Day 5: Heathers (Reluctant Whumper)

Day 5: Heathers (Reluctant Whumper)

Fandom: The Owl House

Summary: Hunter is sent to kill a wild witch. Even if he doesn't want to, he has to.

  Hunter had been told that obedient was the best thing he could be. It was the best way to help his dear uncle. It was as the titan had intended.

    He never questioned it. At least outwardly. Being sent to find wild witches was something Hunter had never minded. Missions to find titans blood or other mythical objects weren't rare and it didn't matter who got hurt or killed as long as he came back with what he was sent for.

    Even if he never found titans blood, he came back with most everything else. But this mission was different. When Belos had told him that his only job was to find a wild witch and kill her he opened his mouth to protest. 'Maybe she's not past redemption?' he thought.

    But he was obedient. He was like a loyal dog who ran back to their owner even after being kicked over and over. He was hurt over and over but he still ran to Belos. There was no one else he had to listen to, to guide him.

    So off he went. Killing was something he was uncomfortable with. Hunter had never taken a life. He never wanted to. But this was what he was needed for. It almost felt as if Belos was trying to get rid of him.

    But that couldn't be the case. All Hunter had ever done was what he was told or what was in the best interest of Belos. It wasn't easy.

    Hunter found the witches home. It was smaller but pretty. There was a window to crawl into so he walked to it. Placing his staff off to the side of the window, the boy crawled inside. He walked around until he heard laughter.

    It felt like his heart stopped. The witch had a friend over. He walked back out to the living area and stepped into the kitchen. Picking up a piece of fruit he reseated the situation.

    The truth was he could hurt her. It didn't matter what Belos wanted. Hunter couldn't do it. He had to return to say he hadn't found her or that he had failed to end her life.

    But how could he return empty handed. How did he walk into the castle knowing that he left instead of even trying? Could Belos know? What would happen if he found out?

    Hunter sighed as footsteps came from the hall. He hid behind a counter as he listened to two women talking. "I thought I heard something."

    The two women looked around the room until they found Hunter. "Golden guard." The target spoke. "Why are you here?"

    The boy just looked at her. She didn't look evil. Her shoulder length deep blue hair was half but up. Her clothes were nicely put together and so were her partners.

    But what now? He stood behind the counter with a knife. A knife he had barely realized he had in his hand. It had been given to him by Belos for the mission. "Routine checkup, I'll be going now." That was the best thing he could come up with.

    The witch knew better than to believe that. "Sasha, grab my plainsmen." The target said. Sasha nodded and ran out of the room.

    Whether Hunter liked it or not, it was time to fight. Running to the window, he was pulled back inside before he could grab his staff. "I know why you're here."

    "You do?"

    "I'm not stupid, you're here because I'm a wild witch. By the look of the knife, you're probably gonna kill me."

    Hunter tried to explain but the women didn't give him a chance. As Sasha thew her partner her plainsmen, the boy was thrown to the ground.

    With a plainsmen pointed at him, it became a matter of life and death. Hunter chose life. He didn't want to do it. Ever since he left the castle, he had been trying to find a way to avoid the bloodshed.

    The boy kicked the staff and grabbed his knife. He drove the knife into her chest and stepped away from the boy. Sasha screamed as she watched her lover fall to the ground. "May" she whispered as she moved over to her.

    The boy thought he might cry. Hunter figured he shouldn't stick around to kill her too. It didn't seem like a good idea to face Sasha, she was twice his size and even if he had fought people her size, he didn't feel like it today.

    While the college-aged women ran to her deceased partner's side, Hunter jumped out the window. Grabbing his staff, he ran off into the woods to report back to Belos.

    Avoiding Belos's wrath was good. The teen tried to focus on that. If he didn't, he'd have to deal with murdering someone. Why did he do everything he was told? Hunter followed every order, even if he didn't want to. It didn't seem fair. Maybe he should have just made May join a coven?

    None of that mattered now. It didn't matter that he hadn't wanted to kill May, he did. The pain that her grieving lover and her lizard like palisman must have felt was something he couldn't comprehend yet.

    Returning to the castle, Hunter informed Belos that he had completed his task. Once dismissed, he went to his room. There he laid on his bed. It would be a long night.

Febuwhump Master List!!

So I am so very late but oh well right? Anyway it was a lot of fun and I definitely look forward to next year! Febuwhump is one of my favorite Promt challenges!

Each fandom has a color which will be listed below! My favorites have a star beside them! All summaries/warnings are with the story!

Star Wars Rebels, EPIC the musical/the Odyssey, The Bad Batch, Star Wars The Clone Wars, Miraculous Ladybug,

Day 1: Helpless

Day 2: "I Love You" (Alt Prompt 2)

Day 3: "Bite Down on This"

Day 4: Obedience

Day 5: Last Words (Alt Prompt 7)

Day 6: "You Lied to Me."

Day 7: Suffering in Silence

Day 8: "Why Won't it Stop?"

Day 9: Bees

Day 10: Killing in Self Defense

Day 11: Time Loop

June of Doom Day 6: Broken Promise

Fandom: Star Wars The Bad Batch

Summary: Four times Hunter broke his promise to Crosshair about leaving Kamino.

    "When our training is over, I'll find a way to get us the hell away from here." Hunter sat with Crosshair. They were 15 years old. Well at least their bodies where. Their brother Tech was in the medical bay. Some regs had decided he was 'too different' and thought that starting a fight would resolve his 'problems'. He was barely breathing when Crosshair found him.

    "Where would we go?" Crosshair looked up at his brother. They say on the floor, Crosshair's back against the wall. His knees where pulled up into his chest.

    "I'll figure it out. I promise." Hunter put his hand on Crosshair's knee. "I promise."

    "Will Tech be okay? They really messed him up."

    "He'll be okay. We'll help him get though it."

    "When I find out who did this, it's over for them." Drying his eyes, Crosshair stood.

    "I know."

    "When the war is over, we'll get out of here. We will never come back to Kamino."

    "If we live to see the end of the war." Crosshair stood by his bunk. His tone was bitter as he spoke. He held his helmet under his right arm.

    "We will." Hunter sat on his bunk. Wrecker had come into the barracks, years in his eyes, after some regs made fun of his scar. They had started to come up on his blind spot and scare him. While the batch did the same thing, they did it out of love.

    "I need to get out of this place." Out of frustration, Crosshair threw his helmet to the ground.

    "I know. I promise, when the war is over, we'll leave." Hunter sighed and leaned against the wall of his bunk.

    "You said that before."

    "Cross, things changed. This is where we need to be."

    "After the war, you promise?"

    Standing, Hunter walked over to Crosshair's helmet and picked it up. Gently he handed it to him, "I promise."

    Now it was after the war. Hunter sat in the front of the Marauder. As they left Kamino, likely for the final time, Hunter looked at where Crosshair should be. However Crosshair was still on the planet. It was his choice to stay with the empire. It was his choice to stay on Kamino

Hunter understood why Crosshair hated kamino so much. It was always raining, cold, and if it wasn't raining, it was humid. The regs never acted like they were their brothers; their family. The Kaminons lacked the ability to see them as more then weapons. There was so much to hate about it; yet Hunter never did.

Crosshair was alone. Hunter had broken his promise to get him away from kamino. He hated it, but he had broken that promise over and over. Walking back to the bunks in the Marauder, the man sighed as he sat on his bunk. If he had a chance, he'd take his brother far away from the Empire.

Topica City was gone. The Empire had destroyed it. For once, it wasn't raining. Everyone was okay. Hunter stood on the landing platform that the batch had landed the Marauder on. He stared at Crosshair, trying to figure out what to say. Maybe he should remind him of their promise or how he could keep it this time.

Instead, Crosshair stayed on the platform. The batch left him there, on kamino. It was the empire that made Crosshair stay. His inhibitor had long been removed so he must believe in the cruel and corrupt system the Empire had built off the destruction of the Jedi and the Republic.

Some promises are meant to be broken. There was only so much that was in Hunter's control and staying on wasn't in it. It may have been his home but it was Crosshair's house.

Sitting in his bed, Hunter thought back to 15 years old Crosshair and teared up. He really did try to keep the promise of leaving kamino.

Familiar chapter one

Fandom: The Bad Batch

Summary: Pabu was eerily familiar to CX-2. Clone Force 99 felt like someone to him. Why they mattered, he couldn't remember.

Notes: Spoilers for the episode Point of No Return

Chapter two: Research of the Past (coming soon)

  Why was Pabu so, familiar? That was the only question going through CX-2's head. It felt like he should care about it and its people; like somewhere deep down, he didn't want to be there to hurt someone.

    Still, he was there to find the target. A girl named Omega was an m-count target, so he had to take her to Tantus. It shouldn't feel so wrong. Just like fighting Ct-9904 shouldn't have felt like a betrayal to himself.

    Seeing the pirate was already so eerily familiar. Being in her presence made him smile and he felt warm. Her sweet but sassy voice, her beautiful hair, they seemed like they meant something to him. Maybe they had.

    CX-2' stood on the wall that separated lower and upper Pabu. There, near the water, was the Havoc Marauder. It was the ship that the group of rogue clones flew and from the information that the man had, lived out of. It was a modified Omicron-class attack shuttle. Ct-9902 had made the changes to the ship.

    Maybe there was a reason CX-2 hesitated to shoot the ship. By the ramp, Ct-9903 stood. The man had been named Wrecker, which fit him well. There was something unsettling about the thought of him blowing up, like he had personal feelings about. Maybe that was why he shot the ship's wing where he did.

    It was easy to see and it wasn't in his blind spot. Seeing him notice the explosive and grab the power droid and jump away from his home, made blowing the ship up slightly easier. It shouldn't have.

    Why was he so reluctant to hurt them? Clone Force 99 were traitors. The Bad Batch had killed imperial soldiers and officers, they had destroyed the empires properly. Killing them, would be good for the galaxy, yet CX-2 hesitated to do so.

    So he walked away. Finding Omega was his mission. Destroying the Marauder was to ensure they stayed on the planet. Making the call to be ready to burn the island and its people to the ground, was not one he had wanted to make.

    There was a place near the top of the mountain. Maybe, CX-2 thought, I should go up there. Maybe the girl would be there.

    The leaves of the tree that stood on the platform swayed. It was a beautiful and proud Weeping Maya Tree. Near the top of the mountain was a communal space. Walking inside, the man looked around for the target. The room was filled with artifacts.

    A jade tree sat on a shelf that almost made him smile. Shaking it off, his eyes scanned the shelves and landed on a stuffed Tooka doll and a pair of shattered goggles.

    CX-2 took a step back. Then he walked towards the shelf. With much kinder hands than he had been treated with, he picked up the goggles and stared at them. The weight of the glasses in his hands was uncomfortably familiar.

    Startled, he laid them back down. Looking at the doll, CX-2's breath started to catch and tears welled in his eyes. The name of the Tooka was on the top of his tongue and he knew it shouldn't be.

    When he woke up, Hemlock had told him who he was didn't matter. He had said that he had been an imperial soldier who had amnesia from his last mission. When he asked what his name was, he was told it was CX-2. Something always felt wrong about that.

    Removing his helmet, CX-2 placed it beside the googles. Picking up the stuffed toy, he pulled it closer to him. "L-" her name was the only thing he could think about. With his mission long forgotten, he tried to piece the rest of the tooka's name together.

    "Lula?"

    The room was silent. The lighting was warmer than he had remembered and all the noise of the outside had disappeared. Without the helmet, everything was blurry. However it felt like CX-2 could see clearer than he had remembered.

    The reason he hated the thought of hurting Clone Force 99, the reason he knew Lula's name, the reason the pira- liberator of ancient wonders was important to him; he had known them. The people had been something to him at some point in his life. But who were they?

    CX-2 needed to know. Still holding Lula, he stood there overwhelmed by his discovery. As his breathing continued to speed up, he sat on the floor. Clutching the doll he tried to think. Where did he go from here?

    The man could go back to the empire and complete him mission or he could lie and say that he had made a mistake, leave, and escape come his next assignment. Staying and fighting for the empire meant he would likely never get his answers. However, staying with them also meant he would survive.

    Standing, the man set Lula down next to the googles. Clearing the tears from his face, he placed him helmet back on his head and reached from his comm. Then he let his hand fall back to his side. If someone had already found her and he told them she wasn't on the island, he'd be killed for treason.

    Finding Omega became his next objective. While that may have already been his mission, now he only intended to keep her safe. Leaving the building, CX-2 sighed. In truth he was scared. He knew what Hemlock could and would do to him if he was caught.

    But he needed to know who he was. Learning who these people were to him meant betraying what he knew. Committing an act of treason didn't hurt as much as he thought it would.

    Walking though the streets of Pabu, he ordered the flame throwers to be put down. There was no need just yet to burn down the island.

    Almost twenty minutes later, CX-2 found the girl. She stood in the middle of the street, ready to give herself up for the safety of the people. Before she got a chance to give herself away, the clone grabbed her and pulled her away from the street. "Shhhh."

    Confused Omega was silent.

    "You are an adolescent. I am going to inform the others that I was mistaken in identifying you. Stay hidden."

    "What?" Was all Omega could think of saying.

    "You are a child, I will not subject you to the experiments of Tantiss. You will be safe here once I'm through with my tasks."

    Taking the alley, Omega asked "where is it?"

    "What?"

    "Tantiss. I need to know."

    "Where Tantiss is, is of no concern to you. I need you to stay hidden."

    Ignoring him, Omega asked again. "I'll walk into the street and give myself up right now. If you really want to keep me safe, you'll tell me."

    "One day you will know. Currently, it is safer this way. Accept the opportunity that it being given to you. It is not the time."

    "Then when is?"

    "When you have a plan."

    "I have a plan! I-"

    "Is it a good one?"

    Omega was silent. "Fine."

    "Find a place to hide."

    The girl nodded. While she was sceptical of the sleeper agent's intentions, at least Hunter, Wrecker, and Crosshair wouldn't be so worried.

    Walking away, CX-2 reached for his comm. "I had mistaken a similar looking civilian for the girl. The target is not here." He sighed. "Gather your men and be ready to leave."

    "Yes sir."

    Hoping this risk would pay off, the man pondered what answers The Bad Batch could have for him. Soon, he would have his answer. Maybe while he waited for his next mission, he should do most digging into who these people really are.

Whump: The Musical Day 8: Hades Town (Deals)

Fandom: The bad Batch

Summary: When Hemlock shows his face while the batch are on a mission for Rex, Hunter and Crosshair have to deal with him. However, when he catches them, he offers a deal to Crosshair. One that will change the brothers relationship for their whole lives.

    It wasn't like Crosshair wanted to hurt Hunter.

    The two weren't sure how they ended up together. What they were sure of was if they wanted to survive, they had to get into the city. When the mission they had begrudgingly taken for Rex began, Crosshair was supposed to go off on his own. However the sniper had a different plan.

    So maybe Crosshair did know how they ended up like this. His brother however, had no clue why Crosshair had been so insistent so when he almost shot him for appearing next to him, the first thing that came to mind was to curse him out. However, he didn't.

    "Fine" he had said, "you can stay."

    Crosshair didn't say a word. Instead, he just started walking.

    Slowly they settled into each other's company. They talked a little bit about what had happened between them and worked though smaller problems that still lingered between them. Then, they made small talk about the past, sharing memories that stayed between the batch and the forest.

    Almost forgetting the last years, they laughed as they recalled the time that they hid plastic ducks around General Kenobi's Venator and how every time they saw him, he always had one to hand back to them.  

    As they snickered, soldiers started to creep up on them. "Hold on" Hunter said, reaching a hand out to stop Crosshair. "Feel them?"

    Grabbing his rifle, Crosshair nodded his head. They needed to get out of there before it came down to violence. Quietly, the two men started to move forward.

    The two drew their weapons as soon as the first shot missed them. They returned fire and quickly realized that they needed to lose the soldiers before they caught up with them. It wouldn't end well if they didn't. Running, they tried to stay close to each other, knowing it would be easy to get lost in the forest. Blue and purple trees blended in with the dark skies. The dark blue bark didn't help.

       The woods were thick but the city was thicker. The brothers never were fans of the cities. Crosshair would rather be in the mountains where he could get the best vantage point and Hunter would prefer to be in the forest. It was a less overwhelming environment.

    As they approached the city, both men felt themselves become more nervous then before. It was the smell that hit Hunter first. Alcohol and sewage had a disturbing smell to them. While alcohol wasn't common, sewage sure was.

    The bright lights threw off both Hunter and Crosshair. Still, they ran forward. "This way" Hunter told Crosshair, waving for him to follow his. They ran into an alley and then they ran up a fire escape.

    After a while of running, they finally came down from the rooftops. Helping Crosshair down, Hunter took his hand and steadied him. They walked, cautiously through the neon streets. That's why everything smells like alcohol, body odor, and cheap perfume.

    Before Hunter could say a word, he was pulled into a back alley. At first, he thought it was some random bar goer or a trafficker, but when he realized it was a clone, he felt his heart drop. Crosshair came into the alley, gun pulled and ready to shoot.

    "I wouldn't." A familiar voice ran in Crosshair's ears. Hemlock. "Lower your weapon." Hunter kept fighting against the clone commando that held him in  place.

    Nervously, Crosshair lowered his weapon. Then Hemlock walked over to the man. The older of the brothers panicked as the scientist advanced towards his younger brother. "Don't touch him!" He yelled.

    The imperial looked deep in thought for just a moment. Then he spoke, "Ct-9904, I have a, proposition."

    Hunter looked personally offended by the use of Crosshair's CT number. Had it been any other case, he would have said something.

    Fear sank into the experiments skin, then to through his muscles and bones. It spread until it was in his heart. "Let him go" he scowled.

    "I will not be releasing him, however-" When Hemlock said however, Hunter started to feel the already existing lump in his chest grow. Something bad was about to happen, and he got the feeling it would only be to him. Hunter was okay with that.

    "I have a proposition, so please, listen." Crosshair, without realizing it, started to pull his rifle closer to himself for comfort. It had been a few months since the two had seen each other. The time that had gone by, should have been a lifetime.

    Now Hemlock stood only a maybe four feet in front of Crosshair. "I will let you leave, however, you can not fight for him. If you sacrifice your brother, you can leave."

    "What?"

    "I'm giving you a chance to leave" Hemlock closed the gap between Crosshair and him, standing maybe a foot away from him. Pushing his to his knees, the scientist grabbed his face. "you don't want to go back, do you Crosshair?"

    The sniper thought he might cry. There was no way he would survive Tantiss. But could he really not fight for Hunter? The weight of the fear Crosshair carried, started to multiply. As soon as Hemlock had touched him, he had frozen. The fear made it hard to realize that commandos had grabbed him and that Hunter was screaming at them to release him.

    Hunter wanted to murder Hemlock. He needed to get Crosshair away from the commandos and away from the man who had hurt him. The man tried everything. No amount of kicking, struggling, or even trying to bite the commando who held him so tightly, mattered.

    "All you have to do, is leave. Stay quiet about all of this, and you'll never return to my facility. Unless" Hemlock smoothed his thumb over Crosshair's face. "You feel you should return."

    That's when Hunter lost it. "Get the fuck away from him!" Failing to protect Crosshair, his youngest brother, was not an option.

    The clone hated actually thinking about his opinions. After a moment, he knew he had his answers. Crosshair couldn't go back. With tears in his eyes, he looked Hemlock in the eyes for a moment before looking away. Shaking, he said "okay."

    The words ran through Hunter's head. 'Okay.' He was going through with the deal. Hunter was defenseless. Hemlock removed his hand for Crosshair's face and nodded. Watching, Hunter felt betrayed. While he understood, it hurt more than he expected it to.

    As soon as Crosshair was allowed to stand, he did. Hunter saw him trying to fight the fear. Still, he was hurt. The betrayal dug deep into his heart. But, he couldn't blame him.

    Not being able to tell the rest, Crosshair was already trying to figure out how he was going to explain to the batch that they couldn't find him. As Hunter continued to fight, the commandos started to drag him away from the ally.

    Crosshair and Hunter made eye contact. The betrayal and hurt in Hunter's eyes met with the pain and fear in Crosshair's. He looked sorry.

    When Hunter was out of sight, Crosshair started to question his decision. But for now he needed to get back to the Marauder.

Part two:

Whump: The Musical Day 10: Rent ("Feels Too Damn Much Like Home.")

Fandom: The Clone Wars

Summary: while on Geonosis, Anakin feels too close to home. He never did like sand.

Some part of Anakin Skywalker never stopped calling Tatooine home. Even though he lived at the Jedi temple  on Coruscant, he had grown up on that sandy planet. It would take four days to travel just to get there.

    So being in Geonosis was strange. The planet had the same hellish feeling as his home world. Memories of who he had tended to linger in his mind.

    It seemed like yesterday the boy was pod rasing and trying to distract himself from the horrible things that happened in the desert planet of Tatooine. The nine year old would try to reassure his mother that he was okay, that the fights and spice dealing never bothered him.

    In truth it had. How could people be so ready to kill each other, he would wonder. While now he understood the willingness to kill now, the little boy he had been hadn't gotten there yet.

    Other than with Waldo, the stupid, slimy man who had kept him and his mother enslaved. Even when he was younger, if Anakin could have killed him, he would have. Maybe then his mother wouldn't be dead.

    Most of the time, when Anakin thought about his mother's death, he blamed himself. That did change.

    The sand that moved under the Jedi's feet, always made him think of home. It was never pleasant, but he would go where he was needed. The council would still ask from time to time, mindful of his trauma, if he was sure about taking the missions. Every time he would say yes.

    The sun's heat beat down on Anakin and Obi-wan. Another thing that bothered him. With his tolerance of the heat, Anakin never thought that it made sense for it to bother him so much. Maybe it wasn't the heat, but instead the memories.

    "You seem distracted" Obi-wan told him. The two walked side by side. At first Anakin didn't say anything. So Kenobi continued, "are you okay?"

    "Feels too damn much like home" Anakin scowled. "The sand and the heat, they just remind me of Tatooine."

    Thinking about what to say in response, Obi-wan nodded. "If you need anything-"

    "I'm fine" Anakin interrupted. Again, the older Jedi nodded.

    Anakin wasn't sure if he was actually okay. Still, what else was he going to say. 'Reminds me of my dead mother, of the first nine years of my life when I was a slave who had to win his freedom by winning a pod race?' Yeah he didn't think so. The sand kept moving under his feet and he knew that it would be everywhere later.

    Still, he couldn't afford to let his disdain of sand get in his way. The man has a mission to accomplish, a bunch of tiny rocks would not stop him. So, with the memories of his old home clouding his head, the two Jedi moved forward.

                          ………………

    After the mission, Anakin sat in his bed. He tossed his shoes off of his feet and ignored the sand that fell onto his floor. The thoughts of his mother's death always made him angry and unpredictable. Obi-wan knew this. It felt like his last master had been watching him excessively. It wasn't like he couldn't control it, at least that's what he liked to think.

    While the mission was a success, Anakin had no real sense of accomplishment. It was the same feeling he would get back in Tatooine. Laying down, the man tried not to think about it. No good would come from it. Hopefully he would get a break from the sand.