The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

The Confrontation

Cora stepped closer, her boots hitting the marble below her feet. She stalked down the steps from the throne to the floor where Hunter stood.

"What's wrong?" Cora teased, her head tilting to the side. "Scared?" Her eyes grew wide, a smirk on her face.

"I don't want to fight you." Hunter put his blaster down, throwing it to his feet.

"That's unfortunate." Cora whispered before she jumped forward, striking Hunter.

Her staff brought down on Hunter as he grabbed it before it made contact with him. He grunted at Cora's force and quickly pulled the staff, trying to free it from her grasp. Cora whipped around to him and brought her knee to his stomach, causing him to pull away from the grasp on her staff. Hunter stumbled back as Cora flicked her wrist, her sore wrist.

That was her weak point.

As much as Hunter didn't want to fight Cora, he needed to subdue her in some way so he could get the crystal from the king. Hunter and Cora circled each other, waiting for someone to make the first move. Cora lunged forward, her eyes a furry of power as she brought the sharp side of her staff down. Hunter rolled to the side, the staff cracked in the marble floor as Cora growled, trying to pull it free from the ground. Hunter took this moment to tackle her to the ground, his body weight pulling her down, sitting on her hips, her arms pinned over her head.

Crosshair stepped forward but Turto stopped him, a playful smile across his face. He was enjoying the fight. Crosshair turned back to the two as Cora struggled under Hunter's weight.

Cora thrashed around, wiggling under his weight as Hunter looked down to her. "I'm sorry." He mumbled.

Hunter gripped her wrist, which she had broken only a few weeks prior on Daro. He gripped it and squeezed, causing Cora to scream in pain, the light fracture pressuring into her skin as she felt the bone slightly break again. Hunter climbed off of her as she got to her knees, holding her wrist in pain. Hunter's breathing was heavy as he turned to her, her eyes sad but soon darted to Hunter with pure hatred.

Cora rushed to her feet and pulled Hunter back down, she was now on top of him. Stunned by her sudden movement, Hunter tried to rip himself from her grasp but Cora brought her fist down and hit him in the chest. Her force on his armour sent waves of vibrations across his body. He gasped for air as Cora brought down her firsts again, hitting his helmet with everything she could muster up.

Hunter lay there, letting her punch her helmet as it slowly cracked and broke across his face. A few shards of the plastoid armour caused blood to drip from his cheekbone, her fist coming in contact with his bare face. After a few hard punches to his face, Cora became exhausted and pulled Hunter's vibroblade from his arm. Cora looked down at Hunter, his eyes locking with Cora as his face was covered in cuts, blood, and his eyes becoming black. She took a breath and looked at what she had done. Her sore wrist gripped the knife, shaking as she brought it up over her head.

Hunter looked to her, no longer fearing for his life. He lay there, looking to her. Accepting that this was his end. He didn't want to fight her, he couldn't. Tears spring to Cora's eyes as the knife was held over her head, her chest heavy as she looked down to Hunter.

"Pull him up." Turto said to the two guards next to him and Crosshair.

Cora dropped the knife as it clanked to the floor, echoing off the walls. She stumbled off of Hunter as the guards dragged him to his feet, pulled his hands behind his back, tying him up. Cora grabbed her staff from the floor and wiped the blood from her lip. Her hands were painted with Hunter's blood, her knuckles bruised and throbbing in pain. She stood weakly next to her father and Crosshair. A smirk on Turto's face, while Crosshair watched as Hunter sat on his knees, his head low, blood dripping down his beaten face.