Red Queen One-Shots

The Hunt

A/N: A prompt  from crfrederick0511 that has waited for long until today's cold but beautiful weather finally inspired me, along with Meagan Spooner's Hunted.

She took a breath. The chill and fresh air of the forest was an energizing surge chasing away the memory of her former nausea and waking one of her lost home. The hunger of the hunt accompanied it. Her finger was on the trigger, her mark clear to see in the cross-hair of the rifle's telescope. Perfect. The stag browsed in the sunlit clearing without an inkling of the hunter planning to take its life.

She released half a breath. She was about to pull the trigger when the silence of the woods was disturbed by a loud, rustling movement to her right. A shadow fell into her view and the stag took flight.

She grunted. Then the noise returned, closer to her, and she swivelled her rifle in its direction so the barrel pointed right to Shade's throat, two metres in front of her.

"Diana, no!" he called.

She lowered her rifle and let go of a more creative stream of curses. "Bleeding fuck, Shade, I thought you're aware of the importance of safe teleporting? Damn!" She'd stepped up to him and now he had the audacity to grin.

"It's okay, I'm still alive," he whispered.

"Don't disturb me on the hunt again," she said, and batted his chest. She bent down to fumble with the basket at her feet, but really to calm herself. The idea of Shade – or anyone – becoming a casualty of friendly fire scared her to the marrow.

He sighed. "You see, one of your contacts send a message and I wanted to tell you. I didn't think you were back to hunting again ... what's that?"

He knelt down next to her and pointed to the basket. "Mushrooms," she said. "I needed a walk after I was ... indisposed. I found them and had a thought."

"Oh no."

"What?" She frowned.

"I began to doubt your tastes recently."

She shoved him and he fell on his butt. "It's a good one this time, I promise." She sighed dramatically, mostly to hide her blush. "I remember these mushrooms from home, and I thought to cook them with venison."

Shade nodded, as if disbelieving her. "And you planned to gut the stag yourself?" he asked to tease her. "Like without throwing up?"

"That was hours ago...!" Farley rose. "However, if I don't find a new stag, there won't be nothing to eat for any of us." Already she was back to scanning the forest for game. "I hope you'll do your best not to chase the game off again, Barrow," she added.

Steps behind her. She turned, only to find herself leaning against Shade's hand on the small of her back. His presence caused a delightful shiver on her skin.

"Look there," he whispered. His hand moved and she wondered how his palm would feel on her bare skin, without her coat between them. "There's our dinner," he said and outstretched his other arm.

Her rifle went up in a fluid motion repeated hundreds of times. It was the same poor animal that had run into her aim before.

Shade's closeness wasn't a bother but a reassurance. She shot the stag dead on the first try.