RPG Time (11)

Against your better judgment you give in and accept the tea the old witch has offered you. But at this point, you feel so miserable that you'd try just about anything for any amount of relief. You gulp down the tea, choking as the bitter liquid burns your throat.

"Uhg... that was awful. I think maybe I feel a little better... how do I look?"

"Good," replies the witch smiling.

You don't feel good because you most certainly are not good.

"Now let's go!" she says.

"Go? Where?" You manage to croak. The thought of even moving from the stool makes you feel ill. You're pretty sure the only place your going at the moment is to your grave.

Come on! Back to your room! The witch orders, practically dragging you off the stool and up the stairs. You stumble a few times on the steps but manage to make it to the second floor. The old woman opens the door to your room for you and you half walk, half fall through the door, landing unceremoniously face down in your bed.

"Now stay there and let my potion do it's thing!"

You realize you are unable to disobey this order, having lost the use of your legs. You slump back into bed as you suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to sleep. Your eyelids seem to be pulling themselves closed of their own accord. The old woman takes one last look at you and snorts before turning to leave the room. She almost has the door shut when you suddenly call out to her from your half-comatosed state.

"Hey, ah... Wait, what is your name anyway. I can't recall..."

"It's Melvina. Now go to sleep!"

And with that, she shuts the door and that's the last thing you remember.

************

You awake with a start. You could have sworn you just closed your eyes a few moments ago but the light in the room is completely different. Is it sundown already? You can see the sun turning the clouds pink at the horizon, but isn't your room facing east?

Just then the door creaks open and Melvina sticks her frizzled head into the room. The thought occurs to you that she sure has been around a lot for someone that was just a drinking buddy for a night.

"Well, well. The dead have risen."

"What time is it?" you ask.

"It's sunrise."

"Sunrise! You mean I slept through the entire day? I thought that concoction you gave me was a magic hangover cure!"

The old witch laughs at that! "Magic hangover cure! HAHA! There's no such thing my friend! My potion just makes sure your not conscious to experience it!"

"Aww, for craps sake! I've lost a whole day!"

"Oh quit your bellyaching! You weren't going anywhere in the shape you were in. No need to worry, I got plenty done while you were out. You'd of just wasted my whole day having to deal with you in your pathetic state if you'd of stayed up."

"What do you mean you 'got plenty of stuff done'. Why are you even here?"

"Because I'm your partner that's why! Don't tell me you've forgotten that too!"

Actually you had. You didn't really remember much at all from your night of drunken rampaging, at least, not anything of value.

"Well, I uh... of course I remember, it's just...."

"It's just that your full of shit." She says poking you in the chest. "Well I am, and it's settled, so get used to it!"

You find yourself in an unexpected situation. You hadn't really planned to travel with anyone else, least of all an old crazy witch. You wonder what deal you'd actually made. What reason could she have for even coming along? On the other hand, she does seem to know a lot about the Haunted Wood and she could potentially broker a meeting with the Wizard she spoke of. On top of that, you can definitely run faster than her so that's basically one get out of jail free card if you encounter some sort of monster. Right?

What should you do?