Title: Untitled (dariraine au 0)
Fandom: The Owl House
Rating: G
Word count: 2471
Main characters: Hunter, Terra
Other characters (minor roles): Bump, Eber, Flora, Hettie
Summary:
Hunter gets entangled in Terra's plot. (technically part of my dariraine AU)
----
Hurry! Hurry! You can do it! Hunter almost ran down the corridor. He knew he could be there on time! Uncle had promised that he could attend the meeting if he finished all his other duties first. All the Coven Heads and other high-ranking officials and scouts were supposed to be there to discuss the preparations for the Day of Unity, and Hunter had a few ideas about the security measures – and Uncle had said that he would allow Hunter to bring them up in front of everyone. If only he would get there on time!
Post the scouts at the edges of the Outer Area, make a schedule and rotate them so everybody can see a little part of the ceremony… He almost ran into Adrian Graye, who shouldered him in retaliation before briskly walking away.
Was… was the meeting already over?
Vitimir scurried past him.
Hunter was afraid he would be late, but not this late!
Osran glided by, entranced by his Crystal Ball.
The Coven Heads are already leaving...
Hunter made sure to give Alador Blight a wide berth – he still wasn’t certain whether Amity had told her father anything about their altercation at the Eclipse Lake. Hunter didn’t tell Uncle about her involvement, but could he trust the Blight girl to do the same? Yet the Abomination Coven Head didn’t seem to even notice him, completely absorbed by his scroll. They do say his relationship with his family is distant at best… still, Hunter had to be careful.
The other Coven Heads were catching up.
Terra nearly bumped into him, then stopped and gave him a strange, interested look that made him move faster.
Maybe Uncle was still in the Throne Room? Maybe he would listen to Hunter’s ideas?
Much more slowly Mason and Scooter Crane walked on, arm in arm, whispering to each other. Mason was clearly adjusting his pace to old Crane’s painfully slow gait.
In front of the Throne Room doors Hettie Cutburn was giving orders to some scouts. No one paid Hunter any attention.
Is Uncle still inside? Hunter walked into the Throne Room, but only Eberwolf was there, sitting on the table, shuffling through some papers.
“Eberwolf? Is the meeting already over?” Obviously it’s over! He nearly slapped himself in frustration. Stupid! “I mean, why is it over so early?”
Eberwolf yelped ambiguously, yawned, and started scratching themselves behind the ear with their foot.
“When did the Emperor leave?” Hunter tried again.
“Ah, there you are,” a melodic voice interrupted him. Flora!
“What are you doing here?” Hunter demanded. She wasn’t even part of the Day of Unity preparations!
“I was looking for the Beast Keeper,” Flora replied curtly.
“I want to see those new ratworms,” she addressed Eberwolf, who happily jumped down from the table. “And I have no time for children,” she muttered under her breath.
Hunter heard her! He clenched his fists. He was the Golden Guard! He outranked everyone in the room! And Flora wasn’t even a real official or anything.
“Let us not linger,” Flora turned to leave.
Eberwolf trotted out of the room, their face unreadable. This was unfair! Disrespectful! Seething with righteous anger Hunter followed them out.
“I need those worms ready and fit by the time of the expedition,” Flora was saying. The scouts gave her curious looks. Only Hettie didn’t even turn her head – instead the Healing Coven Head continued talking to her subordinates, and her voice grew louder and louder. Flora paused and smirked.
Eberwolf growled something. “Ah? Really?” Flora raised an eyebrow. “Mating season? Well,” for some reason she looked in Hettie’s direction, “I’m sure even the worms have better courtship manners than some.” She winked.
Hettie furiously turned around to face her.
Flora said something else, but Hunter didn’t quite catch it because Eberwolf started to make motions like they were chocking or about to barf out a hairball, while Hettie’s face went completely red, and she stomped off, scowling, not even listening to the scouts who trailed behind her.
“Just as I thought,” Flora laughed, playing with her whip. Eberwolf stopped barfing and sat up, flicking their ears. They chittered.
“Come, Beastie, we have work to do,” Flora said, and, before Hunter could demand an explanation, the duo walked away.
Hunter blinked. “But why… Hettie…” he muttered. He had never seen her like that before. “What just happened?”
“Oh, Dandelion, don’t worry your innocent mind about it,” Terra said right over his ear. Terra! How did she manage to sneak up on him? “This is too much for a fragile young brain,” she cackled.
“I… did the meeting start early? I wanted to propose some plans for the Day of Unity,” he said, failing to stop his mouth from running.
“Oh, yes,” Terra grinned, then frowned. “Did you think it was supposed to start later? Perhaps Kikimora has forgotten to send you a message with the correct time? I swear, she can be so forgetful sometimes,” Terra widened her grin. “Especially when it comes to you, Dandelion.”
Kikimora? Hunter wouldn’t put it past her to mislead him on purpose! “Yes, maybe that’s what happened,” he agreed. Damn that demon!
Terra inched closer. Hunter took a step back. Why did he have to run his mouth around her? They were alone now, and he wasn’t sure whether she was still seeking test subjects for her ‘venomous plant program’.
Terra creeped even closer. “So, what were you saying, Golden Guard? You wanted to show off your ideas?” She pointed at the papers in his arms.
Hunter nodded and took another step back. Now he just wanted to go back to his room and complain to Flapjack.
“You want to be helpful?”
Hunter nodded again, already regretting it.
“Well then, maybe you could help me?” Terra made a face that was probably supposed to be amiable. Hunter simply felt creeped out.
“Eeh, of course?” He remembered himself. “Of course, Head Witch Snapdragon.” He squared his shoulders. “I will be glad to assist you.”
Terra smiled serenely. “How wonderful. Thank you, dear.”
He didn’t have time to reply. A blink of an eye, and vines sprouted out of the floor, surrounding them. A heartbeat, and they were in Terra’s Greenhouse.
“Ah, now we can talk. How nice to be able to breathe again,” Terra inhaled deeply, savouring the rich, earthy smell of her Greenhouse.
“Aah,” Hunter barely had time to dodge a striking whipsaw plant that had lunged at him, rattling in its flowerpot.
Terra hummed to herself, busy checking the leaves on a huge tree-like plant with a hazard symbol on its pot. Hunter struggled with the whipsaw. It hissed and snapped at him. Hunter was grateful for his gloves.
Terra summoned a pair of secateurs. “Oh, what were we talking about?” She started trimming the tree. Hunter finally managed to free himself from the angry plant.
“Ah, yes! You see, Dandelion, I’ve been thinking about the Day of Unity. Oh, what a glorious day! But,” she sighed, “this marvelous future seems really hollow if you don’t have anyone to share it with.” She sighed again. “Perhaps Mason’s prattling about his family got to me, but he has his sprigs, and Osran and that old coot Crane have their grandchildren. Even the Blight has a family, though they can’t stand him. And the others have apprentices…”
Terra snipped off an offshoot from a spiky plant.
“So maybe I need an heir, some budding talent to share the royal future with… Someone skilled and loyal to a fault…”
An heir? “Eh…” Hunter tugged at his collar. “It’s not like I’m not honored, Head Witch, but my Uncle… I mean the Emperor… he says he has plans and I have to help him…”
“Of course I don’t mean you!” Terra snapped. The spiky plant lunged itself after its offshoot that was frantically crawling away. “Obviously.”
“Oh, obviously you don’t!” Phew, Hunter very nearly said. “So, do you have someone in mind then?”
Terra instantly calmed down. “Of course I have someone in mind.” She motioned with her head for him to follow her towards a desk with a surprisingly new version of the Crystal Ball on top of it.
“Hettie had set up this thing for me,” Terra muttered. She summoned a can of repellent. “So it’s probably bugged.”
She sprayed the Ball. Various bugs and worms crawled out from all around it and were promptly gobbled up by the hungry plants.
“Now we can look. My heir needs to be sufficiently powerful but trustworthy…”
Hunter wasn’t sure he really believed that she wanted an heir out of sentimental values. According to the Castle’s rumour mill, ever since she was badly injured during the Incident nineteen years ago, Terra had been gradually losing her health and her magical abilities – something you couldn’t afford to lose when you were one of the Coven Heads. So Hunter decided that the logical conclusion was that she needed a skilled apprentice to help her protect herself. Someone who could be enticed with the promise of the bright royal future as her heir, but who would be loyal enough not backstab her to get the position sooner. That someone would be hard to find.
“And here she is,” Terra turned on the video. A girl in glasses was talking passionately to a crowd.
“From the Owl Lady's petrification ceremony?”
Terra nodded her head. “Willow Park, a student in Hexside.” She pulled out a document folder. “I’ve been keeping an eye on her ever since.”
She dropped the folder into Hunter’s hands. He dutifully flipped through it. Wow, Terra seemed really thorough with her research! Only…
“But, Head Witch, she seems like a real troublemaker, hanging out with…” He remembered his own encounter with Luz… with the human… no, this was different…
“Yes, yes,” Terra shook her head sadly. “Hanging out, as you youngsters say, with that human and the Owl Lady… very, very regretful. What a waste of talent! Tragic really… but perhaps she isn’t a lost cause. She is young enough to be fixable…”
Terra sighed sadly. At this moment she seemed genuine for the first time since Hunter had known her. “Oh, to find someone talented and malleable and loyal… I knew a promising young sprout like this Willow once. Also a bit of a troublemaker, but seemed to grow out of it… only to turn out to be a traitor.”
She frowned and looked down at her arms, and Hunter noticed pale old scars with something darker, almost purplish, embedded under them.
“But perhaps that happened because I have left them alone. If I get to the Park girl before it’s too late, maybe it will be different. But I need to know whether she is worth the risk. Is the flower poisoned to the roots, or can it be saved with the right approach?”
The spiky plant finally caught up with its offshoot and devoured it in a single gulp.
“And,” Terra looked back up at Hunter, grinning again, “That’s where you come in.”
----
“Your grandson, Head Witch Snapdragon?” the principal of the Hexside school raised his head from the application form. The creature on his head twitched its tail in irritation. “I didn’t know you had grandchildren.”
Hunter smiled as wide as he could manage. He was sweating in the uncomfortable crapaud-wool jacket that Terra had forced on him, and the pomade in his hair made his scalp itch. He was 75-85% sure that she had dressed him up like a much younger child, but he didn’t protest. At least he was being useful? Uncle usually seemed to appreciate Terra’s help.
“Yes,” Terra crooned happily. “My dear little… ugh…”
“Caleb,” Hunter reminded her. He wondered how Flapjack was doing. Embarrassingly, Hunter was already missing that bird.
“Yes, my dear Caleb,” she smiled like the most sinisterly proud grandmother on the Isles and kicked Hunter under the desk. “I’ve had the poor child homeschooled on the grounds of his fragile disposition and because schools these days are just fertile grounds for bad influences… Still, we decided to give it a try. But of course,” she narrowed her eyes at the principal. “We first have to see whether your school is worthy of teaching my grandson.”
“Is that so?” the principal looked skeptical.
Hunter really needed to scratch his head. Would be nice to have a head creature to scratch your head for you...
“Just let him walk around for a couple of days and see for himself if this is the right place,” Terra continued. “Obviously, St. Epiderm and Glandus are more prestigious, but I decided to give this…” she pursed her lips and looked around the room, “place a chance, since we go way back.” She smiled sweetly.
The principal knitted his fingers and hummed under his breath. He looked even more skeptical now.
“Of course, there are huge benefits to having my grandson in your school… Oh? What is this?” She dropped something on the desk. “A little donation to help you fix up your auditorium. And of course,” her grin widened, “there are huge downsides of not allowing him in.”
The principal handed the check back to her. “Keep it, Head Witch. I know I can’t stop your… plan. If your grandson likes the school we can enroll him, but he’ll need to pass the entrance exam.”
An exam? Like the scout trial?
“All right then,” Terra got up. Hunter followed. Did he need to say something to the principal? Terra took him by the elbow and half-dragged him towards the door. He only said a single word during the whole ordeal.
“That went well,” Terra decided. “Now, Dandelion, remember your mission?”
“Yes, Head Witch,” Hunter straightened up. “Find the Park girl. Befriend her. Find out whether she is suitable to be your heir.”
“Right, right… Look!” Terra dragged him to the window. There was the girl! And her friend… Gus? And another girl Hunter recognized from Terra’s folder. Good thing that according to the files the human and the Blight should be away training with Lilith Clawthorne.
“Now,” Terra squinted at him. “You, Golden Guard, you do know what normal teenagers your age are like, right? Dandelion?”
“Ah, yes, of course!” This shouldn’t be difficult. “They… they like… schedules? Discipline?” he trailed off. “Sports?”
“No!” Terra slammed her fist on her palm. “Teenagers this age don’t like ‘discipline’.” The leaves on her head rustled menacingly. “Power! Raw ambition! That’s what they are all about. Who gets on the top of the school food chain, no matter by what means! Remember: they are ruthless creatures and would tolerate no weakness!”
Hunter nodded. He wondered what Terra was like in high school.
“You understand?”
“Yes, Head Witch.”
Terra looked out of the window and smiled.
“Oh, I know this will go great.”
2 notes
·
View notes
explaining background lore that i probably will explain in the golden ghosts but i might as well talk about here!
today we’ll talk about the protégé system in the covens! the idea is pretty basic but i thought it would be a good way to introduce the new characters i spent hours coming up with so here’s a short explanation. remember in eda’s requiem how raine took over from scooter crane? well, that’s the job of a protégé, to take over from a coven head if they retire or die or disappear under mysterious circumstances
there are protégés to every coven head, even the small covens, because you always need a back up person, but there are really only ten protégés we’ll focus on in the au
the first two protégés i’m going to talk about are the two that already exist. raine whispers is the protégé to scooter crane of the bard coven, a fact established already so, i won’t go too far into them. then the second one is certainly not canon compliant but the protégé to darius is alador blight! he’s no longer employed at blight industries in this au but it certainly exists in this au in case you’re worried. why is he here? simply because it’s funny okay, i really want darius and alador to be annoyed at each other a bunch because i say so.
and now, on to the original characters! first we have the protégé to lilith, zara alpin! they’re a huge nerd really. she really loves math and calculations and is constantly just geeking out with lilith about architecture (more of the mathematical aspects on their behalf but still) zara uses she/they pronouns and is about 29
the protégé to hettie cutburn of the healing coven is victor aesculapius! he’s around college age and uses he/him pronouns. a pathetic wet rat of a man, victor is based on victor frankenstein from frankenstein. he really’s focusing on raising the dead during his time in the coven system and he’s doing great work
the protégé to eberwolf is jasmine (jazz) airedale! jasmine owns five dogs, they’re named marcy, mabel, anne, molly, and sasha and they love to hang out with eberwolf. jazz is pretty nice and is dating choux, the potions coven protégé. she’s around thirty five and uses she/her pronouns
the protégé to mason pykrete is henry brick. certified himbo. someone probably even got him a certificate and he brags about it because he doesn't know what it means. he puts it on his business cards. he’s very friendly but is frequently called in to take care of things due to his strength both in construction magic and physical matters. henry uses he/him pronouns and is in his early forties
the protégé to adrian graye vernworth is earl somnus! earl is a master illusionist. he figured out a way to see into dreams and create illusions in them which he uses to the benefit of the coven system. sometimes he makes dream illusions on accident which is why no one will ever want to have a sleepover with him. he’s a pretentious illusionist just like adrian which means, they are constantly bickering. earl uses he/him pronouns and is around the same age as adrian, the both of them being in their late thirties.
osran of the oracle coven’s protégé is rowan atropos. that guy (gender neutral) who likes to tell you when and how you'll die and is super annoying about it. just there to tell people things they don't wanna hear. rowan uses they/them pronouns and is in their early twenties
the protégé to terra snapdragon is coral nerius. coral is a demon with horns and they grow different flowers from them every day (each incredibly toxic) she looks like a nice and calm individual with the flowers and flowing white robes but they are big on violence and murder and poison. coral uses they/she pronouns and is in their early thirties
and lastly, vitmir of the potions coven’s protégé is choux newteye. choux is a baker and all around nice fellow. they love making healing potions and helping people. they are a demon with baleen which they use to strain potions. choux is in their late twenties and they use they/them pronouns.
as always, feel free to send in questions about any of the protégés or the au
36 notes
·
View notes