He froze. Only his eyes flitted around, searching the area for potential threats. His free hand reached for his sword as he turned his head slightly. He was alone, or so it seemed. When leaves and small pieces of bark rained down on him he raised his gaze only to find someone clinging to a branch a bit above his head, arms and legs wrapped around the creaking wood, the fabric of a skirt close enough so he could have touched it if he reached out. 

Even without seeing the face of that treehugger he knew who it was. He remembered the skirt, the bodice and the brown braids dangling from above. 

“Must be spring, there are blossoms on the trees.” 

When he didn’t get an answer he put the waterskin away and turned to stand right under her. 

“What are ya doin’ up there, blossom? Enjoyin’ the view?” He found himself rather pleased with his own view, her calves exposed and the fair skin her thighs visible when the skirt billowed slightly. 

“I was - just trying to gather some mistletoe. Can you turn around so I can climb back down?” Her voice was strained and the way her arms trembled, sending more showers of small leaves his way, gave her request a certain urgency. 

“Nah, lemme give ya a hand. Just swing your legs over and hold on with your arms, I’ll grab your hips.” This encounter was an unexpected perk of his hunt; she was an amusing change to the people he usually dealt with. 

But she was also stubborn. Only slowly she followed his instructions, first she dropped one leg, allowing it to dangle in front of his face while she clung to the branch with both arms before she swung the other leg downwards. Tora had to duck away to not get kicked in the face, but that made it only more interesting. She was a feisty one, that much he knew. Once she stayed still enough he reached up, both his hands on her hips he braced himself to carry her weight fully. 

“Now let go, blossom. I got ya.” 

She half fell, half slid until he could wrap one arm around her waist, the other holding her just under her backside. Her skirt had ridden up and he could feel the warmth of her skin through his clothes. His mouth went dry. This was new. Soft curves pressed against his firm chest had never interested him this much. He exhaled and put on a smirk as he looked at her face.

“Where’s your mind wanderin’ to, blossom? Ya blushing.” Her feet still dangled in the air, her eyes widened while her face flushed further. Both her hands rested on his shoulders, fingertips digging into his clothes. He loosened his grip just enough so she could  lide down his body until her feet touched the ground. 

“You are imagining things. It’s just from climbing that tree.” She puffed out her cheeks and fixed her skirts, plucking some leaves off her clothes. 

“What are you doing here? Still hunting?” 

She peered up to him, sprinkles of sunlight in her eyes.

“Followin’ a trail.” 

“Your trails seem to bring you back to Moonbright a lot lately,” she remarked as he leaned down to pick up the abandoned shoe. He couldn’t afford to get distracted, this was the first solid lead of the day. He had work to do.

The village still promised no clues; the cobbler only confirmed what Tora already knew. The shoe didn’t belong to any of the villagers nor had it been made by the local cobbler.

He wandered around just long enough to run into Poppy who had finished her visit. He invited himself to her next stop, she was heading into the same direction after all. They chatted, Tora still trying to make sense of her. A strange girl, living on her own in the middle of a forest, helping people left and right and yet not a part of the community. What was her agenda? She didn’t strike him as dangerous or malicious, unlike others he had met before. Over the years Tora had gained a good understanding of how people thought, what evil deeds they plotted while smiling sweetly. He couldn’t see any trace of scheming or ulterior motive in her face or in her eyes.  

“Ya must be a nice one, visitin’ sick neighbors and takin’ care of people gettin’ hurt in the woods.” His casual comment made her pause. She tilted her head and squinted as she looked at him. 

“Do you think that’s strange?” 

Strange, she asked. He huffed a small laughter. Unusual for sure, but strange? 

“Blossom, I’ve seen some strange shit in my life. This is a nice reprieve to my usual days.” 

“You mean, as a hunter you have seen strange things already? All kinds of rare beasts?” 

She blushed when he caught her sharp gaze and looked down briefly. 

No malice, for sure, but that didn’t mean she was simple or gullible. “A clever girl is the most dangerous,” he answered, choosing not to deny nor to confirm anything. It was always easier to let the people fill the gaps in his stories on their own; it told him a lot about them and saved him the effort of coming up with a lie. 

“Good thing I’m neither,” she chirped and turned to continue on her path. 

Heading directly to the same house he did, she kept her steps light and her head high. An odd one, he had to admit, but not nearly as annoying as most people. Like those villagers staring at him. Tora glared back until they turned away or scuttled off.

At the small house Poppy stopped and turned to face him. 

“This is it. So if you-” 

Tora reached out and knocked, ignoring the surprise on Poppy's face and how she ducked her head. He didn’t care about the prying eyes, he couldn’t even rule out that no one had recognized him. 

“Joseph! Get out here!” 

He would wait for Poppy after his talk with Joseph, for now though he needed some more answers.

“A shoe?” 

Joseph stared at the fancy footwear. “Have you seen it before?” 

Tora shook his head. “Nay. Could be a good sign, though. Means I haven’t seen that guy sneaking around Quince before without gettin’ suspicious.” And since it wasn’t Goliath’s shoe, Tora could keep telling himself his brother wasn’t involved. 

“You cannot be around Lord Quincey all the time,” Joseph reminded Tora and handed the shoe back. 

“I gotta. ‘s my job.” With a nod Tora tucked the shoe away and got up from the stool. “Lemme know if ya learn anything new. I’m gonna search the forest some more.” 

“Hey, that girl…” Joseph started, rubbing the back of his neck. 

“Yeah?” Tora’s voice dropped to a mild warning. Joseph squared his shoulders and raised his chin. 

“She’s a good child. Didn’t exactly have an easy life so far, but I would vouch for her. Kind and helpful. Whatever it is you may suspect her of, she wouldn’t harm anyone. Ever.” 

“Good to know.” A last wave and Tora headed outside to wait for the good, harmless child.

“Ready to go, blossom?”  

Barely acknowledging him, Poppy marched past him, towards the edge of the village. She was probably still pissed he hadn’t told her who he was, but he had shown her the Balthuman crest and had told her he was a hunter in Lord Vincent’s service. Hell, if he had to spell it out for her she wasn’t as clever as he had thought. 

“Somethin’ wrong? Is the old hag that sick?” He remembered Alice; one summer Joseph had taken him back so the growing boy could spend some time away from the castle where he had only gotten into trouble. Lord Vincent had allowed it, of course, while he traveled the domain with Quincey in some official business. 

Tora followed Poppy, like a repellant he kept the curious stares and bothersome greetings of the villagers away. 

Her steps only slowed down once they reached the forest; she sucked in a deep breath, her shoulders slumping. Like when Tora left the throne room. Or the dungeon. 

Giving her some space he waited until the village was out of sight before he addressed her again.

She deflected, asking about his connection to Joseph instead of telling him what had bothered her, but he didn’t pry. She had no reason to trust him and he had no right to expect the truth while keeping his own secrets. Joseph’s word was only confirming what Tora had figured on his own. 

A sound from further away alarmed him; he stopped and held Poppy back when she continued walking, his hand on her arm not allowing her to budge. She stared at him, tilted her head ever so slightly. He could tell the exact moment when she heard it, too. Her eyes widened and she paled, her gaze flitting around, looking for an escape route. 

The voice came closer and Tora realized it wasn’t one, but two people walking into their direction. A man and a woman, arguing. He relaxed, this wasn’t related to his case. Only Poppy tensed up further the more seconds ticked by. She grabbed his arm and pulled him off the path, towards some bushes and thick undergrowth. After his night in the forest he wasn’t too keen on crawling through the greenery once more, but her urgency made him swallow his protests and questions. He followed her and crouched down behind some thick, lush bushes, staying completely still, an art he had mastered years ago. 

From the conversation he figured this was a couple. And that the guy was a jerk, belittling the woman who was caught between crying and whining. Very annoying. 

He didn’t care about the conversation; those people were strangers and had nothing to do with him or his target. But Poppy had curled up into a small bundle, head low and shoulders straight. Sitting on the ground, hugging her knees tightly he could see the faint trembling in the curve of her back. Anger? Fear? It was hard to tell with how she hid her face, but her hands were curled into fists, the knuckles white.

Once the couple had passed Tora waited a handful of heartbeats before he forced his way back through the bushes. He wouldn’t crawl on all fours, not in a damned forest, not unless he was close to dying. He wasn’t one to kneel.

She stayed behind so Tora pushed some of the branches away to check on her.

“Ya doin’ alright, blossom?”

He had to call her name twice before she cussed and scrambled back on the path.

“Ha! No. But I will be, don’t worry.” She dusted off her clothes, avoiding his gaze.

“Ya know them?”

She scoffed, the patches of red on her cheeks, neck and the part of her cleavage he could see so different to the faint blush from earlier. Not as pretty as when the blood rose to her face out of embarrassment.

“This is a tiny village, I know everyone who lives here.” The bitterness in her voice told him what she didn’t put into words. She didn’t like them.

With both arms crossed in front of his chest he stared into the direction they had vanished.

„That was – the man I was engaged with.“

Judging by how her voice broke the end of their betrothal didn’t lie very far in the past. It wasn’t his business and with any other person, he wouldn’t bother asking. But his mouth had let the: “Was engaged with?” slip before he could hold the words back. 

“You heard him, I’m just some silly girl believing everything he says. So if he says I have to break up with him, that’s what I have to do, isn’t it?” She rubbed her eyes and face, brushed her hair back and inhaled deeply. 

“Yeah? Ya can break up, sure, but I would break him somethin’ on top.” He had barely listened to the previous conversation but he gathered enough from Poppy’s rage now. Anger made people talk.  

Agitated as she was, she offered to show him around the forest some more. Distraction, maybe. Or she wanted to avoid that this guy and his lover came back and found her in her home. Either way, with a guide he could probably find more in the forest, even if all the traces were gone already. He followed her, an idea tickling his mind. 

“Not goin’ to take care of that scumbag?” It wasn’t even an offer to help, just idle chatting. At least that was what he would say if anyone asked. 

She shook her head and bit her bottom lip. “No, I think I let them stew a bit. Time is on my side with this one.” 

Since she didn’t seem to have a clear goal on their little walk, he motioned in a certain direction, where he suspected the spot where his target had vanished. She nodded and took the lead. 

“Why’s that?” As long as he kept her talking she wouldn’t pay too much attention to their path. 

She huffed a dry chuckle. “Because I’m the midwife in this village, and the woman he was with came to me the other day. She is pregnant.”