Ever since her and the Owl Beast had come to their little… agreement, Eda no longer woke up in her beast or harpy forms. Well, that is, until this morning. Typically when she's become the Owl Beast, her consciousness is overpowered by that of the owl. It's thoughts become her thoughts, it's feelings are her feelings. Sometimes she is able to reason with it until someone is able to feed her an elixir, but today it felt like she was screaming at a brick wall. No matter what she said, or what promises she offered up, the Owl Beast seemed dead set on its mission. So, with a heavy sigh and nothing else she could do, Eda decided that it was time she trusts the beast's instincts, and let it have full control.
It was early, the Owl House still blanketed in the soft darkness of the night. Moonlight shone across the wooden floor, and the air was still. The Owl Beast stiffened and rose to its haunches, feeling— no, knowing— deep down that something was wrong.
Owletts. Safe? Must protect.
After Luz and the Golden Guard— Hunter, his name is Hunter— accidently saw Belos' mindscape, Hunter had run off into the forest, the throws of a panic attack gripping him fiercely. Eda originally had wanted to let him go, not knowing that he had nowhere to turn to. Luz had begged her to let her go look, but there was no way Eda was gonna let her kid run off into the forest alone, especially after she'd been freshly traumatized by whatever had gone down in the emperor's mind. Eda had told Luz that she wanted her home safe, and that they could look for Hunter the next day. But when Luz told her that the boy (and he really was just a teenage boy, a child soldier), had nowhere to go, she agreed to find him and take him in.
She allowed the Owl Beast to take over that night, its superior senses and ability to fly for longer durations than Owlbert made it the wisest choice. She trusted the beast to find the kid and bring him back safely, and it did.
Keeping the recent trust in her beast form at the forefront of her mind, Eda knew that whatever was bothering the beast, it would handle it with the utmost care. The Owl Beast did manage to bring a traumatized, panicking teen home safe and in one piece, after all.
The Owl Beast quietly shuffled through the home, sniffling and snuffing at each door, as it made its way to Luz's room. It peaked their head inside, calming slightly at the sight of a soundly sleeping human, and The King of Demons curled up safe and asleep beside her.
Two Owletts safe. One more.
It quietly crept back out, not wanting to disturb its Owlett's slumber. The beast moved further down the hall, before pausing as it caught a whiff of a sharp metallic smell.
Blood. Owlett hurt. Protect.
It tracked the scent towards the washroom on the main floor of the house. As it neared, it could also pick up on the sound of muffled sobs, and heavy breathing. It let out a concerned growl, and the crying suddenly stopped. It couldn't hear breathing anymore, and, as any concerned parent would, the beast slammed its head into the door, and quickly entered the small space.
Hunter was sitting on the bathroom floor, knees hugged tight to his chest, head down, and he was holding his breath. He looked up frantically when he saw Eda's beast form enter the doorway, and he whimpered in fear.
"Please don't hurt me," he whispered, voice hoarse, "I'll be good, I promise."
Owlett. Hurt. Protect.
The Owl Beast gently stalked over to the child, and he cringed away, hitting his back on the cupboards below the sink in the process. It carefully nudged Hunter's arms with its head, sniffing them and letting out a cry of alarm when the scent of blood was stronger around his arms.
"Please," Hunter whispered, voice cracking as fresh, salty tears spilled down his face, "it won't happen again. I promise. Just… just leave me alone."
Owlett. Bleeding. Comfort.
The Owl Beast nudged him harder, its empty black eyes seemingly peering into his soul.
"I don't… I don't understand. What do you want from me?"
It then very gently nipped at the fabric that pooled around his boney little elbows, and it pulled at the shirt sleeve, trying to coax the boy into letting it see his arms.
Startled, Hunter put his arms up in a surrendering position, slamming his eyes shut as he rambled pleas of "Don't hurt me" and promises of being better.
The blood had already mostly dried, staining the teen's arms in streaks of flaky burgundy. A couple of the perfectly straight cuts closer to his wrists were still sluggishly bleeding, but not so much that bleeding out would be a concern. Hunter's arms were littered with pinkish scars and bright red cuts. Very little skin was left unmarred. Most of the injuries looked deliberate, with only a couple of older scars looking like they might've come from a fight or mission.
The Owl Beast whined at the sight, not liking that its owlett was so injured. It sat back on its claws, and shook out its upper body and wings. It then boldly moved towards Hunter, and grabbed the back of his shirt with its mouth. He thrashed and fought back as the beast swiftly made its way through the house, back to Eda's room.
"Let me go! I command you to stop." He grunted, as he swayed in the beast's grasp.
He was unceremoniously dropped into the nest, and before he could climb out and escape, the beast crawled in, circling up around him and knocking him onto his back. It then rested its head on his stomach, letting out a satisfied grunt, and began to drift off to sleep, comforted in knowing that its newest owlett was safe in its nest.
Owlett. Safe. Sleep now.
Hunter froze, shock and fear coursing through his veins. In the weeks that he'd spent in The Owl House, he'd only encountered Eda's full beast form once. That had been on his first night there, when he was dragged back through the forest and forced to sleep on their couch. But Eda had emerged right away once he was inside and sitting safe and sound on their suspiciously lumpy couch. But now, she was still the beast, and more importantly, was wrapped around him so tight that any move could wake her. He'd effectively become a living, breathing, pillow.
Great. Just great.
Not wanting to disturb or potentially anger the Owl Beast, Hunter tried to relax his muscles as much as possible, and attempted to get some sleep. Because tomorrow is gonna be a rough morning. He wasn't naive enough to think that Eda would allow him to punish himself in her home without repercussions of some sort.
So, in the meantime, he allowed the beast's deep breaths to lull him to sleep, safe and warm, surrounded by soft feathers and the embrace of someone who (maybe? possibly?) cared about him.