Howdy, you! 🤗 I thought I'd go for Allison/Malia for a change! Set sometime after 6a.
Running through the preserve, Malia finds herself falling back into old patterns, remembering where she used to hunt as a coyote. It felt like the trees themselves parted for her, recognizing their kin returning. She can hear the nimble-footed human hunter as well, moving light as a feather with Malia, retracing steps and relearning the bow. This had become a weekly ritual for herself and Allison, reacquainting themselves with the mortal human world.
To everyone's surprise, pulling Stiles back from the train station of the Wild Hunt also brought a handful of others back too, ones thought to be deceased. Not all of their friends made it back, but Allison, whose memory had remained the reason some of them fought still, was too tethered to fully depart. She remembered herself, remembered what happened, but there was still a faint trace of forgetfulness. She still asks for Victoria sometimes.
Hunting natural creatures, those that lived in the preserve and were only thinned when necessary, became a grounding activity for both girls. The familiarity of the bow's string biting into her fingertips reminded Allison of learning as a child with her parents, of shooting Derek's betas, the very same ones she bonded with in the train station. It reminded Allison of her final moments before leaving this plane of existence, letting the silver arrowhead land in the Oni.
Malia, on the other hand, never left; the sources of her problems came about when she understood how much she had tethered herself to Stiles, unraveling in his absence. She had him back now, had the whole pack she could rely on, but so few of them understood her. They couldn't grasp how it was almost too easy for her to anchor herself, not budging until forced to. Allison could, though, as she still carried the guilt of Kate and Gerard, the guilt of feeling responsible for her mother's death. So together they hunted, both of them trying to move forward while clinging to the past.
Suddenly, Allison pulls up short. She can see how Malia has focused in on the deer up ahead, her head quirked in the distinctive way that shows she's scenting the air, listening to the deer's heart rate to gauge if it's about to run. She watches Malia for a moment before deciding to take a chance, notching an arrow and breathing deeply. She hears Kate's voice in her ear, a whisper carried by the wind, and lets herself listen to it, hearing the compliment and accepting it.
The words carry more than she can think about right now, but she leans into the praise and squints slightly, making her mark before loosing the arrow. It flies through the air with just a hint of whistling, its mark successful. Allison breaks into a smile and runs forward, catching how Malia scowls in her direction. Despite the werecoyote's ability to go faster, she keeps up with Allison. They stick together for these hunts, knowing how quickly things can go sour - real or imagined, they accept each other regardless.
Once at her destination, Allison kneels down and whispers a prayer to the deer, thanking it for its sacrifice and usefulness, and ends its life. Malia reaches forward to leech the remainder of its pain as it drifts off.
"We should get it back to dad, he'll be able to treat it properly and make sure those who need it are fed."
"Hey! I was gonna eat that!"
"Winner chooses what we do with it," Allison says, unable to keep from smiling. "You snooze, you lose."
Malia just grumbles, knowing she's right. She rarely actually makes the kill anymore, the practice of the hunt more important. Malia looks fondly at Allison and knows she'll be forever thankful that the huntress was an important piece in helping her change back to human.
