#⭒ ˙ ˖ ✧ — ˗ˏˋ ❝ ᴀɴᴅ ᴍᴀᴋᴇ ɪᴛ ᴅᴏᴜʙʟᴇ ❞ ¦ 「 Edric 」

[canon-fcdder]

“And just who are you?” The question comes from a taller witch boy with green hair. He’s looking right in Hunters direction and crosses his arms when the other looks at him. (-yeets-)

-  ✩   「   @decanard ​​  」   ✩

「 ☆ 」   Hunter just needed to be away from the palace for a while... for his OWN sake. After flubbing a mission— not that he can take all the blame, since he was purposely given some of the most incompetent and insubordinate members to accompany him —and earning Belos’s scorn, Hunter barely managed to excuse himself before things escalated TOO far. With nothing but a few new bruises and scratches thanks to the clumsy haste of his exit: scattering like a mouse in the presence of a cat, weaving through the numerous hallways and into some hidden passages that prove helpful during times like this... Feeling like a coward as he slipped out thanks to a cramped tunnel and secluded path well-beaten by his own boots.

A coward, but a LIVE one. So long as he’s still alive, still has some shred of use within him, then he has a chance for him to make things right. To prove himself to Belos yet again, and get in his good graces.  It’s not too late. It’s NOT too late... It’s not— Internal mantra is interrupted by the feeling of eyes on him, Hunter tensing as he quickly looks over at the source of his discomfort. Eyes narrowed warily, he instinctively angles his body so that the disturbance isn’t on his blind side, Hunter backing up slowly so his back is against a nearby brick wall. Letting the crumbling surface serve as a preventive measure against someone taking him by surprise.

Fists clenched at his sides, grip tightens at the blatant disrespect of this stranger. This mere CHILD— as if he isn’t around Hunter’s age —addressing him so flippantly, rather than showing a fearful reverence befitting the Golden Guard. Not that the idiot can be entirely blamed. Hunter’s mask remains in the palace, unfortunately. He feels so... exposed without it. With that mask on, he’s Emperor Belos’s righthand man. He’s respected. FEARED. Not taken at face value, but by the merit of his achievements. His capabilities. Right now, feeling as bare and vulnerable as a fledgling, all he can do is suck in a deep breath and push down the fear.

Frustration is a far better emotion to cling to in this situation.

❝  That’s NONE of your concern.  ❞  He snaps, chest puffed out and cheeks heating with annoyance at how he has to angle his neck to meet the other’s gaze. Stupid stranger, being so tall... Still, Hunter is accustomed to having to assert his dominance over those who LOOM. That’s one of the perks and downsides of having such a small stature; you either learn to overcome it or become slave to it. Hunter would like to think he’s the former.

❝ Unless you’re looking for trouble, I suggest you move along.  ❞     「 ☆ 」 

[canon-fcdder]

( Tag Dump - Hunter )

[canon-fcdder]

Excuse Edric while he stares for seconds. Before he regains his senses and scrambles across the distance between them. One hand coming up immediately to cup Hunters cheek. “You’re back…” The words are a whisper that breaks out of him. “You’re okay…”

-  ✩   「 @decanard 」   ✩  

「 ☆ 」   He’s here... He’s here and he’s OKAY.

Well, as okay as anyone can be after the disaster that transpired. Hunter doesn’t even know what other horrors have befallen Edric since they were separated. For a split second, Hunter feels a pang of guilt in his gut at the peace he’d experienced. The laughter, the smiling, the sense of belonging he’d indulged in when trapped in the Human Realm... Despite the constant cloud hanging over their heads, the storm brewing inside of him— deeper than even he truly knew —as he struggled to come to terms with the reality of his life, Hunter had been grateful for it. Horrible as it must be, it had been one of the BEST things to happen to him.

But then, he feels an unfamiliar sensation within his chest... A pulsating that he’s certain must only be in his mind, a warmth that doesn’t entirely belong to him, and that guilt is overtaken by a far more overwhelming one. They mix. They co-exist. They GROW. That sense of wrongness inside of him. Making him. Surrounding him so intensely that he fears he may choke on it. Breathing quickened, Edric’s form grows blurry, Hunter blinking as he fights back the tears within his gaze. He’s already cried in front of someone once and well as that may have went, he can’t bare the thought of it happening again. Not now. Not after everything he’s done. What he had FAILED to do. It’s his fault Flapjack is gone... If he had only been stronger—

Hunter doesn’t realize Edric is in front of him until a hand is upon his cheek, dazed hues slowly lighting up with recognition. It’s strange, how things change. Before, in a life that feels like one he had watched someone else live, being taken off-guard like this would have devastated him. Would have been one of the worst failures he could imagine. Always needing to be on alert, ALWAYS needing to be the one in command of a situation. Or desperately trying to be. He couldn’t afford to be surprised by anything. But now? He’s beyond grateful he was.

If he hadn’t been, he would have shied away from Edric’s touch. 

Trembling at the sound of a voice he hadn’t heard in months, hot tears cascade down his face, stinging his eyes and destroying the image of the male in front of him. Rushing forward to cling to Edric, arms wrap tightly around as if terrified he’ll disappear into nothing. Burying his face against Edric’s chest, Hunter sobs wretchedly, years of anguish desperate to be free despite everything only spiraling out of control for the last few months.  ❝  Y-You’re okay too...  ❞  He weakly forces out,  ❝  Th-Thank Titan you’re okay....  ❞

Hunter doesn’t know if he could handle losing someone else close to him. 

Especially not if it’s Edric.   「 ☆ 」 

[canon-fcdder]

Edric blinks several times as he stares at the boy in front of him. One hasn’t seen in more time than he wants to think about right now. One who meant so much to him once upon a time. He presses his lips together. “Hunter.”

Reflexively he scratched his arm. Where the seal of the Emperor’s coven that didn’t exist anymore was branded in his arm. Scars running outward from the tattoo from the mostly failed draining would be visible under his sleeve.

“Welcome back. You have been missed.” More formal than he really wanted to be. But it was necessary now. So much had changed on the day of unity.

“I missed you.” This was so much softer and sounded just the slightest bit broken.

-   ✩   「   @decanard​   」   ✩

「 ☆ 」   He’s finally back…

After far longer than he wishes, Hunter can say that he’s finally back. It’s disconcerting, stepping onto the Boiling Isles after having spent so much time on unfamiliar soil. Part of him feels like he should be stepping back to THAT moment. To chaos erupting around them, ground splitting and people screaming and terror gripping his chest in a bind he’ll never be able to fully shake off. Part of him had hoped he would. Had wanted nothing more than to see the destruction unfolding before his eyes, just as real as it felt in the countless nightmares that have plagued him since that moment. If only so he’d have the chance to do what he hadn’t been able to back then.

Even now, with Edric standing mere feet away from him, Hunter still feels like he has yet to find him. Like they’re separated by something impenetrable. Only this time, he can’t see it. With no disasters to claim responsibility for the way his hand can’t reach out to the boy before him, all Hunter can do is face reality. His gloved hand, tightening to a nervous fist at his side, refuses to move because of him… Because he’s scared. Even now, back in a place he used to call home, blessedly in one piece— he can’t find comfort.

Feeling just as out of place as he had before, both on the Boiling Isles and in the Human Realm, Hunter meets Edric’s stare with a disbelieving one of his own. Wide-eyed and still as stone, the only tell of life is the overly-steady rise and fall of his chest, Hunter clearly trying to keep himself breathing normally. Throat bobs with an anxious swallow, exhaled breath shaky. Body tenses at the sound of Edric’s voice, mouth parting as if to respond before his words die in his throat; gaze darting down to where the others tattoo lies hidden… Mouth slowly closing into a tight frown, fists tremble at his sides, Hunter’s own arm starting to itch uncomfortably.

He resists the urge to mirror Edric’s movement, wondering if the other boy sports the same sickly spiderweb of scars crawling up from where the draining began. Hunter isn’t a stranger to scars, his body littered with them from the hardships of being the Golden Guard. Testaments to the sacrifices that needed to be made, body and soul completely surrendered to the will of the emperor and the Titan. Hunter used to believe he should be proud of his scars, wondering why all he felt was a sickness in his stomach when he looked at them. That sickness has only grown, the unnatural addition of the draining scars— showing up fresh against his skin despite the time that passed, looking like cracks of lightning within him —making Hunter dread each time he had to see his barren arms.

Thank Titan for sleeves and gloves.

❝  Heh… I— I missed you too….  ❞  Hunter replies, tone just as soft and voice just as broken. Trembling as the admission made its way past a throat raw with the ghost of past crying, of screams of frustration at each failed attempt to return, of murmured names in his sleep— Edric’s spoken most of all, full of pain and comfort in a mixture that only he seems to be able to entice. Fist loosens for a moment, shaky fingers uncurling with a desire to reach out towards the other boy. But they clench just as quickly, throat bobbing and eyes blinking back tears he refuses to shed.

❝  I didn’t stop thinking about you…  ❞  Hunter admits through a weak smile that’s barely there, glossiness in his gaze growing with memories of time past and regrets of the time lost,  ❝  Didn’t stop wanting— more than anything, to come back….  ❞  The word home lodges in his throat, Hunter not sure if that word applies to him anymore. With a hesitant step forward, his hand finally reaches out in an offer for Edric to take it. Palm facing up, fingers curling inward before he forces them to outstretch in a tentative offer. Hope doesn’t taint his gaze, Hunter’s heart not allowing him such a luxury.

❝  I was so.... so scared.  ❞  He admits, vision blurring with tears he refuses to shed,  ❝  The thought that I might never see you again? That... you might not be alright.... That scared me more than anything that’s happened.  ❞     「 ☆ 」