Goodbye My Friend

I saw you in a dream and it came true.

Hunter grew up thinking wild magic was bad. Evil.

I feel different, feel so close to you.

He had countless memories of watching Belos drain the life out of innocent palismen. He remembered all the times he helped capture those palismen.

Goodbye, my friend, say goodbye.

He never thought anything of it; he never thought it was wrong.

I feel a pain in my heart.

Until that fateful day Luz the human came crashing into his life. Somewhat literally.

Please let me stay in your arms.

Emperor Belos needed more palismen and Hunter had never been more eager to prove himself. So he went on that mission; he swore he'd come back with all the palismen he could find. His uncle's curse had been worse than ever. He needed help, and Hunter was going to do whatever it took to make things better.

Please let me stay.

Looking back, Hunter's world was so small back then. All he knew was the Emperor's Coven. All he knew was studying, training, and going on missions. Being sent on a mission like that meant he was doing good. It meant his uncle was proud of him, and that he trusted him. Belos depended on him.

The sun is rising high in the sky, so high.

So he never even considered that what he was doing might be wrong. He never thought of palismen as actual, living beings. They were just tools to him. Tools of wild magic, tools that spread nothing but wickedness and destruction.

I can feel it burning in my soul.

Luz tried to take back the palismen he captured, though. She tried to save them. So in Hunter's eyes, that made her wicked too.

As the trees keep on growing, growing higher.

But then he saw how much she cared. About them, about him, even. Luz could have left him to the mercy of Kikimora, but she didn't. And that's what first got him thinking, why would such a kind person care about saving creatures made of the stuff of evil? He brushed that thought off for a while, but it became harder and harder to ignore once Flapjack came into his life.

I can feel my love is growing strong.

Flapjack. Flapjack. Hunter remembered the first time he laid eyes on that bird. After Luz slapped him awake that one time, the little red cardinal was perched on her shoulder and looking directly at him. He didn't pay the palisman much attention at the time, but later that night, Hunter vividly remembered holding his Flapjack in his hands for the first time.

Goodbye, my friend, say goodbye.

He didn't trust the palisman...his palisman...at first, but some part of him, some part of him deep down felt like he should give the bird a chance. And so he did. HE didn't understand it at the time, he didn't understand why the creature chose him of all people, but he let him stay by his side.

"Why don't you go find a better witch to be with?" Hunter remembered asking on several occasions. "You're not safe here! If Belos finds you--"

But Flapjack would never even let him finish that sentence. He just flew in circles around his head and pulled on his hair strand.

I feel a pain in my heart.

Then Eclipse Lake happened, and Hunter fought using his palisman for the first time. He learned his name was Flapjack. It had been a rough night, but the cardinal stayed with him through it all.