Hunter and the Hart

The Nature of Nature Herself

X

I looked around at the ruins of the house and a sense of rage and sadness warped the air around me. I reached out my hands, letting the magic do as it willed, and time turned backward around me, the debris flowing back to the front hall like water, rebuilding itself. The floor below me knitted together, the roots drawing back into the earth. It felt like an eternity, it felt like an instant, and the house looked like it had never been damaged, the restructuring seamless.

As the magic left me, I blinked rapidly, the world blurring as I lost my footing. I felt arms grab me, a delicate sensation of sparks ran across my body, and I knew it was Hunter. He pulled me against his chest, but his voice sounded so far away. A scream sounded from the doorway, and a hand pressed a small cloth to my face, panic etched in her eyes. I almost wished I would lose consciousness, if only to ease the spinning and nausea. 

Hunter lifted me slowly, pulling me into his lap on the window seat, brushing my hair with his fingers as the cloth was pressed against my face again. I tried to swat it away, but my body felt like lead. I don't know how long we sat like that before the feeling finally began to subside and I managed to push away the hand in my face.

"Don't, you're still bleeding." I blinked at the person angrily, trying to focus my eyes. After about a minute I gave up with a dissatisfied grunt as I dropped my head against Hunter's chest. "That didn't happen in the Council Chamber." The voice called over their shoulder. My head felt less like it was swirling, but still felt foggy. 

"No, it didn't." The voice was tugging at the ends of my memory, but I couldn't grasp it. "But then again, in the Council Chamber, all she did was a minor transformation. This was major arcana. Nothing on this scale has ever been recorded in any of the history books I've ever seen. I'll call around to other covens, see if anyone has ever heard of something like this. Even Primal magic cannot turn back time, and yet, she did." The second speaker ran their fingers gently over my face, and a soft spark of magic passed between us, my eyes flickering open and meeting hers.

In that instant, everything snapped back into focus and she visibly paled. "Grandma." I leaned forward, my body as once again feeling light. I looked around the room in confusion. "How..?" I stood up, tripping on something. Hunter caught me gracefully, a nervous chuckle leaving his lips, his breath slightly ragged. I looked down to see what I had tripped on and saw....that same dress. Emerald green with golden embroidery, my long hair falling loose before my eyes. 

"That's what we would like to know." The Council of Elders stood in the doorway, eyes hard as flint. Behind them stood two people I would have been happy enough not to see; Ava and Lilah.

"Mother!" Ava shoved her way through the door, rushing to Grandma Mira's side, grabbing her arms in what I could now see as false concern. "Are you alright? There was an explosion, the whole house shook! Why did the protection charms fail? We were locked in our rooms until just a few minutes ago." She glanced over Grandma carefully for any visible wounds.

"Ava." Lilah chided softly, walking into the room with all the grace of a woman in mourning. "You shouldn't be shouting like that." Her eyes flicked to me with cold scorn. "I'm assuming that this trouble was your doing?"

Hunter growled low in his throat, the sound barely above a rumble in his chest as he steadied me. I quirked an eyebrow at her, scoffing incredulously. 

"Yeah, fuck you." I turned and shoved Ava out of my way as I stepped before Grandma Mira. "Matriarch, I think I should head back to my room for now. I think we all need some time to process before we discuss anything further." My voice was even, though weariness crept in at the edges. 

"Of course, dear. I'll have Lina call you down for lunch, if you're both alright with that?" She glanced between me and Hunter and I bowed my head respectfully. 

I turned to the door, holding my head high, strutting past the Elders, and flinging Lilah out of my way with a mere flick of my fingers. "I highly suggest you stay out of my way." I was able to hold my bravado until I reached my bedroom door. I placed my hand on the warm wood, my whole body trembling, and leaned my forehead against it, my breath trembling from my lips.

I could hear every creak of wood, every small whisper of wind, every breath from every set of lungs in the house, every heartbeat, the vibrations of magic, the hushed whispers of those not only floors below me but even in the garden. I could hear the growth of the plants, the petals and leaves as they dried out, the rush of water from the fountain. The world that had once been a delicate symphony around me was now a cascade of cacophony, incessant sound clawing at my entire being.

"Are you okay?" The voice was little more than a breath, but it shot through me, and I collapsed under the pressure of the sound, his mere presence felt like standing in raging flames.

"Make it stop." The words came out of me in a broken rush, sounding like screaming to my own ears. "Please, make it stop. It's too much." I clutched my head, the sound of my own body deafeningly loud. 

"Focus on my voice." He whispered, standing at the end of the hall, his voice carrying with all the force of a glacier crashing into the sea. "Tune it all out. All of your other senses, all of the other sounds, focus only on my voice." As he spoke, his voice took on a subtle lull, and I found myself helplessly drawn to it. "The world won't always be too much. You've just overexerted yourself. It'll be too much for now, but when the excess passes, it'll be okay. It's the same for werewolves after their first turn. It was probably too much for you the first time you ever shapeshifted, right?"

I closed my eyes tightly, and nodded mutely. 

"Do you remember how you dealt with it, then?" He knelt down slowly, the sound of his denim jeans like nails on a chalkboard. "What I did, was I immediately crashed. Sleeping allowed my body to adjust on it's own time. You probably would have gotten a hand up on it if you'd been left alone for a bit to rest, but the drama unfolded while you were still in that state. The Child of the Forest is the one who defines the nature of the world, of all of nature. Or rather, your magic is defined by nature. Which means that your emotions are probably going to be easily swayed, and overly heightened, which will end up being both a blessing and a detriment. You have to always remember who you are, and don't let what's happening around you define who you are." I opened my eyes slowly, colors were still too bright, the contrast too sharp, but when I met his eyes, Orion's eyes, everything else began to fall away. The only thing left was his eyes, glimmering pools of midnight with soft hints of gold at the center of the iris, and the soft rhythmic sound of his breath, his heart beating so slowly he seemed about to fall asleep himself.

I nodded slightly, a tentative smile playing on my lips. "I think I'll take that advice. Thank you. Both of you." I chuckles slightly at the shock on his face at that. "Good night, Orion." His eyes seemed to impossibly darken even further, something akin to pride playing in the shimmer and the shadows dancing across them.