As the fable went, the witches of Pandoril were feared for their cunning powers that could stop mortal hearts on sight and snatch air from their lungs with a simple gesture.
These witches lived in the deepest parts of the forest where no human was capable of venturing. Not burning sunlight, nor a drop of rain had the courage to wade through the thick branches of the old trees and animals that roamed the forests didn't belong to this world. Thus, these witched bade their time, living happily. After spending many decades without any human interventions, their powers had dulled until they had a mere fraction left. The greens of their skin, powered because of the magic, faded away to give a pale, an almost blinding white complexion. Their eyes, always dark brown, had turned into light greens or blues of the outside world where they never ventured. Thus, over time, these witches had turned into fair creatures. However, the one trait that refused to fade away was their wicked heart.
In the world of witches who lived for decades, the birth of a child was considered a rare and joyous event. Witches gathered to sing songs and feast in honour of the child, praying for a girl. If a boy was ever born, he was kept in isolation with the mother till he was young enough to venture out in the world alone. So, on the 15th November, among the celebrations, Mebuki Haruno, considered to be the wisest witch, gave birth to a beautiful young girl. She named her Sakura, in honour of her grandmother. Sakura was loved by every witch in the community. She was lively and charming child filled with the kind of passion for life that creatures who live beyond the mortal age forget. She had colourings unknown to witches, pale pink tresses that had agonized her mother in the beginning for witches traditionally had black hair, but the witches traced it to an ancestor, and all was forgotten.
Despite her mother's teachings of hatred and evil spirits, Sakura roamed freely in the forest appreciating the cloak of darkness as well as dreaming about Sunlight. To appease her mother, she learnt the wicked ways diligently but never agreed with their teachings.
However, the one feeling that Sakura wasn't able to safeguard her heart from was hatred towards humans. Taught to believe that humans were weak creatures who were different and boasted of viles that would make Gods turn over, she began despising them as well.
Legends said they waged war among themselves, didn't have the heart to safeguard their own earth, fought like animals the moment night crept and didn't wait a moment before taking down anything not known to them. They wouldn't let witches survive. But shush, her mother had disdainfully told her one night, let no human ever fool you that they are stronger than us.
So, dutifully, Sakura never ventured outside her haunt. Content to live among her kind, she excused their extreme hatred and sought friendship from only beings around her that understood her, the trees and creatures. She was known to escape from her lessons to sit on the branch of a tree for hours, simply musing to herself. She was notorious for slipping away from gatherings to race through the woods with any of her friends. So, this routine went on for years, till Sakura grew up to a beautiful young witch.
On the eve of her twentieth birthday, Sakura lay on a high branch of a tree, bemusedly watching a congregation of witches making their way from below her tree. She managed to catch snatches of their conversations as their voice carried over to her. "If not now then when, Gurema?", said one witch exasperatedly, "We do not have time to waste. Just spray the potion outside and none will be wiser." Potion, wondered Sakura, was one of the rare things that witches had stopped making decades ago. Witches didn't need them, why waste time on them. Curiosity, cloak of mischief that it is, forced her to follow them from above.
The witches walked away from the heart of the forest, toward the corners, areas her mother had forbidden to venture. Before fear took complete control over her and made Sakura run back, the witches stopped on sparse ground where Sakura saw bright blinding blight. Suddenly there was a loud bang and shouting and great white smoke rose from where the witches stood. Men, humans, shouted something as the witches screeched and again another ball of dark smoke went up. Sakura ran.
She leapt from one tree to another, not looking back for a second. She tore through the forest undergrowth, making sure to use her surroundings to her maximum advantage. In her hurry, she missed a branch and fell, quickly stretching midway and catching another branch. She cursed at the sparse trees around her, quickly forming a plan to get deeper to her home. Her heart thundering, she propelled herself into a jump and landed smoothly on the ground. The leaves crunched beneath her feet as stood up. Saints, how had she even managed to get into this situation.
She spotted two men running towards her and one tall man running from her left side carrying a net. A net, she gasped, and immediately understood her situation. She could have almost laughed at their stupidity if she only had some time. She braced her legs apart, patiently waiting for them to reach her, like a wolf eyeing its prey.
Just as the man reached her, she moved swiftly around him, wrapping the net around his neck. While he was a foot taller than her, he was a mere mortal. They still wouldn't compare. Tugging on the net fiercely, she looked at the group of men standing before her and whispered firmly, "Leave or he dies".
Silence hung in the air as they slowly began dropping their weapons. Once she was certain that no one held any weapons she whispered, "I'll leave him now but dare anyone follow me."
She shifted her weight slightly to turn to run away but felt a sharp prick on her side. She saw a needle protruding from the side of her waist, the thin band of skin that was uncovered by the slit in her dress. She looked up, horrified, at the eyes of the man in her hold but black soulless eyes stared back. Crippling panic rose within her as she felt her senses rapidly diminishing.
She took a step back, to run, to get away, but he quickly pulled her hand close to him and she felt the world fade into black.
Authors note: First time writer here:) If you liked the story, have a suggestion, critique or something, I'd really appreciate if you could leave a review so that I know someone is reading/liking/not liking it!
Thank you for taking the time to read this! :)