Author's Notes:

I've never had the pleasure of writing a World of Warcraft story yet; this is my first WoW fanfic. I've always loved to play the game for the past 2 years, though. I was inspired after reading one fanfic entitled, "Volatile Rum" by Wicked Seraphina, which I LOVED and it is a great read, by the way. Either way, I am inspired to use Booty Bay as a neutral grounds for Horde/Alliance interaction after reading that story. I hope someone out there will enjoy my story. I am apparently quite bad at 'rushing' through when writing things (I guess I just don't want to forget whatever is on my mind so I rush into writing it), so I hope this is not 'rushed'. Let me know! Reviews appreciated!

Disclaimer: I pay Blizzard to play my level 70 Troll Priestess, Krystalline. My husband plays Terkesh, a level 70 Warrior. Everything is pretty much owned by Blizzard.

"Companions"

by

ViolinTides

The female troll sat infront of a vanity in a room inside the Salty Sailor Tavern in Booty Bay. She brushed her small hand through her thick mane of purplish-blue hair, trying to tame the mess on the back of her head. She grabbed up the sides of her hair and formed a simple braid, letting it lay atop the rest of her hair. When she was content with what she saw, she finished her outfit by slipping on her long robes. They were silky, comfortable, and showed a bit more skin than her normal armor; it was made with Netherweave cloth by one of her warlock friends, so it meant that much more to her.

As she padded across the hard wooden floors, about ready to leave the room, she heard a grunt from behind her. She sighed, turning slowly towards the Tauren, knowing she had some sort of grilling coming that she wouldn't enjoy.

"Where are you going, Krys?" He questioned. The look on his face could scare a horse, but not our Troll. She was far too used to his actions, facial expressions, and manner of speaking. He stood with his large muscular arms folded infront of his chest; he was wearing simple cloth clothing now instead of his plate armor as usual. He looks so very handsome, Krystalline thought. However, when the Tauren quirked his eyebrow at her lack of response, she had to clear her mind of any intimate thoughts she was having.

"I am simply going to have a drink. Do you care to join me?" She asked innocently. She had no accent like many of the other trolls. Her family's death had led her in search of a new home when she was very young; because she had grown up around the Tauren, she'd learned to talk like one. Her small tusks protruded from her mouth as she smiled wickedly. She knew he would decline her offer to join, but it was worth a try. Everyone knew she loved him, but she dared not say it aloud. They had lived together and grown up together since they were both around the age of 9; it was no secret that they harbored feelings for one another. Though neither the troll or tauren would admit it; their mission was far more important than any feelings they had for one another.

"No thank you, someone has to get us up in time to begin our long journey tomorrow." His words sounded harsh and rude, as if saying that she were not pulling her weight.

By the shift of her body weight to one foot and her hand placed onto her hip, it was obvious that she wasn't sure how to respond to what he'd said. He had actually hurt her feelings with the way he'd said that, but she wouldn't admit that. He'd probably say he was sorry and they would go on and she would stay there with him. She didn't want to sit there, she wanted to go downstairs and possibly make some friends.

She responded, "Alright then, have a good rest. I should be back before it gets to be too late."

With that, the pale blue-skinned troll turned, opened the door, and closed it behind her. A sigh of relief came from the Troll as she leaned against the front part of the door after it was closed. She had learned to be careful around her tauren friend. He seemed to be very hostile towards the idea of sharing her with anyone; but the fact remained that they were not mates and so she was free to do as she pleased.

We are not mates, she had to remind herself, he is just being a worry-wart friend... right? Perhaps there was more than just jealousy of having to share her, she wondered...

She stood up straight and regained her composure, brushing out the creases in her robe's nice long sleeves. She gracefully walked down the stairs of the Inn, her non-gloved hand resting on the railing of the stairwell. She wore no shoes, it was pretty much impossible to ever find any that would fit over her feet; however, the clothing she wore was beautiful. It had been tailored with purple, blue, and black dye. The top half of the robe was very deeply cut to show off her womanly curves. Her wristbands matched the robe, and the golden bracelets on both of her wrists made a "clink" noise when she moved her arms. The belt she wore was straight black and hung around her waist, tied loosely around her waist, the excess was allowed to simply hang.

Once in the common room of the Inn, she found one of only two tables completely empty and sat down. It wasn't quite as busy as she'd hoped. There were a few people hanging around. No dwarves or gnomes seem to be here, though, she thought in relief. She hated being so much taller than those men that she met.

She wore a small smile as her eyes rested on one person, then moved to the next. She was curious about these people; she loved coming to Booty Bay because of the peaceful meetings that happened therein. Anywhere else she would most likely be shot on sight for admiring a Night Elf's long ears and trying to talk with him; but not in the presence of the Goblins.

She sat with her left hand in her lap, her right hand's palm flat against the butt of the chair to provide herself support. Her legs were not folded, but crossed at the ankles. She did this because she did not want to risk tearing the robe that had been so carefully tailored to her body.

As Krys caught the attention of the small goblin waiter, she requested a large glass of Moonberry Juice, satisfied with the small amount of alcohol provided in that drink. When she was done ordering, she made eye contact with one of the Humans, so she winked at him. Apparently she disgusted him because he scoffed and turned away. She sighed, perhaps it was not a good idea to come here. She could be upstairs getting a long, well-deserved rest, rather than "playing the field" in Booty Bay.

Then she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. The only other table in the Inn was now occupied by a small gnome, apparently seeming to be crying. Now, Krystalline was not one to take pity immediately on other beings, especially not gnomes; but he seemed genuinely sad. She stood slowly, walking over to the table he sat at, and motioned to the chair, "Is this seat taken?"

He stopped crying at hearing her voice, however he did not respond, only threw his face back into his tiny hands and continued to cry. Krys reached a hand over and placed her two fingers and thumb gently on his shoulder, "Come now, whatever is wrong can't be that bad."

The gnome's crying slowed to a whine and he sniffled, rubbing his nose against his sleeve. It really reminded Krys of a small Tauren child when gnomes did that. Perhaps it was because of their height that they usually found themselves acting like children? "It's true... I will survive, but it hurts."

Krys nodded in understanding. Though she knew nothing of what he spoke of, she knew most people simply required an ear to listen and a shoulder to lean on. She had no qualms with being that for him. "Would you care to explain what happened? Maybe I could help."

The gnome sighed and shook his head a bit, "It's complicated."

She smirked and nodded in response, everything with gnomes is always complicated. Just then, the waiter appeared with her drink and set it down before her. She dropped a few coins in his hands, enough to give a solid tip, and then pointed at the cup. "My dear gnome, as you can see I have this entire drink to get down before I can even think of passing out in bed for the night. Surely you can explain it to me as I have quite a bit of time on my hands; whether it's with or without your company."

The gnome smiled a bit; it was obvious that he appreciated her gratitude at trying to be helpful, but he wasn't sure how to state what was going on. "Alright... Well, there's this girl..."

Krystalline sighed and inwardly groaned; a woman was making him so upset. She had heard so many sob stories about ladies. Most of her friends and people she considered family were men, and so she was always talking about women with them, being one of the few females her friends trusted to talk with. The gnome must have sensed the way she felt and had stopped. She urged him onward, "Go ahead. There's a girl. What about the girl?"

The gnome, whose face had turned sour at the fact that she didn't seem interested in listening any longer, smiled again as he began his story. "I've known her for a long time, and I really love her. She's always been my companion and best friend; but she doesn't know that I love her. I don't know how to tell her, and I can't keep pretending like nothing is wrong when it bothers me every waking moment."

Krys sat on this for a moment. While it sounded a lot like her situation, she wanted to give good advice, not just anything she thought of on the spot. "Well... you really love her, so what is it that keeps you from saying so?"

The gnome stopped, as if he hadn't thought of that, "I really don't know. I suppose because we have a goal to work towards and I'd hate to put feelings infront of our goal and end up messing things up in case she doesn't love me in return. Can you imagine having to live with, travel with, and be around someone who has confessed that they love you but you do not feel the same way? I'm sure it would be horrible for her..."

Krystalline smiled, moving both of her arms so that she crossed them infront of her and leaned forward onto them, moving close to the gnome, as if telling him a secret. "And what if she feels the same way? If she feels the same way and you say nothing, you might very well miss out on something wonderful. If she doesn't feel the same way, and is truly as good of a friend as you say, then maybe she will just let it go and forget about it..."

The gnome curiously watched her. He knew she had a point, why hadn't he thought of all of that? He laughed a little inwardly. He then hopped down from the chair he had been sitting on and made a small bow to her. "Thank you, Krys."

Without a moment's hesitation, the gnome darted up the stairs and disappeared into the corridor which had the doors to all the rooms of the Inn.

Krys sat there for a few moments in that same position, arms sitting on the table crossed underneath her chest. She looked around at everyone. No one else appeared to be in a chatty mood, so she figured she'd turn in. Besides, if she didn't get at least a little sleep, she'd probably have Terkesh yelling at her tomorrow because she would be tired. She should probably take the extra sleep to rest her weary soul; after all, being a priestess and having to rely entirely on powers instead of brute force is, infact, quite hard if you are not properly trained.

Just as she was heading up the stairs, she took one last look around the Inn. Most people ignored her, as if she smelled like rotten eggs and no one wanted anything to do with her. A few ladies smiled at her, as if signalling to her that they were having the same bad luck that she was. Then Krys turned her face to the now empty table which, previously, the Gnome and her had sat at. His words echoed in her mind, "Thank you Krys." She then continued her short journey up the stairs.

Wait... I never told him my name, she realized, who was that gnome?

As she walked up the stairs, she came up to the door to the room which she shared with Terkesh. She sighed and opened the door to reveal a large bed. Krystalline had expected to walk in and see a large half-human half-cow laying on the bed she would be sharing with him; however, she was greeted by a strange sight. The gnome whom she had previously spoke with lay in the bed.

Krys was stunned, had she walked into the wrong room? She backed up and peeked her copper eyes at the number located on the front of the door, '5'. No, they were the only people assigned to room number 5. The Goblins would surely not be so messy as to double-book.

She thought perhaps the Gnome had been so excited after their talk that he might have accidentally went upstairs to sleep in the wrong room. Either way, she approached the bed cautiously, it could be an Alliance trap... I'd better be careful, she thought. She snuck up behind the gnome and quietly shook him to wake him from his sleep. When the gnome finally opened his eyes and woke, he turned to face Krys. Krys curiouslty tilted her head to one side, but said nothing. Was the gnome looking at her with love in his eyes?

Krys shook him a bit more and motioned towards the door. The gnome yawned sleepily and reached an arm around Krystalline's waist. She had to admit, he really was like a small child: from the way he yawned and blinked to the way his arm barely made it around her waist. She wasn't sure what he planned on doing but she wasn't about to get 'involved' with him, especially not a Gnome.

She shivered a little. She was a bit cold in her robe as it was now quite dark and cool outside, and there was no warmth available. Usually sharing a bed with Terkesh at night would keep her warm most of the time; that was enough for Krys. However, the sickening idea of having this Gnome sleep in her bed, the one she would normally share with Terk, made her a bit queasy. Krys leaned down and shook the the Gnome again and stared at him, face to face, only a few inches from each other. The Gnome then awoke with a start. Something seemed to have startled him from his sleepy mood; perhaps waking up that close to a Troll's face is enough to wake anyone out of their sleep, Krys thought.

The Gnome removed his arm from her, stood up and walked over towards the door. She sighed with relief, At least he's not going to try anything with me. I'd hate to be so mean to such a nice little guy who obviously loves some girl. Just as the Gnome appeared to be ready to leave the room, he reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a small orb. It was glowing purple and had leafy vines covering it. Krystalline was not quite familiar with all the artifacts of the world, but perhaps he planned on offering this as some sort of gift to her? She really wasn't sure, so she merely tilted her head curiously to the Gnome.

The Gnome raised his other tiny hand and used it to rub the orb a few times. Suddenly, a rapid transformation began: tiny hands turned into large ones, his small frame grew to the size of a tree, his face turned to that of a cow, and his feet turned into hooves.

Krystalline stared in awe.

"...Terk?" was all that she could mutter. How in the world he did he do a transformation, especially into a Gnome, and why? These thoughts ran through Krys' mind when suddenly she halted in mid-thought: "I've known her for a long time, and I really love her." When she thought of this, tears welled in her eyes. He loves someone else. Terkesh's transformation back into a Tauren was complete and he placed the orb back into a pocket. He moved closer to her and sat down next to her, reaching a large, strong arm to surround her lithe shoulders.

"Krys?" The troll's eyes hadn't moved from the Tauren ever since she had realized who it was. She couldn't stop staring at him in disbelief.

Her hands balled up in anger as she poke, "So what was this, some sort of sick ploy to talk with me about some girl you have feelings for? Did you want to disguise yourself so you wouldn't feel as guilty when talking with me? What the hell is your problem, Terkesh!?" She couldn't stop the anger. At first she couldn't stop yelling and then her words turned into sorrow-filled whines at the end, "I can't believe you." Terkesh's left arm around her shoulders gave her a slight hug, allowing her to vent her frustrations. She had turned her face now, allowing herself to simply stare at the floor as tears rolled down her cheeks.

After a moment of silence, Terkesh reached his large right hand to gently touch her left cheek, effectively turning her face to look at him again. He was met with puffy red eyes, tear-stained cheeks, and a small frown with those same tiny cream tusks protruding from her mouth. His chocolate brown eyes stared into her copper red ones. Krystalline saw nothing but love in those eyes, but her heart fell when she remembered that it was not love for her, but for some other woman.

The Tauren approached her, leaning forward. Krys stared in shock, what is he doing? His face met with hers gently, he did not want to hurt her with his horns or massive face. His lips were planted firmly upon hers. Regardless of her tiny tusks, he was still able to give her a warm, loving kiss. After a moment of what Krys would later describe as pure, silky-soft heaven, Terkesh pulled away.

It was then that Krys noticed he was crying as well. "...Why?" She could not think of anything more to say. She had wanted to say so much more: why would you kiss me, why would you touch me with such love, why would you cry?

Terkesh sighed and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "My dear firefly, seeing you cry makes me sad. Your emotions are reflected in me. Why I disguised myself as a Gnome, you may ask, is because I was not ready to tell you..." His words drifted off for a moment. He seemed to be struggling with his wordsd, "...that I love you. I wanted to know what you would give as advice, and so here I am, following your advice. I love you, Krysta'lin. You are my healer, my dearest friend, my closest companion, and the one person I feel at home with, no matter where I am physically."

Krys was in shock. He was serious; he had even used her birth name rather than the one she adapted as her real name later on. Tears in her eyes threatened to fall more, but she couldn't find herself able to cry. She was too happy. She'd always wanted to hear him say these things, and now here he was, confessing it all to her.

Before Krys could say another word, Terkesh was on his knees infront of her. He took her small hands into his large ones and held them tightly.

"Krysta'lin Zul'jin, I want you to be my mate and only mine, for all eternity. I want you here beside me for every season to come; even when we're old and gray and have seen many seasons, I will always want you to heal me and keep me safe. I know you would do that for me, just as I will protect you." His words were soft-spoken, kind, and so serious. Krys had never heard him say such words. Her birth name itself was rarely used since she pretty much left it behind soon after her parents died. She knew by his tone he was truly serious.

"I will be with you, Terkesh. For always." She smiled. She didn't know what else to say, her heart was overflowing with this wonderful feeling of love. She could do nothing more than hold him close.

The rest of the night, they spent laying in each other's arms; and they lived happily ever after.

xxxxx THE END xxxxx

...or is it?

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I hope you all enjoyed this. I tried my hardest to include believable parts about the fact that Krystalline is a Holy priestess, Terkesh is a protection warrior, etc. So I tried to drop hints about 'protecting' each other and how she heals him and such. Leave me reviews or send me messages! my email address is violintides at hotmail . com. If I get enough feedback, I may write more! Thank you for reading!