@pagetreader (cabbage man)
the witch turns to block the man, she thinks one of the tavern man's friends, before his arms encase her back. thrusts her leg out and knocks him to the ground. not using magic. no, she doesn't need to waste magic on him, or the tavern man which comes toward her to help his friend. confirmation of her previous thought. she's been keenly aware of being followed into the woods, perhaps even expected it at some point considering the attitudes of those which had bore witness to her action a week before. most men did not react well to being challenged upon a good day and reacted worse when a woman dared to do so. it's forced her to delay her plans for this night, to send word of delay toward those she had intended to meet. she's distracted for a moment by the man coming toward her, an opening given the man gaining his footing as he offers a lucky blow to her leg, knocking her to the ground for a moment as she blinks at the way the wind is knocked out of her.
the best laid plans could find themselves torn asunder. she understands such with a keen foreknowledge. she remembers rozlogi. remembers flames as they licked stone. remembers men's bodies as they lay upon in the bailey. she remembers the face of a man in devastation, and the face of one in relief as blood dripped from his sword and crimson reflected from her hair and dried upon her body. she remembers who was taken and what had ensued when she'd faced the wretched witch in her mountain hovel. disruption to plans was not the be unexpected. always be prepared. seek your vantage points. scout the land. embody your senses, acquaint them to the energy around you, attune them when developing a convergence point so that you might know within moment's notice when something is disrupted. always a teacher zalan had been. lessons upon lessons, broken to be rebuilt. where had these lessons gone that night when the castle had been taken? when she had bore witness to a fall, body struck with silver cast down from the tower and all sense of reason had left her mind? a plan taken flight in the wind, cast into the storm and that whom they had been bid to protect lost-- temporary as it had been.
vigilance, in a world turned upside down, was paramount. vigilance after the tavern was sheer common sense. her plans had been stalled by a week's passage. tensions risen and katarzyna had half a mind to abandon the endeavor completely though she'd followed through upon this night after all. she did not wish to cause problems for the family who had taken her in, providing knowledge and shelter in a world where suspicions appeared toward everything new and unknown. it's the heart of the family, their honor, their spirit in remembrance which keeps them loyal in trying times when to bring her into their home could spell disaster. 'dear child, we can not live with them, for if one of us is discovered we all may be.' her mother had spoken such words for her so long prior, haunting, and yet a contradiction to many years of peaceful life. a peaceful life which had been obliterated by pain and anguish. perhaps she had been right in the end and it casts a shudder through the golden haired witch upon the memory. the family catherine lis stayed with held no true allegiance to the british, them but a consequence of changing territories. but for her to remain when such attentions were wrought upon her? it was perhaps unwise yet she needed the final piece of the puzzle. needed to meet with those she had intended upon this night.
the witch rolls over when one of them attempts to grab her leg, kicks up and sends both men off balance with blows to their throats. they weren't fighters, not really and she might be small but filled with plenty of frustrated anger. they'd delayed her plans and what? thought they could teach her some kind of lesson? the girl with the strange accent with no true ties to speak of. she doesn't dwell on the kind of lesson. she doesn't seek to murder them outright. but oh, how wrong they were. wrong upon so many fronts that it was laughable.
the moon is high in the sky, filtering through the trees casting shadows across the ground. she's nearly tempted, to let the shadows within her which itch to come out engulf the men but a crunch of leaves in the distance catches her ocean hues. had she been mistaken when she'd opened her senses to the world. had there been three within these men's party and not two? foot meets one of the man's heads, not enough to truly maim him but enough to knock him unconscious. the other man rolls over, attempting to gain his footing. she's not actually concerned with him and for the brief moment it takes him to rise she allows her gaze to dart through the woods and fall upon-- cabbage man? head tilts to the side, mind searching for answers to this strange turn of events. she decides quickly, though she does not know the man well they have spoken and he had not been unkind, that he was not in union with these men. had he followed her though? to what end? or had he followed them? or just happened upon chaos on this night?
"i would think you would have learned when i broke your nose, or-- from your sleepy friend there that it is unwise to--" kasia is speaking to the man who attempts to make another move against her, undeterred by the cabbage man's presence and she wonders if the man simply planned to harm him too. she's heard things, rumors that some thought the other man a coward for actions months prior. for leaving his enlistment. and while perhaps she held her own views about vows to causes, she could not fault him for seeking to aid sickly family. that was not without honor either. to aid the defenseless or the sickly. she is no stranger to being condemned for such an action be it not the same. her words are cut off by the man who throws his weight into trying to move against her. she sees his footing, his error and simply pushes out at him sending him stumbling into a tree. "you picked a fine night to go for a nightly stroll cabbage man."
there's a jarring kind of amusement to the woman's tone as she looks upon the cabbage man. then a sigh when the other man moves again. enough of this, honestly. how foolish could some men be? she wonders though then considers he had likely given in to the drink. that had colored a many man's dark intentions over the years. he attempts to charge forward again however everything shifts from there in rapid succession. the man is plucked into the air by some unseen force mid-movement, her expression changing quickly into surprise. had her delay caused those she had intended to meet to seek her out? no-- no, there was too much darkness in the air suddenly, ebbing, projecting from whatever force was being used and it strikes her with a worried sort of horror that whatever was out here may have been watching too, may have already come from those waiting for her not far from their current spot. she can not dwell upon this however. or the fact that that all things considered she should not worry about the human's fate when so much rode upon this night. he was inconsequential to her cause. perhaps to some of the townsfolk too.
yet-- when blurred creature moves toward him next, there is no hesitation when the witch unleashes her shadows from her and sends them around the wrath, shielding the cabbage man. she also does not give him time to present horror at her own action. her hurried footfalls bring her to him within seconds, all this having transpired within less than a minute, gripping at his arm as she instructs him to come with her. there's a little creak not far from there. running water and while she may not know exactly what this ghostly creature is, she holds enough knowledge that it may have issue with crossing such a thing. in the least, if she is correct, it may grant time to figure out what forces were truly at play.
