((Hey guys! It's been about a month now xD I had chapter two written up but I can't find it so now to write up a brand new chapter! Enjoy~ If you see any spelling/grammar mistakes please tell me kindly in a review or message, I can't take harsh criticism so if you come off as rude I tend to shy away aha))

As each day passed, the young blonde would always stand outside to just stare out into the forest, a grin on his face as he waited for Matthew to return, but the years went by and Alfred's smile soon turned into a look of despair. Was Matthew just a dream? Maybe so...Even if he was, Alfred knew that the Guardians existed, he never needed a Shapeshifter to validate that!

As time went on Alfred grew, along with his hunger to kill that could only be satisfied with the taste of the bitter-sweet blood that had always covered his face after a successful kill, he had grown into quite the exceptional hunter, without the help of Arthur. In fact, Arthur only grew farther apart with Alfred as they grew older, feeling as though he had become more useless rather than helpful.

"Arthur." Alfred muttered, roughly shaking the man from his bed. Alfred stood before him all bundled up in his hunting gear with was accompanied by his bow and quiver, full of sharpened arrows for this next hunt.

"What do you want Alfred? And isn't it too early to be waking me?" Arthur groaned, slowly sitting up as he rubbed his face tiredly before he turned to look at the bouncy eighteen year old, who had easily outgrown him by the age of sixteen, Arthur was always envious.

"I wanted to know if you were coming to hunt with me still…" Alfred mumbled, his smile turning into a frown as he realised that there was no way Arthur was coming, he looked like a soggy sack of potatoes.

"No Al, just...go on your own like usual okay? Go get us a nice big buck." Arthur mumbled, sighing heavily as he watched Alfred give him a pitiful look. God he wished he could go just to keep the boy happy but he would just make things go by agonizingly slow.

"Ah...Alright Arthur, sleep than." Alfred mumbled softly, his blue eyes going dark from disappointment before he left the room without another word, not bothering to hear what else Arthur had to say to him.

Alfred went to the stables first, he had built it a few years ago with Arthur after they had decided getting horses was a suitable fit for "active" hunters like them, although Arthur didn't seem to fit the name "active" anymore. Alfred stood before a black warmblood stallion, who easily outmatched Alfred in the game of "Whose the tallest?" Alfred let the horse out from his stall and led him out to be groomed and tacked up before he mounted the mighty steed who snorted out once the extra weight was put on his back.

"Easy boy…" Alfred said in a low voice, patting the horse's neck before riding off towards the forest at a gallop.

The pair slowed once they were at the forest's edge, Alfred knew where to go from here but he knew there was a possibility of running, and his stallion came in handy at that point, so he rode on quietly, making sure he and his horse were well out of harm's way, the last thing he needed was to run into a Fighter with his horse, the stallion had never seen a Guardian before and he knew the horse would spook the moment a Fighter would lunge for them.

After what seemed to be a hour or so, Alfred came to a clearing that he knew well, he often hunted here for deer when they were our grazing and luckily for him there was a large herd out in the clearing with plenty of bucks to go around.

The blonde sat back in the saddle as he looked through the herd, trying the find the best deer to take down. It couldn't be too weak and it had to be at least built at an average size, he knew that he could sell the fur pelt for lots of money, especially if it was more than usual. Of course some things couldn't be perfect, with this large herd and excess of bucks, most were smaller, only just growing into their first mature pair of antlers, built for fighting. Alfred let out a desperate sigh as he continued to look around, there had to be one out there that he could take down.

Finally, he saw it.

A more mature looking buck who seemed to be a perfect fit for what Alfred needed. He started to get giddy before he rose his bow, taking an arrow out from the leather quiver behind him and lined his shot up with the buck, aiming straight for his chest, a quick take down would make his job a lot easier.

Inhale….Exhale….Shoot.

The herd scattered the moment the arrow hit the buck, all of the deer who hadn't gotten hit ran for their lives, the buck who had gotten hit tried to run after buck was quickly brought to the ground, letting out a god awful noise that Alfred had heard one too many times before, but each time he grew more exhilarated.

He quickly rode to the buck and pulled a line of rope from his pack on the saddle, dismounting to stand beside the suffering buck. Why hadn't it died yet? Did Alfred miss his target? He looked at the arrow to make sure, which only made him more confused.

"It's a perfect hit….why are you still breathing?" He asked the buck, looking at it's face with a frown. The buck fidgeted before letting out another agonizing noise, it's eyes fixed on Alfred, the stallion nickered lowly and started to back away, Alfred only reached to grab his reins to keep him steady.

"It's fine boy, just a deer." He said, trying to calm the horse before turning again to something he hadn't quite expected…

There was blood, so much blood...and instead of a buck..

"W-Why?" He croaked in a raspy voice, violet eyes piercing Alfred's blue pools.