The sound of the roaring molten rock of the great forge, the clang of metal upon metal was the only sounds that met Kreeti's ears. She paused for a moment, leaving her hammer resting atop the cooling metal, she wiped the sweat from her brow. Her work was going good so far and she would have her first pair of mithril leggings by the end of the hour. The process of sinking the bluish-white metal into the shape of the legs wasn't the hard part of this new pattern. What the problem seemed to be was how to inlay gold into the leggings, as well as making the embellishments on the legs. She lifted out the leggings from the mould and set them atop the anvil. She snapped the heavy hammer back into place on her belt, and unsnapped her small hammer, and a fine chisel. She hammered in slow, methodical strokes, trying to create a pattern. She knew her leggings had to look great if she ever wanted them to sell on the auction block.
"Ay, Lass, whatcha doin' there? Ya can't go aroun' treatin' metal like that. It'll never sell." A dwarf said, peering over her shoulder.
Kreeti snapped her head up and turned around to look at the dwarf. He was well-built, even for a dwarf, and his plate armor glowed a harsh yellow in the light of the great forge. "Um, I'm making this armor look pretty, sir, so I can sell it on the Auction block."
"Yer never gonna get it to sell like that" He said, taking her wrist and grabbing the chisel from her "Watch an ol' pro do the work." He smiled at her as he released her wrist and grabbed a hammer from out of his pouch. His hand was quick, his aim was true, and Kreeti watched wide-eyed as the dwarf's hands and tools flew over the leggings. "Ya can trust ol' Stelfan ta do th' right work." He said, turning his head and grinning at her, before turning his concentration back to the leggings. The glowing yellow light of the forge cast harsh shadows on his face, his brow furrowed in concentration. With a few final strokes he finished his work and turned towards Kreeti, holding out her chisel. "'Ere ya go, lass. That's how ya make th' leggings ornate."
She stared up at him with her big blue eyes and was speechless for a moment. "That was amazing! I've never seen anyone work that fast and that well! I..I… It was an honor to watch you, sir!"
Stelfan let out a hardy laugh and a few other dwarves around the forge joined in. "Twas nothin' lass. So what didya learn from that?"
"Well, my elbows and wrists need to be more flexible, but my arms need to stay straight and still. I need to check twice, and strike once, to avoid errors. I also need to be gentle with the gold, since it will mould nicely, but to hard of pressure will cause it to strain and break."
His mustache twitched, and had a look of discontent on his face. "Ya lern fast there, lass. I'm a bit surprised you picked up so much."
Kreeti giggled. "My training as a warrior has taught me much about forms, and so I watched your form as well as your work on the leggings."
"Hmm," He stated as he drew a pipe from his pack, then taking a tobacco pouch and pouring some in. "You seem like yer goin' to do well."
A loud bell rang out, over the miscellaneous sounds of the Great Forge. It tolled twice before Kreeti jumped up in excitement "Oh, Curses and bolts! The meeting! I forgot!" the bell tolled once more before its echoes died out. "I'm sorry Mr.. Mr… um.."
"Stelfan, lass." He replied, putting away his tobacco pouch and striking a match he pulled from his pocket on the bottom of his boot.
"Mr. Stelfan! Thank you for all you've taught me but I really must be going, very important meeting, old family friend and such." She said in a rapid tone as she collected her tools and threw the leggings under her arm."
He drew in a long breath of smoke and puffed it out slowly. "V'ry intr'estin' lass. V'ry int'restin."
She turned back as she was running away on her small legs, and shouted back to him "The name's Kreeti Steeltorque sir! It was an honor!" Then she disappeared into the tunnel.
She hastily ran through the busy paths of the Ironforge marketplace back to her home. She shed her grimy dirty clothes, and hopped into her bath basin for a quick wash. After she was through she jumped out and hastily pulled on her nice dress, her fancy shoes, and ran out her door towards the Hall of Explorers. As she ran through Tinkertown, near the end of the tunnel she slowed her gait and flattened the front of her robes, she hoped she looked presentable.
As she walked slowly and daintly along the corridor lined with ancient skeletons, which smelled with polish and dust, she caught sight of her father's old friend, Advisor Belgrum.
She paused for a moment as memories flashed through her mind. The day he came to visit her mother and her as she played through the fields of flowers surrounding the loch. His face and his walk as he strode slowly up to their house, that cold winter's morning, the sound of her mother letting out an anguished cry. Him patting her on the head and hugging her before heading back towards Dun Morogh.
"Well, my my my, Is that th' young Sybelle there? It's been so long since I've seen ye lass. Why, look how much ye've grown!"
She snapped her head up and smiled at Advisor Belgrum. He was walking towards her. "The name's Kreeti, now, sir. Kreeti Steeltorque."
He nodded and chuckled to himself, his round belly jiggling as he did so. "So I've heard. Ye have been really busy as of late, still not full yet in yer mastery of your class, just slightly ov'r half and yer already an ambassador. Pipper must be really proud of ya, lass."
Kreeti nodded and blushed. "She was, you shoulda seen her beaming when I went to the ceremony in front of Mr. Bronzebeard and Mr. Mechatorque."
When they were finally close to each other, Belgrum hugged Kreeti and held her at arms length from him, staring at her. "Ye've got your mother's features, but yer father's gaze."
Kreeti closed her eyes and lowered her head. "You're not the first to say it" she muttered.
He patted her on the shoulder, and soothed her "Lunch should cheer us up, lass, let's go get some. I know of this great place where tha kodo drips right off the bone."
She smiled and they talked about small things, like the weather, questing, and the state of the alliance races as they wound through the busy marketplace, onto a corner street and into a small hole-in-the-wall restaurant. They sat down at a small table in the corner, and after the waiter had come over to take their order, they began to talk about more serious subjects.
"So, Why didja want ta see me, lass?" He asked, taking a sip from his mug.
"I, I just needed sound advice, and I didn't want to ask my mother, nor do I trust Tobin or Shelly to give me the right answer, so I'd thought I'd ask you."
"What about? Ya know if it's somethin' really serious, I'm gonna have ta let your mother know, Sye" He said, worry crossing his features.
"No, no, no, nothing you need to tell my mother about, I'm just having a problem, with a friend of mine." She said, closing her eyes, and gulping down a breath of air.
"Go on, then," He encouraged her to speak, he could see that the child of his friend had been facing something hard lately, and needed the word of a mentor. He hid his feelings inside, but wished desperately that her father had survived, and that he could be here for his child. 'Ah Hariz, why did you have to defend your falling city. You should have been home with your wife and child' He thought.
"Well, this friend of mine, had a lot of bad things happen to him, and well, it wasn't because he was fighting, it was because, well…" She paused for a moment "because he was disobeying orders."
"Well, if orders are disobeyed, they should be taught ta obey th' orders." He replied to her, unsure of where this was going.
"What if those orders were against the natural order of things, of mercy, and things like that?" She asked him.
"Who is this ya talk of, lass?" Belgrum asked
"n… no-one in particular. He just, I mean, how could people be like that? Force someone to be against the natural order of life?"
He shifted in his seat, uncomfortable with the way the conversation was going. He was expecting travel troubles, or perhaps trouble with a young suitor, but nothing like this. "Well, lass, sometimes people grow corrupt, n' in their quest for power, begin ta corrupt others."
"Don't they have a heart inside of them, crying out at the injustice?" She asked, banging her fist on the table. The restaurant grew silent immediately and Kreeti felt a dozen pair of eyes staring straight at her. "Sorry" she muttered.
Belgrum took her hand in his own and patted it. "They stopped listenin' ta their heart long before they do that kinda stuff, lass."
"Ah" Kreeti replied and mulled it over, twirling a bit of her light blue hair, before she was startled as the plates were set down on the table with a loud clank. Belgrum thanked the waitress and He and Kreeti dug into their meal
Kreeti looked up at him, as he was in the middle of a bite. "There is no fine line between monster and human, is there?"
He choked a bit on his bite, and wiped his mouth and beard off with his napkin. "That is a true bit o' fact there, lass. There isn't, just many shades o gray."
Kreeti nodded and went back to eating her meal. For the rest of the meal they sat in silence. After Belgrum paid the bill, and as they were walking back towards the Hall of Explorers, they decided to part ways. Kreeti gave Belgrum a hug, and they both bid each other their farewells. He walked off hoping that she would come out of this situation for the better, and soon, and she was still not happy with the answer that she had gotten.
She woke up from her sleep covered in a sheen of sweat. She clawed at the blankets and pulled them down hurriedly. She lit the candle on the nightstand and held up her wrist to look at them, they were normal. She lifted up her shirt and there was nothing wrong with her skin. She sighed, and threw her head back against the pillow, in the flickering candle light.
"Why, Why would anyone do that? It's so wrong!" She shouted for anyone to hear. Her house was empty, and she wasn't use to it. She had gotten used to living with Anata, her Draeneic mages friend, and now, she was gone too. She was left alone, and she began to cry. To cry for herself and how she had no more close friends, and how her one friend had been so mistreated by the world.
She didn't know when, but she had drifted back to sleep, and found herself wandering through the streets of a strange city. The walls were bleached white, and vibrant violet roofs spiked into the sky
"Nice, isn't it?" Said a voice from behind her.
She wheeled around, and when she went to pull out her sword, she noticed it wasn't there.
"No need to harm me, Sybelle-jell-eyh, I mean you no harm." He said, taking a step towards her.
"But… but… you're dead!" She squeaked
"Aye, in body I am dead, but still, I live within these walls, I helped make this city stand, I watched her as she crumbled. I hope you've come to know I didn't defend this city because I loved it more than you, I defended it so that evil wouldn't have a chance to harm you." He was a mage, grey hair, dressing in flowing purple robes, a pointy goatee that went halfway down his chest hung from his chin.
She fell to her knees crying and he walked over and hugged her. "So much has come your way, dear one. I hope you know how to find what to do." He said.
"but… I don't… and they hurt him… I want to hurt them… I want to change it all… so no bad ever happens." She sobbed, in between ragged breaths.
"You can't ever change the past, Sybelle, but you can affect the future. What is it that your heart's telling you to do?"
"Hurt them, harm them… Keep him from hurt, keep all my friends … from such hurt."
"Then don'tcha think that'd be a good idea to do that? I mean, are you not already a strong warrior?"
"Not as strong as I need nor like to be."
"That will come in time, dear one, but for now, do what your heart tells you." He wiped her tears away with his sleeve and kissed her nose.
She nodded as she stared into her father's eyes. "I… I miss you father. Mother misses you too."
He sighed and held her close. "I miss you both too, terribly. You've been taking care of your mother, albeit in a roundabout way that neither of us saw for you. She means well, Sybelle, so don't treat her mean when she tries to do what she thinks is best for you to do."
Kreeti held him tight and cried softly into his shoulder until her tears had dried up. "I know she means well, but I want to protect my family and friends in my own way." She breathed deeply and let out a loud sigh. "Thanks, dad" she muttered.
"Anytime my Sybelle-jell-eyh, anytime." He said as his form faded away into a mist and then disappeared.
Kreeti looked around at the deserted town, and the bell in the tower began to ring. As she regained consciousness, the bell ringing was actually her alarm clock and she slammed her hand down on it to make it stop. She clammered out of bed, dressed and brushed her teeth. She carefully put her armor on and she headed out for another day of training.
She had become a warrior just to become something other than a half-pint pipsqueak. She was going to show the world what gnomes were made of. She was going to protect her friend at any cost. She had to, for he was her friend, and she would do the same for any other friend, if they weren't so timid about getting jobs and getting out into the world. She had a purpose now, and would train to take any kind of damage, and a whole bunch of enemies so that when she was done in a knockdown drag-out fight, she would come out victorious. She wouldn't let him down. She was a warrior, a protector of the people.