Hunter had fallen asleep against the back of the wooden chair when he was woken by Stella's yell of fear. He looked down at her in panic, seeing her eyes open and staring ahead of her, rainbow colors swirling in them as her expression twisted in fear.
"Hey- what's happening?" He looked at her in concern, reaching out to reassure her.
He saw himself defending her against countless magi- all of them trying to destroy the danger she represented. He saw the sorcerer take her for himself, vowing revenge on the world for corrupting his experiment. She held his face in her small hands, smiling as her unseeing eyes watched him. He saw her cry before vanishing, ignoring his yells of protest as she disappeared into the world forever.
Hunter gasped in shock as he came back to himself again, looking down at Stella in surprise. Gods, what sort of magic did she have in her? He was positive she had just shown him bits of his own future- or what it could be, anyway.
He watched the magic fade from her eyes, the rainbow becoming white again as she stopped yelling. She gasped for breath, her fever spiking as the magic ran out again.
"Stupid girl, using your magic again." He muttered before bringing another blanket up around her shoulders to try and sweat the fever out while they got to a healer. Although, it was obvious she didn't have complete control over the strange magic. He looked down in surprise when she grabbed his wrist, her small hand gripping his tightly.
"Don't tell them- please don't tell any of the other magi." She said desperately between gasps for breath.
"I won't. Don't worry, the only way they'll find out is if you tell them yourself. Just get some sleep- you're getting worse when you don't sleep." He said, taking his wrist out of her hand and setting her arm back down beside her.
She stared ahead for a minute, her gaze going past his shoulder. "Why are you being so nice to me? Why not just leave me somewhere? I saw your expression- you're terrified at what I can do."
"I don't know about 'terrified'- that's a very strong word." Hunter said defensively. "Shocked yeah, a little uneasy sure, but I'm not scared of you. Is that what you're so worried about? I'd be so scared of your abilities that I'd try to kill you or not want to be around you?"
She looked away, a blush covering her pale cheeks. "I thought…"
"That's what he told you, right? Well babe, the world is a bit different from the view of an evil sorcerer. Not everything is out to get you- and not everyone will abandon you at the first sign of something bad happening."
"Yes, but…" She looked away with a blush staining her cheeks.
"I won't leave you- don't worry so much. Now get some rest." He insisted. She hesitated long enough that he let out a frustrated sigh and pushed her shoulders back against the bed. "Sleep- or you'll never make it in time for a healer."
Stella nodded and laid back against the pillows of the bed, the rocking of the ship sending her quickly into a deep sleep. Hunter sighed in relief and looked over to Silver as the tiger watched him, a wry expression on the creature's face.
"What?" Hunter asked in confusion.
The tiger snickered in amusement and walked out of the room, leaving a very confused Hunter behind him.
Stella woke up, smelling the scent of ocean and herbs. She tried to sit up, but a gentle hand held her down.
"No sitting up until I finish. Just relax." A female voice said, unfamiliar to Stella. She tensed, feeling wildly around her for where she was- all she felt was blankets and pillows.
"Calm down, Stella. This is April- she's healing you." Hunter said soothingly, putting a hand on her wrist reassuringly. Stella felt the familiar warmth of his palm and relaxed, letting out a long sigh.
"Poor dear, you got a pretty nasty bump." April said, putting a hand above Stella's forehead. Stella felt the warm sensation of magic flowing into her, the throbbing pain in her head lessening with each passing minute.
"She was unconscious for a while, I think. Will she be alright?" Hunter asked. He sounded… worried. Why would he be so worried about her?
"She'll be fine." April chuckled. "Just a bump on the head, it can cause someone to get dizzy and fall unconscious if it's this bad. How long was she asleep?"
Hunter hesitated for a minute. "Stella, you should probably tell her what happened so she can heal you properly."
Stella tensed again, her fists clenching in fear as the magi continued to heal her wound. "I… I used all of my magic. It makes me tired, when I do."
"That's common- the combination probably caused you to sleep for a long time. I have heard of magi sleeping for days when they use all of their magic." April finished with a sigh of satisfaction and took her hand away from Stella.
"But… I'm not…" Stella fiddled with the folds of her dress nervously. She wasn't sure if she should tell April if she was a magi or not…
"Oh, I was hoping you'd say something, but I didn't want to pry." April said happily. "I'm not entirely magi either, you see. It's not a big deal."
"Holy- you have fangs!" Hunter said in shock.
"Fangs?" Stella blinked in confusion.
"Yes, I'm part vampire. Like I said, not a big deal if you're not entirely magi." April chuckled.
Stella smiled softly, glad that someone else wasn't a normal when it came to magic. She leaned back against the pillows behind her, suddenly feeling very sleepy.
"Alright, we should let her sleep. You can have the room across the hall if you'd like, since you're staying as long as it takes her to heal."
"Uh… okay." Hunter said uneasily. He obviously hadn't been expecting to stay long.
"I'll be alright." Stella said sleepily, blinking as her magic tried to turn on and off, the air around her freezing before speeding up again and returning to normal.
"What was that?" April whispered in curiosity.
"Nothing- alright, where was this room you were talking about?" Hunter said hurriedly, his footsteps shuffled as he went out the door, April following him.
Stella couldn't help but smile as Hunter talked quickly out in the hall, trying to distract April. He definitely wasn't the most discrete man.
She tried to keep the time around her stable as she closed her eyes, unable to stop it from freezing again as she started to fall asleep.