Chestnut 8

[wallwalker]

Name: Wallwalker
Story: Only One
'Verse: The Witch And The Tower
Colors: Chestnut 8. Broken Twig
Supplies and Styles: Canvas, Graffiti (Sprinting), Photography
Word Count: 644
Rating: SFW
Warnings: No standard warnings apply.

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This was a good day to relax.

The Witch was sitting by a rushing stream, listening to the sounds of the water, her back resting against the smooth bark of one of the tall trees. Bugs chirped and whistled all around her, and if she strained her ears she could hear other animals in the distance, creatures that ran or crawled through the forest. She rarely tried to catch them; hunting and trapping, when it was necessary, was left to the older and stronger villagers, and she didn't want the animals around her getting too used to people. That was a dangerous thing for all involved.

The water that ran by her was swift and noisy, particularly so. If she looked closely she could see the little fish that swam there, the tiny lights of their bodies. Even the fish created their own light, in a place like this; they didn't have the wit to use magic to enhance their sight like people could, and so they had found or created other ways to cope with the darkness. The Witch had thought they were much more interesting when she had been younger; she remembered wanting to take one from the forest and keep it in a glass bowl, so that she could watch it swim around for hours. She never had, of course; her Aunt never would've allowed it. She had been a little girl, after all, and not clever or mature enough to know that the little fish would've suffered in its confinement, even if it had been brief. Animals lived better in the places where they had been born, or so her Aunt had always believed.

Besides, watching them in the stream, where there were other fish to play with and insects to leap at and eat, was far more interesting. This was one of her favorite spots for watching them - she'd seen several such places, and she'd yet to find one better than this. Wasn't there anyone else who wanted to see them? She'd be happy to share some of her favorite places, if not all of them...

She frowned then, reminded of one of the few real mysteries that she'd never been able to unravel. The woods only seemed mysterious to outsiders, or so the other villagers said, but this was different. This was something that no one would ever speak of, even back when she'd tried to ask the questions.

The mystery was simply this: She had never met another child in the forest. She had seen a handful of fellow villagers working at their own tasks, but never anyone younger, never anyone from another village. And she knew that they must exist; she had helped her Aunt entertain visitors from elsewhere in the woods, once in a great while.

She had never even seen signs of anyone else, in fact. She always kept her eyes open for anything that might mean she wasn't alone - twigs broken in strange places, disturbances in the cries of the bugs, bits of debris or marks that someone else might've left behind. And yet, save for the few marks that she had left behind, she had seen nothing. Was there no one else who wanted to explore the forest? She had been exploring since she was a child; surely there were others who wanted to do the same! Were they simply not allowed to wander, and forced to stay at home by caregivers harsher than her Aunt? What a sad life that must be!

Someday, when she was older, she'd find answers to those few strange mysteries. There were so many things her Aunt would not tell her now, things that she wanted to know so badly it drove her mad. And when she found out, she'd tell everyone. It was no fun at all to be kept in the dark.

Comments

[bookblather]

Ooh, that's ominous. A nice little note in this otherwise peaceful and lovely scene.

[wallwalker]

Thank you! I'm still trying to feel out this setting, but there's definitely something strange going on with this setting's relationship to its characters.