Huntsmen VS Croí Dearg

[SparkleBreaker]

Rapunzel

Age: 21
Height: 5’5
Physical Characteristics: Lean, Light Skinned, Pale Blonde hair, and fit.
Personality traits: Lively, Naïve, Trustful, Helpful, Considerate, and Sincere.​

Merida

Age: 24
Height: 5’8
Physical Characteristics:Tall, lean, unruly, curly bright red hair, plenty of freckles and thick Scottish accent.
Personality traits:Out spoken, skeptical, clever, quick witted, reckless, and direct​

Hansel


Age: 24
Height: 6’1
Physical Characteristics: Tall, muscular, tanned and always sporting some facial hair.
Personality traits: Loyal, reasonable, well spoken, irritable, Observant, and versatile.


Hook


Age: 24
Height: 5’7
Physical Characteristics: Average height, thick black hair, very tanned, and well built.
Personality traits: Sarcastic, clever, independent, unruly, and jumpy.


Wendy



Age: 14
Height: 5’2
Physical Characteristics: Average height, petite, fair skinned, and wild eyes
Personality traits: Temperamental, emotional, messy, clever, caring, easily hurt, possesive and revengeful.


Ursula


Age: 26
Height: 5’4
Physical Characteristics: Short, beautiful, dark sleek hair, and lean body.
Personality traits: Orderly, precise, confident, vain, persuasive, aggressive and prideful.

Red Queen


Age: 24
Height: 5’7
Physical Characteristics: Fair complexion, wiry, and petite.
Personality traits: Bossy, cunning, strict, rebellious, resourceful, and patient.


Alice


Age: 15
Height: 5’7
Physical Characteristics: Pale, petite and fit
Personality traits: Peculiar, Passionate, Bookworm, hotheaded, and opinionated.



The Mad Hatter


Age: 22
Height: 56'1
Physical Characteristics: Lightly tanned, lean muscular body
Personality traits: Ridiculous, bizarre, eccentric, devoted, and clever​

 

[pyreshadow]

Ariel​

Age: 23
Height: 5'6
Physical Characteristics: Fair-skinned, Petite, Lithe, Thick red hair
Personality Traits: Curious, Headstrong, Feisty, Romantic, and Determined.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹​

Prince Eric Deceased

Age: 25
Height: 6'
Physical Characteristics: Athletic, Robust, Tan, Rugged.
Personality Traits: Selfless, Overprotective, Adventurous, Heroic, and Reserved.​

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹​

Gretel​

Age: 23
Height: 5'8
Physical Characteristics: Curvaceous, Lightly tanned, Curly and messy dark brown hair
Personality Traits: Intuitive, Willful, Bold, Outgoing, and Agile.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹​

Wyn

Age: 25
Height: 6'
Physical Characteristics: Sinewy, Lean, Tough, Lightly Tan (close to pale)
Personality Traits: Quiet, Cordial, Compassionate, Secretive, and Introverted.
​

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹
​

White Queen​

Age: 21
Height: 5'6
Physical Characteristics: Petite, Pale and Fair-skinned, Slender.
Personality Traits: Benevolent, Big-hearted, Caring, Fervent, and Cautious.
Real name is Niamh though very few people know her by that name.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹​

Cruella

Age: 24
Height: 5'5 (appears taller due to wearing heels all the time)
Physical Characteristics: Voluptuous, Short, Natural black and white hair, Bosomy.
Personality Traits: Prurient, Vindictive, Spiteful, Sadistic, and Perverted.
​

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹
​

"Madam Mim" (Morgan)​

Age: 22
Height: 5'7
Physical Characteristics: Agile, Well-built, Pale skin, Wiry, Natural thick light purple hair.
Personality Traits: Temperamental, Mischievous, Spirited, Objective, and Questioning.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹​

Chernabog

Age: unknown, appears to be in twenties
Height: 5'11
Physical Characteristics: Pale, Lean, Well-built.
Personality Traits: Callous, Apathetic, Ruthless, Savage, and Impertinent.
​

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹
​

Nasira​

Age: 29
Height: 5'11
Physical Characteristics: Very tall, Wiry, Elegant, Dark brown eyes that almost look black, Beautiful
Personality Traits: Vengeful, Ambitious, Optimistic, Impulsive, and a little Cocky.
Also known as Mystic.

⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹ ⊹
​

Cheshire Cat

Age: Unknown
Height: 5'8
Physical Characteristics: Lean, Slender, Several piercings (ears, belly, nose), Thick furred boa usually always with him, Long slender tail matching the color of his hair, Golden eyes
Personality Traits: Territorial, Carefree, Laid-back most of the time, Secretive, Insane
​

 

[pyreshadow]

Dear friend,


This letter has been entrusted to my most loyal friend to be delivered and should be kept with the utmost secrecy. Though the times seem bright there is a darkness upon the horizon and I know not whether I should be asking this of you at all. I fear there is little choice in the matter however. Long ago, a powerful demon wreaked havoc upon the world; it wanted nothing more than for the world to burn in its flames so that it could establish a world in its own image. A remaking of our beautiful land if you will. Though many lives were lost, the demon's powers were eventually sealed away and it was forced into the form of a human male. How long it has been that way is unknown but I will tell you now it is not just a legend. I have laid eyes on the creature and it has ensnared someone I treasure dearly in its clutches. It seeks to break the seal holding its powers at bay and to try once again to destroy the world we live in. I ask for your help for alone I am not able to stand up to both the demon and the ones helping it. Help me to keep this demon at bay and bring back those that have fallen into its dark allure. It will not be an easy task nor will it be one I can guarantee your life but without your help, the world will fall into peril and never ending darkness. With your help we may yet keep the light of day and peace among the unknowing people that would suffer the most. I beseech you: come to the castle of Luighseach with haste and become my Huntsman.

Sincerely,
​

~N
​

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Gretel kept her eyes on the platinum blonde-haired man as he mounted the horse not too far from where she stood. He gave her one final nod before turning to leave without speaking another word about why he was here; he said all he needed to say. Her and her brother, Hansel, had just arrived home the day before from dealing with a perilous witch on the outskirts of the Inillia Mountains to the north. She had been a nasty witch, one that lured children in and fed off of their youth to keep her own body young and beautiful. The battle wasn't quick nor was it easy though Gretel liked to think it was because they had been on the witch's territory. Many of the battles her and her brother had been in were equally as tasking yet they still came out on top in the end. Sometimes unscathed, most with light injuries here and there. Nothing was ever too terribly severe except for when they were younger and still inexperienced. There were rumors of another witch that would eventually need to be gone after; a witch said to have the power of shape-shifting, that did whatever it took to get what she wanted. The only problem was that there wasn't much to go by when it came to this one. Though rumors were around, none were solid enough to go by or even think about starting a hunt. Whomever this witch was, she liked to stay hidden even when she went out to do things.

Despite that being in the back of Gretel's mind, she honestly didn't mind being home for once. It had been some time since they had gotten to relax in their own beds instead of sleeping outside or in the inn of a town so far away. Even cooking, though it wasn't something she liked to do, was better when she was here. Yet not even a whole day went by before there was a knock on the door and a strange man was at their doorstep. At first Gretel had been hesitant, her hand on her dagger practically the whole time. The only thing that got her to relax the slightest bit was when the man had showed her the seal of the White Queen; a small spiral with lines jutting out from the sides that represented the sun, encompassed by two angelic wings with large feathers. It wasn't hard to think that maybe, just maybe, someone could have gotten a hold of such a seal to use to their advantage. However, the man before her didn't seem like the type to do such a thing; he was too quiet, too soft-spoken, and far too friendly with his approach for Gretel to think otherwise. Usually her gut would have told her if something was off but during the whole conversation there was nothing. He gave her a letter, one that was for both her and Hansel though he didn't say what the letter was about. He didn't even say his name before he headed off and left Gretel where she was, her dark blue eyes staring after him still. She stayed there until the horse he rode could no longer be seen before turning around and heading back inside.

"Hansel." Gretel called to her brother, unsure of if he was still asleep or if he was already up and going about whatever he wanted to do. Today was supposed to be a relaxing day for the two of them but somehow she felt that was no longer going to happen. That feeling only grew as she opened the letter to start reading it. By the time she was halfway through, her brows were furrowed together but she kept reading. Based on the fancy lettering and style of speech, on top of that man having the seal, this had to be from the Queen herself. Though Gretel wasn't one hundred percent sure, the pieces sure fit nicely enough and that was enough for her. Setting the letter down on the table nearest her, she ran a hand through her dark brown locks before heading to the stairs. "Hansel, we might have another job to do. It's important so get down here, would you?" After she called up the stairs to him, she headed to the kitchen and grabbed two apples. At least this way they could eat something while they talked about what to do about this. Gretel would be more than willing to go to the Queen's aid, so long as her brother was willing too.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

Hansel’s favorite thing to do when they go back was not to budge from his bed until need be. Over the years they had grown to into quite the team and normally came out on top with barely a scratch. It wasn’t him needing to rest up from the battle. It was simply him taking the time to be lazy. There was no other way he could think of than staying in bed longer than needed. Most of the time it was with a good book, but he was writing in a journal this morning. It was a little of everything in there: What had transpired on the hunt, Notes on the next witch, Irritating things Gretel did. The quill stood still as her voice reached upstairs, calling for him. Perhaps, if he didn’t make any sudden movements she would forget his existence and he could remain where he was. A few seconds passed and he went back to scribbling down his thoughts. Got a few more minutes before his sisters voice rang through the house again. Another job and so soon? Gretel didn’t call just any job important. It was strange to have one so soon, but it was enough to get him moving. “Duty calls” he told himself, rolling his eyes. With a loud sigh, Hansel closed the journal and stuck it under his mattress. Even though he was in bed, he had already changed into the clothes he would wear for the day and was headed down the stairs to find it empty. “Gretel?” he said curiously, wondering where she had gone when his eyes fell on a letter that was on the table. 

“What do we have here?” he said, picking up the letter and started reading it. The letter was alarming and he had to reread parts. The demon wasn’t named, nothing really was. Exactly what was meant by become my huntsman? The letter left him reeling with questions. Who sent the letter was even a mystery. None of it sat well. It was all fancy wording and lettering, but the one to sign it only left an N. The Queen’s seal was on it, but it wasn’t clear if it was from her. “Where did this come from?” he asked when his sister came back into the room, holding the letter up to show what he meant. The note was placed back where he had found it. The two apples in her hands caught his eye and he took one from her with a smile. “Thanks.” he said, taking a seat at the table while he took a bite. “Take it that you meant this was our next job?” he asked, an eyebrow rose out of curiosity. “Demons and witches aren’t the same.” he added, showing he was wary of taking up the job. Witches were like grade school level compared to a demon. Hansel had too many questions to agree to this so willy-nilly. He could be persuaded to look further into it, but by no means was he ready to jump in and agree to be someone’s huntsman. Not without all the information.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Humming softly, she picked out the better of the two apples and glanced around the kitchen. It seemed like so long ago that this place had actually gotten a use out of it. Still, there was nothing to be done about it given the profession they both chose together. Gretel took a small bite of the apple in hand before heading back to where she had left the letter. Of course Hansel had already looked it over by the time she had come back and was already questioning it. The first thing she did though was hold the second apple out to him with a small nod to his thanks. "That is why I said might be, dear brother." Gretel responded as she situated herself at the table across from him. Her eyes darted to the letter for a moment before she took another bite of the apple. One leg was pulled up, her foot resting on the chair while her free arm wrapped around her leg. Her thoughts got the better of her as she stared at the letter, contemplating both its words and whether she could assume it was the Queen. Either way, Hansel had a valid point in itself with the difference between what they were used to going up against and what was currently being asked of them. Sure most people claimed that demons were nothing more than a myth but the same could be said about witches; here Hansel and Gretel hunted down those witches for a living. Gretel was one to believe in everything since she'd seen first hand quite the number of different things in her life.

With a small sigh, she took another bite of the apple before making a motion to the letter. "A man dropped it off, this 'loyal friend' the person who wrote the letter mentioned. He was tall, toned, quiet, well-mannered. I suppose the only odd thing about him would be the fact that his hair was so blonde it almost seemed white. He mentioned it being an urgent matter from someone of status but wouldn't say who it was." Gretel paused to take another bite while her leg dropped to the ground and she leaned forward on the table some. "The manner of speech, along with the style of handwriting shows that it's someone of a higher status than most. That along with the seal, I think it's safe to say it may very well be the Queen herself asking for our help. I don't think we should discount it by any means since it might be worth it to go and see what it is this would lead to. Even just going to find out more about what's going on, I doubt whomever really wrote this would force us into anything we didn't want to do. They don't seem the type." Every now and then as she voiced her thoughts she had taken small bites of the apple and swallowed before speaking again. She only got the words out when her mouth wasn't full but she was still wanting to eat something so she couldn't help herself. "It's up to you, though Hansel. If it really is the Queen then I would want to help if it's within my power but only if you're all right with it." Gretel never did anything like this without him, not because she couldn't but because he was the only family she had. She didn't want either of them to go through that kind of loss again, which could very well be part of the reason they made such a good team. Or it was just the fact that they fought well together.
​

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

Lack of information still had him not wanting to take the job. It was a guessing game on who was requesting their help. Sure they had their reason, but that didn’t put him at ease. Hansel let his teeth sink into the juicy apple as their surprised visitor was described. The man had very unique features, yet he had never heard of him. Someone with those features, you think word would get around. It was evident that Gretel wanted to go and she hadn’t even voiced it yet. “You know if she just came out and said it was her it make things a lot easier.” he said with a sigh. Guessing when the man could have easily said from her majesty to his sister was just an irritating fact. Then it came, the decision was left up to him. Hansel could have very easily gone back upstairs just for the fact that the letter was so vague and he wouldn’t lose a second of sleep. It was because he respected his sister that he was considering it. “I don’t like it.” he stated flatly, taking a big bite of the apple. As he chewed he glared at the letter, wishing it would just burst into flames. They could forget it and go back to enjoying a day off. “We’ll check it out.” he said, now grumpy he could no longer relax. There was a bit of a pout on his face, even though he knew it was the right thing to do. “They keep beating around the fucking bush like this and we’re out!” he added, slouching back into his chair and looking up at his sister. The apple was finished and he had placed the core on the table while he was talking. None of his irritation was directed at her and he understood why she wanted to go. Didn’t mean he was happy giving up his free day. 

“Well if it is urgent we should probably head out.” he said dryly, sitting up a straight. “You grab the weapons and bags and I’ll ready the horses.” he said. Hansel gave her soft smile showing that he would get over it sooner or later. The sulking never lasted forever. The two were ready to hit the road at a moment’s notice all the time, just for cases like this that would rise without notice. Getting this show on the road wouldn’t take very long. Hansel pressed his back towards the door so he could face his Gretel. “We’re on vacation when we get back. Don’t care if the devil is at our door knocking.” he told her, giving her a playful stern look as he pointed at her. The horses were saddled, ready and brought to the front of the house in about twenty minutes. He let them graze as it wouldn’t be long before he was outside again. “Gretel, your stead is ready whenever you are.” he announced, walking back into the house. He planned on helping carrying anything out she figured they’d need. The process of stopping a demon would probably take twice as long as a normal job, if not more. That was one thing he hadn’t considered before agreeing, how much time this job would suck up. There was no going back now. “Need help?” he asked, when he finally was face to face with his sister again.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

As easy as it would be to just openly say 'hey, this is the Queen I need your help' it might not be so easy at the same time. Given how little information was actually known about what was going on and this demon that was mentioned. Gretel figured they'd get all their questions asked by going to the castle in the first place. Hearing he didn't like it wasn't a surprise in the least and just caused her to nod her head lightly. The core of her finished apple rested in her hand and every now and then she'd eye the letter curiously. When Hansel agreed to checking it out though, a smile grew from both that fact and how he was starting to pout because of it. "Agreed." Gretel just wanted to find out exactly what it was that was being asked of them mainly for Hansel's sake. She didn't mind -if it was indeed the Queen asking- joining in a demon hunt so long as A: Hansel was okay with it, B: they weren't alone, and any questions they actually had were answered. She reached over to grab the core of his finished apple and placed it with her own so she could throw both away together. "All right, I'll meet you out front then." Gretel gave a nod and returned the smile he gave with one of her own. She knew that he was upset about losing time to do nothing and relax about as much as she was. They had been hunting a lot lately and didn't even get much time in the way of being home for a while. She would have liked to relax as well but their line of work always kept them on their toes, ready for anything.

As Gretel stood and started towards the kitchen, she paused hearing his words at the door before laughing quietly. "Sounds perfect to me!" she called after him, smiling a bit more with the thought of the time off that they could actually have. Maybe she could convince him to just take a month off or something...which might not be good considering what might happen with certain witches but it was a thought. The kitchen part was fast as she tossed the cores and packed a couple of bags worth of food; the rest of the apples, whatever dried meats they had, nuts, and dried fruit all went into smaller pouches before being placed into the bags. Then she went through the house until she got to the armory and grabbed a couple of larger bags made of thick, sturdy black leather. Crossbows, pistols, swords, daggers, holsters -for both gun and dagger-, ammo for the pistols and arrows for the crossbows, and even spare clothes were all stuffed into both bags. By the time she finished tying the string of the second one, she heard Hansel's voice calling out through the house. "Coming." Gretel grabbed both bags and headed to the front door, setting each one down before going back to the kitchen. The food bags were obviously the lightest so they were the last to be grabbed, along with the letter that she folded neatly into her pocket. When she neared the door again, she greeted him with a smile before looking down to the bags.

"Sure. That bag there has spare clothes for you in it so you can just have that one with you if it's easier. This too." She handed him one of the bags of food, both equally full of each type of food. Then she grabbed the other weapons bag that had spare clothes for her mixed in and headed out to see the horses waiting for them. Hers was a beauty, being a silky chocolate brown color with a heavy set white mane, tail, and hooves. In certain lights it looked like the mane was almost silver in color. "Mika, my sweet, I'm sure you enjoyed the bit of grazing you had the chance to do hm?" Gretel greeted her horse as she leaned close to place a kiss on the horse's head. It let out a small whiny as if answering her and stayed perfectly still while she fastened the bags to the saddle. Once that was done, she hoisted herself up and took hold of the reigns with one hand while running her hand through the horse's mane with the other. "The castle is what, a day, maybe a day and a half's ride at most? We could probably stop by the town of Unyli to spend the night if it's easier." Gretel suggested as she waited for him to get situated. Once the two were fully ready, she lightly kicked the horse's side and started off in the direction of the castle.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

The bag of food was taken and he carried the weapons and extra clothing over his back and followed his sister out. The greeting she had for her horse was no surprise, she loved that animal. Hansel was still getting use to the dew dark beauty he had since his last horse passed away in battle. Two pistols, his favorite knife, and two holsters were removed from the bag. The one he wore like a vest as other weapon could be held besides the two guns, but he didn’t need to be armed to the teeth. A dark brown leather jacket was put on top to cover the hoister and guns. The other leather holster was small and it fit around his ankle where he concealed the knife. Wearing some of it brought the bulkiness of the bag down and made it easier to attach to the saddle. On the road, anything could happen. It was best to be prepared for anything. The bag of food was fastened to the saddle so it would be closest to him. Snacking was a must on long trips. The stallion was a beast and much larger than his last horse. Hansel pulled himself up on to the horse, giving the horse a pat on the side once he settled in his seat. 

“Another night in a tavern, why the hell not?” he said, forcing a smile at his sister. The stallion only needed a small nudge to get him walking. “Least there will be ale and decent food.” It be better than munching on dried meat and nuts the whole journey. Hansel waited until his sister was following before having the horse go into a full sprint. Unyli was quite a ways away and they’d reach there around nightfall. That is exactly what happened. A little after sun down they had arrived and they went to one of their usual taverns that doubled as an inn they used, Willy Mcoy’s. Save on money, they got one room with two twin beds in it and a fireplace. The horses were in the stable and the bags carried in. Hansel had his bag strung out on his bed, getting a feel with what Gretel had packed for him. “You want to head down and get some dinner?” he asked, repacking his bag up. An ale few too many could be the sort of night he would have and he didn’t want anything in his way when he dove into the bed. A treat for him because he left on his day off, nothing too crazy though. A nice buzz was all he wanted. A bowl of soup or something to go along and fill his stomach was instore as well. 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Though he didn't seem too thrilled with the idea, Gretel knew that when they neared the tavern itself Hansel's mood would lighten some. Their line of work caused them to work through all sorts of time that they'd actually decided to take off so this was no different. It didn't make it any easier to deal with though. Still, it was going to be nice to think about the longer vacation they'd get whether they took this mission or not. The day went by rather quickly as it was an uneventful trip to the town they knew oh so well. For once things worked in their favor as they were able to get the room they wanted and have the horses off in their own stables to rest for the evening. It was almost tempting to just worm her way into the bed and try to sleep without even going to the tavern itself. She was contemplating which would be better when she pulled out her favorite dagger from her bag and finally tied it to her belt. Another was placed underneath her pillow out of habit before she turned to glance Hansel's way. Dinner. She had almost forgotten about eating a proper meal instead of just the dried meat she'd snacked on while riding. Well, it wouldn't be her if she just up and went to bed without doing much of anything else.

"Real food sounds pretty nice right about now." Even just the little bit of time she spent thinking on it made Gretel realize she was actually hungry. She could already taste the chili she wanted to get from here and having a pint wouldn't hurt either. Tossing her bag underneath her bed, she let out a small stretch before starting to lead the way out of their room. The short walk to head downstairs and past the innkeeper was quick as they were already greeted with the roar of the tavern. A couple of wenches walked quickly passed them, their hands full of pints, as they entered the large room and glanced around. The place was crowded as usual with a variety of faces that likely came and went. Some new, hardly any familiar ones to the wenches working. Gretel led them to a lone table that was a little was away from the rowdiness so they could settle down some. It was close to the fireplace that illuminated the room so brightly and far enough away from the drunks Gretel could hear her thoughts. "Never a dull moment in this place." She commented as she leaned back in her chair, her eyes darting around the room. It really was almost exactly like the way she remembered their last visit; only minus the drunk that tried picking a fight with them because they took 'his table'. A wench came by rather quickly, almost out of breath in a way; maybe she was new to the business or she'd been working for some time but as soon as the orders were placed for both of them she was off in a hurry. Gretel had ordered a large bowl of chili that she so wanted -though she wasn't too fond of the bread it came with- and a pint to go with it. "So this vacation you mentioned after this mission if we accept it. Are we going to be going somewhere so people can't find us? Because otherwise you know it might get interrupted still."

┏━----━┓
Wyn
┗━---━┛​

The sun was setting faster than the young knight would have liked but there wasn't much he could do about it either. Considering how quickly everything had transpired, he was surprised he was already delivering the third letter. Or at least he would be delivering it soon enough. The first letter had gone to a couple that lived on the far eastern coast, out of the way of the others. It was only natural Wyn would want to go there first since the others could be gotten to almost like a short, jagged line instead of all over the place. Though the redhead had been silent, they seemed intrigued enough to at least visit the castle to hear what Her Majesty was asking of them. The others likely wouldn't be so easy to convince and that was evident based on the witch hunter's reaction when he spoke with her. He didn't doubt the Queen's words though; she said that they would all at least come to hear her out so he was as confident as she seemed to be about it. Though his honest opinion was it might have been better if she had actually signed her name instead of being so cryptic. Again though that was something that he could understand why she needed the secrecy but not so much the others. The sister of the pair wanted to know who sent it and Wyn couldn't give her the answer she sought. All he could do was tell them to go to the castle for the answers they sought. He himself didn't know all of the details as he'd only met the man that was the supposed demon once. Creepy fellow he was; though he had an air about him that said he was stoic, his eyes held such a hatred and contempt for things it was almost frightening.

Wyn was a hard person to frighten but that man was something else entirely; after hearing the man was actually a demon trapped within a human's body it all made sense. Wyn hadn't questioned anything when the man left, the Red Queen at his side. Though it pained Niamh for multiple reasons, the young Queen still went about to writing letters that made little sense to Wyn at first. The terror that could befall the world should they dilly dally in any way is what drove Wyn to go as fast as his horse could possibly muster. Breaks were few and far between but when he got one, he got one. Which he would be stopping by the village he saw on the way to the place he was heading to rest for the night no question about it. The field he found himself in stretched as far as the eye could see, grass as tall as his shin all around. A few trees were spread about here and there but the most important thing he was looking for was more in the middle of the field. A row of scarecrow-like figures were lined up perfectly; each had several holes all around them to show their use as one particular bow-woman happened to be exactly where he thought she would be. The horse slowed to a stop far enough away where he wouldn't startle her -not that he thought he would- before he dismounted the horse. One hand ran through his platinum blonde hair while the other dug into the pouch attached to the saddle until his hand landed on a letter.

"Lady Merida." Wyn called out, his voice louder than it normally was just so he could get her attention. It was better that he wasn't wearing his armor or anything of the sort while traveling like this. He realized it now actually, as it might get in the way of being able to speak with some people that he needed to speak with. The only thing that showed he was a knight of the White Queen's was the Queen's emblem dangling from a silver chain around his neck. It was partially hidden beneath the baby blue tunic he wore that matched his eyes but that was fine. Between the seal of the letter itself and the wording, it was easy to piece together a royal wrote the letter. They should all be able to figure out the Queen wrote the letter and if they couldn't figure that much out they weren't needed to help with the coming battle.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Merida
​

The arrow found its target every time one was released from the bow. The speed and efficiency compared to no other as Merida was the best at the bow in her land. That didn’t keep her from practicing daily to continue on improving. Speed was what she was working on as she reloaded and tried to give herself the briefest of moments to aim and fire. A great way to release some steam, with mother the way she was, there was always some steam to blow off. There were many courses for her to practice her archery. Even targets hanging from the trees in the forest so she could practice while riding. Another arrow was set free and it dug deep into the center of the practice dummy, right where dead between the eyes if it were a person. Unfamiliar called out to her lady in front of her name. What formalities. No one except her mother went that far when addressing her. Merida’s hair was doing its own thing as usually, curly and wild just like her personality. The dress was simpler than most princess’ dresses, but it was a dark royal blue that made her red fiery hair stick out more.  

“Naw need fir such formalities. Merida be fine.” She spoke with a thick Scottish accent as she inspected the new comer. No one from around here that was apparent. The male had particular unique physical features. Pale hair, looked white from where she as standing was not very common in these parts. His attire was nicer than anyone’s from her kingdom. “Yer interrupting.” she pointed out, now really in the mood to deal with a strange stranger. The bow was set down on a barrel she was using as a makeshift table, before she started towards him, closing the gap. Only a few steps, she made him do most of the trekking over. Punishment for stopping practice and her me time. A letter was in his hand, but she kept traveling up as she inspected him even more. “Ye got a name?  Dinnae talking to strangers.” she stated, eyeing him suspiciously. There was a necklace that poked out from underneath the baby blue fabric. The color of the fabric was another tell he was far from home. No man in this region would be caught wearing such a ‘girly’ color. The Necklace had a sort of crest on it, but she wasn’t able to make it out.      
 

Hansel
​

“A real meal is always nice.” He agreed, copying his sister and putting the bag under the bed. Gretel lead the way out and he followed hot on her heels. Food was on his mind as he was tired of dry meat and nuts. The tavern was lively and noisy as always. It was just the same as they had left it, but many new faces. It was just a task to maneuver around the joint. Wenches buzzed by with their own agenda in mind and drunks stumbling about to the bar or back to the table. There was a lone table his sister picked out and he took two chairs and added them to someone else’s table. Less likely to get unwanted company at their table. “You didn’t pick out someone else’s table again, did you?” he teased, before take the chair he left across from Gretel. The bloke was bonkers, but he always liked to blame it on Gretel anyhow. The male was ushered away by the inn keeper before anything really bad could happen between the three. Gretel and he would have won, no doubt.

A wench was at their table shortly, a change that was greatly appreciated. A broth with steak, potatoes, carrots, and a thick slice of bread was ordered along with a pint. The girl was panting a lot, which caused Hansel to raise a brow. Once Gretel’s order was placed the girl was off in a hurry. “I really hope she doesn’t breath on my food.” he groaned, watching the lass as she left. Not in a sexual way. She was too plain for him. No he wanted to make sure she didn’t stop at another table and take her sweet time their trying to get more coin out of a dirty man. Hansel turned to his sister as she brought up the vacation and actually disappearing for a bit to successfully have one. “I guess we’ll have to go somewhere. Why? You already have a place in mind my dear sister?” he asked, locations on where to disappear to already going through his mind. This place could be left behind for quite some time before he would miss it again. Not that he didn’t love his home, just too many knew where they were to get any decent time to themselves.   

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Gretel had chosen to ignore her brother's comment on the table, finding this to be quite comfortable. Whether it ended up being someone else's or not didn't matter since they could handle themselves just fine. It wasn't her fault the drunk had tried claiming it as they had. Ah but she needed to stop thinking on it because then Hansel would win and he'd realize she was thinking about it. Best to just start counting the minutes until the food arrived, which was something she was looking forward to more than she originally thought. His comment on the woman's breath caused her to eye the fading back of the wench before letting out a small breath. She was certainly going to comment on that but not quite yet. The vacation was on the forefront of her mind as she nodded her head lightly. "A little bit yes. The last time we went overseas was because of a witch that got away so we never actually got to enjoy the scenery before going home. Maybe we could visit the eastern isles since we've only been there once. I was thinking it might be fun to actually go somewhere that we haven't been already to make it really feel like a vacation." Which was going to be a little difficult since they traveled around but there were still quite the number of places that they could end up visiting. But before she gave Hansel enough time to think on that, a sly grin spread across her lips as she leaned closer to him from where she sat. He could think of it later since they still had plenty of time to discuss it.

"Maybe the wench likes you." She commented in a teasing manner just loud enough for him to hear, her eyes darting to the woman as she was heading back to them. There was now a red hue gracing her cheeks as she panted and a slight wobble in her step. It was shocking the wench didn't drop the pints on the table instead of setting them down as she did. "See? Yours even has more foam to it than mine does. Makes me wonder what she's really doing when she disappears into the back." Gretel chuckled a little, only talking in good fun of course. She highly doubted the woman was doing anything more than drinking while working to keep calm with all the mayhem certain men could cause. She just couldn't help trying to tease her brother some; sure he was the older one but that didn't mean she couldn't and wouldn't tease him. Though it did lead to another question that had been in the far back, almost forgotten corner of her mind. "Speaking of that though, have you thought about settling down at all? You're getting older brother, soon you won't have that pretty face of yours to attract a woman." As much as she still asked in a teasing manner, she was wondering if the thought ever crossed his mind yet. They'd been hunters for years and yes they were still quite young so there was time. Maybe it was more of a 'how much time' type of question than anything but she couldn't be sure since she wasn't even sure how the question came to her mind.

┏━----━┓
Wyn
┗━---━┛​

He noticed right away when he caught her attention though he never would have guessed it was because he was being polite with her. Rumor was her spirit was as fiery and wild as her hair and he could see it in just the first few words she spoke. He gave a small nod of his head to show he heard how she'd prefer him to call her but otherwise said nothing as of yet. She was eyeing him just like the witch hunter sister had done but that was something he was used to by this point. When she stepped closer, he moved too so that he was close enough to almost touch her without actually being that close. "Forgive me, I do not mean to interrupt your training." He gave another bow of his head, his voice softer now that they were close enough. "I am no stranger Merida; though this is our first meeting I am your ally. I go by many names but if it is easier for you to have one then I am simply Wyn." There was a pause though it was more because it felt a little odd to introduce himself like that. Most times he needed nothing but his title for people to know relatively who he was but rarely did he use his name. "I come from the kingdom of Luighseach at the behest of my lady to deliver this letter to you. Time is short as this matter is of great importance but any questions you might have would be answered at the time you arrive should you decide to come." Wyn held out the letter to her and once again bowed his head out of respect once he finished speaking. It would be interesting to see who among the few he had to visit would take the longest time to take the letter but until it was taken he'd stay bowed like this. Not because he had to but because he felt it best to show he meant no harm to her.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

 Merida
​

The man was more polite than anyone she had ever encountered. Mother would have been thrilled to be in his presence and not with the rest of the lot as she saw and called them barbarians frequently. The apology for intruding caused her to smile as she gave him a small nod. “Water under deh bridge, Wyn.” she shrugged, as she listen to him continue. The fact that he had given his name put her at ease.  Lots of bowing was involved, which was just odd. The letter was being held out, but her thoughts were on him mentioning when she arrived. That meant she had to leave? For how long? “How long til ah hae to decide?” she asked, taking the letter and tracing the seal with her finger, before opening the letter. Father and mother would have to put their two senses in. Not that she listened, unless her father spoke up over something, which was rare. Her judgement was trusted by him. The writing was fancy and the wording, just like how he talked. The letter grabbed her attention pretty quickly before long it had her full attention. Demon was something she had simple never dealt with and only heard in tall tales meant to scare her as a child. No name to the demon, but perhaps her father would know a bit on the subject. Whomever was writing it seemed pretty distressed.  Merida raised an eyebrow at when the letter mentioned someone dearly in trouble. Being in a similar situation before, she felt for the person and half the battle of getting her to go along was done. Honestly though, she didn’t know what help she would be against a demon. The letter wasn’t signed, only for the N. The fancy penmanship, wording, the seal, and the gentlemen all pointed it was the white Queen. Another thing she’d run by her parents.

Hansel
​

Hansel rubbed his bottom lip in thought at what his sister was proposing. The eastern Isles were a great place and he wouldn’t mind taking a closer look at them. The subject hardly stayed on vacation as his sister had other things to talk about. Hansel gave her the look as leaned in, a sly mischievous look on her face. She was definitely up to something and he was correct. The wench was brought up and insinuated that she was fond of him. “Very funny.” he retorted. A sigh came out as he was unimpressed with her little jab. Not that it stopped there, no it wouldn’t be Gretel if she hadn’t kept on going. “Thanks.” he said to the wench, eying the pints that were left for them. Food was really what he wanted, but that must be coming out next. The lass was off as quick as she had come. There was a pretty good amount of foam on his beer, which was doubtfully on purpose. The comment received a small eye roll. “You’re pretty impressed with your little jabs aren’t you?” he said, taking a big sip of his beer. A quarter of it already gone and he was taking a another large gulp right after the first. If his love life was the topic of the night it was best to get a buzz started as soon as possible. “I’m only a year older than you dear sister.” He countered, wondering where any of this was coming from. Never before had she been concerned with him not settling down.

No woman had really caught his eye. Besides the one or couple nights he spend with a few woman he never really had anyone of the opposite gender around him, say for his sister. Not that those women weren’t nice, but he could never keep them around for the rest of his life without going insane. A wife meant a family and that would lead to him no longer hunting, which he didn’t really want to give up either. Well, at least that is what he figured would happened. Even if they were alright with it in the beginning sooner or later it would be you need to provide for us and not go gallivanting around killing witches. “Never really thought of it. If I went that route it would entail be giving up this and I’m not ready to do that.” he shrugged, taking another giant gulp of his ale, leaving one more drink from the cup. “What makes you bring all this up?” he asked, eyeing her. Did she want to settle down and out of the business or was she afraid he would soon?  It wasn’t the light conversation he was used to having. Things could get deep, but very rarely. “Think I need to settle down?” he added, finding it all strange.
 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

"Maybe I am." Gretel couldn't help but chuckle a little, though she had to wonder how he could drink so quickly. She wasn't a lightweight by any means but if she drank as fast as he did then she'd be out faster than usual. Which might not be such a bad idea considering it might be a while before they could relax like this again. Depending on how this meeting went of course. A small 'hmm' sounded when he stated how much older he was than she but she didn't say much on it. Even if she wanted to the whole place got more rowdy so suddenly that it made it hard to think for a moment. Some drunk had been starting something with one of the older wenches off in the far corner and just got his ass handed to him. The scene caused her to chuckle before her attention was pulled back to her brother. It actually brought about a measure of comfort to know he hadn't been thinking about it and much like her, wasn't ready to give up the hunt. One day maybe but it was still nice to know. The question of what brought it up caused a small shrug of her shoulders before she took a swig of the beer much like how he usually did. Her mouth opened after a moment of silence to finally answer but closed just as quickly.

The wench was coming back with their meals, setting the chili down in front of Hansel and the stew in front of her. "Um, thanks." The word couldn't even leave her lips before the woman was rushing back off shouting 'I'm coming, pipe down' to someone. She pushed his bowl towards him as her other hand grabbed the hers to put them respectively in front of each other. "Eventually yeah I think you should settle down, or at least one of us should. I just...I guess I was hoping for the answer you gave is all." Gretel paused to take a bite of the chili and loved the kick it had. It caused her to take another bite before she could set the spoon down again so she could focus on talking. "I don't know where it came from, it was just something in the back of my mind I was curious about. Our parents...I doubt they would have wanted us to continue this line of work forever even if we are good at what we do. We already got the witch that...you know." It was hard for her to still think about how their parents died at the hands of a witch all those years ago. "I don't know, maybe I really do need a vacation more than I thought. I've been thinking too much while we're on the road like we are." She let out a small sigh before taking another longer swig of the beer than she had intended to. "I'm not ready to give this life up but you know I don't want to hold you back either." And there she went thinking too much again. Shaking her head a little, she let out a small sigh before giving him a smile. "Sorry, forget I said anything about it. Probably just a little moody today. How's your food?"

┏━----━┓
Wyn
┗━---━┛​

Wyn didn't answer her question right away and instead waited until she had taken the letter. Once it was out of his hands, he straightened up and placed his hands at his side. Truth was he wasn't entirely sure just how much time there was at all but he'd give her an estimate. There was still four more places he needed to visit before he could return to the Queen. That would be enough time for her to make her decision and maybe he could even stop by here on the way back. It wasn't too far off track from heading home so it wasn't completely out of the way. Once he was sure that she read the letter in its entirety, he stepped back towards his horse. "In one week's time I will be back here seeking your answer. I am sure you have questions about the contents but I am afraid only my lady can answer them." As he spoke, his hands reached out for the reigns to gather up before he hoisted himself onto his horse. "Even if you choose to come to my kingdom for answers, you have no obligation to actually stay should you deem it unworthy. I only ask that you give my lady the time to explain in detail about what it is that is going on." He added a bit more quietly as one hand stroked the horse's mane gently. He knew this was a dangerous task that was being placed on the shoulders of these people; he even doubted some would be so willing to risk their lives even for the sake of the world should it come to that. Nonetheless, he was hopeful that of the ones asked at least a few of them would be willing. "I bid you farewell for now, Merida. Think about it and as I said, I will be back within a week to hear your decision. Until then take care." Wyn gave her one last bow before lightly kicking the horse's side to get it moving. Short and simple was always the easiest way for him to get points across and he wasn't one to linger if he wasn't needed. Hopefully it would be enough and if not, maybe the second time around it would be.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Merida
​

Once she had finished he finally spoke up again. A week and he’d be back, that was long enough to make a decision. Where else did he have to go she wondered. That was quickly shrugged off as it was none of her business. “Ah hae an answer by then. Farewell.” she replied, giving a small nod when he bowed. Merida eyed him while he rode off, the letter tightly gripped in her hand. Angus was grazing where she was practicing earlier. “Whell Agnus, Naw time for practice now.” she huffed, gathering her things in a huff, her bow and arrows. The rest could be handled later. Right now she needed to show her parents the letter she had received and get their opinion on it. The quicker she got it over with the better. Wasting that man’s time wasn’t what she wanted to do. The process would go a lot quicker if she get her parent’s input, though she had a feeling she knew her mother’s opinion on the matter already and it would be against her leaving their people. If that were the case, she would have to disobey, not unfamiliar territory, but it did come with consequences. The decision procces was already difficult and it hadn’t even been brought up to the others.  Merida hoisted herself on her horse and rode home with the news.

Hansel
​

The room erupted with laughter as an older woman put one of the rowdy drunks in his place by giving him a nice whopping kick in the ass. Hansel chuckled along with his sister. Many underestimated the wenches. Hansel knew better. Dealing with drunks all the time, one has to learn to put them in their place. Downing the last of his ale, he rose his brow in surprise as he looked down his mug to see his sister drinking more so like him. Gretel could handle her drinks, but she never took hers down as fast as him. Why was she doing slamming the drinks now he wondered. 

“Easy there. Don’t want to get to wild before a hunt.” he teased as the wench came waltzing up to the table with the food. The wrong food was placed in front of him and he frowned as he tried to hand of his mug for more ale. The woman had already turned on her heels off to someone else. Upset, he huffed as his mug came down hard on the table. Another wench must have seen what happened out of the corner of her eye as his mug was taken from the table as she let him know she’d be right back. “Thanks.” he replied, happy at least someone was paying attention to their table. Hansel was picking apart the bread to dip into his soup as his sister talked. It was rare for them to discuss their parents. It was something he liked to avoid completely. Dipping a chunk of bread in the bowl, he listened as he savored the flavorful bite. Gretel said to forget it, but she brought it up for a reason, even if she didn’t really know why. 

“The only thing I’m being held back from right now is getting a good buzz.” he huffed once he finished his bite and he glanced around to see if his second helping of ale was on its way yet. “As for Ma and Dad, they’d be proud . . . for the most part.” he threw in there. Not everything they did would be seen in their parent’s eyes as respectable. A bit wild they were, but that was probably do for not having parents to raise them. Hansel took a break to take a spoonful of his soup. The bite of bread just showed him how hungry he really was from their journey. “We’re saving people. What’s not to be proud of?” he shrugged, that being his final counter. The question to forget the subject wasn’t forgotten as he glanced down at his bowl to put a little thought into it. “It isn’t horrible. What about yours?” he asked, gesturing to her dish before taking another bite of his food. The ale had finally made it out to the table by the previous wench that was serving him. Words must have been exchanged as she was less quick to get out of there and even asked if there was anything else they needed. “I’m good. You Gretel?” he asked, looking over to his sister briefly before taking a large swig of his ale.
 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

The smirk only grew on her face from the way Hansel was grumbling about his ale; or rather lack thereof. The smile only faltered slightly at the mention of their parents; it was one thing to hear it from her own lips but somehow it just seemed harder when it came from him. Her fingers tapped lightly against the wood table before she picked up the mug and downed another sip. Maybe she really was just in a mood or a slump of some sort. Either way a couple more pints and she'd be fine. Her focus went back to eating more of the chili but she couldn't even get two bites in before she ended up laughing. "You always make things sound so much simpler than they seem to be." And just like that, any sort of worry that had been growing just seemed to fade away. Her brother had a knack for doing that to her, in which she was grateful for. He was right, their parents would be proud of the unconventional job they chose. Maybe they wouldn't approve of it but they'd be proud nonetheless. Another chuckle came at his retort of the food before she took another bite of hers. The wench came back before she could answer with the full mug for Hansel and Gretel had to say she was impressed. She didn't think the word 'slower' was in the woman's mental dictionary.

"Just keep 'em coming until we say otherwise." Gretel lifted her almost empty mug up to indicate that she'd need a refill soon. The wench nodded and promised to keep an eye on their pints until they were done for the night. Which brought back the question of the food. "I happen to like my chili, it's got a nice kick to it. It isn't the best by any means but for tavern food it's pretty good." Which would explain why she was already halfway done eating it before she even realized it. Either it was better than she thought or she was just hungry for real food and that made it taste that much better. Or a combination of one of those and the ale. Mentally shrugging, she downed the rest of her ale and pushed the mug to the end of the table so the wench could take it next time she came around. "What are we going to do about this other witch that rumors have been spreading out? The one they claim can shape-shift." It might as well be brought up now as well since they weren't going to be going after this one for some time. Either because they would help the queen or they'd go on vacation...or both depending on how things played out. So this one would have quite the bit of time to roam freely as she'd been doing and Gretel wasn't so sure that was a good thing. Not that there was much she could do about it since priorities needed to be made. As she waited for an answer, she continued to eat her chili and only a couple minutes passed before the wench came back to replace her empty mug with a new, full one.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

 Hansel
​

Gretel made many points. The tease could have been done without and she only received an eye roll for it. Yes, he was aware why had had been dragged away from his day off to be left in the dark til they arrived to the castle. The job just sounded like a pain in the ass he would rather avoid it. Ale was needed to keep this conversation going so he slammed the rest down in two gulps. Speculations were all she had, but they were good ones in his opinion, not that he was going let her know that. All of this discussion and her points just made his brain start reeling through a whole new load of questions. If he was just a human what made it so difficult for the Queen to deal with him? There had to be more to it. Answers would be at the castle like his sister said. 

“Well, it seems we have nothing job related to talk about tonight, my dear sister. As everything is all too up in the air at this moment for us to plan strategically for.” he pointed out, smiling as he pushed his empty mug to the end of the table and his hand wrapped around the new one. She was right, annoyingly so, about him not making assumptions without holding all the facts. “Probably my last.” he stated, waving the mug in the air to gesture what he was taking about before taking another giant gulp. “Can’t be having too much fun.” he grumbled grumpily. His nose still stuck in the mug as he was continuing to down the drink to head to bead. The wench came sauntering up to collect the dirty dishes and he let her know he no longer needed anymore. The four he had were bring around a buzz with how fast he had been putting them down. It was at the perfect amount as he felt his fingers starting to tingle. 

Hansel waited politely until Gretel had her finish with the ale and then they both headed back to their room together. In no time he was in his bed with his pillow tucked underneath his head and he curled to one side of his body. Sleep was hard to find, even with the help of the ale making him drowsy, because he didn’t want tomorrow and this job to start. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind Gretel would want to take it and he would go along, because they were a team. That was just their system. “Good night Gretel.” he said, rolling over on to his stomach, hoping change of sleeping positions would help bring sleep along.




Dear All, 

I’m writing to you because an opportunity has awakened and I believe we should all take advantage of it. Chernabog and I are setting our plan in motion to restore him to his former glory. We will be able to flip the game of life into our favor instead of living like outlaws for the rest of our lives. Word going around is The White Queen is in the process of assembling an army of special individuals to put a stop to us gaining our freedom and having a good livelihood. Each of you was selected because of your special talents; you know what I speak of. Ride out and aid us. Plenty of rewards await you if you do, revenge for many of you. We’re not hiding. We reside in the old Blackwell castle at this time. You have three days to cease this opportunity and get back your life these good-doers are preventing you from living. 

-              Red Queen
 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

"Well we aren't on vacation yet, far from it since we still have some ways to go to this castle." Gretel retorted with a small chuckle though the truth was even if they were on vacation, she wasn't so sure she'd be able to break the habit. There wasn't really much they could do about 'personal lives' when it came to the type of job they had. Or at least she didn't think so which was why it never really crossed her mind. While she tended to think a lot about their job, even jobs further ahead being in the back of her mind, Hansel didn't. If he did, it certainly wasn't as much as her...maybe she really did need a vacation. Her head nodded softly as she listened to her brother speak. It was true, if they did take this job the Queen offered then the witch's lead would grow stale. No, even if they didn't take the job the plan was for a vacation regardless so the lead would still be too cold by the time they actually came back. Best to try to put that to the very back of her mind since it wasn't useful to dwell on just yet. Her eyes darted to the side as Hansel's voice trailed off, catching sight of the wench. She came at a rather perfect time to take the dishes and the mugs, even waiting until Hansel set down his before she left saying she'd be right back. A bit dense the woman was since she didn't hear any part of their conversation.

"We shouldn't fathom anything, dear brother. We don't have any information and isn't that what we're going to go and get?" Gretel teased slightly before finishing off the last bit of her chili left in the bowl. She pushed it to the side of the table then leaned forward on the table, her arms resting against it. "There's a reason why she requested us to help and I'm fairly certain she must have known we'd be skeptical going out of our normal hunt. The letter stated that the demon was sealed in the guise of a human, which means that he's not a typical demon that we've heard stories about." Gretel paused as the wench neared again with two fresh pints for the two of them and then disappeared into the crowd once more. Gretel watched her back for a moment before taking a swig of the ale. "What I'm trying to say is that for all we know, this demon could very well be nothing more than a human with some magical traits that show he's a demon. As in, a witch's traits. That's our specialty if that's the case. Or he could have no powers at all and just be exactly like a human but he seeks out ways to get his powers back. It's hard to say how we can defend ourselves against this thing without knowing for sure what the cards are." Of course, all of this was entirely speculation and it could very well be quite the opposite where those powers that were 'sealed' were no longer sealed. Not that Gretel wanted to think of such things just yet so she took another swig of the ale much like her brother usually did. The buzz was already starting to hit her, which caused a small smile to stay on her lips. Maybe she should drink like Hansel more often. "For this particular job, I think it's best we not overthink anything until we have all of the facts."

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hansel
​

The food was just mediocre at best in his opinion. The chili might be a different story and in the future maybe he would give it a go. The soup and bread was doing just fine as he could stomach pretty much anything even if his taste buds weren’t on bored. There was no doubt she fancied her meal. Gretel was spoonfuls ahead of him. The wench promised to keep an eye on their pints, but he doubted that she would do her job up to par. So far she was pretty lousy. Playing catch up, he had gotten his bowl a little under halfway full and the bread only had a remaining few bites to it. All of the food was put down while he was hearing about Gretel’s. A heavy sigh was let out as he took another large swig of his ale, wishing the effects he was looking for would hurry up and already start. 

“Dear sister are you going to know how to take a vacation?” he asked in a teasing manner. So far they had hardly spoken of anything that didn’t involve the job besides their food. Hansel really didn’t know what they would do with that one. Shapeshifters were a bit tricky. That hunt was so far ahead the little trail they had on her might go cold by then. “Seems too far ahead to be thinking about that witch.” he shrugged, slamming some more of his ale down. He had the slightest sensation that the effects were beginning to take effect, but it was nowhere near his goal. “We don’t have much on her right now and the bit of a lead we have can be cold by the time we make it back.” he pointed out.  

“I’m not worried about that one. Tracking the shapeshifter is probably the only part we don’t have much experience in and that is hard to prepare for since we don’t know how long until we can go after the witch. That demon on the other hand. . .” he trailed off, taking another drink. Discussing taking something so far out of their league on drove him to take a massive swig, much larger than the usual. “We should be figuring out how to defend ourselves from such a foe.” The drink was nearing his end so he took the last gulp and positioned it out to the end of the table for a refill along with the empty dishes. “That son of a bitch it out of our depth. I don’t even know where to begin or even fathom how’d we be helpful. It’s not like torching the sucker will do anything to him.” The more he put thought into this hunt the mystery person wanted them to go on the more he didn’t like it. 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

The silence told Gretel that her brother was thinking on her words, in which kept the smile from fading. She always liked it when that happened because it told her she put up a strong argument. So she took the moment to continue sipping -in which 'sipping' wasn't quite her brother's swigs but closer to his than her own- on her ale. She snorted at Hansel's comment before downing a bit more, having just a couple of swigs left of it. "We don't always talk about job related things." Just whenever they happened to be on either of their minds; sure that was a chunk of the time but it didn't mean it was every time either. As she noticed the wench coming back round, she quickly downed the last bit in one big gulp before handing off the mug. "My last as well." She added after her brother, though she clearly wasn't as disappointed as he was. The dishes were gathered and the wench left with a polite 'thanks for the patronage' before heading off to tend other duties. She at least seemed a bit chipper than earlier, which was nice. Standing up, she pulled out enough coin to cover the meals and a little extra to try to lighten the wench's mood some before following Hansel back to their room.

Once she was settled into her bed, all bundled up comfortably in her sheets, it felt like it wouldn't take long at all for sleep to take her. Fact was she was half asleep when she heard Hansel say good night. "G'night, Hansel." Gretel managed to get it out before the yawn hit her and not too much longer did she pass out. By the time morning came, they were up early enough where they could leave and still beat the early morning sun from being too far into the sky. The rest of the trip itself was uneventful but surprisingly swift as they reached the castle of Luighseach right as the sun was setting. They likely would have made it there earlier if they hadn't stopped but it was for the sake of the horses so it couldn't be helped. "Good evening, Sir Hansel. Lady Gretel." Two maidens dressed in clothes that were clearly a maids but seemed a bit higher quality than most greeted them and curtsied politely. Gretel looked over to her brother for a moment as a maid each went to their horses. "I am Lilliana." A third maid with flowing blonde hair and a uniform similar to the first, only with more gold hemmed into it, bowed and made a motion to the doors. "If you would please allow Katrina and Victoria to take your horses, your things will be brought to a guest room that we have prepared for you." She took a step away to give them more room to get off their horses before smiling at them.

"You prepared us a room?" Gretel repeated with a raised eyebrow, staring at the other woman for a moment longer than necessary before dismounting. "We have prepared each of you a room, as well as the others that are and will be coming." Lilliana corrected, keeping the smile on her face even as she bowed her head and once more motioned to the doors. "If you would like to rest beforehand, my lady is perfectly fine with meeting with you tomorrow if it would be easier. She wishes you to be comfortable during your stay here, no matter the outcome of whatever it is you are to discuss with her." As the maid continued, the other maids led the horses away to the stables. Gretel glanced from them to Lilliana as the woman was starting to lead the way into the castle then to her brother. "At least we're being taken care of rather nicely." She whispered out so that the maid wouldn't hear her though meeting this 'lady' would be interesting; the feeling of it being the queen was growing more and more.

┏━━━━━┓
Cruella
┗━━━━━┛​

Long red nails lightly tapped against the armrest of the sofa Cruella sat in; her legs were over the other side and she sat in a way where she almost seemed contorted. Her upper body resting against the back while her legs were to the side. The white tunic she wore was one that wasn't completely a tunic as it showed much of her cleavage, more so with the dark navy laced corset she wore to accompany it. The matching navy skirt had been custom sewn to fit her frame and the white knee length heeled boots had little bits of navy frill to them near the top. It was a comfortable position for her to be in whenever she was relaxing though now wasn't quite one of those times. There had been a disturbance of sorts, someone that had tried acting out against her. If there was one thing that Cruella wouldn't allow, it was disloyalty among her men. She gave them everything they deserved; beautiful, hot rewards when they did as she asked and painful punishments that were meant to make them remember not to fail her should they have done so. Any that wanted to leave her care, no matter the reason, were considered traitors and taken care of instantly. This one just got under her skin because he had been one of her favorites. It was a shame too, he really knew how to work his magic in the bedroom. A small sigh escaped her lips as she let her legs drop to the ground so she could stand. The tall heels she wore clinked loudly against the wooden floor as she walked across barely furnished room she was hiding away in. There were many rooms like this one in the mansion like house she lived in and each time she needed a moment to herself, she'd go to a different one.

"Mistress." Cruella hadn't even gotten five steps down the hall before someone was calling out to her, seemingly out of breath. He was probably searching for her for some time based on the way he was trying to catch his breath. "What is it?" Cruella glanced at him from over her shoulder but didn't budge, not until she noticed the leader that was being held out to her. As he bowed his head to hold it out, she slowly turned enough to take it from him before staring at it a moment. "Who delivered it?" She asked quietly, her hand lightly tracing along the paper until she could open the letter. "It was a raven that delivered it, Mistress." Though he answered her, Cruella only half listened as she started to read the letter itself. A small smile began to grow on her face the further into the letter she got until she was finished; the paper was quickly crumbled up into a small ball and tossed back to the man that brought it to her. "Be a dear and get my carriage ready. Send Kristof to my room as well to get my bags to the carriage." The man nodded his head and turned around, starting at a jog as he headed down the hall. Cruella's eyes stayed on him until he disappeared down the hallway before she turned the opposite way.

"Well, well. Isn't this an interesting turn of events? Here I thought I'd be bored this week too." A chuckle escaped Cruella's lips as there was now a way in her hips from her growing excitement. It had been some time since she had gone out of her comfort zone and openly fought against those that kept her where she was. That kept her from getting all she desired, the proper land to go with her perfect home. The perfect man..."Mmm." Cruella could imagine it now, being able to dig her claws into fresh meat. It wasn't that she didn't like those around her, quite the opposite really, but it had been a while since she went out of her way to find someone new. Someone exciting to be able to keep that fire she sought growing. The thought caused her to feel like a giddy school girl ready to go on the prowl more than anything. Though having the chance to get rid of those in her way was also a plus, just...not as much. It just made the mood she was in currently by far better than what she had been in not even minutes before. The moment she got to her room, she quickly went through her drawers to find some clothes to bring with that were easy to move in and not something she would fret over if it ripped when she shifted. Which meant corsets, half-dresses, anything that still fit her frame flawlessly and gave her that freedom.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Hook
​

The raven had delivered the letter early morning a couple a days ago and it was interesting enough to come out and check out what the hell the Red Queen was purposing. Revenge was always a nice incentive to motivate. A small stir came from below and broke her train of thoughts as the small child adjusted slightly in her sleep. Soothingly, she ran her fingers through the mess of dirty blond hair in her lap. The child’s breathing slowed, which brought a smile to her face. No one would have pegged her for a motherly figure, herself including, but it just came out naturally with Wendy. 

The door to her quarters creaked open causing her head to snap up from Wendy. Tension fell away as a plump small little man made his way into the room. The man had an awful body odor that made her nose crinkle in disgust. 

“What Smee?” she asked in an icy tone, going back to running her fingers through Wendy’s hair. 

“We be prepared to go ashore in a few ma’am. Should I ready your boat?” 

Hook looked over the man like he was a little insect she could squish at a moment’s notice.  The dumb question was a waste of her time. Sighing heavily out of annoyance, she began rubbing Wendy’s arm so the child would start waking as she dealt with the imbecile. 

“No Smee, I do think Wendy and I would prefer our boat not to be prepared for us so it can take twice as long for us to get to shore. Yes, you inbred idiot. Get the boat ready!” she stated hotly, her voice rising as the sentence continued on. “Why would you waste my time like that? It should have been a simple we’re ready to go ashore when you are Captain.” she spat, glaring at the man. “Jeez Smee, why do I keep you around?” she asked, shaking her head in disappointment as she turned to Wendy, who was now sitting up and rubbing the sleepers from her eyes. 

“S-sorry Cap’n.” Smee was off before any more wicked words could leave Hook’s lips. 

Hook stood and went over to a table that had maps and instruments to navigate the sea with. The sword and her hat that had been place on top of that was what she needed as she secured the sword to her side and placed her hat on its rightful place, the top of her head. Hours ago she had been dressed, fed and she had just been waiting to arrive. Figuring the crew needed guidance she head on deck, Wendy at her heels. The row boat was being readied and was taking first priority. That is why the stinky man was still around, because when she snapped her fingers her bidding was done. 

Wendy and Hook were the last in the boat as a couple a men accompanied them and rowed the boat and Smee was along. The child she had taken in always freaked Mr. Smee out and it was entertaining to watch as Wendy went out of her way to make the male uncomfortable. She sat beside him, staring at him as he had scooted to the edge of the boat to try and avoid the ‘creepy child’. The boat ride was silent and the walk to the castle. Hook was busy taking in their surroundings in case it was a hoax and they needed to get the hell out of there. Wendy could just fly, but Hook would need to be on her toes. 

   
 

Hansel
​

Packing and heading out early in the morning was second nature. When they left the next morning most were still snoozing away. A luxury he would mind enjoying more often. The rest of their journey went along smoothly and uneventfully, only stopping for the horses’ sake. The castle was quite fancy and Hansel’s gut was telling him indeed this was the Queen. Three maids greeted them, two of them rather close, ready to take the horses to the stable. Quickly exchanging looks with his sister before doing so, Hansel dismounted and handed the reins over to the nearest made as the head maid informed them about their rooms, which she corrected Gretel and specified that they were separate.  

“Gretel, whatever will you do without your older brother?” he teased, with a bit of laughter mixed in. Most of the time they were stuck sharing rooms, not that it bothered either of them. Hansel was hot on his sister’s trail and he caught everything he whispered. “Well, when one is trying to convince someone to take on this sort of job you pull out all the treats I figure.” he shrugged. It was impressive, but he wasn’t going to be bought. 

“I don’t mind meeting our host as soon as it is convenient for them.” he stated, not truly wanting to wait until the next morning to get answers. He had waited long enough. Others were invited to aid, who he wondered. “Have any others arrived or our we the first ones?” he asked, as he climbed up the stairs to the castle front doors with ease. Once inside, he could see off to the side a young lady with floor length blonde hair conversing with another one of the maids. The hair was decked out with variety of colorful flowers and there must have been hundreds of braids throughout her hair. They had not gone by unnoticed as she eyed them briefly before going back to conversing. “Think that is one of them?” he whispered to his sister. The stranger kept eyeing them out of the corner of her eye ever so often.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

"Sleep properly without having to worry about being woken by snores from my beloved older brother for one." Gretel countered with a small smirk though truthfully it didn't bother her much either way. If they had gotten a room together it would have been just as fine, though sometimes it did feel a bit lonely when it was just her. Likely because of how used to having Hansel around like he was. Her thoughts paused before she could get too lost in them when Hansel spoke more and she couldn't help but nod her head. He had a valid point, of course it would make sense that they would be well taken care of while they were here. Her eyes went back to the maid as Hansel spoke to her about meeting with their host and watched the maid glance over her shoulders. A large smile was on the woman's features before she gave a small nod of her head in answer to both question and statement he made. At first she didn't say anything though as she led them deeper into the castle, only to pause when she noticed one of the maids speaking with one of their other guests. "If you would excuse me but a moment." Lilliana bowed politely to them before heading over to the woman with such lengthy hair. Gretel couldn't help but stare almost as much as the other woman seemed to be; only Gretel was being obvious about it.

"Pardon the intrusion, Lady Rapunzel. If you would like your answers tonight, m'lady will be meeting with some of the others. If you would care to join us, Arianna here will show you to the meeting room at your convenience." Gretel overheard enough of the maid's words to know the blonde was indeed like one of them. "It seems like she would be." Gretel whispered back to her brother only because she noticed the way the head maid bowed and started coming back their way. "There are still some that have yet to arrive though they are on their way as we speak. M'lady will speak to them separately when they arrive but I will inform her that you wish to speak with her tonight. There is always time, Sir Hansel." As the maid spoke, she started leading them deeper into the castle and down a hall to the right. It was the fifth door on the left side of the hall that she opened, revealing a long rectangular table with about a dozen chairs evenly spread out around it. A large, well crafted tapestry was hung to one side that depicted a far off. serene land with the perfect amount of greenery. There were a couple of pillars lining the wall on the opposite side, with small stands holding up neatly designed vases in between. The maid stepped aside to make room before bowing her head and holding her arm out towards the table.

"I will bring some tea and perhaps some dinner for you as it must have been quite the journey. As soon as m'lady is free, she will come and speak with you to answer any questions you might have. Is there anything in particular you might want?" The maid glanced each of them over but for the most part kept her eyes low out of respect. Gretel glanced around the room, taking in everything for a couple of seconds before turning her attention from the room to the maid. "Um." Having someone wait on them hand and foot like this was certainly an odd feeling indeed. Her eyes darted over to Hansel briefly before she brought a hand up to run through her hair. "Whatever you decide to bring is fine with me, I can eat just about anything." The response resulted in a nod from the maid before her eyes went to Hansel.

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛​

Day in and day out, it was the same thing over and over again. It wasn't so much that Morgan was so poor that she had to steal from people in order to live properly. More that she enjoyed bugging people and seeing their reactions to things. It was an unintentional but slightly intentional ploy to get a rise out of people that she did half the things she did. Like the other day, when she used her power to sneak in to a nice almost mansion-like home and managed to walk out with an entire pouch of jewelry. Of course the wife ended up screaming in dismay the moment she realized her jewels were missing but at that point Morgan was already gone. Her own home was deep in the woods, far off any known trails so that no one could find her easily. Getting to it was like cutting a slice of cake for her as most days she shifted into a bird so that there wasn't a trail left behind. She wasn't completely one to openly try to pick fights with people so avoiding them all together was the best option for her. It meant she could live exactly the way she wanted without worrying about repercussions from anyone. Even today was one of those days where the idea itself was more exciting than implementing it. Sure Morgan walked away with coin and even a free meal but it was starting to become too easy. It didn't give her the same feeling as before which was becoming quite disappointing. There had to be something better about this world, something that could give her life actual meaning.

Morgan's thoughts stopped as she physically did right in front of her house, her pale blue eyes staring right at the bird perched on her windowsill. At first neither of them moved except for her gaze as it went to the letter in the bird's mouth. The thought of someone knowing where she lived was rather worrying, or maybe they didn't and they just knew where she frequented. Morgan had tried her best to not make herself too terribly obvious in her ways to make sure those witch hunters stayed far off of her trail. Yet here she was face to face with a bird and a letter. Letting out a small sigh, she continued forward to her door and kept her gaze on the bird. As soon as she was near enough, the bird cawed loudly as it dropped the letter in front of her before taking off. Morgan didn't bother watching the bird fly away as she was more intrigued with the letter itself. At first she was going to just ignore it, thinking she wanted nothing to do with whatever it was at all. So she stepped over it and unlocked her door to head inside. The pouch of coin was placed on the table nearest to her as the door closed behind her. It must have been at most five steps into her home before an aggravated sigh left her lips as she turned back to the door. She couldn't help herself; once the letter was in her hand she went back inside and closed the door once more. It a second flat the letter was ripped open and she read it word for word, slowly to make sure she got everything that needed to be gotten from it. The mention of Chernabog caused her nose to wrinkle slightly as she held back a frown. Demons weren't really her thing to get involved with but the thought of being able to mess with someone that could fight back was pretty thrilling to think about.

The letter was placed on the table next to the coin pouch before she reached up to put her long purple hair into a loose ponytail. Every now and then she'd eye the letter, then try to ignore it in favor of doing something else. Each time though, the thought of gaining real freedom and not having to hide was growing too much. If they really could go out in the open without having to worry about witch hunters or other people wishing them away, that would certainly mean she didn't have to live in the woods; sure it was by choice but it was the only choice to keep herself off radar. In which if they succeeded with what the Red Queen asked of them, then that meant that there would be no radar in which she'd have to hide from. After pacing for a couple more minutes, another sigh left her lips before she went back to pick up the letter. "Well, I did want something better in my life so I guess this is what my calling is." She mumbled to herself quietly as she tied the coin pouch to her belt loop. The moment she was outside and the door was locked, Morgan's wrist flicked upwards towards the sky; not even seconds later was her body enveloped in a golden haze. Her body shifted within the haze, growing smaller until it was about the size of a fully grown bald eagle though she didn't look a thing like one. Giving her wings a quick stretch, Morgan took off into the sky to head to the Blackwell castle. All she would be doing would be gathering a bit more information first to see if it was something she even wanted to spend her time doing or not. She was leaning towards it only for the fact that she could cause some serious trouble for those goodie-two-shoes.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Rapunzel
​

Only a few minutes prior than the other two had Rapunzel arrived. They sort of stuck out like a sore thumb and she knew right away they had been recruited also. Eyeing the man out of the corner of her eye she saw the two exchange words, most likely over her. In an odd way he was pretty handsome. The other, female one, did nothing to hid her stare and she found it rather on the rude side. Were they going to gawk at the others as well? 

Rapunzel gave a nod to the head maid to show she understood, but there was no indication she would be there.  Eying the two as they followed the lead of their host, she watched until they went around the corner and was no longer in sight. Interesting sort of people that were being recruited, herself was a known talented thief, something she did not think a Queen would want, well she was presuming this was all of the white queen’s work. It had not been confirmed yet.  

“I’d like to meet with our host as well.” She stated, changing her mind. The Maid was a woman with few words and she gave a slight nod before leading the way to the room the other two were in. 

“Would you like something to eat and drink miss?” 

“Yes please. Whatever the others are having will do fine.” she answered before letting herself in. It was interesting to see what others would be thinking about the whole situation. The male spoke up first and greeted her when she came into the room. 

“Hi, I’m Hansel.” he said, holding his hand out for a 
handshake, which she took. 
“Rapunzel.” she said, and then slipped her hands from his. He definitely wasn’t a baker or something along those lines because he had a stronger build than the average man. “Hello.” she said simply, holding out her hand to the other female in the room. Her name wasn’t repeated because she didn’t see any need to say it twice.
 

Wendy
​

What the goal of this visit was remained a mystery as Wendy just went wherever Hook was going. Fingers looped through Hook’s belt loop, she walked alongside her companion. It was obvious that Hook was mapping out her surroundings in her mind and she was on edge. A pesky little brat, such as Pan, always terrorizing you could make anyone jumpy. Pan was simple to take care of and Wendy would destroy anyone that brought harm to the person she cherished most. Feeling the protective gaze of her guardian on her, she looked up at Hook and flashed a genuine smile.    

“Are we here?” she questioned, standing on her tippy toes to look up the mountain of stairs that lead to the gate of the Castle’s courtyard. It looked deserted. A great hide away for that fact alone. 

“I guess so.” Hook answered as she began the climb. 

“It looks abandon.” Wendy pointed out. 

“For many centuries it has been.” Hook informed her glancing in the youngster’s direction briefly. The climb would be a cinch for her as she was pretty fit.   

She started floating in the air. Wendy was grinning from ear to ear because she saw a weary Smee looking at her direction out of the corner of her eye. Letting go, she flew high in the air to get a better view of what was to come. A dark hair woman was in the courtyard discussing something with a knight dressed in all black, his face hidden by a helmet. Not in the mood for physical labor she went to the part of the stairs, half way mark, where is plateaued. “A knight and a lady is waiting for us.” she informed the other’s excitedly. “Or at least they’re up there. I’m not sure if they’re aware of our presences.” she stated, dancing playfully while she waiting for the others to catch up.

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

"I will return shortly, until then should you need anything please feel free to stop anyone in this uniform. We would all be glad to assist you with what you'd need." Lilliana bowed her head a bit deeper before excusing herself from the room to get their meals in order. Gretel couldn't help but to follow the woman's form until it disappeared before she ended up looking around once more. Being in the castle like this was far from something she'd ever thought could happen. Let alone being waited on like so, which just left that odd feeling growing within her. It was highly doubtful she'd ever get used to such a feeling. Her attention was drawn back to the door when the woman that they had seen earlier came in to the room next along with a much quieter maid it seemed. Gretel watched as her brother started the introductions, a friendly smile growing on her face. Rapunzel seemed friendly enough so it might actually be a good sign for them. If they ended up agreeing to do the task that the queen wanted them to do.

"Gretel, it's nice to meet you." Gretel stepped forward to shake the woman's hand with a firm but gentle grip. After a moment, she let her hand slip back to her side and glanced around the room once more. Since they might be waiting a bit for whomever was going to come, she might as well be more comfortable than anything. So she pulled a chair out and sat down, resting an elbow on the table and her head in her hand. "I take it you received a letter as well. What do you make of it?" She asked Rapunzel curiously, wondering if the other woman was having internal debates as well about whether or not to offer up her services. That and Gretel was trying to be friendly and strike up the only conversation she knew to bring up. Why else were they all here except for that?

┏━━━━━━━━┓
Madam Mim
┗━━━━━━━━┛​

The wind worked well with Morgan and helped to carry her further and faster than most days. Maybe a storm was coming or it was just one of those days where luck was with her. Regardless, the castle was in sight within a few hours of when the flight first began. Instead of landing right away, Morgan began to circle the castle from high above. Her eyes were darting all over the place to take in the surroundings as well as to pinpoint anyone in particular. From what she could see, there were no guards standing outside the gates or anywhere for that matter. The place looked all but abandoned and that made it seem like the letter itself was more real. Most would think it wouldn't be but if Chernabog was real then it would be a good hideout place to be. The second circle around she noticed some people walking up the stairs of the castle; or rather two were walking and one of them was...floating? The child was indeed floating in the air and the sight made Morgan more curious about who else she would be meeting besides the Red Queen. There was another internal debate that started in her mind as she weighed her options of what to do; on the one hand, she could head home, tear up the letter, and continue life like normal. On the other, she could go down there to find out more information, which could very well lead to no more having to hide away who she really was. It was a struggle.

After a few more minutes, she finally decided to give the queen a chance and at least hear out what the woman had to say. So she angled her wings to glide down towards the courtyard and flapped her wings moments before getting to close. She landed off to the side, somewhere between the stairs where the trio was coming up and the knight and the woman were discussing something. The golden haze surrounded her body and distorted her image for all but a moment as she shifted back to her normal self. The position she was in was feral-like, being on her hands and feet in a stance that looked as though she'd pounce someone if they got too close. Her eyes darted to the trio once more, getting a better look at each of them before slowly standing up to straighten herself. Morgan said nothing though, just kept an unreadable look on her features as she turned to look at the knight and woman to her other side. They were likely the ones that knew what was going on more than the trio would...probably. She'd find out soon enough.

 

[SparkleBreaker]

Rapunzel
​

A handshake could tell a lot about the person giving it. Both were dominate, she could tell because how they had a firm one. Rapunzel’s hand was far from limp when she shook them, both giving them a gentle squeeze back. Rapunzel folded her hands in front of her once the introductions were over with. As the intros started her guide had slipped out of the room, leaving the three to mingle. Hansel had taken a seat next to his sister and was letting her do most of the talking it seemed. Taking the open seat closest and next to Gretel, she settled as the other asked her thoughts on the letter. 

“Extremely vague?” she said, adjusting her long hair that was in braids to sit on her lap, so it would not pull her head back anymore. Give her neck muscles a break from working too much. “Still not certain what they want from a thief.” she said, her reputation large around her home town of her being the female version of Robin Hood. Steal from the rich and give to the poor. Not many people of this statue would have her in their presence unless it was in a cell. A mischievous grin grew on her face as that last sentence had gotten the male’s attention. Neither had anything of value she could give to her community, nor would she target them if they had. “What do you two do?” she inquired, tapping her fingers on the table. Besides the strange look, more of surprise than concern, Hansel didn’t address the bit of information she had given. 

“We hunt witches.” he replied shortly after she asked. More so in a monotone voice that seemed to fit his personality.

“Makes a whole lot more sense why you guys are here.” she said, tapping her fingers on the table, slightly out of boredom. “Do you guys have any idea who N is?” she asked, perhaps each letter was identical and some got more information. Unlikely, but you never know in this world. 

 
​

Wendy
​

The transformation had Wendy standing there in awe as the gold hue dissipated to reveal a lady with lavender hair. The knight and lady were boring compared to the woman whom just appeared. Neither seemed to be moved or surprised by either’s abilities. 

“Wendy.” Hook growled as the youngster went closer to approach the woman. The woman with purple hair was unrecognizable, which only left Hook wondering who else was invited. “Wendy we discussed this, give people their space.” she said, a warning in her tone. Wendy was fearless or just didn’t know when there was danger. 

“Why? I’m-” Wendy stopped with the dark hair woman cut her off, glaring in her direction slightly. Earlier she had been ignoring them. But now she thought she had the right to interrupt and talk over them.   

“We weren’t quite expecting you this early. The knight will show you to the dining hall. Get you some breakfast while I’ll go get another that’ll be joining us. I really don’t want to go too in depth before the others arrive.” she informed them, before turning on her heels and leaving to get Chernabog. It was more sorts of a polite order as she wasn’t giving them other options.  They weren’t prepared for their guest, just that they didn’t expect them to arrive so soon after the letters went out.  Wrinkling her nose she snorted in the woman’s direction before turning her attention back to the lavender stranger. 

“Who are you?” she asked eagerly, ignoring the woman’s words to follow the knight, who was waiting their patiently for them to introduce one another. 

 

[pyreshadow]

┏━━━━━┓
Gretel
┗━━━━━┛​

Gretel couldn't help but chuckle with the first response of the letter. Vague was indeed the best word to describe it all things considered. It was open-ended and left so many more questions that needed to be answered. Taking a small breath, she leaned back in her chair some and took a better look at the woman beside her. More so when she mentioned being a thief, which was a surprise in itself. She seemed almost...delicate in a way, too much so to be something like a thief. Not that Gretel was judging her by any means, it just caught her a little off guard. Just like Rapunzel's hair; how was it that she was able to live the life of a thief and have so much hair? Gretel couldn't even go a week with long hair -longer than it currently was- before feeling like she was going to go crazy if it wasn't cut. Long hair wasn't something that Gretel liked but Rapunzel gave a whole new definition of long. Hansel's voice broke her train of thought when he spoke of what they did. Nice and simple, just like him; it caused a small chuckle to escape Gretel's lips before she shrugged her shoulders lightly.

"No idea. N is as vague as the letter itself, which isn't much to go off of." Gretel replied quietly, only pausing when the door opened and a maid stepped in with a tray of tea. The tray was set down and glasses placed in front of each of them before the tea was poured. As quickly as she had come, the maid bowed once her task was finished and left without a word. "Huh." Gretel kept her eye on the door for a moment until it closed before turning her attention back to Rapunzel. "I would like to think that it's the Queen herself, despite the N at the end of the letter. Between how it was written to the style of the handwriting, it just makes sense that it's someone with status. I don't know if it happened the same with you but there was a knight that dropped off the letter. A knight with the Queen's seal. It's all speculation but that's what I'm leaning towards."

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Madam Mim
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Morgan's eyes immediately drew to the child -Wendy, based on the older woman's call- when she stepped closer. At first Morgan did nothing but stare at the child with an impassive gaze. As much as she was curious about these people, she was far from ever trusting them. The woman by the knight interrupted the child from saying much more, gaining Morgan's attention as well. If she was the one to send out the invites, it surely meant she should have known some would come sooner than the others. Unless she didn't know exactly how they all were? It was a questionable thing but Morgan paid it no real mind. She was just hear to gather information for the time being until she decided whether she wanted to be a part of this or not. As the woman left, the knight stood there waiting and didn't seem at all bothered that no one had moved just yet. At least he kept his thoughts to himself so he didn't seem so snooty like the woman had. A voice close to her brought Morgan's attention instantly back to the young child near her.

"Madam Mim." Morgan replied in a soft tone since there wasn't much need to speak loudly where they were currently at. The name was an alias she used to protect her privacy, much like how hidden her home actually was. Anything to keep herself off radar so she could live how she wanted, she did. "And who might you and your...lovely companions be?" She heard the child's name already but it might end up better to play nice. Though her nice was still a bit sarcastic as her eyes went from the older woman to the smaller man trailing behind them. He seemed oddly out of place compared to the other two but perhaps there was a reason for that.