Hard To Get

The Hunt

When the morning came but before the sun, Bloodhound had already gotten up and out of bed, waiting for us in the dining hall. I ate a plate of fruit and some kind of meat I didn't bother to ask what was. Once everyone finished we followed Bloodhound to their armory where they told us how today's hunt was going to hopefully go. 

"Please choose a vepon to use on your journey." They gestured to the assorted bows, knifes, spears, and so on. 

I chose a bow and a quiver of arrows, Renee a knife, and Loba chose the same as her. Bloodhound of course would use his axe which was decorated with the beautiful symbols and markings of their culture. We made our way to the edge of the forest, the sun was now barely peeking over the horizon and danced on Loba's figure, creating contours and highlights, moving as she moved- Stop. I don't know why I couldn't control my thoughts these days. 

"We will split into two groups, if it isn't a bother Renee I would like you to accompany me on this hunt." She gave me a side glance and a wink.

"Sure, I'd love to" and she walked over to stand near them. 

Bloodhound continued their explanation of how the hunt was to proceed. "Kill no more than six prowlers and leave the females be. They will not attack you unless provoked, however the males will attack on site." We nodded in understanding. "May the gods bless you." and with that we headed into the forest.

Renee and Bloodhound went to the left and Loba and I veered to the right. Soon we were out of eye sight of each other and were following fresh tracks of a smaller male prowler. Loba and I made a surprisingly effective team. We took out two prowlers easy, she basically by her self on one and I the other. Following the tracks of a larger male prowler we walked for a good while but soon came to a dead end. We set up a look out behind some boulders to try and spot the beast before it did us. I scoped almost the entire area and couldn't see the creature. But we decided to take a rest and try to pick up a trail in a minute. 

Loba sat on a rock adjacent to me and sipped on some water from the canteen that hung by her side. I pulled out some dried meat and nuts and lightly snacked on them, trying not to stare at her or be awkward but maybe I wasn't doing a good job.

"Can I ask you something?" she started and made my brain fly at a thousand light-speeds per second at what she could possible want to know.

"Uh s-sure" why are you so nervous you sound like an idiot, calm down! 

"Why did you join the apex games?" her voice was soft as though she felt she shouldn't be asking people these types of questions.

"Oh uh..." I thought for a second on how I could lie out of this but nothing convincing would come to my brain, "I joined because..." it was no use, I'm about to spill my life's story to this gorgeous woman in front of me. I inhaled and exhaled a cleansing breath, hoping it would prepare me to say the words that followed. "I joined to fix the mistakes of my past."

She looked at me expectantly, not interrupting the short silence that proceeded my statement. 

"In the war I was fighting with the militia. I wasn't a grunt or even a pilot, I was a specialty service. An assassin is what you would have called me. The militia gave me the targets and I took them out. Simple." I paused again, she was looking at me with great interest and had leaned closer to hear my story. "Until it wasn't so simple. I was sent on a mission to take out the leading general of the IMC ground fleet. They told me that with this guy out of the way the IMC would be crippled and vulnerable enough to attack at their base. I found the man, perched on his neighbors roof, aimed my sights down on his oblivious head, and had a clear shot. But..." 

Loba was now sitting on the ground closer to me, entranced with my past. "Then his daughter, maybe six years old, came up to him, crying because her doll's arm had fallen off. He took the doll from her and held it up to his ear as though playing the doctor for his sick patient. The little girl watched with wonder and anticipation. He smiled and said something to her that cleared all her worries. She gave him a big hug and ran off to play with her doll who would live. His eyes were filled with..." I tried to choose my next words carefully to better support my case with the truth, "love... I didn't see an enemy, I saw a man, a father, a husband, a friend. I couldn't bring myself to take that man's life, that little girl's father."

I appreciated that she didn't jump to making me feel better and consoling me about my past. 

"I joined the games so I could send the winning credits to families I hurt during the war, as if I could make right the hundreds of wrongs I did." 

We sat in a moment more of silence, not meeting her gaze, I couldn't even imagine what she thought of me now.

"For the record, I think what you did was incredibly brave" I was not expecting to hear that from her. 

I looked at her with an expectant look to explain what she meant. 

"Sparing that man's life, despite the weight and expectancy on you. I think it took a bravery not many have." I looked at her and was met with a smile, not a flirtatious one but a reassuring one. "We all have our pasts that we're trying to heal from." She looked away and stared at nothing, obviously thinking about what that meant for her too.

"Is that why you joined the games?" I didn't need to know her past nor her reasonings for being here but in this moment it felt right to ask.

She thought for a moment more before speaking, "you could say I joined for the opposite reason. For revenge." That last part sounded somewhat ominous and peaked my interest.

"When I was a little girl my mother and father were taken from me." She wouldn't meet my gaze as she spoke. "I found the demino who took my family from me and followed him here." She didn't have to say his name but it was obvious she was talking about Revenant. "All my life I tried to fill the void he placed in me, nothing ever satisfied." 

I shifted myself closer to her, I didn't even know what I could say but maybe not saying anything was best.

"I was just a little girl." The tears began to weld up in her eyes and though before I never had the courage to even speak to her freely I felt my arm wrap around her shoulder. 

She fell into my chest and began to freely cry. My heart ached for her, my mind raced with the images of children's lives I had ruined, people I had hurt, and could see it now in Loba. I felt a new anger fill my lungs as I thought of Revenant. His careless and malicious ways. I knew he felt not an ounce of regret or remorse for the damage he caused, reveling in it's chaos, feeding on the mourning families and cries of the innocent. My wondering and raving mind was brought back to the sobbing Loba in my arms. 

I rubbed her back, trying to sooth the pain that was not physical, but a pain easily seen in this moment. She stopped crying but stayed close to me, her hands that were clutching my shirt released and smoothed the creases she had formed. After a moment she sat up and my arms left her shoulders. Wiping her eyes and sniffling she tried to compose herself. She glanced at me and laughed. 

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm so emotional right now." 

I shrugged my shoulders, "it's not a bother. It sounds like maybe you needed to talk about it."

Her eyes kept mine locked. The light that filtered through the trees played with her irises, glinting gold and bronze and amber. I couldn't hear the sounds around me, just my breath and the blood rushing in my head. My hand rested on top of hers and we leaned in slowly.

I couldn't concentrate on anything but looking at her, "Loba, I-" she was maybe six inches away from my face and becoming closer when the piercing shriek of a large prowler nearly sent me up into the trees.

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Sorry about the long wait! Crazy weekend with weddings and old friends but I made this chapter a little long for you all. Maybe I'll upload the next tonight but I hope you enjoyed this one!