Chapter Text
Yor Briar was a witch, and for all purposes, the worst witch her little town had ever seen. She was kind with everybody and always had a smile on her face, but her potions and spells had questionable results. Yes, she was able to cure a cold or a sore body, but the person who used her services would most likely suffer from a severe stomach ache or would have to endure the worst smell of their life. Her spells for raining and good harvest were more like curses and would bring destruction to the poor farmer who decided to trust on her. Her mentor had identified the problem long ago, Yor was meant to be an evil witch, she was supposed to craft poisons and cast hexes, not the affable town witch to whom everybody could go to for help. He even suggested for her to relocate to the Capital, in the big cities there was always use for someone with her skills. However the people of her hometown didn’t care too much if she was the worst witch, they were happy with her and would still ask her to do a little something now and then so she could keep on living with them.
The problem was that she had been summoned by the Grand Association of Ratcatchers, Demons, Executioners and Necromancers, or for short, GARDEN. A couple of months ago an old gentleman that had been passing by the town had stopped to request an invigorating potion and the results that he got, convinced him that the witch had been confused and had given him a very effective poison. The man in question was a warlock part of GARDEN and quickly took a sample to their Guild Master, a man known as Shopkeeper. The Shopkeeper immediately recognized the product and summoned Yor Briar, after all, their paths had already crossed one time and this time she wouldn’t be able to escape.
Shopkeeper was not someone who could be taken lightly, he was commanding one of the strongest guilds of the Kingdom of Ostania and even if only a few people knew about them, the truth was that they did a lot of the dirty work the Kingdom commanded. As such, Shopkeeper had kept a close eye on a young Shadow Guard recruit that had arrived to the capital some years ago. He was the vivid image of his older sister, Shopkeeper only needed to intercept some letter to learn about the location of the woman. He never expected to find her by a third party. The missive she received included a brief paragraph explaining how the career from her brother could be affected if she didn’t show on the date requested.
Yor was very worried about the letter, she couldn’t allow her undesired skills to interfere in the future of her brother and with a heavy heart she decided to make the trip to the Capital. She didn’t have a lot of money, after all, she lived in a very small town and most of her payments were food or animals. She had to go first to the closest city to sell a silver locket. The last item of her inheritance. She had parted many years ago with the feelings and memories of the jewelry her mother had left her, because Yuri, her brother, needed to be fed and dressed. To sell the last one of those items was sad, but it was necessary. She entered the shop where she always went and was surprised to see that the old man had two customers. Two very attractive people, a man and a woman, they didn’t seem to be related, Yor concluded they must be a couple. She sighed, a little of envy in her heart at seeing happy couples. The wife of the shop owner called her when she noticed her and after exchanging pleasantries she inquired about Yor’s visit.
- Oh, it’s such a shame you have to sell this as well! Your mother really liked this locket, I remember when you father gave it to her during the Red Moon Festival.
- It’s ok, Mrs. Reinell, I’m sure my mother would understand. I’m just wondering if it will be enough to cover the fare to the Capital… I know it isn’t very valuable. - Yor said blushing, she had noticed that the another customer, the man, had been observing her very intently.
- Non sense, dear, I’ll give you the best deal you could get. If times were better I would keep it for you, so you could buy it back.
- Mrs. Reinell! You’ve done so much for me, I cannot really ask for anything else!
- You should ask that brother of you for money, he is already a grown up man! - the woman said while she was counting some coins on the counter.
- I could never do that! Yuri deserves to use his hard earn money as he pleases.
- Are you going to see him? He had always been very attached to you, he probably misses you too much.
- Erm… no, I’m going for a job…
- A job!? - the woman knew of course of the skills of Yor. As she put the coins in the hands of the young woman she ask her to be very careful.
Yor thanked the woman once again before leaving the store and went to get her ticket. She would be traveling in the cheapest possible way, she didn’t know how much money she would need in the capital and she really didn’t have anything else she could sell. She had with her an old leather bag that used to belong to her father, he was an apothecary. She always thought that it was a pity that not her or Yuri could learn from him. But she would win nothing by being sad, she told to herself and went to buy something very cheap to eat as well. She knew an old woman that sold some cooked mushrooms, they weren’t the most delicious food in the world, but they would fill her stomach and that was all she needed. Yor then walked to the East Door, the caravan would leave from there. She took seat below some trees, prepared to wait until the caravan would leave. After a couple of hours she decided it was time for her only meal of the day and took one of the mushrooms. They were big and she had gotten a good price for three of them. That should be enough food for three days, which was the duration of the trip. However as she was going to start eating she felt the gaze of the man again. She was surprised to see him at her back and very nervously asked him if he would like to share her food.
- It’s an interesting selection. – The man said taking the mushroom she had offered him. Then Yor noticed the woman was next to the man as well, looking displeased with his actions.
- I-It’s very cheap and last for several days, - Yor didn’t know why, but she felt the need to explain herself – and is easy on the stomach, I thought it was a good choice for the trip. - She felt her cheeks burning under those blue eyes.
- Although, it needs some seasoning. - He added, after taking a bite of the food.
- That’s too much to ask of this place – the woman next to him said, her voice was missing all emotion.
- Would you also like some, Madam? - Yor offered her the remaining mushroom and the woman took it. - I-I’m sorry it’s not a very fancy dish, but it’s all I have. - She muttered, lowering her eyes.
- Say, if we would like to buy more of these, where can we get them? - The woman asked her, after tasting the one she took.
- Mother Plum sells them, but her stand is only open until noon. - Yor explained, the sun was already starting to set. - You’d have to wait until tomorrow if you want to buy more.
- Such a shame, since we’re leaving tonight. - The woman responded.
- Are you also leaving tonight, Miss? - The man asked her.
- Yes. - Yor replied with a smile, there was no question that they were going to travel first class, while she was going to be cramped with the boxes and animals. Then the bell rang, announcing the hour and everybody around started to gather their belongings and walking towards their wagon.
First class was composed of a couple of big carriages, they were frequently used by the merchants families traveling around the kingdom. Second class were covered wagons that had some benches and cushions for the customers. Third class was the open cart where they put all the baggage and animals that were being transported. For a few coins you could jump in there and reach your destination. Yor went without hesitation to find a good place in the cargo cart. She wasn’t the only one traveling in there, there were a newlyweds that were moving to their new house and three boys that were going to search for work in the silver mines. The caravan departed at night because they had the Radiant Protection Seal in all of their vehicles and animals. They didn’t need to worry about beasts or thieves, since the seal would repeal all dangers and attacks.
Yor found her place in between the cages with the hens. She had thought first of going to find refuge next to an old cow, but the boys had claimed the place first. The caravan company had arranged some privacy for the newlyweds and they were occupying the back part of the cart. Yor thought that if she were a better witch she could offer them a potion to make their wedding night the sweetest ever, but it was better if no one in the caravan knew she was a witch. She felt asleep shortly after, dreaming of food and her little hut.
Some cars ahead, in one of the First Class Carriages, the man and woman were discussing their late discovery:
- It’s such a shame that we didn’t know that someone in here sold frill mushrooms. - The woman said, looking at the untouched dinner the man had in front of him.
- It would have been better if we split rather than going together around town. - That had been the man’s plan originally, but the woman refused to follow it.
- I still don’t know why you bought that thing, Twilight.
- None of your business. - The man said, taking a book out of the luggage at his foot.
- She is very dumb, you know… she gave us her food when obviously she cannot afford anything else and to think that she bought the frill mushrooms because they were easy on the stomach… Ridiculous!
Twilight wasn’t really interested in having a conversation with the woman, so he just kept on his reading until the woman gave up and announced that she was going to sleep. Of course he had noticed the other woman didn’t have anything else to eat. He really wasn’t trying to take her food, but a frill mushroom was a frill mushroom. He thought of saving his diner and offer it to her the next day, when the caravan would stop for a change of beasts.
He was in a very bad mood the next morning. Fiona had thrown away the food he had been saving. He decided to skip breakfast as well and ignore his travel companion for the rest of the day when disgrace struck. All the caravan fell ill after breakfast, they had to stop unexpectedly as the beast tamers and guards that were traveling with them were unable to perform their duties.
- Don’t look at me… I can’t stand you looking at me in this state. – Fiona had said as she threw him outside the carriage they were using.
He quickly realized that everybody but the third class passengers were sick. They had stopped in the middle of the forest, so at least they could try to find some herbs to heal the people from the other carts. He came to the conclusion that it was just a case of food poisoning, given that the third class passengers haven’t had any meal provided. Which was weird, because the traveling company was well known as well for the magic seals they used to keep food fresh. He went to inspect the cart that had the food and quickly saw that the magic seal was broken, and not only that, he noticed the traces of a spell all around. He notified the officer that was traveling with them. They would need to either return or stop at the next city to fix everything. Twilight also reviewed the Radiant Seal, but at least that one seemed to have no damage. That was worrisome in a whole different way, either the person tampering the food was part of the caravan or they were dealing with someone with real strong magic.
When he finished his inspection, he went to join the third class passengers, who had just returned from herb gathering. He was nicely surprised to see they had picked up the correct herbs at most, just had to put away a couple of very dangerous flowers.
- Yor told us which ones to pick! - One of the boys explained proudly – It was very easy.
- Yor… do you have anything in mind for these? - Twilight asked the woman pointing to the flowers.
- Ah, they’re the secret ingredient. - She said smiling confidently. Then she showed him a very worn out notebook, full of notes and drawings. It seemed to had been written by someone very knowledgeable.
- Do you know this has a secret code, right? - He only needed to go quickly through a page to realize that the author had concealed their secrets within incorrect ingredients and vague instructions.
He returned to the forest together with Yor, who explained him that her father had been an apothecary, but he died before he could teach her many things. She only learned to select a few herbs and to dry them in order to store them for later use. She sighed a little embarrassed for not even thinking that her father would try to hide his secrets from the world.
- He must have thought that he would be here to teach you everything. – Twilight tried to reassure her, he had noticed she had lost her smile. - Don’t think too much into it.
- But you’re amazing! You realized almost immediately that there was a code… are you able to decipher it? Could you teach me?
- That would mean that I would know everything that your father wrote, is that fine with you? I could teach you the basis to decode it and you could go on your own from there.
- You’re so smart! - Yor was gawking at him and he couldn’t avoid to blush a little, until he heard the noise coming from her stomach. - Sorry! I-I…
- We should get something to eat as well, I think we’re close to a small river, let’s see if there are fishes in there.
They walked until they heard the characteristic noise of running water. Yor hurried to find that the small river was not that small and it was full of life. A lot of bugs and birds where jumping between some rocks. She could see the shining scales through the clear waters. Then she saw how the man took out a small hook from his jacket and quickly improvised a cane with a stick and some thread he also had in his pocket. He sat in one of the rocks and Yor went to sit next to him.
- Don’t you need bait? - She asked him with curiosity. He nodded, but explained that some fishes were curious enough to approach the shiny hook without a bait, so they could try it like that. She then pulled out from her pocket what was left of the frill mushroom. It wasn’t a lot, probably she had been saving it for the rest of the trip. She bit off a small part to be used as bait. He took it, but pinched one finger while trying to put it in the hook. He noticed something odd when he had instinctively taken the finger to his mouth, but the sensation disappeared as fast as it had appeared. Shortly after he was catching fish after fish. He didn’t intend to fish for the whole caravan, but he realized he really enjoyed the excitement in Yor’s face whenever he caught a fish.
- This is amazing! Erm… I don't know your name.
- Loid – he told her as he put one lock of her hair behind her ear. He liked how she blushed, he took his time to remove his hand.
Once he was more than satisfied with all he had fished, they picked up the flowers he deduced where the ones indicated by her father’s note and returned to the caravan. The other passengers were very happy with the idea of eating and quickly started with the preparations for the food while Yor tried her best to concoct a potion that would help the sick passengers. She had been insecured at the beginning, but then she relaxed when Loid started to correct all the missteps she was doing. Then she started to get more and more flustered because he was too close to her. She was mixing the potion with circular movements when he took her hand and did a counter circle movement and explained to her that for every ten in one direction, she should give one in the other direction. He didn’t let go of her hand and she just felt she was about to explode at any moment. She had to remember herself that she had a very important task at hand, since she needed to pour some of her magic powers into the potion. She at least knew that much, her mother had always helped her father with the preparations, because “a little bit of love is our secret ingredient”. She was trying to focus on that when she felt the other magic going through her hand into the potion as well. She looked surprised at Loid, who also seemed to have no idea of what was happening, there was just magic pouring outside of him as well. The potion glowed for an instant and they stopped the mixing. It had a soft pink color, something none of them had ever seen in a potion. Yor felt a really intoxicating smell but she didn’t know anymore if it was coming from Loid or the liquid.
- What the… - Loid was really surprised and took some of the potion in the spoon they had used. It glowed a little more as he examined it. He grabbed a glass bottle from Yor’s leather bag and pouedr some of the potion in there, making sure to close the bottle very tightly.
- What went wrong? - Yor asked him, she was sure that even if she didn’t prepare it as she usually did, the results were not the expected ones.
- I don’t know, but I think those flowers you picked up earlier are going to be helpful to fix this. - He put them into the potion and after a few moments the mix changed color to something more herbal and the intoxicating smell had disappeared. He wondered once again if Yor’s instincts were more like clairvoyance skills. He turned to ask her about those flowers when he noticed she was fainting. He was upset with himself, she probably hadn’t eaten the whole day and he had dragged her around and then had her using magic.
She woke up later, she felt the movement of the cart, it seemed the potion had worked and the caravan was advancing. She sighed relieved, she was worried she wasn’t going to arrive on time to the Capital. She opened her eyes to find a couple of blue eyes fixed on her. He helped her to sit. They were in the improvised area that had been used by the newlyweds the night before. She saw the sun was starting to set.
- I was out for a while, eh? - She said trying to alleviate the mood.
- You need to take better care of yourself – Loid said as he put some food in front of her and refused to let her talk until she finished everything. Then he gave her back the frill mushroom he had been saving for later. - Eat this as well, it will help you recover faster. These mushrooms are very good to replenish magic.
- I’m okay. - She said, refusing the mushroom. - Besides that was my gift to you, I don’t want it back. - She told him with determination. - Can we talk about what happened?