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Of Factions and Family
Jaina was beginning to regret wearing armour.
Not armour as in "armour that lets me show my lady features" armour that elves especially seemed fond of wearing. Armour as in chainmail, plates and a sheathed shortsword to complement her staff if she needed it. The Jade Forest was thick, and any battles would be fought in close proximity. And also by virtue of its thickness, it was hot as well. And wearing metal armour wasn't the most comfortable attire in the world.
Casting a spell, the former ruler of Theramore converted the moisture in the air into ice, letting it fall on her forehead before evaporating. Keeping cool…she was good at it physically. Emotionally however…
Emotion nothing. Just get the job done. End the war. End it with an Alliance victory and put these thugs where they belong.
Funny…asked the voice in her mind. Didn't your father have a similar idea once? Why are you only agreeing with it now?
Jaina shook it off. She had more important things to worry about.
A lot had happened over the last month. This included the pandaren of the Wandering Isle introducing themselves to Varian and Garrosh and letting their people make their own alliances. Alliances that had played out recently off the coast of Pandaria, with Alliance and Horde naval forces engaging each other in battle. The result was a lot of destroyed ships and survivors, though with Jaina having recently brought Kul Tiras and its navy into the fold, it was a battle that the Alliance could claim a victory from. Certainly at their beachhead there were all the signs of one, with Kul Tiras Marines coming ashore and Horde prisoners being transported to prison hulks. No doubt Garrosh the Butcher would send his own fleet to his own beachhead in the near future, but for now, her forces had the upperhand.
Her forces...the liked the idea. Liked it as much when she saw an orc youngster stumble down in the chain line, getting a well-deserved blow to the back of his head as a result.
"Ah, Jaina. You're looking…"
"What?"
"Well, I was going to say hot, but that might have a double meaning."
The mage smiled faintly. There wasn't much left in the world that could make her smile, but her brother Tandred was among those things.
"Never thought I'd see you in armour either," the human continued, walking over to her. "Not after your less…conservative clothing in the past."
Jaina remained silent. She could take a barb at her. It was based on the old her. The weak her. The her with pretty blonde hair, nice eyes and parrot language about how war should be avoided. The her that even Varian seemed to miss.
Looking at her brother though, Jaina noticed he hadn't changed much. Average build, average features, average ability as a ruler and admiral…everything about Tandred was built on averageness. The only exception to the trend was his slight physical resemblance to their father. And since he'd brought his men ashore, ready to fight a Horde infestation in the bud…well, with any luck, history might repeat itself.
Bar the treachery…Jaina mused. Bar delusion…
Tandred had fallen silent, conversing with a marine who'd brought a map over to his position. They'd never talked much about Daelin, Jaina reflected. She'd sent a letter to Kul Tiras after his death eight years ago, explaining that he'd died, how he'd died and why she'd ended up letting Thrall's forces carry out the act. Tandred had sent a letter back, thanking her for the message, but he'd never commented on his own thoughts regarding the matter. And with Jaina busy with everything from trying to keep the peace in Kalimdor to writing letters to every other great leader that was on her side, Kul Tiras had fallen to the wayside.
She wouldn't turn away from her family again, Jaina had promised herself. Theramore was gone. Kul Tiras and her brother was still alive. Family and faction had to come before any idealistic notions she might have carried over from her old deluded self.
"So…" Tandred said, dismissing the marine and returning his attention to his sister.
"What now?"
Jaina blinked. "You're asking me? I thought you were in command."
"Technically, yes," Tandred said. "But I still value your advice. You've got Varian's ear, after all."
There was some slight resentment in his words, Jaina noted. Resentment that he suspected had more to do with any jealousy as to her high standing amongst the Alliance, despite the fact that her 'kingdom' was now nothing more but dust and ashes. Jaina briefly cast her look over the marines and her captors before returning her gaze to her brother.
"Get it out Tandred. We'll be on this continent for Light knows how long, and I'd rather you give your lecture now than later."
The admiral seemed taken aback, but he quickly regained his composure. Maybe his tongue was sharper than she'd first thought. Or maybe he had indeed been preparing to give a lecture, and his sister had given him the opportunity to do earlier than he anticipated.
"Get it out…" he mused. "Alright, sister, I'll get it out…"
Here we go. Father dead, lost your kingdom, always the favourite child, blah blah blah…
"I'm worried about you."
What?
"I'm worried," Tandred repeated.
Jaina snorted. "Please Tandred, I can take care of myself. I mean…may have failed miserably at Theramore, but-…"
"Jaina, you stood up to Archimonde himself at Mount Hyjal," Tandred interrupted. "I'm not worried about your ability to hold your own. I'm worried because I don't know if you're the one who's doing it."
"Speak Common, Tandred."
"Look at you!" he exclaimed. "The armour. Your mannerisms. Your…your hair!"
Jaina rolled her eyes. Always the hair. White hair now, ever since she let her emotions get to her and let her magic bleach it. She'd explained to everyone who'd asked her (or at least everyone who deserved an answer) that she wasn't going to change it back. It was part of the new her. The strong her. It even made her look like Aegwynn a bit, and a similarity to the penultimate Guardian of the old Tirisfal Order could be a boon provided she lived up to it.
"You know…" Jaina sighed, seeing her brother had finished his speech. "I don't know why you're complaining. I mean…we're fighting together, aren't we? I know you probably have misgivings about what I did to father but-…"
"Actually, I think you made the right call."
The mage stared at the admiral.
"Yes, I do," Tandred repeated. "Back then…well…"
"But…you never responded," Jaina stuttered. "You simply thanked me for the letter and-…"
"I didn't respond because I didn't know how to respond. I didn't know what to think. But looking back…father was out of control. He let his hatred get to him. He stirred up a hornet's nest that from what I heard, was benign until a few years ago."
"Exactly. And we need to defeat them."
"And is that you talking? Or Theramore?"
Jaina glared at her brother, fire dancing in her eyes. "Don't mention that place again Tandred. Ever."
"Why?"
"Because…because I failed."
Tandred sighed. Jaina lowered her gaze. Somewhere further down the beach there was the sound of a gunshot and a lot of exclamations in various languages.
"Jaina…you didn't fail," Tandred said. "The whole world did."
"How would you know?" his sister spat. "You've been hiding on Kul Tiras until now."
"True. But it gave me the benefit of an outsider's perspective. This war…it's failure, Jaina. It's failure after successful cooperation. Outland, Northrend. It's failure because the moment things go sour, is the moment we give into our base instincts. Deathwing may not have brought about the end of the world, but we might do the job for him."
"Spare me Tandred. This war was coming ever since the Third War ended."
"Perhaps…" he admitted. "And certainly I want to see it end, and the reason I'm fighting on your side is that I believe the best way to end it is to see that Garrosh ends up with his head on a pike. And I want it to end with you still being the sister I've always known."
He put his gauntled hand on Jaina's armoured shoulder. She shrugged it off. Nothing more but metal meeting metal, she told herself. And she'd had enough of talking to him anyway. Too much idealism.
Too much like the old her…
"Just fight your war Tandred," Jaina said before turning away. "And I'll fight mine."
"I'm sure you will," she heard her brother muse. "I'm sure you will…"
A/N
The original idea behind this was...Jaina's hair. Yes, that bit of 'inspiration,' how her hair is apparently white in Mists of Pandaria and how she looks like Aegwynn with it as such IMO sparked the idea for this. I quickly learnt that making a oneshot about hair doesn't make for that interesting writing however, so I took a detour to Kul Tiras. Don't know if it'll ever make an appearence in WoW, or whether Tandred will appear outside the RPG books, but either way, hopefully this is better than the original concept.
Writing the original idea could have been 'hairy.' XD