Chapter Text
Hunter is barely tall enough to look people in the eye when he starts training as a scout.
He is too young to be there. That's what everybody said - what they whispered behind his back, even when the Emperor deemed this is how it has to be.
This was the Titan's will. Who are they to question it?
Nobody said it into his face after the Emperor clarified that Hunter, this skinny kid with way too bright eyes and way too big a smile, was meant to be there. Training to become a scout just like the rest of them. Only he won’t be an ordinary scout, no. He is to become the future Golden Guard, as by the plans of the Titan himself.
They still whispered behind his back.
A hundred and twenty go to the mountain that year, - only eighty-four return. Hunter is among them.
Nobody talks about the kid in their ranks anymore.
Nobody cares anymore.
Hunter only sometimes wondered why they weren't talking to him or why they were avoiding him. It has to do with him being too young, it must be. His uncle told him that they didn't respect him. And they never will unless he proves himself to be worthy of the Golden Guard title.
He wonders when that's going to be. He hoped it would be soon.
When he was little, Hunter drew the Sigil to the Emperor's Coven onto his wrist with a pen. The blue ink was wobbly and it barely resembled the real thing. But he was so proud of it at the time.
He thought he was sneaky with it as well, but his uncle caught him and made him wash it off. Hunter has probably never been redder in the face before. His uncle still teases him about it.
"Don't fret, Hunter," Belos told him, putting a hand - firm and steady - on his shoulder. "You will earn your sigil, I am sure of it."
The boy looked up at him shyly. "But when? I have been training so hard," he pouted. "I swear Uncle, I really do."
His uncle gives him a smile in turn. "Soon. The Titan has great plans for you. Never forget that."
Hunter threw himself into training. He will earn his sigil, no matter the cost.