Gretel didn't know where she was. The waterfall she had been left at was some a distance away from any path. The troll had done a good job tending to her wounds, oddly enough, but she wasn't fit enough to take on a witch.

Which would be soon if she didn't find shelter. Red streaked across the sky as the sun disappeared behind the trees. The shadows were already drawing longer. While the siblings were immune to any magic thrown at them, Gretel still felt the paranoia that had possessed the dark since they had been children- since the event they never spoke of happened. She almost wished she had someone else here, just to have a reason to be strong.

Every rustle made her nervous. Her imagination was already playing tricks on her- a witch, the troll, even those men were out there waiting to jump out at any moment. If she didn't know any better, she'd say their lights were in front of her.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a sudden light. She readied for a fight before discovering that she was still alone. The small orb glistened in front of her eyes. Her head must've been hit harder than she thought. The huntress tried ignoring it and walked passed it. But there it was again, and again! No matter which direction she went in this woods the orbs always had a habit of showing up.

"Stop following me!" Gretel cursed herself as soon as she snapped. It was just in her head after all. Yelling was only going to draw trouble.

..Make that more trouble.

In front of her stretched an entire trail of those orbs. Seeing as they'd probably follow her anyway, the huntress went where they wanted. She was ready for anything: a witch, trickery, another trap. Somehow, a house never came to her mind.

It didn't look like it had been lived in for some time. Not even the lights went inside. Everything creaked, even the floor. Gretel walked soundlessly. It wasn't exactly a big building. The largest room was for the kitchen and gathering area. Even through the dust it was obvious what it all had once been.

It all looked familiar though. She told herself it was nothing. Many building had this layout; some the siblings had stayed at had even had the same cots set up for the adults to care for the fire. There was only one set up, so the mother probably stayed downstairs at night… except how did she know that?

She had almost convinced herself it was a simple guess when she knew another thing she couldn't have. Her body moved on its own to the spot behind the wall. There was the ring, the rusted remains of a secret hidden for decades. The trapdoor opened almost willingly.

Gretel knew she should've stopped there, her every instinct telling her it wasn't safe. But there was something natural and familiar that the stale musk of time couldn't hide. One foot followed the other without fail, even as the wood turned to rock.

The glow that came from some was the only reason she could see the cave in front of her. She'd seen enough witch lairs to recognize this one, as disused as it was. Wax from candles left lit dripped down to a thick book.

Gretel gingerly touched the lever cover. From look of the pages, it was far more ancient than the stones around it. It almost looked like one of those family bibles. The fancy was enough to have her open to some random page. Even a rookie would have known better, though the blinding light was new.

Her mind tried to find some sort understanding in the overload of senses. As her body slowly shut down, she could have sworn she heard a voice. "This is your inheritance. It can never replace what was taken, but perhaps you can keep others from suffering as you have."

Gretel's eyes opened what seemed like a second and what felt like hours later. The voice had seemed so familiar yet so distant. Could it have been a dream? The sounds upstairs seemed to say otherwise. She and Hansel may have promised not to talk about their past but she couldn't hold her tongue any longer. It was time to get some answers.