Winter

Discovering Humanity

Winter was done. Done with playing by the rules. Done with giving the Vuluth army mercy. It was now their personal mission to remove anyone who could harm their people. They already lost Tristen and....and Arden....they would not lose anyone else. It was hunting time.

-oOoOo-

Winter's skill set was vast and they were very capable of taking care of themselves while remaining off the grid.

As Winter journeyed across the land, removing threats, some people began to take notice- though no one could identify who it was. Some wanted to find the mysterious assassin to prosecute them for murder. Others wanted to find them for hire. Winter heard these rumors in bars, cafes, and inns alike but never revealed themselves. What good would that do?

As weeks blurred into months, the anniversary of the massacre that killed both Winter's wife and their best friend approached. Winter honored the event the only way they could- killing a bunch of Vuluth's soldiers on their way to attack another Ardorian city.

-oOoOo-

As per usual, Winter showed no mercy. They were silent and efficient, taking out the invaders cleanly and leaving behind only a yellow rose in the center of the ring of now lifeless bodies before walking away like nothing happened.

-oOoOo-

Winter had not stopped in this part of Ardor in over seven years, it was far too close to the city they once considered home. However, some situations call for exceptions and Winter located a small cafe in which to stop. Smaller than I expected.

Rosewood Inn was known for being the best spot around for travelers to stop and restock, even rest for the night if necessary. Winter expected such a place of legend to at least have a sign out front.

Winter walked inside to find a bustling cafe, with a single waitress spinning around and somehow managing to give every single person her attention.

"Hi, I'm looking for The Innkeeper?" Winter asked the busy waitress.

"Innkeep- honey where do you think you are?" The waitress with a kind face asked in return.

"Rosewood," Winter replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Rosewood? No, Siren's Cove. There's a big sign, I know it's not the best sign but it's right out-" Now they were both confused.

"No, there's no sign," Winter tried to be polite, but they don't talk to people often.

"There's no sign. That's okay, there will be a sign again tomorrow," She said with a small smile, "Rosewood is the next town over. Got a ways to go! Gotta take the road east about half a mile, take a left at the fork, you could hardly miss it. Big, beautiful sign they've got. It's probably there. Every day." She gave directions to Rosewood with practiced ease.

Winter just nodded and walked out to follow the directions.

-oOoOo-

It was a number of weeks later when Winter found themselves drawn back to Siren's Cove. As they approached, the restaurant seemed just as busy as before and the same waitress was moving around the cafe with the smooth practiced ease Winter witnessed the previous time they visited.

As Winter entered the diner, they were swept up into the warm and welcoming feeling of the whole place.

"Heya sweetheart, welcome back to Siren's. What can I do for ya?" The waitress swept up to Winter, including them in her rounds of circling the cozy room.

"I- you remember me?" Winter was surprised, she was so busy when they were last here and clearly had so many people coming in and out, why would this woman remember them?

"Ah, Miss Marylin never forgets a face darling. Now, can I get you something to eat?"

-oOoOo-

A/N: The character of Miss Marylin, the cafe Siren's Cove, and all things associated with them are not mine, they belong to hayleywhipjack on TikTok ((She makes amazing dnd content and cosplay content, she also hosts the dnd podcast Unprepared Casters with gusthebard and you should absolutely look it up)) And Credit of Rosewood and the Innkeeper belong to @toohardthebard on tiktok 

I may change this later because I feel like I skipped some significant parts of Winter's life between chapters here. Thoughts? 

If there are some more details about Winter that you would like explained or to see written, let me know!