the evil eye has done its work;

Uwe didn't swear. He didn't.

However, the words coming out of his mouth as he tramped through the woods were anything but pleasant. He wasn't meant to be out and about, going through forests, especially at night. He'd joined the witchfinders to be a part of the administrative team, but he kept getting sent out and then lost and robbed and... ugh. It was a good thing he was the one writing the reports or people might notice that he wasn't especially good at his job, and if he wasn't good at his job what was he good for? If he wasn't good for anything, why keep him around, why keep him from his mother, why teach him and pay him and let him live the life he currently led? Not that he really loved his life, but it was the best he could think to have without any major changes, and major changes means people looking at you closely and...

When they'd assigned him to be a traveling witchfinder, he hadn't said no. If he'd said no, they probably would've questioned him and that wouldn't have been good, could've been bad, could've been incredibly problematic and unfortunate and... well. They may have doubted his loyalties, thought him a spy, They may have thrown him out, sent him back to his mother, told him he wasn't worthy of speaking to anyone else ever again.

It almost would've been worth it, though. It wasn't when it happened, but now.... He'd never been a fan of horses. They were too big, too fast, too opinionated. "But if you take this horse, you'll be able to get there before night! Can't you see how fast he is? Only the best for the witchfinder, protecting our town." Uwe still doubted that the major actually liked him, but he couldn't doubt that the bay had been fast. Unfortunately, fast doesn't matter if you forget to tie the horse while you're getting a drink and... No. It was the mayor's fault. He'd known the girl horse was mean, and head strong, and hungry. Uwe had been given a broken horse! That had to be it. It couldn't be that Uwe was a failure.

He looked around, face petulant. It was dark. Cold. Uwe was alone, and without a weapon because, well... He just didn't like them. That's not entirely true - he did have a dull dagger, but it was solely for it's looks. He'd thought it looked nice with his gold chains, even if the slight weight was a little annoying. Oh, but he should be paying attention to what was actually going on around him. Situational awareness was not his strong suit - he would never admit it aloud, but he was a little too self-absorbed to really "live in the moment." However, he could positively say he could hear what could be a horse! Had his borrowed steed returned to him? Was he not a waste of space, but actually worthy of continuing on his path home?

Oh, uh, apparently not. It wasn't his horse, but that of someone who looked significantly better put together (not fashion-wise, perhaps, but warrior-wise) than he. The other man had his sword out, and... nope. Not the place for Uwe. Nope. "Thank you for your service!" he shouted quickly as he high-tailed it towards the shack that was suddenly visible. Ah, yes. Shelter. He could, um, defend from in there, in case the other man needed to retreat. And he could make sure it wasn't haunted, or... something. He briefly noticed the shadow of the other man already inside the shack, but Uwe didn't look too hard at him, just in case he was a ghost. Plausible deniability, after all.