Disclaimer: I don't own WarCraft, or much of anything really... I do however run the Mutineers RP guild on Sentinels server, characters from which are the inspiration for much of this story.

Of Flame and Jolly Rogers

By William Logan

Chapter 1: The Apprentice

A soft breeze kissed the cheek of the teenaged, red-haired girl as she stood on the solitary hill, looking out over the sunset. She turned to the companion who stood beside her, deep red curls bouncing about on her shoulders, smiling up at the woman, studying her features. The elf had long, strawberry blonde hair held back by a silver tiara, a glowing blue gem set in the center of it, her blue eyes glowing softly in the dimming light.

"Ready to try again?" She asked the girl softly, a smile crossing her lips.

"Yeah... I think I can do it this time..." she made a slow gesture with her arms, a look of concentration bringing the freckles on her face tightly together around her nose, a sight that made the elf laugh softly, as she watched a small ball of fire appear above her apprentice's hand.

"Well, you've already proven you're a natural as far as pyromancy goes... now you need to learn to control it," the elf intoned, crossing her arms and leaning back on one leg, "Now... knock down the bottle on that fence over there without scorching the fence itself." The apprentice bit her lip and closed her eyes for a moment, picturing in her mind the trajectory the ball of flame would need to take to destroy the bottle, then made a quick gesticulation, her emerald eyes fluttering open as the fireball left her hands and sped as fast as lightning towards its target, causing the bottle to explode into a thousand tiny shards. "Very good, Arrien!" Her mentor said as she clapped the young mage on the shoulder, "Now if only you could get down your arcane works as well as you can your fire magic..."

"Arcane isn't nearly as much fun as fire... it doesn't have the warmth and life, Miss Selessa... it's so cold and uninviting."

"So are many of the archmages," the elder mage grinned, "which is why many of them do not have companions and spend many dark hours alone pouring over books... never allow yourself to become like that. It is useless to have all the power in the world and never be out to enjoy it." The young apprentice nodded quickly, straightening herself up and rubbing idly at the freckles on her button nose. "The sun is going down... we should probably get you home for dinner."

"I'm really not all that hungry... more tired than anything else," Arrien said as she bent down to scoop up her bag full of scrolls and various spell components.

"Very well... let's head back to town and we can resume our lessons tomorrow," Selessa said, ruffling her apprentice's curls with a smile as they began the long walk back to Northdale.

"Have you heard from your sister lately, Miss Selessa?" The young mage asked, tilting her head slightly to the side, a curiosity lighting her eyes.

"Not particularly much, no... she's been out in the wilderness, as is her preference to be. She rarely finds time to come back to civilization. Such is the life of a ranger, though... completely dedicated to safeguarding the forests of the elves." she sighed softly, remaining fairly quiet for several minutes before speaking again, "Sometimes I think I'd not mind being out there with her... much less in the way of politics for the Farstriders to deal with than we mages have to deal with."

"Do all mages have to handle politics? I don't particularly like all the organization... I like freedom far better."

"When you bend the forces of the natural and supernatural to your will, people expect you to be able to help them make wise decisions for them... such is our curse." she chuckled melodically, "People seldom like thinking for themselves, particularly politicians." By this time, the sun had already completely vanished from the sky and the pinholes had been poked in the fabric of the sky to show the light of the stars. An odd chill for this time of the year blew through the mages' hair, though only Selessa felt an odd chill up her spine as she looked around the village they entered, people going about their business as normal. She shrugged it off as mere paranoia, however, and just continued onwards to her apprentice's home, knocking on the door.

"Ah, Magister Selessa," the kind-faced man who opened up greeted the elf with a short bow, "I trust my daughter behaved well enough for you? She's set fire to her bed several times in the past week..." He looked down at his daughter with a look of loving scolding.

"A fledging mage can only be expected to behave so much, like any other teenager," the elf laughed, "I must be on my way, though... I will see you bright and early tomorrow, Arrien... be ready by eight o'clock." The youngster nodded in reply and hugged her mentor. As the door closed, her father smiled at her, patting her head lightly.

"Your mother made some bread with the shipment of grain that came in from Andorhal earlier today... come, sit and have dinner with us."

"I am actually very tired, father... I may come down later to see if there is anything left over," Arrien said with a drawn-out yawn, "I need to study the somatic elements of a few of these spells before tomorrow morning."

"All right... rest well, my dear," he said with an approving nod as the young mage skipped up the stairs. "Such a good student, she is... much more promise for her with the Kirin Tor than I could have ever provided for her..."

"Don't be so hard on yourself, dear," Arrien's mother said, poking her head out from the kitchen, "you've been a wonderful father to her, and that's all she needs from you. Just support her and she'll do just fine... now come in here and help me finish up making dinner."

Meanwhile, upstairs, with a multitude of books unfolded before her, the diligant young apprentice had already passed out on top of one of her spellbooks.