The Wandering Witch VOL. 1 - The Prelude Arc (COMPLETED)

9.1| An Exchange of Oaths

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C H E L L

When Chell stirred, the first thing that she heard was the sound of running water. Slowly, she opened her eyes and sat up, squinting through the striking light. When her vision steadied a few seconds later, she found herself blinking in the middle of an unfamiliar place.

A few ways in front from where she sat, a wide river extended and gurgled peacefully underneath a massive arched structure overhead, which served as both a means of shade and protection. A bricked bridge, she thought. Layers of moss crawled underneath it, clinging to its walls and further dampening the air. Around her, ankle-length blades of grass served as a temporary bed. The place held a distinct smell of earth and rubble. Groggily, Chell blinked again, confusion clouding her head for a moment, unsure of what she was doing there. Then, a moment passed and she finally remembered where she was currently at. The Kingdom of Uldard.

Chell gazed at the running water as memories of what happened yesterday flashed through her mind—the thief, the cell, the burning, the running, the fight, the escape. As she did this, the witch noticed that a dirtied and torn blanket had been draped over her when she had fallen asleep. Chell stared at it, surprised in spite of herself. There could only be one person who could have done this... Noct.

Chell turned her head to the spot a few ways beside her, abruptly remembering about him. She had expected to see the thief lying there, fast asleep and recovering from the grave wounds that had threatened to take his life just mere hours ago. However, what she saw instead was an empty space of ground, the bent grass being the only sign that anyone had been lying on there before. She looked around and searched for him, thinking that he might have possibly strayed away. However, after examining her surroundings, Noct was nowhere to be found. Instead, the only thing that Chell found was her familiar satchel placed beside her, untouched.

For a moment, the witch stared at it, wondering at the back of her mind if he had left her. Then, she realized that he most likely had.

At the thought of this, Chell slowly raised her bare hands in front of her, studying them in silence. She had forgotten to wrap them up in bandages after everything that had happened. That was extremely careless and foolish of her. Normally, she would never forget to do such a critical thing. She imagined what the dead would say if they had still been there. Careful, our snow. You must never forget that important task.

Chell blinked. She closed them tightly, feeling her nails dig into her palms. Of course the thief would have left. After all, they were neither friends nor acquaintances, or even anything, for that matter. They were simply strangers who met by a series of misfortunate chance. It was all just a coincidence that both of them happened to be involved with each other. Chell recalled how Noct had accused her for everything that had happened, and how she knew that he was partly right. From the beginning, she had been the one who involved him in such a dangerous situation. The witch hunters had only been targeting her. After the deadly wounds he had acquired yesterday, how near to death he had been if Chell hadn't arrived in time, it was easily understandable that Noct would want to cut ties with Chell once everything was over. It was not as if there was anything else they needed to do.

However some part of Chell had wanted to let him stay even for a short while, to have enough time to say a proper goodbye and a thank you, unlike his sudden disappearance. Although he might have deceived her and even perhaps tried to kill her, he had still come back to help, despite everything. He had been the first person in a long while that Chell had decided to place her trust in. The first person in a very long time that she could somehow feel at ease with. The first person, since her waking two years ago, that she could actually... grasp.