Your Call, Captain

Owl the House and Through the Woods

Hey, I'm back. Sorry for the short chapter, but I didn't have much time to write this week. Anyway, thanks again for the high ratings on the story. When we reach 1000 reads, I will be putting out a special chapter. Part of this Chapter was inspired by a MoringMark comic. Anyone who hasn't ever seen his comics, you are missing out. Anyway, thanks again, and love you all - the Author.

Hunter sucked in a breath. That was a long practice. Willow had been very hard on them after Professor Hermonculos had told her that they would have a game in the next week. She had run them through a bunch of drills and tried to get everyone into tip-top shape. Hunter slid down the wall of his room in the castle. He had loved today but had also gotten a little scared. A lot of the things his teammates said were sedition at least, and full-blown rebellion at most. He didn't know why, but he tried to keep his cool. He would just have to wait it out. Maybe the next week might prove him wrong.

     Over the next week, Hunter felt strange. He knew that he liked Willow as a friend, but it felt weird. He would get overly nervous around her and exceedingly quiet too. He always felt that he had to choose his words carefully and made sure that the Captain never thought he was weird. But, he was conflicted. As much as he liked Willow, he didn't want her to get too close. He just wanted her to be happy, and dragging her into his problems would not help that. He was dangerous. He was Belos' nephew. He could put her in danger, so he tried to keep his distance.

One week later (After Hollow Mind)

     He raced out of the Owl House. He needed to run. Belos would find them. Belos would kill them. He kept running. He heard his name being called but just kept going. He ran over sticks, twigs, and rocks. He turned to every noise and finally slumped down behind a tree. He put down his head and rested it between his legs. He was so screwed. Belos had spies everywhere. If he tried to run, he would be caught. If he tried to hide he would be caught. Still, his brain ran through places he could hide, There was the castle, the Owl House, and Hexside. He couldn't hide in the castle, even if he found a good hiding place. He had heard the stories. Belos knew everything that happened in the castle. He didn't want to go back to the Owl House. He had heard about the operations to capture the residents, and he wouldn't be safe there. So, he looked at his last option: Hexside. It was big, had lots of out-of-the-way areas, and, best of all, the Emperor's Coven had no power there. He decided that he would hide out there and so he sat back and tried to breathe and calm himself down.

     However, breathing doesn't always work, and he quickly found himself choking. When he looked around, he found himself in the castle. He saw a Coven Scout walking toward him, and in a fit of fear, he summoned Flapjack and blasted the scout with yellow light. After that, another Scout appeared, then another, then another. Pretty soon, he was surrounded and so he started to blast them away. But still, they overwhelmed him and began to pile on him. He was losing air and was in complete darkness. He stopped breathing and was surrounded by pitch black.

     Suddenly, a beeping noise broke him out of his dream. He had been had added to the Emerald Entrails group chat recently, and it was always active. He clicked on it through his tears and saw a message from Willow.

Hello_willow: Hey Caleb, I've had a rough day. Flapjack Pictures?

gus_the_illuison_master: Willow, this is the group chat.

healinggriffen: Do you guys talk often?

skara_the_butterfly: Are you two dating?!

Hello_willow: OMT guys I'm gonna leave the chat!

     Hunter smiled. He had friends. He didn't have to be alone. He opened Willow's contact and began to type.

     I need some help. I'm in the middle of the forest past Bonesburough.

     Hunter woke up sometime later to the sound of twigs breaking. He summoned his Emperor's Coven staff and pointed it into the bushes. He waited and prepared to cast a spell as the sound of footsteps got closer. He began to see the form of a person and was about to cast the spell when Willow peeked her head through the bushes. Hunter dropped the staff and dropped back to the ground, not looking at Willow. He heard her footsteps get closer but just kept sitting there, not looking at her.

     He suddenly felt a great warmth and felt Willow's arms come across his body. He was very confused but could feel his face getting hotter.

     "Uh, Willow," he said shakily, on the verge of tears, "what are you doing?"

     "It's called a hug," Willow responded softly, "Luz taught it to us. Now, why do you need help?"

     "Me and Luz got into the Emperor's mind and learned many things. I learned many things. Willow, I'm on the wrong side of history. Belos is planning a draining spell for the Day of Unity to kill all witches through their coven sigils. Belos is a witch-hunter and his name is Philip Wittebane. He can't speak to the Titan and I'm not his nephew. Our family wasn't destroyed by Wild Magic, he was just lying. And I'm not real."

     "What do you mean you aren't real? You seem pretty real to me."

     "I'm a grimwalker, a clone of someone Belos knew. That's all the Golden Guard had ever been.  And there have been many Golden Guards. I'm not the first kid he will kill and I won't be the last. And people know when you've been in their minds. So, I need to hide because he hunting for me."

     Hunter suddenly felt Willow lean into the hug and rub his back.

     "You need to calm down. Belos won't find you, and if he does I won't let him hurt you. I have a plan. You should camp out at my house. Belos would never think to look for you at a random House in Bonesburough."

     "I could never. I would just be a burden."

     "You aren't a burden, Hunter."

     "Why are you doing this? I don't deserve this. I almost got you killed. Why are you so nice to me?"

     "Because I care about you Hunter. You did what you thought was right, and now you regret it because you know it was wrong but you didn't in the moment. Give yourself a break. As for why I would let you stay at my house, I'm kinda lonely. I'm an only child, and none of my friends live near me. I just want a friend nearby."

      Hunter looked at Willow, tears glistening in his eyes. "Thank you. I'll go to your house, if you'll have me?"

     Willow smiled at him. "Of course we will, now come on."

Willow POV:

     As I neared the forest edge, I saw something very disturbing. There were blast marks over trees and the ground. It looked like someone had just been randomly unleashing blasts of magic. My first thought was of Caleb, I mean Hunter. I started to run. As I ran through the forest, I saw more and more blast marks and began to follow them. When I got to their origin, I found a worrying scene. Hunter was laying asleep against a tree, with the blast marks coming out from where he was sitting. What had happened to him? Whatever it was, this was powerful magic. And it looked like he had been the one to cast it. As I stepped closer, he woke up, and when he looked up, for a second I could've sworn his eyes were a deep yellow. As he began to speak, my eyes focused on a mark on his neck. It looked like the Titan's head and it looked burned on there. Oh, Hunter, what have you gotten yourself into.