Gretel was pretty sure that they had just found another tavern that she and her brother would never be able to step foot in again. It didn't matter where they went, trouble seemed to follow them. Tonight was no different and the sounds of breaking furniture and smashing glass were ones with which she had become achingly familiar in recent years. The only saving grace this time, slight though it was, was that Hansel did not start this fight, he just wanted to be the one who finished it.
"Keep your hands off my sister," he snarled, lurching toward the men who had dared to insult her. It's a more familiar story than she would like, almost everywhere they go there is at least one man who considers the cut of her leather trousers an open invitation to place their hands where they shouldn't. Although he knows that she can look after herself, that she could probably take down half of the men in any of the towns they visit single handedly, instinct still drives Hansel to protect what is his.
"Calm down Hansel," she reasoned, keeping her voice low enough that only he would hear it. She wrapped her arms around his own, patting him soothingly. Even when her emotions were riled, when her anger sizzled like lightning in her veins, it was instinct to try and calm him, because she alone would hear the anger, the fury barely contained behind his words. His temper was so much darker than hers after all but they worked in exactly the same way.
He was bleeding, his nose dislodged and he was carrying a knife wound to his upper arm that would need attention. None of those things would stop him fighting though, not when he thought her reputation was on the line...not when the men here showed so little respect to her. Hansel never backed down but she knew that in this situation, with public feeling so against them from the outset, the wisest thing to do was to avoid further unnecessary confrontation. She could always handle the men involved personally tomorrow when their guard was down and they least expected it. Somehow men always seemed to overlook the fact that she was just as dangerous as her brother and she knew just how to use that to her advantage.
She tried to ignore the crowd that seethed around them, the men who jostled for position, searching for an opening. With a well aimed kick to the knee, she forced back one man who swung at Hansel while still managing to maintain her hold on him. She watched the men around them smashing tankards and chairs over each other, fists flying with no precision whatsoever as they gave in to their alcohol induced bravado. They were fools, every last one of them, ignorant peasants who bled superstition and distrust for outsiders. She doubted they had any idea what they were about to unleash with their foolish provocations before she intervened. They thought that because the siblings hunted witches that they were dangerous, well they had no idea what they were capable of doing when someone threatened them. Gretel knew all too well what could happen when someone pushed her brother too far, knew the lengths that she herself would go to to protect him from harm. If her hand was forced she would burn this town to the ground to save him.
"Let me go," gruff words this time, a growl just beneath the surface. He lowered his gaze, trying to hide his eyes from her but she knew the fury was still there. The safest thing for all of them would be for her to get him out of the tavern and back to their lodgings where the only person he could take out his temper on is her. She ducked down, moving quickly around his body until she put herself directly in front of him.
"Time to go," she exclaimed firmly. "Now!" Hansel watched her through half crazed eyes, his anger a living thing that strained and burned inside of him, yet he showed no hesitation. When she laid a hand in the centre of his chest, palm over his heart, the anger just seemed to fade away. She had no idea whether it was part of her magic or whether it was just that he trusted her judgement but she didn't question it. Instead she grabbed her brother, leading him through the riot that raged all around them and out into the street where they could disappear into the shadows like the demons that locals thought they were.