Beckyann sighed, looking around the shop she was in and almost immediately determining that there was absolutely nothing that she wanted. In the heart of Stormwind's trade district, her shopping trip had thus far been going only moderately well; in one hand she carried a bag that contained two dresses, a stylish new hat, and two pieces of jewelry that she'd purchased. It wasn't a terrible haul, but she honestly had been expecting to find more. The fall fashions were just so ugly this year! She was either getting out of style with the times, or perhaps not looking in the right places.
Just as she was about to give up hope that this fourth and final stop on her trip would yield good results, her sunglass-hidden eyes alighted upon a rack on the far side of the shop, and she saw 'it'.
'It' was a long, regal purple cloak the likes of which she had been searching for over the past few weeks. Perfectly hued to match a long purple dress she'd recently acquired from a tomb, the golden threading along the edges of the cloak made it look rich and elegant even though it was on a clearance rack. Beckyann rushed over to the far side of the store, eagerly reaching out to pull it from the shelf.
"Can I help you with something, miss?" a kindly voice came from behind her.
Beckyann whirled around, cloak in hand as she thrust it and her coin purse at the shopkeeper, "Yes! YES! This! I want this! WHY AREN'T YOU TAKING MY MONEY RIGHT NOW?!"
Blinking in surprise, the shopkeeper took the cloak and coin purse from the overly excited woman and guided her to the counter where he collected the price of the cloak and gave her her change. Moments later an extremely happy Beckyann was walking down one of the canal's streets with two bags in her hands, entirely satisfied with the trip.
As she turned the corner, heading towards a more distant part of the city where she could open a Death Gate to return to the Ebon Hold, she spied a cart sitting alongside one of the canals. As she approached, details became apparent and she saw that the cart had an opened side that displayed a number of pots, pans, knives, and other simple household goods. An old man sat on a stool in front of the open cart, pushing a knife along a whetstone to sharpen it. Beside him a little brown-haired girl played along the edge of the canal with a ragdoll that had seen better days.
Beckyann was about to pass by when something made her pause and take a closer look. She stood in place, studying the old man and his daughter. His cart was typical of a tinkerer or pot-mender, the interior having a number of implements to perform simple repairs on household items and utensils. His clothes were threadbare, and his shoes had seen better days, his gray hair thinning atop his head and his skin looking weathered and worn from the years.
The little girl playing beside him was in no better condition, her dress having several tears in it and loose threading at the hem. What was worse, she wore no shoes, even though the year was getting later and the cooler weather had arrived in the evenings. She played happily enough, staying near her father as he worked and content with her doll that was missing one of its button eyes.
Memories tickled the back of Beckyann's mind as she watched the old man work. Everything about him reminded her of her own father, and the pair reminded her of her own lot in life when she was the girl's age. She recalled the crushing poverty that they had lived with in Corin's Crossing. She recalled the sound of her father's whetstone at work as he did little odds and ends for the townsfolk to scrape by, his little work shed and the area around it behind their shack a playground for the young Beckyann. She even recalled having to go an entire season without shoes one year when she'd outgrown her own and they simply couldn't afford to buy her any.
"Miss, can I help you with something?" the old man said, startling Beckyann out of her thoughts. She blinked once, realizing she'd been standing there too long and had attracted his attention.
"O-oh, no sir, no. I was just...remembering something," Beckyann replied.
He must have sensed her undead state by the faint echo in her voice. Although she tried to hide it, it was fairly obvious that she was not amongst the living and he blanched, setting down the knife he'd been working on and looking nervous, "S-sorry to disturb you, Miss. W-we don't really have anything y-you'd want..."
Beckyann blinked, feeling uncharacteristically guilty for alarming the old man. Realizing that her disguise had failed, she pushed her sunglasses up on her head so he could see her expression, offering him a kind smile, "Sir, it's really alright. I just paused because...well, you reminded me of my family, of people that are long gone now but that I still hold fond memories of."
The man relaxed slightly, still looking nervous but nodding as if he accepted what Beckyann had said. She let her gaze shift to the young girl that was playing by the edge of the canal, questioning the old man, "Do you not have shoes for her, sir? The winter is coming and it will be a cold one."
She could hear the sorrow in his tone as he replied, "Afraid not. We just...we don't have the coin. I'm lucky enough to feed her each day and I take that as a blessing from the Light as it is. Once things went bad in Westfall we came here, hoping to make a living, but it's been tough."
Beckyann considered this for a few moments, strange emotions warring within her as she remembered having no shoes in the snow. It hurt terribly to step on the ice when she had to go outside for any reason, and she nearly had frostbite many times as a child. It was suffering, as was poverty itself at times, and she knew well how it could shape a life. Something in her stirred, and she took a step towards the girl, kneeling down beside her and ignoring the concern on the old man's face.
"Hi!" the little girl said, looking up at Beckyann. "Ooooooh! You have pretty blue eyes!"
Beckyann smiled, nodding at the girl, "And you have pretty green ones. Mine used to be like yours as well. Is this your doll?"
The little girl nodded, beaming, "Yes! Her name is Sarah! Ohhhh, that is a pretty blanket you have!"
Beckyann tilted her head, seeing where the girl was pointing and understanding she meant the purple cloak that was sticking from the top of the bag. She reached down, removing it from the bag and holding it up before the little girl, "Do you really think so?"
"Oh yes! It looks so warm! You're lucky to have such a warm one for when its cold at night!" the little girl said, happily making her doll dance along the canal's edge.
Something caught in Beckyann's throat as the girl talked, memories lashing out in her mind. She sighed, a resigned look coming over her face, "Well then, why don't you have it hmm? I don't ever get cold."
The little girl stopped playing, eyes wide as she looked up at Beckyann, "Reeeeeeeally?! You really mean it! Oh thank you SO much!"
Beckyann nodded, handing the long cloak to the little girl and watching as she hugged it happily against her chest, showing it to her doll. She rose, turning to find the old man looking at her, surprise on his face. "T-thank you, miss. I...just thank you."
Beckyann nodded at him once, her tone soft, "I remember what it was like. Although you see me as I am now, I was once someone else, and that person remembers. Here...take this and buy her some shoes." She reached down and grabbed her coin purse, tossing it to the old man. He caught it, eyes wide.
Beckyann gave him a smile, reaching up to push her sunglasses back in place and hiding her expression as she turned to go, the delighted cries of the girl at play behind her escorting her away. A part of her felt lighter, felt good about what she'd done, even if it was hard for her to understand why she'd done it.
One thing was for certain though; if she was going to keep giving her coin purses away everytime she came to Stormwind, she was going to need a pay raise from Central at some point. Or perhaps pay of any sort would be nice!
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