This chapter came out way longer than I expected, I thought it honestly was going to be shorter. I do apologize it took so long to write, I was having difficulty with the first scene and decently proud with how it all turned out. A thank you to the wondrous KammieCeleek on Ao3 for their help and support, I highly suggest you check out their works, they write marvelous stories and have many Owl Houses ones for anyone interested. Without further ado, on with the show!
The wild beast lunged towards the boys at a terrifying speed, they jumped to opposite sides as the beast flew past where they stood. It slid as it landed, the sand not providing much traction and was once more facing the boys. It stared them down, face low, back arched, tail swinging from side to side.
"What the heck is this thing?!" Gus exclaimed in panic, his staff gripped tight and at the ready.
"I don't know, but it certainly doesn't seem friendly." Hunter had read many books on beast keeping and the beasts of the Isles, and he can't think of just what this beast might be at the moment. The beast conclusion he could come up with is a beast that faded into obscurity or one restricted as it must be associated with wild magic.
Before he could ponder it further, it pounced again towards them, more specifically towards the blonde. The boy in question hurriedly got on his staff, flying above the beast's reach.
The younger boy took notice of the beast's actions, casting a spell circle and making multiple Hunter's appear in the sky. It stared up at the various Hunter's, eyes darting about to each of them, confused by the illusion.
"Nice work Gus!" The Hunter's cheered in unison. With a growl, the beast spun around, it's tail flying through the air and subsequently through the Hunter illusions and making them disappear, the real Hunter dodging it.
The beast made another bound, this time directly at Hunter who flashed teleported out of the way. "Hey! Quit it!"
What was this creature's aim exactly? It was a wild beast but it still was acting so odd and erratic that Hunter didn't understand. They hadn't even provoked it, it just decided to attack them, going for him specifically and as that kept Gus safe, he didn't mind.
"AHH!" Hunter wailed as he felt his ankle being ensnared. He was pulled by the beast's tail off Flapjack, dragged through the air to come face to face with the snarling slobbering beast, the boy hanging upside down.
"Hunter! Hang on!" Gus called, making a spell circle which caused a cloud to poof around his friend, when it disappeared so did Hunter it seemed. The beast simply roared, slobber getting all over Hunter and the illusion going away once more.
"Ew, gross! Hey!" The blonde yelled unhappily as the beast got its face close to him. He tried to swing himself away but it only followed after him.
Gus was trying to think what he could do. Any illusions he made only momentarily stopped the beast if anything, and he still knew very little magic outside of illusions that would be helpful. He was struck with a thought, and started to make a fire glyph in the sand. He was halfway done when a sound, other than Hunter yelling, caught his attention.
"SAL!"
All parties looked to see a man come around the bend, hurrying over towards the beast and the boys, huffing. "Sal! Put, put that boy, down, now. Why must you be so fast?"
The creature known as Sal seemed confused for a moment, eyes shifting between the man trying to catch his breath, and the boy hanging upside down by his tail. He slowly lowered the boy to the ground, only letting go when he was completely on the ground. Hunter scrambled away from the beast, Gus and Flapjack hurrying to him, helping him up. Once upright and steady, Flapjack retreated into his owner's bag, Emmiline disappearing as well.
The creature made its way over to the man, the boys observing this, and took note of something. The creature was getting smaller the closer it got. As strange as many things were on the Boiling Isles that were commonplace, a large hulking creature now no bigger than King definitely caught them off guard.
"I, am so sorry about him! He usually stays away from strangers, especially far away ones." The man apologized, straightening up as he finally caught his breath.
The man was very tall and somewhat lanky looking. His complexion is fair, bright blue eyes, a hooked nose, and blonde hair. He wore a deep red cloak with the hood up, his hair mostly covered by it but some poking out including a forelock.
"Yea, well he certainly seemed to want to tear us limb from limb for no reason!" Hunter exclaimed, very unhappy with the beast's antics.
'Sal, as he seemed to be, was staring curiously at the boys, more specifically Hunter. His head tilted to the side, his large orange eyes taking in the boy in wonder. "Oh no, he wasn't attacking you! He was just playing, though from experience I know he can indeed be a little rough."
Sal padded over to the boys, Hunter standing in front of Gus in case he tried anything. It was unnecessary as the blonde was his target, sniffing his hand and gently nudging it with his nose. Hunter retracted his hand but it only made Sal chase after it. "Hey, stop it! Get away!"
Gus watched as his brother kept backing away from the animal with it following, this game of sorts they played that Hunter wanted no part of. "Huh, strange that he is the giant monster beast that was chasing us just a moment ago."
"Yea, the Boiling Isles is a strange but amazing place with lovely beings." The man added wistfully, Gus giving him an odd look at that. He seemed to realize just how odd his statement was and tried to amend it, a sound broke through.
Thunder.
The sound caused Sal to scurry over to the tall man, leap up onto his shoulders and rested across them, wrapping his tail across his front. He grred at the sky, very unhappy with the noise it made.
"Crikey, Boiling rain is about to set in. Will you boy be able to get home alright? I'll take you back, how far are you?" He offered kindly, giving scritches to the creature now on his shoulders.
This man seemed kind enough, but Hunter was still wary nonetheless. "Uh, that won't be necessary, we'll be fine getting back on our own."
That seemed to make the man worry more than soothe him. "I do not wish to be rude but I must insist. The last thing I want is you boy caught in the rain."
"We're from Latissa, we wouldn't want to make you go out of your way for us." Hunter lied quickly, as much as he wasn't a fan of it, he didn't want the man following them.
Gus seemed to be of the same mind, going along with the ruse. "Yea, don't worry about us, we'll be fine getting back ourselves."
Insteading of deterring the man, it seemed to do the opposite. "I'm not familiar with anywhere outside of Bonesborough, but I do know Latissa is indeed far, too far to reach in time before the rain comes. You can come to my house and wait out the storm, it will be no issue I assure you."
"You really don't-" Hunter attempted to negate once more, but a boom of thunder cut him short. Based on the sounds of the impending storm and the look of the sky, it indeed wouldn't be long before it came down. The boy shared a look, coming to the reluctant conclusion that they would have to go along with this. "Alright, but only until the storm passes."
"Marvelous, follow me to safety!" The man declared way too cheerfully, making his way off the beach, the boys in tow.
"It is not much farther, come along lads. Hopefully the Titan will be on our side and allow us to reach shelter before the rain comes down." The man declared, ushering the boys onward. The trio were hurrying through the woods as quickly as they could in hopes to escape the rain.
Hunter was used to the rain from his days of training in the Emperor's coven, all scouts had to train in the rain on several occasions and get used to it. But he didn't want Gus caught out in the rain, he was capable of casting a protection spell even if it was a small one so he would be fine. Plus, they both had their staffs so they could fly to safety if need be.
They never should have followed this man. Hunter hated this whole situation. To think, just a while ago they were looking for seashells and suddenly fell through the sand. And now boiling rain was coming in and they were following a strange man to his house. They didn't even know if the girls were okay, if Willow was okay.
Hunter leaned towards Gus, making sure to speak low so the man couldn't hear them. "We should head back, we can fly away before this guy even realizes we're gone. Not like he could catch us anyway."
Gus thought about this for a few seconds, just as uncomfortable about this situation but couldn't help but be curious. "We don't even know what really happened. By the time we get back to the beach, the rain might start before we can figure out how to get back, definitely doesn't feel like Bonesborough."
Another clap of thunder resounded, Sal growling at the sky in agitation. The man chuckled and stroked the beasts head, saying soothing words which seemed to help. "Besides, this man seems nice. I think if we left he would worry. He just wants to help."
"Something about him, feels familiar. Is that just me?" Hunter couldn't help but wonder aloud. He knows very well they have never met, but he felt like he knew him still.
Just as Gus was going to answer, a drop of rain landed in front of them, sizzling on the ground.
Hunter reached into his pouch, about to bring out Flapjack to cast a barrier to protect them, but was stopped by something covering them.
Shifting the object so he could see, Hunter realized this man had taken off his cloak and draped it over the two boys. The man held Sal in his arms, now that the hood was off it could be seen he had long hair he kept in a ponytail. "Hurry!"
And they did, all running now towards the shelter the man promised.
It took a few moments of running, but they finally reached a modest looking house on the edge of the woods. The man hurriedly opened the door, Sal bounding inside with the boys following and the man closing the door behind them all. They stood in the living room of the house, all taking a moment to catch their breaths, except for Sal who was carried the whole way, crawled over to the couch and curled up on it.
"Are you boys okay? The rain didn't get you?" He asked with heaving breaths, looking over the boys to be sure.
The cloak did protect them from the rain, but was ruined itself. Not as bad as it could have been, but it did suffer damage like most things did to the rain. Hunter looked over Gus and saw he was okay, bundling up the cloak and extending it to the man. "Thank you sir, I appreciate your hospitality to me and my brother. Sorry you got hurt because of us."
"Yeah, thank you. I don't know any healing spells but can we do anything to help you?" Their statements made the man's eyes go wide, examining himself and exclaiming at the state he is in.
His clothes had various holes in them, his skin burned in various places as well. His hair even had come loose, the rain burning the tie that kept his hair back. "Oh no! She's going to kill me if she sees me like this! She isn't here is she!?"
"Whose she? And kill you?" Hunter asked as the man scurried around, looking to see if 'she' was here. These words made Hunter tense, this man so afraid of someone that also was meant to be here. Would this woman kill him and Gus as well for whatever he did wrong? For bringing them here?
"My wife. I mean, not my wife, not yet, at least. She hates when I get caught out in the rain. I truly never mean to, but she hates it nonetheless. She isn't here so I have time. Sal, watch them while I make myself look presentable, make yourselves at home!" With that, the man hurried down a hallway.
The boys took in a moment to take in their surroundings with the man gone. The living room was very modest but homey looking. A couch sat against a side wall with a table in front of it and a chair on either ends, adjacent to the sitting arrangements was a fireplace currently dimly lit. Along with the front door, there were two open doorways, one seemed to lead to a kitchen, the other which the man went down a hallway. Various little knick knacks were scattered about the room, many cute little wood carvings were the most common thing about.
Hunter took note of a small photo of sorts on one of the end tables on one side of the couch, and couldn't help picking it up and examining it. "Gus, take a look at this."
The boy in question came over and couldn't help but gasp at what he say.
The picture frame held a portrait of a man and a woman. The woman was hugging the man from behind, a large smile upon her face, with her arms around his neck. The man was smiling at her, hands on her arms, looking at her with so much love and adoration. What really caught their attention wasn't the woman, but the man. It was the man that was with them, they had never gotten a proper look at him due to his cloak originally, then running through the rain, and when in safety he was rather disheveled.
The photo showed him perfectly, and they could see that not only did this man have round ears, but looked just like Hunter. Of course even with the ears there were a few other physical disparities and age difference, but there was no mistaking the striking similarities.
All of this led Gus to one conclusion for just what happened to them. "Hunter, I think we fell through a time pool."
"A time pool? Those old witches tales? They are nothing more than legend. And even if they were real, no one is stupid enough to accidentally fall through one." Hunter scoffed at.
Gus had a serious expression, clearly not thinking the same. "Considering all the crazy things we've gone through, time travel wouldn't surprise me, accidental or not. And you can't deny, this man is human. And in the history of the Boiling Isles, there have only been three humans here, Luz, he who shall not be named, and-"
"Okay! How do I look! Is it obvious I've been out in the rain?" The man asked peppily as he returned. He was now changed into new clothes that had no holes, a loose off white long sleeved shirt, green high waisted pants held up with suspenders, and brown boots. No burns could be seen.
"Uh, you look fine, but your hair is a bit of a mess." Gus pointed out as he gestured to his own.
The man only now seemed to notice his loose hair, taking a hair band out of his pants as he pulled his hair back. "Oh right, thank you. I just realized I don't know your names, nor you mine. How silly of me."
The man's hair now out of his face and held back, his ears were revealed for the first time. And indeed, just like the portrait, his ears were round like a human's.
Hunter couldn't help but chuckle nervously at this. "Uh, yeah, silly."
"My name is Caleb, it is a pleasure to meet you both." The man 'Caleb' introduced with a beaming smile. The boys exchanged glances, this development shocking them both despite the evidence they found. They weren't sure how to proceed, knowing Caleb was waiting for them to introduce themselves. Just as Hunter opened his mouth, two things happened at once startling them all.
The sound of thunder booming resounded throughout the house, punctuated by the door slamming open. In the doorway stood an ominous looking silhouette, illuminated by lightning behind them quickly following the noise.
Fair warning, I'm going through some family and personal things, which either means it'll take me longer to update with me dealing with it and such as I even wrote part of this chapter while having anxiety about it, or I'll be a speed demon and be able to crank out more stuff in trying to cheer myself up. Not sure, we shall see. I will post a one shot before I post the next chapter of this so keep that in mind, the one shot I have in mind is going to be angsty fair warning. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, see you in the next one, and hope you are surviving this hiatus!