The Wolf & The Witch

*~*Chapter three*~*

Luz hadn't been too late coming home, Eda hadn't said anything in an attempt to give her space but Luz could feel worry coming off her in waves and couldn't help the guilt that pulled at her heart. She debated telling Eda about the green haired friend she made, but quickly decided against it until she could find out more about the witch. Who knows if the green haired girl would like her as a person anyways. Eda walked her to school, she offered to fly them on her staff but Luz had insisted they walk, she just wanted to be quiet with Eda for a bit, King had refused to budge off the couch so it was just the two. The usually comfortable silence felt off, Luz could feel it Eda was in pain. Not physically but mentally she was hurting.
"Eda." Luz broke the silence when they were halfway to their destination, unable to hold back any longer. Eda flinched a little, grinning crookedly at her niece.
"Sorry kid." Eda apologized as if reading Luz's mind making the teen roll her eyes.
"What's wrong Eda?" Luz demanded gently, nudging her shoulder against her aunt's own boney arm.
"Kid-" She was about to brush it off, tell Luz it wasn't true, but the look her niece was giving her stopped her in her tracks. She lowered her ears, her smug grin becoming strained for a moment. "I'm sorry Luz." She mumbled sincerely, wrapping an arm around the girl's shoulders to give them a gentle squeeze. "It just breaks my heart to know I couldn't protect you." Eda muttered the answer so softly that she almost didn't catch it, Luz frowned. Stopping in her tracks for a second to wrap her aunt in a tight embrace, Eda stiffened before slowly encircling her arms around the girl tightly.
"There was nothing anyone could've done Eda." Luz murmured into her shoulder, blinking back a few tears as she gazed down at her own bandaged arm. "But I'll be okay, we'll fix this together." Luz pulled away and Eda smiled down at her, eyes beaming with pride. "Besides, I did always want to be like you, guess I got my wish." Eda chuckled darkly at the joke, Luz grinning a little in return.
"Yeah, guess so." Eda pulled her back in for one more hug.
XxX
Things had felt better once they had resumed their journey, Eda had even been cracking jokes as she dropped Luz off for her first day of Hexside.
"You sure you don't want me to show you around? I was Hexside's #1 student you know?" Eda emphasized her words with a wink making Luz giggle.
"#1 in crime maybe." Eda snorted. "I'll be okay, I'll see you after school ok?" Luz gave Eda one more quick hug before jogging off to find her home room, excitement suddenly filling her heart as she realized what this meant. 'I'm in magic school!' Luz almost squealed in pure excitement as she twisted and turned down the halls, there was so much to see, so many witches so many potential new friends! While she was excited at the prospect of new friends she couldn't help but search the sea of people for that familiar pair of golden eyes, her friend that didn't even know they were friends yet. Luz felt giddy with excitement. Finding her home room wasn't too difficult, most of the rooms were clearly marked and Luz was soon in her home room with plenty of time to spare.
She considered leaving her stuff to go explore the halls for a few extra moments until with a startled gasp she realized someone very familiar sat at the front of her home room. 'My friend!' Luz would have screamed with excitement had it not been such a silent empty room, quickly rushing over to the table to greet her friend. She opened her mouth, a rush of words ready on the tip of her tongue, but after a moment of silence Luz shut her jaw with a snap once more. 'Oh yeah, I can't tell her I know her.' Luz's brain scrambled as she tried to think of a way to greet the girl before her without sounding like a stalker, or giving herself away. All she could do was stare. 'Wow she can draw really well-'
Luz's panicked thoughts were quickly cut off by a flat, slightly annoyed voice. "Can I help you?" EEP! Luz was panicking, trying to think of any excuse as to why she was staring at her friend. Nothing came to her.
"S-Sorry." Was all she managed to stammer out. Silence fell over them and after another beat, the green haired witch puffed an annoyed breath and turned her gaze up from her drawings to stare into Luz's eyes. Luz felt a heat roll over her, running a hand through her short hair nervously. 'Wow her eyes are scary.' She forced a quick smile, as bright as she could manage, but she was sure it looked unnatural.
"What?" This time her friend's voice was even more a snap, eyes narrowing on her. 'You were a lot less scary when I was a dog.' Luz thought with a gulp.
"Sorry." Luz apologized again, this time gathering enough courage to push on. "I'm Luz, I start today." She stuck out her hand instinctively, in human culture it was a normal greeting but with fresh embarrassment she remembered witches don't shake hands and dropped her palm back to her side. Luz scrambled to think of the next few words, instantly panicking as she searched for an explanation. "I just wanted to get here early to ask the teacher about seating and uh- heh guess he's not here yet." The green haired girl was looking less and less impressed by the second. "So uh- is this seat taken?" Luz was definitely sweating, pointing at the seat beside the witch as she tried to sell the nonsense that had just come out of her mouth.
A beat passed that felt like an eternity to Luz. "Oh. You could've just asked that." The witch turned back to her drawing, not sparing Luz another glance. Another beat passed. "Nobody sits there but don't bother me or you won't either." Luz was instantly beaming despite the warning, an excited squeak escaping her as she hopped into the seat beside the green haired girl. 'Now just to find out her name.' Luz's heart rate was slowly returning to normal, staring at the girl's doodles for any hint of a name. She found none.
"It's rude to stare." Luz, instantly startled, realizing she had been staring at her friend in a way she definitely hadn't meant to. She could've sworn she saw golden eyes glance at her again. "What? Were you raised by wolves?" Luz couldn't tell if it was a veiled insult or a soft joke, but she giggled nonetheless. 'No I just happen to be one.' She thought to herself. Luz could've sworn she caught the other girl grin for a moment.
"Sorry, you're just really good at drawing." The girl's face lit up with embarrassment, it wasn't a lie she was really talented even if that wasn't the true reason Luz was staring.
"Thank you." She muttered back the reply, earlier embarrassment at the compliment quickly hidden. "I'm Amity by the way." She added quickly at the end. Amity. Luz's heart felt like it was glowing, a bright smile playing across her face.
Luz let Amity work after that, keeping quiet and watching her in a much more subtle way. Or at least in Luz's mind it was subtle, but truly she just laid her head on the table and watched her friend from there instead of facing directly towards her. As time went on more students filled the room, no one really greeted Amity but a few stared at Luz. She was used to this, it happened every time she visited Eda, witches rarely saw humans after all.
"Good morning class." A voice cooed, Luz turned around to meet her new teacher but instantly stiffened as she recognized the woman. She hadn't noticed Luz at first, steely green eyes rolling over her other students before getting to Luz. As her gaze fell on Luz they both stiffened, Luz had to suppress a snarl, she was sure her eyes flashed amber. "Well hello Luz, I knew you were starting here today but I didn't realize you would be in my home room." Her smile was forced now as she stared at Luz, she narrowed her eyes that had reverted back to chocolate brown. 'I wish I wasn't.' She wanted to snap, but she pushed it down. The last thing Eda needed was for her to get sent home for fighting with her teacher. Though, for a fight with this particular teacher she might've been very proud.
"Lilith." Luz's voice was tight and flat, it was rare that she would speak in such a manner but the combining weight of the last few weeks with seeing Lilith's face, it brought out the worst in her. It was all she could do to keep from growling at the woman. She felt eyes on her back, even Amity seemed to look up, though she wasn't sure as she kept narrowed eyes on Lilith whose smile seemed to falter as she uttered her name.
"Ms.Clawthorne while we're at school, Luz." Lilith corrected her slowly, eyes narrowing in a way that rubbed Luz the wrong way. She simply nodded, it was better to keep quiet. Lilith dragged her eyes away from Luz to address the rest of the class. "Good morning everyone, it seems we have a new student today. Luz Nuceda, welcome to Hexside." There was a small murmur of greeting and Luz's spine straightened as Lilith turned her gaze back onto Luz for a moment.
"Give my sister my regards when you get home tonight." She added it so casually it almost sounded polite, Luz had to bite her tongue to keep from screaming at the woman. The taste of blood blossomed in her mouth startling Luz, her fangs had come out in her moment of rage.
XxX
While Luz had originally wanted to get to know Amity she decided it would have to wait, instead turning her attention to watching Lilith. The anger forming in her chest made it almost unbearable to sit still and by the time that class was done Luz was out of the room and down the hall in an instant. Her fangs had been unable to retract the rest of class, Luz could feel them sharp and pointed in her jaw but as she moved further and further from the room she felt them finally retract. A relieved sigh escaped her lips as she let herself rest against the wall for a moment, letting her eyes rest as the earlier tension faded from her body.
"Stay calm. Don't let Lilith get to you." Luz quietly mumbled to herself, sucking in deep breaths to keep her calm. "Eda is gonna lose it tonight." She chuckled to herself, slowly opening her eyes again to see she was being stared at. She jumped a little startled as she stared down at the boy who was looking up at her with excitement, his eyes almost had stars in them. "Uh, hi?" She greeted him with an awkward grin, he instantly gasped in amazement. Luz looked around nervously, hoping to find any context of what was going on but all she found was another girl looking at the boy with a less than impressed look.
"Augustus, don't be weird." The girl chided him making Luz laugh nervously as she glanced between her and the boy, wondering if it would be rude to run.
"I'm sorry I just- I just have never got to meet a human before!" Augustus was bouncing around, squealing in excitement, this time let out a genuine laugh. She had never seen someone so excited to meet a person. He halted in his antics to beam up at Luz again, practically vibrating with excitement. "I'm Augustus! Nice to meet you, big fan." The girl behind him chuckled, shaking her head in amusement at her friend.
"And I'm Willow, sorry for him word got around fast that a human was starting at school today." Luz nodded in understanding, tension leaving her shoulders again as she shot Agustus a friendly grin.
"Augustus huh? I knew an Augustus at home, we called him Gus." The small boy instantly shrieked in excitement making Luz jump again startled.
"A nickname! I've never gotten one thank you. This is such an honor!" Luz looked at him oddly before giving a shrug, deciding to just go with it.
"Of course buddy, I'm Luz by the way." She introduced herself with a smile, Willow gave a friendly wave as Gus practically exploded before her. 'I like them.' Luz decided, happy to find a pair of such friendly witches.
"Sorry to bug you. I know you got a busy schedule but, would you mind answering a few human questions for me? We can show you where your classes are as a trade!" Gus rambled excitedly, Luz considered his proposal when she glanced back and saw Willow pleadingly gesturing to her as she gave in with a giggle.
"Deal! Fire away with those questions friend." Gus squealed the loudest now, Luz grinned to herself. 'Yup, perfect friend choices.'
XxX
Luz was very quickly warming up to Hexside and her pair of witch friends despite the rocky start, this place was truly the school of her dreams. Sitting at lunch with her two friends she felt a warmth feeling blossom in her chest, Willow had told Gus to leave her alone for the rest of lunch with the human questions but Luz could feel Gus about to explode with curiosity. Witch towns really were hidden from the rest of the world, she hadn't realized until she started interacting with other teens but she truly lived an odd life to know both sides. Luz found herself spacing out as her friends joked and talked, it wasn't that she was uninterested but instead she was lost in thought wondering where her first friend she had made gone off to. 'Probably with her own friends.' Luz thought to herself dully, slowly glancing around the room for a sign of green hair.
When she spotted Amity however she wasn't looking at her, she was instead looking very bored as her friend spoke. Luz couldn't help but stare, their earlier conversation about staring brought a smile to her lips, it was almost like there was a pull of need to speak to Amity. 'Maybe I should go say hi?' Luz considered silently to herself, Willow however seemed to catch on following Luz's line of sight and frowning as she realized where her eyes had wandered.
"I would be careful Luz, Amity and her friends aren't.. the nicest." Luz's head snapped around, raising a surprised brow at Willow who hadn't had an unkind thing to say all day. She opened her mouth to defend Amity, but after a moment she shut it, realizing that she couldn't tell anyone about her encounter with Amity settling over her. Willow smiled as kindly as she could muster, but it seemed forced. "Amity and I used to be friends but ever since she started being around Skara and Boscha she well.." Willow trailed off and Gus finished her sentence by making a loud raspberry noise with his tongue. Willow and Luz burst out in giggles at his addition.
"I appreciate the concern Willow." Luz said genuinely, smiling at her soft friend. "I'm sorry you went through that and I don't know about her friends but Amity.. she's different." Willow gave her a skeptical look. "I just know it." Luz smiled at her brightly, confident in her claim. 'Amity is just scared, I know she's nice.' The witch stared at her for a second longer before giving a shrug.
"If you say so." Willow didn't push further, returning to her earlier conversation with Gus. Luz smiled at the pair before returning her gaze to Amity, who was still watching her friend boredly. Luz couldn't help the pull in her heart, Amity was her friend she just didn't know yet.
"I'll see you guys on the way to class." Luz quickly departed from the table before Gus or Willow could question her, making her way over to Amity. The green haired witch seemed startled as Luz approached, almost scrambling for words as Luz approached with a kind bright smile.
"Hi Amity!" Luz chirped sweetly, Amity's face instantly going crimson as her friends turned to see who was addressing her. They instantly grinned in a way that twisted Luz's stomach, but she pushed it away assuming it was nerves. "Sorry I didn't say bye this morning, I was in a rush, how-" Before Luz could finish her question one of Amity's friends rose up and snaked her way in front of Luz, gazing at her with all three eyes as a smirk played across her face.
"Well hello there human." She greeted Luz, her voice almost sounded taunting. Luz gulped as an uneasy feeling gripped her, a few people around watched.
"Oh uh- hi! Who are you?" Luz tried to reply in a friendly way, but the girl before her snorted with annoyance.
"Boscha. But you don't need to be addressing me, human." Luz was a bit startled now, cocking her head back in confusion.
"Luz. My name is Luz. And-" Before Luz could finish she was cut off again.
"Don't care. Why are you even here? Can humans like you even do magic?" Boscha was circling her, it reminded Luz of the way a predator hunted her prey. The irony of that made her snort. "Is something funny to you, human?" Luz realized what she had done quickly put her hands up defensively, attempting to take a step back.
"No no- look I just wanted to say hi to Amity, you don't have to be so mean." Luz's eyes narrowed as Boscha's did the same, slowly turning to Amity whose face was a bright red.
"Lose your pet human Amity?" Boscha taunted, Luz flinched back at this. Hurt flashing in her eyes as she stared at Amity helplessly. 'Help?' She tried to communicate desperately, but Amity wouldn't even look up at her. Luz felt cold.
"Boscha-" Luz started but was quickly cut off as the three eyed girl rounded on her again, an angry sneer across her face.
"I told you human, do not address me." Boscha raised her hand, drawing a glowing circle in the air, Luz flinched pulling her arms over her head in anticipation of the blow. But it never came. Slowly peering an eye over her arms she realized that a pair of green haired upperclassmen were standing in front of her, hands outstretched as a pair of vines trapped Boscha in place. They were grinning smugly, as if mirroring each other as they tsk'd down at Boscha, who was violently struggling against vines.
"Now now, that isn't very nice." The boy said in a playful but pouty voice, glancing over at Luz for a moment. "You ok?" When Luz nodded meekly he returned a glittering smile that made Luz's knees a bit weak. "Glad to hear it." With a sharp twist of their hands Boscha was free, grumbling to herself as she stomped off to take her place back at her table.
"Mittens-" The girl of the pair chided, both of them crossing their arms over their chests, their mirrored gaze falling on Amity. "You shouldn't let your friends treat each other like that." Amity looked furious between the two, doing her best to splutter out words nothing coherent came out. Luz was crestfallen. 'I guess Willow was right.' The girl cut Amity off before a coherent word left her lips. "No excuses, if you can't take care of your friends we will." The pair of upperclassmen turned to Luz now, smiling brilliantly down at her. Looking at their faces Luz was sure now, they had to be twins, slow realization fell over her. 'Ed and Em!'
"I'm sorry for our sister, lovely, I'm Emira and this is my dear brother Edric." Emira introduced themselves, the pair giving a silly bow of greeting that earned a giggle from Luz.
"Mittens can be a bit rude sometimes." Edric growled a bit pointedly, Amity was searing red all the way down to her shoulders now cheeks puffed out in anger. "Come hang out with us, we're the cooler Blights anyways."
Luz smiled, thankful to the twins for coming to her rescue, as she glanced behind them she saw Amity looking at her with soft eyes. The same soft eyes she had when they first met, but they were gone in an instant and Luz felt sadness sink in again. 'Fine, be that way.' She turned her attention to the twins again.
"I'd love to." Luz replied, instantly linking arms with the twins as the three of them made their way out of the lunch room. Amity watched them go and for a moment Luz could've sworn she had looked upset, but she turned her eyes forward before she could let it bother her.
XxX
The twins were sweet, they took her to the library to have fun before class started and Luz couldn't help but feel grateful. She didn't want to hear and 'I told you so' from Willow, even if she did it didn't feel great.
Emira climbed onto the back of Luz's chair to plop her head over the younger girl's, wrapping her arms around Luz to keep herself balanced as Luz giggled nervously a blush creeping over her cheeks.
"I'm sorry about Mittens again, she can be a jerk." Emira apologized for what felt like the hundredth time, Edric made a sound of agreement from the table he was sprawled out on before them.
"It's ok she just seemed so nice before." It was a vague enough answer that Luz felt comfortable saying it, Em nodded and pulled Luz to her tighter in an attempt to make her feel better. It worked.
"She can be like that, give her time." Edric explained with a kind smile that Luz returned. "But if her friends pick on you again come find us, next time we'll use snakes instead of vines." Luz let out a genuine laugh at Edric's threat, though she was pretty sure he wasn't kidding.
"I appreciate that, but you guys seem like the cooler Blights anyways." The twins instantly lit up at this, Emira finally relinquishing her hold on Luz to prop herself on the table beside her brother.
"So not to be mean but what are you doing here?" Edric sat up as Emira asked the question quickly adding in.
"Not in a mean way, we just didn't know humans could learn magic." Luz nodded in understanding, pulling out her pad of paper and pens. She began tracing a circle on the page.
"Don't worry I understand it's weird, but my aunt has been teaching me since I was little, I can do magic just in different ways." Luz tapped the finished drawing, the paper instantly crinkling into a ball of light that floated above them. Em and Ed were staring at the orb with wonder, Luz grinned to herself.
"Whoa that's so cool! But wait if your aunt is a witch are you half witch?" Edric questioned with a tilt of the head, Luz smiled patiently. She truly didn't mind the questions, she was thrilled actually to tell someone all Gus wanted to know all day was human things.
"Not that kind of aunt." Luz explained slowly. "I guess her and my mom were friends when they were younger, they always kept in touch and she just became my aunt over time. We don't have a big family, it's mostly just us so we're all pretty close." Luz shrugged as the twins listened with rapt attention, stars almost shining in their eyes. "I visit in the summers and that's when Eda teaches me, but since it's summer I never had a chance to come to Hexside to learn." They nodded in understanding.
"So why are you here this year?" Emira's question cut her off guard, she scrambled to find an answer but before she had to Edric had another question.
"Wait, Eda? Eda as in the owl lady?" Emira's jaw fell open as Edric brought attention to who her aunt was, startled Luz blinked at them. 'Since when did Eda make friends with the town people?' She wondered briefly, her aunt had always kept to herself in the woods for as long as she could remember.
"Oh yeah! You know her?" The twins shot each other nervous looks, as if choosing their next words carefully, Luz's brows scrunched in confusion.
"Are the legends true?" Edric asked in a hushed voice, almost as if he were afraid of someone overhearing.
Luz stared at the pair dumbfounded. "Legends?" She questioned racking her brain for what they could be talking about.
"Rumors have it that the owl lady lives in the woods with her giant demon dog in her nest guarded by the fiercest owl beast." Edric started, his voice taking a drastic turn in tone that reminded Luz of someone telling a campfire story.
"They say if you find her nest it'll be lined with the bones of her victims and her dog wears bones as trophies, and if she catches you in the nest you'll become a part of it." Emira finished dramatically, voice matching her brothers. Luz stared at the two wide eyed for a moment, trying to tell if they were joking or not. When she saw no sign of laughter from either usually playful twin, she just laughed. She couldn't stop laughing. She fell out of her chair and was heaving on the floor laughing. The twins glanced at one another and then down at Luz who was still heaving with laughter, showing no signs of stopping.
"Y-You-" Luz sucked in a breath of air trying to calm her laughter. It only half worked. "You guys- You guys need to come over." As she finally spluttered out the words more laughter poured out of her, the twins just staring down at her like she had grown a second head.

A/N: The twins have appeared! And Amity is being a butt, for now anyways. Hope you enjoy <3