Scarlet walked down the street, her red hair tied in a tail. Her green eyes were jumping left and right, examining the small stalls and the few shops that this small town had. As far as civilization went, this was the most run down town in the known caverns. She got chased out of all other bigger towns and villages and now she got found out here too. For better or worse people here were afraid enough of her that they didn't want to fight her and they didn't have any templars to take care of her. They simply wanted this forsaken witch away before she brings misfortune to the village. They even assigned her some 'bodyguards' to keep her safe from trouble, but they weren't fooling anyone. Those people were there to keep an eye on her. She didn't mind much, except they were incredibly rude about it and it was a dead give away she was supposed to be dangerous. People were looking the other way when she passed, whispering about her, shopkeepers were barely containing the desire to close their shops and run away. She assumed they didn't only because the mayor warned them to not upset her...

Still even with the stalls and shops open, the selection was very... bare. There weren't any luxury items and even the food wasn't anything special. All she could really buy was a bunch of mushroom bread, to stock up her water supplies and that was all. The meat here was too expensive... she was incredibly lucky she even found salt in this town. Provisions were basically the bare minimum, but it was still better than being thrown out in the wild without anything. Next she brought her 'bodyguards' with her to buy a cloak, once again there was nothing really useful in this town. She managed to find a leather backpack so that was good, but there were no cloaks... What she needed was a good sturdy one, preferably made of wool, but wool was a very expensive commodity now. All they had here was a cloak made from a Thread grass. It was a very strange type of grass that retained it's elasticity even after picked up. It also was just barely on the level of a cloth when weaved, but it still was better than nothing, especially around these backwater villages. Scarlet was a lot better in regards of clothing, as she wore black dress made out of spider silk. Incredibly sturdy and expensive, but each witch wore similar things. Besides the fine cloth perfectly underlined her beautiful curves even despite being a witch, most men turned around to gaze at her as she walked.

Her last stop was going to be the medicine shop. Where the small quantity of herbs were located, sure enough she managed to pay for some too, but she barely had enough to make some healing potions and some antidotes. When she was finally ready with her purchases, she left the pharmacy, just to be greeted by a mob outside. Her bodyguards were trying to push the people away, but seemed like the mob was out for blood for some reason.” Kill the witch!” Someone shouted and Scarlet simply tilted her head. Following that demand for her blood, there were a bunch of accusations about strange things that had happened, such as dead rats, rotten mushrooms and so on.”She cast a curse on the town, we have to kill her to save ourselves!” Someone added to the chaos by shouting, Scarlet had the very good hunch that someone was instigating this... Her hand slowly moved towards the dagger strapped to her leg.” Question is... if you fools think you can actually kill me if I'm as strong you claim I'm? Now, I'm sure many of you want to kill and rob my dead body of my possessions... thing is, I can kill this entire mob of yours all at once... so get lost.” She stated, as the crowd started mumbling between themselves.

The crowd continue to mumble and converse among themselves, their hot temper being cooled by the real threat of injury and death, yet there was still a passion and drive to kill the witch and lift the curses brought by her presence. It was several moments that they stayed in this deadlock of a decision, that was until across the street, the tavern door creaked open to reveal three new figures to the scene. Two of them were similarly dressed and built men that had been escorting Scarlet all day, which seemed to make up the pitiful excuse of a militia in the town. The third figure however was a woman dressed in an unusually expensive outfit for the town, being made of cotton and pieces of leather, a cowl pulled over the top of her head and a sturdy pair of boots to match. The pack on her back making it easy to determine she was meaning to travel. Outside the obviousness of her clothing, the white hair that stuck out from the cowl was a clear indicator that she was not of the norm, since she was far from being aged.

The crowd slowly began to hush and look back to the mysterious woman, bouncing their focus between the two ladies as the white haired woman stared at Scarlet. It was not a look of disrespect or fear or disgust like a witch must be used to, but instead it was curiosity. She didn't seem off put by the witch in the least and the moment seemed to drag on, until the men finally started to prod her slightly, urging her to move on. She glanced back and let out a sigh, giving the witch one more look before heading towards the town's gates. Even as she walked away into the distance, the crowd was content on stayed quiet until finally, they slowly started to break away - leaving the witch to her guards. Whoever the white haired woman was, it was enough to get them to back away from Scarlet and their bloodlust. One of them yelling before leaving, giving her a simple, "just leave us alone!"

Meanwhile at the gates, the men prod her more until she's finally stepped outside them and stare her down. Crossing their arms to look more intimidating, they eagerly wait for her to start walking away, which she does with some measure of hesitation. Honestly, she wasn't sure where to go or where to head to next, settling on just picking a random direction and hoping her magics can keep her alive enough to find somewhere to call 'home.'

While the crowds of idiots were trying to decide if they should try their chances against her, a rather interesting thing attracted their attention, and Scarlet's too actually. Not too far from her location appeared another woman with escort like hers, by the look of it also magic user of sorts. As the two women exchanged curious looks, it seemed the other one's guards were restless to get rid of her and were pushing her nervously towards the exit of the village where the caverns towards the unexplored regions were. The witch gave it some thought before deciding what to do, as the crowd around her started to scatter, she quickly did a heel turn and headed towards where they brought the other woman.

“Tell the mayor, I'm leaving right away now. I've gotten what I needed, won't be staying for the night after all.” She stated, and with a flick of her wrist a big witch's hat appeared in her hand.” Come on, mules, open the gates again!” Scarlet shouted at the people station to guard that usually unused entrance. It was guarded because monsters sometimes tried to enter through there so the gates were big and hard to open. They had just closed them so it was obvious they weren't happy having to open them yet again so soon.” Actually never mind, I can't wait for you fools to do that...” She said with a smirk and with a few impossible to comprehend whispers, her body got covered with purple smoke, allowing her to pass right through the heavy stone door as if it was there.

Once on the other side, she winced as she felt her heart hurt for a few moments before she finally was able to continue.” Hey wait! Let's travel together, it's dangerous!” Scarlet shouted after the girl who was now in the not too far distance.

Annora paused in her step and looked back, blinking in surprise as she watched the witch catch up to her. As she was approached, she was able to get a much better look at the other woman, admiring and enjoying the contrast of deep red hair and green eyes against pale skin. Though it was even more obvious up close why the townsfolk had gathered around her - the marks and tattoos of a witch. She had suspected, but now it was easily confirm as she finally half-turned towards her new potential companion. Unlike many, Annora didn't seem that scared or off put by the witch, though she was secretly cautious of such dark magics. Then again, where did Annora's own black magic come from? She didn't feel like she could really judge just yet and instead gave Scarlet a soft smile.

"Sure... I wouldn't mind the company.." she admitted freely, adjusting the pack on her back and staring at Scarlet for a few moments. "My name is Annora... nice to meet you, fellow outcast," she said in a light tone, almost with a jesting edge to it as she smiled more. After moment, she looked back to the caverns and the several tunnels that led outwards from the town and motioned to them. "Which one do you think we should take?"

As she closed on to her new companion, Scarlet took a few moments to study the woman from head to toe. She was beautiful and obviously a form of magic user. It was hard to judge just by her clothes, but if she was to piece together rumors she heard of descriptions and what not, this woman in front of her must be one of those rare Red Mages. The witch never really had much dealings with those for they were almost as rare as seeing a witch wander around. While it wasn't impossible for the two of them to survive in the caves on their own, it was going to be tough at times with just magic. There existed creatures highly resilient to magic out there and who knew what else in the wilderness they were headed into.

“Good, My name is Scarlet and as you probably can guess I'm a witch.” Scarlet presented herself with a dramatic courtesy and smiled friendly.” I suggest that one.” She said, pointing at one of the tunnels.” I kind of may have charmed the mayor into revealing some information about what he knew which wasn't much. That tunnel at least leads somewhere, but he knows not where exactly. Supposedly years ago an elf appeared from that one.” The witch said and pulled a small bottle with a blue liquid, tied on a string. After some shaking, it started to glow until it was strong enough to illuminate the area around them. The witch disliked torches so she got herself a magical replacement.

The red magi smirked with some surprised as the witch introduced herself in such a fancy manner. She enjoyed the playful nature of her new companion, but she didn't seem all fun and games as she pointed out a route for them to follow. An elf though? To see one was as rare as a witch was or even more so - though it could've easily been some rumor the mayor believed or the trick of an eye... but it was outdated information as it was. Still, it peaked her interest none the less as she always fancied herself a bit of a learner or scholar of sorts.

As Annora began to follow after Scarlet, she looked more closely at the small bottle and smiled softly. "So.. is that witch magic too? Or just a trinket of sorts?" she asked in genuine curiosity. "I normally just cast a light myself, so I really don't know... actually, not a lot of people know much about witches, besides they use dark magics..." Strange, that she could be so shy at times, but Annora knew herself - new things to learn always made her wonder, even enough to get past her natural quietness.

“This thing…” Scarlet began and looked at her magical light.” We witches use a lot of alchemy alongside our magic.” The witch said and pulled a few more small bottles from her bag, each had different colored liquid.” Magic… is useful in all situations, but our magic comes with a drawback. Each use of magic draws out our own health or worse.” Scarlet explained, putting the potions back into her bag.” That’s why we use alchemy to lessen that somewhat.”

“Light magic is good… but here in the wilds constant use of magic isn’t.” The witch stated, pulling another small light potion bottle from her bag. She always carried 2 just in case something happens to the first one.” Here, take this one, don’t waste your magic just yet, I’ve heard stories about creatures that roam out there… creatures that are drawn towards casted magic like bugs to fire. These potions aren’t going to attract those.” She said, handing the white haired woman the potion.

"Sounds hard," she replied softly, taking the magical bottle and tucking it away into an pouch - no reason to have two of them going at once after all. Though her mind wanted to focus on the fact that Scarlet's magic drained her health, she knew it was probably a hard topic to really speak about and it was hard for Annora to imagine. Her magic had never taken that sort of toll on her, not so much as to drain her actual health.

"Never heard of those creatures though," she continued, changing the subject. "I suppose it's part that I've never been outside the towns as much... and this is my first exile from any of them..." She went silent for a few moments, pondering on just that - her exile. Even though she had never felt wanted or that accepted, it still hurt to know that people would rather or be out of their lives. It only proved that no one really wanted her around, that no one cared, or thought much of her. Even the witch, she was probably just looking for extra security. Chances are, once Scarlet had the chance, she'd leave Annora in the dust for either a stronger person or a group...

... at least for now, she had someone willing to talk to her. For now.

“It wasn’t always like that…” Scarlet said, with grim voice as she led the way forward, illuminating the tunnel ahead with the magical glowing bottle.” Before the day the sun vanished along with most of the demons and angels, witched didn’t have to sacrifice their own health. We used to form pacts with demons, who fueled our magic so it doesn’t drain us as it does now, but after the demons and angels vanished, there was simply no one to form pacts with.” The witch said, throwing a quick glance at the mage that was walking behind her.” And those who knew the few ways to make our magic safer to use… got killed by the witch hunters soon after everyone moved to the underground to live… for most people blamed us since they had the need to blame it on someone… At least in the centuries since then things calmed down a little… now we are only hunted if we move in the cities.”

“Well… most people have not went outside the known tunnels in their entire lives.” Scarlet smiled when Annora explained she never really ventured outside the towns herself.” Long ago, I’ve read records of travelers who arrived from the tunnels from towns out there, forgotten just as we are now. There are settlements out there, but how far from us no one really knows.” She said and threw a curious look at the red mage.

“Say, do you believe there is a surface? Most people believe it’s only a myth at this point… a once existing world of blue skies and warm sun...” The witch asked and the suddenly stopped when she saw a strange little mushroom on the wall nearby.” Hey! That’s a green weeping mushroom! If we dry and grind it up, it serves as strong aphrodisiac when consumed! This thing sells for a lot of money~!” The witch whistled as she quickly pulled a dagger to cut the small shroom from the cave wall.

The red magi smirked curiously at Scarlet as she went on and on, finding it somehow comforting that the witch was such a chatter box. Maybe it was because it gave Annora time to be quiet and just focus on something else outside her new problem of being exiled, or she just liked hearing her voice for some reason.. it did have a smooth sing-song quality to it, now that she thought of it. She just smiled, letting Scarlet talk until she was finally distracted by a mushroom and watched her scrape it off the cave walls. "Aphrodisiac?" she replied in a gentle voice and bit her lower lip for a moment. What a strange thing to find so suddenly, but it was hard not to think of romantic thoughts, of being with another woman - with being someone who loved her.

She shook the thought from her head and looked away, deciding it best to ponder on the other question given to her. "I don't see why there wouldn't be a surface... though it might not be anything like it once was... but it's not like the whole surface could've been turned into a cave. Maybe it's a wasteland now, even more so than it is down here... filled with nothing but cold and death... or maybe it's had time to regenerate... who knows." She finally looked back to the witch and offered a soft smile. Annora did enjoy daydreaming a lot, after all.

Suddenly, her thoughts turned backwards though and she stared at Scarlet for a brief moment, just long enough to make the witch question why. "Maybe one day you'll find the secret... it sounds hard, that type of magic... I suppose it's a good thing you have a companion for now though, hm?" Again, she gave Scarlet a soft, pretty smile. "My magic might drain my stamina a little... and it might not be as powerful, but I can use some black magic.. without danger.. well, they call it black magic anyways. It's not like curses or anything~!" She laughed, somewhat out of being nervous and somewhat out of embarrassment, before just falling quiet.

“Yes actually… It’s usually an incredibly rare find, almost impossible to find back in the known caverns.” The witch nodded with a huge grin on her face.” Incredibly potent one at that! A pinch of the mushroom dust is enough to keep a lover going for hours.”

“Sadly no…” Scarlet said at the mage’s statement about the world regenerating.” The world above ground depended on the sun… without it… everything simply died out. No sun… no warmth… it’s a frozen wasteland upside. Or at least I think it should be… I used one of my potions to get the ability of farsight once… as part of my training. Then again... my teacher also did drug me that time... so I could have just been having a dellusion...”

“Of course it’s a good thing to have a companion even if I didn’t have this magic!” Scarlet said as she finally finished putting the scraped of mushroom bits in a leather pouch and then put it in her bag.” I wanted to have someone with me, that’s why I tried living in the cities and got exiled as a result.” Scarlet smirked and took a few steps towards the mage.” I’m really grateful you decided to travel with me actually.”

“Don’t mind the uneducated fools and their rants. Your magic is beautiful and gentle even in it’s attacking variations. According to some old texts from before the end of the surface world, red mages were supposed to be regarded as incredibly important because of how wide area uses their magic had. You know, back then you would have been equal in treatment as a duke. Most kingdoms would have given you nobility status and land just to keep you with them...”

“All I can offer is my friendship… though maybe we can…” Scarlet said with a smile, leaning in so close that their faces almost touched. She looked in the red mage’s eyes, before smiling devilishly and suddenly turning and resuming again.” Come on, we need to get moving~”

"For hours?" Annora replied in slight surprise. "I don't even know if I'd want to..." she commented with a giggle. It wasn't far from the truth, but it also wasn't because she didn't enjoy having sex, she had just been a girl who had always been more interested in romance. She was probably strange, but had accepted it a long time ago, enjoying the thought of cuddling almost more than being pleasured. Annora had to admit though, she had been thinking of something in particular lately, ever since seeing a slave and her master in one of the towns a few weeks ago - despite being a slave, the owner was so nice and gentle to her. It made Annora smile... and at times she would even imagine herself in a collar... it was somehow both sexually and romantically pleasing to her at once, though she'd never want to be an actual slave. Maybe just for pretend. She wasn't sure.

She had been thinking all that as Scarlet went on about the surface world. It wasn't that Annora wasn't listening, but she figured it was possibly a moot point. No one had been to the surface in ages, so why did it matter if it had somehow found life in the cold wasteland or if there was nothing? She shrugged at the quick thought. However it was nice to hear someone being grateful for her company. Even more surprising that Scarlet claimed she would've been treated as a duchess, which was an interesting thought. She had never enjoyed politics, but to finally be treated with respect would have been a nice change of pace... after all, it was not her fault she inherited this magic.

It was interesting that the witch knew so much though! In a way, Annora felt really impressed by all this knowledge. Maybe one day she would share how she knew it all. Annora loved to read books, but had only managed to read fictional stories, nothing like what Scarlet knew. However the admiration was suddenly interrupted as she found herself staring right into the witch's eyes, a growing heat flushing across her cheeks as she stood perfectly still, unsure why the woman was getting so close... in truth... Scarlet's eyes were stunningly beautiful and seemed to capture Annora's absolute attention. Then just as quick, the witch was walking away with a knowing smirk on her lips, making Annora shiver slightly. Shaking herself from the hold, she quickly paced after her new companion, biting her lower lip for a moment.

"Thank you for the compliments on my magic..." she finally managed to say after a few moments. "No one has ever said that about it..." She was grateful, though she sometimes wondered if anyone saw her and not her magic. "Would be nice to be treated nice for once... but I guess... you are treating me nice. Like I'm a real person." She then smiled happily at the thought, watching Scarlet's red hair sway gently with each step.

“Yep…” Scarlet replied at her companion’s surprise.” As I said, it’s incredibly potent and well… brothels tend to try to acquire as much as they can from it… you know… pour it in the drinks and that way they keep their customers for longer who in turn have to pay more.”

“Aweee…” Scarlet said, feeling a strange sensation take over her… The red mage was bloody adorable! While that was a nice thing… it also had the bade side effect of the lil’ fact that Scarlet’s darker side was screaming right now to turn and do some pretty… interesting things with the woman behind her. After all she had been restraining herself for a little while even before she got found out and thrown forwards to the exile. There were certain dark urges that she was not sure how long she will be able to contain. Still she showed nothing about that struggle on her face, she was just sliming friendly.” You are welcome, don’t worry I will be your friend as long as you want me to at least.”

After that the inescapable walk continued for a little while. The tunnels slowly turned from a dug ones by tools to ones created by the natural erosion or strange other forces that made one wonder what exactly must have been wandering these parts in the past.

“Hmm… that’s strange…” Scarlet muttered as the had reached a point where the tunnel was ending.” I’m pretty sure this is supposed to continue for at least a few hours more…” She said looking at the ground. The stone wall was simply cutting off the tunnel as if something magical put it there. She was just about to touch it when she felt a chill run down her spine and jumped back just in time to avoid a pair of big sharp spider legs. The wall was an illusion! That thing was a spider web! As the illusion quickly faded, it revealed a very grotesque green spider. It’s web had a metallic shine to it as well… she shivered thinking what would have happened if she had touched it and fell into it’s trap.

The red mage smirked and nodded. "Yeah, I know, hehe..." The coo she heard come from Scarlet's lips made her blush a little again and she smiled as the witch called her a friend. Though Annora couldn't truly call her a friend in return, not yet, it still felt nice to hear those words. After just a little while though she leaned back a little in surprise as Scarlet mentioned the tunnel having been longer. She could only tilt her head as the witch approached, before her eyes widening to the illusion failing and a giant spider coming down. Just the sight of the giant spider made her tense in fear and her first reaction was just to run away... but Scarlet was right in front of her! She couldn't just leave someone in danger, after all.

Her mind raced for a few moments, her eyes glancing at everything before she reached forward and tugged Scarlet away from the spider. 'Damnit!' she cursed at herself and tensed her fists. She had a suspicion that this spider might be one of those magical charged ones, but what else could she do? She had no blade or weapon... a sudden plan formulated in her head as the spider started to scuttle forward slowly, as if stalking it's prey. Gathering energy in her hand, Annora shot it at the ground, commanding a wall of earth to completely seal off the tunnel - but she wasn't done. Instead of leaving it as is, both her fear of spiders and wanting to keep them safe, she made the entire wall move towards the metal-like web. She could only hope that maybe the earth would crush into the web and squish the spider in between them - if anything, it'd injure it and the tunnel would still be sealed.

Usually Scarlet was used to giant spiders and the like, but this one wasn’t exactly normal! It was so terrifying… for certain it was not a natural creature. It was twisted, with glowing green lines across some of it’s body, the eyes were just a bunch of almost glowing red dots and it’s legs were coated with strange green sheen, indicating that it certainly was incredibly toxic.

As the witch was frozen for a moment, the Annora was the one who acted first. Using her magic to raise a earth wall and push the spider towards it’s own web. Normal webs weren’t really going to do anything to it, but this was it’s own strange creation. The Spider started to run wild as the wall appeared and blocked it’s way, but when it started to push it towards it’s own web, it went totally berserk. The web of this creature was special, it had the usual sticky properties of spider webs, but it also got as hard as steel when weaved into a net. The spider started to let out a terrifying scream sounds as it was squished between the wall and it’s own web. It was literally cut into pieces as the web cut through it’s body, and it’s corpse was pushed through by the wall.

After a few moments the screams of the creature vanished, leaving Annora and Scarlet alone in the silence of the lit by the alchemy light tunnel. Scarlet was still on the ground, partly of terrified, partly too surprised to be able to stand.” I … thank you…” The witch managed to say as she finally regained some of her composure. For someone who was used to seeing monsters and creatures so terrifying that most humans fall unconscious when seeing, this spider left her quite… unprepared. Part of that was the fact she never sensed the spider even though it was right before her eyes." Never expected to be caught by surprise... had you not have been here..."

“I… think that now we have another problem… we have no way to continue forward…” She said, trying to set order to her thoughts, that strangely now screamed to reach out and hug Annora. Her instincts whispered that the red mage will make a fine… familiar.

Annora seemed just as surprised as Scarlet was and just stood there for several moments before she snapped out of it and watched the witch stand back up. At first she just kept quiet and looked at the new wall in front of them and then back to Scarlet and pursed her lips for a few moments. "Uh... yeah, heh.. well, um, you're welcome..." She smiled shyly and just shrugged after. "If I hadn't seen the shine on it's own web... but it looked metal and figured.. well, yeah.. anyways." She was actually damn proud of herself for thinking so quickly and so cleverly. Still, the witch was right - well, partially so anyways.

"I can't do it very often mind you, but... if you're intent on this path... I could probably make a small tunnel around the spider..." She could've done it probably more often than she'd care to admit, but Annora was rather cautious about saving her energy - even more so now that giant spiders could come and try to eat their brains... or whatever.

“Yeah… metal… it was certainly somehow metallic alright.” Scarlet said and rubbed her eyes for a few moments.” I’ve never seen such spider before… It’s not nothing like the ones in the known tunnels. I’ve heard stories that here in the unexplored areas exist grotesque creatures… twisted and evil, praying on everything, but I never thought it was quite like this. Did you see how it had illusion on it?! That was a magic hunting creature…”

“Well the spider should be in pieces now… so it should be safe to go around the web.” Scarlet agreed and stepped towards the red mage, giving her a hug.” Thank you… again…” She said with a gentle squeeze… Just as Annora was forced into solitude by those around her, so did Scarlet and to have someone actually safe her, was a thing that never happened before.

“If you ever want something… whatever it is, I will find a way to give it to you…” She said as she finally released her hug of the red mage.” Here, I have some mana regenerating potions… it will help you restore you magic after you do the tunnel!”

Annora smiled as she was hugged, gladly returning it and sighing slightly in relief - it had been such a long time since she had a hug and it was even better with a beautiful woman. She smiled and took the potions, examining them for just a moment before tucking them away as well, her smile turning into a playful smirk. "Well, if you can find me a woman who'd want to romance me, haha..." She grinned at Scarlet, obviously unaware or uncertain that the witch herself would be interested in women. "But really, you don't need to repay me... I'm just glad you're safe," she continued in a more genuine tone.

"Yeah, I saw the illusion though... that was... definitely unique." She pondered on it for a bit and just shook the thought from her mind. She didn't figure there was much else to say about it - it was dead. It didn't help since she wasn't fully aware of how truly grateful Scarlet had been, to Annora it was only natural to want to save someone in danger. So instead of focusing on it, she just walked up to the wall and started to make a human-sized tunnel around the spider's web, which didn't take long or look terrible hard for the red mage despite any comment she made. This type of thing wasn't exactly minor or anything, but it certainly wasn't the limit of her magic either.

Afterwards, she looked back at the fellow mage and smiled, patiently waiting for Scarlet to come out and lead the way again. "I'll save the potion for when I really need it... I can do a bit more... might as well make full use of it, right?" She actually felt.. happy.. for now anyways. She was content on ignoring the small demons in her head telling her that it wouldn't last.

As soon as she heard the woman say what she can do to replay her, the gears of thinking started turning in the witch’s mind. She was well pleasantly surprised at the confirmation that Annora liked women. Scarlet got a hit of that earlier when she pulled the stunt where their faces almost touched, but to hear it in confirmation was a whole other story.” Well, if that’s what you want… I will try to see what I can do about that.” She stated with a smile, not letting her real emotions make it to her face, she was just smiling friendly still.

“Alright, but don’t be afraid to use them if you feel the need to.” Scarlet said as she made it back to the front and leading the way deeper into the caves. She just took a brief look behind them where now laid a big… minced…spider… it was a very disturbing picture.” I can make some more if need’s be.” She smiled and patted her bag.” I have a some ingredients still for potions.”

“I wonder if we will find a good place to camp later…” Scarlet said when they finally made some way away from the spot with the spider. She now had shaken the bottle of glowing liquid a lot more so it shined brighter than before so they saw better. As she was thinking about stuff she suddenly began picking up a scent. She immediately in a hurry pulled a small bottle from her bag and took a gulp from it and then quickly handed it to Annora.” Drink fast! Unless you want to die!” Scarlet urged the woman to drink.

“There is a mushroom cave up ahead… the scent we are picking is spores from some of the mushrooms… Had we not drank the antidote… we would be dead in about half an hour… maybe an hour tops. Back in the allied towns… there is a cave system between the towns, that’s off limit for everyone, but the herbalist guild. It’s basically like what’s ahead, big giant cave filled with all kinds of mushrooms.” Sure enough moments later it was already possible to see a slight glow from ahead. Some of the mushrooms were glowing.

The red magi tilted her head at Scarlet saying what she did. Was she being serious? Annora had never had someone try and find her a partner before - that was entirely new. She kind of felt fuzzy though, knowing that maybe the witch would. It seemed like Annora had all the trouble in the world trying to find someone who saw her just for her. If she really did manage to pull it off, it was be easy to truly call Scarlet a friend. She did take a moment though, to realize they seemed to be getting along fairly well! And the fact that she was so good and knowledgeable about everything... it was strange for Annora to think that anyone would really hate her. So what if she was a witch? Maybe the magics she practiced weren't the most accepted, but she seemed like a really good person.

Annora was shaken though as she was told to drink, which she did with absolute haste, not even questioning the witch's intentions or motivations. Maybe someone else would have looked at her with suspicion, but Annora just felt she had no reason to not trust her. It was probably naive of her, but so be it - she enjoyed the feeling of trusting someone and feeling like she had a friend. Both of those feelings were in extremely short supply in her life. Her eyes found the glow though as she approached the mushroom field. "Never realized how dangerous the tunnels could be... I guess we're even now?" Even though it wasn't exactly a joke, she couldn't help but giggle slightly. For some reason she find amusement in that - maybe because no one else would've trusted either of them in the end and yet they trusted one another.