#lmk hunter au

[squidkid15]

You know those corset vests that pop on tiktok sometimes? 

Entirely unrelated, here’s Rook-

[lotusmonkey]

Tfw your diva of a twin goads you into fashion shopping

[laziilizard]

your Spiderverse crossover au fucks SEVERELY I hope you know I’m obsessed with each different universe in that au. torn between imagining them separately and imagining the 3 spiderboys forced into the same city after dimensions got all fucked

AHH!! I’m so happy to hear that!! I’ve been meaning to draw more of them for a while now so this is the perfect opportunity, thank you!

[whispersofrot]

dol fallout au, basic ideas rattling around in the ol' noggin:

-vault overseer bailey! is there a vault experiment? maybe, don't worry about it :)

-kylar being your weird creepy neighbor in either a wasteland settlement or vault. may or may not sell chems, you get a discount though!

-caravan guard whitney, maybe an ex raider who still has some fragile ties to their old gang. doesn't stick to their caravan for too long, gets in some spat with whoever hired them and ends up on their own again soon enough.

-ghoul eden, people don't like them so they don't like other people, really different person pre-war. Still probably lives in the middle of nowhere, on a little ranch they've got trapped to hell and back

-harper's running the experiments in a vault, maybe not the overseer but they've definitely got at least some say in what goes on.

-robin's a naive player companion you convinced to escape the shitty little vault you grew up in together. may or may not go a little crazy in the wasteland. instead of losing or gaining approval maybe your actions contribute to their sanity?

-alex still runs a farm on the outskirts of a small settlement, plenty of little mutant dogs running around to protect the farm. not trapped up like eden's, so their fields keep getting fucked over by mole rats and other wasteland beasties the mutts don't kill fast enough.

[lavendertrash39]

So.. huntlow childhood friends au :]

It all starts with the mountain trial. All the scouts get left at the top of a mountain and they see who can make it down alive, and the fastest. 

Hunter is 9 years old when he attempts it. He ends up being one of the fastest scouts there. 

When he starts to reach the bottom of the mountain, he hears a girl cry out. He looks behind him and sees that he's far enough ahead, and goes to investigate the sound. He ends up finding a girl around his age standing by a stream, holding a bunch of mushrooms in her hands. 

She introduces herself as Willow. She's sweet, bubbly, and loves foraging, just like him! She seems equally excited when he shares that he has the same interest. He ends up showing her how to find a specific mushroom and gives her a bandaid for a scratch she'd gotten when tripping.

They unfortunately have to part ways soon after meeting each other, but neither of them forget their brief interaction. After all, they’d never met anyone else who enjoys foraging like they do.

[iridescentis]

I know it's hard to believe that Jack and Eric would go 15 years without talking and it would be lovely to imagine them getting together during their college years while the show is still running but honestly

I love the idea of them finding each other 15 years later - adults with fully developed lives, dealing with big issues they both buried for years, dealing with the fact that it's so easy for them to just slot back into place after all that time, because it feels raw and real in contrast with a lot of the idealism of the show

Having such a strong relationship be torn apart then built back up as adults is such a real experience, and I think they both deserve something that takes work and isn't easy, because both of them have been handed a lot, and it would be a really interesting to explore that alongside the canon timeline

[cyndrastic]

PART 1 PART 1

this took forever but here’s the first part of a hopefully much bigger au

please please send asks about it so much time went into my stupid little hyperfixation

(please click and scroll for quality and also better context)

[peanut-with-wifi-access]

hmm something something wc au where rusty took the name Rustpaw bc he still cares about his friends and family back home, even tho he lives with the clans now

something something Rustfire is a rad ass warrior name

something something he goes to the Moonstone, fully ready to embrace his life as Ruststar

some something where Starclan names him Firestar, declaring him "finally free of the chains of his kittypet past"

something where Firestar Rustfire is personally betrayed by the gods he was taught to worship and trust.

[creators-island]

♡ PLAYLIST!

=> A (Beating) Heart of Stone [Unreleased Fanfic -The Owl House] | Hunter's mental health Journey [From Said Fanfic]

=> Showman!Macaque AU [LEGO Monkie kid AU]

=> FlowerPunk Playlist [Across the spiderverse Duo]

[waywardsalt]

oh yeah i’ve got a bunch of loz aus that i haven’t really talked about. a few of them are listed and slightly explained in this poll and explanation reblog but i haven’t gone out of my way to actually list the aus i have and really explain them. so that’s what this post is for. here are some... decently simple explanations of my major aus and what they're generally about

i have two kinds of aus: original aus (loz aus that are set in their own kinds of worlds with their own stories and twists on character roles) and then crossover aus (we all know how this works i just mash loz and a thing i like together)

original aus: (many currently dont have actual titles, so the titles will often just be concept shorthand)

in the court of the crimson king/crimson king au: probably the most developed and closest to being written out. it's got one of the longer premises; set in a industrial-esque hyrule city, following linebeck as the main character, as the adoptive older brother of link and aryll, living with them and their grandmother as the only one able to reliably make money to pay for rent and food, leaving every other work to do jobs, but he moonlights as the 'demon of the gray moon', a masked persona he'd created as a child that had long since become a city-wide urban legend, anonymously taking unsavory jobs from whomever can contact him and offer pay, often working directly for bellum, a childhood friend, the one who enabled and trained him to become the demon, and one of five anonymous leaders of the city. linebeck effectively lives a double life, and tries to stay out of too much trouble to avoid drawing attention to himself or making his adoptive family worry, but he gets dragged into more and more danger as bellum becomes curious about the identities of the city's other leaders, and linebeck falls in love with a man named ganondorf, suspected to be one of those other city leaders. ive got a few posts related to it already: this one being another vague concept descriptor, this one being an actual scene i have written out.

'gimmick' au: i cannot explain the gimmick without spoiling the au. put simply, in this au, hyrule as a whole has been at war for ten years, every race and kingdom taking sides in a conflict that seems to be going nowhere. link joined the hylian army young, and has made his way up the ranks to become trusted by queen zelda herself, and things in the war take an interesting turn as he and zelda discover a new faction, unaligned with any particular kingdom and with unknown motives, and zelda decides to set out to the different parts of hyrule, link and a chosen group of trusted allies in tow, intending to try negotiation one more time before things take a turn for the worse.

sci-fi/space au: the fun one that probably would need to be done in a visual medium. it takes place in a solar system of a few planets, link growing up on the planet hyrule and occasionally traveling to the others as a knight specializing in investigating and taking down dangerous bounty hunters, working for zelda as a friend. he and zelda uncover a plot by the yiga clan to accumulate a number of highly dangerous research and weapons held by each species as they aim to resurrect a demon to wreck havoc on the solar system- the b plot being about the top bounty hunters in the solar system screwing around, eventually colliding with link and zelda's a plot as it begins to involve them.

murder mystery(?) au: one of the older ones, maybe one of the oldest that i still stick with. this might actually be one of the first ones i tried writing. the plot begins when zelda returns to hyrule city years after her father- the former mayor- was murdered, finding that he has been replaced by ganondorf and that while things seem fine enough on the surface, random and organized crime run the show, and she begins a private detective agency as 'sheik', a masked young man, and with the help of impa, and old friend and confidant, she moonlights as sheik and uses her daytime identity as zelda to help chip away at some of the city's biggest problems and finds herself drawn into a long string of murders that appear to be anything but random violence.

ruined hyrule 1: i have two au’s with the premise of hyrule being ruined. neither of them have more specific names yet. this one begins with the majority of greater hyrule's population having long since locked themselves in hyrule castle town in order to escape the increasingly dangerous wildlife. zelda, a young girl at the beginning, becomes curious about what lies beyond the city walls, and makes friends with many other children within this sheltered hyrule, and as they grow up together, aim to eventually venture out into the wilderness to see what may have caused the outside world to become so incredibly hostile.

ruined hyrule 2: the other ruined hyrule. set in a devastated hyrule, roughly ten years after the royal family was killed, link failing to save them or hyrule in the time since. he now resolves to set out and indiscriminately destroy every demon that plagues the ruined hyrule, meeting and bringing along various allies, each of which has been uniquely affected by and have different lived in this altered, dangerous shell of hyrule.

modern (school): i also have two modern aus. this one isn’t plot driven, just a concept i have, would work best as little vignettes or something. essentially just the idea of a group of loz characters hanging out together in a modern high school (or college?) setting.

modern: this is the one with an actual plot. follows the general idea of zelda characters living in a modern world only for the typical legends to begin resurfacing and heralding dark events. plot specifics are murky, but that's the general idea.

dark mage: this is the au that where the seas meet the sands takes place in. basically just ganondorf x linebeck shenanigans in this alternate hyrule while actual plot sneaks up on them. named 'dark mage' mostly because the initial idea behind this au was that linebeck would learn magic.

horror au: doesn't have the best name, and it's ended up just being a personal sandbox for me. constantly changing, with the cast and setting often altering if i find that something isn't working or sticking. it's an au i've considered (and even briefly tried) writing in the past, but it's still too fluid, and writing horror effectively is difficult. it's a fun au, though.

mecha au: spawned because i watched neon genesis evangelion. a lot of this au's basic concepts can be found here: x but the short version is that hyrule is being besiged by massive monsters, but each race has created their own mechs to combat them. link is just a farmer who happens to have a strange knack for being a mech user, so is brought in by zelda as a gamble to bolster their chances, and he is tasked with working with a new and less-than-trustworthy crew to help fight those monsters.

'amnesia link' au: an au that sprang up in about a day and hasn't gotten too far since. basic premise being that three years prior to the story, link and a group of allies has faced off against ganondorf and, despite their best efforts, lost, with link being presumed dead by their enemies. now, link has woken up from his coma, his memories gone and hyrule taken over, and, with guidance, must once again travel across hyrule, aiming to rediscover his allies and try to face ganondorf once more.

A quick list of crossovers: I won't explain these in length, since they can range from having their own plot to just being a fun mental concept. So, the things I have made crossover aus with are:

Warrior Cats

Batman

Jojo's Bizarre Adventure

Persona 5

Pokemon

(there are other, smaller ones, these are just the ones i consistently pay attention to)

So! These are the majority of my legend of zelda aus, some of which I may write, some of which just exist in my mind for fun, all of which I wouldn't mind talking more about if anyone is curious!

[skellebonez]

Puss In Boots The Last Wish AU: I think Huntsman's wish being that "to not feel his age, or to be younger" is just a cover up for his REAL wish like with Mei, which is that for all animals he has ever hunted down in his villainous past to get their own "happily ever after". (I just wanted Hunts' wish to be a bit more meaningful like others). What do you think?

Not bad, not bad! I feel like any kind of wish like this for him would have to be POST a lot of character development for him.

But also, given he is a hunter, I feel like he would more so wish that would be closer to "I wish that the animals I have WRONGFULLY hunted in the past", or something to that effect. He seems like the kind of guy who hunted game he should not have in the past and, post redemption, he would feel regret at the animals he didn't treat with the respect they deserved on the hunt.

[squidkid15]

That’s it, that’s the au

[lotusmonkey]

[shootsun]

Hey, uh @kuhbkiee i really liked your cowboy comic and wrote you something for it? i hope you don’t mind? 

Cowboy AU

The past few weeks had been quiet, and Wukong was getting restless. The last exciting thing that had rolled through the town of Dead End was the supernatural bounty hunter, Six, when he had almost kidnapped his deputy and sheriff in training, MK.

It apparently had all been some big misunderstanding, (something about drawing out a pair of bank robbers with a grudge against his protégé, all while using the kid as bait) but that hadn’t stopped him from giving the black clad bounty hunter a black eye the second MK was safe. Six absolutely hadn’t given him a matching bruise, no matter what the kid said.

The xanthous haired lawman sighs as he wipes the bar counter listlessly. There was no news of any villain or thief in the area, no new crimes to investigate in the dusty little town, nothing but small-town grievances and the occasional low-level demon trying to sneak through the town barriers.

Nothing he or MK couldn’t handle.

He would never admit it, but Wukong was growing to miss his wandering misadventures. He’d settled down in Dead End to help train MK up, to take his mantle of Lawman, to pass on his magic weapon and retire; but if this was anything like retirement, he was going to have to find a project to keep himself busy.

Absentmindedly, his hand brushes over the empty holster on his hip, and he ignores the twinge of panic that jumpstarts in his chest. ‘Iron Shot isn’t mine any more,’ he reminds himself, and hates the part of his mind that argues that the kid isn’t ready to wield a sling shot, much less a shapeshifting magic gun.

The saloon doors swing open behind him with a creak, halting the growing bout of self-arguing, and he gives a half-assed waved without turning around, calling out, “Be with you in a minute.”

The newcomer doesn’t answer, just walks to the bar with slow, self-assured steps across the wooden floor.

Wukong crouches and grabs a glass from under the bar, starting to wipe it clean when the person finally speaks.

“‘S been a while since a brawl started in these parts…” A man spoke, and his drawl was dripping with a smug tone that curled familiarly around Wukong’s ears.

“’nd as interestin’ as this counter top is, it sure ain’t a show stopper. So, how’s about a little rough housing, Lawman?”

Wukong raises his eyes to meet the smirk of an unfortunately familiar bounty hunter, and feels his glamour slip, his eyes flashing red, his fangs sharpening as he growls, “YOU.”

Six’s grin only grows, and Wukong succumbs to the urge to wipe that look off the bounty hunter’s face with gusto. He lunges across the counter top, hiking one leg up over the bar as the bounty hunter has the audacity to back petal wildly.

“Wait, no, no, w-wait, I was just kiddin’,” the demon splutters, his hands up in a placating gesture, but Wukong dives towards him, arm already cocked back for a punch as he connects with the bounty hunter.

The two tumble to the floor in a tangle of limbs as Six yelps and swears as Wukong lands his first punch.

“The audacity of you, to come back to MY town!” the lawman snarls, and the bounty hunter glares at him before elbowing him in the gut.

Wukong lurches to the side, grimacing as Six kicks out from under his hold.

“I’m a Bounty Hunter,” Six hisses, and yanks his hat free from where it was trapped under Wukong’s leg. “I end up everywhere, I didn’t choose to be here, asshole.”  

“Excuses,” Wukong bites out, and then he’s throwing himself towards the bounty hunter once more.

“Excuses?” Six parrots as he blocks Wukong’s punch. “What do you – Hey! Not the tail!”

Wukong grins triumphantly through his mouthful of black fur, and bites down harder when he feels a tug on his braid.

“Could you not?” The bounty hunter grits out, trying and failing to pull the other stubborn supernatural off his tail.    

“Get out of my town,” is what Wukong tried to say, but it sounded more like, “G’t ou’ ma to’n.”

Six looks down at him with a mix of distain and bewilderment. “I speak seven languages and that wasn’t nothing but gibberish.”    

Wukong spits out the bounty hunter’s tail and yanks the supernatural closer by the lapels of his coat. “I said,” he thunders, “Get. Out. Of My. Town.”

[diverging-tides]

“The Bullshit Begins”

*this AU takes place three weeks post the Season Three specials*

These comics will either be in plain line art, greyscale, plain color, or full blown with shading and everything, it all depends on the day and how I’m feeling

I will also be keeping a blend of intensity and humor, as Lego Monkie Kid is basically the worlds best chaotic fever dream of a show, yet it can take itself serious enough to display traumatic and intense shit.

Most of this will be funny and wholesome…

Most of whatever I’m doing anyway.

Also, it took me all of ONE post before making Spicynoodles cannon (MK’s oblivious but gay, Red Son is Gay, Mei is Ace) which clearly shows my lack of self control when it comes to a good ship lmao.

The reason Mei and Red are at Macaques is to make sure he’s not doing anything malicious during those weekly training sessions MK’s started doing with him (he’s not), and we’ll be meeting best boi part two (Red and MK are equally my favorite characters, sue me) either next time or in the strip after it.

Oh, and Macaque knows a panic attack when he sees one.

[waywardstraysau]

The school’s gym was in fact a converted ballroom, which meant it was quite big. Not quite as big as the gymnasium back in Gravesfield mind you, the ceiling was lower and the walls were still covered in ornate wallpaper. In fact, if Luz had to guess, it was smaller by a good few yards. The chandeliers above gave the impression that the conversion wasn’t quite done either, a stray ball that went a little too high would easily hit them. If the translucent bits hanging from them were glass, anyone directly below would be in serious trouble. If they were real crystals however, they’d probably be better off, not great, they would still be heavy and sharp, but falling glass usually meant a trip to the emergency room.

The staff, thankfully, seemed to be aware of this risk, for while the students met in the gymnasium, the actual class was being held outside. Stan led them (calling him Grunkle was still weird), and had them meet in the forest near the front of the school. “Alright, you all-” he stopped when he noticed the newcomers, “Most of you know how this works. One lap around the property and no powers allowed until you reach the halfway point, ya got it?” “Yes Grunkle Stan,” the majority of the class said in unison.

“Alright! Now, you all go at the same time, try not to kill each other when you do! Start stretchin’, ya got five minutes!”

Luz held King closer to her chest as she looked around. This was a bit less formalized than what she had expected, the others seemed to be doing their own preferred warmups with no real cohesion between them. Hunter had already made it to twenty-something with his push-ups and showed no sign of slowing down. The odd part was that they were all expected to run at the same time, at every other school she had attended, they would have gone one at a time. Then again this course seemed a lot bigger than anything her old schools could have managed.

“Yo, squirt!”

“Eep!”

She squeaked and nearly jumped out of her shoes at the sudden gruff voice being directed at her! She turned away from her thoughts to see Stan standing in front of her.

“Yer the new kids right?”

“Uh, y-yes sir.”

“Alright, hate ta do this to ya kiddo, but her little furball’s gotta stay here,” he said as he pointed at King.

“Weh?! No! I’m not leaving Luz!” the little demon squealed. “Kid, this is an obstacle course, she’s not gonna be able to carry you and run it at the same time. Plus it’s a bit too big for someone yer size anyway.” “I’ll ride on her back! I’ll hide in her hoodie! I’ll-” “I got candy!” Like a magician, he pulled out two large handfuls of sweets from seemingly nowhere, and King’s eyes widened. “But… but… I can’t leave Luz… she’s-” “Hey, King, buddy, it’s okay,” the girl in question interrupted, her voice soothing, “It’s just going to be for a little while. Plus you’ll be spending the day with the other little kids soon, one class away from me’ll be good practice for that.” He let out a tiny whine and she kissed him on his skull. “Just for one class, and I’ll be back as soon as I can, I promise.” He hesitated, but then nodded with a small noise of affirmation and sat in the grass by Stan’s feet. The grown man then knelt down to hand him a piece of hard candy, that appeared from seemingly nowhere by sleight of hand. It reassured Luz enough to turn away and start her stretching. As she was finishing up her stretches, she was surprised to hear someone running towards her. She looked up and smiled as she recognized Tulip, who looked rather excited. “Hey, Luz!” “Hey, what’s up?” “You remember those friends I mentioned this morning? Well one of them wants to meet you.” “They… do?” “Yeah, I told them about you and they wanted to say hi before class started.” “Oh, uh, o-okay, sure! Where are they?” “I loom behind you!” Luz let out a small yell and jumped in surprise, turning around so fast she almost made herself dizzy. The first thing she registered was that the person had the same face as Tulip, to the point she thought they had to have been a twin the redhead had failed to mention. The second thing, though it probably should have been the first, is that they were made of metal. This new person had a cocky smirk as she soaked in the details of their appearance. While their face was the same, barring a single eyebrow slit, they also had a shaved head, with a few needle-like strands of hair, and holes in their earlobes. They wore a black t-shirt that had the sleeves ripped off, jeans, a little black bracelet and brown boots. “S’up? The name’s Lake,” they asked, with a metallic ring to their voice, like they were speaking into a soup can. “Whoa…! What… I… ahem, lo siento. Hi, I’m Luz.” “So you’re Tulip’s new roomie, huh? I thought you were supposed to have a living stuffed animal with ya or somethin’.” “Y-Yeah, well I mean, I am her roommate, along with King,” she pointed towards the little demon, Stan seemed to be showing him a magic trick, “He’s too little for the obstacle course so he’s staying here… also he’s a demon.” “Oh, huh, that’s cool.” “Yeah… um… can I go ahead and ask the obvious question here?” “Hehehehe, you wanna know why I’m made of metal right?” “...that was actually my second question. My first one was why the heck do you and Tulip look exactly alike?” “You wanna tell ‘er or should I?” Tulip interrupted, resting her arm on Lake’s shoulder. “Eh, I might as well,” they smirked before looking at Luz, “I used to be her reflection.” “Reflection? As in like…?” “Yup, I don’t have a reflection anymore,” Tulip grinned, pulling out a small pocket mirror and held it up, showing only Lake, “I’m like a vampire! Bleh! I’m gonna suck your blood!” “You can try, you’ll never be able to bite through my skin!” The two of them laughed, and Luz tried to restrain back her own giggles. “How did you two even meet?” “Remember the Train I told you about?” “Uh huh?” “One of the cars was the Mirror Car, and inside, you could switch places with your reflection, one thing led to another and I helped Lake escape the Mirror World.” “We went our separate ways after that and eventually I got off the train with the help of my friend, Jesse.” “Oh… uh, is she here or…?” “Well, first of all, Jesse’s a boy, and second no, not yet. His parents want him to finish out the semester at his current school before sending him here.” “What, why?” “I ‘unno, adults are weird.” Before anything more could be said, Stan called out, “Alright kids, get to the starting line!” The students scrambled to the starting line, it was drawn in the dirt with yellow chalk. A few of them crouched down, like the professional runners she sometimes saw on TV, while others were simply standing. She didn’t know which she should do and didn’t know who to ask. She also didn’t see Hunter anymore, there must have been too many people between them. “On your marks!” Stan loudly proclaimed, “Get set!” He pulled out a blow horn. “GO!” The horn rang loudly and spooked a flock of nearby birds. The gaggle of students began to run, Luz had no idea where anyone was, and decided following the group as best she could was the safest option. The first obstacle was very simple, a large downed tree that laid across the path, she could see the others vaulting over the trunk with ease. Some were getting a lot more air than the others, it was rather impressive to see! She managed the jump with a semi-awkward landing on the other side, and she could see the next obstacle. It was a steep wooden incline with a series of small ledges for footholds and three lengths of rope hanging from the top. At the base, there were three lines forming as the others got ready to climb. She looked up and could see Hunter disappear over the top, how the heck was he so fast?! It took no time at all for her to reach the front of one of the lines to begin her climb, and she was happy to find it wasn’t quite as hard as she had been expecting. She looked to her left and saw Tulip reaching the top, who looked back, noticed her and grinned, geturing for her to hurry up. When Luz joined her, she looked down the other side and saw that there was another incline on the other side, one that was made of colorful foam and wasn’t nearly as steep as the one they had just climbed. “I love this part,” the redhead smirked before sliding down with a loud, “Woohoo!” Down below, Lake was standing at the bottom, as if waiting. When their double reached the end of her slide, they helped her up, the two said something and then the bespectacled girl looked back up to the summit. She quickly waved for Luz to come down, followed by the former reflection doing the same. They were encouraging her to follow them. She smiled to herself a bit before sliding down. Her roommate was right, it was fun! Then the two helped her to her feet and they started running again. This whole thing was turning out to be fun already! Further ahead, Hunter was having different thoughts. He thought it was insultingly easy. Now, he knew not everyone was as athletic as him, he was the Golden Guard after all, excellence was expected of him in everything he did… but by the Titan this was child’s play! There was no challenge to it! Where were the traps? The spiked pits? The swinging axes? Sure this wasn’t the castle but they could have set up something! Were humans too fragile for that? He had left the human and her little rat in the dust at the very start, followed shortly by just about every other student he could actually name. He hadn’t seen that loud-mouth MK yet though, had he gotten ahead of the group or something? Were there others who had gotten ahead of him as well? Whatever, he’d overtake them all eventually, he couldn’t fail at this. He had to reach the end first. His suspicions were proven right when he reached a rope ladder that led to a series of large platforms built into the trees. When he reached the top, he could see someone up ahead. The witch frowned and ran faster. He caught up to the kid as he was crossing a suspended bridge that hung between two of the trees. The stranger was going a bit slower, clearly trying not to lose his footing as it swayed softly. Down below, Hunter could see a net, set up to catch anyone who might fall. His eye twitched. This was getting very insulting. He grunted and ran again, gaining ground on the boy on the bridge and pushed past him, feeling a tiny prick of pride at the success. He could hear the kid yell out in surprise when he did but he didn’t pay him a second thought. Once he reached the halfway point, he’d use Flapjack to catch up to whoever else might be left. Or at least, that was the plan. Instead, he found himself having to put actual effort to run faster, the boy from the bridge was also fast, and able to keep pace. There was still some distance between them, but Hunter had no doubt he’d make a move to close the gap soon. He cursed his luck before looking ahead to see there was one platform left. The way to reach it was by crossing a series of small, wooden platforms that were suspended by a pair of wires strung between the ones built into the trees. He would have to jump to reach them, if he was lucky he might be able to skip over some if he had enough momentum. He made it to the first few with ease, after only a few jumps, he realized he was losing speed. Taking a risk, he skipped over the next one entirely and went straight for the one after it. He made it, but he needed a second to regain his balance. Feeling emboldened, he jumped again, skipping another platform, but this time, he couldn’t regain his composure in time and fell to his knees. He panted as he looked down below, seeing the net again. “Hey, you okay?” the boy called. Hunter looked back and got his first good look at him. He was surprisingly mundane-looking, with neatly combed black hair that was parted on the side, big blue eyes and very willowy. He was dressed in a blue jacket with the sleeves rolled up, just below the elbows and zipped up halfway, showing a white shirt underneath. He also wore blue jeans and blue and white shoes, overall, he was perhaps the most boring-looking human he had seen yet! But there was also something weirdly familiar, he just couldn’t place it. He chose not to answer the question, instead jumping to his feet and decided not to repeat his prior stunt. Instead, he simply returned to taking them one-by-one, he had to keep his lead! The last of the large platforms ended with a tube slide, one that curved and left Hunter’s body so filled with static that it tickled his nose. He didn’t look back to see if the boy was still right behind him, he had to assume he was. Well he wouldn’t let him catch up! No, he had to prove he was the best, he had to focus on reaching the end. The second his boots hit the dirt, he took off running again. He considered dispelling his cloak to cut down on the drag but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. He couldn’t explain why but he just couldn’t send it away, not yet. Up ahead, he spotted a large sign along the side of the path, and written in sloppy white paint were the words “Halfway point! Powers are allowed now!” This made Hunter smirk. Time to prove why he was the Golden Guard. “Flapjack!”

He drew his staff from his cloak and held onto it tightly. He waited until he was safely past the sign before igniting his teleportation spell, immediately jumping forward several dozen yards, leaving streaks of yellow magic behind him. He cast the spell again, and then a third time, putting a considerable distance between him and the human. He continued with this strategy, and wondered if he would be allowed to actually fly on his staff to the finish line. Would he get in trouble for not doing it right? Better not risk it, plus, this way he could prove himself further by sheer physical capability alone. Though he did spot a few rings suspended just below the canopy, so some students were clearly meant to fly through this part. Any further thoughts he might have had were interrupted by the sound of… something? It almost sounded like ringing metal, but there was something more to it, something he couldn’t identify. Hunter hadn’t had time to think on it further, nearly maniacal laughter followed the strange sound and it was approaching him from behind, fast! He looked over his shoulder, with only a split second between him recognizing MK and the young man’s look of excited enthusiasm turning to immediate regret. He then plowed into the young witch at a speed no magic staff could possibly match, sending them both tumbling across the forest floor. They only stopped when they crashed hard into the trunk of a tree, Hunter first and then MK landed on top of him. Hunter’s vision was dark for a second, possibly even two, before it slowly faded back, accompanied by a series of color-changing dots, fuzz in his brain and a ringing in his ears. He let out a groan as he began to make out voices, the face of the boring-looking human was leaning over him in concern, MK had somehow already bounced back and was looking at him in worry. The dazed boy tried to move only to let out a harsh grunt as a sharp shock of pain shot out from his left shoulder. He tried moving it again only to growl in his throat when he was greeted by a tingling that spread from the joint and up his neck, while his arm and hand were entirely numb. Yup, dislocated. It was far from the first time this had happened, he’d had countless injuries throughout his life. Be it from training, during his missions or from uncle Belos’s outbursts, pain was like an old friend to the young witch, an overly familiar one. His thoughts were disrupted when he recognized a small weight on his chest, and a small, high-pitched sound, the only one that was coming in clearly. “Flapjack…” The cardinal was sitting on his chest, a look of concern in his one big eye.

He placed his right hand over the little bird and rubbed his cheek with his thumb, assuring him he was fine. “I’m okay buddy.” He sat up slowly, his body was aching and sore all over, he was going to have some nasty bruises later but he was considerably lucky otherwise. A dislocated shoulder was easy enough to fix, after years of tending to his own injuries, he had it down to a science. Once he was upright enough, he used his right hand to lift his numb arm, he could vaguely hear the humans saying something to him. The one he didn’t know the name of had one of those scroll-things out, what was it called again, a phone? He brushed off the question, as well as concerned voices of the two humans before carefully guiding the bones back into the socket. A crackling sound that was similar to gravel filled the air, his own tightly restrained yowls of pain reverberated in his throat. After a moment, he lowered the arm, flexing his hand gently in a test. Pins and needles still covered him from the tips of his fingers up to his neck but he had done it. The fuzzy feeling in his brain was taking its time to dissipate, but that was fine, he just had to get back up and finish the obstacle course. He pushed off with his right hand, his feet stumbling under him before his balance returned. He took a few staggering steps, let his spinning head have a moment to slow down, and started running again. He could hear the two dark-haired boys calling after him, but he disregarded it. Just had to keep running… The rest of the course was a blur, he didn’t remember how he got through it all or how long it took, just that one minute he was running and the next he had passed the finish line. He was leaning against a tree, using his uninjured arm as support, with Flapjack chirping at him in worry. He took the moment of peace to let the disorientation untangle itself from his brain and felt his awareness shift back to normal. By the time MK and the boring-looking human had made it across the finish line, he was only mildly dizzy and smirking at them like he’d accomplished some great victory. In his mind, he had, he had finished the course first, he proved he was the best, proved he was worthy of being the Emperor’s right-hand man. Not that either of them knew that about him, but… it was important. He didn’t know why, it just was. He ignored their questions, asking if he was okay, that he had taken a hard hit but that was ridiculous. He suffered far worse back in the Emperor’s Coven, this was nothing. “Hunter?” He grunted. Of course. The human was here now too. He hadn’t seen her finish the course, but she was with two others with her and-okay that one had metal skin, he’d have to ask about that later-and she was looking at him in concern. “What happened to you? You look… rough.” “Tch, this is nothing,” he said, speaking up for the first time. Flapjack chirped sharply in something akin to a protest. “Dude, you dislocated your shoulder,” the unnamed boy said, it was the first time the young witch had bothered to really pay attention to his voice, “You are definitely not okay.” “He did what?!” the human exclaimed, her voice becoming high-pitched, “Shouldn’t we be getting Dr. Lake or-” “It’s fine,” the witch interrupted, “I already put it back in its socket. It’s fine.” “...you did what?! You know how to do that?!” she put her hands on her head in disbelief, like it was some impressive thing. “Of course I do, I wouldn’t be the Golden Guard if I couldn’t handle simple injuries like that on my own.” “Hunter, a dislocated shoulder is not simple! I just- that is so messed up!” “Maybe for you humans, but this is perfectly normal for-” “This isn’t even normal among other witches! None of my friends back on the Boiling Isles ever had to do that!” That statement caught him a bit off guard. Okay, maybe it wasn’t normal for civilians but still… “Oh yeah well… th-they’re not members of the Emperor’s Coven, now are they?” “Putting aside the shoulder thing, you still look like you got hit by a truck!” “I don’t even know what that is!” “It’s a type of car!” There was a pause, Hunter could feel his frustration growing, and he could see a strangely similar look on the human… but it wasn’t the same. He didn’t know what it was. He didn’t like it. “Uh, actually,” MK piped up awkwardly, “He was hit by me because I made a dumb mistake with my powers… and we crashed into a tree. Ehehe… seriously dude, you’re a mess, you need to see the doc.” “I don’t need to see anyone, I’m fi-” “YOU CRASHED INTO A TREE?!” “Why are you yelling, human!?” “You have at least five scrapes that I can see, you probably have internal bruising and who knows what else?!” she exclaimed, “You need to-” “WOULD ALL OF YOU CALM DOWN?!” The voice made all of them stop. They all turned to see Steven running towards them, looking both frustrated and worried. He took a few deep breaths, like he needed to calm himself. “Steven! Buddy! Just the man we need!” MK exclaimed in delight, “Hunter here got a bit uh, banged up. Think you could give us a hand here?” He looked Hunter up and down and now he had a concerned look as well. “...I’d say banged up is putting it lightly. What happened exactly?” “Too long to explain, just do your thing please!” He gave MK a sideways look before stepping closer. “Hunter, are you okay?” “I’m fine.” “...no offense but you look like you got trampled by an angry mob.” “Shouldn’t you be worrying over MK? He went through the same thing I did.” “MK is… uniquely hardy. I’m not worried about him right now.”

The witch paused, glanced at the grass below and quietly muttered out what happened, even crashing into the tree. The older boy listened, sighed and nodded. “I see… okay, hold still, I’ll patch you up.” “You don’t have t-” He never got to finish his sentence, as Steven took his hand suddenly, raised it up and gently kissed him on the knuckle. Hunter felt like his face caught fire. He could hear the human making a strange squealing noise. His brain took far too long to catch up with his body and he immediately pushed the other boy away, making a sound that wasn’t a scream but not coherent enough to be words. It still managed to convey the only question on his mind. “What are you doing!?” Steven, who had fallen back on the ground and was now sitting on the ground, looked up at him in surprise… and then looked horrified. “O-Oh! Oh my gosh! I am so so sorry! I-I wasn’t thinking-” “Clearly! What kind of-of… I-I don’ t know what to call you but what made you think that was okay!?” “Just check your wounds!” “My wo-what are you-” He looked down at himself and his eyes widened.

Every small scrape, cut and bruise he had gained from the crash now had white sparkles dancing over them, and all of them were now slowly closing or fading away. “W… What the…” “I uh… that’s… another power I should have told you about sooner,” Steven said awkwardly, “I… kinda have healing powers. Well… healing spit.” He stuck out his tongue and pointed at it. “But people here get a bit grossed out if I just lick my hand and slap it against their open wounds.” Everyone’s skin began to crawl at the thought. “So I started do the kiss thing instead… look, Hunter I’m sorry, I-I should have-” “No! No-no… it… it’s okay… you just… caught me off guard… really off guard.” “...do you feel okay now?” He did. A lot better actually. He wasn’t even sore or achey. He nodded but refused to make eye contact. His ears were still burning. “Well, if he’s okay, we should probably head back inside,” MK piped up, pointing his thumb over his shoulder and towards the school, “We finished pretty early, heck, Stan ain’t even here yet. I wanna get in some extra time for Art class.” “...did you just say art?!” The human turned fast, faster than he thought she was capable of! She certainly hadn’t moved that fast when he threatened her back home! “Oh yeah, that’s next on the schedule,” the young man piped up, “We either have that or Music every other week.” Steven made a strange sound, like he was trying to clear his throat but at the same time trying not to say anything. “Why every other week?” “I ‘unno, all I know is it gives us more time to work on our assignments. Either way, you guys comin’?” “I can’t, Stan’s watching King and I have to go get him.” “Oh, don’t worry! They’re probably on their way over already, Stan drives this… uh… darn it what’s the English term for it again? Gāo'ěrfū chē… Gāo'ěrfū chē… Gāo'ěrfū chē in English…” MK seemed to be rolling something over his tongue, trying to remember. “...you mean the golf cart?” Steven piped up and the older brunette snapped his fingers. “Yes! Xièxiè nǐ! I-I mean thank you! Any Stan drives one of those to get to the end of the course faster, they’ll be here before you know it!”

She smiled in relief.