Willow had seen many strange and unusual things in her Herbology classes. She'd witnessed monstrous flowers unleash spores of madness at people, who got whipped up into a frenzy. She'd witnessed a plant give a student visions of the universe's inevitable end, and apparent inevitable rebirth. She'd even seen some flowers that... Didn't actually do anything special, but just looked nice.
And sometimes, she wasn't a hundred-percent sure she could trust the ones that just looked nice, on the off-chance they had some sort of cosmic horror lurking underneath the petals.
It wouldn't be the first time she'd been tricked by nice-looking things. Or by plants, either.
When she was little, she remembered that it had taken her a while to get used to the idea of an Osteo-Rose not trying to bite her, or eat flies, or have teeth or do much of anything, really. When she did get used to it though, she had assumed that a Plaque-Moonflower also didn't do anything because it also looked pretty, until it bore it's alarmingly person-looking teeth and tried to bite her when she got too close. After that, she made it a point to just be that little bit more careful when it came to plants that weren't obviously magical or self-aware to some degree. At least until she knew what sort of plant it was.
Botany on the Isles was… An experience, to say the least.
Still, even in spite of all the weirdness that came with Plant Magic, and the dangers and surprises that followed, Willow still found herself being at least briefly surprised by the sight of Bo, a Healing Track student, enthusiastically speaking with Mr. Barkhide, one of her Plant-Track teachers, when she first stepped into her morning class.
"...so, things should be back to normal soon! Can't give an exact date yet, buuuuut…!"
"Oh, that is delightful news!" Mr. Barkhide all but cheered, clapping his impish and green hands together and ever so slightly bouncing on the spot atop his desk - Were they basically any other teacher, standing atop a desk would have looked rather odd, but it was basically the only way that someone as short as Mr. Barkside was could meet Bo in the eye. "What a relief! To be quite honest, I was growing somewhat worried about her! Still, I am happy to hear she'll be okay."
As far as teachers at Hexside went, Mr. Barkside was one of the better ones, in that he had a kind and nurturing nature rather than a strictly 'throw them into the fire, wish them luck, and hope they learn something' nature that a number of other teachers had. Willow was quite fond of him.
Still, she attempted to make her way past them and into her seat as quickly as she could. It was the first thing in the morning, and Willow had barely slept, thanks to her plants waking her at every hour of the night with their needs to feed. The sooner she was off her feet, the happier she would be.
"Thank you for informing me of this, young lady. Please, do tell her everything that happened will be taken into consideration when it comes to her final grade. I wouldn't want her to fret over that while she's recovering."
"I think she'll be relieved to hear that, sir."
"I must also - Oh, Miss Park!" Barkhide raised a tiny hand and waved to Willow just before she had managed to take her seat. "Perfect timing - I've just received some excellent news!"
Willow felt herself blush slightly at being so blatantly called out while she was half-in and half-out of her chair. Quickly, she decided to stand upright, and act as though she wasn't feeling particularly socially awkward all of the sudden. "O-Oh? Yes, Mr. Barkside?"
The teacher tilted his head towards the Healing Track student. "Miss Bo? Would you like to tell her?"
Bo nodded, and turned to Willow. "So, Amelia went through some surgery yesterday. It took a while, but we got the rest of the plant gunk out of her system - She's still resting up, but she's doing a whole lot better."
Willow's ears perked up at Amelia's name.
Amelia's Okay! Awesome!
"Oh! That's great! I was worried about her."
"Yeah, well, never underestimate a good set of Healers. Just give us twelve hours of her in... Excruciating agony as we ripped all of the infected bile from her system, and she was great! Took it like a champ!"
As Bo spoke, Willow raised an eyebrow, and made a mental note to be absolutely sure not to upset the Vehemence Witch Plant again.
"Indeed," Barkhide nodded. "I am very pleased to hear of her recovery. When she's feeling better, hopefully she and Willow will finally be able to finish their project together!"
Unlike so many others, Mr. Barkhide was always understanding, flexible with deadlines, and never seemed to have his failing students vanish without a trace or during a strange 'accident'. Willow couldn't help but smile. He was a strangely delightful teacher for Hexside.
At that moment, the school bell screamed. Mr. Barkhide's ears twitched, as he turned back to Bo. "Oh dear. One moment, I'll write you up a tardy slip for your next class."
As Mr. Barkhide pulled out his top drawer and literally jumped inside to find the slips, Willow finally took her seat, letting out an exhale as she did so. Mr Barkhide pulled himself back out of his drawer, scribbled a note, and passed it to Bo. As soon as the Healing student was gone, Mr. Barkhide began his lesson in earnest.
Today's topic seemed to be about Spine Trees. And though she did her best to pay attention, Willow simply struggled to absorb any of the subject material. She could see the diagrams, and heard the words being said, but her brain refused to take any of it in. Her mind was wandering, and she began to think to herself, and about Amelia.
Honestly, Willow felt a little guilty, even if she knew it was kind of irrational too. If she really wanted to boil it down to the pure facts of the matter, Amelia hadn't been following proper safety protocols, and had been too busy geeking out about the Vehemence Witch Trap to notice it trying to eat her. Plus, it hadn't been Willow's emotions running wild. It had been Skara's.
Not that Skara had known any better to be fair, but still. The point was, Willow knew, logically, that she didn't have anything to feel guilty over. She'd done absolutely everything in her power to prevent, and then rectify that entire incident.
And yet…
Something about how it all went down just didn't quite sit right with her.
As her mind strayed further from Mr. Barkhide's lecture, a new sound caught her ears: loud, lumbering footsteps slowly approaching sounded from outside. She blinked, believing herself to be imagining it. But when she looked up at Mr. Barkhide, he too seemed to notice it, looking out one of the Greenhouse classrooms windows along with most other students.
"That's odd." He mused, tapping his chin. "Just who would be stampeding towards Hexside now? We aren't scheduled to be invaded by St. Epiderm for another month or so."
Ignoring the reminder of the upcoming invasion attempt, Willow turned to look out the windows. Most of what she saw seemed to be a pile of dust, being kicked up by whatever it was that was stampeding in the first place. It was too far away for her to make out anything more than that, at least for a short while.
Eventually, though it's path was erratic and haphazard, it got closer, and the dust became less of an issue. Willow squinted. It was still faint, but as her eyes focused, she could make out… Something.
A titanic beast, a draconic entity with each and every one of its limbs made up of fingers.
And in front of them, a tuft of silver hair in a Grudgby uniform, running for their life.
"...Skara?"
When Boscha had agreed to stop having practices at three in the morning, a part of Skara had hoped that it meant she'd only have to withstand one of her overly complicated and ridiculous practices a day.
Of course, she'd had no such luck.
What she had not expected was for her to instead be subjected to them during classes.
"C'MON, SKARA!" Boscha shouted, running backwards next to the disturbed Bard with ease. "IT'S JUST A HOP, SKIP, AND A CARTWHEEL TO VICTORY!"
The hop had been an attempted jump over a giant gorge in the ground. The skip had been leaping into said gorge and trying to hit a 'soft' rock. And the cartwheel was trying to leave the gorge after accidentally landing on a literal Handragoon that lived in said gorge, while Boscha still had her under the effect of some sort of forced cartwheel spell.
At this point, Skara didn't know which had almost killed her more this year: Boscha or Hexside.
"BOSCHA GET RID OF THIS SPELL!"
"YOU'RE NOT SKIMPING OUT ON TRAINING-"
"FOR THE LOVE OF THE TITAN BOSCHA, WE'RE LEADING THIS THING TO THE SCHOOL! HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO STOP IT!?
"JUST HOLD ON! I'M SURE HEXSIDE HAS SOMETHING!"
Skara may have been able to help a little if Boscha hadn't insisted on the cartwheeling spell - To test her dexterity, of course, she'd assured her. She was legitimately starting to question Boscha's sanity at this point.
"BOSCHA! SERIOUSLY, TAKE OF THE CARTWHEELING SPELL AND WE CAN-"
"PUDDLES! CHARGE!"
Trying to maintain looking at a single object while her head was literally spinning was not an easy task, but Skara tried as she looked up towards the sky. An older student sat atop a gryphon, pointing down towards the Handragoon. Her sleeves were Beast-Keeping brown, but her leggings were Healer dark blue, at least if Skara could trust her dizzy eyes. Whatever track they were in, the gryphon obeyed, landing atop the finger infused freakshow. The beast stopped, giving a cry of defiance, as the woman jumped from 'Puddles'' back, and threw herself at the closest thing to the Handragon's neck.
It was then that Skara noticed that someone else was on the gryphon, trying to reign it away from the Handragon's thrashing.
BO?!
The only thing that Skara could do was to keep rolling away, staring in horror as the unknown student tried to subdue the beast, while Bo managed to wrangle the gryphon away from the flailing creature.
Said beast began to struggle, and it's movements became less and less wide and sporadic - When Bo had gotten the gryphon away from the Handragon, it, and the other woman had actually been using the motion to wrap a magical rope around the monster. It covered the closest things to a face the Handragon had, binding two pieces together as they jumped from it's neck, and, with the strength of the gryphon, pulling its 'face' into the ground. The monster struggled against its ropes, but the magic seal kept it from freeing itself.
"Shhh, shhhh." The other girl cooed, patting the beast's hand… face… thing. "It's okay, Shirley, it's okay. Just calm down a little, and before you know it you'll be back to napping in your favourite little rock in no time."
Skara wasn't sure which surprised her more; the Handragoon's name, the fact that this total stranger was capable of calming it down, or the tree she smacked into seconds after witnessing both.
Well… OWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!
"...Ow."
"Skara! Are you okay?" Bo fled the now-sleeping beast's side, rushing to the Bard with concern etched everywhere on her face. "Where does it hurt?"
"Does 'everywhere' count?" Skara mumbled, stumbling around the tree, completely out of it, arms and legs still outstretched as though she were about to burst into another cartwheel.
Understandably, bo looked at her like she was insane. "Er… What's-"
"I have no idea, only that it's some sort of stupid cartwheel spell Boscha insisted on."
"What on- "
"Trust me, I have no idea why."
Bo sighed. "Okay, then. Just, uh… This is gonna hurt, ok?"
Before Skara could respond, the Healer spun her fingers, activating a spell circle. For a moment, every part of Skara's body felt like it was on fire, burning her skin to a crisp. Thankfully, the sensation stopped as quickly as it had begun, and the majority of Skara's body felt as if it hadn't just cartwheeled over a mile to the school under threat of death by Handragoon before smacking head-first into a tree.
"...Ow. Well, that was… Weird."
"How're you feeling?"
"...Better." Skara said, after contemplating it for a few seconds.. "Thanks, Bo."
The freckled girl shrugged. "None needed. What are friends for?"
"HEY!"
Bo and Skara turned to face Boscha and the girl who'd just helped save their life. They must have started arguing while Skara was recovering, because they looked as if they were in the middle of a verbal war.
"Don't you accuse me of anything like that ever again, little miss Vinny-"
"Viney!"
"Whatever your stupid name is! I didn't 'break into' anything! You can check with Bump if you want - I've got clearance to access any facilities I need to train my Grudgby players!"
"And you took out a HANDRAGON?!" The other student - Viney, apparently - yelled right back at Boscha. "Are you completely insane? Do you have even the slightest idea how difficult those are for even a Beast-Keeper to handle?!"
"Well I would have loved to try something else, but I'm down one good player, the other is a no-show," Boscha then pointed towards Skara, but kept her eyes firmly on the student she was arguing with, "and I have to train this one up to handle Glandus players trying to bury her alive! Or would you prefer I let that happen to her?"
"Are you serious?! It's a Grudgby game - There are rules and Healers on standby! You don't think throwing them into a gorge with a Handragon is a bit much for training?! Are you trying to train your friend or kill them?!""
I'll let you know the answer when I figure it out myself.
Boscha snarled. "You pretty clearly don't know anything about training for Grudgby matches. Skara's gonna need all the help she can get with Amelia gone."
Bo's eyes widened. "Well, actually-"
"I do know that someone isn't much good on a Grudgby team if their captain gets them killed!"
"Guys, Amelia-"
"Oh, like the school even cares!"
"That's not the point here!"
"WOULD YOU ALL PLEASE BE QUIET FOR A MOMENT?!"
With that, the argument ceased, and all attention was suddenly on Bo. It was… Actually impressive how easily the tiny girl could command attention when she wanted to.
With a quick throat clearing, Bo smiled. "Thank you - Yesterday, Amelia had surgery to remove all the remaining flower gunk from her system. She's still at the Healers with Cat, but she's doing a lot better. I was gonna tell you during lunch break but, well, since we're all here, I thought you'd want to know."
For a moment, the Bard, the Potions student, and the dual track girl stared plainly at Bo. Then, Skara blinked.
The wave of emotions crashed directly into Skara. First, happiness at knowing Amelia was okay-
That's my girl!
-then, pure, unadulterated joy at the revelation that Amelia being better would mean the benchwarmer would get to stay a benchwarmer-
No more absurd practices!
-and then, guilt over that thought immediately coming to mind.
Welp, what a fantastic friend you are, Skara.
Surprisingly, it was Boscha who spoke up first. "So, Amelia's good now?" She sounded more questioning than anything. More like she was asking a teacher about the recipe for a potion to make sure it didn't blow up in her face, rather than making sure one of the people she was supposed to care about was actually okay.
"Huh," Skara said, somehow injecting her own complicated emotions into the single word. "That's... Awesome." She was a little overwhelmed with everything that had just happened, and the wave of emotions that had hit her, that that was about all she could think to say.
"Yeah." Viney nodded. "Saw the kid a couple of times. Seemed really chewed up. Glad to hear she's doing better."
"Yeah. Chewed up, heh…"
The tips of Boscha's lips curled into a smirk. "So, if Amelia's feeling better, maybe she could, say, play a game of Grudgby?"
Both Skara and Bo looked at Boscha somewhat dumbfounded - Although to be fair, Skara had just been thinking the exact same thing herself.
Bo and Boscha had an… Interesting relationship. Bo was never Boscha's friend, not really. They were sort of friends by proxy if you counted their mutual friendship with Skara, but they rarely hung out together by any metric. Even when they went to Grom, it was mostly just because Skara and Cat had dates, and Amelia wasn't interested. Bo seemed to have some fun but…
"Yeah, I don't know." Bo said, wearily. "Maybe? I haven't seen her since the surgery."
"I mean," Viney started, glaring at Boscha from the corner of her eyes, "people who've just gotten out of surgery aren't particularly well known for doing well at sportsball, so-"
"Amelia was always a solid player." Boscha interrupted. "I'm sure that if she's got the energy for it, she'll do just fine."
Viney very clearly did not like that, but she wasn't exactly in much of a position to do anything about it. " If you say so." She raised her hands defensively, taking a step away from the Grudgby captain and back towards the Handragon, rolling her eyes in disapproval.
"Uh... Anyway," Bo started, "Me and Viney can take care of Shirley here. We were sent to get them for one of our joint classes anyway."
Well, that explains why they showed up together, I guess, Skara thought to herself. Beast-Keepers and Healers had to work together fairly closely anyway, in case a Witch's Beast ended up injured. Ves had mentioned that to her a couple of times.
"You two can get to class, if you want." Bo waved, walking towards Viney as the older student began reassuring the beast to walk back towards the gorge. "Later Skara!" She waved, smiling her big dimpled smile.
Skara waved back. "Later girl! See ya in Advanced Basics!"
As Bo turned to help Viney - and also to scratch Puddles - a small smile formed on Skara's lips. Well, at least Amelia's okay.
Then, another thought occurred to her. "Hey, Boscha. You think we could, I dunno, go see Amelia? After school I mean?"
Boscha turned, eyebrow raised. "Skara, we have practice then. We gotta work on your dexterity, get you to better dodge Abominations."
"I... Thought that was the point of this whole mess?"
"And we got interrupted. Don't think I didn't notice you lagging behind."
"...I almost died, Boscha."
"Tell that to Glandus."
"Y'know what, I might ." Skara muttered sarcastically, before returning to look at Boscha again. "I'm just saying, Cat won't be here anyway, and Amelia might be well enough to play soon - I dunno, maybe it'll raise her spirits and she'll get better sooner and definitely be able to play!"
"...Through what?" Boscha raised her eyebrows. "The power of friendship?"
"I mean… I've heard that people in the Healers get better if they get visits sometimes." Skara defended. "It's supposed to be good for their mental health, and if they have good mental health they heal faster, so…?"
For a couple of seconds, Boscha's three eyes narrowed at Skara, and the Bard questioned if she could shrink herself down into a little ball to avoid the look. Finally, Boscha sighed. "Alright, fine. We'll go."
Skara smiled.
"But I'm getting us out of second period to do your Abomination avoidance training."
Skara… Smiled less.
Boscha spun a circle in the air, summoning a Grudgby ball to toss at Skara. "Now, move it! We got a game to prepare for!"
And I have one I really hope I won't have to play ever again.
While the chaos unrolled outside, Mr. Barkhide and his class simply watched on. Willow had to admit, she hadn't expected to see a near-Handragoon attack today. Yet here it was, almost brought on by Skara as she ran away from it as fast as she could, and rescued by Viney and Bo of all people.
"Hmm." Mr. Barkhide mused, slowly and just as confused as the rest of his students. "Well, that was certainly… Exciting."
"Should we be like… Worried about that thing?" One of the other students asked.
"I don't imagine so… It looks as though that Beast-Keeping student has things under control. That beast might be one of theirs… Still, I suppose I should make certain everyone is okay. Wait here, everyone."
With that, Mr. Barkhide turned and left the room. Muttering and talking began amongst the students almost immediately as soon as the door was shut, with people speculating that it probably wasn't anything to worry about, or that it was a wild Handragon, to some of the more absurd claims that it was some sort of pre-emptive sneak attack by St. Epiderm. Willow found herself not paying much attention to any of it though, instead keeping her eyes on the group of Witches around said Handragon.
They were far enough away that Willow wasn't able to be certain about basically anything that was happening, but from what she could see, it looked like the Grudgby team. Boscha was yelling at, well, just about everyone for a while. After the yelling died down, there seemed to be a brief conversation. The Handragoon was taken back to it's holding by Viney and Bo, and the Grudgby players left, headed back to the field for more practice. By the time Mr. Barkside had arrived, there wasn't anyone there anymore, so he had to just turn right back around and head back.
Before her teacher returned though, Willow just watched the Grudgby training session for a short while. And as she did so, she felt herself shiver - She remembered the training that she had done back when Luz had dragged her into a match against Boscha, and she remembered it being… Nothing like this.
Nothing that looked even remotely this utterly brutal.
Cat was with Amelia in the Healers, and Amelia was still out of commission - Which meant Skara was the only person on the team that Boscha had to train with, and it didn't seem like she was going to adjust her training methods to compensate for that fact.
Willow watched as Skara attempted to leap through a burning ring of fire, land on a spring-mounted platform, and take a pot-shot at the goal, even though she wasn't even past the halfway line on the field. Naturally, she missed, and Boscha looked like she yelled something at her.
Skara didn't even like Grudgby, Willow remembered. She couldn't help but feel bad for the Bard. She was so clearly out of her element that it practically hurt to watch her, even though she was just as clearly trying her best.
Being chased down the length of the field with spells being thrown at players who could only use one leg, and had to defend the ball as she did so. Drills that forbade the use of magic, while Boscha was under no such restrictions. Situations that frankly, looked dangerous, even if Magic were permitted. If this was how Boscha always trained her team, then Willow legitimately had no idea how any of them were even still alive.
Somehow, it almost made her feel better about Amelia being in the Healers - At least she was being spared this torment.
A sigh escaped Willow. Why Skara put up with this was beyond her. There wasn't a lot that Willow wouldn't do for Luz, or for Gus, but she would put her foot down if the situation got too much for her. She certainly wouldn't let either of them treat her like Boscha seemed to be treating Skara, that was for sure. But Skara just kept putting up with it. At least when Amity and Willow had their falling out, Amity hadn't said that they were friends, but acted like… Whatever the heck Boscha and Skara were acting like. At least that had been straightforward.
She'd mentioned all this to Skara though. And still, Skara chose to hang out with Boscha. It wasn't like Willow could make her do anything. This was Skara's choice.
But the Titan be damned if Willow could figure out why she chose to put up with it.
Mr. Barkhide eventually returned to his class, and resumed his lesson. Once again, Willow found that she couldn't focus on it. Her mind shifted from Skara, to Amelia. It occurred to her that she hadn't seen her project partner since the incident. A lot had been happening, but still. Now that she realized that, it kind of bothered her that she hadn't gone to see her. She had been there when Amelia had gotten injured, after all.
Drumming her fingers against her desk, and glancing back outside, Willow mulled it over for a short while.
Maybe I should go see how she's doing. Maybe give her an update on how the plant and the project are doing… And warn her not to get too close to an angry Witch Trap again.
Glancing back at the board, Willow read over a few of the notes that had been written again. This time, they were a little easier to absorb.
Honestly, at this point, Skara was starting to wonder which she hated more - Grudgby training sessions at stupid'o'clock in the morning, for hours after school ended, or being dragged out of classes for them.
Each one seemed to be its own unique form of torment - It being the first thing in a morning left her with less sleep and utterly exhausted for the rest of the day. It being after school ate into her own time. And them taking part during classes, she might have actually been okay with, but now that she knew that that meant Boscha apparently had access to all the other horrors at Hexside, including the monsters used for training the Beast-Keeping Track, she had a feeling she was in the most danger during those.
And every day that passed, Boscha's training had only gotten more absurd, ridiculous, absurdly ridiculous, and dangerous. Thankfully though, the rest of the day's session hadn't been… Quite as bad as the Handragon. It had mostly been more situational conditioning, avoiding wave upon wave of Magic attacks, and ducking out of the way of the swinging weapons. Things that were far more at Skara's level. Something she could actually handle.
It was only as Skara was spacing out in the middle of her final class for the day that she realized that she could now say the sentence 'Avoiding swinging blades and Magic volleys is something I can handle' without any irony whatsoever. Maybe she had improved at Grudgby a little.
Of course, it was either that, or end up in the Healers Office with three missing limbs and broken dreams.
Though speaking of the Healers, -
Finally, the bell for the end of the school day began to scream, and all the students began to pack up their things and talk amongst one another, while their teacher tried in vain to remind them to brush up on whatever it was the Bard had spent the last thirty minutes paying absolutely no attention to.
Quickly, she tossed everything back into her bag, threw it onto her shoulders, made her way to the lockers, put whatever books she didn't need inside, grabbed a jacket from inside, put it on, closed said locker, and made her way towards the exit.
Speaking of the Healers, she was looking forward to seeing how well Amelia was doing. Skara hadn't heard anything about it, or seen her since her check-up after returning from the Knee. Amelia had been under the effects of that giant monster plant for weeks now. Part of her had started to wonder if the situation had been worse than she had been told, but she was glad that that didn't seem to be the case.
Reaching the giant doors of Hexside, Skara scanned to see if she could find Boscha, and it didn't take long to spot her. The Grudgby uniform stood out against a sea of uniforms, and the wall that she was leaning on, her arms folded as she waited. She seemed to spot Skara at the same time that Skara spotted her, and pushed herself off the wall as she did so, ready to go immediately.
"Hey." Skara greeted her as she approached the other Witch.
"Hey." Boscha nodded in response, and began to walk away from Hexside, and towards Bonesborough the moment Skara was within earshot. "I've messaged Cat. Told them to expect us."
"Oh, great." Skara nodded as well, picking up the pace ever-so-slightly so she could walk alongside Boscha. "You get a reply?"
"Just a thumbs up."
"Makes sense." Skara shrugged. She was probably way more focused on making sure that Amelia was doing okay rather than answering scroll messages.
There was a… Skara wasn't entirely sure how to describe it - A sense of awkwardness of some description, maybe?
It came from what happened during the Grudgby training sessions earlier that day, and it was the same sense of awkwardness that had been there since Skara began to train in earnest with the team, looking back on it, but she hadn't really let herself feel it all that much, what with everything that had happened throughout that time period, and in part due to her own hesitation to focus on it. Now it felt a little harder to ignore.
It was… Extremely difficult to ignore it after Boscha had pulled that stunt with the Handragon.
Boscha always took Grudgby seriously - Skara reminded herself of that again and again and again. That was just how she was, how she'd always been, for as long as she'd known her. She pushed herself and those around her as hard as was physically possible. This game was no different.
Except it was. Because it was against Glandus, and because Bria was involved. And whatever the heck their deal was, because of it, Boscha was pushing people harder than she'd ever pushed anyone before. And maybe if Skara liked Grudgby, that wouldn't be the worst thing in the world. But she was only doing any of this because Boscha needed a substitute for Amelia. Otherwise she'd be on the bench, like always. Trying to support her friends, and play the role of peacemaker if anyone else came to blows.
What made it awkward was that Boscha knew all of this, and kept pushing Skara like this anyway. That, and it was hard to maintain much of a conversation with someone after they had set a frenzied beast on you, and had tried to insist you cartwheel your way to safety.
For the first time in a while, Skara didn't know what to say to Boscha. About anything.
That… And there were other things on Skara's mind when it came to Boscha. Considerations. Suspicions. Things she wouldn't have thought twice about a month ago, before all the stuff with Willow happened, but now came to mind nearly every time she was around the Potions Witch.
She glanced at Boscha as the two of them walked. Boscha's eyes were firmly focused on the path in front of them, and she didn't seem all that interested in speaking to Skara either. The only change in her posture was so she could reach for her scroll, to message Cat to tell them they were on their way. Maybe she felt the awkwardness of the situation too, or maybe she just didn't care to talk.
So they both just walked, in near silence, down a series of paths until they wound up in Bonesborough, and once there, they followed a series of busy streets, until finally, they wound up at the Healers Offices.
"...Well, here we are." Skara said, slightly awkwardly as they approached the building.
"Yep." Boscha simply nodded, and looked up at the building before them.
"Has er, Cat said anything?"
Flipping her scroll open, Boscha glanced at it for a few seconds, before closing it just as quickly. "Nope, nothing."
For some reason, a slight twinge of anxiety made its way through Skara. Just cold feet, probably. She shook her head and ignored it. "C'mon."
They both entered the building and found themselves in the reception. Absently, Skara scanned the room, and noted that it was just as packed as the last time she had been here, if not maybe a little bit more so. Injuries on the Isles were still as common as ever.
No wonder Healing needed to become its own Coven.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me."
Skara glanced towards Boscha. Her face had warped into the same expression of irritation she made when her players complained about her training schedules. Skara followed the direction of her gaze, towards the reception front desk, and then blinked.
One of the receptionists stood up, papers in hand. "Alrighty, wait here, and I'll see if I can find the room of this Amelia person."
Of all people, they were talking to Willow.
"Thank you, ma'am." Willow nodded, as the receptionist wandered off into a back room. She turned around, a smile on her face, that shrunk at the sight of Boscha in the entryway.
Boscha simply looked away, pretending not to notice the Witch who almost beat her at Grudgby. She took a single step back, focused on a wall on the other side of the room. "Unbelievable."
Glancing back and forth between Willow and Boscha, Skara needed a moment to both register the fact that Willow and Boscha were here at the same time - Practically a nightmare scenario for the Bard - and that Willow was here in the first place.
The receptionist had said 'Amelia', right? Was Willow here to see Amelia too?
"Uh, hey Skara." Willow raised her hand, waving slightly at the Bard. It was a little awkward, and she was clearly nervous at the surprise sight of the two Grudgby players - Probably one of them more than the other - but it did seem genuine. "How's it going?"
Quickly, Skara tried to figure out just what to say. Her relationship with Willow was in such a strange place that Skara didn't know quite what to call her, or how to respond to a situation like this. This was the first time since things had changed between them that they had run into one another outside of school, and in school there had always been a sort of unspoken certainty; neither of them exactly had much of a choice other than to be there at Hexside, so talking never felt too much like they were going out of their way, and if they needed to, there was always a readily available and believable excuse for removing oneself from the conversation.
None of that was present here and Skara began to realize all of that very quickly. Was there supposed to be some sort of different way they were supposed to speak to one another in this situation, or was it the same as in Hexside? The inner workings of Skara's mind chugged on overtime to come up with some form of response.
Finally, it came to her.
"Hey."
Incredible. Skara, future Bard of the Boiling Isles, who has no idea how to respond to someone starting a conversation in a slightly unconventional situation.
"What, erm... Whatcha doing here?" Willow asked. "You coming to see Amelia too?"
Skara nodded. "Pretty much."
A two whole words, Skara. Very impressive.
They both just stood there for some more time, both shuffling their feet and trying hard to consider just what they should be doing. It was weird - After a few seconds, Skara actually began to find herself feeling a bit more comfortable; evidently, Willow was contemplating the same questions in her own head. It made Skara feel less awkward about the whole thing.
"I guess you heard that they're supposed to be doing better."
Willow nodded. "I heard about it in Herbology this morning."
"We heard about it during Grudgby practice." Skara gestured towards Boscha, who didn't even glance towards either of them. "Bo came and told us."
That made Willow raise an eyebrow. "Was that you two that I saw this morning?"
"Probably."
"You looked like you were being chased by a giant… Hand… Thing?"
"That was… Boscha's idea."
Glancing over Skara's shoulder, Willow looked at Boscha. Boscha didn't look towards her.
"...I see."
"Okay then." Both girls looked back towards the receptionist desk, where the receptionist who Willow had been speaking to just a few moments ago had returned, noteboard in hand, and her voice in a slight drone, "according to this, your friend is in room two-twenty-three. Just knock on the door first so the Healer knows you're there, and wait for them to answer. If they don't answer right away, do not keep knocking. I promise you, they will have heard you, and they'll get to you as soon as they can."
"Thank you, ma'am." Willow nodded at the receptionist again, before both she and Skara walked away from the desk, and let the people behind them in the line speak to the staff member. In doing so, they had gotten closer to Boscha, who gave Skara a look, and made an effort not to look at Willow. Once away from the reception desk, Willow glanced around the room, looking for signs. "Two-twenty-three, two-twenty-three…"
"Hey! Me and Boscha already know where Amelia's room is." Skara said. "Maybe we can all go there together?"
About a month ago, Skara probably wouldn't have thought to make that offer. At best, she would have made up an excuse to leave and come back later. But she had to admit, after everything, the idea of going to see Amelia with Willow didn't actually sound too bad now.
Though Boscha clearly didn't look like she found it that appealing.
"What."
Boscha couldn't help but glare at Skara, all three eyes essentially shooting daggers at her. Skara looked back at her, trying to plead her case with her big ol' silver eyes.
We're gonna be going to see Am at the same time anyway. Might as well go together, right?
The other Witch's three eyes darted from Skara to Willow, then back to Skara. They narrowed, but Skara kept hers wide and pleading. The two simply stared at each other, a silent battle of gazes. Until, finally, Boscha rolled her eyes, groaning.
"Sure. Cool, whatever." The Grudgby captain crossed her eyes, glaring. "I don't particularly care."
Letting herself enjoy her tiny victory over Boscha with a small smirk, Skara turned back to Willow. "What'cha think? We're all headed up there anyway, right?"
Willow bit her lip, thinking it over. Skara felt her heart sink, as she realized - Why, exactly, would Willow want to come with her and Boscha? There was still… A lot of baggage here. If Boscha weren't here, then maybe? But even then... And Skara had just sort of thrown this at Willow without thinking.
Maybe Willow would just tell them she'll come by later, or wouldn't come back again, or-
Then, Willow surprised her. She smiled.
"Sure. It sounds like fun."
"...Huh." Skara couldn't help but smile herself. "Sweet."
"Hooray." Boscha said, flatly. "Let's just go."
After what felt like an awkward, almost unsettling eternity of climbing up two flights of stairs, Boscha, Skara, and Willow reached Amelia's floor. Like she had said, Skara remembered the way to the room Cat and Bo had helped take care of her in after getting back from the Knee. If Amelia had been moved, Skara assumed that Cat would have mentioned it
So she led the others there accordingly. In still near total silence.
Not that Skara had expected Willow and Boscha to get into a deep conversation about the nature of existence or anything, but she had at least hoped it wouldn't be the most awkwardly quiet walk of her life. Then again, she understood well enough why it was this quiet.
Still, she felt compelled to try and break the ice.
"So, Boscha." As the three walked, Skara turned to look at her oldest friend quizzically. "Any updates from Cat?"
One of Boscha's eyes glanced down at her Scroll. "Nothing."
Skara sighed. "Yeah, I figured." She shook her head. "I really hope Amelia's okay."
"Bo said she was doing better."
"Doing better and being okay aren't necessarily the same thing."
"I'm sure she is." Willow said. "If I've learned anything about her from our project, it's that she's too strong and stubborn not to let this keep her down."
"Maybe. But what about Grudgby?" Boscha grumbled.
Though Skara tried to hold back on saying anything, she agreed in her own head that, hopefully, Amelia would be able to play.
I can go the rest of my life never touching another Grudgby ball, thank you very much. Weird, slimy, skin-covered… thing…
But looking beside her, Skara noticed Willow's face scrunched in a look of pretty evident disapproval. To Willow, it must seem like Boscha just didn't care about her friend. That all that mattered was Grudgby. And Skara… had to admit, it certainly would look that way from an outsider's perspective. But she also knew Boscha cared about Amelia. They were friends, after all. Sure, Boscha was putting her Grudgby feelings a little ahead of Amelia's personal safety, but…
Well, wasn't that… Just what friends did sometimes?
Maybe?
A few moments of continuous walking through corridors and navigating crossroads later, the gaggle finally navigated their way to Amelia's room. Skara felt a small wave of relief as she spotted it, a smile forming on her face.
"Okay, here we-"
"Hey, Cat!" Boscha shouted as she banged on against the door, sounding somewhat agitated, as if the suspense of seeing Amelia again was getting under her skin. "You in there? Is Amelia?"
Skara placed her head in her hands in a mixture of embarrassment and frustration. Her last sight before the thankful blackness of the void became apparent was Willow doing much the same. Boscha meanwhile just kept pounding against the door another five seconds, almost as if just to spite the instructions the receptionist gave. As she took her hands from her face, though, Skara noticed a slight blue shimmer from behind, a strange, Healer blue sparkle that slowly manifested into-
"What in the Titan's forsaken name are you doing?!" Cat's apparition hissed. "Do you want to give Amelia a Sac Attack?!"
Boscha spun around, her face briefly contorted in surprise, before falling into a look of frustration. "Well, I'm sorry, I thought I could see my friend after surgery! Maybe help her out a little."
Cat shook her head, clearly not buying what the Grudgby Captain was selling. "Boscha, Amelia's sleeping in there like a green haired angel! She's tired, and the last thing she needs is you banging against her door like a lunatic and screaming her awake."
"I messaged you and you didn't tell me she was asleep!" Boscha scowled. "You don't think that telling me that might have been a good idea before we arrived?"
"She only just got to sleep! It surprised me as well!"
"What the heck do you mean it 'surprised' you? What, has she been wide awake since the surgery?"
"Not continuously, but a lot more than I'd like."
"So then what exactly would be the harm in waking her up for five minutes so we didn't waste our time coming here? I haven't exactly got all day!"
The look on Cat's face was… well, Skara had never seen it, honestly. It looked like a weird cross between shock, revulsion, disillusionment, and embarrassment. "You… I'm sorry that Amelia can't take your orders when she's in recovery, but can you for once in your life just… Not?"
Wide eyed, Willow leaned to Skara and whispered, "Uh… Do those two always fight like that?"
Skara blinked. "Actually, if I'm being real... I don't think I've seen Cat this ticked off since… well, ever."
Boscha practically recoiled in disgust. "And just what is that supposed to"
"Hey, Cat!" Skara waved to the ethereal vision of her friend, hoping to distract the two girls from kicking down the door and starting a literal fist fight in the hall. "Friend, buddy! How ya doing girl?"
Both Boscha and Cat turned to Skara. Cat seemed surprised to actually see the Bard at all, like she'd forgotten that she was supposed to be visiting with Boscha in the first place."Oh! Skara! Sorry, didn't see you there." Most of Cat's frustration... subsided, and she waved, before spotting Willow. "Oh, and, uh, Willow? What, uh, what brings you here?"
Willow waved back, almost as awkwardly as she had to Skara at the front desk. "Oh, uh, just here for Amelia. I wanted to just check up, see if she's okay too."
"Uhm, yea." Skara sighed. "Look, we just… we were wondering if Amelia was alright, and wanted to talk to her, so, maybe if we could just see her,, or…"
The Healer sighed. "I'm… Really sorry, but she only just got to sleep. I know you went out of your way to see her, but I don't want to risk-"
"Cat?" A muffled voice could be heard from the other side of the door. "Cat?"
Cat's expression… Twisted, and an eye twitched. She paused, closed her eyes, took a deep inhale, turned to glare at Boscha, and then exhaled. "...Just… Wait here a moment."
The ethereal light vanished. Skara, Willow, and Boscha now stood alone in the hallway.
For a minute, none of the girls said anything. Skara and Willow stood in the hall awkwardly, both feeling kind of bad for having come and interrupted Amelia now, while Boscha leaned next to the door, arms crossed, awaiting Cat's return, impatiently drilling her fingers against the opposing arm. None of them moved. None of them said anything.
Well, Skara thought to herself, this is… Thrilling.
And awkward. Very awkward.
"...Hmmm, hm hm hm, hm hm hmmmmm, hm hmm hmm hmm, hm hmmmm…"
Skara hummed to herself, a short little tune she'd randomly caught someone else humming in one of her Bard classes that wormed its way into her ear like how Earworms slither inside a Witch's skull and vibrates their brain at such an intense frequency as to melt it - Okay so not exactly like it but the analogy still made sense. She didn't even know the song, honestly. It was just something she liked to hum sometimes when in situations like this. It did sound somewhat familiar though, like it was something she'd heard long ago, but she couldn't remember where from.
To her surprise, though, Willow's ears perked up. "Hm? Skara, what's that you're humming?"
The Bard stopped, paused for a moment, and then just shrugged. "I ... Have no idea, honestly."
Willow blinked.
"I er, I just heard it during a Bard class once, and it sounded vaguely familiar." She explained. "I dunno, it just stuck with me. I can stop."
"No, I didn't mean that." Willow said. "It sounds nice - I just thought I recognized it, that's -" Suddenly, the Plant Witch snapped her fingers, and said aloud. "Treks of the Boiling Seas!"
It took her a second to process, but once she had, it hit Skara like a bolt of lightning, and she was almost annoyed at herself for having forgotten in the first place, "That's it!" She laughed slightly. "It's their theme song! Hah! I haven't thought about that in years!"
"Wait, you saw them too?"
"You kidding? I saw them every time they were in town!"
"You saw what, exactly?" Boscha asked, glancing over in their direction. Whether she was actually interested, or asked out of the sheer boredom of having nothing else to do, was unclear.
"Okay, like," Skara took a moment to try to figure out the best way to describe them, "they were basically these plays that a bunch of travelling Illusionists who told stories about the adventures of a bunch of Emperor's Coven members trying to traverse the Boiling Oceans, and running into all sorts of really weird and cool stuff and helping people!"
Boscha processed it for a moment, and then tilted her head backwards slightly. "Ooh, that thing."
"You know about it, too?" Willow asked, an eyebrow raised.
"Yeah." Boscha looked back at the two of them. "That thing for Witchlings, right?"
Skara… Immediately felt very small.
"We were Witchlings." Willow deadpanned. "And so what if they were anyway?"
All three of Boscha's eyes just looked at Willow, all with different expressions to convey that the Grudgby Captain found the question so self-evidentially stupid, that she didn't need to bother replying to it. Skara felt… Even smaller, somehow.
"I… I thought they were fun, that's all…"
"Whatever you say." Boscha shrugged, and looked away from the two of them. Bored or not, apparently whatever this conversation was, it was beneath her.
"Oh, ignore her." Willow said with a whisper. "Hey, which song was your favourite?"
The Bard didn't reply. The light-hearted expression that had been on Willow's face fell. She sighed, and went quiet herself.
Another eternal moment later, the door swung open, and out stepped Cat, wiping away grime from her thick rimmed glasses and looking overall like much more of a mess than the illusion had made her look like just a minute ago. Taking in a deep breath, she looked towards Amelia's other three associates before letting out a deep sigh.
"So, er, 'good' news…"
Without any further warning, a rapid green blur threw itself onto Cat, arms wrapping tightly around the Healer and squeezing her off her feet. Skara could barely even blink before the same blur let go of the now sputtering Cat and spun itself around on the spot in a rapid pirouette next to her. Said blur then went on to perform a series of exceedingly and unnecessarily dramatic somersaults before landing a fancy pose, one leg stretched out as she held up what Skara could only assume were an imaginary cane and top hat.
"Hey guys! What'd I miss?"
"Amelia!" Skara laughed, running over to embrace the Plant Witch. "You're okay!"
"Hey girl!" Amelia returned the hug and laughed. "Good to see you!"
Cat raised her hand slightly, trying to get her patient's attention. "Uhm, Amelia-"
"Well, 'bout time you got better." Boscha ran up to Amelia, smirking, and putting a hand on her shoulder. "Need ya for the big Glandus game. Think you're up for it, Ame?"
"You kidding? I feel like I could take on the Titan himself, baby!" She struck a heroic pose, flexing her arms and cockily smirking to the group. "Glandus won't know what hit 'em!"
Oh awesome! I won't have to play after all!
I mean… awwww, such a shame...
"Actually-"
"That's amazing," Willow said, smiling. "I'm glad you're okay, Amelia. And hey, if it helps, I got an extension on the project! We won't have to finish it 'till you get back to school."
"Well consider that starting yesterday, Willow!" Amelia raised her fists in victory. "Absolutely nothing's gonna stop me now!"
Skara, Willow, and Boscha cheered on Amelia, but Cat was having none of it.
"UH, GUYS?!"
"Now, if you'll all excuse me-"
Amelia promptly collapsed to the floor.
All four girls stared at the body.
"Uh, Ame?…" Skara blinked, not… Entirely sure how to react. "You okay?"
No response.
"A - Amelia?"
"So…" Boscha looked between Amelia, and the other three, "...should we poke her with a stick, or…"
"Out of the way!" Cat called out, pushing the others aside. She scooped Amelia into her arms, carrying the groaning Witch back to bed. "Come on, Am, back you go."
"Nuuu, kitten..." Amelia muttered, lazily slumped over, her arms flailing slightly as she was put back onto the bed. "I don't need ya to carry me. I'm…. totally…" She never finished her statement, instead rolling her head back and nodding off. "...Zzz…"
"Cat, what the heck is going on?" Boscha growled as she watched this all happen. "I don't like when my players play games with me."
"Is she alright?" Willow bit her lip, her prior elation now replaced with worry.
"Well, that's what I was trying to tell you all." Cat shook her head and sighed. She walked out of the room, closed the door behind her, and looked between the three onlookers. "Amelia's doing… better. All the junk from the Witch Trap got drained, so she's not delusional anymore. But getting it all out took a toll on her. She has these moments of sudden energy, but otherwise she's weak as a cute little Slitherbeast pup…"
Willow let out an exhale. "Oh…"
Skara gulped.
Boscha, on the other hand, being Boscha, was the one to ask the question on her mind.
"So, will she or will she not be able to play?"
Cat looked at Boscha, a gleam of frustration in her eyes. "Well, Captain," She said, not bothering to conceal the irritation at all, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but Amelia won't be able to do much of anything for the next few days. Even by our Oracle's best estimates, it won't be until a week after the game that she'll even be able to go back to school, never mind play a Grudgby match. I don't even know how long that's going to take."
A knot formed in Skara's stomach. Compared to Amelia's wellbeing, she knew her own personal wants weren't important, but…
If that's the case then... I guess I'm confirmed for the match, then.
A small, purple flower was summoned by Willow. Very gently, she opened the door to the room, and placed it next to Amelia's head. Meanwhile, Boscha simply stood there, staring at Amelia's sleeping body. Then, she took in a deep breath through her nose.
"Well. I suppose it's a good thing we started training Skara then." She muttered through her teeth, a serpentine sound which just barely hid her frustration. "And hey, Ame wouldn't know any of the new plays or anything, so-"
"Is that all you care about?"
Skara blinked and felt her eyes widen as Willow spoke to Boscha. Cat, and Boscha herself seemed just as surprised as Skara.
For as long as Skara had known Willow, for all the crap she had put up with from Boscha, from nearly everyone at Hexside, for all the mockery and humiliation she had endured, the Bard had only once seen Willow snap before - And that had been back on the Knee.
Her tone of voice now was alarmingly close to what it had been back then, before Willow had abandoned Skara when she insisted on laying in the snow.
"Seriously?" Willow turned around and looked at Boscha, glaring at her. She didn't look away even slightly as she left the room, shut the door, and then, let herself raise her voice. "Your friend is in the Healers and the only thing I've heard you talk about since you showed up is Grudgby. Is that the only thing you care about?!"
"'Course not!" Boscha snapped, her own face distorting into one that reminded Skara of her encounter with Bria. "But I still need to think about what's best for the Banshees - You try having Bump come to you every day wanting updates on training, and being reminded the pride of Hexside is on your shoulders every two hours and see where your mind is at, Half-a-Witch!"
"Do not call me that again."
"You show up here uninvited, act all high and mighty, accuse me of not giving a damn about my friend being in the Healers, and now you're gonna have the gaul to get offended at me calling you names? What're you gonna do, hit me?" Boscha took a step closer to Willow. "Try it, Half-a-Witch, please. See what happens."
For a split second, Willow's expression fouled as well, and Skara could have sworn that there was a slight green glow in her eyes. Her hands balled up into fists, and for that split second, Skara genuinely thought Willow really was about to punch Boscha.
"You-"
Then, she threw her hands into the air, and sighed.
"Alright. Fine. You win." She turned to Cat. "Let Amelia know I hope she feels better soon when she wakes up, okay?"
"Er… S-sure, Willow." The Healer nodded, slightly confused.
Another sigh escaped Willow, and she turned around, and just walked away, turning a corner at the nearest crossroad, leaving the three other girls in… Various emotional states due to what had just happened.
"Yeah." Boscha growled, angrily. "That's what I thought."
Pretty evidently, Boscha was infuriated. Cat on the other hand didn't say anything. She just looked surprised and confused by what had just happened. While Skara…
As Skara watched Willow leave, she felt what she could only describe as a black hole forming in her stomach. Something about watching her leave, so frustrated, looking so defeated…
"Hey, uhm… I'll be right back." Skara didn't say anything else, didn't even look at Boscha. She simply made her way to the crossroad, following the path Willow took.
She could feel Boscha's eyes burning into her back. She ignored them.
Willow grimaced as she stepped away from Amelia's room, quickly walking down the corridors to get away from Boscha as she could. There was a burning anger in her chest that she did her best to ignore, to very little success.
Everything about that situation had frustrated - No, infuriated her. It was so painfully clear that the only thing that Boscha gave a damn about was knowing if she had a Grudgby player she could replace Skara with. It was the only thing she spoke about, like she was obsessed with it, like it was more important than Amelia being okay.
Would she have even bothered to visit if Amelia wasn't on her team? Somehow, Willow doubted it. And there was only so much of that she was able to listen to.
Yet when it came down to it, she had been the first one to back down. Not Boscha. That upset her just as much. Maybe more if she were being honest.
Titan.
As she continued to walk down the corridor, she soon spotted a nearby waiting bench, next to a stain-glass window that overlooked Bonesborough. Taking a seat, she took a deep, sharp breath, trying to calm her frustrations.
Why did I think coming here was a good idea? If Boscha was gonna come, there was no way it was gonna end well. What the heck was I even thinking?
She had been thinking that Skara had been there. And that Skara wasn't Boscha. And that maybe it wouldn't have been too bad if she went along, so long as Skara was there. That maybe that would deter Boscha from acting like... well Boscha. Why she had thought that, she had no idea. She couldn't be anywhere near Boscha. This was always going to be what happened. And she'd known that. That was why she had always kept her distance from Boscha.
"Titan's mercy…" Willow shook her head, and sighed. "This was so stupid…"
"Um… Hey, Willow."
Willow looked up to spot Skara, awkwardly rubbing her arm. It was… Weird. She hadn't expected Skara to follow her. If anything, after that display, she had expected Skara to… She didn't know. Willow honestly didn't know what to say. Her relationship with Skara was already confusing and complicated. Whatever they were now was so strange; not friends, not enemies, not just random people who just wave across the hallway at each other. They were simultaneously all of those things, and neither of them.
Whatever they were, Willow didn't mind it. It was actually kind of nice talking to Skara when she wasn't depressed or sad or…
Being Boscha's friend.
She stayed silent for a few seconds, before Skara sighed, and spoke first. "Look. I'm… sorry about Boscha. She's just, well… under a lot of stress from the big game, and there's this whole weird... thing with their team captain, and-"
"It's alright." Willow let out the closest thing to a smile she could muster. "It's fine, really. You aren't Boscha, you don't have to apologize for her."
"I know. But I… I know Boscha can be abrasive and kinda cold, but..." Her voice trailed off. Whatever she had been going to say, she had decided against it. Willow was thankful for that.
But… She was curious.
"Hey… Skara?"
"Yeah?"
"Why are you and Boscha friends?"
The more that Willow got to know Skara, and the more that she saw how the Bard acted when Boscha wasn't in the equation, the more confused she found herself with their friendship. They seemed really different, in a number of ways. And there was a power dynamic that was so obvious, she was pretty sure it would be visible from space, and yet Skara continued to put up with it, no matter how harsh Boscha was to her.
There had to be some reason.
For her part, Skara just blinked, like a vampire caught in the sunlight. "...What?"
"Why? Just…" Willow shook her head, trying to think of how best to phrase all this. "I know you aren't a fan of Grudgby, I've seen how Boscha treats you guys on the field, and I just… I don't get it. And with how she just cared about Grudgby when her friend's hurt… just, why do you hang out with her?"
Skara pursed her lips, eyes darting to and fro, as if Boscha were about to jump out any minute. "It's uh… well..." Her voice trailed off again, and she scratched at the side of her cheek. She averted her eyes away from Willow, and her stance shifted uncomfortably. Quickly, Willow decided that this was a boundary that she probably shouldn't have crossed.
"Nevermind." She said with a small sigh. She stood up, rising from the bench. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."
"Wait, wait." Skara interrupted. "I just… I didn't expect that question. It caught me a bit off guard, that's all."
"Forget it." Willow quickly repeated, now just feeling awkward about the whole situation. "It - It's personal, I shouldn't have pried."
"It's okay, really, I…" Skara sighed. "...I know how it looks to a lot of people."
A few seconds of silence followed, where neither of them moved or looked directly at one another. Skara eventually let out another, much heavier sigh, and took a seat on the bench.
"Alright... So, Boscha's… Well, she can be a jerk. I get that."
Willow could use... Other terms to describe Boscha, but her dad's would have to perform an exorcism on her if she said even a quarter of them, so she didn't interrupt. Instead, she just took the seat next to Skara, and let her talk at her own pace.
"But when we were kids, she and I… we were close." Skara continued. "Before Amity came along, it was mostly Boscha and me. We were cool, y'know? We'd go to fairgrounds without our parents, play razor tag, and just hang out. You know, like kids." A small smile crossed Skara's face, as if she was filled with a deep sense of nostalgia. "It was a good time. And even in the baby class, we were on top. Always the rad-est kids." Skara's smile grew, as if she'd forgotten she was even talking to Willow, instead just telling herself about the good old days.
I can't blame her I guess. I know what it's like to reminisce about nostalgic times with a friend.
Even if this is Boscha we're talking about.
Skara suddenly snapped out of her head when she turned to spot Willow looking at her. Willow, now realizing she was grimacing, tried to straighten her face out, but Skara simply coughed.
"Then… middle school happened. Like, she was cool, still, for a while. But she started getting angrier, more bitter."
"Well... I mean, to be fair, Witch puberty and all..."
"Nah, it wasn't that. "Skara shook her head. "It was more like…" She paused, trying to come up with the right description. "Like... She lost something. Something important, I guess. Something she never thought she would lose. Not that she actually did. I don't think. I don't know, that's just the only way I can think to explain it. It was just like something was… Gone."
"That's… Not exactly much to go on."
"Trust me, I know."
"And, since then, she's gotten… worse?"
"...Kinda, yeah." Skara admitted. "Since then, mostly everything she does is about Grudgby or proving she's better than everyone else."
"So that's why you joined her team then?"
"Not… Really..." Skara shook her head. "I didn't really want to. I like watching sports, sure, that's cool sometimes I guess, but actually playing them…" Again, Skara shook her head. "When she told me I could join and just be the backup, the benchwarmer, I finally decided to try it out. And it… wasn't fun, but it... Kept me on Boscha's good side, so…"
"...Kept you on her good side?"
"I… Wouldn't exactly be the first person she kicked out of her group if I got onto her bad side."
Willow stared at Skara for a moment. Granted, this was not the first time she'd seen Skara upset, particularly recently. But now, she seemed less sad or hurt over a breakup, and now just more… Hollow. Like she was resigned to this being as good as it got.
"But - She's not always like that!" Skara jumped to defend her friend, like she was expecting Willow to say something else. "It's… That's just sometimes how things are. I mean, c'mon, you have rough patches with your friends, right? It's like that."
Rough patches or not, none of Willow's friends, nor Willow herself, felt the need to 'Stay on one another's good side'. That wasn't how friendships were supposed to work.
"When it's not like that it's… Fun." Skara said. "I mean… We do like, Moonlight Conjurings, and hang out. We have, like, a hangout in one of the hills where we just chill. I… Know it looks bad sometimes but… I've known her for years. You just…"
A pause.
"...You just get used to it."
In that moment, Willow wanted to tell Skara to leave Boscha. To just wave goodbye and walk away, and put as many doors, walls, and ideally dimensions between the two of them as possible. Boscha didn't really seem to care about Skara's feelings or well-being all that much, or anyone else's for that matter. Being around her was like tip-toeing around Landmine Weeds. Whatever it was, it wasn't good for Skara. It certainly didn't seem to be making her happy at any rate.
But Willow knew that wasn't her choice.
I can't force Skara to do anything she doesn't want to do. Even if that's being friends with Boscha. I already said everything I could up at the cabin. Skara's the one who has to figure it out now. .
"...Alright," Willow sighed. "I... Gotcha. Thanks for telling me about you and Boscha."
"Y… Y'Welcome." Skara nodded, slowly, and slightly uncomfortably. She looked up Cat's doorway. "Cat and Boscha are probably talking about… Stuff or whatever. Probably why they haven't walked out yet."
"Wouldn't we be... Hearing them right now, then?"
"Cat says the Healers' rooms are soundproofed to keep out the screams of agonizing despair."
Willow… believed that.
"Well then," She said, standing from the bench to stretch. "That's enough... Unsettling information for one day. I'll see you at school tomorrow, okay?"
"You're leaving?"
"I… Don't think me sticking around here will do any good."
And after what just happened, I… Do not want to be anywhere around Boscha.
Skara looked at Willow for a moment, a look of confusion on her face. Confusion and… concern?
"Hey, uhm… Willow, are you… okay?"
It took a second for the words to process in Willow's brain. She was so used to asking Skara that question, but hearing Skara say the same thing to her… it almost felt alien.
"...Totally." She smiled. "It's all good. Don't sweat it."
The silver haired witch didn't look entirely trusting of that statement. But she nodded. "...Okay. If you say so."
Willow nodded, waving goodbye as she walked down the halls. "See ya Skara!"
"Yeah," Skara called back. "See ya."
As Willow walked out of Skara's sight, she let out a long, low sigh.
So…. I guess this is how Skara felt whenever she lied to me…
...I don't like it.
Skara's hand's shovelled into the pockets of her jacket as she wandered through the Healers' corridors, following the signs and hoping that they would lead her to the exit soon. She glanced out one of the windows she walked by, where she caught a glimpse of people going about their everyday lives in the city. She let out a long exhale through her nose.
Talk about a mixed bag of a day.
Amelia being conscious and well on the road to recovery with no permanent side-effects was probably the best news that the Bard had heard in weeks, and to say that she was glad was an understatement. After the role she had had in Amelia ending up in the Healers to begin with, Skara wasn't sure what she would have done had there been any permanent damage, or if she was going to have to remain here for months, or… Well, anything worse than what she had already been through.
She was just glad that Amelia was okay. No real if, ands, or buts about it. Just glad to see that she was doing alright.
Even if the actual meeting had been… Less than ideal.
The Bard sighed, this time through her mouth. She certainly couldn't blame Willow for reacting the way that she had to Boscha.
Frankly, the way Boscha had acted was... For lack of a better term, rude, and cold, even to Skara, and she was beyond certain that Cat hadn't appreciated it much more than she had. And Amelia...Well, in all fairness, if she had been coherent enough to hear Boscha when she started asking if she was good to play, she probably wouldn't have cared all that much, knowing her - She actually liked playing Grudgby, but still.
It had just been, well… Noteworthily callous, Skara supposed. Boscha was taking this Grudgby match against Glandus way, way too seriously. Skara could tell that the stress was starting to get to her.
Not that it was exactly unusual, mind. Boscha usually got at least a little like this when it came to Grudgby matches against rival teams - Dedicated to victory at all costs, driving herself and her team to the absolute limits. And when the match was done, everything would go back to how it was before the game had ever been announced. That was the cycle. This particular match just seemed to be stirring her up more than usual.
Probably because of the incident yesterday…
The corridor she was walking down split into a crossroads. Skara checked the signs on the wall, and took down the left corridor as instructed.
When she had returned to the room, Cat told her that Boscha had already left, presumably to go off to practice. Boscha was… Not a patient person, to put it lightly. Honestly, Skara should have expected it.
And speaking of practice, Skara's thoughts wandered towards the fact that she was going to be playing in the upcoming match for certain, now Amelia was confirmed to be out of commission.
A part of her really had been hoping that when Amelia recovered, she was going to be able to take her normal place on the team so the Bard could do what she did best - Hold down the bench. Maybe that was selfish, but Skara knew what she was good at, and Grudgby wasn't it. Plus, again, Amelia actually seemed to like playing Grudgby. It would have been a win-win for everyone involved.
But that wasn't the way things had fallen. And now, Skara would be playing a game she didn't like, against people who seemed to have it out for Hexside in particular for whatever reason, in front of Titan-knew how many people, in the middle of some sort of personal fight that Boscha seemed to have with the Glandus team captain.
Great.
Reaching another crossroads, and time following the signs instructions to take a right, Skara found herself back in the reception area, and made a beeline straight through it. Once she had gotten through and out the front doors, she let out another small sigh. She'd just have to do the same with Grudgby; get through it as best and as quick as she could. That was all there was to it.
"There you are."
To her side, Boscha was waiting, leaning against the wall, arms crossed, and her bottom two eyes shut, and her top eye focused directly on Skara.
For a moment, Skara blinked in surprise. "What the - Boscha? I thought you'd left already?"
In response, Boscha just stared at her plainly. "Well, clearly I didn't."
Immediately, Skara felt stupid for having said anything. Then, she paused again, her eyebrow raising. "Have… You just been waiting here for me to show up?"
"Mhm." Boscha just nodded. She then pushed herself off against the wall, and turned to face Skara, all her eyes now open. For all the attitude that she had displayed back in Amelia's room, it now seemed to have tripled in severity. Whatever small scraps of restraint she had been obeying up until this point, Skara could tell just from the tone of her voice, had been cast aside.
Skara felt herself involuntarily gulp.
"Now that you're officially on the team for the match, I figured that I should remind you exactly who we're up against."
"Er…" Skara blinked. "We're up against Glandus, right? I didn't forget-"
"We're up against monsters, Skara." Boscha said, firmly and heavily putting emphasis on the word. Her voice dropped into what Skara had begun to call the 'Glandus - are - the - source - of - all - evil - in - the - world' voice. "I don't think you really understand just what to expect from these bunch of lunatics. You didn't exactly seem to take them all that seriously when they showed up on our field after we caught them spying on us."
Aside from the fact they had less caught them, and more one of them had ran out of cover and exposed the lot of them, that was because she didn't take them all that seriously- Because Skara didn't comprehend for the life of her what the big deal was about Grudgby. It was just a sport for Titan's sake, and a sport she didn't even like, had been roped into playing by Boscha, and the idea of spying on someone else for it was just insane to the Bard.
Not that she ever said as much to Boscha, of course. She just let her keep talking without a peep.
Boscha then raised her hands to make quotation gestures with her fingers. "I know you think Bria is 'Kinda cute, I guess'-"
A little weird that you remember that part specifically, but okay.
"-But I'm warning you, I've played against her plenty of times, and If you're not careful, she will pummel you into the dirt so badly, you'll need to have your entire skeleton replaced!"
"…Thanks for the warning?" Skara… Wasn't exactly sure how to react to any of what she was being told. The way Boscha spoke, what exactly she was saying, the fact she had waited for the Bard to say this in person…
It felt more like a threat of some sort, somehow.
"You'll thank me more for the training tomorrow." Boscha carried on. "Now that I know for a fact Amelia is out of the game, we're gonna have to work you twice as hard to make sure you're ready for the match."
Ooof course we do.
"Last thing I need is another one of my team getting knocked out during the match. Especially since now we don't have a replacement player." Boscha's arms folded and she glared into the nearby street. "Bria'll probably try to knock either you or Cat out early on so there'll be less players for her to have to worry about, but we're gonna make you tough enough that you can handle anything she throws at you."
More of that 'Situational Conditioning', then.
"She thinks she's clever?"
Boscha's hands rose up in front of her, and her right fist slammed itself into her open left palm, and a tooth-baring grin spread across her face. Some nearby Witchlings on the street, at the foot of the steps, seemed to think Boscha was threatening them, and quickly scurried away.
"Big mistake on her part. I'm gonna bury her."
In the build up for the upcoming match, Boscha had pushed her team harder than they'd ever been pushed before. Heck, she had even been pushing Skara before she'd even known that the Bard would be on the field, just on the off-chance that she would be needed, which was probably a good idea from her perspective now, in all fairness.
Since the incident with Bria yesterday though, Boscha's entire attitude had shifted. Before, Boscha had just been taking things extremely seriously - Now, she was on the warpath. Her drills became even more demanding, her exercises moving away from absurd and now bordering onto outright insane, just to prepare them for whatever incomprehensible strategies Glandus could conceivably come up with. And unlike most of the previous sessions, now she was getting involved herself, pushing the absolute limits of her own endurance and skill, and seeming to relish any opportunity to blast something into smithereens.
It was like she was on a quest of vengeance against Bria for the whole incident, as opposed to wanting to win the match because it was Grudgby.
And still, Skara knew it was best to keep her mouth shut about it. Whatever the heck the deal was between Bria and Boscha, Skara knew that she didn't want to deal with Boscha yelling about it any more than she had to.
"…I'm just glad Amelia's okay." She muttered, glancing back towards the hospital.
Looking over her shoulder and back towards Skara, Boscha let out a small sigh, finally letting herself relax, if only a little bit. "…Yeah. Same."
"It was good to see her again." Skara nodded, slightly. "At least, while she's not all… Loopy, I guess. And glad she doesn't have any permanent damage."
"Yeah."
For a moment, Skara felt like she was talking with a ghost version of Boscha. Not the spiritual kind her dad dealt with, but more like a Boscha that seemed to have disappeared a long time ago. The Boscha that wasn't just Grudgby this or Glandus that. The Boscha she could just… Talk to. The same one who seemed like she could enjoy herself. Maybe not always the nicest person, but someone who didn't go out of their way to make fun of people like she did now.
For just that moment, it reminded Skara why she still spent time with Boscha.
Then, Boscha groaned.
"…Could have done without dealing with Half-a-Witch, though." Boscha's voice returned to a low, irritated grumble just as quickly as she had dropped it, and the ghost was gone with it. Her arms folded, and the scowl returned. "Acting all high mighty."
Skara bit her lower lip.
"...I don't think she was trying to act 'High and mighty', Boscha." Skara told her, trying to be very careful with the tone of her voice. "I think she was just... Worried about Amelia."
"And acted like I didn't care about her."
"I… I'm pretty sure she didn't mean to come across like that."
Boscha's eyes turned towards Skara, her right and top eyebrows both raised. Her expression was… A weird, uneven combination of irritation, bewilderment, uncertainty and inquisitiveness that Skara hadn't seen on her face before.
"Am I missing something here?" Boscha asked, letting all three of her eyes narrow. "You know something about what happened in that room that I don't?"
"No, just…" Skara paused for a moment, considering her words carefully. " I just think she was just glad Amelia was okay-"
"When did they become friends, exactly?"
"I... Don't think they really are? They're just lab partners, I think."
"Then why does she care? Not like she had a reason to come here to check on Amelia."
"I… She's just… Like that."
When she really got down to it, that was really the only answer that Skara could think to offer. She had thought just as much on the Knee - That Willow had had every reason to leave her to the Spider-Yeti's, and had every reason to not be anywhere near as decent to her as she had been in the cabin. She hadn't had any reason to act the way that she had done with the Vehemence Witch Plant. She hadn't had a reason to keep checking on her after finding her crying weeks ago.
The only consistent answer was that that was just the way that she was.
"She was like that with me on the Knee, for Titan's sake! She - "
"You know how all this works, Skara!"
Skara froze. She'd known that Boscha would be upset with the Bard defending Willow, but Boscha wasn't just upset now. She seemed… angry. Legitimately, red faced angry. And sure, they'd been upset with Skara before, but genuine anger... it wasn't something Skara had ever been on the opposite side of.
It was… Scary.
A moment passed. Neither girl moved. Then, Boscha's expression loosened up. She looked back up at the hospital, and let out a small exhale.
"The strong are on the top and the weak are on the bottom. And when someone isn't on the top, they'll do anything to claw their way to the top. That's how it works."
Boscha turned back to Skara. She seemed to have calmed down very quickly, But Skara couldn't tell if the expression came from her genuinely being less upset or just hiding it better. The expression instead had changed into… The closest thing Skara could call it was…
…Pity.
"Don't tell me you actually think she doesn't have some sort of motive for acting the way she does around you?" Her eyes seemed to focus onto one point on Skara's face. "I thought you knew better than that."
"It wasn't like that on the Knee-"
"On the Knee." Boscha grumbled, rolling her eyes. "That was a life or death situation - You aren't there anymore. You're back at Hexside! And… Okay, granted, Hexside can probably still kill you as well, but…" She shook her head, and pinched at her forehead. "It's different. You know how the rules work. And I guarantee you Willow knows that as well."
"...I don't think Willow even knows what rules you're talking about."
Another moment passed. Skara looked away from Boscha, and back out across the city, while she could feel that Boscha's eyes were still firmly on her.
Again, she felt herself bite the inside of her lower lip.
Finally, Boscha sighed, and shoved her hands into her jacket's pockets. "Alright then, Skara. If you want to pretend that Half-a-Witch is some sort of anomaly, then be my guest. But make sure you remember my track record, yeah?"
She took a step closer to Skara.
"I said you were too good for Bat-Boy. And look how that worked out."
The slight taste of blood escaped Skara's lip.
Sensing that her point had been made, Boscha stepped away from Skara, made her way down the steps onto the main road, and began to walk home. Skara watched as she walked down the road, moving through groups of people, and refusing to side-step to get out of anyone's way. The Bard watched until the Grudgby Captain took a turn around a building, and was finally out of sight. Only then, did Skara allow herself to exhale.
Well, that could have gone… A thousand times better.
There had been no point in asking her to lay off Willow, Skara knew. Not when she was like this. When she was angry, Boscha was stubborn to the point of absurdity. And somehow, she had a feeling this wasn't going to go away until the Glandus match was over and done with. Maybe after that was over, maybe then she'd have better luck.
Glancing back at the Healers Office, Skara thought for just a moment. She'd known Boscha for nearly eleven years. And she had to admit, in all that time… Boscha wasn't wrong. At least, it didn't seem like it. The way she described Hexside, the way she operated, the way she led… the results were hard to argue with. That was how everyone in their group had ended up at the top of the social hierarchy. Because they followed the rules Boscha talked about. Because Boscha seemed to know what she was talking about.
That was what made the fact that there wasn't a single doubt in Skara's mind that she was wrong about Willow all the more surprising.
Not one single doubt.
DesmondKane: Hey guys. Long time no see. As in, a really long time.
I know I don't owe this, nor does any other writer who takes an extended period of time off their work, but I wanted to apologize. I wish I could say this whole hiatus I was working on perfecting this chapter for you, going over each letter with a fine toothed comb until it made Neil Gaiman weep. However the truth is, it was mostly a combination of starting a new job, working on other projects, and honestly quite a bit of feeling like absolute garbage that held me back from completing it. But, I'm getting into the swing of my new job AND feeling a lot better. I admit I still plan on working on other personal projects that are not fics, but I will still find time to work on this with Q. I'm planning to be here for the long haul.
Speaking of Q, congrats to our boy for getting into the recent Lumity Zine. He worked hard as hell to get in and I couldn't be prouder of him!
Thank you all for staying with us on this wonderful journey. I can't wait to move forward on it with you. The next few chapters are… special.
Qosmos: 'Ello all - Like Desmond said, it's been a heck of a long time but I'm so extraordinarily glad to have this chapter out! Lesson learned - Organize what goes into a chapter more carefully, and don't overdo it when one half of the writing team is getting a new job, and the other (me) is moving to university for a Masters Degree.
It's been one of those roadblock chapters and the timetables have not lined up great - BUT that's beside the point now and here we are! Actually having this chapter out feels like one hell of an accomplishment, and hopefully means we can start getting back into the regular swing of things.
And as Desmond said - Yes! I'm going to be one of the writers for the Luminescence Lumity Zine! It's a big zine with a number of well known artists and writers and for God knows what reason they accepted my application into it so there we go! Make sure to check them out!
See you next time!
