#and to have hunter sit down and carve a new palisman

[edalynn]

.

[sergeantsporks]

Warped Wood

Ch 2/6(?): Twist

(1)

Next

Hunter has a target on his back for plenty of reasons-- being the ex-golden guard, and a grimwalker, for starters. But he never expected that palisman carving would be the thing to get him in hot water.

Ao3

CW for self-harm

Hunter didn’t quite remember dying before. He remembered the lead-up, the terror. He remembered waking back up. But everything between that was a blur of grief and pain and an aching loss in his chest.

He was pretty sure it wasn’t this soft, though.

And he was almost heart-sinkingly sure he recognized the bright white ceiling above him.

“You’re lucky to be alive.”

Hunter licked his lips, left dry and chapped by the salt in the boiling sea. Feron sat on a workbench nearby, but not so close he could mistake it for familiarity or concern. He even had a little book. Hunter grunted in response, not trusting his voice to speak without cracking or rasping. He slowly raised his right wrist. The metal magic-restraining bracelet slid down his wrist to his forearm.

“For your safety,” Feron said gently, “I can’t watch you every moment. If you tried braving the ocean again, I’m not sure I’d be there in time to rescue you.”

The threat was so thinly veiled, Hunter could see its toothless gums underneath. He was Feron’s primary current business venture, and currently the only palisman carver in the Boiling Isles with two working hands. He would be watched every second, and Feron wouldn’t let him die. Not until he got to be more trouble than he was worth.

The real question was, how much trouble could that be?

Xxx

Luz paced back and forth, Stringbean following her movement. “One more time. For everyone’s sakes.”

The witch—whose name was Colleen—sighed, fidgeting with a crystal pendant hanging from her neck. “I came looking to adopt a palisman. We were about to go meet them, when we heard bard music. People in masks swung down from the trees. Hunter was focused on the palisman, trying to make sure they all escaped. But they weren’t after the palisman. We tried to fight back, but the sleeping song kept going, and I passed out before I saw anything useful. I wish I could tell you something else, but that’s all I know.”

Bat Queen landed heavily on the ground beside them. “The palisman saw nothing. The carver said flee, and they obeyed.” She sighed. “I am sorry.”

Dell’s hands trembled on his cane. “I shouldn’t have left him alone.”

Eda nudged his shoulder. “There was nothing you could have done.”

“The masks,” Gus piped up, “Were they scout masks?”

Colleen hesitated, as if weighing her words. “Yessss,” she said finally, “I believe so. They weren’t quite the same, though—they had horns, like the emperor’s mask did.”

“Horns?” Luz echoed, “That’s… new.”

“Could be a new loyalist group,” Eda said, “No knowing what those weirdos might decide to do on the daily. And Hunter was an easy target out here. Darius and I can look into it. And we can get Eber out here to track footprints.”

“If it’s not too much trouble…” Colleen started apologetically, “Could I stick around for a bit? I feel just terrible I couldn’t do more. Maybe staying close will jog my memory, or—or—at the very least, I’d like to be here when you find him.”

Eda squinted at her. “…I guess that wouldn’t hurt.”

“What can we do?” Willow asked, “We aren’t just going to sit around waiting for news.”

“Well…” Eda gestured to Luz, Willow, Gus, and Amity, taking them out of Dell and Colleen’s earshot. “Could you four actually keep an eye on my dad?”

“What? Why?”

Eda glanced behind her. “If they’re after palisman carvers, and Hunter is his usual charming self, they might decide Pops is an easier option, or at least a good backup. If I hang around, he’ll figure out what I’m up to. But if you guys stick around, pretend to be looking for clues… well, I don’t think he’ll suspect anything.”

Luz squinted. Dell wasn’t the only one who could get suspicious of Eda. “You aren’t just trying to keep us out of danger, are you?”

“What? No!” Eda sighed. “Well, maybe a little. It’s less… keeping you out of danger and more keeping you ready and raring to go when we do find more information. Keep an eye on Colleen while you’re at it, will you? I don’t think she’s in danger—if they were going to kill her, they would have done earlier. But in case she remembers anything else.”

Luz met Eda’s gaze. “You’ll tell us the moment you know something else?”

“Swear on my hook, kid.” Eda grinned a lopsided grin. “Besides, I know if I don’t, you four will slither your way into it anyway. I’ll keep you in the loop. But for now… wait.”

Xxx

Hunter picked up a chisel from Feron’s workbench, tossing it gently into the air. It hit the top of its arc and stayed there, hovering in midair. A stabilizing chisel, then, one that stayed in place where you put it. Dell thought it was better to feel the weight and pressure of the chisel yourself, and usually Hunter agreed, but right now, the stabilizer would work in his favor.

He snatched the tool out of the air, putting his wrist on the bench’s attached table and positioning the chisel above the metal bracelet. He didn’t see any chinks, joints, or weak spots in the metal band, so he’d just have to create one. He seized a mallet in his free hand and brought it crashing down on the chisel.

The point clanged against the bracelet, skidding off its smooth surface and nicking Hunter’s wrist. He hissed, shaking his arm, then examined the metal bracelet. Not a scratch. He slid the chisel between his arm and the bracelet, trying to lever it loose, but only succeeded in creating a red dent in his arm. Hunter rattled the bracelet, glaring. Well, fine. If he couldn’t use his tools to get it off…

Hunter slid the bracelet up his arm to his wrist. He took a deep breath. Bit down on the leather strap of the tool roll. Shoved the bracelet up against his hand, and pushed, squeezing and contorting his hand until—

Crunch

Hunter bit his makeshift gag so hard he thought he might have torn clear through it, blinking away stars. The bracelet slid over his dislocated thumb and he cradled his injured hand to his chest, spitting out the leather. He rocked back and forth on his heels, running through the layout of Feron’s base in his mind to keep it off the little flickers of lightning pain from his hand. He’d pick a different direction this time. Maybe it wouldn’t be raining this time, and boats would be out on the water. Or maybe if he tried for stealth, he’d find however Feron got to and from the mainland. There had to be a way—the ex-scout Colleen had left somehow, and she definitely hadn’t braved the rain.

Hunter teleported through the door, pausing at the top of the tower stairs and listening for footsteps. Empty silence met him. Feron wasn’t moving around, at least. Hunter took his boots off, wrestling them awkwardly with one hand while trying to hold the other as still as possible. He held his boots in one hand, his thick socks making no noise on the stone floors. At least with the stone, he didn’t have to worry about creaking floorboards.

At the bottom of the stairs, Hunter paused again, waiting for Feron. Nothing. The monstrous front door seemed to leer at him, like it wanted to try swallowing him whole again. Hunter gave it a wide berth, picking a different door and warping through. A four-poster bed complete with velvet curtains sat on a plush, carpeted floor, and Hunter snorted despite his resolution to remain unheard. The opulence was astounding. No wonder Feron needed a new business venture with his tastes.

Hunter shook his head, teleporting back out into the hallway. He could search the room later, but he didn’t get the impression that Feron would use his bedroom as a pathway, not if it meant letting Colleen or his titan-trapper contacts through.

“What did you do to your hand?!”

Hunter jumped, warping away from Feron’s voice and squaring into a ready position. His captor stared at his injured hand with something between fury and irritation flickering across his face.

“That band was for your protection!” Feron shook his head. “These kinds of relationships take time, Hunter. Work with me for a bit, and when I feel like I can trust you, then you can earn certain freedoms and privileges. I know it’s easy to be impatient, but—”

A laugh burst out of Hunter’s throat. “There isn’t a relationship here. And there never will be. I will break my hand as many times as it takes to get out of here.”

Feron heaved a sigh. “I’m truly sorry you feel that way.”

Feron stepped forward, his body shifting in a way that Hunter knew, a way his own body had moved a hundred times before. Hunter teleported to the side, and Feron appeared where he’d been only a moment before, swinging a staff. Hunter’s eyes widened. An interlock sat at the top of the staff, empty of its palisman. That explained his teleportation—most witches needed a palisman for that particular piece of magic, but it could become second nature even without a palisman soul nestled inside of you.

“What happened to them?”

Hunter blurted out the words before he could stop himself. Even despite Feron’s attempt to attack him, even despite the fact that Feron had kidnapped him, he had to know. Palisman didn’t just disappear, and no one who kept their empty staff was handling the loss well.

Feron straightened up, his eyes narrowing with clinical detachment. “I’m not after a palisman for myself, if that’s what you think. You and the palistrom are just business. And so is this, I’m afraid.”

He disappeared, and Hunter took a step back, ears twitching for the slightest hint of where he’d reappear. Above. Hunter dodged, stepping out of range. Left. Right. Duck.

Feron appeared again, this time jabbing with his staff instead of swinging. Hunter’s step back didn’t take him out of range. The solid tip collided with his injured hand, and Hunter reeled back, stars blurring his vision.

He didn’t see Feron’s next strike.

But he felt it in the screams echoing up his leg. The pain in his hand disappeared in the wake of an overwhelming wave of agony from his left knee. Hunter buckled as bones shattered and broke. He tasted blood, but couldn’t feel the sting of the bite. He couldn’t feel anything except that tearing, scraping wrongness from his knee.

Feron sighed, his face still and emotionless. “Running should be quite impossible for you now, so I’d suggest less focus on leaving, and more focus on carving palisman.”

He touched Hunter’s shoulder lightly, and they both disappeared, reappearing back in the tower room, right next to the bed. Hunter fell back on it, anything to relieve the pressure in his knee. The magic band floated off the floor and, at a touch from Feron, snapped open and closed back around Hunter’s wrist. Feron took his injured hand, tutting and drawing a spell circle. Hunter watched, detached, as his thumb sprang back into place as if it had never been dislocated.

“There.” Feron smiled. “We have to keep those palisman-carving hands of yours in good shape, now don’t we? I don’t expect anything from you just yet, of course. I’ll find something to help with the pain. Again, I am sorry it came to this, but you are making yourself quite difficult to retain.”

He disappeared again, leaving Hunter staring blankly at the ceiling. If he just lay here and didn’t move, maybe he’d stop feeling like his leg was being torn apart every second. Maybe he’d be able to plan for another escape. Maybe he could immobilize his knee, and he could hobble out of here.

Hunter shifted slightly, and colored fireworks exploded in front of his eyes. He gagged on the pain, fingers clutching at blankets. He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. Stop the movement. Stop the pain. His body sank into old habits, relaxing and freezing at the same time. Broken bones weren’t his favorite injury, but he could deal with them.

Hunter’s eyes traveled across the room, desperate for a distraction and landing on the workbench. Hammers and chisels and knives—any of his tools could become a weapon, if he needed them. Feron could cut off his escape. But that didn’t mean Hunter would make captivity easy for him.

Xxx

Luz climbed up the palisman tree stairs for what felt like the ten millionth time. She thought she could see signs of a struggle if she looked—a crack on the stairs, a scuff on the tree bark—but none of the flickers of conflict gave her any clues what had happened after. Luz traced the scuff with a frown. If the fight had been taken up here, what about Colleen? Had Hunter just teleported out of bard music range to save the palisman while Colleen was caught up in the spell? But then how would Colleen have seen them take him? She was bigger than Hunter—maybe he’d come back down to help her, and had succumbed to the spell quicker than she did?

“It’s not adding up, is it?”

Luz jumped, putting a hand on her chest. “Gus!”

“Sorry.” Gus sat on the edge of the stairs, swinging his legs. “I’m just having trouble picturing how this whole thing went down, you know? Look.”

He drew a circle, and a ghostly illusion of Colleen and Hunter appeared on the ground below them. The two walked towards the tree silently. More illusion figures burst down from the trees, these ones shadowy and indistinct. One blew a ghostly flute. Illusion Colleen stumbled towards the treeline. The Hunter illusion raced up the stairs, and Luz tucked in close to the tree to let him pass, even knowing it wasn’t real. Ghostly Hunter shouted to the palisman, and they flew off.

Gus shook his head. “It’s too hard to keep track of the people. Look—with how long it would have taken Hunter to get up here and tell the palisman to go…” He pointed. Illusion Colleen had made it halfway down the path. “Why would she still be here?”

“Hunter probably teleported,” Luz offered, “That would cut the time down.”

“True. But I thought of that, too. Watch again.”

The illusions disappeared, the ones of Hunter and Colleen reappearing at the base of the tree. Again, the attackers appeared. Again, Colleen ran towards the path. This time, Hunter teleported to the top of the tree, grabbing a half-carved palisman and passing it up. Luz switched to watch Colleen. She hadn’t made it as far, but she was still far past where Luz had found her.

The illusions disappeared again, and Gus shook his head. “It doesn’t add up.”

“Try starting them both at the top of the tree.”

Gus shrugged. The illusions appeared. Ghostly Colleen ran down the stairs, but collapsed at the bottom, still not where Luz had found her. “See what I’m saying? The people aren’t working out. Willow texted Skara about it, too, and she agrees. Tactically, it doesn’t make sense.”

“So, what, you think Colleen lied?”

“At the least, she has no clue what she’s talking about,” Gus said glumly, “She might have ‘remembered’ something she was asleep for because she wanted to be helpful. Or my real guess, which is that she feels guilty about running, so she’s editing the story.”

Luz snapped her fingers. “Wait—can’t you do that memory thing? We can see what happened ourselves!”

Gus was already shaking his head before she even finished her statement. “It’s not exactly a pleasant experience, Luz. I don’t want to hurt her. We could try pulling memories, but…”

“There’s no guarantee that we’d find the right one, or that it’d be clear if we did, since she fell asleep,” Luz sighed, “Right.” She plopped down next to Gus, resting her chin in her hands. He nudged her shoulder, and the illusions of Colleen and Hunter appeared again.

“Hey. We’re going to figure this out. Let’s try again.”

Xxx

Hunter dragged himself towards the workbench and table, carefully leaning most of his weight on the bed, then the workbench. Even so, each little hobble sent sparks of pain up his spine. He sat heavily on the workbench, closing his eyes and taking deep breaths until his muscles relaxed, and his shattered knee became a backdrop instead of world-consuming. He picked up the chisel, his hands trembling. Slowly, Hunter put his wrist down on the table, palm facing up. He pushed the chisel into position. Watched it float in midair, almost hoping it would fall.

We have to keep those palisman-carving hands of yours in good shape, now don’t we?

Hunter took a deep breath, seized the mallet, and before he could convince himself not to, swung it in a crushing blow on the chisel. An animal scream tore out of his throat, and the mallet dropped from trembling fingers. Hunter didn’t know when he’d fallen, but he leaned on the table for support. The chisel stuck directly out of his palm, held cheerfully in place by its own magic. Hunter hissed in, reaching for the mallet again. His arm hesitated at the top of his arc, his body locking into place to keep him from hurting himself again.

I won’t make a palisman just so they can be taken by a titan trapper.

Hunter’s fingers twitched, curling up when he hit the chisel. He raised the mallet again.

Liquid ice raced up his arm and spine, turning his vision into a blackened mess. A choked whine escaped his throat, and every twitch of his fingers seemed to reverberate through the chisel like a lightning rod.

Oh. I think I hit something important.

Hunter forced himself to take the mallet, even though his legs folded underneath him, leaving him slumped against the table. Footsteps echoed up the stairs, a quick tip-tap-tip-tap

One more blow.

One more time, to keep him from using me.

Crunch

Hunter detached, looking at his hand as if it didn’t belong to him. The mallet dropped for the final time, and he let gravity pull him down. His hand stayed in place on the table, pinned by the chisel driving into the wood.

Slam.

As if from a long distance off, Hunter heard the door slam into the wall. Feron rushed over, wrapping one hand around the chisel.

“What did you do?” he demanded, “How could you—why would you—is spite really worth this?!”

Hunter closed his eyes, leaning his head against his arm. No palisman today.

“It’s about not carving palisman? You think that mutilating your hand so that you’ll never carve again is better than carving for me?”

Hunter didn’t open his eyes. He heard a sizzling sound, and the clink of the broken chisel being thrust aside. Cold air rushed over his hand and through it. He felt every whisper of air like tiny needles driving into the sides of the wound. Nerves knit themselves back together, Hunter’s whole hand itching like a scab that wanted to be peeled away. When he opened his eyes again, his hand still bore a nasty gash on either side, but the middle of his hand, his bones and nerves, had healed over as if it hadn’t been impaled clean through only a minute ago.

If he’d had the energy, Hunter would have thumped his head against the table in despair. Nothing he could do would last. Feron was too skilled of a healer. Hunter had thought his magic reserves would be depleted so soon after healing his dislocated thumb, but even that was hoping for too much, apparently.

Feron put one hand on the table to brace himself, face pale. “Never again,” he said harshly, “Do you know how dangerous that was? You could have sustained permanent nerve damage. I’m not a miracle worker.”

Hunter glared. “I know,” he managed, “I know… how to hurt people.”

“And you decided it was worth it?” Feron shook his head. “Listen. Hunter. It’s all very well and noble to dislocate your thumb in order to escape. But hurting yourself to hurt me accomplishes nothing.” He touched a crystal hanging around his throat. Hunter recognized the type—he’d seen it hanging around Odalia’s neck. No wonder Feron had been able to find him in the storm. Healing magic, combat magic, oracle magic—it was like Feron was perfectly engineered to keep prisoners.

“I understand your reservations. Truly, I do! But as far as palisman are concerns, I can assure you that my clientele will treat them well. People don’t go through such lengths to obtain something if they’re planning on hurting it.”

Hunter met Feron’s gaze cooly. The tearing pain in his hand was already starting to fade away, leaving that bone-weary exhaustion of a wound that had healed much faster than it should. If he could put his head on the table and go to sleep, he would. But right now, besting Feron was more important. “If that were true, my life would have looked a lot different.”

“Nonetheless. I have vetted them.” He gave Hunter a smile, like they were sharing an inside joke. “Besides, you and I both know that palisman are perfectly capable of running away if they are mistreated. I believe you work with many palisman of such caliber?”

“Is that what happened to yours?” Hunter asked stonily, “Did they run away because they couldn’t stand being around you?”

A thunderous expression flitted across Feron’s face, pain and anger flashing in his eyes before smoothing over into that pleasant business smile. “My palisman… wasn’t suited for my lifestyle. They’re not the loyal ride-or-die partners you seem to think they are. They’re animals, and like any other animal, they’ll leave you when the going gets tough.”

“You’re wrong.”

“We can debate the finer points of palisman ethics later, if you wish. For now, just know…” Feron touched his necklace again, and it lit up, displaying the Bat Queen’s forest. Hunter reached out without thinking, grasping for the image. Feron took a smart step back, just out of reach. “This crystal is linked to one that my associate Colleen carries. It sees what she sees. Currently, she’s keeping your young friends company. I’m sure you and I would both prefer if her company stays civil.”

A savage laugh tore out of Hunter’s throat. For all his posturing, for all his power, Feron really had no idea what he was doing, did he? “Make a threat like you mean it. You don’t scare me; my friends can handle one ex-scout.”

Feron remained unflappably polite, just giving Hunter that small, conciliatory smile that made him want to throw a mallet at his head. “I’m sure they can. Great saviors of our world, aren’t they? What’s one measly scout to the heroic teenagers who conquered Belos?” He flicked the pendant, sending it spinning. Luz, Willow, and Gus flashed by in the purple image—then Dell. Feron pinched the pendant to stop its motion, frozen on the older man. “Do you think your mentor could do the same?”

Hunter felt the change creep over him like frost, his confidence replaced by a thrill of panic trembling down his spine. Say something, a voice in his head demanded, Silence is as good as an answer. But no bravado-laced words left his mouth. Feron leaned back, still sporting that stupid, stupid smile.

“The first of my clientele asked for a bird.”

“No.” The word came out harsh and coarse, before Hunter could stop himself. His mouth tasted like sawdust. “I won’t—I can’t carve one. Not yet.”

“Oh, well. I think you’ll find a way, Hunter.” Feron set the crystal down on the worktable, where Hunter could see Dell and the Bat Queen’s forest glittering in its surface. “I’m sure you’d hate to let your mentor down.”

[enchantedchocolatebars]

Still Alive And Present (Fic based on this AMAZING theory sent to me by an anon)

Hunter was in his room carving a palisman commission for a customer with a smile on his face, meticulously whittling in the desired details that were requested of him - round ears, vertical slits for pupils, a heart shaped nose, a round body, and stubby little legs and feet.

According to the father who had paid for the piece a day ago, the palisman was intended as a birthday gift for his daughter and that pandas were her favorite animals. 💕 🐼

Although Hunter had never carved a panda before, he was having a great time doing so.

Gus had previously presented him with pictures of them.

He said that unlike giraffes, they were a lot friendlier and less vicious.

Once the carving was complete, Hunter planned on giving it to the father first thing in the morning.

He was already imagining the excitement and radiant smile on the girl's face as she opened her gift on her birthday.

The carving apprentice was confident that she would love her new palisman pal.

He knew he did.

"I wonder what your name is going to be?" The blonde would ask rhetorically, aware that the palisman could hear him.

He smiled.

He wouldn't have ever been allowed to carve in the castle, especially not with Belos around.

Hunter was unsure of why, but he experienced moments where he missed his uncle, but he made an effort to remove those thoughts from his mind.

Belos... Philip... was a bad man.

A bad human.

A wicked, unforgivable monster who had committed heinous acts against others and had finally met the demise he deserved in the end.

Hunter, as well as the Isles, were finally free of him.

Meanwhile, Waffles observed Hunter hawk-eyed carving from her wooden bird perch, with an almost possessive look in her yellow hues.

Flying over to her owner, she perched onto his right shoulder.

"Chirp!"

Looking to this right, he spots her and sends his beloved bluejay a serene smile. "Oh, hey, waffle cone," Hunter gently greets the bird with her nickname as he pulled from behind him a single peanut nut. "Would you like a snack?"

The nut was pinched between his thumb and index as he brought it close to her beak.

She grabbed it, but then immediately turned to the left to spit it out.

Hunter was taken aback by her actions. "I thought you loved peanuts."

He then chuckles. "I guess you weren't hungry."

Waffles fixes her gaze on the palisman that Hunter goes back to carving. "What are you carving?" She questions him with a tweet.

"Oh, this? It's a panda palisman. I'm carving it for a commission. I think it's coming along rather nicely!" He showed off his hard work to Waffles. "Don't you think?"

Waffles' eyes squint at the panda, giving it an annoyed look. "Chrip, chirp, tweet, tweet, chrip."

"Well, you're certainly quite the critic," Hunter comments with a small chuckle.

Her second set of chrips and tweets earns her a playful glare from the blonde. "Okay, now you're just being mean."

When Hunter carefully applied the finishes to the panda, he grinned from ear to ear at his creation.

"There! It's done!" He pulls out a cloth and begins to wrap the panda in it, sitting it aside on his nightstand where his lamp and Polly Plantar plush sat at.

Waffles flutters over to Hunter's bed as he heads towards the door. "I need to get some paint for them. Be right back, waffle cone."

As soon as the room door is shut, Waffles slowly develops a malevolent expression on her face as she turns to the palisman on the nightstand.

...

Hunter returns to his room with some pink and white acrylic paints and two paint brushes in his apron pockets, only to see a sight that made him gasp.

His brown eyes witnessed Waffles pecking violently at the newly carved palisman he had just made.

"Waffles, wait, no, stop!" He rushes over to her as she stops.

He swiftly grabs the palisman and inspects to ensure it was not damaged.

Luckily it wasn't.

He sets the carving down on his dressing table.

"Waffles, you can't do that." Hunter tries to correct the bird as calmly as possible. He didn't want to come across as angry towards her.

Gazing at the ground, Waffles emits a somber chirp.

She's so ashamed.

"Do I hate you?" Hunter whispered in disbelief at the question. He shakes his head. "No, no, of course not. Waffles, I could never hate you. Listen, we all make mistakes. No one's perfect. I know you didn't mean it."

Seeing his birdie in such a sad state causes the blonde to shine her a sympathetic smile. "I'll have to paint that little panda later. In the meantime, how about we go see Luz and the others? You'll have the opportunity to hang out with your palisman pals! Would you like that?"

Waffles immediately looks up at Hunter at the offer.

A chripy tweet leaves her beak as the bluejay wastes no time perching on Hunter's shoulder.

She couldn't wait to see her friends!

Hunter gave her chin a gentle scratch. "Alright then, let's go."

As the blonde approaches the door, he fails to notice the sly smile on Waffles' face as her yellow eyes begin to glow in a chilling blue.

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 14

And at last we reach the final chapter! I've had so much fun with this series, and I hope everyone who's read it has too. Every single comment I've gotten on it has, without exaggeration, made my day, so thank you thank you to everyone who left one-- and, of course, anyone who read any of the chapters at all. I hope you enjoy the last one!

“All right, kids,” Eda says, looking at them with a glimmer of malicious glee in her eyes. “Who’s going first?”

“Luz is,” Hunter says immediately. 

Luz shoots him a look.

“This was your idea,” he points out.

And, okay, he’s not wrong. While Hunter was carving his new palisman, Luz had the idea to draw his old one, sketching out a stylized version of Flapjack next to the tattoo she wants to get for her dad. As she looked at it, she had the thought that maybe it could do for Hunter what she hopes the flowers will do for her, allow him to feel like he’s carrying part of Flapjack with him even as he grows. Hunter agreed as soon as she showed him— and then Willow offered to get one too, and the whole thing spiraled, and now everyone is standing in front of Eda ready for her to draw on their skin with magic. Well, everyone except Vee, who’s just here for moral support, since she can just shift the tattoo onto her skin. 

Luz takes a deep, preparatory breath, and thinks of Flapjack. He helped Hunter most of all— but none of them would be where they are without him. Luz might not have entered the emperor’s mind, might not have found out about the draining spell until it was too late. Hunter wouldn’t have caught Willow’s attention with his flying skills, wouldn’t have been there to help Gus fight off the illusionist Coven Head at Hexside. They might have lost the war against Belos— and Gus and Amity wouldn’t have their friend, Willow wouldn’t have her boyfriend, and Vee and Luz wouldn’t have their brother. Flapjack brought them all together; it’s only fair that they honor him together.

So Luz steps forward and nods at Eda. “Okay.”

“I keep telling you, it won’t hurt,” she says, grabbing what looks like a training wand from a shelf beside the couch.

“In my experience, we have slightly different definitions of what hurts,” Luz notes. 

Eda snorts. “Fair enough. But seriously, this won’t feel like anything.”

“Do you want me to hold your hand?” Amity asks, seeing that Luz’s expression hasn’t changed.

“Yes please.”

Amity slips her hand into hers and squeezes. 

Hunter hands Eda the tattoo design, and she waves the wand over it, then turns to Luz. “Where do you want it?”

Luz points out a spot on the side of her left arm, just above her elbow. Eda waves the wand over it, and she tenses, squeezing Amity’s hand, and feels— nothing. She glances over, expecting the wand not to have worked, but no: an image of a red bird stares back at her.

“You were right!” she exclaims, looking up at Eda. “I didn’t feel anything!”

Eda ruffles her hair. “Were you doubting your wise and infinitely talented mentor?”

“Who always taught me to question authority? Yes.”

“That’s my girl.”

“I can go next,” Amity offers, and Luz gets up, the two of them switching places on the couch.

The door opens as Luz sits back down, letting Raine and Darius into the room.

“We heard you were back,” Raine says, “and— are you getting tattoos?”

Luz proudly shows them her arm. “They’re for Flapjack,” she says, and Raine gives her and Hunter a sad smile

Darius reaches out to ruffle Hunter’s hair, only to jerk back as a little blue bird leaps from his shoulder and onto Darius’s arm. He flinches, then stiffens, visibly using all his strength not to pull away as the bird hops along his arm and comes to perch on his head. Raine’s grin widens.

“That’s your palisman, aren’t they?”

Hunter nods, a smile of his own tugging at his lips. “Her name is Waffles,” he says, and Raine actually hops up and down on the spot in delight.

Fiddlesticks comes out of staff form and Waffles flies down to greet them, the two of them circling each other and chittering happily. It’s so cute that Luz does a hop of her own, clasping her hands together to keep herself from gathering them into her arms and cooing over them at a pitch that would break every window in the house. When she manages to tear her eyes from them, her gaze falls on Hunter, who watches the two palismen with tears in his eyes. Luz reaches out to wrap an arm around him, and Amity does the same on his other side, a red bird now visible on her forearm.

It doesn’t take Eda long to do the others, each of whom come to join the little group hug when they’re finished, until finally it’s Hunter's turn. Gus rests his hands on his shoulders when he sits down, and Willow perches on the couch beside him.

“Where would you like it?” Eda asks him, an extra-gentle note in her voice.

“Could you… is there any way of putting it over my sigil?”

Eda claps once, her expression gleeful. “Now there’s good thinking. We might not know how to remove those blasted things yet, but there’s no reason why we can’t cover them up.”

Hunter lets out a breath and nods. He closes his eyes as Eda waves the wand over his sigil, and when he opens them, the emperor’s symbol is replaced by Flapjack. 

Hunter exhales again, only this time, it’s a long, deep sound that seems to echo in the room. When he breathes in again, he straightens, and Luz can see in the set of his shoulders that a weight has been lifted. Willow kisses his cheek, and Hunter smiles, wiping at his eyes.

“Thanks, Eda,” he says, and she ruffles his hair.

“Don’t mention it, kid.”

The door bursts open again, and Hooty comes rocketing through it, sending Luz, Amity, and Vee stumbling backwards to join Willow, Hunter, and Eda on the couch, clinging to each other and making various noises of alarm.

“Hello, Hooty,” Eda says. “Do I want to know where Lily and your backpack are?”

“On the other side of town!” Hooty replies gleefully, and Eda shudders.

“And to what do the people of Bonesborough owe the trauma you’re currently putting them through with your length?”

“The carnival is open for business! And it looks great! Plus I checked on our floats this morning, and they are undisturbed! I even polished mine.”

“Do we really have to have him on our float?” Amity whispers to Luz through gritted teeth.

“Well, he is a savior of the Isles. In his own way.”

It was Raine’s idea to take the idea of the Coven Day Parade and turn it into a way of celebrating the island’s liberation. All of the new institutions put into place over the last year will have floats, including the Council and Eda’s university. And, Raine insisted, they would need to celebrate the people who were responsible for the island’s liberation in the first place, so Luz, her friends, King, Lilith, and Hooty are getting a float of their own. 

Hooty will be driving.

Luz has had more than one nightmare about it.

“Let’s just enjoy the carnival while we can,” Willow says with a pained smile. “Camila’s meeting us there, right?”

Vee nods. “She said she’d be by the dunk tank with the Emperor Belos impersonator at noon.”

“It’s quarter to,” Raine says. “We’d better get moving.”

“If you all hop on my back, I could let you ride through the town on me while I retract into the backpack—“ Hooty starts, but the simultaneous refusals that follow are emphatic enough that they don’t allow him another word.

…

By the time the sun dips below the horizon, Luz’s throat is raw from screaming and laughing and her stomach is bursting with what’s probably half her body weight in fried food. She didn’t think anything could top the carnival that comes to the island every so often, but this knocked it out of the park. King got the Collector to weigh in on the planning, and the result was a mix of every kind of game Luz could imagine with a few death-defying rides thrown in. Nothing like celebrating the time she actually died with a roller coaster wild enogh to make her stomach feel like it was about to repeat the experience.

And she knows the others enjoyed it as much as she did. King walks with a bounce in his step— he never talks about it, but she knows he misses the Collector, and thinks that playing some of their games has been good for him. Camila looks around with bright eyes, the festival so far beyond the realm of anything she's used to. Gus and Vee happily compare the photos they took at various booths, while Willow helps Hunter carry some of the small army of stuffed animals she won him. Eda, at some point, turned into harpy form, and flies above them with Raine in her arms despite their laughing protests. 

Lilith and Hooty are waiting by the floats, having had what appears to be a picnic at the base of them. Luz takes them in for the first time in all their finished glory, grinning. The Council’s float is shaped like the Titan, of course, with one councilor on each of the limbs and Darius, who will be giving the speech, in the middle. Behind it is the float for the University of Wild Magic, bearing the logo on a proud banner, with a place for each of the faculty to stand. And then there’s the float for the rest of the saviors of the Isles, which is modeled after Hooty’s face, despite the fact that he was a puppet the entire time. If he was going to build the float, he argued, he was going to make sure it “reflected his true glory”.

“Do you think it has the teeth?” King whispers to Luz.

“Shhhhhh.”

Raine gives Eda a kiss, and she sets them down. “I’ll see you after this mortifying ordeal,” they mutter.

“You’ll be fine, Rainestorm. You haven’t tripped in front of a crowd since you were elected.”

“There’s a first time for everything.”

“You’ll be great, Raine,” Luz says, pulling them into a hug.

“You’re the parent of a Titan!” King adds, climbing up to their shoulder. “Glory runs in your veins!”

“That’s not how it works—" Lilith starts, but Eda elbows her into silence.

She boards the University float as Raine joins Darius and the other councilors. Lilith walks over to Luz’s group.

“Are you sure you don’t want to ride with us?” she asks Vee. “From what I’ve been told, the others might not have been able to go after Belos without your help. Just because you weren’t part of the final battle, it doesn’t mean you weren’t important.”

Vee shakes her head. “No, thank you. I still don’t really like being stared at. Besides, I’ll enjoy sitting with Masha. You know how fascinated they are by magic; they’ll love this.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I am. But I should probably get a move on if I want to meet up with them before the parade starts.”

She hugs Camila and waves goodbye to the others before setting off into the streets. 

Luz, Camila, Lilith, Hooty, Amity, Hunter, Willow, and Gus climb onto their float and Lilith directs them to their positions. About five minutes into her lecture on how to wave and smile properly— leftover posturing from her Coven Head days— the Council’s float mercifully begins to move.

Luz has been in and out of Bonesborough for almost a year and a half, and she’s never seen it as crowded as it is today. Every inch of the street is packed with witches and demons shoulder-to-shoulder against the barricades, and plenty have stolen Eda’s idea of perching on the roofs as well. They pass Perry, Harvey, and Gilbert on a balcony, all blowing kisses, and Dell and Gwen below, beaming with pride. Steve, who neglected to join the others on the float in order to keep an eye on Matt, jumps up and down and waves as they pass, while Matt stands with his arms crossed and tries to hide his smile. 

And— there’s Vee on the next rooftop over, perched with her siblings and Masha, the latter of who is leaning forward so far Luz is legitimately worried they might fall. Luz lifts a hand to wave— only to find herself flailing it wildly for balance as the float swerves sharply. 

“What—“ she gasps, whirling around and finding herself face-to-face with Terra Snapdragon.

“Sorry, sapling,” she hisses, and flicks Luz over the edge of the float with a vine. 

Luz fumbles for a levitation glyph in her pocket before she remembers, a scream ripping from her throat even as she curses her own stupidity, and crashes face first into… a puddle of goo?

The abomination lifts Luz back up, setting her into Amity’s arms. “Thanks,” she pants, grabbing her staff and whirling around to assess the situation.

The parade has turned into an out-and-out battle with what looks like fifty coven scouts. “Where did they all come from?!” Luz shouts.

A scout swings their fist at her, and she ducks— only for them to disappear before her eyes. She glances around to find Gus swirling his fingers, his face intense with concentration. Another scout disappears, then another, and then one reappears. Luz scans the crowd and her gaze lands on Adrian Graye, ducked behind a float, concentrating just as hard as Gus is. 

“The scouts aren’t real!” she yells. “They’re illusions!”

“Hunter, did you hear that?” Willow asks, and Luz looks over to find her crouched beside Hunter, who had his hands over his ears. He just shakes his head.

“They’re coming to take me away, Belos wants me back…”

“No, they’re not, you’re not part of his coven anymore!” Willow takes his arm in her hands, gently pressing his tattoo. Hunter takes a gasping breath, his expression clearing, and then his eyes fix onto something over Willow’s shoulder and he lets out a warning cry.

Before Willow can turn around, Luz is there, stopping the Construction Coven Head’s hammer with her staff. He lifts it, preparing to strike again, and she stabs at his eye with the back end of her staff, making him reel backwards. Luz draws a spell circle in the air, preparing to blast him with a jet of fire, only to feel something cold wrap around her stomach, squeezing the breath from her lungs as it yanks her backwards.

“No,” she wheezes, “let go—“

The pressure around her middle is relieved so quickly she wonders if the Coven Head actually listened. But no— she looks up to see Eda grabbing the Oracle Coven Head from above and unceremoniously dropping him off the float.

“Stay away from my kid!” she yells.

Another harpy joins her in the sky: Lilith, with Hooty still attached to her and biting as many Coven Heads as he can reach. They give Luz enough breathing room to scan the area again. The Coven Heads shouldn’t be winning, and yet Willow and Hunter are nearly doubled over from the exertion of fighting off the Construction Head, and Gus and Amity lie in a heap at the base of the float, and Raine is firing note after note at Adrian without any of it seeming to touch him, and Camila is punching vine after vine with Terra just creating more and more to take their place. 

Why isn’t this working? Luz thinks, and then, why isn’t anyone doing anything? Where is the crowd that was packed so tightly? Why aren’t they helping? Have they run?

Some of them have, she sees. But enough of them remain, only— they’re frozen. And that, she realizes, is where the Coven Heads’ power is coming from. It’s not that they are powerful; the terror of what they represent is. 

Luz fears it too. And without her glyphs, she can’t bring herself to believe she’s strong enough to defeat it. 

At least: not alone.

She raises her staff and fires a jet of light up into the sky, so brilliant and piercing that for a single second the fighting stops.

“This isn’t their world anymore!” she yells. “This whole night, this whole celebration, the whole reason we’re here is to acknowledge that we are more powerful than them! I know you’re afraid, I know your minds want you to believe this attack means we’re going back to the old way of doing things, but we’re not! This isn’t the start of a war, this is their last stand!”

The Oracle Coven grabs Luz again, but this time, she doesn’t fight it. She’s said her piece. She’s done what she can. She closes her eyes, praying that someone heard-- no, listened.

And oh, thank you, thank you, the hand around her stomach releases. Luz looks up to find a blue mist trailing over her head, and she follows it from the Coven Head to Vee, who’s draining his magic with a defiant light dancing in her eyes. 

A strangled gasp draws Luz’s attention to the Construction Coven Head, who’s frozen above Willow, his magic trailing away from him in a steady stream towards Wynne. Terra falls to Gemini next, then Adrian to Rhee, and then the Potions Coven Head to Ivy.

Eda lets out a piercing cheer. “Those are my students!” she yells. 

And this— this first act of true defiance by the beings Belos used and discarded, the ones the covens mistreated and hid from the world— is enough to empower the people that Luz’s words couldn’t. With a rallying cry, the crowd storms the floats, and in no time at all, the Coven Heads are in chains and being escorted by Eda and Lilith into a cart that will take them to the Conformatorium to await trial. 

Darius folds his arms, shaking his head. “Fools,” he says. “We couldn’t prosecute them without evidence, and now they’ve staged an attack with the whole island as witness.”

“Except for Hettie,” Raine points out. “She was smart enough to stay out of it, and you know she’ll do everything in her power to talk them out of trouble.”

Eda snorts. “She’ll have a pretty tough time of that.”

Darius heaves a long-suffering sigh. “Either way, I should probably get up there and thank the crowd.” He takes a step towards the Council’s newly-righted float, only to stop as Raine puts a hand on his arm.

“I’ll do it.”

And they start up the stairs without a backward glance, summoning a microphone as they go. 

“People of the Isles,” they call. “Could, uh, could I please have your attention?”

Their voice is soft, but it carries power, and a wave of silence falls over the crowd. Raine takes a breath, and Luz can hear how it trembles. They glance back at her, and she beams, giving them two thumbs up. Eda blows them a kiss, and Darius gives them an encouraging nod. Raine turns back to face the crowd with a small smile on their lips.

“Thank you for your help in averting this threat,” they say, their voice still shaking but their words clear. “I know the shadow of the covens still looms over our island. We are still afraid of exploring magic beyond the boxes we were taught to keep it in. We are still weak and drained from the strain of fighting to break free of the confines of what we were taught. But Luz Noceda is right. We planned today’s celebration to acknowledge a year in which we re-shaped our government, our system of learning, our way of being into one that is tolerant, curious, and safe. With every day that passes, we face our fears of the old regime, and we take a step beyond them. Seeing what all of you just did tells me that those steps have taken us very far indeed. This new world would not be possible without the bravery of each and every one of you. I want to thank you for that. I want to thank the last basilisks on the Isles, who showed that bravery to a degree I can't imagine, and to the witches and demons who fought for their— and all of our— freedom in the first place. And—" Raine turns to Luz again and smiles at them, the love in their eyes eroding any leftover fear— “I want to thank the very special human who has, at one point or another, inspired all of us to be more than we thought we could. I— and the Council, and the Isles— thank you, and celebrate you.”

And then, as though it was planned, the fireworks that were meant to be launched after Darius’s speech at the end of the parade burst into the sky, and the crowd erupts into cheers so loud they drown out the crackling. 

Luz feels someone’s hand in hers and turns to see Amity stepping up next to her. She squeezes her hands and looks back at the fireworks, and as she does, a memory comes to her: sitting with Amity on a rooftop during the Coven Day Parade, both of their hands ice cold, trying not to shiver as they watched the crowd cheer for Belos and the sick game he had in motion. It’s hard to believe that was just over a year ago. It feels impossible to be in such a similar position, but with the context so completely different. Not so long ago, it would have been impossible to imagine that change took place because of her.

But it did. She set the draining spell into motion, yes— but she set all of this into motion, too. Eda and Lilith standing with their wings spread, Eda’s hand in Raine’s. Vee with her siblings and her mom and her partner, all of them leaning over each other to point out their favorite fireworks. Hunter with his arms around Willow and Gus, Darius and Eber beaming at him from behind. Amity, her smile unrestrained, her hand in Luz’s. All possible because she loves these people and they love her, and they take what they’ve given each other and paid it forwards, taking steps and pulling each other along. And if this is what they’ve accomplished in a year, who can say what they will in two, three, five?

Luz presses a kiss against Amity’s cheek and leans her head against hers, turning her gaze up to the fireworks and letting the bursts of light make imprints on her vision, and she feels herself glow just as brightly with the possibilities.

[lotusthewriter]

I could even learn how to love (like you)

Fandom: The Owl House

Rating: G

Relationships: Hunter/Luz (romantic)

Characters: Hunter, Luz Noceda; MINOR - Waffles, Flapjack

Summary: “Luz,” Hunter stares at her, receiving confusion in response. “Your… Your palisman…”

She doesn’t look hurt.

Instead, the human girl smiles.

“It’s okay, Hunter,” Luz reassures him. “It’s what we wanted.”

Word count: 1.275

AO3

Tears.

He senses tears.

Grief.

When Hunter opens his eyes again, he sees the two most important things in his life. One of them being Flapjack. And the other…

Where the tears come from.

“Hunter?” Brown eyes look into his magenta soul.

Grunting, he manages to sit with someone else’s help, only for Luz to wrap her arms around his neck, without hurting nor engulfing him.

“I’m so sorry,” she hiccups, “I sh-should have–”

Hunter knows what she’s going to say.

So, he hugs her back.

He’s the one who hugs the tightest.

“No,” Hunter whispers, voice broken. “None of this is your fault.”

She cries silently, not wanting anyone else to hear.

Only him.

As they hug each other closer…

Hunter’s chest feels weird.

Alive.

He realizes.

And pulls away.

“Luz,” Hunter stares at her, receiving confusion in response. “Your… Your palisman…”

She doesn’t look hurt.

Instead, the human girl smiles.

“It’s okay, Hunter,” Luz reassures him. “It’s what we wanted.”

He shakes his head.

He wants to remove his heart and give it back to Luz.

Hunter knows how much she wanted a palisman. He saw how long she waited for it to hatch. Only for him to take her life goals, her hopes and dreams away.

It’s not fair.

He’s about to say all of this, but Luz’s smile falls in regret, and she walks away from the group. Then, the others question her helping Belos meet the Collector, and she tells everyone else the truth.

The palisman is never brought up again.

Hunter himself doesn’t because it’s not the focus anymore.

But deep inside…

He knows he can’t ignore it.

And he will do something about it.

--

“When can I open my eyes?”

“Just wait a little longer!”

“Ugh, it’s taking forever,” Luz exaggerates, then giggles. “Come ooooon, I’m excited!”

“I promise you I’m almost done, please shut up so I don’t mess it up.”

“Gee, fine.”

Luz swings her legs back and forth as she sits on a wooden chair, knowing that waiting is not her strongest suit. Hunter, though, has been very insistent on this surprise, and from what her friends told her, he’s been working day and night to make it perfect. They say nothing else about what exactly he’s been doing.

Regardless, for his sake, Luz waits. She certainly doesn’t want to ruin the surprise.

“Are your eyes still closed?” Hunter asks from afar.

“Yes.”

“Good. Don’t peek.”

Luz snorts at his seriousness. “Alright.”

There are slow steps coming in her direction, until she senses someone kneeling down in front of her.

“Now, open your hands.”

“Okay.” Luz raises an eyebrow.

“Don’t peek,” Hunter insists.

“I woooon’t.”

He gives her…

Something small.

Something…

Feathery?

“Come on, is this Flapjack?” Luz assumes. Not that she’s disappointed.

But Hunter isn’t the one who answers.

“... Waffles?”

It’s a chirp.

Luz gasps.

She opens her eyes, already filled with tears, as she holds the most beautiful blue jay she has ever seen.

“Oh my god,” Luz sobs, “Hunter, she’s… she’s perfect.”

In the meantime, Hunter is smiling at the crying girl the whole time, the smile as beautiful as the palisman.

“Thanks,” he says, “she’s my first work.”

Luz gasps in enthusiasm. “Y-You’re carving palismen?”

“Yeah. I think I got the gist of it, don’t you think?”

She laughs wetly. “Yeah, you’re really good.”

He blushes, the sight so precious. Every little thing about him is beautiful, from the magenta eyes to the tooth gap to the scars. She also likes his new haircut, which looks a lot like Darius’, as it’s tied in a bun. Even then, it’s very much Hunter since some rebel curls manage to come out.

“Seriously, Luz,” the boy sighs, “thank you.”

“For what?”

His hands cup hers.

“For bringing me to the light.”

At this point, she’s a crying mess. Luz sobs louder, happily, and launches herself towards Hunter, the two of them falling backwards. Obviously, Flapjack and Waffles fly above them unharmed, and they bond well regardless of the short time they’ve known one another.

Although she should probably apologize for hurting Hunter, he hugs Luz so lovingly that he really doesn’t care. She laughs and cries at the same time, and she’ll never know what she’s done to deserve him.

Eventually, Luz is looking at him, her lying on top of him, while Hunter still smiles like an idiot. She stares back, laughing softly, having wet his poor shirt with tears. They gaze deep into each other’s eyes, so much to say, and yet never said.

Luz feels his heartbeats.

And her smile falls.

“What?” Hunter asks, concerned.

She stands up, looking away.

“You didn’t…” She gulps. “You didn’t have to do this.”

“Luz…”

Now, her tears are of guilt.

She thought she’d be over it, now that Belos is finally gone, but it feels like he’s the one getting through her head and making her feel awful things, reminding her of every horrible thing she’s done.

Luz hears another chirp.

Waffles lands on her shoulder to show support.

“Luz,” Hunter steps closer. “I didn’t do this because I owe you one. It’s because you always wanted a palisman. A companion. Someone to be with you, to understand you better than anyone else. And you deserve someone like that in your life.”

When she looks back, his arms are open, showing that he’s not going to harm her or hate her – that nothing in the world could ever make him hate her.

Luz takes another step towards him, now they’re closer than ever, but they don’t hug again. At least not yet.

“That’s your deepest wish, isn’t it?” Hunter’s voice is quiet, yet it brings her good shivers inside. “To be understood?”

She knows she doesn’t need to answer. He already knows.

Still, Luz nods.

“Then you’re allowed that,” Hunter reassures her. Slightly bigger, bare hands gently caress her arms, calming her down.

Luz opens her mouth, trying so hard to speak, and yet failing many times.

“I-It’s not that I don’t love Waffles, I love her so much,” she says, smiling at her new palisman which returns the gesture in the bird way. “It’s just…”

She looks at anything but Hunter, only to settle for his chest.

“I love…”

Luz is too scared to finish the sentence.

But…

Should she be?

Hunter slowly cups her face towards him.

“I know,” he whispers even lower, even though it’s just the two of them and their palismen. His gaze is loving, contemplative, like he’d do anything to protect her from the horrors of the world and the horrors within her that nobody sees.

Just that… is an answer.

They don’t need to say anything else.

Slowly, Luz approaches.

And…

She kisses his scarred cheek.

She doesn’t want to pressure him.

Hunter responds by kissing her small scar.

… then her cheek.

Mostly, her tears, like they’re scars, too.

He’s so gentle…

Eventually, Hunter is smiling at her, in a way no one has ever.

He says nothing.

And he doesn’t have to.

Luz hides herself in his chest, having been afraid and guilty of getting in touch with it since she saved his life.

Hunter hugs her again, protectively, and Luz internally swoons at the height difference. She hates to admit that she’s still the cheesy romantic, but well, that’s Luz Noceda for you. Her mom and her friends love her the way she is, and so does Hunter.

She knows through his heartbeat.

It beats, beats, beats.

It beats for her.

It beats at the same rate as hers.

Luz knows now.

It’s okay.

It’s okay. She deserves it.

[justaself-shipper]

Golden Guard x Reader- True Colours

A/N: I wanted to get back into the swing of things before redoing the requests. There may or may not be a few Amphibia references in here…since i watched it quite recently... Spoilers for Hunting Palisman. Also anyone get the reference of the title?

Being in the Emperor’s Coven wasn’t easy. From battling monsters and demons to rogue witches and a certain human, I was surprised I was still alive. A regular guard was just a pawn for the Emperor. Yet, I had no choice, since my parents had already planned my future while I was still young. I wanted to make them proud, and I really did try. But it seems like being a normal guard in the Emperor’s Coven wasn’t enough. I needed to go bigger, eliminate anyone in my way if I had to. I was going to do it for them, and for my lost Palisman, Froggit. (IT WAS THE ONLY THING THAT CAME TO MIND-) Standing at attention, I watched all the servants and guards walk by. I was assigned outside the Throne room today. Kikimori happened to be walking by as the door opened. She gasped. “Golden Guard?! You’re alive! I heard about the crash-“ The “Golden Guard” came into view. He greeted Kiki, and I had the time to observe him. He was about my age, with blonde hair, red eyes, and a scar on his right cheek. As he walked away from Kikimori, he looked my way. I hadn’t realised I had turned to face them. Quickly standing to attention, I stiffened as he stopped in front of me. “Sir.” I saluted. He raised an eye-brow, looking at my badge. (Ima just pretend the badges have names engraved into them in small lettering or something). “Haven’t seen you around here much. When did you join the Emperor’s Coven?” He asked casually. I glared through my mask. “Two weeks ago, sir.” I replied, trying my best to keep my voice calm. He smiled. “Well, miss ‘Y/N’, it’s nice to meet you. The names Hunter.” I didn’t reply back. After a few minutes of silence, he sighs. “Welp, I better be going. See you around.” As he walked away, I let my shoulders relax a bit. Glaring after him, I watched him disappear. So, a higher rank, right? Well, we’ll see about that. Don’t try to chit-chat me, Hunter. You’re nothing but a rival. Later that evening… I let out a yawn. It was late, and I was the only guard patrolling this side of the castle. Lifting my mask to rub my tired eyes, I heard a loud bang, followed by yelp of pain. “Palisman!” Someone hissed. Pulling my mask back down, I held my staff out. “COME OUT! I KNOW YOU’RE THERE!” I yelled out. There was nothing but silence. Turning a corner, I caught someone running away, carrying something. “Hey!” I gave chase, following the intruder down the corridors. As I ran, I realised they seemed to know exactly where they were going. Running by halls that lead to dead ends, and avoiding doors that entered into closed off rooms. Using my staff, I sped up, running in front of the witch. He came to a stop, almost tripping. Holding out my staff, I was about to zap him, when I realised it was Hunter. A small, red bird Palisman sat on his shoulder. I smirked under my mask. Hiding a Palisman? One that has wild magic? This was treason. Oh, Emperor Belos is going to love this. “You stay here.” I stated, using a spell to keep him in place. As he struggled, I began to walk off. If he’d been keeping a wild Palisman, who knew what he could do with it. Best to retrieve back-up, and quickly. As I turned my back, he yelled out to me. “Wait! Don’t tell Belos!” Ignoring him, I continued. “I know what he does to them! He kills them!” Stopping, I turned back to the Golden Guard. “What do you mean by that?” I questioned cautiously. Hunter closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. “Emperor Belos isn’t a witch. I don’t know what he is, or what happened to him. All I know is that he uses the magic in the Palismans to keep himself powerful and in a stable condition.” My mind went to Froggit, my Palisman before I joined the Coven. He went missing as soon as I joined…he couldn’t have… “Y-you’re lying, aren’t you?” I growled. The Palisman sitting on his shoulder chirped. After a moment of silence, I released the Golden guard. Turnng my back to him once again, I growled under my breath. “Get out of here before I change my mind.” Hunter didn’t need to be asked twice. Making sure the Palisman wasn’t hurt, he left, returning to his dorm. About an hour later, another guard took over my shift. Rushing back to my dorm, I leaned against the door. It couldn’t be true. Emperor Belos would never hurt my Palisman, would he? I let out a shaky breath. He couldn’t have…right? Finishing up my carving, I stared lovingly at the Frog as I held it up to the sunlight. “And done! Welcome to the world little buddy!” I whispered, blowing the flakes away. Smiling widely, I placed the wooden frog on my bedside table. All I had to do now was wait. He should wake up in a few minutes. Leaning back on my bed, I picked up my book, looking at all the human creatures inside. I loved looking at all the pictures, and even chose one as my Palisman. There were so many amazing creatures, for awhile I couldn’t pick. I had finally settled for a “frog”, since they sounded so amazing. Hearing a croak, I looked up from my book. My new Palisman had woken up, and was crawling around and curiously peering at the objects on my bed stand. “Hey there little guy.” I cooed, picking him up. He let out another croak. “Welcome to the Boiling Isles! You’re so cute!” He tilted his head curiously in my direction, letting out another excited croak. Giggling, I gently pet him. “I’ll keep you safe Froggit. I won’t let anything bad happen to you.” I jolted awake, rubbing my teary eyes as I sat up. Silent sobs threatened to erupt from my throat. Taking a few minutes to calm myself, I inhaled slowly. This wasn’t a coincidence, wasn’t it? Froggit was gone, and I had failed to protect him. He had probably died a horrible death, scared and all alone. Checking the window, I noticed the sun was rising. I had to get ready for today. As I stood up, I felt my stomach squirm in guilt. Looking around my room, i grabbed a satchel, collecting things and preparing. I had to get out of here. I was NOT going to work with a Coven that murdered my Palisman, no matter what my parents say. I would have failed them, but nothing was worse than knowing I had failed my Palisman, my only friend. A loud knock came from the door. Looking up, I stared hard at the door. Who could that be? I’m not late for something, am I? The knocking came again. Walking over, I opened the door to find Kikimori there. She seemed to be glaring daggers into my soul, even though she was way shorter than me. “The Emperor wants to speak with you immediately.” She stated, walking away. Why does the Emperor want to see me? I took off my mask as I stood in front of the throne room. My knees shook thinking over the things the Golden Guard had said the night previously. The Emperor wasn’t who I thought he was, and that thought alone terrified me. Clutching my mask, I opened the doors. Mutterings were coming from the other side of the room as I entered. Walking along the corridor, I took note that a few guards, as well as the Golden Guard and Emperor Belos were in the room. Belos was talking to the Golden Guard, but stopped when I entered. I bowed down to the Emperor, as I felt his eyes bare into my soul. “You must be Y/N L/N, right? Hunter has told me so much about you.” He stated. I bowed my head, keeping an eye on Hunter. He seemed to be distracted, since he didn’t seem to be paying attention to us. “He’s told me of all your hard work so far, and that you’re trust worthy. So, I have made up my mind.” He stood up, grabbing onto his staff. What was he doing? “You’ve been moved up to Captain of the guards, since ours has…retired. How does that sound?” Shocked, I glanced up to Hunter. His eyes were averted, refusing to look at me. “I-it’s an honour, my lord…” I stuttered. “B-but, I-i’m just a humble guard, there’s no need to put me as Captain so soon-“ I was cut off as something headed my way, barely missing me by a hair. I stiffened, following the pointed object toward the Emperor. It was….his…arm…. He took the object away. “I'm afraid you don’t have a choice in this matter. Your first mission starts tonight. You’ll be accompanied by Hunter. You’ll be given your badge in the morning.” He waves his hand, signifying I could leave. I nodded. “Y-yes, my Lord.” With that, I placed my helmet back on, walking briskly out of the room. Opening the door, I jumped a little when Kikimori was waiting on the other side. She said nothing, just simply glared at me then left. After watching her disappear around the corner, I let out an angry sigh. What was I gonna do? Later that night…. The Golden Guard was standing beside me, steering the ship we flew in. There was an awkward silence for the first 10 minutes of the flight, with both of us avoiding eye contact. Apparently, we were meant to be looking for Palismans. “So…everything you said the other night was true.” I mumbled. The Golden guard hummed in response. “Unfortunately, yes.” Another silence ensured. “I wasn’t expecting him to make you Captain. I just wanted to help you out a bit, since you helped me. I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you wanted…” I let out a sigh. “It’s fine." That’s when he turned to me. His eyes were filled with sympathy. “I’m also sorry about your Palisman…” I whipped around to face him. “How-“ “It’s not hard. Everyone has a Palisman when they first arrive. They disappear after the first week, and given a “new and improved” staff. It’s becoming more common. Only a few are allowed to keep their Palismans.” He stated, his brows furrowing as his gaze returned to the horizon. “You seem to know a fair bit.” I said. He shrugged. “One of the few perks of being the Emperor’s right-hand man.” I nodded understandingly. Being right-hand man couldn’t have been easy. There would’ve been many people trying to back-stab him. I WAS one of them.

“…what was it like? Your Palisman?” He asked curiously. I smiled under my mask. “He was my best friend. A lot of people questioned why I chose a monster from the human realm, but it didn’t matter. I loved him almost like my own child…” I felt the tears threatening to overflow once again. Hunter smiled. “He sounded nice.” I looked over to him curiously. “You say that as if you’ve never had a Palisman.” His eyes widened, before he turned his face away from me. “…this Palisman is actually my first. I didn’t do well in school, so I never achieved my staff.” Was all he replied. Great. Now I felt bad. “I’m sorry…" He chuckled. “It’s alright. There wasn’t a chance you could’ve known.” Letting out a sigh, I took my mask off. What was the point of hiding my face while meeting a new friend? Letting my hair fall down, I hear Hunter let out a small gasp. I raise an eyebrow, turning my gaze to him. His eyes were wide open, staring at me. “What are you looking at?” “You…you’re beautiful…” My own eyes widened, and I felt my cheeks heat up. Hunter realised that he said it out loud, and his own face lit up. “I-i’m so sorry! I-“ “Just be quiet.” I growled, turning away so then Hunter wouldn’t see me. The ship shook, and I felt it begin to fall rapidly toward the ground. I watched in terror as the ground came closer, and I blacked out as we hit the ground. “Hey! Y/n, wake up!” Someone hissed quietly.

I let out a groan as I opened my tired eyes. Hunter was gently shaking me, looking around frantically at his surroundings. “W-what happened?” I grumbled, sitting up. Hunter clasped a hand over my mouth. I was about to object, when he pointed to a certain short monster on the other side of the rocks. It was Kikimori, and she did not look happy. She seemed to be carrying a stone. I recognised it from history books. They made the possessor stronger. “I KNOW YOU’RE HERE GOLDEN GUARD! AND I KNOW WHAT YOU DID THE OTHER NIGHT!” She shrieked. My brows furrowed, looking toward Hunter. “What is she talking about?” I hissed. He reached for his broken staff. I hadn’t noticed that before. “I’ll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here.” He whispered back. Without warning, he grabbed my hand, leading me away from the angry monster. Once we were far enough away, I pulled my hand free from his. “What the hex was that about?!” I yelled. Hunter let out a sigh. “Look, the other night I was assigned to collect Palismans. I told my Uncle that I had failed, but the real reason was that I let them go. Kiki and the human Luz was involved and…things just got out of hand.” He was looking down at his feet. “If I told him what had really happened, then he would kill both of us…” I listened carefully. When he was finished, I smiled softly. ‘Hey…you did the right thing.” I said, placing a hand on his shoulder. Surprised for a moment, Hunter smiled. “So, what are we gonna do? We can’t tell your Uncle we failed to retrieve them again. He’d find out for sure.” I said. Hunter thought for a moment, before a smirk crossed his features. “Not unless we disappeared.” I stared blankly at him for a moment. What did he mean by that? “What do you mean?” “Alright, this is the plan.” Waiting outside the castle, I tapped my foot impatiently. Hunter had gone into the castle to retrieve his Palisman, leaving me outside to wait. It had been 10 minutes already. Shouldn’t he be back by now? Something must’ve happened. Letting out a growl, I clutched my staff, heading inside. Once inside, I passed a few of the guards. None tried stopping me, just giving a nod as I passed by. They took note of my badge it seemed. As I walked pass the throne room, I halted when I heard a cry of pain come from within. “NO, PLEASE! DON’T HURT HIM!” That was Hunter. Rushing over, I swung the doors open. There was Hunter, being held by two guards. Kikimori held his Palisman, about to hand it over to Emperor Belos. Everyone stopped what they were doing when I entered, turning to face me. Emperor Belos was the only one to recognise me. “Ah, Y/n! A nice surprise! No need for any assistance. You see, Hunter here has been keeping secrets from us.” He stated gesturing to Hunter. “But Kikimori has saved us by warning us of his treason. He’ll be thrown into the dungeon shortly, and this…Palisman will be dealt with.” At that, Kikimori was about to hand the Palisman to the Emperor. Rage filled me, and before I realised what I was doing, I had sent a spell their way. The Palisman was thrown from Kikimori’s hands, falling to the ground out of reach. Everyone let out a gasp. Tears overflowed from my eyes as rage coursed through me. “No one else’s Palisman’s are getting hurt under my watch.” I growled. Belos straightened his posture. “I see. You’re a traitor to our kind. Guards, get her!” He yelled. The guards holding Hunter let him go, charging toward me. Using my staff, I quickly defeated them, swinging my staff against their skulls. Both fell unconscious. Without thinking, I charged Belos. He killed my Palisman. Before my staff made contact with him, he used his own magic to throw me against the wall. Yelping in pain, I stumbled to my feet. My vision was still blurry from the impact, hence why I didn’t see Belos walking towards me. I was pushed back against the wall. Something was piercing into my neck, and I realised it was the Emperor’s staff. “You’ll have the same fate as your Palisman.” He hissed. Choking for air, my vision was getting darker and darker as I stared murderously into Belos’ eyes. I finally felt myself drop to the ground, the Emperor letting out a groan of pain as he was attacked from the side. Strong hands lifted me up, helping me limp away from the scene. Hunter got his Palisman ready, ordering me to get on. Doing so, I left my staff lying on the ground, clutching his waist tightly as we escaped the castle. I buried my face in Hunters shoulder as we flew over the Boiling Isles. Neither of us had spoken for a while, and honestly I was too shocked. Finally, Hunter spoke up. “Thank you for that. That was very courageous of you to stand up to him. Are you ok?” “Y-yeah, I’m ok…where are we going? Do you have a place in mind?” I asked, looking down at our surroundings. We were near Bones Marrow (was that what it was called?), and I curious if he had a destination. Hunter smiles at my question. “I have a friend nearby. We’ll seek shelter there if she’ll allow it.” With that, he neared the forest floor, landing quietly in the bushes. I looked up at the building in front of us. I knew this place, although I’d never been to it myself. This was the Owl House, home of one of the most powerful witches on the Isle, Eda the Owl lady. Well, WAS the most powerful. Hunter walked up the doorstep, and was about to knock when a large owl tube on the door spoke up, startling both of us. “OOH VISITORS! FROM THE EMPEROR COVEN TOO! HAVE YOU COME HERE TO BE MY FRIEND?!” The door opened, revealing Luz the human. Her smile lit up when she realised it was Hunter. “Hunter! Hi! What are you doing here? And who’s your friend? You aren’t…here to arrest me, are you?” She asked suspiciously, closing the door ajar as she squinted her eyes. I almost laughed at how childish she was. “No, sorry to disappoint. Me and my friend were going to ask if we could stay for awhile? We…kinda left the coven.” Hunter said, gesturing to himself and I. I gave a little wave. Luz’s eyes widened in surprise, her smile returning. “Of course! Come in! We have…room for two more!” Opening the door, she let us inside. Hunter stepped in first, but was stopped by an ice wall. He let out a yelp of surprise, and Luz was yelling at someone. “Lillith! Be nice!” Lillith? Where have I heard that name? It clicked when I caught sight of her. There, in what I assumed to be human clothes, stood Lillith, my role model ever since I was a small witchling. I almost jumped up and down in excitement, if it wasn’t for the shock of the ice bars between us. “Human! This is the Golden Guard! We can’t let him in here! What if it’s a trick?!” Lillith shrieked. Luz tried to calm her down, explaining that he’d changed. Another woman stepped into the room, followed by a small demon with a skull on his head. “Alright, what’s going on here?” She muttered. Luz sighed in relief. “Oh thank god you’re here, Eda. My friends need a place to stay, and-“ Eda? Lillith cut her off. “HE’S THE GOLDEN GUARD! It could be a trap!” She screamed, gesturing to the two of us. Hunter didn’t say anything, just let out a nervous chuckle. Eda only stared at us tiredly. “…..if it’s a trap we won’t hesitate to knock em’ out cold. Just let em in.” She grumbled, sitting on the couch as she drank something from out of a cup. Lillith stuttered indignantly, while Luz used what I assumed a random piece of paper to create fire. Melting the bars, she let the two of us inside.

A few minutes later, Hunter and I were sitting beside each other on two chairs, while Lillith, Luz, and Eda were sitting on the couch. He had just finished explaining what had happened with Emperor Belos mere hours before. Lillith had her arms crossed, staring at us suspiciously, while Eda was peacefully sipping at her apple-blood. Luz was holding the little demon, who I found out was named King. Luz spoke up first. “So…now you’re wanted criminals?” She asked, concerned. Hunter pat his Palisman. “It would appear so.” He muttered. Lillith didn’t say anything, but it was obvious from her body language she didn’t trust us. Eda the owl lady smiled comfortingly. “Well, I guess an enemy to Belos is a friend of mine. Welcome to the Owl House kids.” She chuckled. “Thank you.” I replied. Luz pointed accusingly at me. “AHA! YOU DO SPEAK!” She yelled. I chuckled. “So what’s your name, kid?” Eda asked. “I’m Y/n. Nice to meet you all. Especially you Lillith!” She turned to me, raising a brow. “Why’s that, witchling?” “You’ve always been a role-model for me! I feel so honoured meeting you in person!” I said, my smile brightening to finally have an opportunity to speak to my hero. Lillith smiled. “Thank you, witchling.” A few weeks later… Hunter and I had officially moved into the Owl House. It was a bit crowded but it became our home. Eda was teaching Hunter how to take care of his Palisman, plus how to use and treat it. I on the other hand, began to classes with Lillith and Luz, learning how to master glyphs. Sure, I still had my powers, but in case of emergencies I wanted to learn about these strange little symbols. We had become wanted criminals that day, and our wanted posters were stuck up all over the Boiling Isles. I felt a light tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I realised it was Hunter. “Hey Y/n, I have a surprise for you.” He said, grabbing my hand and leading me away from the Owl house. Dragging me through town, we snuck by many wanted posters of us. He finally stopped outside of Hexside, a school I had once attended before joining the Emperor’s Coven. Knocking on the door, Principal Bump opened. “Ah, good you’re here! Just in time too!” He whispered, taking down another poster that was stuck to his door. He smiled down at the two of us. “Good to see you again Y/n. Come this way!” Leading us onto the Grudgby field, I noticed Eda was standing beside a large, wooden stump. She walked over to us excitedly. “Y/n! Hunter had told us what had happened to your Palisman, so Bumpy, Hunter and I decided to give you a little surprise. I introduce to you…” The Bat Queen flew down, landing on the stump and opening the door. Many Palismans with cracks ran out, looking around curiously. “To the Palismans! These little guys need a good home again, and one lucky one may pick you.” My eyes widened in awe, as I clasped my hands over my mouth. Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes as I hugged Hunter, who was standing beside me. “THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!” I cried. Realising what I was doing, my face heated up, and I immediately let go, looking away in embarrassment. He did the same, scratching his neck as a pink flush covered his cheeks. Eda chuckled at our interaction. “Alright. All you gotta do is kneel down, say a goal you want to achieve and one should choose you.” She stated. I grinned as I knelt down, looking at all the cute Palismans scuttling about. “I want a powerful Palisman to help protect those I care about.” I said. One Palisman began to glow. It looked like a lizard from the human realm, but with a scorpion tail and sharp claws. I held out my hands as it turned into a staff, landing gently in my hands as the Palisman happily growled. My grin widened as I looked excitedly back at Hunter, hugging the Palisman close. Everything was going to be ok now.

A/N: HOLY CRAP FINISHING THIS I REALISED IT PRETTY MUCH TURNED INTO A FULL BLOWN NOVEL-

[toricrypticice]

The Golden Scarred

CHAPTER ONE (Losing it all)

`Hunter sighs as he leans back on his bed, his whole body aching slightly. He groans slightly, putting his hands over his face. Rascal tweets concerned landing on the male’s knee. Hunter sighs annoyed as he looks down at the bird removing his hands. He tweets again. 

“No no he didn't    ...this time” he sighs “but even if he did it’d only be because i messed up” This only caused the palisman to tweet angrily pecking his leg. “Ow hey! Belos is just doing his best okay?” The bird just stares at him. “What?! He is!” he rolls his eyes standing causing Rascal to flitter up “Whatever i don’t have time for this i should be figuring out how i can help heal his curse.” he sits at his desk taking out some paper and a book out. Rascal steals his pencil flying into the air. Hunter scoffs in annoyance. “Tsk- Palisman “ he shakes his head in annoyance. 

Weeks later

Hunter pet the bird softly as he reads before there’s a knock at his door. He gasps and Rascal lets out a soft tweet. “Shhh” he warns quickly, putting his book over the Palisman to conceal it before he stands, opening the door for none other than kikimora. He frowns, leaning slightly to block the view of his desk. 

“Golden Guard, Emperor Belos has requested your presence “ Kiki glares. Everyone knew the emperor never ‘requested’ anyone, if you didn't go well let's just say you wouldn't have to worry about any future meetings with the emperor. Hunter nods. He lifts his cape draping it on, before sliding his mask over his face, closing the door and heading to meet with his uncle. He can’t help but notice Kikimora lingering near his room. He narrows his eyes but continues, turning the corner. Why was she staying at his room? This puzzled him slightly but he shook it off, probably just jealous that the Emperor wanted to see him instead of her. I mean, come on he was WAY more useful. But this was weird, he didn’t currently have any missions to go over with the ruler. Maybe he was getting a new assignment? Yeah... He takes a deep breath before knocking on the huge wooden door. 

“Come in”

The Emperor's voice booms and Hunter can feel his heart start to race lightly. He bites his lip as he pushes the door open, kneeling in front of the steps to his Uncle’s throne. The room felt cold. 

“You wanted to see me Emperor Belos” Hunter looks up at his uncle. His uncle was leaning on his hand breathing a bit heavily as his piercing blue eyes stared down at Hunter. 

“Hunter.” He starts his voice low sending chills “Have you had any luck finding more Palisman like I asked?” The menacing male's fingers tapped on the arm of his throne a bit too quickly, almost impatient. Hunter can feel the tension in the air and he gulps but stands to answer as usual. 

“No sir I have not but I am working to-” Hunter is interrupted by a loud growl causing him to stop short in terror. Emperor Belos morfs slightly, a sharp spike flying towards the other male. Hunter flinches but it was too late. He gasps loudly as the abomination goo slices through his mask, carving a bit deeply near his left eye. He lets a light hiss of pain which he knew would only anger the emperor further. He resists the urge to hold his face as he feels the warm blood drip down under his chipped mask, his eye already having issues staying open. He clenches his teeth, feeling pain seer his face as his heart pounds quickly. 

“DON'T LIE TO ME!” Belos roars standing.  Hunter gulps, putting his head down flinching back as he bows again. Not knowing what to say. Dont lie? But that means..! There was the sound of Belos snapping his fingers before the door opened, someone entering. There is a light sound of quick short steps. 

Kikimora.

Hunter knew the sound all too well. He raises his head slightly, his eyes widening at the sight. 

Smug Kikimora holding a Palisman. 

A Small Red Bird. 

His Palisman. 

Rascal.

She hands the staff to the emperor. Hunter can feel his blood run cold as Belos tightly grips it, continuing to keep his scalding glare on Hunter. Kikimora's smirk showed slightly under her shirt as she leaves without another word bowing to the emperor. As soon as the door closes Hunter can hear his heart thumping loudly or maybe that was just the titans. He gulps slightly. He knew it was forbidden. Wild Magic and now he had been caught. But worse.. Rascal had been caught. But maybe it was for the best he was only here to serve the titans will after all. 

“You Disappoint me so much Hunter and after everything I've done for you. After everything the titan has done for you.” His voice booms as he looms over the young male, his grip on the Palisman tightening. As Rascal lets out a pained noise Hunter stands instinctively. 

“Don't-!” Hunter shouts, reaching his hand out, his words stopping short as he realizes his mistake, his hand dropping quickly. He grits his teeth as he watches Belos carefully place the staff down looking back down at the male. Hunter seemed to shrink back feeling shaky and a bit dizzy, “I-I'm sorry I-I didn’t-” Before Hunter can explain himself Belos dissolves into the floor reappearing next to him. His eyes widen as he flinches back when Belos ambushes him. He moves to avoid the hit, putting his hand up as some sort of feeble defense; this results in the emperor's strike piercing his ribs instead of his intended spot. Hunter chokes out a strangled yelp of pain. He holds his side in grief as blood starts pooling out, staining his shirt already. He stares in shock at his uncle as he quickly moves back. 

Sure Belos hit him before, hurt him. But this was-

He..

..

Belos growls again, advancing towards the male. 

At this Rascal flies forward flashing a fire spell into the emperor's face. He growls enraged as he steps back shielding himself from the blast. Hunter reaches forward grabbing onto the staff quickly. Using the staff to teleport further back from the Emperor. “Please Uncle.” His voice was desperate. He coughs using his free hand to grip his side to stop the bleeding gritting his teeth to keep from wincing. 

“You shall regret siding against the titan!” He morphs worse, shooting forward fast. Hunter gasps moving both hands onto the staff shakily moving back and creating a shield just before Belos could land a hit. He gasps the shield faltering slightly as his vision blurs. 

“I AM DONE WITH THIS!” The Emperor's voice  came out garbled and wrong. Hunter's shield suddenly dropped no matter how hard he tried to bring it back and his eyes widened as Belos smirks. A spike hit into his left shoulder launching him back, his body slamming forcefully against the window. 

“Agh” Hunter’s head spun as his vision blurred again. He closes his eyes for a moment hearing a slight crack. He quickly opens his eyes again, his vision focusing enough to see the Emperor launching a bright light towards him with his staff.  Hunter screams loudly before slamming his fist down on the glass so he would fall through before it hits him. The window falls through almost exactly at the bright light explodes, launching him further back from the tower. His grip on Rascal loosens as he feels dizzy and tired, his vision blurring again as the ground approaches quickly. He can feel sleep start to take him as his vision goes dark. 

Rascal takes action quickly supporting the males body, flying upwards and fleeing the castle. The Palisman lands when they are a good while away hidden in the woods. He flies up and pecks at Hunter’s face gently trying to wake him. It was urgent that Hunter took care of his wounds and to took shelter. By the look of the clouds it'd be raining soon. Hunter groaned painfully, struggling but forcing his eyes open. He felt sick to his stomach and his whole body was hurting badly. He let out a breath gripping his side as he sat up a whimper leaving him. He starts to shakily stand having to use his staff for support his head swimming. He moves his free hand from clenching his side to covering his mouth as he gags from the amount of pain he was under.  He starts to limp looking for shelter for the night. The sky cracks overhead brightly before booming loudly.  He cowered slightly, his ears were still ringing from the explosion.  Hunter sniffs softly as he walks, tears starting to drop down his face stinging his eyes and burning the left side of his face.

“For titans sake” Hunter mumbles, agitated by this sudden emotion. He wasn’t supposed to be crying, he was the golden guard, he was to remain strong and yet he still couldn't believe everything that just happened. 

Did he- 

betray Belos?

He feels more tears start to well and he shakes his head he couldn’t think about that right now he needed to focus. Rascal chirps and Hunter couldn’t help but smile.

“At least you're safe “ He stops by the river, ripping his cape off, peeling his top letting out a slight hiss before coughing into his gloved hand. 

“Ugh dammit!” He growls, ripping the sleeves off his shirt once it was off. Rascal flitted around him tweeting with concern. “Shush bird” he grunts, dipping one of the sleeves into the water before he dabs his abdomen where the deep hole was. He lets out a gasp, followed by a sputtered howl of pain a few more tears falling. He shakes his head, instead he would just stop the bleeding yeah yeah that should be fine, he'll be okay. He stretches the dry sleeve before grabbing a nearby stick putting it between his teeth. Rascal lands by his feet chittering confused. Hunter wraps the cloth around his waist taking a deep shaky breath before suddenly securing it tightly over the gash. He lets out a strangled yowl, his teeth clenching down on the wood splitting it as he hunches forward tying it tight before he staggers slightly using his staff for support as he holds his side spitting out wood chips.  He gags coughing again, this time when he pulls his hand away from his mouth it is coated in crimson. 

“Fuck that’s not good” he mutters seeing black spots in his vision he shakes his head ignoring it. He slowly kneels by the river groaning slightly as he does so. He slowly shakily takes his mask off frowning at his reflection. Jeez he looked like hell. His hair was a mess, his whole left side of his face was sticky with blood. He winces at the slight dropping the mask, his hand immediately going to where Belos had stabbed. His face felt hot and throbbed instantly, stinging at the sensation. He pulls his hand away, wincing feeling tears build again. He was useless. He outlived his usefulness to Belos. He had no one. 

A loud Hiccup erupted from his throat startling him, he flinches when a droplet of water from above touches his leg. Ah boiling rain of course.   He dips his hands into the water below splashing his face wiping it with the wet sleeve wincing with a hiss. He puts on what was left of his shirt before wrapping his cape back around him, slipping his mask back over his face . He wobbles slightly letting out a slight hiss. His body was aching everywhere, every move he made agony, he just wanted to rest. “Come bird we need to find shelter. “

Rascal tweets landing on his shoulder as he starts to limp searching, if only he knew the area his vision was becoming a bit fuzzy. He pants slightly leaning on a tree. “Just give- *huff* me a m-moment” He coughs roughly. The sky crashed above again any second the boiling rain would come down he needed- 

He sees a nearby cave. YES. he breaks into a run just as the water starts to pool down he huffs sputtering once he reaches the cave coughing harshly as he falls to his knees. Rascal tweets softly and hunter lays on the cold cave ground “I know just i need a moment to rest” he confessed his eyes feeling heavy  “Im sorry” his voice was shaky as he felt his vision go blurry falling asleep. 

Hunter woke up after sleeping through almost all of the next day. He groans gasping as he sits up seeing he was in a dark cave. His head felt fuzzy but slowly he pieces together what happened. He frowns. “Right” He shakes his head standing carefully. Rascal twitters at this. “No no I'm not going back… not just yet i need- i need to prove my worth again” rascal seemed upset by this response. “Come on, I need to go into town and get some actual bandages.” He grabs his staff heading into Bonesborrow. He keeps his head down as he walks, feeling his heart racing badly. He shakes his head. He needed to calm down so he wouldn't be caught. No one could- he stops seeing a new coven poster. His shoulders start shaking

Wanted for treason against the emperor.

Reward one million snails.

Wanted Alive

The Golden Guard.

 A picture of Hunter

His eyes widen and he feels like he can't catch his breath.  He quickly rips the poster down looking around to make sure no one saw, he spots a booth with half off merchandise. He wanders over deciding to just focus his attention on something else for now. He picks up a half off basket seeing a black cloak,  he puts it in the basket. He then sees some cloth bandages, he puts those in the basket as well seeing a few more customers start to also notice the sale he waits until he notices the stand owner distracted before he breaks off into a run from the stand. 

After a few minutes of running he hears the shout of ‘thief!’ he had been expecting, he turns a corner hiding against the wall, he takes his cloak off putting the new black one on slipping the hood up. He stashes his old cloak in the basket panting, already feeling exhausted for the day. His body aches but he ignores the feeling heading back to his cave he almost nearly collapses when he gets back. Rascal tweets sadly 

“i know! but i had no choice i don't have anything” he snaps angrily taking the gauze out with a frown. He slowly takes his shirt off feeling his hand shakes “i can do this..” he felt shakier than yesterday. He unties the shirtsleeve he had used as a makeshift bandage he lets out a loud whimper as he peels it from his body. It was soaked in blood. He gulps feeling tears build as he holds back a gag as the slight of the gash which oozed and bled when he removed the clothe. He gulps clenching his teeth as he tightly starts to wrap his torso whimpering “ahh titan” he sniffs hacking loudly as he ties it off  before he gasps in pain “fuck t-that was worse than yesterday..” he mumbles holding his now bandaged wound. He lays down feeling dizzy from the exertion. Rascal tweets and Hunter shakes his head. “No i’ll take care of the rest later.” he mutters feeling tired but his eyes open slowly when his stomach growls loudly. When was the last time he had eaten? He couldn't remember. Rascal twitters again which causes Hunter to get agitated and a bit overwhelmed.

 “I know that! I don't have food! I don't have proper shelter! I have nothing!!” he yells as he sits up feeling so alone he shakes his head as Rascal flinches back. He frowns, feeling his stomach turn and he stands  “just-.. stay here i’ll go find food.” he mutters shakily leaving the cave. He sighs, he should have grabbed food in town then he wouldn’t have to go looking, what would he even find in the woods. Probably death. Plus he wished he hadn’t yelled at Rascal. He was just worried. Hunter frowns before he hears a snap of a twig. He gasps quickly diving into a nearby bush letting out slight hiss of pain before he peers out. 

Luz the human walking with a plate, a plate of… sandwiches. Oh god. Food!!  His stomach growls loudly again and he blushes darkly backing further into the bush. 

“Did you hear something Hooty?” Hunter watches as the human walks over to where a blanket was set up, a strange worm owl looking creature waiting for her. Hunter sticks out his tongue. What the heck is that? Hooty only hoots happily. 

“Luz you forgot the tea, don't worry I’ll get it! Hooty to the rescue!” he chants as he zooms away to which Luz gasps, putting the plate down and running after the demon. 

“No Hooty!! You know what happened last time.”  Hunter's eyes widened. Unguarded food. He doesn't even think as his legs pull him forward, he sprints over picking up one of the sandwiches he pushes his mask up eating hungrily scarfing it come grabbing another sandwich as he chews he stares at the plate tempted to take the last sandwich as well but he shakes his head running back away as he hears voices. Shit shit shit, he dives again into the nearby bush feeling his side flare with pain. He clenches his teeth staying completely still holding the sandwiches close to his chest as he pants quickly staring back at the blanket as the two return., “That’s weird I made three sandwiches? One for you, me and King.” She looked around the area and hunter ducks deeper feeling branches dig into him uncomfortably, but it was worth it for the sandwiches. He lets out a light sigh of relief as the human sits down before he slips from the bush running off unaware that Luz in all her confusion had spotted the male running off. Hunter runs back to the cave panting heavily before breaking out into a light laugh, Rascal looking at him confused

. “Ha I risked my life for sandwiches'” his laughing slowly started to turn to slight hiccups “how far I've fallen” he sniffs sliding down the cave wall. He pulls off a small piece off the sandwich as he sniffs crumbling a few pieces on the ground for rascal. Rascal chirps concerned flittering to his knee. “No just eat, I'm fine” he wipes his face, he couldn't afford to be weak. He takes one bite before putting the rest in his bag for later he didn't know when he would get food again 

[fandomsandflyingstingrays]

Stepping Stones: Chapter 5

Hunter smiles to himself as he ties his apron. He started working on it after his first carving lesson a month ago and just finished it last week, and between Camila’s guidance and Darius’s, he knows it’s his best piece yet. A perfect fit, with enough pockets for all of his tools, and little patches chosen by each of his friends to make him happy every time he looks at it. 

“So?” He spreads his arms, allowing Dell to take it in. “What do you think?”

Dell smiles. “It’s perfect, Hunter. I’m glad you finished it for today.”

The words are warm, but they send a shiver down Hunter’s spine nonetheless. “Why today?”

Dell’s smile widens. “Because today is the day you’re going to carve your first palisman.”

The shiver was right. Hunter takes a step back, fervently shaking his head. “No. No. I keep telling you, I’m not ready—“

“And I suspect you’ll continue telling me you’re not ready until you’re as old and gray as I am.” Dell steps forward, putting his hand on Hunter’s shoulder. “You have to start sometime, little bird.” 

Hunter swallows. Usually the endearment can reach him when nothing else does, but this time it’s just a reminder. This time it just strengthens his resolve. “I’m sorry,” he says, stepping back again. “I can’t.”

Dell shrugs. “Well, I couldn’t let you off the hook even if I wanted to. This wasn’t my request.”

Hunter blinks. “What?”

“It was mine.”

Hunter turns to find Raine ducking under a palistrom branch, their broken violin in hand. Hunter and the Clawthornes planted the little blue seed barely a month ago, and already the tree towers over the grove. Seeing how fast it’s grown gives Hunter hope— but also a squirming, hot guilt at the knowledge of just how many palismen Belos must have consumed for there to be so few of these trees that grow so quickly. Another reason why Hunter isn’t equipped for this. 

“Trust me,” he says to Raine. “I’m the last person you want to carve your new palisman. Isn’t there someone else you can ask?”

They shrug. “Probably. But I still want you.”

“Raine, seriously. I’ll mess it up. I’ll give it five feet, or lopsided eyes…”

“So what?”

“So what?”

Raine comes to sit on a log and motions for Hunter to sit beside them. He does, keeping his eyes on the ground. 

“Hunter,” Raine says. “Do you want to know why I want you to be the one to carve my new palisman?”

“Because we both know what it’s like to lose our first ones?”

“Well, yes. But also because I know you won’t make it perfect.”

That gets Hunter’s gaze to snap to them.

“Hunter,” Raine says, “do you think I’m a good witch?”

“Of course!”

“And yet,” Raine says, tapping their scars, “most people would say I’m not flawless, huh?” They reach out and put one hand on Dell’s scarred fingertips. “Same goes for him.” They drop their other hand to Hunter’s arm, gently running it over the scar there. “And you. Does that make us any less worthy of our magic? Our lives?”

“Not you and Dell—“

“The correct answer is just no, Hunter.” 

Raine is staring at him with such intensity that he knows there’s only one thing to say. “Okay,” he whispers, his eyes welling in spite of his best efforts. He turns away quickly, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.

Raine moves their hand from his arm to his shoulder. “I want a palisman that reflects that, that shows that you don’t have to be perfect to be powerful. And no one understands that better than you.”

Flapjack wasn’t flawless, Hunter recalls, remembering the little scar over his eye. The one that matches Luz’s. He’s doing this for Flapjack, isn’t he? Flapjack never cared about perfection. 

“Okay,” Hunter finds himself saying again, and the brilliant grins Dell and Raine exchange make him feel almost good about it. Dell retrieves a piece of wood, and Hunter turns back to Raine. 

“Do you have an animal in mind?”

Raine nods, extending their violin to him. “I carved the scroll to look like Lightning,” they say. “I’d like another fox, I think.”

“Do you have any pictures of Lightning I could use as a reference?”

Raine shakes their head. “I don’t want to replace them. I’ll paint this one a different color— brown, I think, like the violin, instead of white Lightning was. And I like the idea of them looking different. I just…”

“Want an animal that feels familiar.” Hunter nods. On the occasions when he thinks about a new palisman, it’s always a bird. 

“All right.” Hunter looks from the wood to the violin and back again. Takes a deep breath. Then another. Makes the first cut.

Carving takes the rest of the day. As has been their custom, Willow and Gus come by after school, but Dell waves them away after they greet Hunter. Hunter’s glad his head is tilted down so that he can hide his blush. Clearly, Dell has noticed how shaky his hands get whenever Willow gets too close. After human school lets out, Luz comes by, and Dell permits her to stay. She puts on a playlist of Hunter’s favorite human songs, and he finds himself falling into a rhythm, only taking a break to eat when Camila brings dinner. 

Finally, just as the last rays of light are disappearing, it’s finished. Hunter has only allowed himself to focus on one piece at a time, and his heart hammers in his chest as he takes his first look at the complete fox. 

He cringes. None of the legs are symmetrical, and one ear is significantly smaller than the other. “I can try and make you another one,” he offers, bracing himself as he looks at Raine—

—Only to find them looking down at the palisman with the widest smile he’s ever seen them wear.

Luz crouches behind Hunter, leaning forward to whisper in his ear. “That’s the exact face you used to make when you looked at Flap,” she whispers, and Hunter swallows against the sudden lump in his throat. 

“Hunter,” Raine says, looking him in the eyes, “you would have to pry this beautiful creature from my cold, dead hands.”

The clearing erupts into laughter, and Hunter slumps against Luz in relief. Raine takes the palisman, stroking it gently, then glances at Hunter again. “Is it okay if I give you a hug?”

Hunter wraps his arms around them in answer, and Raine pulls him in tightly. The gratitude in their embrace seems too real for Hunter to be imagining it, and he allows two tears to roll down his cheeks. So many palismen he helped Belos destroy. But now there’s one palisman that exists because of him.

“I think you’ve got a real talent,” Raine tells him, pulling back. “You might be able to tutor some of your classmates like Eda did eventually.”

Hunter finds himself smiling at the thought.

“Are you excited?” Raine asks. “To start at Hexside?”

There’s just one month now until his first day. “Yes,” he says, pleased to find the word feels true. “It’s been nice, living somewhere that doesn’t have such strong memories of Belos. And my family— Luz and Camila and Vee, they’ve been great. But this feels right. I love being able to learn about all the different kinds of magic, and to see them come alive. I get the feeling I’ll get more of that at Hexside.”

“You will,” Raine promises. 

“And—“ Hunter pauses. Considers. Decides to go for it. “Is living with you and Darius still an option? When I start school?”

“Are you kidding? Yes!” Raine cries, so loudly that everyone in the clearing glances at them. Lowering their voice, they continue, “you can move in whenever you want. We could even do a sort of trial, if you’d like. Maybe start by doing one night a week here and see how it feels?”

Hunter lets out a breath and nods. “That sounds really good.”

“Good. I can talk to Camila about it, if you’d like.”

“That would be nice.”

“Do you think it will be okay with her? Letting you go sometimes?”

“Oh yeah. She hasn’t said anything, but I know money’s been tight, and I think she’s a little tired of only having guests over whenever I’m here with Dell.”

“She doesn’t mind that,” Luz promises, coming to sit on Hunter’s other side. Of course she was eavesdropping. 

“Still. You guys are wonderful, but—“

“But this is where you need to be.”

“At least for now.”

“Well.” Luz bumps his shoulder. “Our door is always open, and we’re not going anywhere. Well. You and I are going places, but in the ambitious-metaphor way, not the literal-travel way.”

Hunter laughs, glancing at Raine’s palisman again. They're not perfect, but Raine loves them. Hunter isn’t perfect, but he is loved. He is going places.

“Yeah,” he says, resting his head against Luz’s. “I know.”

[sergeantsporks]

🌞 Do you have a preferred time of day to write?

💖 What made you start writing?

💌 How do you feel about comments and feedback?

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

💲 Would you ever open commissions?

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

🏆 What's your most popular fic?

🎃 Do you write fics for certain holidays? Which is your favorite holiday inspired fic?

🎯 Have any of your readers accurately guessed major plot points? Care to share which?

🎨 How do you feel about fan art of your stories?

📈 How many fics do you have?

🦅 Do you outline fics or fly by the seat of your pants?

👀 Tell me about an up and coming wip please!

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

💞 Who's your comfort character?

I really love 7PM-9PM, because I tend to be really productive during that time

I started original writing when I was 12 because I just really loved reading and wanted to write something of my own. And also because I was sick and tired of the "girl character and guy character who hate each other and are always fighting get together at the end" trope and wanted to write something where the girl chose someone who she didn't constantly fight with. Fanfic, though, I started writing because I read a fanfic and was like "oh, wait, I can WRITE those self insert scenarios in my brain 'n let people see them! I didn't think we could do that!"

[Holds your shoulders sosososososo tightly] I love comments and feedback. They sustain me. Give them to me.

Hrmmmmmmmmmmmm, childhood friends to lovers doesn't really do it for me. I don't mind seeing it, I think it can be cute, I just don't think it's something that would worm its way into my writing. Idk, I don't really think of my writing in terms of "tropes" very often, so it's hard to say that there's one I'd NEVER do. Like, I might go "Hrm, the xyz trope" on its own but I wouldn't recognize it as that trope while I'm writing, if that makes sense.

Probably not. Idk enough about the legal yikes of writing fic for money to feel comfortable. That being said, my kofi is open...

YES. I love research. Research is one of my favorite parts. I love incredibly specific internet searches <3 <3 <3

In hits, it's Request, but I don't count that one, so in hits, second most popular is Gilded. By Kudos, its Another Shot at Life

I tend to do Christmas ones because they're fun! Lots of different traditions to pull from! And they can get silly Hallmark family endings. But I think one day I'd like to write a Halloween one, because I really love Halloween.

YES. There's currently an ask sitting in my ask box that's been there since April, and it holds a big old Gilded Plot Point, so I haven't published it. I'll answer it after I get there in Gilded.

[Grabby hands] Gimme gimme gimme please I will hang it up on my fridge and put it in my wallet. I love art of my stories, it makes me explode inside <3

...104 fics. That I can track down across various sites, there might be more.

There is somewhat of an outline in my head, but there's a lot of chunks that are just like "character bonding goes here!" and a lot of stuff gets planned on a chapter by chapter basis. Also depends how long the fic is gonna be. 3 chapters? I probably have the whole thing figured out. Six or more? Ehhhhh

Right now it's just Gilded, and a liiiiiittle bit of the "Hunter gets kidnapped to carve palisman" idea, but nothing really new.

Write it and publish it baybee. You get better by practicing, and in my experience, people will be really really nice! Even the very early stuff I go "EW" at now got comments about something people liked! And even if you don't get any engagement, keep going. You'll get there. You have to do stuff lots and badly before you get good.

Oh, you know it's Hunter Clawthorne Noceda Whispers Huntsman Deamonne. Also Hisirdoux Casperan, but that's on a rewatch basis and no longer so much on a writing basis.

[sergeantsporks]

Writing Request: Hunter seeing Caleb's statue in Gravesfield for the first time

“Hey, Hunter, Vee’s introducing us… to…” Luz shaded her eyes with her hand, looking up at the heavy stone statue that she’d always walked past before, but that Hunter wouldn’t stop staring at. “Is that…” She shuddered at the profile she’d seen a hundred times before, projected by the echo mouse.

Hunter snapped out of his trance, looking over to her. “Huh?”

Luz pointed up at the person in the back of the statue. “Phillip.”

He followed her point, tilting his head. “Huh. No, I was just…”

Luz glanced at the other figure carved in stone, then back at Hunter, then back at the statue. “Oh.”

He stared up at it. “Oh,” he repeated softly, “I guess…

“Bone doesn’t fall far from the ortet, huh?” Luz asked shakily, “I guess that… answers that question. You… came from… a human.”

Hunter shook his head. “It doesn’t answer anything. I don’t know anything about him! Why Belos killed him, what he thought of the isles, I don’t know anything about what he was like!”

Luz nudged his shoulder. “Well… if he was anything like you, then… he always tried his hardest to do the right thing, even if he didn’t know what that was. He wanted to help people. He’d have been curious, and crazy smart.”

Hunter growled, running a hand through his hair. “That’s the thing, isn’t it? We don’t know if he was anything like me! We can… we can guess what he was like, but just because I’m one way, doesn’t mean he was that way!” He deflated with a sigh. “I just… I want to know more about where I came from, if I’m…”

“Does it matter?” Luz said softly, “It’s like you said, how he was doesn’t change anything about you.”

“I guess I just… want to know more about my family. I know it doesn’t affect who I am, but… It would be nice to know that they weren’t all genocidal tyrants.”

“Yeah. I guess.”

Hunter scowled up at the statue of Phillip and turned away. “Luz?”

“Yeah?”

“Can you teach me… about the glyphs?”

“Whoa, really? I mean, sure, but there’s not a lot we can do with them here. No magic and all.”

“I just… I want to know how. I missed out on a lot, being in the coven, and… books can only tell you so much. And if we get back, when we get back, I want to be able to do my OWN magic. I mean, I love Flapjack, of course, but if we get separated, then I’m powerless. I got knocked out of the sky by that abomaton, and it was purely thanks to Willow that I didn’t turn into a grease spot on the ground. I just… want a backup.”

Luz grinned. “Sure. Hey, let’s make a deal, huh? I’ll teach you glyphs now, and whenever my palisman hatches, you teach me how to do that teleporting thing.”

“Teleporting’s a tough skill to master, especially if you’re new to using a staff at all. You might want to start with something easier.”

“Yeah, but I want to learn how to teleport. C’mon, Hunter.”

“Fine. Deal. But I’m not coming to get you when you teleport yourself to another state.”

“Fair enough. Alright, sit down.” Luz plopped down at the base of the statue, clearing the area at her feet of any rocks.

“What, here?”

“Yeah, c’mon. It’s not like anywhere else is going to suddenly make it work.”

He slowly lowered himself down, and Luz traced a light glyph in the dirt with a stick. “This was the first one I ever learned.”

“That’s a constellation!” he burst out, “The wayfinding constellation—it stays fixed in the sky above the knee, so you can use it to figure out where you are in the Isles!”

“Like the North Star? I didn’t know that.”

“Yeah, before the invention of hot-cold mapsticks, wild witches used the constellations to navigate the Isles. The wayfinding constellation was the most common. You could also pinpoint what time of night it was by which constellations were closest to it, and what time of the year it was based on what constellations were even in the sky at all! Some people said—” Hunter rubbed the back of his head. “Oh—uh, sorry. Mapsticks only worked for a little bit without a magic recharge, so I had to find other ways to navigate. Read a lot of books on wayfinding.”

Luz set down her stick. “Why do you always do that?”

“Do what?”

“Shut yourself down. Justify why you know things. Act like it’s silly to talk about.”

Hunter curled his knees to his chest. “Because it is.”

“No, it’s not. You clearly want to talk about it. It’s important to you.”

He shrugged. “It’s not important to anyone else. Plus, a lot of it wasn’t supposed to be talked about, I could get in trouble. I did get in trouble.”

“You’re not going to get in trouble with us.”

“Maybe not outwardly. But no one wants to hear about it.”

Luz shook her head. “I want to hear about it. You had WAY more time with books on wild magic than I did. And if what you already know can help you remember what I’m teaching you now, then you should TOTALLY talk about it! So what was it that some people said about the wayfinding constellation?”

“That if you wore it around your neck, it would light your way home.” Hunter’s eyes lit up. “Well, if it’s a light glyph, there might be some truth to that! Maybe not exactly about finding home, but creating light might help you recognize your surroundings, or at the very least, give you a way to keep away wild demons.” Hunter traced the glyph in the dirt next to Luz’s. “Light, huh?”

“Yeah, I learned it inside of Eda’s spell circle when my phone broke. The constellation was just a cool confirmation that the glyphs could be found in nature. Well, four of them anyway. Let’s start there. There are four basic glyphs, but by combining them in complex circles, you can make them do so much more. But you already knew that part.”

Hunter settled in, his eyes fixed on the glyphs she drew in the earth. He traced the shape in the air, mouthing what it did to himself. “Oh—fire and ice, I remember those. And that one is plants.”

“Yeah, awesome! You’re halfway there already.” Luz pushed the stick over to him. “Try some combos, how you think they work, put them together. We can’t test them here, but if we get back to the isles, we can try them there.”

“When we get back,” he corrected, “You’ll figure it out, we’ll figure it out. Because I know we won’t stop trying until we do.”

Luz felt a smile tug at her mouth. “Yeah. We will.”

[sergeantsporks]

Writing Request: Belos orders the previous Golden Guard to bring him Darius' palisman (thinking the Golden guard got too soft and too close to his mentee, so Belos has to spoil their relationship and test the Guard's loyality).

Grab it.

Darius’ palisman was tantalizingly close, sitting on his shoulder.

Grab it.

Hunter shook himself, reaching under his hood and giving his forelock a tug to snap himself out of it.

You can’t take his palisman, he’ll be devastated.

He’ll never speak to you again.

Maybe that was the point?

No, no, it’s just that… Uncle needs more palisman. That’s nothing new, and this is… this is an easy one in reach, hypothetically, no need to go anywhere.

Not that you can take it from him.

And if you were going to do it, you couldn’t just grab it off of his shoulder, you’d have to wait until he left it alone, snatch it, pretend it must have run away because that’s what creatures of wild magic are good at, and—no, what are you thinking?!

Hunter tugged on his own hair again, and Darius gave him an odd look. “Are you okay?”

“Peachy,” Hunter squeaked.

Just don’t look at the palisman.

Palisman? What palisman! It’s just me and my mentee, doing mentor and mentee things!

There are no palisman.

There are no orders looming over your head to bring Belos a palisman or else

“Aaaaaaalright. You said there was something you wanted to tell me?”

“Yeah, I…” Hunter sighed. “Look, I… won’t be around forever.”

“Yes. I know that. No one lives forever. You’re not… planning on dying any time soon, though, are you?”

Not sure I get a choice in the matter.

“Well, no. Not planning on it. But… it’s not just that. I mean, there’s a lot of stuff that could happen. I might have to quit this whole mentoring thing in order to run more missions, or, I mean, you’re not going to need me forever, and you’re not joining the emperor’s coven, so our paths are… they’re going to separate.” Hunter rubbed the back of his head. “Ah, I don’t know, I just want you to be prepared, and…”

“Hey.” Darius nudged him. “I get it. We all have to grow up. I know I can’t be in this student phase forever, and I don’t WANT to be a student forever. You’re not, uh. You’re not sending me away just yet, though, are you?”

Hunter’s hand twitched as his gaze caught on the palisman sitting on Darius’ shoulder. “No. Not yet.”

Xxx

It was easy. Too easy. Darius had disappeared into the library shelves and left his palisman guarding his books. It was almost like he wanted Hunter to take it.

Hunter sat down across from the little creature, staring at it. “You want him to be safe, don’t you?” he demanded of the palisman, “You want him to be okay. To have a future. To achieve his goals. That’s what you were carved for. That’s your purpose. That’s—that’s what you’re supposed to want.”

It stared at him, unblinking.

Hunter ran a hand through his hair. “And, I mean, if that’s what you want, well, then, me taking you should be—it should be easy, right? If I—if I don’t, then Belos might separate us, and that—Darius would be upset at that! If I don’t, then Darius’ future will be over, he’ll never progress, he’ll be sent away, and—and—this would be what’s best for his future, so you should be okay with this.”

A small head tilt.

“You’re just—you’re holding him back. You’re hurting his chances, hurting… hurting… you’re hurting him.”

Hunter’s voice cracked, and he put his head in his hands. “I don’t know what I’m doing,” he groaned, “I don’t know—this should be so easy, right? Take the palisman to Belos, prove my loyalty, prove that Darius isn’t en route to becoming a wild witch. Prove that I can—I can save him from himself. From… I don’t know.”

The palisman nudged his arm.

“I don’t know,” he repeated, “I don’t know what I’m fighting for, I don’t know what I’m fighting against, it’s like I’m swinging at shadows, planning against threats that aren’t actually there or else are being planted there. It used to be so easy, but…” Hunter pushed one finger against the palisman, letting it grip him. “I guess I just don’t know what’s real anymore.”

“Well, look at that, the two of you are getting along!”

Darius emerged from the shelves, clutching a stack of books. He set it down on the table, scooping up his palisman. “I thought you didn’t trust palisman,” he teased.

“I don’t,” Hunter grumbled, “They’re made of wild magic, and wild magic is dangerous.”

And yet…

“Mhm.” Darius cocked his head, listening to his palisman. “Awwwww, teach, I didn’t know you cared so much about my future.” He wrinkled his nose. “You’ve been awfully serious about it for the last couple of days. Is everything alright?”

“I…” Hunter locked eyes with the palisman, its gaze tearing into him. “Yeah. Just… trying to think ahead. Plan our next moves.”

“Oh, yeah? Got any ideas?”

“Nothing solid. Couple of things I want to look into, figure some stuff out for myself first. You know?”

“Like what?”

“Ah, the usual. What I want out of life. Where I want to be in a few years. Who I’m fighting for.” He reached out, ruffling Darius’ hair to his pupil’s yelps of protest. “Nothing huge.”

“And when you figure it out?”

“You’ll be the first person I let know.”