Collector of Curses Chapter 5 Flaming Snow

"Tell me about the women who attacked you. Tell me everything and spare no details." White says sitting on the edge of her bed leaning eagerly in the man's direction.
"What do you want to know? She was a common thief and tried to steal my money." He replies scratching his head.
"I already know that. You must have seen her hand become ice when she turned on me. Did she do that to you as well." White questions pressing the man for answers.
"Why do you even care? Just be grateful we didn't get seriously injured." He replies wanting to forget he almost got robbed.

"Nelson...... Nelson...." Isabelle wails in a ghostly manner.
"Oh shut it you." White says squinting angrily at Isabelle.
"His name is written inside his funny hat." Isabelle chants sticking her face into the top hat which is sitting on the table across the room.
"It must be really important that you know about that women that attacked us then." Nelson says trying his best to ignore Isabelle.
"She's that women from the legend isn't she." He adds.
"Stories and legends should not be confused with one another. It is common knowledge that a women roams the mountains summoning the snow itself to attack travellers but she is nothing more then a thief." White explains.
"If she's not a some kind of spirit then how does she control the snow?" Nelson asks struggling to ignore Isabelle who is floating intently beside him listening to the conversation.

"Anything can be done with the right technology and if it's infused with the skin on the palm of your hand I see no reason one could not produce ice." White states.
"So you're saying that she used some kind of device to produce the ice? No such thing exists." Nelson says ignorant to the relics from hundreds of years ago which still exist.
"The devices you consider advanced such as a compasses or a watch are nothing compared to the tiny machines which can be dug from the ruins of ancient societies. My journey involves searching for these machines across the world but this is the first time they have found me. I must same I am very pleased this has happened." White says with a wide smile.
"You've heard the legend of the women in the mountains right?" Nelson asks worried she doesn't know the danger of the situation.
"Story not legend and yes I have. Long ago I heard of a snow witch in mountains to the north. I had no idea these were the mountains from that story though. Please tell me more." White replies.
"Knowing that you really think I want to go into the forest searching for her? This women is dangerous and could kill us all if we tried to go through the mountain pass again." Nelson says becoming annoyed.
"You make a point but it is absolutely necessary that you accompany me." White says her smile only getting wide smile.

"Why do you want him to come so badly. You never want me around!" Isabelle says frustrated that White enjoys being in the company of Nelson and not her.
"The heart grows fonder in absence and since the ghost lurks in my shadow I cannot grow fonder." White says hinting at how annoying Isabelle is.
"So if I go away then you'll love me." Isabelle says excitedly.
"Exactly, now go on a journey far away from me." White says keen to be rid of her.
"I'd rather stay here with you." Isabelle says with a dopey smile and White rolls her eyes.

"Why do you want me to come along with you then?" Nelson says sick of being left out of the conversation.
"Why isn't it obvious. Bait of course." White says with a sinister look in her eyes.

"A man travelling alone on a dangerous path would be mighty suspicious to a friendly animal but when a hunter is never hunted they lack foresight and are dull in serious combat. Our bait will draw out the women. I'm sure of it." White says to Isabelle as they track Nelson who is cautiously proceeding down the mountain path. From their elevated position on a narrow path running above the treetops on a cliff face White and Isabelle can easily follow Nelson provided he walks slowly and sticks to the main path.

"What are you going to do if she attacks him?" Isabelle asks White not sure if White even has a plan.
"It's not going to matter what he does it's what she does that will decide the outcome of this situation." White replies as the pair come to a narrow part of the track and slow down.
"He hasn't noticed yet but she's already within striking distance." White says preparing herself to attack.
"Where? I don't see her." Isabelle says as White leaps from the ledge and kicks off a tree to land in full sprint.

"You didn't learn from last time...." The women with the ice hands says leaping out from behind a pine tree only to be hit between the eyes with a fireball. She is sent hurtling back into the forest much to the surprise of Nelson who barely caught a glimpse of her or the origin of the fireball. White is but a blur as she crosses Nelson's line of sight and disappears beneath the pine trees into the valley below.

"She's amazing isn't she." Isabelle says floating down beside Nelson on the road.
"You got that right. She knew we'd be attacked so soon after leaving the inn and was well prepared. I guess I had nothing to worry about after all." Nelson says in awe as he and the ghost peer down into the valley trying to locate White and the bandit. Fire erupts randomly in the forests spreading to even the trees with the thickest snow cover, the burning pathway goes on for hundreds of metres as Isabelle and Nelson follow trying to find the victor of the battle.

"Get off me!" an unfamiliar voice yells sounding very panicked.
"The cold touch shall become my possession and what a fitting possession it will be!" White yells in a more aggressive tone then usual as she firmly grips the female bandit's neck and pins her to the ground. Isabelle hesitates at the sight and hovers cautiously at a great distance. The women's hair and clothing are singed from White's relentless attacks and for the first time Isabelle feels fear in White's presence.
"You can't stop me; Nobody can." The bandit boasts grabbing White's hips and attempting to freeze her.
"Barking like the dog that you are will not stop my noble quest. You possess what I desire and with force I will take it." White says sounding very out of character. She slams the women's head into the ground to stop her from freezing her and grabs holds her down by the neck.
"I won't let you!" The women grunts after receiving a brutal blow to the head. She wedges her arms under White and thrusts them upwards towards White's chin.
"You're wide open!" The bandit yells as White grabs her fists.
"From the icy paw of a dying wolf I take it. The power of the so called mountain witch is within my grasp and without hesitation I humbly accept it knowing that in my hands the power will be far greater. Until the end you had no control and that's what lead to your demise. I  take your curse. A curse you abused greatly and make it part of myself. I add it to my collection." White exclaims caught up in the moment of victory.

Forcefully the curse is drawn from the resisting bandit through their hands into the surface of White's palms. With a final burst of energy the bandit tries her hardest to resist and break free but her attempts are futile and slowly she submits.
"Be silent now for no word you could speak would be of any worth to me." White says coldly as she puts her hand over the bandit's face. The heat leaves the bandits body in an instant and she is left lying unconscious in the snow.

Why did you do that?" Isabelle says distraught at White's violent actions.
"She's defeated the witch. The merchant slaying witch." Nelson says barely believing the miracle he has just witnessed. His joy strongly contrasts Isabelle's dismay and overshadows it completely.

White rubs her hands together as if lathering them with soap causing a chilled fog to spread from them.
"She lacked control not only in her ability but in battle as well. I've never considered it until now but times may come when I need to fight and claim what is rightfully mine. I understand that sometimes drastic actions must be taken in order to obtain powers from those who do not desire to be rid of them." White announces thinking out loud. Her line of sight meets nobodies and she instead stares of into the distance as she speaks. Suddenly her head turns and she meets Isabelle's gaze.

"Much like you this women thought of her curse as a gift even if it was slowly destroying her." White continues in the same lifeless tone but this time it is clear she is speaking to Isabelle. Isabelle's line of sight shifts for a moment and she notices the bandit's hands are black with serious frostbite.
"Without control there is no telling what kind of damage an unknown technology can do to your body. Do you have control of your curse or does it control you?" White asks in a serious manner.

It take all of Isabelle's willpower to speak without a quiver in her voice she does so anxiously not comfortable around the more violent version of White she has just witnessed.
"Nobody controls me." Isabelle replies trying not to let her sudden onset of fear overcome her.

"Our initial meeting may have been similar had you not been detached from this reality. Would you continue to follow knowing that you only narrowly avoided this fate." White replies in a cryptic manner trying to use Isabelle's uneasiness to scare her away.
"Yes I will." Isabelle says showing resolve.
"Still I am haunted! When will the day come I am freed from this curse. Yes this is the only curse I bare and it follows me still." White says breaking character and yelling comically into the sky.
"You know by taking the witches power you have saved countless traveler from her future crimes." Nelson says finding this exact moment to be a good one to rejoin the conversation.

"It was her curse which I desired. Her demise was naught but a spoil of battle, an after thought." White says not interested in her any more.
"Say what you will but you have done a great thing and I'll tell all of you're great deeds. The selfless deeds of the women in White."
"Selfless." White says laughing and she is soon joined by Isabelle.
"Allow me the honor of dragging her back to the inn. From there the innkeeper and I can let others know she has been defeated and the pass is safe to travel once more." Nelson says grabbing the unconscious bandit by her ponytail and lifting her up out of the snow. He readjusts his his top hat and looks in Whites direction.

"Do what you must." White says nodding politely as Nelson drags the unconscious bandit away by the collar.

Proceeding in the opposite direction White leaves Isabelle where the story climaxed not wanting to add another chapter after the finale. For just a moment Isabelle lingers without following either party.
"Why do you hesitate...." White say in a sinister tone being cut off by Isabelle.
"I'm not!" Isabelle yells childishly as if she has something to prove. She is quick to catch up trying to pretend she was by White's side the entire time.
"Remember there is nothing I can do to harm you." White says planting a seed of doubt in Isabelle's mind.

"I am your only curse remember. A curse isn't something you can willing rid yourself of." Isabelle says with a quivering voice bravely reusing and adopting the title White granted her as if it signifies a bond between them.