn't take it anymore and had to ask what has been in my head for hours.

"Dad, do we really need to do this?"

"Of course! What If one day you find yourself wounded and far from help? Wouldn't knowing how to differentiate a healing herb and a poisonous one be the difference between life and death?" Dad talks without showing any annoyance, his calm and passionate demeanor showing itself.

And I couldn't respond to it, since he was right. He almost always is.

"But if you're feeling mentally fatigued right now, then you can take a break. There's no point in continuing when your mind is not well disposed."

Hearing this made all his tension evaporate and he couldn't resist stretching his body that was a bit sore from being sitting for so long.

"But we'll be continuing the lessons later, this knowledge is too important for this to be postponed any further."

"Yes father..." I say downtrodden as my previous excitement vanishes as quickly as it arrived.

But as I was thinking of a possible excuse to escape the lessons, a voice came from outside the room that pulled me from my thoughts.

"Dear, I'm going to the market to get some supplies we're currently lacking. Is there anything you need me to buy while I'm at it?" A feminine voice sounds just outside the door, which is pushed open following it.

The person who just entered the room is a middle aged woman with a pink hair and eyes, she wearing a very simple dress and exudes a gentle air as she walks in. She's An Ren, wife of Li and mother of Lie.

'Mom...' I think, as I start to gain hope that there's a way out of my predicament.

Mother seems to have quickly figured out what was happening inside the room with just a side glance at the two of us and after briefly thinking about something she smiles and turns towards me.

"Lie sweety, would you mind accompanying mom to go do the groceries. I could really use an extra pair of hands." She says it in a way that really looks like she's in distress despite she never having trouble doing this before.

"*Uhum* You can go help out your mother, I'll go check out on the traps and chop some more firewood, what we have should be enough for the winter but it's never bad to have a surplus." Father agrees to mother's wishes and quickly starts to make his way out of the room.

"Be careful." She says to him as it already became a custom at this point.

"I'll be." He gives his usual reply and gives her a quick kiss before taking his coat and making his way outside.

With now only the two of us on the room, she then turns to me with her usual smile and beckons me to follow.

"Now, shall we get going?"

...

The walk to the market is not a very short one, since our house is in the very edge of the village where it is more convenient for a hunter that must go to the wilderness often to live.

As we walk through the streets, many familiar sights appear as the other villagers continue their very repetitive routines. Kids playing, wifes exchanging gossips with their neighbors, drunks passed out in front of the tavern after a night of heavy drinking and many others traveling the streets, going to their destinations.

Meanwhile I continued silently following mom as we passed by many acquaintances and she would warmly greet all of them and exchange some small talk.

After this process repeated itself a few times, we were finally approaching the market but then mom suddenly stopped walking and turned to me.

"You can go now." She said plainly without giving any further explanation.

"???" At her sudden statement, I could only stare at her with a perplexed expression.

"Didn't you want to play outside instead of continuing to study at home? I'm giving you the perfect chance, you can just go now." She said with a knowing smile and a light attitude.

"No? I-I mean yes, but how did you find out? Was it so easy to see?" I become a bit flustered at being seen right through by her before asking her what gave me away with a very downtrodden tone.

"My son, you resemble your father more than you can imagine."

"..?"

"Let's just say that I became an expert at reading a few signs after years of living with the two of you."

"Uhmm... Will you be alright doing the groceries alone?"

"Thank you for the concern but it's going to be alright. Rather than that, please don't think badly of your father for making you do this, he worries a lot about you and he's only doing this because it's important."

"Don't worry, I know."

"Then off you go! And you don't have to be worried about your father finding out, this will be our little secret."

As mom continued making her way to the market, I changed directions and went directly to the edge of the village, to the place I usually go when I'm free.

On the way there, I started hearing a commotion from one of the nearby buildings, a tavern to be more exact, which was quite strange since those aren't full in broad daylight and instead become busier after work hours.

I quietly aproached and leaned into one of the open windows to hear what was going on, but only managed to hear what seemed to be an end of a conversation.

"... and then, we had to take down the Nevermore using some old mining explosive dust charges. And from that day forward, we never left the ammo purchase as the last item in our provisions list."

The voice was a bit familiar to me, it belonged to a middle aged woman that arrived in the village a few years back, a huntress to be more precise but the Grimm slaying type unlike my father.

She arrived from Vale with her team which consisted of her and two more teammates, the fourth member from the rumors I've heard, had been seriously injured and was forced to retire, that's the reason they've been positioned here instead of going to normal missions.

But they weren't the only team stationers in the village, as 1 year ago another team from Mistral was sent to patrol this village.

Despite not knowing a lot about huntsman, even I found strange having two different huntsman teams protecting an unremarkable village like ours.

But this was undoubtedly a good thing for the village, so no one ever questioned the reason for this arrangement.

Heaving confirmed that what I heard was nothing more than the huntsman recounting their stories and drinking, I decided to move along and not get myself involved.

...

But things didn't go as I expected once I reached my destination, normally I would spend my time relaxing and enjoying nature in a little spot I found not far from the village, but as I went there, relax was the last thing I could do.

My father once taught me that 'nature can give you any information you might need to overcome a situation, you just have to learn how to inquire it' and all the signs I've been noticing have been pointing out in an ominous direction.

The birds have been restless and the small animals which should be moving around to gather food for winter are nowhere to be seen, which combined were enough for me to suspect that something is wrong.

'Lie, if you're ever in doubt, then listen to your instincts. They have rarely ever led me astray.' Remembering another of father's teachings, I decided to go with the assumption that I'm being warned of something bad that is about to happen and act accordingly.

Normally I would immediately turn back and return to the village in such situations but there is an ominous feeling that is making him hesitant to do so.

'Dad... he should still be in the woods at this time, will he be alright?'

Despite knowing that father is a very experienced hunter and wouldn't miss on this signs, my instincts still told me that he was in danger.

"I have to find him." Having made up my mind, I instead decide go deeper into the woods in order to meet my father, he will surely know what to do in this situation.

...

"Urgh, not here either."

Lie Ren had been wandering in the forest around the village for close to an hour, he followed the usual route that his father goes in order to check all the traps he laid but instead in reverse in hopes that the two would eventually bump into each other.

But he had no success so far and as the ominous feeling kept growing and becoming more vivid, he eventually decided that staying in the woods would be too risky and held a small hope that his father would have already went back home.

So, he cautiously started to make his way back home.

He had already walked this route many times with his father, so getting lost was almost impossible considering all the markings his father left for him.

*Rustle*

But before arriving there, he was suddenly startled by a movement in the bushes, that typically wouldn't be enough to alarm him but the problem was that it was very close to him, typically his senses wouldn't allow something to get into pouncing distance before he notices it, so he immediately went into high alert.

"Lie!? What are you doing here? Do you have any idea of the danger you've put yourself into!?" The thing that aproached him however isn't an animal, but his father that hysterically questions him with a worried expression.

"D-Dad! I-I was looking for you. I started to have a bad feeling after entering the forest and I thought-"

"Wait, the forest? Aren't you supposed to be with your mother? No matter, listen to me."

"Wait! What's going on? Why are you making a serious face?"

"Just calm down and listen. I've been having the same feeling ever since I've entered the woods and I have a guess as to what it could be. So I need you to do one thing for me, warn the huntsman that are in the village then find your mother and remember that emergency drill the huntsman gave the village? You must follow it and bring your mother to the shelter they built a while back with you. Can you do this?"

"And what about you?"

"I'll try to warn as many villagers as I can, there're many who live at the edges of the village and might not be aware of what's happening. But don't worry, I'll be joining you two as soon as I can"

"..." Lie looks dazed and a bit out of it after receiving all of the information and feeling the pressure, it's the first time he has ever been subjected to such a situation.

But seeing this, his father holds him by the shoulders and kneels so that they can be at eye level. "Lie, I know that I'm asking a lot of you, but I will need you to be strong, for your mother's sake and mine too. I know that you're capable of doing this. Can you promise me this?"

"I promise." With those last words, Lie then with a determinate expression nods at his father's request and silently turns back before hurriedly running to the village.

...

"Haaah...Haah..." As he arrived at the edge of the village, he was heavily panting as he pushed himself forward, stamina just wasn't his best attribute.

It took only a few minutes to reach the village from where he met his father, though sprinting through a forest might not have been the best idea, but he really wasn't thinking about that in the moment.

Gritting his teeth, he pushed on and continued sprinting towards the pub where he heard the huntsman before. He had to warn them.

Though his father didn't directly mention what it was, he was smart enough to guess what could get his father so worried.

So, as he arrived in front of the tavern, he saw the huntsman team standing outside of it, he couldn't really see their expressions considering how blurry his vision already was but despite this he moved to warn them.

"Haaah... There's Grimm Haah... They're coming, my father he's-"

"Whoa, take it easy son, don't worry. We already noticed, the other team that was on patrol hasn't answered our calls for some time and this is a clear sign that something bad is coming." The voice came from an middle-aged uncle that was part of the team of the woman he encountered before.

"But you're quite determinate boy, to run until you're in this state just to warn us, but we'll take it from here, you should head to the shelter."

But Lie wasn't really listening to them, as he took a moment to breathe, all that was currently in his head was the task that his father gave him.

Now he had to find his mother.

So with this determination, he started making his way to the market, where he thought his mother would be.

As he made his way through the streets, the calm atmosphere was suddenly broken with a loud sound.

*Dong* *Dong* *Dong*

The resounding sound of a bell was heard through the entire village, this signaled the people to gather at the church near the center of the town, this was a signal that there's an emergency and people should move to the shelter.

The shelter was built in the basement of the old church and it was made to allow the villagers to hide away until help could arrive. But it couldn't keep the Grimm out for very long, so it could only stall for time.

But hearing the bell made Lie even more anxious to find his mother since now that everyone knew that something was happening, they would all desperately rush to the shelter, making his task much harder.

But he continued moving forward nonetheless, he knew what could happen if he failed to meet her, she probably would frantically search for him and refuse to enter the shelter until she found him.

He was still worried about his father and his decision to stay behind to help more people, his father was a good man that always told his son that he should never let fear prevent him from doing the right thing. But he absolutely trusted that his father would find a way to overcome this crisis. He always did.

After he arrived at the market, he was very worried since he could already see that the whole place was in turmoil and finding anyone amidst all that chaos would be impossible.

But he had no option but to go right in, but as a kid, he was constantly pushed around by the crowd and was almost trampled to death a few times thanks to his lack of strength.

"Mom!..." He screamed, but the crowd drowned out his voice.

"Mom, I'm here!" He tried again, but with his short size, it was impossible to see past the crowd.

"Has anyone seen my mother she's-" He tried to appeal to those around him but everyone was too occupied with their own business to listen to him.

"Urgh!" But finally, he couldn't resist the human tides constantly crashing around his body and he fell on the ground.

He then tried to get up, dirty and lightly bruised, but as he did he was able to notice another kid that was in a very similar situation to him.

She was a girl with orange hair, dirty and malnourished. He's seen her in the village before, an orphan with nowhere to go.

He at that time had pity upon seeing her which led to him sharing a bit of food. But their interaction stops at that, they hadn't really talked with each other.

Her confused expression showed that she wasn't really aware of what's going on, no one must have warned her about what the bell means, she has no one left that cares.

'What am I thinking! I have no time for pity, I have to find my mom before she leaves in search of me.'

With fierce determination, he manages to get back in his feet and prepares to leave to the next place.

But against his own wishes, he turns back to look into the girl once more.

With her malnourished body, she wasn't faring as well as him. She continued to be dragged around and desperately protected her body as best she could, but it was clear to him that she would be left behind to fend for herself unless someone helped her.

Then remembering his father's words and how he always insisted his son to become a person who can be proud of himself and his own actions. He gritted his teeth deciding that leaving her for dead wasn't what his father would do.

".?!" The girl was very surprised when a hand reached out to her and held her forearm before pulling her up and gradually pulling her out of that mass.

She didn't even try to brake free since she knew that she couldn't contend with the strength of the grip, but strangely enough she didn't find it uncomfortable, the person holding her was clearly being very careful not to put too much strength and hurt her, so she conclude that there wasn't any malicious intent.

Then the two of them made their way out of there, Lie leading the way and the girl right behind him, the two then left the center of the cornucopia and they wandered the surroundings for a few minutes.

The girl didn't know what to say and Lie was too focused on the task to strike a conversation, so the two continued wandering together despite not even knowing each other's names.

Seeing that his search wasn't fruitful, he decided to just point the girl to the shelter and continue on his own, that's something he should have done from the start but in his hurry it slipped his mind.

"Look, sorry for dragging you without warning, but you should head towards the old church near the center of the village, it's not safe here."

"..." As she was released, she sported a weary expression, then a confused expression but finally she showed acceptance, despite not knowing the boy in front of her, she decided to trust his eyes that showed genuine concern.

But before she could utter a single word of reply, someone suddenly aproached from behind him, interrupting their conversation.

"Oh, thank Oum! I'm so glad that you're fine." Who aproached Lie was his mother, that was also looking for him while he looked for her.

"Mom?! You're fine!" Lie was momentarily taken aback by the unexpected timing of the encounter, but after he got past it, the feeling of relief he felt was almost enough to bring him to tears.

But their happy reunion didn't last very long as the two of them quickly remembered that there was an emergency going on.

"Now, I'll just need to find your father, then we can all head for the shelter and-." His mother then prepares to head off once again but Lie hurriedly holds her before he could do so.

"I've already met him, he's not coming." He says with a somber expression.

Hearing this, his mother's usual gentle expression sharpens like never before "He's what?" She asks in a sharp tone.

"He decided to stay behind to help the others, he told me to find and bring you to the shelter."

"He-He wouldn't do something so stupid would he? Dammit, of course he would! Why couldn't he leave this to the huntsman instead of putting himself at risk." She starts to ramble almost to the point of hysteria but she's interrupted by a loud sound.

"They're here!" "Run!" "Get to the shelter!"

They have wasted too much time, it seemed that the huntsman couldn't hold of all of the Grimm as screams could be heard at the distance.

"Trust dad, he always knows how to deal with bad situations, he will be fine."

"Yes, but this time it's different!"

"I made a promisse to him, I will get both of us into the shelter."

An is suddenly taken aback by her son's words and behavior, he's showing a level of calm and maturity that he has never had before, despite noticing the trembling of the hand holding her, she couldn't help but notice from who her son is takes this behavior.

'Li, you didn't have to worry, our son will become a great man'

But with the Grimm coming, it wouldn't be wise to remain there any longer.

"Then let's go, we wouldn't be of much use by running around anyway." His mother finally relented and both of them started making their way to the church.

But only then he remembered the girl that was awkwardly standing close by while they had their conversation, he briefly reasoned that she could find her way on herself.

But he decided that since he already decided to help her then he might as well go all the way and bring her along to the shelter. He gave her his hand which she cautiously grasped it, then the three of them went on their way.

...

As they neared the shelter, the screaming and howling became louder and louder. The three continued to pass through the crowds as the panic and worry started to become palpable in the air.

As they neared the shelter, they could see a big crowd in front of the church, some with their loved ones, others with their material possessions. All trying to cram into the entrance.

"Everyone! Please leave your worldly belongings behind, we need the room for more people." A priest could be heard from inside the church.

Some heeded the request, others clung to their belonging stubbornly. Despite their best attempts, the place could only be described as a gigantic mess.

When our lives and that of our loved ones are at stake, few can maintain a cool head and follow the protocols.

*Rooaaaar* "Help!" "Get away! Get away!"

And the ever approaching sounds of damnation only served to worsen the situation, like gasoline being poured into an already raging fire.

The three of them carefully aproached the place, not very hopeful of their chances of getting in, between trying to find each other and their subsequent conversation, they simply wasted too much time, it was probably too late.

But it seemed as if Oum hadn't abandoned them yet, as one of the priests had noticed their arrival and motioned them inside while saying:

"Hey! The woman with the two kids, you get the priority in the shelter so get inside fast!"

Hearing those words, they didn't dally and rushed inside while opening a path through the crowd.

"Hey! Why do they get to enter before us?" "Dammit I've been here for much longer, let me in!"

Many showed dissatisfaction, but once the three of them were finally inside, this was no longer any of their concern.

...

"Thank you." As the three of them descended to the basement, the girl suddenly spoke to Lie.

"Huh?" After hearing her voice for the first time, he was a bit surprised but he quickly recovered.

"Uhmm... sorry for taking it so long, but could you tell me your name?" He spoke, feeling a bit awkward since only now did he remember that he hadn't asked her name yet.

"Nora, Nora Valkyrie... Nice to meet you?" She spoke a bit embarrassed, this was clearly the first social interaction of the sort in a long time.

"Lie Ren, it's a pleasure." Meanwhile he spoke in a short and polite manner.

"..."

"..."

But the two of them found it hard to continue their conversation amidst such a heavy atmosphere, looking around, reaching the shelter hasn't quelled everyone's worries.

An Ren had briefly looked towards the two of them, curious about the identity of the girl her son had brought along, but then she resumed gazing into the distance, probably thinking of her husband and wishing him to be fine.

Others were either huddled together in fear, grieving the ones that couldn't make it, anxiously looking around to try and find if their other acquaintances had made it and so on.

As the minutes passed, more people entered and the situation became even more chaotic outside.

But soon, sounds of people screaming and buildings being torn down could be heard outside. They had arrived. Death had arrived for them.

The situation outside then became even more messy and before long, it all became silent.

Everyone's hearts tightened at that moment, feeling pity for all those that didn't make it, aware that it could have been them in that place and glad that it wasn't.

But the Grimm wouldn't be satisfied with just those outside.

*Bang* *Bang*

Probably attracted by all the negativity that permeated inside the bunker, the monsters outside started trying to find a way to get in.

This shelter wasn't made to indefinitely ward off the Grimm, it could only buy time until some help arrived, but considering that two huntsman teams were probably already dead, Lie's hopes for rescue weren't particularly high.

*Howl* "We're doomed." "It's over."

As people started to realize that fact, the despair grew in them which in turn drove the monsters outside to put even more effort to try to get inside as they were instigated by the negative emotions. Which promptly made the people inside even more desperate.

It was a vicious cycle that would at the end result in the shelter being breached.

And this extended for more than an hour. For those that were inside, this wait could only be described as psychological torture.

More and more Grimm seemed to be crowding above them and as the concrete ceiling constantly shook, it seemed that their location could be breached at any minute.

In the middle of all this despair, Lie felt a little flame of defiance deep inside him, like a voice inside his conciousness that screamed for life and yearned tomorrow.

And as this flame grew, he could feel a warm energy spreading towards his body, like a warm blanket in a stormy night.

But as soon as this happened, the Grimm outside were pulled into a frenzy as if attracted to that energy and even more eager to put it out.

Then, the Grimm seemed to have finally worked through almost all the defenses and were on the final stretch.

At that very moment, facing his own death and realizing that he might be the one that the Grimm wanted after awakening his aura, Lie who feared for the others in the shelter, had only one wish.

'I want to vanish, to no longer be in the Grimm's eyes.' This was a wish born from his fear and the guilt from being the one accidently confirmed everyone's deaths.

And as if responding to this wish, his aura flared outwards covering the whole bunker, then all color was drained for the ones inside and it seemed that all the emotions both positive and negative just vanished.

Everyone was very confused, but no one dared utter a single word for fear of attracting the monsters above.

And outside, all the sounds ceased and footsteps could be heard getting farther, it's as if the Grimm had lost all interest in the bunker they've more than an hour relentlessly trying to breach.

But then, Lie was overcome with weakness and he collapsed on the ground releasing the effect.

This was the last thing he remembered before being taken in by darkness, though two silhouettes could be seen in his vision before it happened.