Behind the Mask (HunterTOH x Y/N)

(22) And So it Begins

You woke up to Hunter wrapped around you protectively. You pushed your face into his chest for a moment, finding strange comfort in it. You finally forced yourself to get up, and started to climb out of bed.

The room was very cramped now, due to the extra beds you added last night. You made your way around them all and got out your trumpet. One final prank, just in case this was the end for some of them, or even you.

You pushed it up to your lips, and in a weird turn of events, you were reminded of what happened last night. You and Hunter kissed. 'OH MY GOLDFISH WHAT THE HELL?!' You thought, scrunching your face up with embarrassment.

You giggled to yourself and put the trumpet back to your mouth, adjusting your fingers to hold it correctly. With a swift, sharp blow, an ear-piercing sound exited the end of the horn. You watched in amusement as everybody jolted awake.

Willow stood up immediately and put her hands up karate-style, Eda screamed, and King made a "Weh?!" sound. You tried to hold in your laughter until they were actually awake, but you couldn't help but chortle. "Y/N! What the heck?" Amity said with a tired voice.

"I just haven't pranked anybody in a while, that's all." You laughed. Everybody groaned and got out of bed, but Hunter seemed to be lost in thought. He was sitting on the bed and fiddling with his Golden Guard cloak.

As a bit of an inside joke, you sat next to him and threw your cloak over the both of you, treating it like a blanket the same way you did the night you met him. You saw him smile a little, but you could still sense his nervous demeanor.

"You okay?" You asked him quietly, not wanting to alarm the others.

"Yeah, just nervous about today." He replied, just as quiet.

"Don't be, this is the best fighting team in all of Bonesborough!"

"You're right. It's just.. I don't even know." He sighed. You looked at him with curiosity. He took a deep breath and tried to think.

"When older birds push their baby birds out of the nest, nine times out of ten the baby bird just flys." He put his head in his hand.

"Uh huh.." You nodded your head slowly.
"But what about that one time? What if we're that one time, Y/N?" You frowned a bit and laid your head on his shoulder.

"We've just gotta make sure we know how to fly before we get pushed out." You answered.

He let out an acknowledging "Hm," and you both got up. Everybody got ready, made some last minute touches, and basically made sure they were completely ready for this fight.

After about 20 minutes of talking/reassuring your friends, you went to the middle of the room. "Okay! In just a minute, me and Gus are gonna start the illusions. Do not touch eachother, or anybody else. Hunter, are you ready to distract him?" You looked at the blonde boy with a warm face.

He gave an unsure nod, but he seemed to be building up confidence with every breath he took. "Then let's go kill this son of a witch!" You let out the battle cry, which was followed by multiple voices saying "Yeah!"

After casting the illusions, you all made your way through the castle, trying to be silent to not alert passing scouts.

With anxiety pulsing through your veins, minutes turned to hours. So, after what seemed like hours of weaving through the castle halls, you had all finally made it to the room.

Once he knew that you were all right next to him, Hunter knocked on the door. You all held your breath, and quickly scurried through the door right as it opened. Hunter followed in afterwards, and began talking to Belos.

"Hunter, you're up early. What brings you here?" Belos asked him mysteriously.

"I was just.. wondering if my staff was ready yet! I know you planned missions for me during the week I was missing, and I want to finish them as soon as I'm finished with training." He sounded convincing enough, so all you had to do was wait for Luz to attack Belos.

"Ah, about that. I gave all of those missions to Kikimora upon hearing about your... absence." The emperor seemed to be enjoying the guilt that Hunter felt.

"I apologize deeply for my mistakes, but if-" He was cut off by a sharp, green colored goo coming straight towards his leg.

You heard him wince, and watched as the goo slithered back to Belos. Exactly what had happened to you yesterday, Belos just did to him! You studied the deep cut on Hunter's leg, and it took you everything not to run out there and heal him.

Emperor Belos leaned back in his chair and started to groan. "Do not speak, unless you are spoken to." He commanded with great pain in his voice. Hunter nodded his head and whispered,

"Yes, Uncle."

The Emperor laid back in his throne, and began to groan even louder. He was obviously being bothered by some sort of pain. Luz took this as the perfect opportunity to jump out from behind the pillar and slap a fire glyph right on Belos' chest.

You all watched in amazement as the old man flew through the air like a rag doll. His shouts of confusion and anger, and maybe even pain, echoed through the empty throne room. You sprinted to Hunter's side and started healing him immediately, trying to finish before Belos was done flailing through the air.

"You okay, Hunt?" You asked him quickly. He sucked air through his teeth from suppressed pain.

"Never better," He managed to mutter out. You finished healing him, and he put all his weight on his leg to test it out.

"Thanks!" He exclaimed.

He gave you a quick peck on the cheek and ran forward towards Belos, who just landed. You ran up to him too, and realized just then that you and Gus had both let go of the illusions. But it didn't matter now, because the biggest fight of your life was about to go down. The man sat up, and removed his long mask.

"Who... did that?"