Hunter and Prey

Chapter 14: Sneak Peek

Rose watched Kimata disappear from her view of the cave entrance. 'Back soon...' She thought. 'Yah right... Just watch him not show up again... Then I'll know for sure...' Rose shuddered and stared at the ground momentarily. What was she thinking... How could she think so negatively. He might not be what she thinks he is. All the evidence could be mixed up in some total misunderstanding... But, those eyes... She'd never forget those eyes. She whimpered quietly to herself and slowly stood up, walking over to the entrance of the cave and looking out over the calm forest. She could hear the sound of squirrels and birds chattering, and crickets and bees and other insects playing a symphony of sound in her ears. The familiar noises calmed her and she wondered what awaited her tonight once the sun had fallen and the full moon had risen... Would Kimata stay with her and protect her? Or would he leave her to fend for herself against the white wolf... But... Then again, why hadn't that wolf attacked her when it had her... If she wasn't food or intruding on it's territory, what did it stalk her for... Why did it let her go? Was Kimata... Really a werewolf?... And is that why he wouldn't harm her? Because he recognized her?... So many questions swam in Roses head, making her confused and hurt. She thought back to not long ago when the bounty hunter had attempted to kiss her... At first she'd been overwhelmed and shy at the thought of it. Then she had thought about how much she really liked the hunter... How much she trusted him and enjoyed being with him... But then fear had overtaken her at the thought of how wrong it was. He had tried to kill her not two days ago! Not to mention... What if he really was a werewolf. She'd heard the legends and story's of them, and how their bite would change others in werewolves as well... She had wondered how it had worked, and decided it was contact of a werewolf's saliva to the blood stream... She was afraid to test that theory with the results of the kiss... The kiss that might've taken place. She was afraid of some way it might affect her... She wouldn't do any unnecessary actions unless she knew for sure it wouldn't affect or alter her in any way... Wait. What was she thinking... IF it didn't affect her in any way?.. If he really WAS a werewolf?! She shouldn't even be near him if that's what he really was! He could hurt her or kill her! But... He hasn't... Or at least the wolf hasn't... But why. And if Kimata really WAS what it seems... Wouldn't he tell her?.. Would he know he even is one?... Or was he as clueless as her. She just didn't know... But she hoped that soon she'd figure it out. She has to make sure her suspicions were true before she accused him of anything... She'd keep an eye on him once he got back for the night. And she wouldn't take her eyes off him for the whole night...
Rose sighed and smiled for once as she organized her plan for tonight once Kimata had returned... If he did. The sun was starting to creep below the western mountains now as the sky blazed with color. Rose kept watch over the forest, starting to lose hope that he would return before nightfall. A rock clacked by the ground and Roses ears perked, amazed to see Kimata carrying a large bundle of wood up the side of the path. She smiled and greeted him happily and suspiciously as he came into the cave. "Thank goodness you're back before nightfall. I couldn't take another night her alone..." She spoke innocently, sounding afraid, trying to convince whatever plans he'd had in mind that she wanted him with her for the night. He shuddered and looked at her with a cold serious face, looking a but afraid. "R-Rose I...." He cut off, seeming to trip over his words. Rose lost her smile and became concerned at his upset expression. "What's wrong Kimata?" He laid down the bundle of wood by the fire pit and started to light it, seeming to be stalling at her overwhelming presence. She waited for him to finish patiently and sat down on her sleeping bag as she watched him. He ran out of stalling time when the fire was going well and the sun was just below the peaks of the mountains at this time. He shuddered and turned to face her, sitting down. "Rose, I'm sorry about earlier... I completely disrespected you and it'll take a lot for me to make up for it..." Rose shuddered at the waves of emotion she felt coming off his sincere apology and she nearly forgot her planned night altogether. "Kimata it's okay... You caught me off guard and took me by surprise is all, and I'm just.... Not r-ready-." Kimata cut her off as he had gotten up while she was speaking and now kneeled in front of her, placing his hands on her shoulders, looking her in the eye. Rose shuddered in shock, never having seen such intensity in his gaze before. "Rose, I need you to listen to me, I don't have much time..." Her ears perked curiously and she watched him, staying silent to listen. She observed his visage and noticed his fur was wet from sweating. Whatever he was going to tell her, he was obviously stressed about it.
He gathered his breath, panting softly in stress as he closed his eyes, slowing his breathing and regaining focus. His eyes opened with a serious and concerned intensity that frightened Rose more than he'd ever done to her before. "Rose... Do you remember when you asked about my past, and how I became a bounty hunter?..." Rose shuddered and nodded slowly, trying to take in everything he said. He nodded afterwards and continued as calmly as possible, "When I was a boy, I was raised in the royal Kingdom of Fyrth, and as I grew older, I was trained as a fighter and defender of royalty as a Beast Slayer..." Rose shuddered at his words and her ears flattened. She'd heard the horrifying tales of Beast Slayers and how emotionless and numb they'd been made to make them non-hesitant killers. Beast Slayers killed creatures and monsters of the night high and low from every camp-fire tale you could conjure up. Men and women who had slain vampires, werewolves, demons, wild beasts. Beast Slayers were trained to kill at a young age and when they came to the age of a worthy and mature Slayer, they were skilled enough to kill anyone and anything without hesitation... This was the past of the man kneeled before her now... Rose whimpered quietly and nodded slowly, listening quietly as he continued. "I told you I'm not proud of my past and I never will be... But Rose, I stopped being a Beast Hunter 2 years ago..." Rose watched him in confusion, her ears down nervously as she listened. It sounded like he hadn't even gotten to the bad news yet... Wasn't being a Beast Slayer bad enough news compared to anything else?... "When I was a Beast Slayer, I worked with a team sometimes, depending on the creature. I became a Bounty hunter after dismissing myself from the life of a Beast Slayer because it pays good and I work alone... I was... Dismissed from being a beast slayer because of an incident that was never truly taken into account but... I was hurt... Bad..." Rose shuddered as she watched him sadly, seeing shame, sadness and fear in his eyes. She could guess where he was going with this, but she kept silent and listened. "Nobody but me knows what really happened that day..." He shuddered and turned to glance outside, looking worried and seeming to measure out the time he had left. "My mission that day was to take out a Class 5 Werewolf Alpha outside the perimeters of the kingdom... It had been terrorizing the villagers on our outskirts and I was sent with another member of my team... He and I were the only one sent to take it down, even at how dangerous a Class 5 is... My partner attempted to make the final blow, but he was taken out with a blow to the head... I got on it's back after that and tried to put my blade through it's neck when it flung me off onto the ground. It came at me and I held my sword up as it ran into it... It growled and bit me shallow in my shoulder... And that was the last thing it ever did. I came back a hero, and stayed long enough to attend my partners funeral... And then I was released from the Beast Slaying program." Rose shuddered and looked up at him with a mixture of fear and nervousness on her face. She whimpered quietly and gained her breath as he watched her with sad expecting eyes, feeling everything she'd expected but hoped not to be true crashing down on her all at once. "You're a.... A..." He shuddered and nodded slowly, his ears going down. "I'm a werewolf... I became the very thing I slaughtered so many times in my youth."
Rose shuddered and stayed where she was, trying to think of how to react to his confession. She never thought over what she'd actually do if this was really the truth... Kimata stood up and started to back away towards the cave entrance slowly, looking worried now after glancing at the falling darkness of night. "You've seen the white wolf during the last two nights... That was me. And you probably wondered why I hadn't harmed you... Well... D-during the week of the full moon I transform into my werewolf form out of my control... During the nights of only a near full moon I'm still slightly myself therefore I knew you, but on a night like this, where the moon wanes as full as it will be until the next month, I have no control over myself or my actions in that form... Rose I'm so sorry... I need to leave before I change, or I'll end up hurting you... If you see me coming, I want you to run. Hide. Fight. Use the skills I taught you to keep me away from you, to protect yourself, no matter what happens. Please, I couldn't live with myself if I hurt you! When I leave get somewhere away from here, somewhere where I can't find you until dawn. That's an order, do you understand?... Please..." Rose saw what looked like fresh tears in his eyes and nodded slowly, knowing now that he'd taught her those moves of defense for this very purpose... She understood now. She could see the fear and concern in his now and nodded firmly to show him she knew and understood. He smiled softly and nodded back. "Please be safe Rose..." With that he turned and ran to the front of the cave, sliding down the side of the cliff into the forest, starting to run as far away from the cave as possible. Rose ran to the entrance as well and started to climb further up the path, leading up the side of the craggy mountain range to get high up and further out of reach. She ran and climbed as fast as her legs would take her, cutting herself on sharp rocks and stones. Her blood ran cold when she nearly slipped at the shocking and radiating shockwave of sound that came from the forest below. She slowly glanced downwards at the sound of the howl and stiffened at the sight of trees shaking from something big ramming through them making its way to her direction. Through the open holes in the forest canopy she caught the glimpses of that shining white fur that glimmered in the moonlight. 'I'm doomed...' She thought to herself, forcing herself to climb faster. 'And I don't even have Kimata's protection now...'