Annabeth
To say that the past few months had been dull would be to tell a blatant lie, but Annabeth couldn't exactly say that everything was looking up. They managed to escape that pink werewolf's friends with enough work. Amongst other things, Ron's new predilection towards occasional cannibalism had taken a bit of getting used to (She still wasn't sure where the thugs and the dogs stood, but the werewolves definitely counted), though she supposed the necessity of it helped. At least a little bit. They'd even figured out how to control that three-meter tall rage-monster form. Well, less control and more contain in a way that didn't involve tying him up with the Lasso.
That aside, the training had gone remarkably well. For someone who apparently had never heard of Nen, Ron had taken surprisingly well to it, though she had been forced to go the brute-force route with regards to awakening it. He'd made remarkable progress nonetheless, already able up to the point of being able to manifest a potent Ren. Sure, he didn't have a Hatsu yet, but she wouldn't rush things anymore than she could afford to while still keeping his foundations solid. Besides, the ability to simply generate more of that aura that he used for his other power on his own was proving quite useful already. The Hunter almost couldn't wait to get around to teaching him Gyo.
The other side of training, however, had gone remarkably less well. True, he was markedly better at shooting than before, but he'd made the point more than once that the firearms training seemed inane in the face of his being able to transform into a horse-sized wolf capable of breaking limbs with its jaws. Granted, between his shifting and his regeneration, he was a force to be reckoned with already. Even so, with some training in shooting, he wouldn't necessarily have to drive every normal person within a close proximity of him insane to deal with problems. Furthermore, the water divination showed that he had strong Emitter leanings, and while this meant he'd still be very good at far as an Enhancer, it also meant he would be at his best likely working with a Hatsu that would require him to have good aim, though the bounty hunter had seen a few exceptions.
Of course, Ron wasn't the only one to have gone through some changes. Over the course of the past few months, the Hunter had found herself going through some changes herself. While Ron was certainly a bit on the rough side at times, not an unpleasant experience, granted, Anne had realized after a while that she was healing rather quickly. It was a time when Ron had ended up biting down a little bit too hard, however, that the Hunter realized what was going on. While it was hardly all that painful or unpleasant, feeling one's flesh pull itself back together was still a strange experience the first time around. The Hunter had experimented further on her own, finding that most minor injuries faded in a matter of seconds. More serious injuries took a bit longer, the process of healing those lengthening into a matter of minutes. Regardless, Annabeth had no reason to test further, suffering injuries greater than that would probably mean she was too far gone for this new healing factor to save her.
There was something else, though, on top of everything else. One more detail to complicate things, at this point. As sure as she was that they'd shaken the pink werewolf's friends back then, she couldn't help but feel like something was following her every now and again, a shadow flickering in the corner of her eye, a faint sound of movement, an out of place smell, all pointing to the presence of some unknown follower. To the Hunter's chagrin, however, her best efforts to find out what, if anything was following her, yielded nothing, yet she still felt like something was following her, just out of sight. As irritating as it was, however, it was hardly the worst thing that could happen.
All the same, Ron had made remarkable progress in his training, at least in Nen, so Annabeth, as his teacher, had decided to allow him a few days for a break. It was a rather generous reprieve, if she was to be perfectly honest. Her own teacher had hardly been so lenient and for a moment the Hunter wondered if she might be harming his progress by allowing him too much break time...
And so it was that Annabeth found herself wandering the streets of the Nexus, the warmer weather necessitating some lighter clothing, in this case a sleeveless vest and a pair of...if memory served, Ron called them hot pants? It was either this or a pair of shorts that were too long to deserve the categorization, so the Hunter chose the lesser of two evils. Besides, at least she wouldn't have to get something different for summer.
Now then, I suppose now might be a good time to see if I can find any bount-
The Hunter's train of thought was sharply cut off as movement registered in the corner of her eye, and this time it most certainly wasn't her imagination. While spotting Ron in a clothing store was hardly a surprise, god knows they'd gone through more than a few sets of clothing thanks to Ron's shifting, spotting him with someone else was a bit more of one. Especially when said someone had just kissed him on the cheek. To Ron's credit, he at least seemed embarrassed about it, but that could very well be because of a public display of affection. All the same, the Hunter's Ren blazed to life before it was swiftly concealed by her In, rendering her aura undetectable to even those who would normally be able to sense it.
What Annabeth was feeling was a curious mix of emotions, one part confusion and a slight hint of betrayal mixed in with something that could quite be called anger, for anger burned too hot for it to be what the Hunter was feeling at the moment. Nonetheless, she remained clear for the most part, ignoring the stares from the others as she strode into the store, moving in front of the line that Ron and the girl who'd just kissed him were standing.
Targets...one, for now.
Moving a hand behind her, angling her body so that it wasn't obvious, Annabeth summoned Pete into her hand, just in case, while she brought the other up to her mouth, clearing her throat loudly and trying to ignore the pang of...envy, perhaps, as the woman got altogether too familiar for the Hunter's comfort, her grip on Pete tightening as she watched them.
