Noct followed the girl as he blended quietly into the crowd. He had just climbed down from the rooftop a mere few seconds ago, taking careful measures to keep enough distance from her in any case that she would somehow notice his presence. Judging from the way she looked unaware, it was very unlikely, though. Still, Noct never took any chances when it came to any act of thieving. As a thief, even the smallest mistake could lead to serious consequences. A seasoned one could easily find himself locked behind bars all because of something they had overlooked. Noct did not intend to become like that.
As he eyed the girl's cloaked figure, he was already formulating a plan in his mind to trick her. His heartbeat thumped in his chest at a steady pace, his spine tingling with glee. In the end, Noct decided with the usual strategy he used on most people. First, he decided, he needed to look for the perfect chance to introduce himself as a kindly, friendly and trustworthy person. Although the facade he put up was something quite opposite to his real personality, Noct had done this countless of times before that the act came to him easily. All he needed to do was to raise his voice in a cheery tone, soften his eyes in a warm and pleasant look and smile and grin like the timid, helpful person he was acting as.
"Oi, have you heard of the latest witch rumor?"
Noct caught a snippet of a conversation in his ears as he passed two middle-aged men resting lazily beside a stall.
"Ah, you mean about the so-called 'Snow Witch'?" the other one asked back, voice growing faint as Noct moved away of their earshot. He pretended to dismiss what they had just said, but nevertheless, a cold shiver ran throughout his body after he overheard them.
The Snow Witch. Noct had heard that title being mentioned around in rumors for quite some time now. Uldard, after all, was well-known for its dislike towards the Witchfolk, so witches (and rarely, wizards) were usually the topics that people most loved to talk about. The Snow Witch was simply the latest one that everyone seemed to be talking about.
In Terrall, Witchfolk was the collective name referred to those naturally born with powers and abilities no regular mortal had. The first note of their existence had been six hundred years ago, when the First Witch, Vitte, had declared the existence of her kin. Ever since then, the world slowly began to change. As their numbers steadily grew, the Mortalfolk turned weary. Some accepted them and considered them as holy, divine beings granted with the love of the gods. Others, such as Noct, considered the Witchfolk as a spreading plague, a disease that marred the natural laws of the world. They were enigmas that should not have existed. False gods. Corrupted beings hiding in the flesh of people.
However, even though their kind was unique in itself, being granted a Title was even more rare. Aurden, the capital kingdom of the entire continent of Terrall, decided three hundred and fifty years ago to formally grant names to those special witches and wizards who stood out among their own kind in terms of skill and talent. Geniuses, they were often regarded. Being granted a Title meant that their abilities were recognized one of the most powerful and extremely dangerous. Titled witches and wizards were known to have enough skill to activate magic of the highest scale and other difficult, sophisticated spells. Over the course of history, there had only been less than a hundred who were Titled. As of the present, only a handful of them exist. And The Snow Witch was one of those few.
Starting about two weeks ago, Noct would constantly overhear about her whenever he went to any of the kingdom's crowded places in search of a victim to rob. People, he noticed, mostly talked about The Snow Witch in dark, wary tones. In the rumors that Noct had managed to overhear, it painted her as a nefarious witch who traveled from place to place for reasons that were mysteriously unknown, and, that, in each and every single location she had visited, destruction and misfortune had befallen upon the place. Some say that she was a merciless woman who killed for the sake of her own pleasure. Some say she was a witch who was already a hundred years old yet still retained her maiden youth. Some say she had powers unlike the other witches, a wicked power that gave nightmares to the unfortunate souls who crossed her path. Some even say she had invoked a spell on a small village once and plunged it into a state of winter for months, resulting in the death of its people because of cold and starvation.
Such a cruel person..., Noct heard the people whisper warnigly. She's a monster, I heard. Her powers are too much.
There were countless of other identical rumors about The Snow Witch passed around, each turning more gruesome and crueler than the last. Noct knew better than to foolishly believe in all of them, however. With witch-related rumors, people never really knew which ones were real or which ones were simply exaggerated.
And that, my beloved audience, shows just how stupid and deceitful people would go in order to gain attention!, he joked to himself, laughing quietly.
... And also, this isn't really the time for this, he then added as an afterthought.
Noct made a slight shake of his head and focused back on his path, his thoughts once again returning to the cloaked girl and, most importantly, the prospect of his steal. She was still weaving her way uncertainly through the crowd, completely unaware of the fact that she was being followed and marked by a thief. For less than a moment, Noct almost felt a small tinge of pity for her. The next moment later, he scolded himself. Such emotions would only bring inconvenience, and it was not like this was his first steal anyway. He had done this countless of times before without even giving it a second thought. As a way to motivate him for what he was about to do, Noct imagined himself sitting in a tavern come nightfall, finally eating a delicious meal of meat after a long, long time. He imagined having a nice warm bed to sleep in for once instead of the seeping chill of the hard, dirt-trodden ground. The thought of food and proper rest unknowingly brought a thin smile on his lips. His stomach grumbled in approval.
"--Make way for Worick the Witch Hunter!"
Noct's grand illusion instantly melted away. A displeased frown formed on his face as he looked over the people's shoulders, catching sight of a commotion from up ahead.
"Great," he muttered. A dastardly witch hunter.
Wariness and uncertainty rose within him as he saw the girl retreat back into the pressing crowd, making way for the witch hunter to pass by. Noct did the same, slipping unnoticeably into the throng. People around them turned and roared with deafening cheers, raising their fists and calling the hunter's name. "Worick! Worick!"
Gullible idiots.
Noct camouflaged himself and watched on as Worick walked down the cleared path, looking as smug, powerful, impudent and cruel as he remembered. Worick was among the most famous and skilled hunters in the kingdom, and one of the few whom Noct had hated almost as equally as he did with the Witchfolk themselves. He had to resist the urge to throw a rock at his smug face. It took most of his willpower to simply stand there and watch, patiently waiting for the hunter to pass by. He had known from experience that it was best not to get involved with their group.
However, Noct was completely taken aback when an unexpected scene happened before him. Just as he passed her, Worick had suddenly decided to pause in front of the cloaked girl. He looked down, regarding her for a few seconds with a cold and cruel stare underneath her hood. Noct suddenly had a wary feeling that something was wrong. Worick wouldn't stop in the middle of the street for nothing. As he continued to observe them, the contrast between the two almost seemed hilarious; compared to the towering hunter, the girl almost seemed like a small child. All around them, the people continued to cheer, their voices a symphony of loud noise, unaware of the situation. Then, Worick suddenly raised a hand and took off her hood, finally revealing the girl's features in broad daylight.
Noct couldn't stop himself from thinking, Oh. It's a pretty one.
Moonlit hair tumbled down from the top of her expressionless, almost even doll-like face. Her skin was the color of old snow, a much lighter shade compared to Noct's. She had pale, almost dead-looking lips and long, white eyelashes. But what caught Noct's attention the most was her eyes. He had been right. She held a pair of silver, piercing eyes that glowed brightly, almost like the familiar hue of the moon at nighttime.
Noct felt a wave of uneasiness as he saw the way Worick continued to look at her suspiciously with the menacing, dark eyes that he was known to have. The hunter and the girl stared at each other tensely, silent and unmoving.
Then in that moment, Noct suddenly realized what he had to do. The perfect opportunity to introduce himself to her came to his mind in a quick and brilliant idea that to him seemed foolproof. Right then and there, Noct decided to do the first thing that came to his mind without giving it a spare of a second thought. He pushed right through the crowd around him, gave his crafty smile and spoke in a loud voice towards the both of them in order to be heard through the loud, deafening cheers.
"--Ah, there you are, Elise!"
----> thank you for reading!