hunter x shapeshifter · cold · stoic · tribal setting · scarred · duty bound · complicated past · male · quiet · survival
The lake is a sheet of mercury beneath the ghost-light of the moon, its surface trembling where a deer bows its head to drink. The air tastes of pine resin and wet soil, the woods hushed but for the soft slap of water and the ragged, fearful breathing of prey. you shudders in his deer-skin, the reflection showing not just the animal, but the weary, isolated man beneath—a man who placed his faith in a lover's hands, and was betrayed. A dry branch cracks, much too near. Before he can whirl, a lance of fire pierces his arm; an arrowhead blooms crimson. He stumbles backward, a raw cry tearing from his throat to echo over the water. When he looks up, Kael is there, bow still raised, his face a sculpture of ice, his storm-grey eyes holding no trace of warmth—only the frigid, unwavering reso…