They finally make their way out of the town and back into the forest. The Huntsman's pace slows a little once the village is out of sight. He hasn't spoken a word in over thirty minutes.
The tense silence leaves Emma uncomfortable, she can feel the tension emanating from him. It's not directed at her and she knows that, but she can't help but feel a bit guilty about the situation. If she hadn't of stirred up trouble with that other hunter in town that incident wouldn't have happened. She forced him to come into town when he didn't want to.
That's when it dawns on her, "That was why you didn't want to go into town, wasn't it?" She asks quietly, finally breaking the silence between them. The Huntsman stops walking but doesn't look back at her. His shoulders sink and he lets out a heavy sigh, "Yes." He admits.
"Do they always treat you like that?" The blonde asked, now standing beside him, trying to see his face. He shifts his gaze down towards the ground. "For as long as I can remember." He truly couldn't recall a time where he went into town and he wasn't ridiculed in some way. It had gotten to the point where the hunter only went into town if he was low on supplies or unable to find enough food for the night.
Emma shakes her head, still confused. "I don't understand. Why?"
The Huntsman clenches his jaw and swallows hard. "People don't take kindly to those raised by wolves. To them I'm just a... just an animal." His voice holds a hurt loneliness to it, which he tries to hide.
'He was raised by wolves?' She's a bit taken aback, but then it all starts making sense. Like the reason why he asked for the hunting of wolves to be outlawed. Because they were the ones to raise him, to him they're his family and he wants them protected.
Part of her wants to pry further into the matter, but she can tell he's in no mood to do so. Nor does he seem like the type of person to spill those type of personal details about himself so easily. He's pretty guarded when it comes to that, she gets it.
Now that she knows, he's waiting for her to leave, just like they all do when they learn about his past. He shouldn't care if she leaves, he just met her. But there's an unfamiliar part of him that doesn't really want her to.
The Huntsman looks off into the woods dejectedly. "You can leave now if you want. I... I won't stop you."
She stares at him with genuine confusion, "Why would I leave? You're still going to help me get to the other kingdom aren't you?"
He gave her an incredulous look. She still wanted to travel with him? He was prepared for a slew of insults and a swift exit, not someone who was actually going to stick around. This wasn't a reaction he's ever encountered before.
Once getting over the shock, the man finally manages a nod in response.
"Shall we get going?" He asks her.
The Princess nods, "Just let me change my clothes." Never had she been more excited for a change of clothes before. The mud that caked the lace around bottom of her dress had start to make the garment feel much heavier than it was, leaving her getting tired much quicker.
She grabs her new clothes and heads behind a nearby tree with a thick trunk. "No peaking!" Emma shouts sternly from behind it. The Huntsman shakes his head in amusement and does as she says, keeping his eyes looking straight ahead and away from the tree.
Emma peaks her head around to check if he's really doing what she says or not, she's surprised to see he actually is. Most men in this situation would disregard the request and look anyway. He's surprisingly very gentleman like for a man raised by wolves.
After another few minutes she's finally done. "Okay, you can look now." Emma tells him as she walks out from behind the tree, now dressed in the red blouse and tan trousers that she had gotten from town. The Huntsman, now rejoined by his wolf companion, turns around simultaneously towards her.
The red blouse makes her golden blonde locks seem even more vibrant than usual, even despite the fact that she's been traveling in the woods for the past two days. Both man and wolf stare at her momentarily. Though the clothing is much more casual than her dress, she still radiates that same essence that catches they're attention.
Regaining his focus, he gives a nod towards the direction they're headed next.
A few more hours pass and as the two are walking, the Huntsman suddenly stops, causing Emma to practically run straight into the back of him. "It's going to rain." He states suddenly.
Emma shrugs, "I don't mind a little rain." He shakes his head. "Not this kind of rain. We'll camp here for the night." He's had a rough day and she thinks it better not to argue with him. They're still pretty good on time when it comes to reaching their destination, not that she's in any rush to get there. To be honest, there have been times that she actually forgets all together about where she's really headed.
Sure enough the Huntsman is right. The rain that falls isn't the gentle occasional droplets of a light rainstorm. They're hard and relentless drops that are falling so fast it actually stings her skin. It actually feels like icicles hitting her, the water is that cold and sharp.
As the blonde stands there with her arms crossed, shivering slightly, the Huntsman removes the cloak from his back and offers it to her. "Here."
Emma tilts her head and cocks an eyebrow, "What?"
He gestures to the cloak again, "Take it. To keep off the rain tonight."
"What about you?"
The hunter shrugs, "I'll be fine."
The blonde gives him that same blank stare look he gave her the other day, the one she got after she told him that she could keep going, even though she was clearly exhausted. It's the look that essentially means, 'You might say that but I don't quite believe you'.
"We'll share it." She says to him, less as a suggestion and more as a requirement.
So the two sit huddled underneath a large tree that helps shelter them from the rain. The wolf lays across both their laps making for additional body heat. Aside from the time Emma fell on him, this is the closest the two have ever physically been next to each other. It's a tad awkward but actually rather pleasant, though Emma would never admit to it.
The wolf's head is resting in her lap and she gives him a scratch behind the ears. As per usual he wags his tail playfully in response, which, because of their positions, winds up swatting the Huntsman in the face in the process. The blonde can't help but stifle a laugh at the comedic event.
After an extended period of silence only filled by the sound of the rain hitting the ground, he asks her, "What was that about back there?"
"Huh?"
"Your little outburst in the marketplace, that couldn't have all been for my benefit." The Huntsman tilts his head to look at her, a look of curiosity crosses his face.
Emma stares down at her hands awkwardly as she rubs her fingers together for warmth. "One of my captors... they told me because of the trouble my kingdom was in, that I was basically worthless. He made it seem like my worth as a person didn't matter. So when I heard that hunter say that to you, I couldn't just sit there and not say anything. No one should call someone else worthless." Just using the word left a sour taste in her mouth.
"Worth is like beauty, people view it in things differently. Some people may see a sapling as worthless, but give it time to grow and it can offer shelter to those who need it. Just like this one." He pushes his back against the tree's trunk for emphasis. "Everything has worth and beauty. Some people are just to ignorant to see it."
"Quite the philosopher aren't you Huntsman?" The Princess says with a slight chuckle.
"You have worth, don't let anyone tell you otherwise."
She smiles softly, "Thanks." After a moment she adds, "I'm sorry about that by the way. I didn't mean to cause trouble for you in town." At this point, she thinks that he probably wishes he had asked for more than just outlawing the hunting of wolves when he agreed to help her.
The hunter shakes his head, "It wasn't your fault. It would have happened anyway if I had gone into town." He lets out a sigh, "Because of how I was raised, they'll never see me as human." Quietly he adds, "Maybe they're right."
Quickly pushing his own statement aside before Emma can even respond, the Huntsman tells her "It's getting late, we should get some rest."
Emma gives a slight nod. Wrapping the cloak tighter around her shoulder, she quietly told him "Just for the record, you're not an animal."
The edge of his mouth quirked up a little at the comment, which was his way of saying thank you.
"Goodnight Emma."
The princess lets out a small yawn, "Night Huntsman."
When Emma awakens the next morning she's surprised to find it's light out and even more surprisingly, the Huntsman is still asleep. As she goes to stretch a little she realizes that the cloak they were sharing is now solely on her. He must have let her have it at some point during the night, she smiles at the gesture.
She's tempted to startle the him awake, just so she could get him back for how he woke her up the other day, but she decides against. "Someone's sleeping late." She grins teasingly.
"I'm not sleeping." The Huntsman answers, not even the slightest hint on tiredness can be found in his voice. Opening his eyes, he quickly pushes himself off of the ground and to his feet. The action basically demonstrates the fact that he's been up for a while now and that he must have just been letting her sleep. Emma frowns a little, she was hoping to have one upped him for the first time. She's a little disappointed, but still glad for the extra hour of sleep.
Sighing, the blonde stands up and brushes herself off some before turning to face him. But before she can manage a witty comment, out of nowhere, a dagger flies right between their faces and embeds itself into the bark of the tree beside them. They both turn simultaneously to see two men on horseback headed straight towards them at very a worrisome speed.
"Run!" The Huntsman tells her, giving her a nudge in the other direction.
There was no argument at that suggestion. Taking off running, the blonde is rather happy that at least this time she doesn't have to worry about tripping over her dress like before.
"Zig zag through the trees!" He instructs her.
"What? Why?" Emma asks in confusion as she looks back at him while running.
"The horses won't be able to maneuver with all these tree. That will force them to go by foot, it'll be much easier to lose them that way."
Emma gives a strong nod. "Right!" The Huntsman thinks pretty quick on his feet, she's realized. Taking his suggestion she weaves back and forth between the trees, checking back behind her every now and again to make sure he's still there behind her.
As the two men on horseback try to pursue them, one of the men's horses rears up, letting out a loud whinny when it comes close to hitting a tree. The action practically throws the man off of it's back in the process. Tightly pulling on the reins, the horse lands back down on its hooves hard.
"Stupid horse!" He mutters as he jumps down from off of the creature. The second man dismounts off his animal and follows in behind the other fellow as they continue their pursuit.
It's then that Emma catches a good of glimpse of the men through the trees. Her eyes go wide upon seeing them. It was the same weasely man and stocky troll that had attacked her carriage a few days earlier. As she's standing there, the troll turns in her direction and makes eye contact with her.
Suddenly Emma's entire body freezes up, she can't move. No matter what she does she can't make a single muscle work. It's like she's being restrained by some unseen force. That fear she felt from her first encounter with these men, when they had a dagger at her throat, suddenly come rushing back to her all over again.
Noticing his companion has stopped, the Huntsman attempts to get her attention. "Emma come on." He whispers sharply. But there's no reaction, she's still frozen.
He then shakes her arm frantically, "Emma! Emma!" The hunter tries to keep his voice low enough that they won't be spotted but loud enough to draw her out of her stunned state. But she doesn't respond, her eyes remain transfixed on the same area.
The Huntsman spots the two men heading in their direction and pushes Emma up against a tree to hide her from sight, shielding her in the process. Just as he does so, another throwing knife flies by. The blade just barely grazes the back of his neck before landing in the trunk of another tree. The action finally snaps the blonde out of her daze, inhaling sharply as she comes to.
Bringing a finger to his lips, he quietly shushes her as the sound of footsteps on leaves grow steadily louder as the men come towards them. The Huntsman's face is so close to hers that she can practically feel his stubble against her cheek. Her nervous breaths reflect back onto her from off of his face.
The two of them tense up as the sound of the men approaching swiftly stops all together. Holding their breath, they wait to see what the men plan to do next.
One of the men pace back and forth a bit, then stops again. "I can't believe we lost her again!" The weasely fellow shout. Gripping his hands tightly around his throwing knives, he decides to take out his aggression on a nearby innocent tree by slashing at it repeatedly.
"This was supposed to be easy money." He mutters in irritation. Slipping the blades back into their holster, he gives the landscape a look over once more before he stomps off in the other direction. "Come on, maybe she went this way." His ever silent troll companion follows behind him further into the forest.
When the men's footsteps gradually become quieter and more distant, they both let out a relieved sigh. The two stay in that position against the tree still until they're absolutely certain the men have left the area.
"I think they're gone." The Huntsman tells her, his breath tickling against her ear as he does so. A subtle tingling sensation creeps its way up Emma's neck.
"Yeah, I think you're right." She answers. Despite the danger being gone, her heart is still racing for some reason.
He lowers his head until his eyes are level with hers, "Are you alright?" Traces of concern lace his voice.
"Thank you." She answers breathlessly.
It takes her another moment before she can finally answer again, "Those two men, they were the same guys I was running from the day I ran into you. The ones who tried to kill me." Back then, Emma had hoped that was the last she had seen of those two. Apparently she was wrong.
He seems a bit surprised by that answer. "How did they find you?"
She shakes her head uncertain. "I don't know... Somebody in town must have tipped them off or something." The usually brave Emma was now starting to question if she was really safe anywhere. Someone was obviously after her and they had no intention on letting up until they got what they wanted.
Looking down, she opens and closes her hand, making sure she can move it fully now. She then does a similar action with her feet to make sure they works as well. It seems like everything is back in working order once again.
The Huntsman stares at her with mild confusion as to why she's doing that so she explains, "I couldn't move. When I looked at that troll's eyes by body suddenly locked up and I have no idea why. I felt so helpless, and I hate feeling helpless." The blonde confesses, slamming the side of her fist against the tree behind her in aggravation.
The Huntsman furrows his brows a moment and then walks over to the knife embedded in the tree. He runs his fingers across the handle, examining the detail work etched on the wood.
As he does so, Emma's eyes land on the cut just below the nape of his neck that he sustained from the dagger.
"Your bleeding." She tells him, a bit of worry showing in her voice.
"It's just a scratch." The Huntsman answers, shrugging it off as he continues to examine the weapon, not even fazed in the slightest by the wound. He's had far worse injuries than that before, this was nothing to him.
His nonchalant attitude of the situation irks her. "I could have gotten you killed!" Emma yells in frustration. She's starting to feel like all she is to him is just a burden, all she does is cause him trouble. If something had happened to him it would have been her fault. "Why didn't you keep running?"
Hearing the intensity in her voice, he turns around to face her. "A wolf always looks after one of its pack." He answers simply.
She's a bit caught off guard by the comment, did she really hear him right? Tilting her head slightly, she asked "You... You consider me one of your pack?"
His breath catches in the back of his throat at the question. The usually unflappable Huntsman swallowed hard trying to formulate an answer of some sort.
The hunter clears his throat and looks away, "Something like that..." He mutters, while he tries to casually brush it off. A smile crept its way across her face. She'd never seen him squirm like that before, it was actually kind of cute. Focusing his attention back on the weapon, he informs Emma of something he's noticed.
"The markings on this handle, they're from the Aciandra clan." Gesturing to the marks, Emma makes her way over and stands beside him to take a look for herself. He goes on to explain, "They're a ruthless group of mercenaries for hire, that'll do anything for the right amount of money. It's members are incredibly skilled and some are even adept at using magic."
Turning his attention away from the dagger and back to the princess, he then tells her, "That troll must have used magic on you, that's why you were frozen and couldn't move." Emma's jaw drops in surprise, she hadn't quite expected that. It was the first time she had ever had magic used on her before, it was a bit unnerving to say the least.
The hunter looks up towards the sky to check the sun's position. "We should keep moving." They needed to get as far away from those men as possible before nightfall, especially if one of them was capable of using magic. The duo then headed in the opposite direction of where the mercenaries were off to.
The Huntsman doesn't seem as confident as he usually is during their travels at the moment. Emma has a hunch they've reached a point that is beyond where his normal hunting grounds usually are. She had already spotted a few birds she had never seen before which meant they were no longer in her kingdom anymore.
"I think we're lost." She tells him as she looks around the forest. Their run through the woods to escape had led them off the beaten trail so it wasn't all suprising they were having some trouble navigating. "Maybe we should try to find someone and ask for directions."
The Huntsman scowls, "We're not lost." he answers gruffly. His knowledge of the forest was like that of the animals, even if he had lost his way it wouldn't take long before he could figure out where they were. It was a skill he had honed and was quite proud of.
Emma rolled her eyes, "What is with guys and asking for directions?" shaking her head, she treads up a grassy sloping hill to get a better view of the area. Scanning the land, her eyes finally spot something off in the distance.
The blonde cupped her hands around her mouth called down to him. "Hey, I think I found something."
Making his way up the slope, the Huntsman stands beside her and looks off into the direction she's pointing.
"Look there's a house up ahead maybe someone there can help give us directions." Despite the fact he was certain he could find the way, the Huntsman knew better than to try to argue with Emma. Though it could be trouble at times, he actually admires her stubborn determination.
So the two set off towards the house in the distance, not sure of who they'll find living there.
A/N: This chapter took a bit longer than expected but it's my longest chapter yet so hopefully that helps. Once again thank you all so very much for the reviews! I'm so happy to see you guys enjoying this. No teaser preview this time around, but I will say that next chapter will feature a well known character in it. Oh dearie me, who could it be? You'll have to deal with guessing until next chapter.