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If Eber's upset expression hadn't clued them in on the fact that something was wrong, the way he keeps pushing his food around in the plate without actually eating anything definitely would. He's even holding a spoon to do it. A spoon.
Darius's furrowed eyebrows tell him all he needs to know about how he feels in respect to this sudden development; even if he's always arguing with the demon about his table manners, this isn't something that pleases him. He's barely eating either, choosing instead to stare at Eberwolf as if he could figure out what's going on through his mind that way.
"Huh... Eber?" Hunter asks tentatively.
He receives a hum of acknowledgment.
"Is there something wrong with the food?"
The demon looks up at him and then looks back at the plate, as if suddenly realizing that what he has been partially moving around and partially mashing into a messy paste is actually edible. He lets go of the spoon and pushes the meal away.
'No, pup. Just not hungry.'
"Well, that's a first," Darius comments drily, but then his voice turns soft. “What’s wrong then?”
Eber makes a noncommittal noise, resting his arms on the table and letting his head fall into them.
Darius and Hunter look at each other.
The older witch clears his throat.
“I gather this morning’s expedition didn’t go well?” Eber growls. Oh. So that’s it.
“Did you not catch the breeder?” Hunter asks while moving aside his plate –Flapjack can eat whatever’s left of it if he wants–, remembering the tip Eber had received the night before about someone running an illegal business with all sorts of creatures. This kind of trouble would have fallen to minor officials in the Beastkeeping Coven before, but with the uncertainty about the coven system since things have gone back to normal, sometimes it’s easier to just send someone who can solve the problem without having to do an insane amount of paperwork just to figure out to whom they should report back once the work is done.
Besides, even if officially they’re not Coven Heads anymore, it’s not like their reputation has vanished from one day to another. They still command respect. Enough for people to know not to mess with either of them when they show up. He doesn’t know if that breeder resisted, but if they did, Eber probably had his fun before leaving them to another official.
“Oh, I caught them alright.”
Hunter almost pities the poor soul. Almost.
“Then what’s the matter?”
Eberwolf looks at them, and whatever it is he sees in their faces makes him sigh in defeat.
“There was a horned jaguar,” Hunter nods. That shouldn’t a problem; he has seen Eber calm down animals even five times his size without even breaking a sweat. And it’s evident he’s not hurt, so he assumes the part of the rescue probably went perfectly. “Had a litter recently.”
“Oh… are they alright now?”
The beastkeeper hesitates and he sees Darius wince from across the table. Ah. That’s an explanation in itself. Eberwolf seems to have a bleeding heart for any young creature; it’s no wonder he’s taking it this hard.
“They were separated, she couldn’t feed them,” Eber grind his teeth, before jumping suddenly from the table. “I should get back to get. Try to make her eat.”
Hunter shoots Darius a panicked look, but the man is not looking at him, instead looking like he’s considering something.
“We’ll come with you and see if there’s something we can do to help,” The man says, making the demon turn in apparent surprise. “If and only if you sit down right now and finish your food. The little bird can hardly eat it all and it’ll just go to waste otherwise.”
Eberwolf stands still for a moment, and then climbs back on his chair slowly, forfeiting the spoon in favor of scarfing down as much as he can with each bite. Darius seems torn between being pleased with his win or grossed out.
It doesn’t take them much longer to be on their way, and it takes them even less to arrive at their destination. Traveling with Darius is ridiculously convenient sometimes. Eber leads them to an open and spacious enclosure, although all of the space doesn’t seem to matter much to the feline curled up in one of the corners. She doesn’t acknowledge their arrival in any way, other than her ears moving slightly at the sound.
“She kinda looks like you,” Hunter notes, elbowing Darius and pointing at the colorful purple hues on the jaguar’s fur. The man crosses his arms.
“Very funny.”
Eber brings some huge pieces of meat for the animal to eat, but she is no more interested in it than she was in them, even after Darius uses his abomination matter to simply hold it and see if the movement will make it more tempting and to create an image of one of her preys to bait her into hunting it. Maybe she needs to see her prey is actually alive and breathing or else she won’t feel like it’s worth it, Hunter suggests, offering to teleport around holding the meat to see if that works, but he’s dismissed almost immediately: “You will do no such thing”, “Absolutely not, pup”, “It was just an idea!”
In the end, they have to simply leave the meat lying down and hope that the mother will want to eat it once she gets very, very hungry.
“Sorry we couldn’t do more.”
“It’s okay. You tried your best.”
“The offer to help with her hunting instincts still stands.”
“And that’s still a no.”
It’s discouraging, but at least Eber seems to be taking it slightly better than he was earlier. His usual cheerfulness isn’t back by any means, but he seems to be truly grateful for their company, and he hugs them both very tightly that night.
He’s gone early the next morning, and the next after that, and the whole following week. One of those days he informs them, rather relieved, that the jaguar is starting to eat and look a little livelier than she did before, but he still keeps going to see her as much as the rest of his work allows him to, entrusting her to the care of other trustworthy beastkeepers the rest of the time.
Hunter doesn’t really forget about her, but between her feeling better, Eberwolf recovering his everlasting optimism, his schoolwork and his friends, the feline becomes an afterthought in a more unimportant and less transited part of his mind.
It’s only been two weeks after that that he finds out something that, he thinks, might make the beastkeeper feel better about the loss of the litter.
He’s walking back home from Flyer Derby practice. Sure, he could have flown or asked to be picked up, but he wants to let Flapjack rest and stretch his feathers after being stuck so long in wood form, and although it takes him a considerable amount of extra time to go home by foot, he enjoys the tranquil scenario.
It’s peaceful. He’s humming a little tune to himself and everything. Until a sharp cry makes him jump and hold a hand up to grab Flapjack, who takes his cue and instantly morphs into his staff.
“Who’s there?!” He points at the trees, but the only responses are more cries. He pauses for a second and then he’s hurrying toward the sound. It must be someone in distress rather than someone dangerous, since they don’t stop crying even as Hunter gets closer and closer.
He has to move a bush to see, but he finds himself face to face with a group of very small… are those puppies?
“Uh… hello?” He raises his head to look around. There’s no way they were just abandoned like this, right? What happened to their parents? “Did, huh, anyone lose their babies around here?”
He didn’t expect an actual answer, but it’s still disappointing to not hear more than the buzzing of insects.
“… Alright. “ Should he move them? That doesn’t feel like a good idea, but they’re crying so much that he feels like he has to do something and quick. Maybe they’re cold? There doesn’t seem to be a lot of fur going down there.
He takes off his jacket, going to put it around them. One of the puppies turns its head in his direction, and Hunter winces, predicting the loudest cry he has heard in his life when he sees it open its mouth really, really wide, but instead of a sharp protest, he sees a flame starting to take form and he jumps back just in time to avoid the fire being spit at him. The flame lands on a flower and Hunter watches it melt. That could have been his face.
Okay, okay, okay. He absolutely can do this. Fire or not, no problem. He’s very good at dealing with stressful situations and scarce resources, he absolutely knows what to do.
… He summons a crow and calls Eberwolf.
It takes less time than he thought for the demon to arrive, and he realizes why when he sees Darius scrunching his nose at the loose dirt getting on his boots. He’s starting to think someone should tell him that wearing white boots all the time is a bad idea if he plans on keeping them pristine by the end of the day. Perhaps he will tell him, but later.
Eberwolf makes quick work of calming down the puppies, and Hunter watches with a small amount of jealousy how none of the animals seem to want to burn him. That’s a little bit offensive, he didn’t do anything to them. Once they’re calm enough to be moved, they put Hunter’s jacket in a makeshift abomination carrier and soon they’re back at Eberwolf’s animal sanctuary.
They have a few fire-proof enclosures, Eber explains, and although they’re usually reserved for much larger beasts, they can make use of them and acclimatize it enough for the fire puppies. They’ll probably need to stay for a while, up until they’ve made sure they’re healthy and they’re well fed and big enough to be left unsupervised for longer periods of time, so they can encharge them to a smaller shelter.
It sounds like a solid plan, but the puppies' cries are starting to ring a little too much in Hunter’s ears, and he’s about to ask where can he find the food they’re going to give them, just to have something to do that doesn’t make his head want to explode, when there’s a loud bump.
They stop walking. It’s a little hard to tell the direction the sound came from when the puppies are still making noise, but they don’t have to wait for long until there’s another bump.
Looking at each other, they change directions to examine the sound and Hunter realizes with a startle that he recognizes the path they’re taking. Eberwolf’s ears perk up, obviously knowing where they’re going already as well.
It’s the horned jaguar’s enclosure. Flapjack flies to one of his pockets to hide, and Hunter can feel him transforming into wood. That’s alright, he’ll let them know once they’re at home.
The animal doesn’t calm down as they approach, and instead seems to grow more frantic in her attempts to get out.
“What’s going on with her? Is she alright?”
“The puppies,” Darius looks at his side, where he’s still holding the carrier far away enough for himself that any potential fire being spit would fall on the floor instead of on him.
“Does she want to eat them? Do horned jaguars eat fire puppies?” Hunter asks, unsure if he should be feeling horrified or fascinated. He settles for horrifyingly fascinated. “Should we take them to another shelter already instead?”
Darius hesitates, looking at Eber. “Perhaps.”
The demon is frowning rather intensely, but his face suddenly brightens up.
“Wait, maybe we can…”
He grabs the carrier from Darius and enters the enclosure before either of them can stop him. They stand there for a few seconds, stunned, and then they hurry after him.
They see the jaguar sniffing at the carrier, with Eberwolf standing carefully at the side and making the occasional clicking or chirping sound to presumably keep the animal calm while he opens the small door and lets the puppies out.
Hunter covers his face with his hands. It doesn’t matter if the puppies tried to burn him, he does not want to see them getting eaten.
But there is no growling or chewing noises. He can still hear the puppies crying, but it’s a little bit softer, quieting down slightly. Eventually, he feels a hand on his hair.
“It’s okay, kid, you can look.”
He peeks from behind his fingers, and the first thing he sees is Eberwolf looking unbelievably smug. Behind him, the horned jaguar seems to be grooming the puppies, which have started gathering around here to take advantage of this big source of warmth.
“What?”
“You did not seriously think I brought them here as food, did you?” Eber asks critically.
“Well, I, uh-“ He scratches his neck. “I don’t know how these things work! Maybe it was… I don’t know, some secret beastkeeper knowledge or something like that!”
“So little faith,” Eber sniffles.
“Eberwolf, I’m sorry!”
Darius rolls his eyes.
“He’s just messing with you,” He dissolves the abomination matter from the carrier, now that it’s not needed anymore, and uses to pick it up the jacket and bring it to him. “I believe this is yours. But don’t put it on right now, wait until… ah, why do I even bother?”
Hunter smiles innocently at him. The jacket is slightly burned and it picked up some dirt from the puppies, but other than that it seems perfectly fine to wear. Also, it’s funny to see Darius’s expression.
Eberwolf tells them to wait there, instructing Darius to separate the animals in case something does happen –although he stresses that he doesn’t believe anything will–, while he goes to find someone on shift to inform them about the situation and keep the situation monitored. They can’t stay here forever, after all.
There’s something weirdly endearing about the scene. The jaguar looks far more lively than the last time they were here, and the puppies aren’t trying to melt her face either. It feels like a win for everyone, if they ask him.
Darius elbows him.
“Those puppies kinda look like you.”
“What?! No, they don’t! How?!”
“It’s true, pup, they too are furless and need lots of nurturing.”
He jumps, not having realized that Eberwolf was back. He’s accompanied by a well-built witch, who seems to be staring at all of them with curious eyes.
“I guess I can see where the resemblance lies,” They determine, and Hunter snaps his head at them, his mouth wide open as he struggles with where to even start with that. Eber starts cackling like a madman and even Darius seems to be covering a snort and a smile with his hand. Are they all being serious right now?
“Well… well… that jaguar’s still like you, Darius! See? She even adopted the puppies, just like you did with me!” He snaps. As soon as the words register in his brain, however, he feels his face growing hot.
He’s not wrong, of course, Darius did adopt him, but there’s something oddly embarrassing about saying it out loud like that, even if there are only two other witnesses to his outburst. Well, that and the animals, but he doubts they will be making fun of him any time soon.
Darius looks dumbfounded for a moment, and Hunter’s pleased to see he looks a little bit flushed as well, but soon he’s smiling with an oddly touched expression on his face.
“I suppose that’s fair. We’ll just have to see if this jaguar has the same level of dedication to her new litter,” The man shrugs, looking way too casual for someone admitting just how committed he is to being his parent. Hunter’s pretty sure his blush is even worse now.
“I hope not. I don’t want her to bite my hand for so much as trying to touch the puppies,” Eberwolf says.
That does the trick.
“I have never bitten anyone for trying to touch Hunter, I don’t know what you’re talking about, mutt.”
“You know perfectly well what I mean!”
“You’re making things up.”
“Remember that time we were at the market and…?”
Hunter lets their voices blur in the background while he turns to look at the fire puppies, now comfortably cuddled around the jaguar, out like a light. He thinks, if he strains his ears enough, that he can hear the feline purring in contentment.
He sighs, feeling rather content himself. If those puppies are half as lucky as he got with his own new family, they’re going to be very lucky indeed.