APPLE WITCH (girlxgirlxgirl)

20. A promise of death

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"What do you think they're discussing?"

Hilda swings her legs back and forth, eyes set on the floor. Her shoes are made out of the finest, most durable leather. She made sure to quickly change her clothes after coming back to the pack house, just in case.

Just in case. Or maybe the right word would be, 'hopefully'.

"I don't know"

She feels very weird. Sitting together with another seasonal witch on a wooden bench. Around them is a closed-in wooden hallway, with no windows and little natural light. The hallway outside the meeting room. The boy next to her also swings his legs back and forth, as they don't reach the ground either. It's not that they're extra short or anything, the bench is just high. But sometimes it feels like that. Like they're short. Not compared to humans, but compared to vampires and werewolves. Hilda feels almost like a kid, an excluded kid, sitting outside the meeting room on a wooden bench while the 'adults' talk in the next room. But she's not a child. The pack alpha just didn't want her there during the discussions. Hilda doesn't want to think about why.

Instead she focuses on what she can think about. The boy next to her, a white haired witch with a blue mark on his forehead, has been staring at her ever since they were told to sit down and wait here. His eyes are black but hair is white, which is so confusing to the autumn witch. Hilda is used to dying her hair brown to fit in and seem normal, but this winter witch walks around with the most unnatural white hair like it's nothing. It makes her want to grow out her natural hair too. She wonders what it would look like.

"I'm Adar by the way"

This Adar boy is taller than her, but not by a shocking amount. Just a little bit taller, just like how the Melora girl is a little bit shorter. He has a soft voice, which can go both very high and very low depending on what he is saying and how he is feeling. His eyes look cold and dark, like staring into a soulless being, but he seems to smile a lot which hides the intimidating feature. Hilda didn't pay much attention to him before, as it seemed like he was nothing but a background character in their crew. Staying behind either the vampires or the spring witch, not very confident in his own capabilities. But now that they are alone, Adar is less shy. Hilda is too nervous herself to talk much.

"I know. I'm Hilda"

Adar nods. He knows that too. Everybody heard Hilda introduce herself back there, and everybody heard him say his name when backing up Melora against the werewolves. Still they have to introduce themselves to each other, they just have to. To break the ice. To make it less awkward. And for Hilda, to make time pass faster and to make her forget about the nervousness that builds inside at every minute that passes. They can hear their voices from inside the meeting room, and that somehow makes it worse. Hilda can hear familiar voices like the pack alpha and Vallin, but she can also hear the vampires from before or Melora. It's a heated discussion, but sometimes they grow so quiet that it's impossible to hear anything at all.

Hilda's leg shakes, up and down. Adar is quick to notice how nervous she is about this. He is nervous too. But to ease the tension he decides to continue their conversation.

"You've lived here your entire life?"

Hilda glances at him and Adar can't understand her expression. Has she lived here her entire life? It sure feels like it. These walls, this forest and these people, that's all she knows and all she's ever seen. It's her home and she can't remember anything else, even though she probably should. It's not like she was born here, nor was she a baby. But Hilda will always remember this place as her home, the pack where she has lived her entire life, and the people that make up her family. No matter if they have treated her a little harshly, like some of these werewolves have, they are her family.