I'll miss the winter

{Roleplay post}

We're going to be changing the bio sections on the Sakura house blog, so I thought I'd grab mine, because I'll likely be revising it.

She sat in her tiny mountain cabin, snow falling softly on the roof, and looked out the frosted window. She remembered when the Queen of the Unseelie plucked a little Phouka out of the woods and made her a court noble; and she did everything she could to represent the Sídhe to the best of her ability, and the Winter Court's core values of passion, instinct, and change. She was changeable by nature, shifting easily through various forms, but when the Court fled the realm, she was not allowed to follow, and wandered into the human lands for the first time.

She found a temporary home in Steelhead in the 1800s, turning catgirl to better adapt to the citizenry there. When she moved on, she moved to Caledon, and shifted freely between fox maids, bunnies, and cats, in addition to fanged humans (on rarer occasion). Another shift in place (and time) took her to Winterfell, where magic saturated her bones again, and she was able to hold to her fae form for the first time in decades.

But she found she'd grown tired with none of the Sídhe around her, and slowly, slowly, she withdrew, building her small cabin high in the mountains, far from friends and faces she knew. The snow fell, and she slept by the fire with her cats, and rarely left her refuge.

With all of these musing thoughts filling her head, she nearly missed the glimpse of a human through the snow-covered trees. She had reddish-blonde hair, a narrow, attractive face, and wore a heavy fur cloak in tones of gold and red, with rich fur lining the hood. *Who was this,* she thought, *who would fight the storms up the mountain to come here?* There was nothing here but trees, and snow, and her cabin...

She blinked, and as if the woman had seen her through the window, she nodded, turning and moving through the trees. Without another thought, Emilly left her cabin and followed, catching brief glimpses as they both moved down the mountainous terrain through the trees. Just as she reached the base of the mountain, the elusive woman disappeared, but a paper fluttered to the ground that Emilly bent to pick up. *House Sakura,* it said, *currently residing at Bellefleurs*...

She went to an information hub, and tracked down the address of Bellefleurs, scheduling a transport, for time had advanced while she'd been pinioned in the snow. She appeared in the courtyard by a fountain, and a lovely Egyptian woman with Nilotic eyes behind oval glasses came out of the house to greet her.

"We're having our annual ball for Sakura," the woman said, smiling. "Would you like to attend?"

She thought for a moment before nodding.

"Yes," she said softly, her lips curving in an answering smile. "I'd like that."

And when she'd attired herself, she hoped properly, in human garb and human guise, she saw the elusive woman again. At the end of the ball, the woman approached her.

"I'm Duchess Canning," she said. "But you can call me Indy. Would you like to know more about House Sakura?"

She smiled, looking around. She already loved the place, and it had felt like an alternate home from the moment she'd walked through the doors. She looked back at the Duchess, waiting patiently.

"Yes," she said. "Yes, Indy, I would."

The Duchess merely smiled, leading her by the arm back to the lovely Egyptian woman she'd met earlier.

"Let me introduce you to Lynn," she said. "She'll help you fit in. I think you can learn a great deal here."

She smiled at Lynn, and then at Indy. Yes, she thought. She would learn more about the humans, It could be a grand adventure, indeed...

The story won't end, I'll just be revising that bio. Probably making it a lot shorter, I was in heavy roleplay mode when I wrote it!

But the Duchess was right, I have learned a great deal, and I'm thoroughly enjoying myself at Sakura. It's a good place to work.