#winter (character)

Somewhere the coyotes began to sing once more, sharp and airy through the dusk as Annie finished her story and calm quiet fell over everyone around the fire. Stark leaned forward with a stick to poke at it, shifting the fuel so the fire could better reach the unburnt edges, and beside him Theo leaned back against his hands. 

“So,” he jutted his chin towards Winter. “What are we still doing here boss?” 

A blunt way to ask perhaps, but Theo had always been one to get straight to the point, and by the way all eyes turned to Winter anticipating her answer he wasn’t the only one wondering. I too had wondered whether we would be here much longer. I had my doubts that we had what it took to handle an investigation like this one. The only one who didn’t seem as invested in Winter’s response was Honey. He kept his head down focused on the sunbleached bone he was busy grinding down to powder. A green flash in the low light though betrayed he was watching too.  

“Well,” Winter took a long breath like she often tended to do right before speaking. Whether it was to give her enough air or enough time to think before answering I wasn’t sure. Maybe both. “I can’t say for sure yet, is the short answer. I don’t feel right packing up and leaving Lady Alabaster on her own now that Honey confirmed her son was in fact murdered and not just missing. She’s worried that whoever did this might come after her next, perhaps to settle some forgotten debt. I have spoken to her about what she would like and she said, for the time being at least, that she finds some comfort in having us here and having extra eyes, ears, and though she didn’t say this part, guns, around. She will keep paying us along as we stay here at her request.”  

Theo shrugged, firelight glinting on the metal grommets of his eyepatch. “Good enough for me. Pretty good contender for easiest contract we’ve had in a while.” 

“Now, I’m not so sure about that.” Annie leaned forward on her chair, wrinkled and sun-spotted hands wringing together, massaging at the joints. “It could get sticky if we end up getting involved in the Alabster family and their affairs. Whatever she may or may not have done to get herself and her family targeted, is it really our problem to solve?” She paused, eyes flicking up to the mansion towering above with it’s few lights still firelit. “Depending on who or what is behind all this I wouldn’t want them to decide that we’re so entangled with her to make us a target too.”  

“Come on now Anna-girl,” Theo said, “don’t you think it’s a little too late for you to decide you prefer caution now?” 

She rolled her eyes and knocked the side of his head with a well-aimed flick of her finger, smirking when he flinched. “Careful now, better watch what you’re saying there scamp.” Settling back in her chair though her smile faded. “I have a bad feeling about lingering here, that’s all. Like something’s been in the air ever since that boy came back home.” 

With the boy coming home dead of course there would be a feeling that something had changed. The last hope of him coming back alive was gone replaced by grief and the fear that whoever did this might not be done. That whoever did this might not even be all that far away. If anyone else had expressed apprehension I would have likely dismissed it but coming from Annie... She’d lived longer than any of us and experienced more than her share of misfortune, and on the rare occasions she felt foreboding it rarely turned out to be over nothing.  

Slide one: Bristlecone!

I am trying yet again to edit this story

Slide two: ... Bristlecone?

An older wip (finished last draft back in 2018)

Not sure if I’ll keep the title Bristlecone but I don’t have any better ideas either

I’m finally getting back to it (hopefully)

It’s editing/revising time now

Setting – fantasy with wild west inspiration (simply because I thought it would be neat)

Kind of a murder mystery, kind of a general mystery, kind of an adventure

Which means one of these characters could be the culprit… Or not… It’s a mystery…

Slide three: Viper (one of the POV characters)

That’s not her real name

Deputy of the Aristata and unofficially Winter’s girlfriend (They act as more than just working partners but neither has said anything to each other to acknowledge this)

Observant but tends to ignore her gut feelings

Loves horses, and is in charge of training them

Is unable to speak to people she doesn't know, and then can only manage a whisper

Has had a rough decade or so before joining the Aristata to say the least

Slide four: Honey Davis (the other POV character)

That’s not his real name

Was training to take Cecil’s place as a Mortician Mage until recent events stopped that

Newly recruited as a mercenary to the Aristata

He has some… Secrets (some of which he himself doesn’t even know)

Orphaned as a child when his parents were executed (for good reason)

Something off about him. Eyes shine at night like a cat.

Kind, gentle, and would have made a very good Mortician Mage

Slide five: Winter Balfouriana

This is her real name!

Leader and founder of the Aristata

Viper’s girlfriend

Last surviving member of fairly powerful/noble family of demon slayers

Prior to the “disaster” which killed her family, her mother had trained her in enchanted metalsmithing

Tenacious and strategic, and genuinely cares for her mercenaries

Respectful and fair

Slide six: Stark Jiang

Sees the best in people and tends to treat people as friends unless proven otherwise

Tbh to the point where it’s easy to forget he’s just as deadly as Viper

The first person to join Winter as a mercenary, before their little group even had a name

Pretty hard to rattle him and most of the time he’s just vibing

Very reliable and very trustworthy

Slide seven: Other people

Cecil Davis – Wayton’s Mortician Mage and the man   who took in Honey after he was orphaned 

Taiga – Cecil’s weird dog

Lady Alabaster – Countess of Vindale. She hired   the Aristata to settle a conflict with a   neighbouring Lord

Ren Alabaster – Lady Alabaster’s son (he’s gone   missing)

Annie and Theo – The other two members of the   Aristata

Slide eight: Stuff that's going on

Basically, Lady Alabaster’s son goes missing in the middle of the night

That same night Winter finds Honey alone in desert

 The Aristata agree to stay under Lady Alabaster’s employment to try and find her son

So what happened to Ren Alabaster?

Is he even still alive?

What’s the deal with this Honey kid?

Could it perhaps be an issue that Viper doesn’t like to accept what she knows to be true and instead deny to avoid recognizing uncomfortable truths?

Who knows, could be anything!

Slide nine: ~worldbuilding~

It’s fantasy loosely based on wild west aesthetic

There are demons, there are gods and there are fae (technically all three are the same thing but it’s complicated)