Chapter Text
Two more days had passed since Hunter had run away from the Emperor's Coven, and he groggily woke up from yet another nightmare. He was so tired of this. These constant, nagging nightmares were messing with his sanity, and he was starting to get scared to go to sleep. Hunter rubbed his eyes, taking in a yawn. Flapjack began chirping to greet him a good morning. Hunter weakly smiled at the sight of him, petting him under his beak. Hunter found himself a box of Appleblood and drank it, and next, he searched for a bag of Hex Mix that still had food left in it. When he found one, he first fed Flapjack, and Flapjack gobbled the food right up. However, Hunter may have been a bit careless at keeping track of how much food he had given Flapjack, as when he went to get some food for himself, he realized he now had a massive issue on his hands. He and Flapjack had eaten everything that had remained of their stock of Hex Mix. Flapjack felt guilty for eating the rest of the food and frantically apologized to Hunter.
"It's fine, Flapjack." Hunter assured, "I should've been keeping track of how much food we had left. Besides, it's not a problem. You can just go steal more Hex Mix from the-"
"AAAAAAAAUUUGGHHHHHH!!!"
Hunter's stomach sunk through the floor. That bell going off meant the school day had just begun, meaning people were all over the place. This meant he couldn't steal any more food as It would run the risk of him getting found out. He would have no chance to get more food until the end of the school day, which was over seven hours from now.
"Okay… maybe it's a problem," Hunter muttered.
Flapjack only felt even worse now, and he frantically apologized again.
Hunter frowned, "Flapjack, seriously, it's okay. You need to eat too, you know. Even if we had split what had remained, neither of us would've satisfied ourselves. Besides, I'm as tough as nails. I can ride the hunger out." Flapjack stared at him with a heartbroken look in his eye, causing Hunter to let out a saddened sigh. "I mean, yeah, it sucks, but there's nothing we can do right now." He then pets Flapjack under his beak, "Really, I'll be okay. How bad could it be? It's only seven more hours."
However, Hunter hadn't realized that his calorie intake the past few days was far lower than what he needed, so as the hours passed, his hunger grew stronger than it usually would have. Hunter was in a lot of pain but was trying to hide it from Flapjack, as he didn't want him to feel even worse than he had before, although that was pretty much impossible since his stomach didn't know when to shut up. He downed what remained of his appleblood to try to get rid of the gnawing emptiness in his gut, but his angry belly certainly wouldn't let him forget despite his efforts. Hunter did everything he could to try and ignore it, but it was no use. By lunchtime, the hunger was at an insufferable, near excruciating level. He was shaking from it, and he felt very weak and lightheaded. He hadn't eaten since last night's dinner, which was nineteen hours ago, and plus, he hadn't really had a quality dinner. Now, Hunter just couldn't take it anymore. He no longer cared if he ran the risk of getting caught. He needed to eat.
Right. Now.
Hunter turned to Flapjack with a hint of desperation in his eyes. "Flapjack, I know it's risky to do this… but I'm too hungry to care. Please, can you go and steal Hex Mix from that vending machine again?"
Flapjack shook his head, telling Hunter that he had already stolen the rest of it. He had checked the vending machine the past two days, and they hadn't restocked it.
Hunter's stomach sunk through the floor because that only left him with one other option. Eating from the garbage again. He started to tremble, "No… no… not again…" he mumbled in fear. "I-I can't do that again." But a furious grumble from his empty stomach convinced him otherwise. He let out a frustrated groan, hugging his tummy. He was in so much pain, and he just wanted it to end. He didn't care where the food came from now. Anything would do at this point. "Flapjack, please, go find some food from the trash. I need to eat something, anything. "
Flapjack nodded and flew off. It was nearing the end of lunchtime at the school, so Flapjack decided to go and steal food from the cafeteria's garbage cans. There would have been plenty of fresher food in there for the starving boy to eat. He flew to the Cafeteria, rustling around in the trash, looking for anything that was acceptable enough for Hunter to eat. He found another half-eaten sandwich. Although thankfully, this time, it wasn't rotting. It was much, much fresher than the last sandwich he had found. It wasn't exactly ideal, but it would have to do. Besides, Hunter was hungry enough to the point where he'd eat anything. Flapjack then popped out of the trash can, accidentally making eye contact with an illusion student who was going to throw their lunch away. That student happened to be Gus. Gus' eyes widened once he saw the cardinal. He knew that must've meant the Golden Guard was nearby. He gasped and pointed to Flapjack, "I remember you!"
Flapjack realized his cover had been blown, and he had to get out of here. He dropped the sandwich to take the extra weight off him and began flying away.
"Wait! Get back here!" Gus shouted, summoning his staff and riding it to follow Flapjack. As Flapjack flew away, suddenly, he realized this could be an opportunity. Perhaps he could help Hunter escape this horrible living situation if he had guided Gus, a person with whom Hunter had contact with in the past, to his hiding spot. Plus, Gus also wouldn't be the type to be malicious to Hunter, so Flapjack quickly changed his plans and began flying straight back to the Paranoratorium, leading Gus inside. Flapjack flew to Hunter, telling him that Gus had discovered and followed him here. Hunter didn't have much time to think of what to do, but perhaps scaring him off would do the trick. Gus landed on the stage, pointing his staff in all directions. He heard footsteps coming from his left and gasped as Hunter approached from the shadows. "What are you doing here, Golden Guard?!" Gus demanded.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Hunter said with a faint chuckle at the end. He took a few steps forward, doing his best to look imitating. Scaring him off was his only chance at staying hidden, "But rest assured, Gus, I-'' Hunter was cut off by the sound of rattling and clanking behind him, causing him to freeze. Gus raised a brow and looked behind him, catching a glimpse of Hunter's hiding place. It being filled with garbage, empty appleblood boxes, and empty bags of Hex Mix. Hunter quickly tried to cover it up with his body, both his cheeks and ears burning in embarrassment.
This was rather confusing to Gus, but it seemed Hunter was no longer a threat, so he softened his tone slightly, "I'll ask you one more time. What are you doing here, Hunter?"
Hunter refused to respond, giving Gus his best angry glare. His initial plan had failed, and he was trying to think of something else to get Gus to leave him alone. However, Flapjack wasn't about to let Hunter just waste this opportunity for help, so he began pulling on his hair, yelling at him to tell the truth. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" Okay, fine!" Hunter growled. He paused for a moment, not believing he was about to admit this. "Truth is, my living situation has been compromised… maybe, so I just need a place to crash… temporarily! Hexside was the only place I could think of." Hunter wasn't exactly lying, but he was beating around the bush as much as he could. He really didn't want to talk about what was happening right now.
This left Gus even more confused than before, "How… vague of you." He lowered his staff completely, no longer perceiving Hunter as a threat at all, "Do you know where Luz is, by any chance?"
Hearing that, Hunter became concerned for the human, "She's… not with The Owl Lady?"
Suddenly, Principal Bump came over the intercom, interrupting their little conversation. "Students, please join me in the gym for an important announcement."
Gus knew he had to go, but not before he wanted to do a little favor for Hunter. "I'm not sure what you're going through." Gus admitted, casting a spell circle to summon his lunch bag, "But that much Hex Mix can't be good for your stomach." He tossed the lunch bag to Hunter as he left the Paranoratorium. Hunter opened it, seeing a ton of fresh food inside it. His eyes shot open, needing a moment to process the kind deed the kid had done for him.
Once he snapped back to reality, he looked up for Gus, "Gus, wait!" He shouted, but he was already gone when he had called for him. It was a shame. He never got the chance to thank him. Suddenly, Hunter's stomach roared, reminding him of his original problem. He was literally starving. He quickly rushed back into his little nook behind the curtains, taking the sandwich out of the bag and shoving the entire thing in his mouth. Tears wallowed in his magenta eyes, not tears of sadness or agony, but tears of joy and relief. This sandwich was delicious. It was such a nice change from the mounds of Hex Mix he had eaten for the past three days. And it was miles better than that putrid half rotten sandwich he had eaten. This was the first decent meal he had in days, and it couldn’t have felt better. He swallowed the entire sandwich he had ravenously stuffed in his mouth in just a few gulps. He then grabbed the apple inside the bag and began tearing through that as well. He left the leftover food to Flapjack, which he happily pecked at. Hunter had forgotten what it felt like to be full, and he couldn't remember the last time he had a proper meal. It felt amazing. He leaned back, resting his hands on his enlarged tummy, letting out a massive sigh of relief. Glad that he wouldn't be hungry again for a while, "Flapjack, be sure to run into him every day from now on." He said.
However, Hunter didn't have time to relax and digest his food like he had hoped, as suddenly, the area became covered in a blueish amalgamation of random places and memories. Hunter jumped to his feet, "WHAT ON THE ISLES?!" He screamed. This was… an illusion. "Gus… it has to be Gus…" Hunter muttered. "This isn't normal magic. Did something go wrong at the gym?!" Hunter was hesitant for a moment. He wanted to check if the younger boy was okay. He definitely needed help, judging what was going on… but helping Gus could lead to him getting caught. Hunter shook his head. What did getting caught matter? Gus had literally given his lunch to him, saving him from starvation. Gus had helped him even when he really shouldn't have. Gus had helped him when he had absolutely no reason to, and if he was in danger, he had to return the favor and help him. At that moment, Hunter no longer cared for his own safety. What mattered now was Gus's safety. Hunter pulled his hood above his head and took off running, "I'm coming, buddy."