Chapter Five

Hunter woke up to the feel of a quilt under his body and warmth surrounding him. He groaned wearily and turned over, part of him trying to clear the fog in his mind. Familiar fog, from a sleep spell. The ones cast by healers to perform painful healing rites. As sensation returned, he felt tight bandages around his arm. Yeah, he must have been hurt facing a wild witch who got a lucky hit in.

His eyes blinked open and he saw a wood-panelled ceiling unlike anything in the castle infirmary. Wait … this wasn't the infirmary. Then where ...?

The fog abruptly cleared and the memories returned. Hunter shot up as adrenaline surged. The Scarbury, the battle, Willow's wild magic, she passed out …! Hunter turned to get up until a wave of nausea washed over him and his stomach clenched nothingness. He hadn't eaten in who knows how long and only bile — the non-magical kind — came up as he squeezed his eyes shut in discomfort.

A hand gently but firmly pressed against his shoulder and eased him down. "Easy, Hunter. You're okay. Everything's alright." Hunter eased his eyes open and found Luz looking at him with a faint, reassuring smile and Lil Rascal on her shoulder. "You're safe, I promise," Luz added.

"Ugh, what happened?" Hunter groaned, a headache coming on. "Where are we?"

Lil Rascal took that opportunity to flutter down onto Hunter's chest, tweeting with encouragement. The familiar weight of the cardinal was a comfort to Hunter.

"It's lucky for you I'm multi-tracking," Luz commented. "I've picked up enough from the Healing track to know how to move an injured person on a staff. We flew you and Willow to a friend's house. I mean, Viney's not licensed or even graduated, but she knows her stuff."

"The dual-tracker?" Hunter asked, his thoughts slow, as if dipped in cold syrup.

"Yeah," Luz confirmed. "She's still a Troublemaker at heart, and I figured you wouldn't want this," she gestured at his bandaged arm covered in healing glyphs, "to be on the record."

Hunter shuddered at the possible result of this getting back to Belos. "Yeah. Thanks." Then he sucked in a breath and began to move, against the protests of his stomach. "Willow! Where's Willow? She-!"

"Willow's fine, Hunter," Luz said, calmly and soothingly, as she again pressed him onto his back. "Viney looked her over and she said she strained herself using so much magic at once. Her bile sac is exhausted and so is she, but rest and then food will have her back on her feet before Monday."

Hunter sighed with relief at the news. He was quiet for a beat before he realized something. "Oh, uh, what about Gus and Amity? I mean, they seemed fine, but are they okay?"

"They're good," Luz confirmed. "They're staying with Willow since they've known her way longer." A strange glint came to Luz's eye. "You seemed way more interested in Willow's condition than theirs," she noted.

Hunter cursed himself as he felt his face redden. "Well, I mean, she's my mission and all. Can't find her teacher if she's out of it, right?"

"Teacher?" Luz asked in confusion. "From what I can tell, Willow just kinda uses wild magic intuitively. It's kind of awesome."

Fascination and terror settled upon Hunter as he thought through those implications. Willow … didn't have a teacher? She used wild magic … on her own? That meant there was no teacher to find and report in, which meant his undercover mission was largely pointless. But far worse, it meant that Willow was in grave danger. If Belos found out she was a natural at wild magic, there was almost no doubt he would have her petrified with no remorse. Even the closeness of the Day of Unity wouldn't save her.

"Hey, don't phase out on me, man," Luz said, her teasing tone drawing Hunter out of his downward spiral. "You care about Willow," she added, her tone leaving no room for misinterpretation nor argument.

Hunter opened his mouth to deny it, but nothing came out. Seemingly every interaction he'd had with Willow since he'd met her flashed across his mind's eye. Her fight with the Glandus kids, their first project together, their talks and jokes, that swimsuit, and just … her unbelievable warmth.

"Dammit," Hunter groaned, placing his face in his hands. "This is bad." Lil Rascal trilled and nuzzled his partner's jaw with clear affection.

"No, it's not," Luz said with clear understanding. "It's natural. I can tell you that Willow is objectively amazing." Luz blinked and her smile faded as a thought crossed her mind. "Is she your first crush?"

"No," Hunter said, as if she were an idiot. His cheeks pinked a bit though. "I might have had a small crush on Lilith when I first came to the castle, but that faded fast when all my time was spent training and she clearly didn't like me. As in, at all." Hunter clenched his hands. "Willow, though …" He trailed off and didn't let himself speak further.

"Look, I don't trust the Emperor," Luz said seriously. "And since you're working for him, I don't completely trust you, either." She placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "But if you ever want help with Willow, I'm always around." She stood and bid him good night before leaving the room.

Lil Rascal stood and spun in a quick circle before settling back down on Hunter's chest and laying to rest. But as for Hunter … he knew sleep would not come easy tonight.

The next morning, Willow groaned as sleep drew away from her and revealed the discomfort it had hidden away. Her mouth tasted drier than the desert of Palm Stings, her entire body felt like one subtle ache, and she really had to pee. Not to mention her head felt like it would split open behind her eyes.

"How're you feeling, Specs?" came a familiar voice. Willow levered her eyes open and squinted against the blurriness without her glasses at a familiar blobby silhouette. Not to mention a nickname for an unofficial patient.

"Viney?" she asked.

"The one and only," the blob responded, Willow's glasses appearing in her palm. Willow put them on and the blob resolved into Viney's smiling face, the calm smile she used when dealing with patients. Her manticore palisman, Ctesias, hopped up on the bed and growled in greeting. "Now, really. How are you?"

"I feel like I was trampled by a giraffe," Willow admitted meekly.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when you exhaust your bile sac," Viney said, casting a small light spell to shine in Willow's eyes. "Seriously, Specs, you almost killed yourself. 'Course, up against something like the Scarbury I can't say I'm surprised. And judging by the others' accounts, you're the main reason everyone survived."

Everyone survived. Willow sighed with relief at those two glorious words. The question had lingered in the back of her mind, and knowing that everyone was alright was a relief unlike any other.

As Viney continued her examination — taking her pulse, feeling her forehead, tapping her elbow and knee — she kept up the chatter. "So Luz said you went ballistic after that new guy got hurt," she said with a teasing edge to her voice. "What's his name? Jerbo complains about him a lot."

"Hunter," Willow said absently before downing a small dose of pain potion for the aches. As she swallowed, Viney's words hit her like a spitball — something she was sadly familiar with. "Wait, what do you mean 'complains'," she asked.

Viney paused in her examination to look up at Willow with something like disbelief in her eyes before snorting and carrying on. "Ask him and you'll find out," she replied cryptically.

Willow tilted her head at those words before a memory from the encounter came forward, the very trigger for her "ballistic" magic. "How is he?" Willow asked timidly. "Hunter? He hurt his arm in the fight. Is he-?"

"Easy, Specs," Viney said, a hand suddenly on Willow's shoulder. "Take a deep breath and calm down." Willow did so, following Viney's motions to keep breathing and the rising panic subsided. "To answer your question, he'll be fine. Wasn't even a complete fracture. I mean, he'll have to keep that arm bound and immobile for a few days, but with the healing glyphs he'll be good to go by next weekend."

The dread pooling in her belly suddenly evaporated and Willow could breathe easily again. "That's good to hear," she said with a small smile.

"What? No questions about anyone else?" she asked, that teasing lilt back in her tone.

Willow's eyes widened and she took a breath to ask, but Viney waved her off as she wrote something down on a battered clipboard. She almost looked like an official healer. "Everyone's perfect," Viney assured her with a chuckle. "The worst was some scrapes and cuts that needed mending; it took me maybe five minutes to fix them all up."

Viney finished her records with a flourish of her wrist. "Patching up friends can go toward extra credit in Healing classes," she idly commented as she put everything away. Then she looked at Willow with a raised eyebrow. "You know, you seemed awfully concerned about a guy you've known for just a week compared to your usual friends," she said, crossing her arms. "Anything you wanna get off your chest?"

"No?" Willow said, as if asking a question. She could feel the pink creeping into her cheeks. "He just looked more hurt than everyone else. Of course I would be concerned for a friend."

"A friend who took a lashing from a Scarbury to protect you. And whose subsequent injury sent you into a frenzy," Viney said, her tone a bit disbelieving.

"I would do that for any of my friends who were hurt," Willow said resolutely, her blush subsiding in the wake of her conviction. Her voice was no louder, but her tone was undeniable.

"Oh, I know," Viney chuckled. "I was there at Palisman Adoption Day, too. I heard your 'deepest wish'," she imitated the Bat Queen's strange accent on those two words, "and I have no doubt you'd protect anyone even if you didn't know them." Her eyes narrowed. "But with that kind of … aggression?" she asked pointedly.

The pink returned to Willow's cheeks as she gave that some serious thought. Why would she lose her grip on her magic like that? The last time she'd lost control of her power like that had been the day she met Luz, and that was venting years of frustration and hurt ignited by dread at yet another poor grade. And she'd still had enough presence of mind to cut it off when she'd seen someone caught in it. But with the Scarbury … she'd thrown herself clear off the cliff during that episode.

"What are you saying?" Willow asked meekly.

"Well, I'm not saying anything," she said, picking up a student's medical bag. "But maybe you should think about how you reacted. There may be a lot more to it than you realize." As Viney left to give her some time to rest, Willow thought deeper about what her actions might mean. Or would have, if the urge to pee hadn't hit her even harder than before. She threw off the covers of the spare bed she had occupied and raced for the door.

Relief first, introspection later.

As the day approached noon, Viney reluctantly asked them to return to their own homes at her parents' insistence. Part of the deal in allowing a bunch of kids they didn't know to stay in their house overnight, along with Viney vouching for them, was the condition that they would be patched up and gone before Mr. and Mrs. Primrose returned from the workday.

As the group of witchlings said their goodbyes to their friend, Hunter volunteered to escort Willow home. He tried to explain it as being his fault she lost herself in magic, but he and Willow both blushed at the sly looks from Luz and Viney respectively. Willow had accepted his help with a kind smile. Though Clover had insisted on being their transport, which Lil Rascal seemed to be perfectly fine with as he perched on Hunter's shoulder.

Hunter took his place behind Willow, forced by circumstance to press into her back and his unbroken arm beside her waist as he gripped the staff in front of her to offer her stability, and felt his cheeks warm at the proximity. He caught her scent — like fresh soil and passing rain and something just floral — and he fought the urge to lean closer and sniff her hair. That was just creepy, right? Curse his isolated childhood!

Willow was facing a similar dilemma as they took off and Clover angled them toward her dad's apartment. Her skin seemed to burn pleasantly where Hunter's arm was pressed into her waist, like half of a comforting embrace. She felt his heartbeat against her back and his breath on her pointed ear that made her shiver. Titan, she felt like a heroine in one of the trashy romances Eda would be caught reading!

The ten minute flight, slower than usual due to Clover's concern for her partner's condition, felt like ten hours until they finally landed in front of Willow's front door. Clover reverted to her true form, the staff disappearing, and flew up to nuzzle Willow's hair and sit on her head, while Lil Rascal perched in Hunter's hair with a quiet tweet.

Neither teenager was aware of that as they faced each other with identical red faces. "T-Thank you …" Willow stuttered. Stuttered!

"It's just a quick flight," Hunter said with a faint shrug, his voice cracking a little. "No big deal."

"No," Willow said, her voice a little firmer. "I mean thank you for protecting me. From the Scarbury's claws." She brushed a lock of hair behind her ear in an unconscious gesture. "How did you know it was going for me?" she asked quietly.

"I … don't know," he answered honestly. Truthfully, he'd wondered that himself for most of the night. "I just … knew. Just like I knew I couldn't let it hurt you." Wait, had she always been that close? "And you saved all of us, so … I guess it worked out, huh?"

Neither of them had blinked as they steadily drew nearer, almost in a trance. "I'm glad you're okay," Willow whispered breathily, placing a palm lightly on his chest above his bandaged arm as he in turn placed a gentle hand on her hip. "I'm glad you're here. I'm … I'm so happy I met you, Hunter."

A flash of guilt tried to pierce Hunter's soul, but the fire in his belly seared it away. It had been no coincidence that they had met, but his own machinations … and right now, that wasn't important. What was important was Willow, her scent all around him, her presence and her warmth. "Me too," he said just as quietly.

They were a hair's breadth apart, their eyes fluttering closed, when the door flew open and the trance snapped like a taut string, sending both of them flying away from each other like opposing magnets. Willow's dads stood in the doorway, Gilbert looking scandalized and Eun bemused.

"H-Hi dads," Willow said, waving a bit as she tried to cover her embarrassment with excitement.

"Willow!" Gilbert cried as he drew her into a tight embrace before stepping back to examine her. "Are you alright? Amity didn't say much over the crystal ball, just that you exhausted your bile sac, but that's bad enough! You know not to push your limits under stress, young lady, we've taught you better than that!" His words were angry but his eyes were sad as he firmly guided her inside. "We're getting you some soup and you're not leaving your room for the rest of the day, at least!"

The rest of Gilbert's worried rant was smothered by distance and the apartment walls, leaving Eun and Hunter alone. On his part, Eun wove his fingers over his belly and examined Hunter over his spectacles. "I take it you're the Hunter boy that Willow has spoken so highly of?" he asked rhetorically, his dark eyes glittering.

"... Highly of?" Hunter asked hopefully, before realizing who he was talking to and schooling his features into the same respectful expression he showed his uncle. "I don't know any other Hunters, so I guess that's me," he replied.

Eun hummed in thought and tapped his foot, expression unchanging. Hunter was experienced enough to recognize sweating out a perpetrator … and was not proud of the fact that it was working. This was Willow's father, and that fact made him irrationally nervous.

"Amity told me about what happened out in the wilds," Eun revealed, his voice lower as he glanced over his shoulder. "My husband doesn't know the details, for the sake of his nerves. But I do. She said that you took a swipe from the Scarbury meant for Willow," he nodded at Hunter's arm, "and I know for a fact that Ms. Blight would not exaggerate." He placed his hands on Hunter's shoulders. "You very likely saved our daughter, Hunter. And for that, I thank you from the bottom of my heart." He gave a small, fatherly smile, his eyes misting. "Just know that as long as you treat Willow well, you will always be welcome here."

Hunter felt his heart begin to crack in half as memories long buried began to tear their way free to the front of his mind. With great effort, he beat them back into their prison and gave as close to a smile as he could muster. "Thank you, sir." He scooped Lil Rascal up out of his hair, the cardinal taking his cue to expand into his staff form. "Have a wonderful day." He turned to leave before a thought struck him. "Oh, try vigoare caps in her soup," he said. "They're supposed to help with the bile sac." With that, he mounted his staff and flew away.

Eun smiled bemusedly at Hunter's shrinking silhouette. Vigoare caps were a kind of mushroom, one that he had already put in Willow's soup. It was an old home remedy that had worked wonders when he was a boy. As he closed the door to check on Willow, he wondered if Hunter knew that the practice dated back to the Savage Ages and was considered borderline wild magic to the Emperor's Coven.

Little did he know, Hunter was very aware. And for Willow's sake, he didn't care.

"Thanks Gus!" Luz shouted, waving exuberantly at his and Amity's fading silhouettes. She was a tad disappointed at not getting a goodbye kiss from Amity, but Gus had put his foot down at PDA on his staff. So she'd settled for a quick hug for both of them as she dismounted and an energetic wave now.

As Luz entered the Owl House after being greeted by Hooty as he doggedly typed out his bi-weeky letter to Lilith, she was tackled by the ball of black fur and long horns that was King as he squeezed her tight and asked if she was okay.

"I'm alright, King," she said, returning the hug with even more strength. "I had a few bumps and bruises and a moderate laceration but Viney fixed me up!"

"And I couldn't be more proud, Kid," Eda said as she entered the living room. The smell of herbs and chemicals implied she had been down in the potions lab stocking up. "Few have tangled with the Scarbury and survived, group or no." She crossed her arms, thinking back to Luz's crystal ball call the night before to brief them on the incident. "Though I'm surprised it went after a wild witch. Usually it takes out coven members." She shrugged and ruffled Luz's hair.

"Seriously?" Luz asked. "Gus said there was no pattern."

"Meh, he's half right," Eda admitted. "But the Scarbury has never attacked a wild witch. Despite our leanings toward solitude, we're a tight-knit bunch on a few things. And serial targets are one of 'em."

Luz was about to pursue that thought when another one occurred to her. "Hey, Eda? What exactly makes wild magic, y'know, 'wild'?"

Eda put a finger to her chin as she thought. "Well, there's a couple of things. The modern take is pretty much anything not sanctioned by Belos's coven system," she said those last words with a disgusted tone, "but there are a few things that characterize it. The biggest, though, are practices that draw upon the power of the Titan directly instead of power from our bile sacs." She pointed at Luz's pockets, where some glyphs could be seen. "The glyphs you've found are a good example."

Luz blinked as she considered something else. "So, is there a way someone could, like … draw on the Titan's power … by themselves?"

"Oh sure," Eda said with a shrug. "But it's generally really dangerous and super difficult without lots of raw power to back it with. Power like I used to have, except my curse tended to muddle with that." She cackled and folded her arms. "Not that I needed it. I was powerful enough on my own. Why do you ask?"

Luz's eyes darted back and forth. "Uh, no reason. Just wondering what Belos has against it, y'know?"

"He's a control freak is what he's got against it," Eda said crossly, eyes narrowing a bit at Luz's suspicious segway. "He can't control it, and so he wants it wiped out. Remember, Luz, in the right hands, wild magic is only as dangerous as any other kind of magic. Learn about it and treat it with respect and you'll be fine." She smiled and headed for the kitchen to whip up lunch.

As Luz followed, King holding onto her shin, Luz felt like she was missing something. Oh well, even some mysteries needed time to unfold … especially for the mystery whisperer.

As the sun neared the horizon, the Bat Queen was watching her children play in the hollow tree that was their home. If one of them was in real danger from their surroundings, she would use her web magic to help them. But otherwise, she was content to let them collect scratches and bruises that they would readily heal from. They needed to learn how to stand on their own, without her coddling them.

Then a familiar whispering shriek echoed through the forest and her eyes widened. "Babies, come to Mama," she called, whistling for her children. The bat babies squeaked with surprise and flew to their mother, taking shelter in her hair and peeking out.

Not a moment later, a dark, lean shape broke through the leaves above and landed lightly on the bone-strewn lair floor. Gossamer wings furled to reveal the battered and burned form of the Scarbury. The Bat Queen's eyes widened with shock at the old demon's state. "You have news?" she inquired.

"Yes," the Scarbury hissed, nodding its head in respect to one of the few demons of the Boiling Isles even older than itself. "The mission was a failure."

The Bat Queen audibly gasped in shock. "Impossible!" she thundered. "Never have you failed. And it was but a boy."

"A boy that was not alone," the Scarbury replied. "He was accompanied by witchlings of … remarkable potency." The demon shivered at the memory of one in particular, feelings of respect flowing through it. "Particularly one child who tapped into the great Well."

The Bat Queen's brows arched at those words. To "tap into the Well" was an old poetic way to describe drawing upon the Titan's power directly from the wilds. It was a skill that was on the ragged edge of extinction, known to few aside from the Bat Queen herself thanks to the cursed Emperor. "Anyone else say such things, I would have doubts. But as long as you are known, you are not one to exaggerate." She tapped her toes in thought. "Show me this witchling."

The Scarbury swept its claws along the ground and dug up a cloud of dust. With a breath, it infused the dust with magic to show its thoughts; it showed an image of five witchlings … and four of them were familiar to the Bat Queen.

One was the human girl, Luz. Another was the target, the so-called Golden Guard who, according to her palismen protectorates who had not been adopted at Hexside, had kidnapped them for cursed Belos before the human had saved them. A third with pink hair was unfamiliar to her. The fourth was the small illusionist boy who had adopted Shimmer.

And standing in front of them was the bespectacled girl who had adopted Clover. And her eyes were shining with green magic.

"Remarkable," the Bat Queen mused.

"And that is not the end of it, Old One," the Scarbury said. The image changed with a small flow of magic and something appeared on the Golden Guard's shoulder. The Bat Queen started at the image of one of her oldest wards: the cardinal. The cardinal had chosen … the Golden Guard? How? Why?!

"And you are certain?" she asked.

"Utterly sure," the Scarbury replied as the dust cloud dispersed. "And the boy risked himself to save the wild witch," he revealed. "This is what caused her to dive into the Well and find the strength to fend me off."

The Bat Queen was quiet for some time as she considered all of this. The Golden Guard had kidnapped her charges for who knows what horrors Belos collected them for. But he had taken in the cardinal and risked himself against a powerful and dreaded demon for the sake of another. Could it be that the boy was … not beyond saving?

"Leave the boy in peace, for now," the Bat Queen requested. "And do take time to recover. You look dreadful."

The Scarbury hissed in good humor and nodded before unfurling its wings and departing. As it left, the babies climbed from their mother's hair to resume their play. Abd as she returned most of her attention to her children, part of her continued to think.

What in the Titan's name was going on these days?

Chapter five, everyone! Hope y'all liked it!

Hope y'all particularly liked my interpretation of Viney. I adore the Troublemakers, Viney in particular - and I can only hope I did her justice.

And that almost kiss was some of the most intense UST writing I've ever created; I'm particularly proud of it!

*The vigoare caps are named for the Romanian word for, you guessed it, "vigor" or health.

And who expected the appearance of BQ? Not even me, and I'm writing the darn thing.

Anyway, hoping everyone still likes this presentation. Leave a review and show your support - they keep my inspiration flowing!