The sun was rising over Hyjal as dawn turned into day. Sunlight burst forth through the trees, giving light to the land below. It was quiet and calm, with the only noise being that of the gentle wind rustling the leaves, the babbling brook flowing, and the chirping of birds high up in the tree branches.
A brown Horned Owl emerged from the trees, gliding towards the forest floor on gentle silent wings. Before coming to a complete descent, he launched his talons forward and landed on top of an unsuspecting field mouse, pinning it to the floor. After successfully catching his prey he fluttered his wings and stretched his neck. The forests of Hyjal were always calm and serene to the point where even a reclusive owl like himself could feel at peace.
Before he could lower his beak downwards to finish off his prey and enjoy a morning meal, his ear suddenly perked upright, his attention drawn towards a nearby tree to his left. He turned and gazed at the tree, his head tilted slightly to the side.
The tree began to crack and groan until it started to grow a bright red. The Owl lifted his foot off of his prey, letting it escape. He then took a few steps back as the tree started to glow more and more red until suddenly it burst into flames. He gasped and took a few more steps back as he looked on in shock and awe. The tree, now ablaze and disturbing the gentle forest scene, suddenly split in half right down the middle. The two halves of the blazing tree started to twist and gnarl into grotesque shapes until they formed what seemed like a circular arch.
A flash of light erupted forth from the flaming arch, causing the Owl to shield his eyes with his wing. When next he looked up, the arch was now a portal and minions of the Firelands were pouring forth. Elementals, infernal spiders, molten hounds, fiery cats, and vicious salamanders armed with spears and swords all poured forth from the portal.
The Owl's heart sank, anxiety gripped him tightly as the terror began to overwhelm him. He quickly beat his wings and took flight, aiming to fly as far from the chaos as he could. He soared forward from left to right, dodging trees and branches along the way, then he noticed several more portals opening up, all of them spewing out horrific and terrifying monsters, all of them servants of the Firelord, Ragnaros.
His breathing sped up to match the speed of his racing heart. The farther and farther he flew, the more it seemed like he was going deeper into some sort of nightmarish hellscape. The trees around him creaked and bellowed as if in agony as they started to catch fire and burn. Smoke began to rise through the forest, clouding his vision and making breathing difficult. He coughed violently, distracting himself from his surroundings. Suddenly a falling flaming branch broke off from a burning tree and struck him out of the air.
The Owl hit the ground with a loud thud, but before he could get up, the tree branch fell right onto the tip of his wing, pinning him to the forest floor. He gasped and tried desperately to free himself but it was no use. He took his gaze off his wing to look around. Smoke filled the forest as trees burned and black ash fell from the sky, covering the forest floor with a disturbing dreadful black color. Terror filled his heart to the brim as the once beautiful forest around him now looked like a scene from his darkest of nightmares.
The servants of the Firelands closed in around him, killing, burning, and destroying everything they came across. As his breathing and heart rate continued to elevate he felt something jump on top of the branch that had his wing pinned. He turned his head to see a flaming cat, one of Ragnaros' many enslaved beasts standing above him.
His heart sank even further as he looked up to the beast in terror. "No! Please!" He pleaded. "Mercy!" Though when he looked up to the beast's face, he couldn't help but notice that it was about as unsettled as he was. The flaming cat looked around at the destroyed forest before looking down towards the frightened owl.
"Alla-Stissa!" Shouted a far away flame cat in a demanding tone.
The flaming cat turned her head towards the direction of the sound. "I'm coming!" She said. She looked back down at the owl with pity and sympathy and used her paws to slowly roll branch away until the Owl was free.
The Owl was covering his eyes, awaiting his demise but much to his surprise the log was rolled away and he was free. He and the flaming cat made eye contact for a brief moment. He started into her eyes but he didn't see rage, malice, and hate as he had with the other minions of Ragnaros. There was something different about her. She seemed anxious, unsure, perhaps even unwilling.
"Go!" She said, urging him to flee as the Ragnaros' minions started to close in around them.
Their brief gaze at each other was soon interrupted as the flaming cat was blasted with a bolt of arcane energy and sent soaring through the air until she collided against a nearby burning tree and fell to the ground with a thud.
The Owl quickly took a few steps back and looked up to see a force of druids advancing towards the site of the Firelands Invasion.
"Brothers! Sisters! Attack! Attack in the name of Aviana!" The leader of the Druids shouted.
The forces of the Firelands and the Protectors of Hyjal clashed in an epic battle of magic, sword, and claw. Not wanting to be around for any of this, the Owl took off in the direction the Druids came from, escaped the forest, and soared into the open sky.
He took a calm and relaxed breath of fresh air and closed his eyes as he started to calm down. He looked back behind him and saw a large chunk of the forest burning. He scowled in anger and turned his attention forward.
He eventually came to a slow descent at a nearby river. After checking to make sure the coast was clear he grumbled to himself and started to shake the ash out of his brown and white wing feathers.
"Cursed, Bloody, No-good, Villainous, Evil..." He grumbled on with increasing anger as he started picking dead leaves and twigs out of his wings with his beak. "...Rotten, Vile, Disgusting, Soulless FIENDS!" He shouted with a stomp of his foot.
A squirrel, who lived far from the site of the invasion also happened to be by the creak. He looked up towards the Owl and noticed him stomping his feet and cursing. "Arrin? Is that you?"
"Yes it's me!" He replied angrily and with a hint of condescension as he continued to pick debris out of his coat.
"Well what on earth happened to you?" The Squirrel replied.
Arrin grumbled. "What do you think happened to me? Those wretched fire fiends attacked the forest yet again! Their arrogance and lust for power knows no bounds! Now look at me! A mess!" He said with a grumpy tone of voice. "Ugh!"
"What will you do now?" The Squirrel asked.
Arrin sighed rubbed his forehead with his wing, clearly annoyed. "Now that my appetite is positively ruined I suppose I'll wait this out while the Druids deal with the pests, then I can go home and forget all about this. If i'm lucky then perhaps my hollow will be untouched by the flames."
The squirrel's face lit up. "Oh goody! Well since you have time why not come back to my tree? I can show my acorn collection! I have them of all shapes and sizes!" He said hopefully.
Arrin lowered his eyebrows in a most uninterested manner. The overly talkative and clingy nature of forest squirrels never appealed to him in the slightest. "No thanks." He said before taking his leave. "I'd rather go back to the flaming forest..." He muttered to himself.
"What was that?" The squirrel said.
"Nothing! Nothing... farewell." Arrin said before turning, rolling his eyes and taking flight.
The smoke died down and the Druids managed to drive the forces of Ragnaros back. The forest fire was put out but the scar on the land would remain for quite some time. Once the battle had concluded, Arrin began to make his way back to his home. Much to his delight, his massive tree was untouched by the flame. Arrin's tree was truly enormous. He lived in the hollow in the center of it. The tree's hollow was incredibly large, much larger than any one Owl could possibly have need for, but Arrin enjoyed his space, a lot of it at that.
He sighed. "Home at last..." He said as he finally perched himself on the hollow's edge. When he looked inside his home, his beak dropped wide open. There in front of him was a flaming cat, sound asleep!
Arrin gasped and was about to flee as fast as he could but he noticed the cat was asleep. Once he realized he wasn't in any immediate danger he lowered his eyebrows and grumbled once more. "For heaven's sake! I can't believe how this day is turning out!" He said walking further into his home, looking over the flaming cat. "Out of all the places to hide, it had to be my home! Of course it did!" He complained.
He peeked his head outside and looked around, noticing nothing out of the usual. He then looked back into his home towards the sleeping cat. One thing about her that puzzled him was how the flames on her burning hide were not setting his tree on fire. Despite her pelt glowing bright with fire, it did not burn the wood on which she slept.
Arrin kept his distance from her and picked up a nearby stick with his talons. He walked around behind her until he was standing near her hind legs, wanting to keep out of distance from her teeth and front claws. Using the stick in his talons he gently poked her foot, trying to wake her up.
Her leg twitched slightly after being touched but she remained asleep. Arrin growled and continued to prod her foot, poking her toes and paw pads until eventually her eyes opened, she gasped, and lifted up her head to see who was touching her.
The two of them met eye contact. Arrin was ready to take flight at a moments notice if she tried to get up and pounce on him. She tried to sit up straight but Arrin pointed his stick at her. "No! You stay laying down. I like you right where you are right now." He said with a demanding tone. "Give me one reason why I shouldn't tell the druids you're here and have them take you away?" Arrin said, threatening her.
The flaming cat laid back down, resting her head on the floor of the hollow. "I'm sorry! I didn't know anyone lived here. I didn't mean to intrude." She said with an apologetic tone.
Arrin perked an eyebrow, finding it odd that a minion of Ragnaros would be apologizing to him. "You're...apologizing? To me?" He said curiously.
"This is your home right? If it is, then I'm sorry. I promise I mean you no harm. I didn't know anyone lived here." She said.
At that moment, Arrin recognized her voice and her face. His expression turned from one of suspicion and anger to one of genuine surprise. "It's you...Alla-Stissa isn't it? You... y-you saved me earlier." Arrin said. "W...w-why?" he said with a perked a brow though his guard was never dropped for a moment.
Alla-Stissa shrugged. "Just trying to do the right thing. You already know my name. Who do I have the pleasure of addressing?"
"Arrin." He said, lowering her eyebrows again, still suspicious of her. He raised his stick back towards her, threatening to poke her again.
"Erin?" She said with a soft chuckle and a warm tone of voice. "That's a girl's name! That name is positively adorable!"
"A-r-r-i-n. Not E-r-i-n." He scolded. "I will not be mocked and teased in my own home!" He said, pointing the stick closer to her.
Arrin couldn't tell what kind of game she was playing. It looked like she was trying to play friendly and cute, but he was smart enough to not be fooled so easily. He didn't trust her. He kept his stick pointed at her.
She looked down at his stick and back up to him. "I hope you aren't planning to poke my feet with that stick again are you? I'm very ticklish, especially on my toes!" She said with a light giggle trying to sound non-threatening.
"Enough!" Arrin said. "What are you doing here?" He said before taking a quick look around the hollow. "And how come your fire isn't burning this tree down?"
Alla-Stissa remained still, laying on her side facing him. "I didn't want to go back to the firelands. It's a cruel place. It's much more peaceful here." She said, closing her eyes and take a deep breath of the cool forest air. "As for your second question, I can control the heat of my body to an extent. My pelt may be on fire but I assure you it is cool to the touch. Go ahead, give it a touch! You won't get burned I promise."
When she saw he wasn't moving at all she tried to reason with him. "Come on...why would I save you before only to kill you again later? I promise I'm friendly!"
Arrin didn't know what to think. He sure didn't trust her. Using the stick in his talons he prodded her leg with it, noticing that it didn't catch fire or singe even in the least. He very carefully and gently walked towards her, keeping an eye on her face at all times to make sure she didn't try to pounce. He placed his wing on her thigh and gently brushed it down the side of her leg. He noticed the flames lapped at his feathers but he did not catch fire nor did her skin even feel hot.
After he gently stroked her leg with his wing she looked to him and tried to offer him a calm gentle smile. "Now will you drop the stick?" She asked.
Arrin grumbled once more and continued to look her over.
"This is a lovely tree you have here, by the way."
"Oh what do you know about 'lovely'?" Arrin snapped at her. "You and your friends came here to destroy everything! You know what else was lovely? The patch of forest YOU helped burn down!" He accused.
Alla-Stissa frowned, her face noticeably saddened. "You have every right to be mad at me. I admit I've done some terrible things in the past but I'm trying to make amends. You have to believe me when I say I don't believe in what the Firelord is forcing us to do. You have to believe me when I say that all I want is for them to forget about me so they won't come looking for me and take me back to that horrible horrible place. But if you don't believe me, then I accept my fate." She said closing her eyes and resting peacefully on the hollow's wooden floor. "Call the druids." She said.
Arrin finally sighed and lowered his head. He dropped the stick he was holding in his talons and placed his foot back on the ground. "Look, I want to believe you, but the Firelord has taken much from me. I'm going to need more than just your word to know that your intentions are well-meaning."
Alla-Stissa's front paws, which had been tucked close to her chest since they started talking, opened up and she pushed forward a field mouse, much like the one that had escaped from Arrin before.
Arrin looked down at the mouse at his feet. Burnt claw marks and scorched fur marked its head but otherwise it was still perfectly intact. He looked back up to Alla-Stissa and tilted his head.
"I was going to eat it later but perhaps it's best you have it. I don't suppose I'll be around much longer to enjoy it anyway." She said, still attempting to offer him a gentle friendly smile, but could only manage half of one.
Arrin looked down to the ground, a soft sigh escaped his beak as he rubbed his forehead with his left wing. He was faced with quite the dilemma. He couldn't help but feel he owed her a debt for saving his life, but at the same time, he didn't like the idea of a flaming cat occupying his tree.
"Look... I'm not going to turn you in alright?" He said taking one step closer to her. "But what would you have me do now? How long until someone eventually finds out you're here?" Arrin questioned, nervously pacing back and forth, his talons clacking against the wooden hollow floor with each step.
"I don't know..." She said with a troubled tone of voice. "I don't want to go back to the Firelands... I want to stay here! One place wants me, but I do not want it, the other I want but it doesn't want me. I'm just tired of the violence. All I want is to live a life of peace..." She said, rolling over onto her other side.
Arrin gazed over her, his initial suspicion was now turning into genuine sympathy for her. When she rolled over, he noticed a large wound that scarred her left side. "You're hurt." He said, recognizing the wound from when she was attacked earlier in the day.
Alla-Stissa perked her head up to look at her side. "It's getting better. Nothing to worry about."
Arrin approached her gently, only a faint amount of nervousness in each step. He placed his feathery wing over her wounded side. For a moment she recoiled in pain but quickly calmed down once her pelt had gotten used to his touch. "This is why you decided to hide out here?" He asked.
"It was just getting too hard to walk. I had to find a place to rest and heal. I suppose I'll have to keep looking." She said.
Arrin lowered his head and placed one wing over his face. "I know I'm going to regret this..." He thought to himself quietly. "You don't have to leave. You can stay here..." He said, with a slight groan in his voice as his desire for peace and solitude clashed with his conscience, the latter of the two winning in this scenario.
Alla-Stissa's head quickly perked up, her brows raised. She rolled over onto her original side and looked him in the eyes. "You mean it!?" She said happily, her face lighting up. "You won't report me to the druids?"
Arrin took a deep sigh once again. "No, Alla-Stissa... I won't tell anyone you're here..." He said, still grumbling.
"Oh thank you, thank you! Thank you so much!" She said before lunging forward, grabbing a hold of him, and hugging him close to her chest and happily nuzzling his head with her own. She then gave a friendly lick to his feathery cheek. Her body temperature was lowered to the point where she would cause him no harm but her skin and tongue were still warm to the touch. "You don't have to call me Alla-Stissa, call me Allie! All my friends call me Allie!" She said with delight.
Arrin was taken back by her gesture, his face wrinkled with disgust and discomfort. He pushed his wings against her chest, fighting back until she let him go.
"Okay 'Allie'...time for some ground rules." He said with his feathery eyebrows lowered in his usual grumpy facial expression. "No hugging, no cuddling, and definitely no licking." He said, pointing the tip of his wing at her in a scolding manner. "Are we clear?" He said.
Allie sat up straight and proper with her paws tucked gently and neatly in front of her as she attempted to play along with his scolding. "Yes of course." She said, trying to imitate his grumpy snooty tone of voice. "My apologies, sir. What I meant to say was; I am most appreciative of your generous extension." She said, teasing him and trying to be funny at the same time.
Arrin kept his eyebrows lowered and placed his wing over his face once again. "This is going to be a long day..."