Rumors of the disease in the forests had spread. Whether by sight or the hearsay of others, villagers from neighboring towns and villages were arriving to Wistal in droves, and the topic itself was in the forefront of the gossip circles. It was a tedious mess Saki wanted nothing to do with, but it plagued her thoughts with every overheard reminder.

But she had other matters to concern herself with right now.

Around the trunk of a large, dead tree within the thicket of trees overlooking the lake from the hilltop, Saki had managed to pave a large circle of level flooring in the smaller pebbles of cobblestone unsuitable for walls, reaching a diameter of twenty meters, with a large circular floor attached to the outside to form a smithy, much like in her previous house. This time the smithy was built within the house simply for heating purposes. At the present moment, in spite of the cold droplets of misting rain coming down from the skies to soak Saki's form, she was working on the inlay for her improved forge.

Laying the stone down for the walls of the fire pit, filling the gaps in between with clay, before lining the inside with another layer of stone. Back and forth she worked, setting the foundations down with little rest; Winter was soon upon the country, after all.

She was going for a quick but sturdy job, building small to beat the soon-approaching snow, utilizing the abundance of clay nearby the fill in the gaps of the cobblestone and seal the interior away from the weather. Later, when she had more time and a more suitable haul of supplies, she intended to build an adjoining spire, scarcely tall enough to reach the tops of the surrounding trees. Saki always preferred high places that could provide vantage points and the rare escape from something unpleasant upon her doorstep. That, and she always preferred the comfort of being up high, away from the ground.

Saki was running out of rope, though, a necessity she couldn't do without considering that she needed something to tether the roofing down. If she had started this tedious task at least a week earlier, she may have had the time to bind her own rope from the land,, but she couldn't afford to spend the time doing that, now.

The woman could only let out a breath as she dropped the large chunk of cobblestone she was about to place into her forge, scoffing as she heard the telltale crack of the stone splitting from impact with the stone floor.

It wasn't long past midday, she'd better get that rope while she had the chance. The traders were never open for business too late into the afternoon, after all.

So Saki left after ensuring the roof of pelts wouldn't slip from atop the barrels that still formed a makeshift tent, if only so the onyx-furred feline nestled within wouldn't have to deal with the rain if it didn't want to.

The journey back to Wistal took longer than it used to, a minor inconvenience at that moment with time being a quickly-dwindling commodity, but perhaps later she would enjoy the removal from humans all the more. She pulled her scarf tighter around her neck, practically scowling at the loose threads that insisted on coming apart form the rest of the woven material; While she hadn't worn this scarf for nearly as long as her other that had been ruined he last job she did for Garrak, she found herself wondering if she should just obtain another. It was essentially winter after all.

As Saki walked, the forest spoke, chimed as if its life force were corporeal, as if its many voices hummed and sung in harmony, seldom skipping a beat against her chill-bitten ears. Here for perhaps the next few days, though Saki knew after the first snow the forests would be silent, save for the groans of the wind through the trees.

Wistal however, was an entirely different thing altogether.

The streets were bustling with townsfolk struggling to purchase the necessary acquisitions with haste, and those that lingered happened to hover around the eaves of storefronts to avoid the misting rain that filtered down below. The air was crisp with winter frost on the way, and yet it was filled with such noise that Saki herself had to pull her scarf closer around her to try and shield her ears from the assault of voices.

She felt the familiar bite of staring gazes as she wandered past locals in the streets, curious glances from those who had clearly come from other parts of the country, and struggled not to roll her eyes in distaste.

She wondered if she should acquire a hood, or veil of some description. After all, she didn't necessarily appreciate all the prying gazes.

Saki made quick work of searching out the necessary items she'd come for; at least five lengths of rope, a sack of stewing potatoes and eventually another scarf to toss over the one she was already wearing. She had passed by a peddler selling wooden masks out by the docks nearby where she presumed Zack had his own stall in the process of being filled, and she had looked them over briefly, inwardly sighing at how unpleasant the masks were to look at.

All she wanted was to hide her appearances from immediate notice. But it looked like she wasn't going to have much luck in that regard unless she got a little crafty.

A harsh sweep of icy air tore through the city, bringing the exasperated woman to lift her gaze to the skies. It was still misting chilling rain, but she could see the skies were turbulent, the clouds darkening in swirls as the moisture began to settle in the bottoms, a sure sign of encroaching showers.

It was time for her to leave.

She ignored the sour gazes of city-folk inconvenienced by her brief turn and the hassle of shuffling just a little to the side for her to squeeze past with her ensemble of rope and stewing potatoes, barely casting them more than a glance as she felt another icy chill tear through the air. The chatter around her continued, dipping through various topics that bore no concern to her.

At least, until she heard the term "Witches Blight" uttered in dread.

She'd slid to a halt in the crowd, turning her head slightly to try and locate the voice among the scowling people she'd inadvertently inconvenienced once again with her sudden motions.

'Yes, there's people in Tanbarum calling it that, now.' What sounded to be an elderly woman spoke with a weary sigh. 'It's something unnatural alright, something corrupt and evil. It's already taken over a good portion of the Clarines Wilderness close to the border to Tanbarum. I'm surprised the Wistaria royal family aren't even looking into it, yet.'

'But "Witches Blight"? Isn't that kind of name in bad taste?' A much younger voice questioned in horror.

It was then that Saki noticed the topic was being spoken among a trio of women standing in front of a nearby stall selling fish and crustacean, scarcely a few meters to Saki's right.

'There's soldiers afoot from a foreign country, far beyond Tanbarum. Ruled by their church instead of a royal hierarchy, and they're claiming this disease was purposefully caused, not a bizarre strain of something new.' The elderly woman continued, almost sounding giddy with the news. And in fact, considering the way gossips were, she didn't doubt it. 'And they say that it was caused by witches rebelling against the churches, a last-ditch effort to wipe everyone out through pestilence and famine.'

'But isn't that hearsay, not confirmed fact?' Another female questioned dubiously.

'Why then would they have their soldiers out in force if it were just hearsay?'

'To try and stop the spread of the disease, wouldn't it?'

'Perhaps. But some say they are looking for people, those who have been visited by these soldiers.' The gossiper continued, eagerly now, with no attempt to hide it from notice. 'Foreigners, escapees from their own country. People who know the cure to this disease but won't give it over out of spite. '

Saki's gaze narrowed quite considerably at that piece of information.

'But what kind of foreigners are we talking about, here? Most foreigners I've seen look just like us, and they certainly aren't witches by any means.'

'Hard to say. All they likely want is their location, and they'll do the judging themselves.'

At that moment, Saki decided she had heard enough.

She took a deep breath as she moved to continue on her way before the topic undoubtedly took a turn towards who was publicly deemed the most likely foreigner guilty of being a Witch.

And that foreigner, she knew without a shadow of doubt, would be her.

It would only be so long until rumors of "The Omen" being a witch would make the rounds in a painfully familiar fashion, but this time, she had a lot of concern for the results of this rumor mill.

Zack had already informed her of the soldiers from a far-away country, ones who seemed far more sinister than Clarines own friendly foot soldiers making the rounds.

Searching for foreigners.

A country run by the church.

As she recounted the pieces she'd overheard, it left a sickening sensation churning in her gut.

Was it in her best interests to actually build that house at the lakeside, after all? Or was it actually best for her to forego the endeavor and just leave? Purchase a sailboat and live on the open seas like the pirates do? If the horrid feeling she was starting to get was actually justified instead of paranoia, it may well be the best course of action to do that.

Regardless, she hoped more than anything that she was beginning to overthink things.

However, in the midst of her spiraling thoughts and paranoia creeping out, Saki flinched as she felt a hand close around her shoulder.

Her heart spluttered as she ripped herself away from the grip, palpitating painfully in her chest as she reached for her him to draw one of her daggers. And yet, the moment she'd turned and found herself staring up at one of the last people she should ever raise her weapon against, she froze in her tracks.

A tall man Saki vaguely recognized to be one of the second prince's personal retainers smiled sheepishly at her, hands held up to show that he meant no harm or ill-will. Saki couldn't place a name to the face, but she had seen him along with Obi and the blonde woman who looked a little like Garrak, those two times she had been summoned to see the second prince.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.' The retainer spoke amicably, though Saki hardly responded. 'You are Akazawa Saki, right? You weren't responding when I called out to you.'

Oh. She hadn't heard him.

Her thoughts had practically drowned everything from her notice, it seemed. It certainly explained why he had decided to physically grab her attention.

A weary sigh escaped Saki as she straightened up from her recoiled position, readjusting her hold of the mountain of rope and potatoes hanging from her right shoulder.

'Did you need something, sir?' Saki chose to speak up in question.

Though it was oddly perplexing to note that the man certainly hadn't reacted to her peculiar, broken voice.

'Oh, sir isn't necessary. You can just call me Mitsuhide.' The man introduced himself pleasantly. 'I was actually hoping you were free to come with me to the castle; Zen has been hoping you would drop by to further discuss the assignment he brought up with you, before.'

That job involving her escorting Shirayuki through the wilderness to inspect the diseased forest, no doubt.

However, unlike how she would normally avoid the royal family like the plague, given her unease about the rumors she'd just overheard, she was less inclined to argue.

'Is... that unpleasant man going to be there?' Saki eventually asked.

If she weren't so uncomfortable at that moment, she may have smirked at the sight of Mitsuhide's obvious bewilderment.

'Unpleasant...?' He seemed to question, before realization quickly overcame him. 'Ah, you mean Obi, I take it?'

All Saki gave was a curt nod in response, causing the man to chuckle lightly beneath his breath.

'He won't be. He's currently accompanying Shirayuki in the greenhouses, and I don't expect to see him for quite a while.'

No Obi, and she might be able to source some information about the apparent soldiers from the foreign country...

'Okay.' Saki agreed.

Now wasn't the time for her to keep building that house.

--=[Submitted February 26th 2019, 2149 words total]=--