I can't imagine keeping them for 6 months, I feel like I'd lose one within a month and then forget about the other

OMG LUM YOUR BAKC AAAAAA

Or you could make a stone axe or sword rq, shouldn't be too hard to make

I'd wait until day so no other mobs gang up on me as I fight the witch, and just start swinging the axe at it because axes do just as much damage as a sword and I think I could kill a witch with a wooden sword