#luz has been waiting for the two of them to get together since she first found out that they were actually friends | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fisherpiers · 11 months

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Could you do a prompt where Luz and Hunter are not a double date with Amity and Willow (but Luz is a lil nervous about seeing Amity- whether they broke up or not idk- You can pick) leading to Luz and Hunter’s first kiss or ‘I love you’?

Boy someone’s getting more than I bargained for… you expected a little drabble? Well no sorry just straight up 3600 word one-shot for you. I had too much material. Oh and heads up Flapjack is not dead. Idk where people are getting that idea smh.

Edit: psst. I sorta rewrote this one a little and you can read that version here

Edit edit: pls pls pls read the ao3 version lmao it has like 500 extra words and it flows much better (link above in previous paragraph)

…

Luz didn’t just have a few butterflies in her tummy, she had an entire butterfly conservatory.

Tonight was going to be the first time she’d have to spend an entire evening with Amity since she’d broken things off with her a few months ago. A double date. A double date with her ex… why did she let Willow talk her into this?

Willow had been trying to get Luz and Amity alone in the same room forever. Something about getting along and the power of friendship and yadda yadda..

And Luz really wanted to smooth things over Amity, honest. For Willow’s sake. It was just too awkward.

It’s weird right? When your best friend and your ex girlfriend get together. And you’re happy for them? You’re glad she’s able to make your ex happy like you couldn’t, but also what the hell man.

But it’s not like you haven’t already moved on, too. Uh, well, you sorta moved on before ending the relationship. That was why you broke up with her. So really you can’t be slightly mad here.

But your boyfriend also left Willow for you? And that’s weird too? But you and Willow are still besties bc #Hexsquad4Life and all that?

SO! To make things worse you’re now bringing the guy you broke up with your with ex for, on a double date with said ex, with his ex, and wowsers there’s a lot to unpack here.

It’s just all over awkward! Okay?!

No wonder Gus keeps taking his exchange students on long trips into the human realm. They’re probably giving him ulcers from all this drama.

The good news was that Willow and Hunter were the ones taking care of all the plans. All Luz had to do was show up. Which, is gonna be hard as hell to do in the first place.

She’ll admit, it’s kinda weird that Hunter was still all buddy-buddy with Willow, as well. But Luz wasn’t threatened by that.

She was 100% sure Hunter wanted her, and only her. Their was something about the way he treated her that left her no room for doubt. He was so tender with her. The ways his eyes promised her anything if she’d only ask—

Anyways!

Hunter’s breakup with Willow went so smoothly, in fact it was the most amicable breakup Luz had ever seen (and had been in the middle of). Which, of course. If there was anyone who could’ve actually stayed friends after their romantic relationship ended, it was those two. Not even a snag in their typical antics, their dynamic remained undisturbed.

Which was a little suspicious, now that she thought of it.

She never even once saw them kiss. She never saw them go out (without her or Gus tagging along, that is)…

However, they did hold hands every second of the day without stop. Which made it impossible to talk to Hunter without Willow there and it annoyed Luz to no end. Glued at the hips much? Wait,

It was almost as if they weren’t actually dating, just trying to get under her skin. And Amity’s too, by the looks of it…

Those cheeky buggers.

Well. Maybe things aren’t as weird with Willow and Hunter as she thought. So it looked like she, and probably Amity, were going to be the only ones suffering tonight. Yay.

Luz sorted through her clothes, trying to pick an appropriate outfit to no avail. What do you even wear to a double-date with your ex? Something extra hot to sorta say haha look what you’re missing? Something your new boyfriend bought you because he’ll love to see you wear it and simultaneously tell everyone you’re with him now?

Titan, she didn’t even think about all the people at the restaurant.

What were they going to think with the four of them together? Would it be confusing? Would they be watching for a fight, popcorn ready?

This was one of the many downsides to being one of the most recognizable faces in the Isles, an unwillingly celebrity. Everyone knew you and all your business.

She settled on a simple black shirt and slacks. Classic, right? Dressy enough for the nice restaurant Willow had picked out (probably in an attempt to keep things civil, bound by social contract and all) and not showy. It was an outfit that didn’t say anything. Which was probably for the best.

Just one thing. A necklace, from Hunter. It was a pendant he carved himself, an old light glyph. He gave it to her years ago, when he had just started his apprenticeship and was excited about carving. Amity had hated this necklace. Luz couldn’t ever figure out as to why, until lately. It was such a simple little thing, and it wasn’t like it was ugly.

But now Luz understood, it was a piece of Hunter. He had thought of her and carved her a necklace, unprompted. It was a gift, given on no special occasion. He just wanted to give her something. And she wore it around her neck proudly.

Of course Amity hated that.

She was absolutely going to wear it to this double-date. It’s not like it was one of his earrings or anything. No big deal, but enough to send a message.

Hunter knocked on her door. She knew it was him, with the little pattern he knocked on the wood. The sound comforted Luz.

She glanced over herself in the mirror once again before getting the door. Well, here goes nothing.

Hunter looked as handsome as ever, eagerly waiting with his hands behind his back as she opened the door. Once he saw her, his face lit up.

“You ready, Mi Amor?”

He offered his hand, and Luz took it.

“Mi Amor?”

“Cariño! Corazón! Mi Vida!”

“Okay, okay,” Luz laughed, “I get it you googled ‘pet names Español’”

“That’s where you’re wrong, actually. I’ve had these babies under my belt for years,”

Luz raised her eyebrows at his statement,

“I found them to be very important to memorize back when Gus had everyone practicing our Español everyday stuck in the human realm.”

Luz gaped at him, “Titan, you really meant years, huh?”

“I did indeed,” he looped their arms together, “now, let’s get going to our dinner reservations,”

“Ughhhh,” Luz protested, “do we have to? Actually, uh, I think I’m coming down with something, [cough cough] see?”

Hunter put his hand on her forehead mockingly, “oh you poor baby. Get on the staff.”

Hunter straddled Falpjack and patted the empty space behind him, beckoning for her to join him.

“Fine,” she pouted as she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding on tight as they took off, “but I’m not talking to her.”

Hunter sighed, “that’s fine. You just have to exist in the same space as Amity for a while and Willow will be happy.”

Luz hummed in agreement, pressing her face into his back as the world flew by. One of the downsides of air travel (or at least with The Flash over here) was that you got to your destination quite quickly. So there was no real time to spend staring out at the passing scenery, dreading your arrival.

“Actually,” Hunter laughed, “maybe it’d be better if you don’t talk to her. Then you won’t be able to start any fights!”

“Hey!” She squeezed his ribs, “I can be civil!”

“Then be civil.”

“I will,” she stuck out her tongue at him, despite him not being able to see it.

They touched down outside of the restaurant, which was hanging off of the Left Arm, and Flapjack took his place nesting in Hunter’s pocket. The little cardinal made himself very comfortable, as always, but that meant Hunter had grass and leaves in the pockets of every piece of clothing he owned.

The restaurant’s view was incredible, thanks to the Titan’s new position. All the new buildings on the Left Arm had the most beautiful views now, and the real estate value had skyrocketed. It was even more expensive than the Knee now. Luz preferred Bonesboro, anyhow.

The place was fancy. Going on a date in a ritzy establishment like this would’ve been unthinkable to 14-year-old Luz, but now she was used to getting invited to parties like this. She rarely went to them, but boy, did those rich people like to use her presence as a status symbol. “Look, I’m so popular even Luz Noceda is here” Barf.

She tightened her grip on Hunter’s arm as they spotted Willow and Amity, already at the table waiting for them. Willow waved them over, smile as wide as ever.

She was wearing a beautiful green skirt, that shimmered like an emerald, with a yellow cardigan on top, embroidered with little bumble bees. She must have gotten that from the human realm.

Amity was wearing a simple black dress.

Dammit. She must have had the same idea. And now they match.

No matter. Luz pointedly sat across from Willow instead of Amity. Which left Hunter vulnerable and having to look Ames in the eye, but Luz was allowing herself this bit of selfishness. Hunter was the one who dragged her here anyway. He could deal.

Didn’t keep Amity from locking eyes with her the second she sat down. Damn. She darted her gaze away as fast as she could.

“Hello ladies,” Hunter greeted as he sat down in his own chair, after pushing Luz’s in.

Normally she loved how over the top he was, but right now she needed him to tone it down. She could feel the eyes of every other patron in the dining room on her.

“So, what’s good here?” Luz nervously asked as she hid her face in her menu.

“Not much,” Amity said dryly, “this place is famous for its tiny portions and fancy ingredients that taste like dirt.”

“Shhh, don’t scare them, sweet pea,” Willow pointed to a section on her menu, as Luz tried not to cringe at how close sweet pea was to sweet potato, “Skara says the Selkigris Soup is to-die-for.”

A very vivid memory, of a very strong smell, surfaced in Luz’s mind.

“Uhhh, I think I’ll pass on that one, Willow, because,” she tried to think up an excuse, “uh, I don’t think I can digest selkigris very well.”

“Oh, of course, I hadn’t even thought of that.”

“Yeah uh,” Luz scanned the menu as fast as she could, to make it seem like she had totally been paying any attention to the piece of paper she’d been using as a mask, totally, “looks like they have Griffon Quiche. That’s usually pretty safe for me.”

“Oh that sounds delicious! There’s so many options, how am I gonna decide?” Willow giggled.

“I’m gonna get a spider soufflé, so I can send a pic to Gus,” Hunter joked, “it’s his favorite, maybe he’ll wish he came along.”

Willow stifled a laugh, “that’s mean, Hunter. You know he had to stay behind because Matt is sick.”

“Haha, I’m still going to tease him, though.”

Yeah. Matt was real sick, Luz bet. Dammit. Curse Gus and his ability to weasel his way out of this. She’ll pay him a visit whenever Mattholomule “gets better”.

Sigh, it’s not like she could blame him.

The way Amity leaned back in her chair, taking a really long sip from her wineglass, made Luz sure that she was thinking the same thing.

***

“Okay so a beast-demon, bidped-demon, and a bug-demon walk into a bar…”

Luz had to hand it to Amity, she was right. The food was tiny and gross. Titan almighty, she’ll never understand high-class tastes.

It didn’t look like Hunter minded it one bit, however. All these years later and the boy was still just happy to have anything that wasn’t the castle’s tasteless “nutritionally complete” rations. It was endearing.

It was lucky for Luz, really, because she still wasn’t the greatest cook. But Hunter always cleared his plate and told her he enjoyed it, so genuinely that she was inclined to believe him. Not like when Amity kept baking those horrific fairy pies and she just had to take them with a fake smile.

It was really easy to tell when Hunter was lying. His ears twitch.

Right now, he was laughing with Willow about a joke Luz hadn’t been listening to. She pushed some food around on her plate, bored, wanting this night to hurry and be over already.

This was probably a good enough time as any to excuse herself for a moment. Maybe check her hair in the mirror. She knew she’d been running her hand through it all night so far, it was a nervous tick. Maybe if there wasn’t anyone else in the restroom she could scream.

She scooted her chair out and stood.

“I’m—“

“Going to the—“

“Restroom…”

“For a moment…”

She locked eyes with Amity, across the table. Someone should call jinx.

Fuck, now she had to go with Amity. It’d be more awkward to sit back down and admit she wanted to avoid the other witch. So much for her “little break”.

One look at Amity’s face and Luz could tell she was also mentally going over her options and accepting defeat.

They walked side by side, not talking. The other patrons glanced at them as they walked by. Someone even raised an eyebrow upon seeing them. They kept death-marching in silence. Damn this was awkward as hell.

Luz looked haggardly in the mirror, clutching the sink.

Yeah, she had mussed up her hair a lot. She tried to fix it with some water, but it was a little too far gone for that.

Amity came up to the sink beside her, washing her hands. Luz looked to the ground, anywhere but at her. The restroom tiles were very lovely, actually. Such a nice pattern.

There was a nautical theme to this room. The sinks crafted to look like seashells. Not that strange for an Arm building, but Luz still found it cheesy. Fake pearls adorned the mirrors. Well, now that she thought of it, with this place, they were most likely real pearls.

“Thank you.”

Luz was caught off guard.

“What?”

“Thanks for coming,” Amity swished a piece of her purple hair behind her ear, “I know you didn’t want to. But it means a lot to Willow, you doing this,”

“Oh—“ that’s all Luz could say. “Uhhh. Yeah.”

The walk back to the table was no less agonizing.

When they got back, the dishes had already been cleared. Willow was doing something to the flowers in the centerpiece. The blooms were switching between hues.

“Guys, look,” Hunter kissed Luz’s hand absent-mindedly as she sat back down, “whenever Willow changes the color, the manager gives us a dirty look. She’s messing up his perfect color pallet or something.“

Luz and Amity looked to where he was pointing, and yes, the manager looked furious. Luz couldn’t stop the snort that came from her at the sight.

“We already ordered desert, while you two were in the restroom,” Willow stopped messing with the flowers to turn to Amity, “it’s a surprise now, sorry.”

“I like surprises,” Amity giggled.

Took everything within Luz not to roll her eyes.

Hunter’s hand found hers under the table. He gave her a little squeeze. Yeah, she needed that.

The mystery desert Hunter and Willow had ordered turned out to be just a couple slices of devil’s food cake. Just regular, not bug-filled, run of the mill cake. Because human sweets were all the rage right now, apparently.

And chocolate was a delicacy on the Isles. Luz would know, she spent many a weekend “importing” the stuff with Eda. It was the easiest way to make a quick buck around here, thanks to most witches being to afraid to venture into the human realm on their own.

Hunter held a spoonful from their shared plate up to Luz’s mouth. She bashfully took the bite. This wasn’t the first time he’d done this, on the contrary, he fed her all the time. Even a lot before they were together. Like when he’d feed her chips while her focus was locked onto a video game, or when he’d want her to taste test what he was cooking…

So he probably thought nothing of the action, but Luz was a bit embarrassed he was doing this in front of her ex girlfriend. She picked up her own spoon and made sure he didn’t have the opportunity to do it again.

The waiter had brought them the check with the desert. And once they laid out their payment it was quickly collected and their receipt promptly given to them. The fastest Luz checkout had ever seen. It was hilarious. The manager clearly wanted them gone as soon as possible.

As the group stepped outside, Willow pulled both Luz and Hunter into a hug. The three laughed, smiles wide.

“I love you guys! We should do this again sometime! Have a nice night!” She bid them goodbye.

“Peace,” Amity threw up the sign with her fingers to go along with the farewell.

The couple summoned their palismen and took off into the night. Luz turned back to Hunter, who was still watching their fleeting forms.

“Is this where the night ends?”

Hunter pretended to think, stroking his barely-there beard that he should really start trimming into a goatee.

“Hmm. Nah.”

“Well, then where to next?”

Flapjack flew out of his pocket, transforming into a staff midair that Hunter than caught with a flourish. Luz knew Hunter practiced tricks like this with Flap, so instead of appreciating how cool that actually looked, she couldn’t help but giggle in response. His gap teeth looked adorable as he grinned at her.

“There’s a show in Latissa we could make?”

“Lead the way, hotshot.”

***

Latissa was significantly cooler than the Left Arm. Lack of boiling sea spray.

The garage band played horrendously. Whoever these bards were, they needed to get kicked from the coven. Seriously, what was this. Titan, it was absolutely grating.

There were people standing all around, hooting and hollering. Guess Luz wasn’t the target audience, and with one look at her boyfriend, she could tell he wasn’t either. Hunter was staring straight ahead, spaced out. She tugged on his hand. He immediately gave her attention, scanning her for problems.

“Are you cold? Do you want my jacket?”

Luz laughed, “Actually, I was thinking we could get out of here,

He nodded, as she reached up to him,

“I will take that jacket, though.”

He quickly shrugged the hoodie off and draped it over her shoulders. She took a sniff of the collar out of habit. Hunter looked amused at the gesture.

“There is somewhere else I want to go, before we leave town,”

“Where?”

“You’ll see.”

“Oh we’re gonna be cryptic now, huh?”

“Yep.”

Luz playfully rolled her eyes, “how long then?”

“Oh it isn’t very far. We could walk, even.”

“Sounds good to me,” Luz offered up her arm for him to interlock with his, as she let him lead her to wherever this mystery place was.

He lied. It was across town. Not close-by at all. It was quite the walk, but it was time spent together, so she didn’t mind.

“Where did you even hear about that show? That band was awful. Good thing bards wear a lot of red because they’re gonna get tomatoes thrown at them one day,”

Hunter laughed boisterously, “HA! Yeah, they stunk,” he mimed wiping a tear from his eye, “I just heard about it in the shop one day. Some guys were talking about it.”

“Well those guys have bad taste. They were so bad,”

“So bad,” he agreed, “But it’s fine. I just wanted an excuse to get you to Latissa.”

That caught her curiosity, “why?”

“Well,” he ducked into the alleyway in front of them, leading her by the hand, “we’re here actually.”

“… a dirty alleyway?”

“Our dirty alleyway,” he smirked.

Hunter started climbing up the fire escape, stopping to help her get a foothold as well,

“C’mon!”

Luz had a feeling she knew where they were going. She clambered up after him, finally reaching the top, where she was greeted with a familiar rooftop.

“I can’t believe it’s still up here,” she gasped.

Hunter patted the bricks where the old painted lines of a large glyph still decorated the wall, “I know right, you would’ve thought the rain would’ve washed it away by now, after all these years…”

“Huh,” Luz marveled, “this was a nice surprise.”

He stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist. She looked up at him, eyes wide.

“Hey,” he began, “I’m sorry about tonight.”

“You don’t need to apologize,”

“Yeah, yeah I do. This was a shitty thing to do to you, putting you through this. I should’ve said no to this whole thing.”

Hunter dipped closer to her, and Luz felt like a magnet was pulling her in.

“It’s okay, really, I,” his nose was brushing hers, “I forgiv—“

He captured her lips with his.

She melted into him. Her eyes fluttered shut, and her hand came up to rest on his jaw. She pulled back just a moment to readjust their noses, allowing her to deepen the kiss.

They parted for air, and Hunter longingly stared into her eyes, lovestruck.

“Crikey,” Luz gasped out, before she heard herself,

“DAMMIT! AGAIN?!”

What was it about first kisses that suddenly made her Steve Irwin??

#read the ao3 version for Luz’s bluejay. no fake hunt/low. way more details. and more messy emotions #and it flows way better #lunter #goldenlight #huntceda #goldenluz #the owl house #fish fics

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artzychic27 · 9 months

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Is it okay to ask some Zoé x Cosette content?

Zoé can and will carry Cosette. No reason. They just like carrying her at any given time

But when there’s an Akuma, Cosette’s the one carrying Zoé to safety since she knows all the best hiding spots

Once, Cosette dyed the white streaks in their hair rainbow, and Zoé got a nosebleed

They’re part of ‘The cool secret-disaster sapphic who looks like they don’t simp gets together with the goddess all-around-disaster sapphic’ club with Frida and Cleo, Alyssa and Emma, Jirou and Yaoyorozu, Luz and Amity, and Catra and Adora

Cosette is always doing Zoé’s nails. Why? Because Zoé keeps biting them. In return, Zoé draws little designs on its sneakers

They actually had their first meeting during the grade’s trip to New York

Cosette was checking out a few thrift stores when they ran into Zoé. Literally. Zoé bumped into them while running from some girls from her school

Before they saw him, Zoé hid behind a parked car and the girls came across Cosette who pretended to only speak French so they’d leave

Some Prep School Girl 1: Hey! Have you seen a blonde girl with ugly sneakers?!

Cosette: Vos cheveux sont hideux et c’est une belle moustache de départ que vous avez là-bas. Au fait, vous êtes un snob de l’école préparatoire.

Because of that, Zoé felt she owed them and gave them a tour of downtown. Which is actually nicer than it sounds

When Zoé transferred to DuPont, the two were total disasters around each other that the Science Kids, even Mme. Mendeleiev were face-palming

Ismael: Oh, for the love of God! *Points to Cosette* You love Zoé! *Points to Zoé* You love Cosette! Now KISS!

Zoé/Cosette: …

Mireille: You heard him! I have been waiting for action ever since you two met on the class trip, and I refuse to leave until I see some.

Zoé likes to piss Audrey off by tagging her in selfies of her and Cosette and by buying Cosette stuff with her credit card

Jean and Cosette have to constantly tell their rich significant others to not buy stuff for them that has three or more numbers on the price tags

Well, Austin and Zoé just refuse to listen

Zoé/Reshma/Aurore/Juleka/Austin T/Marc: Unattainable Gays!

Cosette/Nathaniel/Rose/Kim/Adrien: I Can Get Anyone I Want Bisexuals!

#miraculous ladybug #miraculous #Zoé Lee #mlb ocs #wlw #answered ask #ask me stuff

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catgirl-catboy · 1 year

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wait can you elaborate more on the lumity thing? i don't know anything about that show or fandom, i'm just nosy lol

Please do ask me this shit, I love to bitch! So Lumity is the canon ship between Luz Noceda and Amity Blight.

Luz (right) is canonically bisexual, and has expressed attraction to both men and women in the show. Amity is a canon lesbian.

I actually really enjoyed the ship, until it became canon. Then, it felt like Amity was reduced to a Luz Simp with no plot relevance, when she was one of my favorite characters beforehand. Since she basically became the deuteragonist of the show once they got together, it was really noticeable that the writers didn't really do anything with her?

I'll give the show the benefit of the doubt here. I imagine it'd be hard to write Amity plotlines if you didn't know you could get the ship made canon ahead of time, and plotlines centered around her could have been scrapped. But I dislike that she was in so many episodes, but very few episodes had her NEED to be there for the plot to work. In other words, she fails the Sexy Lamp test a lot of the time.

That being said, it doesn't excuse how fucking annoying the fandom got around the ship.

After Lumity's first kiss, but before they got together, the episode Hunting Palisman aired. In it, Luz spends prolonged time with an antagonist character, Hunter. The two of them were onscreen together before, but it lasted only a couple of minutes.

(I don't care what antis say, this counts as a canon ship tease in my book.)

The two of them had a fantastic, back-and-forth dynamic, that basically made Hunter a fan-favorite character after this episode.

However, diehard Lumity shippers were quick to declare the two siblings, despite the two of them meeting twice, and actually talking once. They share no parental figures at this point.

Many of them say its "Lesbophobic" to ship anything other than Lumity. Despite, you know. Luz being canon Bi. and expressing attraction to men in show.

Then, the Season 3 episode Thanks to them airs.

And we get Luz's mother making an offhand, comedic remark about having six kids.

Antis used this line to claim Lunter were "canon siblings" at this point, but... SIX KIDS MEANS THAT ONE OF THE KIDS IS AMITY. If that line makes Lunter incest, it also makes Lumity incest. I don't make the rules. Shippers will nitpick evidence to harass the 'rival' ship, expect it isn't a rival ship at all since 99% of the fandom is obsessed with Lumity and Lumity is canon. What are the 5 people that prefer Lunter going to do? Honestly.

Then, a voice actor does this.

Which I felt was really in bad taste, because it caused fandom harassment. Word of God from authors is annoying enough, but now fucking voice actors decide what is "canon" and therefore okay to harass others over? Zeno has no control over the writing of the show, his opinion does not reflect the intent of the creator.

It felt like a massive overstep of fandom-author boundaries.

The show ended with Hunter not moving in with Luz's mother, or Luz's adopted mother, but another character.

Canon siblings my ASS.

(that being said, HC what you like!)

#ask tag #the owl house #fandom history #fandom discourse #fandom wank

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lollytea · 2 years

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PLEASE talk about their silly little relationship for hours!

They LIKE eachother and thats the thing. Everything about their respective moral alignments and their strongly held beliefs of the opposite side perfectly sets up for their relationship to be this mutual understanding but wrought with so much tension and antagonism. Like it has this tragic potential of "they could have been best friends in another life" and like. LIKE LIKE. These shots in Hunting Palismen really seems like this is the direction their dynamic is going in. Look at them!!!

So you'd think I'd be disappointed that this is not remotely the direction their relationship wound up in but I can't even be mad. Because whatever the FUCK they got going on now is just way funnier and way sweeter and says so much about them as people that I just love it too much.

They hang out for one night and that's literally all it took. They like and respect each other now and it doesn't MATTER if they're on opposite sides. Deep down, they really don't care.

They're too kind to be each others' enemies. They're too goofy for it. They're too comfortable with each other to even hold serious grudges about all the threats and murder attempts. They TRUST each other, which they shouldn't but they do.

Like Hunter TRIES to create some distance between them. He calls her "Human (derogatory)" to reinforce that she's below him and he doesn't see her as a friend. But then he calls her Luz the one time he's not thinking about it. Its a deliberate effort on his part to refer to her as Human, but apparently all this time he's been calling her Luz in his head. He sees her as an equal and he has ever since they officially met.

But like literally he's so fucking bad at not being friendly with her. He tries to be cold with her over text but then sends her a pic by mistake and apologizes for it. Tried to be angry with her about getting them stuck in Belos's mind but then she said something funny that gave him a good giggle so he was like "aight it's cool." And then proceeded to excitedly infodump on her when he saw stuff he thought was cool. Like he's never been to an art gallery with a buddy before and by god if he's gonna be stuck in this situation, he's not milk what he can out of it.

Meanwhile Luz trusts him wholeheartedly, even before Hunter's "redemption." She's like "I've read enough YA novels to know where this little bitch's character arc is going" so she doesn't bother waiting until they get to that point and treats him like a friend early on. But the funniest part is she doesn't bother to COMMUNICATE that they're friends now. She just expects him to get with the program.

She very confidently decides that Hunter is her man on the inside, without bothering to tell him. So when she tries to get info from him, he's just like "fuck off???"

And she's not even upset when he laughs in her face at the notion that she actually believed he was ever on her side. She just kinda rolls her eyes and gets snippy because he's being obnoxious. Like I feel like this kind of reaction would hurt her feelings??? But since it's Hunter she just shrugs it off. It's cool, Hunter's just annoying like that.

I'm mostly just talking about what makes their relationship funny so I'm not even gonna delve into how much they take care of each other, both physically and emotionally but it is worth mentioning that I love that too. They're out here saving each others lives like constantly. But anyway.

The way Gus and Willow were people Hunter needed a spend a little time with to get comfortable with touching them. But with Luz he's just ALWAYS been chill with it. For some reason. They just have this dynamic where everything clicked together perfectly when they first met, something that is rare but does exist. It's like "Yes we have only spent two days in eachothers company. Yes we have known each other our whole lives. These sorts of relationships exist. Open your mind."

Whatever they got is so funky. My favourite pair of freaks

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theprocrastibake · 2 years

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any hunter+luz acting as siblings headcanons?

THEY'RE SIBLINGS YOUR HONOR—but seriously, from day one i have believed in this dynamic. beware of spoilers for toh season two. thanks for your support!

these two are the definition of sibling rivalry. they will bicker over the smallest things and launch insults that carry no meaning to them other than annoy.

they attempt to outdo the other for bragging rights eternal glory, only serving to fuel their next showdown. competition is a huge part of their dynamic, cockiness knowing no ends. except when one of them slips and makes a mistake.

"and how was i supposed to know that bug was going to summon a hurricane?" "maybe think about how i was trying to get us away from it in the first place, luz!" "aww, hunter, you were thinking of me? i knew that you were a softie at hear-" "me! i was getting me away from it."

chaos is inevitable when hunter and luz are together. fatality is always in their midst, but they can't imagine a time they've been together when their lives weren't at stake. to be frank, a lot of their dynamic is built upon bonding through hardship and trauma.

both are unable to use natural magic in a world that revolves around it, share an animosity for belos/phillip, not to mention the multiple occasions where he has tried to endanger and kill them.

with enough time, luz entrusts hunter with her knowledge of glyphs. she’s a patient and effective instructor; it stupefies him because he’s seen how raw and unleashed she can be. it makes him all the more keen to learn, picking up the formations with ease, even able to suggest his own combinations after a week.

hunter teaches luz about the inner workings of magic as he knows it, natural and artificial. they hit the books, visiting the library after closing time. he even tells her about wild magic when they grow closer, facts and folktales from his very own shelf of restricted knowledge. if hunter’s in a good mood, he'll lend her the old golden guard staff, practicing some of his more unique spells.

"when are you ever going to teach me that teleportation thing of yours?" "since when can i teleport?" "y’know, that thing where you go all POOF and WOOSH and you look all golden." "that’s dashing." "don’t flatter yourself. you’re like a six—maybe six and a half—on a normal day.” “no, luz. it’s called dashing." "should've just said that in the first place, then." "i did...wait, what did you just say about me—”

luz is the younger sibling in their dynamic. she can be quite reckless and carefree at times, butting her head into situations before thinking them all the way through. she doesn't carry many responsibilities as a human in the demon realm, meaning that there are always less repercussions to face when things do fall apart.

hunter teaches her to see the big picture. to just stop once in awhile and remember everything that's at play. he lets luz know that she has to stop doubting her loyalty for others when she focuses on her own needs. they can exist in a balance, because relationships are built on mutual care.

he can admit that he cares about her. he feels that he's the older sibling in their dynamic. believing that all the actions he's taken over the course of his life have been predetermined, he needs to ensure that luz will always have the freedom of choice. if this means taking the fall himself, then so be it.

luz will help hunter reaffirm that his actions have always been his own; it's only that he's been manipulated into restriction and fear of the unknown. now that he's defected from the emperor's coven, the entirety of his identity is safe for now from the clutches of belos. hunter can and will grow his interests and his personality.

of course, his brazen ways stay the same as eda eventually takes him into their family. he hides behind corners of the owl house and tries to spook luz as she walks by. given that she gets back at him with her invisibility spell, it snowballs into all-out warfare whenever they attempt to scare each other.

luz has a huge stack of glyphs at disposal in her jacket's inner pocket, reserved solely for her skirmishes with hunter. he thinks ahead and pickpockets luz of the papers while she highlights the fact that she did not pour more apple blood in her cup than in his. hunter's not convinced in the slightest.

"they're at the same level! what more could you possibly want from me, hunter?" "give me three more drops of yours. then we could call it even." "does that even make a difference though?" "it does in fact, make a difference."

not even a minute later, hunter will walk into a wall of plastic wrap when he goes through the kitchen doorway. the following battle is not as violent as one would think, both fighting to just antagonize the other, never to seriously hurt or maim. luz never uses more than a quarter of her glyphs, just as hunter doesn't try drawing things out by teleporting all over the place.

when things get out of hand, eda has decided to put them both into timeout after getting her hands onto one of those giant "this is my getting along" shirts. it's a tacky way to punish, but she loves watching those first seconds of dread flash across her children's faces.

while luz loses her mind over collective punishment, hunter is usually looking for ways out of the shirt™. so far, the most effective method has been turning the front yard into winter wonderland and making a double snow angel of some sort. that feat requires enough bribing cooperation in order for eda to take the shirt off.

but their favorite way by far has to be simply doing maintenance on their palismen staffs, passing the cloths, oils, and polish between their collective two hands. it serves as their moment to get what they need off their chests (singular chest in this case), a moment to do nothing but listen without judgement.

"wow." "i know, right? and now she—" "sounds like a total asshole. luz, the conditions that you gave her on your duel should've been worse. you have to consider what was really at stake there." "i— "like, i get that it's an eternal oath that's bound by your souls, but stepping on king's cupcake? outrageous. the witch needs to be punished for that unforgivable crime." "hunter. you need to—" "exactly. time is of the essence. what's her address?" "hunter, that witch is my girlfriend." "what's your girlfriend's address?"

after all, these two have been through a lot and they don't plan on separating anytime soon. literally.

#the owl house #toh #luz noceda #hunter wittebane #golden guard #toh headcanons #the owl house headcanons #toh luz #toh hunter #procrastibake toh

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susie-dreemurr · 1 year

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(This was made as a response to someone, but I decided to make this it’s own post for me to link when my friends question my sanity. Long post warning.)

I was still fixated in TOH, already had it as my favorite shows, but my blorbo was Hunter (though Luz was getting there). Still, Hollow Mind managed to double my love for the show. Which was inevitable because, come on. My two favorites had the best episode ever and I’ve been a sucker for angst since I was like eight. I was also feeling vindicated bc I hated fanon Philip. It was an insanely good episode

I didn’t really care for the collector when Hollow Mind first aired, because I too immediately made the Bill Cypher connection. Which, fair enough past me, HM didn’t really present them as anything but evil. Same with Edge of the world. I cared more for exploring other’s characters feelings with him as a plot device which, *looks at pfp* A Lot Has Changed.

We get to the next episode they appear in, one that made me 10 times more mentally ill. O Titan where art thou. It’s then we get the 1st glimpse at The Collector’s loneliness + suffering over their imprisonment and their screams gave me chills dude. I was like “oh this show is really gonna explore the solitary situation as the horrifying thing it is huh D: still evil but I feel bad for him at least mercy kill him pls”

After that, then came Clouds On The Horizon, which finally made me put two and two together that Belos was going to betray the collector (in my defense I was in the fallen Angel theory grind). Their interactions were gold and then the fucking monologue collector has when king listens is EVEYRHTING my fav scene fr fr!!!!! So when that episode ends im like. “OKAY. OKAY. Not only was he on fantasy solitary and then met a puritan, the puritan has also been manipulating them for like 400 years, even now where he can free them but chooses not to until the DoU so now it’s crashing down of them. Buuuut just because they’re a victim of belos too doesn’t mean he’s not evil too. I love them so so so much, they can give some great commentary on trauma.”

At that point I had already reached a high blorbo-like mental illness status. I didn’t even post much abt the lumity kiss and the Luz & Hunter sibling grind, i focused more on those insane two minutes of the collector 😭. Then Dana Terrace thought that I was not focusing on them enough, because she drops King’s “crazy insane episode” Tide.

Not gonna lie… I had to wait at least 2 days for my analysis brain to turn back on, bc every time I saw their physical design my mind went “omg a baby yayayayayayayy” 😭 Srsly the ep gave me a whole different perspective: “lonely neurodivergent kid with god powers who, while is said to be the Grand Huntsman, doesn’t even have anything against titans as species. They play destructive, chaotic games because he doesn’t understand morals. And that’s dangerous, but it also opens a path to redemption. Not only that, they (almost) killed off Belos!!! They’d be on my top list for that regardless!!!!”

So yeah I’m. Not fixated on toh the show, but literally just the Collector now. Oh how the turn tables

#the owl house #toh #owl house #long post #collector toh #toh collector #collector #mine

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ordinaryschmuck · 2 years

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What I Thought About "Edge of the World" from The Owl House

Salutations, random people on the internet who certainly won't read this. I am an Ordinary Schmuck. I write stories and reviews and draw comics and cartoons.

Do you want to know what impresses me the most about this season of The Owl House? Well, you see, I've probably mentioned this before, but I love how the writers introduced and juggled so many plotlines and stories in Season Two. Every episode, so far, has continued one thread or the other. Like Luz and Amity's relationship, Hunter's reformation, the Day of Unity, Raine's rebellion, Luz going home, and a couple more. What's even more impressive is how the writers know what stories they could combine in an episode and what to shelve for the time being.

Take King's story, for example. "Echoes of the Past" introduced this thread about King's life, bringing up a mystery of where he came from and what he is. "Keeping Up A-Fear-Ances" and "Eda's Requiem" then continued the thread through B-plots so others could take the forefront, and "Knock, Knock, Knocking on Hooty's Door" furthered the story while also shelving it by having Hooty EAT the thing that would keep things moving forward. And because we had to wait until Hooty...passed the letter, it gave a reasonable explanation for why King didn't continue his efforts in finding his family. Especially since he wasn't in the mood anymore during "Knock, Knock, Knocking on Hooty's Door."

But now? Lumity is canon, Hunter is traumatized and probably doesn't want to do anything, the Day of Unity is still a while away, Raine's rebellion needs some more building, and Luz probably lost her one chance to go home. In other words, these plot threads are currently shelved, so let's finally bring back King's with "Edge of the World!" Today, we finally learn more about King's life and heritage and will undoubtedly get traumatized because of it! Because this is Season Two of The Owl House, and holy s**t, is it not pulling it's punches!

So, let's take our lumps together, shall we?

Spoilers below.

WHAT I LIKED

King’s Dream: I love that this episode starts the way it does. On top of being wholesome as all hell, it shows us King's greatest desire. King wants to see his family again, but he also wants them to get along with Eda, Luz, and even Hooty. It's cute, even if it IS a bit on the nose that this was a dream.

Not to mention that it prepares us for the darkness ahead.

Luz Saying What Happened: On the topic of darkness, something tells me that the scenes Luz flashbacked to have been in her nightmares for the past few days. Or however long it took between "Hollow Mind" and this.

But, yeah, this was a solid way to recap events from last week. Unless you've rewatched the previous six episodes on Disney+, this brings you back to the pain we went through in "Hollow Mind." And BOY is pain the right word to use given how fast Luz starts panicking. She indirectly helped a genocidal maniac, leading him to get closer to destroying everything and everyone that she loves. I'd be having a mental breakdown too, and kudos to Sarah-Nicole Robles for nailing the fear, heartbreak, and self-anger that Luz must be feeling at this moment. It's top notch and OOF, does it hurt.

Eda Wants Luz to Hide: Thankfully, we have Eda being the protective mom that she is. Her kid is tied with Hunter as someone likely to be number one on Belos' hit list, so the first thing Eda thinks of is hiding her precious baby in a place where NO ONE will find her. It's an admirable mindset, showing, yet again, how much Luz means to Eda. And I'm always going to love that wholesome relationship.

Hooty Barfs Because of Lilith: Almost as much as I love a well-timed joke.

Seriously, Hooty, you might want to get yourself checked out for something if seeing someone you love causes you to barf.

The Plan for Going to King’s “People” (And Eda’s Objections): It's incredible how a later scene could alter how we view a previous one. Because, at the time, I was siding with everyone else. We learned that there was an entire civilization of warriors, making it sound like the ideal place for King and Luz to hide out and be safe, but in turn, it makes it the perfect opportunity for the characters to gain an army. So, it sounded like a foolproof plan for King, Luz, and Hooty to go on this adventure by themselves...and then the rest of the episode happened.

Yeah, given what we know now, Eda has a right to be cautious about sending the kids there on a perilous journey. I mean, King was about to be sacrificed! Those people are lucky that Eda didn't come with Luz and King. She might have burned the place to the ground if she did.

Still, it impresses me how well context can change how I react to a scene. I didn't understand why Eda wouldn't be all for going to a land of warriors to protect her kids, but after watching the episode, I'll end up siding with her on future rewatches. Because, in hindsight, who wouldn’t side with a woman so worried about her kids?

Eda Cries for Luz: Because, I mean, like...seriously. You're telling me you wouldn't side with a woman that's this worried about her children? Get out of here!

Ok, but jokes aside, this is perfection. There are so many kids' shows that just gloss over that the protagonist that does all of this dangerous stuff is a literal child. Needless to say, I appreciate that The Owl House features a moment when Eda breaks down over the stress that her child is in a lot of deep s**t. It's the same reason I love Steven Universe Future, despite its flaws. It was the first time a kids' show acknowledged that the child protagonist will have so much trauma that will last them YEARS of therapy. And it's just beginning for Luz, which makes me appreciate Eda's worry for her even more. It's an honest reaction any rational parent would have, eradicating any doubt that Eda doesn't see herself as Luz's mom. If she didn't, why else would she be crying over this kid she's only known for a few months?

But I’m sure they’ll have time to figure things out. I mean, the Day of Unity is only in a week–WAIT, WHAT?!

The Day of Unity is in a WEEK?!: That is...a VERY stressful timetable.

The genocide of the entire Boiling Isles is coming, and the characters only have a WEEK to prepare?! A week that's already passing fast as we speak?! Dana Terrace, you and your writers are...sick monsters. I do NOT need this stress in my life, Ms. Terrace!

Oh, man, I need to put my mind on something else...

Hooty Ate the Letter a Month Ago: ...I can work with this.

Ok, so Hooty ate the letter a month ago. This happened at least a few days after Luz and Amity started dating. So, this means that a few days before "Edge of the World," Luz and Amity MUST have had their one-month anniversary, which undoubtedly had roses, chocolate, and cute, gay adorableness.

There. Whenever something bad happens in the show, I can just think of Luz and Amity's one-month anniversary. Problem solved.

I know it's stupid and silly...but I need this.

Tarak: Alright, back to the bad stuff.

Because man...I liked Tarak! He was a cool dude that was so excited to have King around and was Bill's hype man. Not to mention how much King enjoyed being with Tarak.

He saw him as his father, wanting to play catch and everything! And Tarak doesn't even hesitate in wanting to kill King after knowing what he is!

It's yet another instance where learning the context alters how I react to something. Because I remember feeling this spark of joy and happiness when I saw King so excited to have someone he saw as a father figure! Now all I'll feel is pain, knowing where it will all end!

Titan Trapper Island: It's the same thing here. I thought it was interesting that there was a community of people who hunted Titans. We know next to nothing about what Titans are, so it was safe to assume it was a good thing that there were hunters committing genocide on a species, to the point where we glossed over the fact that they committed genocide on a species (yeah, that was probably a red flag). But now, after learning what King is, it leaves this icky feeling in my tum-tum knowing he was practically a warthog dining with lions.

King Becoming a Titan Trapper Montage: Yeah, this doesn't help!

Seeing King get acceptance and respect from these individuals he thought was his kind was a nice heartwarming moment. Why does it have to be ruined now that I know where it's heading?!

Can we please have something to lighten the mood...?

Bill, the Grand Elder: ...Alright, I'll take it.

Don't get me wrong, this guy's a scumbag...but he's an entertaining scumbag.

Bill's psychotic old man nature is genuinely fun to watch, and it's pretty funny seeing this little gremlin boss around these noticeably bigger and fitter people. It's also interesting how he's not scared of Belos. I always find it intriguing how one villain doesn't consider the other a threat. Makes one wonder which one is actually worse.

I mean, it's Belos. It'll always BE Belos. But it's still fascinating how Bill thinks he's worse. And it makes sense why he's not worried. Their island is disconnected from the Boiling Isles, so if there's anyone who won't be hurt by the Day of Unity, it'll be them.

And there are...other reasons why they're not scared of Belos. But before we get into that, let's talk about the Titan in the room.

King’s a Son of a Titan: ...The winner for what is easily the biggest "What the F**K?!" moment goes to King being a Titan!

No, seriously, WHAT THE F**K?! Our baby boy's a Titan?!

Did...did anyone call this?! Hang on.

*Does a YouTube search*

Ok, f**k, apparently people called this! But it sounded like such a crackhead theory that I'm sure people who heard it just pointed and laughed! NOW, who's laughing?!

I'll tell you who: The sons of b**hes who somehow called this--HOW THE F**K DO YOU CALL THIS!?

Man, this show...

This! Show!

Every time that I think it gives us the biggest reveal, it throws King being a Titan at us. Not only that, but now he's surrounded by Titan hunters who will kill him if they find out.

Yeah, can we get him out of there, please? Before things get worse.

The Titan Trappers’ God is the Collector: THINGS GOT WORSE!

Oh...FRICK, did they get worse!

These guys might not be more of a threat than Belos is, but the reveal that they worship the Collector might prove the Collector is worse than Belos. Because if they managed to get a whole society to worship them as a god, then that does not spell nice things for our characters. After all, if you can turn an Owl Beast into a curse, you could possibly do just about anything. And...yeah, it's not great...And it somehow gets even WORSE!

The Ritual: Ok...Listen: King asking if they'll play catch after the ritual as a knife hangs over his head is...heart wrenching, to say the very least. It's a moment where King shows his age because the boy's just a child! He's just a child who wanted to play catch with a man he saw as a father, and NONE of them sympathize with that, nor do they look back at how he felt like a part of the community, and they treated him as one of their own. It shows how much blind hatred these people have towards King's species while showing how young King is for being naive to all of it. It hurts...and it STILL. Gets. WORSE!

King Preparing for a World Without Luz in it: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaah...

...

...Ok. I'm at my limit.

We already know that King doesn't want Luz to leave, but knowing that he's been preparing to live his life without her is just...WHY?! Why must you hurt me, Dana!

I just want my favorite characters to be happy! Is that so wrong to ask?!

King Waving Hi to the Titan: Well...at least King has a better understanding of himself.

His little wave to the Titan is like an...acceptance? Is that the right word? Because he acknowledges that he's one of it now. If it King didn't accept that, he would look away from the Titan in shame, but instead, he waves. It tells us that even if today has been...not great, he finally knows what he is, putting that story to rest. And I couldn't have asked the episode to end at a better--

The Emperor’s Coven at the Owl House, Ready to Strike: OH, COME ON! You could've closed the episode out on a semi-nice moment, but NOOOOOOO! You just HAD to end things on a scene that spells out doom and gloom for our characters!

THANKS A LOT, DANA AND FRIENDS! Your show is amazing, and I hate it!

(Joking, obviously)

WHAT I DISLIKED

Ok...I only have one issue...and that's the super-specific description of what a baby Titan is. I get that we want to clue the kids in on how King's a Titan, but using his personality traits to do it is kind of lame. It takes away what makes King unique if the entire species supposedly act as he does. We already have Bill saying they dress up like Titans. We don't need that extra step.

However, that's a very minor thing "Edge of the World" did wrong compared to everything else it did right.

IN CONCLUSION

"Edge of the World" is another A+ in my book. We learned so much about King, had some small development for Luz and Eda squeezed in, changed how I'll react to it in future rewatches, and kept the story chugging along at the perfect point. It's honestly perfect that "Edge of the World" came out when it did because with where the show's heading in the season finale, there wouldn't have been a better place to continue King's story than here. I look forward to what happens next, primarily because that ending just about left me on the edge of my seat.

#the owl house #the owl house spoilers #toh spoilers #the owl house reviews #king clawthorne #luz noceda #eda clawthorne #toh tarak #toh bill #what i thought about

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beardedmrbean · 1 year

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A teenage pupil stabbed to death a teacher in the middle of a lesson at a school in southwest France on Wednesday, the regional prosecutor said.

The teacher of Spanish, 52, was teaching a class at the school in the seaside town of Saint-Jean-de-Luz when the 16-year-old attacked her with a knife, the prosecutor said.

“I didn’t see him get up but I saw him in front of the teacher,” fellow classmate Ines, 16, told reporters.

“He was very calm. He got closer to her and plunged a big knife into her chest without saying anything,” she added.

The teacher was given emergency aid at the scene, but Bayonne prosecutor Jerome Bourrier told AFP she died of her wounds.

The pupil was arrested and a murder investigation has been opened, he added.

A source close to the case said that, by the time the police arrived on the scene at around 9:50 am, the attacker had been disarmed and other pupils isolated.

He had been carrying a blade some 10 centimetres (almost 4 inches) long, they added.

The pupil seemed to have acted in a “moment of madness”, rather than on any “terrorist motive” or “resentment”, the source said.

Ines, who witnessed the attack, said she did not really know the teenager.

“We’re just in Spanish class together. But there had never been a problem between him and the teacher in class,” she said.

‘Conscientious’ teacher

The school, Saint-Thomas d’Aquin, is a private and Catholic-based establishment close to the centre of Saint-Jean-de-Luz, which in summer is one of France’s best loved resorts on the sandy Basque country coast.

The teacher had long taught at the school and was “conscientious”, a representative from the FEP-CFDT teachers’ union said.

By lunchtime, pupils had started to leave the premises after being confined to their classrooms for around two hours after the incident.

Anxious parents were waiting for them but only those parents of the class where the stabbing happened were allowed to enter the school, an AFP reporter said.

France’s Education Minister Pap Ndiaye said he was “extremely upset” by the death of the teacher.

All schools would observe a minute of silence for her on Thursday afternoon at 3:00 pm, he told the press outside the school.

Government spokesman Olivier Veran said he could “barely imagine the trauma that this represents at a local level and more generally on a national scale”.

The BFM television channel said that the attacker had locked the classroom door and stabbed the teacher in the chest.

The channel quoted a source as saying that the boy then told another teacher that a “voice” had told him to carry out the action.

The investigation was to seek to determine his psychological state and motives.

No details have been released concerning his background.

‘Could have happened to me’

Such attacks at schools are generally rare in France but there have been growing concerns about the security of teachers.

In the past 40 years, there have been fewer than a dozen deadly attacks in schools.

The attack in Saint-Jean-de-Luz is the first killing of a teacher in France since the October 2020 beheading of Samuel Paty outside Paris by an Islamist radical.

In July 2014, a 34-year-old teacher was stabbed to death in the southern town of Albi by the mother of a pupil. The perpetrator was later found to be legally irresponsible.

A Jewish school was targeted in the attacks carried out by Islamist gunman Mohamed Merah around Toulouse in 2012, with a teacher and three pupils shot dead.

In Saint-Jean-de-Luz, Maha Bargueche, a mathematics teacher from the Paris region who was holidaying in the area, placed a bouquet of flowers in front of the school “as a sign of support”.

“I’m very sad, it could have happened to me, it can happen to any teacher. That’s why I came immediately,” she said.

#nunyas news

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drabbles-of-writing · 3 years

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Stitched Back Together

AO3

first Owl Fight attack, woo! The prompt for this one was “Luz and Raine hanging out”

Summary: Free of Kikimora's control, with scars carved into their skin, Raine is taken back to the Owl House. Awake in the middle of the night, unable to sleep after their whole ordeal, they officially meet Luz. Talking to one of Eda's kids really shouldn't be as intimidating as it feels.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

When Raine first saw the kids, truly and consciously, there were thorns retreating from their eyes and scars etched onto their skin as Eda held them tightly.

Eda’s sclera had turned black, hands hooked into talons with wings arched over their heads, and was at least two feet taller than when they had last seen her. And there had been a lot to ask about there, and possibly some gawking, but this isn’t about that.

Because as soon as Raine could stand, Eda holding their hands tightly and almost brought to tears at how relieved she was to see them alright, to know there would be no more harm done to them, Raine noticed the two figures far across from them, holding back the few guards trying to intervene.

They recognized them quickly, from the photo that had twisted a hole into their chest, because Eda had kids and she had spoken of them with such desperation and love--

The girl had turned, and Raine knew then they hadn’t been imagining the round ears when they first saw the photo. She had the young demon they recognized earlier clinging to her back, and they both looked at Raine with confusion. The demon’s had been accusatory, but the humans, she had to be a human, looked nothing but curious.

It had all passed by in a blur, the escape from the guards and Eda bundling them into the Owl House, frantic as she continued to check them over, never slowing in her talking as the wings and sharp edges retreated back into her body, which Raine may have quietly mourned the loss of. They suited her.

The human and demon had watched from the background, occasionally offering assistance towards or around the two, but more or less giving them space as Eda fretted and explained all she could to Raine, clinging like she was afraid if she didn’t, Raine would vanish again.

They heard of what Kikimora had done to them, of what Belos had done to them, of what they had done. Of Eda’s acceptance of the curse, of the rest of the BATs being in the Conformatorium (something they both agreed on fixing as soon as they could), of everything that Eda could think to catch them up on.

There would be time to unpack all of that, to formulate plans, to talk about everything beyond what Raine had missed out on. But that could wait until another day, could wait until Raine had gotten rest, and a moment to reorient themselves.

And yet, they still found themself in Eda’s kitchen, nearing midnight, with a cup of tea that looked suspiciously like the one Lilith had liked in their hands.

They knew they should be asleep, it was late, and knowing Eda, there would be far more to fret about in the morning. Eda had offered her nest, but Raine had taken the couch, not exactly willing to voice their opinion on how Eda’s nest did not look comfortable.

They were thankful for it later, too, when they awoke after barely an hour of sleep with the feeling of vines wrapped around their throat and muffled, begging cries as their hands moved of their own accord.

They sighed and slumped against the counter, setting down the cup for a moment to rub at their wrist, where scars from the reaching thorns still lay. They faded the further the scars stretched up their body, but they figured the ones along their wrist and arm would last for the rest of their life.

It wasn’t too bad, a scar was really the best thing they could’ve asked for. They stared down at their tea, thoughts swirling and not even bothering to try and sort any of them out. Later, when their wrist didn’t have a phantom ache.

“Oh, hey.”

Raine startled, almost knocking their cup over as they whirled their head around.

The human stood in the doorway, looking a bit surprised at Raine’s reaction. She had clearly just woken up, hair a frizzy mess and eyes still blinking with sleep.

“Oh, um, hello.” Raine said, forcing themself to relax. “Sorry, is there something you need?” They asked, wrapping a hand around their tea.

“I just came here for a snack,” The human shrugged, breezing right by the counter and towards the cabinets.

Raine nodded, mostly just to themself, and went back to staring into space, trying to pretend the awkward tension hadn’t suddenly arisen.

They realized after a moment that the girl had paused in what she was doing, hand still in the cabinet door, but taking nothing out. They looked up for a moment, and caught the girl watching them with a contemplative look on her face until she realized she had been staring and jerked back to shuffling through the cabinets.

“So,” Raine said, in some attempt to break the tension, leaning their arms across the counter. “You’re Eda’s kid?” They said, grimacing slightly at how off that had come off sounding.

“Er, yeah,” The human said, frowning at the cabinet before shutting it again and opening a different one. “And you’re...Raine.”

“You’ve heard of me, then?” Raine guessed, taking a sip of their tea.

“Vaguely,” The human admitted, opening another cabinet door. “I know you’re--er, were, the head of the Bard Coven. I know Eda mentioned some group called the BATs you lead. I know that...Eda knows you.” She said, voice becoming more mumbly as she spoke.

“Ah, Eda didn’t speak of me much, then?” Raine inquired, telling themself that they shouldn't really be surprised.

“Not until you, uh, had the whole...thing happening.” The girl nodded. “Then Eda got really worried and me and King asked why she was so worked up, and then she told us you were an old friend, which I maybe halfway trust, and that you had this group with the BATs...and I still don’t think I understand it completely.” She admitted with a sheepish look.

“Sounds like Eda.” Raine chuckled, shaking their head slightly as they smiled down at their tea. “Wait, halfway trust?” They added right after, back straightening.

“I mean, I trust you mean a lot to Eda,” The human said, her raiding of the cabinets forgotten. “And I trust Eda means a lot to you,” Raine did not flush at that, thank you. “But pretty much everyone Eda knows she has a very complicated relationship with, and I’d be surprised if you were the one exception.”

“Ah,” Raine said, rubbing the back of their neck. Is this what it felt like to be interrogated by a kid? “You got me there. We haven’t...seen each other in a while.” They admitted.

“How long?” The human asked, interest sparking in her eyes as she leaned next to the cabinets.

“Erm, two...maybe two and half decades?” Raine said, lifting a hand and tilting it. “Titan, it sounds much longer than it feels when I say it out loud.” They murmured.

“Oooh, another piece of the mysterious backstory!” The human grinned, perking up, all the hesitation from earlier melting away at a probably concerning speed. “Why’d ya stop talking?”

“Ah, well, you know,” Raine said, flushing again as their ears pressed back. “Just...a split, really. Seeing other people. Eda had some things she still needed to work out, and I suppose I had to reflect a bit, too.” They mumbled.

“Wait,” The girl narrowed her eyes, and when Raine focused on where she was again, they pulled back when they realized Luz was on the other side of the counter. “Are you one of her exes?” She gasped, eyes wide.

“Oh dear,” Raine sighed, face falling in their hands.

“You are!” The girl exclaimed, and they sincerely hoped it didn’t wake anyone else up. “Man, and I thought all her exes hated her from how she talked about some of them.” She whistled. “Explains a bit, though.”

“Is that so?” Raine mumbled, knowing that they were blushing up to their ears.

“Yeah, I mean, explains why she seemed so freaked out. She's gotta know you pretty well.” The human said casually. “She goes all out when she gets attached, as I’m sure you know.” She added with a light tease.

“Oh, I know.” Raine sighed, memories of holding back a feral Eda back in Hexside from mauling Odalia still vivid in their mind. “And, since we’re talking, I apologize, but,” They said, raising their head from their hands when they were sure they didn’t look like they’d had a nasty sunburn across their face. “I don’t believe I...caught your name.”

“Eda didn’t mention it?” The human blinked, graciously taking the change in conversation.

“She might’ve, but I’ll be honest, I caught maybe two of every five words she said.” Raine admitted, flicking an ear. “I’m sorry, but I figure I should ask now before it turns into something where I ask at a much worse moment.”

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” The human waved her hand. “You went through a lot. My name’s Luz.” She said cheerfully, offering a hand. “The other little guy is King.”

Raine blinked at it for a moment before reaching out and taking it, giving a single shake until Luz pulled back. She was practically rocking on her heels from how excited she seemed, and Raine may have allowed a small half-smile in return.

“Have you lived with Eda long?” Raine asked, because they could still remember Eda’s pained explanation that the kids weren’t hers hers, and found themself wondering where in the world she had picked up a human.

“Few months,” Luz said. “Four, maybe? I dunno, the calendars here are different from the human realm.”

“Four months?” Raine blinked, surprised. “I would’ve thought you’d known her longer.”

“Nah, I’m just a recent addition.” Luz shrugged, looking away with a hint of nervousness. “King’s been here for years, though.”

“Huh, odd.” Raine said with a shrug as they went back to drinking their tea. “You act a lot like her, I would’ve thought you’d have picked up those habits from her.”

“I do?” Luz repeated, straightening.

“Yes?” Raine lowered their cup. “When she was younger, at least. Very curious, couldn’t leave any questions unanswered. And stubborn. And maybe a little too attentive for her own good.” They added with a lighthearted tone.

“Oh, yeah, that-that sounds familiar.” Luz coughed into her fist, and Raine smiled at her embarrassment. “You knew her when you were younger, then?” She asked, and Raine chose not to comment on the slight diversion in conversation.

“Since Hexside,” Raine nodded. “I want to say we were eleven or so? Maybe twelve. Never had a moment of peace since.”

“Aw, Eda’s backstory just keeps getting more and more convoluted. At least yours isn’t as crazy as Lilith or her moms. Even after the whole mind-control thing.” Luz said with a fiery curiosity in her eyes, and Raine was impressed at their lack of visible reaction to how casually Luz brought up the mind-control. Another thing like Eda, Raine thought. No amount of answers would be satisfactory, and treated every odd thing like it was just another day.

“Well, I’m glad I got her daughter's approval. Wouldn’t want to fight my way in now, would I?” Raine chuckled, tilting their cup back and finishing the last of it.

When they lowered their cup again, Luz was staring at them like a spooked rabbit, hands gripping the counter. They blinked slowly, brow raised in confusion.

“I-I’m not,” Luz stuttered, coughing to clear her throat and forcibly releasing the counter. “I’m not her daughter, you thought I was her daughter?”

“You aren’t?” Raine frowned, ears perking up. “But you said you were her kid.”

“That’s--I thought you meant--like when Eda just casually calls me and and King kids, or when I’m out with my friends and she’s watching us we’re just ‘her kids,’ you know?” Luz said, looking a little frantic as she did so, wildly waving her hands around. “Not--no I’m not, related to her or anything--”

“Oh, I knew that.” Raine brushed it off. “But Eda told me you and King were her kids?”

“I--when did that happen?” Luz asked, near sounding like a demand.

Raine hesitated, for a brief moment. They doubted someone like Eda would so casually tell a teenager and young demon about that time she, you know, almost died, and it really wasn’t their place to tell them as such if she hadn’t.

“The last time we spoke.” They settled on. “Before the...thing.” They said, mimicking Luz’s words from earlier. “I learned she had kids, and I told her that if she had something to lose, she had to get back to them.”

“I...oh.” Luz said quietly, slowly relaxing and turning her head down to stare at the counter.

“I’m…” Raine hesitated. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep, I didn’t know it was a touchy subject--”

“No, no! It’s not, you’re fine.” Luz waved them off. “I just...didn’t know Eda had said it like that.”

Raine would’ve thought something along the lines of ‘Eda didn’t tell you she thought of you as her kid?’ if they didn’t know that Eda was the same person who hadn’t even truly thought of them as dating until Raine had introduced her as their girlfriend with earshot. She’d been so touched over the whole ordeal that Raine had to remind her, repeatedly, that they had been dating for over a month. Apparently knowing, and having a title for it, were two very different things.

They wouldn’t be surprised if this kid was the same.

“She cares about you, you know that, right?” Raine asked softly, and Luz looked up to meet their eyes.

“Yeah,” She said, cracking a small smile. “I know.”

Raine nodded in satisfaction, stepping around the counter to set their cup in the sink. It was late, they could wash it in the morning. How Eda could've ever thought about leaving a kid like her, they don't think they'd want to know.

“She cares about you, too.”

Raine paused, going still as one hand lightly gripped the edge of the sink.

“I know,” They said, almost surprised that they believed it so easily, inhaling as they set their shoulders back. “It’s almost scary how little that seems to have changed.” They mumbled.

“For the both of you, huh?” Luz teased.

Raine whirled around, ears pressed back as their face lit up again, being greeted with the girl's smug face that she had to have picked up from Eda, it was almost uncanny.

“I--you--she just--there was--shouldn’t you be asleep at this hour?” Raine managed to strangle out, getting a gleeful giggle out of Luz as they did so.

“I got hungry,” Luz shrugged simply, her smug expression never falling.

“Then grab a snack and go to bed.” Raine huffed, crossing their arms, as if that would hide the embarrassment as they stepped aside.

“I will, once I find where Eda put the cookies. She keeps hiding them from King and doesn’t tell me where she put them.” Luz muttered, stepping up to the cabinets again and opening a new one.

“I think that means she’s hiding them from both of you.” Raine raised a brow.

“She should find better hiding spots, then.” Luz said, retracting a hand from the cabinet with a container full of cookies in her hand, shaking them. “Cover for me if she asks why some went missing?” She asked, a pleading look on her face.

“I’ll cover you if one goes missing.” Raine bargained, and Luz gave them a disgruntled look before sighing and taking a single cookie from the container.

“Can’t believe you.” Luz huffed good-naturedly, putting the cookies away.

“Just because you're Eda’s kid doesn’t mean I’m going to let you get away with everything, Titan knows how Eda would’ve ended up if that happened.” They muttered, shaking their head. “I fear the day you and Amber meet.”

“Who?” Luz tilted her head, taking a large bite of her cookie.

“One of my crew, she’s about your age.” Raine said simply. “I think you’ll get along. Now go, shoo, I’m willing to bet tomorrow will be quite hectic, and you need your sleep.” They said, herding Luz out of the kitchen.

“I’m going, I’m going!” Luz said, smiling as she lightly batted at Raine’s hands, darting out of the kitchen. “Remember, you saw nothing.” She warned, walking backwards as she narrowed her eyes on Raine.

“Lips are sealed, I was fast asleep the whole night.” Raine said, leaning against the doorway to the kitchen. “Though I figure she’ll find out, anyway.”

“Yeah, but I’ve got backup now.” Luz said, shoving the last half of the cookie in her mouth before slipping away through the doorway that led to the staircase.

Raine chuckled, shaking their head as they pushed themself off of the doorway. They should probably hit the couch again, too. Eda would only fret more if they were falling asleep all day tomorrow.

“Oh, almost forgot!” Luz said, head suddenly poking through the doorway and causing Raine to pause. “Welcome to the Owl House,” She said cheerily. “Since I take it you’ll be staying a while.”

Raine’s ears flicked back and they mumbled under their breath as Luz’s smile only widened, and Raine couldn’t help but mirror it.

“Night!” She chirped, vanishing around the corner yet again.

Raine watched the place where she’d vanished again, rubbing their wrist and noting it didn’t ache as much as before.

“Goodnight,” They said to the empty air.

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fermented-writers-block · 3 years

Text

Lus and the Human Portal Clone Theory

Even before Keeping Up A-fear-ances aired, I have been working for almost a year now on running through all the possible various suspects with wonderful folks like @sepublic , @anistarrose , and @elementalist-kdj . Like the post title indicates, from sheer process of elimination, the only conclusion that made sense to me was a clone made of Luz by the portal door, and I’ve been working on refining and reworking said conclusion up to the version I will lay out here.

Now, as @safetayy , @theowlhouseheadcanons , and @50shades-of-blue have heard from me before, the portal I've long suspected was not made to go from the Demon Realm to the Human Realm, but rather to go from the Human Realm to the Demon Realm by humans, for humans. This is because it then could tie into the hypothetical existence of a Luz clone without having the issue of asking where Eda, Lilith, and King's clones are, as the clone in this case is the result of a function of the door to create a basic level duplicate of any human that passes through it rather than it happening for just anyone that passes through.

With this, it's because the suitcase form of the portal looks as thought it indicates it was used for temporary trips to the Demon Realm, much like how suitcases were used when railways and international boats made travel more accessible for the middle and lower classes. For example:

Going by the way the door “faces” and the way it swings open, the ergonomics of the portal makes it look an awful lot like a right handed out swing door, with the Human Realm on the “inside” and the Demon Realm on the “outside.” And the arrow in the diagram depicts the general direction of traffic that such right handed, out swing doors are typically design with in mind - ergo, showing what way the portal appears to facilitate travel in.

Now, before you ask, the reason why I think the portal could have been created in the human realm in the first place is that it might require an extra component/bit of help or two from the Owl Deity which I’ve discussed before in the past as hinted by these connected designs:

I’ll explore how I feel the revelation that such a twist about the portal’s origins could play into the themes and narrative of the show under the cut, but overall, I feel these are potential significant details to keep in mind for the rest of this arc of building a new door and handling the idea of Lus having initially been made as a temporary-duration clone, hence how "Luz" comes off so uncannily in the letters as she wasn't meant for long term impersonations.

That, and why I named this the Human Portal Clone theory, for those wondering about the name.

Alongside this, my thought has been that walking back through the portal to the Human Realm basically makes the portal send a recall signal to tell the clone to return to it, where the clone would be reabsorbed into the portal and its memories are given to the original. However, with Luz going back into the Demon Realm for a brief time in YBOS, I am of the mind that it doesn’t just make another clone, but rather that doing so merely made the door turn off the recall signal and allowed "Lus" to resume the impersonation.

And as for the clone itself and why they’re writing letters to Camila, well, imagine it from Lus' perspective. To her at the time of creation, the last thing she probably knew was that she had been chasing the cute little owl that took her Azura book into the woods, and right when the bus to Reality Check Camp was about to arrive.

Also, if you think about it, Lus being the work of someone we/don’t know yet raises way more plot threads/questions than answers compared to being the work of the portal, as outlined below:

TLDR at end of post for those wondering

Belos? How and why before YBOS where he actually started paying attention to Luz for the first time and actually got his hands on a portal?

Eda? Why would she do all this and not tell Luz she can goof around without needing to worry about her mom or the camp/in time to fool the camp, especially when it took a good amount of time for Eda to even start feeling that close to Luz?

Hooty got ruled out from the getgo since he can’t hold pencils, King just isn’t that subtle, and everyone else that Luz knows has the major issues of just straight up not knowing about the camp in the first place. Well, that and a lack of another known method of getting to the Human Realm in the first place.

The camp? Why would they worry about a missing camper whose disappearance is all HER fault and thus would more logically result in a call to her parent than some convoluted clone conspiracy?

And finally, some currently completely unknown third party?

If we’re talking a Changeling, A) it’d be easy for Luz to dismiss them and B) that just makes all the ominous portrayal of Lus super straightforward instead of a subversion like is the show’s shtick.

If we’re talking dimensional counterparts, A) they have to REALLY have led a very similar life to Luz’s in order for there to be enough common ground for Luz to listen, and B) dimensional counterparts aren’t even a confirmed or likely thing that people cooked up from Episode 1 side characters influenced by Amity’s concept art.

And if we’re talking some complete surprise third party group or another, it doesn’t make sense to introduce a third party and their motives and plans to the show this late in when Belos is already taking up the bulk of it all.

Hell, if anything, the continued existence of the duplicate in of itself would indicate that the target of the conspiracy is none other than Camila Noceda than anything to do with Luz or Eda, especially with the complete lack of anyone taking advantage of Luz and or Eda.

From the getgo, Witches Before Wizards already hard-baked into the show the idea that Luz is NOT inherently special or anything into the foundations of the show from the getgo - ergo, Camila likely just is an absolutely regular human being, someone who has no justification for such a convoluted conspiracy to surround them.

That said, I believe that the idea of the portal having originated from the Human Realm could potentially play into some interesting stories to be had with Camila and Lus here, especially as the conspiracy board shot from the promo was confirmed by Dana to apparently be from S2A, not from the episodes past Yesterday’s Lie:

After all, with Luz searching the library for a way home this coming episodes, perhaps she might figure out something the next couple of episodes that allows her texts to send through, which would logically lead to the above picture. That, and Camila and Lus being confused by and trying to figure out what’s going on there.

I mean, the cabin in the woods likely has a very close connection to the portal and it’s origins given how closely tied the two structures seem to be, and as far as we can tell, Luz never mentioned the cabin in her videos to Camila, but if Lus tries to retrace her steps, that would be a natural vector to lead Camila to the cabin and thus allow us a chance to actually investigate it.

That said, all following the trail would do is lead her and Lus to a dead end at the abandoned cabin, where they would have nothing else to do except discuss their complicated relationship concerning Luz and twiddle their thumbs while waiting for Luz to finish things on her end - which while something I think would be interesting to see, I just don’t see how much of a way to keep them in the greater picture of the show without some kind of project or activity that the two of them could work together on on screen.

And that’s what leads me to a particular train of thought here, starting with the question of what if Luz FAILS to make a working portal over the course of S2A and such?

With the possible in-universe mystery over what the heck is going on with Lus, perhaps the cabin might hold some notes from the original last human owner - if not potentially the creator - of Eda’s portal as well as potentially some of the same materials and such from previous trips.

Cue CAMILA building a working portal, following in the footsteps of the original creator and such and thus finding a reason to stay on screen, all the while potentially demonstrating both why Belos wanted the portal instead of making his own, as well as diving into the Owl Deity’s connection with the original portal. Heck, maybe the Owl Deity is only accessible in the Human Realm and that plays a part in Belos wanting to get to the Human Realm, which would bring Camila directly into contact with the magic her daughter has been interacting with.

Also, just imagine the internal conflict going on here with Lus. After all, helping Camila build a portal to get the original Luz -and hoo boy would that be a tough thing to grapple with- would most definitely do that and make both Lus AND Camila question how much the latter likes Lus vs Luz.

Like, just imagine it. There would be major chances for Lus and Camila to discuss what would happen if and when they’re finished with the portal, and what will happen to Lus’ relationship with Camila if and when Luz gets back.

Does Camila really prefer her daughter to be all more “normal” like Lus, or does she prefer the old, “weird” daughter from before the summer with Luz?

Perhaps she might be able to figure out how to strike a nuanced balance between the two, and all on a metaphorical journey to truly build a better connection between her and her daughter(s?).

TLDR: Or in short, I can’t help but feel it would be fitting to see Camila building a bridge WITH Lus TO Luz.

Particularly, by being the one to craft an actual working portal in the Human Realm instead of Luz in the Demon Realm, showing a parent putting in an active effort to get down to their child’s level rather than waiting for said child to try to get up to their parent’s level even if they can’t or find it incredibly hard to do so.

#the owl house #the owl house theory #owl house theory #toh theory #toh #owl deity hooty theory #camila noceda #lus #lus noceda #luz noceda #toh speculation #the owl house speculation

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fallen-gravity · 3 years

Text

the good kind of scared

Luz takes Amity out on their first date as an official couple.

Amity can’t stop thinking about certain circumstances of a certain night.

Notes:

WARNING: This fic contains major spoilers for Season 2, Episode 8 (Knock, Knock, Knockin’ on Hooty’s Door) of the Owl House. Read at your own risk.

Here’s my first shot at an owl house fic! I love Luz and Amity so much, they remind me so much of myself and my journey as a young wlw, and I wish them nothing but the best on their relationship journey.

AO3

Luz regrets telling Eda she wanted to ask Amity out.

It’s not that she’s being mean or judgmental about the whole ordeal, and it’s not even that she’s being overprotective and going full Owlbeast on Amity for getting too close, or threatening to break something of hers if she breaks Luz’s heart.

Oh no. Luz would absolutely prefer Eda threatening to drop Amity off in the middle of the wilderness for hurting her to what she’s actually doing.

Every time Luz even mentions Amity, even if she’s just talking about her day at school, Eda’s on her back with a nudge of her shoulders, a hip check, and a wink. It’s always “How’s your girlfriend doing, Luz?” this and “When are you bringing your girlfriend home, Luz?” that.

If Luz’s face could burn any hotter she’s sure it would catch on fire.

(She shudders at the thought of how much more embarrassing her mother back home is going to be about it).

Honestly, it’s a miracle she was even able to plan their first date without Eda butting in at all.

“Bring her home by midnight!” Eda singsongs, tossing her staff to Amity as the two of them are heading out the door. “Now go have fun, you crazy kids!”

Luz scrubs her hands down her face and groans into them. Beside her, Amity giggles nervously.

“I’ll try,” she murmurs under her breath, and it only makes Luz’s blush even worse.

“I’m so sorry about her” Luz groans once they’re outside and Eda is out of earshot. “I begged her not to be embarrassing about this whole thing, but she just laughed at me and told me that was her job”

Amity laughs, bashfully covering her mouth with a hand. She’s so cute. “It’s fine. You wouldn’t believe how Edric and Emira acted when I told them where I was going. I thought I was going to be stuck at home with all of their squealing for hours before they finally let me go”

Luz can’t help but laugh. “Are you ready to go? I kind of want to get out of here before Hooty catches wind at what’s going on” she gestures with her thumb towards the door behind them. Hooty is, thankfully, too asleep to have heard any of that conversation.

For the briefest of seconds, Amity’s eyes go wide. “Right,” she says, and offers Eda’s staff back to Luz. Her eyes dart to the ground as her entire face begins to flush pink. “Well, where did you want to take me? You said no asking until I got here”

That’s right. Luz can feel her own blush burning into her cheeks. She’d completely forgotten it was supposed to be a surprise, and that this date was the date to determine all of their future dates going forward.

Luz clears her throat to clear her thoughts, and sits down on the staff to wake up Owlbert.

“Hop on!” she tells Amity beside her, her voice cracking into oblivion. “You’ll know when we get there”

Amity giggles, but she complies, sitting behind Luz and wrapping her arms around her waist to keep herself steady.

...This is the end of her, Luz thinks, her face turning redder than apple blood. She’s dead. She’s dying. She’s no more.

But before Amity has the time to ask her what’s wrong or pull away, Luz takes off into the sky, perhaps a bit faster than she intended to. It takes a moment for their flight to steady, since she’d accidentally startled Owlbert from taking off too quickly, but once he’s calmed down it’s smooth sailing to their destination.

And even now that everything is all smooth and balanced, Amity still has her arms around Luz’s waist, which means that it has nothing to do with keeping herself steady at all, that Amity just genuinely wanted to sit that close to her and hold her throughout the entire duration of their flight, and hooo, boy, Luz isn’t quite sure her fragile little hopeless romantic heart can handle that information.

Focus, she tells herself. You’ve only got one shot at a first date, and everyone knows the first date is the most important.

She takes a deep breath in and slowly exhales to dispel her spiking nerves.

“Look, Amity…” She starts, and though Amity does not move her arms from around her waist, Luz can feel Amity’s hair brush against her cheek as she sits up to meet her eyes. “I know that you’ve lived here your entire life, and I’ve only been here for a few months, and there’s probably not much here that I could show you that you haven’t already seen hundreds of times. And I know I keep talking about going home, and everything I like about living there, but...I think it’s only fair that I show you the reason I fell in love with this place, too” she coughs, her blush returning to her cheeks again. “B-besides you, I mean”

Amity’s entire face goes pink, and she buries it into Luz’s shoulder. “Luz…” she whimpers, so unlike the cool and collected Amity that walks the halls of Hexside, and somehow it has Luz’s heart flipping in her chest even more.

“I know it’s not much, but….” Luz gestures outward with an arm, and Amity finally finds the strength to pull away from her shoulder. Upon following Luz’s gestured arm with her gaze, a small gasp escapes her.

It’s the same view of the Boiling Isles that Eda had shown her on her first day on the Isles. It’s the entire view of the Titan’s skeleton, yes, and the lit homes of all the residents of Bonesborough, but most importantly it’s the sky. When Luz had been up here with Eda the sun was setting and Luz was sure that it was the most beautiful thing that she had ever seen, but tonight’s sky takes the cake (...again, besides Amity). Tonight the sky is clear as can be, twinkling with thousands of shining stars. There’s a distant galaxy streaking across the sky; not quite the Milky Way, but equally as beautiful, and, if Luz looks long enough, a few scattered shooting stars.

“Woah,” Amity gasps behind her, and tightens her grip around Luz’s waist ever so slightly. “It’s all so…” she pauses, her gaze shifting from the night sky to Luz, “...beautiful”

Luz squeaks. “You’re beautiful” she murmurs, burying her face into her hands once again.

Amity laughs at that, but if Luz unburies her face from her hands she’d see the blush permanently branded into her girlfriend’s face at the compliment.

For a few moments after, the two of them fall into a comfortable silence. Amity’s arms remain where they are around Luz’s waist, and Luz does her best to lean backwards into her touch. They don’t move, and don’t focus on anything but the night sky and the quiet, gentle flapping of Owlbert’s tiny wings if they listen hard enough.

It’s...peaceful. A dramatic shift in pace compared to the past week for sure, but it's a change that Luz is welcoming with open arms.

She’s about to close her eyes and let herself soak everything in when Amity speaks up again, nearly startling her out of her skin.

“Hey, actually…now that we’re alone, can I…ask you a question?”

Luz swallows. It must be crucial relationship business if whatever this is had to wait until they were on their date, as far away from other prying ears as they could possibly get. Trying her hardest not to let her nerves show, Luz carefully shifts on the staff so she’s sitting beside Amity rather than in front of her.

“Y-yeah! What’s up?”

Amity’s face goes pink and she starts nervously playing with her hair, like it’s killing her just to even think about asking whatever this crucial question is. Just as quickly as the blush appeared, though, she’s clearing her throat and patting her hair back into place, steeling herself for whatever Luz’s answer could be.

“Was...was the tunnel of love really Hooty’s idea, or were you just saying that because you were…” her blush appears, twice as red as it had been a moment ago. “...anxious about telling me how you felt?”

Luz is, once again, feeling like her face is on fire. “Ugh, I’m so sorry about all of that” she scrubs a hand down her face. “Hooty had this whole thing going on about insisting he needed to help people, and he must’ve gotten it in his head that he needed to help me with-”

She’s cut off by the sensation of Amity gently taking her free hand in her own, rubbing gentle circles into the back of her hand with her thumb. “Sorry?” she giggles. “Why are you sorry?”

Luz finally finds the strength to meet Amity’s eyes despite the blush burned into her cheeks.

Her eyes are shining, which is just about the prettiest, most adorable thing Luz has ever seen, hands down.

“I mean, Hooty kidnapping me was…” she trails off, shuddering, “but...everything else? It was so cute, Luz. It was so much like you to make this grand old gesture for me. I was terrified just kissing you on the cheek the other night, and there you were, being so extravagantly...you”

...She liked all of that? She didn’t think it was dumb, or embarrassing, or completely and utterly laughable??? She thought it was sweet?

It’s decided, Luz Noceda is officially the luckiest girl in the world. Nobody else in the entire Boiling Isles has better luck than her.

Luz sighs, and returns Amity’s gesture by taking her other hand in her own. “I guess...it’s because everyone back home thinks I’m too schmaltzy. Every time I talk about this new romance book I’d read, or this new fic I finished writing, or the proposal I was working on for this guy I wanted to ask to homecoming, they’d just...laugh at me, like there goes Luz again, doing too much for things that don’t matter that much. I’m so used to being shot down for being too much that I felt...scared”

Amity snorts. “We waltzed together to defeat Grom, Luz. I don’t think you can get much schmaltzier than that. Besides…” she inches ever closer, planting a kiss on Luz’s cheek. “There’s no such thing as too much of you, Luz. If nobody back home saw that, then they didn’t deserve you”

A smile tugs at Luz’s lips. “More like I don’t deserve you, you big sap” she gives Amity’s cheek a kiss in return, and she beams at the sensation, adorably scrunching up her nose. The beam stays plastered on her face when Luz pulls away, and Amity gently touches the spot on her cheek where Luz had just kissed her.

“Well, what about right now?” Amity asks, the shine returning to her eyes. “You’re not still feeling scared, are you?”

The phrasing of her second question suddenly makes Luz very aware of how close they’re sitting to each other. Her heart starts pounding in her chest at the very real possibility that they are close enough to kiss, actually kiss, on the lips, if they so wanted to.

“Yeah,” she answers honestly, but leans her head in closer to Amity to test the waters. Amity realizes what she’s doing pretty quickly, but shows no hesitation in meeting her halfway.

Luz can’t help the beam spreading across her own face as they pull away from their first kiss. “...but I think it’s the good kind of scared.”

#my writing #lumity #toh #the owl house #knock knock knocking on hooty's door

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sergeantsporks · 3 years

Note

Your recent post gave me a craving for a whump fic where Amity DOES stab Hunter, but it's not immediately fatal. Eda finds her kneeling, in shock, next to Hunter, who is unconscious and laying in a large and growing pool of blood. Eda or Amity seals the wound (Owlbert or fire glyph or abomination plug?) but he has lost too much blood and they race against time to the healing coven for a transfusion, ring the doorbell and hide. They spend the night hidden outside, waiting to see if he made it.

I am 100% focused on whumptober, I whisper as I open up another word document, I am not getting distracted by side-fics

“If you really wanna help, then give me that key!”

Hunter lunged forward, his staff catching the string of the key around Amity’s neck and tearing it loose. Amity lunged for the key—Luz neededthat!

Hunter’s weapon pinned her arm, and she reacted instinctively, her magic forming to her fear and creating a sharp weapon on the end of her hand. Amity swung her arm up almost without thinking, and the pressure from Hunter’s staff dropped away as he let out a choked, garbled scream.

Amity froze, her abomination weapon buried right where Hunter’s neck met his jaw. She hastily shoved the key in her pocket, grabbing the front of his cloak as he fell and lowering him to the ground. Her weapon was still stuck, and she forced herself not to remove it, instead kneeling next to him. “Don’t die!” she begged him.

Hunter gurgled in a final kind of way, blood dripping down the surface of Amity’s weapon.

“No, no, no, no—”

Please don’t die!

Xxx

Eda dove down through the tunnels, worry fighting excitement. She hadn’t heard Amity or King in a minute—she knew they could handle themselves, but the golden guard had bested both her and Luz together before.

She swooped out into a wide cavern.

“Eda!” King called. He was stuck, horns first, in a rock, and Eda tugged him out.

“Whoa, you made short… work… of…”

She landed next to Amity, who was staring blankly ahead. The sleeve of her coat was soaked in blood, and it was starting to drip down into a red stain on the sand.

It wasn’t hers.

Amity seemed very determined not to look down at Hunter, her eyes glazed over. Eda couldn’t blame her for disassociating from the situation—she wouldn’t want to have her talons stuck in someone’s face, either. She wasn’t sure if she’d have been able to do it.

“Boots—Hey, Amity.” Eda took her shoulders. “Amity, are you hurt?”

Amity shook her head, tears blooming in the corners of her eyes. “I can’t move,” she whispered, “He’ll bleed out.”

Eda took another look at Amity’s blood-soaked sleeve. Wouldn’t be long before that happened anyway, at this rate.

“Okay,” she said quietly, “Okay, Amity. Just a few more seconds, alright?” She traced a fire glyph on the ground, scooping up the fire in her talons. Thank you, owl-beast. She put her free hand on Amity’s shoulder. “Okay. Let him go in three… two… one!”

Amity pulled her hand away, her abomination goo mixed with blood. Eda quickly put her fire against Hunter’s face, wrinkling her nose as the smell of burning flesh hit her nostrils.

Hunter let out a gurgling scream, his back arching. Eda removed the fire, and he went limp. “Hey—you still alive?” she felt for a pulse. It was there, but weak. Uh-oh. Eda glanced at Amity, who was hugging herself tightly, rocking back and forth. Eda shook her head. Poor kids. Both of them.

She could hear movement in the tunnels—time to bounce. She scooped up Hunter. He needed help—the cauterization wouldn’t hold forever, and he’d already lost too much blood. “Okay, everyone hang on!”

King and Amity grabbed her arms, and she lifted up into the air, flapping out of the cave and into the sky. Hunter shivered violently, heaving in wet coughs frantically. Eda flapped her wings just a little harder, slicing through the air like a knife.

Amity’s grip started to loosen, and she stared ahead, still not looking at Hunter. Eda glanced down at her.

“Hey. Boots. It’s okay—you didn’t mean to hurt him this bad.”

“He attacked you,” King reminded her.

“I didn’t have to make the weapon so sharp,” Amity said in a daze, “I could have used a hammer, or something blunt.”

“You were in the middle of a fight. Things happen. Don’t beat yourself up over it.” Eda swooped in for a landing when she saw glimmering lights. “There’ll be a healing coven center some—there!” She gently settled Hunter down on the doorstep of the hospital, then gestured for Amity and King to hide. She knocked twice on the door, then dove into the bushes, joining the kids.

The door opened, and Eda heard a gasp from the healer, and shouts for a blood test.

“Okay. Time to go.”

Amity grabbed her arm. “We can’t leave him!”

“There’s nothing else we can do.”

“Please, I… I need to make sure he survives.”

Eda took her arms. “And what if he doesn’t?” she said quietly. Maybe not the best thing to say right now, but she couldn’t sugarcoat it—he might not live the night, no matter how hard the healing coven tried. She knew from experience that they couldn’t fix everything.

“Then I need to know.”

Eda settled down next to her. “Okay. Fine. We’ll stick around.”

Amity twisted her blood-stained hands. “…Eda? Do you… really think it’s okay?”

Eda heaved a sigh. Oh, boy. Parenting. “You were in a fight,” she repeated, “Everything happens fast, you have to make split-second decisions. You’ve never really been in a real witches’ duel before, the one with Luz didn’t count. And he’s trained in combat. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn’t acted?” Eda gently tugged the gloves off of Amity’s hands, and removed her coat, tossing the bloodstained clothing articles out of her sight. It felt warm enough here that it wouldn’t be a problem to get rid of the extra layers. “I don’t think you reacted wrongly. There might have been another way out of the situation, but that doesn’t make the way you took any worse.”

Eda drew an invisibility glyph, holding her breath and flapping up to the windows. There was Hunter—healing coven members were all gathered around him, checking his heart rate. His arm was plastered with patches—Eda could recognize painkillers and sedation in there, as well as a stimulant patch—probably to keep his heart beating. Whoof. He was going to be completely out of it when he woke up.

If he woke up.

Quit that, she scolded herself. She couldn’t think like that, for Amity’s sake. Eda dove back down, as she took a breath and the spell ended. Amity shifted from foot to foot. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“Okay, okay, hold your breath.” Eda scooped Amity up, holding her own breath with the invisibility spell and flapping back up to the window.

The healing coven had added a few more patches—more painkillers, another stimulant, and now a bag full of red blood dripped into his arm. Amity made a little noise, and Eda ducked back down. “You can’t take a breath, the spell fades,” she hissed. Amity nodded, taking in another breath as Eda pulled back up with another spell.

Even more painkillers. At this point, Eda sincerely doubted that Hunter would be able to form a coherent thought. Or move. But then he did, his fingers twitching. He coughed, his eyes opening just ever-so-slightly. His glazed-from-pain-meds eyes slid around the room, landing on the window—and looking directly at them. Amity gasped, and Eda dove back down. “I’m not bringing you up there if you keep stopping the invisibility spells,” she scolded.

“Sorry.”

Eda set her down. “You stay here, and I’ll report back down, okay?”

She swooped back up to the window. The coven members had put a couple more sedation patches on Hunter’s arm, and he was passed out again, the rise and fall of his chest still uneven.

Eda landed next to Amity and King. “They’ve got him pretty hopped up on sedation and painkillers.”

Amity bit her lip. “Is that good? Is that bad?”

“Good,” Eda replied. Maybe if she said it confidently enough, Amity would believe her and stop worrying.

And it worked. At least a little. There was a tiny little relaxation of her shoulders. Eda nudged her. “You should get some sleep. You’ve had a long day. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”

Amity shook her head. “How can I—actually, that doesn’t… sound like a bad idea.”

Amity sat down with a sigh. “Eda. Be honest. Do you… do you really think he’s going to be okay?”

Eda hissed out through her teeth. “I… I don’t know. It was a nasty wound—but he’s one tough customer. If anyone can get through it, it’ll be him.”

Amity ran a hand through her hair. “He was so desperate. So scared to fail.”

Eda extended one wing around her. “And if he’d succeeded, you’dbe the one in the hospital bed. Amity. I know it’s hard to have this kind of… burden, I suppose. It’s good that it’s hard for you to hurt someone else—it means you’ve grown as a person since when you first met Luz. But you can’t think too hard about it, okay?”

Amity didn’t respond. She’d fallen asleep, her chest rising and falling steadily, snuggled in Eda’s wing. “Ohp—okay. This is a thing that’s happening.”

Eda gently slid her wing out from around Amity, settling the witchling on the ground. She flapped back up to the window. The coven members had all disappeared, leaving Hunter alone. His breathing had evened out, his chest rising and falling evenly. Even with the multitude of patches plastered on his arm, his face was still twisted up in pain, and blood stained through the bandages wrapped around his face. His face very nearly matched the color of the bandages—pale as paper, the dark circles under his eyes standing out like bruises against his skin.

After watching for a while to make sure the healing coven wasn’t coming back, Eda gingerly slid the window open, slipping into the room. Hunter shivered at the sudden draft from the window, but didn’t wake up. Eda supposed that the four sedation patches on the belly of his forearm saw to that. She shook her head. “You really got yourself into a mess, huh, kid?”

Eda heard a chirp, and Hunter’s cloak rustled. The cardinal palisman wriggled out, warbling softly and sadly, gently pecking the uninjured side of Hunter’s face. Eda scooped up the little bird.

“I wouldn’t do that. He needs his rest.” Eda patted the bird’s head. “You picked a heck of a witch to bond to, huh? No powers, self-destructive—”

The palisman pecked her fingers indignantly and fluttered back down to Hunter’s chest, chirping softly at him. To Eda’s surprise, Hunter’s face relaxed just ever-so slightly. She glanced out the window—the sun was starting to rise. She gave the palisman another pat on the head.

“You got it from here?”

It chirped an affirmation, and Eda started out the window.

“Hngh…”

Eda whirled back around. Hunter’s eyes were open just a slit, giving her a dazed, unfocused look. She moved back and knelt down next to him. “Hey. You gave us a scare.”

“Mrgh.” He winced, his fingers twitching like he was trying to touch his face.

“No way. You need to hold still. Look. Kid. Amity’s really sorry she stabbed you. She was freaking out about it. Wouldn’t let us leave until she was sure you’d be okay. We weren’t going to just leave you for dead—but Belos would have. Listen to me—you drove yourself crazy over that blood and ended up getting really hurt trying to continue a fight you weren’t going to win. Belos isn’t worth that. And if you keep trying to please him, you’re just going to isolate yourself and get yourself hurt worse. This time, we were able to get you help. Next time, you might not be so lucky, or you might fight someone who won’t be as nice as Amity.” Eda sighed. “You probably won’t even remember this—you’re out of your mind on painkillers. But hey. Take care of yourself. And… maybe start considering that if this is what he drives you to, then Belos might not be the kind of guy you want to follow.”

“Hrgh—”

Eda looked around and found a stack of pain patches. She applied it over one of the used-up ones, and Hunter’s eyes slowly closed. She went back to the window. “Take care of yourself, kid.”

Eda jumped back down to where Amity was waiting, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “He’s going to be okay.

Amity grabbed her arm. “He is?”

Eda nodded. “He’s in rough shape, but he’ll make it.”

Amity’s legs wobbled, and she slumped against Eda. “He’ll be okay,” she said dazedly, “I didn’t kill him.”

Eda scooped her up, tucking a still-sleeping King under her arm. “C’mon. Let’s go home.” She cast one last look at the hospital as they flew away.

Good luck, kid.

#do witches have blood types? I don't know #toh #the owl house #writing requests #asks #save the owl house #my writing

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roxannarambles · 2 years

Text

title: How to Make a Miracle (Chapter 3/5)

ship: goldenlight (luz x hunter)

notes: Chapter One Chapter Two

summary: Luz had a big party planned for her first Christmas on the Boiling Isles, but a poorly-timed snow plague has destroyed her dreams for a perfect holiday. When she ventures out into the storm to help a friend, however, she learns Bonesborough is more at risk than she realized. It’s now up to Luz and Hunter to see if they can somehow manage to bring about a Christmas miracle.

Before heading back, Hunter did a quick fly-by to check and see if there truly was no way around or through the mountain of snow. His report back was just as they'd expected. Luz had also worked to melt enough snow to retrieve the sleigh and her bag. She tied three of the Ratworms up so they wouldn't wander off, and readied the fourth one to ride into town.

"We'll be back soon, my demon babies, don't worry," she told the Ratworms, petting them and giving them a few more snacks from her bag. King made a jealous whine and said,

"What about me? I thought I was your demon baby."

Luz chuckled and gave King a tasty fried eyeball and some pets too.

"You're my first and bestest demon baby, you know that."

He wagged his tail and happily munched down the eyeball. Hunter had already climbed aboard Steve and was waiting for them.

"We'd better get going. Storm's only gonna get worse," he warned them. Luz nodded, and hopped on the Ratworm behind Hunter, with King getting on behind her. They took off, retracing their path through the woods and back into Bonesborough.

Now that they were without a storm shield, their visibility was a lot worse, but thankfully their path back wasn't difficult to follow. Riding on the back of a Ratworm was a lot less chaotic than their sleigh ride, so it was pretty relaxing for the most part. However, it was still pretty bumpy since the demon wiggled back and forth a lot, and Luz ended up needing to hold onto Hunter to keep from falling off. She hoped he didn't mind.

When they'd reached their destination, Luz struggled to gaze through the haze of snow, searching for some sign of what she'd seen earlier. Had it been buried in snow by now? Ugh, what if she couldn't even find it? They kept searching, circling through the area.

"What exactly are we looking for?"

Luz squinted as the falling snow stung in her eyes.

"It's sorta tall and skinny and . . . oh, there it is, that!!"

She pointed excitedly at a very hard-to-see orange cylinder poking out of the snow, beside a few chimneys. Hunter stared, trying to make it out.

"What even is that?"

She hopped off the Ratworm, replying,

"I know it's hard to tell, but it's the top of Morton's Potion Shop. He's got this big, tacky decorative funnel on the top of his roof, it's like his business logo I guess? Anyway, I figure if there's anywhere we could find some extra magic to help us out, that would be the place!"

Hunter got off the Ratworm as well. He murmured,

"Hm, yeah, I remember that place now. I . . . guess it could be helpful? The value of potions tends to be pretty situational."

Luz smiled.

"Maybe we'll find the right one for our situation!"

King had been munching down an entire bag of fried eyeballs during their ride, and he seemed to be struck with a newfound wave of energy.

"So we're gonna steal some potions? All right, crime, let's go!"

He went charging ahead after the building that was buried in snow.

"KING! Hold up, King-- aaaand he's gone already."

Luz sighed, giving up on trying to stop him. Hunter was busy tying Steve up to a tree. He told her,

"Your dog's a little high-strung."

She rolled her eyes.

"He's not a dog. But, yeah, he is a little intense sometimes."

They began to walk together towards the buried Potions building, their shoes crunching on the fresh snowfall. As they reached the base of the building, they saw King was digging a little hole in the snow like a dog. Luz carefully climbed up the mound of snow. She called out,

“King, hold on there. There might be a better way in.”

His head poked up.

"Eh?"

Hunter climbed up to join them. His palisman shifting back into a staff, he used it to point at a spot near the middle.

"If we focus our fire here, I think that should get us in pretty quickly."

Luz nodded, pulling out her glyphs.

"Let's do it. King, c'mon over here."

As it turned out, digging down to free a building from snow was a bit harder then Luz expected. However, with her and Hunter working together, it was a manageable task, and eventually they revealed the front of Morton's potions shop, adorned with its "Mr. Elixir" sign. Climbing through the front window, they entered the dark and extremely cold shop.

Luz activated a few light glyphs and let the lights drift up towards the ceiling, illuminating the room. It revealed that Morton's shop was fairly small and very cluttered, full of wooden cabinets that were absolutely packed to the brim with glass vials, jars and bottles. The bottles contained every color of liquid you could imagine.

Hunter glanced over the assortment, humming,

"Not sure where to even start."

Luz looked into a box sitting on the counter near the front window, reaching to pick up a bottle with blue liquid. It was labeled simply with the word "Ether." She said,

"I guess anywhere. Maybe check to see if you can find the most expensive ones, they're probably the most powerful."

Hunter nodded and started looking through a cabinet, while King rubbed his paws together eagerly and said,

"Expensive, got it!"

Luz continued to pick through the box, which had a bunch of the Ether potions as well as some basic Healing potions, some green bottles labeled Energy, a bunch labeled Sleep, some Strength, and a few familiar orange bottles labeled Curse Suppression.

"Eh, I think these are the pretty popular and cheaper potions," Luz concluded, turning to look elsewhere. Hunter was reading off potions as he rifled through a bunch in a drawer:

"Pacify, Confusion, Paralysis, Poison, Sap Strength, Explosion . . ."

Luz rubbed her chin thoughtfully.

"How many Explosion potions are there, exactly?"

He raised a brow and looked at her.

"No."

She sighed and opened a drawer in the same cabinet Hunter was looking through. Leaning down to read them, she said,

"Glamour, Intellect, Humor, Truth, Love Potion . . . hmph, these aren't gonna help us. Do these things actually work, by the way?"

Hunter shrugged.

"Depends if his supplier is a hack or actually legit."

Luz's finger traced back over the Truth potion as she pondered how interesting it might be to have something like that. She cast a furtive glance towards Hunter and a devious little smile, but he'd been watching her the whole time and immediately caught on, saying,

"Don't. Even. Think about it."

She protested,

"I wasn't thinking anything!"

"Uh-huh."

King brought over a tall bottle with a glittery, gold liquid inside and showed it to Luz.

"What about this one? It looks expensive."

Luz took the bottle from him and examined it.

"Huh. This one doesn't have a label. Where'd you get this?"

King pointed at a box on the floor.

"There's a whole bunch like that."

She went over and pulled the box out, peering inside.

"None of these have labels!"

She pulled out a squat, squareish bottle that had a dark, oily fluid inside. Popping open the cork, she gave it a cautious sniff and then made a foul expression.

"Oof, that's, uh, rich."

"I wouldn't mess with those if I were you," Hunter warned from behind her.

King held out a tiny vial that was shimmering with a liquid that seemed to constantly change color as the light shifted over it.

"But these are obviously the most fancy and expensive ones! Who'd buy a potion this tiny unless it was really potent?"

Hunter crossed his arms, saying,

"That might be true, but we have literally no way of knowing what they are."

King laughed.

"Hah, that's where you're wrong!"

He pulled the cork out of the little vial and downed the liquid in one quick gulp. Hunter's expression melted into a look of horror and Luz cried out,

"KING!"

He looked confused as Luz grasped at him, and he asked,

"What?"

She shouted,

"What do you mean, 'what'?!King, you can't just taste-test random potions! Oh my god, how do you feel?"

King hummed, tapping his chin with a claw for a moment. He belched, and suddenly, his gray fur shifted into a solid purple.

"I feel fine. It tasted kinda fruity."

His fur changed into a vibrant green. Luz exchanged a look with Hunter. In a casual tone, King said,

"You guys are worry-warts. My demon lineage is incredibly hardy when it comes to potions. Eda tests stuff on me all the time!"

Luz frowned as King turned blue.

"She does?"

King nodded and turned to reach into the box of potions.

"Yep. I'll be happy to test these out, it'll be the fastest way to find something."

He pulled out a bottle with a milky, lavender liquid inside, while his fur changed into a charcoal black. Luz bit her lower lip, considering his plan.

"I . . . I guess if you really are sure it'll be okay . . ."

Flabbergasted, Hunter exclaimed,

"Are you two joking?! Those potions could be ANYTHING! It could be an Explosion potion!"

Luz glanced thoughtfully to the cabinet.

"Well, we already know what color the Explosion potions are, so . . ."

Hunter sputtered,

"It could be a different explosion potion, it could be Potion of Mega Explosion!!"

King took a sip of the lavender potion.

"That's why I'm only taking a little taste, silly."

Hunter made a sound of disgust and moved to the other side of the little shop, saying,

"Fine, if you wanna experiment on yourself, at least keep the rest of us out of the blast radius."

Luz gave Hunter a comforting smile, telling him,

"I think it'll be okay, Hunter. Eda's pretty experienced with making potions, and if she thinks it's okay . . ."

Luz was startled at the sound of an unfamiliar voice, very high-pitched and nasal:

"Mr. Emperor's Little Golden Child's just scared of a couple bottles of potion, pssh, I drink stuff like this for breakfast."

Luz and Hunter stared at King. The young demon held his paws to his throat and coughed, his fur turning yellow.

"Ugh, that's just-- that's just a little-- stupid frog in my throat."

Luz tried to stifle her giggle.

"You sound like a chipmunk."

King cleared his throat and grabbed another bottle, round and gray, giving it a drink.

"I'm sure it'll clear up soon, moving along--"

He burped, a gray mist expelling out of his mouth and through the nose hole of his skull.

"Hm. This one's pretty bland."

The mist continued to slowly leak from his skull, but at least his fur had turned back to its normal color. Apparently unimpressed, King was already reaching for another potion. Nervously, Luz said,

"King, maybe you should slow down a little . . ."

He waved her suggestion off.

"It's fine!"

But as soon as he took a sip of the new potion he'd grabbed, he started to shrink rapidly. Luz yelped,

"W-wait, King! This isn't good!"

She rushed to help him, but she had no idea what to do, watching as he shrunk down to the size of a chihuahua, wriggling out of his now-oversized doggie shirt, collar and scarf. Luz asked,

"What do I do?!"

He flailed his paws, saying in his chipmunk voice,

"Give me another potion, quick!"

She grabbed one and uncorked it.

"Is another potion really the answer here??"

The still-shrinking King hopped up and grabbed the neck of the bottle, tipping it over so he could drink. All at once, he began to grow, bigger and bigger, as Luz backed off a little.

"There, see? I told you it's fine."

From the corner of the room, Hunter was pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering,

"What fresh hell have I got myself trapped in . . ."

King grew to be around the size of a German Shepherd and seemed to cap off there. Becoming increasingly stressed, Luz pointed out,

"But you just got really lucky that you got a grow potion right after the shrink one!"

Large King still with his Tiny Chipmunk voice asked her,

"Look, do you wanna know what these potions do or not?" He took a gulp of the dark, oily potion Luz had looked at earlier. Luz watched him warily, waiting. King made a weird expression.

". . . you ok?"

He nodded. He spoke, his voice sounding a lot closer to his normal voice;

"Yeah, I just feel a little . . . I dunno, kinda itchy or something. I--"

He suddenly coughed, and a cloud of spiders spewed from his mouth. Luz blinked, saying,

"Oh, a potion of spider breath! Neat."

From the other side of the room, Luz heard Hunter making a strange noise. She turned to see he looked deeply uncomfortable, anxiously watching the swarm of spiders crawling all along the ground. Luz quickly glanced to King, saying,

"Uh-oh, uhhh, try and keep your mouth shut, King, we don't need any extra critters in here, ok?"

King was already busy looking for another potion. Luz turned and tried to shoo the spiders into a group, grabbing an empty potion bottle and gently dropping them inside one by one. She corked the bottle up and set it on a cabinet, then gave Hunter a thumbs-up. He looked surprised and incredibly grateful. Leaning closer to her, he muttered a quiet,

"Thanks."

Luz turned in time to see King drink from a vial of something purple, and saw as his fur began to grow, getting longer and longer until he was as silky as an Afghan hound.

"Hmm. I really can't think of how any of these so far could be particularly helpful," Luz admitted. King grabbed a bottle full of a vivid orange liquid and told her,

"That's okay, I'm only halfway through these!"

Hunter groaned and King delicately sampled the orange potion. After a few moments, he commented,

"Spicy!"

Then he belched again, a huge flame expelling from his mouth that only narrowly avoided frying Luz and Hunter, who yelped in surprise and jerked out of the way.

King held a paw to his mouth, saying,

"Um, excuse me."

"Maybe be careful where you're facing!" Hunter said tensely, his hands still subconsciously gripping Luz's shoulders protectively. After a few moments he seemed to realize it and he awkwardly let go of her. Struck with realization, Luz quickly said,

"Wait, this might be good! Fire breath could actually help us!"

Suddenly, King shrunk back down to his normal size. Except that his super-long fur stayed super long, so now he was mostly a ball of fluff.

He belched again and his fur promptly caught fire.

"AAAAHH! HELP!"

Luz floundered for a moment, unsure of how to fix it, but then an idea struck her and she reached into her pockets and grabbed an ice glyph, smothering King with a large glob of snow. The pile of snow was silent a moment and then King's head popped out. He griped,

"Ugh. Your answer was more snow?"

Luz crossed her arms.

"Hey, you're not on fire anymore, don't complain."

King crawled out of the pile snow, his fur mostly singed down to a vaguely normalish-length. He brushed the slush off himself with distaste.

"I think we should stick with searching the labeled potions," Hunter said tiredly. Luz turned to him and said,

"But fire breath!"

He shook his head.

"I don't think all the fire breath in the world would be enough to melt that much snow."

Luz frowned. She didn't want to admit it, but he was probably right. However, King didn't seem dissuaded at all. Stubbornly, he said,

"Whatever, I'm finding something useful no matter how long it takes!"

He searched the box for a potion he hadn't tried yet, and then his eye fell upon the sparkling gold potion he'd showed Luz earlier.

"Oh yeah, I haven't done that one yet."

Hunter sighed. Feeling anxious about their odds of actually finding something useful, Luz pleaded with Hunter,

"Just a few more, I really feel like he might find something. We're bound to sooner or later, right? Just by the sheer process of elimination?"

King took a generous gulp of the gold potion and then re-corked the decanter. Luz watched him with nervous anticipation.

And waited.

"Well?" Luz asked. "Anything?"

King shrugged.

"Dunno. Maybe this one's a dud."

Luz leaned over and squinted at him.

"It has to do something. Do you feel any different at all?"

King pondered.

". . . mmmm . . ."

He wagged his tail.

"I feel . . ."

"Yeah? You feel what?"

The demon scratched his head.

"How do I describe it?"

Luz waited. King finally said,

"Springy?"

She frowned.

". . . springy?"

King shrugged again.

"I dunno."

Luz straightened back up, sighing in disappointment. Maybe they really were just wasting time.

"It's weird," King continued to say,

"I just sorta feel like dancing."

"Great. Maybe we could beat this storm with the power of dance," Hunter commented dryly. Luz sighed.

"Don't listen to him, King, dance if you want to."

King crossed his arms and said,

"I think I will!"

He did a little spin and wiggled, then hopped, waving his paws-- but as soon as he hopped, he launched high into the air, his eyes boggling.

"W-whoa!"

Luz gasped as the young demon floated into the air, flailing his feet and paws wildly.

"What-what- Luz! Look! I'm flying!"

Luz grinned, saying,

"You are!"

King slowed down his flailing and experimented with kicking, which seemed to control his motion a lot better, because he was soon swimming through the air with grace. As she watched, Luz felt a fantastic realization wash over her.

"Wait, this-- this is perfect! Hunter--"

She turned to him with a megawatt grin, saying,

"Hunter, we could fly! Just like Santa! Oh my god, we're going to have flying Ratworms. We can't go through the snow and we can't melt it so we'll just fly over it!"

Despite how skeptical Hunter had been about the entire venture into the potions shop, he now looked genuinely impressed. In a quiet, marveling tone, he said,

"That . . . that might actually work."

Luz bounced in glee and rushed over to grab the potion.

"King, is this the only bottle?"

King crashed into a cabinet, sending a bunch of bottles clattering down, one of them shattering. Dripping in a blue potion, he called out,

"I think there's a few more!"

"Careful! Ok, yeah, here we go, two more! That should be plenty. Um, Hunter, do you have any money on you? We'll have to estimate the cost, I guess."

Hunter did, in fact, have a wallet, which he pulled from deep within his jacket pockets. Cautiously, he said,

"Wait, are you sure we can actually teach the Ratworms how to fly?"

Carrying the bottles of gold potion, she beamed at him.

"We'll figure it out!"

He looked at her a moment, but instead of questioning her further, he just nodded. Maybe Luz really was finally winning him over.

Now that they had a solution in hand, they were filled with a new vigor. They hastily tidied up their mess, left money and a small note behind for Morton, and even managed to happen upon more good luck: an invisibility potion that Luz spotted while tidying. They grabbed this as well, in case Luz's invisibility glyphs were not enough for disguising the entire sleigh. Then they made a quick retreat back into the woods.

Once they got back to the sleigh, Luz doused the Ratworms liberally with the flying potion, sloshing it all over them to make sure she was thorough. She then hopped up on the sleigh and sloshed it all over on the sleigh itself as well, realizing that it might be deadweight if it wasn't potioned up as well.

"What if it wears off?" Hunter asked, eyeing their team of Ratworms warily.

She turned and smiled down at him, showing him the bottle.

"That's why we have extra!"

King nodded and added,

"It lasts a long time anyway, look!"

He hopped and floated back into the air, kicking his feet and flying above the Ratworms. Luz chuckled, sitting down and watching King spin in circles. Hunter watched King's antics for a few moments and then climbed aboard the sleigh, sitting down beside Luz.

"There's something else I've been thinking about," he said, looking worried.

Luz spoke with absolute confidence.

"I'm sure we'll be able to figure it out. What's up?"

He didn't sugar-coat anything, laying out the problem for her bluntly.

"You saw how much work it took for us to get to the potions shop, and that was just one building. How are we going to actually get the supplies to all these people, assuming we somehow manage to steal them?"

Luz remained quiet, considering the question. It actually was a very legitimate concern. In all her excitement, she hadn't even stopped to realize it. She felt her worry begin to rise as she tried to think of how to deal with the issue. There had to be something they could do-- folks were counting on her to think of something. But what?

She was quiet for quite a long time, but then an idea came along to save her. It was the same thing that had been inspiring her solutions all along. Smiling slyly, she finally told Hunter,

"We'll deliver them the same way Santa does-- down their chimneys. Almost all the houses still have those still poking out of the snow."

Hunter gave her a puzzled look.

"Their chimneys? How would that work? The packages would just burn. Every house in town has their fire going continuously to keep warm."

Luz blinked at his logical reply and stammered,

"Uhhhh, w-well . . . we, um . . ."

An unfamiliar noise interrupted her-- something that sounded like a soft chime. It took her a while to figure out it was coming from her pocket.

"Oh!"

She pulled the magic scroll from her pocket and unwound it. It seemed to be a text message from Eda.

You guys have been gone pretty long, you both still alive out there?

Luz stared at the text for a few moments, thinking. Then she shot Hunter a grin.

"Don't worry, I got this. Gimme a sec."

She pulled up the keyboard to type a response.

Yeah, we're good. We just came across some people who needed our help. Could you do me a favor?

She watched the little 'wait' bubble as Eda wrote a reply.

Depends on the favor.

Luz then pulled up the camera feature on her scroll.

"All right, I'm gonna take a photo and post it on Penstagram," she said. Hunter stared at her in disbelief and asked,

"How exactly is that helping?!"

Luz laid out her plan to him with excitement, saying,

"Because we're gonna spread the word about Santa's little rescue mission! Get everyone talking about him and posting about him. Soon everybody will know to put out their fires by the time we're back in town-- what, around midnight?-- and wait for Santa's deliveries. All it'll take is a little social media magic."

Hunter still looked exasperated, asking,

"Won't that just alert the Coven we're coming?"

Luz chuckled and then reached out, pulling Hunter's hood back over his head, obscuring his face with the fluffy fur.

"We're not sharing those details, silly," she told him, gripping his shoulder.

"We're just telling them that a kind, mysterious stranger will be dropping by to lend a helping hand."

Hunter remained frozen and silent a moment, before uttering a quiet,

"Oh."

Luz raised her scroll in one hand.

"You ready? Smile for the camera!"

"Very funny," he muttered, as Luz snapped a photo. The picture showed a mysterious stranger at the helm of a Ratworm-drawn sleigh, coated in falling snow.

Luz wrote it an appropriate caption.

Big surprises coming for all the good children of Bonesborough in just a few hours. Keep watching this space for updates, and keep an eye on #SantaSavesBonesborough xxoo Love, Saint Nick

Then Luz uploaded it. Switching back to her texts, she wrote some messages for Eda, asking her to help spread the message far and wide.

. . . I don't care what it takes, Eda, make tons of phony accounts if you have to. We need to make a real buzz for this to work. Talk about it, share it, get it in front of everyone's eyeballs. Make us go viral. You up to the challenge?

Luz, I thought I told you both specifically to not do anything stupid.

Please, Eda? We're being careful, I promise. And we have help.

A few minutes later, Eda finally answered.

I'm not sure exactly what you're up to, Luz, but I can tell whatever it is, you're up to no good.

So make sure to make me proud.

Luz smiled as her scroll began to beep frantic notifications about her post being liked and shared.

"We are a go," she reported to Hunter, flashing him a thumbs-up. He pushed his hood back down, trying to get a look at Luz's scroll, saying,

"Really?"

She proudly showed him her post as the 'like' and 'share' counts steadily increased.

Hunter released a small puff of a laugh, shaking his head. His smile was surprised and soft. Quietly, he said,

"You're starting to make me believe in these miracles of yours.”

Luz felt a jubilant rush at his words. Turning to call to King, she yelled out enthusiastically,

"All right, King, it's time we get this show on the road! Hop aboard the miracle express!"

Abandoning his practice with flying around, King floated back to earth and hopped aboard the sleigh. He asked,

"We're gonna finally go steal that stuff?"

Digging through her bag, Luz confirmed,

"Yep! We just need to get these Ratworms going again and . . ."

She frowned and turned her bag upside-down, shaking it. Nothing came out but a few empty wrappers.

". . . King, did you eat the rest of the snacks?"

The young demon glanced away, wringing his claws.

"No . . ."

Luz narrowed her eyes.

"King."

He sighed and said,

"Maybe."

Luz groaned. She looked to their team of Ratworms.

"We're gonna need a new way to get these guys motivated."

As she pondered, the snow continued to accumulate on their heads and fill up their sleigh. Both King and Hunter watched her.

C'mon, brain, don't fail me now, Luz thought to herself. What would Santa do?

Luz snapped her fingers-- or at least, attempted to, but the gloves muffled the action. She pointed at King.

"King, how do you feel about playing the role of Rudolph?"

King tilted his head at her.

"Eh?"

She picked him up, saying,

"I'm pretty sure with dogsleds and stuff, there's a leader the others like to follow. Why don't you go out there and give the Ratworms the general idea of how flying works?"

King's eyes widened and he yelped, flailing in her arms.

"Wait, what? Don't put me out there with those stinky rats!"

Luz told him calmly,

"You're an expert on flying by now, King. The Ratworms need you! Why don't you think of them as, uh, you know, your minions?"

King stopped struggling. He asked in an intrigued tone,

"My minions?"

Luz nodded.

"You're the leader. They need somebody smart like you to show them how it's done."

King's tail twitched as he thought about this. Then he looked at the Ratworms with a determined gleam in his eye.

"All right, I'll do it!"

Luz let go of King and he swam forward through the air-- she kept a firm hold of his leash as a safety measure and sat back down on the sleigh seats beside Hunter.

"All right, my minions," King proclaimed, floating down into a position in front of the team,

"All eyes on me, your leader! We have a very important mission, and I'm going to whip you all into shape!"

The Ratworms leaned down and sniffed at King, looking very curious. King waved them off, saying,

"Hey, stop! No drooling on the leader! Now, look, I need your full attention! We all have to fly as a team, do you hear me?"

Hunter glanced at Luz, his brows raised. He muttered to her,

"Um . . . I know I said I'd start trusting your weird plans but . . ."

Luz wasn't sure this was going to work either, but she chose to be optimistic. She said in a hushed voice,

"Just give him a minute, he might be able to--"

She was cut off by a loud, almost bloodthirsty cry from King.

"ALL RIGHT, NOW CHARRRRRGE!"

King leapt into the air, roaring and kicking his legs, which startled the Ratworms and caused them to all to screech and panic at once--their frantic jumping and slithering made them skyborne, and the sleigh was rapidly yanked up into the air after them. Luz gripped King's leash tightly and yelled,

"Whoa, King, careful, easy!"

King was too busy yelling to even hear Luz, shouting orders at the team of Ratworms.

"Like this, jump, jump! Upwards, into the storm! We ride or die, worms!"

Luz and Hunter both clung desperately to the sleigh as they were dragged into the heavens, and for a few terrifying moments, Luz was positive the Ratworms would bring them all crashing back down to earth in their wild panic. But then, before her eyes, order began to immerge from the chaos; the screeching Ratworms were scared, but it seemed they actually were instinctively following King, as the one who was running in front of them. The sleigh jerked violently and was yanked around, but it didn't fall-- and instead they continued to climb. Luz cried after him,

"That's it, King, just slow it down a bit, slow and steady, slow and steady!"

King flew higher and higher, still calling out encouragement to his minions and occasionally trying to correct the ones who were swaying away from the pack.

"This way, all together-- hey, get back in line, solider! Quick now, higher!"

Luz and Hunter were pushed back against the sleigh by the force of their speed, the winds howling and the snow beating harshly against them. Luz blinked and wiped at her stinging eyes, desperately trying to see through the heavy snowfall, but she couldn't tell how high they were. From the sound of King shouting in front of them, though, they were still making progress. She yelled,

"Good job, King! Make sure we get high enough to get over the mountain!"

"ON IT," King yelled back, and Luz yelped as the sled gave a sudden jerk and her grip slipped, but Hunter grabbed hold of her immediately. She could feel them climbing even higher into the sky, but the higher they went, the stronger the winds seemed to become. They were whipping past at a punishing pace already, the snow feeling far more like sharp shrapnel than soft, gentle snowflakes. The sleigh ride began to grow very bumpy as the winds jerked them around.

"CAREFUL, KING!"

She could tell King was doing his best, and the Ratworms were too-- but the storm they were flying directly into was making things incredibly difficult. Luz hadn't realized just how bad it would be once they were actually in the air. Their flight was getting rougher and rougher, and King was struggling to keep things from spiraling out of control.

"YOUR CAPTAIN APOLOGIZES FOR THE MINOR TURBULENCE," King called. The sleigh began to fishtail back and forth, and both Luz and Hunter had to cling on for dear life.

"WE MIGHT NEED TO TURN BACK," Hunter shouted, and as determined as Luz was to get this to work, even she realized things were going south real quick.

"WE CAN . . . DO IT," King yelled, and then he gave an ear-shattering scream. Luz felt the shockwave hit her in the chest and the sleigh rattle to its very core, and she could see the snow around them being repelled in a broad wave. For a brief few seconds, King was able to correct their course and fly them smoothly, but the vicious winds and snow were back again almost immediately.

"NO!" King yelled, giving another supersonic scream, shaking the sleigh so much that Luz wondered if her teeth would rattle right out her head. Hunter swung his staff with one hand, sending out an arc of energy to try and push the snow back. Luz was surprised at how much her friends wanted to fight the storm, how willing they were to struggle against it despite the odds.

There was just one problem-- it was becoming all too clear how fruitless their struggle was. King continued to scream and Hunter continued to push back against the winds and snow, and while it allowed them to make brief moments of progress, it was all erased the moment the winds returned again. There was no way they could keep this up; the struggle was exhausting them.

Her throat tight, Luz realized what needed to be done.

"TAKE US DOWN, KING," she shouted,

"ABORT THE MISSION!"

Once they finally touched down again on solid ground, Luz released a sigh of relief. Feeling rattled and exhausted, everyone just sort of sat there in silence for a time. Although the skies were completely covered in stormclouds, it felt like it was starting to grow even darker and colder, and Luz realized that evening was approaching.

She swallowed, the sting of defeat hurting far more than the cold. The relentless snow continued to fall all around them, an endless wash of white.

Finally breaking the silence, Hunter spoke quietly.

“I think the storm is too much to fly an entire sleigh in. If it was just one witch on a staff, we could do it, but . . .”

He trailed off, not feeling the need to finish. Rascal gave a solemn chirp from Hunter’s shoulder. Luz didn’t look at them, instead struggling to think of a solution. She’d figured everything out so far—all she needed to do was to do it again, right?

What would Santa do?

The wind whistled low, like some sort of ancient, hungry beast as Luz sat there and tried to think of something. King had climbed up on the sleigh next to Luz seeking warmth, shivering against her.

It wasn’t working this time. Luz’s wild, creative solutions inspired by Santa didn’t seem to have any application to this situation. She could only really think of one thing.

Tentatively, she asked,

“What if we had a storm shield? Like the one we had before it broke.”

Hunter looked at her, sounding a little hopeful.

“Do you know how to make one?”

Luz bit her lower lip.

“Um, well . . . not exactly, Eda made ours . . .”

He sighed. Luz quickly added,

“But she said it was like, 90% Owlbert’s doing! So maybe he could do it?”

She reached into the folds of her jackets and withdrew the little Owl palisman she’d been keeping there. Hunter watched with curiosity. Luz asked,

“What do you think, Owlbert? Could you make a shield for the sleigh all on your own?”

The tiny owl looked around at the sleigh they were in, and then with sad eyes, he shook his head. Luz knew it was the most likely answer, but it still hurt to hear. Grasping at straws, Luz asked,

“What if I found a way to give you an energy boost? You know, the way Eda did.”

Owlbert gazed at Luz with curious eyes and tilted his little head. Hunter asked,

“What do you mean?”

Luz looked at him and explained,

“Well, Eda used some of her own innate magic to boost Owlbert’s abilities.”

He frowned, pointing out the obvious problem.

“But neither one of us have our own innate magic.”

Luz gazed at the tiny owl in her hands. She said,

“I know, but . . . ugh, maybe there’s still a way to do it? What did wild witches do in the past? Were they able to combine elemental magic with their palismen’s magic?”

He stared at her, eyes wide as he considered the question.

“I . . . theoretically, yes, it’s possible, but I have no idea how they would have accomplished something like that. None of the texts I’ve read go into that much detail.”

Frustrated, Luz said,

“Well, do they say anything at all that could be helpful? Try to remember.”

He shook his head.

“Most of the texts are secondhand accounts, there’s hardly any firsthand accounts that have survived. We just don’t have that level of knowledge—”

Luz pleaded,

“Hunter, please, anything at all—”

“I’m telling you, I don’t have anything—”

“But we might be able to—”

“Luz,” Hunter said, grasping her shoulders and fixing her with a firm gaze. She fell quiet. He spoke, his voice strained but surprisingly gentle;

“I’m sorry. It’s not going to work.”

Luz swallowed, feeling the pinpricks of tears. He was right.

She released a breath, her eyes focusing on nothing in particular, the snow an endless blur of white around her. All the energy and frustration felt knotted up inside her.

“I-I . . .”

She turned away, wrapping her arms around herself. In a miserable tone, she said quietly,

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe we can’t fight against this storm. I just . . .”

She sighed, her breath visible in the chilly air.

“I just really thought we could do it.”

She fell silent after that, staring out into the snow. King cuddled against her, trying to comfort her. She felt that her scarf had come unwound in the chaos of their sleigh flight, and she was getting quite chilly, but she ignored it, lacking the desire to even fix it.

The sun was setting soon . . . they might even freeze out here before they could make it back home. And everyone she was going to help today might end up starving or freezing too.

Luz closed her eyes, suddenly feeling very small.

“W-wait,” she heard Hunter say. She turned back to face him, curious. He spoke hesitantly.

“You asked if wild witches had a way. I don’t . . . I don’t know exactly how, but I know they, uh. They sometimes channeled the raw magic from storms.”

Luz blinked, pondering this small piece of information. Hunter continued,

“We’ve been trying to fight this storm the entire time, but that’s really not how they would have done it. They would have harnessed its power instead.”

Luz’s eyes grew wider.

“That makes sense. Their magic comes from nature, just like my glyph magic does. A storm would be like . . . a super potent power source.”

He nodded. With growing hope, Luz asked,

“How did they harness the storm’s power?”

He released a frustrated breath, saying,

“I wish I could tell you more, but I . . . don’t have the details. I’m not exactly clear on how they’d combine it with their palismen, either.”

They gazed at each other for a few beats, and Luz thought perhaps that was all he had to say. However, something shifted in Hunter's eyes; they seemed to sharpen with conviction as he continued to speak.

"I'm sorry I can't give you any of those details, but-- look, I know you’re really good with glyphs. Amazingly good. And you’ve been coming up with these crazy ideas all day I’d never even think of, and somehow they keep working."

Luz glanced away a moment, embarrassed at the praise. Trying to downplay it, she said,

"I-I'm just trying stuff out--"

Hunter grasped her arm, causing her eyes to snap back to him. His eyes still bright with certainty, he told her,

"Well, apparently you're ridiculously good at trying things out. Look, what I'm trying say is if there's anyone who could figure something like this out and . . . y'know, play it by ear? I know it would be you.”

Luz gazed at him for a few moments, surprised. Slowly, she asked,

"You . . . you think I can channel the storm by just winging it?"

Hunter gave a dry chuckle, as if amused at himself. He nodded, admitting,

"Yeah. I guess that's exactly what I'm saying."

His smile was small, but it was surprisingly sincere. Beside her, King wagged his tail and told her gently,

"I believe in you too, Luz."

Luz remained quiet, glancing between King and Hunter, at the pure trust shining in their eyes. Somehow, it filled her with a warmth strong enough that it even overpowered the bitter cold around them.

Well, what the heck. It was worth a shot, right?

She let her mind wander over the problem, to imagine how she might do things. To just explore it freely, without any worries of failure. The ideas formed in her mind quickly, almost instinctively.

After a few moments, she smiled. Glancing to the palisman on her shoulder, she requested gently,

“Owlbert?”

The owl shifted into staff form. Luz hopped onboard and floated upwards, above the sleigh, gazing down at it from above. After mapping it out in her head, she floated down, down, hovering only a few inches above the ground, and reached out her hand; then she dragged her hand along as she flew, drawing a large circle into the snow that encompassed the entire sleigh and its Ratworms. Next she moved to draw the inner shapes of the glyph, etching out a large diamond around the sleigh, and then the hill shape below it, and finishing with the small diamond at the bottom of the glyph.

She flew back to the center of the circle and landed on the ground right beside the sleigh. Then she reached out a hand, looking at Hunter expectantly.

He hesitated, looking surprised.

“Me?”

She nodded.

“I think I can focus the energy, but . . . I’m gonna need your help to make this thing.”

Cautiously, he reached out and took her hand and she helped him hop down from the sleigh, landing beside her.

Luz glanced down at her staff, asking,

“Owlbert, do you think if we all worked together, we could make a shield large enough?”

The small owl hooted several times. Unfortunately, Luz could not understand him, but the red cardinal on Hunter’s shoulder perked up and twittered back in reply. The two magical birds carried on a short conversation, with Hunter listening in. Once they'd finished, Hunter looked to Luz.

"They're willing to try."

Luz nodded, feeling a nervous energy welling up within her. She told him,

"All right. I'll help guide you through raising power with the glyph, but I'll need a little help with the palisman part. I think we can do this, but . . . it is just my best guess, so there's always the chance I'm wrong. So I understand if you don't want to take part."

He looked at her for a moment. Then he nodded, his palisman shifting into staff form. He gave her a calm, confident smile.

"I'm with you. One hundred percent."

She smiled back, the nervous anticipation still gripping her tightly, but relieved to have his help. She spoke slowly;

"Okay. Then . . . let's go for it."

Her staff in one hand, she leaned down and reached out with the other hand towards the ground; they both touched the snow at once, and as they did, a soft light began to glow beneath them, spreading outward to fill all the lines of the enormous glyph.

Straightening back up, Luz spoke to Hunter calmly.

"What a glyph does depends entirely on the intent of the caster, so I want you to focus on our goal. We're going to slowly draw energy from the blizzard. Start by closing your eyes and taking three slow breaths, with me. In . . . and out . . ."

They breathed in sync, the puff of warm air between them merging, visible in the frosty cold. Gently, Luz continued to speak.

"Good. Now, I want you to imagine you're a tree. Any kind of tree, it doesn't matter what. Imagine that roots are coming out of your feet, growing slowly downward, connecting you to the Boiling Isles . . . growing larger and larger the deeper you go. . ."

As Luz concentrated on visualizing, she could hear the soft glow of magic around them, slowly building up power, thrumming; she could feel the energy passing up into them.

"Perfect. Feel the energy rising up from your roots, passing through you; let the energy concentrate in your chest, as a white ball of light. Growing slowly, slowly larger, with each breath you take . . ."

The thrumming grew louder, and Luz felt each pulse within her, a strange, electrical sensation filling her as the power mounted. She was not sure how much power would be needed for this task, so she simply focused on raising a lot; softly urging Hunter,

"Good, good . . . slow and steady, drawing a little more in with each breath . . ."

The feeling of power expanded within her ever larger, until Luz felt her entire body quivering with its combined potential; she could hear Hunter's hitched breathing as well. Swallowing, Luz said,

"A-all right, this is the part I'm not so sure about, but we need to send this energy through our staffs to our palismen."

To her relief, Hunter sounded perfectly calm as he spoke beside her;

"You can do it. The same way we connected to the storm, just do that with your palisman."

Luz nodded, concentrating on Owlbert. Hunter said quietly,

"Connect to them like they are a branch on your tree. Drawing on your energy."

Luz gripped her staff tightly, feeling the flow of energy running through it; both Owlbert and Rascal's eyes began to glow, brighter and brighter, and at once, a transparent sphere began to form around them; thin and barely perceptible at first, but quickly growing stronger. As Luz felt it happen, she opened her eyes to see it, and sucked in a startled breath. Hunter opened his eyes as well.

"I-I—think we might be going too fast," Luz stammered, feeling worried as she watched Owlbert and Rascal struggling. Hunter immediately soothed,

"We're fine, close your eyes again. Keep focusing on sending the energy out to them."

She closed her eyes, but the worry was still gripping her. She said,

"I don't want to give Owlbert too much and hurt him . . ."

She felt gloved fingers softly brush against her face and then Hunter's hand press against her cheek firmly.

"You won't," he spoke softly. Luz could feel the tickle of his breath against her face as he said,

"I'm here helping. Just keep focusing on how it's moving through us. Like branches on a tree."

Luz pulled in a slow breath and repeated,

"Branches on a tree . . ."

She felt the energy passing through her, from her chest through her arms and out her staff, as though it were a natural extension of her body; she could hear the sound of the spell expanding and growing outward, and she realized they were doing it. They were really doing it--

And then, Luz realized not only could she feel the power from the Boiling Isles, but she could feel Owlbert, too; that she'd connected to him in exactly the same way. She could actually feel his struggle with creating the magic shield. It was a strange sensation, almost like trying to fill up a balloon with air. Drawing in a slow breath, Luz focused on expanding the magic shield slowly and surely.

She felt the shield grow, brighter and stronger, larger and larger; and as she merged her efforts with Owlbert, there was something new, just barely brushing against her mind, another force helping her-- no, not something, someone. It was Hunter working through Rascal. She could actually feel it, she was certain now-- something warm and crackling, like the flicker of a flame. Luz sucked in another breath, pooling her efforts with Hunter, the shield growing bigger, and bigger, until . . .

All at once, it felt like the remainder of the energy leapt out of her, like the snapping of a rubber band—she heard the magic shield solidify into place, and her eyes sprang open with a gasp.

Around them was an enormous sphere, semitransparent and glowing a soft pink, sealing them perfectly against the storm outside. There were small magic shimmers gently drifting down on Hunter and Luz’s heads, sparkling in shades of purple and pink. They gazed up together at the new magic shield, eyes wide.

From up on the sleigh, King jumped and cheered in victory;

“YEAH!! You guys did it!”

Luz had felt it all along, and yet she still could hardly believe it. An enormous smile formed on her face and she looked at Hunter. He was grinning, looking as jubilant as she did.

“I’ve never felt magic like that before,” he gushed, still gazing up at the shield they had crafted.

“Never—not even my artificial staff. It’s so much better, it . . .”

He rubbed his face in between his hands and laughed.

“I don’t even know how to describe it.”

Luz had never felt anything like it either. It was well beyond what she thought she was capable of. She was elated, energized-- she felt like they could do anything. Pumping her fists, she cheered,

"Bile sacs can suck it, wild witches are where it's at, hahah!"

Hunter snorted a laugh. Luz touched his arm and added,

"You were incredible, thank you. I couldn't have done it without you."

Hunter glanced away, looking immediately embarrassed. He said,

"Tch, I didn't even do much . . . I was just following your lead."

King had flung himself off the sleigh and ran up to the two of them as Luz told Hunter with a grin,

"Well, it looks like we made a pretty good team."

Hunter glanced back at her almost shyly, a pleased little smile hovering on his lips; Luz felt strangely captivated by his gaze.

She was startled out of the moment when King tugged on her pant-leg like an impatient toddler.

"If the congratulations party is over with, does this mean we get to leave for real this time? I mean, this new shield looks like it would stop anything."

Luz began to answer,

"Yes, we just--"

She paused.

"Wait, actually, no the party isn't over with just yet. Owlbert?"

Her staff shifted back into a palisman, and the little owl perched on her shoulder. She smiled and pet his little head.

"Amazing job, little buddy. Seriously. Thank you for trusting me with that."

Owlbert hooted softly at her, his eyes kind. Hunter looked to his own palisman, already perched on his shoulder.

"Yeah, that was . . . it was . . ."

He let out an amused breath at his fumbling.

"Thanks," he amended. Rascal chirped and nuzzled against him. His eyes turning soft, Hunter stroked Rascal's little crest.

"Awwh," Luz cooed at the sight, causing Hunter to jump and clear his throat. He said,

"Right, uhh, congratulations party done now."

King cheered,

"Finally!"

He turned and bounded happily back to the sleigh, shouting,

"All right, break time's over, soldiers! That first trip was just a dry run, but this time's for real!"

It was only once they'd returned to the sleigh that Luz realized just how much the sky had darkened. Looking at King, who was chattering at the Ratworms to get going, Luz was struck with a whimsical, lovely notion.

Pulling a glyph from her pocket, she went up to King and kneeled in front of him. She touched the glyph, focusing on producing a very bright ball of light.

"Open your mouth, King."

King looked confused, but opened his mouth anyway. Luz carefully set the ball of light down into his mouth.

"Hold this in your mouth, okay? Don't swallow it. It won't hurt you, but it's more helpful if you hold it."

King shut his jaw, the light leaking out from the holes in his skull-- a little bit around his eyes, but mostly out of his nose. Because King was somehow blessed with the ability to speak without moving his mouth (something Luz had frankly never understood, but at this point she was afraid to ask), he easily answered her,

"Oh, I see. Cool!"

Luz patted his head, saying,

"Go get 'em, Rudolph."

Luz then hopped back onboard the sleigh beside Hunter. He was smiling at her in a striking way she couldn't quite define-- with a tickled little half-smile, his fluffy brows quirked. Feeling her stomach do a funny little flip at the sight, she asked,

"What?"

Hunter chuckled and shook his head.

"Nothing."

Luz felt a silly little smile overtake her as well. Somehow, it felt like his 'nothing' actually meant a lot of things, but Luz didn't question it further.

Hunter passed her the reins, and she accepted them.

And despite all their false starts and all their struggles, none of that mattered anymore. Because when Luz flicked the reins and shouted--

"On Dasher! Now Dancer! Go Prancer, Go Steve! Onward, King!"

--with a mighty lurch, their sleigh was pulled upward, and they climbed through the snowy skies with the greatest of ease, smooth and coordinated as if they'd been doing it for years, and Luz felt her heart fill to the brim with joy. The blizzard whirling around them harmlessly, Luz cried out into the night,

"Yeeeah! You better watch out, Santa's comin' to town!"

Chapter Four

#toh #the owl house #goldenlight #lunter #huntceda #goldenluz #luz x hunter #hunter x luz #luzxhunter #hunterxluz #luzter #hunter the golden guard #luz noceda #mystuff #goldenlight fanfic

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