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The air outside Aradia's home at night in the winter had a particular sort of taste to it, that sharp, biting taste of cold wind trickling into your mouth like water. It was an expansive property, with not much to do except wander away from home or stay inside, but when you had a friend that was as into the occult as you were, some magical things could happen. A tall, old honey locust tree about a half a mile straight due west from Aradia's home, with its drooping, empty branches making a perfect cover away from the staring eyes of the moon, imprisoning it in their thorns.
"Don't lean against that." Aradia warned, matter-of-factly, as Rose was just about to lean against the tree. It was, of course, difficult to see at half-past midnight, so Rose wasn't aware of the danger she was in, so Aradia shined her phone flashlight towards her with a loud little smile.
Rose turned around, looked at the mess of thorns she was about to stumble herself into, and laughed nervously, taking a couple of steps forward. It hadn't rained in several weeks - the ground was cold, dry, dusty, and dead. Ample for sitting down upon. "Good lord, they could've crucified Jesus Christ on one of these."
"Fun fact, they used to make nails out of those thorns! They very well could've." Aradia helpfully intoned, tilting her head sideways while she swept her phone's beam of light against the ground, looking for a small cairn she had made exactly a year ago to this day, on the winter solstice. When she found it, her eyes lit up with mischief and wonder, undisturbed by nature, as if they, too, avoided this place. "Bingo."
"What kind of witch says "bingo"?" Rose challenged, dumping her backpack on the ground and beginning to unload supplies. It was frightfully cold, with Rose bundled up in a fur-lined winter coat and puffy winter pants that ballooned her silhouette against the moonlight, while Aradia, true to form, was less concerned about practicality and more concerned about draping herself in as many layers of robes as she could pull out of her closet. Aradia brought a finger to her lips and shushed Rose playfully, sitting down in front of the cairn. "Fine, fine. Let's get this show on the road."
"What kind of witch says "let's get this show on the road"?" Aradia challenged, giggling as Rose carefully demarcated lines along the ground with white spray paint and a thoroughly paint-coated yardstick, drawing a picture perfect pentagram around the cairn. Then, with considerable shakiness of her gloved fingers, she sprayed out a circle connecting every one of the points.
"Touche." Rose replied, capping the spray paint and beginning to set up the candles while Aradia pulled out a hefty metal zippo lighter from seemingly nowhere, crisscrossed with little engraved details that were impossible to make out in the low light of the moon. She flicked the starter until the lighter burst into quiet flames, with only the tiniest "fwoosh". Rose pulled out a large jug of distilled water from her backpack, in case anything on this dry, frigid day caught alight. Aradia chanted quietly under her breath, kneeling down to each candle in turn and carefully lighting the wick, watching them ignite in the still winds, tall flames burning towards the grey sky.
Rose smiled quietly, watching Aradia, who had done this every year for the past four years, walk her through the motions. Rose had done this precisely never, and it felt very... connecting. The wind rustled her hair behind her hairband, just a bit, and Aradia finished lighting each candle in turn before sitting down just outside the edge of the circle. "Now what, miss master witch?" Rose asked, raising an eyebrow in quiet, amused skepticism, sitting down directly opposite of Aradia. The moonlight curled and coiled around the stone cairn, grasping it in its frigid claws, illuminating the slight imperfections and the stony smoothness of its surfaces.
"Now? We wait." Aradia answered, crossing her legs and folding her hands politely into her lap. Under the shade of the honey locust tree, they waited.