3 Hunter I

No matter how much Eshijan tried to tell himself he was fine, everything he had experienced that year had left him pretty deeply affected.

Eshijan wasn't exactly certain how things had escalated to such a point, but the evidence left on the sink was pretty damning.

The mirror fogged up from his breath, and Eshijan couldn't see very well through tears in his eyes, but it was finally gone.

His 'beautiful curls' were finally gone.

He was still smiling, but Eshijan couldn't lie to himself anymore.

He was not fine.

No one knew what had really gone down between Laksh and Eshijan to end in such a gruesome way, but the natural assumption was that Laksh was just another servant doing the dirty work for Lady Forester. Lady Forester's decision to allow Laksh to continue working at the estate afterwards only solidified this assumption. Lady Forester was only ever merciful to people loyal to her.

That wasn't actually the case. While it could be viewed as an 'enemy of the enemy is my friend' situation, in reality, Lady Forester just hadn't wanted to lose the eye candy.

No matter how much of an ice-cold bitch she was, Lady Forester was still a woman with desires.

Eshijan didn't run into Laksh again, but he could feel the older man's hateful gaze on him from time to time. Eshijan always carried his dagger, but knowing that the disgusting man was still around had him, he had taken to horizontal carrying it instead of sheathing it in his knee-high leather boots.

Eshijan looked at his shiny bald head in the mirror once more and sighed happily.

He looked hideous, and it was wonderful!

If it was his pheromones and beauty that drew him such unwanted advances, wouldn't such a problem be resolved if he could make himself as unappealing as possible?

He had done his research, done his shopping, and he continued to shave his head bald.

He stopped wearing the expensive quality clothes Lord Forester proved him with and started wearing old clothes that felt comfortable instead.

The only way to cover a base scent was to mask it with odours stronger and more overwhelming than it. This was an easy fix. He stopped bothering to wash up after his hunts and started using scent-cancelling soaps the few times a week that he did bother to shower.

Now no one could stand being too close to him due to the strong stench of cooked meat and blood clinging to his body.

With his actions, not only did Eshijan manage to solve the problem of unwanted sexual advances, but he also solved the problem of future advances as well!

Hunter hadn't been in Mist Valley for the entire duration of these life-altering events, so to say that the older omega had been surprised by the changes Eshijan had undergone in the months that he had been away was an understatement. The omega hadn't said anything, but Hunter had just started at Eshijan for a good long while until Eshijan succumbed to the pressure and spilled everything.

Hunter had not been happy with the situation or Eshijan's reaction to it.

So two things happened afterwards. First, Laksh suddenly had a family emergency that required him to quit his job and move back to Sario with no plans of ever returning. Second, Hunter extended his stay in Mist Valley for a month to literally smack the sense right back into Eshijan's thick skull using his special brand of Training From Hell.

Eshijan swore he lost a limb or two somewhere in the middle of it, but his memories of the time were a little hazy, and his limbs were very much attached and fully functioning by the end of it, so he thought he might have just hallucinated it.

He hadn't.

Eshijan really had lost an arm and a leg at one point in their training, but our Hunter is an omega of many talents.

Okay, let's wrap this part up and talk about more interesting things.

The Training From Hell had managed to physically and mentally beef Eshijan up, but nothing else had really changed other than that.

Well, maybe not so much nothing had changed, but more like something had settled, because even a year later, Eshijan continues to maintain a shitty dress style, shiny bald head and the stench of dried blood and cooked meat.

Now, let me tell you a bit about Hunter because this guy is pretty damn cool.

Hunter's actual name is not actually Hunter. It's just an alias he uses whenever he decides to go incognito.

If his name isn't Hunter, then what is it, you might ask.

That, my friends, is something you'll find out at a later date.

I know, I've been really generous with all the information so far. So you're probably wondering what all the secrecy is about. Well, the secrecy is more for my darling Eshijan's sake than yours. There's just so much he doesn't know yet. So much he has to learn and see and experience. It just doesn't feel right to give you access to something Eshijan deserves to learn first.

So, I hope you will be patient with me.

Now, where was I... right. Hunter.

So, Eshijan and Hunter's paths crossed by pure chance.

One delirious from injury and the other running away from a life society forced on him.

From this description alone, you might think you know what had happened, but think again sucker!

Eshijan was found by Hunter, collapsed in the middle of the forest, running a high fever and delirious from pain caused by the bleeding, festering wounds that covered his back.

For Hunter, the decision to take here was pretty obvious.

So, he stuck around and did his duty of care.

He cleaned the injuries, Healed the back, clothed and fed the omega until he completely recovered.

Hunter hadn't visited Mist Valley in a long time, so visiting a bar to catch up on everything he had missed out on was the first thing he did once he was sure he could leave the omega to rest without supervision. Not that he left the child defenceless, of course. Hunter made sure to set up a protective barrier on the cave he had them camp out in before he left. He was hoping that he'd also be able to find out who the child was and how he had been left in such a state as well.

If there was one thing that never changed about this town, it was how everyone seemed to know about everyone else's business. No secret ever stayed secret in Mist Valley.

It had been a while, so most people didn't recognize Hunter and eyed him warily due to his foreign ethnic appearance. Except for Hunter's dark skin and fuller features, every other trait he possessed was Estish.

Hunter never understood how in such a progressive world, the people of this town always seemed to find new reasons to show hostility to people of other ethnicities.

Thankfully, at least the bar owner was someone familiar. The grandson of the man who used to run this place from back when Hunter lived here. A loyal family who made sure that Hunter always had a place that remembered and welcomed him whenever he returned.

"Hunter!" the young man working the bar counter greeted with clear delight. Although the bar owner could be described as young, Lani de Silva was a man in his mid-forties who didn't look a day over twenty. "It's been far too long since your last visit, my friend! Come, take a seat, first few drinks on the house!"

Hunter did as he was told with an amused huff, "That won't be necessary, Lani. I came prepared to pay your outrageous prices. How's everyone been doing? It seems like a lot has changed here since I last saw it."

The man slid a glass filled to the brim with an amber liquid that brought a sparkle to Hunter's eyes. Hunter was quick to grab the glass and downed it with a satisfied groan.

Now, this was something he hadn't had in a very long time.

"Fuck, I forgot how good this tasted." Not being able to get drunk anymore was definitely for the best, considering how he used to forget his limits when he got his hands on this drink in his younger days.

"I never understood your obsession with that drink," Lani said, with a shake of his head, but he exchanged the glass with another that Hunter chose to savour at a much slower pace. "This was the first drink I was taught to make, you know. Never realize why, considering how unpopular it is, but then you suddenly barged in out of nowhere and wiped out our entire stock of it! You have terrible taste, you know."

"Fuck off! Now give me the deets, brat. I know something is going on in this goddamn town. Either you tell me what it is, or I start going around hurting people to get my answers."

Lani just scrunched his nose, "No one says deets anymore, old man. Even my generation didn't use that when we were kids." Hunter's only response was a deepened scowl. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you. No need to go scaring customers."

This was how Hunter found out about the situation at the Forester Estate and the bastard omega son. Afterwards, he spent a few more hours at the bar catching up about everything else going on in town and with the de Silva family, but Hunter was distracted. His thoughts just kept circling back to the omega he had found in the woods.

Curly red hair, purple eyes. It was pretty obvious who the boy was. The question was, what was Hunter going to do about it?

Should he even do something about it?

These were the questions that plagued his mind as he went back to his little cave hideout and checked over the peacefully sleeping omega again. The child still had a slight fever, but that would pass in a few days. So if he really wanted to, Hunter could just take the omega to the Forester Estate and dust his hands of the situation right now. He had already gone above and beyond the minimum requirement for duty of care, but a look at the healing scars on the child's back made him hesitate.

Hunter thought about the situation and weighed his options for the next few days while caring for the child.

At the point the young omega finally regained consciousness, Hunter could no longer deny that the decision had already been made.

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime, was how the saying went, right?

So instead of giving the omega a fish that he probably wouldn't even know what to do with, Hunter decided to take the child under his wing.

Hunter's decision probably had a lot to do with how he felt like he was looking back at his younger self whenever he thought about Eshijan and the omega's helpless situation, but that only lasted until he got to know the younger omega.

Eshijan was nothing like his childhood self.

Hunter, in his younger years, had just been filled with rage and bitterness. He was infamous for his temper and violent tendencies. He was quick to anger and even quicker to punch. A habit that often ended up leading him into even more trouble.

Eshijan was different. The boy was soft and gentle. Kind where Hunter had been cruel. Forgiving where Hunter had been contemptuous. Eshijan never let the injustices of his life dim his smile for even a moment.

Eshijan was everything that Hunter considered precious in this world.

Unfortunately, Hunter was a busy man. The time he spent at Mist Valley was very limited, but he made the most of it. He planned to train Eshijan first to be self-reliant. Then he would train Eshijan in the basics of combat. Finally, after Eshijan turns 13, Hunter would take him away from Mist Valley.

From the first time he held a dagger to his first kill, Hunter was there to guide Eshijan every step of the way.

First by hand, then slowly, as Eshijan began to find his balance, Hunter began to step away to watch his son-I mean-watch his student progress without his intervention.

Fortunately, Eshijan was a quick and diligent student, so there hadn't been much intervention required to begin with, but it still brought warmth to Hunter's heart to see his-son-I mean student progress so well.

Most people underestimated the level of talent and skill hunting truly required.

They ignorantly assume that as long as they could spot prey and aim a gun, that was all it took.

They were wrong.

Hunter taught Eshijan hunting like it was an art form.

An art form that requires strict discipline and training.

An art form that requires the artist to be aware of and control every aspect of their body. The way you walk, the speed you move, the way you breathe, the rate of your heart, the temperature of your body and all five senses of the body; sight, sound, smell, taste, touch.

"It's all in the subtleties, Eshijan. You can leave things up to things like chance and fate, but I prefer certainty. Don't you? Also, if you perfect these skills, you might be the one to achieve every hunter's dream. the Hundred Percent Success Rate."

Honestly, the Hundred Percent Success Rate thing was bullshit.

Something Hunter had just made it up so that Eshijan would stop with the damn questions and get with the program. He didn't have all day to train the brat, and he wanted to get through all the drills he had planned for him before he left.

How would he have known that the words he had flippantly said to a young impressionable child could have such drastic consequences in the future?