One Step at a Time

Hunter was sick and tired of wasting their time here. What were they staying at the Owl House for? Eda, King and even that bird tube wasn't even here. He saw no reason to be here. He looked in the distance and made a decision. If his friends wanted to stay here, that was fine. He was going to go there himself. He took a deep breath and walked away. He then felt something slimy and wet on his ear. He turned around and saw that Emmiline had shot her slimy tongue into his ear. He got mad at the blue chameleon.

"Ewww, Emmiline!" He shouted. "What was that for?!" Emmiline, of course, didn't answer. "Ugh! That's just disgusting! Please, don't do it again!" He was about to go again when he heard a familiar voice stop him.

"Wait, Hunter!" Willow shouted as she and Gus ran outside. "Please, don't go!"

"Yeah!" Gus added. "Please, we can work this out. Don't go to the Boiling Sea."

"I wasn't going to go to the Boiling Sea." Hunter told him. "I'm sick and tired of waiting here and doing nothing while Belos is out there doing who knows what, so I was going to face Belos myself."

"Hunter, please, don't face Belos on your own." Willow pleaded. "We can help. You just need to wait just a little longer."

"No! I told you, I'm tired of waiting! I'm sorry, but I'm going and you are not going to stop me. Belos might be hurting another innocent witch or palismen, and I'm not going to let that happen. I can't believe you guys don't care."

"We do care."

"No, you don't! If you really cared, we wouldn't be here. We would be closer to Belos, maybe even defeating that evil monster. Once he's gone, the better all of our lives will be."

"Are you seriously going to face Belos magicless and without a staff?" Gus wanted to know. Hunter thought about this and sighed.

"You're right." He said. "I'm practically useless right now." Gus and Willow were sad about this. "But I still have combat skills. That's the only useful thing I learned in the Emperor's Coven. But, it might be helpful if I had a staff. Captain, lend me Clover. I'll return her when I defeat Belos once and for all." Willow hesitated and looked at Clover.

"I…I don't know." Hunter was about to say something more when Camila shouted out.

"What's going on here?!" She wanted to know.

"Hunter thinks he can face Belos on his own." Gus told her. "He's tired of waiting for us."

"I tried to tell him to be patient and wait for us." Willow said as well. "But he refused and wants to go now." Camila looked at the grimwalker.

"Hunter, I know why you're doing this. You're really angry at Belos and want justice for your cute pet bird."

"Flapjack wasn't a pet!" Hunter argued with her. "He was my palisman, or as your humans say, my familiar. He was my…" He sniffed sadly as he tried not to cry. "He was my…"

"Your friend?"

"Yes, and I told him that I'd keep him safe from Belos and I didn't. I…"

"You think you failed him?" Hunter was surprised at this.

"I know how you feel. My husband and Luz's father was my friend too, and after he passed away, I felt awful and felt the same way that you feel about Flapjack, that I failed him. I truly believed that when we moved so we could be closer to the 'better' hospital, things would get better, but it didn't. You know why I decided to become a vet? Because I love animals so much and can't stand to see them sick or injured. So, I also want this Belos monster to pay for what he did to your bird. That was not okay and just horrible to watch. I hate animal cruelty. That little bird will get justice. I promise you that. I will go inside right now and tell Luz that you want to go after Belos right now." Hunter wiped away his tears. First it was Amity, then King and now Camila and even Luz. He never imagined making so many connections. It really made him feel less lonely in the world knowing that there were humans, creatures and witches out there going through similar stuff.

"Thank you." Camila smiled.

"De nada. Just please, wait here another minute." And with that, she went back inside. Willow and Gus looked at Hunter.

"It's hard to wait." Gus began. "But trust me, it'll all be worth it. Just take this one step at a time."

"Yeah." Willow put in. "We don't want you to do this on your own. IWe like you too much to do that. We are better if we all work together."

"Yeah, better together!" Hunter smiled, not believing that he was thinking of facing Belos on his own without magic. Willow then saw something in the sky.

"Wait," She said. "Is that…" Gus and Hunter looked at the sky too and gasped. It was a shooting star, but on the shooting star, was that…

"IT'S EDA AND KING!" Hunter yelled.