Emily climbed over logs and rocks, feeling rebellious and yet awesome at the same time. She had gone outside of the wall. Finally something she could hold over other people, something she could say she did to impress other children her age! No one else had gone outside of the gate unless they were royalty or part of the king's court, probably making Emily the first peasant child to come out here! Of course the whole; those that did never came back to tell the tale part scared Emily, but if anything showed up, surely she could just hit it with the really cool stick she found! Emily swung the stick around with a laugh. She felt like a swordswoman, slicing up enemies and disfiguring monsters.
Emily came to a clearing in the woods, a crater-like shape with moss growing on the sides. She slid down the side. The clearing reminded her of a coliseum, or an arena. "En guard!" Emily swung her sword at an invisible person. *THUD* Emily paused. Did her stick just hit something? She reenacted the motion she made but slower, her stick tapping against something solid. Something she couldn't see. Emily reached out hesitantly, feeling the invisible thing with her hand. It had the same rows that one could feel in bark, dipping down into the bark and small pieces breaking off. As she broke off a small piece, it turned visible, its shade matching the woods around her.
She moved her hand up and down, feeling where the log ended and another one began. She walked along with the longs, finding a corner. The logs met with more, forming a corner like a log cabin. She continued on the new edge when suddenly the logs stopped at a sharp edge, not at a corner, there were no other logs leading into these. Emily withdrew her hand before reaching out again, her hand feeling something like a wooden plank, or… a door. She moved her hand down, meeting something metal and round, attached to the door with a square piece of metal. The door's knob. She turned it, stepping in. Inside, she could actually see. Behind the door she could see the cabin's logs and structure, but her eyes weren't on that.
All around Emily were desks with tubes of glowing liquid that was constantly moving, and books with various words instructing the reader how to cast spells. A fire cackled at the end of the room, a cauldron boiling a brown liquid hung over it, probably a potion. And sitting at a desk next to a bed decorated with blue pillows and blankets, was Crimson. The same Witch that had inspired Emily to get into magic. Crimson was leaned over the desk with a miniature vial full of a red liquid. Below her was a stand holding one of those vials of liquid with blue light flowing around in it. Emily walked to her with wide eyes. "Whatcha doin?" She asked as Crimson tilted the vial slightly to let out a drop. Crimson jumped, the entirety of the small vial liquid emptying into the big one.
"NO NO NO-!" *SHINK!* The vial exploded, black fumes covering her face. Crimson whipped around to see Emily. "...Wh- WHO ARE YOU?!" She asked, staring at Emily as if she were the witch.
"I'm Emily." She beamed. "I was at your witch trial 2 years ago."
"...Are you that kid who asked how many people I killed?" Crimson questioned. Emily nodded with a grin.
"I'm a huge fan. Teach me!" She demanded.
"What? You want to be a witch?" Crimson asked, visibly confused.
Emily nodded quickly. "I wanna learn all of this!" She waved her arms to motion at the vials and spellbooks.
"Ok kid, go home. I don't have time to babysit." Crimson stood up, pointing to the door. Emily huffed. She was not a kid! She was 8 and ½! Practically an adult!
"What's this do though?" She pointed at a vial.
"Lightning mana. Out." Crimson ordered.
"What about this?" She held up a spell book, flipping to a random page and pointing.
"Ironskin. Out." Crimson clenched her fists.
"What's this potion for?" She pointed at the cauldron.
"My stew. Out." Crimson answered, making Emily visibly disappointed.
"It's not an earth potion?" Emily frowned as Crimson approached.
"Unless earth potions include carrots and beef. And furthermore, OUT." Crimson grabbed Emily's shoulders, leading her to the door and pushing her out. "And you were never here. Capishe?"
"But I AM here! I want to become a witch." Emily stood her ground, crossing her arms. "I don't want to grow up to be a Magic Eradication Guard."
"And why not?" Crimson asked. "It's a steady job that pays well, and judging by your clothes, you need it."
Emily frowned. "Because the Magic Detection and Eradication class is boring until they talk about how cool the magic creatures are. Because I'm the only one in my class who doesn't want to be one. Because they try to pay off the possibility of death instead of hours of labor. And because I want to learn to control magic."
Crimson paused at the last reason. "Kid, you don't control magic. You conduct it."
"I guess I'll never know… Unless… someone were to teach me?" Emily motioned to Crimson with a hopeful look.
Crimson sighed, visibly thinking. As she thought, a smile began to grow on her face, warm and bright. Finally she looked down at Emily, her features happy and nurturing as she said solemnly "No." And slammed the door right in her face.
"Wh- HEY!" Emily pounded on the door, upset. Had her suggestion not worked?! It worked all the time in the theater plays she sometimes saw while passing by. "Let me in!"
"Go home kid. I'm not roping you into treason." Crimson's voice spoke, muffled by the door.
Emily huffed. "I'm just going to stay here until you decide to teach me magic!" No answer. Emily plopped down on her doorstep (after feeling for it for a bit) as she made good on her promise. She waited. And waited. A squirrel came by. Emily tossed it an acorn she found on the ground. And she waited. The sky darkened both as the day passed and as storm clouds rolled in. She pressed against the door as the first drops of water came. She wasn't sure where the roof protected her from the rain, it was invisible after all. More rain fell as wind blew through the forest. Emily began to shiver as the temperature dropped, thunder crackling in the distance. She thought about just going home, but just imagining Crimson, smug and smirking knowing she won against Emily's resolve kept her at the doorstep.
An hour after the storm started, the door opened. Crimson stepped out with a coat and a steaming bowl of soup. She sat next to Emily, handing her the soup and putting the coat around her shoulders. It was the warmest thing Emily had ever felt, the inside covered with a kind of fleece. "Alright. You win. I'll teach you the basics tomorrow. But for now, go home. Can't learn if you got pneumonia."
Emily lit up. "Really?! Thank you thank you thank you!" She quickly scarfed down the soup, she had been starving since lunch had passed. She turned to go home, overjoyed when Crimson grabbed her arm.
"But you can't tell anyone. Even mom and dad. Even your friends. You were never here. You never came into the Brundai woods. Got it?" Crimson clarified.
Emily nodded. "All day I was playing in the grove by the wall." Crimson smiled slightly before letting Emily go. Emily ran through the woods, both excited and nervous. Mom and dad were probably worried sick or out looking for her. It was fall after all, the time of the year where the rain was as cold as it could get yet never turning to snow. After 15 minutes of walking, protected by Crimson's coat, Emily found the wall once more. She ran along it until she found the hole. She ducked through, continuing her fast pace until she heard her mother calling her name. She emerged from the grove, spotting her mother looking for her in the rain.
"Emily Andrea Jennings! We've been looking for you for 3 hours! Where on earth have you been? What are you wearing?" Her mother asked, grabbing her wrist as she rushed them back home. "Larry dear! I found her." She called out to Emily's father, who emerged from a nearby neighbor's house.
In their shack, using a rugged towel to dry off, her mother asked "What were you doing in the grove for that long? We were worried sick!"
Emily was about to tell them everything, about the hole in the wall and about Crimson and her invisible cabin, but then Crimson's words echoed in her mind. "I… I made a friend." Emily smiled. It wasn't entirely a lie. "We were playing hide and seek. But then she heard you calling and told me I needed to go to you. She gave me her coat when it started to rain."
The anger from Emily's mom's face dissipated into a smile with a hint of pride. "You made a friend? That's amazing, sweetie! Just come inside next time. I can't wait to meet her!"
"W-well about that mom… She said she doesn't want people to see her with me. Says it'll ruin both of our reputations." Emily lied. Technically, it was true.
"Oh. Well as long as you made a friend that isn't a toad." Her mother smiled, before going to her desk to probably sign some tax fees. If only her mother knew her friend was a wanted witch.