"All of these people are my subjects and my property. I can't have anyone treating them badly! They're like puppies, they should be taken care of lovingly but also know who their master is. And another thing, it takes funds to take over a kingdom so rewards are important!" Snow drifted picturesquely settling on the evergreen trees reaching towards the manufactured world's sky. At times, Majolica had caught herself wondering just how "fake" this world actually was. At what point does fake become indistinguishable from reality? Whatever the case, this world certainly skirted the line. From plants to even the people, Majolica couldn't help but feel that there was more here than just computer code masquerading as reality. These thoughts always surfaced when it came to the denizens of this world. Whatever the case, she was glad she couldn't actually take lives due to her "Happily Never After" passive trait. "I could ask you the same thing though. Why are you even out here if you're not the murderer? Just enjoying the freezing cold temperature? Trying to play bandit and mug some innocent traveler of their family's fortune? You don't seem like the 'hero' type to me." As she spoke, Majolica noticed a cave a little ways off in the distance. In the darkness of the cave, she could make out what seemed like the flickers of what seemed to be a campfire. "Look there, dummy!" With no more need for the shady man she had been following, Majolica rushed by him on her broom leaving him behind. Hehe! If that's not them, then at the very least I can get warm by the fire! Maybe it's even bandits I can make into frogs... hehehe! Approaching the mouth of the cave, Majolica saw the same flickering light deeper within. Taking care to make as little noise as possible, Majolica inspected the immediate area for any signs of a potential ambush. If this was the murderer's den, there was no way to tell if they were alone or part of a group. Though Majolica was confident in her ability to take down an entire crew of bandits or whatever else they might be, that probably would have been more of a pain than she would have liked to admit. Well, whoever's in there is either alone or trapped... hehehe! "Xtreme two plus six Xtreme!" Using a mixture of black magic and hydromancy, Majolica raised a thick wall of corrupted black ice. The ice would block the entrance to the cave trapping any potential murderers within. The black ice would siphon health and energy from anyone bare flesh coming into contact with it, so trying to break through the wall would more than likely weaken any enemies stuck inside giving Majolica the advantage in battle. Opening a small hole in her newly formed ice wall, Majolica called to everyone within. "Hehehe! I don't know who is in there, but come to the front of the cave and surrender! I know you're the one that murdered the innocent bystander a ways behind this place! The blood in the snow is proof! Hehehe! Now show yourself and face the justice of Grand Witch Majolica!" Majolica stood at the mouth of the cave behind her ice wall waiting. She had no idea where or what @Alric Stalwart was doing but it didn't matter much to her anyway. This was her reward and she didn't feel the need to share it with someone who was probably a bandit or something anyway. [OOC: Not sure if this is correct, but I pictured the cave being deep enough to where you could see someone at the entrance but couldn't exactly make out who they were.]
“I was just taking a walk.” He replied before getting cut off by the witch. Who was she calling a dummy?! He had been smart enough to avoid getting shot by her magic at least. Honestly, Alric had half a mind to just leave at this point. But after seeing where she was going and what the rogue from earlier was capable of, would he really be able to just leave another player for dead if things took a bad turn inside the cave? No, not since he was the one who lead her here in the first place. He'd at least see this through to the end and so there he was; chasing a woman he was trying to escape from not too long ago. “Hey! Don't run off by yourself!” He called after her. But as he followed the spirit mage was met with a strange sight. The entrance to the cave had been walled off, save for a small opening near the witch who was standing on the outside. Clearly this was her doing and it seemed she was handling the situation quite well on her own, but it was best to linger a little longer to make sure. He'd walk up beside her and examine her handiwork before posing another question. “Are you sure there's anyone even in there? Some caves have more than one opening ya know...”
_____Kaede wanted to simply relax, however as she noticed the entryway get block her face glowed with anger as she rose up to her feet. Her wolf moving deeper into the cave and ducking down as he knew what was likely to happen. The caster of the ice wall speaking up only annoying Kaede more, to accuse her of murdering a person was a string she would not enjoy having pulled. Picking up the goblin’s head and marching to the hole before shover the head into the opening and backing up a few steps to see the entire wall in her focus line. Eyes moving slowly while her hand drew her dagger and frame lowered, her target locked on. _____Her body shot forward Dagger glowing faintly before impact with the wall, the tip slightly breaking out the opposite side and cracks quickly formed from the impact zone. Pulling the weapon out and slamming her boot to the shattering area to break the defense before she rushed out. Free hand taking the goblin head and throwing it towards the male while she herself rushed the witch girl. Kaede hoped to use her last actions to catch them by surprise and her mobility to capitalize on it. _____Frame moving to trip the witch girl, her free hand used to further try and push the target down while her dagger was moved to hover just over the girl’s throat if everything went well. Kaede’s grey eyes raging like a storm as she looked at the girl who accused her of murder. Lightly moving the dagger to rest the tip on her throat without drawing blood before she spoke to them. ”I killed a goblin, as your friend could tell by the head he has, and if you try to cast another spell I would love to see how well you can chant with a hole in your neck, or maybe without a head.” _____With her anger mostly resolved Kaede moved off the witch girl and stood up. Empty hand reaching to help the girl up as a sign she simply threatened to show she was not someone to try poking or fighting. If the girl declined Kaede would walk towards the male reaching for the goblin head before marching back into the cave and waving them to follow her. ”I would advise you get inside, the snow is about to pick up quickly and the nearest town is too far on foot.” Sitting back down as her wolf rushed back over and rested at her side. @Celestine
From behind a nearby tree, Majolica watched as her wall was broken through. Wow, that woman in red seems angry.... hehehe. Good thing I sent the clone! Did she just say something about a goblin? Ewww she threw the head. Hmm... could that blood from earlier have been goblin blood and not people blood? Hmmm... does this mean I came all the way out here for nothing?! SO there wasn't a murder and I just wasted all day tracking some gross idiot who decided to carry around a goblin head?! NOOOOOOOOO! WHY?! NOW I WON'T GET ANY REWARD, AND I'M TIRED, AND I COULD HAVE BEEN DRINKING COCOA, AND I HAD TO HANG OUT WITH THAT USELESS THEIF DUMMY WHO WOULDN'T EVEN RUN OVER HERE AND TOOK HIS TIME WALKING! TODAY HAS BEEN A TOTAL WASTE NOW! AND I WAS GOING TO BUY SOME COOL NEW GEAR! GAHHHHHHH... Majolica stepped out from behind the tree and walked towards @Kaede Hoshi as Majolica crouched behind the tree. "So you're not the murderer. There was no murderer. THIS HAS BEEN A COLOSSAL WASTE OF TIME! I CAME ALL THE WAY OVER HERE TO PUNISH A MURDERER WITH THE JUSTICE OF GRAND WITCH MAJOLICA, AND IT WAS ALL FOR NOTHING! NO REWARD, NO COCOA, ONLY THIS STUPID FOREST, AND AWKWARD COMPANY! I ALMOST WANT YOU TO STAB MY THROAT THAT WAY I CAN GO BACK HOME! IT'S PROBABLY A GOOD THING FOR YOU THAT YOU DIDN'T THOUGH BECAUSE IT WOULD HAVE EXPLODED LIKE A BOMB... Hehehe..." As she spoke, the Majolica clone Kaede had pinned down melted to nothing. Majolica pointed towards Alric. "AND, HE'S NOT MY FRIEND! I DON'T EVEN KNOW THIS DORK! HE WAS JUST OUT IN THE WOODS WHEN I CAME--" A thought came to Majolica. "Hehehe... if he isn't a thief, and he's not a murderer, then why was he following you?" Majolica turned to @Alric Stalwart "So what, were you trying to mug her? Orrr.... hehehe... do you have a crush on Ms. Red? Hehehe!" As Majolica pointed her head upward to let out her laugh, snow drifted into her eye. "Ah, gah... stupid snow!" Holding out her hand black, blue, and grey ice grew and formed into a jagged umbrella keeping the snow out of Majolica's face. "That's better, getting snow in your eyes is so annoying, almost as annoying as this big stupid forest!" Majolica spun her umbrella to help dump some of the snow off the top. "Well, at least it's not like the cold ever really bothered me anyway... hehehe." As Kaede walked back into her cave, Majolica also created an umbrella from her magic, then walked next to the other Majolica. Annoyed but wanting a nice sit, both Majolicas followed Kaede into the cave. Which one was the real one was anyone's guess, but the redhead had already tried to 'cougar maul' one Majolica so at least with two, Majolica could have some insurance. @Celestine
Celestine sat beside the warm flames, rubbing her hands together. The little temperature meter confirmed what she was already feeling: this was a nice, relieving warmth that was definitely necessary. It was just then - when she’d fully taken in just how cozy it was in this spot - that the sound of ice violently crunching into a hard wall came to her attention. Whirling around, she glanced at the source: indeed, it was a big ol’ wall of ice, though the darkness of it was… concerning, to say the least. Certainly not your average, everyday block of ice. As most of the light was now blocked from entering the cave, when a small hole was popped out of the wall, it showed up like a spotlight, illuminating what looked like… oh. It was that one again. The eccentric little witch, who seemed to be hunting a murderer. Kaede supposedly? Did killing goblins count when they were basically huntable monsters? Celly stood up from her seat and was about to approach the wall of black ice. She wasn’t entirely sure how to handle the situation yet. Should she yell at her to calm down? Call out a bunch of dramatic ‘fated second meeting’ stuff? Actually explain the situation? Luckily, it didn’t matter, because - in her hesitation - Kaede beat her to the punch. Or - in this case - the ice-shattering dagger lunge. It was pretty cool looking, all things considered. From beside the fire, Celestine watched the witch appeared to melt away into a puddle of… nothingness actually. Celly glanced at Kaede with a horrified fear, until the real witch revealed herself from behind a distant tree. Or rather… two of the witch... both letting out a long, angry rant. “Majolica is of fantasticness,” Celly remarked with an impossible quietness, taking note of that eccentric personality she'd seen a while back. “I should be doing a copy.” With this in mind, she took her place in the darkest region of the cave, waiting there and watching as Majolica wandered in to sit by the fire. Once she’d been comfortably positioned, Celestine muttered a few imperceptible spells, causing a thick fog to roll out from the spot she was hiding. Celly boldly strode out from the cloudy puffs of air, releasing a loud, nasal cackle. “HEhehehehe! So we do a meet again, Grand Witch Majolica~!” She thrust her hand out, pointing her index finger straight at her again. Celestine’s entire manner of both speaking and moving about seemed to have changed to mimic the young girl before her almost perfectly. “Tsk tsk tsk, were you not supposed to be the great witch of evilness? Now you are doing the chasing of murderers and doers of the evils? Ahaha! Have you done the softening? It will be of great easiness to surpass you as a villain at this rate!” Celestine glanced at Majolica - hands on her hips - as she threw the witch a triumphant, smug, mocking glance. To Kaede, it might’ve sounded odd, seeing as she wasn’t acting this way at all just a minute ago. To the other guy who randomly just had a dismembered head tossed his way... well... who knows. @Grand Witch Majolica
Cautiously walking into the cave, Majolica quickly came to find that @Kaede Hoshi was not the only person taking shelter within the cave, a familiar small Felis popped out and either seemed to be doing an impression or making fun of Majolica. Ah... it's the kitty person. Hmm, she's acting different. Strangeee, she reminds me of someone but I'm not sure who? Hehehe, it's like the person is on the tip of my tongue... I'm not sure. It looks like she's becoming more witchy though! The coming out of the darkness to surprise someone was good! Whoever she reminds me of is probably a huge dork though, hehe. "Hehehe! Well, if it isn't Celestine, I see you're already taking steps to become more of a villain-protagonist already! Hehehe!" The two Majolicas gave Celestine two thumbs up. "Hehehe, what am I doing here?! Of course to stop the murderer! I can't have some crazy person killing all my soon-to-be loyal subjects, hehe, who would worship me as God-Queen, Arch Grand Witch Majolica if there was no one here?! Hehe, No one, that's who!" The Majolicas began pacing as they recounted the events of this entire misadventure. "...So there I was in the woods exploring and doing witch things when I hear someone yelling. 'What's someone yelling for all the way out here in the woods?' thought the brilliant Grand Witch. 'It must be that someone's in trouble! Maybe someone's even getting murdered!' And then I had a brilliant idea! Hehehe... 'If someone's getting murdered and I save them before they die, they owe me a reward! Hehehe, Also, if I arrest the murderer then I can take his wallet as a reward, AND turn him into the police for ANOTHER reward. That's three rewards! Hehehe!' Rewards are important because you need money to build a country! So getting three rewards was a really good deal! So with that in mind, I rode over to where I heard that noise, and what did Grand Witch Majolica find? Hehehe, blood! Someone had indeed been murdered, but not just blood, that guy!" Majolica pointed in the general direction of @Alric Stalwart "Hehehe, so obviously, he must be the murderer, right? Wrong! Probably... he was just... I don't know why he was there. He was also tracking the murderer. So then, I was like bzzz!" Majolica gave a charades-esque impression of her meeting Alric then shooting her spell to intimidate him. "And obviously he was very worried that I would turn him into a frog, but then I noticed the tracks in the snow were still going so he probably wasn't the murderer and I made him follow the tracks with me. Then, finally, we came to a cave and I was like, 'Ah ha! Hehehe! This must be where the murderer was hiding!' Then she..." Majolica pointed at Kaede. "...jumped out of the ice like a wolverine-bear but Majolica is super smart, hehehe, and made sure it was the clone at the entrance! And now here we are!" Majolica's face fell. "With no reward, no murderer, no nothing! Hehehe, today's been a complete waste of time..." Huffing, the two Majolicas sat down with their backs to the cave. @Celestine
“YOUR subjects?” Celestine kept at it, eating up every word Majolica spoke as if they were all useful raw material with which she could craft her own words. “This is clearly the territory of Grand Witch Celestine! The grandest of the grand witches! From here to that one town I saw back a while ago. At least until it is time to expand to the rest of the world.” With every passing moment, Celestine appeared to be growing more and more adept at copycatting the witch, even dropping her accent entirely. She paced around the cave, remaining close to the warmth of the fire. “Maybe I should be putting up a sign. A great big one, that also serves as a wall. With giant flashing letters: ‘Land of the Great Witch Celestine.’ That way, when people see my great sign, they will tremble and think twice before trying to scale it. Of course, they’ll still try to scale it, but then when they do, they’ll have proven themselves worthy of being my greatest subjects. Hehehe, it is a grand idea! And Grand Witch Celestine only accepts the grandest of ideas for her soon-to-be global kingdom!” Celestine thrust a pointer finger out towards Majolica in an uncannily similar way that she had a few moments ago. “Yes, that is a most tragic waste of time. It’s a wild goose chase, except you replace the goose with an imaginary murderer, and sprinkle in the Little Red Slashing Hood over there.” She swiped her finger over to Kaede. “Meanwhile, here I am, wandering along, going exactly where I was intending to be going, when this girl comes up to me with a head in her hand. That’s not a normal place for a head to be, right? So, being the detail-oriented witch I am, I ask her about it, and I hear she’s off on her own, cutting down whatever she’s paid to cut.” Celestine finally sat down gracelessly across from Majolica, warming her hands by the fire. “Hehehe! Pretty darn useful, right? Pay her to make anyone you want disappear. Sounds like a great deal to me. After all, as a great ruler, I can’t be dirtying my hands with things like an assassination. I have far more important witch things to attend to.” She shrugged. @Grand Witch Majolica @Kaede Hoshi @Alric Stalwart
"Psh! Grand Witch Celestine! You're not a Grand Witch! Hehehe it has to be in your name and title! You're just 'Wishes She Was As Cool As Majolica Kitty Girl' Celestine!" Majolica rose to her feet and pointed @Celestine giggling. "And, even if you had lands, I, as the true Grand Witch would simply dominate them for fun to teach a fake witch a lesson! Heheheh, and I wouldn't send anyone else to do it for me!" Majolica crossed her arms smugly. "You have a lot to learn! A Grand Witch ruler leads by example! No one follows a witch who just gives orders! A true witch-ruler should be so powerful she doesn't need anyone to do her dirty work, she should be able to effortlessly do anything she wants with a flick of her wrist! Hehehe! That's a true grand witch! Also, my sign will be one hundred times bigger than yours! And it will be powered by super witchy black magic so it will glow and look cool and scary like a real witch should!" Pointing at Celestine again, Majolica continued. "If you want to be a real witch, you should get to studying, hehe! And even if you do become a powerful witch, you'll never become a grand witch, because there's only one of those, and that's me! Also, that's the highest rank of witch so anything else is under it. Bleh!" Majolica ended her speech by sticking her tongue out mockingly at Celestine. @Alric Stalwart @Kaede Hoshi
_____Watching the two girls go back and forth made Kaede sigh lightly, it reminded her of why she disliked people and honestly made her think the two had to be no older than fifteen each. Tapping her nails along the handle of her dagger she coughed to get their attention to give them a brief history lesson the two seemed to need right about now. Much more so that neither got themselves hurt badly or lost that spark of life they both still held unlike herself. ”If you two took history, in this sort of time setting dark magic was feared and hated, those who practiced it got burned at the stake. Those who claimed or had been assumed to practice it also shared that fate. Witches, taking the bulk of that category. No subject would serve you without a plot to overthrow or remove you from rule.” _____Kaede spoke the dark truth, While sure kids had every right to dream and be who they wished to be there was a limit before an elder or person had to remind them how high up they could fly on wax wings. Pulling her dagger out slowly and holding the blade over the fire before pointing it towards the girl ‘witches’ before her. ”Now being a grand Mage is about the same with less risk of getting burnt alive. To be honest though… I’d advise against any mention of witches or mages even in this world…” @Alric Stalwart
“Hmph!” Celestine kept up her charade, continuing to argue back and forth with the ‘other’ witch. “Ehehehe! Why would I ever handle the small fry myself? That just sounds like a huge waste of magic. A true Grand Witch would never show anyone her full power until a real threat arrived to challenge her dominance. Hehehe, not that that could ever happen,” Celestine concluded her thought with a smirk and a shrug. “But we both know the title of ‘Grand Witch’ goes to Celestine! ‘Grand Witch Celestine.’ It just rolls off the tongue, doesn’t it? It’s perfect! Hehe! And if you’re still not convinced, I’ll show you the power that you’ll never reach even if you trained your magic for a million years! Hehe, not even then. It’d have to be a billion!” Celestine glared back at Majolica, sticking her tongue right back at her as electrical sparks began to arc between her fingers. Was she seriously going to go so far with this copycat thing?! She looked completely resolute in her intent to fight to the death, or at least something close to it when her aggression was cut short by one of the two people she’d totally forgotten about. Whoops. Yep, they were just standing there watching the whole time, weren’t they? “Pffft,” Cel answered Kaede back, scoffing at the idea. “Those other witches must have been pretty pathetic to let ordinary peasants take them down. Like ‘Oh no, look at him, he has a pitchfork! What ever shall I do against this powerful weapon? It’s not like I have a bunch of powerful magic or anything!’” Celestine’s voice was laced with a great deal of sarcasm. She shrugged. “Besides, it’s not a very good rule without some sort of hero type trying to overthrow you now and then. What’s a witch without a nemesis?” Turning back to Majolica, she nodded, the aggression all but gone after having heard Kaede’s words. “Hehehe, ya know, she’s kinda making sense though. A little bit. If you’re starting a coven, then I’m in.” Celestine threw out her hand to Majolica, offering to let her shake on it. “Just remember that it’ll be you joining me! Grand Witch Celestine and the Slightly Less Grand Witch Majolica! An alliance to strike fear in everyone who hears about it, no doubt about it.” Regardless of her answer, Cel began to wander off towards the cave exit. As she reached Kaede’s side, her manner changed as if a hidden switch had been flipped, and she waved goodbye in passing. “I am thinking I can do a travel now,” she mentioned, noticing the storm having let up ever so slightly. “It was good to be doing a meet of you and the puppywolf of cuteness. Maybe we will be doing a seeing of each other again some of the time.” With that, Celestine left the two alone in the ca-- wait a minute… that guy. Was he still there? Cell backtracked a few steps and peek and confirm. Huh. Maybe he just had a lot on his mind. Either way, Celly turned back and continued onward into the cold, bleak snow, figuring that 'straight' was always a safe enough direction to travel if you were looking for any random thing of interest. Always new surprises waiting… [EXIT THREAD] [OOC Note - Since I'll be joining open threads with the both of you, I feel it best to exit this one at this point. Feel free to pull Celly back before she leaves if you really need her.]
