Hunter was surprised at how strong Lil' Rascal was, it was uncanny to say the least. How was the little palisman even able to pull him out in front of the group, anyway? And now, he was walking along the cave with his arms restrained by the Blight girl. As they made their way, Hunter couldn't help but notice the odd looks he was getting from the purple haired witchling, as if she was trying to figure something out about him. He was not a fan, to say the least, but ignored it for the most part.
All and all what he thought was going to be a get-in-get-out quick job was turning out to be one of the most annoying days of his life. The Owl Lady seemed convinced that she could turn into a harpy, the rat-dog she referred to as 'King' was encouraging her and being particularly loud about it, and the Blight seemed content to let the two wreak their havoc around the cave. Hunter pondered if Willow would be mad at him if he left the three to their own stupidity in the highly dangerous cave first chance he got.
"You know…" Eda started, " Luz told me about a trip to Latissa where she met someone very interesting." She smirked back at the 'coven scout', Hunter narrowed his eyes at her. "A beat up blonde with no magical powers."
'Sorry, Willow, but Luz lost her life privileges.' Hunter thought to himself as he trudged along, keeping his glare on the Owl Lady.
"She called him, and these were her words, a 'bad but sad boy'." The Owl Lady smirked back at him before chuckling, King giving a new laugh at the expense of Hunter. He kept his tongue, however, the thought of Willow in the front of his mind. He knew they would tell their story to her, Luz, and whoever was left at The Owl house, and he wanted to make sure that they had no reason to paint him in a bad light to her.
'At least I am not delusional enough to think I can turn into a harpy." He thought, sourly, narrowing his eyes at the old woman. She seemed to notice he was holding himself back, turning to face him more.
"Ha! What's wrong kid, cat got your tongue?" Eda moved to roughly hit his back with her hand, obviously trying to get a rise from him. Hunter let out a grunt, refixing his glare on her again, before turning to keep walking. He'd rather try to keep up with the one person who had brain-cells here.
"Shhh!" Amity motioned, stepping forward as she motioned to the group below them.
"WHY are we stopping?! Is it The Golden Guard?!" Kikimora looked around wildly, more deranged than mold-infected Luz.
"No, Ma'am, this is a dangerous area. We need to move carefully!" The captain spoke, Hunter realizing them as the same one who delivered Belos' message.
"Careful takes too long! My butt is on the line and so help me titan-" Kikimora started to rant.
"Wow...I think I broke her?" Hunter commented quietly, half amused but a frown still on his face at the annoying little voice that filled the cave. She brought this on herself, and with how out-of-mind she was, he wondered how easy it would be for him to just put a stop to her plan right now. He had the loyalty of the scouts with her, after all. They were part of his special task force, hand picked for their wide variety of skills, and he knew how to properly use them. Kikimora, on the other hand, only had The Captain and her personally assigned abomatons. She probably doesn't even know which scouts are currently with her.
"That poor girl is going through something…" Eda spoke, cutting Hunter from his thoughts….right, he was not alone. He had two idiots and a Blight to worry about.
"She's also blocking the path to Eclipse Lake, that way!" Amity pointed.
"We should create a distraction." Hunter suggested, eyeing around the cave for an idea. He could try to signal to Giffin and Steve first so they could ready themselves before he-
"We should create a distraction!" Eda repeated, turning to walk off. " You wait for my signal!" She pointed back to Amity before jumping down to a lower ledge in the cave, leaving Hunter and Amity alone. Hunter sighed, rolling his eyes as he leaned against the wall behind him. His arms were hurting from Blight's hold, but at least his hands were free...for what little good that actually meant for him. Without his staff or Lil' Rascal he was just a good meat shield, and Lil' Rascal seemed content on just sitting on his head and watching the events happening around him.
"So when they get caught, we just run to Eclipse lake?" Hunter looked over to Amity, who turned to fix him with a glare.
"Don't talk about us like we are a team!" Amity said with a stern tone, before looking back to where Kikimora was still going off on a rant. Hunter spared a glace, mostly looking to the scouts. Steve was trying to keep his stance, but was obviously very uncomfortable with how the little demon was going off about his commander. Giffin, on the other hand, had taken the time to turn away from where the assistant was ranting at the captain and was on his scroll, probably trying to look over penstagram.
"Might as well be." Hunter shrugged, looking back to Amity. " You and I are in similar situations, unlike The Owl Lady and her pet. Is that why you keep giving me odd looks?" Amity looked to freeze as he called her out, looking at him through the corner of her eye before back to the coven group below them.
"You have no idea what you're talking-" Amity stopped as something chimed in her pocket, she patted it before starting again. " I was going to say, you have no-" Hunter looked at her pocket, then up to her with a quirked brow. Amity growled, taking out a small toy from her pocket...it looked kind of like one of the toys in his metal tin but rounded. She turned away from him, holding the little thing up.
'Ok, all I have to do is shove her off the cliff. She will panic and-' Hunter forced himself to stop thinking. "...no...no, I can't do that. Not only is she the only person with brain cells, she is...sort of friends with Willow." Hunter didn't know much of the Blight and Willow's friendship, but Willow has shared her concerns, frustrations, and feelings about Amity with him before. From best friends, to bullying Willow for years long, to finally apologizing, and now sort-of-friends? He really didn't understand it at all, but he was also one to hold grudges. Willow was a lot more forgiving than him. But, was he really willing to stay with Eda and her rat-dog longer just because Amity was kinda-sorta friends with Willow? '...Yes...Just, think of it this way, Hunter; Suffer now, and see Willow later!' Amity put the little device away, looking confused.
"...so, you gonna tell me what that was or-?" Hunter prodded, but stopped as he felt the restraints tightening on him.
"Be quiet!" Amity glared at him.
"Just trying to be friendly, Blight." Hunter sighed, moving to lean back against the wall. What was taking those two idiots so long?
"...Just- What do you want with her anyway?"
Hunter froze, then looked at Amity in confusion. Want with her? Who? Wait...was she talking about her human or Kikimora? Or…
"Don't-" Amity sighed, turning to face Hunter fully. " Don't look confused. Look...I saw you and Willow in the field." Hunter's face dropped, his heart feeling like it stopped beating, but he knew his face was flushing. " What do you want with Willow?"
Willow was in her own personal hell in the meantime. She half wished Luz would walk down the stairs in her half-insane state so she would have a reason to leave the pressuring conversation, but half knew even with her brain wrecked by the common mold, she would just join in on the pressure.
"Weeeellll?" Gus pressed his palms into the table, staring at Willow who was still red in her cheeks. She groaned, then sighed loudly as she pressed her hands under her glasses to rub her face.
"...he kissed me yesterday." Willow said in a quiet voice, hoping that they didn't hear...well, Gus didn't at least. Hooty, on the other hand, who could hear a fly from a mile away, breathed in a deep gasp and was about to scream. Willow's hand shot out to cover his beak. " Stop! You'd wake up Luz!" She felt the scream rumbling through her hand, but at least it was muffled enough that he had no way of actually waking their friend up and causing her to leave her bed.
"What did you say? I didn't hear it?" Gus asked, looking very confused. Hooty spun around and away, his beak escaping Willow's grasp.
" HE KISSED HER!" Hooty yelled at Gus, whose face dropped in shock and surprise before he looked over at Willow while his hands smacked his cheeks. Willow groaned as she slumped in her chair, she knew her face was probably as red as Amity's when she got going. In a flash of a second Willow felt the feathered tube around her again in a weird hug.
"Sowhatshisname?Tellusabouthim!Whatdoeshelike?Doyoulovehimback?AreyouBFandGF?Whatisyourshippingname?" The hug was getting tighter and tighter, Willow started trying to wiggle against him, putting her finger out to cast a spell before Gus intervened.
"Hooty, I think she is a bit overwhelmed right now, man!" Gus reached out to put his hand on the owl-worm's head, making him stop and let go of Willow.
"Oh, sorry, Willow! I got wrapped up in the moment, hoot hoot." Hooty moved around, sitting on another stool. " So, you being as red as you are, does that mean you like him back, hoot hoot?" Willow put her hands to the side of her face again, sighing. She was forced into a game she didn't want a part of, but she couldn't wiggle around it.
"Yes, Hooty, I like him back...but...Like I said it's complicated!" Willow stood up, making her way back to the pot to stir it again. " He has...a lot on his plate and...we kinda got caught in the moment. We haven't talked about it yet." Her ears were flicking...she blamed picking up the habit on Hunter.
Gus frowned to himself behind her, glad she wasn't looking at him and was probably going to keep her eyes on the soup for now. He knew that the boy, Hunter as he overheard her say, was The Golden Guard. This is probably why it was so complicated for Willow. She had her loyalties between two factions, and was very obviously enamored by The Golden Guard. But to love him and love her friends that were so against The Emperor's Coven? She must be going in dizzying circles.
"Do you want my expert opinion, Willow?" Hooty asked, moving to the side of the girl again, who sighed as she kept her eyes on the soup.
"I have a feeling you will tell me, even if I say no."
"You are right, hoot hoot!" Hooty moved to her other side, " In my opinion, love can be a great road to travel down! It is always full of bumps, curves, mountains, and rough patches! But, in the end of the day if you both treat the relationship like you are giving 60 percent and the other person is giving 40, keep a good line of communication, and understand that it's ok to step back from one another when you feel overwhelmed, everything will be just fine, hoot hoot!"
Willow had stopped stirring and was now staring at the wall in front of her as she listened to Hooty. He was surprisingly good with relationship advice. And in the end, she knew deep down he was right, even more so about the communication deal. She felt her feelings on Hunter being The Golden Guard hidden from him, and that could very well cause a rift. She worried about the scars he had, how tired he looked all the time, and occasionally when talking about something that got him more heated, his eyes almost...changed. As if the natural red veins turned black. She just pushed it aside that it was a trick of the light.
"That is...a good opinion, Hooty." Willow said, stirring the pot again before she picked up one of the spice shakers. " I just wish I knew how to approach him about the talk we will eventually need to have. I have been so...nervous about it." Willow sighed, of course Hooty and Gus broke her walls down to talk about this. " Like I said, he has a lot on his plate. He shouldn't have to worry about me."
"He won't." Hooty said matter of factly, " Well uh, you know in a negative way. He will worry about you, but if your love is true, it will not be a burden!"
"Wow...those are some wise words, dude." Gus piped up. Willow smiled, looking at Hooty.
"Thanks, Hooty, that really does help me feel better."
_AN_
Hey there again! I am currently writing a Future AU for this story! Look forward to that when I drop it! Thank you all again for enjoying my story!