(Shadow? Is this your new charrie?)

I don't know...

I had seen a reply on the Who's Here? thread- it said Autumn.

You said that you would be around the Who's Here? thread on a different thread.

I guess that's how. 

Hey, since Shadow became a new person or charrie, does this charrie know that she used to be Shadow?

I walk through the forest, my boots crunching the brown and copper leaves underneath my feet. I breathe in the cool, brisk air. It is mid-morning, and the sun peaks from the golden crown forming from the tops of the trees. I see an object in the distance. It looks as though it is crouching underneath by the roots of a tree, and the object slightly moves its arm. I walk a little quicker, skipping occasionally, when I finally arrive. 

A girl, about my age, sits underneath a tree with red leaves, sketching at a pad. She uses charcoal drawing utensils in some colors.

I take out my variety of charcoal and oil pastels.

"Hello," I softly say, not wanting to startle her.

She jumps slightly, turning around to look at me. "Oh! Uh, hi!"

"Sorry," I say, smiling slightly. I look down at my pastels. "So you like to do art?"

"Yes," she says, relaxing a little. "I'm drawing now."

"I see," I say, peering over her shoulder. "What are you drawing?"

"Well," she says, showing me her pad. "This."

I look and see a scene from the forest. But there's something different. Flowers bloom here and there, and there is a booming waterfall that sprays water sparkling in the sunlight. She must like spring or summer.

"That's very nice," I say, smiling.

"Thank you," she replies.

There is a period of silence when she asks me a question. "What do you draw?"

"Well," I say, pulling out my sketchbook to show her. "I draw real life things, but I also add my little twists to the big picture."

I hand my sketchbook to her, and she leafs through it. She nods and looks up at me. 

"Beautiful," she says.

"Thanks," I blush. "I'm still working at it."

She laughs. "Same! Well, I suppose there is no perfect artist." 

I giggle. "True."

"I'm Autumn," she says.

"Rose," I reply, extending my hand.

She hesitates and then shakes it.

"Where are you from?" I ask. 

She clears her throat. "Um, Sailhaven."

I nod. "I'm from, well, around here. There's a village that I live in, just over there," I say, looking behind me and pointing.

"Cool," she replies. "Do you have a bite to eat? I'm really hungry. I haven't eaten much since yesterday."

"I have some coins," I reply, patting the side of my bag where my coin pouch is kept. "We can go into town and get bread or something."

She nods. "Okay."

We head into town. I wonder about who Autumn is. I wonder if she spends much time in the forest. I haven't see her before. 

I sigh. She's definentley not from here. 

"Well," I say. "Unfotunantley, animals and humans are seperate here. The humans live on one side of the town while the animals live on the other. Humans don't like animals. Animals don't like humans." I pause. "But we all live in the same community anyway."

She nods thoughtfully. "Do you like that?"

I shake my head. "No way. I have a few animal friends, and some animals go to my school. But no one is friendly with each other otherwise."

"Oh," she says, nodding again. "That's not fun."

We walk for a while and then stop at a bench by the town center. We sit down and open the bread bag.

Autumn takes a bite and her eyes light up.

"This stuff is good!" she exclaims.

I laugh. "I know! It's the best bread in town."

While we eat, we talk.

"So," Autumn begins. "What do you think about the war?"

A slash of pain hits me. "Um, uh..." I hesitate. "It's..it needs to stop. Catastrophe can't just destroy what he wants to, and Octavia can't just occupy wherever she wants to."

Autumn nods, obviously acknowledging that I don't like the subject. But we continue to talk about it anyway.

"I heard about it," Autumn says. "I know that Sailhaven is in it, along with Aslahari and Mer."

"Yeah," I say. Mer.

"Is something wrong?" Autumn asks.

"No," I reply. I look at her. "Well, it's just my sister is in it."

"Oh, okay," Autumn says. "Which army?"

"Um," I say. "Well..."

Autumn realizes my discomfort. "Oh! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to pry."

"That's fine," I sigh.

Autumn nods slightly.

"She's in Catastrophe's army," I mumble.

Autumn looks taken aback. "O-oh," she stammers.

I nod slowly. "Yeah, I get that reaction from whoever finds out."

"I'm sorry," she says.

"That's okay," I respond. "I don't blame them. My brother's in the war too. He's with Mer, and he's lived there for about two years. They're basically fighting against each other."

"That's terrrible," Autumn mutters.

"I know," I sigh.

There's a short period of silence.

"Well!" Autumn exclaims, getting up. "Can we go check out the animal side of the village?"

"Sure," I reply, standing up and stretching quickly. "We have to be discreet, though. We don't want people to find out that we've been near the animals."

Autumn nods.

"Oh, and one more thing," I mention.

"Yes?" she asks.

"We need to be careful. The human neighbourhood right before the animal one isn't very... nice."

Autumn nods slowly. I can tell she understands.  

(I'm an elf, just so you know.)

i flap down. Two people are talking.

"Hello" I say.

They both turn.

Well, I am a bat, so me talking is a little odd, but still... 

(Just so you know, I'm not a sprite. Just an elf.)

I nod when I hear something behind me. It was a small voice.

I look behind me, but see nothing. I shrug.

"Seriously, why are we wearing cloaks?" Autumn asks.

"Well...." I hesitate. "This is the neighbourhood with humans that are- rude to the ones that want to go to the next town, the animal town."

She nods.

"So, there's going robbers and a lot of other stuff... just stay discrete," I say.

"Okay. We should probably just quickly pass through anyway," Autumn replies.

I nod.

We head off into the neighbourhood, and I can already feel the icy glares of the people around us.