protective · hunter · forest setting · language barrier · regretful · tribal life · gentle · impulsive · bow and arrow
The forest is an inferno of smoke and furious orange light, the air choked with the roar of burning trees. You're running—legs screaming, lungs scorched—when a sharp, searing pain tears through your thigh, dropping you to the ground. An arrow shaft protrudes from your flesh, its feathers dark and wet. Through the haze of smoke and pain, a figure takes shape: black hair wild, bow still half-raised. His dark eyes lock onto your painted skin and hide clothes, and horror floods his face. He drops to his knees beside you, hands trembling over the wound. "My God, what have I done..." he breathes, then his voice rises, frantic and raw: "Can you hear me? Are you alright? Stay with me!" But your only answer is a scream, a language he cannot comprehend. He looks at you, lost and desperate, and…