Witch hunter Verus

How could I have tripped like that!?

Samuel got up again, his face now covered in grass and specks of dirt. His legs were in serious pain from running for so long, and felt like they couldn't support his weight anymore. He had to give up the chase.

Just moments earlier, right as he was about to grab onto the huffing and puffing Oliver, he tripped over a mole heap. With his signature style of drama, he gracefully spun in mid-air before planting his face into the dirt. The two other people giving chase stopped to check up on him.

“You idiots, don’t mind me, chase those villains!” He cried out. But it was already too late.

The three now sat there, out of breath, looking at the figures in the distance. They'd gotten away. Defeated, they took a brief rest and started the long walk back.

While Oliver and Chiyo hid in the hills earlier that day, a horseback messenger had been sent to the provincial capital to declare a witch alarm. The Inquisition, who were in charge of witch-related matters, would soon send a witch hunter to the village to investigate. While witches were a rare sight to come across these days, the Inquisition still held on to a small number of hunters. Just in case.

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It was high noon on the next day when a witch hunter arrived at the village. Samuel was busy theatrically retelling his account of the previous night to a crowd on the town square, when everyone’s attention was diverted by hoof claps coming from the southern gate. A massive man on horseback was approaching the village.

The power of the sun distorted the light in a way that made the horse appear to float above the road. He paid the guard no mind and rode past him onto the main street. He stopped in front of the crowd on the square and dismounted.

He was truly enormous, standing at around 7 foot 5. It couldn’t have been a normal person, perhaps a half-beast. They were known for their large stature and enormous physical power. He was dressed in a long red mantle, and wore a flat-brimmed hat. The only weapon the he carried were two spiked steel brass knuckles covering his shovels of hands. To Samuel it appeared as if he had claws.

“The name’s Verus. Where did the witch go?”

Verus was a man of few words. He should’ve been excited to finally get a hunting assignment after years of peace. But even if that was the case, he didn’t show it outwardly.

Before this menacing giant of a man, Samuel was too stunned to speak for once. He simply pointed to the west. Verus nodded, mounted his horse again, and took off.

These two days would certainly be the talk of the town for years to come.

                                                                           *

Right before I came within arm’s reach of Samuel, he tripped and fell. We were home free. I was still laughing, and Chiyo couldn’t help but burst out in laughter as well at the sight of Samuel’s unique way of falling. What a liberating feeling it was to be here in this moment.

After making sure that our pursuers had really given up, we both collapsed from exhaustion where we stood and fell asleep in the grass. Only a few hours later we were awoken again by the rising sun and increasing heat.

While eating our breakfast consisting of crackers and cheese, Chiyo said something that made my heart skip a beat.

"Everything was so hectic yesterday that forgot to say something: thank you for sticking with me. You've been very courageous."

"I just did what I had to do", I shyly replied, "there's no way I could've left you there like that."

My forced humbleness was met with an immediate retort.

"Left me there? You know, I don't know if you noticed, but I can do magic! Even if I don't know how to control it, I would've gotten out of that situation without your help, y'know." She said this in an irritatingly smug voice. 

"And why did you decide to 'help' anyway? Am I not a witch, someone to be feared?"

I didn't know what to say, so I decided to be honest. I came clean.

“I, uh…didn’t want to live a boring life anymore. I wanted to go on an adventure and you, uh, were the right person at the right time, I guess?” The words came out all wrong.

Luckily Chiyo seemed to be content with this answer. Moreover, she giggled.

“Oh… So that’s how it is. You just wanted to leave your village of maniacs behind, I get that. You do strike me as the adventurous type. I was just thinking you had the impression I was some kind of damsel in distress. Sorry for talking down to you like that.”

“It’s decided then. Off to adventure we go!” She yelled while pumping her fist in the air. I gave a confused fist pump as well in response. 

 Who was this girl even? I had no idea. Yet I'd turned my whole world upside down just to be with her in this moment. And I couldn't be happier.

Silence now descended over the hill. The only sound was the rustling of the grass as we sat there. I snuck a glance at her. She definitely noticed but didn’t seem to mind as we enjoyed the cool summer’s breeze together.

"Chiyo", I broke the peaceful quiet, "please tell me more about yourself. You're one big mystery to me."

"Well, you already know my name, ask away and I'll do my best to answer your questions."

"First of all. Tell me about your homeland, I’m curious to know what it’s like there"

She sank back into the grass with a long sigh. “Oh Aomori, I miss your views!”.

“Aomori?” A place I’d never heard of.

“It’s where I come from, and it’s the most beautiful place in the whole world! In autumn I love to get lost in the bright-red forests that just keep on going forever, The colors and the scents make me feel so soothed. Come springtime, I’d visit Hirosaki castle park with my friends to watch the cherry blossoms bloom, and see the whole place turn into a pink wonderland. There really is no place like it.”

"That sounds wonderful. I’d love to visit it with you.”

Chiyo grinned.

“It’s a promise, okay?” She gleefully said.

“It's a promise!"

A warm feeling washed over me. We would find our way to Chiyo's homeland, and I'd be with her for the whole journey. But I still had a mountain of questions to ask her.

"I have another question. How exactly did you end up here? You must've traveled for a long time to end up lost so far from home."

Chiyo shook her head. “I still have no idea how I ended up in this place. I just went to bed as usual, and when I woke up I was by a river in the forest, in front of this creepy shrine. It seriously gave me the chills, why would that be in such a remote location?”

What a strange story, it seemed impossible to me, but I'd seen her pull of a few impossible feats just today.

“Is that close to here?”, I asked, “Maybe we should take a detour and go investigate it first before we go to the capital. We might learn something new.”

Chiyo seemed to go over a mental map of the surrounding area before replying. “It’s about a day and half’s walk from the village. Once you reach the forest west of here it’s a few more hours until you get to the river. Man, I was seriously starving after walking for so long, it felt like my whole body was burning up! I was so glad to see civilization again. When that guard and her wife took me in and gave me a warm meal and a bath, I was seriously about to cry with joy.”

After that she told me all kinds of things about her homeland, and got more and more excited. She really loved talking about her home. Perhaps it was the thought of returning that gave her the courage to keep going, despite all the hardships she had faced in the past days.

After breakfast Chiyo got up and took over the backpack.

“Let’s take turns carrying the backpack, I don’t want to put all the burden on you, alright? Let’s take it easy from here on out.”

We went on our merry way towards the shrine Chiyo had mentioned, still blissfully unaware of the witch hunter closing in on our position.