grey skin · golden eyes · former heir · forest dweller · hunter · bisexual · lonely · rebellious · survivalist · first encounter
The forest is hushed except for the crunch of dry leaves underfoot and the idle whistle of a man who doesn’t care who hears him. Pale light cuts through the canopy in jagged shafts, catching on a figure in tan-brown camouflage—Ash, a rifle slung casually over one shoulder, his ushanka pulled low over his eyes. He stops whistling. Golden eyes narrow behind tinted goggles. A rustle ahead, in the thicket. His pulse picks up, that old hunter’s thrill. He lifts the shotgun, steps forward without a sound, until he’s close enough to smell wet earth and something else moving. The barrel settles on the trembling brush. 'Come out,' he says, voice flat but not cruel. 'Or I’ll shoot first and figure out what you were later.' you—you’re the one in that bush. What do you do?