Hunter's Beast
Summary: While helping Hunter practice his magic, Darius recalls how his son got his beast.
Timeline: four months and two weeks had passed since the Day of Unity.
(SC)
"Focus, boy," Darius instructed. "Treat the magic in your body as an extension instead of a tool you can freely use."
Hunter nodded, closed his eyes, and reached out with his right hand. He called from his magic, and his body glowed with a yellow aura. He concentrated the magic into his hand and focused on the object in front of him.
Darius watched as the small cube three feet in front of his son began to glow. The council member frowned as the cube shakily lifted into the air. The cube wasn't to the two-inch mark before the magic around it faded, and it dropped to the table.
The ex-coven head looked at his son and saw the aura disappearing around Hunter. The grimwalker's breathing was a little heavy as he looked at his father with shame.
"What am I doing wrong?" he asked in disappointment.
Darius walked up to the boy, placed a hand on his shoulder, and offered him a smile.
"Hunter," the abomination witch said sympathetically, "It takes witches years to gain proper control of their magic when it first develops. And let's not forget your magic is different than what you're used to. So it might take time for you to fully grasp it."
"But it's been months!" Hunter exclaimed, throwing up his hands in frustration, "And I still can barely control it!"
Darius frowned as he tried to figure out the best approach to this subject. Thankfully, the matter was put on the back burner when Puffy trotted up to his bonded person. The Slitherbeast whined as it brushed its head against Hunter.
The grimwalker smiled as he patted his beast's head. Darius smiled at this and remembered when the slitherbeast became a part of their family.
(SC)
"Darius," Raine called, looking out the window, "It's back."
Darius sighed and joined his cousin at the window. He frowned slightly when he saw the slitherbeast looking up at the window where the two adults were looking out.
"What should we do?" the bard asked uncertainly. "This is the third time this month alone it showed up."
Darius sighed and summoned a crow. He dialed the number he had become all too familiar with and began speaking once someone picked up.
"Yes…Your beast is at my place again. Yes, understood," Darius said, ending the call, and looked at Raine. "The keepers are sending someone."
Raine frowned as they looked from Darius to the Slitherbeast. Darius noticed the look in their cousin's eyes and couldn't help but sigh.
"What's on your mind?" Darius bluntly asked.
It was Raine turn to sigh and look Darius in the eyes. "It's just, ever since that bike incident, that beast has been showing up a lot. Aren't you at least curious to know why?"
"Frankly, no," Darius replied. "This is clearly just someone who isn't good at their job and lets that beast roam free."
Darius then walked away before another question could be asked. Raine frowned as they watched Darius leave the apartment and turned their attention back to the window.
Fifteen minutes later, two well-known Beast-keepers were at the ex-rebel's apartment. Darius sighed in disdain as he watched the two beast-keepers fuss over their beast.
"Puffy-wuffy," one keeper said in baby talk. "Why must you keep running away? You have me worried sick."
Darius cocked an eyebrow as the keeper kept fussing over the beast. He looked to his right when he heard a noise and smiled as Hunter walked into the area, home from school.
Suddenly, Puffy looked at Hunter and charged. The young grimwalker was unprepared for the sudden assault, and the slitherbeast bowled him over.
"AHAHAH!" Hunter cried as Puffy licked his head. "I'm happy to see you too, boy."
Raine smiled at this scene and then looked at the two beast-keepers.
"This has been happening for a while now," they stated calmly, "Do you have any idea why?"
The two keepers exchanged looks and then looked at the bard. Raine could see the uncertainty in their eyes. Before anyone could talk, Eberwolf appeared, growling something.
Everyone looked at the beast master, and Darius frowned as he looked back at the slitherbeast.
"How can you be certain?" the ex-coven head inquired skeptically.
The demon growled out a response, and Darius sighed. He then looked at the group exasperatedly.
"The mutt thinks that the slitherbeast has bonded with Hunter," the ex-coven head explained dully and glared at his friend, "Which I find ridiculous. The beast and my boy only interacted once. So I failed to see how they could bond in such a short time."
"Actually…" one of the beast-keepers piped in, getting everyone's attention. "It is rare, but there have been documented cases of beast-bonding happening near-instantly."
Darius gave the beast-keeper a skeptical look, sighed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He looked at Hunter, who had managed to get Puffy off of him and was now patting the slighterbeast on the head. The councilman smiled a small smile when he saw how happy his boy was.
With a small sigh of contentment, Darius looked at the gathering and said, "So, I guess there's only one thing to do."
(SC)
In a way, adopting Puffy had worked out; through caring for the beast, Hunter and Darius had learned that the grimwalker could use some beast-keeping spell without a problem. This led the boy to begin taking beast-keeping classes alongside his potion classes.
Darius smiled as he let those pleasant memories linger for a few more seconds before calling to his son.
"Hunter! Why don't we postpone our training until after lunch? It's such a nice day out; let's take Puffy for a walk."
The young grimwalker looked at his father with a smile and nodded. Darius returned the smile, and the two went into their place to freshen up before their walk.
(G Corner)
With this, we learn not only how Hunter got his beast but also how he began his studies in beast-keeping. Up next is the burning question no one's asking…how did Vee's Palisman come into being?