Ferro turned the door handle of the Driftwood Inn.
*Click*
The door was locked. Ferro turned to look at the position of the moons in the sky. Did they take too long walking here? Surely the Inn should still be opened!
Ferro lifted a paw to knock, but decided against it. If it was already so late, they wouldn’t want to bother their aunt. They could sleep on the porch, they certainly didn’t think they deserved any better. After turning their back to the door for a few moments it swung open, giving Ferro a start.
“Is that you, Ferro?” A raspy feminine voice asked from inside.
Ferro peered into the Driftwood to see a rust coloured Verling smiling at them, their aunt Tawny. This all felt strange, but the warmth of Tawny’s smile put Ferro at ease. Not to mention the warmth of the hearth.
“Yeah aunt Tawny, it’s me… I need a place to stay tonight,” Ferro said as they walked inside.
“Of course Ferro, but why are you up here, and where is Sterling?” Tawny asked with curious concern.
“Sterling kicked me out of our home, and now I need to go back to my parents!” Ferro choked out, holding back tears.
“Oh Ferro, I’m so sorry-” Tawny was interrupted.
“Don’t be, it's all my fault. I threw away the only thing I’ve ever had. Now I’ll be stuck back in my old miserable life with my parents again!” Ferro started bawling as they said this, a paw was put on their shoulder, comforting them.
“You’re not going to go back to an old life Ferro, I promise you. There’s so much to life you haven’t seen, that you were never allowed to see. This world was never very kind to us Anomalies. There’s something I want to show you Ferro. But you need to get some rest first...” Tawny spoke softly as she consoled Ferro, by the end of it they had stopped crying.
Ferro gave their aunt a nod and headed for one of the rooms before turning, “Thank you Tawny, you’re my only relative who ever treated me like family.”
They headed into their room. Tawny had a look on her face like she wanted to apologize for something. But that was the last thing she had to say.
Ferro had a surprisingly restful sleep. The Driftwood had always felt like a second home to them, even now when they didn’t have a first. They were awoken by knocking at the front door, which remained unanswered for too long.
When they opened the door they saw a well dressed Verling man holding a folder of papers. “You're a hard man to track down.” The man said, “You are Ferro, son of Muntz?”
“Well technically, I prefer Ferro, nibling of Tawny,” Ferro replied.
“Ahh, not a fan of the folks I see, and uh. Nibling?” The man spoke back.
“It’s gender neutral, what do you want?” Ferro said annoyed.
“I thought you knew since you're already here, You gave me quite the wild goose chase. Folks said you ran off south with some boy, but I knew you’d come to collect your inheritance!” The man says producing an official looking scroll from his folder and handing it to Ferro.
Ferro opens it up hoping the man would explain it as they pretended to read. He didn’t. “Sorry I can’t understand this…”
“Oh well I can help with any legal jargon you don’t understand,” The man said with a superior smile that made Ferro feel small.
“No, I mean I can’t read it, I have Autocipher,” Ferro finally admits shamefully.
“Oh, an Anomaly… Well I shouldn’t judge what a client wants to do with their will. But that right there, is the deed to the building you're standing in right now.”
“I’m sorry, t-this is an inheritance you said?!” Ferro asked, extremely confused.
“Yeeesh kid, I know that denial is the first stage of grief, but her funeral was 3 weeks ago. You must have meant a lot to her. (Even though you didn’t show up to her funeral…) Cause your aunt Tawny’s last will says you’re in charge of the Driftwood now!”
