"You mean there are natives around these parts?" The man in white inquired.
They huddled around the crackling fire that Akame had put together relatively fast.
"There could be." He answered, "Most of them have been wiped out."
When he says wiped out, he means integrated into modern society, while it would be cool to know that the catholic church committed genocide it wouldn't be anything new to add to anyone's bucket list, so I'm glad they took a more civilized approach.
"I hope their nice." Catherine stretched her hand over the fire.
"Can you feel anything?" Akame asked.
"?"
"Through your fingers, can you feel the heat radiating from the fire?"
Catherine focused, "Nope, not really. But it is fun just to pretend it does."
"Your dumb." Gil spoke with no emotion on his face.
"Say it again."
"Your dumb."
'It would appear as though the condensation process is taking a longer time than I first anticipated it would.'
"Give it like 3 months." Blake had advised, "She need to fully condense before she awakens to any power. It will be easier for her than Gil, you know that right?"
'I wonder what kind of ability she'll awaken too?'
The man tapped Akame shoulder, "Perhaps we could use this time to try and getting a lesson in."
"Jeez man your super hyped, aren't you?" Akame asked.
"No, I'm just interested in the end result."
Gil and Catherine still bickered in the background as such they could not hear what the two of them were chatting about.
"He learned fist in under an hour, something that takes even the greatest martial artists days." The man praised, "It took me an entire month just to fully master it."
"Really? It only took me ten minutes." (Mastered fist, palm and fingers at the age of 8.)
"You're a freak of nature." The man shrugged, "Am I the only normal person here?"
"Well, its not like that bar's been set pretty high though."
After a while everyone began getting drowsy, it had been a long day and things had been slowing down as of the last few hours. Their bodies decided to take a breather. And I for actually agree with this.
Although Akame thought otherwise, as he stayed up and observed nothing more than the crackling of the fire he had lit.
'Isn't it peaceful?' He heard a familiar voice said to him, 'The life you have come to live.'
Akame didn't really answer, because he himself did not know the true nature of his current situation. Revived from near extinction.
"Why did you bring me back?" This was the first question Akame asked Blake immediately after they had arrived in the village.
"Why indeed."
He had been vague on the details, perhaps he had no reason, perhaps he had just wished to do so.
'But even then… I didn't really wanna come back.' He didn't say this, but he felt it, down to his very core. He understood what he wanted and what his wants held no weight currently, because it wasn't bout what he wanted but rather what the world needed.
"For a better ideal world, just that." Blake was vague, very vague.
The wind began to pick up that night, they were in the plains, as such nothing would've been able to block incoming gusts that blew. But Akame didn't seem to mind it at all, in fact he welcomed the breeze.
'It reminds me of the beach in Kobe.' He thought, 'Back there with ma and Kora-San.'
This was a memory from very long ago indeed, his eyes dilated as he realized something.
'Why can't… why can't I remember their faces?' The frustration in his eyes didn't last too long, 'Ma and Kora-San, they were the closest to me, I've got to remember them, right?'
Yet he could not. 'How long has it really been… since I left?'
WOOOSH!
The gust got stronger blowing out the fire.
"Achoooo!"
Catherine, who slept beside him, sneezed as she shivered under the thin blanket she had packed. Akame took off his giant coat and covered her with it.
'She just said she had no feeling of temperature differences. This girl.' He sighed taking a good look at her sleeping face, she reminded him of someone, someone he had forgotten also.
Turning his head towards Gil who was slumped over under a tree. 'He's keeping his chi in check, not like on other nights when he'd just let it spill out. But I can tell his struggling and some is leaking out.'
It is a very cold night, isn't it? Akame stared into nothingness as his mind began to wander through files of memories stacked in his head somewhere, feeling dumb for not being able to remember what it was like back then. This was a rare moment for him, instead of thinking of what they were to do as they went on ahead, he thought of what he shoould've done back then.
In a flash, the night had passed, but in the winds Akame could have sworn he heard a familiar voice calling onto him.
"Akame!" Catherine called out squatting in front of Akame who was currently resting his head on the trunk of a tree.
"Akame?" She called again.
No response.
She used her finger to poke the right side of his cheek. She then slowly used her palms to rub that side.
SMACK!
She then slapped his face.
"What are you doing!?" Gil exclaimed grabbing her right arm.
"?"
"Don't just slap him like that."
"But why not?" Catherine stared at Gil, "I slap you all the time."
"It still doesn't make it any better."
Catherine tugged her hand back and stood up, "He's still out cold though."
Gil stared at him for a while, his face unreadable.
"Gil?"
"Let's let him rest up." He then turned his head staring at the man in white. "There's a bunch of people after us, right?"
The man nodded, "Well mostly after me, but yeah."
"Then let's train, that way I can get strong enough to fight those people off when they come after us."
(Also it was because he wanted to just train a bit more.)
"Sure, i don't see why not. I don't think we're in a hurry, plus we don't appear to be in any immediate danger…"
"Do 3000 push-ups." Catherine ordered, her face as neutral as it always is.
"Why are you telling me to do that?"
"Is it no obvious?"
"?"
"I am the leader, I usually just let Akame do the leading, but because he is a sleep I shall take the lead." Catherine stood up, her face lighting up as it always did when she said this.
"Now peasant, down on your knees and give me 40000."
"40000!?"
TO BE CONTINUED!