"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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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?'
