Written by :  Hansiniii

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The leaves under his feet crunched as Ashwin walked through the forest, searching. The trees majestically stood with arms knotted.The foliage became thick and lush, forming an arch of fairytale-green above our heads. Arthritic boughs, gnarled with age, dripped their bounty of nuts onto the path. Briars, brambles and berry trees flanked the trail, making it impenetrable on either side. Shuffling noises came from deep in the interior, deadened by the cunningly woven web of leaves.

Ashwin's sharp eyes looked for any hint of a witch. Upon hearing a movement of a human's feet, he reached out for a poisoned arrow from the quiver on his back and aimed for the place from which the sound came. He moved slowly towards the sound, careful to not make any noise.

As he cleared a branch, there stood a woman in her mid twenties, examining a plant with close attention. She wore a white dress, her hair flowing around. She looked like any other normal woman, but she had a strong and sweet aura.

Suddenly he felt something move beside him, but when he turned, it turned out to be a squirrel. He turned his attention back to the woman with his bow raised, but the woman was gone!

"You're a hunter aren't you? Andha maan ah pudikanum ah? Naa ungalukku help panren, but ithu thaan last time. Neenga inime animals ah hunt panna koodathu. Inga irukkara animals ellame endangered, so please let this be the last." She said, looking at him with earnest eyes.

The woman looked ethereal. She had eyes like a doe, and she emitted a different glow from within. Not an inhumanly glow, a charismatic glow. It was captivating.

"Uhh, naa maan pudikka varala" Ashwin said, not knowing how to respond.

"Ohh appo andha puli ah va? By the way, en peru Sivaangi! Unga peru?" She asked, starting to move forward, signalling him to follow her.

"Umm, en peru Ashwin. Enga porom?"

"Ennoda veetukku. The city is far from here, so you must be tired. Have some refreshments before you continue your work." She skipped forward happily.

Ashwin did not understand. She was not like the ones he was used to. He did not talk with them, he straightaway killed them. The only one who he saw talking killed his family. Right in front of his eyes.

He was around 15 at the time. He was on a vacation in a similar forest with his and his friends' families. Him, Pugazh, and Rakshan. They were the best of friends, till date. On that fateful day, the boys had gone to pick firewood when they heard a blast from their campsite. They ran towards them, but a woman with a cruel expression on her face stood before the unconscious bodies of the parents. She had a stick in her hand and when she saw the boys, she laughed and vanished. That was the last he saw of the woman. The only parent who managed to escape was Rakshan's mother.

She took the boys under her wing from then. They all lived together from then and studied together. After studies, they all took upon hunting down witches and killed them. They wanted to avenge the death of their families.

His thoughts were interrupted when Sivaangi pulled out a stick, probably her wand, and opened the door of a house. The stone cottage looked cosy. Small plants adorned the garden.

"Welcome to my humble home!" Sivaangi led the way through the door. Ashwin was in awe. The place was simple yet beautiful. Two needles knitted by themselves, while a broomstick cleaned the floor. Witchcraft.

Sivaangi noticed Ashwin looking at the self cleaning broomstick. "Ayyo naa solla marandhuten. I'm a witch. I have magic in my blood. Naa neraya peru kitta solla koodadhu, but unga kitta sollanum nu thonudhu."

Ashwin did not know what to reply. He was like that, shy and awkward. When he was asked what he wanted, he chose coffee.

"Aama, how many days are you staging in the forest?" Sivaangi asked, while she sipped a peculiar drink.

"Theriyala. Naa vantha velai ah mudichitu pogara maari plan dhaan" He was unsure of his plan now. Sivaangi definitely was a witch. The witch he had seen had killed his parents. She did not seem to be the killing type. She was a soft soul. But he couldn't be so sure. Afterall, her kind were responsible for Ashwin being an orphan. He was here on a mission.

"Eppo vela mudiyum?"

"Theriyala."

"Adhu varaikkum enga stay panna poringa?" Sivaangi inquired.

"Theriyadhu."

Sivaangi narrowed her eyes. "Are you focused on giving me the same answer?"

Ashwin laughed. A carefree, heartfelt laughter that made her heart flip.

"Ingaye stay pannunga." She said with a finality that Ashwin couldn't argue with.

"Vendam naa vera-" he tried to protest.

"Indha forest la endha hotel um illa. If you want to stay outdoors with 25 tigers and more wild animals, sure!"

"Tigers!?"

"Bayam irukku la? Just stay here." She finished the last of her drink and stood up to clear it away.

****

After a hilarious cooking session, where Sivaangi kept levitating things which collided with Ashwin's head, both of them called it a day and went to bed.

Ashwin tossed and turned, thinking of the conversation he had with Sivaangi during dinner. Seems, she was here for the past 7 years, trying to find a medicine that needed rare herbs. She had said that her parents had found the herbs here, but they had returned back home which she didn't explain where, and she had been assigned with the job to continue researching about it.

But one thing was a puzzle to Ashwin. She did not look like a person who would kill random mortals. Heck, she did not look like a person who would kill anyone.

She was funny, witty, beautiful, and basically everything that Ashwin found desirable.

Part of Ashwin wanted to go and continue avenging the death of his family, but the other part, the soft one, did not want him to kill her. The soft part had grown to like her. It was amazed, amazed at how outgoing and fun she was.

Still, his wounds were unhealed. She is one of the kind of people that had killed his parents. That gave him the strength to go to her room with a knife.

He looked at her sleeping form facing the other side. This was it. He was going to stab her, and leave. It was what he did all these years, aim an arrow at the witch, shoot when they are unguarded, leave. But why was it hard this time? Has he grown too soft?

He shook his head. No. He has to finish what he started.

He raised his knife, closed his eyes and-

BOOM. The floor in front of him blasted, throwing him backwards. There sat Sivaangi holding out her wand with a cold, betrayed look on her face.

****

Sivaangi had trusted him. He was cute.

If you call standing over you with a knife ready to stab you cute, sure!, her mind chided.

But all of that was before she saw him ready to murder her in her sleep. She assumed he would be the soft, caring person, but guess what? Assume makes an ass of u and me, get it?

Great, she was making jokes now.

She focused on Ashwin, who was trying to stand up. She pointed the wand at him, and said, "I trusted you. I still don't understand why you would do that! What did I do to you?"

She took the knife away, checked him for any other weapons and conjured a rope to tie him up. She looked for any wounds, but found only minor injuries. She could heal them before you could say 'Witchcraft'.

"Sorry" was what he could manage, although it did not cover even a small part of what he wanted to say.

"Well," she shrugged. "A sorry can't change the fact that you were a second close to killing me."

"I know, and I'm very very sorry. Ennala justify panna mudiyadhu yenna naa pannathu thappu."

"Why would you do that?", she whispered.

Ashwin gulped, wondering if he could say the whole story to her. And he did.

When he was done, Sivaangi asked, "Neenga sonna andha witch oda features describe panna mudiyuma?"

"Uhh she had a pale, cruel face, and she wore a dark dress. She didn't have a glow, unlike you." Ashwin explained, trying to remember more of that fateful night.

"Witch of Death." she said.

"Huh?"

"Witch of Death. She chooses which mortals die when, which way. She sometimes makes mortals acquire death by sending an illness, sometimes manipulates another mortal to kill the target. Basically, she is the reason behind every mortal's death. After her, her child will take the spot."

This was news to Ashwin. "So there are different witches for different things?"

"Yep! Vera enna nenachinga? That all witches have the same powers? All witches kill and do evil things like shown in movies? No, we're much better than that."

"Enakku indha vishyam laam theriyadhu maa." Ashwin was feeling helpless. He had murdered lots of witches without this piece of knowledge. None of them had anything to do with his parents' death.

"Clearly. Oru kola pannra munnadi enna panrom nu yosikka vendama?"

Ashwin looked down. "Neenga? Witch of?"

"Naa innum oru full witch aagala. Until my mom resigns, I will be just a kid with magical blood."

"Your mom?"

"Witch of Wisdom."

"Enakku puriyala. I don't understand. Only female children of witches can have magic blood? What about male children?"

"There are a lot of universes. Male children are trained and sent to other universes. Wizard of wisdom, wizard of death, wizard of love, ellame! Greek mythology maari. Aana inga yaarum kadavul illa and yaarum immortal illa. Avlo thaan."

"So, how does magical reproduction work?" Ashwin adjusted his tied up hands to a more comfortable position. Sivaangi sat down, realising this explanation will take a long time.

"So, when a witch and wizard mate, their child has a talent of its own. But, when a witch or wizard mates with a mortal, the child inherits the same talent. Puridha?"

"Ohh puriyudhu. And, Sivaangi maa, kattu kalati vidu please!"

"You must have thought about that before trying to kill me. Puli ku saapada ungala podala nu sandhosha padunga." She got up and went into a room that he never noticed before. He must have not noticed it because it was so small that it was practically invisible.

Ashwin sighed. It was a mistake. Everything he did, along with Pugazh and Rakshan, was a mistake. He understood that now. He couldn't understand his feelings for Sivaangi either. He had aimed an arrow at her, had coffee with her, cooked with her, tried to stab her and had a huge conversation with her while being tied up, all within 24 hours. Surprisingly, he liked her. She was a breath of fresh air. It might be astonishing to anyone who hears this, but the Ashwin who steered clear of women? That Ashwin saying he likes this girl?

He had another problem approaching. Rakshan and Pugazh would come into the forest searching for him if he does not come back within 24 hours. How is he going to notify them that he is fine? He certainly can't do anything tied up, but he could relate to Sivaangi. He would not have handled it this softly if someone did the same to him. He wouldn't have thought twice before throwing them out of the place.

But she let him stay here. She tied him up, but she gave him a roof above his head while there were wild animals outside. He couldn't understand why she would do that to a murderer.

She was the daughter of the Witch of Wisdom, afterall. Her every move must have been well planned and well executed. He might have a crush on her.

He chuckled while thinking about Pugazh and Rakshan's reaction when he tells them about having a crush on the witch he came hunting for.

***

Sivaangi opened the door to the workshop. She liked to call it her workshop as she was there all day, trying to make medicine work with different ratios of different herbs. She took out the latest herb, which she had found yesterday.

Her mind wandered. It was 3 in the morning. She saw him around 12 hours ago. With a bow and arrow. She had thought he was aiming for a deer, but now she realised that the deer would have been her.

So much for being the daughter of the Witch of Wisdom.

Surprisingly, she didn't feel any hatred towards Ashwin. Infact, she didn't understand what she was feeling at all. She did not know how to feel about him. Sure, she had a crush on him when she saw him, but she didn't know if she was allowed to crush on a man who tried to kill her.

Sivaangi couldn't concentrate. She was sleepy. She went outside, saw Ashwin sitting against the wall with closed eyes, and went into her room to sleep. She fell asleep instantly.

Suddenly she was woken up by Ashwin calling for her. She stretched and went outside. He was sitting in the same place when she saw him last night. At least she could take credit for knowing how to tie a person properly.

"Katti podra munnadi oru manushan oda basic needs pathi yosichiya? I need water." Ashwin called.

"Irunga varen." She summoned a glass of water, kept the glass beside his mouth and tipped slightly, pouring the water into his mouth.

After drinking water, Ashwin found the strength to talk. "Eppo enna kalati vida pora?"

"Theriyadhu. When I can be sure that you're not going to kill me."

"A person who wants to kill you so badly won't sit silently tied up all night."

"I guess you have a point. Where will you go?" She asked, with concern in her eyes.

The deep care in her eyes scared Ashwin. Scared about what they could feel within 24 hours. Scared of forgetting each other after all this is over.

"Veetukku poven." he replied, unable to meet her eyes. He couldn't say 'home'.

His eyes widened. His definition of home had changed. No way.

"Okay" Sivaangi replied and sat down beside him, looking down. She did not know what she was feeling. She had a lot of fun the day before. After a long time, she had got someone to actually talk to. It felt good. It felt really good.

To be very honest, she did not want him to go. She was selfish. She liked him. But he clearly didn't. That's pretty obvious when he wanted to kill her 6 hours ago.

"And I forgot to tell you, en friends enna thedi vandhuruvaanga. They might have already started."

"Avangalukku neenga vandha forest epdi theriyum?" Sivaangi asked, when it dawned upon her. "You guys are doing it together aren't you? You kill witches together?"

Ashwin looked down, confirming her suspicions. "Explain it to them please. You're killing innocents. Ivlo naal pannadhu irukkatum. Inime pannadhinga please!"

"Panna maaten. I promise." He said, looking into her eyes.

Sivaangi sighed and got up. She magically got rid of the ropes. Ashwin got up and stretched.

"That stuff is amazing!" He pointed at Sivaangi's wand.

"What did you think? That Harry Potter was all fiction?"

****

There was no phone signal for calling Pugazh and Rakshan to let them know that Ashwin was okay. Obviously, said Sivaangi, we're in a forest.

Sunlight poured inside the cottage. There was an ethereal beauty to the sunlight, as if a layer of tinted filtering had been added in the sky. Everything was in honeyed tones, beautiful and soothing.

Ashwin wondered if he could confess to her. It was a wonder she was still talking to him without throwing him out of the place. He wished Pugazh and Rakshan were here to give him advice. He needed it most now.

He looked for Sivaangi, who had disappeared a few minutes ago. He heard talking from the small room which he had seen last night.

He slightly pushed open the door and found Sivaangi messing around with leaves and instruments he'd never seen before. He knocked on the door before walking in with his hands in his pockets. "Enna panra?" He asked, going around sniffing.

Sivaangi looked up at him and then back at one particular instrument that looked like a test tube, but slightly modified? It was filled with green goo. "Check with me before touching something. Poisonous plant ah thottutu edhavadhu aagiruchu na naa thaan kaapathanum." She said before going back to her green goo.

Ashwin nodded and went around the room looking at all the interesting plants. He asked before touching anything, and every single time was a nod. He wanted to smell some sort of a blue potion, and as she nodded for everything else, he just went ahead and smelled it.

It smelled like cow and horse stables put together, so the smell made him gag. It made him dizzy as well.

Sivaangi turned around when she heard Ashwin clutch at the work table harshly, and found him having trouble standing. She called his name while trying to pull him out of the room. She levitated him into the guest room and made him lie down. She went back to the room to find out what he touched. As it seemed, he had smelled the potion she had made to kill the monstrous mosquitos.

She knew what to do, but he would feel weary for sometime after the medicine. She made the appropriate medicine and went back into the room.

She found Ashwin semi conscious. Ashwin could barely keep his eyes open. Sivaangi looked into his eyes while giving him the medicine. She could see through his thoughts, which meant he was vulnerable at the moment. She couldn't help looking at the chocolate orbs, which also showed his best and worst moments.

She knew not to look at people's thoughts, but controlling it was very hard. She had stopped from doing it to Ashwin from the time she met him, but now, his eyes let it all out. She couldn't stop.

She saw the Witch of Death standing over corpses, which should be his parents. The scene shifted, and she saw a young Ashwin with two other boys around his age, which should be the friends he mentioned. The scene shifted as he walked through a forest, with his bow and quiver. He stopped and aimed at a woman, who Sivaangi guessed as the former Witch of Fire. She used to love going to her place when she was a child.

The scene shifted again, and she saw herself. She looked different in his eyes, not like what she saw in the mirror. She concentrated more, and the scene shifted again. This time, it was when he was tied up. He was saying, I like her. I like Sivaangi. But she'll never like me back.

Suddenly she could see no more. She looked down. Ashwin likes her? She couldn't believe it. Ashwin, Witch hunter, liked her, a witch. Was the world coming to an end?

'This is it', she said to herself. 'Tell him before he leaves with his friends. Tell him that you like him. Give him time to process. If he likes you back, he'll tell you.'

Ashwin groaned, and Sivaangi asked him to sleep. Poor guy, he mustn't have slept last night. Sitting down in an uncomfortable position while ropes around you must not be comfortable.

****

Later in the day, Ashwin woke up and told Sivaangi that he was fine. "And en friends inga vandhuruvaanga, naa kelambaren ma."

Sivaangi sighed and said, "Okay! Avanga varattum, aprom kelambalam."

Ashwin looked down, not knowing what to say. Should he thank her? Say bye? Goodbye? No, he can't say goodbye. Should he confess right now? What would she do? Throw him out immediately? He's gonna go anyway, so he's got nothing to lose.

Before he could say anything, Sivaangi blurted out, "I like you. Enakku ongala pudichurku. Neenga reply panna vendam, yosichu sollunga."

Ashwin couldn't process anything, he was just standing there with his mouth ajar. He didn't get the chance to say anything to her because Rakshan and Pugazh came there soon, and Sivaangi started talking with them, calling them 'anneyy'.

When he got a hold on himself, he was in Pugazh's car with them asking why he didn't call.

****

A year later

****

Ashwin laughed as his girlfriend of six months cracked a joke.

"It took you six months to come back, Ashwineyy. I had lost all hope. Konjam kooda poruppe illa."

"Maa nee sonnathu puriyave enakku 4 maasam aachu maa. Aprom confess panna plan laam potu vara time aagiruchu. Ivlo koodava wait panna maata?" He asked, laughing.

He was meeting her after a long week, and both of them missed each other. Her eyes twinkled seeing him laughing, and she burst out laughing too. They say her laugh is contagious, but his is way too contagious for her.

They sat by the river beside her cottage. A comfortable silence loomed, and Sivaangi broke it.

"My medicine is almost complete. If it pases the last test, I'll be free to go."

"Where are you planning to go?" Ashwin asked.

"My mom's retiring soon. With luck, if the medicine works out, I'll be promoted as the Witch of Wisdom. I can stay anywhere, I just have to go to meetings and stuff." SIvaangi gushed, excited.

Ashwin grinned. "Will you stay with me then?"

"What? Really?"

"Yeah! Really!"

They began their journey as two individuals who hated each other. Now, they are two people hopelessly in love. Ashwin knew that when he came to love the thing he thought he hated the most, Witchcraft.