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Hunter had always been jealous of coven scouts who got to go on cool missions all the time. He had begged to tag along a few times, but he was told the same thing every attempt; that he was too young, and it was too dangerous for a little boy like him. After all, he was only 7 years old, but Hunter would try and retort that he’s actually 7 and ¾. ‘Close enough to 8,’ he would say.
But no matter what Hunter said to convince anyone, his pleas were denied. A part of him was a bit intimidated at the thought of leaving a familiar location to some far off place Titan only knows where with a possible chance of being severely injured or worse depending on the mission, but another part of Hunter would give anything just to watch it all in person. To witness it himself.
Another part of Hunter also wanted to go on these missions because Lilith went on them. She would sometimes be away for days at a time, and Hunter wouldn’t know what to do with himself. His time was always spent with Lilith, and it wasn’t as fun whenever she was gone.
But Hunter always got excited whenever Lilith came back. She would tell him all about her journey, and not a single detail was spared. Lilith knew how fascinating these experiences were for the little boy, and she even brought him back a little souvenir every chance she got, whether it be the bone of some large beast or a nice crystal from an underground cave.
It was almost a routine waiting for Lilith to come back. Hunter, usually supervised by Steve, would always stand on the bridge near the entrance to the Emperor’s castle, and wait with restless legs until the ship flew in. Once guards and scouts started boarding off and walking towards the castle, Hunter would stand on his tippy toes, searching for the familiar navy blue hair that he could recognize in any crowd from miles away. Once he found the target, he’d call Lilith’s name, run up to her, and jump into her open arms. The older witch would scoop the boy up with the most warm smile on her face, and tell her story as she carried him across the bridge and into the castle.
Lilith and Hunter meant the world to each other. The boy thought of this woman as some sort of guardian angel. The mother he never had. And to Lilith, the feeling was mutual. In her eyes, Hunter was her baby boy. Her son. She had taken him under her wing as the two had gotten to know each other over the years, and she would protect this child with her life whenever the opportunity came. That’s something you would never hear Lilith say about any child ever.
This is also why Hunter was always so upset whenever Lilith had to leave for a mission.
“…but it’s always so boring when you’re not here! What if you get lost and don’t come back? What if you die this time?” Hunter fiddled with his shirt as Lilith knelt in front of him, shaking her head and smiling.
“Hunter, I promise you, I’m not going to die. I’ll only be gone for a couple days, alright? Just like all the other times…”
Lilith said it with such confidence and certainty, but Hunter just looked down at the shoes on his feet. His boots. They had gotten quite dirty, probably from when Lilith took him outside a few days ago, shortly after the boiling rain had stopped. He discovered lots of little critters in all the mud and puddles that day, and Lilith taught him about each of the ones he found. He drank all the knowledge in like it was his first sip of water in days.
“…can you hold up 2 fingers for me, Birdy?”
Birdy. Hunter loved that nickname. It was like some sort of secret code between him and Lilith only. When he asked her about it one day, she just smiled and said that she loved birds, elaborating on nothing else.
But what Hunter didn’t know was that Lilith called him Birdy because birds had always been a big part of her family. And that’s what he was to her. He was family.
Hunter held up two fingers.
“Now, I want you to do something for me, okay? When you wake up tomorrow morning, I want you to put one finger down…” Lilith pushed Hunter’s middle finger down to join the rest of his balled up fist.
“…and then, the morning after that, put the other finger down…” Lilith pushed Hunter’s index finger down as well. The boy looked at his fist, and then at Lilith.
“…once all your fingers are down, that’s when I’ll be home, okay?” Lilith smiled as Hunter nodded sadly.
“…okay…”
Lilith cupped the small boy’s face in her hands and kissed him on the forehead before looking into his eyes.
“Be good for Steve, alright?”
Hunter nodded, a frown still plastered on his face.
—
After what seemed like forever, the day came when Hunter had both his fingers down. And as usual, he waited by the castle entrance with Steve, who was unmasked and comfortably talking to the little boy he was watching. But this time, Hunter had a present for Lilith.
It was a drawing that the boy had scribbled up right after Lilith left. He had worked very hard on it, and was super proud of the results. Even Steve was impressed by Hunter’s recent work.
“That’s awesome, little dude, Lilith’s gonna love that!” Steve nodded in approval as Hunter wore his toothy little grin with excitement. He couldn’t wait to see the look on Lilith’s face when she saw his drawing.
And as if it were almost on cue, the familiar ship in the sky came into view. Hunter began to do a little tippy tap dance with his feet as he waited for the ship to come to a complete stop on the ground. Steve was waiting too, but once he realized something was off, his smile began to fade.
The guards and scouts looked more frantic, as if someone had gotten hurt during the mission. But what worried Steve the most was that he couldn’t see the familiar navy blue hair in the crowd of scrambling soldiers.
Oh no.
Hunter didn’t seem to notice, and almost took off running in excitement before Steve held his arm out to stop him.
“Hold on, little dude… something’s not right.”
Steve quickly flipped his mask back over his face as his fellow coven scouts ran by, shouting in a panicked voice.
“Go, go, go! Get her to the healers!”
‘Her’.
Oh no…
And sure enough, two coven guards left the ship, carrying a concerningly limp woman between them.
A woman with navy blue hair .
It was Lilith.
She was hurt.
Hunter was paralyzed by the sight in front of him. His worst fear had come true. The woman he admired and looked up to the most in his life was hurt . Her hands were stained red, and so was the dress that she wore. It almost looked like she had taken a shot to her abdominal area. Her head hung low with her long disheveled hair practically draped over her face, and her boots almost dragged across the ground. Hunter’s eyes barely managed to meet with Lilith’s glazed ones before they rolled back and her head slumped once again, entering the castle.
And then it was quiet. So quiet that it could turn the stomach in discomfort. Hunter and Steve both stood in disbelief of what they had just witnessed. The boy looked up at his temporary guardian with the most mortified face you could possibly see on a kid his age, and Steve was equally as scared. Lilith was just as important to him as she was to Hunter.
“…come on, kiddo, let’s go to the healers.”
Hunter nodded and took Steve’s hand, clutching the drawing so tightly to his chest that it wrinkled completely.
—
The two boys waited outside of the healer’s office in the castle for what felt like hours. The nervous sweat from Hunter’s small palms had transferred to the wrinkly drawing that he gripped onto for dear life. He will give this drawing to Lilith. She will be alive, and Hunter will physically hand it to her.
He never wanted Lilith to leave his sight again after this.
Steve waited beside the boy just as anxiously with his mask off once again before they both heard the door click open and whipped their heads around. It was one of the healers.
“How’s Lilith? Is she okay?” Steve asked, eyes wide with concern.
“She took quite a hit to her abdomen, but we were able to stop the bleeding. She might need a while to recover, but she’ll be okay.” The healer smiled as Steve slumped his shoulders in relief. Hunter poked his head out from behind the older scout sitting next to him.
“Can we see her?”
“She might be a bit tired, but you two are free to see her now if you’d like. I only ask that you be gentle with her.” The healer replied. And with that, Hunter wasted no time at all. He got up and paced straight past the healer and into the office. Steve quickly got up after him and thanked the healer before walking in.
Hunter had never liked the healer’s office. Everything about it was a bit scary to him, and he hoped he would never have to end up here in his life. He would rather die than do that.
Once the two boys walked in, they saw Lilith lying on some kind of cot that looked to be a bit uncomfortable. Her skin had lost a bit of its color —most likely from blood loss— and her eyes looked more sunken in. Less lively.
She wasn’t in her usual dark grey, ankle-length dress, but instead in a pale blue gown. Something that lots of healing patients wore. Lilith noticed Steve and Hunter’s entrance and gave a relieved smile, sitting up in her cot.
“Lilith!” Hunter ran up to the woman, trying to be gentle when hugging her. She bent down slightly to hold him in the tightest hug she could give as her eyes started to get watery.
“Hi, sweetheart!… oh, I’m so sorry I couldn’t see you right away…” she cooed, cupping the boy’s sweet face in her hands and looking into his eyes with a relieved smile. All she wanted to do was hold him right now. He must have been so worried.
“I… I thought you died! I thought I would be alone forever!…” Hunter started to crack. He really, truly thought his only mother figure in life would’ve left him completely alone. He couldn’t stand that thought one bit.
Lilith shook her head, attempting to pick Hunter up and bring him onto the small cot with her, but her injury protested as she shut her eyes tight and hissed at the pain running through her core. Hunter’s eyes widened as he backed up slightly, afraid he had hurt Lilith. Steve quickly made his way over to check on her.
“Woah! Easy , Lilith… don’t make it worse, alright?” Steve chuckled nervously as Lilith slowly sat up in her cot. She nodded, her eyes still shut.
“Yeah, it’s okay… I’m okay…”
Hunter cautiously watched Lilith from a short distance, almost afraid to move a muscle. He didn’t want to hurt her again.
That was until Lilith looked at the boy almost apologetically. She looked down at the crumpled paper in his hand with gentle curiosity.
“Did you draw something, honey?”
Hunter nodded. He slowly handed the paper to her as she took it and smoothed it out with her hands. The longer she looked, the wider her grin became.
It was a crayon drawing of a momma bird and a baby bird snuggled up together in a tree. The mom was a dark blue color, while the baby was yellow. Lilith didn’t even need to look at the names and arrows pointed to the birds to know that it was her and Hunter.
Lilith thought she could hold it together until she read the writing at the top.
‘You are the best momma bird ever!
Love, Hunter’
Lilith put the drawing down and looked over at Hunter with tears in her eyes, holding out her arms for him.
“Come here, sweetheart, let me hold you…”
Hunter hesitantly walked over, not wanting to hurt her again. He climbed onto the cot with Lilith as she gently cradled his head, shutting her eyes tight and letting the tears fall as the two of them rocked back and forth.
“You’re so sweet to me, Birdy… you’re incredibly sweet…”
Lilith then looked over at Steve to see him awkwardly standing near the end of the cot. She smiled and beckoned him over as well.
“Come on, Steve, you too!”
Steve gave in with a gentle smile and sat on the bedside, and Lilith reached over with her free hand to hold his. She looked at her boys with overwhelming pride and affection. She had raised them both and watched them grow up right in front of her eyes. She had taught them almost everything they know now, and as much as Lilith wanted them to stay small forever, time was merciful for no one. The woman sighed gratefully, planting a soft kiss on Hunter’s head and squeezing Steve’s hand tighter.
“Titan, what would I do without you boys?”
Lilith didn’t want to know the answer to that question. If she knew, she would absolutely hate the answer. She couldn’t imagine her life without these two, and she never wanted to imagine it.
Lilith knew that Steve and Hunter had to go back to their duties eventually. They couldn’t stay with her throughout her entire recovery, but they would damn well try. Hunter sure did, because he refused to leave her side that entire night, and even slept with her in the uncomfortable cot.
The drawing of the momma and baby bird lay on the bedside table next to them, ready to be framed and put on display as soon as possible.