He woke up with the birds the next morning. Outside, the sky was still dark and the wind cold. He got up and made his bed, then was about to leave when he saw the Witch sitting on the chair. She was staring at him with her big yellow eyes. He jumped to his feet with a start, his heart ready to burst. She was an eerie sight in the day, but at night, she was horror incarnate. Sleep left him and he was wide-awake.

“What do you want?” He said. The voice that came out of his throat was not pretty to hear either. It sounded like he was choking.

The Witch ignored his questions. “Why did you wake up so early?” She chirped. “Are you going back to the village again?”

“Yes. Do you want something?” He said noncommittally. Who knew the Witch would really ask for his help!

“I want you to hunt me a rabbit.” She said and Mannat‘s ears perked up. That was odd. Why would she want a—and then he remembered the rumors about the sacrifice. His blood curled with the thought, but her next words slashed his fantasies and came directly for his jugular.

“I want you to catch and kill the rabbit living in Sardar’s fields.”

It was over.

Who was Sardar? He was none other than Sharmilla’s grandfather!

There he was running away –not true—from their family, and here the Witch was sending him straight to their den.

She was pitting him over something he didn’t understand. Her words repeated endlessly in his head. She was deliberately sending him to his death, Mannat believed so. He doubted he had any privacy in front of her. Perhaps, until he learned to patch his mana leaks he would always be under her sight, no matter where he went. The sad thing about it was that he couldn’t even tell if she was keeping watch on him or not. She probably was. He used to get shivers from other's attention but felt nothing with her. He couldn’t figure whether he had progressed or regressed in his training.

Mannat sighed and solemnly asked, “Did I offend you in any way?”

“Why do you ask?”

“…Because you are sending me to my death,” Mannat said. Understanding he had no secrets from her he could only admit the truth, and it took great courage for him to speak it out loud. “I can’t meet the old man, not now.”

The Witch snorted. “This matter is more important than your farmer girl.” She said nonchalantly. Mannat was offended. His nerves were already taut in this matter. Who told her to pluck his strings?

“Do you want it for a sacrifice?” He snapped and the song that came out of his was full of anger. He wanted to confront the Witch, but her reply clipped his newborn wings.

“Don’t you feel it?”

Annoyed he said, “Feel what?”

However, the Witch didn’t tell him. “You should hurry.” She said. “It will hide after sunrise. And take someone with you, someone who knows how to hunt rabbits.”

Mannat wasn’t in the mood to bring the roots to the village. He would ask his father to accompany him later to get them.

Maybe not, he mumbled after thinking about it a little. The Witch was acting weird. He worried catching the rabbit won’t be as simple as he was imagining. His father would needlessly worry if he found out about it.

He could imagine what his father would say. It would be something like, ‘She asked you to catch a rabbit today, and perhaps it’ll be a wolf tomorrow. What will you do then?’

He would say no.

He didn’t know what time it was when he left the clearing, but the sky was still dark when he reached the village. He had run as fast as he could, but at least 45 minutes must have elapsed since he started. This was it for his workout.

Entering the village at this time was especially odd. It wasn’t daytime, but there were already some people up on the streets. Some women were taking their kids to the fields, while a few men sat on the roadside and watched him as he passed by. The sky was still dark, but he didn’t see any lanterns glowing in the dark. Thankfully, there was a full moon that night and it was still bathing the world in calm blue light. He would have had some difficulty navigating the streets without its help.

He ran all the way and only stopped at Pandit’s door. He knocked twice and waited for him to show up. He had to wait a while. Mannat’s breathing and heart rate were back to normal by the time Pandit finally showed up at the door.

Stolen story; please report.

He came out yawning and rubbing his eyes. “Who is it--” he was saying then saw Mannat at the door and changed the question. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at the dark sky and frowned. “Do you know what time it is? I thought you weren’t coming--” He noticed how drenched Mannat’s shirt was and his frown deepened. “Did you take a shower before coming here?” He said, unable to make the head meet the toe.

“I ran,” Mannat plainly replied.

“…from the clearing?” That was much further than the distance they usually jogged. Gande had given him Mannat’s message. The boy had asked him to meet him on the road. So why was he at his door, drenched in sweat, before sunrise? Pandit’s hunter instinct told him something was wrong. The boy looked to be in a hurry. “What’s wrong?” Pandit whispered. He didn’t know why he did it, but that’s how his voice came out.

“I need your help,” Mannat said and all sleep vanished from Pandit’s eyes.

“Tell me,”

“I need to meet Sardar--” Mannat tried explaining, but Pandit interrupted him.

“Go get some sleep. Gosh. I heard people go crazy in love, but I never thought you would be one of them.” Pandit shook his head. “The Witch has really changed you.”

Mannat didn’t explain. He stood expressionlessly and stared at his hopeless friend.

Pandit couldn’t figure out what to do. On one hand, he wanted to go back to bed, on the other hand, his love-stuck friend wanted his help. He could only sigh and move on. “Do we have to do it now?”

“Yes,” Mannat said. “And bring your hunting tools,”

“Hunting tools, check. What about a net and rope?” Pandit asked holding such a serious expression that Mannat believed he was asking for the job. Then he thought about traps and agreed.

Pandit’s face instantly turned pale.

He held Mannat shoulder and said looking into his foolish friend’s vibrant green eyes, “Are we really kidnapping Sharmilla?”

Mannat snarled and pushed the damned rascal back. Since Pandit was stronger, he only took a step back. ‘What did I do?’ he gestured with his hands causing Mannat to sigh in disappointment.

“There has to be something wrong with you,” Mannat said. “Just to be clear… we are going hunting.”

“Hunting for what?”

Mannat paused, wondering what to say, then realized there was nothing to hide.

“Rabbits,” He said.

As for whether the Witch’s rabbit was also something white, small, and fluffy, they would know once they get there.

Pandit took some time to gather his things. He was quiet and meticulous so that others wouldn’t wake up. He didn’t want Gande on their tail, asking questions they would have a tough time answering. Mannat helped carry some of the stuff and they ran to the old farmer’s fields. He briefed Pandit on the way, and his friend finally took a breath of relief. He might know a few things about trapping rabbits, but he was really a beginner at trapping girls.

The stars had dimmed and disappeared in the sky by the time they reached the place. The world was starting to brighten. Mannat wanted to meet the old man before going through his fields, but time was tight and his heart was worried. The Witch had told him the rabbit would go in hiding after sunrise. It could mean many things; Mannat believed she wanted him to catch the rabbit before it hides.

They had less than an hour of time, and two major problems to deal with. First, there was wheat planted in the fields. As for the second problem -- Mannat stopped on the road and gazed around. The old man’s land went endlessly in all directions.

“So how do you want to do it?” Mannat said.

Pandit gave him a sharp stare. ‘You are an idiot.’ it was supposed to be saying. Soon, he was shaking his head and sighing.

“If you want to catch it before sunrise then there really is no way to do it. We would have to look for it ourselves.”

Mannat nodded. He said, “Then you go that way and I’ll go—“

“Stop.” Pandit raised his hands to show he was not kidding. “A rabbit is, after all, a burrowing animal.” He said slowly, trying to remember what his father had taught him about catching rabbits. “It won’t be in the muddy fields. It needs dry soil to create a burrow. We can try finding a dry, uncultivated patch of land. If the Witch is right, that is where we’ll find it.”

Mannat listened, and then the two started searching for an uncultivated piece of land. Their hunt was fruitless, a total failure. The red sun slowly rose in the sky and the night vanished, along with their chance of finding the rabbit. They met again on the road with their feet covered in mud.

“Did you find anything?” Pandit asked, Mannat shook his head.

“What about you?”

“Me neither. I didn’t want to say this, but I think you should talk to Sardar.”

“And what do you want to talk about?”