Chapter Text
It had been yet another long, hard, frustrating, boring day…
It was something Hunter knew all too well, and his mind raced about the day he had today. It had begun with training first thing in the morning. During it, he had given it his all as per usual, trying to prove that he was more than just half-a-witch Hunter, but he was only awarded the whispers of belittlement from his own underlings.
'The Golden Guard is such a tryhard,'
'Why is he so perfect ?'
'What makes him so special?'
'Why is our boss a bratty teenager?'
'What a stupid half-a-witch,'
Every insult stung, and he wished he could just go up to them and give them a piece of his mind. However, there was nothing he could do about it. Reacting to the insults would just make them come his way more, and it wasn't like he wasn't used to this. Hunter knew most of his underlings thought of him as a privileged brat, and he pretty much overheard someone talking smack about him every day. No matter how hard he tried, no matter how hard he pushed himself, no matter how hard he tried to prove himself, people would always think he was just a young, bratty, entitled, scrawny, pathetic magicless boy.
Once a half-a-witch, always a half-a-witch.
The next portion of his day wasn't the best, either. After lunch, he had done nothing but study his soul away. He had been given a mountain of things to study today and to make matters worse, it was things that he hardly cared about. There was not a dab of any new information about wild magic at all in that massive stack. Just piles and piles of how the sigils draining magic worked, arguments on why palismen creation should be limited, information on why access to Eclipse Lake would soon be banned to the public, and many, many more things that Hunter couldn't care less about. In fact, he'd rather do almost anything else. Studying all this junk was so tedious and boring, but he had to do it. It was part of his job, after all. He rushed through the piles of books and paperwork to get them over with, and even then, it still took him about six hours to finish.At least he had gotten his duties done early for once, meaning he was free for the rest of the day.
Hunter laid on his bed with Flapjack relaxing on his chest, giving the bird soft pets as the teenage boy stared at the ceiling with a blank expression. He was glad he wasn't completely alone, as he had Flapjack to comfort him, but Flapjack's comfort couldn't undo his exhausting day. To make matters worse, hunger began brewing in Hunter's belly, which was just another nuisance on top of his misery. He considered leaving his room for dinner, so he turned his head over to its side, seeing that the clock read 6:00 PM. He let out a pained sigh. That meant the dinner rush was happening, and he didn't want to get caught up in the stampede. Usually, Hunter would care about missing a meal, as he hated trying to work on an empty stomach, but right now, he was just so done with everything that he could honestly care less.
Flapjack frowned as he watched Hunter stare at nothing. He could tell that Hunter was upset, so he began singing a song to the boy. His 'feel better soon' song. One of Hunter's favorites. Hunter's ears perked up hearing the song, and he couldn't help but faintly smile upon hearing it. He didn't know how he had lived so long without this precious little cardinal, and he hoped they could stay together forever. When Flapjack finished, Hunter was reminded of his day and became just as sad as he was before. He would ask Flapjack to sing it again, but he didn't want to strain Flapjack's throat, so he would have to find another way to not be alone with his thoughts.
Hunter tried to think of what he could do to kill the rest of the time in the day. Perhaps he could get a small workout in, but he didn't want to do that, either, as working out on an empty stomach was never enjoyable. Maybe he could go to sleep, but with his mind racing a thousand miles a minute, that wasn't happening. Perhaps he could curl up and read one of his favorite books, but oddly enough, he didn't feel like doing that either. He loved to read, but if he did it right now, something just felt… off about it.
Then he realized something. He was lonely. Really lonely. Nothing seemed appealing to do alone, even if he enjoyed them. Sure, he had Flapjack, but right now, he craved witch-to-witch interaction, but who could he talk to? He wasn't allowed to talk to the other scouts. Perhaps Darius, but he just wanted someone to hang out with. Darius was probably busy.
Then someone came to mind, and his boney cheeks dusted red at just the thought of her.
Willow Park.
The first witch friend he had ever made.
Willow was the nicest, sweetest witch he had ever met. Every time he had hung out with her, it was some of the happiest, most fun moments of his life. Hunter's belly began swirling with butterflies as his heart began palpitating. A warm smile came to his face at just the possibility of getting to see her again. He rarely got free time, so this was the perfect moment.
He whipped out his scroll without a second to spare, opening Pentsagram. His stomach somersaulted when he saw that Willow was online. What perfect timing. He scrambled to get to the private messages and began typing,
RULERZREACHF4N: hELlo.CaPaTain
Hunter knew that it wouldn't be too long before Willow would send him a message back, but Titan, did it feel like a thousand years. His heart rate increased every moment, and he began to sweat with anticipation.
Hello_Willow: Hiii!
Hunter took a deep breath. Alright, he had gotten her attention, and now he had to ask her the question.
RULERZREACHF4N: WOulD yoU like.to CoMe VisItMe?
Hunter waited with bated breath for Willow's response. Time moved slower than a snail as he watched the three dots move. His breathing grew tight as he waited. It felt like he would suffocate in his own anxiety.
Then… she sent her reply.
Hello_Willow: Of course!
Hunter squealed, shooting up into a sitting position, "Yes! She said yes!!" He shouted. He began to type a message back, but out of nowhere, Flapjack grabbed his hair forelock and began yanking it. "Ow, ow, ow!" Hunter cried. Flapjack stopped as Hunter gave him an angry glare. "What gives?! That hurt!"
Flapjack tweeted, telling him that having Willow here was risky.
Hunter's stomach sank, realizing Flapjack was right. Having Willow visit him could cause serious problems for the both of them. If any regular castle member discovered her, things would not end well, but Willow had already agreed to come over, and Hunter didn't want to let her down by suddenly telling her she couldn't anymore. Besides, if she had already agreed to come over, surely she knew the risks, right? Even still, Hunter considered changing plans to go to visit her instead, but he quickly realized that was just as risky as he would have to sneak out to do so, and he had almost gotten caught doing that twice . Who knows what horrible punishment he'd receive for getting caught doing such a thing. Either of them visiting each other carried its own separate risks, so he decided the best thing he could do was to keep the plan the same but warn Willow about the circumstances.
RULERZREACHF4N: HeY. L8stEn. You gotA keEp a loW pRofiLe He5e. If yOurE sEen Yo7 wOld.be tReAted as a treSPaSser.
After sending that message, Hunter realized that Willow might back out of coming over now. His stomach sank. Great, he had probably ruined his chances of seeing her, but all he could do was wait and see what she would say.
Hello_Willow: Makes sense. I'll be sure to be careful.
Hunter let out a massive sigh of relief but then realized something else. Another unfortunate consequence of having to keep Willow a secret. She wouldn't be able to have a proper dinner here. Hunter felt a pain in his chest at the thought. He knew what hunger was like, but he'd let himself go hungry any day over someone he cared about, and he refused to have Willow starve while she was here.
RULERZREACHF4N: AlSo. bE sURe..to bRinG sOme,snCks for diNeR. You wOn,t be ABle to gET tHe cAStLe diNNeR.
Hello_Willow: Gotcha! I have a question, by the way.
RULERZREACHF4N: wHAt is It ??
Hello_Willow: Can we sleepover?
Hunter cocked an eyebrow at reading that. Willow's father Harvey had mentioned that strange 'sleepover' word before, and he recalled that Willow had, too, but even still, he had no clue what it meant.
RULERZREACHF4N: WHAts a sLEePOver?
Hello_Willow: It's when you stay the entire night at a friend's place!
Hunter's stomach immediately erupted with butterflies. Getting to spend the entire night with the strong, amazing, stunning, caring, sweet, confident, beautiful captain? Titan, he couldn't fathom such a thing, but he welcomed it with open arms.
RULERZREACHF4N: THaT SoUnDs cOOL! SuRE yOu cAn¡
Hello_Willow: Awesome! I'll fly over there in a bit. See you soon!
After that, Willow went offline. Hunter squealed again and flapped his arms, extremely excited to see his precious captain again. However, he knew he had to swallow his excitement and inform Darius of this immediately. Hunter needed any possible help he could keeping Willow secret.
Hunter rushed out of his room, searching all over the castle for Darius. He knew he had to do this fast, as he didn't want Willow to arrive while trying to let Darius know what was happening. Hunter found him talking to Raine in an isolated corner of the castle. When Raine and Darius saw Hunter, they both immediately stopped talking. "Golden Guard, sir!" Raine said, seemingly a bit on edge, "Hello, do you need anything?"
Hunter waved his fingers, a code he and Darius had developed when Hunter needed something. Darius sighed. "I'll have to talk to you about this later, Raine," he whispered. Darius followed Hunter to his room as Raine watched them go. Darius entered Hunter's room, and Hunter was sure to close the door behind him. Darius groaned, "What is with you and needing me at the most inopportune times?"
Hunter swallowed his breath, knowing Darius would poke at him for this, "Darius, I, well, I need your help."
Darius cocked a brow, "What is it this time?"
A faint blush dusted Hunter's ears. He eyed away, hesitating for a moment, "...I, uh, I might've invited the captain over for a sleepover."
Darius' tone immediately changed after hearing that. He smirked, "Ooooh," he went chuckling, "I see, I see. You really like her, don't you?"
Before Hunter could snap back, his ears began wiggling, causing him to frantically slap his hands on them to stop them. "Stop!" he hissed.
Darius couldn't help but chuckle at that sight. "Your wiggly ears speak louder than your mouth, huh?" He teased.
Hunter couldn't think of a good comeback. He stood silent with an angry glare as his cheeks simply grew redder.
Darius smirked at Hunter's reddened face, knowing he had succeeded in teasing him, but he had to get back to business. Hunter still needed help, "Anyway, I presume you need help keeping her a secret from the rest of the castle, hm?" Darius said.
Hunter slowly nodded.
"I'll be sure to try and deter people from entering your room, but I won't be able to stop everyone. Just be careful, and try not to be too loud," Darius explained.
"Mhm, thanks," Hunter spoke with a flat tone. Just then, a knock on the window caught their attention. Hunter turned to see Willow flying outside on her staff, waiting to be welcomed.
"Oh, speak of the witch. There she is," Darius pointed out. He slowly crept out of Hunter's room, peering out the door, "Have fun with that girlfriend of yours, little prince," he teased as he gave a wink and closed the door.
Hunter growled, stewing in embarrassment. He then took a deep breath to refocus his attention on Willow. He excitedly rushed to the window and opened it, and his cheeks flushed as the girl swooped in. "Hi, Hunter! It's so nice to see you again."
Hunter smiled ear to ear as he turned bright red. He was actually seeing her again. It felt surreal. "Good to see you, too."
"I missed you," Willow said with a sad smile. "It kinda stinks how we have to keep our visits a secret."
"Yeah, it really does stink," Hunter agreed, "but, hey, we've seen each other three times now, and nothing has happened yet!"
Willow chuckled, "Let's hope it stays that way." Willow then got a good look at Hunter's room, as the last time she was here, she hadn't really taken the time to look around. Hunter had a drawer with stacks of papers on top of it and a billboard with more paperwork attached to it. There was even a dagger holding one of the papers up. There were even more papers pinned to the wall beside his bed. Above those, there were shelves filled with old and worn toys. Near the window, there was a golden-colored potion hanging from a nail, there was a mountain of books on his dresser, and he had a patchworked, twin-sized bed. His room was rather small, especially compared to hers. Then, Willow noticed the giant Emperor's Coven Plaque above Hunter's headboard. This piqued her interest. She walked towards it and pointed to it, "Hey, what made you wanna join the Emperor's Coven?"
An intense sting came to Hunter's chest. He fiddled with his fingers, sighing, "That's, well, that's a touchy subject."
Willow frowned, "Oh, I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me, then,"
"No, it's fine." Hunter insisted. "I… would actually like to talk about it," He proceeded to sit on the edge of his bed, Willow taking a seat next to him. He hunched over, fiddling with his thumbs, "As you know, I'm a powerless witch, but what you don't know is that I come from a long line of powerless witches. Just like my ancestors, it seemed it was hopeless for me to have a chance in this world, and an incident with wild magic wiped out my entire family, including my parents, when I was just a few months old. My only family that had survived the horrific accident was my uncle, so Belos took me in, raising me as if I was his own son. He gave me a staff with artificial magic and told me the Titan had big plans for me."
Willow frowned more, feeling even worse that she had opened such a big wound, "Titan, I had no idea. I'm sorry."
Hunter raised a brow, "Sorry…? Sorry about what?"
"For what happened to your family. That must be rough." Willow explained.
Hunter shrugged, "Yeah, but it's hard for me to grieve when I was too young to even remember them. I do think about what life would be like if they were still around, though. We could govern the Boiling Isles together… and I wouldn't be so alone."
Willow's eyes drooped down when she heard that last part. This poor boy was so isolated. She wondered how he lived sixteen whole years all alone. She went silent momentarily, not knowing what to say, but she wanted to cheer him up, "What are the Titan's plans for you… if you're allowed to say?"
Something struck Hunter at that moment, the realization that Belos had never been specific with him about this, "I, uh, I actually don't know."
Willow was stunned when she heard that, "You don't know? Why wouldn't Belos tell you?"
Hunter shrugged, "I don't know," He had never really thought about the specifics of that before. It made Hunter think about something he had never even considered before: What were the Titan's plans for him?
"That's strange of him not to tell you, but, whatever the plans are, I'm sure they're very grand and important," Willow spoke with a smile.
Hunter grinned, feeling a bit special at that moment. "Yeah, I bet they are."
"By the way," Willow interjected as she proceeded to cast a spell circle. She summoned several bags of snacks. She had Booreos, Monsterfish, and Hexer's Bars. "I brought a ton of snacks, like you said."
Hunter was quite stunned. He didn't expect Willow to bring such a large amount of food. There was way more than enough for both of them. "Whoa, you didn't need to bring so much, but I'm glad you did. I'll actually get to eat tonight."
Willow froze upon hearing Hunter say the last part, "Wait, what?"
"Oh, well, I'm supposed to go eat right now, but the dinner rush is happening, and I HATE eating with castle scouts and most of the coven heads. Especially Kikimora . Besides, I don't have to show up for the castle meals. I miss them all the time. I can just eat these snacks." Hunter explained.
Willow stared in disbelief for a moment before shaking her head to recollect herself, "...What do you mean you miss them all the time?"
"Oh, it's not really a big issue." Hunter went, "Shifts and missions often cause me to miss them, punishments too. As I said, not really a big deal. I'm used to it."
Willow frowned. This poor boy was being overworked to the point that he was barely getting his basic needs met. She couldn't imagine being in his shoes, "Hunter, you really shouldn't be missing meals all the time. That's not healthy,"
"But isn't that just a part of life?" Hunter interjected.
Willow narrowed her green eyes, "If it is in yours, it shouldn't be."
For the first time, Hunter realized that maybe constantly missing meals wasn't such a normal thing. He sighed. "Yeah, I suppose you might be right, but there's nothing I can really do about it."
Willow frowned heavily. She really didn't know what she could do to help, "That's terrible... I wish there was something I could do to help."
Hunter went silent, not knowing how to respond, but he did want to talk about something more uplifting. After all, Willow was over so they could have fun, "So, off-topic, but how is Flyer Derby going?"
Willow's eyes immediately lit up like saucers upon hearing Hunter ask that question, "Oh, it's going great! The Flyer Derby team is beginning to get more popular at school than the Grudgby team because people are realizing Boscha and her team are jerks, and Boscha is so mad. It would be funny, except she's been tormenting the Flyer Derby team because of it. She's losing even more popularity for trashing us, but I think that's only fueling the flames more. Amity and Skara have been trying to help us through it."
Hunter narrowed his eyes, "So this 'Boscha' still hasn't quit? Titan, she sounds pathetic. I really gotta sneak over there sometime and give that witch a piece of my mind."
Willow snickered, "Oh, I forgot to mention the funniest thing. I heard a rumor about Boscha from Skara. Before Skara stopped being friends with her, she found out that Boscha has a poster of you in her room, and she caught her saying that she wants to date you so she can bribe her way to join the Emperor's Coven!"
Upon hearing that, Hunter burst out laughing. "SHE WHAT?!" he sputtered between fits of laughter. "You gotta be joking me!"
After seeing Hunter's reaction, Willow started laughing almost as hard as Hunter, "I KNOW. She's never even seen your face! Like, she only wants to date you for power! Isn't that messed up?"
Hunter fell to his knees in laughter. "She has no idea what she's thinking! I can't just recruit someone unless I'm ordered to! Plus, does she even know I have a cru-" Hunter froze, cutting himself off and slapping his hands over his mouth. He had nearly just accidentally split that he had a crush on Willow. Titan, he couldn't imagine how awkward and embarrassing that situation would've been if he had slipped that out. He cleared his throat as he tried to redirect himself, "Uh, I-I mean that I'm friends with you! If she treats my friends like garbage, why on the Isles would I want to date her?!"
Willow giggled. "I know, it's crazy! But that's Boscha for you." Hunter had a mental sigh of relief, as it seemed that Willow hadn't noticed his little slip-up. She then went on, "Skara even heard she's sent you texts on Penstagram."
Hunter's previous embarrassment was replaced entirely with bewilderment, "Wait… she has? I don't remember."
"Her username is 'Grudgby_Queen03,'" Willow explained.
Hearing that, a lightbulb went off inside Hunter's head, "Hold on. That sounds familiar." Hunter summoned his scroll and opened Pentsagram. He went to the search bar and looked up Boscha's account.
"Yep, that's her," Willow confirmed.
Hunter immediately recognized the profile picture. A selfie of a magenta-haired, three-eyed girl holding a Grudgby ball in her hand. He narrowed his eyes, "...So she's the one who sent me those creepy messages."
"Creepy?" Willow questioned. That was concerning, but she wouldn't put such behavior from Boscha out of the realm of possibility, "Do you still have the messages?"
Hunter shrugged, "I don't know." He explained, "And if I do, I don't know how to find them."
"I can try and find them for you," Willow offered. Hunter handed his scroll to her, and she went to Hunter's private message requests and found Boscha's account. Willow tapped on the request, and she and Hunter took a peek at them.
Grudgby_Queen03: GOLDEN GUARD I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN!
Grudgby_Queen03: BE MY BOYFRIEND WE CAN BE THE MOST DANGEROUS PAIR ON ALL OF THE ISLES.
Willow burst out laughing, and Hunter found the laughter to be contagious, so he began giggling as well. After a couple seconds, Willow's laughter started dying down as she wiped a tear from her eye, "You should send her a message back to mess with her," she suggested
Hunter chuckled, smirking, "That's a great idea." He then thought for a moment, trying to think of how he could mess with her in the best way possible, "Hmm. I have an idea. Are you okay with me taking a picture?"
Willow nodded with a determined smile.
Hunter got up to go find his Golden Guard mask. Once finding it, he put it on his face. Then, he fumbled around with his scroll and took a selfie of him and Willow together. After taking the picture, he removed his mask and returned to Pentsagram. With a smirk on his face, he accepted Boscha's direct message request and began replying.
RULERZREACHF4N: NO.
RULERZREACHF4N: *Picture of the selfie*
RULERZREACHF4N: I gOT my pRIorITIeS stRaIgHt.
Hunter and Willow desperately held in their laughter. "My Titan! This is gonna be good!" Willow giggled.
It didn't take long at all before Boscha started to send a message back. Hunter gasped, "She's typing!"
Willow cackled, "Oohh, ohhh!! I gotta see this!"
Grudgby_Queen03: WHAT-
Grudgby_Queen03: HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME YOU'RE MY HERO GOLDEN GUARD!
Grudgby_Queen03: IM EVEN A FAN OF RULER'S REACH JUST LIKE YOU YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME YOUR MISSING OUT ON SUCH A BIG OPPORTUNITY
Hunter and Willow burst into extreme laughter, so extreme that their bellies hurt, their cheeks hurt, they turned red, and they could hardly breathe. Willow fell to the floor, clutching her stomach, while Hunter banged his fist on his firm bed. The two kids laughed, and laughed, and laughed until, after ages, both of them managed to calm down. They looked at each other with watery eyes, wiping them. "Oh my Titan!" Willow went, "That was the hardest I've laughed in probably months!"
"That's the hardest I've laughed, probably ever!" Hunter beamed.
They faintly chuckled afterward as a warm blush came to Hunter's cheeks. Her laugh was so beautiful. It was absolute music to his ears, and he couldn't have been happier that he had invited her over.