#chapter 004; threads

Ren had been eager to meet with all of the witches, to share what she had learned and begin crafting the witches into a formidable team.  The fire witches brought a certain curiosity, given what she’d read in her grimoire the month leading up to now. With a resurrection on the horizon she thought it best to prepare with what she already knew. She’d been sure to welcome Belén with smiles, and at the waiting campfire.  Now, she was arranging logs.

“Someone mentioned you’d been gone a while - why is this?” She spoke over her shoulder, arranging newspaper and log by the setting sunlight.  “That’s not something I ask with judgement, obviously.  I’m latest of all to this party. Just curious.”  Pointedly, she left the first unlit, dusting her hands off and sitting beside the woman.

When the zombie witch had adjourned her meeting, Ren had seen the moment as a chance to seek conversation with the fellow witches of this coven. She’d shaken hands, offered supportive smiles where needed and, most importantly, been sure to tell them all where to find her. It seemed abundantly clear from the topic of conversation that the majority of these girls were ill prepared for magic. She could fix that.  She’d taken special care to invite both Zel and Marina to practice with her, going so far as to mention spells to both witches that she had improved. Now she jogged down her Skoolie’s steps, dressed in bra and leggings to work.

“I wasn’t sure you’d come,” Ren says with a smile, genuine when she said as much. “With all the flack Gen’s house was receiving, I worry about bringing anyone to my traveling abode.” It was a farce, having set her camp quite nicely.  Lights hung off her moving home and she’d brought a traveling fire pit out with a hammock to mark her space. “Do you want to rip right into it or..?”

The fire witches had eluded her thus far.  Belém had proven a close lipped and fickle woman, turning tail despite Ren’s open eagerness to share. She was more willing to give Lucrezia a pass, but the resurrected witch seemed keen to act as though Ren did not exist.  Which left Ofelia, the first to greet her when she’d arrived and perhaps the most personable, if aloof.  She’d wanted the girl at her camp since they’d met and it seemed, given the climate post séance, this was as good a time as any.

“If it isn’t miss Ofelia.” The name sounds far less regal with her accent, a southern belle  affectation given to the classic name.  Ren manages to tumble from her trailer with an element of grace. Her excitement is tempered, noting the conflict in her fellow witches gaze.  “Don’t look too down, ma belle. I’ve readied some fun to share with you.”

Fixing the cotton jacket over her shoulders, she waves the witch to come join her.  “Find yourself a spot. I’ve got ma own things laid out for ya here.” The words are accompanied by a gesture to the table, a blue tinted grimoire on the table. “Well wash away all this madness.”

When it came to training with the other witches, Ren had healthily defaulted to her own home.  The camp was more secluded than homes in town, if only slightly, and she was eager to show the women exactly where she made her home.  When it came to practicing with the fellow water witch, visiting her home seemed best.  There was a similar sense of seclusion but - and this was key - Ren was not a fan of leaving the property untended while a hunter squatted there. 

“Thanks for having me,” she nods, raising a lazy hand in greeting.  “Is the rat in your shed causing any trouble yet or behaving?” open toe sandals crunch on the ground as she taps the grimoire in her hands. “If not - he may like a demonstration? There’s a spell or two I wanted to see ya try. Admire your flair.”

"So, I have some thoughts.” The grimoire was laid out on a renovated picnic table, shaded by a pull out canopy off of Ren’s bus. Cleo sat there, a pleasant enough participant after the invitation.  She’d thought the fire witches revival would have prompted more stir among the coven but it seemed many of them were as eager to run from the revived as they were to hold her.  To Ren, Cleo was frail.  As the Dark witch had said, they could not be weak. 

“I bookmarked a few select spells ta work on, based on that little talk we had back at Gen’s. ” she spoke with excitement, moving her fingers quickly to point as she explained.  “There is a protection spell, a shield and something a little more offensive riiiiiiight....here!” Her finger stamped in punctuation on the page. “They’re all options that, according to my ambitious predecessor, believed required earth magic for strength.  So- tell me which of these skills ya feel strongest in and we’ll move from there? I’d prefer working on something offensive - see if we can adapt it so you can even cast alone but-” Ren shrugged, “I’m open to ideas.”