The Runaway {Hunter} (WATTYS 2022)

The Dream

The sun seemed to disappear, dark clouds and rain poured down on Qwern. The raindrops pattered down on the glass outside, the coldness of the sky made everything so dark and grey.

Hunter stood looking to the dark raging sea, his hands behind his back as his heartbeat seemed slow as his head felt heavy. He was tired, his thoughts racing. He found no peace in anything he did, nothing could distract him.

The Sergeant had just spent the night with Omega. Her tears still stained his clothes as he watched the white peaks cover the sea. She had just fallen asleep as the morning air came through the cold night. Now, he didn't sleep, he didn't want too.

"Hunter." Tech spoke from behind him.

It took him a moment to turn and look to his brother. He looked unbothered, as he did about everything. But Hunter could sense the sadness deep in his chest, his calm nature fell through the cracks as Tech looked to him. Hunter nodded and walked into the room Tech had just escaped from.

The holo table was brighter then outside. It lit the dark room with its blue hue as Hunter stood before the man in his cloak.

"Captain." Hunter spoke softly, his voice falling.

Rex looked to Hunter. Per Hunter's request, he asked Tech to try and contact Rex so the Sergeant could speak with him. By the look on Hunter's face, Rex knew it wasn't a friendly call to chat about something.

"It's the Senator." Hunter swallowed, he avoided his gaze. "She's... dead."

Rex stared at Hunter, his words sinking in slowly. After a moment of silence, Hunter glanced up to the captian, afraid of his gaze on him.

"When?" Rex said after taking a sharp breath.

"Two rotations ago." Hunter said, he hesitated but told Rex the truth. "Crosshair, he uh... shot her."

Rex nodded. His eyes filled with tears at the loss of his dear friend. Hunter wanted to cry, but no tears ever came. He felt like he couldn't cry, that maybe she wasn't actually gone and she would come into the room and smile her bright smile, warming his heart. But she never did.

"She loved you." Rex said. Hunter's gaze snapped up to him, almost in shock that Rex knew. "Oh don't act so surprised, Hunter." Rex chuckled, pushing his sadness back. "I saw the way you looked at her when you first met her."

Hunter looked down to his boots. The warm feeling of feeling her love seemed to not come to him. She was gone, and his love for her would never leave him, but he felt empty without her physically there. He couldn't touch her, kiss her, hold her.

"That's why I asked her to stay with you and the squad." Rex whispered. "She loved you and I didn't want to take that from her."

"I pushed her away." Hunter admitted. "I thought you had ordered her to stay." Hunter chuckled sadly at his stupidness.

"She made that choice herself." Rex told him. "I just pushed her in the right direction." He smirked before his face fell again. He looked to Hunter who looked down sadly. "How's everyone taking it?"

Hunter sighed and shrugged. "Wrecker is broken, he's quiet which is unusual for him. Tech is trying to distract himself with finding things to fix, but I can see the pain in his eyes. Echo won't talk with anyone, he's become distant from the group. And Omega..." Hunter let out a breath, "she's not doing too good. Getting her to sleep is a challenge, getting her to stop crying is even harder."

"And yourself?" Rex leaned forward.

Hunter looked to Rex. What had he felt? "I'm getting by." He told him.