Akazawa Saki didn't give out any further information on the topic of Gypsies or how she was familiar with them at all when, as far as Obi had heard in his world-wandering years, the name and their eradication was all that came to mind.

But Zen's orders to stay out of the woman's way hung in the back of his mind, and he decided it best not to pursue any thought and leave things be.

At least for now.

The why and when of the topic wasn't important right now.

And the masked woman made a point of speaking only when necessary.

Shirayuki didn't hesitate to haul all her gear into the cart and proceed to unpack, leaving everyone else outside.

It was decided then that the strange woman would lead the way to their next destination, and beyond a brief pause to lift the door of the cart up and securing it shut, Akazawa shifted to do exactly that. She had taken off at a brisk jog through the forest along the continuing tracks they had followed so far.

And immediately, the two horses snorted as they quickly moved to follow the woman, who had neither called or tugged their reigns to get them moving. They simply moved to keep up with her with no complaint, whinnying and snorting as if they were enjoying themselves immensely.

As if spending any time with her was their favorite thing to do.

The two guards on horseback followed next, and Obi trailed along after them keeping track of their surroundings.

Eventually, Obi had his horse scoot ahead of the guards and around the side of the horse-drawn cart, where he had it trot along a few meters behind the broody maid, who hadn't so much as glanced at him. Wherever she was leading them, he guessed it was to do with the dying forests. But wherever it was, they were heading in a much different direction to where he'd expected. Away from all the main roads, away from the nearby villages and towns, even.

It was almost as if she were leading them as far away from other humans as she could.

Hours passed as they followed the broody maid, and the forests darkened considerably as evening began to set in. The maid had neither stopped nor even slowed her brisk jog, and she showed no sign of doing so. It was honestly quite commendable. Obi himself doubted he could keep such a pace for so long. The skies through the trees were dark, peppered with a winter haze, and the air chilled horrendously, tearing through the thick layers the assassin wore.

Right now, he was actually glad Shirayuki was tucked away inside the horse-drawn cart, out of the frigid air.

'Hey, Miss Maid. Where exactly are you leading us?' Obi called out when he'd grown bored with the ongoing silence. 'How much further is it?'

There was no response, though the woman's feline companion poked its head out from the curtain of ebony waves to cast him a disapproving scowl.

'People need to rest, you know.' He continued to prod all the same. 'Are you some kind of monster, or something?'

He was met with no bite or response, and it drew a faint sigh from him.

She really was making a point of ignoring him, wasn't she?

However, before long Obi found his questions being answered without a word.

At the foot of a valley next to a flowing stream was what looked to be a set of large round tents, three in total set up in a circle made of various pelts and fabrics sewn together. In the centre of the three tents was a large camp fire covered overhead by a large length of hammered wood atop secure, wooden poles to protect it from falling rain, or snow if winter set in earlier than expected. The tents, as far as Obi could tell, were that well secured that not even the wind jostled it in the least. Around the camp fire, there were several large wooden barrels stood around the camp fire, some covered with pelts to form makeshift seating, if he were to take a guess. A large pile of foraged lumber was already deposited nearby, some cut into smaller pieces for kindling, with the campfire all set up, ready to go.

Well, this wasn't expected. But welcomed, in Obi's opinion.

If that disease in the forest was spreading as much as Zen had implied when he had assigned Obi along on this, it was probably best that their accommodation could be physically moved, instead of a stationary building.

Obi himself was quite used to living on the lam given his previous assassination job, and he got a very clear impression that Akazawa was as well, likely even moreso. He was fine with living two weeks in a tent if it were at least tolerable, and Shirayuki wouldn't mind if there were reasons for it.

But the two guards?

Judging by the vocal complaint he could hear from one of the guards when they spotted the campsite, they were city folk, through and through.

'So this is where we'll be staying?' Came Shirayuki's voice, bringing Obi to glance back at her over his shoulder.

He spotted the petite redhead at the front of the cart, having pushed aside a thick canvas curtain to peer forward through the forest. The woman didn't sound the least bit perturbed, unlike the two guards in the back, and in fact she seemed rather intrigued by the arrangements, more than anything else.

'I'd say so, Young Miss.' Obi responded with a shrug.

The guards in the back were none too pleased with that answer.

As expected, the grumpy maid had slowed her brisk jog to a halt as she neared the camp, and with nothing more than a brief glance back at Obi, she grabbed the two cart-drawing horses by the reins and lead them a bit further along to stop beneath a large fir tree. A scoff didn't fail to escape Obi as he saw the two horses quickly lean in to nuzzle their faces into the woman's outstretched hands as she sought to free them from the cart.

It appeared that it wasn't just the black cat that was fond of the woman; The two horses were definitely attached to her just after two days.

'I can't believe this...' One of the guards practically hissed as he dismounted his horse nearby one of the strange tents. 'The very least she could have done was lead us to an inn!'

Yes, those guards weren't happy at all.

Regardless, there was no point in complaining, given that Zen had told them that they were being escorted by the maid, because she knew better, or something along those lines.

A streak of black against the dark ground shot towards the unlit campfire, followed much slower by the heavily clad form of Akazawa, and Shirayuki wandered after the woman with questions spilling forth at rapid-fire rates. Thanks to the mask the woman wore, it was impossible to tell if she answered any of them or even spoke, but judging by the reactions and shift of expressions from Shirayuki, it was clear that some form of response was given.

'At least let me help, please.' Obi overheard Shirayuki say as he wandered over. 'You've lead us here all this time on foot. Surely you need to rest!'

'You'll help more by staying out of the way.' Came the maid's flat, distorted voice, like the wind cutting through cliffs and treetops.

'But Miss Akazawa--'

This time, the response came from Obi, as he grabbed the eager female by the back of her heavy winters coat, and pulled her to a stop.

'It's in your best interest if you don't annoy her, Young Miss.' Obi informed the woman with a smirk. 'She will start throwing things at you if you do.'

Instead of the look of unbridled shock, Shirayuki instead cast him with a vaguely suspicious stare.

'Is that why the Chief was so mad at you last week?' She asked him.

Obi couldn't deny that, even if he really wanted to.

He wouldn't lie to Shirayuki or Zen, but he would avoid answering if he could.

So, he cast her a brighter smile and let go of her coat.

'She has surprisingly good aim.' He deflected with a shrug. 'You can't be too careful.'

And that, appeared to be all that Shirayuki was going to ask him on that matter, though the disapproving stare she had fixed him with on occasion told him that she wasn't fooled.

The interior of the round tents was a surprising contrast to their more weathered conditions, Obi noted as he lifted the pelt door and peered inside. Secured with a collapsible lattice framework, the interior was a lot more spacious than expected, and a lot more weather-proof as well. In stark contrast to the frosted air outside, the interior of the tents was actually still, warm even, and it left him rather impressed. Within the tents were a few pelts used as a makeshift floor against cold, yet swept earth and stone, and several wooden poles placed to form the supports of hammocks.

It didn't smell damp or like old, musty fur. Ironically, this was probably more comfortable than a regular roadside inn, and that in itself was more amusing than anything else.

That maid was a lot more thoughtful than expected.

But she had worked as a maid to the Royal Family before, so perhaps he shouldn't have expected anything less.

'Obi, let's unload the cart for Miss Akazawa.' Shirayuki asked from right next to the ex-assassin, bringing the male's attention away from the interior of the tent. 'There's a lot of things in there that she probably collected before we caught up with her.'

'If you insist, Young Miss.' Obi responded with a shrug.

There was no sign of the maid anywhere, after all.

The sun had completely set in the time it had taken for Obi and Shirayuki to do as she had suggested, where they deposited the barrels along with the others, which they discovered was filled with even more supplies. The two guards had taken to lighting the camp fire to warm up, and it was as Obi began to peruse the contents of the barrels that the black cat had turned up all of a sudden. A few seconds later, Obi spotted the broody maid return with a lumpy pelt hanging from one arm. And within the lumpy pelt, it was soon revealed to be a large side of meat, as fresh as it could possibly be.

Any attempt Shirayuki had maid to help out was quickly swatted away, and they were left to their own devices while the maid did what she intended. Shirayuki had resorted to browsing through the notes she had brought along with her, while Obi just observed the peculiarity that was the grumpy maid.

Within minutes, a cast-iron pot had been hung over the camp fire from the built roofing, filled with vegetables the maid diced up faster than by any so called chef Obi had seen in an inn or restaurant before, chunks of the meat the woman had obviously hunted, a pitcher of water, a hefty bowl of barely from one of the barrels, plus an assortment of edible herbs that Obi had seen a few times in his lifetime. The meat left over was swiftly cut up into long strips and hung from steel hooks Obi only then realized were attached to the roof of the fire cover, hanging over the pot to smoke and dry, it seemed. The leftover fat was deposited into another pot and set over the fire, and the leftover pelt that had come from the hunted deer itself was put through the preparation steps to tan.

Just watching all this was sign enough to Obi that living like this was normal for the woman.

Once what turned out to be a venison and vegetable stew was left to simmer, the woman disappeared out of sight, leaving the task of tending to the stew to the guards, who hadn't left the fireside even once.

The sound of horses whinnying over by the fir tree punctured the crisp air, bringing Shirayuki to look over in curiosity.

'I think something's bothering her.' Shirayuki eventually voiced before long, drawing Obi's attention within an instance.

'The Maid?' He asked, earning a nod in response. 'She's always in a bad mood. It's probably just because other "people" are here.'

'No, I mean, something else.' Shirayuki countered, seriously.

'It's best you don't involve yourself with that woman.' One of the guards spoke up, earning both Obi's and Shirayuki's immediate attention. 'She's dangerous.'

'How do you mean?' The petite redhead asked.

The larger, more gruffly spoken of the two snorted slightly at the question, before his companion spoke up.

'Are neither of you from Wistal?' The smaller guard asked.

'I have only started living in Clarines recently.' Shirayuki responded honestly, and all Obi gave was a brief, dismissive shrug in answer. 'Why does that matter?'

'That Omen is cursed. Bad luck.' The gruff guard told them with no concern for how well his volume carried across the frigid winds. 'There's a lot that's not right with her. That woman shouldn't even be let into the country, let alone in the Royal Ci--'

'I've actually had the pleasure of meeting her on multiple occasions.' Shirayuki cut in quickly, defensively on the woman's behalf, it seemed. 'Why on earth would you say such a thing?'

'If you haven't lived in Wistal for more than a couple years, then you wouldn't know about her. How she came to live in this country.' The gruffly spoken guard answered, silencing Shirayuki within an instance. 'That woman, we don't even know how she's still alive, and the townsfolk are convinced she's some kind of monster, be it ghost, witch or otherwise. There's no possible way she could still be alive it she weren't.'

'Some soldier from another country brought this child's corpse into the city, you see.' His companion continued as Shirayuki opened her mouth to respond. 'Burned beyond recognition, like some twisted soul had tied them up and set them on fire for amusement. People twice the age have died from less, and the poor soul who brought the corpse into the city? He hung himself as soon as he'd dumped it on a doctor's doorstep. Right there in the streets, like he was possessed. That ain't natural. That ain't anything but evil, whatever made him do it.'

'And that child... was Miss Akazawa?' Shirayuki whispered, forcing herself to ask.

'Whatever that woman is, yes.' The smaller guard answered. 'For your own good, stay as far away from her as you can. It might sound like superstitious nonsense, but there is no explanation for any of this, it's all impossible.'

'Nothing good comes from trying to befriend her.' The other guard affirmed.

And yet, with all that said, Obi found himself looking over to where the so called "monster" had gone. The sight of the two horses showering the woman in affection as she gently brushed the mane of hair along their necks with a fine-bristled brush was the most contradictory sight he could see.

Contrary to the story he'd just heard, contrary to the way the cat followed her every movement, as if she were its own mother.

Regardless of how the story gave insight to certain peculiarities Obi had noticed so far, what he was seeing right there could hardly be associated as anything malevolent.

--=[Submitted May 1st 2019, with 2632 words in total]=--