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Once filled with trees, Belos' reign led to major deforestation of palistrom trees across the Boiling Isles in an attempt to try to get more palismen. Many of these trees were cut down for experimentation purposes. Hunter knew about these experiments, though they ended long before he became Golden Guard. HIs heart ached for the palismen created from them.
But today, here he was, tending to the palistrom saplings with Dell and the Bat Queen, making sure they were all in good health and standing tall. Eda had stopped by too to plant the palistrom seed Dell once gave her.
It felt good to bring return life back to an area of the Boiling Isles that once had life stripped from it. It felt good to give back to the isles, to heal what was once hurt.
As Hunter sat down to admire the returning forest, he thought about all those times Belos said the Titan had big plans for him. He was motivated by those words for such a long time, usually for the worst. Once he found out the truth of who he really was and what plans Belos really had in mind, he stopped believing in those big plans. For a while, he felt like a nobody. He was a tool built to fulfill the man who made his life in every conceivable way for his own gain. He once questioned if he even deserved happiness, if he even deserved to feel any hope.
But in this moment, Hunter can't help but admit that he does feel a gentle sense of happiness from this good deed. He feels a sapling of hope growing inside his heart, and it made him smile.
Maybe the Titan is proud of him for doing this. Maybe the Titan did have big plans for him after all.