Long Night, part 2.

Autumn blinked at the girl for a good while, her face was buried into Autumn's stomach in a rather tight hug. "Miss? I uh...think you may have the wrong...." then she saw it, a silver locket with golden boar figurehead around her neck "..Wyn!?" Autumn yelled with joy.

Autumn lifted Wyn's face and started to cry "Oh Wyn....I'm so glad you're okay." Wyn smiled at her sister "You didn't think I would let this stuff beat me would ya'?" Autumn chuckled softly "You're so in trouble!" Wyn laughed "Not as much as you will be when Pa get's a hold of us!"

Autumn's face went sorrowful "Wyn...Ma and Pa didn't make it out of Gilneas..." Wyn looked at her sister and blink "But...he said he'd..." Autumn shook her and "Not here Wyn...let's go to my house and talk...I need to tell you a few things." Autumn stood picking Shano up and extending a hand to help Wyn from the ground. "Who's the runt, Sis?" Wyn said, Shano growled at Wyn "Hey now, don't ya' start growlin at me fluff ball." Autumn laughed and started walking towards home, she filled Wyn in on everything during this walk.....everything.

Long Night

It was late and the owls were singing their usual song. Shops were closing and stalls were locking their wares away. The guards were swapping their posts with the night shift. Autumn was in the Recluse, as always she was alone, well besides Shano sleeping on the bar. The last of the crew of the Recluse has left a few hours before.

She didn’t mind them leaving, it gave her a quiet place to think or perhaps sing if the mood suited her. Autumn mopped around the floor making sure she had gotten every single spot she could in the Recluse. She wiped the sweat from her brow and smiled at her work. Autumn made another round to double check her work and smiled as she was finally finished.

She pulled out her pocket watch and checked the time. “Two in the morning,” she sighed “better than I usually do I suppose.” She walked up to the bar and gave Shano a small scratch behind his ears. He woke up and slowly raised his head to look at her “Time to go little one” Autumn said smiling. Lazily he hopped onto her shoulder and draped himself across it. “You are such a lazy cub...” She chuckled as she walked out the door of the Recluse making sure to the lock the door behind her.

She began walking home instead of riding her carpet she had neatly tucked into her bags. As she walked she looked at the stars and said hello to a few of the night shift guards she knew.  She got to the entrance to the city when she heard a voice yell from behind her “SISTER!” Autumn blinked and turned in time to see a young girl tackle her to the ground in a huge hug. Shano jumped from Autumn’s shoulder and landed next to the two with a confused look on his face.

Shano's Recluse

Shano hopped down from his perch on the Recluse bar. He slowly worked his way around the pub, watching each visitor drink and clang drinks together. He hopped onto the table closest to where his mother was. She was cleaning the table with a wet rag while the drunken men at the table were whistling at her. Shano tilted his head as one of the men made a grab for her. She quickly dodged his hand and made her way back to the bar, Shano quickly following her.

Autumn placed the tray and mugs on the bar, picking up one of the larger mugs inspecting it for cracks. Shano crouched on the bar watching as a woman’s ponytail flicked back and forth across the bar. He pounced at it, batting at the tip playfully, this made the woman scream. Autumn jumped when she heard the scream and quickly picked him up. She placed him down on the floor and turned to apologize to the lady.

Shano hopped back onto the bar just in time to see a mug fly across the room. He watched as two men began a fist fight in the middle of the room. Autumn sighed and hopped over the bar grabbing both of the two men by the collar. These men were much larger than she but she had no problem pulling them apart, “Take it down the street if you’re going to fight.” She said guiding both of the men towards the door. Shano watched all the patrons gawk at her as she came back without a scratch or even a hair out of place. Autumn walked behind the bar and smiled at Shano “Welcome to a normal day at the Recluse, Shano” in his own way Autumn could of sworn she saw him smile.

Shano

Autumn sat down in her favorite chair, she sighed in relief as she lifted the cup of hot cocoa to her lips. She looked towards the door and smiled. “Soon…I hope...” Autumn thought “…I hope she’ll come soon.” Then she felt a soft furry paw on her leg, she looked down to see a small fuzzy Panther cub pawing at her ankle. “Hey there Shano, you want up here?” Autumn smiled as the small cub mewed. She smiled and patted her leg; he instantly hopped up into her lap and curled into a warm fluffy fuzz ball on her lap.

She smiled and started to pet Shano. She had recently obtained him from Stranglethorn, about a week ago. She had been helping the Darkspear trolls stop the return of the Zandalari tribe and had to put his mother down as she was corrupted. She went into the cave near the large cat, mostly to find the dwarf that the cat had taken as a chew toy, and saw the small cub pawing at the dwarf’s feet. She felt horrible for the little thing and against her better judgment quickly took it home to take care of it. It had adjusted quickly and became much like a normal house cat…besides the claws and the occasional bird that ends up on her floor when she lets him out at times.

She smiled as she heard the small cub purring. She was in bliss at this particular moment, she took a sip from her cup of cocoa and placed her other hand on the small silver locket around her neck. She smiled as Shano looked up at her and rolled over onto his back in her lap “I’m alright Shano,” she said scratching his stomach “just thinking about my sister, I found out she’s alive. Did I tell you that? I saw Mister Max at the Recluse the other night; we talked for a little while. He showed me his new devilsaur Fury, I was scared a little bit but he was well trained…then…he told me about him meeting Aerwyna in Stormwind.” Her eyes hovered over the mantle where the only picture of her family was. “She’ll hopefully find me soon…though I do hope she’s been well.” She looked at Shano who was now sleeping in her lap. Autumn sighed “I feel like an old cat lady.” 

Normal Life of a OCD Gilnean

Autumn sat down in her favorite chair with a sigh of relief. She had been cleaning her home for the last few hours. She spent the majority of the time moving furniture and cleaning behind the dressers. She moved everything to a new location, her chairs were now facing the each other on either side of her fireplace and her couch sat in front of it. Autumn does this at least twice a month as an excuse to keep her mind off of her past and her family. She was always content when she was cleaning; it was like her safe haven from the outside world.

Autumn smiled as she relaxed, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a somewhat rustic looking pocket watch that Jach had given her a short time after she started working at the Blue Recluse. She didn’t want to keep it…mostly because it was haunted with one of the numerous ghosts that haunt the Blue Recluse though she couldn’t throw it away.  It was the best pocket watch she had ever owned and it always kept time. Not once has she had to wind it so that it would continue to keep time.  It always seemed to enjoy floating from her pocket and hover above her head before falling down onto the floor, it turned out to be rather amusing at times.

She looked at the time on the watch and her eyes widened. “Oh no, I was supposed to clean the Recluse an hour ago!” she shouted to herself. She quickly grabbed her work shirt and ran out the door, her hair looking as though a rabid gnoll had a tantrum in it. She quickly put her work shirt, a blue shirt with a black jacket embroidered in gold lace, and hopped onto her waiting horse. As she rode to Stormwind she started to remember the past, of how her father taught her to ride and her mother teaching how to be a tailor. She had inherited her mother’s prowess at the needle and had quickly relearned and taught herself new things that she saw along her travels throughout Azeroth.

As she rode into the Mage quarter she wiped a tear from her eye and ran inside. Thankfully no one was there but the usual workers. They were too busy to notice that she had came in with her hair looking like she had just took a dip in the canals and her shirt was buttoned incorrectly. She ran to the kitchen and quickly fixed her shirt and hair before picking up a broom and dust pan. She smiled and set to work cleaning the Recluse. This was a normal day for Autumn, she was happy with this schedule, though usually she was on time.

Autumn's Memories

Just a small part of Autumn's back-story. I've not written anything on her so I figured I'd start with this. It has more to do with a later story I'll be posting possibly next Tuesday or later this week.

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The fire was stocked, its warmth spreading through the home of Autumn Silversage. She sat near a window her hands wrapped around a cup of peacebloom tea. She starred outside her window, she was happy to have found a home outside the city walls, she had a view of a small lake, fish bound from the water, wolves played at the water’s edge. She saw rabbit’s and squirrels, birds and owls, she was always happy when she looked outside her windows.

Of course that happiness comes with a price for her. Every time she looked outside her window for too long, she remembered her life in Gilneas. She remembered being outside with her mother, father and sister. They used to play in the large farm area around Gilneas city; her sister would always want to go swimming in the lake. Autumn’s sister was always one for water and nature, Autumn was more for the Light and the church, however they always were close.

“Autumn! Autumn! Come look! The fish are jumping up from the lake! It looks like they’re waving!” her sister yelled. Autumn smiled as she walked up to her sister and watched as fish jumped up from the water’s surface “You’re right Sis, it does look like they’re waving. I bet they’re waving at you.” Autumn chuckled. “Maybe!” Her sister looked down into the water “Hey Autumn? Do you think I could become….a druid someday?” Autumn blink at her sister when she said this “You want to become a druid? I thought you wanted to become a priest like me?” Her sister looked up at her and smiled “I did! But…well…I was listening to dad talk about grandpa knowing a Druid of the Talon once…and he was telling me all about how they could turn into a cat, a bird, or even a tree! I decided that I would love to become one…do you think I’d be able to do it?” Autumn smiled at her sister “Sis…if you put your mind to it. I’m sure you could become a very famous druid.”

Autumn turned away from her window, tears in her eyes. “Did any of you make it…” she said looking into her cup “…I’ve missed you so much. My new job has kept my mind and memories at bay…but I know that they will return.” She raised her cup up to her lips and took a long sip from the tea she had made. “Father….Mother…Sister….am I the only Silversage to make it out of Gilneas…please…someone…please.”