It had been a long six months, but after months of tireless work and effort, Hexide was finally fully fixed and open for the return of its students. This of course included the heroes of the Boiling Isles themselves. Hunter was especially excited as this would be his first day of school as a new student. No more sneaking around or undercover missions. No, now he finally got the chance to school with his friends and he couldn't be happier.

This would also be the real reunion for the Hexide's Emerald Entrails, something the entire team was eagerly awaiting as they would finally have access grudgby field, meaning they could finally play and practice their skills. Though Hunter still did not have a palisman of his own, he was still in the state of grieving over Flapjack. No one could blame him for that as they knew how much Flapjack meant to him, they couldn't begin the imagine what it was like to lose their palisman.

Hunter said only when he was ready would he get another palisman which the team and his friends all respected. They were in no rush to start competing in major games anyway, if Hunter needed his time they'd give it to him. Besides that didn't stop him from helping with their strategies and skills, he was their best flyer after all and their unofficial-official second in command.

"Come on guys we don't wanna be late!" Gus called as he flew ahead of Hunter and Willow racing them to the ground. Hunter due to not having a staff was flying with Willow on Clover, gripping onto her waist to not fall off. It was weird flying with someone else but Hunter still found it oddly comforting, though he was struggling not to blush due to the very close proximity to Willow. He thanked Titan that he was behind her and she couldn't see him.

The same couldn't be said about Gus, but he was feeling generous so decided not to point it out.

"Gus we won't be late, we're like thirty minutes early," Willow said.

"So! It's Hunter's first day, we must make it a day to remember" Hunter laughed, times like this he remembered Gus was the youngest, though if he could fly on his own he would have definitely beaten them both here for the exact same reason. It didn't take long for all three students to finally land safely on the gravel leading up to Hexide when Gus took the opportunity to grab both of them, linking their arms and excitingly drag them towards to doors where they saw the familiar faces of their teammates. They both noticed them approaching and waved, but Hunter noticed something was missing...he just couldn't quite place it.

"Morning guys" Skara said.

"Hi guys, we finally made it, Willow and Hunter were taking forever" The two witches mocked offence and placed a hand on their chests as if Gus had just made the biggest betrayal. This just made the team laugh, Skara and Willow taking the initiative to bring the group into a giant hug. After about a minute the group pulled away and slowly made their way up the stairs towards the door and as Hunter reached the final step he remembered something important and looked towards Viney.

"Hey, Viney?"

"Yeah?"

"Um...where's Pudd-" Hunter didn't get the chance to finish his sentence before he was tackled from behind by a very happy, and heavy Griffin. That was one way to answer his question, Hunter suggested. Meanwhile, the rest of the Emerald Entrails were either laughing or panicking attempting to get the clingy Griffon off their friend.

"No Puddle, bad griffin, get off Hunter" The griffin didn't listen, instead deciding to get more comfortable and curled himself around the boy. Once he had settled the griffin in question decided that for reasons unknown Hunter was his new chick and began preening him, Hunter unable to do anything resigned himself to feeling utterly embarrassed and ever so slightly amused. This would be one hell of a story to tell, and from the manic spamming on Skara's scroll he could tell he would have some evidence to show the events of his "traumatic first day".

"Well...that answered my question, just one question...why is it always me?" Willow nealed down and gave him a look of sympathy while Viney tried desperately to get the Griffin to move and save her friend, unfortunately, the animal seemed quite satisfied to stay where he was. Hunter sighed and accepted his fate, maybe it was a good thing they got there early...

"I'm so sorry Hunter I don't know why he's doing this, he's usually well-behaved!" Hunter shrugged- well tried to from the awkward angle he was resting at and shook his head.

"No it's ok he didn't hurt me, but I can't say this is very comfortable. He really seems to like my hair"

"Honestly most animals do" Willow said, their palismans all nodding or chirping in agreement. There was a reason Flapjack, along with every other palisman enjoyed resting in his hair. When the Blight twins found out how soft his hair was they just about cried and strangled him out of jealousy. Hunter never really cared about his hair but it had always been healthy and soft for as long as he could remember. He now assumed it had something to do with the amount of keratin in his body.

Perks of being a grimwalker I guess?

"Yeah, I didn't know Puddles liked you so much. Usually, he only preens me, you my friend have gained the favour of a griffin way to go" Hunter snickered.

"Lucky me" They all gave a small laugh, the amusement having finally worn off leaving only the annoyance and concern of their friend being pinned to the ground. They tried everything such as pushing, bribing, calling and any other method that Viney knew worked on Puddles only for the stubborn animal to ignore all of it.

This was until Puddles finally shifted giving Hunter the chance to move and attempt to escape. But unfortunately for Hunter the window of opportunity was too small as he could only pull the top half of his body from out of Puddle's grasp.

He now lay there resting and his elbows holding his head, much like what Darius would do when he was fed up. He was tired, embarrassed and to make matters worse other students were beginning to arrive. Could matters get any worse?

"Progress has been made, whatever you just did please do again" Hunter said trying to stay the tiniest bit positive. That was until he saw Viney giving him an awkward smile as she looked down at the poor boy nervously. He looked around and saw that the rest of his friends were wearing a similar expression.

Oh no

"We...can't" Viney said.

"Why not?"

"He fell asleep" Hunter blinked

.

.

.

"Well...shit" And just at that moment they all heard the bell scream, marking the beginning of the first day back. This was the first day of school ever for Hunter and he was pinned to the top step by a crazy griffin. He almost wanted to cry.

"Why is it always me~"

Safe to say, they were all late to class.