I Will Always Love You - Empires SMP S2 AU: Nature Wives

Chapter 10: A Witch (Shelby)

Shelby watched Katherine ride off into the distance with a small sad smile.

Katherine would come back. Katherine's a tough cookie. She won't let some curse get in her way.

Shelby watched Katherine become a mere speck in the distance.

"It's only for a day and a night,"

Shelby had to bite down hard on her lip to stop herself from jumping out of her skin as she realised that Oscar had come to stand beside her.

"Huh?"

"She has a day and a night to find the cure for the curse,"

Shelby's brow furrowed, "What happens if she doesn't find the cure?"

"We agreed that if she were not to return by the given time or if she comes back without a cure, we leave for the Overgrown,"

"The Overgrown still exists?" Shelby wondered out loud, "I thought it was destroyed by cracks in the earth and fire?"

"Yes and no," confirmed Oscar, clutching his ever-present role of duty to his chest, "It was destroyed when the princess' parents found it, but they rebuilt it. The previous ruler had abandoned it. Seemed like a waste to let it go to rats,"

"Huh," Shelby nodded, thoughtfully.

"Anyways," Oscar glanced at his scroll, "I am informed that the princess left you to watch over her kingdom?"

"Yes, that would be me," Shelby agreed.

"Great! That's good to know," Oscar rolled his scroll back up, cradling it in his arms and turned to walk away.

He stopped suddenly and spoke over his shoulder to Shelby, "You are aware of our... ah... problem, right?"

Shelby raised an eyebrow, "The curse? Yes. Was I not supposed to know?"

Oscar cleared his throat, pushing his spectacles stubbornly back onto his nose, "It's good that you know, saves me a lot of explaining,"

The two stood in awkward silence for a minute as they both sized each other up. Oscar's eyes flitted over Shelby's neutral expression before something over Shelby's shoulder caught his eye. The colour in his face drained away almost immediately after Shelby made eye contact with him.

"Are you-?" Shelby asked puzzled at this sudden change in Oscar.

"Good day, Shelby," Oscar interrupted curtly, hurrying away from the witch as if she was contagious.

Slightly confused at his sudden departure, Shelby threw a glance over her shoulder to see what had spooked the advisor.

Her face fell into a frown as she set eyes on the Shadow Sausage.

He was standing menacingly over a dead sheep, dagger shining with blood and a smug grin on his face.

"You shouldn't be here," Shelby growled, turning herself all the way round to face the monster.

He simply shrugged, wiping the blood from the dagger with his smoke engulfed palm, "It's a free country. Plus Katherine's my friend,"

Shelby raised an eyebrow, "Who would want to be friends with you? You're a creep made of smoke that stalks people,"

Sausage looked bemused, "Your one to talk. You're a failed witch with no control over your powerful magic. Who would want to be friends with you?"

Shelby got the immediate ick. This rando, who looked exactly like Sausage, was twisting her own words against her in a very un-Sausage-like fashion.