tale of a witch

Hey! Everyone's gathering by the campfire- I should join them to see what's going on over there!

That was the thought that made Duskie run off towards a crowd of other Faians, all looking at another, wiser-looking Faian who was facing the fire.

Before Duskie could ask what they were all gathering about, the wiser-looking Faian spoke. "There was once a witch." 

The witch's species was unknown. She stood up on two legs, a pale-skinned creature with minor bits of black fur on her arms and legs- and a long flowing tress of black fur stemming from her head.

So... a human? This witch was a human?

She had two black feathered wings, and she rode on a broomstick throughout the night, spreading sorrow and despair everywhere she went. She harvested the hope that the fallen had shed, and discarded them once there was no more hope for her to reap.

But those who were truly unlucky... were those whose despair was so strong that she could use it to trap them inside a prison made of their own fears meant to torment them for eternity.

The witch had sealed eight people, two of each species within these prisons, when suddenly, a ruptour wearing a frilly dress and having a kunai for a tail appeared, eyes shining bright. "I won't let you do this!" She yelled out, and called upon her Fae magic. "MAGICAL SPARKLE BURST!"

It's at this point Duskie bursts into laughter, and the elder chuckles. "Indeed, it sounds silly, doesn't it?"

The witch hissed, flying off, but the eight people were not yet unsealed. Using her Fae magic allowed the ruptour to break into the prisons, however...

"I deserve this."

"Are you kidding? I'll never be free of this."

"Just leave me alone."

Not one of the eight people accepted her paw- all convinced that the witch's prison was their just desserts, or that it was their fate to be left suffering for eternity.

But she couldn't leave them like that- couldn't leave them stewing in their own guilt and fears. So she went off to find reasons that she could use to convince them to leave their prisons.

She found out that one of the candle noodles made one of the children their new favorite plushie, that another candle noodle was grateful to one of the ruptours for saving her from a terrible monster. She found that the two lumendras had teamed up together to bake cookies for a party, and that everyone remembered those cookies fondly, and that one of the tortuvinas had given wisdom that saved a ruptour's life, and that the other tortuvina had brought a new family tradition into a lumendra family.

And then she went to the prisoners and she told them what she had learned. She told them that they had done good in their lives, that by their interactions with others they had changed the world for the better, and that they didn't even know it until she came over and told them such. Each prisoner gasped, eyes widening, as they realized that it was better out there than in here, and that that 'better' was something that they could have, that it wasn't just dangled in front of them like a taunting candy, mocking them with it's rich flavors.

One by one, each prisoner left their prisons. And when the witch came to reap more hope from the world, the sight of her prisoners, freed from their cages, made her go still from shock.

In that moment of weakness, the ruptour cast her final strike. "By the powers of love, magic, and light, I banish you- MAGICAL FAERIE BLAST!" A ball of light struck the witch, and when it faded, she- and her horrible reign- was no more.

Whoa... so cool... Duskie thinks, eyes wide with wonder and amazement.

"You're going to practice your corny-sounding attacks after this, aren't you?"

Maybe. But... I wanna listen to more stories, so!  Not right now!

"Let's see if there's any more stories, first."

Duskie turns to see many other campfires and many other Faians, and he looks around, looking for one that seems like a good fit...

"Duskie, they're stories, not swords. You can-"

BUT WHAT IF I MISS A REALLY GOOD ONE!?

"Duskie-"

What if they make one that's almost like it's made to appeal to all three of us but we miss it and we-

"- Don't realize we missed it, so life goes on as usual."

... I was going to say 'feel empty about it forever..' Duskie's ears perked at the sound of another story... something about "Smokin' Joe"?