Willow shot a desperate look at both of her dads, her eyes saying I'll explain later. She knew they were confused right now, but this definitely wasn't the time to get into the whole 'my new friend is the Golden Guard' thing. She was so not sure how her dads would feel about that.
Her papa (Gilbert) said something along the lines of, "I'll go make some tea," and her dad (Harvey) left for a moment and came back with a towel for Hunter to wipe the dirt off. Meanwhile, Willow led the way to the couch and patted it, inviting the terrified boy in front of her to sit down. He hesitated, but slowly sunk down into the cushions. His palisman perched on his shoulder and started chirping at him.
Willow hated seeing him like this. They hadn't known each other for very long yet, and Willow couldn't even say they were that close, but she cared a lot about her friends. Even her new ones. Especially her new ones. She was also pretty sure that Hunter had no friends (besides Flapjack) outside of the team. He wouldn't have some here if he wasn't desperate, or if he had anywhere else to go, and that only made her worry more.
Something terrible had happened.
Someone or something hurt her friend, and she was going to get to the bottom of this.
Hunter held the towel in his hands and stared blankly at it, like he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with it. He seemed really out of it right now. His breathing was still uneven, and he just looked so..helpless.
"Hunter…Can you tell me what happened?" Willow asked softly, using the kindest and calmest voice she could possibly muster.
Hunter didn't say anything, he just squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in the towel. His shoulders shook, whether out of nerves or suppressed sobs or both, she couldn't tell.
"Okay, you're not in the mood for talking! That's completely fine. Tell me whenever you're ready, or don't, but…can you just let me know if you're okay? I-I mean, if you're hurt? If anyone's after you?" This was going to be hard. She wasn't sure how much she'd be able to get out of him, but she had to try.
Hunter stiffened and Willow frowned out of concern. "You don't have to tell me right now. Take all of the time you need, but…Hunter, if someone did something to you, I-I need to know." She needed to know because that was the purpose of her growing stronger-to protect those she cared about. If someone hurt Hunter, Willow already knew that she would tear them to shreds.
Willow waited. She knew she couldn't push Hunter on this, not until he was ready to talk about it. He seemed…traumatized…And pushing him for answers right now would probably only make things worse. He trusted her by coming here, so she couldn't let him down.
What happened?!
She wished so badly that she had all of the answers…That she knew exactly what to do and how to help him. Nothing felt worse to her than when she felt like she couldn't help a friend in need.
Her papa walked over and set down two steaming mugs of herbal tea. He stared sadly at Hunter for a moment, but then walked away. Willow was grateful for that, she knew her dads wanted to help, and they would later, if they could, but right now Hunter didn't need to be smothered by a thousand questions.
Willow picked up one of the mugs and cautiously handed it to Hunter, a tiny sad smile on her face. "Here, you should drink it," she said kindly.
Hunter raised his head slightly to glance at the mug, waited a moment, and then reached one hand out to grab it. He shifted his position on the couch so that his knees were brought up and his chin was resting on them. His hands were in front of his knees, holding the mug. He watched the steam rise from the cup and took a sip after a minute.
The two of them just sat there for a while, sipping their tea. Then he mumbled something, a name.
"What was that?" Willow questioned, perking up as soon as she finally heard the boy speak.
"...Belos…He-" Hunter gulped and shook his head, squeezing his eyes shut again.
"He what?" Her heart pounded nervously as she awaited his answer. Belos-The Emperor-he did something to Hunter, didn't he? She should have guessed, why else would Hunter be here instead of at the castle right now?
He took a shuddering breath. "He tried to-He almost…And Luz-" Hunter's breath was starting to hitch again, but he took a few deep, controlled breaths to get himself under control.
Luz?! Why the heck did he just mention Luz? Did she know what happened?
"Hunter," Willow spoke gently, looked him in the eye, and placed a hand on his knee. "It's okay. Whatever happened, you're safe here. You can talk to me."
Hunter nodded, took another deep breath, and continued. "It-It's a long story, but…I can't-I can't go back to the castle. I can't go back there or he'll…"
Willow found herself holding her breath. She was afraid of his next words. "He'll what?"
"He'll kill me."
Those three words were barely even a whisper, but Willow heard them loud and clear. Belos wanted to kill Hunter. There was a chance he already tried to kill him, from the looks of it.
That was…That was the one thing Willow hoped Hunter wouldn't say. She knew how much he respected and admired the Emperor-his uncle…Gosh, what kind of horrible, awful, messed up man would try to kill his own nephew?! She knew Belos was bad, but this was…this was a lot to take in. And if she was having a hard time wrapping her head around this, she couldn't even imagine how Hunter felt right now.
"Hunter, I'm-" Now she was the one who was having trouble speaking. "-I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry, is there-is there anything I can do?" Her mind was racing with too many thoughts at once. This was bad, this was really, really bad, and somehow Willow knew that she was still missing a major chunk of the story.
"You're already doing it," Hunter whispered, turning his head to the side, away from Willow. He stared at the wall. "You just letting me in and…and being here…That's enough."
Now that, that shattered Willow's heart into billions of tiny pieces. Because she felt like she was barely doing anything, because she felt like she should be doing more to help him, a lot more. "But I'm-"
"I had nowhere else to go, you know?" It hurt her how weak his voice was right now. He seemed like it was a struggle to get every little word out. "I couldn't…I couldn't trust anyone else. So you being here right now…" He sniffed. "It means a lot. Really."
Why was it that each sentence he spoke only strangled her heart more? She felt so bad that he had no one else to turn to right now…She couldn't even begin to wonder how lonely he was feeling.
But he trusted her. They'd only known each other for what, two weeks? Two and a half? That wasn't long at all, and yet…He trusted her enough to come here.
All Willow could do was smile sadly at him. "You'll always be welcome here. Always." She paused for a moment, and bit her lip. "Can I give you a hug?"
Hunter raised his head to look at her, surprise etched in his features, but then he nodded. A short, abrupt nod, but that was all it took for Willow to scootch in closer and wrap her arms around her teammate. It only took a second for Hunter to return the hug. They stayed like that for a minute. Hunter buried his face in her shoulder.
"Thanks," Hunter whispered, and then he pulled back. A strange look was on his face, one that Willow couldn't place. He looked…Uncertain? Confused? He definitely looked tired right now. Exhausted, really.
Willow took his hand in hers and gave it a quick squeeze. "Everything's going to be okay, I promise." And she would do everything in her power to keep that promise. "Do you…want to talk about it some more? The Belos thing is…crazy…" Now that was the understatement of the century. "...But I think there's something else weighing you down too."
Hunter glanced down at the towel still in his lap and grabbed it. He ran it across his face, managing to wipe some of the dirt off, and then set it down again. "I want to tell you, but…Later, maybe? Tonight was just…a lot…and I need some time to think first."
Willow nodded and bit her lip again. "Of course! I'm guessing you'll need to stay here for the night?"
Hunter suddenly looked very anxious again, and looked at her with wide eyes. "I-I'm sorry, no, I'll leave, I can't…I know I can't just barge in here and expect to stay. I'll-I'll-"
Willow held up a hand and smiled. "Breathe, Hunter. It's fine, just let me talk to my dads real quick, okay?"
Hunter frowned and nodded.
"Okay, I'll just be a minute then. The bathroom is the door on your right if you want to wash up a little."
Hunter nodded again, and Willow stood up. She cast one last concerned look his way before heading to the kitchen where she knew her dads were waiting.
This was going to be interesting.