Old Hut by the River

TRICKLE! TRICKLE! TRICKLE!


Drops of water echoed in the silent void Momo stood, eyes closed and stained with marks of bloody tears until the Light tore the darkness apart, waking Momo right in front of her hut right in her mother's arms.
[MOTHER] "You are special, you have to protect your sister from danger and phantoms, the world is full of dangerous things."
[MOMO] "Mother?"
[MOTHER] "I'm sorry I can't be there for you, I love you Momo. Take care"
Regaining her posture from her mother's hug, Momo spotted her mother and brother standing right in front of her, both with the most peaceful smile a human could ever have.
[MOMO] "Mum? Daichi? Is that really you? Thank goodness it was just a dream"
Momo gasped in relief running towards them but the more she ran to them, the farther they became. Running faster couldn't close the distance between them but even enlarged it more.
[MOMO] "Huhn? Mum don't go, don't leave us; we need you"
Momo called out crying as the world went dark again, turning into a dark abyss.
[MOTHER] "No Momo, you don't need me"
She muttered in a dark and sinister voice. In the blink of an eye, her mother and brother's forms snapped, twisting with echoes of bones breaking from within till their skin turned dark red, reshaping their entire anatomy.
[MOMO] "Mother?"
They lunged at her but before they could lay their hands on her, she yelled out of the horrible nightmare finding herself in an old hut with nicely kept furniture and surprisingly good decor of animal skin.
[MOMO] "MOTHER! Oh, It was a nightmare"
She uttered, hit by the intense headache of the fall from the cliff when she hit her head on a rock in the river.
[MOMO] "Where am I? Aoi!"
She panted, rushed outside to realize her sister was missing.
[HORIKOSHI] "Oh so you're up"
An old man muttered, his facial features resembled that of an eighty-year-old man with shiny skinned head that bounced back the reflection of the moonlight with very long grey beards and eyes dimmed and covered with wrinkles.He sat in front of a campfire, dressed in a white Kimono complemented with a black waist strap.Alongside him she sat sipping tea by a campfire.
[AOI] "Onee-san!"
Aoi yelled, running towards her to deliver a tight hug.
[MOMO] "Aoi, thank goodness you are alright. Who's this man?"
[AOI] "Onee-san, he saved us. He found us beside the river you jumped into. You've been asleep for four days now, I was getting worried about you"
Aoi whimpered, about to cry.
[MOMO] "Four days? Did I get injured that much? Well, I'm alright now; you don't need to worry again. Thank you very much sir, I am very grateful for your care"
She replied bowing to the old man who sat beside a campfire in the dead of night.
[HORIKOSHI] "What's your name, how old are you and what were the both of you doing by the Photon Lily river?"
Walking towards him with a confusion of the billion questions, she spoke, sitting with her sister still holding her.
[MOMO] "My name is Momo Midorikawa and I am thirteen years old, my sister's name is Aoi Midorikawa and she's three years old. We were running from phantoms who........who killed........my mother and brother and..........Miyako?"
She realized, eyes widening with a huge gasp at the realization.
[AOI] "What's that Onee-san?"
[MOMO] "Miyako, we didn't see her the whole time, she was..........missing, I wonder where she could be, she must have escaped somehow; but.......it doesn't matter, I'll find her no matter what it takes"
Momo uttered as her fist tightened and as her voice sounded with seriousness.
[HORIKOSHI] "Not if you can't protect yourself little girl"
He chimed in.
[MOMO] "Huhn?"
[HORIKOSHI] "I'm saying that in a world wreaked with phantoms, you need to be ready to fight and kill phantoms. In this world, it's either kill or be killed. Have you ever heard of hunters?"
[MOMO] "Yes, my father and mother were hunters, Haruki and Reina Midorikawa" Momo replied.
[AOI] "Mom and Dad were hunters? What's a hunter?"
[MOMO] "Yes and hunters are people with powers who fight to kill phantoms"
[HORIKOSHI] "What kind of powers did they have?"Asked the old man.
[MOMO] "Mother had Soul manipulation powers while Dad had Light manipulation powers"
Momo answered, making the old man to suddenly choke on his tea, coughing aloud.
[MOMO] "Are you alright sir?"
Momo asked moving closer to him to pat his back to make him feel better.
[HORIKOSHI] "Thank you dear; Light and Soul manipulation you say? Let me guess, your mother's surname was Saeko right?"
[MOMO] "Y-yes, how did you know?"
[HORIKOSHI] "Because Soul manipulation is the known technique of the Saeko clan"
[MOMO] "So you mean to say that techniques are based on bloodlines?"
[HORIKOSHI] "Yes, you're right. They are based on bloodlines"
[MOMO] "Are there other hunters outside this region or are we the only hunters around?"
[HORIKOSHI] "Yes there are but they are far away from here"He replied, taking a huge sip.
[AOI] "Can you show us the way?"
[HORIKOSHI] "No. They don't just accept anyone, not in their villages; you have to be skillful to enter and this is where I come in"
[MOMO] "Where you come in? I don't understand"
[HORIKOSHI] "I am going to train you and you'll be able to enter the village and its academy easily"
[MOMO] "If I may ask sir, why? And are you by any chance.......a hunter?"
[HORIKOSHI] "Let's just say it's the only way I can repay the favour of a close friend. And yes, I am Hanami Horikoshi, a retired hunter with Wind manipulation. I know you want revenge for your parents' death and you want to be capable of protecting yourselves, am I right?"
[MOMO] "........yeah, thank......you sir"She stood bowing like a student would do to her master.
[SENSEI HORIKOSHI] "Please, call me Sensei Horikoshi and one more thing"
[MOMO] "What's that?"She asked.
[HORIKOSHI] "How is your health, I hope you are already okay? Earlier you were coughing up blood even while unconscious"
[MOMO] "Y-yes I'm good Sensei Horikoshi; I just had a little reaction to the smells of phantoms since I was a little kid. I'm alright now. Thank you for asking"
[HORIKOSHI] "Here, sit and have a hot ginger tea, it's good for you"
He said offering her a cup of already poured tea.
[MOMO] "Thank you.......sensei"