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Hunter never did very well with transition periods. They always made him feel tense and on-edge. The uncertainty of it all, the discomfort of having to wait, wishing it would just be over soon. Some of the things he grew up waiting for hurt a lot too, especially when Emperor Belos was involved.
But the pending doom of the Day of Unity approaching alongside his predicament after escaping the Emperor's Mind made this one of the hardest moments in Hunter's life so far. Sure, he was glad that Flapjack suggested he hide out at Hexside, but it was only a matter of time before someone found him. Then what would he do? He'd sometimes try to come up with plans to ease his mind, but these thoughts made him feel even worse when he realized that he couldn't really fight off coven guards and scouts anymore.
Flapjack tried to make sure Hunter stayed in decent health during this transition period, but this was much easier said than done. Once Hunter found Hexside's library, he started to spend hours hunched over books about grimwalkers. None of the information put him at ease though; rather it only fueled his self-deprecation. Hunter barely ever ate or slept; he'd just keep reading the grimwalker books or spend hours mulling over plans for hypothetical scenarios.
Hunter would read sections of the books over and over and analyze all the diagrams in great detail. Sometimes he'd go in the school bathrooms late at night so he could just stare at himself in the mirror to scrinitize his own existence. He still couldn't fully wrap his head around the fact that his entire life had been a lie, that he was grown and designed rather than born to a family like he thought he was. In fact, he never even had a family. Only ever Belos.
Belos made him so angry. He had done so much for him, but it was all fueled by the lies Belos would continuously tell everyone. Over and over again. Hunter felt like such an idiot for believing him…
It really hurt Flapjack to see Hunter in so much distress, but he also didn't want to make the situation any worse. When confronted with the reality of his situation, that he was surviving off of garbage and vending machine food while hiding out in a school, Hunter would start panicking, pacing back and forth, pulling at his hair, scratching at his skin. Flapjack would do his best to help Hunter calm down, but it involved a whole lot of trial and error.
Some nights, Hunter would just lay awake feeling numb, wanting to cry tears that just couldn't form in his eyes. He truly felt like a nobody. He had no purpose and he wasn't even a real person anymore! How could he live with himself? How could he ever find fulfillment in life ever again?!
He'd hug his legs with his chin on his knees and rock back and forth in distress, closing his eyes shut as if to shut out the whole world around him.
It hurt so deeply. He felt truly hopeless, like the whole world was broken. Everyone was going to die soon, and he was part of the reason why the man who'd kill them all would succeed.
Hunter was deep in the trenches of his own mind. He was stuck in a moment in time, one that could end at any moment. It kept him on edge and made this awful feeling even worse. He felt like time was purposely slowing down just to taunt him.
It was torturous.