The hunt
i havenât wrote in such a long time, and iâm soooo sad about yellow jackets so i needed to write about mari because sheâs to sexy to die:(
Mari x Reader
Description: The hunt where Mari is supposed to die, reader decides that they arenât gonna let that happen. instead of mari falling into the pit, reader pushes her out of the way.
We stood in a circle, but it didnât feel like one. Circles are supposed to be safe. Closed. Equal. This wasnât that. It was uneven, jaggedâlike the shape had been broken and hammered back into place. Cold seeped through the animal skin and unusual outfits that everyone wore during their hunts.
My fingers itched against the hilt of the dull knife at my side. Not to use it. Just to feel it. To have a sense of safety I shift my left foot to my right fidgeting with my fingers on my left hand
Mari was across from me. Her hair was pulled back, jaw locked, eyes half-lidded in that way that looked bored but meant the opposite. She always looked like she was about to say something sharp. I meet her eyes.
We werenât touching. But she kept glancing at me, and I kept looking back.Everyone knew about us. We werenât secret. But I donât need to be with her all the time I can feel her presence from a mile away like sheâs a part of me, a part of my soul.
A wind moved through the treesâlong, low, curlingâand the sound of it stirred something deep in the group. The way dogs start whining before a storm.
misty took a step forward. The deck was in it. Worn playing cards, stained in places I didnât want to think too hard about.Everyone quieted. You could feel the silence pressing down on our skin.
One by one, the cards started to pass.
I watched each girl as she drewâquiet, cautious, fingers twitching as they turned the cards over looking at it then turning it to the group. each time i see their face relax, like a weight has been lifted off theyâre shoulders. i could just feel a bigger weight on mine. my chances to get the card are higher.
van first, then natalie, lottie. who almost looked disappointed, taissa.
And then it came to Mariâs turn. but Shauna steps beside her and Taissa.
âShauna you donât have to take any extra risk. you can go back to youâre spot. âtaissa spoke
shauna smirks, tilting her head slightly. âhowâd you get into AP stats? it doesnât change the odds. besides. i trust whatever it wills. Misty, keep going.â she looks back to the group. Mari spoke up. âNo, go back to your spot. Thatâs not how this works, you get what you get.â Shauna grins at her, and looks eyes with you. she knows something. her shit eating grin doesnât flatten. âMisty, the cards.â
Her hand didnât hesitate.
she took the card holding it up to the group, a smug look on her face. sheâs safe. Mari gives her a nasty look.
Mari looked at me.
Just for a second.
Then, without a word, she reached her hand forward. grabbing the card, her breath stuck in her chest. But, Her expression didnât change. She turned it over with two fingers. The motion was almost lazy.
The Queen of Hearts stared up at us.
And nobody breathed. van gave her a sorrowful look. Mari almost wanted to put the card back and refuse to play. like a little kid you sayâs theyâre not playing anymore after they get tagged.
âOhâŚtough break. Mar. take off your cape.â the steps in-front of her. a nasty look on her face. Mari bite her lip, looking at me. Almost like she needs reassurance, but I canât help. she begins to untie her cape. refusing eye contact as Shauna putâs what once was the lucky necklace that jackie gave her, now is just full of bloodshed. she startâs to count, Smiling.
âoneâŚTwo.â Mari lounges at her with a knife she swiped from Shaunaâs side, as van and some others hold Shauna back. while gen, Akilah and me help Mari up from the ground she was just thrown on. my hand goes right to herâs. she returns the gesture with a squeeze. âyouâre going to be fine, okay. every thing will be fine.â i say breathing heavily. Iâm not sure if Iâm trying to convince me or her that itâs going to be okay. âBetter Me then you, right?â she pulls me into a short hug the side of my cheek resting on her shoulder.
Lottie speaks up. âThree, Four, Five, SixâŚ.â She lookâs towards Shauna who lets out a small laugh.
Mari cuts Lottie and Shauna off. âYou deserve everything thatâs coming to you!â she letâs go of my hand, running towards the woodâs. Mari didnât look back as she began her sprint, weaving through the trees with that eerie, calculated grace. Her figure was a blur of movement.
Lottie Keeps counting as everyone sits there and watches.
everyone gets there weapons. i donât move to grab any, i donât need any.
Mari is far ahead of me.
She always is, in some way or anotherâquicker with comebacks, faster on her feet, somehow always a step ahead even when sheâs pretending not to care. I lose sight of her somewhere after the second ridge. Just flashes of movement now, the white of her dress darting between trees like a flicker of lightning in a dark sky.
It feels like itâs been hours. Or maybe minutes. The woods stretch and bend time around you until nothing makes sense except the pounding in your chest and the cold gnawing your fingers.
There are others behind meâI can hear them. The loud breathing, the slap of feet against frozen earth, rustling fabric and muffled voices. But they all feel distant now.
I donât know what Iâll do when I reach her. I donât know if Iâm supposed to stop her or hide her or just⌠see her. Make sure sheâs okay. the second Shauna forced that switch with Mari, She didnât even react. No wide eyes, no trembling hands. Just that dead expression. Blank, almost bored. Like she was already somewhere else.
And then she ran.
in the same direction of the pit me and Travis set up, The pit she once fell into, but has no memory or where it is. and the pit thatâs completely covered, filled with wooden spikes.
i skid across a patch of ice under the snow and nearly fall. I donât stop. Iâve already lost too much time. My lungs burn. My hands are numb. My thighs ache with every sprint uphill, and my throat feels like I swallowed glassâbut I keep going.
Somewhere ahead, a branch cracks.
I spin toward the sound. Thereâmovement, sudden and sharp. I catch the shape of her, just her back, the white dress bright against the dark trees. Sheâs stripped everything else offâher jacket, her pants, her boots. Left a trail like breadcrumbs.
I push harder.
âMari!â I shout.
She doesnât stop. Doesnât turn.
Of course not. She probably thinks Iâm someone else. One of the others. Another girl high on frenzy and frostbite, chasing down blood in the name of ritual. Maybe part of her still doesnât believe Iâm not one of them too. Maybe part of me doesnât know.
She slips between two evergreens. I veer right to intercept her, trying to circle around. My boots sink deeper into the snow, and I stumble but recover. I hear her breathing now, quick and sharp. Sheâs close, too close.
i can see her running from the side, i just need to speed up. I come up beside her, angling from the leftânot directly behind, not where sheâll expect. Sheâs not even looking in my direction. Sheâs focused on moving forward, on outpacing whatever madness is nipping at her heels.
Itâs just snow. A patch of it, like all the others. Soft and untouched. Quiet. Thereâs no warning. No edge. No dark hole in the ground. âMari!â I yell.
She doesnât hear me. Or maybe she ignores me. Sheâs too focused. Too fast. Her foot liftsâsheâs about to step into it.
I throw myself sideways and Time slows.
My shoulder slams into her ribs. Her breath leaves her in a grunt. I watch her stumble, caught off balance, arms flailing. Her bare feet scrape across the snow. She falls sideways, not forward. into the whiteness.
I hit the ground hard beside her. Hard enough to make my vision rattle.
But I keep moving.
Iâm rolling. Something shifts beneath meâlike a breath held too long suddenly letting go. The snow caves. The earth disappears.
I slide.
No, I drop, i swear i could have felt Mari try to grab my hand. but Itâs to cold to tell.
I open my eyes and try to move, but everything feels distant. My leg pulses with heat and pressure. Somethingâs crusted to the side of my head. My mouth tastes like copper and dirt. I blink againâslow. The light above has changed. Dimmer now. Or maybe my eyes are just fading on me.
I donât know how long itâs been.
Minutes?
Long enough for the adrenaline to drain out of my veins and leave only the ache behind.
I hear footsteps.ďżź
Not imagined onesâreal. Crunching snow, breathless voices, shapes moving at the edge of the pit. Someone swears. A sharp intake of breath.
Sheâs in there,â someone mutters.
âIs she moving?â
Another voice. Closer. Familiar.
Mari?
No. Itâs not her. Not yet.
i hear Lottieâs voice cut through the air, and i could almost see her head looking down at me.
âi donât think sheâs going to survive, if she does then the wilderness rejected her, rejected them. the hunts called off.â
I try to say something, but it catches in my throat. My tongue is heavy. My body is heavier.
More noise now. Ropes. A branch cracking. Someoneâs lowering somethingâmaybe a jacket, maybe a rope tied together with scraps of fabric. I canât tell.
âSheâs bleedingâdonât yank her.â
âCarefulâwatch her leg.â
Mariâs voice cuts through it all, clear and too close.
âMove. Youâre not touching her.â
Itâs not a request.
And just like that, they do.
I feel her more than I see her. The shift of shadow. The snap of her breath in the cold air. from above the pit. Then her hands. Rough, shaking slightly. Warm. and then my eyes close.
When I wake up, I donât know where I am.
Thereâs something heavy pressed to my leg. A weight. A dull pressure.
The ceiling is wooden. Slanted slightly. The air smells of blood, pine, and smoke. Iâm in the hut, Mariâs hut. where is Mari?
I donât remember how I got here. Only pieces. The cold. Mariâs voice. The feeling of being lifted, swaying. Maybe someone carried me. Maybe they used a sled or a tarp or their bare fucking arms. I donât know.
My legâs wrapped, tight. My hip aches like itâs been stabbed and sewn shut. I donât look yet. I donât want to see.
Mariâs sitting on the floor beside me, leaning against the wall. One knee up, one arm draped across it, her head tilted backâexhausted, but alert. Her eyes are half-closed. She hasnât left.
Her jacketâs still off. Her hairâs a mess. Thereâs blood on her handsânot hers.
Mine.
She moves instantly, leaning forward, expression hard.
âYouâre awake.â
It sounds like an accusation. But her voice is quieter than usual. Rough with something unspoken. âHi,â I manage. It comes out hoarse.
âYou fucking idiot,â she mutters, and looks away. And stands up. Staying in the same spot.
I try to push myself up a little, but the pain flares and Mari shoves me back with a hand against my shoulderânot gentle, not rough, just firm.
âYou have a hole in your leg the size of a fist and youâre saying âhiâ like you tripped on a goddamn tree root? you couldâve died.â
âI saved you.â
âNo, you almost died for me!â
That silences me. Not because I disagree, but because of the way she says it. Her voice breaks hard on the last word, and she turns away from me like she canât stand to look at me right now.
âI saw you fall in. I thought you were dead. I thoughtââ She cuts off, swallowing something jagged. âThere was blood everywhere. You werenât moving. And I thought⌠Thatâs it. Thatâs the last time Iâll ever see you move.â
âMariââ
âNo. Shut up.â She turns back toward me, and this time her expression is all fire. âYou donât get to talk right now. You donât get to make this okay. Because itâs not okay. You scared the shit out of me, and I hate you for it.â
I breathe in, trying to find the words. âi rather it be me the you. i helped you.â
Her hands ball into fists at her sides. âare you stupid? You think I want to feel like this? You think I like trying to get you out of a death trap. everyone else tried to help you get out. what if you did die? were you just gonna leave me alone with some kind of fucking survivors guilt?â Thereâs something wet in her voice now. Not tears yet, but close.
âThey helped me out?â I ask gently.
âYeah. Eventually. After I fucking snapped at them. Lottie kept saying you werenât meant to survive.
âand you didnât listen?â She scoffs. âI donât listen when it comes to you.â
That shuts me up again.
We sit in silence for a long minute. Her hand drifts closer, fingers brushing mine. Not taking itâjust near enough that I could if I wanted.
I do. She doesnât pull away.
âwhat happened with the hunt?â
She snorts onceâbitter. âthey ended it. You crashing into a pit sort of ruined the mood.â I almost laugh, but my ribs hurt.
I squeeze her hand.
âI knew the pit was there, me and Travis came up with it. He was gonna come up with a plan to make Lottie walk on it. Thatâs how I knew it was close.âďżź
âThatâs pretty Dark, didnât take you as somebody to do something like that.â she sayâs Half joking.
She hasnât let go of my hand.
Not really. Not fully.
Even when I shift a little, the pressure changesâless grip, more presenceâbut itâs still there. The way she anchors me. My whole body hurts, but itâs the kind of pain that tells you youâre not dead. The burn of healing starting too soon. My leg throbs, wrapped in something rough, and the bandages are already soaked through with the edge of blood. My side feels swollen and heavy, like the skin there isnât mine.
But itâs Mariâs hand that keeps me grounded.
I try to adjust my breathing, but it stutters. She notices instantly. Her gaze flicks over meâsharp, assessing, worried in that way she pretends isnât worry. âHow bad is it?â I ask.
She doesnât lie.
âYou missed most of the spikes. But one caught the side of your thigh and it⌠it opened up deep. You lost a lot of blood. Honestly youâre lucky, thereâs almost 0 Chance of you landing like you did.â
âAnd my waist?â
She hesitates. Her jaw tightens.
âYou were lucky,â she mutters. âIt tore through the side, but it didnât hit anything vital. Or⌠at least I think it didnât.â
âYou think?â
âIâm not a doctor, genius.â
I try to smile. It doesnât quite land.
âStill,â I say. âYou got me out of there.â
She looks away, jaw working like sheâs chewing through guilt.
âyou didnât hesitate. You didnât think.â Her voice sharpens. âYou just threw yourself in after me like some kind ofââ
She cuts herself off, breath ragged. Her eyes go glossy again, but she blinks it back fast.
I want to say something. I want to tell her Iâd do it again. That it wasnât a decision, it was instinct. That thereâs never been a single second since we crashed here where I wouldnât risk everything for her. But the words get stuck. Not because they arenât trueâbecause theyâre too true.
Mari isnât the type to let her guard down without a fight. So instead I say, âYou were about to fall in. You didnât see it. i got lucky.â
âNo,â she says, low and certain. âYou got hurt. Thatâs not being âluckyâ
She finally meets my eyes again. And thereâs something in hers Iâve only seen a few times beforeâback when she thought I was sleeping, or when she thought no one was watching. Itâs not softness exactly. Itâs more like fury at the idea of losing me. âI didnât know if you were going to wake up.â
âI didnât know either,â I whisper. When she finally speaks, itâs lower. Rougher. âYou keep doing this. Putting yourself in the fire like itâs your job to make sure the rest of us come out okay. And I love you for it and I fucking hate you for it.â
The words land like a punch. I can barely hold them.
âYou love me?â I whisper.
Mari finally meets my eyes againâand thereâs no escape in her gaze now. Just rage, exhaustion, and something too bright to name.
âYou already knew that,â she says. âDonât pretend you didnât.â
I try to reach for her, but my fingers shake. She sees it, and without another word, she takes my hand and presses it flat against her chest. Her heartbeat thuds against my palm. Unsteady. Real.
âYouâre not allowed to die before me,â she says. âGot it?â
âIâll try,â
she brushes her hand on the top of my head.
Itâs not affection, not exactly. Itâs something rawer than that. Like sheâs holding me down so I donât slip away again.
âDoes it hurt?â she asks after a long pause.
âYes.â
She nods, and I swear she looks almost relieved to hear it.
âGood,â she mutters. âMeans youâre still alive, and you deserve it for being careless.â
âstop with the angry act. You stayed,â I say.
âOf course I did idiot.â she crosses her arm
I close my eyes.
Itâs not peace. Itâs not safety. Not here. But itâs something.
Mari, alive. Me, alive. Barely. Together.
Thatâs enough for tonight.













