It wasn't hard for Hunter to find Willow, in the time he knew her, he knew even with the patterns of turns and dives she took, she would always come to the grove. And titan...did it break his heart seeing her like this.

As Hunter landed softly in the grass in front Willow, she was pressed against one of the trees with her face buried in her knees, light sobs coming out from her. Clover was nuzzling the side of Willow's head, trying to give the best comfort she could as the witchling shook. Hunter bit his lower lip, unsure how to approach the girl, but he couldn't just leave her like this.

He tentatively walked forward, kneeling down in front of her. With a hesitant hand, he reached out and gently placed his glove against the top of her head. He felt her flinch slightly, before going back to a light sob and choke. Hunter felt tears trying to hit his own eyes, he had no idea why, but shifted around so he was sitting in front of Willow. He lowered his hand to her arms, resting them there for now as a reminder he was there.

"T-take your time." Hunter whispered to Willow. He didn't want to push her to talk, even more so when she was in such despair. Willow shifted, and suddenly Hunter found arms wrapped around his shoulders and a wet face in his shoulder. He tensed slightly, his heart starting to rapidly beat, before relaxing, wrapping one of his arms around Willow's side and using his other hand to pet the back of her head.

He noticed the slime that was still clinging to her hair with stubborn intention; it appeared to be a mix of mud, a chunk of gum, and a browning-purple sludge with seeds in it. He felt a rage springing in his chest as he carefully removed a little of the purple-gunk to look it over. Rotted Zizz Fruit was unmistakeable, with its off-purple color and seeds shaped like little 'Z's. When fresh it could be used in medicine to help numb-pain and fights against nightmares, but when rotted like this the fruit fogs the mind dangerously while raising anger in a person's heart, only to wear off a few minutes after the gunk gets exposed to air.

'That explains a lot.' Hunter thought as he moved to start trying to carefully wipe the slug on Willow's hair away with his jacket's sleeve. He felt Willow shifting her head, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"You don't have to do that, you know." She said, her voice somewhat nasally from her crying.

" I know…" Hunter replied gently, looking over to her. He had concern on his face, before he gave her a weak smile and went back to trying to clean her hair with his sleeve. " Do you want me to take you home?"

"I-I…" Willow sighed, slumping into his chest as she closed her eyes, " I...don't know. I'm going to be in a lot of trouble." She moved to wipe at her eyes, removing her broken glasses.

"Let's stay here for a while then...Here." Hunter gently nudged her, motioning her to shift around so she had her back to him. He took off his bag, then his jacket, tying the sleeve he was using as a make-shift towel off before draping it around Willow's shoulders carefully, making sure her hair was over the cloth. " If you want to talk about what happened...you know, I am an ear." He offered, taking a bottle from his bag and opening it.

"I-" Willow sighed, wiping at her eyes again. " I just can't believe I did that." She let out a shaky breath, looking at the dirt under her with a frown. She jolted slightly as she felt something wet being poured on her skull.

"Ack! Sorry, sorry!" Hunter said, wiping water off his chest, " Should have warned you I was going to do that." He gave a small, light chuckle, " Please, go on." He poured some water into his hand before moving to gently wet Willow's hair more, trying to convince the clinging guck in her hair out. Willow gave a soft smile to herself, wiping another tear from her face as she breathed in slowly, then out again.

"...h-how much of that did you see?" Willow asked slowly.

" Well...I saw the vine-tower first." Hunter leaned to look at her face, " Then everything from there."

"O-ok…" Willow sighed out, glancing at him, before looking back to the ground. Hunter frowned as he went to continue his attempt to clean her hair.

"I am...not the best at people, you know that." He started, trying to find comforting words. " But..uh... I don't know, maybe it's a good thing you-" Hunter stopped himself," I mean, I like to think I know you wouldn't...I-I mean… uh- this is a rotten zizz fruit in your hair...I assume that girl was the one who threw it."

"...A zizz fruit?" Willow furrowed her brow, one of the plants in the home-room was a Zizz-plant, and it was one of the bunch that had root-rot. " But...we disposed of all the zizz fruits...Maybe Boscha was able to sneak one when she let the pixies into the lab." Willow sighed, feeling foolish for not keeping a closer eye on the triclops.

" Is that the girl?" Hunter asked, a tone in his voice telling Willow he might be plotting something.

"..Yes, but...leave her be, Hunter. Maybe after today she learned her lesson…" Willow doubted her own words, but she had no idea what Hunter would pull on Boscha. " I was...actually going to ask for our advice on how to deal with her, but...maybe now she will actually leave me alone."

"My advice is if she doesn't after you almost used her as plant food, either punch her straight in the nose or tell me." Hunter closed the bottled water, setting it back in his bag, " I'll make her life a living hell." Willow let out a weak giggle, making Hunter smile to himself as he shifted around to now sit at Willow's side. " I got most of the mud and zizz jam out of your hair, but I wasn't able to work the gum out."

"It's fine." Willow smiled up at him, a light blush on her cheeks, " Thank you, Hunter, it means a lot to me."

"Of course..." Hunter returned, his own blush appearing on his cheeks as he went to stand, offering his hand out to her. Willow took it, and was pulled to her feet. " How are you feeling, Flower-cake?" He asked, looking into her eyes with concern. She felt her heart fluttering, only able to reply with a smile and a nod to him before turning to pick up her bag, noticing the jar. Willow sighed as she took the jar out, showing Hunter.

"One of her gifts?" Hunter asked, some malice in his tone as he looked over the dirt and worms in the jar.

" Unfortunately… I should release these little guys." Willow turned to head into the clearing a bit more, putting her hand on the top of the jar as she looked around for a good area to release the worms. Hunter followed, lingering a few feet behind her as he watched her with a smile. He felt a bit tingly, his body longing for the pressure and comfort of Willow's hug again. He never had been hugged before, even by his Uncle.

Willow finally popped open the jar, and lowered the contents to the dirt, shaking the jar a few times to empty the worms to their new home under one of the towers. Willow stood back up straight, closing the jar and looking back at Hunter, giving him a stronger smile than the one she wore all day. She began to walk back toward him, Hunter doing the same to meet her in the middle. The boy smiled as he stopped just before her.

"So, what would you like to do, now?" Hunter asked.

" I think I'd just like to stay here for a while...I know the rest are worried, but I'd like to just be here for a little longer."

Hunter nodded, moving to gently take Willow's hand. He felt his cheeks and ears burning again, but pushed the feeling, and his mind's screams of 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING STOP IT STOP IT' into the depths of his mind as he led her back to the tree line. He knew Willow was going to have to go back and answer to what happened, but for now, he hoped to at least keep her mind somewhat off of it.