The White Wolf and the Black Nightingale

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 02

The forest was always a peaceful place with its wildlife and calming sounds far away from a bustling city or town. Birds chirped softly in the early morning, the fresh scent of dew clear in the air from the drizzle of rain that had fallen the night before.

A lone deer stood in a small clearing, peacefully grazing at the grass and enjoying the warm rays of the sun peeking through the leaves of the trees above. Its ears flicked back and forth at the sounds of the birds flying from tree branch to tree branch and other animals roaming within the forest.

Its head snapped up at the sound of a twig snapping, but before it could run away an arrow quickly flew through the air, planting itself in the deer's heart. The animal dropped dead on the spot as a female stepped from their hiding place behind some trees, a bow in hand.

The female let out a soft sigh, a small frown on her face as she couldn't help but feel just a tad bit bad for killing the peaceful animal, but it was the only way to provide food for herself, her family and sell some in the village market for others.

She stepped up to the animal, running a hand over its neck and whispering a soft prayer in a different language while her green eyes scanned its body to see if it was usable.

"You'll be able to feed a few mouths" she spoke softly, placing her bow on her back and grabbing some rope that hung around her waist. She tied up the legs of the deer, grabbing the unused end of the rope and dragging the animal back towards the village nearby.

She walked up to the small house at the edge of the village, smiling at the male and female that were working outside in the garden gathering up some ripe vegetables to sell at the market.

"I got a good-sized deer for meat to sell" she spoke once she was close enough, the male glancing up and looking at the deer behind her. He motioned the girl to take the deer to the butcher area so they could hang it up to drain the blood.

Once they had hung up the deer and slit its throat to remove the blood, the older male turned to the girl, reaching up a hand to ruffle her dark brown hair.

"Go see if Yunna needs some help with the vegetables. When we have everything gathered we can go to the market to sell everything" he spoke as he moved to grab a few packs of meat they had prepared the day before, carrying it over to a cart at the front of the house.

The girl nodded and made her way to the farm field behind the house, grinning at the female that was finishing up placing the last of the vegetables in baskets.

"Do you need any help mother?" the girl asks, grabbing two baskets with carrots and potatoes. The blonde-haired older female gave her a thankful smile, grabbing the remaining baskets of cabbage, following the girl to the cart at the front of the house.

"Thank you Shaela," Yunna said once the baskets were placed on the cart along with the packets of meat. The dark-haired female gave a soft smile as she walked up to the brown mare at the front of the cart, giving the animal a stoke on her nose and feeding her an apple.

"We should get going so we get to the market in time," the light brown-haired male said as he walked up to the two females. He smiled and shared a quick kiss with the fellow cat-eyed female, followed by a laugh at Shaela's grimace.

"Do keep an eye on her Davac" Yunna spoke as the other two got onto the cart. Said male gave a nod in response, gently tugging at the reign to get the horse moving.

"Never thought that I would be the cause of two Witchers to settle for a farm life" Shaela spoke up after a few seconds of silence, her gaze focused on her road in front as they approached the small village. The male beside her gave a laugh, gently nudging the girl.

"It was worth it. We have a nice house, finally some peace and a troublesome child to raise" Davac let out a soft laugh, gently nudging the brown mare to their usual spot in the village's market. 

The two went to work on setting up their stal to sell the meat and vegetables they had brought with them, both joking around a bit with each other as they got things ready.

"Good morning Davac, Shaela" an elderly lady greeted the two as she walked up to the stal, a gentle smile on her wrinkled face. The two behind it greeted the elderly lady in return.

"Good morning Doris. How are you doing today?" Davac greeted, moving to stand beside the lady so they could talk better. 

Doris had been the elderly lady that lived in the house closest to their farmhouse and had often come over to babysit Shaela while Yunna and Davac had still some Witcher work going.

Figuring there was still some time before most people would come to the market, Shaela wandered off in the direction of the blacksmith to see if the blacksmith had finished fixing up her sword.

She grinned as she spotted a familiar young boy near her own age, his black messy hair nearly falling in his eyes as he seemed busy with some work. She snuck up to him, quickly wrapping her arms around him to scare him.

The boy let out a yelp in surprise, nearly dropping the hammer he had in his hand as he quickly turned to glare at the girl behind him. Though his glare quickly turned into laughter as she was quick to join in. 

"Jesus Shaela. You scared the shit out of me" he spoke up once their laughter died down, softly shaking his head as he returned to the work he was doing. Shaela grinned as she glanced over his shoulder to see the weapon he was working on.

"Hello to you too Damien. And good morning Aazac" Shaela greeted, turning her head at the black-haired blacksmith that came out of the indoors forge.

"Shaela! Just the person I was looking for"  Aazac walked up to the girl, holding out a sword towards her. The girl's green eyes lit up with excitement at the sight of her sword fixed up.

"Ah, thank you so much Aazac. You really managed to fix a silver sword only a day" she held out the sword in front of her to look it over better, the silver blade shinning in the sunlight.

The blacksmith ruffled her hair and moved over to the outdoor forge where a potential customer had appeared. Shaela sheathed the sword in its holder and placed it on her back beside her bow, grinning at Damien who had taken a break from working.

"I probably ought to get back to father and help him with the sales. I'll see you around later" she grinned and waved goodbye to her friend before making her way out of the blacksmith's workshop.

Though as she was on her way out, her gaze caught something very interesting. Talking to Aazac was a tall white-haired male, which already was somewhat unusual as he didn't look that old. But the thing that caught her by surprise were his yellow cat-like eyes.