ATTEMPT #2
Days had passed since their last utterly failed attack. The group had gathered once again under the town's oak tree. The people who passed became even more suspicious of the children as a body bag was now placed in the middle.
"Since our last plan didn't... go as expected..." Feiten glanced over at his bandaged up buddy who had refused to tell them exactly what that woman had done to him. "We'll move on to plan two."
"Are you sure this is going to work?" The small Sacrier voiced her concerns. Of course she didn't typically question her leader, but after seeing what happened to Peita, she began to wonder if messing with that witch was the best of ideas.
The boy almost looked taken back by her doubt in him. "Of course I am!" He defended himself. "After all, this time we got her. While you were doing whatever you all were doing over the past few days, I actually talked to some of the adults and found out the woman's weakness." With that, the others stared at him incredulously.
"REALLY?!" They questioned in a unison.
Smirking at their newfound interest, he nodded his head. "Yeah and this is how we're going to exploit it."
As dusk approached and the people of the village started to retire for the night, the kids began to put their plan in motion. They had all underhandedly tricked their parents into 'letting them stay at one another's house', so that was one less problem they had to worry about.
"Are you sure you understand the plan?" The Oug asked Maia as he handed her the bag and the box.
"I'm sure." The Sacrier responded before taking the items and storing them underneath her arm.
"Alright, I wish you luck then." And with that Feiten watched as the young girl marched off towards the house.
Raylen walked up beside his friend, all the while never letting his eyes leave the girl. "Are you sure she's going to be alright?" He asked worriedly.
Laying a hand on the boy's shoulder Feiten gave him a reassuring grin. "I'm positive, after all she's pretty smart, if not smarter than Peita."
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" The boy behind them fumed as he took offence to his leader's words.
'Where Peita failed, I WILL succeed.' Maia hyped herself as she surveyed the house, looking for an entrance; and as luck would have it, there seemed to be a cracked window! Taking this opportunity, she ran over to it and pushed on it with all of her might until it finally opened up enough for her to get in. Hopping onto the windowsill, she slipped into the house. Her eyes scanned the area for any signs of the woman and seeing since not all the lights were off, she suspected that the creature was still up.
Perfect.
In her room, the white-haired woman quietly sat at her wooden desk; a book firmly grasped in her hands. With eyes that ran along the pages, she took in every single detail as if so-desperately needing to hang on to each word scribed into the thin unpigmented paper. Her focus unwavering from the object in her hands. The girl's heart began to beat at an erratic pace, her grip on the recent volume tightened slightly as her exhilaration only doubled at the anticipation. She had waited so very long for this to happen and FINALLY the moment had come.
His tattooed arm slithered it's way around the petite woman's waist. With a small tug, the blonde was pulled against his toned form. "Mayanna," His gruff voice sent a tingle down her spine which in turn made her breath hitch in her throat. Dear Cra did she love how he said her name. "N-Nite..." She trailed off. The way his name flowed from her plump lips sounded needy.
More than she had anticipated.
Where had her resolve gone? Had it melted away when she found herself held so endearingly in his muscular arms? Only moments ago had she stormed into his room to confront him about how nonchalantly he professed his feelings for her in front of her family and friends while they were dining. Up until now she had convinced them all that he was a mere acquaintance, her fiance that her parents had chose for her even believed it. Yeah, she didn't love her betrothed in the slightest, but the look upon his face when this damned man uttered his feelings for the young woman nearly shattered her. The unbothered, cold distant look in his eyes, masked only by the faux grimace was enough for reality to crash down on her, mocking her dreams that the two might hold some type of fondness for each other in the future. What a fools dream. A dream that she wanted to discard of immediately. Though, her family, parents, they were counting on her to form this union with her fiance. Their dreams were held so delicately within her hands. And for their wishes to be granted, she needed to stop NOW... After all:
This was wrong.
"I-I can't do this" She stammered over her words before pushing him away. Her head shook vigorously as she took a few steps back, followed by more. "I h-have a fiance. My family is counting on me. And you, YOU will not get in the way of i-" She was cut off swiftly as the back of her legs connected with something soft yet firm. A squeak made it's way from her mouth as her footing was now lost. The poor woman's world was now literally spinning in front of her very eyes. How could she make such a careless move?! It had practically been drilled into her to watch her every step and now look at her: she was tumbling over like a toddler that was just learning how to walk. Clenching her eyes closed, she waited for the inevitable, yet, it never came. Slowly she peaked open a eye to see what had happened and there stood Nite. She dangled loosely in his arms.
"Now... what were you saying about your fiance and family?"
His words had snapped her back to reality as she blinked once. Twice. Three times before understanding the predicament she was in. Yeah he had caught her and she was highly grateful for it, but somewhere in the process he had lowered her onto the quilted bed. Now she could only peer up at him as he purposely straddled her to the furniture. Heartbeat speeding up passed what she considered healthy, her mind began to race as one singular thought entered her head. 'Was this actually about to happen?'
Just as things began to heat up, a loud crash echoed throughout the Eniripsa's home. She paused as her attention was forcibly ripped from the book. Her eyebrows were knitted in confusion. Who in the blazing shukrute was stupid enough to break in? Then realization dawned on her and was swiftly followed by irritation. Had that child from the other night seriously tried to sneak into her place yet again?! Had he really not learned his lesson?
Setting the book down with almost enough strength to damage it, she abruptly stood up from the seat. The young woman stormed out of her room and near the source of the sound, though what she found only furthered her confusion. There was nothing. Only a scattered arrangements of potions, plants and books. That and a scarce draft that wavered through a cracked window-
She paused.
Her attention bore itself into the window. It was always open enough so that a breeze could get in from time to time, not enough that somebody could fit through. As she attempted to understand what was going on, the sound of something coming in contact with the floor pulled her from her thoughts. She turned her head in the direction of the sound and found...a cookie on...the...floor? Walking over to it, the lone sugary treat sat idly on the wooden ground next to the bookcase. Crouching down, Zetaria swept it up into her hand. The perplexity of the situation started to irate the woman. "What the hell is going on here?" She growled out. Though before she could stand up and investigate further, her world was plunged into darkness.
EARLIER THAT NIGHT
"What's the witches weakness?!" Nadia inquired, her eyes seemed to sparkle with interest. Along with the other kids of course, but her's seemed to sparkle a bit brighter. Maybe it was the fact that nobody knew her weakness up until now, or maybe it was just her being a Iop, and when it was her turn, she could use this weakness against said witch.
The young boy leaned to the side as he fished in his back pocket before pulling out the object.
Every kid in the vicinity mouth's dropped open. He HAD to be kidding. "A COOKIE?!" They all said in a unison. The leader only smirked at their reaction. "Yes, a chocolate chip to be precise."
"Uh, leader. I hate to question your authority, but... I am." The Sacrier spoke up.
"Hear me out," The Oug started. "I know this seems stupid, but apparently the witch LOVES cookies. Everybody knows Ms. Mira right? The village's baker? Well the other day she went to the witch's house and woke her up to ask for something. She seemed like she was about to murder the poor woman until I seen her hand her some cookies. Almost instantly she turned all...happy and sweet before skipping off with Ms. Mira." He shivered while recalling how giggly and unnaturally cute the Eniripsa got.
"Uh... I think that just means her dignity is cheap..." The Sacrier voiced.
"My point still stands! If we can set a trap with the cookies as the bait, then we can catch her!"
PRESENT MOMENT
I can't believe it, Feiten's plan actually worked! She thought. This stupid plan of her leader's actually worked! As she internally celebrated the struggles and muffled noises from the woman in the body bag snapped her out of it. "Quiet down, you witch! Now that I have you, i'm taking you back to my leader." She told her sharply before grabbing the bag and starting to lug it forward. This was so much easier than she had expected. Though none of that matters. She had her, and now she was on her way back to the group.
Unfortunately, her luck only lasted so long. As the Sacrier reached the door and was just about to open it, she smelled something burning. Sniff...Sniff Sniff ... What in the- Just as she looked back, her eyes widened in horror as a hole was being burned into the bag.
Panic quickly started to set in. What was she supposed to do?! How was she supposed to stop it?! If she let go of the bag to go get some water or something, the witch could merely open up the bag and climb out. Wasting no time, she decided the best plan of action was to continue on with the mission and take her to Feitan before it was too late. Hurriedly, the young girl tugged on the door handle to open it, though to her horror, it was locked. Of course it was locked, who would be stupid enough to leave their door unlocked?! Reaching for the door chain, her hand almost had ahold of it, before she paused.
"YOU DAMN BRAT..."
Oh no. Oh great goddess Sacrier, please save her...
"She should be coming out any moment now." Feitan reassured the bunch who had been non-stop doubting his plan while fearing for their friend's life. The bunch had found some barrels nearby and was currently residing behind them while peaking out ever so often to see if she had finally came out of the house.
"If the witch hasn't already killed her..." Peita muttered before shortly after yelping. Nadia had slammed her fist into his arm. The Iop refused to even entertain that idea, nor was she going to let the others do it.
"AAaAAaAAAAAaaaaaaAaaAaAAHHHHHHHHHHH"
The group all flinched as they simultaneously peered from behind the barrels. The door to the witch's layered burst open as Maia came out in a blur. She seemed to appear unharmed, though that didn't stop her from screaming or running further away from the woman's house. Not long after, the group noticed why she was running away from them. A wisp of fire trailed behind the young girl, threatening to scorch and burn her if it happened to reach her.
The group could only watch silently as the Sacrier ran and screamed while her silhouette got smaller and smaller, until she could no long be seen. After her screams ceased, the group quietly turned to Feiten.
"Well... on to plan three."
