The Village

[wolfslove]

Claire woke up with the rising sun as she did every morning. Today marked four years she'd lived in the village. There were still the few people who whispered about her and were bound and determined to proove she was a witch but most people had warmed up to her after she'd healed quite a few potentially fatal sicknesses and wounds. She swung her legs over the edge of her bed and quickly dressed lest she catch a chill. She wore a long sleeved sweater and a long skirt. Underneath her skirt she wore deer hide pants which served to keep her warm. Her feet were in sturdy leather boots. It was the first week of December and the ground was covered in snow.

She quickly brushed her hair out and tied it back with a ribbon in a simple ponytail. She wasn't much for bieng fashionable. The only jewelry she wore was a silver locket that she never took off. It had belonged to her mother. All that done she took her pistol and headed out the backdoor.

Zeus uncurled his furry self from the corner by the small fireplace and followed her outside. She tried to hunt as much as possible in the early morning. Her herb garden was covered in snow at the moment, no bother since she'd taken care to dry a good quantity of herbs in the fall and had them safely locked up inside.

Her feet crunched the snow as she made her way into the forest and Zeus trotted just a few feet ahead of her ears pointed forward and tail wagging. The air smelled of snow and dead leaves and the forest looked ominious since most of the trees had gone dormant for the winter but she was well known not only in the village but also in the forest. No, she wouldn't be bothering any of the forest creatures that the other villagers were so scared of. She was on good terms with all of them so far as she knew.

She smiled to herself as she walked into the forrest shadows, her eyes searching for a rabbit or a squirel. She'd made her home here and didn't regret it a bit. A flurry of snow caught her eye and quickly she took a shot at the small white blur. Zeus was off as fast as her pistol shot had been after it and she smiled in satisfaction. Rabbit stew for dinner then.

[kaishabear]

A large bucket of finely ground flour sat on the floor, exactly where she had told John, the random helping hand, not to put it.

Mercy groaned. The point of having John help out around the Bakery was to keep a little of the laborious stress off of Mercy. She was getting to the point of needing to go out and see Claire nearly every week now. Sore and aching muscles did her no good when trying to fill all the orders she was recieving. She bent to retrieve the wooden but finely crafted bucket.

With another huff, and an inner groan and creak of overused muscles, Mercy plopped the flour down and surveyed her small Bakery's back room. This was where she did all the cooking, all the wonderful pastry's and simple breads came from here. She gave a faint grin.

'And just how thankful father will be when he returns.' It was a thought Mercy had nearly every morning these days.

Despite the views of the villagers, Mercy knew her father would soon return. He knew the forest as well as home. It would be a pleasure when he returned and found Mercy making a smooth and fitting curve into the village life for herself and her inventive bakery methods.

'Though he wont like the methods very much...' Mercy flicked her finger toward the fireplace behind her back, a willingness to create warmth the focus of her mind. A small fire burst into flame and Mercy hastely placed more wood onto it to keep it burning strong.

Mercy then pulled down her mother's book bound in a deep brown leather and began her work day.

[manami-chan669]

Rosette had been up since the crack of dawn, as always. She had always thought it was best to train early so she could spend most of her day enjoying everything else the world had to offer. Recently, she had been practicing balance while aiming. She remembered that in past fights, she had had trouble aiming in situations requiring balance. She had to learn to multitasking.

She placed a fist-sized stone on the ground and stood on it with her right foot. She took a deep breath and aimed it at the target, one eye closed. She pulled the sting back, but as she did, she fell backwards and landed on her bottom. "Damn," she muttered as she got up. She brushed the dust off of her skirt and sighed. She wasn't getting anywhere. But even so, she persisted.

[Mattie2009]

Blaze sighed as he woke up. The small house he and his sister lived in was home to them. Nova was already awake, and had left. Blaze dressed, took an apple from the cupboard and opened the door. Sure enough, a line of footsteps in the snow lead from the door to the gate and down the street. Blaze grabbed a small key from a hook next to the door and stepped out into the cold morning air.

Blaze smiled to himself as he unlocked the door to the Starcrest. Opening the door, he was met with the usual sight. Tables, chairs and a counter, behind which was a stock of everything the tavern needed. Mugs, bottles of assorted liquids, food and utensils. Blaze opened the windows and hopped behind the counter. Nova emerged from the small garden behind the tavern. "Morning." she said simply. Blaze couldn't resist a comment. "So it is." He smiled. His sister never was a morning person. He took a few ingredients from the shelf and handed the resulting drink to Nova, who drank it in one gulp.

[wolfslove]

Claire was headed back to her cottage with three rabbits and one unlucky squirel when a shadow stepped fell across her path. She stopped and looked up into a lower hanging branch on a tree just to her right into the face of Crotin, the forrest creature of spells.

"Good day, Crotin." Claire greeted politely.

"Good day, Claire." Crotin answered.

"To what do I owe the honor of your company so early in the morning, friend?"

"Curiosity and boredom, my dear. I am going to The Sparrow's for a few choice items to a new spell. How are you doing?" Crotin's eyes gleamed with the desire to gossip. He was hoping she would know anything about the villagers.

"Doing fine but I don't get out to much in these winter months and only few come to me. I'm afraid I have nothing interesting to talk about." she told him. He pouted and tried to dig for more possible information but she made her excuses and soon made it back home. She smiled as she began setting her dinner to rights, thinking on the forrest creature and his busy body nature. That's not to say he isn't dangerous but to persons such as Claire he was harmless.

[Shani]

Serina awoke early as usual to tend to things around the Inn. No one had stayed there that night so there wasn't much for her to do. She got dressed and went down to the kitchen and made her some breakfast. Then she cleaned the dishes and mopped the floor. Serina mopped the rest of the floors as well. She went to the den, the living area, the restrooms, the halls, and the bedrooms. She straightened up the rooms by tidying the beds and dusting, making sure everything was nice, neat, and clean. When she was finished she had some running to do out in the village. She need to get more bread from the bakery, and she need to have utensils made by the blacksmith. Let's see the utensils will take longer then the bread so I'll go there first. But then again I can out in the bread order, then come back to the blacksmith and order the utensils and go back for the bread. So to the bakery. She thought as she walked into town. Serina made her way toward the bakery. When she got there, she entered and waited at the counter to be helped.

[VerVolf]

The warmth of the mid-morning sun gave Scarlet yet another excuse to smile as he basked in the joy of such little things. He could have complained about the cold snow that had just about covered the bony forest, but he simply sat back and enjoyed the beauty of a lovely winter day for the snow once again loaned the empty tree's their leaves back. The Faerie lived not too far out into the forest which worried him, for all it would take was one curious adventurer to stumble upon the glade he called home. It was small, as far as some of the great faerie glades go in the woodlands far far away, however the size didn't hinder it's perfection. Well protected by a ring of evergreens and sporting a crystal clear pool of water at it's centre, the smell of magic could be smelt in almost every part, from the flowers that still bloomed, to the sparkles of light that rippled off the water's unfrozen surface.

And then, of course, there was the small, thatch roofed cottage in the corner. A small layer of stone raised only a meter off the ground before turning to gentle wooden panelling and a dinky chimney sat neatly on one end. Of course no human would have approved of it, for it was only half a cottage. The other half seemed to be swallowed up by a huge tree, it's trunk reaching out above the canopy of the forest and yet, about half way up was a tiny window.

"Home sweet home..." Scarlet whispered to himself as he stepped inside leaving a small trail of snow after himself that had been stuck to his colourful socks. A broomstick seemed to jump up and instantly start to sweep it into a neat little pile... Puddle, by the door. Scarlet was ready to start his day, digging into a small chest and throwing scrolls and books all over the floor behind him, much to the broomstick's dismay as it gave up and went back to sleep in the corner.

[BaneSlayer]

Chagra Masterson was walking out the door to his secluded wooden cottage on the outskirts of the village, his boot covered feet crunched in the snow as he turned and locked his door, then began making his way towards the heart of the village where the stables lay. Everything seemed to be going smoothly this morning, and Chagra walked on with no annoyance. Arriving at the stables, the brunnette slid open the barn door and walked down the aisle of stalls, stroking different horses as he made his way to the storage room. "Feeding time," he called through the stables to the different horses, grimacing as his own words met his ears and reminded him that tonight he would be feeding as well. Shaking the thought quickly from his mind, Chagra pulled his sweater tighter about him before hoisting the bag of feed up onto his shoulders.

[Vampirequeen]

Brendan Grant woke up at nine in the morning, an hour earlier than his Regina, his twin sister. He changed clothes and put on a pair of dark pants, a long sleeved shirt, a jacket, a pair of boots, gloves, and his heavy black cloak. He pulled up the hood, grabbed his bow and arrows, and went into the snow to practice. He practiced for an hour and a half before deciding to head back into the small house that he shared with Regina.

Regina Grant woke up at ten to an empty house. She changed out of her nightgown and put on a long sleeved, ankle length red dress, a pair of slippers, and a sweater, then headed into the kitchen to make breakfast. She looked around for some eggs, and seeing none, she grabbed a loaf of bread, cut two slices for herself, but some butter on them, and began to eat. She finished eating, then grabbed her sewing supplies and began to repair a rip in one of Brendan's pants. She finished the job right as Brendan walked in the door.
"What's for breakfast?" he asked, closing the door.
"Bread." she replied pointing at the table.
Brendan put his bow and arrows down and cut himself a slice of bread and put butter on it.
"What are we doing today?" he asked with a full mouth.

[wolfslove]

Claire's stew was delicious and she had new skins too. Zeus most certainly seemed to appreciate his share of the food. She had trouble sleeping that night, and as a result wound up going to bed very late and waking up very early.

The rising sun made the earth turn into a thing of true beauty. With tired eyes and a slightly discontented soul, Claire took comfort in the purity of the early morning.

[Vampirequeen]

Regina took a drink of water before answering.
"You need to go hunting, we're almost out of meat." she replied.
"Ok. Does it matter what kind?" he asked, cutting another piece of bread and biting it.
"It does not." Regina responded, grabbing the end piece of the bread.
"I should probably get some more bread." she added, standing up. She went to her room, grabbed a pair of socks, and returned to the kitchen.
"Should I get one loaf or two?" she asked as she pulled off her slippers and put her socks on instead. She walked to the door, grabbed her boots, and returned to her chair as Brendan thought.
"Two." he replied as his sister put her boots on.
"Ok." Regina replied as she grabbed the purse that held her money and tied it around her waist. She grabbed her heavy black cloak, put it on, put on a pair of gloves, pulled the hood up, and left the cabin. Brendan followed her with his bow and arrows, but went towards the woods instead of following his sister to the bakery.
When Regina reached the bakery, she noticed that the door was closed and the front room was empty. She raised her gloved right hand and knocked on the door, hoping that Mercy was there.