The Owl House (Hunter x Reader)

Chapter 6: Never Trust Ladybugs

"Day two of living like hobos," King narrated from his perch in a tree. "Our fearless leader, Y/n, the brave Wolf of the Isles, has yet to wake up, leaving me, the Ruler of Darkness, to fend for myself. Food and rations are low."

Y/n groaned, rolling over and clapping her hands over her ears. "I restocked on food yesterday, we have plenty of supplies. Just let me sleepppp."

King hopped down from the branch. "But it's so boring out here! At least when we travel the scenery changes once in a while."

"Go on a walk, take up bird watching, go back to sleep. Just ten more minutes." Y/n said drowsily, curling into a ball. 

King huffed and stomped away. "Fine. I'll go on a walk, but I refuse to enjoy it."

Y/n waved her hand dismissively. "Just don't go too far."

King made his way down a slope, muttering to himself about the unfairness of being bossed around. "The nerve of her making me go walking by myself, exercising, in this boring old forest," he grumbled. 

A ladybug landed on his head. "Hey!" he shouted, trying to bat it away. "Go find another person to eat alive, creepy crawly!" 

It crawled from his head to his nose, King's eyes following it warily. It buzzed happily, causing him to smile. "Bug, you shall be a commander in my army," he decreed, "Colonel Buzzy, they will fear your very name!"

Colonel Buzzy flapped it's wings, before taking off in another direction. King watched it go, before running after it. "Where are you going, Colonel? Don't abandon your king!" 

Not looking at where his feet were rather than the ladybug, he tripped over a fallen log and slid down a hill, slick with mud that propelled him forwards. He clawed at the earth, unable to stop himself from rolling.

The gorge deposited him in a river, leaving him to gasp and thrash around the cold, fast running water. "Y/n!" he shouted, trying to find a hold on the wet rocks around him.

From the campsite, Y/n's ears pricked up as she heard King's fearful yelling. Her whole body went into danger mode as she listened for where he might be. "Don't worry, King! I'm coming!" she yelled, not caring about the possible trackers as she took off in the direction of his voice.

King was flailing around weakly when Y/n arrived, panting heavily from using her repressed speed to make it there in time. 

"Y/n!" King choked, waving frantically. "The currents are too strong! I can't grab a hold of anything!" The dark water swirled around him, threatening to pull his tiny body under.

Without a second thought, Y/n dove into the river, kicking her legs to thrash across the riverbed and grab ahold of him. The ice water bit into her skin as she fought against the currents, using all her energy to pull herself and King onto the shore. 

Lips blue and chattering, she wrung the water from  her clothing, while King in turn shook his entire body to dry his fur. 

"What were you doing down here?" Y/n asked shakily. "To sum it all up, never follow a ladybug," King explained. She sighed and pulled him close. "Are you okay?"

He nodded. "The important question is, are you? I don't think lips are supposed to be that shade of purple."

Y/n laughed weakly, then carefully stood up. "Let's get back to camp," she sighed. "we can take care of me later." She pulled King's tired body into her arms, where he happily let himself go limp in her grasp as his small form fell asleep from exhaustion.

==================

Eda winced as the manacles dug into her wrist, stopping her from moving forward to listen closer to the guards' chatter at the end of the prison. 

Clanking from her the entrance to her own cell sent her sliding further back against the wall. A guard pushed her meal tray through the bottom and went to turn away before Eda stopped him.

"Hey, you. Steve, right?" she asked desperately. "Do you know what they're talking about over there?"

Steve shook his head "I'm not supposed to talk to you," he whispered. "I'm only here because I let your daughter go last time. I should be out there helping track her down."

"And I'm sure it's going great for them," Eda said patronisingly, playing on his instincts to boast about their success. Steve nodded. "Apparently Y/n was spotted in Latissa with her weird cat disguised as a baby," he said confidentially.

Eda nodded, portraying a sympathetic, avid listener, but inside she was cheering. 

"Steve, what the hell are you doing in there?" another guard asked, peering between the bars. Steve pointed to Eda. "She wanted to know how the search was going."

The other one sighed, opened the door and dragged Steve out. Then he turned back to Eda. "It's only a matter of time before we find that brat of yours" he warned. "Now quit messing with things or the wait is gonna be that much more unbearable for you."

==================

Hunter swore, once again untangling his cape from a tree branch. "It had to be a forest," he groused. "Couldn't have been a nice empty field, or a city for that matter, she just had to run off in the middle of the sticks."

The smell of smoke reached his nose, and he turned in the direction it was coming from. Rookie mistake, he grinned, igniting his staff.