The mask of the raven - Hunter x reader

Chapter nineteen

Chapter 19
The cats

Y/N

(Btw in this paragraph I go over like the healing process for the eye wound so i guess content warning? idk just the first paragraph though)

I woke up earlier than usual this morning, we're supposed to wake up ridiculously early anyways, at six a.m for Titan's sake, now my eye is puffy and stings with lack of sleep. I already had some dark circles forming. It's strange really, I can still get dark circles under my left eye, or like the hole where it used to be. The healing coven is doing a good job with the medication they prescribed, Hunter usually helps me put the ointment on. It's supposed to help the skin scab and form connective tissues so I'm only left with a scar not a gaping hole, it's working, I hope-

I usually wait for Hunter in the canteen, its sort of become our routine. He wakes up a lot earlier for his missions, I get us both breakfast and wait in the canteen for him to join and we eat breakfast together. I usually don't have any missions until lunch so either we read through the somehow almost finished pile of confiscated wild magic books or do whatever. It's usually the latter now, it's nice when we just talk or walk around Latissa. It makes me feel a step closer to being a normal teenager I suppose. I do think I missed out on a lot really.

I slip on my raven mask and sneak outside the room, my head pounding with a sleep deprived headache. Steve told me to meet him outside the castle so I hop on my staff. Flying is still really not a strong point but I'm beginning to enjoy the adrenaline that comes from it. I make a circle in the air and the window opens blowing cold air into my face. It's still dark outside, only tendrils of the sun is visible from the horizon line.

My decent is wobbly but fairly short, and somehow we make it past the bridge. I have to prize my fingers off the staff they were holding onto it so tightly. But I did it, I flew again. My flying practice is showing.

I wait for Steve by the designated "tree" he told me to wait at- or in the general vicinity there are a lot of trees. He doesn't take long to show up but I still rub it in his face that I was here first. Steve adorns the scout cloak but other than that he isn't wearing his uniform -in fact I'm pretty sure he's wearing Labrador pyjamas. He looks around for a second, before taking off his hood to reveal his dark purple hair, "hold this." He passes me a thread with a blue stone on, a little like a concealment stone, I take it and it presses into my clenched fist. Immediately, the scene begins to shift, a clearing of trees becomes a small group of people- Darius? My eyes widen, RAINE?

"Hello Y/N," Raine says, pulling down their hood to reveal their pointed ears and a small smile, "we are the cats."
"I did not choose this name," Darius slaps a gloved hand over his face and groans.
"The cats stands for the covens against the throne, currently we're a rather small project just Darius, Eber, Steve, the bats and a few others," Raine begins.

I have to take a moment to step back and take everything in. Three of the coven heads working against the emperor, maybe I'm not as alone as I thought... Maybe I actually have a chance, maybe I can show Hunter that the emperor is wrong and we can run away from the coven together and have a normal life to- together....

Steve nudges me with his elbow, "it's fine Raven watcher.."
"Y/N." I whisper back, I'm sick of disguises and false pretences and all of this. I want everything to be normal, the life a normal witch would live not someone shut up in a stupid coven.
I think I want to join the cats.

"I would say we need to do an initiation to know we can trust you but Raine says that isn't necessary," Darius mutters, "I can't believe I had to wake up early for this, my skincare will be ruined."