The two girls were standing behind the register, and watching through the door as a young man was staring at the Owl House from across the street. He had a fair complexion, with thick black eyebrows, a hooked nose, a scar on his right cheek, magenta-colored eyes, ash blonde hair, and bags under his eyes like he hadn’t slept in days. He was wearing a black t-shirt with a wolf design on it, a yellow hoody tied around his waist, and pair of black pants, and a pair of black, steel toed boots.
“So…Luz, how long has he been standing there at the corner?” Amity asked.
“Long enough to make me think about tossing him into a garbage can,” Luz answered.
King entered the room and spotted the young man and groaned in annoyance. “He’s back again? Can I go bite him now?” he asked.
“No, King, he hasn’t done anything worth yeeting him into the next county for, yet. He’s just been there standing across the street for the last three days now, and sometimes he’ll just circle the block, but slow his pace down when he comes close the Owl House. It’s starting to get creepy,” Luz stated.
“Should we call the police or something? That’s normally what you do in these situations, correct?” Amity asked.
“Yeah, normally.” Eda answered as she stepped into the main business area and sipped on some Apple Blood wine. “But problem is he’s just loitering. He hasn’t come into the store, hasn’t threatened us, nor approached us. I mean, we could call the cops for the loitering thing, and they might send someone to shoo him away. But otherwise, unless he’s a threat, they won’t haul him away or anything.”
Luz had a thought that she didn’t want to put out there into the universe, but at this point, the others were probably thinking it as well. “Do you think he’s from Soul Society?”
Amity and Eda had a pensive look on their faces. After the events in the past month and a half, between the Hollow Invasion incident, and more recently the incident with Grom and his summoning of multiple Menos Grande to the town, it wouldn’t be farfetched to believe that someone from Soul Society might’ve been sent in to investigate further. Amity had sent a report regarding what was going on, and so had Emira and Edric. After their fight with Grom, two weeks had passed without anything happening, or word from Soul Society. But then again, Amity wouldn’t deny that they might send in someone who could act as a kind of “inspector” to make sure Amity was doing her job.
“It’s a possibility I can’t rule out,” Amity admitted. “If that is the case. Then we’ll have to be careful around him.”
Luz just came to a dreadful realization and asked, “Wait, does that mean I have to stop any PDA with you?!”
“…” Amity closed her eyes and knitted her brow; the answer was somewhat painful to say. “Unfortunately, yes. That goes for me too. I’m not exactly here for romance, so if they see me in a relationship, they’ll think I’m neglecting my duties. So…yeah…no PDA or even little things.”
“AAAAAWWW, c’mon! You mean I can’t even kiss you on the cheek?!” Luz complained. “Figures, I finally get have someone special in my life, and then this happens.” Luz slammed her head against the counter and groaned loudly.
Eda walked up to the counter and patted Luz’s head. “There, there, kid. We’re just thinking of the worst case scenario here, we don’t know for sure if that ‘bad boy’ out there is even really from Soul Society. He could just be standing there hoping to see some hot lesbian action for free.”
Amity blushed. “I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but…ugh…I hope he’s just a pervert.”
Luz raised her head a little, but then her eyes widened as she stood at full height. “Well, we might not have to deal with him.”
“Why’s that?” King asked.
Luz pointed her finger in the “bad boy’s” direction. “Oh, just a hunch.”
Amity, Eda, and King all turned to see what Luz was talking about, and the answer became clear when they noticed a certain bespectacled future botanist heading his way.
“Oh-ho, this outta be fun to watch,” Eda mused as she sipped from her mug.
Willow was on her way to visit the Owl House Magic Shop. She got off work early and decided to pay her two friends a visit. However, as she turned the corner, she paused. Down the sidewalk was the same boy who Luz and Amity had been saying was watching their store for the last three days. After all the grief they went through dealing with Grom, the last thing that Willow needed, that any of them needed, was more drama. Bearing that in mind, Willow decided to take care of this herself. No need to involve Luz and Amity, they deserved some peace after everything that happened.
The bespectacled teen walked down the sidewalk, not an ounce of worry in her mind about the boy. When she got there, Willow pulled a power move and leaned against the building, keeping a respectable gap between him and herself. Willow leaned against the wall in silence, not saying a word. The boy next to her would occasionally glance her way, and after about two or three minutes, he turned his head slightly in Willow’s direction.
“Something I can help you with?” he asked.
“Dunno, that depends,” Willow answered.
“On what?”
“On how long you plan on creeping around here,” Willow retorted.
“All due respect, that’s my business, not yours,” the boy replied.
Willow sighed indignantly and glanced his way. “It is my business when you hang around the place where my friends work. So, either kindly leave, or I’ll make you leave,” Willow warned.
The boy sighed. “I’m not here to pick a fight, just…What’s the phrase? Hanging around? Yeah, just hanging around.”
“I can think of much better places to hang out than here, if that’s all you’re after. Or is it something else?” Willow proposed.
The boy glanced between the Owl House and Willow. Truthfully, Willow was looking to end this peacefully, and get him away from the shop. Her last resort was going to be her fists. Luz often took an aggressive approach, but Willow preferred to be more passive in hers. Words first, and then a possible fist to the groin if need be. There was a tense pause between Willow and the boy, he continued to stare at her with those magenta eyes for a long minute, his body language indicating that he wasn’t exactly wanting to leave this spot. However, after another minute passed, he became lax and fully turned to face Willow.
“Alright, lead the way then,” said the boy.
Willow smiled as she cheerfully said, “Great, follow me!” As Willow turned to go the other direction, her gaze fell on the Owl House, and made eye contact with Luz and Amity. She gave them a wink before leading the boy away from the magic shop. Honestly, Willow wasn’t sure what she was going to do once she took him to the spot she was thinking about, but it was better that it was public. Less chance of her new friend pulling something with so many eyes.
“I never caught your name, Wolf Boy,” said Willow.
“Wha – ‘Wolf Boy’?” he asked, perplexed by the name.
“Well, you’re a boy, and you have a wolf t-shirt, so, Wolf Boy.”
“Wolf Boy” deadpanned at the nickname. “That’s not my name.”
“It is until you give me a better one,” Willow teased.
Wolf Boy grumbled for a few seconds before relenting. “Hunter…My name’s Hunter.”
“Huh, fitting, wolves are hunters, but it looks like you’re a lone wolf, Wolf Boy,” Willow replied.
“Ugh, you’re still going to call me that?” Hunter asked.
“Yep.”
(Robin Café…)
To ensure that Hunter wouldn’t try anything, Willow brought him to the Robin Café, and had them sit outside the establishment to grant her more options in case she needed to flee or throw hands with him. And it offered more incentive for Hunter to not do something rash with so many people walking around.
“What are you drinking?” the waitress asked.
“Iced coffee for me please,” Willow ordered.
“And you, sir?”
“Uh…” Hunter glanced over the menu, and seemed very confused by all the different kinds of coffee drinks that were listed. “I…I’ll have what she’s having.”
“Ookay,” the waitress replied as she wrote down the order. “Anything else?”
“A couple of blueberry muffins, please.”
The waitress wrote the order, nodded, and headed inside.
“First time at a coffee shop?” Willow asked.
Hunter leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “Yeah, you could say that.”
Willow didn’t really take notice earlier, but now that she was sitting with Hunter, she noticed more details about him. The bags under his eyes, the scar on his cheek, and there were more scars on his arms. Whatever kind of life Hunter had, it was not an easy one, either that or he was involved in a bad accident when he was a child.
“So, what brings you to Gravesfield? You’re new in town, right?” Willow asked.
“How did you know?!” Hunter asked suspiciously.
“Well, I’ve lived here for the last eighteen years, I’m pretty sure I’d know if someone was new,” Willow explained.
“Oh, uh, right, yeah,” Hunter’s suspicious demeanor faded as he sighed. “I’m just passing through is all. Thought I’d look around, and then be on my way.”
“I see, a drifter, huh?” Willow leaned forward and knitted her fingers together. “Wandering the countryside, a lone wolf mysteriously passing through town and searching for something or perhaps searching within himself?”
Hunter blinked and asked, “Was…Did you just give me a backstory?”
“Heh, kind of my way of breaking the ice.”
Hunter looked around. “What ice? There isn’t any.”
“Okay, my backstory for you is changing from a ‘bad-boy-lone-wolf’ type character and leaning more towards a ‘sheltered-lonely-boy-who’s-now-venturing-into-the-world-for-the-first-time’ kind of character,” said Willow with a dramatic flair.
Hunter deadpanned again. “…Are you mocking me?”
Willow shrugged.
“Ugh,” Hunter growled as he said, “Look, regardless of what you may think, I do have my reasons for what I’m doing. But those reasons are mine and mine alone.”
“Wolf Boy, I understand you have reasons. But look at it from my point of view,” Willow offered. “A random boy is hanging around outside of the magic shop where two girls are working. Now it’s not a crime to do so, but when you’ve been doing that for three days in a row and circling the block without even setting foot inside of the place. It kind of makes people wonder, you know? It makes me wonder if you have ulterior motives for my friends. Sinister motives.”
Hunter blinked. “What? I don’t.”
“Then help me understand what ‘reasons’ you have. Otherwise, you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me, and not in the nice way we’re having now,” Willow warned.
The waitress returned with their drinks and muffins. Willow paid the waitress, and after she left, Willow took a sip of her iced coffee and hummed in delight.
“Fair warning. Between me and my friends in that shop you keep staring at, you’re better off dealing with me. You keep this up, the girl with the beanie who works there. Yeah, she’s probably going to crack a baseball bat over your head if she thinks you’re a threat to her or those in the shop,” Willow added.
Hunter’s body language changed some, like he was uncertain about what he was doing. Or more like how he was going about it.
“Your iced coffee’s going to melt, won’t taste as good watered down,” Willow informed.
Hunter looked down at his drink, sighed, and grabbed the cup. He placed the straw into the cup and tentatively took a sip. As soon as the drink hit his tastebuds, the sleep deprived young man’s eyes suddenly lit up. That’s when Hunter started drinking the iced coffee with great enthusiasm.
“Whoa there, you might want to slow down or else you’ll–”
“ACK! EEEEEYAAAH!” Hunter slammed down the iced coffee drink as he held the sides of his head, pain radiating across his temples.
“Get brain freeze,” Willow deadpanned.
Hunter took his right fist and slammed it a couple of times against the table as he gritted his teeth through the dreaded brain freeze. This, of course, drew the attention of the other patrons and the passersby as they stared at Hunter with a mixture of sympathy and hilarity. But after a couple of moments the brain freeze effect started to subside. The young man breathed a sigh of relief once it had passed, panting from the ordeal he had went through.
“Yowch, that seemed particularly painful for you. Was that your first time experiencing a brain freeze?” Willow asked.
“…Yes, that was…unpleasant,” Hunter admitted. “And yes.”
“That sucks, sorry about that. Try to drink it slowly,” Willow instructed.
Hunter cautiously started to drink the iced coffee again, but this time did as he was told and drank it slowly.
“You seem to like that, first time having an iced coffee at all?” Willow questioned.
Hunter stopped and answered, “I’ve drank regular coffee before, but not like this.”
That much I can tell. Judging from the bags under his eyes, he looks like someone who’s been up a lot. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to give him coffee? Guy looks like he needs a long rest, Willow thought.
“Thank you, this is good,” said Hunter.
“You’re welcome. So, gonna tell me what’s up with you stalking my friends’ workplace?”
Hunter spluttered his drink and replied, “I’m not ‘stalking’ anyone!”
“Like I said, sure looks that way.”
“Ugh.” Hunter dug into the muffin with gusto, and finished what was left his drink before standing up. “I’m leaving.” The young man turned around and was about to walk off, but then he stopped, turned back around, reached into his pocket, and threw down some money. “For the drink and snack.”
Willow watched as Hunter walked off. She turned her attention to the money he left on the table and spat out her drink in surprise. He just left her five hundred dollars.
After speaking with Hunter, Willow headed back to the Owl House. For now, it seemed, Hunter decided to not return to watching the store. Most likely due to Willow having called him out and warned him. But she wasn’t sure that he would stop permanently because of that. Once she was in the shop, she informed the others about Hunter, and the conversation she had with him.
“So, that’s what happened,” Willow explained.
“Yeah, that’s sus as hell,” Luz stated.
“He has his ‘reasons’ to stake out my store, and on top of that he throws down five hundred bucks, and then leaves? Shoulda milked him for more,” Eda suggested.
Amity came up from behind Eda and smacked her upside the head. “In any case, it’s still unclear what this guy’s motivations are. We have to be careful. You especially, Willow. Now that you interacted with him, you’re probably on his radar.”
“By the way, Amity, you said that he might be a Soul Reaper sent to spy on you. You ever heard of a ‘Hunter’?” Luz asked.
Amity shook her head. “No, the name doesn’t particularly ring a bell. The Thirteen Court Guard Squads each have a captain, and each division has several Soul Reapers working in each division. The majority of the Soul Reapers know the captains, lieutenants, or third or fourth seat leaders, of each squad, but that’s more a thing about rank. Unless you have a reputation, you’re just another soldier among many.”
Luz sighed as she leaned on the counter. “Makes sense. So, he could be, or might not be a Soul Reaper sent to spy on you. He might just be some rich boy who wandered into town looking for thrills or something. Considering how he just left that much money.”
“Either way, you two do what you need to. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Willow offered.
“You sure that’s a good idea?” King asked. “My offer to bite him is still on the table.”
Willow crouched down and petted the disguised Hollow. “Thank you, King, but no thanks.”
“Still, if he is just some creep, we know you can handle him. But just in case.” Eda picked King up by the collar and handed him to Willow. “Take King with you. He mostly lazes around, so he won’t take up much space. But he’s got a nasty bite like he says. Plus, if something goes wrong, I put a special spell on his dog tag. Tap it twice and it’ll send an alert to me.”
Luz walked over to Willow and wrapped her arms around her best friend and began patting her head. “That guy better not hurt my precious cinnamon roll of a friend, or I’ll go full Hollow on his ass!”
“Scary,” Amity chuckled. “But I’d rather you didn’t devour a human soul, even if it’s someone like that.” Amity’s hand started to crackle with energy. “Although, a few unseen attacks here there might do the trick.”
They’re both scary, Willow thought.
(The Next Day…)
Hunter was once again standing outside the Owl House, and once again, Willow was standing right there next to him.
“You really meant it when you said you’d be here too,” said Hunter.
“Again, considering you’re stalking my friends, Wolf Boy, I’m inclined to keep an eye on you,” Willow responded.
“Ugh, stop calling me ‘Wolf Boy’, you know my name now,” Hunter retorted in annoyance. “And I’m not ‘stalking’ your friends.”
“Look, I’ll just tell you right now, and I’m not saying this to be mean, but you don’t have a shot with either of them,” Willow stated.
Hunter blinked. “Excuse me?”
“My friend with the beanie cap, she’s the aggressive type. In fact, I’m probably the only thing stopping her from coming over here and cracking your skull open with a baseball bat. Then there’s the other girl, the one with the purple hair. She seems like a classy kind of girl, but she’s no less dangerous,” Willow informed in a sweet tone, despite the grimness of her warning.
“Uh-huh…” Hunter looked down, just now noticing a dog at her side. “You brought your dog?”
“Oh, just dog sitting. His name’s King.” Willow bent down and petted the disguised Hollow on the head. “And he’s the best doggo around. Careful though, he bites.”
King flashed his fangs at the young man, shooting a toothy, grinning warning at him.
“Noted…” Hunter returned his gaze to the Owl House. “Your presence isn’t going to deter me.”
“Maybe, but I’m sure the police would deter you more.”
Hunter flinched at the mention of the local authorities. “You’re willing to get them involved?”
“That depends entirely on you. However, I’d like to end this without making it too much of a big deal. Now if you told me your reasons why you’re standing out here creeping like a creep, I’d be more than happy to walk away. Until then, I’ll be hanging out a lot with you,” Willow explained.
“Ugh, do as you want.”
“I intend to, Wolf Boy.”
Hunter rolled his eyes at the nickname.
(The Day After…)
Amity and Luz had their attention divided. Now they knew Willow could handle herself, but that didn’t make them any less worried for their friend’s safety. They would take shifts between watching the store and the other watching Hunter and Willow from the register. King was still with Willow, so that was another safety net. However, his constant presence was proving to be an annoyance.
“Boo, I don’t know how much longer I can take this! I want to kiss you sooo bad,” Luz whined.
Amity rolled her eyes as she stocked one of the shelves. “You and I both know that you want to do more than just ‘kiss’ me. I can tell you’re having withdrawal from not feeling me up.”
“Ooooh, you have NO idea!” Luz admitted. “I want to take you in the storeroom right now and screw you senseless to the point that you can’t even remember where we are!”
If she had heard that a month or more ago, Amity would’ve felt fear for her chastity, but now, she barely batted an eye.
“We can’t even sneak away because that guy might be watching this place…Oh! Idea! We’ll use Eda’s secret training bunker under the store! In fact, let’s go there right now!” Luz suggested.
“I’m starting to think that your…” Amity glanced in Hunter and Willow’s direction. She didn’t want to say the “H” word here just in case. “Ahem, your ‘condition’, has altered your libido levels from what they used to be.”
“Heh, mi princesa, they were always this high. I just never found someone I could feel comfortable enough to be this way with is all,” Luz explained.
Amity smiled and replied, “I love that you can be yourself, more so. However, until we’re sure he’s not a Soul Reaper sent to spy on me…” The purple haired Soul Reaper felt a bit cheeky. So, to emphasize her point, she turned in Luz’s direction, and slapped her rear in plain view of the Latina. “…You aren’t allowed to touch this.”
“¡Ay, las cosas que te voy a hacer cuando él se haya ido, mi amor! (Oh, the things I’m going to do to you when he’s gone, my love!)”
“I’m still learning that language, but I don’t think I need to know too much to know that that was a clear, and mostly likely sexual, declaration of things to come when he’s gone,” Amity winked.
“Okay, okay, enough with the pseudo flirting you two,” Eda complained.
Amity blushed and so did Luz.
“I know you two are horny for each other but try to keep it in your pants until he’s gone,” Eda reminded.
“Easy for you to say, you and my mom are able to have dates!” Luz retorted.
Eda grinned mischievously. “Well, unlike you two, I’m not being watched by a creep-o like that kid. So, I’m free to go out and have me some fun with Luz’s hot mamacita. Now if you don’t mind, I think I’ll go call Cam-Cam and make that woman turn red.”
Luz’s left eye twitched as she exhaled in frustration.
“What’s wrong? I thought you didn’t mind Eda going out with Camila?” Amity asked.
“Oh no, I’m all for it. Despite all that mess that happened with Grom, Mom did look really happy. She was blushing and everything, so, I’m glad she’s at least giving this a try. And I want to be happy, but…” Luz furrowed her brow, rushed to the front window, glared at Hunter through the glass as her breath fogged it up. “That pendejo is blue beaning me and making it hard to feel anything but frustration right now! I swear to God if he doesn’t stop, I’m going to–!”
Willow and Hunter watched as Luz seemed to be ranting and raving, pointing directly at Hunter, and flipping him the bird both with her finger and her arm.
“Your friend seems…animated,” Hunter mentioned.
Willow took a sip of her juice and replied, “That’s the nice way to put it.”
“She seems to be yelling, a lot.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
“Now the purple haired girl seems to be calming her down.”
Willow had a mischievous smirk as she said, “Why don’t you wave to her?”
Hunter raised an eyebrow and asked, “Why?”
“Just because,” Willow insisted.
Hunter didn’t see the reason behind it, but decided to see what the point was. So, he waved his hand as if greeting the girl with the beanie cap. The girl in the beanie cap paused, smushed her face against the glass, and had quite the indignant look on her face before vanishing into the back of the store with the purple haired girl looking confused.
“Now she left,” Hunter observed.
“Heh, she’s probably a little ticked by that,” said Willow.
“Was it wise to antagonize her?”
“Heh, don’t worry. My friend can be aggressive, but I don’t believe she’d–”
“Now she has a club in her hands and the purple haired girl and old lady are trying to stop her.”
“PPPPPPPPPPPPPFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFTTTTTTTTTT!!! AH! LUZ, NO! BRB!” Willow ran towards the Owl House, paused, and then ran back. “King, stay!” Then she ran back to the shop and entered the fray as she and the other friend, and the old woman, seemed to wrestle the beanie cap wearing girl to the ground.
Hunter blinked as he watched the display from his place across the street. It appeared to be a fierce struggle to contain the other girl, she even pointed the club in his direction a few times and seemed to be arguing with the others to let her go. Hunter glanced at the dog, King, who looked up at him with dissatisfaction.
“Are you going to bite me?” Hunter asked.
He wasn’t quite sure, but Hunter could’ve sworn that King grinned at him as if saying, “I might”. After several minutes, it appeared that Willow, the old woman, and her other friend, managed to calm down the friend that was rampaging. The beanie cap girl glared at him through the window once more before stomping off where Hunter couldn’t see her. A couple minutes passed, and Hunter saw the return of that same girl, only this time she had something else in her hands. The beanie cap girl taped a piece of paper to the window that had a crude drawing of Hunter with a cartoonish clump of poop on his head, and his tongue sticking out. And as an added bonus, once she was done, the beanie cap girl used her middle finger to pull down her right lower eyelid and stuck out her tongue before stomping away again.
Willow walked out of the store when all was done and sighed as she leaned next to the building that Hunter was on. “Okay, she’s calmed down…for now.”
“Your friend seems…temperamental.”
“She’s…how do I put this? Pent up.”
“About what?”
“That’s kinda personal…” Willow smirked. “But I might tell you if you tell me why you’re hanging around here?”
“Nice try.”
“Worth a shot.”
(3 More Days Later…)
The two were, once again, at that same spot. Hunter sighed heavily and glanced at Willow. He hadn’t really taken a good look at Willow, too focused on what he was doing. But the girl next to him was something. She walked up to him, a complete stranger, without fear despite his, admittedly, suspicious nature. Just out of boredom. Hunter had asked Willow what she normally does, and she had told him that she worked at a plant shop around the corner.
“Plants, huh?” Hunter asked. “You take enjoyment from caring for them?”
Willow nodded. “Yeah, flowers, trees, plants in general. They’re the perfect example of how nature can be both beautiful and deadly if not respected. But at the same time, how nature can heal and provide for all living things in our world. I kinda want to learn more about nature, and how mankind can better live in harmony with it.” Willow rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment. “Sorry, I get a little philosophical when it comes to nature.”
Hunter turned his head away and replied, “No, it’s…it’s fine. You’re passionate about something, and you have a dream. That’s good.”
“And what’s your dream, Wolf Boy?” Willow asked. “Let me guess, you want to see a wolf?”
“Can I?!” Hunter asked surprisingly fast. “Really?!”
“Eh…Y-Yeah, if you really want to,” Willow answered.
“How?! Where?! Do we have to hike into the woods?!”
“We don’t really need to do all that. We can go to the Gravesfield Zoo, they have wolves and other animals there, too,” Willow informed. “Did you want to go now?”
Hunter vigorously nodded his head, his eyes sparkling with anticipation.
Willow couldn’t help but giggle; Hunter looked like an excited child. “Okay, but that means we’ll have to leave the area.”
Hunter nodded again.
“Which means you won’t be able to watch the store. You okay with that?”
Hunter nodded a third time.
“Alright, follow me.”
(Gravesfield Zoo…)
The time spent at the zoo wasn’t for nothing as far as Willow as concerned. She got to see something good, like how Hunter was absolutely enthralled with the wolf pack, looking upon them from the observation area. Hunter kept his eyes on the pack, watching as the mother wolf attended to her pups, as the leader of the pack got to the top of the rock formation and gave a howl into the air, signaling the other wolves to howl with him.
“Guess you really do like wolves, huh, Wolf Boy?” Willow asked.
Hunter didn’t even bother to hide it as he nodded vigorously while still keeping his eyes on the wolves. Willow giggled at his response, which managed to snap him out of his enthrallment with the pack before turning his attention to Willow. Strangely, he found her giggle to be quite…nice. Then the young man shook his head.
“Thank you…for bringing me here,” said Hunter.
“Guess you’ve never gone to a zoo before either?”
“I…don’t get the chance to go out a lot. I’m usually working, a lot,” said Hunter.
“Oh? Guess it’s something stressful. I didn’t want to say anything, but you have some real bad bags under your eyes. Do you sleep well? Bad dreams?” Willow asked.
Hunter leaned on the railing as he sighed. “Well, I don’t dream that much. And I guess I’m sleeping well enough. I work for my uncle, and he often asks me to do some tasks that require much from me at times.”
Willow knitted her brow a little. “Is that how you also got your scars?”
“No, no, those were from separate occasions,” Hunter assured.
“…Look, I know it may not be my place. But maybe you should talk to your uncle about letting you relax, at least a lot more than you are now,” Willow suggested.
“I don’t mind, really. He’s…He’s my only family. He’s all I have left.”
Willow still didn’t think that this was something he should brush off, but she decided to leave it for now. The two of them continued watching the wolves for a little while longer, and after, Willow and Hunter walked around the zoo to see the other animals. Hunter’s favorite was certainly the wolf enclosure, but even he enjoyed seeing some of the more exotic animals, like the lions, tigers, and giraffes.
“Those things are freaky,” Hunter commented.
“I mean, they are pretty tall,” Willow admitted. Then she saw the long tongue. “And a little weird at times.”
The day continued like that, the two of them going around the zoo, stopping for bite to eat at the food court to talk about the different animals. This was the first time Willow had spent time with a boy she didn’t know, well, it wasn’t as if she actively tried to anyway. Being pansexual meant you had a wide array of options when it came to your partner, be it a girl, boy, neither or something in between, but it wasn’t like she was beating them off with a stick. She was considered the “large”, glasses wearing, plant nerd of the school. Not many wanted to be around her, certain people saw to that. So, her romantic prospects at school were…less than optimal. Aside from Gus, there weren’t that many boys she was close to.
Willow chuckled at herself upon thinking about such things. C’mon, Park, why are you even thinking of stuff like that? Am I really interested in Wolf Boy here? The bespectacled teen looked at him for a moment. I mean, I guess he’s kind of cute. Probably cuter if he got a decent night’s sleep. Hmm?
“Say, you wanna head back into town? There’s something I want to get,” said Willow.
“Uh, well, I really should be getting back to…”
“It won’t take long, and then you can go back to creeping outside the Owl House.”
“Not creeping. But alright.”
(Later that night…)
The sun had set on Gravesfield by the time that Hunter and Willow returned to the shopping area. Willow had them go to the flower shop where she worked and used her employee key to open the shop.
“Is it alright for you to be in here after they’ve closed?” Hunter asked.
“The owner gave me a spare key, she trusts me and knows I wouldn’t do anything to harm the shop or the plants,” said Willow.
Once inside, Willow walked the rows that were filled with a variety of plants. Hunter stood near the door as he watched her, and then she stopped. After a couple of minutes, Willow placed some money into the register and walked back with some violet flowers.
“These are for you,” said Willow as she handed Hunter a small bouquet.
“W-What are these?” he asked.
“Lavender. I know they make a lot of scented items and stuff that smells like the real thing, but sometimes the natural aroma of lavender flowers is best.”
Hunter raised an eyebrow and asked, “Best for what?”
“Sleep. The aroma of lavender flowers has been proven to help people have restful sleep, so, put these in a vase when you go home. I’m not going to say it’s a guaranteed thing, but it does help some people. So, maybe it’ll help you.” Willow blushed a little in embarrassment. “Sorry, plant nerd showing. You don’t have to take them.”
“I mean…I don’t mind, but at least let me pay you for them. Since you paid for that trip to the zoo,” said Hunter.
“No, the zoo trip was actually your treat. You paid me waaaay too much money back during our little café meeting. So, I used it for the zoo,” said Willow with a smile.
“Oh, then, thank you.”
After they were done in the flower shop, Willow locked it back up and the two exited out the back. The two went their separate ways, with Willow heading in one direction, and Hunter in another. Despite all that, she was no closer to figuring out who Hunter was, or why he was there in the first place. She kind of felt like she was letting down Luz and Amity right now, but if she didn’t find out anything soon, then she might have to resort to calling the police on him. Which, for some reason, she didn’t think was necessary. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about Hunter that she felt…well…something that needed protecting?
Just then, Willow bumped into someone, so deep in thought that she didn’t notice who was in front of her. “Oh, sorry about that. I–”
“Heh, looky here. It’s Park.”
Willow looked up and furrowed her brow. It was one of Chad’s goon squad, and he had about four others with him.
Great…
“Just the person we wanted to run into,” he said.
“What do you want?” Willow asked.
“Your dyke friend went and did a number on Chad not too long ago at Zoey’s party. We were thinking of some payback, but now that you’re here, I’m sure we can think of something,” he threatened.
Willow knew she had to take control of this situation, she had the power to fight against these guys, but using it out here in the open, and in the middle of town was going to be a problem. That’s when she glanced into the distance and smirked.
“Alright, fine. You can do what you want to me,” said Willow.
“Is this bitch serious?” another member of the gang asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be? It’s just me, and there’s five of you. Not like I have the numbers advantage. I just have one request,” said Willow. “Please?”
“Heh, okay, I’ll humor you, what is it? And if it’s something stupid you forget it,” the leader of the group.
“If you’re going to do anything to me, I want it to be done among the trees and plants that I love. So…could you take me to the park over there?” Willow asked as she pointed in the park’s direction.
The group looked in that direction for a moment, and then back to Willow.
“Are you f*cking kidding? Why would we go all the way there instead of just taking you into the nearest alley over there?” the second member asked as he thrusted his thumb towards said alley.
“Well…there’s less chance that people will see us. Look, I’m not stupid, I know where this is going. So, I’d rather you’d leave me amongst the trees and grass than in a dirty alley,” Willow explained.
“And here I thought she was the second smartest of Noceda’s trio, but that’s–!”
“Let’s do it.”
“What?!”
“Nah, she’s got a point. Less people, less chance of getting caught. Plus, kinda poetic don’t you think? A plant nerd like her found messed up in the woods. It practically writes itself. So, okay, you’ll get to be with your plants and flowers,” said the lead boy.
Sounds good to me, thought Willow.
Willow was brought into the park. She was kept at the center of the group as a way to box her in. Once inside the park, they veered off the path and headed deeper into the wooded area. The group of six walked until they felt they were in deep enough not to be seen or heard by any late-night park walkers. Of course, this was all according to Willow’s plan. Here in the park her Gaea would have the biggest advantage, she could manipulate the plants more easily here than out in a concrete setting. The last thing she wanted to do was create more work for Eda, but out here in the park would be much easier for Eda to clean up when it was over. So long as the boys didn’t do something stupid like take her bracelet, she would be alright.
“Alright, I think we’re far enough in,” said the lead boy.
The others took a step back, giving Willow some moving room.
“So, now, how do we want to play this?”
“She’s pretty thicc, I’d tap her if no one else wants her.”
“Heh, why not? ‘Plow’ her into the dirt. Probably what she wanted all along with having us come out here!”
“HA! Yeah, she gets off to plants so much that she wanted to get messed up in the dirt and grass, what a freak! AHAHAHAHA!”
Willow furrowed her brow; she was planning on creating some plant pollen that would knock them out. But maybe roughing them up a little bit wasn’t out of the question.
Alright, time to make ‘em scream.
However, before Willow could do anything, someone came dashing out of the bushes. In the next moment, one of the boys was struck from the side, sending him flying and crashing into the second member of the group. Both of them skidded across the dirt and grass for a few seconds before coming to a stop. Willow and the boys looked to see who it was, and to Willow’s surprise, it was Hunter.
“HUNTER?!” Willow shouted.
“What the hell?!”
Willow hadn’t seen Hunter emote too much over the past few days. Mostly he either had an annoyed expression, a neutral one, or in the case of the zoo, a kind of child-like excited look. But right now, the way he was looking at the boys who had brought her here, that look could kill. His eyes were narrowed into slits, and the magenta color of his eyes combined with the shadows cast by the canopy of leaves and branches gave those eyes an almost blood red appearance. Right now, it really looked like a wolf who had found his prey and was ready to go for the kill.
“W-What are you doing here?!” Willow asked.
“I came back because I felt like I really did need to pay you for these flowers.” Hunter gently placed the bouquet on the ground next to his feet. “But then I saw you get surrounded by these guys. At first, I thought you might know them, and then I saw them take you away. Keeping you in the center of their group. That’s when I realized that was the way you escort a prisoner. I don’t know what you all think you were going to do to her. But if you dare lay a hand on her…then you better be prepared to lose that hand in the process!”
No, no, no! Hunter, the chivalrous hero thing is great – honestly, I wouldn’t have ever expected it – but I can handle this myself! I just might have to use the pollen on him too.
“Son of a bitch!” the boy who was kicked yelled. “Sucker kick me, will you?!”
Hunter watched as the boy he kicked got up and ran towards him, bringing his fist up for a wide haymaker. It was an attack done in anger, with no forethought put into what his follow up would be, nor any consideration for guarding himself against a potential counterattack. An error that Hunter was going to exploit. The scarred young man swiftly blocked the haymaker, and in that same motion, struck his opponent in the gut with his right fist. The boy coughed in pain from the blow, but Hunter wasn’t done yet. Hunter turned around, grabbed that same arm that was about to punch him, and threw the boy over his head. In another fluid motion, Hunter slammed that boy back to the ground, knocking him out as he gave a gasp of pain before falling unconscious.
“Who else?” Hunter dared them.
Two of them rushed Hunter in an attempt to overwhelm him. How quickly they discovered they were wrong. Hunter easily blocked their messy and undisciplined punches, and dodged others. During his dodging, Hunter noticed that the other boy he had knocked to the ground earlier got up and ran around to the back to try and hit him. Hunter waited until just the right moment, and that’s when the two in front of him punched forward. The scarred young man ducked and rolled through the gap between them. Unfortunately for the third behind him, the two in front weren’t able to stop their momentum in time and both ended up punching the third in the face at the same time. The third boy was sent straight to the ground, sprawled out as his nose and mouth bled from the double punch to the face.
Hunter quickly recovered and ran towards two boys who were in a state of shock from having hit one of their own. The one on Hunter’s right was about to turn around, but just before he fully faced Hunter, the blonde young man dropped to the ground and slid like a baseball player. Hunter aimed directly for the teen boy’s legs, striking them, and causing that one to fall to the ground. But he didn’t stop. Hunter got back up and charged at the one that was previously to his left. He jumped forward and threw a kick at the side of the teen boy’s left knee, causing it to buckle as he howled in pain. Hunter boxed his head like a punching bag for a few seconds before throwing an uppercut that threw him onto his back. The one that was still on the ground didn’t receive much mercy either, as Hunter ran up and kicked him in the side and followed up with a second kick to his face, knocking both of them out.
“STOP, YOU f*ckING PSYCHO!”
Hunter turned his attention back to Willow and the leader and growled with anger. The leader of the group had produced a knife, and he now had Willow in his grasp, with his knife pointed right at her throat.
“You have nerve calling me that. I’m the ‘psycho’ for dispensing punishment on a group of scum like you. Who planned on hurting a defenseless girl. Now you hold a knife to her throat, and I’m the ‘psycho’? Tch,” Hunter retorted as he clenched his fists in anger.
“Stay back! I’ll do it!” he warned.
The leader was shaking like a leaf, and Willow could feel it. She was already concentrating her own spirit energy into her bracelet, waiting for the moment when she could transform it. She could now hear some of the teen boys who Hunter knocked out starting to groan, and a couple of them were starting to move like they were going to get back up. Hunter had skill, but even he would have trouble fighting with her in this state. There was no other choice.
“Hunter,” Willow called out, “thank you for coming to save me, but I’ll take it from here!”
“SHUT UP, PARK! OR I’LL SLIT YOUR GODDAMN THROAT, I MEAN IT!”
“No, you won’t.”
Suddenly, Willow’s bracelet shined with brilliant emerald light. The leader released Willow out of shock as he took a cautious step backwards. That’s when Willow’s entire right arm was covered in wooden armor, her Fullbringer weapon, Gaea. The future botanist turned around to face the boy, her normally green colored eyes now glowed with the same emerald light that was being emitted from the gemstones of the gauntlet she was wearing.
“W-W-W-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!”
“Nothing you need to worry about, but just so you know, if Hunter didn’t kick your asses, it was going to be me,” said Willow.
The leader of the teens ran up and tried to stab her. But Willow raised Gaea and formed a large wooden shield. As soon as the knife made contact with the shield, the blade snapped in two like it was made of cheap plastic. The leader of the boys stumbled backwards as he looked at his broken knife with shock.
“This isn’t ordinary wood; it might as well be as strong as tempered steel.” Willow raised her right hand and used Gaea’s power to make the ground shake.
“W-What are you doing?!”
“You know the old saying, ‘Don’t mess with Mother Nature’?” Willow’s eyes glowed brighter. “Well, you just did.”
Willow clenched the fist of her gauntlet, and as soon as she did, the ground erupted with multiple tree roots shooting upwards and latching onto his arms and legs. With a single wave of her hand, Willow had the roots lift him about three feet above the ground. Then she snapped her fingers, and something sprouted from the earth. A long vine with a blue flower bud at the tip. The tip pointed in the leader’s direction, and then blossomed into a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth, and a hissing maw.
The leader of the boys screamed a girly shriek before the plant monster burped a cloud of blue pollen dust into his face. A moment after doing that, the boy’s head tilted back and forth as if in a daze, and then he fell unconscious. The gemstones on Gaea glowed, and that’s when the roots released him and let the leader of the boys fall to the ground. Willow sighed, she figured this was going to probably make her look like a monster to Hunter, but it was better than him potentially getting killed, or him killing them. With some hesitancy, Willow turned around, ready to see the frightened face of the young man, but instead of fear or disgust, she saw worry.
“Are you alright?” Hunter asked.
“Uh…y-yeah, I am,” Willow answered.
Hunter breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. “Good…Good. At least I wasn’t too late. Although…I guess you really didn’t need my help in the end, did you?”
Willow rubbed the back of her head with her left hand as she said, “Not really, but I appreciated it all the same. Oh, hold on a second.” Willow nodded to her plant monster.
The plant monster went to each of the four remaining teen boys and burped a cloud of pollen in their faces before returning to the earth. The ground where the plant monster and the roots had come out of suddenly closed, showing no signs that the earth had been disturbed at all.
“What you just did? What was that?” Hunter asked.
“Oh, I just had that plant hit them with some pollen that’ll put them to sleep for a few hours,” Willow informed.
“Guess I’m not the only one with secrets, huh?” Hunter noted as he smirked.
“Yeah…a bit hypocritical of me to try and get information out of you when I haven’t been entirely forthcoming either,” said Willow. “But now you know, so…”
“Are you going to knock me out as well?”
Willow raised her right hand and pointed Gaea at Hunter. “By all accounts, I probably should.” Gaea glowed for a moment and then changed back into its bracelet form before Willow lowered her arm. “But part of me doesn’t want to.”
“I see, so it would cause problems for you if people knew. Guess that comes with the territory,” said Hunter.
“The way you fought back there…is…is that how you got your scars?” Willow asked.
“Like I said, these were obtained on separate occasions. But related to what you saw me do,” Hunter answered.
“And now that you’ve seen me like this, I guess it’s time I left.”
Willow, for some reason, felt saddened to hear that. “Is there…any chance I’ll see you again?”
“…I don’t know, but I feel like I want to see you again, too,” Hunter replied. He then picked up the flowers and said, “Thank you, again.”
“Wait, before you go. Please tell me, why were you hanging around outside the Owl House so much?” Willow asked.
“Oh, that? Truth be told, some guy by the name of ‘Chad’ told me that there was a girl who worked in that shop who was known for attacking people at random, and that he was attacked as well. I was passing through and decided to keep watch over the place for a few days, both to verify his story and to deter that girl from doing anything,” Hunter answered.
Willow’s left eyebrow twitched in anger as a vein popped out. “Chad…huh? You know these guys you beat up? They’re his friends, and he’s had a longstanding grudge against my friend, in fact, he used to bully me and my friends a lot until, well, that girl with the beanie, the one who drew the picture of you.”
“Yes, I remember…”
“She stood up to him and kicked his ass a couple of times. And now him and a popular girl at our school have a vendetta against her and us,” Willow explained.
Hunter blinked and then facepalmed himself. “Are you serious?! Ugh! I can’t believe I was roped into doing some lowlife’s dirty work!”
“Don’t worry about it, you didn’t know. And we’ll make sure he knows he effed up, big,” Willow informed. “Now, go, I need to call the police.”
Hunter nodded, smiled, and ran off into the night.
“Goodbye, Wolf Boy.”
Unbeknownst to Willow, as Hunter ran off, he said under his breath, “Goodbye, Woodsgirl.”
(The Following Day…)
“DAAAAAAMMMMMNNN YOU, CHAAAAAAAAAAD!!!!!!” Luz roared. “¡Ese hijo de puta (That son of a bitch)! That’s it! I’m going to feed him to the next Hollow that shows up! ¡Sin arrepentimientos! ¡¿Me escuchas?! ¡Ninguno! (No regrets! You hear me?! None!)”
“Now, Luz, let’s not get too medieval. We’ll throw him to the Hollows and give him a time limit, and if he can invade one until time’s up, we’ll save him. But if not, well, we gave him a chance at least,” Amity suggested.
“You two are very sad*stic and bloodthirsty right now,” Willow observed with worry.
“WE’RE PENT-UP AS HELL! OF COURSE WE’RE OUT FOR BLOOD!!!” Luz and Amity yelled in unison.
Eda rolled her eyes. “All that aside, at least I managed to wipe their memories. And I haven’t seen our wannabe ‘bad boy’ at all today.”
Willow had a slightly sad expression about her. “Yeah, I think we won’t be seeing much of him. He said he was leaving town after last night.”
Luz managed to calm herself down long enough to shift her focus to Willow. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“I am, I just wished I learned more about him though. He just kind of felt…lonely, you know?” Willow mentioned.
Luz rubbed her arm and said, “Yeah, we both know what that’s like. But maybe you will see him again?”
“At least he wasn’t who we thought he was,” Amity reminded. “And I’m glad he protected you. Wish I could thank him.”
“Ugh…” Luz groaned. “Great, I drew a picture of him with crap on his head and flipped him off! Great first impression…”
Willow chuckled and said, “No, it’s okay. I’m sure he understands why you were like that after I told him what happened.”
“Well, the important thing is. He’s gone, and it can be business as usual,” Eda reminded.
Luz blinked, then a second time. The Latina turned her gaze onto Amity, making the purple haired teen flinch in worry. Then her gaze fell on Willow, making the flower girl flinch as well.
“Luz…I get why you’re looking at Amity that way, but why are you looking at me like me that?” Willow asked.
The air grew heavy as a wide, menacing smile spread across Luz’s lips. “I’ve been blue beaned for the last several days! So…guess what that means.”
“Uh-uh, Luz! I’m not your GF, Amity is!” Willow quickly grabbed Amity and put her between herself and Luz. “Here’s your target!”
“Willow!”
“Sorry, but you are!”
“Two for the price of one!” Luz exclaimed as she leaped at them both.
“AAAAAAAAH!!!”
“AAAAAAAAHHH!!!”
“Yep, business as usual…Whoa! Hey! If you’re gonna do that, at least take it upstairs!”
Far above the city, there was a single being, a Soul Reaper who wore a golden mask. A hell butterfly flew next to him and hovered there as he turned to face it.
“Tell Head Captain Belos that I found the criminal and confirmed their identity. I’ll maintain distant surveillance until the necessary personnel have arrived,” said the Golden Guard.
The hell butterfly flew off and then disappeared. As he looked down at the city below, his right hand left his cloak and showed a bouquet of lavender flowers.
“Willow, I pray that you aren’t close by for what’s coming…”
To Be Continued…
The Repear & the Hollow: The Soul Society Arc...
