A/N: this is a tale that is, indirectly, a part of the trials and tribulations of the women of Serenity. The story is standalone, though; you can read this and nothing else of mine, and the story will still make sense. For more info on who they are, feel free to check my account on DA.
The disclaimer is simple: the story has a bad ending. I was upset about something when the idea was conceived and when the story was written. It was difficult to write; the best I can say is that, since this is part of a larger continuum, those who choose to read a much longer story coming early next year titled 'You, Me & Us' will get to see a measure of justice served for the perpetrators here.
Jayavarna clacked her hooves together as she waited, staring at the lush grass beneath her feet. Ashenvale was a beautiful place, and being there reminded her of growing up in Shadowmoon Valley. Constant dark skies and ethereal wildlife were remarkably similar in both areas; if she could never return to Outland after her planet's ruination, perhaps she could contribute to the preservation of another one.
The native people of the region designed interesting architecture and aesthetics. The silk tent before her looked unusually tall to her, and certainly didn't contain enough floor space for anybody to sit down. How they intended to undertake the guild interview was beyond her, but considering how eager she was to join, she really wasn't in any place to ask excessive questions.
Her thoughts were interrupted when the tent flap ruffled, and she immediately straightened up. Stepping outside, full combat gear and all was a night elf sentinel about the same height as Jayavarna herself; the woman's hair was a silver color that the draenei understood to be rare among the woman's people, and it hung in a braided ponytail draped around the woman's shoulder pauldrons. Every bit the rushed, preoccupied guild official, the recruiter and quartermistress held a clipboard in her hand and almost walked right by without saying hello.
Reminding seated on the type of smooth rock that the night elves seemed to use as chairs, Jayavarna forced herself to wait patiently despite her pounding heart, bubbling excitement and poking worry that she'd be passed over or ignored. This was her first real foray outside of the Azuremyst Isles since her people had landed on Azeroth, and she found herself nervous and desiring acceptance. The Light appeared to smile on her, and at the last minute the silver haired sentinel slowed down, looked the draenei over and then glanced at her clipboard.
"For an interview?" the quartermistress asked in a somewhat nasally voice. Her left nostril wheezed slightly whenever she inhaled, which added to her intimidation factor.
It took Jayavarna a few seconds to realize that she'd been addressed. "Beg your pardon?" she replied in Common, her grammatical accuracy relatively high in the language but her fluency still poor.
Though the expression of the stoic elf didn't change, her tone became a little more terse. "Are you here for a guild interview or not?" the woman asked impatiently.
"Oh, yes, of course! I scheduled it with one of your members who approached me in Forest Song!" Jayavarna tightened her baldric and leapt to her hooves, eager to demonstrate her readiness. "They told me all about it at the new inn they have there, apparently you all just got enough signatures for your charter and it's in processing right now."
"Slow down," the wheezy nosed sentinel told her in a plain, almost disinterested voice. Jayavarna opened her mouth for just another second before shutting it quickly, controlling her excitement at having gained the ear of the guild's second in command. "If you're here, then you've likely been told all you need to be before initiation. We, however, will need to ask you some questions."
"Sure! No problem! You know, I'm so happy to contribute to the defense of the Alliance any way I can; our people really would be in much more dire straits were we not welcomed by such open arms. In fact..." Her voice trailed off when she noticed absolutely no reaction from the quartermistress. Elves in general were difficult for her to figure out, and because she didn't know exactly what the woman was thinking, she decided to behave in the most reserved way possible. "...I'm just glad to be here," she finished, not knowing what else to say.
For a little while longer, the silver haired sentinel just looked at her, giving her a bit of a self conscious feeling as the two of them stood alone there in the woods. "Alright, then. If you're ready, we can start. You're the last one to make it and our guild's captain had almost prepared to retire for the morning."
"Oh! The captain! You mean I get to meet the founder of the guild?"
Blinking eyes and a wheezing nostril was all that greeted the ecstatic draenei. "Please behave appropriately when standing before Captain Gwynneth," the sentinel ordered.
"Yes ma'am!" Jayavarna replied with a little salute.
Silent and contained, the sentinel turned heel and walked past the silk tent into the darkness shortly before dawn. At first, Jayavarna thought she was to wait, but when the night elf covered too much distance she began to follow, not wanting to be left behind. Beyond the first tent stood three more in a row; the one in the middle was rather large and there were some of the furry animals that the locals referred to as nightsabres sleeping in front of it. Not even turning back to acknowledge the motivated draenei, the quartermistress disappeared into the large middle tent. Anticipation caused Jayavarna's heart to thump in her chest, and no matter how hard she strained, she couldn't hear a peep from what was going on inside.
Right when she felt the depressing feeling that she'd been forgotten creeping up on her, the tent flap rustled and she stood up straight again. The first thing she saw was green; a long green ponytail, the green greaves, the green blazon on the woman's shoulder, the green dye in the hilt of the woman's long, thin sword. She walked with a confidence that lacked her right hand woman's haughtiness, and exuded a quiet sense of dignity as she stopped before the potential new member.
If there ever was a time where Jayavarna had felt she was being tested, the few wordless seconds when the guild's leader inspected her armor was it. There was not a hint of disrespect in the gaze of those two silver eyes, yet Jayavarna felt nervous nonetheless. She put her hands on her hips. Then behind her back. Then aplomb at her sides. Then she wrought them in front of her.
"I'm really nervous," she chuckled at herself, immediately asking herself why she'd said that thereafter.
A voice that was tired yet still inspiring spoke. "Don't be; you would not be here were you not already pre approved," the woman known as Captain Gwynneth replied.
A pleasant confusion worked its way into Jayavarna's mind. "Wha - pre approved? I thought it would be...did I pass some sort of a test?" Her mind raced as fast as her heart as she backtracked and tried to remember if she'd been asked any questions that may have been testing her without her noticing.
Clear, uninhibited breathing filled the crisp morning air. Every word Gwynneth said was amazing, every answer she gave well considered. "A test, yes...the first of several. The results will be withheld until a later time; pre approval is different from approval," the woman explained, and it would have been dishonest for Jayavarna to claim that she didn't feel her shoulders droop a bit at the news that she hadn't been accepted just yet. "The second test is right here; right now." As if seeing right through her and her nervousness, Gwynneth raised a hand symbolically in order to quell the draenei's anxiety. "It's the most simple test as well; you needn't worry."
"No, not me; I'm ready for anything!"
Jayavarna worried but avoided tapping her hooves on the grassy ground. The two of them had remained standing in front of the tent the whole time, and the guild leader made no move to sit down just yet. The draenei half expected Gwynneth to start throwing knives at her to dodge or something intimidating like that.
Instead, she was treated to a somber reminder of why she was in need of allies. "Is the report correct that you lost all your living relatives when your people's vessel crashed on our planet?" Gwynneth asked.
Though the wound had long since healed, it took Jayavarna a moment to finish reeling from the personal nature of the question. At some point during her conversation with the recruiter she'd met at Forest Song, she'd let a few details of her situation slip after a few drinks. She didn't feel exposed so much as surprised.
"Yes...like many of my people, unfortunately," she answered, pulling her own straight face this time. "I guess you could say that I'm in need of a new proverbial family..." Once more, she regretted the words that had come out of her own mouth, and her own tendency to offer personal details a little too easily.
But Gwynneth didn't balk, laugh or even look surprised. "Jayavarna, I hope that we can be that new family of yours," the green haired woman said in a distant but sincere voice that spoke of both honesty and professional distance. "Until you earn your place in the guild, you will need to find your own accommodation here in the woods for today; our guild tents are exclusive. If you survive and are rested enough to defend our planet, then meet here at this very spot tomorrow evening. Do not tell a soul."
"I swear, not a word!"
"You will see other hopefuls here tomorrow. Be wary of them and do not become attached; anyone you befriend may not be breathing by the end of our test operation. There is a storm brewing...not all will survive. Those who do and who uphold the sacred duty we all hold to the land will be our initiates. The only alternative is glorious death in battle, or the flight of a coward from the field."
The miniature speech was given with such cold conviction that Jayavarna felt her chest swell with pride right there, even without knowing the full details of the operation yet. She didn't bother asking; she understood that as a non member, she had little chance of being trusted with the inner workings of the guild's plans to protect her new planet.
"You can count on me, Captain Gwynn! It is my hope that some day I'll earn the right to address you as my captain." For extra effect, she thumbed herself, emphasizing the fact that she wasn't yet a member but fully intended to be.
The faintest hint of a smile crept onto Gwynneth's green lips, and the subtlety made it all the more endearing. "That's the spirit; see you tomorrow." At that, the guild leader promptly returned to the tent with the quartermistress. The flap closed behind her and the area fell silent; there didn't even seem to be any hushed review of the interview of brief words before retiring for the day, which is when these beings slept.
It would also be where Jayavarna would sleep until the evening. Normally she would detest such a disruption, but in this case she was just happy to have a chance to prove herself, perhaps find her calling on this brave new world she lived on.
Lugging her two handed sword strapped to her baldric, she began scanning for safe places to sleep. This would be a long day.