Work Text:
Out of all the Grimwalkers, you looked the most like him. Those words repeated in Hunter’s head as he ran out of the Owl House and into the deserted forest ahead of him. He heard the distant shouts of his name from the human Luz and Eda but continued running for his life. He felt his breathing grow heavy once again and tears began to fall from his already red rimmed eyes. He didn’t know how long it had been, minutes? Hours? All he knew is that he had to keep running! Or Belos would find him - and kill him!. The exhausted boy could already feel waves of nausea and pain rise up in him as he came to a halt, and fell to his bruised knees.
His legs were trembling, he was so, so tired, but he couldn't stop now. Despite the pain his body was receiving, he did not give up. He kept moving, whether it was walking or crawling, he did not stop. It felt like it had been days since he last breathed or even rested. Soon enough, Hunter could not run anymore, his energy had given out like the end of a candle. He slumped down against the closest tree and hugged his arms around his legs, bursting into a fit of broken sobs.
Everything that had happened there, it just didn’t seem real anymore. He thought Uncle - Belos loved him! But after discovering what he had done to the previous Golden Guards, he had to face the truth - he never onced cared about him. How could he have been so oblivious? How could he have blindly obeyed Belos all this time - without questioning him? Without questioning anything?
And now he knew the truth behind his birth and family - he was a Grimwalker! He never had any family, he just grew up to be killed, he grew up the same way as all those guards before him did, no wonder why Darius hated him! Hunter had been the replacement of Darius’s predecessor, and all he was, was a useless, manipulated, unloved kid who tried to help an evil human disguised as a witch. He threatened to kill Luz, tried to kill all of them at at least one point in time and to make things seemingly worse than they already are - he led the most evil witch in the Boiling Isles to complete the Day of Unity. It was all his fucking fault!
He suddenly felt hot, and along with his ragged breathing, sweat began rolling down his face. His palms felt clammy, and he felt like he was going to throw up and collapse. Hunter felt so dizzy, he was shaking, he was shaking-
“Hunter!” a voice yelled, snapping him out of his thoughts. He shakily turned around and saw a hooded figure, two hooded figures nearby in front of him. They both took off their hoods, and Hunter yelped. It was Darius and Raine, and that meant they were going to take him back to the castle. Hunter shook his head, and crawled back, his breathing becoming laboured again and heavy gasps for air from the poor boy filled the air. “Get away from me!” Hunter cried. “I’m not going back! Leave - leave me alone!.”
Looks of shock and concern on the Head Witches faces made something in Hunter freeze. They were - they were worried for him? No of course not, he told himself, no ones cares about you, don’t be stupid.
“Hunter, are you alright?” Raine asked, their hand outstretched, debating whether to reassuringly touch him or not - they decided not to. Hunter muttered to himself “No! No! Please, I’ll do anything, anything at all - just don’t take me back there!.” Darius and Raine both gasped, and the former spoke softly, “Hey, take deep breaths alright? With me, in and out, that’s it, in and out.” Hunter slowly regained his breathing but his sobs were getting worse.
The reality of everything came crashing down on him at the speed of a waterfall. Raine pulled out a flute from their pocket, and began to blow a melodic tune to try and calm Hunter down, meanwhile Darius kneeled in front of the distressed teenager and tried his best to smile. “Hey, look, we don’t know what you saw in there, Hunter, but we’ll be here for you alright?” he stated firmly. “You don’t need to talk about it, but you must know that people do care about you. Besides, I am certainly not taking you back to the castle to that son of a - creep.” Hunter looked at the older Abomination witch in shock, people actually cared about him, he wasn’t hated by everyone after all!
His train of thoughts was stopped by a sudden pang of pain in his stomach, and the unsettling nausea and clamminess from before returned. He had to get out of here! He wasn’t safe! Hunter tried to stand up, but his legs buckled under him and he fell to the ground in a heap. “Hunter! Woah bud, are you sick?.” That was Darius of course. He also heard the faint sounds of Raine gasping in shock and suddenly everything went fuzzy. He felt yet another sharp stab in his stomach, bile rose up in his throat and he threw up everywhere.
“Sorry! I- I am sorry! It won’t happen again! Please don’t hurt me Uncle! I’m sorry!.” There was more frantic shouting and he felt hands around his waist and knew he was being picked up by someone. Before he could register anything else, everything faded to black.
"Oh Hunter" a voice mockingly said. "You truly are worthless, trying to make friends. Are you really trying to fool yourself into being normal? Your a Grimwalker, a clone of the one who betrayed me all those years ago. No one loves you, you'll be killed just like those before you. You betrayed me Hunter. And you know, what happens to those who backstab me."
Oh no, he thought, I know what happens here! Hunter saw Belo's tentacle arm fly towards him and prepared for the blow as he screamed-
“Hunter” a voice called. “Hunter? Hunter! Buddy, wake up, it’s gonna be alright!.” The teenager hastily woke up from his nightmare to the sound of a familiar voice and bolted upright.
Something wasn’t right, he wasn’t outside anymore. He was lying on a couch, and covered with blue blankets that looked surprisingly clean. Where was he? He sat up, but regretted that as a throbbing pain in his head made him shut his eyes and he sank back down. He felt so cold, yet he was sweating as if his life depended on it. Suddenly he heard a voice of a woman that sounded so familiar. It was the Owl Lady, Eda.
“Kid? Hunter? Are you doing alright?” Eda asked worriedly, her voice laced with concern. “You're sick, you’ve got a really bad fever. Darius and Raine brought you here - they thought it would be the safest place to be, you know considering I’m the most wanted criminal yet never gotten caught-.”
Before Eda could finish, Hunter began to cry, everything was so overwhelming right now. Everything was happening so fast. Before he knew it, he felt a pair of comforting arms wrap around him and whisper, “Hunter, I promise you everything’s gonna be alright, trust me okay?.”
Hunter nodded through his tears and pained whimpers and Eda soothingly rubbed his back. Luz and King came out of their own rooms after hearing the commotion.
“What’s going on- Hunter! H-hey are you- you okay?” Luz cried, she had been extremely worried since Hunter had left and seeing him brought relief, but increased concern. The human girl joined the hug, and King soon after.
Eda looked at her children and smiled sadly, “Don’t worry kiddos, we will get through this, together.”