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sergeantsporks · 3 years

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Do You Want the Knife You Left in My Back, or Can I Keep It?

Rating: Teen and up, Gen

An injured Hunter wanders into Hexside. What was Luz supposed to do, just let him bleed out on the floor?

Ch 5/6

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

Ao3

Luz turned the cursed knife over and over in her hands. Viney had given it to her, joking about how her teachers were getting a little bit worried about why she had it. It was so small, but it had caused so much damage and pain.

“Hey, Luz, what do you have?” Eda asked, peering over her shoulder.

Luz felt the tiniest of grins creep over her face. “A KNIFE!” she yelled.

“NO!” King yelled back from the other room.

Eda plucked the knife out of her hands. “No weapons for you until you stop corrupting King with your human realm culture.” She squinted at the knife, peering at the runes on the hilt. “Oh, that’s a nasty one. Is this…”

“The one Kikimora used,” Luz said softly, “Yeah. I’m… not sure exactly what to do with it.”

“Give it to the golden nerd,” Eda joked, “Let him stab Kikimora back.”

Luz snatched the knife back. “Yeeeeaah, I don’t think that’s the greatest idea, Eda. Do you mind if I keep it with the other weapons?”

“Knock yourself out, kid.”

Luz set the knife carefully on top of a cabinet. What a nightmare. Who was even in the business of making weapons like that? She heard a groan from the other room, and she darted out into the living room. Hunter was awake, and had apparently just discovered that he couldn’t move.

“Hey! You’re up! And not fever-ish! How are you feeling?”

He buried his face in the couch again. “Ow.”

“Yeah, Viney said you’d be really sore. But hey, you’re not dying anymore, and you’re finally pretty conscious. So…” Luz pulled him up, shaking him. “WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!”

“Ow. Ow. Owowowowow, Luz! I can’t—”

“Move, I know, which is why we’re having this conversation now! Before you can wriggle out of it! Why would you leave the house?! Were you trying to run away? Kikimora was out there! You were barely even conscious when I left! She almost killed you!”

“I know. I knew she was out there, I knew she was setting up a trap, I just…”

“You just WHAT?! What could she have POSSIBLY said or done that made you stumble out of here, half-dead?!”

Hunter’s ears burned red, and he mumbled something she couldn’t quite hear.

“What?”

“She said she’d kill you,” he said louder, “She said she’d kill you, and I staggered out of here like a great big idiot in shining armor. I don’t know why I bothered.”

Luz’s mouth opened and shut a few times as she struggled to find words. She let Hunter’s shirt-front go, and he sank back onto the couch, wincing. “Oh,” she said finally, “Were you… going to trade yourself for me?”

He snorted. “Fat chance.”

“Hey!”

“What?! Trade my freedom for your life?! That’s the dumbest trap in the book, she’d just kill both of us! Who would fall for that?”

Luz felt her own face flush. “It’s not THAT stupid! Sometimes you don’t have much of a choice!” She flopped down to the floor. “What exactly was the plan, then?

“Easy,” he said simply, “I was going to rescue you.”

It was Luz’s turn to snort. “Wow, I never could have predicted that going wrong.”

His ears turned red again. “Hey! I can take Kikimora—I’ve done it before!”

“Yeah, when she was punch-drunk on sleeping nettles and you had a staff! Not when you were half-dead from being stabbed and feverish!”

“If you must know,” he sniffed, “I was planning on sneaking past her, not confronting her directly!”

“Awwww, well, I’m very flattered. Even if I was never actually captured. Thank you very much.”

He looked away. “Whatever. I just figured I probably should help. Since you saved my life and everything.”

Luz kicked the couch. “Admit it. You were worried about me.”

“No, I wasn’t. I was worried you’d annoy Kikimora to death.”

“You weeeeereeeee. You were totally worried. We’re friends now.”

“You’re not my friend. Shut up.”

“I am. I am worming my way into your heart.”

“Yeah, a bile leech can do that, too, you’re not special.”

“A what?! Ewwww, never mind, don’t tell me.” Luz kicked the couch again. “Whatever. Keep being a grump, I’m not giving up on you.”

Xxx

Hunter watched Luz race up the stairs. His palisman fluttered down onto his shoulder, chirruping reassuringly.

“Don’t you start,” Hunter grumbled, “I can’t be friends with her! She’s the enemy!”

Another low chirp.

“Yeah, I KNOW technically you’re the enemy, too, but you’re an EXCEPTION to wild magic being dangerous. She’s like. Public enemy number one.”

“Wild magic isn’t dangerous,” Eda commented as she came through. She stopped, looking down at him. “I… heard what you said. About wanting to save Luz. Kid, why didn’t you come to me? You could have died out there! You nearly did!”

Hunter felt his ears start to burn again. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“Oh, wouldn’t I? I had a sister in the coven, and I saw how she turned out, so let me take a guess; you thought it was something you had to do on your own. You thought that if you accepted help, that made you weak. You thought that you’d made a horrible mess of everything, and you were scared that if you didn’t clean it up before the person in charge—me—found out, you’d be in trouble. Am I close?”

“No. I’m not scared of you.”

“Why you little—” Eda took a deep breath. “Shut up and listen, I’m trying to talk you through your trauma.”

“I don’t have any trauma.”

Eda found that incredibly hilarious for some reason, nearly bent double from laughing. “Oh… yeah, okay, kid. Sure. Alright, you’re not scared of me.” She looked him dead in the eye. “But are you scared of Belos?”

“No,” Hunter said automatically, “I’m loyal to Belos—there’s no reason to be scared of him.” Titan, he hated how his voice wavered. He wasn’t scared of Uncle Belos—he wasn’t. He just… didn’t want to disappoint him. As long as he did what he was asked, everything was fine.

Eda sighed, sitting down next to him and looking up at the ceiling. “Yeah, that’s what I thought you’d say. Look. Kid. If. You ever feel like you’re not safe in the keep. Or. I don’t know. You just finally figure out that Belos is not a good guy. If you don’t want to stay there anymore. I—guess—hrk—okay—Hngh—I guuuuuuess I wouldn’t mind. Too much. If you… came here?”

“What?!” Hunter yelped

Eda jumped up. “What?! I didn’t say anything, did you say something? Whatever, bye!” She summoned her staff and flew out the door before he could respond.

The palisman still nestling on his head warbled at him reproachfully.

“What? I can’t stay here! And I’m not going to leave the palace! So it doesn’t matter if she’d let me stay here or not!” He tried to get up, but his muscles were too stiff, and he gave up, instead flopping backwards onto the couch cushions, his palisman forced to flutter off of his shoulder and land on his head instead. “Ow. I just… want to go back home. Where it’s not confusing. Where I know what people want me to do—where I know how they want me to act.”

Still.

It was nice that she’d offered.

Xxx

“Ow!”

Luz dabbed at the stitched-up cut with the disinfectant Viney had left behind. “Quit being such a baby! You want to get another raging fever?”

“It would probably hurt less!”

“Scream into the pillows,” Hooty advised, sticking his face right in Hunter’s, “It’ll help!”

Hunter let out a strangled yelp.

“Hooooty!” Luz protested.

Hooty flopped down in front of the couch. “Lulu was in the emperor’s coven, and we’re the beeeeeeest of friends. I think the emperor’s coven is actually full of people who just want friends!”

“Hunter,” Luz said, wrinkling her nose at him, “Doesn’t want to be friends.”

“He can be my friend!”

Hunter screamed into the couch cushions.

Luz poked him in the ribs. “Hey, that was just rude.”

“If I could move, I’d tie your bird-worm into a bow,” he growled.

“But you caaaaaaan’t,” Hooty sing-songed.

Luz pushed at Hooty’s face. “Alright, alright, get out of here, give him some space.” She finished cleaning the stab wound and taped a fresh bandage to it. Hunter didn’t react, not even to complain about the sting, and she knelt down next to him, nudging his shoulder. “Hey. You okay?”

“Everything is so… complicated here.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“I don’t know what anyone wants me to do!”

“Hunter, we don’t want you to do anything. I didn’t bring you here because I want something from you, I brought you here because it was the right thing to do.”

He groaned. “You don’t get it, of course you want something from me, everyone wants something from everyone, but I can’t figure out what it is you want me to do here! You keep saying I don’t have to do anything, and that this isn’t business, but—”

“Hunter. Hunter. Look at me. Look at my face.”

He turned his head with a wince, and she helped him sit up, squishing his cheeks between her hands and forcing him to look her in the eye. “I don’t want anything from you. Not one single thing. Neither does Eda, neither does Hooty. Got it?”

“But—”

Luz squished his face harder, cutting off his words. “No buts! Nothing! No ulterior motives! We are not Belos, we are not Kikimora. You don’t have to give us anything. I want to be your friend, Hunter, a real friend. Gus and Willow and Amity drop everything to help me, and they never expect me to do anything back. I’d do the same for them. And I’m trying to do the same for you.” She let go of his face. “Okay?”

He bit his lip, looking just about the most lost she’d ever seen him. “Mmmmmmmmmm…”

Luz sighed. “Right. Can’t change an entire life philosophy in a day, I guess. Okay, uhhhh...” she spotted King eyeing Hunter with narrowed eyes that she knew meant he was about to pounce. “…King wants to use your lap as a nap spot. You can’t really move around anyway, so…?”

Hunter almost immediately brightened. “I can do that.”

King almost immediately catapulted onto Hunter’s lap, curling up. “Ha. You tried to lock me in a cage. Now I am the ruler! I hold the power, here, and you are in a cage of my making!”

Hunter glanced down at demon in his lap. “He… doesn’t have worms, does he?”

“Hey! King is worm-free, thanks very much!” Luz leaned in closer. “But between you and me, you might want to watch out for fleas,” she murmured.

“That—that was a joke, right?”

Luz straightened up, running for the door. “Okay, have fun, you two, I’m off to school!”

“Luz! Tell me it was a joke!”

Ch 6

#toh #the owl house #toh hunter #luz noceda #toh fanfiction #my writing

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therivergirl · 2 years

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Another chapter of my post Labirynt Runners fic

This one takes place after the episode and it's mostly just a nice talk between Willow and Gus.

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Full text:

They defeated the coven scouts and a head witch.

They found out why Hunter was hiding at the school.

And he told them Belos’ plan. Not everything, though. He told them about Belos being human, and about him being a witch hunter.

“Wait, wait,” Jerbo cut in when he got to that part, “What in the titan is a witch hunter? It sounds like some type of a beast!”

“Luz told us something about them,” Gus said, “You know I like human history and junk? Well, having a human for a best friend helps…and also doesn’t at the same time. Because my idealized view of humans crumbled to dust. Apparently, in the old times, many humans believed magic was evil so they hunted witches. But usually, it was actually just regular humans who don’t even have magic, since, you know, magic is not a thing in the human realm. They were usually just innocent, regular humans who did not fit in in some way. It’s long and complicated and dark.”

��Makes sense to me,” Viney said, and people gaped at her, “I mean, not what those old-timey humans did, but that Belos is one of them. His fight on wild magic, on people who don’t conform? Sure sounds like what you just described.”

“So all this time we believed a guy who hates us for existing while convincing us he is one of us and, moreover, the best out of all of us and at the same time we supported his system?” Skara sounded like she was about to cry, “If I ever see Belos up close I’ll punch him in the face so hard…”

“That would not be very wise,” Hunter chuckled bitterly, continuing to explain what he understood of Belos’ condition and the palismen, which only led to more gasps of outrage and curse words that could get one grounded. Students held their palismen close, some whispering reassuring words, others just clinging to them. Hunter held Flapjack close as well, as guilt settled deep within him. He was the reason many palismen were now part of Belos. He almost caused the death of some of the palismen from the students around him.

Flapjack chirped comfortingly. The palisman was right, it was not the time to dwell on that, he had information he had to carry over. So, he told everything he knew.

Well, everything except…the parts about himself. And the previous Golden Guards. He offhandedly mentioned how he knew he was not the first to defect, but that was it. He was still trying to figure out what he was for himself, he wouldn’t even be comfortable telling he was a Grimwalker to Gus and Willow, let alone the whole bunch of people who he only met that day.

When he was finished, the entire student body was in shock, but slowly, one by one, the students and teachers went home. Nobody was certain how their families would react. Would they believe their children? Would they rally against Belos, or would they proclaim the school itself to be traitorous and side with the emperor? Would some try to run or hide?

Bump made sure everyone was handling the new situation well, or as well as it could be expected and then went to his office. He was preparing for an onslaught of calls and texts and probably even visits from confused, scared, and angry parents and guardians of the children but he was certain of one thing-after everything he witnessed during the last year, let alone the last few hours, he knew which side he was going to pick.

As the students, the few that remained at the school, were getting in a heated discussion on what to do next, Hunter slipped away, overwhelmed by the number of people around him and the questions they were asking.

“Go on, I’ll cover for you,” Gus said as he noticed Hunter growing antsy, “Just stay on the school grounds, you’re safe here.”

So now Hunter was hiding resting on the bleachers outside the school. It was a strange feeling, being outside after days of hiding in that tiny room. Was he still afraid? Of course. But people have seen him, scouts have seen him, so his location was no longer a secret that could be hidden.

He had to disappear soon again. Everyone was in danger with him around. Flapjack was chirping away, trying to convince him otherwise but he wasn’t listening, much to the palisman’s frustration. And the cardinal was not shy about it.

The flyer derby team insisted we save you, Bump’s words echoed in his mind. People he once tricked, people who he wanted to force into the very thing he just witnessed them fighting against, stood up for him. The least he could do was not put them at extra risk.

He heard the footsteps approaching and then someone climbing up the bleachers. He quickly sat up, ready to explain why he was just lazing around when there was so much to plan, but it was just Willow. She waved at him, a gentle smile on her face.

He remembered seeing her when he first woke up, scratched, and bruised. Most of the injuries were now either partially or fully healed, but the tears in the fabric were still there as reminders of how badly she was battered. Did she get injured trying to rescue him?

He knew she could hold her own in a fight. He would be stupid to doubt it. He saw her in the derby and fighting coven scouts. Titan, he saw her facing off Darius, one of the strongest coven heads, but he still didn’t want her getting hurt because of him.

However, she was smiling and didn’t seem angry or upset. So, he gave a small wave back and Flapjack chirped a greeting.

“Hey, mind if I join you?” she asked.

“Um, no,” he said, “Of course not!”

“Hiding from everyone?” she sat down.

“What?” he sounded appalled, “No, no! I’m not hiding, I just-I can’t-“

“Hey, Hunter, calm down,” Willow said, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I thought you probably just needed some space, that is all,”

“Oh,” he calmed down, “Well…maybe…”

“If you need to be alone, I won’t bother you,” Willow offered.

“No, no, you’re not bothering me!” he said, afraid he might’ve offended his friend. He was still wondering if he was allowed to call her that. But, after Willow and the rest of Entrails accepted him, to a point of defying their principal, an authority figure, to rescue him, how would he ever say that she was bothering him in any capacity?

“I won’t be offended,” Willow said as if she read his mind, smiling, “we all sometimes need to be alone with our own thoughts, even messy ones. I know I do.”

“Oh, well, still, it’s ok if you stay,” Hunter said, truly meaning that. “I was just…the others had so many questions and I, I know I should be answering them but…I just can’t, not right now. It’s stupid.”

“I don’t think it’s stupid. You’ve been through a lot. If you need time to sort things out, that’s fine. And the Hexide students,” she chuckled, “we can be a bit much.”

“But, there is so little time and so much to solve and what if the coven comes back and-and-” he was hyperventilating, again. The coven he could deal with, but the person that might come with it…

Everything around him felt fuzzy like he was dipped underwater while having vertigo. It was like he was sinking, the surface barely visible to him, the pull of the water too much, the only thing barely managing to pierce through the fog, being Willow's voice.

“...hey, hey,” Hunter felt Willow gently put a hand on his shoulder, “Breathe, in and out,” she said, her voice soft and he followed her instructions. He focused his eyes on her face, as he felt Flapjack nesting in his lap. He scratched the bird’s neck as everything came into full focus.

“Huh, you know Gus’ breathing thing, too?” he said, trying to brush off his breakdown, “It’s surprisingly effective.”

“Well, I thought him that. And my dads taught me. We all get lost in our heads sometimes and breathing exercises can help ground us,” Willow gently squeezed his shoulder, her eyes filled with compassion and concern.

“It’s still stupid, I should’ve known I should’ve…I don’t know, do something, not just lie around, unable to even think properly!” Hunter retorted, frustrated. “Especially since I personally did so much damage after falling for unc-his lies!”

“You did something. You learned the truth and as painful as it was you stuck by it and helped up, at what I’m pretty certain is a great personal risk. As for, as you put it, falling for Belos’s lies, well we all did.”

“Captain, you and your friends led a rebellion against coven scouts not an hour ago. You resisted me taking you in less than a month ago! How is that falling for anyone’s lies?”

“Well, yeah, that’s us now. But a few months ago, well, we all believed it was all true,” Willow said. “That he is trying to do the right thing, that the covens are the only way to do magic, that the Emperor’s Coven is the best, everything!”

“How, how did you figure it wasn’t?” Hunter asked, curious. Then he realized that might be too deep of a question, “Sorry if that is too personal…”

“No, it’s fine. So, remember the day of,” she gazed into the distance as if reminding herself of a particularly unpleasant memory, “Eda’s petrification?”

He nodded, unable to speak. He believed it was right, at the time and he hated himself for it. If he was caught right now, he’d probably be petrified just like Eda almost was. Just like his…

“Hunter?”

“I’m fine, I just...it hit me how wrong it was, I guess. Go on.”

Willow looked at him for a moment. She knew that wasn’t the whole truth, but she was not about to pry. She continued, “Well, before that, you know, we all knew of petrifications. And we all knew it happened to wild witches. But I always thought it was for like, really bad people. Those who hurt others, those who do truly messed up stuff. We all knew of Eda, her posters were everywhere. She would sometimes appear around Bonesborough and, while I never saw her doing anything particularly bad, maybe scam someone from a few snails, but nothing diabolical, we kind of knew to stay away from her. Because, you know, we believed that wild witches were dangerous. But, since she didn’t really hurt someone, nobody really minded her either. She kind of became part of Boneborough, a local legend. I guess that, despite the posters, we saw her a minor town menace but otherwise, oh titan this will sound bad but, one of the good ones,” she chuckled self-deprecatingly.

“And then, Luz came here. And we became friends and I started hanging out with her and at the Owl House and Eda…well, she wasn’t necessarily nice. She is blunt and snarky, but she is kind. And well, she can be scary but, only when someone really messes up. She is definitely not cruel. She has that wanted poster in her house like a badge of honour, but I think it’s because she prides herself on being, well, herself. And she got me, Gus and Luz, and Amity when we started hanging out again, out of trouble so many times. But, despite that, despite seeing that Eda is a wild witch but still good, despite seeing Luz use wild magic and still being best friends with her, I still believed the coven system was completely right.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Well, the day of Eda’s petrification, we had a field trip to the castle. And Luz, Gus and I…may have decided to steal the Healing Hat to help Eda with her curse…”

“Wait, that was you? I mean I knew about Luz, but…titan…” Hunter said, halfway between impressed and calling the plan dumb, because really? Stealing from the castle, on a field trip? He was not surprised Luz pulled a stunt like that, she was incredibly reckless, but Gus and Willow seemed a bit more restrained.

“Yeah, not one of our brightest plans,” Willow said sheepishly, “Before you ask, yes, the plan was Luz’s, but Gus and I were totally on board. And, well, Lilith caught us, took Luz, baited Eda and…well, you probably know the rest, you were at the castle at the time, weren’t you?”

Hunter nodded, more mixed feelings rearing their ugly heads.

“Oh, you should’ve seen Eda when we got to the Owl House. When she heard about Lilith having Luz in custody, she only took a few seconds to make sure Gus and I were fine and then went to face her own sister. I never saw Eda as angry as she then that day, not even when we literally animated her house,”

“You did wha- you know what, never mind, sounds like a long story, continue.”

“It is a long story," Willow chuckled at the memory of their previous shenanigans, "Well, the point is she was angry, terrifyingly angry because someone hurt Luz. And she gave herself in to save Luz. She, a wild witch, supposedly the worst one of them all, almost gave her life away, she gave her magic away, something she valued and prided herself on so much, to save someone else, one of my best friends.”

“Yeah, I…I remember bits of it. I wasn’t fully informed of the details of the plan. Lilith…she wasn’t keen on sharing plans about her sister.”

Willow nodded, then continued her story, “When Gus and I saw what was happening, something just...clicked. What was happening was wrong. Seeing Eda up there, it was like seeing my aunt up there. And realizing that King was with her as well, and he is just a kid,” Willow shook her head, her eyes angry and full of resolve. “We couldn’t do much, but we did something. We hijacked a news report and almost caused a riot!” she said, bursting with pride.

“Wait, I remember now,” Hunter said, surprised and in awe, “It was you! And Gus! Taking Perry Porter’s broadcast! Well, duh,” he facepalmed, “That must be Gus’s dad, right? Wow, how did I not recognize you sooner?”

“I looked a bit different, and it was before Gus had his growth spurt,” Willow shrugged, “And yes, Perry is his dad. But see, I also knew that Belos didn’t let them go. Luz got them out, with help from Lilith and King. So, if the emperor was wrong about Eda, if he lied about her escape, I wondered, what else was he lying about? I mean, I didn’t start thinking that immediately, it was a slow process, a scary process. But, by the time I realized I started thinking like that, I couldn’t really go back.”

“My un-Belos, he lied about…everything,” Hunter said. “So, you were correct when you realized things were wrong. You have good instincts. I’m just…sorry I didn’t see it sooner.”

“Well, you were much closer to Belos than any of us. It’s much harder to realize your friends are in the wrong than an emperor in a castle who wanted to hurt your friends,” she said compassionately. “Let alone someone you consider family.”

“He’s not in fact my…” Hunter trailed off, “It’s a mess.” He didn’t tell them the details about being a Grimwalker, a…clone, a replica, or a copy. Maybe he could tell Willow, or Gus…

He chased the thought away. He had to figure out who he was first. And what if…what if they thought differently of him? He couldn't lose his only friends. What if they saw him as a freak, a menace? What if…

Well, They had a mission at hand anyways. Personal baggage would have to be resolved later.

“Well, this was a good talk,” he said abruptly, “Thank you. But I think now would be the time for me to disappear again,” he extended his arm as if he was summoning his staff, but Flapjack stayed on his shoulder, giving him what could only be described as a seriously, dude? stare.

“Flapjack! I need you to fly, come on!” Flapjack still refused to take his staff form and just kept his glare instead, “Come on,” Hunter said again, and then, muttering, he added, “You’re embarrassing me in front of the captain!”

Willow giggled, “Sometimes Clover refuses to cooperate when she thinks I’m in the wrong or being silly too!” she said and her palisman buzzed in confirmation. The two palisman then looked at one another as is to say, Witches, am I right?

“I’m not being silly, he is!” Hunter said. Willow thinks I’m silly? Oh no, that is not good!

“Why do you think you need to go?” Willow asked.

“Well first of all, while I was in hiding it was one thing, but now that the scouts know I’m here, I’m putting everyone in danger just by being around you.”

“Hunter, the entire school just rebelled against the Emperor’s Coven, not to mention one of the head witches and, unlike our scuffle with Darius, a whole bunch of people witnessed this. Not to mention that we refused an order that came directly from the emperor about joining covens. We’ll be in plenty of trouble as is!”

“Yes! Which is why I shouldn’t stay and bring more trouble onto you!” Hunter extended his arm again, but Flapjack was apparently on a mission to humiliate him entirely because he still refused to cooperate, “Fine, I’ll walk then! I can walk away from the school!”

Flapjack refused to even acknowledge him.

“Hunter, I didn’t mean it like that,” Willow grabbed his arm as he was about to walk away, “I meant, you’re one of us now. We’re in this together. We broke rules already, we might as well break a few more to protect a friend.”

“Some friend I am… Ouch! Flapjack, what the titan?! What was that for?” he said as the cardinal nipped his ear and proceeded to glare at him.

“Listen to him, don’t be so self-deprecating, you are a good friend. Or are you forgetting how you just saved Gus? Or that time we chatted on Penstagram, and I felt down so you sent me Flapjack’s photos because you didn’t know what else to do and it made me feel better because it was cute? You should stay here, where you’re safe, well safer, we want you around.”

“Well, you might want me around, but I’m certain the principal won’t like me staying!” Hunter stared at his feet. He was not cute…

“You would be wrong there,” Willow said, “I can’t see Bump kicking out anyone in need, especially after today.”

“Yeah, the man is not exactly my biggest fan, did you see how he reacted to my presence?”

“He didn’t know who you were then,” Willow explained, “I mean, who you are as a person. And you’d be surprised how much Bump is willing to change his mind when proven wrong. He is a reasonable man.”

Hunter looked at the ground, not fully believing Willow’s words. Not that he didn’t trust her. But adults just…changing their minds. That sounded strange.

On the other hand, Darius and even Lilith did so…

Flapjack chirped into his ear, Yeah, yeah, you’re on the right track here. People are different from him. Listen to Willow, she is right, she is smart. The principal is one of those different adults. Even Bat Queen likes him, and she doesn’t like many witches.

“Still, he would be harbouring a known traitor,” Hunter said, to Willow and Flapjack both, the word still burning on his tongue, “And-and-“

“Hunter,” Willow said “Look, I won’t force you to stay or anything, though I really think you should. Remember, Bump has bent the rules so many times. He allowed Luz to study here, he allowed multi-tracking, and he is regularly, publically, associating with Eda. A known criminal. And, while they have a weird mentor-former troublemaker rivalry, I think they respect one another. Eda doesn’t respect just anyone. He even came up with the whole Palisman program with her.”

Hunter looked at Flapjack. That day was another he had mixed feeling about. On the one hand, that was the day he got Flapjack and, even as their bond was something relatively new, he wasn’t sure what he would do without the palisman now. He was his closest companion; he was with him through everything.

He met Luz that day and, while his and human’s relationship was complicated to say the least, and he didn’t even know where she was at the moment, he would lie if he said he wasn’t glad to meet her. He could even admit to himself he would be glad to see her again.

On the other…

His mind went back to his unc- Belos consuming…

His breath hitched and he felt his eyes sting. No, no, he was not going to cry like an idiot

“Hunter?”

“Luz probably told you about what I almost did that day, right? What my mission was!” he spat resentfully.

“Yeah, what you almost did. And she also told me what you actually did. You let her and the palismen go in the end. And you kept him safe,” she pointed to Flapjack, “Oh, also, Clover wants me to thank you.”

“Huh? Why?” Hunter asked, utterly confused. One palisman liking him, choosing him over countless better, real, witches was weird enough. He liked Flapjack, he loved Flapjack, as weird of the taste the cardinal must’ve had to choose him. But Willow’s palisman thanking him for something was one step too far.

“One of the palisman you let go was her friend, and Flapjack told her that the emperor wasn’t pleased when you came empty-handed, so you risked something to free them,” Willow said, and Clover buzzed in affirmation.

“I…they were not the first palismen I was supposed to bring him. Not the first one I did. And the ones before…” He closed his eyes regretfully, guilt setting into his stomach. Flapjack nuzzled against his neck comfortingly, but it only made hunter feel more guilty. Why was the stupid bird comforting someone responsible for the death of dozens of his own kind?

“Did you…how much did you know about palismen before?” Willow asked quietly.

“I don’t know, I guess…I’m not sure,” he said staring at Flapjack, “I’m not sure I realized how…alive, no, I knew they were alive. I guess how conscious they were. And I-I-“

“Yeah, you didn’t know. Look, you thought you were doing something good for someone who was…who you believed was your family, right?”

Hunter nodded, even as his stomach churned at the very idea of it. And part of him still cared for---no, he couldn’t think like that.

“If I didn’t know that Palismen were living and thinking, and if one of my dads were hurting and I thought that-"

“BUT HE WASN’T HURTING!” Hunter shouted, making Willow frown. “Sorry, sorry, I didn’t mean-I, Sorry.” he sighed, “I mean he was…I guess, in pain but it's not like he was sick or something-he was using them, for, I don’t know something! I guess, giving himself more power. And I helped!”

“You were tricked.”

“I was stupid!”

“You weren’t stupid. You just cared,” Willow insisted. “You were…deceived and used, by someone you cared for. That does not make you a bad person.”

Hunted sniffed, unable to stop the tears this time. Was he even a person?

“Need a hug?” she asked.

He hesitated for a moment before nodding. She wrapped her arms around him, and he slumped against her. Flapjack chirped comfortingly and even Willow’s palisman buzzing was calming. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around Willow’s waist, taking in the comfort of being so close to a friend.

“Look, I’m not going to say that all you did was great,” she said, “but you clearly see that. And you’re doing so much to help already. You saved Flapjack. You realized your mistakes back when we met the first time. And you faced Darius to save us,”

“I wasn’t actually in danger from Darius. I told you that.”

“But you didn’t know that. For all you knew he was going to reprimand you, or worse. And today, you helped everyone here,”

Flapjack nuzzled against his cheek, chirping And, I told you this already, but do you really think I’d choose just any witch?

“Not sure what he said, but I’m pretty sure I can agree with him,” Willow smiled.

“Hey, you two!” Gus’s voice came from the bottom of the bleachers and Hunter blushed as he and Willow broke the hug.

“Come on, if you’re anything like me, you’re starving, and we got a whole bunch of food from the cafeteria!” Gus gestured towards the school.

“We? Wait, how many of you stayed?” Hunter asked as he and Willow climbed down.

“The Emerald Entrails, the Blights, Matt and Bump. But Bump is still in his office, dealing with stuff. Why?”

“So…Amity Blight is here,” Hunter said, suddenly not very keen on leaving the bleachers. Really, that was a fine place to stay.

“Don’t worry, she’ll warm up to you,” Gus said. “Come on now, before Matt and the Blight twins eat all the good stuff!”

“Ngh,” Hunter groaned, but then his stomach rumbled at the idea of the food that is not Hex Mix. He’d even take the weak stew that the Emperor’s Coven scouts had for lunch every other day-

No, no he wouldn’t. Hex Mix was still better. At least it was tasty.

“You know what, I’m off to join others again before you two decide! I’ll save you something!” Gus decided and ran towards the school building.

“Hunter?” Willow asked, “Are you coming? Or we can stay here if you need some downtime, Clover and Flapjack can bring some food over for us, right guys?”

Hunter looked at his friends, one running off to save them some food from allegedly ravenous multi-track students and the other offering to just…hang out with him.

He thought to the others, how, as suspicious as they were of him at first, they…accepted him. They must’ve been aware of what he did before, at least parts of, it and nobody, not even Amity Blight, seemed to have much animosity once it was certain he was not working with Belos.

And once the fight was over, they approached him with curiosity, no longer with suspicion. Titan, one of the Blight twins asked him the silliest question he could receive!

Besides, Willow, Gus and Viney would be there.

“I’m fine,” he said, with a genuine grin, “joining the others, I mean.”

“Awesome, come on!” Willow grabbed his hand and pulled him along, down the bleachers and then towards the school.

There was a big fight ahead. But at least, they could have dinner first.

#the owl house #save the owl house #labirynth runners #willow park #the owl house hunter #gus the owl house #fanfiction

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