Chapter Text
Luz dragged herself up, hand pressed firmly to the rock. Her heavy pants echoed through the tunnel, sounding almost like a monster from some poorly budgeted horror movie. Luz only wished her current problems were as solvable as an idiot plot right now. But some basic conversation and a little bit of quality writing wouldn’t help her here. Thin smears of blood crossed her body, tracing warm lines down her temple and right arm. Eda’s grugby jacket had tatters on the sleeves and the stitched-on star was peeling off. Luz kept a careful eye on it, unwilling to lose even a small part of Eda’s beloved jacket. It was bad enough that it had been ripped. Ohhhhh Eda’s going to kill me . She whimpered as she moved another hesitant step, scratched up palms soaking up the cold of the cave wall.
Okay, maybe a surprise adventure at three in the morning wasn’t the best idea. She wasn’t an idiot, she swears. She knew that she should’ve been more careful.
But her room was too small, and her energy too much, and before she knew it she was running through the wild woods, ducking under branches and leaping off rocks. She felt free and wild as the witches from Eda’s tales, one with the magic of the island and just as uncatchable. Thoughts of her mother and the promise couldn’t catch her out here, legs a blur as she ran after the promise of escape.
She didn’t have to worry about going back home, she didn’t have to think about normal human school, and how Eda and King would eventually forget her, and how Willow and Gus would grow to be strong witches and she would never see it, and she wouldn’t have a future with Amity like she had began dreaming of and-
Don’t think of it.
She forced it from her mind, instead dreaming visions of growing up to be a powerful witch, under Eda’s careful guidance. Seeing Willow gain the respect she deserved, crushing Boscha under her boot. Watching as Gus dazzled the minds of Boiling Isles residents with illusions of the human creatures Luz told him about. Maybe…maybe one day even getting to kiss Amity, dressed in white, pulling her close-
But in her delight, she had neglected caution. One hastily placed footstep on a rocky ridge had sent her sprawling, tumbling down the slope and plowing through the fallen branches as she went. Even the leaves that had fallen to the ground hadn’t cushioned her fall, hitting the ground hard over and over as she rolled. Tiny branches overhanging had grabbed her skin with tiny claws bared and pulled, tearing her skin and sending tiny rivers of blood free.
And because that wasn’t bad enough, it had started to rain, the upper layer of leaves hissing as they dissolved, the boiling water falling from the dark and cloudy sky. Lady Luck had thrown her at least one bone, a cave barely thirty feet away with some cover. With her legs relatively fine, only some minor scratches and one bramble wrapped around her ankle she easily kicked off, Luz was able to stumble to safety with only heat on the backs of her legs and minor erosion on her shoe’s soles.
The adrenaline from nearly burning alive caught up to her once she crossed the cave’s threshold and she crashed to the ground - one foot catching behind her ankle - and she twisted just enough to land on her left side rather than her already injured right. The rock floor was cold as it dug into her face, tiny pebbles digging in. Luz curled up tighter, clutching her arm and dragging in a shaky breath. It rattled through her lungs, cold dry air flooding her airway. Tears threatened to bead up in her eyes and she blinked them back. Don’t cry, don’t cry-
“C’mon Luz, you’re fine, don’t c-cry,” she choked out, slowly shifting to sit up. Back pressed firmly against the wall, she tried desperately to think of a plan. Okay, what do I have? No Owlbert, so she couldn’t fly. Her tamagotchi was on the window sill, so even if she would contact Amity at three in the Titan damned morning , she couldn’t. Did she have anything else? She racked her brain, but came up blank.
Luz was officially alone.
She couldn’t stop the tears this time.
Her arm burned, blood was still dripping down her face and the cold from the rock was soaking into her body and making her shiver. Tears were a sharp contrast, slow and cold. She dragged in another shaky breath - lungs quivering - and curled up, wondering desperately of what to do.
Footsteps.
If she was a witch, her ears would’ve been twitching like Gus’ did when he heard news around school (reporter instincts she would guess). The footsteps paused in their shuffling over grass, before-
Click, click, click, click-
Over rock. Coming closer. To her.
Her breath came faster, one hand slapping over her mouth to muffle it. She had to hide, she had to move, she had to-
“Human?”
Her eyes jerked up, meeting the violet gaze of one Golden Guard.
“Hunter?” She asked, grip loosening on her arm. “What are you doing here?” She saw the older boy’s eyes flicker over her form looking for…something, meeting her gaze for a couple seconds before darting away. His gaze caught on her arm and she resisted the urge to pull away as his eyes narrowed. Great going Luz, really proving you’re capable.
He dropped into a squat, worn boots folding easily, while gently pulling her arm forward and waving his staff in the air, red sparks briefly glowing brighter to condense into a med kit that dropped to the stone floor with a clatter.
“I’m fine Hunter, don’t bother,” Luz groaned, pulling on her own arm. Hunter shot her a glare, grip tightening slightly.
“Don’t leave injuries untreated so they become worse,” he shot back as he began to wrap bandages around her arm, weirdly without his usual passion behind it. Luz paused, taking a closer look at him.
His stance was crooked, unlike his usually militarian stance and strict self discipline. He was leaning, eye bags looking more like bruises. Luz idly wondered if someone punched him in the eye, whether anyone would even notice at first. Huh, I wonder if anyone actually has. But that didn’t answer her question of why he was here, in some nondescript cave, at oh - what time was it? - three in the morning.
Despite her burning a hole through his skull with the force of her stare, he didn’t look up. However, the twitching of his ears betrayed his concentration on his task.
“…Hunter,” she called again. He froze, before pulling harder at the bandage. She hissed in pain and he muttered an apology, the taut cloth quickly going loose. She stayed silent as he finished, but grabbed his hand once he stopped and pulled away.
“Heh-“ he yelped, hand going tense under her hold. “W-what was that for?”
“Why are you out here? How’d you find me?” Luz demanded, clenching her hand. Hunter hissed and she immediately lessened the force, just as he had. But she didn’t let up in her questioning. She couldn’t, not if Eda or King were in danger. “Were you following me?”
Hunter shook his head, hair noodle swinging with the motion. Luz stifled a smirk at the sight. Focus Luz! Information gathering in process! “Couldn’t sleep, went out for a night flight.” He shrugged. “Saw you running around and figured that you’d end up in trouble, and…thought I’d stop by to help.”
Luz would be more indignant if this encounter hadn’t been. started by her misstepping and tumbling down a ridge and nearly ended with her crying alone in a cave while bleeding.
“How do I know you’re not lying?” She asked, relaxing into a playful tone. He glanced up at her and she stuck her tongue out. His offended gasp was so worth it.
The shove she received in turn was not so much worth it.
She went to shove him back but her skinned palms burned on contact. Hunter grabbed her wrists to keep her from doing it again.
“Don’t do that idiot,” he scoffed, struggling as she leaned her weight against him. His voice got more screechy as she pushed. “Don’t! Do that! You moron!”
Luz laughed, loud and a bit unhinged, her current reality sinking in. She was in a cave, at three in the morning, the apprentice of her biggest enemy carefully wrapping his own medical supplies around her to stop her bleeding. She choked on her laughter and before she knew it, she was sobbing, collapsing against Hunter who froze.
“I’m so sorry,” she hiccuped, one hand swiping across her eyes. Tears kept pouring and she couldn’t stop it, and oh god, Hunter must be so uncomfortable . She forced her head up, trying to apologize but stuttered to a halt. “H-Hunter?”
The older teen looked uncertain, but moved as if he knew exactly what he was doing. He pulled her closer, tucking his head over hers and letting her hooking her chin over his shoulder, tears soaking his cloak.
“It’s fine,” he consoled her, one hand coming up to pet her hair. Luz melted into it, squeezing her arms tighter around his rib cage. “It’s going to be okay.”
“B-bold of you to say that when we’re on opposite sides,” she sniffed. Tears slowed as she calmed down. His hug was cool, not warm like Willow’s or soft like Amity’s, and he was taller than Gus. But he was firm and unrelenting, and he hugged like it was the last thing he would ever do.
She felt safe.
“Yeah, bold,” he chuckled, to his credit only sounding a little desperate. “But…someone once told me it’s better to look on the bright side, hope that things come true, y’know? You wouldn’t know I guess…being such a pessimist as yourself…”
Luz laughed. “They sound very wise and smart, a real role mod-“
“Wouldn’t go that far.”
“Hey!”
They quieted, still holding tight.
“…do you mean it?” She whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. The fabric was rough on her face. Durable, likely resistant to fire and poison like Lilith’s was. Hard to cut. It soaked up her tears, hiding her weakness. Hunter’s gloved fingers dragged soothingly over her head.
“I do,” he whispered back. “It’s going to be okay.”
Luz sighed, a new vision beginning to bloom in her head. One where she was a witch, where her mom accepted her, where she had Amity and her friends, where Hunter wasn’t her enemy.
Mama always told her she asked for too much.