Sequel: The Hunter ›
Status: Got writer's block, so gave it a lame ending. Sorry~
The Hunter Version 1
Page 26
Toby followed after him, but paused when Max moved away from the trail he had made. Max did not wait, so Toby charged after him into the forest, muttering under his breath. They moved quickly, though they had a long way to go before Max finally came to a stop. When he did, however, there was a visible tremor shaking Max's body, despite the disguise he wore. Toby peeked around him and paled. There was blood and gore everywhere, but Ben was nowhere to be found. Toby cautiously stepped forward, fearing the worst for his friend, his eyes searching for any signs. Behind him, Max gave a loud wail and fell the ground, startling Toby.
The boy glanced back at the man, screaming on the ground, pounding his fists into the dirt and scowled. So much for not being in love, Toby thought with a shake of his head. This was not going to help Ben. Toby examined the ground as best he could, looking for any sign as to where Ben may have gone and frowned to himself. There were an awful lot of footprints in the dirt. Some animal, but mostly human. Toby followed it around as best he could, away from the grieving Hunter, and into the trees where he found the body of a massive, headless buck. That had to be where the gore had come from-Ben had to be alive still. Be spun around to Max and shook him violently.
“He's still alive, Max! It's not his blood, probably.” Toby yowled in Max's ear.
Max shoved him away, not listening, and Toby tumbled head over heels. Quickly getting back to his feet, despite his waning strength, Toby tried again to get Max's attention, but the man was not listening. Anger flared; Ben might still be injured and even dying somewhere and only Max could help him. Toby lifted a leg and kicked Max with all his strength.
“Listen to me, you bastard!” Toby snarled when Max finally looked up at him, “We need to find Ben. Come look at what I found over here before you roll around like some three year old who didn't get candy!”
Slowly, Max got to his feet and followed Toby into the trees, a dark cloud hovering over him. His anger gave him strength, and Toby marched in front of Max with his head held high, and threw a hand at the deer.
“See? And I'm pretty sure someone else was here. If I can track them, I'm sure you can do better.” Toby huffed.
Max gave no reply, but he did step closer to study the buck. Rather suddenly a string of curses left his lips and he crouched to the ground, pressing his face close. Toby could have sworn he heard sniffing sounds, as if Max was planning to track whoever had killed the buck by scent like a dog. He thought that had to be absurd and pushed the thought from his mind. Max suddenly began to move, crouching every once in a while to examine the ground or tree roots or broken leaves and twigs. Toby followed behind.
They moved back south-west. Max moved swiftly, but paused from time to time for Toby to catch up. At one point in time Toby told him to just go on ahead, but Max refused.
“The Guards are still here. You've been proving yourself useful, so I'm not too keen on letting you get killed.” Max explained swiftly, sounding slightly out of breath.
Toby suspected he was not winded from physical exhaustion as Toby was, but rather from a panic attack. Max had seemed to calm down fairly quickly, but Toby knew that such attacks were not so easily recovered from. He had been struggling with them since he had woken up on the island, and some times it had been all he could do to tune everything out and hide away from the world. He knew it made Ben nervous, but it worked well enough.
As it was, Max was struggling with his panic attack very poorly, though he refused to show it. His thoughts turned to who had Ben, what condition Ben would be in, or that they would never find him at all. From time to time he found drops of blood on the ground, be he did not say anything to Toby about them. It could be from the one who had killed Killjoy and presumably rescued Ben, or it might have been Ben's. As the sun began to set, Max realized they were catching up; the tracks were fresher and at times the blood had not even dried when he saw it. Eventually there were signs of someone,
The boy glanced back at the man, screaming on the ground, pounding his fists into the dirt and scowled. So much for not being in love, Toby thought with a shake of his head. This was not going to help Ben. Toby examined the ground as best he could, looking for any sign as to where Ben may have gone and frowned to himself. There were an awful lot of footprints in the dirt. Some animal, but mostly human. Toby followed it around as best he could, away from the grieving Hunter, and into the trees where he found the body of a massive, headless buck. That had to be where the gore had come from-Ben had to be alive still. Be spun around to Max and shook him violently.
“He's still alive, Max! It's not his blood, probably.” Toby yowled in Max's ear.
Max shoved him away, not listening, and Toby tumbled head over heels. Quickly getting back to his feet, despite his waning strength, Toby tried again to get Max's attention, but the man was not listening. Anger flared; Ben might still be injured and even dying somewhere and only Max could help him. Toby lifted a leg and kicked Max with all his strength.
“Listen to me, you bastard!” Toby snarled when Max finally looked up at him, “We need to find Ben. Come look at what I found over here before you roll around like some three year old who didn't get candy!”
Slowly, Max got to his feet and followed Toby into the trees, a dark cloud hovering over him. His anger gave him strength, and Toby marched in front of Max with his head held high, and threw a hand at the deer.
“See? And I'm pretty sure someone else was here. If I can track them, I'm sure you can do better.” Toby huffed.
Max gave no reply, but he did step closer to study the buck. Rather suddenly a string of curses left his lips and he crouched to the ground, pressing his face close. Toby could have sworn he heard sniffing sounds, as if Max was planning to track whoever had killed the buck by scent like a dog. He thought that had to be absurd and pushed the thought from his mind. Max suddenly began to move, crouching every once in a while to examine the ground or tree roots or broken leaves and twigs. Toby followed behind.
They moved back south-west. Max moved swiftly, but paused from time to time for Toby to catch up. At one point in time Toby told him to just go on ahead, but Max refused.
“The Guards are still here. You've been proving yourself useful, so I'm not too keen on letting you get killed.” Max explained swiftly, sounding slightly out of breath.
Toby suspected he was not winded from physical exhaustion as Toby was, but rather from a panic attack. Max had seemed to calm down fairly quickly, but Toby knew that such attacks were not so easily recovered from. He had been struggling with them since he had woken up on the island, and some times it had been all he could do to tune everything out and hide away from the world. He knew it made Ben nervous, but it worked well enough.
As it was, Max was struggling with his panic attack very poorly, though he refused to show it. His thoughts turned to who had Ben, what condition Ben would be in, or that they would never find him at all. From time to time he found drops of blood on the ground, be he did not say anything to Toby about them. It could be from the one who had killed Killjoy and presumably rescued Ben, or it might have been Ben's. As the sun began to set, Max realized they were catching up; the tracks were fresher and at times the blood had not even dried when he saw it. Eventually there were signs of someone,