#i think a lot about everything Belos put Hunter and Luz through over the course of the series. about all the things he projected onto them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

edoro · 2 years

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hey, I don't know if you've done one of these yet, but do you have any fics you'd like to recommend?

(more specifically hunter focused ones? I've read some of your stuff and you really nail the horror of trauma and the later impact of it and since you have a an understanding of the topic that feels realistic/relatable to me, you're opinions matter a lot more. But no pressure of course. I hope life treats you well, you deserve it.)

my fic recs tag has a couple of rec lists and scattered individual fics!

however it's been a little while since i did a rec list and people do put out new fics frequently, so, here's some i have enjoyed recently:

(long post, a few of these fics deal with incest and csa)

enough to leave scars by Haicrescendo is an absolutely love, deliciously bittersweet look at Hunter's Trauma(TM) through his own and Camila's eyes. it's just a really nicely done character study, where there are no quick and easy answers. there's no big cathartic moment where Hunter reveals everything - in fact, he doesn't reveal anything to Camila, but it's obvious enough to her that he's been mistreated, and she does her best to show him that he's safe here. he doesn't entirely believe it, but he starts to think maybe he can.

it feels very realistic without being completely bleak. there's no quick fix, no instant resolution, no soul-baring conversation, just a very damaged boy and a woman patiently trying to show him that he's safe now, and nothing is really solved by the end of it, but you can see how maybe it will be.

also, Camila takes Hunter to the vet office with her and he gets to hug a dog.

Learned Response by The_Escaped is another fun Hunter Trauma fic - one chapter out of a projected two currently posted, and the gist is that Hunter sees Luz's uneasiness with her mother and comes to an extremely incorrect but very understandable conclusion about why that is. good look at Hunter being jumpy and defensive of his friends around a strange adult who he has reason (per his own experiences) to believe isn't safe, without being over the top or sliding into melodrama. i'm really excited to see where the second chapter goes!

Taking Off by Heyguysitsme explores Hunter's relationship with authority via flashbacks about him learning to fly his staff and a present-day driving lesson with Camila. another one with Camila POV, which i really enjoy, where once again things are very strained and awkward between them and she doesn't really know why or entirely how to handle it.

a bad taste in my mouth by Dragon_Scales_And_Fairy_Tales is a fic about Hunter having an eating disorder. now i know i have complained about the popularity of the "Hunter is scrawny and underfed" headcanon before but i find this very plausible - it's all focused around his sense of control and fear and need to keep himself safe, rather than a nonsensically imposed form of abuse from Belos. so i really like this, but beware it's a very in-depth look into one potential psychology of self-starvation.

His Broken Bones Bear Witness To Haunting Illusions by Sigmu is an interesting post-canon take on Hunter's trauma. it's a very meandering, slow, reflective fic where Hunter mentally circles around and never quite directly looks at or touches what happened. there's a lot of general trauma and identity issues going on there, people including Hunter trying to move on and adjust to a post-Belos life, and more specifically the thing Hunter never quite faces head on is that Belos sexually abused him.

it's all very vague, although clear enough in its implications. Hunter feels a lot of guilt and shame and is determined to keep it private, and in later chapters is also very, very concerned with what happened during that period of time where Belos was alone with Luz. he never quite lets himself complete a thought about his abuse, so i'm excited to see where this is eventually going, if he's going to have a breakdown and end up revealing it to someone after avoiding it for several chapters, or what.

Caricature Carving by poni is one i think i already answered an ask about but i'll slap it in an official lengthy rec post as well. this is a fic where Hunter is sexually assaulted by a group of scouts and comes to Belos for comfort; Belos responds with possessive anger, victim-blaming, invasive creepiness, and eventually sexual abuse of his own.

it's unique for being Belos POV, which most of these fics aren't, and i love the exploration of his sense of entitlement, the intensity to which he objectifies and dehumanizes Hunter, and how deliberately manipulative and cruel he is. i'm excited for the last chapter!

the safe house series by paranoid_parallax deals with Hunter disclosing his sexual abuse at Belos's hands to Eda. at first, he sees it as having been consensual and even positive, but comes to realize it was in fact abusive, and struggles intensely with that. the first fic is about him working through that realization with Eda, and the second includes him talking about it to Raine.

this fic series falls a little bit into the "everyone is talking like they just read a therapy workbook" trap, but i still really enjoyed it. it caught me at a bit of an emotionally vulnerable time and something about it was just very gripping, almost wrenching - there is an honest sense of anguish, expressed as pus might be from an infected boil, in Hunter's simultaneous denial of his own trauma, self-loathing for what he sees as his part in it as well as his responses to it past and present, and desperation for comfort that he doesn't know how to ask for or receive.

See The Worst by anonymous is one i think i ALSO did an ask for, but: in Belos's mindscape, Luz and Hunter end up stumbling into a memory of Hunter being sexually abused. Luz struggles to understand what's even going on and then to understand Hunter's response to it. this is a bleak and painful look at repression as a defense mechanism, and how from the outside it can look an awful lot like not caring, and how hard it is to help someone who's stuck in such a difficult situation.

in the aftermath by clovariia is a fic about a quiet moment between Hunter and Belos following an incident of physical abuse. in it, Hunter struggles to reconcile both his love for and fear of his uncle. Belos is emotionally manipulative as fuck and it's all very creepy and faintly slimy. there are also vague implications of Hunter being a csa victim, but that's not the main focus of the fic.

Dawning by anonymous is a genre of fic i am quite fond of, where Hunter fucks something up and tries to offer himself up to fix it, leading to some awkward conversations. in this case, the awkward conversation is with Eda. vaguely implied/discussed sexual and also physical abuse.

A Fear Reflected by Jalules is about Hunter and Luz having a conversation in the middle of the night in the human realm, where he asks her what happened during those moments she was alone with Belos, and if it's what he was afraid it was. they discuss ways Belos wanted to hurt her, and while Hunter doesn't actually openly disclose having been sexually abused to her, she gets the gist.

and call them brothers by ElectricBoomerang is a very fun and bittersweet bit of speculation on how that memory spell Gus did might have worked - he ends up telling Hunter what he thinks he saw, and he and Hunter mutually put their pieces of the Hunter Identity Puzzle together.

#the owl house #hunter toh #asks #fic recs

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izaswritings · 3 years

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Title: who we are in the aftermath

Fandom: The Owl House

Synopsis: Belos falls and the Golden Guard survives. It’s a new world and a new day, and sooner or later Hunter has to figure out where he fits in it.

Or: in which Hunter stays at the Owl House, becomes a (very, very reluctant) apprentice, continues to have accidental sibling shenanigans with the annoying human, and finally finds a place where he belongs. Probably.

AO3 link is here.

[Next chapter is here!]

chapter one: battling birds

They give him a room near the east side of the house, stuffed full of broken things and a miscellaneous number of random items. It’s not the human’s old room, and not Lilith’s, either—there’s too much dust and too much stuff for either option. Hunter can’t tell if he’s grateful for this or not. He’s still deciding on whether he’s grateful for the room at all.

There’s no time to set up a bed. He spends his first night here on a blanket, restless and half-awake and lying so still he’s half-convinced he’s shaking from the strain of not moving at all, not making a single sound. He can practically taste the dust on every inhale—does the Owl Lady ever clean, Titan help him—and by some godawful midnight hour Hunter gives up on sleep entirely and sits up, carefully, to whisper to his palisman.

Nothing important. None of the real questions that are swirling around in his head, like what am I even doing here and why am I still here and what am I supposed to do now, do you know? Instead he just says nonsense things, useless things, like “If I shine a flashlight in that little demon’s face do you think I could get him to chase the dot?”

The palisman coos and chirps and sings nonsense back. Red is a pretty color. I like tulips. If we iced over the Boiling Sea could we make human rain?

“None of those answers make sense,” Hunter tells it, and then writes a small note about the sea and rain connection on the dusty floor, if only because that’s actually kind of interesting and he wants to check it out again later.

Red tulips are tasty, replies the palisman, and nuzzles his fingers when he goes to pet it. Its feathers are soft and its eyes are luminous in the moonlight. Nonsense, all of it, but the nonsense helps—familiar as a friend, safe and easy. Better than thinking of Belos. Better than wondering what he’s doing here, sleeping on the floor in the Owl Lady’s house.

The human has left. He could walk out right now and she’d never know, not that her disappointment has any bearing on if he chooses to stay or go. She’s vanished back to the human world, probably gone forever. This house means nothing to Hunter—the Owl Lady is annoying and dislikes him about as much as Hunter dislikes her, and as endearing as the weird little demon is, that isn’t enough to make Hunter want to stay.

He could leave easily. He could go anywhere. He has nowhere to go.

“I don’t know what to do,” Hunter tells the palisman, at last, hours later. It is almost morning. The sunrise has only just begun, the peace of this dusty attic room wavering thin and fragile in the light of early dawn. It is a quiet admission. He says it very soft. “I don’t know if I know anything.”

I love you, says the palisman.

“That’s not an answer either.”

Oh, well.

Twenty minutes later, the Owl Lady’s weird bird-worm security creature bursts through the window and sings good morning loud enough to shatter eardrums. Hunter grabs his staff, throws a blast at the thing on instinct, teleports to the kitchen in a panic, and smacks the Owl Lady in the face with his palisman first thing in the morning.

The easy explanation is this: the castle falls and Belos dies and the Golden Guard somehow survives it all: portal collapse and half-realm merge and everything, which means when the dust settles, ultimately Hunter is left with absolutely no idea of what to do with himself.

“You should work with Eda!” says the human, in the aftermath. Given she says this in the ruin of what was once the Emperor’s castle, barely a half hour after—everything—Hunter feels pretty justified in his response. Which is to say he strangles his broken mechanical staff in his hands, takes a deep breath, and says in a very tight voice: “No.”

“But—!”

“No. No, no, no. I can’t even believe I did this, I don’t… it’s not happening. No.”

The human—he does actually know her name by now, after all they’ve been through, but also given all of This Nonsense she has lost name privileges—does not take that well. Of course she doesn’t. She’s so fourteen it makes Hunter want to die inside.

“Why not?” the human says, petulant. She has her hands on her hips and everything.

Hunter is kneeling in the rubble of a castle he’s called home for almost all his life. Somewhere down there is the throne where Belos used to sit; somewhere down there is a body. It’s not a surprise, really. It’s not a shock. From the moment the palisman fluttered into his life and Hunter let it stay, he always knew, deep down, that one day he was going to have to choose.

It does not make breathing any easier. “I don’t want to,” he says.

“You can learn wild magic! And, and glyphs! Eda knows a lot—”

“Does the Owl Lady know you’re offering up her house to an old enemy?”

“Eda won’t mind. Well, okay, maybe she’ll mind a little, but— she’ll let you stay if I ask her!” Yeah. The Owl Lady probably would. The human has that witch wrapped around her little finger; Hunter almost snorts. “Please, just hear me out. I’m sure we can—”

“No.”

“Hunter…”

“Don’t talk like we’re friends,” Hunter hisses. He drops the broken remains of the mechanical staff and stands, his hands curled to fists. “Don’t talk like you know me. You don’t know anything. You don’t—” He can’t breathe. He drops back to his knees in the rubble and rubs a hand over his eyes. “Just stop. Please.”

The human doesn’t say anything for a long time. On his shoulder, the palisman, thus far staying silent, flutters its wings and hops down to his knee, nudging his hand with its beak. It sings nothing. Just stays there.

After a moment, the human kneels next to him. There is blood on her face and dirt staining her leggings. “I know,” she says, and she suddenly sounds very tired. “I’m sorry.”

Hunter doesn’t say anything.

“I just—” the human starts, and then she stops. “I don’t know how else to help you.”

She looks small and weirdly sad, which makes no sense at all, because she hated Belos and never really understood why Hunter did not. (Hunter is not sure why either. If that is still something he can say. If you can betray your uncle and fight against your uncle and—and— and do these things, do everything Hunter has done, and still say that this feeling isn’t hatred.)

They aren’t friends, Hunter and the human. They have barely been allies. He doesn’t need her help, and she probably knows that as well as he does. But Hunter looks at her then, and despite the rubble and the ash and the blood on his tongue, for some reason instead of digging himself a makeshift grave he says—

“…Okay.”

Which still doesn’t really explain anything, but then, that’s just how it goes.

“Okay!” says the Owl Lady, smacking down her second cup of apple blood on the table. She does it too hard—a good splash of blood escapes the confines of the cup and adds yet another stain to her already-stained dining table. Hunter raises an eyebrow. The Owl Lady glares back. “House rules.”

There’s a red mark on her cheek, still, from where Hunter had hit her with his staff, and a stain all down her side from when, upon being hit with the staff, the Owl Lady spluttered and cursed and accidentally spilt the first cup of apple blood all over herself and the floor. She looks… barely awake.

“House rules,” Hunter echoes, dryly.

“Your scorn is noted and not appreciated.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry.” His palisman pecks his hand lightly. “Ow.”

“Luz, you owe me one,” mutters the Owl Lady, and takes a really deep drink of her apple blood. Hunter rubs at his hand, peeved, and eyes the palisman in case it gets any more hand-pecking ideas. The palisman blinks innocently back. Hmm.

“So. First of all.” The Owl Lady raises a finger. “Break any of my stuff and I end you.”

So just like the castle, then. Hunter sees where this is going. He settles gingerly back against the chair—why, why is all of her furniture stained—and rests his cheek against one fist, already bored. “Noted.”

The Owl Lady puts up a second finger. There’s a long silence.

“…Seriously?” says Hunter.

“Quiet, you.” She snaps her fingers. “Hah! Got one! Hurt King or Luz or Hooty or anyone I like in any way and I’ll destroy you. Yeah, that works.”

Hunter gets the sneaking suspicion these house rules are being made up on the spot, and are also only for him. He knows better than to say that aloud. “Fine.” Wait. “How am I supposed to know which random people you like or dislike?”

The Owl Lady grins. Her gold fang glints. “That sounds like a you problem, don’t you think?” She cackles a little. “Guess you’ll just have to find out! Or, you know. Maybe don’t attack anyone? That’s a start.”

Her owl palisman coos a little. Her nose wrinkles. “What? What do you mean that’s hypocritical? Stay out of this, Owlbert, I’m teaching life lessons or something.” Her eyes turn to him. “Anyway. You get the gist.”

Hunter’s hand is curled white-knuckled around his knee. His palisman flutters from the table to his shoulder, singing nonsense again. Red tulips, so tasty. Its feathers brush against his cheek.

He pries his grip off his knee one finger at a time. “…Understood.”

“Good.” The Owl Lady stands and stretches, yawning wide into one hand. “Anyway, I’ll give you a pass for this morning, because Hooty can be…” She trails off. Outside, muffled by the front door, the bird-worm creature shouts “HOOT” at full volume and then smacks into a tree.

“…a lot,” decides the Owl Lady. “But seriously, keep the windows locked. I don’t want you trying to blast him and burning my house down. I just got it back.”

Hunter says nothing. The Owl Lady squints at him and then picks her mug back up. “Riiiight… well, good talk, I guess. Get some more sleep, kid, you look worse than Luz after an all-nighter.” She waits. Hunter raises an eyebrow at her. “Ugh. I don’t know why I agreed to this.”

At least Hunter isn’t the only one second-guessing everything. Still, that reminds him. “The human.”

“Luz,” says the Owl Lady, unimpressed.

“Yeah, whatever.” He links his fingers. The palisman flies down from his shoulder to his cupped hands, and hops a determined circle in his palm for no apparent reason. Hunter watches it play. “…Is she coming back?”

“What, tired of our company already?”

“Yes,” Hunter says, because obviously.

“Rude. Well, can’t say the feeling isn’t mutual.” There’s a long silence. The Owl Lady sighs. “Luz… she promised she’d come back. You were there, weren’t you?”

Yeah, he had been. Standing in the back of the group, on the fringes of the goodbye. Two hours after the end, and the human had already roped the Owl Lady into letting Hunter live in her stupid owl house, and also somehow run around hugging pretty much everyone. And then she’d stepped through the mirrors that were all that remained of the realm-merge between her world and theirs, and not come back since.

She had, indeed, promised to return. But that was hours ago; that was yesterday. The mirrors are gone and no doors remain. And Hunter does not put much faith in promises.

“And when,” he asks the Owl Lady, a little lofty, a little snide. “When, exactly, do you think she’s coming back?”

The Owl Lady’s eyes narrow. Her lips press thin. For a moment he thinks she might snap at him, but then her shoulders slump, and in the end she just looks away.

“I don’t know,” the Owl Lady admits.

Useless, Hunter thinks. But he doesn’t say it. Just nods and turns away to head back upstairs and make that stupid dusty storage room somewhat presentable, because if he’s going to be staying here for—for—for whatever amount of time he ends up staying here, he’s going to breathe actual air instead of dust, thanks.

“Remember, kid! House rules!”

“Yeah, yeah,” Hunter says, and teleports back up the stairs without a single glance back.

Hunter manages to shove all the junk into one corner and make the start of a fairly presentable bed in the other corner by the time the human re-arrives in the Boiling Isles and throws open his door hard enough to smack it against the wall.

“You took my advice!” shouts the human, at the top of her lungs.

“Hiiiiii,” says Hunter, hands over his ears. The human takes a deep breath. Hunter closes the door in her face. “Byeeee.”

“Hey!”

“Why are you yelling.”

“I can’t believe you’re here!”

It’s just nonsensical enough to get him to open the door. Why does this always happen to him? Why is the human like this? “You said I should come here! You said—”

“Psh,” says the human and flaps a hand in his face. Hunter stops mid-word, gritting his teeth, practically feeling his whole face turn bright red with rage. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way! I just— I didn’t think you would actually listen! But you’re here!” She’s beaming. Hunter looks away. Her smile fades. “…Are you okay?”

He can’t sleep. His eyes are hot and burning like he wants to cry and he has no idea why. His uncle is dead.

“No,” he tells her. “No one in this house dusts. I’ve forgotten what air tastes like.”

“Psh-haw! I’m sure it's not that…” The human steps inside, inhales, and chokes. “Oh. Ay Dios mío. Wow, this room has not been dusted.”

“I noticed!”

“Oh, man.” She hides her nose in her elbow and sidles outside again. She’s wearing her weird human clothes and her palisman staff strapped to her back. She looks tired, and a little like she has no idea what she’s doing here either. She lingers in the door almost awkwardly, rolling back and forth from her heels to her toes.

Hunter watches her for a long moment. “You came back.”

“Haha. What gave it away?” But the smile she gives is small and blinding, brighter than the sun. “Watch this.”

“Watch wha—” The human lifts her hand and trails it through the air, dragging her fingers down in a straight line. Golden light follows her fingers. It breaks the air like a fractured mirror, a rift sparking to life in the hallway, the dark greens and blues of a galaxy intertwined with a burning glow. Hunter’s voice dies in his throat.

“If I push at it, it opens. Like a door. It leads me right home.” She’s smiling so wide it must hurt. The portal almost seems to whisper; the golden glow of the rift shines in her eyes and catches on her face, still tear-streaked. The human’s cried over this. She’s right to. The human world and the Boiling Isles—she has found a way to keep both.

Presumably he thinks he should be jealous. Instead he finds himself smiling too. “I’m glad,” Hunter tells her. “That’s… pretty cool.”

“Right!?” She bounces on her heels and waves a hand through the rift, dismissing it into nothing. “I can’t wait to show Amity. And Eda. And King. And you! The human world is—it’s amazing. The rain doesn’t kill you even a little bit!”

It takes sudden effort to keep up the smile. “…I’ve heard.”

“Anyway, I just came by to say hi. Eda said you were here, and—” She stops, visibly hesitating. Her head lowers. “I know… I know this must be hard. And that we aren’t really friends. But… if you need anyone to talk to… I’m here.” She peeks up her head a little, grinning. “After all, we’re house buddies now!”

“Human,” Hunter says. Her nose wrinkles. He sighs. “Luz.”

“Yeah?”

There’s so much he could say that for a moment he has no idea where to start. Why did you think this was a good idea. Please stop talking. Why are you so insistent that we could be friends. I didn’t say I was staying here for long. I’m very tired. You’re bizarrely forgiving. My uncle is dead because of you.

“…Thanks,” he says. “And— I’m sorry.”

Luz blinks at him. Then she grins. “Noooo problem, ol’ buddy ol’ pal!”

Hunter shoves her stupid smiling face away and closes the door on her toes. Luz yelps and swears and kicks at the door, and yells rude things in that other human language of hers. “Byeeeee,” Hunter says, and behind the closed door, Luz makes a muffled noise of rage and shouts, “Would you stop saying that!?”

And it doesn’t make things better but it doesn’t make things any worse, either, and when Hunter turns away he is almost smiling—so maybe it’s okay.

The sun sets. The dusty room has been aired out to its best ability, and Hunter has made a somewhat functional and comfy-looking bed in the corner. A sticky note with the boiling sea + ice = human rain idea has been ceremoniously pinned to the empty wall space. In addition to the sticky notes, Luz has donated his “sad, bad boy room” what looks to be a dying houseplant. Hunter suspects she gave it to him purely because she has despaired of trying to keep it alive herself.

He puts the plant on the windowsill. The palisman apparently loves it. Maybe he should find red tulips for it to eat. Whatever a red tulip is.

He settles next to the palisman on the windowsill, and strokes its head with his finger. He feels strangled and small and the sunset looks alien to him. Everything has changed. Everything is over. He is a powerless witch with a wild magic staff, and he will never be the Golden Guard again.

His eyes burn. He blinks fast. Far down below, he can hear the Owl Lady and Luz arguing over dinner.

“I still don’t know what I’m doing here,” Hunter tells the palisman. The sunset makes all the trees look shadow-like and sharp, outlined in red. It reminds him of his palisman, a little bit. “I don’t even like these people. What do you think? Is it too late to head back and dig myself a grave in the rubble?”

I’m happy I know you, chirps the palisman. It hops from the dying houseplant to the top of his head. I love you, I love you.

His throat feels tight. “…That still isn’t a real answer.”

I want apple blood for breakfast tomorrow. The palisman nibbles at his hair. It looks tasty.

He’s quiet for a long moment. Then he closes his eyes. “Okay. If— if you say so.”

The sun is setting, and the light is warm on his face. The Boiling Isles feels, for once, almost something like peaceful. It probably won’t last.

“We’ll stay.”

#toh #the owl house #owl house #toh hunter #toh golden guard #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #hunter owl house #owl house fic #toh fic #fic: who we are in the aftermath #fic update

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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 2/5: Settling In

Ch 1

Ao3

Hunter woke up facedown on a couch. His back ached and throbbed, and he felt weak all over. Ugh—

“Hello!”

Hunter yelped as a bird—worm—thing—stuck its head in his face.

“Luuuuuuuz, he’s uuuuuuuup!”

The human shooed the bird-worm-thing out of Hunter’s face. “Hey! Get out of his personal space, Hooty!”

Hunter groaned, putting his face back in the couch. “Where am I?”

“The owl house,” Luz replied casually.

Hunter yelped again, rolling off of the couch. “I can’t be—” the movement sent spikes of pain hammering through his nerves, and his vision went spotty. His stomach heaved, and he retched, shaking. “Hngh—”

“Whoa, hey!” Luz knelt next to him. “You can’t be moving around! You just got stabbed, for titan’s sake, Hunter!”

“Remember!” the owl lady’s voice called from another room, “You’re cleaning up after him, Luz!”

Hunter’s face heated up. “I don’t—need—to be taken care of—”

He tried to push himself up, but another wave of pain swept over him, and everything went black for a minute. When he woke up again, he was back on the couch, Luz crouching next to him.

“You really shouldn’t move. Viney said it’s going to take time for your back to heal, and it would be… really bad… if you ripped out your stitches.”

“Take me back to the Emperor’s palace. Now.”

“See?” the owl lady said, poking her head in, “He agrees! Take the twerp back.”

“I’m not taking him back,” Luz said, exasperated, as if they’d been having this argument for a while. She turned back to Hunter. “I’m not taking you back. I’m going to keep you here, where you’re safe, until you’re better. Kikimora has it out for you, and you’re in no state to fight her off.”

“What else is new—I can handle Kikimora, I just—”

Luz pressed down on his shoulders as he tried to get up again. “Quit being so stubborn! You can’t handle her right now, you can’t even walk! What was the point of coming to me for help if you won’t let me help you!”

“I didn’t go to you for help, I went to you because if I didn’t warn you, Kikimora would have killed both of us and gotten the Emperor’s sole attention!”

Luz leaned back. “The emperor… isn’t a good guy, Hunter.”

Hunter looked away. “You wouldn’t get it.”

“No, I don’t.” Luz sighed. “Why did the emperor send you after me?”

Right. There it was. The real reason she’d saved him. “’m not telling.”

“What?! Seriously?! I saved your life!”

“I didn’t ask you to.”

“You were bleeding out in front of me! What was I supposed to do, just let you die?!”

“Yes.”

Luz paused and stared at him. “Wait, what?”

Hunter looked away, a sick feeling churning in his stomach. “I failed, again—you’re free, and I’m not even close to getting you back to the emperor. My own coven member tried to kill me outright—no subtlety, no monster attacks, just stabbed me in the back and planned to pin it on you. And now I’ve been captured by the person who I was supposed to be capturing.” He buried his face in the couch. “You should have just let me die,” he mumbled, muffled by the couch.

Luz didn’t say anything for a minute, and then gently touched his shoulder. “Hunter? I wasn’t ever going to let you die.”

“No, because you’re ‘too nice,’” he grumbled, “I get it. Fine. You’re the good guy, I’m the bad guy, is that what you want to hear? Just… leave me alone. Please.”

“Okay,” Luz said quietly, “if that’s what you really want.”

Her footsteps padded away, and Hunter tried one more time to get up, but a wave of dizzy exhaustion swept over him, and he flopped back down.

The owl lady came through, making an “I’m watching you,” gesture as she left, and he sighed. Okay. He just had to be patient. He could ride this out, pretend to be helpless longer than he really was, nab the human, expose Kikimora, bada-bing, bada-boom, everything would be perfect.

Wait.

A bolt of panic shot through Hunter, and he rolled off of the couch, adrenaline battling exhaustion and pain.

“Whoa, hey, there, you can’t—” Hooty started, but Hunter shoved the bird’s face away with a groan, stumbling towards the door.

“I have—to go—back—”

“Luz!” the house demon called, “Your sad friend is trying to escape!”

“I KNEW it!” the owl lady’s voice yowled, and Hunter was on the ground in two seconds flat. He screamed as she put pressure on his back, his vision wavering out. “You were just pretending to be hurt to get in here!” the owl lady continued, “And you were planning to—oh, beans, you weren’t pretending, you just have no sense of self-preservation, titan, kid, what were you thinking, I coulda killed you!”

Hunter whimpered, blinking spots out of his eyes as she climbed off of him. He retched at the pain, his back screaming in agony.

Luz came tearing down the stairs two at a time, skidding to a halt next to them. “Edaaaa! What happened?!”

“He was making a break for it!” Eda replied defensively, “He is a quick little bugger when he wants to be!”

“Huuuunteeeer!” Luz groaned, “You can’t go anywhere, how did you even get off of the couch, you literally got stabbed today!”

“My palisman,” Hunter gasped, “It’s—all alone—” he struggled to get back up, blinking back tears. “I have—to go back—for—”

Luz grabbed his shoulders. “No. Your palisman wouldn’t want you hurting yourself. It’ll be fine for a while.”

Hunter shook his head. “No—have to—”

“You’re not going anywhere, Hunter, you wouldn’t even make it to Bonesborough.”

“It’s true,” Hooty chimed in, “The funny little demon lady is lurking out there. She isn’t getting any closer right now, but if you go out there… you’re toast!”

Hunter clutched Luz’s arm, barely holding back tears. She didn’t get it! “I can’t—leave it—”

Luz put a hand on his arm. “Okay. If it really means that much to you… I’ll go get it.”

Eda shook her head. “Absolutely not, Luz, that creep is out for you, too!”

Right. That was it, then. Luz wouldn’t let him leave to get his palisman, and Eda wouldn’t let Luz leave.

Then Luz did a. Thing. With her face. A strange pouty thing, where she made her eyes really big at Eda. The owl lady sighed.

“Oh, geeze, don’t make that—ahhhh, Luz. Okay. Here’s the deal. I will send Owlbert to check on the palisman. If it’s safe enough, Owlbert will tell the Golden Dork’s palisman what’s going on and where he is. Everyone okay with that?”

Luz threw her arms around Eda. “You’re the best!”

“I know,” Eda grumbled, “Now take care of your dumb Belos-ite, he looks like he’s going to pass out.”

Xxx

Hunter was drifting off to sleep when it happened.

Kikimora appeared in front of him. “There you are.”

He yelped, struggling up, but his back throbbed and he fell back down.

“Consorting with traitors now, are we? I never thought you’d stoop this low.”

“Bold—words—coming from a backstabber,” Hunter gritted out, “Just—finish it—then.”

Kikimora swiped her claws at him, but they went right through. “I’m not really here, or you’d be dead already. You’re a persistent little worm, though, aren’t you?”

“That’s my middle name. Persistent little worm.”

Kikimora traced one translucent claw in a circle. “I haven’t figured out how to get past the house demon yet. But I will. And when I do, you are a sitting duck, and your little human friend will be next. Look at you. You’re pathetic. You can’t even move.”

Hunter swiped a hand through the illusion, gritting his teeth as the movement made his back throb.

“Hunter?” Luz was standing in the doorway, holding a bowl of something steaming and a juicebox. “Is… everything okay?”

Hunter gestured to the air where Kikimora had just been. “Didn’t you see her?!”

“See who, Hunter?”

“Kikimora! Or—a projection of her! She was right there!”

Luz set down the bowl and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. “Uh-oh. Feels like a fever.”

“She was there, I saw her, I talked to her—”

“Hunter, I didn’t see anyone.”

“I’m not crazy!”

She sat down next to him. “I didn’t say you were. But you do have a fever, and you lost a lot of blood, and you haven’t eaten, and you’re probably tired, and you’re in a new place—”

“Don’t patronize me! I know what I saw!”

To his surprise, Luz nodded. “Okay. I’ll have Hooty check the perimeter, and I’ll call Gus—he’d know more about illusion magic than I would.”

“Really?”

“Of course.” Luz patted his head as she got up, ignoring his growl. “I said you’d be safe here, Hunter. If you saw Kikimora, if she projected herself in here, then I’ll look into it.”

He eyed her. “This doesn’t change anything. I’m still not going to tell you any information.”

“I know. And… that’s okay.” Luz took in a deep breath. “As much as I’d like to know what Belos is up to, it wouldn’t be fair to put you in that position. I decided to help you because it was the right thing to do, not because of any information you could give me. This isn’t a business transaction—you don’t owe me anything.” She gave his head another pat, and walked off.

She was making it really hard to want to capture her and bring her to Belos.

No. What was he thinking?! After the disaster this had been so far? There was a snowball’s chance that he’d be going back empty handed.

You don’t have to go back at all, a tiny, treacherous voice whispered in the back of his head. He squashed the idea. Of course he was going back! The only reason he’d thought that was because Kikimora would be there. And… he didn’t want to see her again, not the least because she’d attempted to kill him twice. Three times if you counted Eclipse Lake. Yes. That was it. Plus, he had to go back for his palisman, anyway. It might be okay hiding out on its own for a bit until he healed, but he certainly didn’t want to abandon it there forever.

He heard a low, worried warble, and Owlbert flew in, his own cardinal right behind him. Hunter sort of hated how much relief and happiness swept over him when he saw the bird, but he lifted one hand for the palisman to perch on anyway.

The cardinal hopped up his arm, and nestled into his hair with a chirp that Hunter took to mean ‘Hi.’

“Hey, there.”

The palisman snuggled down, gripping his scalp with its tiny claws. Hunter winced.

“Hey, ow!”

It chirped fiercely at him about how he needed to be more careful.

“I got stabbed in the back by my coworker, there wasn’t much I could do about it!”

“Awwww, that’s adorable!”

Hunter groaned as Luz came back in, fawning over the palisman. “What do you want?”

“Just checking in.” She made kissy faces at Hunter’s palisman. “Awwww, he’s curled up in your hair like a blonde nest, that’s so cuuuuuuuuuute!” She pulled out a rectangle and pointed it at him, tapping her side of it. “Say cheese!”

“Hey—heyyyyy, what was that? What was that?”

Luz made another kissy face at his palisman, and turned the rectangle around to show him an image of himself, his palisman firmly rooted in his hair. Wow, he looked awful. “Look how cute the two of you are—best buddies for life! I’m gonna show Amity! She can’t possibly still think you’re going to kill me in my sleep after she sees this!”

“Do not—don’t you dare show Blight that picture!” Hunter swiped at the phone, yelping as his back throbbed.

Luz skipped backwards. “Ehehehe, still too slow!” She grabbed her cloak, heading for the door. “Edaaaa, I’m going to the library, don’t kill Hunter while I’m gooooone!”

“No proooooomiseeeees,” Eda called back, “Have fun, watch out for Kikimora!”

Luz ran out the door. Hunter put his face back in the couch while his palisman chirped comfortingly, wiggling down further into his hair. Never mind. He wouldn’t regret turning that human in to Belos one bit.

Ch 3

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #toh hunter #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #lil rascal

48 notes · View notes

toricrypticice · 3 years

Text

The Golden Scarred

CHAPTER THREE (Fixed Perspective)

“Wait what?” Hunter nervously glances at the Owl Lady gulping. “Uh I don’t think that's-“ He looks back to where Luz was “and she's gone” He grumbles.

He glances back at the older woman feeling nervous and a bit uneasy. He fumbles slightly, his vision blurring. He yelps when his vision focuses in time to see Eda reach towards his face. He tenses, shutting his eyes tightly waiting for the expected blow. Eda frowns as the male flinches back. Rolling her eyes as she sighs.

“Relax kid, I'm not gonna hurt ya. Got no magic to anyways” Eda jokes, resting her hand against his hot forehead to which; he lets out a pathetic whimper leaning into her cool hand before growling, grabbing her wrist and pulling away. He opens his eyes looking angry for showing weakness.

“Don’t. Touch. Me. “ Hunter says through clenched teeth as he glares at the female, he sits up straighter as to intimidate her. Eda just stares,

Hunters’ grip felt ..so weak.

She frowns, concerned as she watches him shakily let go, holding his head in pain as he gets another dizzy spell.

Hunter frowns as his head spins, wishing more than anything to just disappear from here, of course he’d get left with this wild witch when he was in such a state. He needed to get out of here and figure out how to redeem himself.

“Okay okay. Look I just have to clean the cuts on your face, is that alright?” Eda says calmly, her eyes glancing to his torso where he shielded what looked like a worse injury from what the dark-stained shirt could tell her. She looks back to the males eyes offering a gentle smile. Hunter was confused but kept a harsh glare on the female.

No one ever asked him if it was alright with him before.

The question made him feel off and wrong.

In the emperor's coven he was used to things just happening, he didn’t get a choice.

But what made his stomach turn was the offer for someone to help with his wounds.

It was unheard of!

Getting hurt was a sign of weakness the Emperors coven didn’t get the luxury to enjoy.

Especially Hunter.

If anyone got hurt they were expected not to show any weakness, hide away if they had to.

But Hunter's confusion seems to leave him as he remembers who she was.

The Owl Lady.

The once most powerful witch on the isle.

She uses wild magic.

She was a crook.

She wasn’t to be trusted.

It was almost laughable that he almost fell for it.

“No I don’t want your help” Hunter mutters angrily as he looks away rolling his eyes at the female. Eda couldn’t help but snort, causing the male to glance back quickly looking a bit more agitated, his face going slightly red, even the tips of his ears burning as Eda laughs at him. He lets out a slight growl clenching his teeth.

“Alright. alright, how about this then? I’ll give you the supplies and you clean them? “ Eda smirks confidently. Hunter nods slowly, almost unsure, confused. This was some kind of trick right?

He narrows his eyes at her trying to read her eyes for any type of clue.

This had to be a trick.

The Owl Lady practiced wild magic.

Wild magic is dangerous ergo so was The Owl Lady.

“Good!” Hunter snaps with attitude before taking the first aid kit from her hands aggressively, a bit too quickly, his head spinning at the rapid movement. He bites his lip.

If he ignored the dizziness then he could do this,

yeah?

Yeah.

He’d done this for himself plenty of times in the coven.

This wasn’t any different.

And as his Uncle always told him, things like this would only make him stronger.

He lets out a breath and picks up a bottle of what he hoped was the cleanser. He holds it close to his face trying to read the contents as his vision blurs again, his head suddenly pounding worse making his stomach do a somersault. He overall did not feel good. He just wanted to lay down and forget all this.

He shakes his head grumbling, almost dropping the bottle as he blinks to try to sort his vision.

Eda watches the male smirking, knowing he would give in any second.

Hunter gulps as his vision focuses, he can feel The Owl Ladys’ gaze and he couldn’t help but glance her way seeing the smug expression.

This causes his face to turn slightly red in embarrassment, the blush spreading to the tips of his ears as he growls loudly.

‘She knew!’

‘She knew he couldn’t do it’

‘She just wanted to rub it in his face!’

Hunter felt angry as his thoughts screamed.

“Fine! I need your help!” Hunter snaps bitterly, he spat out the word ‘help’ in distaste, grumbling as he looks away from the Owl Lady with a scowl.

Eda chuckles “Ha Don’t worry about it kid” she smiles softly before getting a clean cloth ready. She dabs it slightly on the area below and around his eye. Hunter gasps slightly before he bites his tongue to keep from whimpering, the area stinging.

“Warn me next time “ he huffs “A-and stop calling me kid” He mutters through gritted teeth trying to hold onto what little dignity to the coven he had left.

He was the golden guard.

He just-.. needed to earn the title back.

He shudders softly, his fingers gripping onto the couch, trying his best not to show weakness as he sits completely still.

Though Eda seemed to take notice of the tense witch.

“Just relax,” She reassures. Hunter glares at her frowning .

“I. am. relaxed. “ He pauses, taking a breath, feeling agitated.

She was teasing him on purpose,

Unbelievable

“You’re just clearly bad at this!” Hunter bites back before he can stop himself, his eye throbbing badly from the stress.

Eda clicks her tongue, shaking her head about to say something and then stopping with a heavy sigh putting the cloth down.

Hunter felt his heart skip a beat in terror but he didn't dare move as his eyes twitch slightly with fear.

He was going to be punished for talking back wasn’t he?

His breath stopped short and he bows his head quickly.

“I apologize. It won’t happen again” the reply came swift before Eda could even open her mouth, like Hunter was used to biting his tongue and apologizing.

And titan, he was.

Or at least when he was stupid enough to get mouthy.

But he learned very quickly not to get mouthy with Belos..

Eda frowns, feeling bad for the kid. Belos really did torture them in the emperors coven huh? She felt bad for when she assumed they had everything handed to them. That they were Belos’ star children and were loved unconditionally even if they fucked up. They were his coven after all. But Eda realized now how stupidly naïve she was to think such a thing. The Emperor really was merciless, and with his own nephew too? She could really tell Belos did a number on the boy. Faded scars lined his arms, not to mention his cheek and clipped ear. And now there was the damage from the days prior. Belos was a monster.

“Look, kid, seriously relax. If we were going to hurt or turn you in we would have done it already” Eda hums, joking to lighten the mood. But when she notices Hunter is still tense she sighs out “but like we won’t, you’ve been through a lot plus we’re criminals” she assures gently. Continuing to clean the area around his eye, being careful going a bit slower this time. Hunter scoffs, rolling his eyes looking away. Her words annoyed the male, he didn’t need her pity.

“Wooow I feel so much safer “ He mutters sarcastically but his shoulders seem to actually relax, only tensing slightly every now and again.

But Eda was right.

They all could have done away with him easily, especially during his episode. And it’s not like they really could turn him in anyway if they wanted to, they all had their own wanted posters. Though he had expected these wild witches to be harsh with him, much like Belos was. But so far The Owl Lady’s touches weren’t harmful or ill intended.

She was just …

taking care of him.

This left a bitter taste in his mouth. He gulps feeling guilty for the small part of him that enjoyed it.

Eda carefully wraps the area, being gentle. Hunter couldn’t help but let a soft smile grace his features.

This was..

...Different.

To have someone else clean his wounds and not himself for a change.

To have someone be gentle and caring with him.

It was kind of…

Nice.

“Thank you for your assistance Ms. Clawthorne..” Hunter mumbles softly, maintaining his composure as he straightens his back letting his smile fall.

“No problem but you can just call me Eda kid. “ She laughs softly.

Hunter looks away embarrassed as he rubs the back of his neck. He wasn’t used to getting help.

It felt so..

Unnatural.

And for this witch of clearly high rank to want him to call her Eda.

This all made his stomach turn.

This wasn’t right.

His mind kept screaming ‘Run get out!’

Eda was the ene—The Owl Lady!!

The Owl Lady was the enemy.

He growls as he has to mentally correct himself. He couldn’t use their names. That would only make him get attached- not that he could get attached to these lowlifes.

Comfortable. He wouldn’t get comfortable. And he knew he wouldn’t fall for whatever façade The Owl Lady was pulling.

Eda ties off the bandage.

He was tired and glad this was all over. He could go back to his cave and -

“ Alright onto the next one.” Eda hums but frowns as she watches the color drain from the small males face, his eyes widening as a few beats of sweat fall from his brow.

Hunter coughs, grabbing his side, clenching his teeth at the feeling as it throbs badly.

Dammit why did he let himself believe it was over?

He let his guard down!

He felt angry but more nervous about Eda looking at something a bit more serious.

His vision swims as he looks back at the female and he shakes his head.

“Er um how about we don’t and I leave?” Hunter laughs nervously looking down, fumbling as he scoots back slightly looking uneasy. He sits straight as he remembers his status. He couldn’t show he was scared. “I-I’ve overstayed my welcome long enough” he says strictly trying to hide his fear.

Eda frowns, she knew that meant it was most likely really bad and with the fever the boy had...

She really needed to look at it.

“Kid I just need to take a small peek I promise I won’t hurt ya as I said before“ Eda reassured and yet Hunter felt more nervous..

Could- Could he actually trust her?

No, No of course not!

But on the other hand ..

This was more serious…

Then again..

But Belos had always taught him to keep his guard up, even in friendly company..

Rascal pecks his leg, tweeting loudly.

“Ow hey!” Hunter growls startled. He scoffs at the bird as he glares at the boy.

He hated to admit that he did need her help and he hated that he had to show it.

He hadn’t really looked at it since— what happened..

He gulps, deciding he had no choice (like usual), he shakily starts to remove his shirt, wincing badly as it barely grazes the area on his torso.

Edas’ frown worsened when Hunter revealed the darkly red-stained cloth wrapped tightly around his torso.

Hunter coughs a bit harshly, feeling his vision swim again. He closes his eyes to steady himself.

Eda watches, having to stop herself from moving forward to help the male knowing he needed time to adjust to them.

But she felt so worried, she just wanted to help him.

Hunter looked so weak.

So tired.

So Pale.

So frail.

The Golden Guard was but a small child.

And He did not look well.

Eda hated herself for caring but.. she couldn’t really believe it.

The Golden Guard.

One of the Heads of The Coven

A child.

Just a child.

And Belos did all of this.

To a child

She felt angry.

So angry.

She couldn’t believe Belos would-!

well yes she could but she was just shocked he’d do such a thing to family. She felt sorry for the boy.

Hunter opens his eyes slowly before carefully starting to peel the bandage off. He gasps loudly, clenching his jaw as he pulls the stuck gauze from his flesh. A few tears started to build, blurring his vision and he quickly blinks them back. The fabric almost seemed sealed to his skin as he rips it off, blood dripping down his stomach. Hunter’s breath hitches as he finally tears it off, a small whimper leaving him as he shields the area gritting his teeth, shaking slightly.

It hurt

It hurt so much.

“Hunter?” Eda moves her hand to his shoulder carefully before rubbing his back softly, concerned.

Hunter shutters softly at the small touch but nods.

“Sorry I know i just- right” Hunter didn't feel ready but he slowly removed his hands revealing the giant gash in his side which was bleeding a bit badily and now oozing a small bit. His stomach flips and He feels a slight tickle in his throat, he coughs harshly before he quickly supports the area after the first cough, a strained sound escaping him, a few tears falling as well. His side pulsing with every cough that shook his being.

”Ah mm ah ahh” He grips the area, slightly his vision swimming. The pressure the cough created made the pain a bit unbearable, he shudders.

He just wanted to give up at this point. Just lay down. It hurt too much. But he knew he needed to suck it up.

“S-Sorry” he shakily removed his now blood stained hand slowly, his voice was soft and his eyelids shook weakly. He bites his lip nervously as his side pulses again but he grips the couch instead.

Eda felt her heart break at the sight.

“Stop apologizing already, Look before we start, because won't lie that looks real bad, if i gave you some sleeping nettles and maybe some-”

“No.” Hunter's reply came fast and stern, Eda seemed a bit taken back by this. She pauses as she looks at the male confused.

Was he used to high end healing?

Eda didn’t really have anything like that.

“Look i know its no healing spell or healing potion but it can help you-”

“If you had healing potions i wouldn’t take those either” Hunter rolls his eyes as if it were obvious and she was an idiot for even thinking of offering. He glances down at the hole in his side gulping uneasily.

Eda looks confused but then frustrated.

“Hunter, why are you being so difficult?” Eda groans in slight annoyance, I mean when she found out about her elixirs she had been so happy to find something to help her deal with the owl beast curse.

So why was this young witch, who’s clearly in immense physical pain, take nothing to help deal with the issue?

But Hunter only seemed confused by The Owl Lady’s question.

“Belos says that truly strong witches don't need such trifle things”. Hunter states matter-of-factly gripping the couch cushion. “I mean how will I truly get stronger with assistance?” He laughs and scoffs as he shakes his head at the woman who stares in disbelief.

Eda stopped and stared for a moment. It was painful to watch the male suffer, she felt angry that Belos had fooled the boy so well. The fact that he fully believed such a thing.

“Hunter, you don’t have to suffer to get better or to get stronger! that's not how this works.” Eda seemed exasperated that she even had to explain this to the young male.

How dare Belos!

She felt so so angry but sad as she stared at the clueless child.

“J-just let me get my magic nettles cream at least so I can numb the area slightly before its cleaned. You're lucky to be alive with no stitches-“

“S-Stitch” Hunter gulps feeling a bit sick at just the thought and he quickly shakes his head. “I-i really don't think that would have been necessary i mean look,” he looks down at his oozing, festering wound “its- not that bad” he says quickly, his voice cracking making it not so convincing. He felt a bit sick to his stomach just looking at the wound, dizzy. He looks back at the woman smiling.

Eda stares at him blankly.

Hunter frowns as he realizes she is not buying it.

“Okay yeah stitches probably were the best idea but” he mumbles defeated, putting his head down staring at his hands as they shake slightly. He really didn’t like stitches, back when he got his nick in his ear he fainted mid-stitch and well he didn’t really remember anything else beside the panic of having a chunk of his ear missing when he woke up. Hunter lets out a shaky breath.

“Alright relax kid and lay back “ Eda grabs her cream unscrewing the cap. Hunter gulps carefully laying on his back, gasping in pain as his side throbs. He bites his lip before gulping.

“We’ll numb the area first then i’ll start cleaning”

Eda hums walking him through the process

“Yeah yeah okay whatever” Hunter mumbles less bite in his words. He felt tired and he was in so much pain.

Eda carefully spreads the cream, it glows bright yellow as Hunters body absorbs it.

“Ah-“ He gasps gripping a nearby pillow.

“Now before we continue you sure you don’t want some sleeping nettles or-“ Eda hums careful wetting a cloth with cleaner.

“No I don’t need anything else I’m sure it's fine” he mumbles lying.

Hunter's hands balled into fists at his sides, feeling scared.

No no he was The Golden Guard.

He scoffs at himself letting out a breath as he releases his tight grip.

“Alright well then do it” He snaps slightly.

Eda couldn’t help but chuckle at the boys agitation, it reminded her a lot of herself.

“Alright alright sheesh kid” she rolls her eyes before gently cleaning around the wound first.

The male immediately tenses badly, his breath hitching as his eyes widen. He shakes his head shutting his eyes trying to maintain any of his composure. The Owl lady stops slightly. “Numbing cream will only go so far. Are you sure you don’t-“

“No! just clean the stupid gash!” Hunter growls, cutting her off with a snap as he glares..

Eda frowns but sighs softly. “A-alright “ she says a bit shakily. “But you asked for it” he carefully touches the actual area starting to clean but Hunter fully sits up covering his mouth as he cries out in pain, tears blurring his vision before he scoots away putting his legs up to block his stomach.

Eda puts her hands up immediately, eyes wide. She had expected a reaction but-

Hunter grits his teeth as a sob escapes his person and he looks down shamefully.

Eda clicks her tongue sighing.

“Kid?” Eda tries gently.

“I’ll take the magic assistance..” His shoulders sink in defeat as he gives in disgracefully.

Oh what Belos’ would say..

Eda seemed a bit taken back.

“A-Alright”

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#the golden scarred #the golden guard #toh #the owl house #the owl lady #eda the owl lady #eda #hunter #hunter toh

40 notes · View notes

takerfoxx · 3 years

Text

The Owl House, Season 2, Episode 1, "Stranger Tides," First Impressions!

Yo ho, yo ho, it's a pirate's whaler's life for Luz!

Now, if you'll recall, a common problem I ran into while reviewing season 1 is that while I was definitely enjoying it, it was so episodic that I often found it difficult to find something new to say about each episode. There wasn't a whole lot carrying over from one episode to the next that I could really sink my teeth into and fill out a full review, with the plot not really kicking in until the final two episodes.

Fortunately, I did not have that problem here, and now that season 2 has started, I have PLENTY to say about its debut episode.

So, this is what you'd expect for the first episode of the new season, an episode basically intended to bring everyone up to speed on how the characters are dealing with the ramifications of the previous season and introduce a few new elements that will set the tone for the season to come.

And basically, things at the Owl House are...not really great. I mean, sure, everyone got away and it looks like Emperor Belos hasn't really made their recapture a priority (most likely deliberately), but thanks to Lilith deciding to share Eda's curse to neutralize it, they both have found themselves powerless. They're not completely without magic, but what they have left is so meager to be practically useless. All expect for Eda's detachable limbs. Those still work. For Luz, as she never had magic to begin with and had to work extra hard to get around that handicap and find ways to keep up with everyone else, that means she's suddenly the breadwinner of the family, the one with the most power despite living with two (previously) notoriously powerful witches, and thus has taken up bounty hunting (sort of ironic, if you ask me). For Lilith, that means coming to terms with losing literally everything important to her, from her power to her position as the Emperor's Coven's poster girl, having been replaced by a spoiled teen prodigy (and oh, ho, ho, we will get to him!) as well as her own feelings of guilt for having cursed Eda in the first place.

Actually, guilt is the main motivator in this episode. Luz feels guilty for having gotten Eda trapped and that Eda now has to prioritize what little money they have for Luz's sake, which motivates her to take on more and more dangerous bounties to try to make it up to her. And Lilith feels rotten for the curse and that the fix ended up sapping Eda's powers, so she's driven to find some way of making herself useful, which fills out this episode's A-plot and B-plot.

Meanwhile, Eda herself is...handling things like a champ, actually. Sure, she's not thrilled about losing her power, nor does she care for the sudden dip in respect from the locals as a result, but she's not wallowing in self-pity. No, she's working and innovating, finding ways to adapt and keep ahead of the game. And to rip off the Empire too, because fuck those guys.

So anyway! Let's start with our A-plot: Luz the bounty hunter. She's doing her best to keep her spirits up and keep food on the table, but bounty hunting is a tough job and because everyone knows that Eda is powerless, the bondsman has no problem ripping them off because he knows he can get away with it. Furthermore, with the portal gone, Luz's messages to her mom aren't getting through, which is weighing on her mind.

Okay, we already know that Luz's mom is probably going to get involved this season. I predict that at some point, Emperor Belos completes his repairs of the portal, and when he does, all those unsent message will suddenly spill out all at once, giving good ol' Mama a heart attack.

Sort've serves her right though, because, you know, G-RATED CONVERSION THERAPY!

But anyway, she overhears Eda talking about eschewing her booze in favor of getting Luz food she can actually eat, so she resolves to make it up to her by taking on the biggest bounty of them all, which so happens to be a magical creature called a Selkie-dama, which requires her to join a ship that's setting out to do that so she could get a cut.

A ship that just so happens to be under the command of Lilith's replacement, who also so happens to be the mysterious spy working for Emperor Belos that we met last season, whom we will get to!

Anyway, they fortunately rush through the bit of Luz proving herself to the crew, because who cares, King finds out agent's private room (in a reveal that calls back to a similar scene in Gravity Falls) and gets captured, and they find the Selkie-Dama, in which Luz shows us how far she's come by utterly wrecking shit.

Unfortunately, the bounty is stolen by a mysterious figure, and Luz isn't about to get ripped off again, so she goes after them, only to find that that SURPRISE, it's Eda, who figured she'd cut out the middleman and just steal the bounty directly, because you have to admit that that does make sense.

But anyway, none of that matters, because that's when HE finally is properly introduced.

Hear that? That's the sound of thousands of thirsty fangirls (and quite a few fanboys and fanenbys as well) shrieking.

Meet the Golden Guard. Yes, he's arrogant. Yes, he's sassy as fuck. Yes, he's voiced by Zeno Robinson. And according to his brief appearance in the OP...

HE'S A PALE-HAIRED PRETTY BOY, Y'ALL!!!

So. We now have this season's small antagonist.

And since Luz is the only resident of the Owl House with any real power (Hooty aside, but we'll get to that) and now with Amity as Luz's close friend (more on that later as well), that makes him Luz's new rival! Ooooh, I can smell the Enemies to Lovers fics already!

Yeah, it's gonna be a HUGE ship, but that's no prediction, everyone knew that anyway.

But while I doubt they're actually going to get together (though count on our bi-queen Luz getting smitten once she sees his face), I do smell a redemption arc for this guy. I mean, why would they make him so likeable otherwise?

Yes, he was a jerk, but he was a jerk in an endearingly entertaining sort of way.

But beyond that, I do note that he also has a tech-powered staff (seems to be the same one that held the palisman that Belos fed off of last season, but with an upgrade), and wields the same flesh-based magic as well. Now, his ears do show that he's not a human, but I still wonder if all that tech magic (which has to be manipulating the flesh of the Titan itself) is either a crutch for the magicless or a shortcut for those who want power fast.

Also, in addition to slotting in as Luz's rival, he also has taken Lilith's place as the face of the Emperor's Coven and also uses Eda's "BYYYEEEEE!!!" catchphrase, he's set up to be a foil to just about everybody!

Anyway, he's not here to take them out just yet, but instead forces them to kill the Selkie-dama. They don't, of course, and instead trick him into thinking that they did, but it does show that 1. Emperor Belos is content to leave them be for the moment, and 2. Emperor Belos is seeking the destruction of magical creatures. Huh.

Also, called it on Luz becoming Eda's teacher when it comes to glyphs.

But speaking of rivals and ships, the question over all of this is Amity, who's been MIA with a broken leg for a while. No doubt she's not going to be upset about Luz being stuck in the Boiling Isles, but if Luz does start crushing on Prettyboy Golden Guard, I can see her feel all sorts of upset about that. I still thinking that Lumity is endgame, but now she's got to work for it, and there is going to be angst.

Anyway, our B-plot has Lilith trying to make things up for Eda, by putting together a scrying potion to spy on the Emperor's castle. Nice, will probably be important later, but the real important part, in addition to her getting over her pride (not an easy thing) was the surprisingly touching friendship she's building with Hooty of all people! I didn't see this coming, but they honestly have some great comedic chemistry.

And honestly, I can see it. Lilith's first introduction to Hooty was him opening a can of whoopass on her and her men, and now he does it again to save her from the fire bees. Sure, he's weird and annoying, but he's strong and competent as hell, something that she would naturally respect. I honestly like what they have building, and the Lulu and Hooticifer nicknames were adorable.

And now, onto our brief glimpse of Belos, who still managed to steal the whole damned episode with just a few words. We see he's gone that long, white hair thing going for him, so not a rogue palisman. So, human or shortcut-exploiting conman. Regardless, just as he seems content to leave the Owl House be despite Luz having the key (which will definitely be important later), he also seems aware of the scrying, and has no problem letting it go on.

Okay, this season is shaping up to be a great one. And next episode is an Amity episode, in which her parents meet Luz, so let's fucking GOOOOOOOOOOO!!! on the Lumity teases and oh God NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!! on the awkward cringe comedy that is sure to result!

#the owl house #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #lilith clawthorne #golden guard #hooty #amity blight #lumity #reaction #spoilers

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sergeantsporks · 3 years

Text

Another Shot at Life

Rating: General Audiences, Gen

TW: Child abuse, emotional manipulation

Ao3

Hunter accidentally makes his way into the human realm and can't get back home. But he's discovering that might not be such a bad thing.

Ch 2/7: When Mom’s Not Home

Ch 1

“I’m going to tell Belos.”

Hunter woke up with a gasp, patting the area around him. “Red?!” he rolled off of…a couch? Oh—right. When had he fallen asleep? He remembered being up, trying to brainstorm a way to open the portal, up after Camila and Vee had gone to bed—Vee had pointedly locked her door, as if that could keep him out if he actually wanted to capture her.

His palisman chirped cheerfully. Vee was playing with the bird, and Hunter dove for it, snatching Red away. “Don’t touch him!”

She yipped, scrambling back away from him.

Hunter examined the bird in his hands. Red warbled gently at him, and he leaned back against the couch, rubbing his eyes. Sunlight filtered in through cracks in blinds, and Hunter squinted. “What time is it?”

“Ten-ish.”

Hunter bolted upright. “Ten?!”

“Yeah, how do you sleep in that armor?”

“I can’t sleep until ten, I have—” Hunter growled. “Ten. Why didn’t I wake up?!” He glared at his palisman. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”

His palisman cheerfully tweeted that he didn’t have to wake up at five anymore, and he needed the sleep.

Vee held out a hand for his palisman to fly to, but Hunter put a hand in front of Red before it could go to her. She frowned. “Why would Belos care if you had a palisman, anyway?”

Hunter scooped Red up. “He… doesn’t like wild magic.” He squeezed his palisman close to his chest, and Red chirped softly, as if to reassure him that he was still there. “And… he eats palisman.”

Vee’s eyes widened. “That’s horrible!”

“No it’s not!” Hunter said defensively, “He needs them—it’s not like he eats them because they’re a delicious delicacy.” He scratched Red’s head. “I just… don’t want him to eat this one.”

Vee scooted a little closer, eying him nervously. “I… promise I won’t eat Red. I know basilisks get a bad reputation, but I would never hurt another creature.”

Hunter hated the fact that his hands were trembling so bad, and he shook his head, still cuddling Red to his chest.

Camila came down the stairs, tossing a bundle of cloth down next to Hunter. “Tell me if those fit. They might be a bit big—they used to be Luz’s father’s.”

“I’m keeping my armor on.”

“Aren’t you hot?”

Hunter tugged his cape more firmly around him. “I’m keeping my uniform.”

Camila shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She sat down on the couch. “I know you’re not friends with Luz, but can you tell me anything about her?”

Hunter set Red on his shoulder, curling his knees up to his chest. “Only that apparently she’s the best girlfriend in existence,” he snorted.

Camila gasped. “Luz has a boyfriend?!”

Hunter scooted away from her a bit. “Noooooooo.”

“Luz has a girlfriend?! She didn’t tell me! Oh, that’s so exciting! What’s her name?”

“Amity.”

“Awwww, she’s growing up so fast.”

“She’s… she was nice to me,” he admitted, “Uh…” what else did he know about Luz? “She’s… she’s gotten pretty good at using magic. Even though she’s a human. She’s even going to school. I think maybe she fits in pretty well on the Boiling Isles.”

He could almost immediately sense that he’d said the wrong thing. It was something small—it was always a little detail, a tiny shift that he wasn’t sure how he’d caught—but it was enough to make him scoot further away from the human before her mood made a more obvious change. “I can’t do magic,” he continued as if nothing were wrong, changing the subject, “Born powerless.” He scratched his palisman’s head again. “Red here helps me do magic. So does my other staff.”

Camila nodded absentmindedly. “I’m going to work, now. Thank you, Hunter. Vee, there’s leftovers in the fridge. Teach Hunter how to use the microwave, kay? Be good, both of you.”

The human disappeared out the door, and Vee stood up. “Camila doesn’t want Luz to stay in the boiling isles,” she said softly, “She feels like she failed her. Maybe don’t talk about how much better off Luz is in the isles. It’s… a little upsetting.”

Hunter followed her up the stairs. “Why do you care so much? I mean—why stay here? You can look like anyone. Go anywhere. You don’t have to stay here.”

“I need magic to transform, first of all, and there’s not a lot of it out here, and second of all, I like it here!”

“Not a lot of it?” Hunter echoed, “So there is some out here, though?”

Vee disappeared into her room, closing the door. “Go away.”

“Hey! What did I do to you?”

“Why don’t you ask your emperor,” Vee responded, her voice muffled by the door.

Hunter rolled his eyes. “Okay. Look. You don’t like me. Fine. But the sooner I can find anything that will get me home, the sooner I’ll leave, and you won’t have to see me again.”

The door opened a crack again. “Fine. There’s a guy who collects magic stuff. He curates a museum. If anyone has something that will get you back, it’ll be him.”

“Where do I find him?”

“Trust me, you don’t WANT to find him. He’s dangerous.”

“So am I.”

“I’m serious. If he finds out what you are, he’ll kill you, cut you open—don’t go near him. Wait until nighttime and sneak in, if you have to go at all.”

Hunter pulled up his hood to hide his ears, and Red hid inside, chirping softly. “No offense, but I think I can pass as human a little better than you.”

“No offense, but you stick out like a sore thumb in that outfit. If you’re so determined to get killed, then go ahead. Like I said, he’s the curator at the museum. That’s where he keeps his magical artifacts, too.”

“Great.” Hunter started towards the door.

“Do you know where the museum is?”

“How hard can it be to find?”

Vee chuckled slightly. “Never mind, I don’t have to worry about Jacob killing you. You’ll get hit by a car before you even reach the museum.”

Hunter’s ears burned, and he slammed the door behind him. Right. This would be fine, he just had to get to a high vantage point, and then he could find the museum. Make a mental map of the area. He surveyed his surroundings, then scrambled up onto a trash can, hopping up and using the window frame as a foothold as he grabbed the top of the roof, hauling himself up.

There were buildings as far as he could see—rows and rows of them, neat and orderly.

No wonder Uncle Belos wants to combine the worlds.

Hunter scanned the building, looking for one that looked like it would hold old stuff. Finally, he caught sight of a statue next to a building that didn’t share the uniformity of the other buildings. Bingo. He mapped the streets in his head, plotting turns.

When he got back down off of the roof, Vee was waiting for him. “I’m going with you,” she declared.

“Thought you wanted to stay away from the museum?”

Vee crossed her arms. “I’m not going to go in. But Camila wouldn’t want you to go alone.”

“Go away. I don’t need you to babysit me.”

“I’m not babysitting you. I’m making sure you don’t go around conspiring with Jacob to capture me.”

Hunter started down the road. “For the last time, I’m not even a little bit interested in kidnapping you. You’re not hurting anyone here. Why would I care?”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Vee said sarcastically, following behind him, “Maybe because Belos chased me all the way here?”

Hunter stopped dead in his tracks. “What are you talking about?”

“Seriously? You’re the golden guard, how do you not know about the basilisk experiments?”

That bothered him a lot more than he wanted to say. “Great question. I thought basilisks were extinct?”

Vee walked ahead of him, crossing her arms. “We were. Belos created us.”

“How?!”

“I don’t know, how were you made?”

Hunter rolled his eyes, jogging after her. “Well, you see, Vee, when a mama witch and a papa witch love each other very much—”

“Very funny. Look, I don’t know. Belos didn’t exactly bother shoving his scientific notes into my cage.” She looked back at him. “You really didn’t know?”

Hunter shifted uncomfortably. “I’m head of a whole coven. I don’t keep an eye on every single experiment.” Apparently. But that was Belos’ personal experiment, he didn’t need to know everything—he was head of the emperor’s coven, not the emperor.

“Maybe you should have paid a little more attention to your surroundings, coven head. Belos hurt me, and all of my kind.”

“You think you’re the only one Belos has hurt? You’re not special.” The words popped out of his mouth before he could think, and Vee twisted back to look at him.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I mean—he’s the emperor—he has to punish people who break the rules—I’m just saying—”

“Well, I didn’t break any rules, except by existing, I guess.” Vee replied. She stopped. “Here we go. This is where I stop.”

Hunter gazed up at the broken-down building, then at the statue nearby.

His heart seemed to stop in his chest.

That was—

“Vee,” he asked in a strangled whisper, “Why does this town have a statue of Emperor Belos?”

Vee blinked at him. “What are you talking about?” Then her eyes widened. “You’ve seen the emperor without his mask?!”

“Of course I have, I—why is there a statue of him here, Vee?!”

“I don’t know,” she responded in a hushed voice, “Those are town founders, I think.”

Okay. Belos had been here before—he’d known that. He could ask when he got back. Right now, he needed to focus. “Where is the magic stuff?”

“In a room behind the welcome desk. Watch out for Jacob.”

“I can handle one measly human.”

Hunter pushed open the door. No one was at the desk, so he just walked into the back room. Vee was right—there was a lot of stuff in here. He picked up a training wand. Useless, at least to him. Still he tucked it in his pocket. He blinked at the back wall. It was covered in paper, pictures of the owl lady, in her beast form and regular. He traced the red lines with one finger, skipping over an old sketch. He stopped, going back. The sketch was worn and faded, but he could just make out a cardinal.

“Looks kind of like you,” he remarked to his palisman.

Red tweeted in agreement.

“Hey! You can’t be back here!”

Hunter whirled around, whipping out his coven staff. “Stay back!”

The man wrinkled his nose. “Eh, geeze, you really go out like that? Costume needs work, if you’re a little witch wannabe.”

Hunter’s ears burned. “I am not a witch wannabe! Where did you get this stuff?”

The man gave him a fake smile. “Hey, kiddo, it’s just some costume stuff, don’t worry about it, just come on out into the regular museum, okay? If you’re here for those tarot cards, they all got stolen, I’m sorry.”

“It is not just costume stuff.” Hunter jabbed a finger at the pictures of the owl lady. “I’ve met her. I know what she can do. And I know that you collect magical items.”

“You met her? Okay. Wait. I’m Jacob. You met the owl beast?”

“Yeah, she’s a real pain,” Hunter muttered, edging for the door. Nothing here could help him—and he was pretty sure that this curator guy couldn’t, either.

Jacob moved to block the door. “Hey! Hey, hey, hey! Don’t go!”

“This was a waste of my time. Get out of my way.”

Jacob’s gaze zeroed in on the inside of Hunter’s hood. “Is that…”

Hunter backed up, clutching his staff tightly. “What?”

Faster than he could react, Jacob lunged forward, flipping his hood off. Hunter kicked him, then slammed his staff right into the curator’s stomach. “Get back!” he warned.

Jacob gasped for air. “That cardinal—you look just like—” he rummaged around in a desk drawer, dragging out a sketch of a man with a cardinal on his shoulder. A chill ran down Hunter’s spine. That did look like him. Down to the haircut. What was wrong with this town?!

“What’s that, your creepy fanart?”

Jacob’s face turned a blotchy red. “It is not fanart, it is an artistic interpretation of what our town founder’s face would have looked like based on his statue! And except for your ears and scar, you look just like him! You even have the cardinal! Are you descended from him? Or maybe a clone, sent from Mars, and made to take his place?”

Wow. “Yeeahhh. Unlikely.” Hunter ducked around him. “Thanks for showing me your… whatever that was, but I’m going now.”

Jacob grabbed his arm. “You can’t go!”

Hunter kicked him right between the legs, wrenching away and making a break for the door. Vee was right. This guy was just insane. He slammed the door behind him, jumping over the desk and pushing it against the door. The door opened inward, so it wouldn’t hold him, but it would slow him down. Hunter burst out of the museum doors, tearing down to where Vee was sitting at the base of the statue.

“Time to go!”

Vee jumped up, running after him. “What happened?!”

“He’s crazy!”

“I told you!”

The doors to the museum burst open, and Jacob’s eyes widened when he saw Vee. “YOU!” he howled, and he sprinted after the two of them.

Hunter stopped, turning to face him. “I’ll take care of him.”

Vee backpedaled and grabbed his collar, dragging him forward. “You will not! The object is to not draw attention! Which fighting an adult in the street will most definitely do!” She yanked his hood over his ears. “You’re really bad at this.”

Jacob gave up, winded, halfway down the street. Vee didn’t stop running until they’d gotten back to the house, huffing and puffing.

“I could have handled that guy,” Hunter panted, “Easy.”

“You’re—crazy. Did you find anything that would help you get home?”

“No,” Hunter sulked, “Just a lot of useless junk.”

“Told you. What did you say that made him go after you?”

Hunter shuddered. “He went on and on about how I looked like one of those statue guys.”

“Oh, yeah. He thinks that the town founders got kidnapped and taken to the demon realm by a witch.”

Hunter rubbed his arms. “Not sure he’s wrong about that part.” That statue had looked way too much like Uncle Belos to be a coincidence. “I… guess you’re going to tell Camila about what I did?”

Vee shrugged. “I don’t know. It might come up. We like to talk about our days at dinner. Why?”

Hunter shifted from foot to foot. “No reason.”

Vee gave him an uncomfortably understanding look. “She won’t get mad. She didn’t tell you not to go there. If anything, she’ll be worried.”

“I… I put you in danger, though.”

“I went on my own. You didn’t make me. Actually, I’m pretty sure you told me not to come.”

“I just… Whatever. It doesn’t matter.”

Vee held open the door for him. “Camila isn’t going to hurt you.”

“I never said she would!”

“No, but you were thinking it. I get it. I used to get worried about making her mad, at first. It’s hard to imagine the adults not hurting you. I won’t tell her if you don’t want me to. But Camila’s not like that.”

Hunter’s shoulders stiffened. “I’m not like you. You were an experiment, you were locked up. I’m the head of the emperor’s coven. I wasn’t—I was happy.”

Vee shook her head. “If you say so.”

“I was!” Hunter took a deep breath. “Look, I… I’m sorry. That you were hurt.”

“By Emperor Belos. Your boss.” Vee pressed.

Hunter rubbed his arms. “Y-yeah. Sure. Whatever.”

“He’s… not a good person, Hunter. You know that, right? You ran from him for a reason.”

“I was just—I was scared of getting punished. But I—I shouldn’t have attacked Kikimora. I would have deserved—”

“Why are you defending him?!”

“I’m not you, Vee! Maybe to you he was a horrible tyrant, but to me, he’s the only family I’ve got! He cares about me, Vee. Sometimes he can be harsh, but it’s just because he wants me to be my best self!”

Vee shook her head. “I can’t believe it. You actually think that!”

“Of course I do! Because it’s the truth!”

Vee jabbed a finger at him. “There’s more than one way to lock someone in a cage, Hunter. And I’m starting to think that I got the better bargain.”

Ch 3

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #toh hunter #camila noceda #vee noceda

36 notes · View notes

sergeantsporks · 3 years

Text

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 6/6: Separate Paths

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5

Ao3

Hunter lifted one arm slowly. “Ow.” He lifted it a little more. “Ow.” C’mon—just—a little bit—“Ow.”

“Y’know, if it hurts that much, maybe you shouldn’t do it,” King commented from where he was curled up in Hunter’s lap, “Seems pretty obvious to me.”

“They’re just sore muscles. I have to move them, or they won’t get better.”

“What’re you in such a rush for? Are we really that bad?”

“I can’t be away this long.” Hunter rolled his shoulders with a wince. “What if—what if the emperor is mad that I’ve been away?”

“You got stabbed. I think it’s excusable.”

“Doesn’t matter. I should have found a way to check in.”

King tilted his head, looking up at Hunter. “You have one messed-up life.”

“I do not! I should have called in, told him what happened, or at least let him know that I would be a while. He’ll get worried, he—he needs me for something, he wants to keep me safe.”

“Right. So he sent you off into the woods alone with a stab-happy demon. Certainly sounds like he cares about your well-being.”

Hunter snorted. “Kikimora’s wanted me dead for a while. Belos never finds out, and without any evidence, it’s just my word versus hers. She’s never succeeded, so it doesn’t matter.”

“She almost did this time. Are you sure that your emperor doesn’t want you dead and is looking the other way?”

Kikimora has her intricate little schemes.

Did he know? Was he letting her get away with it for some reason?

Hunter shook his head. “No. You don’t know him at all, you can’t judge him!”

“I can judge him all I want, he tried to kill Eda and Luz! And me!”

“Well, he’s different to me, okay?” He had to stop letting people like Eda and King get into his head—they were the enemy, of course they would say the worst of Belos.

King put his head back down, closing his eyes. “Sure. Whatever you say.”

Xxx

Luz slammed open the door to the owl house, dashing towards the stairs. “I’m going to the library,” she called, “I’ll be back in time for dinner!” Wait. Something had been off down there. She pounded back down the stairs to see King curled up on the couch. “Hey, where’d Hunter go?!”

“Busy breaking his promises,” King grumbled from his spot, “He’s been running around, trying to make himself heal faster by stretching and whatnot.”

“Running around? Viney said—”

“Viney didn’t take into account that he’s stubborn, lives for the emperor, and has a bit of a usefulness complex.”

Luz heard a thump and an ow from upstairs. “…I’m guessing that was him?”

“All day, Luz. All. Day. Thump. ‘Ow.’ Thump. ‘Ow.’ ‘Ow. Ow this hurts.’ If it hurts so much, why doesn’t he just stop!”

“I think that applies to a lot of things in his life,” Luz muttered, thumping back up the stairs. Hunter was hauling himself off of the ground using a doorframe. “What exactly are you doing?”

“Getting better.” Hunter yipped as he lost his grip on the doorframe and fell back down. He held up one finger. “Don’t! Say anything.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Luz replied serenely, “Got somewhere to be?”

“Yeah. Back where I belong.”

Right. She wasn’t even going to get into it this time—even if she didn’t want him going back to the emperor’s coven, she knew that she’d just scare him off if she kept arguing the point. Luz offered him a hand up. “If you’re looking to get some exercise, I was gonna visit Amity in the library. You want to come?”

Hunter accepted her hand, but snorted. “Be in a room with you two lovebirds? Blech. I’d rather dangle above the boiling sea while King sat on my shoulder and begged for crackers.”

Luz pushed his shoulder. “Hey! You could have just said no thank you!” She hopped from one foot to another. “Look, Hunter, I know the last few days have been… odd. I know that being in the Owl House is just about the opposite of what your old life was like. And I know, I know, I know that you want to go back.”

“Yeah, I do.”

“Okay. Yeah. I just… you can come here. If you want. If you need.”

Hunter walked stiffly back towards the stairs. “It doesn’t matter. Because I’m going back home. And I’m not going to come back.”

“But—”

“I get it, okay, Luz, you’re the hero, Belos is the evil tyrant, and I’m—I don’t know—”

“Tragic-faced antihero?” Luz offered.

“Whatever! But I don’t need—” His voice cracked, and he looked down at the ground. “I don’t need your pity or your therapy or whatever it is you’re trying to do here. I have a place where I belong, and maybe it’s not perfect, maybe someone there is trying to kill me, but at least I have a purpose, and people listen to me. I appreciate you saving my life, Luz, I really do. But just… leave me alone, okay?”

Luz rubbed her arms. “Okay,” she said softly, walking past him to go back down the stairs, “If that’s what you want. I just… hoped that maybe we could be friends. But if you just want to be the Golden Guard instead… then I guess keep healing, keep on trying to get yourself back to normal. Because you wouldn’t want to stay away from the coven to hang out with a bunch of criminals, now would you?” She bit her wobbling lip. What had she expected? She’d said it wasn’t a business transaction, she wasn’t supposed to expect friendship from him.

But she’d hoped—just maybe…

“Luz—”

Luz hurried down the stairs while he followed more slowly. “I’m going to go visit Amity. I’ll see you at dinner. If you still want to be here.”

Xxx

Hunter groaned as Luz slammed the door shut behind her. “What did I do now?!”

His palisman twittered that it was actually pretty obvious, and likely had something to do with the fact that he’d literally just told her to leave him alone.

“I—okay, yeah, fine. But she had to know—I can’t just abandon everything for her! And… I don’t want her to get it into her head that I will. She’d end up more hurt that way. No. It’s way better that I establish that we’re not friends and let her down now, before she… before…”

The cardinal pecked his ear affectionately, chirping.

“I am NOT self-projecting! I never self-project! Name one time I’ve self-projected!”

One low chirp.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Hunter opened the door to a room he’d never been in before, shuffling in to see—

“My staff!” he blurted, limping across the room to grab it, “So this is where they’ve been hiding you!” He glanced around. This room was chock full to the brim with weapons, wow.

One knife caught Hunter’s attention, and suddenly he couldn’t breathe. He leaned his staff back up against the wall and gingerly picked up a knife, carved with runes. Its surface glittered up at him, cold and merciless, and his back ached as if he’d been stabbed all over again.

The knife fell to the floor with a clatter, and Hunter followed pretty fast, the events of the last few days all playing through his mind at lightning speed. He felt sick. Kikimora had come so close to killing him. And Luz would have taken the fall. It was a bit surprising how much that second thought upset him.

“Hunter?” Eda’s voice called, “Was that you?”

Hunter shoved the knife under his shirt, wrapping it up in the loose end. “Are you stockpiling for war in here?”

His palisman tweeted scoldingly at him. “Shhhh,” he hissed, “It’s not their knife either! I mean, Kikimora did give it to me.”

The bird chirped again, and Hunter caught the meaning perfectly.

Not funny.

Eda poked her head in. “Wouldn’t you like to know?” She peered down at him. “You okay? You’re looking a little pale.”

“Your skin is literally the color of paper.”

“Touché. Have you seen Luz?”

“She’s at the library.”

Eda “ah”ed knowingly. “Gotcha.”

“Why did you hide my staff?” Hunter blurted the words before he could think about it.

Eda sighed. “Honestly? At first it was because I wasn’t sure you wouldn’t use it to hurt Luz.”

“And… now?”

She eyed him. “Now I think I’m more worried about you hurting yourself. I wasn’t really hiding it, I just… wasn’t leaving it lying around.” She crossed the room and hefted the staff, giving it a twirl. “Handy. Reeks of Belos, though.”

Hunter snatched it away. “Belos gave me magic. Without him I’d be dead.”

Eda flicked the end of the staff. “Ever ask yourself how he made it? Who he had to squash to make something like this?”

Hunter collapsed the staff and tucked it in his belt, uncomfortably close to the hidden knife. “Do you usually spend this much of your time denouncing the emperor?”

“Only when I’m trying to convince someone that the Emperor’s Coven is a bad career track. Which it is.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, government bad, living like a crazy criminal in the woods good. I’ll keep that in mind.”

Xxx

“And I thought, y’know, since he was completely dependent on me for a few days he’d be a little bit more willing to be friends, but he’s not and—Amity, am I the bad guy for being upset?”

“No, of course not. He just…” Amity sighed. “When we were at eclipse lake, he said… well, he said a lot of stuff. But he said something about how everyone had a use, and if you didn’t… well, then you were out on your ear.”

“But I don’t need him to be useful!” Luz almost yelled, getting shushes from other library patrons. “Sorry,” she whispered, “I don’t need him to be useful,” she repeated more quietly, “And he shouldn’t have to feel that way! I don’t want to make him feel that way! But it seems like when I try to let him know that, he thinks it’s a personal attack!”

Amity laced her hand through Luz’s. “Just… give him time. Keep being nice. It worked on me. Worked a little too well. He’ll come around, too.”

Luz smiled a little bit at that. “Heh. Guess that’s true. Thanks, Amity.”

“Of course.” Amity held up a book. “Want to help me do voices in the next reading circle?”

“You know it!”

Xxx

Luz raced through the streets. Oh, she was late. She was so, so late! She made it to the forest, but halfway through, she slammed into a magic barrier. Luz touched it gently. “What the—”

“Human!”

Luz whirled around to see Kikimora standing there, breathing heavily, leaves in her hand-hair and mud and twigs caught in her robes. “Wow, you do not look so good.”

Kikimora took in a deep breath. “Human. I propose a trade. If you release the Golden Guard to me, I will speak on your behalf to the emperor. I will attempt to get you first access through our portal. You will be able to return home, no other strings attached.”

Luz shook her head. “You really don’t get it, do you? There is absolutely nothing that you can offer me that will get me to hand Hunter over. Maybe you’d sell someone out for one corn chip, but I wouldn’t.”

“Isn’t that noble.” Kikimora’s eyes flashed. “You know, you may have prompted my basilisk to run away. But using the real you as bait… Oh, well, I think that would be just as effective.”

Luz brought out her glyphs. “I’d like to see you try.”

Xxx

Hunter paced the floor. It was late—an hour past when the Owl House usually had dinner, if he had figured out their schedule right. “Eda? Luz didn’t sneak in a window, did she?”

Eda poked her head out of the kitchen. “Ah, geeze, is she still not back? She probably lost track of the time staring into Amity’s eyes again.” The wild witch opened the door, summoning her staff. “Alright, I’ll go get her.” She made an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture at King and Hunter. “Stay in the house. Both of you.”

She hopped on her staff and flew off. Hunter started pacing again. “Do you think she’s okay?”

“She’s probably fine. Geeze, when did you start getting all worried about her?”

“I just—” Hunter expanded his staff, inching towards the door. “I’ve got this feeling. I’m going to check. Just in case. Don’t tell Eda?”

King eyed him. “You’re being weird. But fine. I won’t tell her. You’d better hurry, though, it won’t take her long to check the library and come back.”

Hunter nodded and bolted out of the door, his palisman fluttering to his shoulder with a chirp.

“It’s just—Kikimora’s still out there. What if…”

Another chirp.

“I know she can handle herself, I just… I need to check, okay?” Hunter lit the tip of his staff. “Eda and King are probably right, it’s probably fine, but if it’s not… no one should have to face Kikimora alone.”

Xxx

Luz ducked behind a tree, panting, as Kikimora shot another magic blast at her. She really hadn’t anticipated how strong the little demon was, and she was running out of pre-drawn glyphs. She took in a deep breath, pulled out a glyph, and ducked around the tree, shooting a bolt of fire at Kikimora. The emperor’s assistant absorbed it in a magical shield, and responded with a blast of her own. Luz rolled to the side, but the blast shifted into a whip of golden energy that wrapped around her ankle, yanking her to the side and slamming her into a tree.

“It’s over,” Kikimora hissed.

Then a familiar red shape dive-bombed the demon, pecking at her head. Luz squinted. “…Lil Rascal?”

Hunter jumped over her, swinging his staff at Kikimora. The demon dodged to the side, her eyes wide.

“How?! You shouldn’t be able to—”

Hunter blasted magic at her. “Found a healer more clever than you.”

“You—you traitor, you’re working with the human?!”

Luz started to sketch in the dirt, tracing glyph after glyph in a sequence.

“What? Oh, Belos wants her alive, I’m making sure you don’t kill her.” Hunter zipped around her, scoring a hit with his staff, sending Kikimora flying. “Besides, you’ve got a lot of nerve calling me a traitor.”

“Enough!” Kikimora howled. She drew a circle, and a blast of magic caught Hunter squarely in the chest, knocking him back into a tree. She held out her hand, and his staff zoomed through the air to her. “You don’t deserve this,” she hissed, “I’ll deal with you in a moment.”

Lil Rascal dove back down, pecking at her head again, and she swatted them to the side. “Stupid bird.” She turned to Luz. “Now, where were—”

Luz slapped the glyph sequence, and a massive block of ice rose up, flying towards Kikimora. The demon blasted it with magic, cracking it open.

“You can’t hit me so—”

Luz grinned as the ice block started to glow. “Your mistake.”

The block exploded, throwing Kikimora backwards. Luz slumped backwards, drained. Wow, that had really taken a lot out of her. She winced. Plus, she was pretty sure she’d bruised a rib or two.

Kikimora staggered out of the crater. “I—will—end—you!” she howled, drawing another circle. Luz winced, bracing herself.

Kikimora fell forward with a scream. Luz blinked, then scrambled forward. The demon had a knife buried in her back.

An awfully familiar knife.

Hunter limped forward, Lil Rascal perched on his shoulder. He picked up his staff. “Good thing—I can throw a knife.” He nudged Kikimora with one foot. “Hey, are you dead? C’mon, I’m sure you can handle a knife in your back, I did.” Kikimora let out a guttural groan, and he nodded. “Good. Because you’re going to get to tell Belos what you did!”

“That’s it, then?” Luz panted, “You’re going back?”

He nodded. “Time I got a move on. Now that I don’t have to worry about her… no reason to stay away.”

Luz looked down at the ground. “Look. I… don’t have any glyphs left—and I don’t want to fight you. But if you try to capture me—”

He looked off back towards Bonesborough, eyes distant. “Wild magic is just. So strong and unpredictable.”

“What does that have to do with any—”

“I was so busy fighting Kikimora, it’s such a shame you got away while I was fighting for my life. But I just couldn’t handle two fights at once.”

“Huh?” Wait. “Oh! Are you—are you sure? What about Belos? Won’t he be mad if you come back without me?”

Hunter winced. “He’ll be angrier about Kikimora’s betrayal. I think. Hopefully.”

“What will you tell him? About what happened when you got stabbed, I mean.”

“The truth. That Kikimora attacked me. I was found by a kind Hexside student who took me in and brought me to a healer. Kikimora attacked me again on the way back, but I was able to defeat her this time.” He picked the demon up and slung her over one shoulder. “Just… go. Before I change my mind.”

Luz got up, a warm, fuzzy feeling blooming in her chest. “Thanks. I owe you one.”

Hunter bit his lip. “Uh—no. You—you don’t owe me anything.” He looked up at the sky, one foot tapping. “F-friends don’t… expect anything back.”

Luz thought she might just have to pick her jaw off of the ground. “Oh! I—”

He turned to go. “I’ve got to go. Eda’s looking for you, you might want to get back to the Owl House.”

“H-Hunter?”

He twisted back to look at her. “What?”

Luz rubbed her arms. “You think… that when all of this is over… no matter which side wins… you think we can still be friends?”

He turned away again. “That’s… it’s a nice thought, but I… I’m not sure this fight can end with both of us alive.”

“I wouldn’t kill you,” Luz called after him, “If we come out on top.”

“I’m not sure I have that same luxury,” he responded softly, “Goodbye, Luz. And… good luck.”

#toh #the owl house #toh fanfiction #my writing #toh hunter #luz noceda #edalyn the owl lady #king clawthorne #amity blight #kikimora

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toricrypticice · 3 years

Text

The Golden Scarred

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Chapter Four (Messy Memories)

Hunter woke up feeling heavy and out of it. He blinks trying to adjust to his surroundings.

This couldn’t be right.

He sits up from his bed. He was back in the covens palace? His room.

“What?-

..Was it all just- a dream?”

He seemed confused and a small bit hopeful. He stands looking around the room, feeling happy until he notices Rascal isn’t on his desk. In fact the Palisman was nowhere in sight. His heart stops

“Rascal? “ he calls, but is met by the silence of the room. He starts to look around where the Palisman usually hides.

“Rascal!?” He sounded a bit more desperate as he tried to keep his voice down not wanting to be caught . Hunter tore through the papers on his desk, even pulling everything off his bookcase and kneeling to look under the bed. He stands panting, feeling panicked as he opens his door. He runs out into the hall frantic to find the small bird.

“RASCAL?!!”

He calls out helplessly, losing all composure. Only to notice he wasn’t in the hallway. He takes a breath. He was in the main throne room now.

The Titans heart beating loudly.

“What- but I was-“ he mumbles confused and still a little frantic.

“Hunter”

The voice stopped him dead and his eyes widened with fear. He felt smaller as Belos towered over him.

“You need to be taught that there are dire consequences for your actions”

The words were familiar.

Bitter.

Cold.

He knew this.

He knew this all too well.

He wanted to run away

To stop what he knew would happen. .

But his feet stayed planted in place.

Belos lashed towards him. The glimpse of a haunted smirk gracing his features as he advances on the boy.

Hunter doesn't move as he feels a sharp pain pool through his jaw. The feeling of something sharp slicing through the area deeply making his vision swim and his breath hitch.

-…

The sound of Belos sighing as he sits down.

“See what you made me do….”

Hunter pulls himself off the floor, sniffing as blood pools from his face. He tried to will away the hot tears that fell down his cheeks to no avail. He covers the gash feeling shakey as he kneels in front of the throne. “I-I’m sorry E-Emperor Belos“

“Tsk, and to cry after punishment…

Such an embarrassment “

Belos tuts before he stands. Hunter looks down, staring at his feet, the males words piercing his very being. Belos steps forward, his footsteps making Hunter’s shoulders quiver in anticipation. He shuts his eyes expecting another blow. There was the sound of something metal clattering in front of the younger male.

“Stand up and Hide your shame. “

Hunter looks down to see the shiny gold mask he knew so well.

He frowns.

This is where everything changed.

He wanted to scream,

to throw it,

to stop what was happening and leave it in the past.

But instead he stares at the mask before his fingers wrap around the cold metal as he slips it over his blood soaked face nodding up at Belos.

“You’ll now be known as The Golden Guard now so no more slipping up.. you are a face to our coven.

You understand?”

Belos lays a hand on the males shoulder.

“You need to be better, the titan knows you are better. “

Hunter has to stop himself from crying as his cheek throbs, blood dripping down underneath the mask.

Not this again.

Please

His heart pounds heavily as he looks up at his uncle.

“I only do this because I care” Belos’ squeezes his shoulder forcefully making it ache slightly. Almost as a sick way of showing affection.

Hunter puts his head down smiling brightly as he blushes at the older males words feeling bashful.

He remembered being so happy when Belos said that.

Now the smile on his face seemed to hurt.

“Yes of course, “ Hunter states distantly.

“You’re not even listening, of course I’d get stuck with you on this?!”

Hunter looked back quickly to see he was now standing with Lilith in the forest. His uncle's hand gone from his shoulder, the pressure and pain in his face fading. Hunters voice came without him willing.

“Yeah well you better not screw this up Belos is counting on us to deliver” he snaps as his feet move forward with purpose. He felt agitated.

Why was this happening again!?

Lilith laughs cockily. “Of course I’ve trained my life for The Emperor's Coven- “she goes to boast but Hunter cuts her off smirking cockily.

“Unlike you I was chosen by the Titan, they already know what I’m capable of. Unlike you I don’t have to prove anything” he laughs walking ahead of the female, the words leaving a sour taste in his mouth.

It was a lie.

Such a lie.

He was constantly trying to prove himself.

Always striving to be better.

He had to.

He was The Golden Guard after all.

“Spoiled brat!” Lilith snaps

Hunter turns angrily about to quip only to see he was now standing above Kikimora. He blinks in confusion, his head felt like it was spinning.

“What the powerful Golden Guard thinks he’s worth something? “ Kiki mocking tone was evident.

He remembered this..

This was after..

Hunter grit his teeth feeling all the anger fill him “i matter to Belos, unlike you” he snaps.

Kikimora only laughs “you keep telling yourself that. But you're just a spoiled brat that he takes pity on. What part could you possibly play in the Titans will? ” She smirks.

Hunter held his ground but the words cut deep. He did wonder, ‘what part did he play in all this?’

“You're just a child” Kikimora chuckles darkly.

Hunter felt his blood boil as his ears ring.

A child!

That’s all anyone ever saw him as!

He clenches his jaw as his eye throbs in irritation.

“Watch your mouth, I am your superior and you shall treat me as such” He glares, deciding to remain formal knowing Belos’ might be listening. Kikimora only seemed to laugh, it started as a low chuckle but then got a bit more deranged making Hunter feel a bit uncomfortable as he grips his staff holding his own.

“You think You’re all that but I'll rid you easily.” She chuckles starting to walk off as Hunter Growls loudly.

“Is that a threat!” He snaps only to be met with the Humans look of disappointment as he stands over her, staff ablaze.

He takes a step back, eyes wide.

‘What- Again’

Back to another memory,

the Palisman mission.

But this was different.

There was no Kiki.

He was yielding Rascal as his staff instead.

No other Palisman in sight

“You’re not my friend you’re just The Golden Guard”

The words stung for some reason Hunter couldn’t understand then or now.

But before he can reply like he did in the past Luz starts to melt into the floor becoming nothing but goo. Everything around him becoming a dark black sludge melting down into the earth. He gasps as Rascals wood cracks, the bird tweeting in pain before his staff turns to dust in his hands. He stares wide-eyed in fear, his hands shaking as he feels tears fall.

No No No

That didn’t just happen?!

He didn’t-

There’s a rumble in the ground below his feet causing him to fall back. The sticky black substance soaking his clothes and hair.

‘This never happened?!’ He panics

Hunter pants trying to get up as muddled hands rise from the sludge grabbing onto his shoulders, his cape, his hair, anywhere they could get their hands on, soaking him in the dark liquid. He coughs gagging as he sinks deeper, the substance making its way into his mouth.

He couldn’t breathe.

He choked back the bitter heavy muck as he wrestled to stay above.

He tries to call out.

To fight his way out of the thick liquid.

“You’d be such a hassle to replace…”

Hunter's eyes widened and all the fight in him seemed to leave immediately. He lets his body sink into the dark muck, only his mask staying above as he slips further down. The blackened sludge finally filling his lungs, the words echoing as his vision goes dark.

Black.

Only Black.

And then...

“BOOM”

The sound vibrates off his skull painfully as his ears ring.

He gasps loudly as his eyes shoot open, sitting up quickly when he realizes there’s nothing holding him down.

“Gah-“ he grips his side in pain as it flares up by the sudden action. His head pounding as his vision swims.

“Titan” he pants still catching his breath as sweat pools down. What a nightmare.. Now where was he?

He could recall what happened.

He betrayed Belos

His side hurt.

He knew that much.

And he had slept. Which was- weird?

He shakes his head to rid the dream trying to get a grip on reality as he looks around. He was resting on something soft. Nicer than the coven beds. He looks around to see he was in somewhere slightly familiar-

Someone’s home

“ah?” He grits his teeth as his fingers graze a fresh gauze bandage wrapped nice and secure around the male torso, way better than something he could ever do on his own.

That’s when he remembered and his blood ran cold. His eyes widen and his heart skipped a beat as terror sunk in.

He was in the owl lady’s home!

She had helped him!

He let the enemy help him?!

How degrading..

He was more of a traitor than he first thought,

He stands up only to immediately fall to his knees when he loses his footing. “Ugh” he huffs at himself holding his side as it throbs, his vision swimming.

“Hey i hear you're awake I brought some-“ there was a gasp and the sound of a tray being put down before he was helped to his feet and back onto the couch.

When his vision focuses he sees the worried human standing infront of him. “You gotta be careful. Eda says you have a lot of internal damage and a slight concussion. “

“What-?” Hunter was bewildered at a loss of words. What was this- He takes a breath to sort himself. “What do you want with me? If you're looking for leverage against Belos you can-”

“Whoa whoa whoa” Luz cuts him off as she puts her hands up in defense. She laughs softly. “You just woke up. Plus We are only trying to help you-” this time Hunter cuts her off.

“Why?!” Hunter snaps loudly, holding his head as it spins badly, his ears seemed to ring. “Why are you helping me?! What does this- “ Hunter takes a deep breath as the room starts to spin.

“Easy easy, look Lilith was in the Emperor’s coven and she told us- look we know you need help just let us help." Luz hums smiling at the male. “I brought some food and some water for you, Eda went out for medicine so its just me and King-”

The rest of Luz’ words seemed to fade off as those words hit him. Eda was going into town just for him. To help… Hunter shook his head feeling guilty and angry.

“Town! Its crawling with coven scouts. How will she defend without magic? ” Hunter states, raising an eyebrow.

“Awe you care” Luz teases with a big smile to which Hunter's face turns a dark red as he scoffs.

“What- no i just-” Hunter growls in annoyance looking away. “I just think its stupid... She’s a stupid witch” he adds as he crosses his arms pouting.

Luz laughs, smiling.

“Yeah yeah anyway make sure you eat.” She gestures to the tray heading to the door. Hunter frowns seeing flashes of his dream.

“Human, how long have I been asleep?” Hunter absentminded taps on the arm of the couch as he questioned the girl.

Luz seems to tense a little at the question as she freezes looking a bit worried.

“Um only 27 hours haha but Eda said-”

“What-! I wasted so much time” He sits straighter. “Belos is-”Hunter's words stop as his eyes widen and he stands quickly, his legs wobbling. “Where’s Rascal!?” He demands, trying to hide the desperation that leaked out.

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#the Golden scarred #the golden guard #hunter toh #hunter #luz nuceda #eda the owl lady #eda #toh #the owl house

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