Wyrd Ways, Strange Days

Chapter One

"Poison", by Meg Myers

Home shit home, Chloe thought as she climbed out of the wagon. Arc was where she'd been born and raised, for the most part, yet the only things it held for her were bitter memories. Her father had died when she was only 14 winters old, and her mother had remarried before the next year had begun. While that had frustrated and upset Chloe to no end, it was her mother's new husband that had drove her to the southlands. Oh shit, he's still going to be here, the realization hit Chloe almost as hard as the kick she'd received the night before from a tavern brawl she'd started, David's in the local garrison. This is gonna be hella awkward.

Handing over a silver coin to her travel benefactor, some random farmer who had been heading to Arc for trade, Chloe slung her bag over her shoulder and kept a hand on her sword as she headed toward the gate. Biting her tongue as she watched the guardsmen eye her like a piece of meat, Chloe watched their eyes travel downward and stop at the calloused hand gripping the hilt of her blade. Their eyes widening, Chloe rolled her eyes and dropped her bag onto the ground before raising her good arm as a gesture of not intending any violence.

"C'mon, guys," Chloe said in a weary tone as one of the guardsmen opened her bag for inspection, "I'm not here to start anything. My mother is the barkeep, for fuck's sake. I… I'm just coming home, is all."

"Justin, what she got?" one of the guardsmen asked, his helm covering his face as he gripped at a rusted spear with shaking hands, "Anything good?"

"What the fuck-?" Chloe's brows knit and she scowled at the guardsman when the one called Justin smacked her across her backside with the flat of his blade.

"Shut yer hole! There's a price for coming into Arc," Justin said, rifling through the bag until he pulled out a jeweled earring that ended with a blue feather. Eyeing the jewelry greedily, Chloe watched something click in Justin's head as he quickly dropped it and brought the tip of his blade just under her chin, "You're a-!"

"Blue Jay, that's right," Chloe smirked, her eyes daring the guardsman to make a move, "I'm a mercenary, and if you fuck with me the other Jays will hear about it so eat shit and fuck off."

Chloe watched Justin hesitate, felt the blade scrape under her chin as it wavered for a moment before being sheathed by its owner. Eyeing the guard warily, Chloe felt the tip of her chin and smiled at the tiny amount of blood that had been drawn. Licking her fingers clean for dramatic effect, Chloe watched Justin and his cohort backpedal until they were out of her reach. Thank the fucking gods, Chloe thought as she hid her relief, If they knew I couldn't fight anymore I'd be easy pickings. Closing her bag up, she headed over to where Justin stood and held out her good hand for the earring.

"Give it," Chloe said, the commanding tone in her voice startling the young man, "Dude, it isn't mine. It's a fallen Jay's, my partner's, so cough it the fuck up."

Rolling her eyes as Justin slowly extended his hand out toward her, Chloe snatched the earring from him deftly and stowed it in her leather breeches. Kicking the mud off her boots as she moved to the paved walkway leading through the gate, Chloe opened her bag and dropped a large bottle of mead on the table the guards had been sitting at.

"Obliged," Chloe said before drawing her cowl back over her head, azure hair peeking out with a Cheshire grin visible beneath the locks of hair. Heading through the gate, Chloe again thanked the gods for not having to resort to fighting. She was tired, hungry, and weary of battle; all Chloe wanted was to see her mother and find a new place in the world now that she no longer had her old one.

The paved walkway quickly gave into rock and mud as Chloe progressed further into the village. Looking behind her at the smooth stones set into the ground, Chloe laughed to herself at the open deception. The Prescotts must still be in charge, such an open display of wealth that is a total deception. Fucking shits, all of 'em. Glancing at the storefronts and homes that lined either side of the main road in Arc, Chloe seemed to blend into the surroundings as she was neither recognized nor the focus of anyone's attention. She preferred it that way, the anonymity of everyday life. It suited Chloe to be invisible as that was how she'd become a Blue Jay in the first place.

"Where'd my wallet go?" the tax collector had asked in a heated voice, searching through the crowd as Chloe had run off hurriedly with enough money to keep her fed for days.

"This is so fucking cool!" Chloe had exclaimed as she opened the wallet to reveal the paper money used in the southlands as well as more familiar coppers and silvers, "I am a queen today. Bow."

"No one to really bow, though," Chloe muttered to herself as she caught sight of the Two Whales a little further down the road, "When Rachel found me, I hella thought I was screwed. Thought she was a narc, but she ended up being an angel instead."

Rachel had introduced her to the Blue Jays a few days after she'd pilfered the tax collector's wallet, letting Chloe have her fun as she simply watched. Chloe figured that she had just made a friend, not having a clue that she was being observed for possible initiation. Instinctively touching the necklace she wore, three dulled crossbow bolts, Chloe frowned at the memory of her fallen sister-friend.

"I wish you were here, Rach," Chloe silently whispered, as though in prayer, "You always said you wanted to meet my mom. Well, you'll have to settle for being a memory. I'm sorry."

"You there! Halt!" a gruff voice spoke, and Chloe groaned as she immediately recognized it despite having not heard it in five years. Hello, step-prick. Hearing the unsheathing of iron, Chloe's eyes widened and she hurriedly lowered her cowl.

"Dude, chill! It's me! It's your stepdaughter, asshole!" Chloe's words were hurried as David Madsen approached, his expression one of lividness until he realized who was speaking to him. Seeing the wrathful look turn into disdain, Chloe sighed in relief and approached him, "Hello 'Dad'."

"So, you come back when I'm assuming you've nothing left," David said, jutting his chin out as he took in the look of his stepdaughter, "I'd heard you went merc, joined a guild. They kick you out?"

"I quit," Chloe said through gritted teeth, the contempt in the man's voice raising her ire, "Too much bullshit. Reminded me of home."

"You have no honor, just like you have no friends here," David hotly spat, eyes narrowed as he looked at the necklace Chloe wore, "Trophies?"

"…Reminders of people I've lost…," Chloe's suddenly soft tone took David aback and his disposition softened a bit as well, "One for my dad, two for my…my angel…"

Feeling a hand clamp onto her shoulder, Chloe's head jerked up and saw the pained look on David's face. That regret? You show regret now, after you essentially threw me out of my own home? Pulling away from the attempted kindness, Chloe averted her eyes. She would never forgive David for trying to take her father's place. A swordsmith, William Price had been cleaved in two by one of his own blades for failing to meet the quality demanded by the town's governor, Sean Prescott. The truth was that Prescott simply didn't want to pay for the sword, everyone knew it, but with the magistrate in his pocket and the guardsmen paid for by him no one had said anything. No one except Chloe.

She'd spat on the ground at Prescott's feet that day, had taken the sword he'd asked her father to make before cutting him down, and had ran straight home. I can still taste the blood where you hit me, Chloe thought as her eyes slowly moved to meet with David's, You were a new guard and you hit me before trying to fuck my mother. My father hadn't even been buried and you made a move on my mother and my goddamn life, you bastard.

"Fuck you," Chloe uttered, her lips curled in a sneer as David's shoulders slumped, "You could hella drop dead right now and it'd never be enough. I'll never forgive you, asshole, so stop trying for it and leave me alone."

Turning on her heel, Chloe stomped the rest of the way to Two Whales and paid David no mind as he warily followed her for a few minutes before fading into the crowd. The Two Whales was just ahead, but Chloe was already second-guessing her decision to return north to Arc. I got out of this shit-pit for a reason. I should have stayed out. Noticing a drunk slumped near the door, Chloe smirked as she recognized the boy and nudged him with her boot.

"Get the fuck up, Waldo," Chloe said, the young man twitching before catching a face full of mud as he toppled over, "Thought you were the smart guy, dude."

"…Chloe?" Warren Graham asked through his drunken stupor, eyes widened in recognition as he tried to get onto his feet only to slip and fall on his ass, "Sorry. Not much of a scholar today, huh?"

"Hella looks that way," Chloe squatted down to Warren's current eye-level and peered at him from beneath her blue hair, "Dude, you look like hot shit bathed in cold shit. What's new?"

"A lot can change in five years, Chloe," Warren's sad tone was met with his entire body slumping further into the muck just outside the tavern, "Hard to be a scholar when there's so much crackdown on actual learning. The…," Warren motioned Chloe to come closer as his voice lowered to a whisper, "Sean Prescott has banned so much that I hardly have anything to study anymore that I haven't already learned about. You can't even practice medicine… Well, that's not entirely true. You just have to scare the shit out of him…"

Before Chloe could get an answer out of Warren about the medicine remark, the door swung open and she knocked it back with the pommel of her sword to save herself and Warren from eating a mouthful of old wood as it came within inches of their face. Looking over at Warren once the door was closed, Chloe snorted at the sight of her childhood friend having passed out. Poor guy, fucked over just because he stayed here. You're too good for this place, man, and you should've bailed like I did. A lot of people should have. There's something dark about this place. Helping Warren to a bench alongside the tavern's façade, Chloe took off her cloak and wrapped it around an unconscious Warren before heading inside.

Two Whales was bustling with patrons, the smell of sweat, mead, meat, and the sea air creating an atmosphere that had always felt like home to Chloe growing up. The tavern was a three-story building, the second-tallest next to the governor's residence, with the third story being Chloe's childhood home. Knocking the dust off her boots with a couple slight kicks to the doorway, Chloe let the door close behind her and gave her eyes a moment to adjust in the dim lighting. Some things should never change. Two long rows of tables pulled together with smaller tables set against the wall, the sight of card games, drinking, and whispered conversations in the shadowed areas of the bar brought a faint grin to Chloe's face before she headed toward the bar itself.

Joyce stood behind the bar, wiping a mug down, when Chloe sauntered up and took a seat on one of the stools. Not recognizing her grown daughter at first, Joyce smiled at her the way Chloe remembered her mother smiled at all the customers. Just enough friendliness to order whatever they were interested in, but not enough to invite any trouble. Quirking an eyebrow at Joyce, Chloe took a crust of bread off a discarded plate and mopped it in a small bowl of partially-melted butter.

"Damn, Mom. If I'd known I was this forgettable I might've heralded my arrival with a lute solo or something," Chloe teased, laughing when Joyce's eyes widened in glad recognition.

"Chloe!" the smile on Joyce's face would have broken Chloe's heart 5 winters ago; now, the sight gave her just enough warmth to meet her mother's enthusiasm with a smirk, "Chloe, when I heard you'd joined up with the-"

"Relax, Mom," Chloe reached out and placed a hand over her mother's reaching one, "I'm here and I'm alive. Didn't come back on a shield or in pieces-"

"Chloe!"

"Kidding. Seriously, it was a joke," Chloe said before two arms wrapped around her from behind in a hug that made her wince from the dull, throbbing pain in her back. Looking over her shoulder at the long blonde tresses, it took Chloe a moment to recognize yet another of her childhood friends. How many of you stayed here? You're all hella crazy… "Taylor? Taylor, you can let go now. Now, please."

"Chloe, how was the south? Is it warm there, is it nice?" Taylor said in a flurry of words, her eyes wide in awe at the blue hair and the leanly muscled form of her childhood friend, "Ohmigods, what the hell did you-"

"She was a sword-for-hire," David said, coming up from behind them both, "Evidently not one anymore, if you've come back here."

"David, don't start with her. I only just got her back," Joyce pleaded, though all three people within earshot picked up on the cautionary edge to Joyce's tone.

"S'cool, and he's right," Chloe admitted, holding up her right arm as high as it would go, "Used to use two swords, but now just the one. At least it wasn't my good arm. Fucking poisoned blades. Hella cheating."

"You've been poisoned?" Joyce asked, walking around the bar with Taylor quickly taking her spot as she prepared drinks and food for waiting customers. Letting Joyce guide her to the back room where she remembered taking meals with her mother and father, Chloe sat on a bench against the wall and leaned back as Joyce carefully peeked underneath the sweat-saturated fabric that Chloe wore under her leathers and chainmail, "Chloe, this scar is green, for cryin' out loud!"

"It's…," Chloe bit her tongue and flinched away as Joyce's fingers brushed against the throbbing wound, "It's the poison. There's a chemist three days' ride from where the Jays were camp. He treated the wound, but the poison had already fucked me over. Had to sell my horse and best gear just to have the coin to make it home, the tonics and poultices cost so much…. Ah, Mom! Stop! If I'm flinching away that means don't touch!"

"Chloe, let her look," David ordered, Chloe meeting his narrowed gaze with a warning glare. You do not ever order me around, asshole. Ever.

"So yeah, I came home in the hopes I could find something simple for work and just recuperate. I…I won't eat much, I swear-"

"You could work for the guard, a signal watch or something along those lines. Nothing overtly physical," David offered in spite of Chloe's resentment of him. The genuine nature of the offer made Chloe sick with the mixed feelings that kindness from a man she loathed brought out of her.

"David, she can hardly lift that arm," Joyce said in an admonished tone, hands on her hips before gesturing at her daughter, "She needs rest. I can find things for her to do here."

"…She's moving back in?" the disappointment in David's voice brought a smile to Chloe's face and Joyce rolled her eyes at both of them before sighing.

"She needs to rest, and she needs to work. The best place for her to do these things is here, with family. Unless you want her barracked with your men in Prescott Hall…?"

"Fuck that, no hella way," Chloe spat, the cringe on her face made her feelings apparent to the other two people in the back room, "Mom, I'll be your go-to person. Just give me something to do and let me rest when I need it. I swear, I fucking swear, if you all just let me recuperate I won't be here long."

Chloe wilted under the look of disappointment on her mother's face, but both she and Joyce knew that being home on a long-term basis was not an option. David's lack of welcome aside, the Prescott family would likely make Chloe's and Joyce's lives miserable if she stayed any longer than necessary. The azure coif of hair and growth of five winters in a mercenary guild were all that concealed her presence; eventually, those would cease to do so and Magistrate Jefferson would come calling. Hella no. I can't do that to Joyce, or even David. Dude's an ass, but no one deserves Jeffershit trying to drive them out of house and home.

"So, gimme something to do," Chloe said, re-stitching the side of her leathers that Joyce had loosened to examine the wound on Chloe's back, "I can walk easily enough and can carry a pack or a pail. Whichever you need."

"…I know just the thing, if you're wantin' to stay out of trouble here," Joyce said, walking out into the tavern with David only to return by herself with a wrapped package of bread, cheese, and dried meat, "Chloe, you remember the old tower on the hill overlooking the village?"

"Uh, yeah. I used to play there as a kid like damn near everybody else," Chloe tilted her head at Joyce's question, "Why? The old temple's been deserted for-"

"There's a girl living there. A… A 'wisewoman'. She was kind to me a few moons back when I was struck with fever. Her payment request was a weekly delivery of food and any other goods she might have need of. You want something to do? Deliver this to her."

"…There's a witch living in the tower?" Even in the south, magic is rare. Never mind an actual practitioner…

"Wisewoman, Chloe," Joyce corrected her daughter, looking at Chloe pointedly as she did so, "Do not call her a witch. She hates that and she's actually a sweetheart of a girl. Just be nice."

"I can be hella nice, Joyce," Chloe emphasized her mother's name as she said it, Joyce rolling her eyes. Chloe only referred to her mother by her given name when getting irritated, "So, what's this girl's name?"

"Maxine, though she prefers Max," Joyce said, Chloe brushing past her to make the delivery. Running after her daughter, Joyce called out from the open doorway, "Don't call her by her full name, Chloe! She hates that, too!"

Walking as quickly as her feet were able to move, Chloe hurried out of Arc and used the narrow walkway that ran along the shoreline to avoid the gate that lead toward the overlooking hill. Craning her neck, Chloe looked up and saw the old tower loom over everything below it. An ancient structure, it had crumbled less than it should have when you took into account how old people believed it to be. Her feet wet from the splashing water as she hopped from stone to stone along the waterfront, Chloe ducked into a thicket of bushes and waited for the approaching guards to pass her by. Her breath held, Chloe silently pleaded that the guards might hurry up. Gasping for air once they were out of sight and hearing, Chloe watched the sunlight begin to fade as the mid-day started to give way for nightfall and was nearly ran over by a girl coming from behind her rather swiftly. Never having seen the girl before, Chloe paid her no mind although the dampness of her breeches left a tongue-lashing on the edge of her mind. These are going to hella reek in the morning now, so thanks for that…

"Hey!" Chloe called after the girl, her voice raised just enough to catch the runner's attention. Both hands grabbing onto the handle of a full water bucket, the girl turned to look at her from underneath a mess of chestnut hair with a terrified expression on her lips, "Whoa, hey. I'm not mad or anything. Just… Just, um, watch where you're going. You nearly tripped me over into the water face-first, yeah?"

"S-Sorry," the girl meekly replied, fidgeting in place as she bowed her head, "I-I didn't mean to. Totally didn't mean to. Honest to Goddess!"

Chloe watched the girl turn back around and sprint up the hill. How does someone so tiny move so hella fast? And isn't she fucking cold? It's near winter and she's in rags and barefoot. Weird-ass people live both inside and outside this place. Chloe, why again did you return to Arc? Sighing to herself, Chloe got to her feet and headed along the opposite way of the guards. The path was well-trodden, the grass flattened or gone entirely to the point of easily tracking down which branching point on the trail led where; finding a branching trail that was more overgrown than the others, Chloe saw that it led in the direction of the overlook and headed that way with her remarkably still-intact parcel.

"Better get an ale for this, or something hot to eat," Chloe grumbled as the smell of wet, sweaty leather wafted up from her breeches, "Thank you, 'crazed barefoot girl'. Truly, you are my fucking hero. Ugh, this is why I don't fucking do my wash…and also probably why I should…"

The trail grew more and more overgrown as Chloe made her way up the hill, and for a while she feared the climb might be more arduous than she'd realized. Her worries were for nothing, however, when a wide trail cleared of all overgrowth appeared up ahead. This was a temple, long ago. Maybe some kinda magic nonsense or whatever. Seeing the prints of several different animals, Chloe smirked when she spotted a fresh pair of bare human footprints and realized the girl was likely headed up here to give the "wisewoman" water or something in payment.

Chloe had seen a few posers in the south, advisors or magicians who seemed more interested in getting things than doing anything for them. Always a price, too. Nothing is ever free when it comes to magic, fake or not. Maybe that's why real practitioners are so rare – they're afraid to show themselves. Chloe shrugged, thinking of how her mother's voice had sounded respectful when she'd talked of this "Maxine". If she's legit, it'll be so hardcore to see someone do actual magic. If she has any reason to while I'm there…

Climbing the last of the forest trail, Chloe made her way to the hilltop clearing. The smell of firewood burning and cooking stew made Chloe's stomach growl as she saw the small pot hung over an open flame just outside the tower. The door slightly ajar, Chloe spotted what she guessed was candlelight emanating from inside the old structure. Nobody comes to play here now, I bet. Scary magic lady and her hocus-bullshit. Parcel wedged between her arm and side, Chloe took a look around the area and spotted a small bench that had been set near the cliff's edge; sitting down, Chloe winced at the pain her scar brought as she bent her back a little to pop aching bones and muscle. Spent too long lying in the back of that farmer's damned cart. Ought to have hella stretched out more often instead of just lying on my ass when I was both awake and asleep. Nice one, Chloe. Keep this up and you'll be aged as fuck in no time.

"E-Excuse me…?" a familiar voice asked, and Chloe looked over her shoulder to see the barefoot girl from the waterfront standing near the pot as four guardsmen approached with someone dressed in clean, fine clothes between them, "Y-You know I told you no already, so just leave me alone-"

"My father owns this village, bitch, and what I say goes will be backed by him," Nathan Prescott said, pointing at the girl as Chloe watched unnoticed, "If I want you to come to my family's hall and do magic for us you will do-"

"It's not some foolish trickery for you to laugh and jeer at, you ass," the barefoot girl said, her tone suddenly commanding as it dawned on Chloe that the girl might be the "Maxine" she'd been told to deliver the food to, "Magic is not a toy, and you can't afford it. Or me."

"So you're telling me no?" Nathan asked, his rage easily spotted and Chloe set the package down to move for her sword, "Nobody tells me what to do: not you, not any of those shitbags down in the village. Guards, seize-"

"I am not some weak child to be toyed with, boy!" the barefoot girl, Max, said in a booming voice. To Chloe, it was as though the wind lent this small girl the strength of its currents to Max from somewhere beyond her diminutive form, "Lay a hand on me and find the hand forever decrepit, aged years beyond the rest of your frail form! I will not be taken by you, your father, or any lord!"

Not gonna lie, Chloe thought as she watched a shadow seem to fall over the guardsmen and Prescott, That's pretty fucking cool. Ducking down to hide behind the bench so as to not disturb what was going on, Chloe peered over the wooden backrest and watched as the guardsmen began to shiver from an unseen coldness gripping them. Their breath visible, the guardsmen glanced back and forth from Nathan Prescott to the barefoot girl until Nathan reluctantly stepped back a few paces.

"This isn't over," Nathan hissed, eyes narrowing at the small girl as she began to visibly relax when Nathan turned and left down the hill with his guardsmen quaking in their armor.

"…It never is…," Chloe heard the girl say with a sigh, and she could have sworn there was a deep sadness in the words spoken. Chloe pondered that sadness, the loneliness the girl must have to live with, and nearly forgot that she was standing in plain sight until the girl coughed, "Um, hello…?"

"Oh! Uh, yo," Chloe said in greeting, her teeth gritted at how stupid she'd just sounded, "Um, I'm the girl you nearly ran over down at the waterfront-"

"I… I remember," the barefoot girl said, slowly approaching when her eyes caught the sight of Chloe's delivery, "Joyce sent you? Goddess, I must've looked affright just now! Um, give me a moment to change and I'll gladly repay your kindness in delivering that food."

Hella yes! Score one for Chloe! Chloe thought to herself cheerily as she took a seat on a stump next to the crackling fire. Setting the package between her feet, she held out her good hand to warm up, the right hand numb along with the rest of her arm ever since the poisoned blade had sliced her back up. Feeling the weariness seep away from her bones, the corner of Chloe's lips slowly turned upwards in a smile as she relished the warmth. A fire and food. Now all I need is music and drink! And, well, y'know…

"So," the girl said as she emerged from the tower, "Who are you, exactly?"

Chloe was glad the parcel wasn't in her hands because she was certain it would've fell to the ground. Clad in leather breeches that cut off just above her knees and the pelt of a deer that had been stitched and molded into a vest, the barefoot girl had brushed her hair out of her face and wore a deer skull with a set of antlers jutting out from the sides. Her blue eyes seemed to glow in the dusky light as the barefoot girl walked over. Uh…

"You… Are you okay?" the barefoot girl asked, tilting her head as she looked at Chloe with mild amusement, "Lose your tongue somewhere between the bench and the fire?"

"…What? Hella no, um, that is to say I am Chloe," Chloe rolled her eyes and put a hand to her forehead. Dumbass. "My name is Chloe. I'm Joyce's daughter."

"Max," Max replied, offering a hand in greeting. Shaking the proffered hand, Chloe noticed all the small nicks and healed cuts on the fingers and palm. Rough work, magic, "I like your hair, by the way. The color of the sky. Sky Hair."

"…Did you just give me a nickname?"

"Not at all, Sky Hair."

"You hella did."

"I'm allowed," Max replied simply, poking at the simmering stew with a wooden ladle before scooping up two bowlfuls of rich, meaty food. Handing one bowl to Chloe, Max set her own food down and filled two cup with a dark red wine, "Here. Food and drink for a weary traveler."

"What's the cost?" Chloe asked, cautiously taking the wine and sniffing her cup's contents, "Doesn't magic always have a cost?"

"…Consider it a delivery payment, and a kindness," Max said with a slight frown, "I don't always ask for payment. Only when I need to get by, and even then it is typically simple things like food, clothing, or shelter for a time."

Chloe ate with Max in silence, savoring the wild vegetables and boar meat in the stew as she slurped down the broth. Offering the package to Max, Chloe watched as she sipped at her wine how Max scooped up mouthfuls of her food with the crusts of bread until nothing was left. Watching the wisewoman lick her fingers clean, Chloe found herself smiling again as Max blushed from the intense watchfulness.

"W-What?"

"How are you so powerful, and yet so adorable?"

"Gee, you're not blunt at all," Max said, rolling her eyes as she snorted, "Wowser."

Chloe had made to speak again when her back twitched and a throbbing pain rendered her right arm limp as a length of rope; cursing under her breath, Chloe began to try and move her fingers when a pair of small hands delicately held her motionless right hand. Looking up, Chloe saw an intense look of concentration on Max's face as her eyes almost seemed to leak blue light from somewhere deep within her. Gingerly moving her hands up Chloe's numb arm, Chloe watched as Max inspected her arm and then placed a hand just above where the scar was. Seeing the wisewoman nibble her bottom lip, Chloe wondered what Max was up to when she moved to sit face-to-face with her.

"Whoa! Up in my personal space, don't you think?" Chloe asked, her earlier playful banter dissolving into more honest awkwardness, "Um, what?"

"You were poisoned," Max's words were a statement, not a question, "I know the compounds, recognized the scent. D-Do you not know this is slowly killing you, Chloe?"

"Wait, what?" Chloe asked, eyes widening at the idea of dying over a shallow cut.

"Whatever treatment you received worked on the symptoms but not the poison itself," Max explained, taking Chloe's good hand into both of her own as a gentile smile played across her lips, "I…I can heal you. That will cost you, however, and as it is your life on the line the debt will not be small."

"Dude," Chloe blurted out, not thinking entirely straight due to fear of slowly dying from the poison apparently still in her system, "If you can heal me so I can use both my arms again I am hella yours. I fucking swear it."

"…You sure?" Max asked with a hint of anxiety that was picked up on by Chloe, "You don't know what you're offer-"

"Geez, Max, just do it! I… If I'm going to die I would prefer it to not be some slow-and-painful bullshit, okay? Let me die on my feet, not on my knees or in a sickbed!"

Max flinched, and Chloe reached for the strange girl's hands and held onto them, smiling with tears welling up. Please, Chloe thought, Please don't turn me away.

"…Alright," Max conceded, her posture straightened out as a look of resolve took shape, "I will heal you. I will save your life, Chloe, and in return I will claim it."

The Sun had long passed away for the moon to take its place when Chloe found herself almost entirely naked on the hilltop. Looking out over the cliff's edge at the village and waterfront below, attired in only her threadbare underclothes, Chloe felt it odd that she wasn't cold in the autumnal evening. Max, Chloe thought with a sidelong glance at the sorceress preparing an altar that had previously been used as a workshop table for Max's various tools and implements. That's what she said people referred to her as from where she was originally from, a sorceress. A healer, no fucking doubt, but that trick with the wind and her voice was magic. Someone that tiny can't yell that loud. No fucking way. Walking over to the fire, Chloe squatted down at a reasonable distance and warmed her body up out of instinct. Maybe it's the glow, the light, with the night sky so cloudy.

A slight cough took Chloe's attention away from her own thoughts and she looked up to see Max motioning for her to approach. While Chloe had barely any clothes on, Max was still attired in her earlier leathers and pelt save for an intricate pattern of branches and vines painted onto her face. Eyes glowing like blue embers, Max helped Chloe onto the altar and unsheathed a stone dagger. Seeing Chloe's eyes widen at the crude instrument, Max gave her a kind smile.

"Easy, Chloe. No human sacrifice today," Max teased, Chloe biting her cheek to keep from arguing or making a smartass remark when she knew it would likely be better not to do so at the moment, "If you prefer, you can close your eyes."

Chloe didn't want to close her eyes, however; she wanted to see everything that Max did. If this sorceress was going to save her life, Chloe was going to watch it happen. Watching as Max drew the knife across the inside of her own palm, Chloe followed the dripping blood down into a small bowl that she'd seen Max mixing an assortment of fluids and ground herbs into. Hearing the bowl's contents hiss as each lengthy drop of blood traveled from Max's hand to the container, Chloe felt her body tense at the idea of drinking a bowl of whatever was being made. Uh, Max? Max, do I have to drink that? Do I have to?

"What the fuck is that?" Chloe blurted out, pointing with her good hand toward the bowl as Max looked up in confusion before something seemed to dawn on her.

"Right, I forgot," Max said as she took a thick piece of fabric and submerged it in the bowl's simmering contents, "A remedy that will halt the poison's progression and heal your back…for the most part. That green scar will remain, but it will be nothing more than a scar. As for restoring your body from the poison's affects, well, that takes something…something more…"

"Uh, 'something more'…?"

"Just hush and roll onto your stomach," Max said, screwing up her lips after rolling her eyes, "Or get up and leave."

"You said you'd heal me!" Chloe's eyes were wide as she flinched under Max's glare.

"And you're acting like a child, asking question after question!" Max put her free hand on her hip before pointing at Chloe with the stone dagger, "You want healed?"

"Yes!"

"Then shut the fuck up! Wowser, you're a loudmouth!"

Chloe grumbled and turned over onto her belly. Fucking childish loudmouth, huh? This whole goddamn mess was a mistake! I should've never come back to Arc, I swear I don't hella know what the fuck I was thinking and-

Chloe's mind suddenly felt at ease when Max began to dab at the wound on Chloe's back, the bowl's contents soothing her mind and body as the real work began...

To Be Continued...

Author's Note -

I've wanted to do a story along these lines for a while now, fantasy being what got me into reading stories as well as trying my hand at writing them ever since I was a kid. I still remember the first actual novel I read, a hardback, leather-bound copy of The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Originally, this was going to be a Dragon Age/Life is Strange crossover.

I decided to make it my own thing instead, a story like Intersecting Worlds, Interconnected Hearts - something I could work into an entirely original story if I choose to do so.

Anywho, I hope you enjoy the start of this new story! I don't know how long it'll go, but the updates will likely be weekly as I have a lot of projects on my plate at the moment.

Read, review, and I'll see you all later!

Stay hella, Cinnamon and Sinnamon Rolls!