15 year challenge

Tamaki Firestrider stands with a happy smile having once again finished his inspection of his small chunk of land; his eyes show signs of his age with fine faded wrinkle lines on the outer sides of each eye, and a few frown lines upon his forehead. The trials faced over the last years have etched themselves on his once smooth face.

“Daddy!” a small girl comes running from near the orchards “DADDY!” She yells stumbling and picking herself up continuing her beeline towards him. “Orrick is climbing the water tower with Gabby again!”

She glares up at her father, her white blonde locks curl around her face and this girl was in every way her mother’s child, He could already see the telltale signs of another warrior in the making.

Tamaki sighs and slips down into a sitting position waving her to sit in his lap. “You realize it’s a good thing darling, that tower is a danger, and by telling you no… he protected you.”

He touched the mantelpiece gently, a sad smile upon his face. "Fifteen years have passed since that day,"

The sea gradually grows calm below. Veins of frothy white that streak its crystalline surface drift like wisps of white clouds painting the azure sky. The waves meet with familiar fondness, a recognition that is both stirring and soothing as they collide with one another and bask in the shared force of their union. Like untamed flames igniting smoldering embers, a strange sort of synergy results in the new life given each- gradually calm, and fraught with potential.

The midday sun is warm and inviting, a fiery beacon in selfless watch over the shore, and the only observing eye where once there existed so many. I had long since set aside the dark, silken cloak I’d worn to bask in its exquisite rays, and the easy weightlessness of a morning by the sea. My palms itch instinctively with their own returning sigh of heat, just beneath the surface.

What's the problem?" I asked the lady who looked like she was about to feint.

"I escaped a serial killer! The only reason why I'm not dead right now is because I threw a chair at him and ran out the window. I don't know if he is still chasing me.

"When did this happen, and do you know who the killer is?"

"Just now! And no, I just heard of him from the media."

I like how she came to me first, before anyone else. I heard of the killer but no one personally came to me with that problem.

"I don't mean to scare you, but the killer might be following you right now..Follow my directions carefully. I need you to stay under this desk. Yes, it sounds strange but listen; my desk is gun and explosive proof, so it makes for a good hiding spot." The lady nodded. I asked her for her name and she told me it was Rebeca Masmer.

"Ok...stay here I should be back soon."

"Wait! You aren't going to have body guards or defense around you?"

Aubrey climbed the rocks on the outer rim of the ogre compound, between the southernmost tower and the cliffside.  He shimmied easily between the shear jagged boulders, and made his way silently to the tower.  He crawled in between the large stone legs, and clung to the side, directly above one of the two ogres guarding the southern pass into the complex.  Dressed in matte blacks and blues, he was just a dark shadow.  As silent as a falling feather, he released his grip on the tower and kicked off of the rock.  He unsheathed a dagger in mid-air, landed on the ogre like a child riding on his large father's shoulders, and deftly slashed the brute's throat.  The other ogre in the pass heard a mumbling gurgle and turned to check on his partner.  He was rewarded with a dagger thrown into his skull.  Aubrey was at the dying ogre's side in a flash, helping him slowly to the ground to avoid a noisy crash.  The elf retrieved his dagger and clicked

It was an unusually dark night in the Blade's Edge Mountains.  The clouds were thick and black overhead, but seemed not to move.  They were low, making it feel as if there was a roof over Daggermaw Canyon.  Good, Fay thought, We can use all the cover we can get.  She, Pelp, and Dekket were perched high on one of the hundreds of large rocky spikes jutting over the deep crag. 

Fay and Dekkett sat on thick, burly gryphons.  The mounts were crouched low, allowing their riders to peer over the spike to the canyon below.  Fay's gryphon Marcus, a dark-golden animal, clucked with irritation.  She scratched his neck, trying to calm him.

Dekkett grunted.  "Marcus's blood is up.  He's ready for a fight."  The dwarf scratched his own gryphon's neck, sensing the same thing from his mount.

((Speculative entry for Anushin's 15 year challenge, with a possible future for Lirriel. My other alts may get entries, haven't decided. Borrowing from Cerwis' 15 year blog.))

Young voices rose in laughter outside. Lirriel peeked through the sitting room curtains. Her three ruffians were greeting their cousin Sameth, thinking they were being sly about sneaking treats.

15 years from the present...

My 5 year old detective business at the Old Town in Stormwind is going very well, I'm getting people from all over asking me for their help on an issue they're having. Some involve the horde, chasing down murderers, spying on suspicious people, being a double agent...it's all really fun. I know a lot of people who hate their jobs or working, such as that they sit in an office all day doing boring work.

I remember when we reclaimed Gilneas a few years back, this orc gave a very nasty fight, I have a scar starting from my right ear to my chin. Though, it's starting to go away. Apparently I hurt a very good friend of the orc, he snuck up behind me as I was gutting his friend making sure he stayed dead, my reflexes were a second too slow, I was probably tired from all the fighting that day. His axe made a deep cut on my face.

((This is a very specific setting for the state of Azeroth, fifteen years from 'now.'  In addition to the usual 'What Happens in 15 years',  I've set up another very specific 'What if' scenario.  I'm hoping to make this into several chapters.  Enjoy!))

"Great shot, girly!"  Fay shouted.  She watched Isolde trotting along on a beautiful mare, guiding the horse with only her legs.  The young woman held a bow in one hand, and looked proudly at a target across the lawn.  An arrow quivered on the edge of the red bullseye.  Isolde glanced over her shoulder, grinning at Fay.  The older woman clapped, and several stablehands and soldiers applauded as well.

"She's seventeen and can shoot better than you, Lady Allgoode," a soldier chuckled. 

15 years in the future...

I'm finally a master mage! The celebration took place in Dalaran so even my actual family was able to come, and not just a few forsaken or elves. Mickal, my trainer and also my uncle from before I died, was oddly the most supportive of my journey to becoming a master, even after everything that happened. "You have to be one of the best!" He tells me. The incident that has happened when I told my family that I'm a forsaken now was behind me and everyone else too. I stopped aging after I died, so it looks like I'm stuck at this age for ever. I don't have to worry about rotting anymore, I discovered a spell that prevents it!

It took about 10 years to perfect it, but it was worth it. Everyone is a bit older except for me. I'm about 35, though I look the same age as I did once I died. Mickal is 50, my younger brother is 20. They told me not to think about it, it would just cause stress.

        "Wait for it..." The Paladin's voice came out quietly, cutting through the early morning silence as he steadied the crossbow in his arms, keeping an eye on the herd of deer before him. Beside him knelt a lithe girl of about seventeen , an expensive long-bow in her hands, string drawn back as it cradled an arrow, quivering with tension and anticipation of being released. She turned her head to regard her father, "now?" she inquired in a crystalline voice.

"Now." 

((I challenge you all to a 15-Year Throwdown! Where do you see YOUR characters in 15 years? How have they changed? How have they stayed the same?))

Part 1

Wind filtered in through an open window, filling the Elwynn house with the scent of evening dew. The diminutive woman smiled, closing her eyes as she enjoyed the scent, so familiar to her and so dearly missed. It had been more than a decade since she'd walked the floors of this beautiful home, but at one point she had considered it hers.