I can't see where the other Watch member is through the dense crowd, and I can tell Willow is still watching me out of the corner of her eye. So I let her walk away, running in the opposite direction and letting her think I'm a coward. I duck into the nearest alley though, and climb onto the rooftops. Having not originated from this village, which is really more of a small city, I'm still not used to their common rooftop travel, but Willow has the look of a complete foreigner. She'll never see me coming if I follow carefully enough.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her run in the opposite direction. I walk calmly to the graveyard where I plan to stay for a few hours, just to be safe. When I do end up getting there I contact a few of the departed spirits and listen to their stories. A couple hours pass and I begin to let my guard lower, dismissing all but one of my reincarnations are sent back to the ground. I keep the original, the dog, which I call Max and I head off to leave the small Town in the shadow of the dark.
Finally, she's leaving. From my position on the roof I'd watched her the past few hours and at this point she fascinates me. Who is she? I want to talk to her more than I want to catch her, for now at least. I wait a few minutes and follow her at enough of a distance I can just barely tell where she's been, and she'll never notice. As I walk I wonder why no one came to help. Is it because I'm new? Is this a test for me? Or is it her?
Max walks a few spaces in front of me as we start traveling a dirt path surrounded by trees. After about half an hour of traveling I end up in a small village, smaller than the last with only a few houses and a church where travelers can stay. I send Max to scout a perimeter around the village and tell me if anyone who wears watch clothes or looks like that lady comes in, then I enter the church hoping for a peacefull nights sleep.
I stop near the outskirts of the town, mindlessly fidgeting with the ties of my leather bracer. This town isn't far from the city we came from. It should be far enough from my hometown. Right? I look up and the sky is beginning to turn crimson. Should I…? No. I can't risk it. Even though there's no logical reason why they would know, I can't make myself walk any closer. I don't want to let Willow just walk free; she's reckless with her necromancy and could seriously harm people, but what if she leaves town when I'm not looking? Oh well. Likely she'll stay the night so I climb a tree tall enough to give me good sight of a good chunk of town, pull my jacket around myself a little closer, and drift off to sleep hoping to catch her in the morning.
When I enter the church a nun welcomes me in and lets me stay in a small room with a small bed, but it was designed for a one night stay, and that's how long I intend to be here. I want to leave early in the morning as it's a day travel to the next town. I plan my route on a map and stuff it in a bag I may or may not have stolen from a market. When I have it all mapped out I try to get some sleep but for some reason, I just can't get my mind off the watch person. Surely she wouldn't off just run off like that, I've had a few run-ins with her type and she stuck around the longest after I bought some bones back to do my bidding. She's probably tracking me. I should probably move now rather than later. Well, if i get caught it's my own fault, what's the worst that can happen?
I am very much asleep, which may or may not be poor judgement on my part.
I sit back up and think through all the scenarios in my head. If I did stay and sleep she can't drag me out of a church, well at least I hope she has a better moral compass then that, but she could just wait outside until I have to leave or be getting reinforcements right now. Then again if I leave she won't know where I'm going unless she's following me right now, plus i'd be tired. I decide to just sleep. I can deal with that later.
When I wake up the sky is blue and purple from the early sun. I get up and try to straighten out my clothes before checking the window only to calm my nerves slightly, seeing nobody. I slip out the room silently and go to the kitchen to collect some food for my journey, I then leave the church. I go down the path I've marked on my map while taking a bite of my slice of bread. Max catches up with me and we travel together.
I wake up as the first rays of sun blind me, and say what you will about the poetry of waking up early, but it's not fun especially after sleeping in a tree in the cold outdoors all night. I'm not the only one up early. As I'm rubbing sleep from my eyes, I see movement. Willow's on the move, of course accompanied by that vicious reanimation. She said it looked cute, but as I stare transfixed by the bits of flesh hanging off of bone weathered by dirt and decomposition held together only by ancient tradition and old habit, I can almost smell the rot and the feeling of something being deeply wrong, a crime against nature, settles inside me. I weigh my options. Having slept the night, I no longer feel the adrenaline of the chase. I could let her go and no one would blame me. But nah. Where's the fun in that? This is the most entertainment I've had since before I moved here. I grin, subconsciously tucking a smooth stone on the ground into my pouch. I smooth my hair, plucking a few twigs caught in it, and run to catch up with her.
"Hey Willow! Fancy seeing you here!"
"Oh, hey you! I've missed you so much, how did you end up here?"
"I followed you! It wasn't very hard, you didn't go far. Hey, I was meaning to ask, what'd ya do bad enough for the Watch to send someone after you?"
"Well, you see, one I bring back the dead. Two I steal, like, a lot. And I may or may not have killed a few people but in my defense, they were very bad people," I say while shoving my hands in my pockets and begin keeping pace with her, "shouldn't you know this or do you just do turn people in with no knowledge of what they did?"
"I know the basics!" I say, perhaps a bit more defensively than I'd like. "What do you steal? And why did you go do my city? To clarify, this isn't an interrogation, I'm just curious."
"Curiosity killed that cat, but I can bring it back," I grin at that because I think I'm being really clever, "Anyway, I stole the necessities that I couldn't buy and sometimes money and/or jewels from people who were rich enough they didn't need it anyway. Also, what do you mean it's your city, are you the mayor as well as a watch member? That would be pretty impressive in all honesty."
"Yeah, you didn't know?" I joke as I shed my uniform jacket revealing the curling patterns of my tattoo on my shoulder, and tie it around my waist. The further from the city we get the more it will bring me unwanted attention rather than respect. "My name's Masalee." I hold out my hand to her.
"Nice to know the name that belongs to the face," I shake her hand and smile, "and I love your tattoo, It's really neat! So, how'd you get into the watch, was a dream from childhood or did you just kinda get dragged along into the job?"
I try to grin in thanks as she mentions the tattoo, but it probably turns out more like a grimace. "That's sort of a complicated story. I might tell you the full version some time, but the short of it is that my aunt sent me off to join. Anyway, you dodged my question. What were you doing in the city?"
"Well, when I was about 7 I went to live with my sister here and I guess I just like it there, like I'm home," I have a fond smile on my face, "what about you, tell me your life story, or just where you used to live I guess."
"Hmm. I grew up in this very small city very far away. It was nice, I guess, but the thing with small cities is that everyone knows everyone, and the things they get up to. It's a lot harder to walk away from your mistakes when no one else is willing to let them go. So I guess I came here for a fresh start." I can feel myself fidgeting with the tie on my bracer. I check that the knot is still tight and force my hands down by my side. In an overly cheerful tone, I ask, "So if you've lived here for a while, where'd you learn necromancy? It's not exactly a welcome practice here."
"Oh, I only lived there for about two years until my sister was murdered, I moved across seas because I wanted to learn necromancy and bring her back. When I did learn and get back it turns out her body was burnt and her bones were thrown into the middle of the ocean," I look at the ground ahead of me, "like I said, I only kill very bad people"
"I see. I'm sorry for your loss." We walked for a few minutes in what I hoped was companionable silence, but may very well have just been awkward.
"You do know I'm legally obligated to arrest you and return at some point, right?"
"Do you do everything by the law?"
I laugh. "I try my best. I like the credibility it gets me. It's also, as I continue to mention, and you might want to pay attention this time, my job. I am a part of law enforcement. I am obligated to do everything by law."
