04-13-2021, 12:44 AM
[align=center][div style="width: 370px; text-align: justify; font-family: arial; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 1.4; color: black;"]— Colt could remember the first time he had gone hunting like it was yesterday. He had only been eight years old; he and two other boys around his age had been sent out into the forest behind the abandoned warehouse that the Ring had been keeping them in. They had been given rifles and sent off, told not to come back until they'd killed something big enough to feed all fifteen trainees and five adult mercenaries at the warehouse for three nights. It took them four days, and they'd nearly starved to death before finally managing to kill a doe and drag it back. On the second day, they'd had a chance to bring down a young buck - all Colt had to do was take the shot. But he'd hesitated, having caught a glimpse of the life in its eyes. It wasn't even fully grown, its antlers just barely stubs on its head - it hadn't gotten a chance to live. He couldn't do it - he couldn't bring himself to shoot it that day, despite the gnawing hunger in his stomach. After he put down the gun and the deer fled, the other two boys were furious. They beat Colt until his face was black and blue.
Eventually, as the years passed on and hunting became a frequent chore that he was tasked with, Colt got used to it. He learned to suppress the discomfort, shut down his emotions so that he could get the job done and put food on the table. He never learned to enjoy taking an animal's life, like some people, but he did it without hesitation because he had to. That was how he started to see killing people, too - until now.
Here, at the Lodge, hunting was the same to Colt as it had ever been - a necessary evil. Still, he knew William enjoyed it, and he figured that it was a good way to spend time with the man. He flashed a grin as soon as Will agreed to go with, grabbing his heavy coat from where it had been tossed on the couch beside him and pulling it on. "I think I know which deer you're talking about. Down East, right? I saw them on a patrol this morning."
He grabbed his own gun and followed Will out the door, happy to walk beside him. He listened to Will's question intently, his eyes widening. "A moose? I've never actually seen one of those in real life. Heard they were huge." He pondered for a moment, thinking back to his various hunting trips. A wave of nausea came over him at the thought of the countless animal corpses he'd had to gut and carry, but he tried to push that away. "U-Uh, well... I killed a wild boar once. Kinda felt bad - it got hostile, but I think it was just trying to protect its territory." He hesitated before forcing a sheepish laugh. "Didn't even taste that good, either. Meat was hard to chew."
Eventually, as the years passed on and hunting became a frequent chore that he was tasked with, Colt got used to it. He learned to suppress the discomfort, shut down his emotions so that he could get the job done and put food on the table. He never learned to enjoy taking an animal's life, like some people, but he did it without hesitation because he had to. That was how he started to see killing people, too - until now.
Here, at the Lodge, hunting was the same to Colt as it had ever been - a necessary evil. Still, he knew William enjoyed it, and he figured that it was a good way to spend time with the man. He flashed a grin as soon as Will agreed to go with, grabbing his heavy coat from where it had been tossed on the couch beside him and pulling it on. "I think I know which deer you're talking about. Down East, right? I saw them on a patrol this morning."
He grabbed his own gun and followed Will out the door, happy to walk beside him. He listened to Will's question intently, his eyes widening. "A moose? I've never actually seen one of those in real life. Heard they were huge." He pondered for a moment, thinking back to his various hunting trips. A wave of nausea came over him at the thought of the countless animal corpses he'd had to gut and carry, but he tried to push that away. "U-Uh, well... I killed a wild boar once. Kinda felt bad - it got hostile, but I think it was just trying to protect its territory." He hesitated before forcing a sheepish laugh. "Didn't even taste that good, either. Meat was hard to chew."
━━━━━━━ THE BOY WHO FELL INTO THE SKY
HAD NO ONE THERE TO WATCH HIM CRY *:・ﾟ✧*:・ﾟ✧