"The damage is infectious, and all that can be done is purge it all and start from scratch."
If life is a series of choices, then perhaps that just means that life is a game? To Akazawa Saki, that's all life really is. She refutes the existence of G...
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The muttering of Saki's voice as she trudged through the post-storm forests was an eerie tone against the raising winds, mixing like ethereal glimpses in a mundane world. The letter which Shirayuki had given her on Garak's behalf was held crumpled within her grip, and Saki wasn't the least bit bothered with the lack of care she was giving the woman's letter.
'I can't believe this...' Saki seethed for what felt like the hundredth time since she had opened up the letter, which was a summons, just as Shirayuki had implied. 'Dress appropriately and be at the Herbalist Office by Six Sharp? This is absolutely ridiculous!'
Needless to say, even though Saki had done as instructed and donned a more well-maintained outfit of pants, tunic, gloves and boots, that didn't mean that she was particularly pleased about being told to dress up for a visit. She still had her rucksack and her scarf secured around her neck, though the absence of her quiver of arrows and bow was an unpleasant change she had to deal with.
Thankfully, daggers were a wonderful thing that could be hidden within ones sleeves, if necessary.
Saki's feet led her through the gates of Wistal, past the very two guards who held her at spear-point just days beforehand and a poor-mannered elderly blacksmiths wife outside washing the windows.
All in all, everything felt rather normal once more, though she certainly hadn't missed the rather uncomfortable looks the two guards wore at the sight of her passing them by.
Most of the leaves had been stripped from the trees since the storm had struck, blanketing the cobblestone streets in carpets of fall hues. Saki pitied the fools who would be assigned to clean the many tons of leaf-matter from Wistal in its entirety. But for the most part, it was a pleasant view for Saki as she made her slow and unwanted trip towards the castle for that meeting.
Whatever this meeting was for, Saki was still determined to wring Garak's neck for going back on her word about sending someone else to her house. While coincidence was simply that when it came to Shirayuki and that storm, Saki was still bitter about multiple people learning of her very residence. She liked living out in the middle of nowhere simply because it was nowhere people would see it.
And yes, perhaps she was unnecessarily bitter because somebody she didn't like or trust was now fully aware of where she lived, but giving ones word shouldn't be such a small thing!
Upon Saki's arrival at the castle gates, there were two guards there whom didn't speak a word or fix her with curious stares. In fact, upon Saki's motion to lift her identity tag from beneath her tunic shirt, the guards themselves cast her a dismissive wave as they pulled the gates open for her.
She vaguely recognized them to be on duty whenever she left the castle at the conclusion of her shift as a maid, but never upon her arrival. With nothing more than a brief nod in thanks, Saki slipped her tag back under her clothes and wandered along to the Herbalists Office like she had been instructed.
