Cookies and Conversation
A recent scene from AmberÂ’s home with her fatherÂ…
In her home in the LadyÂ’s Ward, Amber Rose was busy in her family kitchen. Sugar, butter, chocolate and other baking supplies lay scattered over counters and the dining table. The sweet scent of warm cookies filled the air as both ovens held their heat. Dusted lightly with flour, Amber sang to herself while Pockets snoozed lazily on a cushioned chair. Opening an oven door slightly, she peeked to check on her first batch of chocolate chip cookies.
“Looks like we’re almost done, Pockets!” She smiled and looked to her bunny. Pockets sleepily twitched his nose.
A moment later the front door opened and in walked Nathaniel Rose. From the foyer he called out. “It smells good, Amber Anne.”
“Thanks, daddy!” Amber replied, still attentive to her baking. “Welcome home!”
“Thank you, dear.” Still near the front door, her father hung his hat and continued the conversation. “What’s the occasion? Are you craving something sweet?”
Amber opened the first oven and pulled out her first batch of cookies. Lit brilliantly with cantrips, the cookies shimmered with colored glitter and hummed a soft, simple melody. “Oh, no. These are for Cam, a friend of mine. He’s having a tough week so I thought I’d bake him some cookies.”
Her father walked into the kitchen and saw the beautiful mess of pans and baking materials littered everywhere. He turned to Amber who was looking over her first batch of cookies. “What’s that tune I hear?”
She blinked and looked up. “I think it’s the cookies.”
“Really?” Mover Rose paused briefly, standing tall in his Harmonium uniform. “Has that ever happened before?”
She shook her head and smiled. “I don’t think so…” Amber tapped her finger on her cheek; it flashed with the tiniest glint of arcane light. “Fun, though, huh?” She grinned and turned to take the second batch out of the oven. “How was your day, daddy?”
“Fine, fine. Thank you. And yours?”
Amber set the second pan on a cooling rack. She looked to her dad and blew a wisp of hair out of her face. “I had a curious encounter with a tiefling, today. He mentioned something about a few powerful people trying to overthrow the Harmonium. Do you know anything about that?”
Nathaniel laughed deeply. “The Harmonium has always had its fair share of enemies from other factions, Amber. You know that.”
“That’s true,” she replied.
Her father responded with a handful of questions. “You said a tiefling told you this? Who is he? What do you know about him? Does he seem at all trustworthy?”
Amber bit her lip gently and started to clean up a few of her baking materials. “His name is Necroth. To be honest, he seems to have a pretty shady reputation. It sounded like he was telling me this so, in the end, he could be seen as some sort of hero. And he mentioned something about clearing up his name.”
He thought for a moment. “Hmm, it seems he has some fairly self-interested motivations, and something of a dark past. Do you trust him at all?”
“How do you mean?”
“Would you trust him with… Pockets, for instance?”
Amber laughed lightly and looked to her bunny that was still sleeping on a kitchen chair. “I think he wants to eat Pockets, to be honest.” She paused as another thought came to her mind. “And he randomly hugged me today. That was really awkward. And a few others mentioned something about him eating skinned cats.”
His eyebrow rose slightly. “Well, that’s disturbing. Amber, it sounds like you already know if you should be interacting with him or not.”
She sighed. A wisp of arcane light from her eyes swirled to a handful of tiny hearts and faded. “Yeah, you’re right. I better just keep my distance.”
He nodded. “That sounds like a good idea.” Nathaniel scanned the kitchen once again. “Make sure you get his place cleaned up, too. Your mother will be home soon and you know how she is when things are when it looks like you cast a wind spell in the kitchen.”
Amber nodded once and laughed a bit, “Sure!”
“Oh, Amber, one more thing…” Her father began.
She looked to him, a jar of sugar under one arm. “Yes?”
“I hope Cam likes those cookies.”
The Lovely Amber Rose
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*jasonpauldegraaf
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Thu Jan 01, 1970 12:00 am
Shadowed Visions and Dark Dreams
A clear night fell over the LadyÂ’s Ward. At the Rose family home, Amber slept with her window open. A cool breeze found its way onto the floor, cooling over her skin, and blowing lightly through her dark, auburn hair. Dressed in a simple nightgown, the young woman tossed and turned in her bed, though her bunny, Pockets, slept soundly in a pillowed basket on the floor.
“Amber…” a dark voice hissed eerily to her. In her mind’s eye she saw a shadowed figure with a hooded face. “Amber Rose...”
Breathing quickly, her eyes tightened and jaw clenched.
She saw the figure near her. It spoke again with a raspy, low voice. “Dark days dance ‘round you, spell weaver. They,” he paused momentarily, “…draw near.”
Though closer in her nightmare, she could not discern his face. In her sleep AmberÂ’s back arched, two fists pressing hard into her bedding.
Almost methodically, both his hands begin to extend toward her neck. She saw that his arms were wrapped in the blackest of cloths, tattered and spun around his wrists and hands. His fingernails were ragged and filthy. He spoke again. “And you linger on in your days, not knowing what…”
In an instant, the hands became fierce claws, grasping her throat violently! “…will approach!”
Amber woke with a slight scream. “No!” she exclaimed, sitting up quickly in her bed and gasping loudly. Pockets jumped slightly at the intensity of her voice, his ears immediately perked and alert. Grasping her covers with one hand, Amber placed the other over her heard. She took a moment to collect herself, noticing the sweat over her body. Pockets jumped attentively onto her bed, coming beside her.
Amber then turned and saw part of her faded reflection in her open bedroom window, then around the room. Petting her rabbit more out of security than care, she glanced to her hands that shimmered faintly with their usual, arcane light.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, flopping down upon her back. She cuddled Pockets near her.
“So what was that all about?”
A clear night fell over the LadyÂ’s Ward. At the Rose family home, Amber slept with her window open. A cool breeze found its way onto the floor, cooling over her skin, and blowing lightly through her dark, auburn hair. Dressed in a simple nightgown, the young woman tossed and turned in her bed, though her bunny, Pockets, slept soundly in a pillowed basket on the floor.
“Amber…” a dark voice hissed eerily to her. In her mind’s eye she saw a shadowed figure with a hooded face. “Amber Rose...”
Breathing quickly, her eyes tightened and jaw clenched.
She saw the figure near her. It spoke again with a raspy, low voice. “Dark days dance ‘round you, spell weaver. They,” he paused momentarily, “…draw near.”
Though closer in her nightmare, she could not discern his face. In her sleep AmberÂ’s back arched, two fists pressing hard into her bedding.
Almost methodically, both his hands begin to extend toward her neck. She saw that his arms were wrapped in the blackest of cloths, tattered and spun around his wrists and hands. His fingernails were ragged and filthy. He spoke again. “And you linger on in your days, not knowing what…”
In an instant, the hands became fierce claws, grasping her throat violently! “…will approach!”
Amber woke with a slight scream. “No!” she exclaimed, sitting up quickly in her bed and gasping loudly. Pockets jumped slightly at the intensity of her voice, his ears immediately perked and alert. Grasping her covers with one hand, Amber placed the other over her heard. She took a moment to collect herself, noticing the sweat over her body. Pockets jumped attentively onto her bed, coming beside her.
Amber then turned and saw part of her faded reflection in her open bedroom window, then around the room. Petting her rabbit more out of security than care, she glanced to her hands that shimmered faintly with their usual, arcane light.
Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, flopping down upon her back. She cuddled Pockets near her.
“So what was that all about?”