Chapter Text
It started when Hunter ran out of breath.
He was chasing his son in a game of tag, his favorite game. Will raced through the forest with ease, jumping from rock to branch to ground. He seemed to have inherited Flapjack's agility. Hunter, well, not so much. In retrospect, it should have been strange. He had trained for sixteen years in the military, that kind of training didn't go away in a few years. Hunter was only in his late twenties, or at least he thought, he didn't know his actual age.
For a five-year-old, Will was exceptionally fast. Eventually, once they had raced back to the house, Hunter all but collapsed onto the wall. His breath was ragged and he could feel the pain in his bones coming. He waved a hand to Robin to encourage him to keep running.
"Keep going, son! I'll...I'll be...right..." He trailed off. His glasses slipped off his face (Luz bullied him endlessly over needing glasses, calling him a cranky old man any chance she got.)
What became concerning, however, was when Hunter didn't regain his breath. He just leaned against the wall, heaving for breath for minutes. By now, Robin had noticed something was wrong. Hunter put on his best dad smile and tried to push himself off the wall. He stumbled for a few steps before his vision went spinning, and he collapsed to the ground.
Will shook his shoulders, then yelled for Willow.
-
Over the next few months, rushed trips to the nearby clinic became almost routine. But, whenever they got there, and the doctors tried to heal him, they couldn't find anything wrong. Of course, there were a few things healing magic couldn't fix, like disability, aging, lost arms or legs, and really severe burns, and because of Hunter's Grimwalker-ness, they weren't sure what to do with him. They tried their best to heal him, got him to a bed with doctors on standby, and waited for him to wake up. They gave him medication for his pain sometimes. They'd run tests, which were difficult because of how different Hunter's anatomy was, but not find anything. One doctor did note that his bones were strangely fragile for someone his age.
Hunter was walking home with Willow and Will. He was leaning on a crutch, despite Willows attempts to get him to fly home. Their daughter, Robin had been picked up at school by Luz and Amity, so at least they didn't have to worry about that too.
"Home isn't that far," He said. "I'll be fine to walk." Willow looked at him with concern.
"You're sure?" She asked. Hunter grinned.
"Of course. If I didn't know better, I'd think you're going soft on me." He teased. Willow chuckled and pushed him playfully. Will, who was sitting on Hunter's shoulders, stuck his tongue out at Willow. "That reminds me!" Hunter said, pausing for a moment to pick Robin off his shoulders and hold him in one arm. "We have a birthday coming up! Right, bud?" He asked. Will grinned. He was starting to lose teeth, so at the moment, with his dirty blonde hair and tooth gap, he looked remarkably like his father. Willow smiled, picking their son out of Hunter's arms and placing him on the ground between them. Will snatched both of their hands into his own.
"Of course, you have to pass the six-year-old test before you can turn six years old. Those are the rules." Willow said matter-of-factly. Will stuck out his tongue and pouted, swinging a little bit on their hands.
"Nuh uh!" He said. "There's no such thing as no six-year-old test!"
"Of course there is!" Willow said, pretending to be offended. Hunter smiled, happily listening to his wife and son bicker over whether or not a six year old test existed. It was something Willow's dads had apparently done for her, telling her that she couldn't turn seven until she learned to tie her shoes, or something like that. Hunter glanced up from the road they were walking on. Willow was grinning at their son. Titan, that grin was so beautiful. What did he do to deserve this woman?
-
Hunter knocked on the door. He glanced at the written note he had gotten from his last visit to the clinic. Recommending him to a professor at Luz's university called 'Deckard Ossis'. Apparently, he was one of the few people on the isles who knew something about Grimwalkers, and even more rarely, studied them. Hunter was the only known Grimwalker, but most of the books from the savage ages mentioned them casually. They must have been an option for couples who couldn't conceive, or something like that.
"Come in!" A voice called from inside. Tentatively, Hunter opened the door to find a small, comfortable room, with books spilling off the shelves and overflowing onto the floor, table, desk, and the...the ceiling? The carpenter in Hunter noticed the wood was expensive and lacquered but wasn't being taken care of properly. The shelves would last maybe ten or twenty more years. Hunter shook his head, a little impressed at the sheer number of books. "Ah, Hunter! Sit down, young man. I've been excited to talk to you!"
Hunter looked down, a little startled. He didn't know what he expected, but this wasn't it. The professor wasn't an old graybeard with long flowing robes or a crystal ball. He didn't know why he expected that, it was a little stupid. Instead, it was a kind looking man who seemed a little past his thirties. It was hard to tell, his cheerful smile made him seem much younger. He also had curly red hair that was tied back into a low ponytail but spilled out haphazardly. He was dressed in suspenders and had a coat lying somewhere on the floor. He was gesturing to two leather seats, and Hunter quietly stepped inside the room at sat down.
"Thank you for seeing me, sir." Hunter said, awkwardly reaching out to shake his hand. The professor laughed and waved a hand.
"Please, call me Mr. Ossis, or Deckard. What did you want to see me for?"
"Well," Hunter said, shifting in his seat. "As you know I'm a Grimwalker. I've been experiencing some...weird symptoms. The doctors couldn't figure out what is wrong with me, and suggested I see you."
"And, what are these symptoms?" Deckard asked curiously.
"Uh, aches. My bones are apparently strangely fragile. I've also been having bouts of extreme weakness, nausea, and sometimes passing out." Hunter racked his brain for anything else. He couldn't think of anything, but he was sure the second he left he would remember. Deckard considered the list.
"And, they can't find the source of this?" He asked. Hunter shook his head.
"No sir- No Mr. Ossis."
"Well, you've come to the right place, my boy!" Deckard said cheerfully. "Let's figure out what's going on."
-
On Wednesdays, Hunter checked in with the professor after work. They studied Grimwalker texts together, tried to figure out what was happening. On Fridays, they had Gus, Luz, and Amity over to watch movies. Gus and Hunter had brought them all down the Cosmic Frontier rabbit hole. Sometimes, Robin watched with them, especially if Luz and Amity's kids were coming over, Will wouldn't watch anything that wasn't animated. On Saturdays, Hunter took the kids to the park and spent the quiet evenings studying or talking with Darius. Every other day he would help Del with the Palisman store.
Hunter was sitting at the dining room table earlier in the morning. Faintly, in the background, he heard rain. It was light today, and it would be over soon. The boiling isles often had rain around this time of year, so managing around the boiling water was difficult. Stormy days like this also meant a dull pain in his bad leg, so he'd need his walking cane. It was a Wednesday. After heading to the clinic to pick up his medication, he'd go over to the university. It was a little over a year since he had started seeing the professor, and they'd made progress since then. They found the root of a lot of his previous health issues were, in fact, Grimwalker related. Apparently, the materials used in making a Grimwalker made a huge impact on their health, so cheaper Galderstones could lead to heart problems, old or poorly cared for Palistrom could lead to skin infections and the like.
Soft arms wrapped around his waist and a warm hug embraced him from behind. He started a little at the sudden contacts, but quickly calmed down, laying a hand on Willow's arm.
"Hunter, come back to sleep." Willow murmured into Hunter's hair.
"I have to get going soon..." Hunter whispered back.
"It's still dark outside." Willow pointed out. Hunter chuckled a bit and didn't reply. "Your eyebags are coming back." Hunter smiled. Caring for two young children was a handful. A rewarding handful, but a handful nonetheless.
"Cool, I missed them. I think it completes the whole, 'bad but sad boy,' look, huh?" He asked a little playfully. Hunter could feel Willow roll her eyes from where he sat. Willow mentioned Luz called him that, and now he never let it go.
"I'm gonna go back to sleep if you're going to act like this." Willow sniffed.
"Noo....."
Hunter slowly shuffled up the massive university stairs. On most days, he had Gus to help him if he was in between classes. It's amazing how talented he is. Hunter thought. But, today, Gus had an early class and was too busy to help him. It had been raining off and on for a few hours, thankfully Hunter had gotten inside before the boiling water started raining. Del mentioned that the low air pressure always caused him aches too. Am I becoming an old man? Hunter asked himself. He hoped not. Luz called him old the second he hit twenty, he didn't need more of that.
With a final heave of effort, Hunter pushed himself to the top of the stairs. Most days he could walk and run just fine, it was just days like this, when his aching bones and dull, pressing pain in his leg and head, he had trouble. Luz commented he looked a little bit like a character named "Viktor" from a show she watched. He didn't know what that meant. Maybe I am old.
Hunter shuffled along the University hallway until he came across the dark oak door and knocked. He didn't wait for a response, and came in anyway, as had become custom in his and the Professor's time together.
"Mr. Ossis-" Hunter began, but quickly trailed off. Deckard looked at him with no smile, but an uncharacteristically sullen look. He had seemingly just got off the phone, based on the Penstagram in his hand. "What's going on?" Hunter asked, suddenly very concerned.
"I just got off the phone with a doctor friend from Bonesburrow," Deckard began, before taking a deep breath. "Hunter. I am so sorry."