Journey (The Owl House)

Memories

Hunter finished eating within a minute, once nobody was looking at him. He rose to his feet as everyone else began to stand as well. Luz left the room momentarily, and returned with a whole bucket of paint, which was deep crimson in colour, that she'd practically pulled out of thin air.
"What's that for?" Amity said.

"You'll see." Luz smirked. "Lets go to the old portal door." She nodded slightly.

Everyone trekked down there with little protest, but none of them really wanted to be there. Hunter got down there first, as he had been power-walking. He cuffed his sleeves and put his hand on the door, closing his eyes and quietly saying something under his breath. Willow snuck up behind him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, causing the tired blond to jump, splintering his hand. He winced, drawing in a sharp breath. Willow giggled slightly, partially with concern. Luz, Amity, Vee, and Gus caught up, Luz stopping in her tracks to Hunter just holding his hand standing there like a dummy. 
"Are you alright?" Luz inched forward towards him.
"The wood pierced his skin." Willow filled her in.

(Hunter is made of wood, so this is assault.)

Hunter tried to not act in pain, taking a deep breath. 
"I'll go get the med-kit from the house, OK?" Vee said timidly.
Luz nodded Vee off, who went off to return to the house.
"Hunter, sit down, I'm going to take a look, OK?" Luz said, trying to be gentle. She could tell he was on edge, to be fair, everyone was. That's what happens when you let the traumatized gays explore alone. 
Hunter sat down obediently. "Really, it's OK.." He said, his breathing panicked.

Luz took his wrist as tenderly as possible. It was a fairly nasty wound, a small piece of wood but it went pretty deep.

Vee returned with the med-kit, and Luz used tweezers to remove the foreign object from the emo boys skin. She then used antibiotics and patched the wound. She dramatically wiped nonexistent sweat off her forehead. "My work is done." She said, smiling proudly. Amity giggled at her girlfriend, taking her hand. They both blushed but smiled. Luz took the paint canister with her other hand. 

"Minor disturbance, but let's go!!" Gus said, smiling. Luz and Amity entered the small shack first, then Vee, then Gus, then Willow, then Hunter.

Luz set the paint can down. 

"We should turn this room into a like- a mancave!!" Luz said, giggling.

"If all goes well, we'll be back on the Boiling Isles before we have the time to do that.." Amity said, a somber edge to her voice.

"I'm confident that we'll get back soon." Willow said, smiling. (That aged well.)

Everyone besides Hunter cracked a gentle smile, Hunter was sitting cross-legged on the floor talking to Flapjack, AKA talking to himself but pretending Flapjack is actually comprehending what he said.

"Alright, Flap, I know it seems tough, but before you know it, we'll be back on the Isles. Then, we can find a home. A real home! A .. a forever home." He was speaking in a low whisper, but not low enough for the others to tune him out. Luz and Willow glanced at one another, then Willow walked forward.

Willow silently sat beside Hunter, Clover snuggling up to Flapjack.

"Whatcha pondering?" She said, almost playfully.

"Just.. just a lot on my mind. That's all."
"I get it. I'm here if you need anything, we all are, don't forget that." Willow said, taking Hunters injured hand and running her thumb over the Band-Aid. Hunter resisted the urge to pull away and weakly grunted, stifling a hiss under his breath.

Meanwhile, Luz was painting symbols, Glyphs, on the walls. trying to do something, anything, to test if magic worked at all. Forcing the walls to shake, the building was unstable and everyone was tense for a bit.

"My future." Hunter said after a beat. "I don't know who I am, or if I still have a purpose." He swallowed harshly, biting his tongue in hopes of not breaking into tears.

"Your future is yours to decide." Willow said, leaning inward and shifting her hand from his hand to his shoulder. "I don't know about you, but I'd love to have you all in my future." Willow continued, glancing at her friends, who were now all playing with the paint like children. She liked seeing them laugh, it felt so familiar.  

"Want to go paint with the others?" Willow said, standing up slowly. Hunter nodded silently, standing up as well after a beat.

"Let's go make memories."

                     -TO BE CONTINUED-