"Let me go!"
Unfortunately the weird lady, supposedly one of the Elders, the centuries-old witches who are the super-important bosses of all witches and who make super-important decisions even though this one sounds closer to my sister's age, does not stop pulling and pinching at my face, even as I scream and push away from her.
Instead she stumbles forward as I pull away, only then letting go to flail her arms about wildly, howling as she falls face first unto the dirt in front of me. I try my best not to break into laughter as what was just a few moments ago a looming and powerful figure is reduces to something that belongs in a cheap market comedy.
The other Elders do not seem to make any attempt whatsoever as cackling, crowing, and sniggering emerges around me.
"What a pathetic display!" One announces mockingly.
"A complete disgrace." Another grumbles loud enough for me to hear, even as the one in front of me begins sobbing into the ground.
Slowly, she pushes herself from the ground and uses the sleeve of her robe to wipe her still obscured face, leaving said sleeve with a complete mess of wet and dirt.
"If you're done shaming your line," the one next to her declares loudly, "perhaps you would like to pass along the initiate before you humiliate yourself further?"
Her attempts at a reply come out completely unintelligible however, as her wailing cuts off anything resembling words.
Her neighbor in turn, lets out a frustrated sigh and instead addresses me. "Apprentice, just carry on and spare the fool her own indignity."
I'm supposed to be tested by every Elder in the circle to complete this initiation, but I'm not sure what the test is in some lady pinching and pulling at my cheeks. And now she's just crying like a little girl. I'm not sure it's really my fault, she's the one who started and all I did was pull away so it's not my fault she fell!
>Please bear with me as I try to get back into the proper tone and everything, it's been a long time.