Sterling and Ignacia - Training Days

A frequent traveler between the Kingdoms, Sterling Everett was planning to stop in the Kingdom of Vale before he moved on home to Mistral. That last mission in Vacuo was rather easy excluding the stress. Despite his weary bones he found himself taken by surprise but not by any Grimm or Bandit. No he was taken aback by a teenager collapsed in the dry forests of Sanus. The sunset glimmered on her hair as if flames were burning down to their cinders and in those flames there was a familiarity. For the first time since Autumn died he felt his soul spark again in a way that made him want to fight for himself. Unaware of her origins the young girl unconscious before him must have come from somewhere nearby. She appeared to be a Huntress in training with a glance to the dual swords she had on her person. Being so unfeeling the last decade and a half, Sterling had no idea why he instinctively stopped. He just felt something, something so…so…he couldn't quite place it but regardless, he carried the girl home, retracing her steps back to the settlement of Saffron.

It was there he learned her name and situation and the more he learned, the more he felt the overwhelming need to protect her. He wouldn't do so traditionally however, his past failures proved that Sterling couldn't after all. Instead he'd train her to fight so that the next time she ventured out of the den, she'd be ready. Failure was as quick as her temper but in that failure she did things repeatedly until eventually, she adapted and prevailed. In the fighting style that took Sterling 4 years to perfect in a professional school setting, this Hellcat matched it in a year and a half with almost no experience in the middle of nowhere. Nothing lasts forever though and unfortunately Sterling couldn't stay in this paradise of faux life fulfillment. The Mistral Council would track him down in Saffron and the punishment would be severe enough to bleed into the settlement if he stayed. There was also another realization, one that made him uncomfortable enough to return just as hastily. This new development would be buried like she was already all those years ago...

This artwork was done by Cham!

https://chamarts.carrd.co/

The song used is "In the Pines" by The Cog is Dead!

Until next time, Stay Flaming ~Atlesian Phoenix