"Take care, Wifey." Vincencio kissed her temple before letting Irina hug her.
"Be careful, Mom. Remember, control your wrath." Irina whispered, reminding her, making Skylar smile.
"I will try." She replied before leaving the rest in their hands. But Skylar had a determination to change her approach to hunting, and to do that, she must train again. "I didn't even think about training in that dangerous mountain woods again."
It was nighttime when Skylar's train departed after saying goodbye to her family. She was sad leaving them, but she trusted Vincencio to handle things while she was away. However, she was still hoping that he was with her, but she knew it was for the better, for now. She needed this training again, despite the worry of losing him, which bothered her mind.
"I have to be stronger than before and prevent it from happening again," Skylar muttered before resting her head on the train's window.
As Skylar could not take a nap for two hours of travel, she decided to head to the bar area to get something to eat. However, on her way, she began sensing bad intentions aimed at her. She could feel its malicious intention, which she ignored for a while and played it cool. By the time she reached the bar area, she asked for a burger and fries combo before taking a seat. Like on cue, a man sat across her table with a smug look on his face, which she didn't care much about.
"Can I help you?" With a winter cold voice, Skylar asked the man without looking. She was busy with her work tablet.
"Hang out with me." The arrogant man answered, never letting his smug look flutter.
"I'm not traveling for hook-ups." Still with a cold voice, Skylar responded, busy working.
"Neither am I, but I found you attractive." He kept insisting on getting her.
"I'm not available." She flatly declined whatever his move was for.
"I don't see any-" He tried to reason, but Skylar cut him off.
"It doesn't mean traveling alone means I'm single to be fuck by some malicious fuckboy." Without looking, she coldly and bluntly intercepted whatever he was trying to say.
"Wow, I never met some-" Amused, he was about to compliment her, but Skylar was getting annoyed.
"Don't flatter yourself and don't even try crossing me again." Skylar coldly interjected again, finishing her work before adding a warning. "Or else, you'll be the first one who bleeds."
"Oh please, I…" he tried ignoring her warning, but Skylar knew it and cut him one more time by getting up.
"Bye." With venom, Skylar said, taking her order and leaving without looking back. However, she knew he followed her, making her sigh in annoyance. "Can I just travel peacefully?"
Skylar was near the tight hall in the train where the comfort room was located. She grabbed a straw before it went dark. In the split second the train passed a tunnel, Skylar was sipping her cola naturally, not caring that the arrogant man was lying unconsciously at the cubicle. It was a short incident that Skylar encountered in her travel before arriving at her stop, the Frances Train Station.
"Hm, still the same," Skylar mumbled and got out of the station, where she saw her Aunt Hibiki leaning by their black SUV. "You've got to be kidding me. I'm cutting Medina's salary."
Skylar approached the car with slight annoyance from the promise that Medina didn't keep, but it's already here, and there was nothing she could do about it for now. She just went with the flow and greeted her aunt with a warm hug.
"What are you doing here?" She asked, putting her things in the backseat.
"Picking you up," Hibiki answered with a grin, making Skylar shake her head.
"It's supposed to be a surprise." Skylar pouted, and Hibiki laughed. "I'll make sure to cut Medina's salary."
"Well, don't do that. She didn't tell us. We just knew when we saw the news. Come, you're uncle wanted to party with you." Hibiki saved Medina and started driving.
"No, he's not a party person." She scoffed, making Hibiki chuckle and nod.
"I told him that." She said, focusing on her drive.
"It'll be a disaster." She sighed, shaking her head, thinking that a disaster could happen when her uncle was hosting a party. He's not that good with people partying under one roof; he felt crampy and suffocated.
"I know that's why I told him to pick some groceries, and we'll eat outside instead. Luckily, he prefers that." Hibiki laughed, making Skylar chuckle in agreement.
"Better, but Auntie, I'm not staying in the house, but maybe before I head back to the city." She honestly told her aunt, making the atmosphere in the car drop seriously.
"Going to train?" she guessed.
"Yeah, for three days." She replied.
"Will that be enough?" she wondered as she slowed down due to the traffic light.
"Perhaps, but I need that mountain." She replied, shrugging her shoulders.
"Wait – what?! Are you serious? That mountain is dangerous right now." Hibiki reacted worriedly before adding a reason. "There's a lot of murders happening in that mountain lately, that's why you're uncle and I are staying here."
"He was assigned to control this place?" she wondered.
"Not the military, Skylar. It's a royal command." She seriously answered, making Skylar nod.
"That's…rare…" She found it a little odd, but she knew it didn't mean it hadn't happened before. It was just rare to receive a direct command from a royalty.
"Please, don't go there…" Hibiki hoped that she would change her mind and continue driving.
"Auntie, if that mountain becomes more dangerous than before, then it's much better for my training. I'll help uncle as I'm staying in the mountains. I'll keep him posted." With a sinister grin, she firmly decided, making Hibiki sigh.
"You're like your uncle, annoyingly stubborn." She chuckled, shaking her head.
"Well, it may run in the blood." She chuckled in agreement.
Just like planned, after picking up her uncle Adrian at the grocery store, they ate a late dinner before they dropped Skylar at their small cabin in the mountain woods border. The mountain woods are known in the area for being spooky and a massacre den since there was a lot of news of dead bodies either found near the area or within the mountain itself. The locals began calling it Death Mountain instead of a natural mountain, woods which were a perfectly nice training ground for someone like Skylar, a killer.
The cabins around the mountain woods border were acting as an alarm system for the locals, and they were maintained by selected knights or officers serving the royal family directly. She and her uncle were among them. Inside the cabin, everything was still untouched yet well-maintained.
"Hm, perfect. I could take this first night as my rounds." Skylar whispered in excitement and was ready to leave when she saw the time. It's already ten in the evening. "I wonder if Vince is at his night shift. Well, I have to inform him that I arrived safely."
Text Messages:
Vincencio's Wifey: Hubby, I arrived safely. Hoping you're not overworking yourself when you're not me. Love you and please stay safe and unharmed, or else I'll ruin your kitchen.
Skylar's Hubby: Good, have some rest. And I can't promise, but I'm always safe, so don't ruin my kitchen when you return home.
"Silly. But he's becoming a workaholic too." Skylar chuckled while changing her clothes into her hunting gear. "I think I'm rubbing that on him."
***
Skylar might be in her gear, but she was not roaming around the mountain woods for a hunt; she was there for training. But before she could even start her training, she must check her perimeter and even prepare something in case something interrupts her.
"Hm, something is different in the air here." Skylar thought as she stopped in her tracks.
She was checking the northern part of the mountain woods where she could sense an eerie vibe swirling around. She reached out her hand but quickly pulled it back as she felt a threat coming from the other side.
"I better not cross this area." She whispered and turned her back to return to the cabin. However, she felt it. She felt a fixated gaze piercing her back, but it was not threatening like the air earlier. It was more curiosity than a killing intention. "This mountain indeed changed."
Grinning, she retreated for the night and rested. But as soon as the clock hit three in the morning, Skylar woke up before her alarm did and took her morning routine by jogging around the cabin's perimeter. Then she followed up with her morning exercises before she even took her breakfast, and around five, she suited up and ran toward the mountain.
"Let's take dangerous stunts." She muttered as she dashed around the mountain woods with familiarity.
She does her usual acrobatic stunts and martial arts gestures as she uses nature as her playground. She kept her pace and exceeded her limit, familiarizing herself with the area, but the eeriness swirling around the mountain was spreading drastically, making Skylar excited instead of fearing it.
"Hm, something spreading death," Skylar mumbled under her grinning lips, and she did some acrobatic stunts while she doubled up her speed.
Skylar kept her usual training routine, but she added something new when she began climbing up to the trees, navigating, scouting, and calculating before jumping to the nearest tree to another. She began doing that until she got used to it. Her first training around the mountain paid off, and she returned to the cabin with her created military drills. She did her jogs in between push-ups, pop-squats, slides with combat moves before aim and shoot. Feeling satisfied, Skylar finished up her training with warm-ups and stretching before cleaning up and preparing her lunch.
Text Message:
Skylar's Hubby: Wifey, morning. I'm off to work, and please, don't overwork yourself. Love you.
Skylar's Hubby: Wifey, did Medina know that you're playing on your computer while working? You didn't shut your game, but don't worry, I'll finish the quest.
Skylar's Hubby: Wifey, I'm off to check Gregory's resort. He had some concerns about the amenities.
Skylar's Hubby: Wifey, am I learning texting? I know you're busy, but don't forget to rest. Eat on time, or I'll drill Medina to tell me your whereabouts.
"He's indeed learning how to text, and he's adorable without knowing it." Skylar chuckled as she checked her phone after preparing her lunch and watched random movies after sending one reply to the messages she received.
Text Message:
Vincencio's Wifey: Hubby, sorry for the reply. Yes, I am busy and my phone is not beside me during working time. But don't worry, I'm not overworking myself, and don't tell Medina my games on the computer, please. And thanks for finishing my quest at Diablo IV, Call of Duty, and Iris Online. I'll pay you back when I return. About the resort, Medina notified me about it on my way here, and I already sent my response. You can check it in my email. And yes, you're adorably learning how to text frequently. Don't worry, I know how to cook even a little without burning much of my food, and I love you too, see you soon, hubby.
Vincencio's Wifey: P.S. You too, don't overwork yourself. We still need to conserve energy when making a baby. I'm not kidding. Just reminding you.
"I wonder how he'll react to it." Skylar amusingly chuckled over her follow-up message before focusing on her movie marathon.
***
Skylar's pace on her training doubled, and she could already see the progress within two days of intense training. However, it changed on the third day. It was pouring, which had the potential for a landslide in some areas of the mountain, but to her, it was a challenge. She went on her usual drill, but since the ground was wet and the heavy rains had blinded her sight, she began relying on her senses. It helps her sharpen her sense of touch, smell, and sight. As she was keeping her usual drills, eeriness began spreading again, and it was passing her training boundaries, which annoyed her.
"Okay, that's not allowed," Skylar commented firmly as she quickly climbed up to her boundary tree and navigated the thickest malice on the other side.