She's a witch! Burn her! (Candira and sjdude)

Jessica sighed. It had been a few months since she'd been forced to move into the woods. She was just getting used to her new surroundings, learning which animals were friendly and which needed persuasion to leave her alone, getting to know the cats around the wooded area and forming alliances with them. It was quite a tiring business for the witch to have uprooted herself and settle down again. Still, she had more access to fresh herbs here. Thus far, she'd had no visitors, something she was quite proud of...but she was also very lonely. With a sigh, she set about making her stew, cutting vegetables and meat to go into the cauldron-esque pot she had.

Jessica was a fairly easy person to pick out in a crowd. For a woman, she was fairly tall--a good 5'8''. Her hourglass figure was noticeable in any room and her red hair only made her more conspicuous. It was a good move, coming to the woods. Here, there were no people with torches that wanted to kill her for doing NOTHING. Here there were no drunken men to try to grope her. It was nice...but lonely. Aside from the cats, she didn't really have anyone to talk to, and it was sad.

William had considered himself a man loyal to country, crown, and church. He wished he hadn't. For all his patriotism and faith, he had been levied into His Majesty's army. And he had ended up being placed in a local patrol. He was the son of an inkeeper by heritage. He came from farmer's stock on his mother's side, and this lent him a tall figure, nearly 6'1". He had dark hair, dark eyes, and a muscular build, all things that had led to him being considered a prime draftee.

Rumor had it that witches lived in a nearby wood, and they were to hunt for the witches and slay the vile creature. William had never seen a witch before. In fact, he had only heard the common place old wives' tales about them and their bespelling powers.

He wasn't sure what to believe, but he had been told what to do. So he did it. However, the woods were mischievous places, ones where things could easily go wrong. He had gotten separated from his troop, and was on one of any number of identical roads in the forest. In the thick foilage, he didn't even see that the tree stump that had blocked his foot and tripped him. He had fallen off the path, his light leather armor doing nothing to protect him from the fall as he tumbled down and felt several of his bones break. He gasped in pain, and tried to rise. However, William could not move at all. His body seemed to have gave away.

A soft looking white cat mewed softly as she saw the man trapped. Despite the fact that the forest was alive with men just like him, the cat knew that the witch wouldn't want to just leave him, and so the cat scampered off, heading straight for Jessica to tell her the news.

When the redhead heard what had happened she donned her Green cloak and sped out to the place the cat described, a basket of herbs in hand. She rushed to the site, the man pinned under the tree. She called a number of animals to her aid to free the man while she stayed in the shadows. Once the animals were gone, she appeared. "Hello?" she called. "Are you hurt?" She knew the answer, but that was just fine.

William had wondered what the cat was doing around here. Such creatures usually stayed around cities, or were eaten by usually much nastier things. But the cat seemed oddly at home here, it seemed. And it ran off, as if getting something. A tamed cat, here? The concept was oddly strange.

It had been not too long before William saw animals actually clear away some of the foliage around him. It confused him surely, for he did not know animals could have the capacity for any such thing. He heard a woman’s voice. “I believe so!” He called back. “Please, get help!” William tried moving his now-freed limbs, but found them either shattered or weak.

Jessica rushed to him kneeling at his side. "I am a healer," she said softly. "Please, tell me where you're hurt so that I may help you." Her hood covered her face and hid her hair from sight, but she could see perfectly well. She whispered something and picked up one of her herbs.

William felt the voice drag him away from the haze that had been coming over him. "My legs..." He replied in a gritty voice. He knew for a fact he could not move them, and his arms still had feeling in them. "And my chest. Thank you, healer. I am-" He coughed. "I am in your debt."

"Now, don't waste your breath on such trivial things," she said softly. "I'll ask questions and you may answer." Jessica didn't want to hear anything about debt, though if he was who she thought he was, there would be trouble. She examined his legs to find that they were, indeed broken. The herb she'd enchanted went into a small bowl. She pulled another and chanted over it to heal the other leg. "Please forgive me," she said, "but I must remove the armor on your chest to see what is wrong." That said she splinted both of his legs and removed the armor from his chest, sliding up the material that was underneath it to get a better idea of what was wrong. "Now then...where does it hurt on your chest?"

"Here," Slowly, William raised an arm and placed his hand on his ribs. He coughed again, finding breathing hard. He didn't know why, knowing little of the strange business of healers and the body. "Do you know if you can do anything for it?" He asked. He felt a little fear in himself, like any sane man, of wounds and such.

"I think so," she said softly. "But it will take time to heal. I'll try to dull the pain for you, but even I cannot heal you that quickly. She chanted over another herb before grinding them into a paste and holding it to his lips. "Please, lick this. Try, if you can to drink it. I had no time to gather water today," she said. "But if you find the strength to help me walk you there, I can take you to my dwelling where you may rest and heal in safety, " she said.

William lifted his head up, lapping up the paste. He stopped after a moment. "It tastes disgusting," He murmured, but then reasoned that like any medicine it would probably taste terrible. He continued to lap up the paste, finding it helping him. "I...I think I may be able to walk just a little." William felt the pain slowly drift from his legs. "May I have your name, healer?"