You whipped your head around to a very loud screech, "Intruders!! ...Face my fury!!"
You jumped back as the bird-thing wrapped itself around Hunter like a snake just before it could get you too. You tumbled as you landed, you quickly drew a yellow circle blasting it with a bright light, trying your best not to harm it.
Hunter grunted as he tried to untangle himself with no luck.
To your shock, the worm-bird ate your blast of light and then screamed at the top of its lungs, "I am a god! Fear me!"
"What the fuck...?"
You dodged it as it again. From all the excitement the eyeball began to slip out of your pouch. You began to slow your pace down, that thing was tiring you out.
You tried over your cape and the worm-bird quickly wrapped you up putting you face to face with Hunter. Which was more like cheek to cheek considering how squished together you two were. Hunter's ears burned hot pink, internally he was freaking the fuck out. You, yourself blushed and swallowed hard when the bird-thing made a movement that almost made you basically kiss your best friend. Hunter turned his face away from you, you did the same. The wormbird turned to you two.
"Ooh...look at these love birds! I helped Luz and Amity get together it was sooooooo romantic! Hoot-Hoot! My name is Hooty I'm so glad you two stopped by, I watched this new show and can talk about it for hours, and hours, and hours, and hours, and hours, and hours, and hours-"
"Oh for the love of Titan shut up!" Hunter groaned.
The bird creature called Hooty somehow frowned despite it being nearly impossible for a bird to frown, "Well geez! You don't have to be so mean! Hoot!"
Hooty continued to talk while you and Hunter tried to get out of his grasp. He continued to talk nonsense, especially about you and Hunter's relationship. You tried to shimmy your hand out to at least summond Flap or Cosmo, or maybe a spell to get you out of there. The thing moved again causing Hunter to go upside down but still directly facing you. His eyes widened at the sudden movement and he slightly yelped. His ears burned hot when his eyes faced your big beautiful e/c eyes. He stared at your face for a little while, noticing some features on you that he hadn't seen before. Holy shit...Were you always this beautiful? He mumbled something that you didn't quite catch.
"Uh...Hi. How's the weather up there?" You lightly joked not trying to make eye contact with the boy.
He didn't respond just slightly panicked when he realized he had been staring. He kept frantically moving his eyes away from you and back. This action confused you like many of his actions today. He was being weird. Well, weirder than usual, especially for some being hung upside down by a strange and annoying bird-creature-tube...thing.
Through the process of you trying to get away from Hooty, the eyeball was starting to slip out. Your eyes widened as you felt a lightweight disappear from your pocket on your belt. You visibly panicked catching Hunter's attention. His eyes practically popped from his eye sockets as the usual blue eyeball bounced off Hooty's tubes and then bounced off the walls of the Owl House then to a tree and breaking a window it fell inside of the Owl House.
Inside, the eye rolled around bouncing off stuff, just barely missing multiple sharp objects. It then rolled quickly out an opened kitchen window and onto a rock that mimicked a ramp which shot it to the sky and began to get cloudy. Hunter turned an unhealthy shade of white as it hit multiple birds in the face flying above you three from the storm that began to make its way here, then into the claws of one bird. You felt sick to your stomach as you saw the eyeball flying away. Thankfully and to your horror and surprise a much bigger bird attacked the one that had the eyeball making it drop it. The eye fell into the nearby trees falling from branch to branch without a scratch before it fell into a soft bush. A large leaf rolled it safely onto the ground.
You let out a sigh of relief until you saw where it was rolling to, "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."
To your and Hunter's horror, the eyeball rolled right underneath Hooty.
'Please don't notice it. Please don't notice it. Please forgive the of Titan don't notice it.'
Yours and Hunter's eyes quickly averted from the blue eyeball as Hooty turned to you two.
"What do you guys think? Hoot-hoot!" He asked.
You and Hunter shared a panicked look before plastering a fake smile.
"Uh...Ya totally!"
"Yep! That sounds a-okay!"
Hooty bleamed, "Really?! You think I can be a world-famous diva makeup artist and a pot maker? I'm so happy!" He began to tear up before absolutely balling, "No one ever listens to my dreams except Lu-Lu and now she goneeeee! I'm gonna follow my dreams and there's no stopping-"
Hooty looked down to see an interesting-looking snack despite your and Hunter's very violent and panicked protests he leaned down to it.
"Oo, what's this shiny thing? Nom!"
You let out a loud gasp as Hooty devoured the main component of your mission. Hunter didn't react he just in a way went limp. His face was shocked and angry. His eye twitched before he let out a frustrated yell and attacked Hooty in every way he could. Hooty cried out in pain as Hunter bit down on him instantly letting you two go before he attacked you two back. Hunter in a swift movement summoned his palismen staff and yours then attacked Hooty with every blast he knew how to do. You knew that at this point Hunter could and would kill Hooty. Your eyes widened as you saw Hunter get ready to cast a spell that could kill Hooty. Your body shot up and shoved Hunter before he could take aim.
You two fell to the ground, Hunter glared daggers at you. You grabbed his hand with Cosmo in the other and fled into the forest. Once you were deep enough you let go of Hunter's hand by then he had calmed down enough. Hunter didn't look at you. Not until the stormy, dark grey clouds covered the sky above you and droplets of acid rain began to fall did he face you. He looked as if he was begging the acid rain to burn his skin and kill him. You instantly grabbed his arm and hurried to the closest thing that gave you two coverage. You let out a breath of relief when you found a small cave.
...
Flapjack worriedly chirped as Hunter stared into the fire you made without emotion. Cosmo looked to you and Hunter then Flap for assistance.
Ever since the acid dain began to pour you, nor Hunter dare utter a word. You glanced at Hunter and then back at the fire. You let out a shaky breath.
'You messed up the mission. You messed up...everything.'
"Hunter," You began before getting cut off by Hunter's broken and tired voice.
He didn't look at you, "Y/n, don't. There's no point. You can't make a light-hearted joke, you can't ease the tension. We lost."
"There has to be a way. Maybe we can make him understand somehow? We got away with it before."
Hunter pressed his back against the walls of the cave, "It's over... We lost the eye. My Unc-Belos h-he, he's gonna. I-I can't go back empty-handed again! I-I can't!"
"No, we can fix this. We can make this up somehow. We...we can do something, there has to be something we can do-"
"Don't you get it? We are so fucked!" Hunter began to break down into tears, "I can't let him down... I can't let him hurt you. When we get back and he sees that we have nothing. That we failed...he's gonna-"
Flapjack chirped and Cosmo backed away scared. It hurt you, it hurt you so much to see him like this, it broke you inside completely. You stood up.
"No." You said firmly.
He finally looked at you, "W-what?"
"I said no. Today's mission was my responsibility, not yours. I am the Sliver Guard and as such I will take any consequences of my mistakes and failed mission. I'm not going to let him lay a finger on you."
"You can't be serious, Y/n-"
"I said I'm not going to let him hurt you. Not as long as I'm here. I was in charge of today's mission and I-I failed."
You sat back down right next to Hunter, and you felt tears begin to fall, "I-I messed up. I didn't take anything seriously, I didn't do enough. I should have done more... I'm sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
"Don't say that. You have nothing to apologize for, you didn't do anything wrong. Sure maybe your leadership skills need some work until they're as good as mine," he lightly joked.
You weakly chuckled, you couldn't help but wonder what it would have been like if you and Hunter weren't a part of the Emperor's Coven. What if you were normal teenagers going to school, getting into trouble, doing this teenagers your age do...falling in love? Tears continued to fall down your face.
You placed your head on his shoulder, then hid it in the crook of his neck. You just stayed there until you and Hunter calmed down. You lifted your head from its original position.
"What if we don't go back?" You softly spoke.
Hunter looked at you with furrowed brows and a conflicted expression.
"We might as well jump into the acid rain," He said.
You knew he wasn't completely joking but you still chuckled, "Your right, it's a stupid idea anyways."
You looked towards the opening of the cave, the light of the fire was the only thing illuminating the acid rain outside. You inhaled and savored the smell of the rain. That was the only part you liked other than the sound of rain, the smell. It comforted you. Would human realm rain sound or smell different?
You dryly laugh when you remember something, Hunter looked at you with a raised brow.
"We are so not going to the human realm after this." He didn't completely understand how you could always joke around when you were hurting but it always made things easier than they actually were.
Hunter got up from the ground and looked down at you and reached his gloved hand out for you to take. You gave him a confused look.
He softly smiled, "You said you always wanted to dance in the rain. And considering we're dead at this point, we might as well."
You smiled back at him, "Your amazing, you know that?"
He blushed but didn't bother trying to hide it this time. He muttered a small 'thank you'. You grabbed his hand and he lifted you up quite easily. You slightly yelped to which he laughed. He didn't exactly know how to dance so he waited for your instructions, they don't exactly have dance class in the Emperor's Coven. You realized this and guided his hand to your waist putting the other hand in yours then putting your free hand on his shoulder. Cosmo and Flap shared a look before watching the two teens.
Hunter slightly stiffened when you came in closer and nervously smiled. Your smile subconsciously grew when you saw the pink on his cheeks and ears, but didn't know how to feel. You led the small waltz, counting the steps out loud for Hunter to follow. He looked down at his heeled boots trying his best not to step on you by accident but sometimes failing. You noticed this.
"Hey, it's okay. I'm learning too. It doesn't have to be perfect." You softly spoke.
"Oh."
Hunter really didn't know how to respond or react. You twirled him then after repeating the same steps he tirwled you. You grinned at him. You felt off, maybe it was from all the excitement today or from your bracelet, But being near Hunter made you happy, extremely happy, and he felt the same if not more.
"I'm kinda getting dizzy."You said as you and Hunter came to a stop.
"We should stop." He said. This whole day Hunter tried his best to distance himself from you, but he failed. He felt like a magnet being always pulled towards you. It drove him insane. He finally stopped fighting and leaned in.
You looked into his magenta eyes in a sort of trance, "We have stopped."
Hunter's breath hitched as an invisible force pulled him closer to you. Your noses touch, and your eyes widen when you realized what was about to happen. You panicked and at the last minute hugged him instead. Hunter was a little shocked and slightly disappointed, but let it go. He cared about you more than a kiss. But he wouldn't mind it either. He hugged you back and you two stood there as the acid rain poured down outside of the cave and as the crackles of the fire accompanied you both.
"Thank you," You heard Hunter say softly.
"For what?" You replied as tears brimmed the corner of your eyes.
"For being here."
You hugged him tighter and felt a surge of warmth, comfort and something else come from your bracelets. Hunter was deep in thought, there had been something he wanted to say ever since he began to see things differently. But he was terrified of how you would react.
"Y/n," He began, "There's something I should tell you."
He was about to continue but you pulled away from his embrace and looked outside.
"The rain stopped." You pointed out.
"Should we go back or bury ourselves now?" Asked Hunter.
You shook your head and slightly smiled, "We should spend the night here and figure out what to do in the morning."
Hunter nodded and then saluted you playfully, "Whatever you say, Captain."
You giggled and then sat down by the fire, Hunter did the same.
"Ah-ah-ah, save that for our grudby captain."
"So, what did you want to talk to be about?" You asked.
Hunter's face shot up and he waved his hands dismissively, "Uh, nothing! It's...it's not important right now."
You slightly frowned but understood. Cosmo snuggled up to you and Flappers flew on Hunter's hair getting comfortable. Hunter leaned against the wall and you scooted closer to him laying your head on his heart and listening to the soft beat. Hunter put an arm around you and soon the four of you dozed off, not knowing that the two teens had the same promise to one another.
'I'll stay with you till the end...I promise.'
And...scene! Damn, they didn't kiss?! Nope lol, not yet. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Don't worry there's more trauma than that, much, much more...
I am so sorry this took so long to update, I've been so busy. And to no one's surprise, school sucks.
Would you lovely readers be interested in a Q&A? Let me know, please!
Also the special is almost out so bare with me.
Now... Drink some water, eat, and get some sleep!
<3
-Your Author,
Bleep