Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt: Hunter x OC

Finding Footing

Somehow, things felt familiar and novel all at once, like pulling on a well-worn pair of boots, perfectly fitted to one's feet, then embarking on a new adventure.

Hunter followed the familiar path through the trees, listening to Lyra's feet crunching behind, and took a deep inhale, comforted by the rich scents of wood and leaves, the faint musk of animals, and the even fainter salt of the sea. Sensing watchful eyes on him, he stopped abruptly. Lyra crashed right into his back. With a stumble and a chuckled apology, she peered out from behind him curiously.

"What is it?" she whispered.

"We're not alone," he murmured in response, immediately hearing her heart begin to pound in her chest as her body flushed with adrenaline. "Just an animal," he explained further, feeling her relax slightly as she let out a tiny breath.

"A scary one?" she asked with an almost childlike tone.

"Not if you handle it right."

"Somehow that's less than soothing."

She heard nothing, but he heard every step as a good-sized chriscat slunk into sight on the path ahead of them, head lowered, golden eyes fixed on them. Its shoulders rippled as it moved with painstaking care, large paws spreading onto the dirt as each one was placed slowly in front of the other.

"What do we do?" she breathed over his shoulder.

"Stand tall and don't break eye contact," he responded, stretching to his full height. He took a few steps toward it, lowering his own head and fixing it with a stare that gave it pause. A low snarl formed in its throat as it watched him, uncertain. Hunter moved a single arm to his waist, a sliding sound revealing a vibro-blade that glinted in the light, and a growl rumbled from his own chest as he squared his shoulders at the animal.

"Damn, that's hot," Lyra said under her breath, and Hunter would have laughed aloud if not for the imminent danger of the big cat currently stalking them.

He noticed its muscles tensing, and his brows lowered as he flipped the knife in his hand, fingers grasping the blade. Without warning, he let out a bloodcurdling yell and flung it at the cat. It spun through the air before burying itself in the tree trunk next. to the animal's face, and the creature flinched in surprise, scrambling to run away from the sudden, startling attack. Hunter ran after it for a few steps, stopping as he watched it careen up the side of the mountain and vanish into the distance, then he fetched his vibro-blade from the wood with a single yank and tucked it into its sheath on his belt after a quick wipe. When he turned back to Lyra, the mixture of emotions on her face and in her body language was utterly comical.

"I think I'd like to hear more of your soldier stories," she murmured, residually tense and irresistibly attracted to him all at once. He grinned, strolling back to her with a shake of the head.

"I don't know if you could handle them," he needled, earning a little gasp of indignation from her as he resisted the urge to cringe at his attempts at flirting.

"Fair enough." She broke into laughter, closing the distance between them with a sheepish reach for his hand. He took hers happily, and they continued their stroll toward a favorite spot atop the cliffs overlooking the ocean.

* * *

"This is harder than it should be," Hunter grumbled, tensing his legs as he pressed his palms into the ground and arched his head back toward the sky.

"You're doing it flawlessly," Lyra laughed, mimicking the pose next to her. He'd agreed to join her in her yoga practice, which she enjoyed on a level spot of soft dirt beyond her garden, near the sea cliffs. They were each on a small mat, and she'd been leading him through the positions, trying and failing not to focus too much on the way his lithe body flowed effortlessly from one stance to another.