A Hole To Call Home

Cholena was startled awake by angry, harsh voices. She looked around panicked, then realized the voices were coming from down stairs. Maybe they were in the kitchen and she could sneak past. She crept from her hiding spot by the bookcase and edged down the stairs to the first landing. She leaned over the banister to peek down the stairwell and into the main hall. A pale haired forsaken man staring out the window and tapping at the dirty glass, but he wasn't talking. The voices were coming from the other side of the inn, sort of back behind the stairs. That was toward the kitchen…

Oh please let them be in the kitchen Cholena though. She edged a little further down the stairs and froze. There was a troll woman standing right in the middle of the inn. Cholena scuttled back up the stairs and hide behind the banister. The voices were sounding meander now arguing about shadows, assassins and Sylvanas. Cholena so wanted to run out of the inn.

No, don't run. Running lets them know you're afraid. Like animals, they can sense fear. Just wait, there'll be a pause, or someone will come in. Opportunity would present itself eventually and she could stroll casually out of the inn. She hoped. Then the voices stopped and Cholena heard foot steps coming up the stairs. She tried to squeeze between the banisters, and hoped whomever it was didn't see her.

One of the voices for earlier started talking again. From the accent, it sounded like the troll woman was replying. The footsteps went past and disappeared somewhere upstairs. Cholena peeked down the stairwell again. The pale haired forsaken man was still looking out the window. Another forsaken man, one of the angry voices from earlier was talking to the troll woman. Then he turned and disappeared from her limited line of sight. Foot steps coming down the stairs sent Cholena scrambling back between the banisters. Oh she had to get out of the inn.

The other voice from earlier started talking again. Cholena peeked out, it was a forsaken man wearing a tabord, the same one that had gone upstairs just a bit ago. Why wouldn't they move out of the middle of inn? She covered her mouth to stifle a gasp as she spotted the orc in the inn common room again. Then everyone seemed to drift apart for a moment, the tabord wearing forsaken came up the stairs again. This time when he reached the top of the stairs Cholena scurried from her hiding spot and strolled as casually out of the inn as she could given how badly her legs were shaking. She didn't look at anyone, she didn't stumble thankfully and made it to the exit safely.

Once outside she bolted for the bushes. She sat there a long moment chewing the tips of her finger bones and trying to calm down. Staying in the inn wasn't going to work, she needed somewhere with a roof though. A few walls would be nice. More voices, footsteps approaching her hiding spot, Cholena huddled and made herself as small as she could. Bushes weren't really a very good hiding spot now that she thought about it. The footsteps went past and faded. She moved from her hiding spot and around the side of the inn.

Here she found an old shed tucked in an odd cranny made where the inn's main hall connected with the back rooms. It didn't look like anyone was using the shed. The shed was locked and the lock looked to be rusted solid. Cholena frowned and moved around the side of the shed, maybe there would be a loose board some where.

It wouldn't have to be a big hole for her to get in. She wasn't much more than skin and bones now, literally. She pushed through the bushes on that side but didn't find anywhere that she could squeeze into the shed. Then she banged her knee on something hard hidden by the bushes and almost yelped. There was a ledge along this side of the inn. Cholena rubbed her knee and looked at the ledge puzzled for a moment. Then she looked down along the ledge. The ground sloped away here, the ledge was from the foundation that kept the floor level. But it also kept the shed from going flush against the inn.

Cholena climbed up on th ledge and edged back behind the shed. It was small, but the ledge made a nice stone floor, the inn provided two walls and the shed made a third. The roofs of the two buildings didn't meet up, that might be a problem when it rained. Maybe if she put something up to block the gap. It was warmer than out in the open even if it wasn't was warm as inside the inn. There was enough room to lay down. She just need some blankets and a pillow… A gust of wind swept through and made the Forsaken girl shiver. Ok, make that a lot of blankets.

Cholena chewed her lip. She'd heard the alchemist was looking for blood from the those nasty demon dog-fox things. One of the ladies in the inn had been asking for bat pelts. Maybe she could find some other people needing odd jobs done that would be willing to pay her, or trade her useful things. She heard muffled voices from inside the inn. Her heart started to speed up, but then she calmed herself down. It was ok, there was a wall between her and them. This was a good hiding spot, it was unlikely anyone would ever know she was back here. Cholena curled up in her new home and began planning.

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