I was asked by a friend to define my beliefs on witch craft. Instead of giving her a verbal explanation I gave her this. Am I doing it right?
oOo
"Yukko… What makes a witch?"
It was a curious question, no more mundane or unenlightened than any of Watanuki's previous questions, but it peaked Yukko's interest anyway.
"Why do you ask?" The pipe fox was curled around Watanuki's neck, squeaking softly as it slept on its perch.
"Just curious." And that honestly seemed to be it.
Yukko smiled and lounged on her couch, her teak pipe brought to her lips as she smiled at her young servant. "Well, that depends on your belief of what witchcraft is." Watanuki frowned and glared at the older woman for her enigmatic answer. He just wanted a straight explanation. "Everything is relative in this world, Watanuki, one man's truth might just as well be another man's lie." Smoke billowed from her lips as the lengthy woman spoke, pausing every so often to take another long pull from the pipe delicately clasped in her fingers. "Witchcraft has a duality to it just like everything else. On the one hand, it is a skill, a trait learned from a guild just as any other marketable service might be made. On the other it is a devotion to a cleansing and finding of peace with ones inner self, an attempt at spiritual unity with the natural and supernatural worlds." Yukko smiled at Watanuki.
"So… Which one are you?"
Burgundy eyes smiled and the older woman placed her pipe on its stand as she stood. "I am both. I have lived long enough and seen enough to know that I am skilled in my trade as well as the fact that I have found my peace with this and all worlds."
Watanuki stared at the older woman before he nodded and began to return to his chores wordlessly. Yukko paused, her curiosity getting the better of her as she called out to her servant.
"Yes, Yukko?"
There was a new aura around her servant, a calm one, a collected one, one that was more content than the young man had ever been before and Yukko smiled softly before speaking. "You will understand, one day, why it is so important for a witch to be at peace with themselves." And with that, she turned and left for her room, leaving a frowning Watanuki behind.
One day, he would find himself within his craft.