After their supposed deaths, four witches from Mitakihara end up on Remnant in human bodies through forces unknown. Now, with only each other for company and an uneasy truce between them, they must survive in a world of bloody evolution as creatures of despair in a world full of creatures drawn to negative emotion.
Grief Evolution (PMMM/RWBY)
- Thread starter Evil_Nazgul0616
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Chapter 1
- Location
- Yes
//Was combing through some old discarded drafts and plot bunnies and found a chapter and a half of a fic idea I started but forgot about. I felt it was silly enough to keep going, so I decided to finish the partially written chapter and start posting it here. Note that I'm not the best writer, but I'm mostly doing this because it's fun and silly and because practice helps me improve. I'm honestly looking forward to feedback and comments on this.
//Anyway here is the first chapter. The second one will be up later today. After that I'll probably update this whenever.
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"Ugh..." a 16 year old girl groaned as she slowly twitched back into awareness. She possessed red eyes that contrasted with her long, green hair that was adorned with rose hair clips. She was wearing a rather drab, brown dress, and upon her back was a pair of large, but delicate looking butterfly wings.
"...What ...happened…?" she drawled out as she slowly rose to her feet. The last thing she could remember was being in her home, and being attacked by a blonde haired insect that dared to not only trespass in her home, but stomp on both her loyal servants and her beloved roses. She was absolutely certain she had died when the blonde bitch unleashed that large ribbon cannon on her.
As she regained her senses, she immediately noticed that she had an odd, yet distinct feeling at her sides. Wiggling her limbs a bit, she quickly figured out what the feeling was: She had arms. Come to think of it, she felt significantly shorter as well.
"...What the…?" she blinked as she examined herself, before gawking at her hands. These were human hands… The hands of rose-destroying insects!
Immediately, she ran, looking around wildly for the nearest reflective surface. It wasn't long before she found a puddle of water. Upon seeing her visage, she screamed.
"T-The hell!?! Why do I look like one of them!?" she shouted, touching her new face while seething in anger. Sure enough, it felt different to her. In a combination of shock, rage, and fear, she attempted to summon her barrier to protect her while she tried to figure things out.
However, her barrier never came. It simply failed to manifest, leaving the girl both dumbstruck and fearful. She felt naked without her barrier, and not being able to summon it just felt completely and utterly wrong, just like the current state of her body.
It was then that a familiar sense snapped her out of her thoughts: A pulsating sensation typically given off passively by others of her kind. This irritated her. To her, this meant that somebody was a little too close… Despite obviously not being in her territory anymore, she found herself moving towards the sensation. She needed to establish boundaries, after all.
A short walk later, she found the source: A little, white-haired girl with orange and yellow eyes, looking no older than 9 or 10. She wore a pink and brown outfit with long sleeves that obscured her hands. Worn over that was a pink, hooded cloak that was drawn over her head. Projections of fabric on the sides of the hood gave it an appearance reminiscent of a candy wrapper. At the base of the hood, a black scarf with polka-dots encircled her neck.
She perked up when she noticed the girl with butterfly wings giving her the stink eye, "Hi there, miss! Did you wake up in a weird place too?"
"As a matter of fact, I did, and I was in the middle of trying to figure out what the hell was going on when I felt you get a little too close. Now who are you and what are you doing here?!"
"You seem mad. Are you mad?" the girl tilted her head.
"Answer the question, worm!"
She flinches back at the hostility, "Well, my name is Charlotte. I live in a castle of sweets! I can't seem to get back to it though… It feels weird to be outside it."
"On that, we can agree. I feel exposed without my roses around me... Anyway, I have no concern with your problems, so unless you're looking to fight, I suggest you go the other..." she trails off as Charlotte ends up in front of her, holding a cookie to her face.
"You look like you need this. Sweets always make me feel better when I'm upset!"
She scoffed in response as she took a step back, "Like I'm stupid enough to let you poison me."
"But it's not poison miss butterfly lady." Charlotte snapped off a piece of the cookie and pushed it into her mouth, "See?"
"First of all, my name is Gertrud! Second of all, you could simply be immune to any toxins on that. Now back away before I forcibly define some bound--mmmpf!?"
Charlotte beamed as she finished shoving the remainder of the cookie into Gertrud's mouth. "Are you feeling better yet?"
Gertrud coughed and sputtered as she nearly choked on the cookie before spitting it out. "You insolent little brat! Anthony, seize her!"
The sound of crickets chirping descended upon the forest clearing as nothing happened.
"...Right." Gertrud frowned, "I suppose I'll have to deal with you personally, then!"
She hissed as she attempted to conjure her pruning vines from her head, only for several of them to shoot out of one of her human hands instead, nearly impaling her own leg in the process.
She blinked. "Well, I suppose that works too..." she grumbled, before aiming the same hand at Charlotte and unleashing a volley of scissor-tipped vines from her palm.
"Eep!" the Witch of Sweets yelped as she dodged the attack. "You're not very nice!"
"Oh, really? What gave you that idea?" Gertrud rolled her eyes as she unleashed a second attack.
"Stop being mean!"
This went on for about a minute, with Charlotte desperately trying to dodge Gertrud's fury as the latter sent volley after volley of vines at her. However, both of them froze when they felt another presence approaching.
"Another one?!" Gertrud scowled.
"Another what?" Charlotte pants, "Also, I feel something funny… It kinda feels like you but it isn't."
"It's another one of our kind." Gertrud frowned, "Did you seriously not-" something clicked in her mind, "Wait. How old are you?"
"Uh… I dunno. A talking piece of cheese tried to shoot me as soon as I woke up for the first time."
"So a newborn..." That actually explained quite a lot. Gertrud still wasn't going to trust her, though.
Their conversation was interrupted when the source of the new signal entered the clearing with hands held high.
"I come in peace!" she loudly proclaimed, she was a bespectacled girl looked about 15, and had a frilly, cyan dress with black and red heart patterns circling the skirt. Her black hair was in twintails, each adorned with a red bow at their base. She seemed somewhat cautious to approach the two witches in the clearing.
"Hi miss! I'm Charlotte." Charlotte perked up, "Gertrud's a meanie, so be careful around her!"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that..." the Rose Witch shot her a glare, "Anyway, go away. I'm in the middle of teaching this newborn a lesson on respecting boundaries."
"Um, with all due respect. I think territory is the least of our concerns here… I'm assuming that you're both like me and woke up in a human body…? Oh, uh… I'm Elly by the way."
"Yes. It feels wrong." Gertrud's eyes narrow, "You know about who's behind this, don't you?"
"What!? No! Of course not! I'd like to have my barrier back just as much as you guys… It's just that… When I noticed I wasn't the only Witch here, I thought that maybe it would be better if we stuck together until we got to the bottom of this…"
"And do you really think I'd trust others of our kind enough to work with them."
"Look, I know we can be territorial by nature but if we all work towards a common goal then maybe we could figure out a way to reverse this quickly and be out of each other's hair. You don't have to trust us. All I'm asking for is a little temporary truce, that's all."
"...Well I'll work with you." Charlotte smiled, "You seem nice!"
"Thank you, Charlotte… What about you, er… Gertrud, was it?"
Gertrud contemplated for a moment, before sighing. "Fine. But only if we establish some ground rules: You both are to keep at least 15 feet away from me at all times, you will always remain in my line of sight, you will not talk to me unless absolutely necessary, and if I see you so much as glance at me with malicious intent I will lop your head off and use your blood as fertilizer."
"...I suppose I can do that." Elly sighed as she adjusted her glasses.
"Do I really have to stay far away from you, though?" Charlotte tilted her head, "What if you need sweets."
"I will never need sweets from you, newborn..." Gertrude growled.
In response, Charlotte whimpered and hid behind Elly, causing the older witch to pat her head in comfort. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll warm up in time…" she said quietly, "Hopefully..."
At that moment, the sound of growling drew the witches' collective attention to the treeline, where many sets of glowing red eyes begin to peer out of the bushes.
"E-Elly… What are those?" Charlotte questioned as the first of many black lupine creatures with bone-white patches of armor stepped out into the clearing.
"Familiars…?" Elly tapped her chin, "No… We'd be sensing them if they were..."
"Who cares. If they attack they die." Gertrud prepared herself to strike.
"Um yeah, about that..." Elly shifted, "My abilities don't really work well for combat. I usually rely on my familiars and I obviously can't summon them here… What about you, Charlotte?"
"I could throw chocolate at them."
Gertrud's brow twitched, "How the fuck will that help us at all!?" her growing annoyance causing the pack to get slightly more excited as they continued to surround the trio.
"I mean, they're dogs..." the Witch of Sweets shrugged, "Or they at least look like doggies. I heard chocolate was bad for them."
Without warning, the creatures began to charge.
Gertrud immediately went to work, firing off volleys of her vines at the attackers. Her strikes would either impale the dog-like beasts or lop off any limbs thin enough to get caught in the scissor-like tips. As the creatures died, they quickly dissipated into clouds of black smoke before vanishing. Charlotte, meanwhile, was dodging lunges and bites from the monsters, before pulling a chocolate cake out of nowhere and tossing it into the face of a dog that had managed to get behind Gertrud. The action disorients it enough to allow Gertrud to dispatch it quickly.
"Yay! I helped!" Charlotte cheered, before hastily ducking underneath a claw swipe.
Elly was having the worst luck, being backed up against a tree and whacking every monster that came close with a fallen tree branch. Despite her predicament, she seemed to be holding them back fairly well until a loud snapping sound caused her to stare in horror at her now broken improvised weapon. Before they could pounce on her, however, she felt the presence of a brand new witch.
"Oh, you've got to be--" Gertrud started to say before getting cut off by another dark creature.
"Begone, beasts of Satan!" A loud yet soft voice announces as a shadow extends along the bottom of the clearing before erupting into a black tree that impales a good portion of the pack. Connected to the shadow is a teenage girl with long, black hair obscured by a nun-like veil that accented her predominantly red and black attire.
Within moments, the tree retracted back into the girl's shadow, which rapidly returned to normal, before she dealt a swift kick to a creature she missed. As this is happening, Gertrud finishes off the remainder of the pack.
Afterwards, with a warm smile, the newcomer turns to her newfound companions, "So… Are you all damned souls as well?"
"Who are you calling damned?" Gertrud narrowed her eyes dangerously
"Well, we're in hell are we not?" the shadow girl blinked, "Assuming you're like me, then our bodies are different and we can't summon familiars or barriers. It would also explain the presence of demons… In my case I was also being brutally attacked before I lost consciousness and woke up here." she sighed, "...I prayed to God all my life. Was I wrong to do so? Was I just unfit to go to heaven in the first place…?"
"Hold on, let's back up a little. You said you were attacked too!?" Gertrud questioned, "Some blonde bitch was shooting me with a giant cannon before I woke up here. Was it her?"
"No, no… My attacker was a blue haired girl with a cape that used swords."
Elly flinched at the explanation, "That's… a disturbingly similar description to the one that attacked me before I woke up here."
"You're kidding me… We were all attacked before waking up here!?" Gertrud frowned, glancing to Charlotte, "What about you, newborn?"
"I told you about the talking cheese, right? Well after I ate it a piece of burnt toast showed up out of nowhere and fed me spicy stuff until I passed out."
The other witches looked perplexed at Charlotte's tale, before Elly stepped forwards and closed her eyes.
"...She was attacked by a blonde girl with guns, killed her, then was fed bombs by a raven haired girl." Elly translated.
"You understood that?" the shadow girl tilted her head.
"My main ability lets me see and manipulate memories." the Box Witch explained.
"Wait. You mean you can mess with our heads!?" Gertrud shot her a death glare, "I knew I couldn't trust you!"
"H-Hey! We have a truce, remember!" Elly shrank back, "A-And I wouldn't use it on you unless it was necessary anyway…" she straightened and adjusted her glasses, "Anyway, we have a lead now as to what happened to us, I think. So that's a start…" she glanced to the newcomer, "So what's your name anyway?"
"Elsa Maria." she smiled, "You?"
"Elly. These two are Charlotte and Gertrud." Elly gestured to each one in turn.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all."
"Likewise." Elly nodded, adjusting her glasses, "Never gonna get used to these things…" she muttered before looking Elsa in the eye, "So, would you like to join us?"
"Hmm… Well I do believe the expression is 'The more, the merrier'?" Elsa gave her a slight nod, "Plus it would be good to stick together with demons on the prowl."
"Let's get going then. We don't know how long we have until more of those things show up..."
"Remember, 15 feet away and stay where I can see you..." Gertrud grumbled as she walked a short distance away from them.
"...Am I missing something?" Elsa blinked.
"Terms of the truce." Elly sighed as their unusual group began to venture out into the forest, "I'll tell you on the road..."
//Anyway here is the first chapter. The second one will be up later today. After that I'll probably update this whenever.
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"Ugh..." a 16 year old girl groaned as she slowly twitched back into awareness. She possessed red eyes that contrasted with her long, green hair that was adorned with rose hair clips. She was wearing a rather drab, brown dress, and upon her back was a pair of large, but delicate looking butterfly wings.
"...What ...happened…?" she drawled out as she slowly rose to her feet. The last thing she could remember was being in her home, and being attacked by a blonde haired insect that dared to not only trespass in her home, but stomp on both her loyal servants and her beloved roses. She was absolutely certain she had died when the blonde bitch unleashed that large ribbon cannon on her.
As she regained her senses, she immediately noticed that she had an odd, yet distinct feeling at her sides. Wiggling her limbs a bit, she quickly figured out what the feeling was: She had arms. Come to think of it, she felt significantly shorter as well.
"...What the…?" she blinked as she examined herself, before gawking at her hands. These were human hands… The hands of rose-destroying insects!
Immediately, she ran, looking around wildly for the nearest reflective surface. It wasn't long before she found a puddle of water. Upon seeing her visage, she screamed.
"T-The hell!?! Why do I look like one of them!?" she shouted, touching her new face while seething in anger. Sure enough, it felt different to her. In a combination of shock, rage, and fear, she attempted to summon her barrier to protect her while she tried to figure things out.
However, her barrier never came. It simply failed to manifest, leaving the girl both dumbstruck and fearful. She felt naked without her barrier, and not being able to summon it just felt completely and utterly wrong, just like the current state of her body.
It was then that a familiar sense snapped her out of her thoughts: A pulsating sensation typically given off passively by others of her kind. This irritated her. To her, this meant that somebody was a little too close… Despite obviously not being in her territory anymore, she found herself moving towards the sensation. She needed to establish boundaries, after all.
A short walk later, she found the source: A little, white-haired girl with orange and yellow eyes, looking no older than 9 or 10. She wore a pink and brown outfit with long sleeves that obscured her hands. Worn over that was a pink, hooded cloak that was drawn over her head. Projections of fabric on the sides of the hood gave it an appearance reminiscent of a candy wrapper. At the base of the hood, a black scarf with polka-dots encircled her neck.
She perked up when she noticed the girl with butterfly wings giving her the stink eye, "Hi there, miss! Did you wake up in a weird place too?"
"As a matter of fact, I did, and I was in the middle of trying to figure out what the hell was going on when I felt you get a little too close. Now who are you and what are you doing here?!"
"You seem mad. Are you mad?" the girl tilted her head.
"Answer the question, worm!"
She flinches back at the hostility, "Well, my name is Charlotte. I live in a castle of sweets! I can't seem to get back to it though… It feels weird to be outside it."
"On that, we can agree. I feel exposed without my roses around me... Anyway, I have no concern with your problems, so unless you're looking to fight, I suggest you go the other..." she trails off as Charlotte ends up in front of her, holding a cookie to her face.
"You look like you need this. Sweets always make me feel better when I'm upset!"
She scoffed in response as she took a step back, "Like I'm stupid enough to let you poison me."
"But it's not poison miss butterfly lady." Charlotte snapped off a piece of the cookie and pushed it into her mouth, "See?"
"First of all, my name is Gertrud! Second of all, you could simply be immune to any toxins on that. Now back away before I forcibly define some bound--mmmpf!?"
Charlotte beamed as she finished shoving the remainder of the cookie into Gertrud's mouth. "Are you feeling better yet?"
Gertrud coughed and sputtered as she nearly choked on the cookie before spitting it out. "You insolent little brat! Anthony, seize her!"
The sound of crickets chirping descended upon the forest clearing as nothing happened.
"...Right." Gertrud frowned, "I suppose I'll have to deal with you personally, then!"
She hissed as she attempted to conjure her pruning vines from her head, only for several of them to shoot out of one of her human hands instead, nearly impaling her own leg in the process.
She blinked. "Well, I suppose that works too..." she grumbled, before aiming the same hand at Charlotte and unleashing a volley of scissor-tipped vines from her palm.
"Eep!" the Witch of Sweets yelped as she dodged the attack. "You're not very nice!"
"Oh, really? What gave you that idea?" Gertrud rolled her eyes as she unleashed a second attack.
"Stop being mean!"
This went on for about a minute, with Charlotte desperately trying to dodge Gertrud's fury as the latter sent volley after volley of vines at her. However, both of them froze when they felt another presence approaching.
"Another one?!" Gertrud scowled.
"Another what?" Charlotte pants, "Also, I feel something funny… It kinda feels like you but it isn't."
"It's another one of our kind." Gertrud frowned, "Did you seriously not-" something clicked in her mind, "Wait. How old are you?"
"Uh… I dunno. A talking piece of cheese tried to shoot me as soon as I woke up for the first time."
"So a newborn..." That actually explained quite a lot. Gertrud still wasn't going to trust her, though.
Their conversation was interrupted when the source of the new signal entered the clearing with hands held high.
"I come in peace!" she loudly proclaimed, she was a bespectacled girl looked about 15, and had a frilly, cyan dress with black and red heart patterns circling the skirt. Her black hair was in twintails, each adorned with a red bow at their base. She seemed somewhat cautious to approach the two witches in the clearing.
"Hi miss! I'm Charlotte." Charlotte perked up, "Gertrud's a meanie, so be careful around her!"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that..." the Rose Witch shot her a glare, "Anyway, go away. I'm in the middle of teaching this newborn a lesson on respecting boundaries."
"Um, with all due respect. I think territory is the least of our concerns here… I'm assuming that you're both like me and woke up in a human body…? Oh, uh… I'm Elly by the way."
"Yes. It feels wrong." Gertrud's eyes narrow, "You know about who's behind this, don't you?"
"What!? No! Of course not! I'd like to have my barrier back just as much as you guys… It's just that… When I noticed I wasn't the only Witch here, I thought that maybe it would be better if we stuck together until we got to the bottom of this…"
"And do you really think I'd trust others of our kind enough to work with them."
"Look, I know we can be territorial by nature but if we all work towards a common goal then maybe we could figure out a way to reverse this quickly and be out of each other's hair. You don't have to trust us. All I'm asking for is a little temporary truce, that's all."
"...Well I'll work with you." Charlotte smiled, "You seem nice!"
"Thank you, Charlotte… What about you, er… Gertrud, was it?"
Gertrud contemplated for a moment, before sighing. "Fine. But only if we establish some ground rules: You both are to keep at least 15 feet away from me at all times, you will always remain in my line of sight, you will not talk to me unless absolutely necessary, and if I see you so much as glance at me with malicious intent I will lop your head off and use your blood as fertilizer."
"...I suppose I can do that." Elly sighed as she adjusted her glasses.
"Do I really have to stay far away from you, though?" Charlotte tilted her head, "What if you need sweets."
"I will never need sweets from you, newborn..." Gertrude growled.
In response, Charlotte whimpered and hid behind Elly, causing the older witch to pat her head in comfort. "Don't worry, I'm sure she'll warm up in time…" she said quietly, "Hopefully..."
At that moment, the sound of growling drew the witches' collective attention to the treeline, where many sets of glowing red eyes begin to peer out of the bushes.
"E-Elly… What are those?" Charlotte questioned as the first of many black lupine creatures with bone-white patches of armor stepped out into the clearing.
"Familiars…?" Elly tapped her chin, "No… We'd be sensing them if they were..."
"Who cares. If they attack they die." Gertrud prepared herself to strike.
"Um yeah, about that..." Elly shifted, "My abilities don't really work well for combat. I usually rely on my familiars and I obviously can't summon them here… What about you, Charlotte?"
"I could throw chocolate at them."
Gertrud's brow twitched, "How the fuck will that help us at all!?" her growing annoyance causing the pack to get slightly more excited as they continued to surround the trio.
"I mean, they're dogs..." the Witch of Sweets shrugged, "Or they at least look like doggies. I heard chocolate was bad for them."
Without warning, the creatures began to charge.
Gertrud immediately went to work, firing off volleys of her vines at the attackers. Her strikes would either impale the dog-like beasts or lop off any limbs thin enough to get caught in the scissor-like tips. As the creatures died, they quickly dissipated into clouds of black smoke before vanishing. Charlotte, meanwhile, was dodging lunges and bites from the monsters, before pulling a chocolate cake out of nowhere and tossing it into the face of a dog that had managed to get behind Gertrud. The action disorients it enough to allow Gertrud to dispatch it quickly.
"Yay! I helped!" Charlotte cheered, before hastily ducking underneath a claw swipe.
Elly was having the worst luck, being backed up against a tree and whacking every monster that came close with a fallen tree branch. Despite her predicament, she seemed to be holding them back fairly well until a loud snapping sound caused her to stare in horror at her now broken improvised weapon. Before they could pounce on her, however, she felt the presence of a brand new witch.
"Oh, you've got to be--" Gertrud started to say before getting cut off by another dark creature.
"Begone, beasts of Satan!" A loud yet soft voice announces as a shadow extends along the bottom of the clearing before erupting into a black tree that impales a good portion of the pack. Connected to the shadow is a teenage girl with long, black hair obscured by a nun-like veil that accented her predominantly red and black attire.
Within moments, the tree retracted back into the girl's shadow, which rapidly returned to normal, before she dealt a swift kick to a creature she missed. As this is happening, Gertrud finishes off the remainder of the pack.
Afterwards, with a warm smile, the newcomer turns to her newfound companions, "So… Are you all damned souls as well?"
"Who are you calling damned?" Gertrud narrowed her eyes dangerously
"Well, we're in hell are we not?" the shadow girl blinked, "Assuming you're like me, then our bodies are different and we can't summon familiars or barriers. It would also explain the presence of demons… In my case I was also being brutally attacked before I lost consciousness and woke up here." she sighed, "...I prayed to God all my life. Was I wrong to do so? Was I just unfit to go to heaven in the first place…?"
"Hold on, let's back up a little. You said you were attacked too!?" Gertrud questioned, "Some blonde bitch was shooting me with a giant cannon before I woke up here. Was it her?"
"No, no… My attacker was a blue haired girl with a cape that used swords."
Elly flinched at the explanation, "That's… a disturbingly similar description to the one that attacked me before I woke up here."
"You're kidding me… We were all attacked before waking up here!?" Gertrud frowned, glancing to Charlotte, "What about you, newborn?"
"I told you about the talking cheese, right? Well after I ate it a piece of burnt toast showed up out of nowhere and fed me spicy stuff until I passed out."
The other witches looked perplexed at Charlotte's tale, before Elly stepped forwards and closed her eyes.
"...She was attacked by a blonde girl with guns, killed her, then was fed bombs by a raven haired girl." Elly translated.
"You understood that?" the shadow girl tilted her head.
"My main ability lets me see and manipulate memories." the Box Witch explained.
"Wait. You mean you can mess with our heads!?" Gertrud shot her a death glare, "I knew I couldn't trust you!"
"H-Hey! We have a truce, remember!" Elly shrank back, "A-And I wouldn't use it on you unless it was necessary anyway…" she straightened and adjusted her glasses, "Anyway, we have a lead now as to what happened to us, I think. So that's a start…" she glanced to the newcomer, "So what's your name anyway?"
"Elsa Maria." she smiled, "You?"
"Elly. These two are Charlotte and Gertrud." Elly gestured to each one in turn.
"It is a pleasure to meet you all."
"Likewise." Elly nodded, adjusting her glasses, "Never gonna get used to these things…" she muttered before looking Elsa in the eye, "So, would you like to join us?"
"Hmm… Well I do believe the expression is 'The more, the merrier'?" Elsa gave her a slight nod, "Plus it would be good to stick together with demons on the prowl."
"Let's get going then. We don't know how long we have until more of those things show up..."
"Remember, 15 feet away and stay where I can see you..." Gertrud grumbled as she walked a short distance away from them.
"...Am I missing something?" Elsa blinked.
"Terms of the truce." Elly sighed as their unusual group began to venture out into the forest, "I'll tell you on the road..."
Chapter 2
- Location
- Yes
//And here's Chapter 2. Updates will be whenever from here on out.
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"So…" Charlotte spoke up after several minutes of walking, "Anyone want any sweets? I can make anything that doesn't involve cheese." she frowned slightly as she reminded herself of that fact.
"I'm fine, thank you." Elsa Maria replied.
"Speaking of food, I just realized that feeding might be a problem in our current state..." Elly's brow furrowed, "Could our bodies even plant a mark on a human as they are now?"
"Mark?" Charlotte asked.
"Oh right, Gertrud called you a newborn so you probably haven't had a chance to hunt yet… Basically you reach out with your essence and essentially kiss a human's neck, letting you control them. Then you just need to make them kill themselves near your barrier and you'll absorb whatever despair is in their bodies."
"It honestly isn't a very nice way to dispatch them..." Elsa frowned, "I preferred to let them in and have them pray with me while my Sebastians enlighten them. I receive nourishment from them once they cast off their human shells and join my congregation."
"Anyway, even if we can place a mark on someone, the lack of a barrier would leave us exposed for the whole process…"
"We could always do a trial run, assuming there are living humans to find here in Hell..."
"Do you sense any nearby?" Elly asked.
"I do not." Elsa shook her head.
Trailing behind them, Gertrud was watching them intensely, prepared to retaliate if just one of them showed any signs of hostility. As she scrutinized them, the sound of a twig snapping drew her attention to the left, where one of those wolf-like demons was stalking her.
"We have company." she announced, before launching a flurry of vines at the monster, cutting it to ribbons as more exploded from the treeline. Elsa was quick to react as she extended her shadow out in several directions, impaling the demons on spikes whenever they made the mistake of stepping on it.
"I really need a weapon..." Elly muttered as she watched her two allies beat back the swarm, oblivious to the large bearlike monster sneaking up behind her.
"DUCK!" Charlotte shouted at her, before tossing a large ice cream sundae in her direction. As Elly complied, the bowl of ice cream smashed into the monster's face, shattering as the frozen treat splattered all over the bone white plate covering its head. The monster roars in rage and swipes its paw, which Elly narrowly dodges.
"W-Well, that's a big one..." she shuddered as the bear creature began to charge at both of them.
Elsa quickly noticed her allies in trouble, so she immediately sent a section of her shadow to intercept the bear, lifting it into the air as the silhouette of a tree erupted beneath it. With a clench of her fist, the tree bent over and slammed the beast into the ground.
"Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it." Elsa smiled, before impaling a wolf-like creature trying to sneak up behind her.
It takes a couple of minutes, but eventually they finish off the group.
"Is it going to be like this all the time in this place?" Gertrud growled as she kicked the dissolving body of a piglike creature that tried to roll into her.
"I mean, if this is indeed Hell, then it's likely." Elsa answered, "It is within the nature of demons to torment the damned..."
"Great..." the Rose Witch scowled, before noticing something through the treetops, "There's something over there."
"Hmm?" Elly looked up and noticed what Gertrud had spotted, "Looks like the top of a building. Let's take a look."
The Box Witch took the lead as the others trailed behind her, and after a while they reached the edge of the forest and got a clear view of the odd structure, which was, in fact, the top of a tower situated high on top of a cliff overlooking more forest. Next to the cliff was what appeared to be the edge of a city.
"Seems like there's humans here after all." Elly smiled.
"On the other hand, it could be a demonic city..." Elsa mused, "We should tread carefully."
"I don't trust it." Gertrud frowned, "But if there are humans there, pests that they are, we could use the nourishment..."
"Not to mention the potential information we could gain..." Elly tapped her chin.
It wasn't long until the four witches found themselves in the city, finding that it was indeed inhabited by humans, along with a few creatures that seemed to be human but possessed the anatomical features of animals, kind of like how Gertrud's new body seemed to have butterfly wings.
On that note, some of the normal humans would give Gertrud dirty looks as they passed her, to which she promptly responded by giving them death glares in return.
"Well, at least with these bodies we can blend in with the populace a lot better." Elly thought out loud, "I'd still prefer a barrier, though..."
"Agreed. I'm still trying to adjust to the absence of my church and congregation..." Elsa frowned, "I do hope those poor souls I saved are okay..."
"We'll find a way to reverse whatever happened to us, don't worry." Elly smiled reassuringly, before noticing something, "Look, that human over there is cutting through an alley. We should take this opportunity to ambush him and attempt to place a mark."
As they moved to intercept, they found themselves passing a store window. As they did so, Charlotte immediately noticed what was inside and stopped in her tracks. Forgetting about her new friends and Gertrud, she quickly ran up and pressed her face against the glass, mouth watering as she stared at what lay beyond it: Shelves upon shelves of the most holy food known to her.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh..." she murmured excitedly to herself, "Swiss, Brie, Cheddar, Raclette, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Camembert..." she returned her attention to the street, salivating, "Guys! Guys! They have cheese!"
She blinked as soon as she realizes that the others are nowhere to be seen.
"…Guys?"
Elly tiptoed behind the man in front of her, making sure to get as close as possible before suddenly tackling him, firmly clamping her hand over his mouth, and trying to mentally reach out to his neck. He struggled to throw her off, but she persisted. Realizing that her normal method wasn't working, she tried a different approach, and quickly placed her lips down on his neck while pushing outwards with her magic.
Soon, the image of a computer screen surrounding two angels materialized on the man's neck and his body went limp as he dropped into a trance.
"Well that's annoying..." Elly frowned, wiping off her lips in disgust, "It seems we need to have physical lip contact to apply a mark..."
"Well, at least we can mark the humans here if needed…" said Elsa, "I suppose that means they're alive... but then that begs the question of where we are if not Hell..."
"...I thought your name was Elly?" Gertrud questioned as she observed the mark in the neck. In truth, a Witch's Kiss was much more than a method of mind control: It was a way to lay claim to humans and prevent other witches from moving in on one's kills, as such, a Kiss also acted as a witch's brand and signature, telling other witches that gaze upon it the name of the witch who placed it.
"It is." Elly answered.
"Then why the hell does your mark say 'Kirsten'?"
"Look, you can't control the name you were born with, okay?" Elly frowned, "If you must know, Elly is my handle name, and I prefer to go by it. Besides, it honestly sounds better than Kirsten in my opinion..."
"But they sound equally fine to me." Elsa blinked.
"Look, can we not argue over my naming sense? We have more pressing matters to worry about." she glanced at her newest thrall, willing him to rise to his feet.
As the man stood up, Elly asked her first question. "Where are we?"
"Vale." the man responded in monotone.
"Okay… And where would that be, exactly?"
"In the kingdom of Vale."
"Ugh…" the Box Witch facepalmed, "Describe where we are as if I were an alien."
"We are in the City of Vale, within the kingdom of Vale, on the continent of Sanus, on planet Remnant."
"Remnant…?"
"Look, Kirsten. It's obvious that you've kissed an insane man." Gertrud frowned, "Being on a different planet would be ridiculous."
"I agree that the prospect of such an idea seems rather far-fetched..." Elsa nodded, "Perhaps we should ask this question to others as well?"
"Let's finish with this one first." Elly waved them off, before fixing Gertrud with a look, "And please don't call me that..."
"I can call you whatever the fuck I want." Gertrud huffed, "Now will you please get on with it?"
The Box Witch rolled her eyes before continuing her interrogation, "What do you know about the dark creatures in the forest?"
"They're Grimm. They're the enemies of people everywhere. They're attracted to negative emotions and have no souls. Huntsmen and Huntresses fight them." the man droned.
"Negative emotion… So we're basically beacons for those things..." Elly frowned.
"Well Gertrud's constant hostility certainly wouldn't help if we're trying to avoid them..." Elsa mused, ignoring Gertrud's annoyed expression, "But thankfully we've been more than capable of fighting them off so far."
"Some of us more than others..." Elly muttered, "So, you guys have anything you want me to ask before I have him off himself?"
"Perhaps ask him about the people with animal traits?"
"Right." Elly glanced at the man once more, "The people with animal parts. What do you know about them?"
"They're Faunus." the man replied, "They're like humans, but they have animal traits."
"Well no shit, Sherlock." The Rose Witch rolled her eyes.
"Do you know anything more about them?" Elly continued, ignoring Gertrud's commentary.
"A bunch of them formed a group called the White Fang. They claim to fight for equal rights, but they're just terrorists."
"I see… Anything else you two want me to ask?" Elly turned to her current companions, neither of which speak up, before looking at the man one last time, "Ok then. Please die."
"As you wish." the man nodded, before seeking out the most effective way to kill himself in the general vicinity. Eventually, he settles on a discarded bottle, and one quick smash and stab to the neck is all it takes.
"So… did you get any nourishment out of that?" Gertrud questioned as Elsa knelt down in silent prayer for the victim's soul.
"...No." Elly grimaced, "Great, that's going to be a problem..."
"So he died needlessly..." Elsa's brow furrowed in concern, "May God have mercy on us..."
"Hey, at least we got some information at least… so it wasn't a complete bust."
"Assuming that information was trustworthy." Gertrud grumbled, "Planet Remnant… preposterous… Hey, newborn. You've been rather quiet for once, what do you think of this foolish...ness..."
The Rose Witch trailed off as she noticed the distinctive lack of a certain Witch of Sweets among them.
"...where the fuck is Charlotte?"
"Wait. She's gone!?" Elly's head snapped up.
"Well do you see her anywhere? Because I sure as hell don't! God, you two can't even be trusted to keep track of a child..."
"Hey! Weren't you supposed to be the one watching her, miss 'Stay 15 feet away and where I can see you'?" the Box Witch pointed an accusing finger.
"There were honestly more important things to worry about, like -- I don't know -- seeing if it was possible to feed in our current state? Besides, if she was trustworthy, she would've abided by the rules anyway and we wouldn't have this problem."
"If she was-- Gertrud, she's a kid..."
"Please, friends, let's not argue." Elsa stepped between them, "Surely young Charlotte hasn't fallen too far behind, so it should be a simple matter to track her down..."
Elly sighed, "She's right, arguing will get us nowhere. Let's just find her, fill her in on what she missed, and then figure out what to do next together."
"Hmph. Fine." Gertrud huffed before suddenly shooting Elsa a glare, "And we're not friends, by the way!"
"Ah yes, my apologies." the Shadow Witch bowed her head, "Anyway, shall we get moving…?"
Charlotte hummed blissfully to herself as she skipped down the road, slowly nibbling a tiny slice of cheese in her hand. While she was unsuccessful in negotiating for several wheels, the nice salesman was kind enough to at least let her part with a free sample of some cheddar. While she would normally eat it all up immediately, she had to consume this one slowly to make it last. After all, who knows when she'd be able to taste cheese again?
As she skipped along, she constantly scanned the crowd for signs of her new friends and Gertrud. She was kinda worried that she hadn't seen any of them yet, but surely they hadn't gone too far ahead, and with Gertrud with them it would be easy to pick them out in a crowd because of her pretty wings. Besides, she had cheese, so she couldn't really get too worried.
Her bliss was soon broken by the harsh feeling of biting down on her finger, which caused her to immediately wince before checking her hands. No sign of cheese anywhere, meaning she must've finally gotten to the end of the slice...
Making a pitiful whining noise at her loss, she glanced around once more for any sign of her friends before sighing and plonking herself down on a nearby bench to watch the people go by. As she watched, she noticed a few people giving some dirty looks towards the people with animal traits, which she was curious about. They were cool and cute looking, after all, so why would anybody be mean to them? After putting some thought into it, the Sweets Witch concluded that they obviously must be people like Gertrud who just don't like other people for some reason…
Speaking of said witch, Charlotte truly wondered why she was so grumpy all the time… Maybe it's because she has no friends? If that were the case, then certainly Charlotte just needed to try harder, she concludes as a smile drew itself across her face. She was going to be the Rose Witch's first friend no matter how hard she had to try!
Of course, she still had to find her and the others. Glancing around once more, she still found no sign of them, so clearly they mustn't be around here at all. That would just mean she'd need to look for them elsewhere then, so with that in mind she hopped to her feet before skipping off deeper into the city.
"Ugh, how far could she have possibly gone during that?" Gertrud threw her hands up in frustration, "To think we would've sensed her by now..."
"I certainly hope she wasn't kidnapped..." Elly grimaced, "Or hunted..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Kirsten. Who would want to kidnap one of our kind? That's like asking for a swift and painful death..."
"She's a kid, Gertrud. And she has a body to match. And we both know humans can do some pretty stupid and terrible things… Plus, like us, she's vulnerable without a barrier and her familiars… And will you please stop calling me Kirsten."
"Excuse me… Would you mind if we stopped for a moment," Elsa interrupted, "I would like to take a moment to utter a prayer for young Charlotte's safety."
"Why?" Gertrud scoffed, "So we can waste more time?"
"Praying is hardly a waste of time…" the Shadow Witch responded as her expression darkens.
"Whatever. You do that then, I'm going to keep going." the Rose Witch turned away, "You coming, Kirsten?"
"That is not my name..." Elly frowned.
"Does it look like I give a fuck?"
The Box Witch merely sighed, "Anyway, I think splitting up actually might be a good idea to cover more ground… Let's say we meet back here at sunset?"
"Sure, whatever." Gertrud replied as she walked away, glad to be rid of her current annoyances for the near future.
"...Being away from her might be good for us, too. I'm honestly getting tired of her attitude..." Elly murmured as soon as the Rose Witch was out of earshot, "Anyway I'm going to head that way" she indicated the opposite direction Gertrud was heading, "Is that fine with you?"
Elsa Maria gave her a small nod, before gracefully dropping to her knees, "That is fine."
"Be careful. We still don't know if any of our natural enemies are around..." Elly cautioned before departing.
"You as well." Elsa nodded once more before beginning to pray.
--------------------------
"So…" Charlotte spoke up after several minutes of walking, "Anyone want any sweets? I can make anything that doesn't involve cheese." she frowned slightly as she reminded herself of that fact.
"I'm fine, thank you." Elsa Maria replied.
"Speaking of food, I just realized that feeding might be a problem in our current state..." Elly's brow furrowed, "Could our bodies even plant a mark on a human as they are now?"
"Mark?" Charlotte asked.
"Oh right, Gertrud called you a newborn so you probably haven't had a chance to hunt yet… Basically you reach out with your essence and essentially kiss a human's neck, letting you control them. Then you just need to make them kill themselves near your barrier and you'll absorb whatever despair is in their bodies."
"It honestly isn't a very nice way to dispatch them..." Elsa frowned, "I preferred to let them in and have them pray with me while my Sebastians enlighten them. I receive nourishment from them once they cast off their human shells and join my congregation."
"Anyway, even if we can place a mark on someone, the lack of a barrier would leave us exposed for the whole process…"
"We could always do a trial run, assuming there are living humans to find here in Hell..."
"Do you sense any nearby?" Elly asked.
"I do not." Elsa shook her head.
Trailing behind them, Gertrud was watching them intensely, prepared to retaliate if just one of them showed any signs of hostility. As she scrutinized them, the sound of a twig snapping drew her attention to the left, where one of those wolf-like demons was stalking her.
"We have company." she announced, before launching a flurry of vines at the monster, cutting it to ribbons as more exploded from the treeline. Elsa was quick to react as she extended her shadow out in several directions, impaling the demons on spikes whenever they made the mistake of stepping on it.
"I really need a weapon..." Elly muttered as she watched her two allies beat back the swarm, oblivious to the large bearlike monster sneaking up behind her.
"DUCK!" Charlotte shouted at her, before tossing a large ice cream sundae in her direction. As Elly complied, the bowl of ice cream smashed into the monster's face, shattering as the frozen treat splattered all over the bone white plate covering its head. The monster roars in rage and swipes its paw, which Elly narrowly dodges.
"W-Well, that's a big one..." she shuddered as the bear creature began to charge at both of them.
Elsa quickly noticed her allies in trouble, so she immediately sent a section of her shadow to intercept the bear, lifting it into the air as the silhouette of a tree erupted beneath it. With a clench of her fist, the tree bent over and slammed the beast into the ground.
"Thanks for the save."
"Don't mention it." Elsa smiled, before impaling a wolf-like creature trying to sneak up behind her.
It takes a couple of minutes, but eventually they finish off the group.
"Is it going to be like this all the time in this place?" Gertrud growled as she kicked the dissolving body of a piglike creature that tried to roll into her.
"I mean, if this is indeed Hell, then it's likely." Elsa answered, "It is within the nature of demons to torment the damned..."
"Great..." the Rose Witch scowled, before noticing something through the treetops, "There's something over there."
"Hmm?" Elly looked up and noticed what Gertrud had spotted, "Looks like the top of a building. Let's take a look."
The Box Witch took the lead as the others trailed behind her, and after a while they reached the edge of the forest and got a clear view of the odd structure, which was, in fact, the top of a tower situated high on top of a cliff overlooking more forest. Next to the cliff was what appeared to be the edge of a city.
"Seems like there's humans here after all." Elly smiled.
"On the other hand, it could be a demonic city..." Elsa mused, "We should tread carefully."
"I don't trust it." Gertrud frowned, "But if there are humans there, pests that they are, we could use the nourishment..."
"Not to mention the potential information we could gain..." Elly tapped her chin.
***
It wasn't long until the four witches found themselves in the city, finding that it was indeed inhabited by humans, along with a few creatures that seemed to be human but possessed the anatomical features of animals, kind of like how Gertrud's new body seemed to have butterfly wings.
On that note, some of the normal humans would give Gertrud dirty looks as they passed her, to which she promptly responded by giving them death glares in return.
"Well, at least with these bodies we can blend in with the populace a lot better." Elly thought out loud, "I'd still prefer a barrier, though..."
"Agreed. I'm still trying to adjust to the absence of my church and congregation..." Elsa frowned, "I do hope those poor souls I saved are okay..."
"We'll find a way to reverse whatever happened to us, don't worry." Elly smiled reassuringly, before noticing something, "Look, that human over there is cutting through an alley. We should take this opportunity to ambush him and attempt to place a mark."
As they moved to intercept, they found themselves passing a store window. As they did so, Charlotte immediately noticed what was inside and stopped in her tracks. Forgetting about her new friends and Gertrud, she quickly ran up and pressed her face against the glass, mouth watering as she stared at what lay beyond it: Shelves upon shelves of the most holy food known to her.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh..." she murmured excitedly to herself, "Swiss, Brie, Cheddar, Raclette, Parmigiano-Reggiano, Camembert..." she returned her attention to the street, salivating, "Guys! Guys! They have cheese!"
She blinked as soon as she realizes that the others are nowhere to be seen.
"…Guys?"
***
Elly tiptoed behind the man in front of her, making sure to get as close as possible before suddenly tackling him, firmly clamping her hand over his mouth, and trying to mentally reach out to his neck. He struggled to throw her off, but she persisted. Realizing that her normal method wasn't working, she tried a different approach, and quickly placed her lips down on his neck while pushing outwards with her magic.
Soon, the image of a computer screen surrounding two angels materialized on the man's neck and his body went limp as he dropped into a trance.
"Well that's annoying..." Elly frowned, wiping off her lips in disgust, "It seems we need to have physical lip contact to apply a mark..."
"Well, at least we can mark the humans here if needed…" said Elsa, "I suppose that means they're alive... but then that begs the question of where we are if not Hell..."
"...I thought your name was Elly?" Gertrud questioned as she observed the mark in the neck. In truth, a Witch's Kiss was much more than a method of mind control: It was a way to lay claim to humans and prevent other witches from moving in on one's kills, as such, a Kiss also acted as a witch's brand and signature, telling other witches that gaze upon it the name of the witch who placed it.
"It is." Elly answered.
"Then why the hell does your mark say 'Kirsten'?"
"Look, you can't control the name you were born with, okay?" Elly frowned, "If you must know, Elly is my handle name, and I prefer to go by it. Besides, it honestly sounds better than Kirsten in my opinion..."
"But they sound equally fine to me." Elsa blinked.
"Look, can we not argue over my naming sense? We have more pressing matters to worry about." she glanced at her newest thrall, willing him to rise to his feet.
As the man stood up, Elly asked her first question. "Where are we?"
"Vale." the man responded in monotone.
"Okay… And where would that be, exactly?"
"In the kingdom of Vale."
"Ugh…" the Box Witch facepalmed, "Describe where we are as if I were an alien."
"We are in the City of Vale, within the kingdom of Vale, on the continent of Sanus, on planet Remnant."
"Remnant…?"
"Look, Kirsten. It's obvious that you've kissed an insane man." Gertrud frowned, "Being on a different planet would be ridiculous."
"I agree that the prospect of such an idea seems rather far-fetched..." Elsa nodded, "Perhaps we should ask this question to others as well?"
"Let's finish with this one first." Elly waved them off, before fixing Gertrud with a look, "And please don't call me that..."
"I can call you whatever the fuck I want." Gertrud huffed, "Now will you please get on with it?"
The Box Witch rolled her eyes before continuing her interrogation, "What do you know about the dark creatures in the forest?"
"They're Grimm. They're the enemies of people everywhere. They're attracted to negative emotions and have no souls. Huntsmen and Huntresses fight them." the man droned.
"Negative emotion… So we're basically beacons for those things..." Elly frowned.
"Well Gertrud's constant hostility certainly wouldn't help if we're trying to avoid them..." Elsa mused, ignoring Gertrud's annoyed expression, "But thankfully we've been more than capable of fighting them off so far."
"Some of us more than others..." Elly muttered, "So, you guys have anything you want me to ask before I have him off himself?"
"Perhaps ask him about the people with animal traits?"
"Right." Elly glanced at the man once more, "The people with animal parts. What do you know about them?"
"They're Faunus." the man replied, "They're like humans, but they have animal traits."
"Well no shit, Sherlock." The Rose Witch rolled her eyes.
"Do you know anything more about them?" Elly continued, ignoring Gertrud's commentary.
"A bunch of them formed a group called the White Fang. They claim to fight for equal rights, but they're just terrorists."
"I see… Anything else you two want me to ask?" Elly turned to her current companions, neither of which speak up, before looking at the man one last time, "Ok then. Please die."
"As you wish." the man nodded, before seeking out the most effective way to kill himself in the general vicinity. Eventually, he settles on a discarded bottle, and one quick smash and stab to the neck is all it takes.
"So… did you get any nourishment out of that?" Gertrud questioned as Elsa knelt down in silent prayer for the victim's soul.
"...No." Elly grimaced, "Great, that's going to be a problem..."
"So he died needlessly..." Elsa's brow furrowed in concern, "May God have mercy on us..."
"Hey, at least we got some information at least… so it wasn't a complete bust."
"Assuming that information was trustworthy." Gertrud grumbled, "Planet Remnant… preposterous… Hey, newborn. You've been rather quiet for once, what do you think of this foolish...ness..."
The Rose Witch trailed off as she noticed the distinctive lack of a certain Witch of Sweets among them.
"...where the fuck is Charlotte?"
"Wait. She's gone!?" Elly's head snapped up.
"Well do you see her anywhere? Because I sure as hell don't! God, you two can't even be trusted to keep track of a child..."
"Hey! Weren't you supposed to be the one watching her, miss 'Stay 15 feet away and where I can see you'?" the Box Witch pointed an accusing finger.
"There were honestly more important things to worry about, like -- I don't know -- seeing if it was possible to feed in our current state? Besides, if she was trustworthy, she would've abided by the rules anyway and we wouldn't have this problem."
"If she was-- Gertrud, she's a kid..."
"Please, friends, let's not argue." Elsa stepped between them, "Surely young Charlotte hasn't fallen too far behind, so it should be a simple matter to track her down..."
Elly sighed, "She's right, arguing will get us nowhere. Let's just find her, fill her in on what she missed, and then figure out what to do next together."
"Hmph. Fine." Gertrud huffed before suddenly shooting Elsa a glare, "And we're not friends, by the way!"
"Ah yes, my apologies." the Shadow Witch bowed her head, "Anyway, shall we get moving…?"
***
Charlotte hummed blissfully to herself as she skipped down the road, slowly nibbling a tiny slice of cheese in her hand. While she was unsuccessful in negotiating for several wheels, the nice salesman was kind enough to at least let her part with a free sample of some cheddar. While she would normally eat it all up immediately, she had to consume this one slowly to make it last. After all, who knows when she'd be able to taste cheese again?
As she skipped along, she constantly scanned the crowd for signs of her new friends and Gertrud. She was kinda worried that she hadn't seen any of them yet, but surely they hadn't gone too far ahead, and with Gertrud with them it would be easy to pick them out in a crowd because of her pretty wings. Besides, she had cheese, so she couldn't really get too worried.
Her bliss was soon broken by the harsh feeling of biting down on her finger, which caused her to immediately wince before checking her hands. No sign of cheese anywhere, meaning she must've finally gotten to the end of the slice...
Making a pitiful whining noise at her loss, she glanced around once more for any sign of her friends before sighing and plonking herself down on a nearby bench to watch the people go by. As she watched, she noticed a few people giving some dirty looks towards the people with animal traits, which she was curious about. They were cool and cute looking, after all, so why would anybody be mean to them? After putting some thought into it, the Sweets Witch concluded that they obviously must be people like Gertrud who just don't like other people for some reason…
Speaking of said witch, Charlotte truly wondered why she was so grumpy all the time… Maybe it's because she has no friends? If that were the case, then certainly Charlotte just needed to try harder, she concludes as a smile drew itself across her face. She was going to be the Rose Witch's first friend no matter how hard she had to try!
Of course, she still had to find her and the others. Glancing around once more, she still found no sign of them, so clearly they mustn't be around here at all. That would just mean she'd need to look for them elsewhere then, so with that in mind she hopped to her feet before skipping off deeper into the city.
***
"Ugh, how far could she have possibly gone during that?" Gertrud threw her hands up in frustration, "To think we would've sensed her by now..."
"I certainly hope she wasn't kidnapped..." Elly grimaced, "Or hunted..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Kirsten. Who would want to kidnap one of our kind? That's like asking for a swift and painful death..."
"She's a kid, Gertrud. And she has a body to match. And we both know humans can do some pretty stupid and terrible things… Plus, like us, she's vulnerable without a barrier and her familiars… And will you please stop calling me Kirsten."
"Excuse me… Would you mind if we stopped for a moment," Elsa interrupted, "I would like to take a moment to utter a prayer for young Charlotte's safety."
"Why?" Gertrud scoffed, "So we can waste more time?"
"Praying is hardly a waste of time…" the Shadow Witch responded as her expression darkens.
"Whatever. You do that then, I'm going to keep going." the Rose Witch turned away, "You coming, Kirsten?"
"That is not my name..." Elly frowned.
"Does it look like I give a fuck?"
The Box Witch merely sighed, "Anyway, I think splitting up actually might be a good idea to cover more ground… Let's say we meet back here at sunset?"
"Sure, whatever." Gertrud replied as she walked away, glad to be rid of her current annoyances for the near future.
"...Being away from her might be good for us, too. I'm honestly getting tired of her attitude..." Elly murmured as soon as the Rose Witch was out of earshot, "Anyway I'm going to head that way" she indicated the opposite direction Gertrud was heading, "Is that fine with you?"
Elsa Maria gave her a small nod, before gracefully dropping to her knees, "That is fine."
"Be careful. We still don't know if any of our natural enemies are around..." Elly cautioned before departing.
"You as well." Elsa nodded once more before beginning to pray.
Chapter 3
- Location
- Yes
//Here's Chapter 3. Thank you, @Metroidwave, for the beta read!
-----------------------------------------
Elly wandered the streets of Vale, scanning for any evidence of her missing companion. She was honestly tempted to scan the memories of nearby bystanders to see if any of them happened to catch a glimpse of the girl, but she figured it wasn't worth it if she didn't have any familiars to keep them in place as she moved to each one. Besides, even if she did have them, without access to a barrier all she would succeed in doing is drawing unnecessary attention to herself, which she was quite wary of doing, considering she still had yet to sense any of her natural enemies in this place.
While it could just be a sign that they simply weren't here at all, with the diminished abilities she and the others had demonstrated since they awoke she couldn't help but feel a tad bit paranoid. She glanced around for a brief moment, wondering if there was one stalking her right now and she just couldn't sense them... Hopefully if there were they'd have enough decency to not attack her in the middle of a crowd. But then again, since a witch being outside of her barrier in the first place is a rarity, she never fully discarded the possibility of it happening from her mind.
Additionally, if one did choose to attack right now, there's nothing she could really do about it either. She sighed as she continued walking, wondering why she couldn't have been blessed with offensive magic like Gertrud and Elsa Maria. Hell, even Charlotte, while not having purely offensive magic either, could still do more than her in a full on conflict, and she was a newborn... Oh well, at least she had her wit, whatever good that did for her...
Kicking aside a pebble on the path, she kept going. There still seemed to be no sign of Charlotte anywhere in the crowd, nor did she sense any fellow witch signatures in the area. She wondered if the others were having better luck than her. Or Elsa at least. Considering how abrasive Gertrud was to the rest of them, Elly honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Rose Witch wasn't even looking for Charlotte at all, but if that were the case, then she had to wonder exactly what she was up to...
"Goddammit, where is that stupid newborn?" Gertrud grumbled in irritation.
While she was somewhat surprised that Kirsten decided to split up, and initially glad to be rid of her current annoyances, it didn't take long for her to get suspicious of it. Who's to say she and Elsa weren't conspiring to stab her in the back now that she was out of earshot? She cursed herself for allowing them to separate in the place, but she supposed that she couldn't go back now...
And then there was Charlotte. She may be a newborn, but who knows if she's plotting against her as well? Besides, it seemed awfully convenient that she would slip away while the rest of them were distracted...
It's for these reasons that Gertrud needed to find her and meet back with the others as soon as possible so she could keep them all under watch. She wasn't going to let them get away with whatever attempts on her life they were plotting if she had anything to say about it!
Of course, first she needed to find the damn brat.
She scowled as she continued to storm down the streets. Just how hard could finding one kid be, especially one with a witch signature? She utterly refused to believe she could've wandered this far, so she began to wonder if the girl had some way of suppressing her signature somehow? Gertrud hoped not, because that did, then that would be even more of a reason the girl had to be closely watched, or perhaps eliminated... She did violate the terms of the truce, after all, so Gertrud no longer had any reason to not kill her if she felt the newborn threatened her existence...
Soon, she grew tired of walking, so she decided to have a seat on a nearby bench to rest. Her brow furrowed as she watched the people go by, glaring at any who gave her dirty looks as they passed. Briefly, she considered simply asking them if they'd seen a young girl with white hair, but she doubted she could trust any information they gave her. Kissing them would be more secure, but -- if Kirsten's demonstration earlier was any indication -- it wouldn't be efficient. Besides, she'd rather have access to her barrier if she were to try something on that scale, both for the protection and so she could use the resulting massacre to fertilize her roses.
She grimaced at the thought of her beloved flowers. Anthony and Adelbert -- her loyal familiars -- better be taking care of them in her absence. If she found one dry leaf or damaged petal by the time she got her barrier back, there will be some serious hell to pay...
"Whoa..." a new voice suddenly snapped the Rose Witch out of her thoughts, causing her to quickly snap her neck in the direction of the noise. A young boy, looking no older than 8 was staring at her in wonder.
"...What are you looking at?" Gertrud snapped, causing the boy to yelp and back off slightly.
"S-Sorry... It's just that I've never seen a faunus with wings before..." he spoke, "Do they work?"
Of all the impudent-- "Of course they do!" Gertrud's brow twitched, wings flapping slightly, "Now fuck off and stop bothering me."
"...Can I touch one?"
Gertrud growled as she abruptly stood up, "No you may not touch one! Do you even know how delicate butterfly wings are? I'd rather not have them be contaminated by human filth, thank you very much!"
"Hey! You stay away from my son you dirty animal!" an irate-looking woman sporting an asymmetric blonde bob stepped into the fray. The now intimidated boy quickly slipping behind her.
"Oh, I'm the dirty animal? You're one to talk, human!"
"Ugh! The nerve of-- Come on, boy, we're leaving," the woman gripped the boy's wrist before storming off in a huff, "...And don't think you're not in trouble young man! I thought I told you not to talk..."
Gertrud gave them a certain rude gesture as they disappeared down the street, before soon becoming aware of the many stares leveled at her by the surrounding bystanders.
"What?" she growled, causing the crowd to disperse shortly after, a few people giving her lingering dirty looks as they continued about their business.
With a sigh, she, too, carried on. This was going to be a long day, she just knew it...
It took a bit longer for Elsa Maria to begin her own search.
Since Elly and Gertrud decided to split off, Elsa decided to extend her prayer a bit, asking the Lord to watch over her companions as they ventured forth into the depths of this unknown city on their own in search of young Charlotte. Confident that God was watching over them, she, too, set forth to continue her search for the girl.
Using her involuntary change of form to her advantage, she began to question the locals to see if any of them knew of Charlotte's whereabouts, her senses alert in case any opportunistic children tried to attack her. While many humans and... faunus, if she recalled correctly... denied seeing the girl, eventually she did come across one person who mentioned seeing a girl matching Charlotte's description entering a cheese shop a couple streets down.
Curious as to why Charlotte would enter such an establishment, she asked for directions and made her way there. Finding that it was actually close to where they had interrogated that unfortunate man for information. Perhaps they had just missed her? After entering the shop, a brief conversation with its owner confirmed that Charlotte was indeed present there earlier, and was practically begging him for some cheese. He told her that he had allowed the girl to take a sample before sending her on her way, not knowing where she went afterwards.
Elsa thanked the man for his time, pleased with having a lead to go off of now, and began to question several people in the area. Unfortunately, it was here that the trail went cold, as nobody could recall seeing her or where she wandered off to.
Oh well, at least now she was closer, it seemed, before continuing past the alley where the man's corpse laid. Surely if she continued in this direction, she reasoned, she would find young Charlotte eventually.
But then again, the sun was getting lower in the sky at this point. Uttering a quick prayer, she hoped that she would be able to find the girl before it was time to go back and meet up with the others...
"Excuse me, mister, have you seen my friends?" Charlotte blinked hopefully as she questioned a random bystander.
"I'm not sure, what did they look like?"
"Well one of them is wearing a light blue dress and has glasses, another has long black hair and is wearing black and red, and the last one is an angry butterfly girl."
"Hmm... I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that."
"Oh..."
This had been going on for quite some time, with Charlotte asking random people on the street if they've seen her friends, with nobody having seen them at all. A few people did follow up by asking where her parents were, which honestly confused the Sweets Witch. Did witches even have parents to begin with? And why does thinking about having a mama make her feel sad inside?
Oh well, that's something she'd have to ask the others about later when she finds them, she reasoned. They had been aware for longer than she had, so they would probably know more about whether they had parents or not...
Sighing and summoning a lollipop, she continued down the street, noticing the amount of people in the road decreasing as the sun sank lower in the sky. She thought about backtracking to where she first got separated from her companions to see if, by some small chance, they were there waiting for her, but then realized that she had completely forgotten where it was.
In fact, she'd been walking so long that she honestly wasn't sure where she was anymore, as the streets sort of started to blend together after a while. She was, without a doubt, completely lost.
Slumping a bit at this realization, she sat down on the curb to collect her thoughts, trying to think of what to do next, before an odd yet familiar sensation began to stir in the back of her mind.
Sitting up straight, she looked around, before she soon noticed a certain irritated-looking green haired girl walking straight towards her. Letting the lollipop fall out of her mouth, Charlotte sprang to her feet in joy.
"GERTRUD!" she exclaimed as she ran towards her fellow witch at full speed, fully intent on glomping the grumpy witch with a tackle hug!
Reacting almost immediately, the Rose Witch retaliated with a burst of pruning vines from her hand, causing the younger witch to fall backwards with a loud yelp. Fortunately, there were no witnesses to the spectacle, otherwise things might've escalated rather quickly from there.
"I finally find you, and you try to attack me immediately!?" Gertrud scowled, "I knew you were up to something!"
"W-What!? No!" Charlotte stammered as she scrambled to her feet, "I-I just wanted to give you a hug! I swear!"
"Why, so you could cut off my circulation!?"
"N-No! Because I was happy to see you!" she shrank back at her fellow witch's hostility, "A-And I thought it would be good for you to get one. You don't look like someone who gets hugged a lot..."
"You--" Gertrud started to retort, but instead shook in frustration, "Whatever. Look, are you even aware of the trouble you've caused by disappearing on us like that? We've been looking for you all day! Or at least I have, not sure what the others are up to when I'm not there to keep my eye on them..."
"B-But you guys were the ones who disappeared on me!" Charlotte frowned, "...Where are the others anyway?"
"How the fuck should I know? We split up to look for you! Anyway, we're supposed to meet up with them at sunset, so if you're done trying to kill me I'd really like to get to the meeting spot as soon as possible..."
"I wasn't trying to kill you, though..." Charlotte pouted, shrinking back even more under Gertrud's skeptical glare, "S-So where are we going?"
Gertrud sighed,"Just stay in front of me and I'll tell you where to go. I think it was... uh..." she blinked, glancing around while trying to remember exactly what street she turned off of before seeing Charlotte, before pointing to a random one in roughly the direction she came from, "...that way? Yeah, it was that way..."
"...Are you sure?" Charlotte looked at her questioningly.
"Of course I'm sure!" the Rose Witch snapped, "Now will you get moving already?"
With a small frown, Charlotte began to take point, following the Rose Witch's directions. However, after turning off several streets and even crossing the same street a couple of times, it quickly became apparent that the older witch was just as lost as she was. Charlotte was tempted to point it out, considering how irritated Gertrud was right now it probably wasn't the best idea, so she simply remained quiet.
As she continued to walk, she also began thinking of other ways to befriend Gertrud. The cookie didn't work, and neither did a hug, so perhaps she would need to try something different. Talking was right out at the moment, for obvious reasons, so what else could she do? Maybe some cake? Everyone likes cake, right? Or maybe just some regular candy... For some reason a bar of Snickers came to mi--
"Oof!" Charlotte was immediately snapped out of her train of thought as she collided with something, as she pulled back to see what it was, the first thing she noticed was a black skirt.
"The fuck? Are you walking with your eyes closed up there or something?" Gertrud growled.
"S-Sorry, I was thinking about stuff..." the Sweets Witch grimaced, before immediately remembering that she just walked into someone, "O-Oh, and sorry about that too, I should've been looking where I was going..."
"Don't worry, it's fine." the person -- a teenage girl in a predominantly black dress, wearing a red, hooded cape -- smiled, "I should've been looking where I was going too... So uh... what's someone as young as you doing out so late?"
"Do not answer--"
"Gertrud and I were going to meet up with our friends." Charlotte cut the Rose Witch off, "But we're kinda lost..."
"Okay, one: They're not our friends, and two: We're not lost!" Gertrud huffed.
"But we've been going in circles for a while now!" Charlotte frowned, "Wouldn't it be better if we asked for help?"
"And would you really trust outside help? She could get us even more lost for all we know!"
"...So you admit we're lost?"
"That wasn't--Ugh!" Gertrud threw her hands in the air, "Fine! Ask for help, if this gets us nowhere -- and I'm certain it will -- then I'm blaming you!"
"Uh..." the caped girl blinked as she watched the spectacle play out, before feeling someone tugging on her skirt. Glancing down, her silver eyes soon met with Charlotte's.
"S-Sorry about that, she's kinda mad all the time and I don't know why..." the young witch pouted, "Um... you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you, miss...?"
"Ruby. Ruby Rose." the girl smiled, "And yeah, you're at the edge of the commercial district, I was actually going to head to this Dust shop in the middle of it to look at some new weapon magazines that just got in but-- Ah, sorry... What I'm saying is, yes, I do. Where are you supposed to meet up with your friends?"
"Um... Gertrud, where are we supposed to meet them?" Charlotte questioned hesitantly.
"I don't fucking know! I just remember what the building looked like and what some of the ones near it did." the Rose Witch replied, "...Like, there was this one down the street that had a big sign over it with something about Dawn..."
"Oh! I think I know what you're talking about!" Ruby's eyes lit up, "That's actually the place I was going to anyway. I-I can take you there if you want?"
"That seems a bit too convenient, don't you--"
"That would be great!" Charlotte interrupted once more, "Thank you so much, Miss Ruby!"
"Hey, no problem." Ruby smiled, "Uh... anyway just follow me. It's this way!"
"This is going to be a mistake..." Gertrud grumbled to Charlotte as the two of them began to follow along. She honestly felt quite suspicious about this new girl just showing up out of the blue and conveniently having a solution to their problem. Everything about the situation just screamed trap at her, so while they walked she began to mentally prepare herself for a sudden attack at any moment.
Of course, Charlotte would be on the receiving end of it too, though Gertrud wasn't terribly concerned about her. If she survived, then she would've learned a valuable lesson about trust, and if she didn't then that's one less person for her to keep an eye on. In an odd way, it felt like a win-win situation to her...
But on the other hand, she did notice something else about this human. On her belt was a silver rose, and roses were one of the few things she trusted not to lie to her... Could it be, then, that this human was somehow less untrustworthy than the others if she was bearing the image of such a perfect flower...?
...No, that would be crazy... It could be just as likely that she's using the image of the rose to lull her into a false sense of security, and it that was the case she would need to be severely punished...
Only one thing was certain: This was yet another individual Gertrud had to keep a close eye on...
//I've seen that one as well. Shame it didn't get very far, as it would've been interesting to see where it would've gone.
-----------------------------------------
Elly wandered the streets of Vale, scanning for any evidence of her missing companion. She was honestly tempted to scan the memories of nearby bystanders to see if any of them happened to catch a glimpse of the girl, but she figured it wasn't worth it if she didn't have any familiars to keep them in place as she moved to each one. Besides, even if she did have them, without access to a barrier all she would succeed in doing is drawing unnecessary attention to herself, which she was quite wary of doing, considering she still had yet to sense any of her natural enemies in this place.
While it could just be a sign that they simply weren't here at all, with the diminished abilities she and the others had demonstrated since they awoke she couldn't help but feel a tad bit paranoid. She glanced around for a brief moment, wondering if there was one stalking her right now and she just couldn't sense them... Hopefully if there were they'd have enough decency to not attack her in the middle of a crowd. But then again, since a witch being outside of her barrier in the first place is a rarity, she never fully discarded the possibility of it happening from her mind.
Additionally, if one did choose to attack right now, there's nothing she could really do about it either. She sighed as she continued walking, wondering why she couldn't have been blessed with offensive magic like Gertrud and Elsa Maria. Hell, even Charlotte, while not having purely offensive magic either, could still do more than her in a full on conflict, and she was a newborn... Oh well, at least she had her wit, whatever good that did for her...
Kicking aside a pebble on the path, she kept going. There still seemed to be no sign of Charlotte anywhere in the crowd, nor did she sense any fellow witch signatures in the area. She wondered if the others were having better luck than her. Or Elsa at least. Considering how abrasive Gertrud was to the rest of them, Elly honestly wouldn't be surprised if the Rose Witch wasn't even looking for Charlotte at all, but if that were the case, then she had to wonder exactly what she was up to...
***
"Goddammit, where is that stupid newborn?" Gertrud grumbled in irritation.
While she was somewhat surprised that Kirsten decided to split up, and initially glad to be rid of her current annoyances, it didn't take long for her to get suspicious of it. Who's to say she and Elsa weren't conspiring to stab her in the back now that she was out of earshot? She cursed herself for allowing them to separate in the place, but she supposed that she couldn't go back now...
And then there was Charlotte. She may be a newborn, but who knows if she's plotting against her as well? Besides, it seemed awfully convenient that she would slip away while the rest of them were distracted...
It's for these reasons that Gertrud needed to find her and meet back with the others as soon as possible so she could keep them all under watch. She wasn't going to let them get away with whatever attempts on her life they were plotting if she had anything to say about it!
Of course, first she needed to find the damn brat.
She scowled as she continued to storm down the streets. Just how hard could finding one kid be, especially one with a witch signature? She utterly refused to believe she could've wandered this far, so she began to wonder if the girl had some way of suppressing her signature somehow? Gertrud hoped not, because that did, then that would be even more of a reason the girl had to be closely watched, or perhaps eliminated... She did violate the terms of the truce, after all, so Gertrud no longer had any reason to not kill her if she felt the newborn threatened her existence...
Soon, she grew tired of walking, so she decided to have a seat on a nearby bench to rest. Her brow furrowed as she watched the people go by, glaring at any who gave her dirty looks as they passed. Briefly, she considered simply asking them if they'd seen a young girl with white hair, but she doubted she could trust any information they gave her. Kissing them would be more secure, but -- if Kirsten's demonstration earlier was any indication -- it wouldn't be efficient. Besides, she'd rather have access to her barrier if she were to try something on that scale, both for the protection and so she could use the resulting massacre to fertilize her roses.
She grimaced at the thought of her beloved flowers. Anthony and Adelbert -- her loyal familiars -- better be taking care of them in her absence. If she found one dry leaf or damaged petal by the time she got her barrier back, there will be some serious hell to pay...
"Whoa..." a new voice suddenly snapped the Rose Witch out of her thoughts, causing her to quickly snap her neck in the direction of the noise. A young boy, looking no older than 8 was staring at her in wonder.
"...What are you looking at?" Gertrud snapped, causing the boy to yelp and back off slightly.
"S-Sorry... It's just that I've never seen a faunus with wings before..." he spoke, "Do they work?"
Of all the impudent-- "Of course they do!" Gertrud's brow twitched, wings flapping slightly, "Now fuck off and stop bothering me."
"...Can I touch one?"
Gertrud growled as she abruptly stood up, "No you may not touch one! Do you even know how delicate butterfly wings are? I'd rather not have them be contaminated by human filth, thank you very much!"
"Hey! You stay away from my son you dirty animal!" an irate-looking woman sporting an asymmetric blonde bob stepped into the fray. The now intimidated boy quickly slipping behind her.
"Oh, I'm the dirty animal? You're one to talk, human!"
"Ugh! The nerve of-- Come on, boy, we're leaving," the woman gripped the boy's wrist before storming off in a huff, "...And don't think you're not in trouble young man! I thought I told you not to talk..."
Gertrud gave them a certain rude gesture as they disappeared down the street, before soon becoming aware of the many stares leveled at her by the surrounding bystanders.
"What?" she growled, causing the crowd to disperse shortly after, a few people giving her lingering dirty looks as they continued about their business.
With a sigh, she, too, carried on. This was going to be a long day, she just knew it...
***
It took a bit longer for Elsa Maria to begin her own search.
Since Elly and Gertrud decided to split off, Elsa decided to extend her prayer a bit, asking the Lord to watch over her companions as they ventured forth into the depths of this unknown city on their own in search of young Charlotte. Confident that God was watching over them, she, too, set forth to continue her search for the girl.
Using her involuntary change of form to her advantage, she began to question the locals to see if any of them knew of Charlotte's whereabouts, her senses alert in case any opportunistic children tried to attack her. While many humans and... faunus, if she recalled correctly... denied seeing the girl, eventually she did come across one person who mentioned seeing a girl matching Charlotte's description entering a cheese shop a couple streets down.
Curious as to why Charlotte would enter such an establishment, she asked for directions and made her way there. Finding that it was actually close to where they had interrogated that unfortunate man for information. Perhaps they had just missed her? After entering the shop, a brief conversation with its owner confirmed that Charlotte was indeed present there earlier, and was practically begging him for some cheese. He told her that he had allowed the girl to take a sample before sending her on her way, not knowing where she went afterwards.
Elsa thanked the man for his time, pleased with having a lead to go off of now, and began to question several people in the area. Unfortunately, it was here that the trail went cold, as nobody could recall seeing her or where she wandered off to.
Oh well, at least now she was closer, it seemed, before continuing past the alley where the man's corpse laid. Surely if she continued in this direction, she reasoned, she would find young Charlotte eventually.
But then again, the sun was getting lower in the sky at this point. Uttering a quick prayer, she hoped that she would be able to find the girl before it was time to go back and meet up with the others...
***
"Excuse me, mister, have you seen my friends?" Charlotte blinked hopefully as she questioned a random bystander.
"I'm not sure, what did they look like?"
"Well one of them is wearing a light blue dress and has glasses, another has long black hair and is wearing black and red, and the last one is an angry butterfly girl."
"Hmm... I'm sorry, I haven't seen anyone like that."
"Oh..."
This had been going on for quite some time, with Charlotte asking random people on the street if they've seen her friends, with nobody having seen them at all. A few people did follow up by asking where her parents were, which honestly confused the Sweets Witch. Did witches even have parents to begin with? And why does thinking about having a mama make her feel sad inside?
Oh well, that's something she'd have to ask the others about later when she finds them, she reasoned. They had been aware for longer than she had, so they would probably know more about whether they had parents or not...
Sighing and summoning a lollipop, she continued down the street, noticing the amount of people in the road decreasing as the sun sank lower in the sky. She thought about backtracking to where she first got separated from her companions to see if, by some small chance, they were there waiting for her, but then realized that she had completely forgotten where it was.
In fact, she'd been walking so long that she honestly wasn't sure where she was anymore, as the streets sort of started to blend together after a while. She was, without a doubt, completely lost.
Slumping a bit at this realization, she sat down on the curb to collect her thoughts, trying to think of what to do next, before an odd yet familiar sensation began to stir in the back of her mind.
Sitting up straight, she looked around, before she soon noticed a certain irritated-looking green haired girl walking straight towards her. Letting the lollipop fall out of her mouth, Charlotte sprang to her feet in joy.
"GERTRUD!" she exclaimed as she ran towards her fellow witch at full speed, fully intent on glomping the grumpy witch with a tackle hug!
Reacting almost immediately, the Rose Witch retaliated with a burst of pruning vines from her hand, causing the younger witch to fall backwards with a loud yelp. Fortunately, there were no witnesses to the spectacle, otherwise things might've escalated rather quickly from there.
"I finally find you, and you try to attack me immediately!?" Gertrud scowled, "I knew you were up to something!"
"W-What!? No!" Charlotte stammered as she scrambled to her feet, "I-I just wanted to give you a hug! I swear!"
"Why, so you could cut off my circulation!?"
"N-No! Because I was happy to see you!" she shrank back at her fellow witch's hostility, "A-And I thought it would be good for you to get one. You don't look like someone who gets hugged a lot..."
"You--" Gertrud started to retort, but instead shook in frustration, "Whatever. Look, are you even aware of the trouble you've caused by disappearing on us like that? We've been looking for you all day! Or at least I have, not sure what the others are up to when I'm not there to keep my eye on them..."
"B-But you guys were the ones who disappeared on me!" Charlotte frowned, "...Where are the others anyway?"
"How the fuck should I know? We split up to look for you! Anyway, we're supposed to meet up with them at sunset, so if you're done trying to kill me I'd really like to get to the meeting spot as soon as possible..."
"I wasn't trying to kill you, though..." Charlotte pouted, shrinking back even more under Gertrud's skeptical glare, "S-So where are we going?"
Gertrud sighed,"Just stay in front of me and I'll tell you where to go. I think it was... uh..." she blinked, glancing around while trying to remember exactly what street she turned off of before seeing Charlotte, before pointing to a random one in roughly the direction she came from, "...that way? Yeah, it was that way..."
"...Are you sure?" Charlotte looked at her questioningly.
"Of course I'm sure!" the Rose Witch snapped, "Now will you get moving already?"
With a small frown, Charlotte began to take point, following the Rose Witch's directions. However, after turning off several streets and even crossing the same street a couple of times, it quickly became apparent that the older witch was just as lost as she was. Charlotte was tempted to point it out, considering how irritated Gertrud was right now it probably wasn't the best idea, so she simply remained quiet.
As she continued to walk, she also began thinking of other ways to befriend Gertrud. The cookie didn't work, and neither did a hug, so perhaps she would need to try something different. Talking was right out at the moment, for obvious reasons, so what else could she do? Maybe some cake? Everyone likes cake, right? Or maybe just some regular candy... For some reason a bar of Snickers came to mi--
"Oof!" Charlotte was immediately snapped out of her train of thought as she collided with something, as she pulled back to see what it was, the first thing she noticed was a black skirt.
"The fuck? Are you walking with your eyes closed up there or something?" Gertrud growled.
"S-Sorry, I was thinking about stuff..." the Sweets Witch grimaced, before immediately remembering that she just walked into someone, "O-Oh, and sorry about that too, I should've been looking where I was going..."
"Don't worry, it's fine." the person -- a teenage girl in a predominantly black dress, wearing a red, hooded cape -- smiled, "I should've been looking where I was going too... So uh... what's someone as young as you doing out so late?"
"Do not answer--"
"Gertrud and I were going to meet up with our friends." Charlotte cut the Rose Witch off, "But we're kinda lost..."
"Okay, one: They're not our friends, and two: We're not lost!" Gertrud huffed.
"But we've been going in circles for a while now!" Charlotte frowned, "Wouldn't it be better if we asked for help?"
"And would you really trust outside help? She could get us even more lost for all we know!"
"...So you admit we're lost?"
"That wasn't--Ugh!" Gertrud threw her hands in the air, "Fine! Ask for help, if this gets us nowhere -- and I'm certain it will -- then I'm blaming you!"
"Uh..." the caped girl blinked as she watched the spectacle play out, before feeling someone tugging on her skirt. Glancing down, her silver eyes soon met with Charlotte's.
"S-Sorry about that, she's kinda mad all the time and I don't know why..." the young witch pouted, "Um... you wouldn't happen to know where we are, would you, miss...?"
"Ruby. Ruby Rose." the girl smiled, "And yeah, you're at the edge of the commercial district, I was actually going to head to this Dust shop in the middle of it to look at some new weapon magazines that just got in but-- Ah, sorry... What I'm saying is, yes, I do. Where are you supposed to meet up with your friends?"
"Um... Gertrud, where are we supposed to meet them?" Charlotte questioned hesitantly.
"I don't fucking know! I just remember what the building looked like and what some of the ones near it did." the Rose Witch replied, "...Like, there was this one down the street that had a big sign over it with something about Dawn..."
"Oh! I think I know what you're talking about!" Ruby's eyes lit up, "That's actually the place I was going to anyway. I-I can take you there if you want?"
"That seems a bit too convenient, don't you--"
"That would be great!" Charlotte interrupted once more, "Thank you so much, Miss Ruby!"
"Hey, no problem." Ruby smiled, "Uh... anyway just follow me. It's this way!"
"This is going to be a mistake..." Gertrud grumbled to Charlotte as the two of them began to follow along. She honestly felt quite suspicious about this new girl just showing up out of the blue and conveniently having a solution to their problem. Everything about the situation just screamed trap at her, so while they walked she began to mentally prepare herself for a sudden attack at any moment.
Of course, Charlotte would be on the receiving end of it too, though Gertrud wasn't terribly concerned about her. If she survived, then she would've learned a valuable lesson about trust, and if she didn't then that's one less person for her to keep an eye on. In an odd way, it felt like a win-win situation to her...
But on the other hand, she did notice something else about this human. On her belt was a silver rose, and roses were one of the few things she trusted not to lie to her... Could it be, then, that this human was somehow less untrustworthy than the others if she was bearing the image of such a perfect flower...?
...No, that would be crazy... It could be just as likely that she's using the image of the rose to lull her into a false sense of security, and it that was the case she would need to be severely punished...
Only one thing was certain: This was yet another individual Gertrud had to keep a close eye on...