Beyond light and darkness
Disclaimer: I don't own The slayers. Never have, and probably never will. Sigh….
For those of you who have read my fic "Between light and darkness", I wish you happy reading. For those who haven't, I strongly recommend doing so before reading ahead. This is a direct continuation and will assume that you have knowledge of the various original characters created in that story
With that out of the way, let's get started shall we?
A kind witch
Friendship?
The snowflakes were gently falling from a darkened winter sky. Little by little the entire town were covered by a thin blanket of the pure white substance. In the streets children were entertaining themselves by throwing snowballs at each other.
"Ha! I got you!" a boy cried in triumph. A little girl fell to the ground, crying. "Why are you always picking on me?" she sniffed. Another boy picked up a handful of snow "You are just a street brat! We don't like you!" With that, he threw the projectile.
"You are all so mean!!" the girl shouted before running away.
The two boys shot each other a quick glance "Wait!" they shouted "not that way! The witch lives that way!". The girl however was already to far away to hear them. She was heading directly towards a small house located on the outskirts of the city.
A small soft light shone out through the windows. It looked like the only source of light inside was a mere candle or two. Inside a lonely woman sat reading a book and occasionally looking out of the window at the falling snow. Suddenly a noise startled her.
She looked around for whoever had made the sound. To her knowledge, she was all alone in the house.
Three days ago her uncle had left for a small neighbor town to help the local militia train new recruits. She heard another sound. With a determined look on her face, she stood up from her favorite chair and carefully placed her book on a nearby wooden table. She raised her right hand and whispered a few word. A small floating orb of light left her hand. It hovered a few feet above her head as she started to move around in the house.
"That's strange" she said to herself "nobody's here".
Outside, the girl sneezed again. Winter was her least favorite time of the year. Sure, all that snow was really pretty and fun to play in, but it wasn't very comfortable to sleep in. She pulled her old blanket tighter around her. Slowly she closed her eyes, hoping that the cold would just go away.
"Hello there. What are you doing out here?". Even though she was half asleep, the girls first reaction were to get away. After struggling for a little while, she realized that the woman in front of her had her in a tight grip.
"Easy there" the woman smiled warmly "I'm not gonna hurt you or anything". The girl stopped her struggling "I'm not trying anything. I just want to sleep. That's not a crime, is it?" she asked.
The woman shook her head "no of course not, but why are you out here? Why not be at home in a warm bed?". A single tear rolled down the girls cheek "I have no home" she sniffed. The woman nodded in understanding " I see. How would you like to come inside then?". Once again the girl started struggling "No! I wont!! You are that witch everybody else talks about!!!".
The woman lowered her head "I know what they are saying". Something about her behavior made the girl think her proposition over again. Finally she gave a nod, as a shiver ran through her body "ok, I'll come inside".
The woman stood up and started walking for the door "By the way, my name is Sylphiel. What's yours?". Carefully the girl followed "Anna, my name is Anna".
"I see" Sylphiel giggled "Welcome to my house then, Anna". Anna followed Sylphiel inside. The house really didn't look like she had expected from a witches house. In the small living room were some simple furniture. A table, some chairs and a small couch. A small fire were burning faintly inside the fireplace. Everything worked to give the room a nice and calm atmosphere.
"Mother would have loved this place" the girl whispered. "Huh? Did you say anything?" Sylphiel turned around to face her. Anna shook her head "No, I didn't" she smiled back. "I see. Why don't you find a place to sit down?" Sylphiel gestured to the couch "I'll go make us some tea. You look like you could use it".
Anna sat down and looked around. So far Sylphiel didn't seem to be the terrible witch everybody said she was. "Here you are" Sylphiel handed her a cup. Carefully Anna held the cup up to her face and smelled the liquid inside. "Don't worry" Sylphiel laughed "it's good". Anna nodded and took a careful sip.
A strange sensation started spreading in her mouth. "You're right miss Sylphiel, this is really good!" Anna giggled as she took another sip. Sylphiel nodded "It's my favorite flavor, orange and mint" She stirred her tea slowly, starring into the dying flames. "As I recall it was his favorite too…" she added absentminded.
"Who are you talking about, miss?" Anna asked. She had always been told that she was way to curious, but it didn't bother her much. How else was she supposed to learn anything if she didn't ask?.
Sylphiel gently padded her head "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with Anna" she said. Anna noticed how a tear was forming in the woman's eyes.
"Is something wrong?" Anna carefully asked. Sylphiel shook her head "no, of course not. The light is bothering my eyes, that's all". Anna nodded, still not convinced that the woman were telling her the truth. But it didn't matter much to her right now. The soft couch and hot tea had made her very sleepy, and gradually she drifted off to sleep.
The next morning Sylphiel woke at the sound of someone sneaking around in her house. She got out of bed and grabbed a cloak from her closet. Carefully she opened her bedroom door. Again she heard the sound, this time she was certain it came from the kitchen. She moved as silent as she could as she approached the door.
As she reached for the doorknob, something made her stop. What was it miss Lina always said? She tried her best to remember. A smile spread on her face "That's it!" she whispered "The best defense is a good offence". Gathering all her courage, she opened the door with a powerful shove. A loud noise could be heard all over the house as Anna dropped a jar filled with strawberry jam.
She was staring at Sylphiel with fear in her eyes. "I'm sorry" she whispered. Sylphiel let out a sigh of relief "Anna, don't scare me like that!" she panted "what were you doing anyway?".
Anna looked practically miserable. It had been her plan to steal some food and get out of the house before Sylphiel woke up. It just scared her seeing Sylphiel bursting through the door, wrapped in a pitch black cloak. "I… I wasn't doing anything miss. I swear! I wasn't going to steal your food". She fell silent when she realized that she had just blurted out her entire plan.
Sylphiel started smiling "you know, I would have given you some food if you had just asked for it".
She sat down next to the sobbing girl "here let me get that for you". Anna could only watch in silence as Sylphiel started to clean up the mess on the floor. "you are not going to tell the guards, are you? They'll send me to an orphanage for sure" she asked, tears forming in her eyes. Sylphiel shook her head "no, of course not".
Anna's face brightened "thank you, miss Sylphiel" she chirped "you are the nicest witch I know!".
Sylphiel titled her head a bit "Anna, why do you keep calling me a witch?" she asked. "I don't know really" Anna admitted "Everybody else does that. And that black cloak really isn't helping much".
Sylphiel looked down at herself "This… this isn't my cloak" she blushed "it belonged to a special friend of mine". Anna opened her mouth to ask another question, but the sad look on Sylphiels face stopped her.
"So Anna?" Sylphiel asked "what are you going to do now?". Anna stuffed another lump of Sylphiels home baked bread into her mouth "I don't know. I'll probably go back into town or something" she mumbled. Sylphiel shook her head, it was just so wrong that a girl this young shouldn't have a home with loving parents.
"You know" Sylphiel started "if you ever need something to eat or a warm place to sleep, you are more than welcome to come visit me". Anna nodded "I'll keep that in mind". She stuffed another lump of bread into her pocket "I'll be going now miss, bye! And thanks a bunch for the food". Anna waved happily as she left the small house.
Sylphiel kept standing in the doorway looking as Anna vanished into the city. "What a sweet little girl" She said to herself "I hope I get to see her again". A shiver ran through her body. She realized that she was still wearing only her nightgown and the black cloak she had taken from the closet. She hurried inside to get dressed.
Once back in her old purple outfit, she felt much more comfortable. She held up the cloak and studied it intensely. It had indeed belonged to a very special friend.
She sighed deeply. It had been a whole year since she returned from her latest adventure in the outer world. Another shiver ran through her body, but it wasn't caused by the cold this time. A whole year since the man she loved left her behind, and not a word from him since. No letters, no nothing. Not even any rumors about him. She had figured that a man like him would at least be the source of some rumors, but apparently she had been mistaken.
Anna walked through the crowded city, while chewing casually on the bread she had brought from Sylphiels house. This was all so confusing to her. The woman she had met last night was supposed to be some kind of evil witch responsible for the destruction of old Sairaag?
Anna shrugged, miss Sylphiel sure didn't look like she had imagined a witch. Instead of the old hag she had expected to see, Sylphiel was in fact a beautiful young woman. She acted a lot nicer that most other witches she had ever heard about.
"Hey look! It's Anna!" a boy pointed in her direction. Before she even knew it, a snowball hit her directly in the face. She fell to the ground. "Look!" The boy pointed at her again "it looks like the little girl has stolen a bread. We can't have thieves running around in our peaceful city, now can we?". He started advancing on her along with the other boy from the day before.
"Why can't you just leave me alone?" Anna cried "I've never done anything to you. And if you must know miss Sylphiel gave me that bread!". The first boy cracked his knuckles and advanced on her "and now you have even befriended the witch" he smirked.
Sylphiel was laying lazily on her couch reading a book. Even though she was still officially the towns best healer, she hadn't seen much business lately. Even though Amelia had convinced the townspeople to let the shrinemaiden move back into the town, not even the princess's influence was enough to make her trusted.
Most of the adults treated her like she wasn't there. The worst thing was that most of the children were afraid of her. Sylphiel had always liked children, so that part really bothered her. That was one of the reasons that she really like having Anna to talk to last night.
A knock on the door caused her to snap out of her thoughts. "Now who can that be?" she wondered out loud "uncle Gen usually don't knock. And in any case, I didn't think he would come back so soon".
She walked out to the door and opened it. "Anna?" she gasped "What happened to you?".
"I'm sorry miss" Anna sniffed "but I didn't have anywhere else to go". The girls clothes were all dirty and wet. In her head were visual bruises and a few cuts too. She clearly looked liked she had been in a fight.
"Dear Ceiphied! Please come inside Anna" Sylphiel waved her inside. "How did you manage to get beaten up like that?" she asked as she helped the young girl get to the guestroom.
The few times she had people in that needed healing, she always used that room. "Now let me take a look at you" Sylphiel gestured to the bed, indicating that Anna should sit down. She looked around in the room. It didn't look like it had seen much use recently. "Now take off your shirt" Sylphiel ordered. Anna blushed a little, but did as she was ordered.
"Ouch!" That hurt!" Anna tried to pull her arm away from Sylphiel. "Don't be such a baby" the shrinemaiden giggled "it's just some small injuries". Anna nodded while tears were forming in her eyes. Sylphiel shook her head "Here let me take care of it now". She reached out for the girl and started casting a healing spell.
Anna stared at herself as her wounds started healing all by themselves. "Wow! was that really magic?" she asked "I've never seen magic before!". Sylphiel smiled "it's nothing special, really".
Anna yawned loudly. Her body had exhausted itself as a result of the healing spell. "Why don't you stay here and sleep for a while?" Sylphiel asked "I don't mind". Anna nodded slowly and lay down trying to get comfortable. Moments later, she fell asleep.
Sylphiel quietly left the room. She kind of enjoyed having Anna around.
Authors notes:
So there you have it. The very first chapter of my brand new fic. I really hope that you all are going to like this just as much as the first one. As usual, reviews are more than welcome.