Saki never went back to Wistal the next day, and she certainly didn't grace the city with her presence the following day, either.
In spite of her usual presence nearby, Saki was nowhere to be found, and that was the way she wanted it.
There was nothing she needed from the city, and in a sense she was even contemplating throwing in work the next day purely to avoid nosy people who ask inconsiderate questions. And she certainly wouldn't deny that avoiding Minene's greeting rant for an extra day would be enjoyable.
Oddly enough, the chicken she had encountered during the storm harboured the same sentiment and had yet to vacate the smithy attached to the front of Saki's house, and appeared to have taken an empty canvas sack in the corner of the smithy as it's permanent nest.
So it appeared Saki had a companion living here from now on, which wasn't a problem, since a free egg a day was not something she would argue about.
The forests were in a catastrophic mess in the wake of the storms just passed. Trees were uprooted, branches snapped and hurdled across the ground, and while only feathers and nest matter remained, it was sign enough that many birds unfortunate enough to miss their escape from the falling trees had met their end.
The scavengers of the forests were undoubtedly feasting well, this week.
Saki traversed the wreckages of the forest trees, dragging along trimmed branches alike as she made her way back towards home. While green wood wasn't useful for particularly much until it dried out, Saki wasn't one to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She did have the lumberjacks in Wistal to compete with in claiming the fallen trees, after all.
Saki huffed slightly as she finally managed to get the stack of weighty branch lumber back towards her home, with a relieved sigh threatening to escape her.
However, that sigh caught in her throat the very instance that she found that stack of lumber she had gathered on a trip beforehand was almost completely missing, with drags marks leading towards Wistal seeming to be half scuffed out by a leafy offshoot and boots.
Saki was silent at first as she stared down at the tracks, before she cast her gaze towards the makeshift bridge leading to her house on the inlet just to her immediate left.
Somebody was stealing the lumber she had carted all the way back here, and Saki had a very clear idea of who it could possibly be.
The lumberjack mill at the East-most gate into Wistal just so happened to have two young teens working as apprentices, and Saki was willing to bet that these apprentices were taking advantage of what looked like an abandoned house with wood left on its doorstep. The long-standing lumberjacks didn't claim clean-trimmed wood if it was left in front of Saki's house out of principal, however young teens were another matter altogether.
So, Saki decided she was going to teach them a little lesson about their unethical acquisitions.
She left the wood exactly where the previous pile had once sat, with her brow furrowing as she jogged indoors to snatch up a roll of parchment and an ink-pot with a quill.
With broad, severe strokes, Saki painted a very clear warning across the parchment and attached it to the topmost log with a dagger stabbed through the top to keep it pinned down.
Thieves will be given one warning-shot. If said thieves persist to steal what they did not even bother to clean themselves from the natural world, please do expect an arrow to the knee. You have been given fair warning, and your mentor won't doubt that when I drag your limping bodies back to to the mill by force.
Sincerely, an unpleasant and severely irate woman.
By the time Saki had dusted her hands off and deposited her quill and ink-pot back onto her kitchen table, approaching voices could be heard carrying on the breeze.
Without so much as a thought, Saki dashed right up the trunk of the oak tree and threw herself up atop the thatched roof of her house. Her form skimmed easily across the roof to land behind the rickety chimney, with a hand reaching up to tug her black scarf up to cover all of her face aside her eyes.
Saki quickly drew her bow and nocked an arrow as she awaited the arrival of her practice targets.
In the distance were, as Saki had expected, two teenage boys of appearingly thirteen years of age were walking up the dirt trail with a makeshift cart in tow, presumably so they could transport any lumber they found. Dressed in linen pants, moleskin boots and rough, brown tunic shirts, the two boys of blond and brown locks respectively laughed as they spotted the new stack of cleaned branches sitting right at the makeshift bridge leading onto the island inlet.
'I told you there would be more!' The blond boy cheered as his companion picked up the pace to approach the wood pile. 'Whoever left all this here clearly are too addled to realize their lumber is going missing!'
'Actually... I don't think so.' The mousy boy hedged as he tore the parchment from the lumber pile. 'They left us a warning...'
'Eh?!' The blond scoffed as he jogged over to inspect the note.
'Say, shouldn't we just go? I think they know who we are--'
'It's just an empty threat.' The blond boy dismissed as he snatched the parchment up and tore it up into pieces. 'They haven't even seen us to know it's us.'
'But, what if it's that "Omen" Frederic warned us about?' The mousy-featured boy questioned cautiously. 'Didn't he say she lives out this way and to steer clear of a house on an island?'
'Do you think I care about some bad-luck witch?'
'But isn't that her house, right there?'
'It's just some abandoned hovel. Have you ever seen anyone there after sundown?'
'Well, no. But--'
'Just help me load this, otherwise we're never going to finish before sundown!' The blond snapped as he started lifting the cleaned branch lumber and tossing it onto their makeshift cart.
Saki's brow furrowed as she pulled her bow taut and took careful aim.
However, just as she was about to let her arrow fly, a glimpse of colour showed through the trees and brought her to a halt.
Scarlet hair ablaze in a simple cropped cut to her chin, and green eyes brought Saki to immediate recognition, and she held back as she watched who she knew to be Shirayuki come down the travelled path. The glimpse of a less-welcome male walking at her side brought Saki to practically swear beneath her breath.
Much to Saki's surprise, at the sight of the two boys stacking the cleaned lumber onto their makeshift cart, the woman's brow narrowed clearly, and she picked up her pace, breaking away from Obi to approach the two boys.
'Excuse me! What are you two doing here?' Shirayuki called out, loud enough for Saki to hear from the roof of her house.
The two boys flinched at the sound, with the mousy boy shuffling awkwardly away.
'What's it to you?!' The blond demanded arrogantly, brandishing a particularly thick branch in Shirayuki's direction. 'We're busy working! So get lost!'
'It looks more to me like you're stealing from the lady who lives here!' Saki heard Shirayuki's immediate rebuke.
'Nobody lives here! It's just an abandoned hovel!'
'I wouldn't suggest making the Young Miss mad.' Obi responded casually as he came to a halt just over Shirayuki's shoulder. 'She gets scary.'
'Like I even care!' The blonde snapped.
'E-Eugine, we should go...' The mousy boy squeaked out.
'Why should we?! We found this, so it's ours fair and square!'
Saki's brow furrowed further as she raised her bow once again, and took aim towards the blond as Shirayuki stopped in front of him.
'You just admitted that you only found it here!' Shirayuki countered as she continued to scowl at the two boys. 'It clearly belongs to Miss Akazawa, so please return the pieces you've already stolen and leave!'
'Why should we listen to you!?' The blond boy seemingly named Eugene responded as his grip tightened on the branch. 'You should just go back to the city and stay--'
The boy was cut off immediately by the sudden collision of Saki's arrow striking hard against the branch he'd tried to swing at Shirayuki's face. With an almighty crash, the piece of lumber was knocked free from the boy's hand and fell clattering to the ground a few feet away, ripping startled yelps from the two boys and a gasp from Shirayuki.
Within an instance, Saki's location atop the house was located by everyone present on the other side of the river, with her bow nocked and aimed threateningly towards the blond.
'Th-that was the warning shot... wasn't it?' Eugene stammered.
And his mousy-featured companion merely nodded.
The two boys took off running through the trees upon realizing that the threat certainly wasn't empty, leaving Shirayuki and Obi standing there watching their departure with little more than curiosity showing across their faces.
And all Saki could do was stuff the arrow back in her quiver and leap out to slide down the side of the oak tree now that her lumber thieves had been taken care of.
While it wasn't the "lesson" she had in mind for the brats, it at least did a good enough job of scaring them away for the time being. Undoubtedly, their mentor would put two and two together, or the boys would go to complain about Saki's threat, though she knew nothing would come back to bite her, considering that the mousy boy had said they'd already been warned about her.
'Miss Akazawa!' Came Shirayuki's call, bringing Saki to lift her gaze in response.
The redhead was walking briskly across the makeshift wooden bridge, with her companion strolling along lazily after her, bringing a scowl to spread across Saki's face.
She lifted a hand to lower her scarf back down so her face was uncovered, and placed her attention upon the woman coming to a halt right in front of her.
'What brings you out this way?' Saki questioned, before amending with, 'Again?'
'Ah, well we came to see you. For a few reasons, actually.' Shirayuki answered as she lifted up a basket Saki hadn't noticed until then. 'It's an order you placed for some poisons and other items. They were finished today, so I offered to bring them out for you. There's a few other bits and pieces in there, too, as a thank you for the other day.'
Saki's brow furrowed even more.
She didn't doubt Garak said yes without even thinking about it.
'Well, thanks I guess.' Saki muttered as she was handed the basket.
'Also, the Chief wanted you to stop in this evening about a job she has for you?' Shirayuki continued as she tugged out an envelope from her pocket and held it out to Saki.
Oh joy. She was probably going to run into Minene earlier than she appreciated.
'Right... That's typical of her.' Saki responded as she carelessly pocketed the envelope. 'Wait here.'
And with that, Saki wandered back inside to deposit the items from within the basket onto the table. Along with the thirty six small glass jars of items she'd specifically requested, there was a small paper bag of what she immediately recognized to be boiled cream treats and a jar of honey-glazed nuts, undoubtedly the mentioned "thank you" for helping her out during the storm.
While Saki herself hadn't necessarily tried these things before, it was a pleasant enough surprise that she found her mood improving just a little. She emptied the basket, tucked the covering cloth back in, and tugged her coin purse out to tip out necessary coin for the costs, and what she considered fair delivery fee. She quickly set it within a simple square of cloth and tied it off with some twine to contain the coin within.
Just as Saki had instructed, Shirayuki was still waiting at the base of the oak tree when the woman re-emerged from within her house, with Obi standing nearby.
Saki made a point of not looking at the man and continued straight for Shirayuki.
'Here's your basket back.' Saki announced as she handed the basket back to the red-haired woman. 'I've also got the coin for the order, too.'
'Oh! That won't be necessary!' Shirayuki countered immediately as she frantically waved off Saki's coin-filled hand. 'Actually, I was told not to accept any payment from you.'
'Huh?' Saki's gaze narrowed slightly. 'But I haven't even paid for it.'
'It's not necessary, so please don't worry.' Shirayuki insisted.
'Fine, but I still owe you for the delivery--'
'There's no need.' Shirayuki insisted.
Saki felt her right eye twitch slightly as irritation began to set in on her once again.
'You can't be serious.' She muttered.
'In any case, I should be returning back to work.' Shirayuki continued as she cast the frowning woman a smile. 'Again, thank you for your help the other day.'
And with that, Shirayuki turned to head back towards Wistal, leaving Saki practically itching to round on Garak with complaints. However, she instead threw the coin pouch at the amused man pulling away from the wall of her house to continue along after Shirayuki.
He caught the coin pouch with no trouble, his amusement increasing tenfold as Saki marched herself back inside and shut the door.
Whether he pocketed the coin for himself or discretely slipped it into Shirayuki's possession didn't matter.
Saki hated free items more than anything else.
It felt like the sickening presence of offerings given out of pity even if they were intended to be given for a very different reason, and she loathed it.
--=[Submitted May 1st]=--
[Windthrow - In content to forestry, it's the term used for trees uprooted or snapped thanks to storms or gale-force winds]