Post by Celeste on Dec 2, 2020 12:33:29 GMT -5
((The latest post in Celeste's ''diary'' which is more a collection of thoughts. Posted here so a few people not in the gang can read as well. Her full thoughts can be found here - Celeste's Thoughts - for those who have access to the gang's forums. Remember that diaries are a collection of a character's experiences and thoughts and not necessarily the player's))
Stormwind Guard Itinia Farson, Iddy to her husband, didn't really hate the night shift. It allowed her to see her kids when they got up in the morning and gave her time to do some of her chores without interruption. Her post in the harbor also afforded her a nice view of the sunset and it was usually quiet at the docks at night. The giant vessels slowly gathering barnacles in the harbor swayed silently in their moorings, awaiting their crews for an eventual departure to distant shores.
This evening, however there was something new that greatly intrigued Guard Farson. A hour or so ago, a young woman had casually strolled to an empty pier. She was dressed like a typical fishing entushiast, complete with the floppy hat and knee-high boots. Her fishing rod looked like it had been made from the corpse of a murloc. That's what had initially drawn Itinia's attention. She stopped at the end of the pier and proceeded to create a portal to some jungle world. The guard had started moving forward to investigate. Portals opening in the middle of Stormwind Harbor weren't exactly illegal but they could mean trouble. She didn't get far though before the reason for the portal presented itself. The young woman, probably a mage, commanded a large lizard, a direhorn, to walk through it. Iddy wasn't very concerned, she'd seen all manners of beasts, including dragons, flying or crawling around the city. The direhorn wasn't even the largest she'd ever seen.
The mage then executed an almost ritualistic series of gestures. She pulled a sharp spear from one of the cargo nets hanging off of the direhorn's saddle. She looked around for a moment and managed to find a large enough knot-hole in the planks of the pier to make it stand up. She then removed a collapsible chair and parasol from the same nets and placed those near the edge of the pier. Lastly she moved her fingers along the brim of her hat in a certain pattern as if for luck and took up her gruesome fishing rod. After that, the young woman sat down comfortably in her chair and proceeded to empty the harbor of fish.
Itinia liked to toss in a line sometimes and often took her kids to the Olivia's pond for some family fishing. She considered herself a knowledgeable angler but the woman on the pier was in a different category. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to ask the young woman for a few tips...
Celeste saw none of it; the fish, the curious guard, the silent vessels. It's like her body was just reacting. Fishing in the harbor wasn't her favorite place but since she tended to donate most of her catches to the orphanage it was more practical. She had needed to clear her thoughts and most of the time, that meant keeping her hands busy doing something automatic so her mind could wander on its own.
Discovering Kat in that room in Booty Bay, possibly seconds from dying had shattered her reality. Kat was invincible. Not even a sword through the heart had killed her. She had somehow always expected her to just be there. Luckily she had been saved but the issue remained. The drugs her boss had taken had nearly killed her and she knew it was only a matter of time before she found more. She would never stop and nothing she could do or say would convince her to do otherwise. In fact it would only infuriate her more. She had to find a way to make Kat think it was her own decision. That was always easier said than done though.
And then Cillian had started arguing with the only person there who could save her boss. She had started seeing red. Why couldn't he just shut up and let her work? There would be time to argue the hows and whys of it later. She considered Cillian a good friend and hoped he would find his way back to the gang. At that moment though, when his accusations were chasing away the one saving Kat... She was ashamed to have threatened him though. She was only 23 and hardly experienced to handle situations like this. To make things worse, her friend Natasha had seen her display of anger and fire. Celeste had tried to explain that she never would have gone through with her threat but despite her attempts, she wasn't sure Nat believed her.
That was the part that hit closest to home. She had instantly connected with Natasha and the two had become friends almost overnight. After that the two had been together almost every day. Without realizing it, Celeste had started thinking about Nat more and more often. A flower she saw in the wilds she thought Nat would like just as much as she did. An old boot she snag while fishing and imagined her friend laughing about it with her. She woke up hopefully wondering if the two of them would hang out together and often went to sleep happy that they did.
Celeste had never been in love. Her first kiss had been given to someone on a dare. As a teenager starting to question her feelings and learning about love, most of the people she could have explored those things with had been chased away by her brother Tomlin. For some reason he had never allowed anyone to get closer to her than he was. She had seen her adoptive mother and father together. They had been so very much in love with each other. That was her only model to base her feelings on so she thought that that is what she would eventually need. A loving and caring husband. Except kissing that male kaldorei on a dare had done nothing to her heart. He was handsome enough and a gentleman about her lack of experience but she hadn't really felt anything from that simple kiss. Maybe she shouldn't have either way? It was just a dare and she hardly new the guy.
She just knew that Nat was always on her mind and when they shared a hug that lasted just a little longer than usual or when her friend's beautiful face lit up in a smile, her heart flipped and flopped. She found herself wanting to touch her a little more often or looking for any excuse to be with her and to talk to her. She wondered if it was just her affection-starved heart aching for a contact with someone, any contact, but she doubted the explanation was that simple. She had hugged her friend Shari many times but she had never felt butterflies in her stomach like she did when she was with Nat.
She had marshalled her courage and finally told her friend about her feelings, as confusing as they were. Nat hadn't run away, at least, but she had been surprised about the admission. After all, when Celeste had been forced to pick whom she would marry, make love to or kill on a dare, she had told the group she would probably take the male kaldorei to bed because she wasn't interested in women. It was an answer she threw out on the spot because she needed an explanation and had no clue where her own desires lay. All those strangers looking at her had been intimidating and she had so very much wanted to make a good impression. It had seemed an easy and safe decision at the time but now it just felt like a lie.
For now Celeste and her friend were content to let that discussion simmer quietly in the background. Celeste remained hopeful that something would develop but was more than willing to leave that decision to Nat. She might not be experienced in love but she was wise enough to know that she shouldn't and couldn't force her friend to return her feelings.
It didn't stop the scatter-brained young woman from dreaming though. Nothing had nibbled at her bait for a while now and her fishing rod was hanging limply in her hands. Celeste was smiling and dreamily reliving a memory from her youth. Her mother and father were dancing in the open space of the shop downstairs. Close together, hands around each other and moving in slow circles. Celeste should have been in bed but she had snuck downstairs instead to watch them. They had been beautiful together and as they danced it seemed that the rest of the world had simply faded away.
Celeste put her fishing rod on the pier and stood, closing her eyes. She raised her arms as if holding a dancing partner and hummed a few notes as she started moving in slow circles on the pier. She was just starting to wonder what it would be like to dance with Nat when she bumped into a chest armored in steel.
A lot of things happened at once then. Guard Farson, who had been coming closer to ask Celeste about some of her fishing techniques, almost lost her balance and stumbled back on the pier. Celeste squawked and feel on her rump, looking up in surprise. Nosebleed who had been dozing quietly suddenly woke up and bellowed, confused and alarmed at the sudden commotion. The direhorn smacked the pier with his heavy tail a few times, shattering Celeste's chair in the process.
That's when a fish decided to bite.
Acting on instinct, it decided to swim to deeper waters to flee the unexpected pain in its mouth. Celeste's prized fishing rod clattered on the planks of the pier as it was dragged forward and fell into the harbor with a quiet little plop...
Stormwind Guard Itinia Farson, Iddy to her husband, didn't really hate the night shift. It allowed her to see her kids when they got up in the morning and gave her time to do some of her chores without interruption. Her post in the harbor also afforded her a nice view of the sunset and it was usually quiet at the docks at night. The giant vessels slowly gathering barnacles in the harbor swayed silently in their moorings, awaiting their crews for an eventual departure to distant shores.
This evening, however there was something new that greatly intrigued Guard Farson. A hour or so ago, a young woman had casually strolled to an empty pier. She was dressed like a typical fishing entushiast, complete with the floppy hat and knee-high boots. Her fishing rod looked like it had been made from the corpse of a murloc. That's what had initially drawn Itinia's attention. She stopped at the end of the pier and proceeded to create a portal to some jungle world. The guard had started moving forward to investigate. Portals opening in the middle of Stormwind Harbor weren't exactly illegal but they could mean trouble. She didn't get far though before the reason for the portal presented itself. The young woman, probably a mage, commanded a large lizard, a direhorn, to walk through it. Iddy wasn't very concerned, she'd seen all manners of beasts, including dragons, flying or crawling around the city. The direhorn wasn't even the largest she'd ever seen.
The mage then executed an almost ritualistic series of gestures. She pulled a sharp spear from one of the cargo nets hanging off of the direhorn's saddle. She looked around for a moment and managed to find a large enough knot-hole in the planks of the pier to make it stand up. She then removed a collapsible chair and parasol from the same nets and placed those near the edge of the pier. Lastly she moved her fingers along the brim of her hat in a certain pattern as if for luck and took up her gruesome fishing rod. After that, the young woman sat down comfortably in her chair and proceeded to empty the harbor of fish.
Itinia liked to toss in a line sometimes and often took her kids to the Olivia's pond for some family fishing. She considered herself a knowledgeable angler but the woman on the pier was in a different category. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she decided to ask the young woman for a few tips...
Celeste saw none of it; the fish, the curious guard, the silent vessels. It's like her body was just reacting. Fishing in the harbor wasn't her favorite place but since she tended to donate most of her catches to the orphanage it was more practical. She had needed to clear her thoughts and most of the time, that meant keeping her hands busy doing something automatic so her mind could wander on its own.
Discovering Kat in that room in Booty Bay, possibly seconds from dying had shattered her reality. Kat was invincible. Not even a sword through the heart had killed her. She had somehow always expected her to just be there. Luckily she had been saved but the issue remained. The drugs her boss had taken had nearly killed her and she knew it was only a matter of time before she found more. She would never stop and nothing she could do or say would convince her to do otherwise. In fact it would only infuriate her more. She had to find a way to make Kat think it was her own decision. That was always easier said than done though.
And then Cillian had started arguing with the only person there who could save her boss. She had started seeing red. Why couldn't he just shut up and let her work? There would be time to argue the hows and whys of it later. She considered Cillian a good friend and hoped he would find his way back to the gang. At that moment though, when his accusations were chasing away the one saving Kat... She was ashamed to have threatened him though. She was only 23 and hardly experienced to handle situations like this. To make things worse, her friend Natasha had seen her display of anger and fire. Celeste had tried to explain that she never would have gone through with her threat but despite her attempts, she wasn't sure Nat believed her.
That was the part that hit closest to home. She had instantly connected with Natasha and the two had become friends almost overnight. After that the two had been together almost every day. Without realizing it, Celeste had started thinking about Nat more and more often. A flower she saw in the wilds she thought Nat would like just as much as she did. An old boot she snag while fishing and imagined her friend laughing about it with her. She woke up hopefully wondering if the two of them would hang out together and often went to sleep happy that they did.
Celeste had never been in love. Her first kiss had been given to someone on a dare. As a teenager starting to question her feelings and learning about love, most of the people she could have explored those things with had been chased away by her brother Tomlin. For some reason he had never allowed anyone to get closer to her than he was. She had seen her adoptive mother and father together. They had been so very much in love with each other. That was her only model to base her feelings on so she thought that that is what she would eventually need. A loving and caring husband. Except kissing that male kaldorei on a dare had done nothing to her heart. He was handsome enough and a gentleman about her lack of experience but she hadn't really felt anything from that simple kiss. Maybe she shouldn't have either way? It was just a dare and she hardly new the guy.
She just knew that Nat was always on her mind and when they shared a hug that lasted just a little longer than usual or when her friend's beautiful face lit up in a smile, her heart flipped and flopped. She found herself wanting to touch her a little more often or looking for any excuse to be with her and to talk to her. She wondered if it was just her affection-starved heart aching for a contact with someone, any contact, but she doubted the explanation was that simple. She had hugged her friend Shari many times but she had never felt butterflies in her stomach like she did when she was with Nat.
She had marshalled her courage and finally told her friend about her feelings, as confusing as they were. Nat hadn't run away, at least, but she had been surprised about the admission. After all, when Celeste had been forced to pick whom she would marry, make love to or kill on a dare, she had told the group she would probably take the male kaldorei to bed because she wasn't interested in women. It was an answer she threw out on the spot because she needed an explanation and had no clue where her own desires lay. All those strangers looking at her had been intimidating and she had so very much wanted to make a good impression. It had seemed an easy and safe decision at the time but now it just felt like a lie.
For now Celeste and her friend were content to let that discussion simmer quietly in the background. Celeste remained hopeful that something would develop but was more than willing to leave that decision to Nat. She might not be experienced in love but she was wise enough to know that she shouldn't and couldn't force her friend to return her feelings.
It didn't stop the scatter-brained young woman from dreaming though. Nothing had nibbled at her bait for a while now and her fishing rod was hanging limply in her hands. Celeste was smiling and dreamily reliving a memory from her youth. Her mother and father were dancing in the open space of the shop downstairs. Close together, hands around each other and moving in slow circles. Celeste should have been in bed but she had snuck downstairs instead to watch them. They had been beautiful together and as they danced it seemed that the rest of the world had simply faded away.
Celeste put her fishing rod on the pier and stood, closing her eyes. She raised her arms as if holding a dancing partner and hummed a few notes as she started moving in slow circles on the pier. She was just starting to wonder what it would be like to dance with Nat when she bumped into a chest armored in steel.
A lot of things happened at once then. Guard Farson, who had been coming closer to ask Celeste about some of her fishing techniques, almost lost her balance and stumbled back on the pier. Celeste squawked and feel on her rump, looking up in surprise. Nosebleed who had been dozing quietly suddenly woke up and bellowed, confused and alarmed at the sudden commotion. The direhorn smacked the pier with his heavy tail a few times, shattering Celeste's chair in the process.
That's when a fish decided to bite.
Acting on instinct, it decided to swim to deeper waters to flee the unexpected pain in its mouth. Celeste's prized fishing rod clattered on the planks of the pier as it was dragged forward and fell into the harbor with a quiet little plop...
))
Founded April 26, 2005