Trigger Warning/Content Warning:

-Character Death (none is described in detail but a lot of it happens soooo)

This is a pretty angst heavy story so yeah keep that in mind <3

Considering the fact that it was Joel's first attempt at monster hunting ever, the whole thing went pretty well, if he did say so himself. The dog hybrid ended up spending the next couple of hours hunting down skeletons, zombies and creepers.

There were, unfortunately, multiple occasions where he nearly got blown up by a creeper, but that presumably came with the territory. It was also this that he blamed the odd smoky smell that had suddenly appeared on.

At about 2 AM (if he had to guess- he didn't have a clock on him), Joel ended up attempting to carry some skeleton bones back with him as proof that yes, he was good at monster hunting and he could totally do it as a job.

He was contemplating how to present the skeleton bones to his parents in a way that wasn't show-offy 'I told you so' when he neared the exit of the forest, and was met with a horrifying sight.

The village of Morturubu Hill, the place Joel had grown up and practically never set foot out of, the place where everyone he cared about lived, was on fire.

He didn't mean a tiny amount of fire. It wasn't a 'Nicole tripped over some ashes and set her house on fire' type of fire, it was an 'it's a miracle if anyone is still alive' kind of fire.

For a moment, Joel just stared, straining his ears to see if he could hear any signs of life. He didn't care if it was screaming or crying, he just needed something, anything that would prove someone might be alive.

But there was nothing but the crackling of the flames.

The fire must have been there for a while- a couple of hours, if he had to guess- to have become so big, so there was almost certainly nothing he could do.

Thankfully, the forest hadn't been set ablaze due to the village being higher up than the rest of the area, so Joel didn't have to worry about being set on fire himself as he stumbled forwards in a daze. This cannot be happening.

It was as the brown eyed man left the forest that he noticed a small group of soldiers stood at the base of the hill, watching the flames quietly.

Well, he said 'quietly'- one of the soldiers was talking and talking and talking....

He was laughing. Laughing at what he had done (presumably he had done it anyway- surely he would have run for help if he hadn't).

Joel squinted incredulously at this man as he moved closer.

He had bright blonde hair tied back in a ponytail, with a long fringe that was held back from his eyes with a black bandana that was loosely tied. He had blue eyes and large, black, bat-like wings protruding from his back. The soldier clearly hadn't been worried about a fight, as he was simply wearing a green shirt, a bright red cloak (which clashed horribly with the aforementioned shirt) and dark pants, with no armour in sight.

Despite how amused this man seemed, the rest of the soldiers were quiet, exchanging uneasy glances with each other. One of them pointed to Joel as he move clumsily towards them, muttering something to the laughing man.

The blonde turned around, his eyes narrowing and his smile fading as he spotted the dog hybrid. He paused for a moment, dropping his shield and kicking it to the side before Joel could see the flag on it- there was a brief flash of colour, but it didn't matter which colour it was- Joel didn't exactly know flags anyway.

It took the brunette a few moments to regain the ability to speak, and when he did, his voice was quiet and he began to tremble slightly. "Did you do this?" That was all Joel could say- when he tried to form any of the questions that he had been thinking repeatedly for the last thirty seconds, nothing came out.

The leader of the soldiers- presumably, anyway- muttered something about missing one before grinning. It wasn't anything like the joking smile Joel was used to getting from other people. This smile was cruel. This was a man who enjoyed the pain of others. "Yep. So what? It's..." There was a pause as he let out a harsh laugh. "It's for the honour of the Sandlands. You should have joined the war."

The Sandlands? Joel stared in disbelief. Yes, he disliked both of the nations at war, but based on the fact that the king of Dogwarts had been the one to declare war, he'd always considered the Sandlands to be the lesser of two evils.

Clearly that wasn't the case. It was the Sandlands that had ruined everything, after all. They probably deserved to have war declared on them- they deserved to be destroyed.

The Sandlands soldier laughed mockingly as Joel's lip started to tremble slightly- trembling more so than the rest of his body was doing already, that is. "What's wrong? Are you going to cry? What are you, five? Get over yourself. This is what they- you- deserved. You should have joined the war." He repeated, his smile widening as Joel glanced once again at the burning remains of Morturubu Hill.

For a moment, Joel considered running into the village to see if anyone was alive, but the winged man followed his gaze and laughed again. "Don't worry, we made sure there were none left. We're nothing if not efficient." The blue eyed stranger added brightly. The blonde's gaze flicked to the bones Joel was still loosely clutching.

"You know what? I'm feeling nice. You can live. Run along, little monster hunter. Run along. There's nothing for you here. Or go to Dogwarts, I suppose. I'm sure they'll be a lot of help." The Sandlands soldier spat, grimacing slightly at the mention of the opposing nation.

Joel scowled, barely managing to choke out his retort through tears (he hadn't realised he was crying until now). "Maybe- maybe I will do that! I will go- go get help from Dogwarts! Maybe I'll... do just that." He stammered, his sudden burst of confidence fading as the soldier laughed again- oh how Joel had grown to hate that laugh in such a short amount of time.

The blonde paused, rolling his eyes before speaking again. "Sure you will. Run along now, little monster hunter." The blue eyed man repeated. "We have a mess to clean up. Leave. Before I change my mind." He snarled, his smile (if it could be called that) vanishing.

Joel glanced back at the village again- or at least, what remained of it. As much as he wanted to run back into the village, to see if anyone at least had survived, to be able to say a proper goodbye at least if they hadn't, he knew the soldiers would probably kill him on the spot if he even tried.

So he turned, and he ran.

Oop angst go brrr yeah everyone but Joel died sorry

Some of the characters in this story are really bad people 🤷‍♀️

Sorry for any errors <3 comments and votes are appreciated btw :)