Golden Petals | Huntlow

Emerald Jerseys

Willow POV

It had been two months after Emporer Belos was defeated once and for all. Since then, a lot has changed on the Boiling Isles. Of course there's the big stuff, like rebuilding damages and adjusting to life without a ruler, but lots of smaller things have changed too. Hexside is fully embracing multi-tracking, and our Flyer Derby team is in full swing. 

The most important change, however, was the newest student of Hexside, Hunter. Darius had taken him in and encouraged him to get an education with others his own age. Hunter didn't have much choice for tracks since he didn't have any natural magic, but he soon found his niche with the Potion Track. And there's certainly nothing stopping him from joining the Flyer Derby team. Well, he didn't have a Palisman anymore, and he was reluctant to rejoin the team at first, but he's been finding his skills again with an artificial staff. 

Today was a normal school day rotation. We all went to our respective classes for our tracks, then met back up at lunch - Gus, Hunter, Amity and myself. Sometimes Viney and Skara joined us, or Mattholomule, but not today. Then back to a few more classes, and the Emerald Entrails meet up for practice after school. I wanted to focus on executing tight turns while flying, so we did a few drills and then we did a few maneuvers before just having fun for the rest of practice. 

"Good work, team!" I said as we were all packing up after the practice was over, "Make sure to get plenty of water after practice, and I'll see you guys tomorrow! Remember, we have a home match in two days." 

The team gave me a thumbs-up, and Viney and Skara both left--although not before getting brutally assaulted with affectionate licks from Puddles. 

"Wanna come to my place? I managed to get another Cosmic Frontiers comic from Camila's basement when we visited last weekend," Gus said. 

"Ooh, I've been wanting to read that!" I agreed excitedly. 

"Yeah, sounds like fun!" Hunter said, putting his staff in the sports' locker by the field. 

"Great! Let's go then!" Gus said, willing Emilline into staff form. Clover also reverted to her staff form, and I waited for Hunter to sit on the back before we took off. It was a relatively normal routine for us; if Hunter ever needed to go somewhere, Gus or I would usually offer to fly him there, at least until he was ready to get a new Palisman. 

We flew to Gus' house, and landed outside. We said hi to his dad, and Gus led us up to his room. 

"Should we call Amity? Maybe she can come. Or Luz, if she's not busy," I suggested. 

"Great idea! I'll call Amity," Gus offered, uncovering his crystal ball and contacting Amity. 

"Hello Gus!" she answered. 

"Hey Ams!" Gus greeted, "We were wondering if you wanted to hang out today? I got a new Cosmic Frontiers book from Camila's basement. Hunter and Willow are already here."

"First of all, only Luz can call me Ams. Second, I'd love to come!"

"Great! Do you know if Luz is free?"

"Yes, actually, she said she might have some time after human school today. I'll ask her if she wants to come."

"Awesome, dude. See you later!" Gus waved goodbye. I got in frame and waved as well. 

"See you!" Amity hung up the ball. 

"Let's see this comic! I wanna know what happens to Captain Bailey after that last issue!" Hunter demanded as soon as Gus turned away from his crystal ball. 

Gus pulled the book from on top of his shelf, and presented it with illusionary sparkles as he held it out for me and Hunter to see. 

I could see Hunter's face absolutely light up as he snatched the book out of Gus' hands and flipped through it. I chuckled. I love seeing Hunter happy.