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So full disclosure: he wasn’t supposed to be out right now. Edric was a Blight kid, though. None of them had been very good at following rules lately. The being out part would be less concerning if he knew where he was better, though. He had… a general idea, but that didn’t mean all that much on the Boiling Isles. It was- well it was close to where he knew a certain crazy lady (who he still had to thank) lived. That much he was clear on. He also knew he could get to the path to Hexside from here.
But, uh, there was a reason he was out. And it had to do with a certain winged friend of his- and that friend's relation to other creatures. Edric was hesitant to talk about his escapades into beast keeper magic, but he was a lot more comfortable when he was alone! Plus, Batric was a lot more chatty at night! It helped him work on the ‘talking to creatures’ thing! Not to brag or anything, but he could actually understand a lot of the animals in the trees now, at least when he wanted to! It was pretty cool.
His thoughts were interrupted by the low sound of sobbing and fast-breathing. A bird chittered from the same place, sounding so concerned that he couldn’t help but bite down on his lip. He didn’t want to snoop, but he did want to know what was going on. What he didn’t expect was to find a kid his age, curled up at the base of a tree, very obviously having a panic attack. And Edric would know what one of those looked like.
He didn’t exactly recognise the kid, but he got the gist. Amity and her girlfriend had talked about him. This was… the Golden Guard. Just not looking very ‘golden’ or ‘guard-y’ right now. Geez, what was his name? Hunter, maybe? The bird must have been his palisman. It was talking so frantically that Edric could really only pick up bits and pieces. ‘Breathe’, ‘calm’, ‘okay’. Things like that.
He couldn’t just leave the guy like this. So against his better judgement, he moved to lean on a tree, trying to seem as cool as possible. “Hey, hell of a time to be crying alone in the woods.”
Shockingly, this made the guy panic. His breathing hitched and his head flew up, glancing around until he found Edric. “G- get out of-”
“Relax,” He cut in, raising his hands in surrender,” I’m not here to do anything to you. I’m technically not breaking the law right now, either. I just… saw you crying here and got worried. You know those stories about kids crying all alone in the woods, right? All that spooky stuff? Just doing my duty to keep that from happening to strangers I don’t hate."
The Golden Guard (Hunter??) looked away from him, holding onto his knees that much tighter. Edric really couldn't help feeling bad for the guy. Something had obviously happened to freak him out this much. Whatever it was, he was sure it wasn't pretty. The palisman continued to chirp in sentences he almost understood, almost like it was beckoning him to stay. Which… it probably was. Power in numbers.
"So…" he started, sliding down his tree to get closer to the other guy's (Hunter's??) level," What brings you here? Running from something?"
Hunter- he was going with Hunter- made an attempt at a sneer," L-like I'd tell you that, I don't even know who you are! How do I know I can trust you?"
Edric hummed under his breath, trying to figure out what to say without immediately alerting to this guy that he was a Blight and his dad worked with the Emperor (he kinda got the feeling that was a touchy subject somehow?). Thankfully, the palisman did his hard work for him. The bird hopped over to him, pecking at his foot and looking up at him. Or- not at him? Next to him. Batric popped put from being his shoulder, flitting down to the palisman. They chattered back and forth for a moment. Edric really only caught Batric's half of the conversation, but it was enough to gather context. The palisman pecked Batric softly, both of them glancing up at him.
"Your buddy seems to like mine, at least. Or I think it does? I don't really understand palismen yet, they mostly talk to their witches. But Batric likes it! Them? I don't know if that means you can trust me, but a friend of a friend? That's a start, right? You don't have to trust me. If you need me to go, just say the word! No one'll ever hear a word of this! Coven's honor!"
Hunter glared at him, sniffing. The palisman fluttered back over to him, chirping into his ear. He leaned into the chirps, eyes and nose barely poked above his chest. They were watery and bloodshot, Edric felt a pang in his chest that he couldn't really explain. Sympathy? Something like that.
Eventually, he looked back over at Edric. With a crackling voice, he said," Just because Flapjack trusts you doesn't mean I do. But… I guess it wouldn't hurt for you to stay. Just- ugh. Who even are you?"
"Edric!"
"... Edric?" he asked, prompting.
"Uh, well, I don't know if you're gonna like that one as much."
"Get ou-"
"Wait wait wait- okay okay! Edric Blight. My name is Edric Blight."
Hunter startled, stiffening," YOU'RE A BLIGHT?!"
Edric raised his hands, trying to hush him," Keep your voice down, blondie! The whole forest doesn't need to know that!"
Quickly, Hunter curled back in on himself, breath going fast and uneven. He tangled his hands into his hair, tugging hard. Edric bit his lip. That went about as well as he was expecting.
"Y- you're a Blight? Oh no no, no no no, your dad sells to- to him and Amity hates me and, Titan, I can’t go back-”
“Hey hey-” Edric started to reach out but pulled his hand back. It probably wouldn’t be a great idea to try to touch him while he was panicking like that. So he just kinda… looked up and away, into the trees. Eye contact was a lot sometimes, y’know? “I’m not going t- I’m not gonna do any of that. I don’t know you, but I can tell that something happened that messed you up. I don’t kick people while they’re down. I don’t think Mittens hates you and my dad doesn’t even know I’m out of the house. This is an Edric-only ordeal. I’m not involving my family.”
He could tell he kinda wrecked the trust he’d been trying to build with Hunter, even without looking at him. The palisman, Flapjack, was warbling away again, trying to calm him back down. For a second, he thought about leaving before Hunter ran away on his own. But he’d started this, he couldn’t back down right now. Also the guy might get himself hurt.
“I’m not gonna hurt you. I just don’t want someone having a panic attack to be left to spiral all alone.”
The words ‘panic attack’ seemed to have some sort of impact on him. Even without looking directly, he watched Hunter’s expression shift slightly. Flapjack nuzzled relentlessly at his cheek. After… a while, he stopped tugging at his hair quite as hard and cracked his eyes slightly.
“... you beast keep?” He said eventually.
Edric coughed into his fist, looking at the beast he was currently… keeping. “A little bit. It’s… a hobby, mostly.”
“Ah…” a beat,” Do…. you know much about Grimwalkers? I- uh- I don’t know if that technically… counts as beast keeping…”
Edric tilted his head. Grimwalkers? The name sounded familiar but he… mostly thought they were a myth. They also fell a little closer to Abomination than Beast Keeping, a creature built to resemble something living. Or, well, they were alive. Just differently from how most witches were.
“Not more than the average person would.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, sorry about that, blondie. I do wish I could tell you a little more than that.”
He hesitated for a moment,” Hunter.”
“Eh?”
“My name. It’s Hunter. Just Hunter.”
So he was right! Good to know. Hunter suited the guy in a weird way. Maybe it was the scar. Scars made anyone look cool! Unless they were caused by picking at your skin, but it wasn’t like he had experience with scars like that! Nope, not at all!
“Hunter, cool. But yeah, yeah. I beast keep a little. I don’t have a palisman, so I kinda… did some research, y’know? Into what people did before palisman. Which led me down a rabbit hole in the library that got me into beast keeping. And I learned about-”
“Familiars! You’re talking about familiars!” Hunter cut in before flushing and turning away,” I’ve… read about them, too.”
“Yeah, though! I’ve been looking into it and it turns out they’re kinda similar! It’s just, where palismen give you a place to focus your magic, familiars help you focus while using the magic. And palismen have been around for a long time. This is old magic. Like when glyphs were everywhere and people weren’t born with magic in their actual anatomy old! But since, y’know, palismen are getting harder to come by and I haven’t bonded with one myself? I figured this was the next best thing, right? Plus, I’ve always thought animals were pretty cool.”
Edric smiled wide as he watched Hunter uncurl himself a little bit. There it was! They were talking now! That was progress. Hunter’s eyes practically glowed with interest and Flapjack sat contently on his head. In his time, Edric had kinda figured out how to handle this kind of thing for his family and friends! He was glad it worked here, too.
“How does it feel to be bonded like that with something other than a palisman?” Hunter asked, leaning forward.
“Pretty similar to how being bonded to a palisman would feel, I think. Not that I have experience. But- well, communication is different. Apparently you can just kinda understand your palisman? It’s not like that. I had to learn how to talk to beasts before I could talk to Batric. He’s the one I understand best, but I get the gist from a lot of creatures now! Palismen included, I guess. That’s part of how I can tell Flapjack cares so much about you… that and the fact that he’s trying to nest in your hair.”
Hunter looked up, waving a hand over his head, shooing the bird with a wisp of a smile. Flapjack chirped indignantly, yanking his hair a little harder. Despite the tears staining his cheeks and the choked up way he was speaking, he was a lot more open and calm than he’d been before. This was the Golden Guard, huh? To Edric, he seemed mostly just like a kid. An awkward kid, but a kid like him. Pieces of the puzzle were putting themselves together in his mind, but he didn’t want to pry. Not yet, at least.
“Really, though. Beast keeping is mostly a hobby. I’m kinda the same way with potions, but that’s more or less because Ms Eda thinks I’m good. I’m technically on the illusion track. I probably… shouldn’t tell you that I don’t know if my heart’s in it, but I’m good at it, so!” He leaned back, letting Batric hop his way up to his forehead, balancing there. “I’m pretty much always doing at least some illusion work, but I guess it’s not my magic other than the fact that I own it.”
Hunter leaned just a little closer forward, patting his legs idly,”... You talk a lot.”
Edric laughed,” Yeah, that’s kinda the point.”
“Oh.” a beat,” Oh. Um… thanks.”
“No problem, blondie!”
“Hunter.” he puffed his cheeks.
“That’s what I said!”
“But- um- what did you mean you’re always doing some illusion stuff?”
After a moment of debate, Edric decided to just kinda go with his gut. He pulled the teardrop shaped necklace from his wrist, letting the illusion drop. Batric chittered, visibly happier to see him this way. Nervously, he waved his hands in a theatrical gesture.
"Concealment stone," he said after catching Hunter's confusion," Makes you look like the 'best' version of yourself. Or well, it can make you look like whatever, but that's what I use it for."
"Ah…"
Was he sizing Edric up right now? It looked like he was sizing Edric up! He felt his face heat up, suddenly feeling much more self conscious than he had a moment ago. Hastily, he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, looking to the side. If he didn't know any better, he could have sworn his jerk of a familiar was laughing at him. He… he was. That did not make him any less embarrassed.
"You look… very normal." Hunter said after a moment. This was followed by a grimace and an equal amount of animal laughter.
"Is that a bad thing, blondie?" Listen, he could at least try to save face!
"No! No- that's- that isn't what I was saying," he rushed, waving his hands in front of him," I just- I wasn't expecting you to need glasses?"
"Yeah, well, someone had to inherit the bad vision."
"... right."
And so they sat like that. For longer than what was comfortable. Edric had half a mind to put his concealment stone back on, but Batric seemed to have other plans. The cord was plucked from his hand, held triumphantly in a tiny mouth. He was starting to feel restless, the other guy seemed to be feeling about the same way.
"Okay," he sighed," so, like, I don't want to pry, but you've calmed down and I… what're you doing out here, blondie? What happened?"
Hunter froze, shrinking back in on himself. For a moment, he was worried he’d ruined all the trust again. Flapjack began to chirp at him again, though, and he breathed out. He brought a hand to his neck like he was feeling for something before drawing it away. Everything about his movement was hesitant but deliberate.
“I learned some things today. And I don’t know how to feel about them.” he said finally.
This led into a full, heartbreaking, explanation. No holds barred, everything spread out on the table. It was… hard to follow, truthfully, but this wasn’t the first time he’d heard about people exploring another's mind. Amity had talked about it before in a guilty ramble. The mind of Belos, though? Jeez, he was kind of kept in the dark about what exactly was going on with the emperor. Hearing Hunter describe what happened to the palismen made his heart ache. It didn’t ache as much as it did when Hunter explained what happened to him, though.
Truth be told, he’d pieced parts of the story together, already. Mostly the Grimwalker bit, but he couldn’t have known the lengths at which it unraveled. Edric couldn’t imagine it, having your entire life ripped away from you like that, being told you were just a copy of a copy of a copy. And poor Luz, too. Hunter didn’t seem to know what happened before he resurfaced, but he made it seem like she was just as haunted as he was. He’d have to give Mittens a little push to check up on her girlfriend when she had the chance.
It was scary even to hear about it, much less live the experience. He’d panic if he had nowhere safe to go, too. Suddenly, the crying in the woods thing was a lot more justified in his mind. Hunter was just a kid. And he was a kid from a long history of pain. The intense desire for approval and the fear of falling short of that was something Edric could sympathize with. He didn't understand completely, but he knew how it felt to try so hard to prove your worth only to get ignored.
When Hunter finally finished his story, a silence settled over the two of them. Hunter was shaking, breath having gone slightly ragged over the course of reliving the situation. Despite that, he still held himself steady, though he didn’t quite give up that permanent slouch he seemed to have.
“I’d say I’m sorry for what happened to you, but I feel like you don’t really want pity. So… I’ll just say that I understand why I found you here like this, now.”
"Yeah…" he muttered, rubbing his upper arm awkwardly,” I- um… that was a lot. Sorry?”
Edric waved him off,” Nah, no problem, blondie. You weren’t like… obligated to tell me, I asked. I wouldn't've if I wasn’t prepared for a lot.”
A beat.
“Edric Blight.” he said it like he was getting a feel for the name on his tongue, thick and curious. He took a long breath in. “Thank you. For… listening. You didn’t need to. You could have just walked the other way… I would have.”
Edric grinned a toothy, imperfect smile, scratching the back of Batric’s ear idly. The bat trilled in delight and he seized the concealment stone back without much complaint. He swung it around his finger, triumphant. “Like I said: no problem, blondie. I make a lot of jokes, I tease a lot of people, but one thing I don’t do is prey on people when they’re low. And you seemed pretty low. That’s the thing with it, enjoying making people happy. It extends past jokes.”
He leaned back, letting his back touch the grass, looking up at the trees. The stars glittered in the sky just beyond them, so impossibly far away. The stone settled in his hand, warm from something between use and body heat.
“... I don’t have anywhere to go.” Hunter said, the crunch of grass indicating that he’d laid back too.
“I can stay here until morning, help you figure it out.”
He hummed,” It’s more trouble than it’s worth. Your father makes dangerous stuff.”
Edric laughed under his breath,” Oh, dad? Yeah, sure, he has his moments. But personally, I’d be much more worried about my mother.”
“That doesn’t make me feel any better, Middle Blight.”
“Middle Blight?!”
“You are, aren’t you?”
“N- I- no? I’m a twin, there’s no such thing as older or younger when you’re a twin- twins are the same a- how do you know about that!”
Hunter, despite himself, let out a low laugh. He could almost sense his eye roll. “I know about the Blight family. Not much, but you pick things up. Like your father making those abominations. I know Amity is the youngest, and I know the eldest is a girl. So… you’re the middle Blight.”
“That’s so- wow, you wound me, blondie.”
“Says you.”
And suddenly they were both laughing. Maybe the two of them were just half delirious from exhaustion, but they were laughing. Edric felt a bubble of fondness rise in his chest. Hunter’s laugh wasn’t half bad. It sounded like he didn’t laugh much, but it was nice enough. He knew next to nothing about the guy, but it seemed like Hunter knew just as little. Edric couldn’t fix everything that was going on with him, but he was glad he was there to provide at least a little comfort.
“I don’t know if you would, but it doesn’t hurt to ask: you have a scroll? I could give you my number or my Penstagram, just in case you need anything.” Edric propped himself back up, watching Hunter do the same.
“I… do, actually. I’m- I’m not supposed to, but I do.”
“Cool!” Edric made a grabbing motion,” pass it over, I’ll follow myself real quick!”
So Hunter did just that, what was almost a smile still lingering on his face. After a minute of concentration, Edric passed it back to him. “There you go! Now I’m stuck in your hair forever!”
“You… keep telling yourself that, middle Blight.”
“You’re no fun at all!”
“So I’ve been told.” he paused, a little conflicted. “Are you… leaving?”
“I need to get home eventually, my mother wakes up crazy early.”
“Ah…”
That said, Edric was a little hesitant. Would Hunter be okay out here? He didn’t doubt the guy was capable of handling himself, he was fully combat trained. Maybe it was that growing fondness he felt. In what was not the first reckless decision of the night, he took a look at the stone in his hand.
“Think fast, blondie.” and he tossed it at him.
Hunter caught it without pause, but it took him a moment to process what had actually happened. “You aren’t serious, right? I feel like concealment stones aren’t cheap- I don’t need this-”
“My family has money,” Edric said, hopping up to his feet and dusting himself off,” And uh- I’m not saying that I don’t like the way you look, or anything. But it’s nice to look the way you feel, sometimes. You don’t have to use it, but I’ll tell my family some creep mugged me or something. It wouldn’t be the weirdest story I ever told them!”
Hunter looked up at him, holding the stone in his hand like he’d break it just by touching it. After a little prompting from a certain palisman, he nodded, standing up and placing it in a pocket. “R… right. It was good to meet you. I’ll, um, message you at some point, probably.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it, Hunter.”