#basic kindness

His eyes shot to the vendor who was, in fact, staring right at him. The demon was blue and canine-like in appearance, with ears folded against his head and squinted eyes, glasses sitting overtop. But nope, he was definitely looking right at him.

He noticed fangs sticking out of the demon’s mouth in an underbite. Slowly, he released the towel.

“I—sorry,” He croaked, aware that his hood wasn’t up, because more people gave him suspicious looks when it was, and he was greatly regretting it now. “I didn’t—I don’t have any snails.”

The demon frowned further, nose twitching. Hunter cautiously drew his arm back, movements slow and obvious so as not to cause an even bigger scene. His ears pressed back against his head, eyes darting around for wherever Flapjack was as he took a step back.

“My-my mistake,” He stuttered, head ducked as he began to turn away, “sorry, sir, I’ll just—”

“Catch.”

Something soft hit the side of Hunter’s head. He stumbled as he whirled to grab what hit him. His hands found something soft and malleable, and he blinked down at the towel in his hands. It wasn’t the same one, a bit ratty and only half the size of the original towel he was going for, but still.

He looked up.

“You look like a right mess, kid.” The old man gruffed. “All of you poor lots do.”

“Oh, er, sorry?” Hunter said hesitantly.

“The hell are you apologizing for?” The man huffed, and Hunter just shook his head hastily as he shoved the towel into his bag. “Just don’t show your face around here again and I won’t call anyone. Got it?”

“Of course, sir.” Hunter nodded quickly, keeping his eyes downcast.

“Good.” The man said, looking over him for a moment longer before turning away. “Take care of yourself, kid. Titan knows you look like you need that more than me.”

Hunter stared at his back for a second, processing. But who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth?

“Thank you, uh, sir.” Hunter said, all in one exhale, and then he was off without another word.

Flapjack met up with him a few seconds after he was in the clear, a cluster of berries in his talons. Hunter gave a weary smile and dipped off into an alleyway, pulling down his bandana to eat a few.

Flapjack, he thought, was saying something. He didn’t pay much attention, staring off into the marketplace. He would’ve thought all the shopkeepers hated him by now.

He felt a harsh peck at his arm, and he glared down at his bird. He sighed, plucking off a berry and handing it over as an apology. It was accepted.

“We should head back.” He said, tucking the berries into his bag and hoping they wouldn’t get squished. “After we get some paper and pens.”

Paper? Flapjack frowned, tilting his head as he swallowed down the berry.

“Yeah,” Hunter said, giving him a confident grin as he pulled his bandana back up, “just as some backup.”

  It was still early afternoon when Hunter made it back to their hideout, worn and a bit too hot for his liking.

On his way out of the marketplace, he caught sight of two kids, maybe just a little younger than him, distracting a butcher as a third grabbed a hunk of packaged meat before making off with it. One of them caught his eye as he passed, and he pointedly looked the other way.

He guessed the marketplace was a hot spot. He wondered why he’d never noticed the kids before. He decided not to linger on that thought.

He also noticed, for a split second, wanted posters slapped over half-broken walls. He would’ve passed them right by normally, but this time, he paused.

Most of the posters were old, and he even recognized some of the witches and demons as ones that had been caught a few weeks ago. What caught his eye instead were two very, very recent posters pinned overtop the others.

That…that was Lilith. A strangely deranged looking Lilith, but Lilith all the same.

Next to her was the other wanted poster, no doubt the Owl Lady herself. Which wasn’t all that surprising, the only difference was that she had a far more beasty appearance and was lacking the demon dog in her previous posters.

Their rewards were outrageously high, though the Owl Lady’s was still by far the highest.

That was…odd. Belos was more than fine with Lilith abandoning the Coven so long she kept her mouth shut, and so far, she abided by it. 

It was probably due to how close the Day of Unity was. Tying up loose ends and whatnot. Or maybe Lilith started some problems when he wasn’t paying attention. The Owl Lady’s new poster was something barely worth paying attention to.

He shared a confused glance with Flapjack. He pulled the bangs tighter over his shoulders, flickered his gaze over the posters one last time, and resumed walking. Albeit faster.

That was, decidedly, not his problem.

Aside from that, the walk back was uneventful, and though Hunter could’ve flown back, he decided he could use a walk. He’d get bored soon, anyway. Which just sounded like the most ungrateful thing, being bored when on the run from death. He could hear the scolding a mile away, and he waved them off as he slipped underneath the vine overhang.

He unhooked the two other bags, which really looked more like tote bags, from his shoulders and set them aside. He put food and sugary drinks in one, clothes and towels he’d prefer not to get dirty in the other. At some point, he’d probably have to steal some soap and find a nearby river. Flapjack already seemed repulsed enough by him, and he’ll be damned if he’s convinced to bathe because of a bird.

Instead of digging into any of that, he opened up his messenger bag and withdrew a notebook and one of the few pens he managed to snatch up. Flapjack stuck to his shoulder, looking over his work as he began to draw circles upon circles.

“We should still get weapons at some point,” He said, tearing out a chunk in the page and holding up the glyph, “but these should do alright, in case you’re ever not there.”

He tapped it, and the paper shriveled up into a ball of light. He smiled at the sight of it, gently pushing it off and to the rest of the cave. No need for flashlights when he had one of these bad boys!

A part of him was glad he’d put up with a few of Luz’s endless texts, if only because she was more than eager to show him all kinds of glyphs she’d discovered. He barely even had to bring it up, she just showed him. Which was a terrible idea when he could’ve used them against her, but he doesn’t think she’d ever been worried of that possibly since their horrible expedition in Latissa.

Whatever, her fault for thinking a couple of glyph exchanges and spammed pictures of King passed out on the couch would mean anything but more shared miserable experiences would come from it. He thinks he’d blame her for the whole thing if he hadn’t seen her shaking like a leaf, horror-stricken and appearing moments away from being sick.

Yeah, it’s definitely a good thing he left.

Flapjack chased after the light spell as Hunter got to sketching out more glyphs from memory. Some were too wonky, others missing a circle or two, but he got the hang of it eventually.

He made numerous copies, tearing them off and neatly setting them in a pile. He kept the fire glyphs right next to the ice glyphs, very aware of how disastrous it could be if he set one of them off by accident. Once they were all set up, he’d have to find some clips for them, or stuff them into pockets. He thinks Luz did that, and she seemed fine enough.

Once the first light glyph faded out, Hunter made another much tinier one, barely taking up any piece of paper, and flicked it off for Flapjack to chase again. The rest, he told himself, he’d hide for later use. He didn’t need the light right now, after all.

The ball of light flew off to the vines, and Flapjack dove after it. Hunter looked up to see him dive through it, trying to catch the thing in his mouth. He giggled, and Flapjack poked his head back in through the vines with a tiny ball of light in his beak, victorious.

“Very impressive,” Hunter praised, and Flapjack flapped his wings gleefully, “just don’t swallow it.”

Flapjack suddenly looked like he very much wanted to swallow it, eyeing the ball in his beak.

Hunter narrowed his eyes. Flapjack looked back at him. He looked at the light again.

“Don’t.” He warned, pointing a finger. “I’ve been told it was a bad idea, and it sounds like a bad idea. Drop it.”

Flapjack met his eyes for a few moments, debating. Hunter gave him a warning look.

He turned and shot back out through the vines.

“Flapjack!” Hunter hissed, though it lacked malice, scrambling up to his feet and discarding his notebook. “Jacks, you are going to get sick, don’t you dare—”

Hunter scrambled at the ledge, shoving the vines aside and spotting Flapjack fluttering off into the trees. He huffed, crawling out and kicking off against the ledge. Flapjack must have heard him, because he looked over his shoulder, saw Hunter running towards him, and booked it.

“Bad bird! Drop it!” Hunter cursed, leaping over roots and despite it all, grinning. “Do not eat it, it’s not—”

Flapjack flew up and over a branch, tossing the light into the air. Hunter made a leap for it, though it was well out of reach, and the palisman caught it in his beak again. Before promptly swallowing it hole.

“Oh you bastard.” Hunter glowered.

Flapjack perched on a branch, giving him a smug look. Like the little prick he was. 

Before he immediately recoiled and made some hacking noises, a puff of smoke emerging from his beak. He looked nothing short of disgusted.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought.” Hunter scoffed lightly. “Why do you think I told you not to eat it?”

You did not know. Flapjack protested, glaring.

“I knew enough.” Hunter said simply, and tried to grab him again.

Flapjack hopped off the branch, pecked at his gloved hand, and was off again.

Hunter sighed with a smile, and followed.

He wasn’t really worried about being lost. Flapjack was mostly flying in large circles, and he’s sure that the palisman could fly up over the trees if they did get lost and retrace their steps. Really, he wasn’t even worried about it.

It was nice, he supposed, to not worry about dying the next day.

Hunter swung around a tree, hopping onto a stump and making a wild grab in the air. Flapjack squawked, his tail getting snagged as Hunter fell back to the forest floor, tucking the bird close and rolling to a stop.

“Gotcha!” Hunter cheered, holding the bird with both hands, bringing him up. Flapjack gave him a very unimpressed look, little head laying over his fingers. “Oh, hush,” He huffed, though Flapjack hadn’t spoken, “you’re just mad you’re not as slick as you think you are.”

“Did you hear that?”

Hunter went stiff as a board. Flapjack followed suit.

“Shh,” a quieter voice hissed, “it might hear us.”

Hunter, very, very slowly, got off the forest floor, feet underneath him. His hold lessened on Flapjack, who turned into a staff without needing to be asked, a solid grip in Hunter’s hands.

He stayed crouched, just in case someone tried to look around. Not a lot of shrubbery around here. He was wearing a much darker cloak than his normal wear, but it was still the middle of the day.

He flipped the hood over his head and scurried off to a tree, pressing his back against it. He pricked his ears, and he listened.

“I can take a look!” A voice practically shrieked, and Hunter winced.

“Hooty, shh!”

“Oh, sorry, sorry!”

Hunter perked up again. Cautiously, he scooted a little around the tree, peeking his head out and glancing around. He caught a flash of white and indigo, hurriecly ducking behind the tree again and covering his mouth with his hand.

What the fuck.

“Do you think it’s a scout?” the first voice whispered, and he knew that voice, he’d had its owner in a cage. And attacking his head with the ferocity of a rabid squirrel.

“I can take—”

“You can take ‘em, we know, Hooty.” the second voice whispered back, and he knew that one very, very well. “Let’s still try and be quiet, okay? Maybe it’s just—some guy.”

“I don’t think ‘some guy’ is gonna be much better.”

Why were they here? Least of all the owl tube? He wasn’t that close to the Owl House, was he?

No, no, he was still far away. He supposed the tube could probably stretch infinitely if it wanted, but this still seems pretty far away.

And since when were these guys in the forest? This was close to the marketplace, sure, but not outrageously so. And it’s not like there were any paths that came close to his hideout. He made sure of that.

Twigs and leaves snapped under two pairs of feet, and Hunter held his breath, though his glove smothered any other sound he could make. Okay, this was fine. They were probably only passing by. He could just—wait it out. They probably just didn’t want to be caught by the army of scouts. 

Which was a little weird, squadrons had always been sent to the Owl House, the biggest difference this time had only been the size. He’s fairly certain that wouldn’t have been an issue for those lunatics, especially when the scouts realized the thing they were looking for wasn’t even there. They probably left as soon as they figured it out.

He saw a figure out of the corner of his eye, her hand placed on the bark of the tree. Because they weren’t just passing by, apparently, they were ten frickin’ feet away.

Hunter froze up, eyes wide and saucer-like. Her head moved to look around, a birdhouse slung over her back, and a little black and white ball at her feet, scurrying along and trying to step over dried leaves to avoid making sound. Even if he wound up hitting every loud twig instead.

Then, her head turned towards him.

Eyes met.

Silence.

“Uh,” Luz said.

Hunter’s hand flew away from his mouth, grabbing his staff and wielding it out in an instinct he couldn’t smother.

All hell broke loose.

Luz shouted and withdrew a fire glyph, firing it off before he could blink. King sprung up like a startled cat as Hunter swung his staff and teleported out of the way, fire colliding with the tree he was previously against and blowing a massive hole in it. Hooty, who was apparently in the birdhouse on Luz’s back, reared up like an angry snake, bristling.

“Cool it, cool it!” Hunter yelped, one hand raised as he stumbled from where he’d teleported, frantic.

“Get back!” Luz shouted, brandishing another glyph, and he’s not sure if her words were directed towards him or King. Either way, both of them took a few steps away. “I’m armed!” She warned.

“I know! I know, I know this very well—” Hunter stuttered, holding his staff out before him, ready to strike at any sudden movements.

“We don’t want trouble!” King added, cowering by Luz’s leg.

“Don’t want—you attacked me!” Hunter exclaimed, a familiar tinge of annoyance seeping in.

“You were going for your staff!” Luz defended.

“Yeah, because you shouldn’t be here!” Hunter snapped.

Luz suddenly frowned. Her arm lowered a bit. Hooty was still bristling and looked ready to charge him at any moment, and King was peering around at him with narrowed eyes, tail bushy.

A flitter of recognition flashed in Luz’s eyes, and before he could be terrified about that, Hooty jerked upright like a rod. And proceeded to start screaming.

“Tree, tree, tree!”

Hunter heard the sound of cracking wood, and whirled his head around to find that the tree Luz had hit could not, in fact, continue supporting itself with a giant hole burning through it. He looked up to see the truck beginning to sway, wood splintering under the uneven weight.

In one sickening crack, the tree began to tip forward.

Hunter yelped, teleporting off to the side to get out of its direct path. He caught Luz grabbing King and launching herself off as well, Hooty getting yanked around with her.

The tree groaned, branches clashing against those around it as Hunter pressed up against a smaller, more stable tree. He squeezed his eyes shut and braced himself as he felt, and heard, the trunk crash against the ground. He swore it sounded like thunder set off right next to his ears.

He waited a moment in the silence. One more.

He cracked open his eyes.

All that greeted him was the giant tree laying across the ground, branches and leaves covering where he’d last seen the three idiots who decided to go roaming the forest in the middle of the afternoon.

“Luz?” He called, eyeing the tree as its branches continued to settle in their new places, inching forward and placing a hand on the trunk. “Guys? Are you d—I mean, I’d prefer if you weren’t dead, that–that really wouldn’t—”

“Ow.” He heard a whine, then heavily exhaled in relief. Good. No dead humans or demons today. 

“Hang on.” He sighed, and he hopped over the trunk as he approached the top of the tree. 

He surveyed the damage for a moment before stepping around the branches, using his staff to push a few aside. But when he tried, Flapjack transformed back to his palisman form. Though, to his credit, he didn’t hesitate to fly down to the holes between the leaves and wriggle himself in.

Hunter relented to crouching down and shoving aside the branches with his own hands.

But apparently, he didn’t need to, because Hooty popped his face up out of the leaves only about three feet away, coughing up twigs.

“Aw, man!” Hooty huffed, wiggling his body as Hunter moved over to him, digging away all the clutter around his neck. “Should’ve yelled timber. Missed my chance.”

“Oh, that’s what you’re worried about?” King complained, and he saw a little bony head poking itself free before he snagged his horn.

King yelped and kicked about, and it took about three tugs before Hunter got him free. He unceremoniously dumped him off on the ground next to him, going back to looking for Luz.

“You know, most people tend to think fire in a wooded area is a terrible idea.” Hunter said conversationally, finding a hand trying to push free. He kept it to himself how lucky they had been, only getting smothered by the very ends of the branches rather than being in the thick of it.

“Most people think a lot of things are bad ideas.” Luz huffed, and he grasped her hand. “Is it on fire?”

“I think it’ll fizzle out on its own.” Hunter said, getting to his feet and pulling at her hand with a heave.

Luz winced and hissed at the branches that smacked around her face, but overall made it out with just some nasty cuts and already darkening bruises. From her departure, that is. Because when he started to try and help her up onto her feet, she yelped and promptly fell right back onto the bed of branches and leaves.

Oh, damnit.

“Are you okay?” King worried, shaking the leaves and twigs out of his body, as though he didn’t have plenty of cuts and bruises all over.

“Fine,” Luz wheezed, very obviously clutching her ankle.

Friends! Flapjack cheered despite the mild concern, popping up in front of Luz, startling her, and chirping excitedly. Friends! Missed you!

“Don’t get in her face,” Hunter muttered, making a half-hearted wave at the bird before he flew to the side, crouching by Luz, “and quit being friendly, we don’t even know why they’re—”

Hands were suddenly at his face. Hunter jerked back, hissing as they grasped at his hood, shoving it back. He snatched Luz’s wrists, holding them up and away from him, lip curled and glare intensifying.

“It is you!” Luz grinned, if strained from whatever amount of pain she was in, completely oblivious, or uncaring, to the glowering and tight hold on her wrists. “Hunter!” She greeted, and despite the restraints, moved to grab at him again.

“Yes, me, joy to the world.” Hunter said, holding her right where she was. “Human, what in the name of the Titan are you doing out here?”

King gave a wince at his side, scrambling over the mess to plop himself in front of Luz’s abdomen, somewhat between them. Little guy looked like a right mess, save for the obvious, with frazzled fur and weary eyes.

“Hoot, we’re on the run!” Hooty said, poking his head around Luz’s back, also cheery. “Hey, are we both on the run?” He asked, face far too close for comfort. “We can be runaway buddies!”

“Do not touch me.” Hunter growled, releasing Luz to try and punch the tube’s face. It swiveled well out of the way, creepy smile never falling.

“It’s—what are you doing out here?” Luz asked next, rubbing at her wrists. He was probably holding them too tight, shit. “I thought—have you been living in the woods?” She balked.

“Ask me that again. Slowly.” Hunter said, giving her an exasperated look. “I want you to look deep back into your memory, and ask yourself; why would Hunter be in the woods, and why would he look like this?”

“My second guess was going to be survival training.” King offered, raising a claw.

“I already had that,” Hunter waved it off, “and now it’s coming in handy.” He added proudly, puffing his chest a bit. “Betcha the captains never thought I’d use that training like this, huh?”

“You’re living in the woods.” Luz repeated, eyes wide. “Oh, Hunter, you didn’t have to—” She reached out again.

“The touching applies to you as well.” He growled, leaning back and raising an arm.

“Sorry,” Luz cringed, which confused Hunter until she continued, “but, seriously, Hunter, you didn’t…” She worriedly flickered her eyes over him, “you could’ve just come back to the House, we would’ve taken—”

“Are you mad?” Hunter scoffed, a cruel laugh that bordered on hysterical bubbling in the back of his throat until Flapjack nipped his ear. “No, no I could not! And I’m damn glad I didn’t!” He exclaimed, gesturing out a hand to…well, everything. “Nearly every scout in the whole Coven was making a beeline for that place! I made the smart decision to get as far away as possible.” He gruffed, crossing his arms.

“You saw the scouts going to the House?” King raised his head, leaning up.

“Obviously,” Hunter snorted, rolling his eyes, “they practically overtook the whole woods. I’m surprised you couldn’t hear them from five miles away.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” King suddenly shouted, not even in that mildly adorable annoyed way of his, it was furious enough that Hunter half expected that weird echolocation scream he had to erupt out. “You just watched?”

“Wh—excuse me?” Hunter stared back, damn near affronted. “You wanna say that again?”

“King, no.” Luz quickly wrapped an arm around the demon before he could make a lunge he very much looked like he wanted to try, easing them both back before it caused a shift to her right leg and she flinched.

“The hell was I supposed to do?” Hunter demanded, glaring fully at the demon, now, who still looked like he wanted to bite him. “They nearly found me just on the way to that stupid house! What, you wanted me to fly on over, hope nobody shot me out of the sky, knock on the door and say ‘oh, hey, by the way, scouts are coming by for us, bye’ and hope it went well?” He demanded.

“No, no, we are not blaming you.” Luz assured, face pinched. “It-it’s just been a long day.” She said sheepishly, and Hunter swore he almost saw tears in the demon's eyes before he turned and curled himself into Luz’s chest.

“Better not be.” Hunter muttered, shaking himself off from the weird feeling that whole situation was giving him. “But on a more important note,” he said, a bit snappishly, reaching out to Luz’s right leg, “you broke something, didn’t you?”

“Pfft, a break? No, no, not–not at all.” Luz said hastily, pulling King closer and nervously eyeing Hunter as he hovered a hand over her foot. “Trust me, I’ve broken plenty of bones in my time, and I’d know if it—”

Hunter lay his hand over her ankle, probably giving it more pressure than necessary. Luz spasmed and squeaked, nearly kicking him with said leg as she jerked back.

“Hey!” Hooty bristled again, getting much too close again. “Since when—”

“Out of my face!” Hunter snapped in a growl, whirling and damn near biting the demon’s beak off before he moved back.

Easy, easy! Flapjack twittered, flaring his wings and flapping up onto Hunter’s leg.

“It’s fine, it’s fine!” Luz eased at the same time, King also startling and fluffing his fur up at the sudden movements. “No, it’s–it’s not broken, I know what a broken bone feels like—”

“Well it’s certainly not healthy.” Hunter grumbled, sending one last seething glare Hooty’s way before reaching for her ankle again. “If you hit me, I’m biting your fingers.”

“You would not—”

He lay his hand over her ankle again. She sucked in a breath, more so out of anticipation he suspected, since he was practically feather-light this time around. It’d be easier if he wasn’t wearing gloves, but he’s sure as hell not taking those off.

“Bit swollen already.” He hummed, pressing a tad more lower on her ankle and noting Luz’s flinch. “In all your infinite wisdom, have you ever sprained something before?” 

“...a few times?” Luz shrugged weakly.

“Joy.” Hunter drawled, sighing as he leaned back. “For the love of the Titan, human—” King winced again, “—what are you even doing out here?” He demanded. “Surely you’re not stupid enough to think wandering through the forest after half the Emperor’s Coven was dispatched to your home was a good idea?”

“We kind of didn’t have a choice.” King huffed, glaring back at him and lashing his tail. His eyes were still a little watery.

“What, did you get kicked out?” Hunter raised an unamused brow. He got a light, scolding peck to his leg from Flapjack for that.

“It was, uh…” Luz hesitated for a second, exhaling shakily before forcing a smile as she hunched her shoulder, “the scouts…got in, this time.”

“...got in?” Hunter repeated, staring. “What–what do you mean got in?”

“They broke in, what else?” King snipped.

“They got past this thing?” Hunter raised a disbelieving brow, pointing with his thumb to Hooty.

“We, er,” Luz spoke up, clearing her throat from the faint cracks it had in it, and Hooty moved closer to the side, “we kind of weren’t…there.” She admitted, looking down and off at the ground.

Left? Flapjack turned his head.

“You just left?” Hunter said at the same time, his own head turning.

“We found a letter addressed to King that Hooty ate.” Luz mumbled, rubbing small circles in King’s back when he pressed his face against her again, which was likely very uncomfortable. “We…thought they might be able to help.”

From her tone alone, Hunter got the impression he shouldn’t ask. Not that he wanted to, anyway. If they could help, then they would be here.

“Titan, okay,” Hunter muttered, ignoring King’s flinch as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “the hell happened to the Owl House, then?”

“Everything's gone.” Luz said quietly, which was so unlike her it felt like ants crawling in his skin. “Just…everything. They tore it apart.” She said, clinging to King.

“And we can’t find Eda or my best friend Lilith!” Hooty added, sounding more distressed than when the tree was falling. 

“They must’ve taken them.” Luz reasoned, sounding more than a bit worried about the prospect. “If–if we hadn’t left, then—”

“Oh, they definitely haven’t.” Hunter scoffed immediately, and suddenly three heads—four, if you counted Flapjack’s glance—were on him.

“No?” Luz echoed.

“I was just in the marketplace,” Hunter gestured with a thumb behind him, “believe me, I would’ve heard nonstop if the Owl Lady and traitorous former Coven Head were captured. I did see their wanted posters, though. Everyone would’ve been talking about those if they’d been captured.”

“Yeah,” Luz winced, “we saw those.”

“They got my good side, though!” Hooty said cheerfully.

“You all have wanted posters?” Hunter balked.

“We’re kind of criminals.” King deadpanned.

“Still.” Hunter muttered. “That’s…” He trailed off for a second, sharing a look with Flapjack as if he’d have the right words for this. 

“Yeah,” Luz repeated as if he’d said something anyway, shoulders slumping, “yeah, it is.”

Help? Flapjack said, hopping on his shoulder. Help friends? Friends help—

Hunter waved a hand at him, leaning even further back and crossing his arms over his chest. The silence that lingered in the aftermath was a bit stifling, and he hated it every second longer it went on.

This was why he didn’t like talking to people.

“...you heading anywhere, then?” He asked after a few moments.

“Uh,” Luz faltered, “well…we were thinking about one of my friends.” She admitted, sharing a glance with King. “But we don’t…we’re wanted by the whole Isles, I don’t want to put them in that position of hiding us.” She said, holding King tighter. “They…they’ve been hurt enough by this whole thing.” She mumbled, eyes downcast.

“My bet was we just look for Eda and Lilith.” King added in. “Until this happened.” He muttered, gesturing down to Luz’s slightly swollen ankle.

“Hey, we could always not randomly throw fireballs in forests.” Hunter hummed, Flapjack harshly nudged his side.

“I panicked!” Luz whined. “I wasn’t expecting to find you in the middle of the woods!”

“I wasn’t exactly expecting you, either!” Hunter gritted back, ears flicking down. “And now you’ve made this my problem!” He grumbled, moving to tense his feet underneath him. “Count yourself lucky that I live close by.” He muttered, snagging her arm.

“Wh–what do you—?” Luz startled, evidently not expecting Hunter to sling her arm over his shoulders, holding it much too tightly than needed.

“And for the record,” He added, giving a harsher tug than necessary, dislodging King from his placement and jerking Luz to try and stumble upright, Flapjack chirping all the while, “you are getting the minimum requirement for survival, understood? I worked hard enough for all that junk I got. Besides, small sprains heal in, what, a week?” He said, more so talking to himself as Luz steadied herself against him, hesitating as he grabbed her side with his other hand, mostly just so she wouldn’t tip over. “You can walk before even that time is up.”

“What are you doing?” King demanded, though it came out more confused, scrambling over the branches as Hunter pulled him and Luz out of it.

“Making my life exponentially more difficult.” Hunter gritted out, shifting his weight when Luz dropped about a third of her own onto him, Flapjack cheeping excitedly as he flew up into the air. “Can you at least give the bird to your dog? Less weight to carry.”

“It’s King.” Luz corrected sharply, knocking her out somewhat of her confusion. “But, yeah, King, can you—?”

“Oh, um, sure.” King stood up onto his feet, reaching out as Luz clumsily slung Hooty off her shoulders, resulting in her and Hunter having to maneuver somewhat to get the bird tube off all the way.

“Fantastic. Now move.” Hunter huffed once King had the birdhouse in his hands, beginning a brisk pace that Luz struggled to keep up with, hopping along. “I’d rather not see who, or what, will come to check out the noise that tree made.”

“You’re taking us back—?”

“Would you rather I leave you out here?” Hunter narrowed his eyes on her.

Luz slowly shut her mouth.

Would not. Flapjack teased from the trees above. Would not leave friend.

“I would.” Hunter gruffed, and a part of him hoped Luz thought he was still talking to her. “But you’re out as soon as you can walk semi-normally. Or we somehow find wherever the hell the Owl Lady and Lilith went off to.” He quickly added the last part. 

“...uh huh.” Luz said slowly, sharing looks with King and Hooty, who were confused in varying levels of intensity. “Thanks?”

“You’re welcome.” He said curtly, keeping his eyes right on the forest before them. “I expect more gratitude to follow.”

“Absolutely not.” Luz said immediately with a scoff, and he would not say he relaxed a margin at the familiarity. Because he didn’t.

“I will leave you here, human.” He gruffed instead, not as biting as he wanted it to be.

Will not, Flapjack taunted.

“Of course,” Luz said, and from what he could see out of the corner of his eye, a tiny smile was forming on her face, that annoying sarcasm returning, “just some selfless generosity, as you’re known to have.”

“Fuck off, Luz.”

And despite the way her voice was still so hoarse, face pinched with every limp, and King tiredly sticking far too close to her side, and Hooty surveying the forest as though every leaf held an enemy, and the fact that they were only here in the first place was because of Belos looking for him—

Luz laughed. A softer, crackling sound compared to her normal ones. And he could tell just from the sound that she was so very, very tired.

But it was a laugh. Which was miles more than he ever thought he’d hear again, especially from her.

He didn’t return the laugh. But he didn’t protest to it, either, even when it was much too close to his ear and caused Luz’s shaky steps to falter.