A Witch or a Fairy

While trekking through the swamp following the vine, she soon came upon a small wooden hut. Looking at the slight plume of smoke that rose through the chimney and the faint light slipping out beneath the doorway, Ava was sure this was the witch's residence.

After all, who else would live in such a horrid place.

Bracing herself, Ava couldn't help but lift her sword into a ready position, loosely angling it towards the door before taking two steps forward, her muscles taut, ready to leap forward to attack, or sprint backwards as the situation might demand.

As Ava was about to go forward and knock upon the door, a hand pat down on her pack, without missing a heartbeat, Ava spun around while swiping out with the sword but hit nothing but air.

A few feet away, a gorgeous lady in a red dress and a soft low hanging bucket hat looked at Ava with an amused expression, "Dear, do you mind putting down the sword?"

Hearing this, Ava stared at the lady in red for a brief moment before lowering the sword, but keeping it in her hand.

Seeing this, the lady in red let out a small smile and lightly shook her head before stepping forward and passing Ava, patting her shoulder as she passed by. "Come on in dear, let's see if we can do something about those dirty cloths of yours."

Letting herself be pulled along, Ava was brought into the wooden hut, and upon crossing the threshold immediately felt a comfortable temperature warm her weary bones. Taking a few glances around, Ava couldn't help but be confused at the discrepancy between the inside and outside of the hut.

From the outside, the house looked worn and tenacious, just a step away from being pulled down by the breeze. Without enough attention, one might pass the hut entirely, simply imagining it to be a large rock formation, or a collection of trees on which moss had taken over.

The interior, although still quite small, looked quite well crafted, with neat paneled planks that hugged tight together revealing not a leak in sight.

Shifting her gaze, Ava's eye's couldn't help but be drawn by the large black cauldron sitting in the corner of the room.

The lady in red, seeing where Ava was looking let out a chuckle, "I reckon you're here for the wish?"

Turning her eyes to the lady in red, Ava confirmed, "You're the witch."

The lady in red walked over to the kitchen and set a kettle on the stove, "Mmm, I do think that's the term that's been popular this era, yes."

Turning her eyes back to look at Ava over her shoulder, the witch let out a shrug, "I much preferred when they called me a fairy, but what can you do."

Thinking for a moment, Ava let out a small nod, ignoring if the witch could see the motion or not, and moved away from the door, finding a spot on the opposite side of the room from the witch and leaning against the wall.

On the other side of the room, the witch lightly mumbled while waving her finger, and a moment later the kettle started screaming. Taking the kettle off of the fire and pouring out a cup of tea, the witch walked over to Ava and put the cup in Ava's hand with a firm grip, casually taking away the sword as she did so, as if she was simply helping Ava take off her coat and hang it on the rack.

Stunned, Ava looked at the cup of tea in her hand and tried to register how quickly it had all happened. Wrinkling her brows, she couldn't help but be concerned. It looked like this witch wasn't a weakling when it came to physical strength either. That would make things a bit harder if anything went awry.

Leaning the sword on the wall besides the door, and hanging up her hat while she was at it the witch returned and leaned over the table, her hair glimmering a fiery red under the lighting "Bend over a little dear, let's get that dirty scarf off of you, mm?"

Frowning, Ava took the scarf off and handed it directly to the witch.

A little bit surprised, the witch let out a small chuckle, "Alright then, that works too." Retracting her hands that had been reaching towards Ava's shoulders, the witch took the scarf, and brought it over to a coat hanger on the other side of the door, hanging it next to her hat.

By the time the witch turned around, the ragged piece of cloth that had been torn from the hem of Ava's dress had become a pristine white scarf hung up on the wall.

Unfortunately, Ava didn't manage to catch the process, as she was caught up staring at the witch's hair, that had at some point turned into a brilliant blond as she crossed the room.

Scanning Ava up and down, the witch thought for a moment before nodding and stepping into her bedroom, before returning a moment later with a soft yellow dress, "See if this fits you dear."

Staring at the witch, Ava squinted and nodded, directly stripping and changing in the dining room in front of the witch, passing over the rags of her dress and the leather piece to the witch as she did so.

For the first time in the night, the witch seemed a little bit sunned, looking at the articles of clothing in her hands. Letting out a slight chuckle, the witch couldn't help but smile as she brought the tattered dress and hide over to the hanger yet again.

Upon being notched on the wall, the dress returned to being a pristine white dress, with small frills running down the side, while the piece of leather unfurled itself and seemed to grow back at the frills, revealing itself to be a rather full piece of wolf hide.

Watching the process this time around, Ava couldn't help but squint a little, seeing the obvious displays of magic in the witch's daily life, and the ease at which they were used. Compared to the spell casters she knew of who would spend minutes to summon a puny little fireball that she could dance by with ease, the witch was clearly in a league of her own.

Turning her eyes back on the witch, Ava was dumbfounded to see that her hair had changed into a sapphire blue. This could no longer be explained away by a trick of the light.

Noticing Ava's gaze, the witch let out a slight defeated smile, "One of the side effects of the craft, it shows what it pleases." Pausing for a moment, the witch added, "If there's a color you like, I have a potion that will let you keep it for a couple of years, if you want to play around with it."

Pausing again, the witch added, "I think you'd look brilliant in an emerald green."