Hunter and the Hart

Mousing Around the City

A town came into view not far below me, the plethora of scents drawing me down before I even realized it. I took a moment on the outskirts to wonder when the last time I actually had a meal was. A good couple days at least, I realized as I flittered to the ground, shifting back into a human form, stretching my whole body. I never had to worry about clothing, or losing what was in my pockets, because my magic shifted them with me. I never really stopped to think about why, or how. It was something I was better left not thinking about.

I checked my pockets, pulling out my wallet and phone. I had roughly forty dollars in my wallet, so enough to get myself a decent meal. I followed my nose to a decent fast food place, ignoring the way that people stared at me. I must have looked strange to them. I always looked young for my age, and it had always annoyed me. 

"Hey, kid." A voice drew my attention to the road, and I stopped, keeping my hands in my pockets to look at the person in the car. The man calling me wasn't much older than my dad had been, with a few grey hairs speckled into his dark auburn curls. "You shouldn't be out on the streets this late. It's no place for most adults, much less a middle schooler."

I looked down at my V-neck tank top and tattered jeans, shuffling my feet slightly. "I appreciate your concern, sir, but really I'm fine." I smiled politely, the way one does at a teacher. A look that roughly translates to "shut up and leave me alone." I motioned down the street. "I'm in clear light, I have a knife, and trust me I know how to use it." I let a slight threat creep into my voice as the man left his car and started walking toward me.

"You're what, twelve? You should be at home." His eyes raked my body up and down, and I could feel a strange sense of calm.

I pulled my hand out of my pocket, drawing out a small switchblade I carried with me, that until now had only been used to cut the stem off of fruits I foraged in the forest. "I'm eighteen, actually." I tilted my head, watching his movement like a snake, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike. "And wherever I call home is up to me." I hit the switch, running my thumb over the handle of the blade in my hand. "I highly doubt you've ever fought anyone like me, and I have to admit, I've been dying for a good fight." He flinched backward, and my eyes snapped to his, my body shifting to a hunter's crouch.

"What's going on here?" Another man's voice sounded to my right, low and tight with apprehension. Ready to jump into any fray that was about to start, judging by his body language. I watching him from my periphery as the man in front of me started stepping back, raising his hands.

"Nothing, man. Just trying to help an ungrateful kid." He tried for a laugh, but it came out more of a cough. "I was trying to give her a ride, and she pulled a knife on me."

"Right." The second man scoffed. "Hey, miss, if you need a place to stay-"

"I don't." I clipped out, tapping the knife against my leg. "I've got a place, just need to be left alone to get there."

"Hey, Tom!" A woman's voice called angrily from the car behind the older man. "Either get your ass back in this car, or I'm leaving you here and going to my sister's." She glowered at me, as if it were my fault that this stranger pulled over to bother me.

The second man simply crossed his arms, waiting to see what would happen. When the first man heard the woman shifting the car he swore to himself, jumping in before she could actually leave him on the street.

"You probably should be out on the streets, little lady." I turned to the second man, and had to crane my neck to look at his face. At 5'5" I was hardly the shortest girl in my class, but this man easily had a foot on me. He looked pretty young himself, maybe seventeen, with wavy blond hair that framed his face beautifully. I had a fleeting thought that he looked like the Greek god Apollo, though I kept that to myself. He looked fit, too. A football star I'd guess by his build. 

"Regardless of where I "should" be," I rolled my eyes as I put away my switchblade, "I appreciate your intentions just now." I shifted my body to a less threatening pose, though not enough to make myself seem like easy prey. The energy around him was odd, and yet familiar. There were plenty of people at my school with a similar aura, something almost primal, powerful and yet not overtly threatening. 

As I watched him for signs of a threat, his eyes started flickering, going from a soft emerald green to nearly black in quick succession. "I not trying to hurt you." His eyes settled on black, but he seemed to be sad as he watched me. He shoved his hands in his pockets, rocking on his heels, giving me a look almost like a lost puppy.

I couldn't help the smile that slid on my face. "I know. But I can't be too careful out here."

He nodded slightly, still pouting. "So, do you want me to walk you to wherever you're going? People will be less likely to bother you if you've got a guard dog." He offered a hopeful smile as hooked his shoulder over his thumb in the direction I'd originally been walking.

I started nodding, then stopped myself, giving him a curious glance. "What are you?" I didn't expect him to understand me as I whispered through the magic around us, regular humans never could, but he completely blanched, his eyes shifting around nervously.

"Wh-wh-what do y-you me-an?" He stuttered, choking on his words a couple times as his voice quivered. He glanced up and down the street in a way that was somehow both nervous and almost guilty. I quirked my eyebrow at him as he started rubbing the back of his neck.

"Are you okay?" I watched as his eyes flickered back and forth before going almost foggy. 

"Yeah, sorry." He looked at me, his eyes fading back to black. "I'm afraid I can't answer your question."

I nodded slowly, wondering how he understood me. He wasn't a witch, I could tell that much, but there was still an odd sense of magic around him. I started walking with him, and I swear he sniffed the air around me. 

A cacophony of squeaking came from an alley the our right, and a small horde of mice came spilling into the street, their fear washing over me like a tidal wave. I staggered slightly before looking down the alley, instantly regretting it. There was a large brown wolf stalking out from the end of it. It lifted it's head, a low snarl filling the air as it met my eyes.

Every inch of my being told me to run, no form I had could take on a regular wolf without serious injury, so there I stood no chance against this one, easily twice the size it should have been. I moved to run when an arm wrapped around my shoulder, and an equal snarl sounded next to my ear.

I turned my head to my left and saw the man who had offered to be my "guard dog" with his lips pulled back, canines elongating, as he snarled his threat to the wolf in the alleyway. I stared at him blankly, with only a singly phrase repeating in my head; what the absolute fuck?