Dead Beat

[daird]

Great. Rebecca had essentially handed Sici freedom on a silver platter. Given what she stood accused of, there was no way the guards would believe the truth. And worse, there were far too many to fight. But she refused to be taken alive again.

Rebecca drew her knife. It wasn't meant for fighting, but at this point, she needed everything she had. "Manana, we need an illusion! A big one!"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Manana's expression said that she had expected this completely... But had gone along for whatever reason, maybe out of some desire to be able to punish Sici by herself, though of course that was now impossible as Sici was hiding behind the guards.
"One step ahead of you... Oh this is gonna hurt in the morning..."
As she finished saying that a roar shook the earth as a dragon flew down from the sky, breathing fire upon the houses of the village and causing mass panic.
"O..okay... I can't... Hold this long, time to go".
She whispered.

 

[daird]

Rebecca raised an eyebrow as the "dragon" raced in. She knew it wasn't real, but she could still smell its fetid breath. The beast roared, making the guards flinched. The necromancer was impressed- to project an illusion that large and detailed to that many people, Manana was a powerful witch.

Rebecca fled into the woods, shedding a tear as she did. Despite her leaving, she would have many fond memories of Willowby.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Manana was powerful, but had her limits, limits she had clearly just broken to do that as she was now a sweating, exhausted wreck of a woman, she would recover soon enough, but as they fled it was with Rebecca supporting the elven woman who appeared to be... Flickering?
"T..this should be far enough..."
She said after a while, as they had moved it had become more and more obvious that she was failing to keep up a spell she had cast on herself.

 

[daird]

Rebecca's eyebrows raised as she started to figure out what was going on. She laid an illusion on herself. But why? "Manana, you better start talking. Who are you? What are you?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Though gasping slightly as she tried to recover from the exertion of both the spell and their run, Manana still managed what vaguely resembled a sigh and raised a hand in defeat, dropping her spell.
"You caught me huh? Sorry about the illusion, I just find it easier to travel in disguise, not everyone really trusts my at a glance".
She admitted, looking genuinely apologetic.

Image

 

[daird]

Rebecca nodded. There was a lot of discrimination against nonhumans out there- in retrospect, she had it easier than some, even being a witch. "So you're an elf, or something similar. Don't worry, I won't judge. You saved my life at least twice, I owe you that much at least."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Manana wasn't too surprised that Rebecca was accepting of her race, though she felt a sense of relief none the less, if she had been violently racist like many others she had met, she would be almost completely unable to defend herself.
"I am glad you think that way, Sici is the same, she hides herself with magic, though I am sure the guards of that town will find her true identity soon enough".

 

[daird]

Rebecca nodded, checking Manana for any injuries. Thankfully, all she saw were a couple of scrapes. "Okay, I need to know about this treasure of Sici's. What's it look like, what's it do, does it actually exist?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

Manana counted herself lucky, after a close call like that with both Sici and the town guard she had at least somewhat expected something would have killed her, or at least left a pretty big scar... Still though, she wasn't complaining about coming out unscathed!
"Hahh... Like I said, there IS no treasure... It's a game I made up when we were children, a way to taunt Sici with something she could never have, unfortunately she refused to believe me when I told her that, and began gathering what she thought were clues".

 

[daird]

"Alright, so we really can't predict her next move, since we don't know what the 'clues' are, which means we can't do anything about her for the time being." Rebecca groaned. "Not that we can go back to Willowby anyway, since they want our heads. We're going to have to find our way to a town, but it's been so long since I left, I'm not sure what the best route would be. For now, I'm going to concentrate on a shelter for us." The necromancer had seen hunter's shacks built around trees before, and started work on a crude one to keep some of the elements away.

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Yeah... Well we could always just hope that the guards suddenly become massively more competent and manage to figure out she is dangerous and hold her until execution it whatever it is they do on the rare occasion they keep someone locked up for more than a day".
She suggested, very clearly sarcastically.
"Ahh, I traveled along here on my way to Willowby, there is a fairly large town not too far from here we can visit, though with news of a necromancer and a woman who summons dragons on the road, we should avoid staying too long, news like that travels fast".

 

[daird]

Rebecca nodded at this. "Yes, that would be wise, but eventually, we're going to need to settle down for a few days. However, you're an illusionist, and they'd be looking for a human summoner. Could you disguise us?"

The 'shack' was finished to the best of Rebecca's ability, which wasn't much. Still, if the weather remained dry, it wouldn't be too bad. "Come on in, there's plenty of room."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Agreed, I know I can't keep running forever, though I am sure people will stop looking if they fail to find us after a while, too much work to look for someone who might have teleported away or something equally ridiculous".
She stated before nodding slowly.
"Yes, quite easily, after a rest that is, creating images is easy, but for that dragon I had to fool the entire town, create smells and noises and burning houses..."

Once the shack was finished she entered without complaint.
"Hahh, first time I have had shelter while on the road in weeks!"

 

[daird]

Rebecca was rather surprised. "Really? I will admit to not having met an elf before, but aren't you at home in the forest? Living off the land, talking with the animals, that sort of thing? I mean, not to sound stereotypical or anything..." The redhead blushed a little bit. "I should really shut my mouth, shouldn't I?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Hmm? You're not entirely wrong there you know, a lot of us ARE used to the forest, and really I should be more at home in them, but alas I am too used to creature comforts and warm beds, not to mention I barely spent any time near forests as a child".
She admitted, not offended by the stereotype in the slightest.
"And don't worry about questions, why would I be offended by you trying to seek knowledge?"

 

[daird]

"I don't know, maybe it sounds... Racist? Speciesist? I don't even know what the right term is," Rebecca commented, looking at Manara's body. She had to admit, the elf was very attractive, but as bad as the reputations of witches were, homosexuality and mixed-species relationships got it worse.

"So, I've learned a good deal about you- anything you want to know about me?"

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Well... Not really, at least I don't think it is racist if it is true... I just happen to be the odd one out..."
She explained sitting down with her back against a tree, she was tired and wanted to relax.
"Hmm... Good question... Well, let's start with who you are? By which i mean, what did you do before this whole debacle?"

 

[daird]

"Me? I'm a seamstress. Parents were farmers, had no work for me at the farm, but I'd always had a talent with clothes. Had a couple good years, and they were able to set me up with a few silver coins. Set up my stall, made some more money, and got some walls around me. Not exactly glamorous, save for the time I was hired to make a dress for a little duchess, but it is what it is."

 

[Mahou-Shoujo]

"Ahh, I think I saw you actually, I was looking for a new traveling cloak and checked a few stores, of course before I could buy anything you were arrested..."
She declared, seeming to be impressed by her making a dress for someone as powerful as a duchess!
"Hah, I wish I had a cool story like that... I myself am not really employed in the classical sense, I do a bit of hunting, a few shows here and there..."