He blinked his eyes open slowly. His entire body was aching, from his bones to his eyes to his insides. He felt like he'd been forced to run from the tip of the foot to the summit of the skull. Moving his tongue around, he couldn't help but taste… poultry? What happened to him? The last he remembered was… uhh… no, wait… yes? He was standing on a cliff sniffing at the air, right? He was hungry and wanted to find something to eat. He… caught a ground bird and… ate it raw? Wait. What?

Hunter moved to sit up, but was unable to even get to his elbows; he was too weak. He felt a small shift at his neck, saw a small blob of red there. They were asleep… maybe it was best he slept too? He was in so much pain… he blinked a few times, looking back to the ceiling. Where were they anyway? He flicked his ears as he heard a door open, turning his head to watch a blurred figure enter his room. They were holding a tray of… something… and sat it down on the nightstand next to the bed before turning to look at him, letting out a gasp as their hands covered their mouth.

"Hunter?!" she whispered, leaning down and coming into focus. Dazzling green eyes meeting his magenta… Willow!

"Hey, Flower-Cake," Hunter said, his voice hoarse. He leaned his head back, but kept his eyes on her. "W-wha happened? Where… where are we?" he asked, feeling Willow sit next to him, putting her hand on his chest.

"W-we're in the Owl House…" Willow answered, frowning as she looked Hunter over. It was taking every ounce of willpower she possessed not to crush him in the tightest of hugs. Her eyes flicked to the bandages they had wrapped around his waist. He had a few cuts and bruises, but that wasn't what she was worried about. " You, uh… you appeared from the forest suddenly, and when I ran over to you, you collapsed into my arms."

"...Yeah…" Hunter said, faintly remembering that. He remembered he saw Willow, and knew he was safe. Then his body just gave out. But what was before… all that? He looked over to her, his vision no longer blurred to see her deep frown, but hidden relief behind her eyes. He gave her a soft smile, moving his hand to where she had placed hers on his chest. "I'm sorry, Willow."

"Don't," Willow said, her voice soft but stern. She shifted, moving to place a kiss on his forehead. "I am so happy you are here…" She sighed, moving back to look at Hunter with a smile, tears looking to be forming in her eyes as she gently rubbed his cheek with her thumb. "What took you so long, though?"

"W-what took-?" Hunter furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Hunter, you have been missing for the better half of two weeks."

"T-two weeks?!" Hunter tried to push himself up, only to fall back on his elbows before Willow pushed him the rest of the way down. Lil' Rascal made a grumbling chirp, now fully awake.

"Shh… you need rest!"

"IS HE AWAKE?!" King burst through the door, leaping to land on Hunter but getting caught by Willow just short of his landing. She furrowed her brow at him before looking to the door to see Eda, Luz, and Hooty ducking away out of sight. Willow sighed, setting King down next to Hunter.

"Guys, he needs rest," Willow said sternly to everyone. King was already curling in Hunter's arm, making the teen smile slightly before he looked at the door where the rest of the Owl House's inhabitants slowly reappeared.

"Can't blame us for wanting to know if he was okay!" Eda said, shrugging. "He disappeared for two weeks, then was in a coma for two days after."

"I was out for two days?!" Hunter asked, trying again to sit up, but his body still refused to work. He groaned in pain, laying back down in defeat. "W-what happened to me?"

"...Should I break it to him? Or you, Willow?" Eda asked, looking at the girl who thinned her lips and looked back to Hunter. He looked over to her in confusion at the question posed.

"W-well!" Willow squeaked, Hunter couldn't help but smile at her. He loved it when she did that. " Uh… well…" Willow looked unable to find the words. Instead, Luz appeared at her side with a hand-mirror. Hunter furrowed his brow at her before lifting his hand to take it, glancing at Willow for a moment before turning the mirror around... and being met with one normal eye, whereas the other looked like it was filled with swirling smoke while his magenta pupil still stared out from within it all. Two new scars were traced over his eye from the strike he'd taken, one of which looked to turn black where it met his eye proper.

"...Right… right…" The memory started to flood back. "...I stole Belos' curse…" Hunter muttered to himself. He'd had a battle with Belos... He straight up headbutted him! He… he won against him?

"...You did WHAT?" Luz couldn't help herself, her mouth dropping in shock. Hunter blinked, looking to her, then to Willow who also looked shocked, to Eda who looked the same amount of shocked but with a smile on her face.

"I-I…" Hunter looked back to Luz. "I stole Belos' curse…" He suddenly felt dizzy as he realized the implications of his words. "...Holy crap, I stole a curse!" Hunter sat up, his body not giving out this time as his hands went to his hair before he groaned in pain. His back was killing him. He looked down at the bandages wrapped around his waist, starting just below his binder and ending around the bottom of his waist, his hand going to them with a furrowed brow. Willow's hands appeared over his, drawing his attention to her.

"T-that isn't the only… the only marking from it." Willow frowned. "Y-you have this weird… uh… green scar?" Hunter blinked a few times… Belos had a scar from his curse across his face. Did that mean that he…? He moved one of his hands to his back, forcing his fingers between the bandages and… it felt almost like wood?

"A-aaaahahaha… okay… okay, dont- dont panic!" Hunter said to Willow, but really he was talking to himself. Lil' Rascal fluttered to his shoulder, chirping and nuzzling again. He went to start removing the bandages; he needed to see the scar for himself.

"Hunter, please don't!" Willow said, moving her hands to his again to stop him, which he did. He looked up at her, and made a strange snuffling noise… wait, what? He smacked his hand over his mouth and nose, then retracted it to look it over. His fingers were turning black, the nails appearing sharper, like claws.

"A-aaahhhhhhh…"

"Blondie, calm down," Eda said, appearing at his side and resting her hand on his head. "I know this is probably confusing, but you just need to calm down. You and Belos probably have a lot of the same symptoms, right?"

"Y-yeah?" Hunter shifted to sit on his knees, taking Willow's hands in his for comfort, but minding his… his claws...

"Well… what do you remember about it?" Eda prompted. Hunter furrowed his brow, looking down at his lap in thought.

"Well… Belos had a green scar across his face. But, his eyes are not like this," Hunter started. "I don't think I ever heard him make uh… whatever that noise was?" He shrugged, looking back to Eda.

"Do you remember anything from the two weeks you were gone?" Luz piped up.

"I-I…" Hunter narrowed his eyes on his lap again. "I remember… eating a peckin? Uhh…" He closed his eyes, rubbing his head as he tried to force the memories to the fore. "I think… At some point, I… jumped into a lake? But it didn't boil? Something bit my tail as I- Wait… I don't have a tail!" Hunter lowered his hand, looking back to check if he did actually have a tail, but there was nothing.

"Maybe you transformed into a beast?" king piped up. "Eda's curse used to do that to her!"

"M-maybe? Belos kind of had something like that." Hunter rubbed his head. Maybe he didn't think this through. Eda reached into her hair, pulling out one of her elixirs and handing it over to him.

"Here. This worked last time to help stem your coughing, maybe it will help with the claws and bumps that are appearing on your head?" Eda said with a wry smile.

"B-bumps?" Hunter took the potion before reaching his hand up, feeling rough protrusions growing on the side of his head just above his ear. He swallowed deeply before he felt the elixir being taken by Willow, who undid the cork and offered it up to him. He looked at her, then to the potion with a nod before drinking it. Lowering the bottle, he snarled at the taste of it and stuck out his tongue.

"See, there we go!" Eda said. Hunter reached his hand up to feel the side of his head again, the growths disappearing. He sighed before flopping back into the bed, Lil' Rascal fluttering in the air before landing on his chest. He felt weird, a mix of the potion and his own emotions.

"Maybe you should get more rest," Willow suggested, smiling down at him as she put her hand back on his chest. "We will get you something to eat later."

"Y-yeah." Hunter smiled at her, watching as she nodded then picked up King.

"Come on, guys." She ushered everyone out, leaving herself but keeping the door cracked in case he needed to shout to them. Hunter rolled to his side to face the door, wincing as he felt his new 'scar' rubbing against the not too comfortable mattress. Lil' Rascal moved to his side, nuzzling into his chest as he closed his eyes. Hunter stared at the door for a while before he felt his own eyes closing.

'e̸̗͠e̴͕̊r̸͖̔f̵̯̔ ̸͖̇e̵̞͗r̴̳͛a̸͆͜ ̴̤͆ȩ̷͗W̵̗̓.̵̤̀" The Beast spoke, causing Hunter to open his eyes. He looked up at the pitch black figure against the strange opalescent white of the void they were in. Hunter smiled, then furrowed his brow slightly up at the Beast, the slow realization of a few things starting to hit him.

They were free… but was he really free with this creature inside him?

It took a few days for Hunter to walk again without having to sit from being dizzy. His body was definitely taking its time adjusting to its new… situation. The Beast, for the most part, was quiet now. It spoke occasionally, but he was usually just a silent passenger in Hunter's body. One thing it did warn, however, was that there would be times that the nature of the curse would force a transformation against both their wills.

Willow had been living in the Owl House for a few weeks now, staying as Hunter regained his strength. The curse, even when not flaring, was taking a lot out of him. She was happy he had the support of Eda, Luz, King, and Hooty, but after the weeks of being on edge over where he could be, she more or less was using his state as an excuse to stay with him. He was acting off, too; not that she could blame him. He still wasn't convinced he was free from the Emperor's Coven, and was waiting for a task force to come and apprehend him from the Owl House. Hunter being on edge meant the curse kept slowly flaring up in turn. The elixirs were working wonders, though, and kept him from fully transforming into whatever beast possessed him. At least, for now.

On top of all that, Willow had noticed he was… apprehensive around them. He smiled, he laughed, he talked… but he hesitated to touch her, barely even making contact with anyone else. The only one he really touched anymore was Lil' Rascal, but even then he was doing so very carefully. She was uneasy, and even more after she found him in the bathroom looking himself over. He rubbed at the green mark across his lower back, his fingers tracing the strange holes in the odd wooden patch. He stared at the new scars that crossed over his smoke-filled eye, and noticed his teeth appeared sharper and larger, to the point that when his mouth was closed his fangs tried to poke out of his lips.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Willow asked from the door, making Hunter jump slightly as he looked to her, then back to his reflection, then down at the sink. Lil' Rascal gave a chirp, snuggling into his neck like always.

"I-I just…" Hunter sighed, rubbing at his head. "This is a lot to… to process, I guess?" Willow thinned her lips before stepping into the bathroom, going to his side before gently cupping his face. He shrunk back slightly, but then forced himself to stay as her hand graced his cheek, his ears flicking and as he felt himself blushing.

"You know you are still Hunter, right?" Willow asked softly, giving him a smile, but it was hard to hide the worry in her eyes.

"I-I…" Hunter furrowed his brow and thinned his lips before closing his eyes and leaning into her hand. Willow frowned before she brought her other hand up to cup his face, and pulled him down to her with a soft but firm tug. He looked back at her in some surprise, a strange snuffling sound coming from his nose again. He tried to pull away, but Willow kept him there, forehead pressed against hers.

"You are still Hunter," she repeated. "No matter what this curse does, or what the future holds. I love you, all of you." She smiled, watching Hunter as he blinked a few times before he gave a small smile himself, his ears flicking around her hands while his cheeks turned a darker shade of red. He moved to press his head closer against hers, closing his eyes as one of his hands moved to hers.

"I'm so sorry for what I put you through…" he whispered. "I had no idea that I would be gone so long."

"The important thing, now, is that you are here," Willow whispered back, moving to kiss his nose. "You are free from the coven, and we don't have to worry about them."

"B-but how do we really know?" Hunter asked, opening his eyes again as he pulled back slightly to stare at her. "I don't know if Belos knows I am actually alive or not. Not to mention that if he does know, he will hunt me down…"

"Well…" Willow shifted, taking Hunter's hand in hers and pulling it to her chest. "The Emperor's Coven is still making a huge deal about your 'death' at the hand of rebels. Emperor Belos hasn't been seen much in the past few weeks since the incident, making people speculate that he is grieving for you, or was injured in the attack himself and doesn't want the people to know."

"I headbutted him pretty damn hard, so maybe I broke his nose?" Hunter shrugged, watching Willow's eyes go wide.

"You did what?" She sounded astonished.

"Well… for the spell to work I had to touch my forehead to his, so I just headbutted him." Hunter shrugged. Willow blinked a few times, Hunter noting a light blush on her cheeks.

"You headbutted the Emperor of the Boiling Isles to steal his curse from him," she repeated, confirming what he was saying. Hunter gave a nod, half worried about the fiery reaction she might have as she breathed in sharply through her nose. "You realize how amazing you are, right?" she asked. Hunter felt his face become even redder.

"W-what? I-I uh…" It was amazing he was not achieving flight with his ears right now as he watched Willow giggle and smile up at him more. She moved to give him a prolonged kiss on the lips before letting him go, enjoying the love-dazed look on his face before she gave another small giggle.

"Either way, we haven't seen any coven scouts around. The Emperor's Coven is stronger in Bonesborough, but they look to be avoiding the Owl House," Willow confirmed. Hunter flicked his ears around before a soft frown appeared.

"Do you think that you and your fathers are safe there?"

"We haven't been harassed or anything, so I do think we are okay. If Belos knows you're alive, he's not interested in finding you just yet," Willow assured with a nod. Hunter rubbed at his bandaged wrist before pausing. Willow lifted a brow as she saw him blink a few times in confusion. "Something wrong?"

"A-ahh… no, I think I'm just…" Hunter sighed, going to rub his face before leaning over to put his chin on Willow's head. "I think I am just overthinking things right now." Willow smiled, wrapping her arms around him and giving him a tight and comforting squeeze. Hunter smiled as he moved to nuzzle his cheek into her, making that strange snuffling sound again but not retracting away from her this time to Willow's relief.

They soon joined the others downstairs, finding Eda with Luz, King, and Amity sitting in the living room with the crystal ball on. Hunter was about to open his mouth to speak, when he paused, his ears flicking at what he was hearing the news station say.

"'It just happened so suddenly!' Coven Scout Makenza said in an interview, 'One moment I saw him teleporting through the castle, the next I heard the serpent roar and the crashing of metal and wood as it took the stables out!'

Coven Scout Makenza, along with many others, were some of the brave witches that were in the beast stables moments before the alarm was set about intruders at the front gates, their lives saved by the valiant sacrifice of their young coven leader. This is Gilda Godbert, BBN-HXN news."

"...They are really making a stink of this…" Hunter sighed, making the four look at him and Willow.

"Oh, you think this is bad? Your funeral is in two days," Eda said, lifting up her mug with a small smirk. "All the news is ever talking about now is how 'the intelligent and brave teen prodigy, leader of the Emperor's Coven, the Golden Guard sacrificed his life for the lives of his coven in a monsterous rebel attack'!"

"N-no one else died, right?" Hunter asked, rubbing his arm. He wasn't sure if he would be able to handle the guilt of a death he caused.

"Nope. As far as everyone is aware only you and a rat worm that didn't flee perished," Luz piped up, a small frown on her face. Hunter frowned as he looked back to the crystal ball, which was now on a commercial break.

"I suppose it makes sense that they would lie about what really happened. Only Belos and Kikimora are really in the know of what I did." Hunter found his hand taken by Willow, who led him to go sit on a chair. He smiled at her, watching as she herself sat on the floor in front of him and leaned an arm on his legs. He leaned back in his chair, looking back at the crystal ball. "I wonder if anyone else in the coven is wise to something not being right about this story, though."

"I'm sure some are, but it's hard to speak out when so many people are grieving. A lot of places are actually closing the day of your funeral in your honor," Amity said. Hunter rubbed his face, groaning. Should he feel bad about how out of proportion this had become? He was still alive, after all…

"You know, the weirdest thing is how they have yet to mention you by your actual name or show your face," Luz spoke up.

"That… makes sense, actually," Hunter sighed, lowering his hands. "There isn't much documentation about who I was as an actual person, after all. Everything I signed was always under G.G. and Belos made sure I wore my mask for a reason, even before I was officially his right hand. Really, he's the only one who actually knows who I was."

"Wouldn't your uncle want to speak out, though?" King asked, tilting his head at teen.

"...Well …" Oh, right… the only ones who knew who his uncle was were Eda and Willow. Hunter thinned his lips at the crystal ball. Should he really tell them? "I mean… why do you think Belos would be the only one who knows who I am?" The three stared at Hunter for a few moments before Luz gasped in deeply and jolted to a standing position, pointing at Hunter.

" WHAAAT?!" She screamed. Hunter flattened his ears and narrowed his eyes at her.

"So loud…" He grumbled.

"OH MY TITAN This explains so much!" Luz threw her hands against her head. Hunter groaned, looking at Willow, who looked at him and shrugged with a small apologetic smile.

"STILL!" Hunter said loudly to knock Luz out of whatever fit she was about to go on about. "I'll need a cover story for why I'm here. I'd rather not be caught off guard if someone starts questioning a new addition to the Owl House right after the Golden Guard's death."

"You're Hunter Clawthorne," Eda started, swirling the apple blood in her mug. " You're a distant relative, but not so distant that you didn't know of our relations… like, maybe a third cousin or something? You came to the Owl House to 'help' me with how I'm now magicless, but in reality you're here just to mooch free shelter and food off me like the rest of my freeloaders." Eda smirked over at Hunter. "But, you are happy to do the work I assign you to do, and even more happy to help me make and sell elixirs."

"I-" Hunter flicked his ears before giving a small smile and nod. "I kinda like that… sure… but what about Lilith? She's bound to visit you at some point."

"Let me worry about Lilith, kiddo," Eda said with a smile. Hunter gave a nod before glancing back at the ball.

'And so, it is with a heavy heart that I must announce that I shall take the role as the Head of the Emperor's Coven.' Kikimora was giving a press release on screen, though it did not appear to be live. 'I hope to do not only good by the Emperor and his people, but to honor the Golden Guard in every way that I can.' Hunter clenched the side arms of the chair, not noticing as Willow leaned back from him as all eyes in the room turned to look at him.

"Hctib elttil gnitsugsid uoy ,snoisacco elpitlum no em llik ot deirt uoY ?em yb doog oD" Hunter knew he shouldn't curse around King, but he was angry. "Trapa reh pir dluow I reh no swalc ym teg I fi natiT ?aromikiK ,uh ,yug doog era uoy erus eka-" Hunter felt the glass lips of a bottle being shoved into his mouth as Willow pinched his nose shut. He blinked a few times before swallowing the elixir. After Willow let him go, he stuck his tongue out and gagged slightly.

"Will you guys stop doing that?!" Hunter looked around at them all, Willow giving him an apologetic smile.

"You made a… snarl-hiss sound," Amity explained. "Like when Ghost is mad but… meaner?" She looked at Hunter with a mix of fear and concern.

"Yeah, and your hair poofed up like a cat, too!" Luz added.

"And both your eyes turned black," Eda tacked on, sitting down and putting away the elixir that she had grabbed.

"Teach me how to do that!" King jumped up, his tail wagging back and forth. Hunter reached his hands up to his hair, hesitating as he saw his finger tips had turned black, though the potion was making them fade back to his usual skin color. He sighed and lowered them.

"Sorry… this is… still very new," Hunter muttered, before feeling Willow gently brush her hand across his cheek. He smiled up at her, his ears flicking around before he snuffled again. He smacked his hands over his mouth and nose. What the heck even was this sound?!

"...Uh… guys?" Luz pointed at the crystal ball. Looking back they saw what she was pointing at.

'The Emperor's Coven will pay up to fifty thousand snails for palismen in good condition.' The ball was showing clips of a few witches who were trading their palisman staffs for bags of snails at a stand in front of the Emperor's Coven police precinct in Bonesborough. The group felt their hearts sinking.

"Hey, Hunter? Why does-?" Amity started before looking over to Hunter and stopping short. Hunter's face was pale and he was shaking as the realization set in. Willow turned to look back at him as well, moving one hand to take one of his and to cup his face with the other. Luz quickly turned the crystal ball off.

"Hey, Kid. You okay?" Eda asked, also standing as she looked at Hunter. He swallowed, taking Willow's hand in his before he moved to his feet.

"Y-yeah. I-I just…" Hunter stuttered before tip-toeing carefully around Willow with an apologetic smile. "I-I just need some air." He moved to quickly run outside, letting go of Willow as he did. Hooty gave a surprised yelp as he was unexpectedly thrown open and Hunter ran out into the yard. Willow turned to run after him before Eda reached out and stopped her. She shook her head lightly at Willow.

"Let me handle this, Glasses. I know you want to help, but I'd like to talk to him first if that's okay." Eda smiled kindly, making Willow hesitate as she looked out the door to see Hooty had grown his neck out over to Hunter, who was holding himself and looked to be breathing deeply. She bit her lower lip. As much as she wanted to run out and comfort him... if this had to do with his curse, Eda was the better option. She sighed and gave a nod to Eda, who returned the gesture and headed out the door.

_AN_

Guess who is back! It MEEEEE!

A new start for a new story, but the second part of Hunter and Willow's journey. The chapters are going to be a lot longer than what I usually post, so as such more than likely I will only be posting once or twice a week. I hope you guys do not mind, I really want to make sure you guys are getting the best I can offer!

Please leave a comment, as always, telling me what you think of this new story. I love you guys!