In honour of my own graduation, I felt the need to write something in commemoration. This originally was only going to be a one-shot but it ended up being longer than I thought. Things to note include (I don't remember if I wrote this in the story lol)
This takes place about two years after the final battle with Belos, so Hunter has been going to school for about a year and a half. I like to think one of the biggest things they would focus on fixing would be Hexide, even then there wasn't really much to fix so it probably wouldn't take long for school to return to semi-normal. Also, you can not tell me Darius and Eda wouldn't fight to have the school ready as soon as possible for their children.
I hope you enjoy it!
It was a peaceful morning on the boiling isles, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping and the fairies were screaming. All was right in the demon realm, and considering not much more than two years ago the entire isles had almost been completely destroyed they were doing pretty well. But this air of peace could only cause so much comfort for this morning, especially for Hunter.
Hunter had woken up bright and early, rivalling that of the sun and spent the good half of his early morning reading palm cards like his life depended on it. The second he woke up he got changed into his school uniform, donning the colours of every track Hexide had to offer and planted himself at his desk reading and rereading as much as his mind would allow him. He hadn't even noticed how much time had passed until Waffles, his beloved palisman started pulling at his hair and gesturing to his clock.
"Has already been two and a half hours? How I only just started reading!" Waffles puffed her chest feathers and chirped in amusement at her witch.
Silly boy, time moves faster than you think
The boy groaned in annoyance and stress as he reluctantly pushed himself out of his chair and made it down to the living room, both utterly excited and utterly terrified for the day ahead.
Why exactly was Hunter was stressed out? Well, that was easy.
It was Hunter's graduation day from Hexide and he was the lucky student, as one of the only all-track multitrackers, who had been tasked with making a speech to the entire school and guardians. Hunter had never missed his golden guard mask so much than in that moment. He was terrified and who could blame him? It was one thing to graduate but for Hunter, someone who hasn't attended school like normal students and teenagers his age, it was a major deal. Not to mention the addition of the speech.
A speech he could have easily gotten out of but his guilt complex and sense of responsibility wouldn't allow it.
But there was nothing he could do about it now, so Hunter begrudgingly made his way down the stairs, he now lived at Blight Manor as Alador and Darius had finally gotten engaged, and headed to the living room where he was welcomed by the appetising scent of scrambled griffin eggs and toast. He walked in where he had found Alador presenting Amity with her breakfast, it wasn't long until they noticed him and happily, and in Alador's case tiredly greeted him.
"Morning Hunter, did you sleep well?" Hunter nodded and went to make himself a coffee, hoping the caffeine would calm him down. Logically he knew that was complete stupidity but he wasn't in the mood for being logical, his brain was too busy ensuring his fight-or-flight responses didn't kick in the moment he exited his room.
"Morning, when did you guys get up? I didn't hear anyone from upstairs"
"Oh we've been awake for a while now, I'm surprised you didn't hear us. Dad almost burnt down our kitchen" Hunter looked to his left finally noticing the black scorch marks adorning the side of the bench and stove. Hunter simply glanced over at the older man, who was now blushing in embarrassment and shame and couldn't help himself from snickering, Waffles mimicked this action.
Alador recovered relatively quickly and took the chance to properly greet, and converse with his future stepson.
"Yes, we can thank Mittens for rescuing our breakfast...and our kitchen. But enough about that, how are you feeling Hunter? Today's a big day for you" Alador didn't get the response he was expecting, instead, he turned around and found the boy pale as a sheet groaning into his arms as he hit the table with his head. As Alador watched on Amity gave him a thoughtful smile and pat on the back while Waffles affectionately ruffled his hair in hopes to cheer her witch up. It seemed to have had little effect but Hunter appreciated the attempts.
"I take it you're...not looking forward to graduation?" Hunter whined, finally raising his head from his arms and looking towards his future stepdad.
"It's not that, it's just...I never got to experience school like a normal kid and to think that it's almost over is both disappointing but just as fulfilling, but I never thought I'd play such a large role in our ceremony, what if I mess up?"
"That won't happen, little prince, no one has put as much effort into this event as you have" Darius chose this exact moment to walk into the room, followed by the boisterous Blight twins. Both of which were basking in the excitement of the day ahead and simply wouldn't allow Hunter to sulk and continue to self-dedicate himself. So they did what any good sibling would do and grabbed him and joyfully swung him around the kitchen, narrowly missing Amity and Ghost who had jumped onto the table.
"We're gonna graduate! We're gonna graduate! Say it with us!" Hunter continued to be dragged around until he reluctantly chanted along with the twins, his enthusiasm evident in his sarcastic tone.
"We're gonna graduate, we're gonna graduate, woo..." That's right, not only was Hunter graduating but the Twins were too, but unlike Hunter, they were beyond excited. And they couldn't be happier to be graduate with their favourite brother by their side, but before anything they needed to make sure he was ready they had a big day ahead of them after all.
"Come on Hunter, Darius is right you are more than ready and I'm sure your speech will be great!"
"Ed's right Goldy, and we only have one more day so let's go enjoy it, if we hear one more self-deprecating word out of you I will personally call Luz and your precious captain!" Hunter could feel the heat rise to his face and a blush not so subtly graced his cheeks. His very obvious crush was no secret to the Blight family (especially as Odalia was no longer a Blight) and they would never let him hear the end of it. Even Alador had somehow picked up on it all on his own and Hunter could decide whether he should be proud or cry.
The twins and Amity were nice about it though, even offering to wingman him and offer advice which Hunter would happily accept from Amity and Emira. Edric on the other hand...not so much. While he put on the facade of a smooth and flirtatious rascal, he had about the same dating finesse and advice of a drunk penguin. A peculiar bird Luz had told him about from the human realm.
Edric bless his heart, tried his best but more often than not would fumble worse than Hunter in his own love life. Not that he was completely hopeless, he had helped quite a few times in the past...only for Hunter to chicken out, but after the last attempt which almost resulted in Hunter getting caught sneaking into Willow's bedroom by her dads, he decided he would listen to the girls.
He thanked his lucky stars and the titan that both Edric and Gus got his sos messages to save him while Willow tried to distract her dads. They hadn't done anything of course but given that Willow's dad Harvey wasn't his biggest fan, he didn't want to take his chances. It was obvious to anyone who knew them that Harvey and Gilbert absolutely adored their daughter and that also meant they tended to be very protective of her. This had been very apparent during her early childhood, with them pushing for her magic tracks and such. While they had learned that Willow was no longer a baby and she was strong enough to make her own decisions but this didn't mean they'd ever stop being protective.
But that was enough about his absolute failure of a love life, he had more important and present matters to deal with. Like graduation and the crushing expectations of making a speech to the entire school and their families...
Titan, I didn't survive years of abuse to die due to a fucking heart attack.
Before anyone knew it, it was time for everyone to head to school and for most of them, for the final time. They all grabbed their bags and palisman and headed out the door, leaving the house behind them as they flew towards Hexide. There was no escape, but Hunter chose to bury those doubts and feelings until the actual ceremony. There was no point panicking over it right now, he thought. All that was important was that this was a very important chapter of his young adult life. He was graduating in less than twelve hours and was just about to face his very last day as a Hexide student.
He heard Waffles chirp up at him and a soft warmth from within his chest as he glanced up at his siblings flying ahead and a small and nervous smile grace his lips.
"I can do this...right Flap?"
"Damn, they're really running late aren't they?" The young plant witch said as she kept a close eye on the horizon. Next to her sat two of her best friends who both snorted at her comment. This caught Willow's attention, she turned to her friends who were both wearing the same Cheshire grin. They both moved to either side of her and elbowed her in the sides jokingly.
"They're not really that late~" Gus purred, Willow recognised that tone...
"Yes, Gustabeth you are right, perhaps our dear captain is missing someone...maybe a certain blonde-haired scholar? Well, Willow?" Luz teased, elbowing Willow more as a flurry of wildflowers blessed in her hair. The flustered girl quickly pushed the two aside as her blush increased but the two noticed she made no effort to deny their claim.
"Guys...Arg fine, maybe I do just a little bit but I'm serious Amity and Hunter are always here early and today is a big day for him...and the twins! I thought they'd be here by now ya know" Willow had a point, those two were almost always at school before them if they hadn't accompanied by either one of them. It was kinda unlike them, but Luz knew better than to worry. If something had happened Amity would have let her know.
"Hey don't worry about it, Amity would have let me know if anything was up and don't pretend that Hunter wouldn't have done the same for you. Honestly, he texts and calls you just as much as me and Amity do...you sure you aren't dating?" Willow's face turned a violent shade of scarlet and the flowers around her hair increased significantly. Gus and Luz both erupted into giggles as Willow whined, struggling to hide her face now that her hair was short again.
"Guys~" Willow squeaked, Gus and Luz took a moment to calm themselves down before they returned to reassuring her. Luz placed an arm around her shoulders and watched as Clover and Stringbean each made their way to them, offering Willow their reassurance as well.
"Willow, I'm sure it's fine, honestly knowing the twins and how big today is gonna be for them, they probably spent the entire morning fussing over their looks and fighting over concealment stones"
"Yeah, Luz's right. Do you really think my man Hunter is gonna miss a day like today?"
Especially a day to see you? Gus mentally added, Willow had had enough teasing for one day.
Willow smiled as Clover nuzzled her cheek and scratched her head affectionately. She also shot Luz and Gus a kind smile and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She performed her exercises for a few moments until she had calmed down and returned to her happy cheerful self, a genuine self.
"Thanks, Guys, I guess I got so stuck in my head about today that even the smallest differences have me on edge" The two returned to sideward hugging her as they laughed.
"Wow, Hunter really is rubbing off on you ha?" Instead of getting embarrassed she rolled her eyes and let out an exasperated sigh. Willow rolled her eyes with an amused smile.
"Don't be mean, it's not his fault"
"So you don't deny it?~"
"No...no I don't" Willow reluctantly but jokingly, said. It was true, while Hunter had been picking up all sorts of good habits and mannerisms from them but it seemed he wasn't the only one. As she spent more time with the adorable and dorky blonde she found herself adopting more and more of his little habits and even adopting new ones. A few minutes later they heard cheerful screams in the distance, as they turned to the source of the sound they saw the silhouette of their friends in the distance.
It didn't take long for them to reach the school as they all landed safely, though Edric in an attempt to look cool almost crashed and fell off his paliman. Thankfully his dear honorary brother Hunter caught him by the hood of his cloak and gently lowered him to the ground. Both Batric and his palisman, a little fruit bat (Luz showed him a book all about human world bats and thought they looked cool) named Fizzy rushed to their boy to check he was ok. Once they knew they rushed over to Hunter and showered him in thanks.
"It's ok guys, I'm happy my reflexes are still as good as they are"
"Yeah thanks bro, Hey guys, are we late?"
"Sorry, consider us fashionably late" Edric and Emira both shot the group their award-winning grins, while Hunter and Amity simultaneously groaned at their siblings' antics and went on to greeting their friends themselves, literally stepping in front of them and shoving them aside causing everyone to laugh, especially with the completely serious expression the two were wearing as if they were doing nothing wrong.
"Hey Batata"
"Hi everyone, morning captain..." Willow was quick to perk back to her usual cheerful self, and unlike in the past where she would mask her emotions and hide behind a fake smile, she genuinely smiled just happy to see the boy she liked. Sure she was still stressed but something about Hunter just made her happy. Titan she had it bad...
"Morning Hunter...and Amity! You too Edric, Emira, how was your flight over here?" The flustered girl attempted to cover her obvious blunder but unfortunately for her, all the Blights plus her two besties all noticed and smirked, Hunter bless his heart saw nothing out of the ordinary with this interaction and simply smiled like the love-sick fool he was. Amity and Gus suppressed the urge to roll their eyes, how was someone so smart so dense? They loved the Flyer Derby duo but Titan were they hard to watch sometimes. Amity quietly stepped over to Gus and whispered in his ear.
"I am...so sorry you have to experience this twice, you have my condolences" Gus sighed.
"If it weren't for me, you'd all be single forever. Feel free to repay me at your future weddings" Amity nodded. That sounded fair.
It wasn't long before the group fell into their own respective conversations mainly consisting of the twins running around Hunter screaming about graduation to the "kids" and Luz and Amity shamelessly flirting off to the side. All the while Hunter was ranting to Willow and Gus, completely ignoring the flashes of green running around him, it was times like this that reminded him he was the oldest. Even if only by a few weeks.
After the apocalypse thing settled Darius found Hunter's case file and "birth certificate". According to the file he was "born" June 12th, which made him the oldest of the group by a few weeks. But everyone knew he wasn't the most mature, it was Gus. 100%
The group was interrupted by screaming of the school bell, and Hunter gulped. The final day of school had finally begun and there was no turning back now. Everyone said their goodbyes and walked to classes as Hunter found himself standing there unable to move and unsure what to do. His classes were technically over so he had nowhere to go, all the seniors (including Ed and Em) all went to the gym for the final day celebrations but Hunter found himself not wanting to go. It didn't feel right, so many of the graduates had grown up together and Hunter felt like he'd be an outsider.
Hunter begrudgingly stood a step forward but before he could start making his way to the gym but he didn't get far before the voice of his favourite person stopped him in his tracks. He turned and saw Willow standing before him, her beautiful green eyes gazing up at him as if he were the most special thing in the world. She always managed to take his breath away.
"Are you ok Hunter? You just stopped" Hunter sighed and subconsciously shook his hands at his sides, a nervous stim he had developed over his teenage years. Waffles chirped softly and nuzzled his cheek to comfort him and Willow patiently waited for him to continue. He appreciated both of them. Hunter hummed and scratched Waffle's feathers as he continued.
"Today...everything is so overwhelming and I...don't really know how to feel. Right now I should be with the other graduates who are starting their celebration activities for their final day but..." Hunter took a breath, Willow took another step towards him as he allowed her presence to soothe him.
"Everyone graduating has known each other since school started. They practically grew up together and today is a day marking a major achievement, the final big achievement they all get to experience together. I guess I feel like an imposter...don't get me wrong, Edric and Emira have made it abundantly clear that I am one of the Blights and have a place in the graduating class but...it just doesn't feel right, does that make sense?" Willow smiled and rubbed her arm.
"Yeah I get it...so what are you gonna do then? We still have the entire day ahead of us?" Hunter shrugged.
"I don't know, I guess I was just going to head to the gym and grin and bear it. I'll have the twins I guess, and Waffles will make sure I'm not lonely won't you little lady" The little blue jay chirped in agreement and flew proudly around the boy, drawing out laughter from both him and the familiar plant witch. Clover took the chance to follow her lead joining her in circling her boy. When did Hunter become a merry-go-round? He didn't know. But he accepted the nonetheless.
"I'm sure she will, she's just as loyal as her witch isn't she" Hunter blushed at her praise while Waffles whistled in in agreement. Willow chuckled at their antics until an idea hit her. Her eyes widened as a mischievous grin formed on her face.
"Hey Hunter, since you don't want to go to "class" how about we skip?"
"What?! But won't you get in trouble?" Sure Willow's dads would be a little angry and she'd probably be grounded for the next month, especially when they found out she skipped with a boy but she couldn't find herself to care. She would rather spend the day with Hunter enjoying his final day as a Hexide student. He was worth it. So Willow grabbed both his hands gently but excitedly and stared directly into his gorgeous brown eyes.
"Sure but it's your final day and you haven't once, except maybe by omission, broken any of the school rules. So why not go out with a bang and skip the final day with me? We can go celebrate? Explore Bonesborough just the two of us...what do you say?" Hunter couldn't pull his eyes away and her words had completely melted his heart. She was so passionate and kind to offer her own time and break the rules just to ensure he had a good day. The logical, stickler for the rules part of him was screaming for him to say no and to continue to be the perfect little student but the emotional part of him, the part of him that wanted nothing more than to spend as much time with Willow as he possible could screamed louder.
He's pretty sure he could even hear Flapjack agreeing with him to break the rules and revel in his teenage rebellion.
Darius would be proud
So Hunter went against everything he had ever been taught, he went against his better judgment and did something he never thought he'd do. He squeezed Willow's hands back and his smile matched her own, ignoring the heat of his flushing cheeks not finding in his heart to care.
"Ok! Let's skip school today!"
And done! I honestly didn't know this would take so long and I definitely didn't plan on writing so much. I'm sorry if the chapter seems a little inconsistent blame that on my tangents and the fact I wrote this over multiple days. I think this came out well but obviously, I'll be a little biased. This story depending on how much I decide to write should only be about two or three chapters in total but I can't say for sure.
I hope you all enjoyed reading and please feel free to comment and share constructive criticisms or even requests and ideas. I love seeing them!
Thanks for reading, love you all!
~Luna
