A Flower Blooms - A Prologue To RtW

The forest appeared desolate. All around were the b.a.r.e trunks of trees and the empty branches. The ground was a dull white. There was no other living thing in sight outside of their group.

Here was nature at its harshest, Zero thought to herself. Though such a landscape was technically familiar to her from the many memories she obtained, experiencing it in person gave somewhat of a different feeling.

The witches walked silently between the trees, searching for any clues in the monotonous landscape. Suddenly, Jane motioned for them to stop. While it wasn't very obvious from a distance, just in front of them there was an area of disturbed snow. A path had been trampled through the snow and although the light flurries and wind had obscured the trail somewhat and no clear footprints were present, it was obvious that people had passed through here in a sizable group.

Jane stared at the snow with intent focus. Then, trails of light appeared in the air. A dull cl.u.s.ter of strings clumped together heading in one direction along the gouge in the snow. There were a few scattered and faint light trails crossing the path and heading in other directions as well. "They went that way," Jane pointed.

Hearing this, Zero straightened up and began walking forward with purpose. Finally they were done with wandering around. They had a path to follow and they knew where they were going.

The other parts of the forest looked just the same. It was rather bright as no leaves blocked the sunlight, and the white snow just made the sunlight all the more intense.

"I don't know why anyone would be wandering outside now," Elaine said. "Spending time freezing outside right now is definitely not what I would call a good time."

"Well, you can take it out on them once we find them," Zero said. "At least we get some action to make things interesting. Once that starts you will get warmed up real fast."

They continued marching forward, and then Zero's foot sunk into a small pit that had been covered with snow, causing her to trip forward. She pushed herself back up, dusting off the snow that now covered the front of the furs. "Ugh, we better find something soon."

"We probably won't," Kelly interjected. "Catching up to a group on the move will take time. We might even be out here for weeks, or even longer. Who knows?."

"Yeah I know," Zero said. "I was trying not to think about that."

"Cheer up, it is always possible that we find them soon," Rachel said. "Once that happens we can finish our job and get back. So focus your attention on our surroundings, we might discover something useful."

Suddenly, there was a loud crack followed by a thump. Zero spun around and in an instant her sword was out and pointed forward. There was no one in sight.

The rest of the witches were also tense after reacting to the commotion. Jane used her ability and the lines of light appeared again. But they were all the faded trails, and there was no fresh movement. It would seem that there was no one around here but them.

Zero spotted something. There was a large branch on the ground behind them on the path.

"It must have been a branch that broke and fell," Zero said. "I don't remember that branch being there when we walked past."

"Let's move on," Jane said. "We can't afford to waste time."

***

The sky was starting to grow darker. They had been walking for hours, with the cold air seeping through the gaps in their fur coats. Zero didn't know how much longer she could go on for. As for how everyone else was, she felt that they would probably be exhausted as well, but they didn't let anything show.

Zero pushed herself forward, one step at a time, steadily taking in deep breaths, though the cold air stung, causing her to cough.

They walked into a small clearing. There were a few fallen trees scattered around. Rachel spoke up. "This looks like a good spot. I think we should stop here for today and get ready for the night."

Jane had a small frown. "We probably have enough daylight left to go a bit further. Though I suppose we could stay here. Very well then, we can set up camp here."

After so long, the witches were glad to be able to put down the things they were carrying. The tents were unpacked and pitched and the supplies were collected. A patch of snow was cleared out for a fire. Since there was plenty of wood around, it was simple to find a large piece of a log to put into the pit.

Claire summoned up her fire, which enveloped the wood for several seconds. Finally, the log was able to catch ablaze. Some more wood was added into the mix and soon a large fire was started. The witches sat down around the fire while they cooked some of the rations they brought.

"Thanks for the fire Claire," Zero said. "It is really cold out here."

"It is," Claire said with a sigh. "One would think that by being a witch that makes fire, I would never be cold again. Unfortunately I can't maintain a fire for such a long time. Only now do we really get to stay away from the cold."

They moved a bit closer to the fire. The snow clumped on their furs melted, leaving the outside somewhat damp. There were a few small flurries of snow falling from the sky, but the heat from the fire melted them before it landed.

"How are you feeling?" Rachel asked.

"I'm fine," Zero said. "It's not so cold anymore, though I am a bit hungry now. I'm just glad to be sitting down now."

"That's great. We should be able to eat soon. The sausages are boiling in the water we got from melting the snow." Rachel turned back toward the pot and the rod inside began stirring the mixture.

"The fire might attract people or animals," Zero noted, staring at the smoke that was slowly rising toward the sky.

"Hmmm, that might be a good thing," Elaine said with a chuckle. "If the bandits think we are easy targets then it saves us the work of tracking them down. And that means we spend less time out here. Wouldn't that be great?"

"We'll be taking turns on lookout during the night," Jane said. "If anyone or anything approaches, wake us up. We will all have to count on each other for this."

There was a dull hum in the air as the chilly wind blew past. The tree branches swayed and the fire flickered, though it remained lit. Zero tugged the edges of her cloak closer and huddled a little more. The wind subsided again, and the flurries of snow that had been kicked up settled down again, giving everything a new cover of white dust.

Rachel came by, holding a bowl of soup. "Here, we just finished making this. Careful, it is still a bit hot."

"Thank you," Zero said. She held the bowl carefully and it cooled quickly exposed to the cold air. Rachel came back with another bowl and sat down with her as they began eating.

Jane was telling a story about one of her adventures. It was fascinating to listen to, and it was clear that the others were also enjoying it. She had clearly seen a lot in her time.

By the time the sun was setting, everyone was finished eating. There were only two tents, so they had to pack themselves into the tents rather tightly. But Zero found it rather cozy as she snuggled in with Rachel and Elaine and drifted to sleep.

***

Zero awoke to Rachel shaking her shoulder. Pushing herself out of the rolled up blanket, she got up and opened her eyes.

"It is your turn to keep watch now," Rachel said. "Once the sun rises, wake the rest of us up so we can get moving."

Zero stepped out into the gloomy clearing, lit only by the moon and some stars. The forest was silent save for the light whistling of the wind. Still, it was cold, even colder than the day. There seemed to be no one around, so there was nothing to do but wait. Still, Zero paid close attention listening to her surroundings even as she squatted down with her back to a log and wrapped her arms around herself.

Finally, the dark of the night began to give way to day. It had started with the horizon brightening, but soon the world was lit up once more as the sun emerged. Zero rose to wake up the rest of the group and soon they were ready to continue with the journey.

For many hours, it was much the same as the previous day. Following the trail, they continued to go forward through the snow covered woods. But several hours later, they came across a grisly scene.

There were still deep gouges through the snow only partially covered up by the additional snowfall which showed a site where great turmoil occurred. There was a wooden cart broken and overturned, and on some of the trees nearby there were traces of blood. Fallen items littered the ground, partially covered by snow.

Jane walked forward slowly and surveyed the scene. She activated her ability and the lines of light headed out into the distance, though there were stray strands heading to the side. "There was an attack, and it looked like a few tried to scatter, though it seemed most ran in the same direction. We should be able to follow the main group that way."

She glanced at some of the objects that had fallen out of the cart. "It seemed that whoever attacked didn't take everything, though what is left doesn't seem to be of much value. Perhaps they didn't feel it was worth their time."

After examining the cart, they looked around the surrounding area, finding nothing.

"It looks like some of them got away, we should follow to look for where they went," Jane said. "Though it seems rather strange that there aren't any bodies here. I can't imagine bandits having the decency to bury the people they just robbed and killed. It seems very unlikely but possibly they did manage to get away. We should go after them"

"We ought to be able to catch up soon, right?" Elaine asked.

"The trail is getting fresher, so we will reach them sooner or later," Jane said. "Let's get moving again."

The group of witches began walking again, with more vigor than before. Jane periodically checked if they were still headed in the right direction, and they continued to make steady progress. The snowfall had halted for the moment and the wind was silent.

In the late afternoon, they finally arrived near a cliffside. Jane used her ability again, and the trails lead straight into a cave entrance with nothing coming out.

"The bandits and any possible survivors are most likely in that cave," Jane said. "We will rest for now and attack tomorrow morning once we are in better shape. No fire tonight, we can't afford to warn them that we are here."

"We finally found them," Elaine said. "Are you ready for tomorrow, Zero?"

"Of course," Zero said with some excitement. "Finally all of this work will be paying off. Tomorrow we can finally fight. I am looking forward to it."

"We all need to remember to stay safe," Rachel said. "It isn't worth it to trade the lives of one of us for even dozens of them. We only have one life, and each one of use is valuable"

"Right, I will keep that in mind," Zero said.

"Let's discuss the battle plans," Jane said. "We will strike early tomorrow morning at first light, so be sure to rest early today. With any luck, they will not be prepared for us."

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