Richard Castle 11
Neither would admit it, but they kept sneaking peeks at the other while they dressed. Each was convinced they were doing it when the other didn't notice. Kate thought it was cute and a sign that she might have actually gotten in past at least some of his stone walls. Richard was trying to figure out how she had gotten past his stone walls.
She chalked it up to not giving up on him and knowing something that he hadn't actually told her anything about. Meaning Alexis. He chalked it up to her beauty and the fact that it had been so very long since he had been with a woman.
Still a short time later after squeezing their way out of their hiding place, they were walking toward the witch's home once again to search her for that pouch.
"You're too quiet, Castle." Kate smiled a playful smile and nudged him with her shoulder as she walked next to him. She was certain she was in and wanted in even further. That meant getting him to talk to her.
"Just contemplating." He was noncommittal. That absolutely did not deter Kate.
"About?" She looked at him, having a reasonable idea what he was pondering. "White witches are good witches. I know that might be a new concept for you but we do exist. I just want to help," she reiterated. 'Help you find out who killed Alexis. Help you make love to me. Help you fall in love with me.' She definitely had a number of things with which she wanted to help him.
Richard, however, was still going over everything in his mind. They had had sex and he'd enjoyed every second of it. She was beautiful and had shaken his world in bed. But he'd dedicated his life to killing witches. He had always thought that all witches were bad witches and needed to be killed.
It was time to get down to the important parts. "You don't mind killing your own kind?" What she said and if he believed her would answer a number of questions in his mind.
"I'm a white witch, a believer of the light, not a black witch, not a worshipper of the dark. I want them destroyed just as much as you do. Hatred of all witches got my mother burned alive. I hate the ones who are evil just as much as you do, Castle," Kate told him heatedly. 'Even more, I want whoever killed your little girl dead.'
He turned his head to look at her. 'My mother is dead, ...happy now?!' was a memory that came to the forefront of his mind. He didn't remember her telling him but it must have happened at some point. Perhaps when he was suffering from one of his headaches? Which brought up a new question.
"And you help with my headaches, how exactly?" He was fearful that she had gotten into his mind and made him like her.
"I'm a healer. I can heal both physical and mental wounds. Get a cut and I can heal it almost instantly. The larger the injury the longer it takes, but I can do it. I can't resurrect someone, though; dead is dead. Mental healing is a little more tricky. I need to understand why you have a headache before I can help you get rid of it and help keep it from coming back. The same for nightmares," she explained just as they reached the clearing and could see the witch's house.
"I saw Alexis in your memories. She was so amazing. Anyone could fall in love with her," Kate smiled. 'I did,' she thought.
"It's daylight but that doesn't mean there won't be a witch inside," Castle warned her.
"Do we need to put up your traps?" She knew it would take time and all they really wanted to do was search the witch's remains for that pouch. He shook his head as he pulled out his shotgun and pumped a round into the chamber.
Kate decided that since they were together now, at least in her mind, she needed to pull out her weapon as well. "A white witch with a wand?" He'd been thinking that a white witch would be totally different. The only witches he had seen with wands were the black-souled evil ones.
"It doesn't make me a black witch, Castle," she asserted. "Just a white witch with a wand." Her mother had taught her a few things and with a little practice, she'd figured out others on her own.
Castle had seen a number of wands in his time, but this one? This one was different if not outright unique. It looked like a small piece of bleached driftwood that had a coil of what appeared to be copper wrapped loosely around it, though it only touched the wood where she was holding it. He tried not to think about her wand or the fact that they'd had sex. He needed to have his mind focused on the possibility that there was a live witch inside and then move on so they could find those children.
He signaled for her to stay outside as he slowly entered the house with his shotgun at the ready. A sudden movement had him firing a round and he was rewarded with blasted carcass of a skunk that had been foraging inside.
Kate suddenly appeared next to him pinching her nose closed. "Jeeze Castle, did you have to shoot it?" He actually did open his mouth to counter that. 'Yes, it was necessary,' ran through his if it wasn't. He snapped his mouth shut, put his shotgun away, and moved over to the dead witch. Kneeling down, he began searching her.
"What is it we're actually looking for again?" Castle had removed almost all of her clothes and to say that she looked nothing like Kate was a huge understatement.
Kate put her wand away, knelt down next to him, and reluctantly removed her fingers from her nose. "It will blend in with her skin, making it hard to find. But if she wanted access to what was inside easily and quickly, it would be..." She ran her hands over the witch's abdomen.
In just moments Castle watched her peel what to him looked like a small piece of skin about the size of a grapefruit off the witch. It looked rotted and ugly just like she did. But just as soon as Kate had it free of the body its appearance changed into something rather plain looking. They realized that its ability to remain hidden was partly because of a chameleon affect.
With the pouch in hand, Kate began studying it trying to figure out how to get at what was inside. "There's no slot or opening," she commented as she flipped it over and ran her hands all over it. "I've got an idea!" Suddenly she began to take her clothes off. The bodice first, then her skirt and petticoats, and finally her shift.
"What are you doing?! Now really isn't a good time, Kate!" Even if the prospect of seeing her naked yet again didn't excite him a bit, because it did. Even his cock was starting to react.
She looked at him, not understanding his concern at first until she noticed he only had eyes for her breasts. "Sex later, Castle." Even if she was a bit sore between her legs since it had been a while, she was ecstatic that he was thinking of making love to her again. As sore as she was, if they were still in the tent, she would happily make love to him.
"I think it can only be accessed when it's attached to someone," Kate explained as they watched as it molded to her abdomen and changed color to match her skin. It was practically invisible, even to them. She pressed her fingers into it and her hand literally disappeared inside it. It was generously sized and she was amazed as she moved her hand around. "There's something inside here." She wrapped her hand around it and pulled it out.
Once it was out in the open, it definitely wasn't what either of them were expecting or hoping for to be more precise. "It's her wand." Castle knew his witch wands. Well, black witch wands anyway. It was long and thin and looked like a number of withered weeds that had been bound together using some kind of cord.
"This is a witch's wand?" Kate had never seen anything like it. She allowed Castle to take it from her and watched as he took out a knife out and sliced through the cord that bound it all together. The withered branches fell away revealing a single small rod of what looked like a metal, except it was greenish in color.
"It's old," he commented. "This is copper. The different color is what happens to it as it ages." He stuffed it into his backpack. "I'll keep it; the metal has lots of uses," Castle explained when he saw the questioning look on her face. "You can hide your wand in it if you want," he offered since it looked like hers would fit in the pouch.
Kate thought about it for a moment then shook her head as she started putting her clothes back on. "Too hard to access it when I want it." She would keep her wand where she could easily reach it. She tried to think of things where the pouch would come in handy. "We could use it to hide money or other items. Sneak something inside a building after being searched maybe."
She had a sudden idea and lifted up on tippy-toe to give him a quick kiss. "Thanks for not shooting me," she said after seeing the perplexed look on his face.
"You still need to tell me more about this white witch part of you. You're the first I've ever known about much less actually met." He may have had sex with her but that didn't make her a witch that shouldn't be killed.
She was a little lost. He had her mother's book. How could he not know about white witches? She was missing something. "Does that mean I can stay Castle?" Just how many of his walls had she made it past?
"Don't let it go to your head. ...We need to get moving toward this mountain plateau. I don't suppose you brought a coat? It's going to be colder at that elevation," he warned.
His sudden concern for her had her heart soaring. However he had a point. Kate shook her head. "I know a spell that will help but it won't last all that long." Still a bit uncertain, she looked at him with love in her eyes.
What Castle saw unnerved him a little so he turned away and began searching the house for something else. He started throwing clothing that he found at her. It wasn't exactly what she would call clothing, but maybe if she could wash it somewhere and use a spell to sew it all together, it would help keep her warm.
A short time later they left with Kate carrying a bundle of clothing that she had selected from the rags he'd thrown at her. She was still carrying her bundle when they stopped for a cold lunch. "I don't suppose you have some sewing equipment in that backpack, do you?" she asked as she looked through the garments while they ate. She was a little surprised when he quietly reached into his backpack, tossed a small box to her, and went back to eating.
Seeing him open the pack only made her more determined to find out just what he had in that thing. Better yet, did he have the instructions on how to make another one? She really wanted to be able to make her own, but while she could make a few things, spelling one into existence was a power that was beyond her ability.
Castle stood and looked down at her. "We need to keep moving. You can finish after we stop for the night." She put the sewing things back into the box and handed it back to him.
They were traveling farther north and even though the sun hadn't gone down yet and wouldn't for a few hours, it was already starting to feel cooler. Kate wasn't chilled yet but she soon would be since she wasn't dressed for the cold. She silently cursed her impetuousness; she hadn't thought chasing after Castle through at all.
Then another concern came to mind. Her period was due in a few days and she didn't have much on hand to deal with it. And she doubted that Castle had anything in his backpack for that. She was going to have to make due with what she had. Still it wasn't going to stop her from making love to him.
Kate had fallen behind a little and found herself walking mindlessly while watching his ass. She made her mind up as to what was going to happen when they stopped for the night. 'We're making love tonight, Castle and I'm sleeping right next to you all night long.'
They came to what appeared to be the edge of a tree line and cautiously moved forward to the edge. Out in front of them was a mountain range. Castle pulled out the map he had found earlier.
"Where's that paper with the constellations on it?" Kate asked as they looked over the map. He reached into his backpack yet again and unrolled it. She looked at both pieces of paper. "This talks about an alignment of planets and this talks about a date for an invitation."
"And the plateau is the meeting point. ...But why up there?" he mused thoughtfully.
She took in a breath and let it out slowly. "A good viewing point maybe? No mountain range or tall trees to block their line of sight."
Since what she'd said made sense to him, he had no other questions. "It's going to be dark in a couple of hours. We either need to search the trees for a spot or go to the edge of the mountain to find a good location to set up camp." He didn't realize that he was asking her for an opinion.
Kate did notice that he was saying WE a lot lately. A thrill ran through her and she raised up to kiss his cheek. But she was interrupted by a noise that had them turning their heads to look.
It took a few moments until a cart of some type came out of the trees a good ways off to their right. It had two wheels and was being pulled by something big. The cart itself looked to be a barred cage on a wooden platform. However right behind the cart was something that had Castle's blood boiling. "WITCHES!" he rumbled with a slight growl in his voice.
Even from that distance it didn't take much to determine that they were witches. "What's that ...thing pulling the cart?" It looked bigger than the cart itself was.
Castle was too silent but still looking at them and Kate finally noticed the figures inside the cage. "They have children." The mere idea that one of them could be or had been Alexis had her remembering that she was dead. "They have two of them. It's too far to tell if they are boys or girls," she added and then watched as he reached into his bag.
What he retrieved then pulled apart to make it longer confused her; she'd never seen anything like it. He lifted the small end up to his eye and leveled it at the cart. "A boy and girl. They look to be 6 or 7 years old at most."
"May I?" she inquired softly and was thankful that he handed it over to her which allowed her to use it just as he had. Raising it to her eye, she saw that everything out there looked a lot closer. Was it another witch-made item? She decided it didn't matter, they had it now.
She lingered on the children for a moment then focused her attention on what was pulling the cart. The creature was big, had big arms, big legs, and even a big head. She feared it had even more muscles than Castle had. "What is that thing?" she questioned quietly as she shifted her view to the witches that were trailing behind.
Kate was only just starting to size up one of them. "Ogre," Castle replied. He had heard of them but never actually seen one. "I've heard they're very strong and very stupid." He wondered how much trouble it was going to be.
"We wait till they are out of sight and then we follow," he informed her.
She lowered the spyglass and looked at him in shock. "Are you insane?! Why follow them?" There were two witches in addition to that thing!
"They have children, Kate. If we're lucky they'll take them to where they're holding the other children. If they're holding them." He could only hope that they were.
Suddenly it made sense. She lifted it back up to look at them again. "If there are two witches here, how many are up there?" After all they had found an invitation to some kind of gathering. "You may be a witch hunter, Castle, but even you can take on just so many witches at the same time." Kate didn't come all this way only to lose the man she loved to a group of evil witches. Her heart was already invested in him. Losing him would crush her.
"This event is tomorrow night so we'll have all day tomorrow to scout the area and decide what to do. Plus we need to see where everything is." Castle knew this wasn't going to be easy when he took this job. However he hadn't counted on it being a witches' convocation.
"I've lost them. I don't see where they went," she suddenly announced.
He took the spyglass from her and searched the area. "We'll figure it out come morning. We need to make it to that rocky outcropping for tonight. It looks like it might be a good spot to make camp." Unfortunately there wasn't much in the way of cover along the way. "Maybe that series of rocks over there. We can quickly move from one to the other then follow along the edge till we reach it," he suggested as he stowed the spyglass. "Let's move. We need to be there and set up before it gets dark," he cautioned and began trotting toward the rocks.
Kate was huffing and puffing by the time they made it to the first group of rocks and they still had to sprint from one rock to the other. She was bent over sucking in air while Castle just stood there and pulled out his spyglass again. "It looks clear, let's go." He took off running, forcing her to stand up and run after him.
It wasn't easy for her and when they finally reached his rocky outcropping, she was ready to drop while he just looked around like it was nothing. 'You get to be on top tonight, Castle,' she told herself since even if she could barely breathe they were making love tonight.
He came back to her. "This way." He guided her into what looked like a horseshoe-shaped rock formation. There were tall rocks all around, however this time the entrance was wide enough for him to walk through.
Castle put his backpack down and pulled out a number of items. "Wait here, I'll be right back." Well, he hoped he would be right back. It depended on how far he had to travel for supplies and water.
Kate was still trying to suck in enough air to squeak out a reply. A few minutes later she felt moderately better. At least good enough to put up the tent since she knew the word; Castle had said it in her presence enough times. As she expected, the first thing out of his pack was the ground cloth. While she was quite curious as to just what was in his backpack she didn't want to be caught red-handed when he returned. She had made great strides recently and didn't want to ruin that.
He came back with a few plants and containers of fresh water. Surprised, he found the camp set up with all of his things on one side of the tent and the mattress and sleeping bag on the other. Eyebrows raised, he looked at her. "You have plans?" he inquired, not exactly sounding upset about it.
"Yep!" She gave him a quick kiss then took the magical log out of his backpack, took a couple of containers from him, and went outside. The log wasn't good enough to cook on but it would be enough to warm their supper. Anyway, she didn't remember seeing any wood near where they were now. Besides if there were witches around there, it wouldn't be good if they were found.
Castle washed up just a touch and then joined her outside where he found her cooking. He dropped his bags of jerky, cattail pollen, and some other things they had next to her and sat down to watch her cook. Normally he did it himself, but he was beginning to like having someone else to share the work. It didn't hurt that she kept smiling at him while she worked.
Kate glanced at him. "Castle, can you tell me about Alexis? I'd like to learn more about her. I'll be here if you get another headache or another nightmare." She really did want to know all about her. Her heart yearned to know more about his little girl.