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 Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 3:52 am
 The mist coiled through lazily in the hour before morning; heavy and slow it wound through the deep, dark places of the swamp. A figure moved through their silver tendrils like a shadow. The mist clung to her form but she paid it no heed, nor did she appear to care where her hooves touched the ground. She limped forward at a slow, but steady pace, pushing through bushes in her path and paddling through patches of murky water. Witch Hunt was going home and nothing was going to stay in her way. The doe eventually followed the trail mapped out in her mind to a small clearing. The trees had tangled their branches above it to create a leafy roof and she slunk inside, moving first to the base of a tree trunk to deposit a small plant carefully on the ground. “There my darling. Dawn comes and I must sleep, but when I awaken we will play. Your beauty I will take but in return you will be given the strength to kill.” She murmured happily to the purple flower. Slowly turning away the doe moved to the centre of her little home and sunk wearily to the ground. Little did she know that dawn was coming in more ways than one. If she’d had the ability of such foresight, she would have been most pleased and unable to sleep anticipation. Unfortunately lacking that gift, Witch drifted instantly into a heavy sleep.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 4:57 am
And Dawn was certainly coming.
From Dawn was not in the habit of seeking assistance. He was...more than well-versed in his line of work, and he knew seventeen different ways he could get this particular job down. However, sixteen of those ways held less subtlety than poison would, and subtlety, in this case, was rather in order. Even so, it was after much deliberation that he reluctantly took to his hooves. "Sleep," he'd told his beloved sister, sequestered in their stronghold, "I'll be back when the sun is high."
He was loathe to leave his Dusk behind, but there were some aspects of their work, he knew, that she did not quite like. This was a job, he considered, that he would do alone. And besides, he had heard interesting stories of his destination, both of her skill - and her madness. Madness was a trifle to Dawn, some of those he knew inflicted, he had driven them to it himself (for their customers did not always require the...final touch), but he did not like Dusk to dally with loons, he had quite enough of that where her tastes in bucks were concerned... This job he would do alone, and this poisoner's wares, he alone would peruse.
His steady steps trailed to a tangled roof as the blazing fingers of strong dawn stole across the horizon to light his pelt with a self-same fire; perfectly timed - of course, he'd perfectly timed it. The awe his grand entrance should have inspired, however, was rather deflated by the discovery that the expert he sought was fast asleep in her haunt.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 5:44 am
Witch Hunt was oblivious to the male’s presence. She continued to sleep, her appearance one of fragility. The doe’s chest shuddered with each breath and she hardly seemed like the doe whose name was spoken only in a whisper. Her reputation was one well known in the darker circles, but right now, she was just a very tired doe lost in dreams.
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Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2011 2:38 pm
The sun was rather bright now, no longer a creeping orange. Dawn fairly sulked to have his grand entrance ruined. He swept into the clearing, stomping hopefully, but she did not stir in the least from her slumber. If she had been just any doe, he would have shaken her till she woke, but that was hardly the way to introduce yourself to a potential associate. He kicked sullenly at the ground - to stand or rest? Moodily, he tossed a glance over at her heaving form: asleep, she did not seem as strange as they had said. Slighter than usual, but, he considered, passing a practised eye over her intricate markings, perhaps even quite pretty, otherwise.
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Posted: Sun Dec 04, 2011 4:02 pm
The morning slowly continued on. Muted birdsong could be heard from out in the swamp, the sheltered space that Witch made her home smothered in an odd silence. Eventually she stirred, the presence of the buck dragging her up from her deepest sleep. It was with a sigh that she announced she was awake and she considered it quite a shame to be woken so very early. Sleep was precious. The purple doe’s ears flickered and swiveled around, listening to the breathing of an intruder in her home.
Her head shifted and one green eye opened, regarding the buck in solemn silence. Witch Hunt was not alarmed to find someone had waltzed on in to watching her rest. She was used to visitors and alarm would imply that she cared about her body’s wellbeing enough to worry about what could be done to it.
Finally she spoke, still curled lazily upon the ground. “I do not choose to wake with the sun. It is most distressing to find the day is still young and my body still tired.” She did not sound particularly distressed. Her voice lacked any emotion. “Tell me buck, what do you need of me?”
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 12:38 pm
No surprise whatsoever at his presence, no hint of alarm. Either she was a complete professional, or her mind was too far gone to care. For the moment, she sounded sane enough, and so Dawn decided to give the benefit of his doubt; repaying the directness, he cut to the chase, "The same as anyone would seek you for, I presume, madam - a poison. One that may be administered without detection, that disposes swiftly and quietly."
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Posted: Tue Dec 06, 2011 5:57 pm
“Such a shame.” Witch Hunt said with a sigh. She slowly began to pick herself up off the ground. “It is always the swift ones that are desired and never the darlings that promise a long and agonizing end.” Now standing, she stretched. “But very well.”
She studied him thoughtfully for a long moment. “I have what you need…” Witch Hunt turned away from him, shuffling slowly over to one corner of her home where dried plants were laid out with care.
The doe clucked her tongue after studying her wares. “It will have to be fresh, the potent ones always are.” She muttered to herself before turning her gaze once more upon the buck. “You will have to get your victim to ingest it somehow Can you manage that?”
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Posted: Wed Dec 07, 2011 1:57 pm
A smile ghosted over his face for the briefest of moments. "The long and agonising ends, madam, are something to which I prefer to give a personal touch. Yes, ingestion can be accomplished."
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Posted: Mon Dec 12, 2011 7:02 pm
Witch Hunt gave a low, husky laugh. “Good. Once it has been swallowed, the victim will simply sleep and never awaken.” The doe often wondered if that was how she would go, but more likely she would suffer in twisted agony until the end. The subject of her death was always good late night pondering material.
“It will be done.” Her smile turned sly, the glint in her eyes malicious. “But there is a price to pay.”
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 3:11 am
"Of course," he said, smoothly, "a professional's work must always be purchased." He was a great believer of this - naturally, for he was every inch a professional, and he would hardly do his work for free. "Name your price."
...As a professional, he should really have noted the quirk of her smile, curious gleam in her eye, but still he held that careless disregard of the fairer sex - if even the most perfect doe in all the Swamp needed guidance, what of a frail poisoner, half-mad - that rendered certain professionals regrettably less than their claim.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 3:21 am
“Your offspring.” Witch Hunt replied without hesitation. She did not offer any reasoning to her desire, though one could easily guess it was born of practical need rather than anything maternal. “When I am certain of pregnancy, your debt will be considered paid.” He was a handsome buck and she was pleased he had come along; it saved her the trouble searching out someone suitable.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:45 pm
This request - took Dawn aback. This did not seem like a doe who desired children. There was nothing about her that indicated a motherly yearning for a babe to call her own. Now, Dawn was on his guard - but, perhaps, too late. What was her intent? Would it matter to him - should it?
"Is there no other," his voice, ever smooth, did not betray his awakened suspicion, "payment I could offer?."
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2011 4:07 pm
“You are perhaps regretting coming to me now, hm?” Witch Hunt laughed. “But the answer is no. There is nothing else I desire.” She clucked her tongue at him and motioned him to follow with a flick of her tail as she shuffled past him out of her little home. “We will discuss terms as we walk. Come along now…” The doe called back as she set off. Whether he followed or not she cared little.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2011 10:05 am
"Merely checking all my options, I assure you," he did follow, keeping as wary as a distance as he could manage without overtly signalling his caution, "let us assume this arrangement is a foregone conclusion for the moment - yes, do speak your terms."
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 6:24 pm
“The terms are simple enough…” She splashed through a puddle of murky water. “They will not know you and you will forget they exist. If you require further business from me and happen to meet your offspring, you will hold your tongue. Your role will only be to supply me with the necessary male element for reproduction.” Witch Hunt only intended to keep one. The rest would be left for the Swamp to claim.
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