Chapter Text
“Is it just me, or is someone following us?”
Willow glanced up at Hunter, who had just addressed her in a hushed tone. She leaned a little closer to him so she could speak quietly and said, “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
They had been walking down a forest path, enjoying the yellow and orange leaves of the Human Realm’s “autumn” season, as Luz had called it. Willow loved seeing Gravesfield’s local flora, and recently Hunter found himself stuck to his captain like glue for some reason, so naturally, he often accompanied her nature walks. Hunter had found a plant identification book at the library, and the two of them had made a game out of seeing who could identify bushes, flowers, and trees first. For research purposes, of course. It was all about learning as much as they could about the human realm to help them find a way home, and definitely not about the way Willow grinned every time she got one right, or the way the sunlight glinted off her glasses, or how it was an excuse to hang out alone together, or—
Shaking those irrelevant thoughts out of his head, he brought himself back to the current situation. For the past few minutes, he’d heard the crunching noises of someone walking behind them, but every time he inconspicuously glanced over his shoulder, he didn’t see anyone there.
Looking upward, Willow mumbled, “Shoot, it’s starting to get dark. Camila’s not gonna be happy about us being out this late. Should we just turn around?”
“That might be the best course of action. On the off chance someone is following us, I’d rather just confront them.”
He wasn’t sure why someone would be tailing them, but even without magic, he felt like Captain Willow Park and the former Golden Guard could handle some random human. Probably.
Whoosh!
Both witches' heads snapped to look behind them, and they jumped a bit as they caught a glance of a shadow quickly sliding into the trees at the side of the path. They were frozen in place. Was that… him? No, it’s not possible. His pulse quickened considerably.
With a silent nod at each other, they cautiously approached where the shadow had disappeared into the foliage. Hunter’s chest was throbbing with apprehension as he considered that perhaps they should just run. They were out of their element, and they didn’t know who — or what — this thing was. Images of Willow getting injured conjured themselves up in his mind.
“Willow,” he whispered, suddenly panicking. “Maybe we should just go. It would be safer.”
At this point, her hand was resting lightly on a bush she was about to push out of the way. She stared back at him, about to respond, when they suddenly heard something moving in the brush, very close. Immediately, Willow pulled the bush back to reveal their stalker, both witches readying themselves for a fight.
It was a dog.
The medium sized dog was adorably fluffy, and whimpered as it stared up at them through black fur that somewhat hid its eyes. It looked malnourished, and recoiled in fear, like it wanted to befriend them but was scared of getting hurt. It looked familiar, but Hunter couldn’t figure out why. His hand suddenly felt sweaty, and he met Willow’s eyes with terror as they both glanced down and realized they had at some point grabbed each other’s hand, and their fingers had been interlocked through the whole encounter. He couldn’t even stutter out a response as he awkwardly ripped his hand free, feeling his face and ears burning. Before he pointedly looked away, he swore he saw her cheeks becoming pink as well, and she turned back to the dog, clearly opting to not address what just happened.
Stifling a giggle, Willow crouched down, saying in calm, sweet tones, “Oh my goodness, hello! What are you doing out here all alone?” Hunter stood behind her dumbstruck (and a little on-guard) as the stray allowed Willow to softly pat its head and scratch behind its ears. “Aww, it’s okay, good boy…” Willow cooed. Hunter ignored the weird flip his stomach did at hearing those words in this voice he’d never heard from the Captain before.
“Uh, Captain,” he cringed as his voice cracked a bit. “Should we head back? They’re probably getting worried about us.” His mind was still doing somersaults. Thank the Titan I’m wearing gloves, I would die if I got her hand all sweaty. Was I the one who grabbed her hand? When did it even happen? It doesn’t matter, it was just a friendly thing. Friends do that, right?
“Yeah, but now I’m worried about this guy. Doesn’t he look hungry to you?”
“Camila’s a vet, or whatever it’s called. She could probably help. Maybe we can get it to follow us home.”
Nodding, they returned to the path and Willow patted her legs, calling, “Come!”
Suddenly, the dog seemed to return to its terrified state, and bolted away into the woods, tail between its legs.
“It’s okay! Come back!” Willow called. “Should we go after it?”
“No, I don’t think so… It would be better to tell Camila about it and come back with food. Or whatever she says to do. For all we know we shouldn’t even be interacting with wild human realm animals. They could be more dangerous than we think.”
A sly smile crossed Willow’s face and she looked away. “You’re right… Maybe we’ll have to get an animal encyclopedia and start learning. Want to go to the library tomorrow, if we have time?”
That night, Hunter smiled into his pillow, wondering what this confusing but pleasant feeling in his chest was when he replayed those words in his mind.
Somewhere beyond the Noceda house, a black dog trudged through the woods, pausing to cough up a sickly black sludge that had plagued him since he had sought refuge in an abandoned house a few weeks prior. While he had found safety from the storm, something far more dangerous had found him.