Imogen could feel her eyelids slipping shut as she fought to stay awake, tiredness threatening to overcome her as she fought to stay awake. She’d had another dream last night and hadn’t gotten much sleep as a result. The tiredness was trying to tempt her to lie back in bed, close her eyes and go back to sleep. Fighting the tiredness she forced herself to get dressed, although slowly as she didn’t particularly want to leave the house. Exhaustion would make it harder to keep people's thoughts out, which made her tempted to just stay at home in bed. She could already feel a headache forming at the thought of having to interact with people. At least she was working in the stables today, hopefully, she wouldn’t have to interact with people too much. Sighing, Imogen finished getting dressed before heading to the stables.
Laudna wasn’t sure what day it was, it wasn’t easy to keep track when she had to move from town to town so often. This last town she didn’t think she’d been there for more than two days, maybe three, before the townspeople had chased her out. It had been a week since she’d fled that town, or maybe it had been longer, could have been shorter too for all she could remember, the days mostly blended together. When she reached a new town she tried to stay out of people's way as much as she could. The longer she could go more or less unnoticed the longer she could stay in the town. However going unnoticed wasn’t easy for Laudna, she wasn’t someone who blended in easily. It was only a matter of time before someone took notice of her and she’d have to leave again, it was what happened in every town, she was used to it. Staying in the woods just by town made it a little easier to stay unnoticed but eventually someone noticed something off, they always did.
Despite being absolutely exhausted from lack of sleep, and the headache still lingering, Imogen pushed through as she did her work in the stables. Fortunately, she didn’t have to interact with people until Samuel joined her in the stables, who immediately called her out on how tired she looked.
“You look awful” she heard him say the second he entered the stables. Imogen glared at him though she knew he was only teasing.
“I feel awful too,” she sighed.
Being in the stables away from people helped but she could still hear some thoughts that she wasn’t able to shut out, which didn’t help her headache or tiredness.
“Why don’t you go home? I can handle the rest from here,” Samuel offered. Normally Imogen wouldn’t take him up on his offer as she liked being in the stables but she was exhausted.
“Okay, thank you” Imogen replied, giving him a small smile. She grabbed her things, double checked that Samuel was okay to continue on his own then left the stables. She knew she probably wouldn’t be able to sleep if she went home and decided to go for a walk first to get some fresh air, then hopefully she’d be able to sleep later.
Imogen let out a sigh of relief as she left the stables, glad to be able to get out and clear her mind. She walked through town, doing her best to shut out everyone’s thoughts and ignoring the looks they gave her, she was used to them by now. She realized too late that she’d zoned out as she walked into another person.
“I am so sorry” Imogen apologized, instinctively reaching out to steady the other woman. She was wearing a cloak with her hood up which made it hard to see her face, almost like she was hiding. One thing Imogen could tell was that she hadn’t seen her before, she would have remembered, there was something about her, something… different. “Are you alright?”
“Oh, yes! I’m alright thank you” the woman replied with a smile and cheery voice. It was a nice voice Imogen thought, then she realized what it was about this woman. Her thoughts… weren’t overwhelming or causing her anguish, instead they filled her with peace.
“I haven’t seen you around before,” Imogen said. Normally she’d try to spend as little time as possible around people but she found herself wanting to talk to this woman, maybe to figure out why her thoughts didn’t fill her head like everyone else’s did.
“I’m new to town, just passing through really. I’m Laudna” she introduced herself with a smile. When people saw her they usually went out of their way to avoid her, even when she was covered by her hood, but this woman seemed different.
“I’m Imogen, it’s nice to meet you” she replied, trying to ignore the disappointment she felt at hearing Laudna was only passing through. Imogen wanted to know more about her but it was better to just leave it be if Laudna was only passing through. “I should get home,” Imogen said, giving the other woman a small smile before she walked away.
“Oh, okay-” she didn’t get to say much else as Imogen walked away rather quickly. Laudna watched Imogen walk away for a moment, pushing away the urge to go after her and talk to her more. She eventually continued on her way through town.
Imogen had gone to the outskirts of town, just to get away and try to relax for a bit. She didn’t stay too long, just long enough for her headache to clear, then she started making her way back into town. Something was different, she could tell as she made her way through town. There seemed to be fewer people around than usual, fewer thoughts trying to fill her head. It was only when she got to the center of the town that more thoughts came through. Then as she walked further she heard yelling and a lot of people running. Witch, demon, and evil were just some of the words she could hear coming from what she could only describe as a mob. She could also hear someone say “burn the witch" as she got closer.
She followed the sound to the other end of town where she found most of the townsfolk. Some had weapons, most of them improvised weapons, and some were carrying torches. They all seemed to be heading towards a small shack just by the town border. Imogen was confused for a moment what this could possibly be about, then she thought… was this about the woman she met earlier? Taking a deep breath Imogen opened her mind, at first she worried all the thoughts would overwhelm her but somehow she managed to push through the pain. It only took her a second to find what she was looking for, the thoughts that were different from everyone else’s. Thoughts that gave her peace over anguish. “Laudna.”
Taking a moment to gather herself, to shut out the thoughts again, she took off running towards the shack the mob was closing in on. She barely made it there before the mob did, placing herself in front of the door. Imogen didn’t know why they seemed to be after Laudna but from experience, it was simply because she was different, like Imogen was. After her powers first manifested there had been a distance between Imogen and the townspeople, she was different and so people avoided her. She realized now why Laudna seemed to be hiding herself when she met her.
“Move” she heard someone from the mob say, Imogen stayed where she was. “We’re ridding the town of this evil” someone else said, Imogen still didn’t move.
How could someone who’d made her feel peace for the first time since she got her powers be evil? No, she wasn’t evil, she was just different but to these people that was the same thing wasn’t it.
“Go home, you won’t touch her” Imogen said, her voice surer than she thought it would be. The mob didn’t move, only shouted more about witches and evil. She could hear the door behind her open but she didn’t take her eyes away from the townsfolk.
“There she is!”
“Get her!”
“Burn the witch!”
Imogen ignored their words as Laudna spoke. “Imogen? Why- what are you doing here?” Laudna asked. She was used to mobs, almost every town she’d been in there had been a mob to chase her out. No one had ever stood between her and the mob.
A man from the mob tried to make a move to grab Laudna and Imogen was done with trying to use words. “I said you won’t touch her,” there was more force behind her words this time. Her eyes glowed white, electricity sparking from lighting bolt marks on her arms. Then a shockwave emanating from Imogen knocked the townspeople back and off their feet.
“Last chance” she said as she took a step forward “leave.”
Everyone scrambled to get up from the ground to get out of there as fast as possible, not wanting to see what happened if they stayed.
Once they were gone Imogen turned to Laudna to make sure she was unhurt, worried her magic might have hit her too. “Are you alright?”
“I’m fine” Laudna’s voice was less cheery than when they first met but not by much. “You didn’t have to do that” she was used to being run out of town but Imogen lived here and she couldn’t imagine people would be happy about what she did.
“I couldn’t let them hurt you.” They had just met but there was something about Laudna that Imogen didn’t quite understand. What she did know was the thought of Laudna getting hurt was already unbearable with the little time she’d known her.
Laudna smiled, no one had ever protected her like that before, still Imogen probably shouldn’t have angered the whole town. “I’m not the one who lives here, I’ll be leaving for a new town” she was always moving, she couldn’t stay in one place for long.
Imogen felt the same disappointment she had earlier when Laudna told her she was only passing through, she didn’t want her to leave. “Maybe- maybe I could come with you?” Even before this everyone in town had treated her like an outcast, she lived in town but she was still alone. “You’re traveling alone, I’m pretty much alone, we could be alone together,” Imogen struggled not to grimace at her own words, that definitely sounded better in her head.
Laudna chuckled at Imogen's words “then we wouldn’t be alone” she pointed out, her voice now back to the cheery one she’d had at their first meeting. She had to admit traveling with someone who didn’t seem to mind she was different did sound better than being alone. “But… are you sure you want to leave your home?”
Imogen couldn’t help but smile when Laudna laughed, thinking she definitely wanted to hear that sound again. She only needed to think about it for a brief moment before she made up her mind “I’m sure, I want to go with you.”
“Okay, together then?” Laudna asked.
“Together” Imogen confirmed with a smile.