Say My Name - A familial Owl House Fanfic

Chapter 6 - There will come a soldier

Sorry it's been so long everyone! I lost a bunch of motivation recently, so even if I really wanted to work on this I was unable to! But I finally got it done and it's all thanks to zikzAg_ that I was able to get the motivation again! So please go give xem a follow!

Another huge thank you Zik!

And a thank you to everyone reading this!

Now to your regularly scheduled fic:

As he had guessed the night before, Hunter had a hard time during school. He couldn't hold the chain to a beast and ended up letting the creature go by accident, then he couldn't mix a potion and almost exploded the classroom. Seriously they let teenagers around these dangerous things?

Now it was lunch, and Hunter was already exhausted. He trekked outside and leaned against the wall of the building, staring at the Grudgby field ahead of him. If the boy remembered correctly, he had Plant Manipulation next. Then History Of Illusions again. School was way more draining than he expected it to be.

"Why're you sitting alone?" A boy asked, appearing beside Hunter and kneeling next to him. "Oh, you're the boy Lia was talking to yesterday." He commented, sitting next to Hunter without a care in the world. Hunter tossed the boy a weird look and moved away slightly. "Sorry for not introducing myself immediately. I'm Lucas, Amelia's boyfriend."

Hunter relaxed more at that information. "I'm Hu-" He paused, furrowing his brows. What was his name again? The fake one of course. "Conroy, He/Him." The lilac-eyed boy greeted, looking away. Why was the other sitting with him?

The other blonde seemed to notice his unease, only making Hunter wish for his mask more. "Well nice to meet you Hu-Conroy." He joked, laughing lightly. "I'm not being serious by the way, dude, I get being nervous. I use He/Him too, Lia uses She/They. I'm just waiting for them here, she likes playing a game of Sport before we eat." 

"Sport?" Hunter echoed in curiosity. He'd never heard of such a thing, or at least never in detail. Some guards would walk by his room late at night, chatting among themselves about their children. "What's that?" He ventured hesitantly, biting the inside of his cheek, nothing visible enough.

Lucas seemed to brighten at Hunter's question. "It's very fun!" He assured, standing up quickly and jogging over to the field where it appeared the boy would continue his explanation. "It works better with two people, but the main objective is getting your teammate into the hoop up here! All safe, no injuries! Not very many witches play it because of the Grudgby team."

It took a moment for Hunter to truly process what Lucas said, considering he talked at a rather concerning speed and made wild gestures. "And Amelia likes to play this? Are there any consistent players other than them?" Hunter liked how happy Lucas acted when he got to explain what went into Sport, it reminded him of his infatuation with wild magic.

"Of course there are, Lucas is one of them." Amelia called from the corner of the building, dragging what seemed to be a small, yellow-tinted Peyortoise palisman behind her. It had a spiked shell and resembled the human world's 'tortoise', save for the longer, branchy tail. "Sorry I took so long. I was actually looking for you, Conroy!" All former anxieties from yesterday were nowhere to be shown on the witch. "Principal Bump needs to see you in his office. I'm sure you know where it is?"

A groan managed to escape Hunter as he stood up. "I do." The boy mumbled, rolling his eyes slightly. "You two will have to show me a game of Sport soon. I'll talk to you in Plant Manipulation, Amelia." He said, quickly walking away. It wasn't that he was embarrassed, far from it. His injury from last night just didn't settle well with the switching elevations. The office showed up soon enough, and Hunter wasted no time in walking in, only to freeze once he was inside.

"Ah, Conroy. Finally you decide to grace us with your presence." Someone spoke, turning around with a sickening smile. Hunter's blood ran cold, though he didn't know why. It was just his Uncle, Emperor Belos! But.. He didn't have his mask on. "I apologize once more, Principal Bump, for having to take him out of school so early. You know how angry employers can be."

The Principal stared at Belos for a minute, obviously unaware of who he is truly, and looked him up and down. "Of course." He seemed to agree, narrowing his eyes at him. "It's no issue as long as you see to it that Conroy gets his homework done."

Silence followed as Belos ignored Principal Bump, walking over to Hunter and placing a firm hand on his shoulder. "Will do." The Emperor in disguise said finally, turning Hunter around harshly and walking him out of the door.

No words were spoken between them as Hunter and Emperor Belos walked out of the school, but the hand gripping his shoulder roughly alerted Hunter that he was in trouble. It was in the middle of the forest that anything was said. "Hunter, how much do you like red birds?" Belos asked, voice grim.

Fear surged through Hunter, his body tensing and eyes looking everywhere other than his uncle. "They're... Fine I guess, nothing too special." He responded stiffly, placing his hands in front of him and fidgeting slightly. "Why do you ask?"

"Funny story," Belos quipped the moment Hunter finished his question. "'Cause you see, Kikimora went to check on your room because she heard some strange noises. And found a small bird palisman. At first I didn't want to believe it was yours, Hunter. You would never disobey me like that." He hummed, grip getting tighter on Hunter's shoulder. "But it dove for your window and what does Kikimora see? A nest covered in dust. So, is it yours?"

Hunter gulped lightly, arms and hands shaking now. "... I've never seen the palisman in my li-"

"Don't lie to me, Hunter!" Belos interrupted, shoving Hunter away slightly. "Everything I've even done! And you ignore my orders constantly!" His skin started turning to a gooey substance as his eyes retreated into his skull, leaving nothing but gaping holes. "You're so lucky that palisman escaped or I'd destroy the thing in front of you!"

Hunter was shuddering where he stood, hoping it'd just be yelling from his uncle. He was wrong. Oh-so wrong. Emperor Belos started advancing towards him in his monsterish form, something that's never happened before. Hunter's mind blanked in fear, his muscles and nerves on auto-control as he turned heel and darted.

The emperor was fast, but Hunter knew these woods way better than his uncle did, being in here all the time for missions. He darted through the trees, weaving behind bushes and shrubs of bracken. What felt like hours of running quickly ended as Hunter lost the emperor.

Hunter stopped by a tree, leaning against it and sliding to the ground with heavy breathing. He'd most likely be in tears right now if it weren't for the adrenaline stopping him. Why had he done that!? He's only going to be in more trouble when he goes home! If he even has a home to go back to.. What's he gonna do now? He's got no clue.

"Woah, what happened to you?" Someone asked. Hunter looked up and recognized Lilith instantly. He expected a snarky remark, a jab at his current appearance, anything to counter what he did when he saw her yesterday. And was met with nothing of the sort. "Calm down now," Lilith said softly, kneeling down beside him with a smile. "Let's get you patched up, kay kid?"

The Peyortoise is a custom creature that's a mix between a cactus and an African Spurred Tortoise!!