The Hunter

Both Toby and Max fell dead silent for a moment. Seconds later, it was broken by Toby snorting with laughter. Max on the other hand, stared at Ben a moment before he threw him to the ground. There was not time to struggle or protest, Max was too quick to allow anything more than a quick gasp of breath from Ben. Max's lips crashed down on Ben's and for a moment they were a tangle of limbs as Max's hands caressed everywhere he could and Ben struggled wildly.

Ben eventually freed himself by bravely biting down on Max's tongue. It worked, and Max jerked back with a growl of amused annoyance rather than pain. Ben swiftly covered his mouth with one of his hands, his other hand on Max's chest, shoving him away. Toby had smartly chosen not to interfere, though he watched with unease.

“Why the hell did you do that?!” Ben yowled, furious.

His anger only seemed to fuel Max's amusement, and the bigger man leaned forward to place a light kiss on Ben's unprotected fingers.

“I can't get enough of you. Did you really just ask that? Are you assuming I would feed you human flesh? Really, Ben?” Max purred.

“I don't know! It's certainly not fish though!” Ben snapped.

“Don't worry, my little lamb. It's beef. From a cow. I have a frozen supply in my home, would you like to see?”

“No!”

Ben wriggled out from underneath Max, who allowed him to do such, and went to sulk beside Toby. He was embarrassed and humiliated, but now he was sure the meat was safe to eat, his stomach was rumbling again. Max watched him, his expression filled with affection and amusement, but after a moment, he got to his feet.

“As agreed, as long as Toby is with you and you claim him as your ally, I will help the both of you. For now, however, I need to return. As fun as it is to play with the two of you, I do have a job to do.” Max said before he wandered away.

Neither boy tried to stop or speak to him as he left. Toby watched him closely, though, looking for any signs of hostility as he passed. As soon as he had, Toby poked at the meat that had been left behind to see if it had cooled, and began to nibble at a piece. Ben soon followed suit. The two of them finished eating, went to get water, and put out the fire before heading off to bed.

Neither of them slept well.

“Do you think we should move?”

Toby glanced up at Ben, confusion clear in his eyes.

They had wandered down to the giant fish trap Max had told them to use and were trying to get the fish inside of it into a basket they had brought.

“When I was running from Max, we stumbled into a camp and met some people. I was thinking that we should change locations in case I was followed.” Ben explained, lifting his basket up out of the water.

So far they had managed to catch two of the large fish within, though there were five smaller ones, they were attempting to catch as well, the big ones sitting out of the water, their heads crushed with rocks.

“I guess that would make sense, if you are really worried about it. Max can't stalk you all the time.” Toby snorted.

Ben flinched and wiped at his mouth, the kiss from the night before still clear in his memory. Toby grinned at the water below as he stooped down to pick up his basket as well, a fish struggling inside of it.

“Look, if it'll make you worry a little less, let's do it, okay? It didn't take too long to make the shelter last time and maybe we can find a place where we can hide our stuff better.” Toby said.

“Alright.” Ben nodded, and turned.

Immediately he frowned; watching them from the tree line was a man-shaped bush. Max rose his arm in greeting before disappearing into the trees once more. Ben had the unsettling feeling that they would see him again that night. After they gave up on fishing, the two took the fish back to be prepped for cooking.

The next morning, Ben was secretly delighted to find that Max had left them more fruits instead of meat. He had indeed visited them, but Ben feigned exhaustion and went to sleep earlier than normal. He felt bad for leaving Toby alone with Max, but he did trust Max to honor their deal.

Toby cooked and wrapped some fish in leaves for Ben to take with him as he looked for a suitable spot for the two for them to move to. Toby had not wanted to leave the camp, claiming he felt ill, and after sending Ben off, promptly went back to sleep.

Ben made his way to the river, keeping an eye out for the deer, and walked up stream a few hundred yards before continuing to move west. He eventually found a massive fallen tree within sight of the river, and immediately began work. With Toby sick, Ben did not think his friend would be of much help. He made the lean-to better this time with some creative thinking. After having watched Toby making his baskets for so long, Ben tried out the idea of weaving sticks and vines between the main branches he was using as support. He got about one-third of the way done before it began to get dark.

After making sure he would remember where it was, Ben headed back to check on Toby. As he did, a bush stepped into the camp with a yawn. Ben flinched away as Max appeared, but Max simply laughed and sat down at the fire. Toby was there as well, dozing off, looking slightly better than he had that morning.

“You've been busy today?” Max asked as he peeled off his mask.

“Why, were you hunting for me?” Ben snapped, earning a raised eyebrow from his admirer.

“I did not see you at the camp when I visited earlier.” Max shrugged, dropping the subject.

Ben hesitantly went to join them by the fire. It had been hot work, building the lean-to and gathering up all the materials he had needed, but the air was cooling swiftly and chilling him. Max watched him for several moment before he began go strip layers of leaves off his chest. Beneath the leaves and sticks, Max wore nothing but his skin. Ben caught sight of the top of a pair of black cloth below the man's waist, but Max only revealed his torso.

They layers of leaves had been sewn together in long strips. Some had metal branches that had been realistically painted and helped Max look more like a bush than a man. Ben's curiosity had gotten the best of him as Max stripped and he began to examine and touch the layers. Max gave no protests, so Ben had kept going.

“I made them myself,” Max stated after a few moments, “most other hunters don't bother hiding.”

“There are others?” Ben asked.

“On the other islands. I'm sure you saw some of them in the distance?”
Ben nodded.

“On the bigger islands, there are two, three, or even four hunters, but my island is owned entirely by me, so I'm the sole hunter here.”

“The purgatories...who owns and controls them?” Ben questioned softly, stroking at the leaves.

Max shivered slightly, his eyes on Ben's fingers, and took a moment to reply.

“The Council of Justice, for the most part. My father saved up for his entire life and used his father's inheritance to buy the island. He enjoyed ownership of it for three months before he was killed and it was passed on to me,” Max explained softly.

“You were raised a Hunter?”

“Not entirely, I was given a choice, but I chose to be one after living three years in the regular world. I was born on this island and I hope to die here too.”

Ben fell silent, wondering if he had such a place. A home. Parents. He stared into the fire for a few moments before Max wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him down so Ben's head was resting on Max's knee.

“Sleep, you look exhausted.”

Max's voice was calm and soothing rather than his usual dominant and aggressive tone he used even with Ben. Rather than struggle or fight him, Ben felt he had nothing to fear and readily gave in. He let his eyes flutter closed as Max's fingers gently ran through his hair. Ben shifted slightly into a more comfortable position and eventually was pulled into sleep.