“She said her name was Robin, but we both knew that was lie,” Hunter remembered fondly. A small smirk played upon his lips as he jogged down memory lane. His tongue peaked out, running across the bottom of his lips as he remembered the soft smell of jasmine that lingered whenever she was around. A small chuckle came from him, “I never learned her real name but she never learned mine either, which was how we wanted it to be. We met in December, four years ago. A few cities outside of Ceres, in one of those places were there were more cattle than people.” A small chuckle came from him, “We were both from out of town, but we both had a mission in place.
"I remember her eyes were the first thing that drew me in. There was an intensity in them that commanded me to come to her,” he leaned back in the chair, trying to recall the details of that night, “Everything about her seemed so surreal.” He closed his eyes to try and remember the woman. Her eyes were the bitterest shade of chocolate, framed by sunkissed skin and dabs of freckles that spread across her cheeks; even with her hair pulled back, the dark curls could be seen tempting to spring out. Her voice was soft, a few octaves lower than he expected the first time they met but the words that she spoke was enough to pull him to her instantly. He smiled, then opened his eyes.
“I only knew her for one night,” Hunter said, frowning, “And I think we both knew that was all it was going to be.” His eyes looked away, softening for a second, “She didn’t have much to share about her life, just hopes that she wanted to happen. She hoped to see the next night. She hoped to live longer. She hoped to go to Paris, to China, to Africa, to everywhere she knew she couldn’t.” He frowned, “I didn’t realize it at the time but that was her last night here.”
Hunter looked away, feeling the twang of guilt. Though he didn’t blame himself for this, he wished he could have caught it at the time. His eyes shifted downward, looking at the ground, “Robin died the next day. I don’t remember who she worked for, but they sent her out as a sacrifice to some Anti-Mutant stronghold. She was supposed to infiltrate it, but unfortunately, things went wrong. Everyone said she was outnumbered,” Hunter looked away, “I don’t know all the details, just the ones that the other passing mercs told me. We all had the same theory of conspiracy. Whatever group she worked for sent her as the sacrifice.
"The day after, the newspapers at that place all marked it as if Robin was the villain. The Anti-Mutant group rallied behind this, claiming the dangers of Mutantkind,” he shook his head, “I didn’t know her for very long but her soul was kind, loving and no one deserved that.”
“His name was Clayton R.,” Hunter nodded and smiled, “He insisted that he didn’t remember his last name. I suggested that he make up a new one but he said that ‘R’ sounded cool. So, his name is Clayton R.” Hunter’s eyes flicekred with entertainment. He grinned, “The first time that I met him, I was The Huntsman and that kid was so funny. He reminded me of me when I was his age.”
Hunter kept quiet for a second as he thought about the night of the raid. It was messy, dangerous and nothing was silent. There were a few others that had barged in as he did, trying to help and rescue as many of the children as they could. Hunter could recall heading into one of the furthest rooms away where the children were hidden.
“All of the kids were huddled together in the corner, trying to hide themselves away from all of the noise and violence outside of their room,” Hunter began to explain, “When I burst into that room, Clayton was there. He ran up and threw the chair at me. He threw the chair, their blocks, their books, whatever he could.” He laughed, “He was trying to protect everyone that was with him. He shouted right at me to get out, to leave them alone!” Hunter reached up and rubbed his face, a smile came on as he put his hand down, “He was a very brave kid. He didn’t know what was going on but he wanted to protect everyone.”
Hunter smiled, “I had to talk him into understanding that I was trying to rescue him. Once he understood that, everything was smooth sailing.” Hunter nodded, “Clayton’s a good kid. The type of kid that stands up to bullies even if they were bigger, you know. After we got him out of that home, I brought him to Altimira and that’s where he thrived. It’s been a few years since he left. He got into CCU, graduated two years ago. I went to his graduation. I think he’s on his way to medical school now. He always wanted to be a doctor to save people and it helps that his abilities let him heal people.”
He nodded along, happy to know that Clayton grew up into a good person with a good heart. If there was anything that reminded him what he did as The Huntsman was a good thing, it was hearing the stories from children like Clayton.
“I hope he continues to stay himself. We need more people like him in this world.”
