Three wards surrounded the central, hill-perched keep of Rakofil, each an enclosed bailey leading further up towards the core. The first and lowest, the front-most entryway, was the western Arbor Ward - a wider tract of orchards, farmlands, and a scattering of smaller villages where the farmhands resided. Unlike the stone-walled rest of the city, the palisades surrounding this were wooden piles, still pristine and freshly cut - entailing these were recent fortifications meant to better defend the immediate food- producing lands nearest Rakofil.
Of course, that meant it was the hardest to defend - this was a zone meant to slow down and condense an enemy formation into a place that the real city walls could much more easily attack.
For a lone, highly agile intruder, though, these palisades were no obstacle. There were plenty enough gaps in the manned outposts, and in the evening, the trees and underbrush provided plenty of cover nearby.
Saosh, the Witch of Weeping Skulls, kept pushing herself to her limits to make it this way. The mana she stole from that apprentice was enough to get her this far, but first and foremost, she needed a hideout and some food, and the lay of the land beyond Rakofil was foreign to her. For all she knew, it was nothing but a blasted desert, or worse, an ocean.
Plus, going without arms wasn't helping her balance any. It made her a bit lighter, but her muscles were weakened by her long period of starving in captivity. She still had the instincts to land on tree branches with just her feet - it helped that she always was more dexterous with them anyway.
It wasn't the first time she'd pulled that trick and sacrificed her arms - at least she knew enough of the teal arts to grow them back.
As the sun's last rays disappeared beyond the northern mountains, though the seas to the south still glimmered with some of their remnants. Darkness was a good cover for Saosh - when she spotted the closest guardsmen turning their backs just enough, she leapt over the wooden piles, tumbling into the relative safety and density of the Arbor Ward's interior. The outer-most parts were forests more meant for foraging and lumber stocks - it was a ways in before any food could be spotted.
Saosh's bare feet sunk into the grass and soil for a while - though she was nowhere near safe, she found a secluded enough spot in these woods and sunk down to take a seat, gasping breathlessly and gazing upwards at the clear evening sky, a smooth gradient from deep violet to warm orange, interrupted by the gently swaying branches of broad-leafed trees.
"...how much time do I have? They're definitely looking for me. Dunno this part of Ark-Korya well enough to be sure what's surrounding us. Could be heading out of town, could be converging right here. This ain't a good enough hiding spot...neither's any of these villages, the houses are too small. Ain't like Rahvansi where they just go on and on forever...shit, don't think out loud before checking if anyone's-"
Saosh muttered and interrupted herself, planting her foot in the soil and focusing her mana through it, broadening her senses, searching for the absolute worst thing she could imagine - someone overhearing her.
No reason for anyone to be out here this late at night, she figured, but you can't ever freely assume that. Ten meters, twenty meters - a few errant forest creatures briefly flickered in her mind's eye, before failing to resonate. No humans flared up though, or at least, none that were familiar enough with a detection technique to guard themselves and answer.
This far out from Leyrase, she'd be catastrophically unlucky to find one. There was a good chance the only other teal mage around was that girl from earlier, and she might not think anything of the gentle 'tickle' Saosh spread through the air.
The witch's head pressed against the tree trunk, her heart finally settling. She could finally focus on the little things, the much more pleasant taste of the air, the faint aroma of fruits and crops in the distance. Even a little whiff of something baking - villages preparing food, since they were likely on lockdown from the local guard due to imminent war. A trickle of drool ran down the corner of Saosh's lips - she wanted nothing more than to dart towards this smell and abscond with something delicious. If she could smack her cheeks to focus, she would have. It was just far too risky to try smuggling herself into a hamlet, she'd have to make do with crops yet to be harvested.
But it pulled at her too strongly. Her stomach growled angrily, her tongue curled at the thought of trying to gnaw on a half-ripe orange to regain her strength. She yearned for the comfort of bread, something stuffed with pickled or salted vegetables especially called out to her.
As though hoisted up magnetically, Saosh turned towards the flickering lights of the nearest houses, and broke right back out into a sprint that matched the wind, forcing her legs to work beyond their limits with her last reserves of mana. Before the village's lights - red and vivid, a clue that they were the magelight of this land as opposed to candles - could illuminate Saosh, the witch leapt up into the air, high atop the roof of the tallest home she could spy - and perched upon its apex, hunkered down like a massive bird. Maybe if someone spotted her, they'd mistake her for one, rare as such a beast would be in these lands.
No guardsmen patrolled the streets yet, much to Saosh's relief. They were likely mostly pulled towards the harbor at this point in time. The tempting aroma of baked goods and melting cheese only amplified how much Saosh was ready to swallow, a flicker in her weary eyes. Any easy marks? Any open windows to spy something she might manage to grasp without the arms to do it?
There - three houses away, a ledge with a merrily churning chimney nearby - a tunic-clad woman with thick oven mitts set out a platter of rounded pies, venting steam from three holes at the top. Her hair was of a fairer hue, closer to brown - lessening the likelihood she knew some kind of cooling magic, and the home didn't seem to be all that busy.
As soon as she turned away, Saosh darted towards it like an arrow, face aimed squarely towards her dinner.
Her shins screamed in pain upon her landing, but she still had the barest flicker of energy needed to recover any real injuries. Her teeth grasped hold of the piping hot pie, before she scurried off to the side like a rat, holding back the cry of trying to chew on something hot enough to burn her mouth. It kept nearing the verge of dropping to the dirt path below, and Saosh kept trying to prop the pie up with her knees - but eventually she gave up, and let it tumble, splitting apart into a mess of meat-filled warmth all over the road.
She was never in any position to turn food on the ground.
Chowing down on this bounty as though she were a dog, head barely elevated by arcing her chest and pushing the stumps of her arms against the earth, Saosh burned with a need to rectify this. She was tapped out of the energy to restore herself, but it slowly trickled in the more she ate. Just enough. As soon as she had the last bite, Saosh pushed back upright to her bottom, shrugging away her cloak to stare at her nubby arm.
It never felt as proper as when a real healer remade these, but that was a luxury the witch could scarce afford even at the best of days.
First, the bones. She could get these right at a later time - first priority was to just have -something- to slowly revise over time. Clenching her teeth and clearing her mind, she thought only of a memory of exercise, a routine she held to keep awareness of her body acute and locked in her mind. Bending her nonexistent elbow, then extending. Over and over, like she was hoisting a weight up, remembering the shape of her biceps and triceps, forming them around the spurting trunk of bone. Then the elbow, and the way the joint pushed outwards when bent. It was always harder to get joints right, and Saosh could already feel that she hadn't gotten the shape exact- once she moved onto the forearm, she could feel it catching and clicking with each movement she tested it on. There just wasn't enough time to iron out the kinks, that'd be for when she was safe and secure.
The hand was hardest and most complicated to restore...and in the interest of time, Saosh only went as far as the thumb and forefinger, each joint taking longer than the entire rest of her arm. It was hard to stay focused during this process...she kept thinking too much about the mistakes, about the unpleasant way it felt to try and move these incomplete parts, which only drew out the process.
But she had enough to hold onto something, and that's all she needed.
Hopping back up to her feet, Saosh peeked back around the corner to the rest of the unwitting home's pies, still fuming on the windowsill. Pulling away her cloak and hastily tying a knot into it with her rudimentary hand and her teeth, it was soon fashioned into what could pass for a bag. Just enough to pilfer the rest of the platter - the witch cast her fabric out like a net and reeled the remaining pies in.
"Hey! Who in the world is - come back here with those!"
A sudden, sharp cry from the home made Saosh click her tongue and dart back away, a few of her prizes tumbling from her sack before she could swing it more securely over a shoulder. There wasn't a moment to lose, the witch putting everything she had into dashing out of the village, opposite the way she came.
There were too many ways to get caught by a red or yellow mage, even one who wasn't dedicated to mastery. Shooting up geysers of fire or rising up a basic prison of stone was enough to cut off her hopes of freedom for good.
She quickly leapt back onto the rooftops, darting from peak to peak, landing as gracefully as she could to avoid the tell-tale thumping to those living below. A bit of an uproar started below her - a few additional village folk gathered out and started sending bright orbs of mage-light into the air. Nothing like a concerted effort of proper guardsmen, but enough to highlight Saosh's shadow were she to not get away fast enough.
But she could already feel her energy regaining. A bit of a smile curled on the witch's lips at how satisfying and filling even that one spot of food proved to be, even though it left her tongue awfully burned. She felt lighter and stronger already, and her legs complained a little less at being pushed so hard.
Before long, she was well beyond the last thatch-roofed house, back in a thick, mushroom-laden grove deeper in the Arbor Ward's interior. Keeping an ear out for any pursuing townsfolk, Saosh waited with her plunder in tow, gazing towards the dim and distant lights of civilization...and nothing came of it.
She unfurled her cloak on the tiny clearing before her, laughing softly in satisfaction. It was enough to last her a few days at least - plenty to get her bearings and figure out a much longer-lasting escape plan.
With brighter, more hopeful eyes, the witch plucked each slightly cooler pie up and had her fill, savoring the rich-tasting gravy, the hint of carrots and potato, the flaky puff of the surrounding pastry, the perfectly soft and falling apart meat...it was paradise compared to just a few hours ago.
"Hah...let's never let -that- mess happen again! Wahahaha..."
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Past her fourth devouring of that pastry, though, Saosh felt a weariness set in her eyes. Now that the adrenaline was fading, her still frail body screamed in agony, her mind dulled at the edges. They wouldn't look -that- far for a petty thief, not in a space abundant with food during the harvest season, would they? Sure, war was on the horizon, but what true enemy would prioritize a handful of meat pies? Saosh hoped that they'd just blame whoever was cheekiest in the village and move on with their lives.
She had to hope, because staying awake was suddenly nigh impossible.
"...just a little nap. Anything comes to me, I'll hear it and beat feet. Just...a little..."
The Witch of Weeping Skulls slumped forward, and fell into a sudden, weary dream.
----------------------------------------
...
What are you thinking?
...
Just be patient.
...
You haven't failed yet, so...
...
Why are you-
[But it was just so revolting.]
...
...
Please, just be careful out there,
...
Saosh.
...
THEY WON'T LET GO
Coiling, squeezing, imprisoning, wringing.
They'd take her for everything.
But she wouldn't forget.
...
"Saosh."
No matter how tight it was.
She could hold onto that.
It was her.
Was it?
It will be, no matter how they won't let go.
The brightest word through the mist.
Even though it gets tighter.
And tighter.
And tighter...!
----------------------------------------
With a sudden gasp, Saosh squirmed and writhed from her fitful dream, eyes darting every which way. "No no no no-" she blurted out, but the constricting feeling wouldn't go away.
When she looked down, a tangle of leafy, bright green vines was coiling around her midsection and weaving into knots below her shoulders, slowly hoisting her into the air. "Damn it, why the hell do they have a green-"
"Hahah! I was totally right! Huhuhu, and I was the first one to get to you. Hi hi, sleepyhead Saosh!"
Her writhing slowed to a halt at the familiar, needlessly cheery voice. Saosh craned her neck towards the source of the vines, where they erupted from behind...and just nearby, illuminated only by a flickering green aura amidst the evening, a pale, colorfully clad, pillowy-figured girl sashayed and twirled in a merry kind of dance. Each fling of her hips and sway of her arms guided the vines to curl and coil at her command.
"...oh, great. I'd just about rather have a guard trying to kill me."
"Hey, come oooonnnnn. You don't have to be mean! Besides, nobody's with me. Just us two!" The eager apprentice from before, Adeila, dialed down her dance once satisfied with how well her conjured vines would hold, thoroughly wrapped and tied around Saosh. She leaned in intrusively close, taking a seat right in front of the witch - just barely avoiding the still open pile of meat pies.
Sucking in a deep breath and re-orienting herself, Saosh's eyes slowly adjusted to the late evening's darkness - the faintly luminous blue-green of mana radiating from Adeila the only light around. "What do you want, then? You seemed like a traveler...right, from some kinda academy. Heh, did I manage to get a bounty there too?"
"Hmmmm...I dunno what I want just yet! I'll probably figure it out. I just wanted to meet you a little bit more!" Adeila's bright green eyes shimmered with light, the girl tipping closer to Saosh's face - prompting the witch to back off as far as her restraints allowed.
"...Could you not get so up close? Ghh..."
Adeila's head tipped curiously, before a pouty, indignant look crossed her face. "Whaaaat? You're gonna be like that? Right after you were so brazen enough to steal a kiss right from a heroine's lips?"
"I was just desperate," Saosh said, clicking her tongue and turning her head off to one side. "You had the mana I needed to get away. I don't do that kind of thing for fun, you know."
With an overdramatic gasp, Adelia held a hand to her heart, sputtering out, "You'll make me cry, Saosh! I got all caught up in the moment! It felt like...fate! A fateful meeting! Like something you'd hear in a song! The dashing, rogueish witch plundering the heart of a fair maiden ...don't tell me...my lips are a disappointment?! No way...!"
"Khhh, you're getting like this, right after I ate more than my stomach can handle..." Saosh held herself back from making too much of a show of gagging - but she did indeed feel that she'd been too eager with her prize of pastries. "Look, I just don't like touching people. Nothing to do with you. Whenever I'm pushed to it I try to keep my mind off it, alright? It's a way to survive, and nothing more. I'm a witch, you know? You're obsessed with these kinds of stories, huh? We plunder the dead and steal the life force from the innocent without mercy, got it?"
In her own way, Adeila showed Saosh a spot of mercy by not breaking out into tears like she threatened. "Hmm hmm...oh fine, I understand. Even if it felt like something special to me...nnh...that reminds me! Your hands!" The student leaned forward, not towards Saosh's face, but nearer her shoulders, fingers reaching out and holding onto the forearm Saosh hadn't grown back. "You didn't even bother with these yet? Yeah, I can feel it, you really pushed yourself, didn't you-"
"What'd I just say? I'd really appreciate it if you didn't touch me, you know!" Saosh barked out, struggling with an almost feral fury against the vines, only managing to loosen them a little. It was enough to make Adeila jump back in surprise, pursing her lips in a fine line.
"Ah...it's serious, huh...?" Adeila sulked a little bit, holding herself back from sniffling too much, before much more quietly, whispering out, "...But...you really could use help. That's all I wanted to do. It was horrible to see you in that prison like that, and you're almost in worse shape now. ...can I please...heal you a little bit more?"
"Why do you care so much about me?" Saosh fumed, eyes wide in a trembling, firm fury. "Why do you even know who I am? Were you looking for me? Who sent you to do that? What's even going on here? What do you want out of me?" She was breathing raggedly by the time she finished, a sputtering cough spilling from her throat.
It took Adeila by surprise, the girl backing off further with each forceful, almost painful question. Her hands started to shake, and it took all her resolve to not run away in shame. "It's...it's nothing...like that. Guuuh...seeing people in pain is hard for me. Especially someone who...no, no. ...I'll say it this way, Saosh. I like the feeling of things growing, of things recovering. Of life, and hope returning to something that breathes. You're probably...used to selfish things, yeah? Then that's what it's about for me, in your terms. It's satisfying for me."
"It isn't for me. Sorry about that." Saosh huffed out, closing her eyes and conserving her energy, relaxing a bit at how the overly eager girl seemed to understand a little.
"Don't be sorry! That's not a problem, at all! It's actually very interesting to me, you were exactly the kind of person I was hoping to meet!" The vigor returned with every word Adelia chimed out. "That's right...it's the exact thing I was missing. The empty space everyone overlooks. Someone like you was what I always wondered about, and now that I've met you...I really think...it's a splendid omen, on my journey of enlightenment!"
"Journey...of enlighten-"
"Yes, exactly!" Adeila interrupted, standing up proudly, the green and cyan lights sparkling in enthusiastic flickers around her. "It was foretold by the rainbow shimmering across the sky the day I was born, and every day, I've reached closer and closer to that dream! I...Adeila Eviore, will reach that fabled state, closest to understanding Arecie herself! And I...I want you, Saosh, the Witch of Weeping Skulls, to teach me about your art, about the side of teal magic spoken of in hushed whispers and terrified screams! The dazzling way you command the dead, just like the first day I saw you...please, I want you to join me on my journey to this horizon!"
"Can you keep it down?! They're still looking for me, damn it-" Saosh whispered harshly, prompting Adeila to laugh and fall back down to her seat. "Look, I'm not a teacher or anything. Good luck on whatever the hell you were talking about, but you've really got the wrong idea about me. Sorry to disappoint you. Is there anything I can do right now that'll get you to let me go?"
Adeila tapped a finger to her lips, gazing up at the evening sky, puffing out a pondering little breath, before her tones descended into warm, careful, whispery words.
"Let me heal you. I don't want you to be going on your way like this. I'll be careful and thorough, and I won't get too close, but I do have to touch you for it, even if you don't like it. ...then I'll release you, and you can do what you want. But it's lonely and harsh out there, and a lot of people are looking for you."
Saosh was silent for a time, her leery, hawkish eyes assessing Adeila inch by inch. Her every instinct was to be cautious, but the way this girl spoke was a lance through her armor, and she lessened her resistance, slumping against the tree behind her and the vines restraining her. "...go on then. I'm not used to people like you. They're rare in this world."
Adeila's hands carefully rested on Saosh's shoulders - the witch winced uncomfortably, her head turned to the side...but she sighed, and resigned herself to this process. Cyan-hued light started spilling from Adeila's hands, flowing along Saosh's arms towards her incomplete left hand and missing right, gathering at the boundaries of injury and slowly knitting flesh in place. "It's not all that rare. There's a lot of generous people! But it's hard for anyone to be generous unless their destinies are entwined, and you haven't found yours yet. Hehe, maybe I'll be the one to change that!"
"Destiny's a load of shit," Saosh grumbled plainly, careful not to twitch the gradually rebuilding muscles in her arms, no matter how much they ached or tickled in the healing process.
"Hmmmmm?" Adeila said, "The mark of someone who's either been betrayed by it, or has simply never been given one. You underestimate the power of writing the future in stone to make dreams come true."
"As bad a place as I'm in right now, it'd be a whole lot worse if I was still stuck with what I was told I'd be."
"We'll get you a brighter future then, Saosh! That's the kind of determination fate smiles upon." Adeila beamed, tidying up her work on Saosh's elbows, her thumbs rubbing in soothing little circles - a movement that only made Saosh a little more tense.
"I dunno what you're on about, as usual..." Saosh said, "You're...doing a good job, but take it easy on me. Damn it...why does healing always wind up being...none of you all have any sense of personal space."
Slowly drawing her hands along newly molded forearms, Adeila gripped along each length - with every release, a tiny bit more muscle mass was added, like rolling out clay that was seeping from her palms. "That's simply how this magic responds. It's the art of forming humans, so it's natural that the way you use it is to get close to one another. If anything, I'm holding back, it's most powerful when you're making love!"
Adeila's hold lightened just enough to start tracing tenderly across pathways of nerves she was forging - partly to test them, partly as an accessory to the saucy smile and flickering eyelashes attacking Saosh's view like a courtesan's battleaxe.
The Witch of Weeping Skulls silently started fearing where this was going, a cold sweat breaking out all over.
"We can do that if you want, Saosh...! If it's as hard for you to touch people as it sounds, I bet it's never happened with you. Hehehehe...I'm happy to teach people, so if you're ever curious, just give a little whisper in my ear, kaaaay?"
Saosh couldn't hold herself back from the kind of groan that felt more at place from a braying mule. "Please just get this over with, you told me you'd let me go once you're done. If I knew you were this type, I'd have tried my luck stealing mana from one of those damned guards..."
Adeila couldn't help but laugh with the utmost confidence - pushing her luck, tipping ever closer to Saosh - as her hands finally began to reforge the witch's hands, ephemeral and pulsing fingers lacing against her own warmer, more ample touch. Something about the way the witch struggled with the process awakened the urge to press deeper. Her smile broadened, and she took a deep breath through her nose, before her lips parted to whisper out-
"WITCH OF WEEPING SKULLS, SHOW YOURSELF. MY NAME IS ECITAS EI ZAFET, AND YOU DEFILED MY ANCESTORS. SURRENDER, AND I WILL KILL YOU MERCIFULLY!"
This declaration boomed across the skies like a meteor breaking through the atmosphere, loud enough to make nesting birds scatter from their perches. The witch and the apprentice froze in place, one mounting tension replaced with another.
"...a...ain't that...the queen of Zafet?" Saosh blundered, scouring her memory for what even happened in that domain. "...The hell is the queen doing here? What does she want with me?! This is why I've gotta get out of this place. I'd rather risk the wilderness than dealing with what I've heard about her..."
"Aaaah, so your destiny's entwined with someone like this too...hehe..." Adeila's thoughts were thoroughly swimming in songs and poems, before she remarked, "Ah, probably the only way you're getting out of here is by boat, unless you've got excellent swimming up your sleeve!"
Another deflated groan escaped from Saosh. "Damn it, this place is on an island? Worried about that much but I had no idea...narrows my options quite a bit...guhhhh, as usual, the only option is the biggest pain in the ass..."
Adeila's eyes were quick to light up. "Hohoh?! So a plan's already come to you? Am I going to witness the stuff of legends yet again, but that much closer? Pray tell, what will you hold onto to make your dashing escape? Or will you settle it once and for all with this sudden arrival of a fearsome queen?"
Saosh's lips worried together, as she tried her hardest to remember features of her surroundings after such fleeting glimpses over a year ago...before she held her gaze firmly on Adeila's eyes.
"Well, if you're so eager to see my art - tell me, where's the biggest graveyard in all of Rakofil?