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Meg knew the rules. She’d played the game hundreds of times now, she was certain. She crouched by a generator, hurriedly pulling and connecting wires, turning bolts. Whoever she was up against in this trial had yet to make themselves known to her. She hissed through her teeth as she got a nasty shock when her hands slipped with a wire, and then she held her breath.
Her blood ran cold as she whipped her head around to take in her surroundings. Suddenly everything was too quiet. Too still. She gulped and tried to make quick work of the generator. She couldn’t feel her heartbeat yet. She had time, but could feel it slipping through her fingers regardless.
When the generator finally clicked to life, she sighed with relief and quickly shuffled away. Her eyes scanned everything around her quickly. There was nobody in sight, but she felt uneasy. Like being watched. Could it be the Shape? The hair on her arms stood up at the thought.
She crouched through the trees in the dark, moving slowly and quietly.
She felt and heard the axe cut the air over her head before she heard the melodic hum. The axe stuck firmly in the tree behind her with a splinter.
Meg ran.
She ran as fast as she could, the tall grass stinging at her ankles and arms. The humming, the sweet lullaby grew louder, louder, louder..
When she jumped, strong arms caught her. She was spinning, feet above the ground as she was swung around, warm arms around her waist. Meg’s arms were thrown over broad shoulders and she buried her face into the neck of the Huntress. She smelled like the forest and iron.
Anna set Meg back onto her feet and Meg beamed up at her, breathless. Anna held both of her hands in her own large ones, raising them to give a few soft kisses to Meg’s knuckles. Meg’s heart felt like it might burst.
Anna smiled, releasing her hands and cocking her head down at her. Meg put her hands on her waist, feeling the rough fabric that sat there. Anna knelt forward and Meg gave her a kiss on her cheek. Anna chuckled and continued to bend down, reaching behind Meg to pick her ball cap off of the ground with a smile. Meg almost blushed when Anna put it back on her head. She hadn’t even noticed it fell off in their embrace and felt rather silly about it.
They walked slowly back to the tree Anna’s axe has found itself. Anna hummed a soft tune, different from her usual one. Meg wondered if anyone else has ever heard it. Meg watched the Huntress’s forearm flex as she yanked the axe out of the tree, and gulped. She looked up as Anna smiled sweetly down at her, motioning for her to “shoo” with her axe-less hand.
Meg nodded and returned the smile before turning and running in the opposite direction. After all, she knew the rules.