Near the center of Val'shara, there was a large tree with a hollowed-out hole in the middle. Inside, Brightwing was sleeping soundly, curled up into a ball and breathing softly. The morning sun shined down from above, illuminating her hollow with sunlight.
Brightwing had been busy the past few weeks. Whether she was aiding her allies in the Nexus or watching over the forests of Val'sharah, she was always working her hardest to keep everyone and everything that she cared about safe. Lately she had been assisting the Night Elf people, helping them with their everyday lives by mending the sick, helping them garden, and watching over children while their parents were away. By chance, she happened to have the day off where she was needed neither in the nexus or the forests, so she took the day off to sleep in.
The sunlight shining into her tree was enough to wake her up. She slowly lifted her head and let out a soft yawn before shuffling her wings. After rubbing her eyes gently she perked her head out of her hollow to have a look around. Much to her satisfaction, everything seemed to be at peace. Everything was quiet save for the occasional rustling of leaves by the wind and the dripping of morning dew off of trees and flowers.
Brightwing smiled happily. "A whole day to myself?" She said before quickly rolling over onto her back, looking up at her Nexus Hearthstone that was mounted on the wall of her hollow. The Hearthstone was not glowing or humming, signaling that the Nexus was safe, at least for the time being.
She sighed in relief and let her head fall back onto the soft bedding of her nest as she looked up towards the roof of her hollow. "Just what I needed!" She said with a satisfied tone of voice as she relaxed for a moment, laying on her back with her wings spread out.
"I think I might get a little bit more sleep." She said before slowly closing her eyes and getting comfortable. Already she was starting to think about what kind of fun things she could do on such a nice sunny day.
After about of minute of relaxing there was a sudden loud knocking on the outside of her hollow. Brightwing quickly opened her eyes and rolled over until she was laying on her belly, looking up to see who was there.
"Oh! Malfurion!" Brightwing said, surprised. She had encountered Malfurion countless times over the past year as they worked together in the nexus and in Val'sharah.
"I do apologize, my friend." Said Malfurion, bowing to her. "I didn't mean to startle you."
Brightwing shook her head and smiled. "It's alright. Is there a problem? My Hearthstone wasn't glowing." She said.
"No, the Nexus is fine for now but I'm afraid we might need your help down at the village." Said Malfurion, resting his arms on the edge of her hollow.
Brightwing was a bit disappointed on the inside to have her day off be interrupted but she was never one to shy away from helping her friends. "How can I help?" She said as she remained on her belly, occasionally flickering her long curly tail.
Malfurion looked back towards the village. "One of the Night Elf couples recently rescued an abandoned baby Murloc. They've taken the infant in under their protection and are now caring for him, but they are being called away to an important druid's summit, the same one I'm heading off to attend. They need you to babysit the child just for today. I hope that isn't asking too much?"
Brightwing shook her head. "Of course not. I'd be happy to!" She said before sitting up straight. "Where are the parents now?" She asked.
"Back at the village." Said Malfurion. "They'll have instructions for you on how to take care of the child." He said before backing up from her hollow. "Are you sure you're alright with this?" He asked.
Brightwing nodded. "I'm on my way now. Good luck at the Druid's summit!" She said waving to him.
"Farewell my friend." Malfurion said before walking off.
Brightwing sighed. "Alright let's do this." She said, grabbing her usual satchel of supplies that she took with her wherever she went. She cracked her neck a bit and stretched one last time before leaping out of her hollow and taking flight.
Brightwing was sitting in the Night Elf couples house, listening to their instructions. She nodded affirmatively and politely. "Yes, I will take care of that, I promise." Said Brightwing. "Real quick, what did say his name was again?" She asked.
"Murky." Said the female Night elf.
"Aww, cute!" Said Brightwing. "Alright I believe I have everything memorized. I hope you guys have a safe journey! Good luck at the summit!" She said, waving goodbye to them.
Once the parents had left, they closed the door behind them.
Brightwing turned around and smiled. "Alright, Murky! You ready to-" Brightwing interrupted herself as she didn't see where the baby Murloc had went. She could have sworn he was right behind her.
"Murky?" She said taking a few steps forward and looking around the room. "Murky?!" She said growing more concerned. Before she could say his name again, she looked up to see he was floating around in the air in a bubble he had created using his magic.
When he was passing over her, Brightwing quickly used her curly tail to whip right above her, popping his bubble and causing him to fall. She quickly grabbed him by the back of his diaper, dangling him in the air.
"Hey there, Mr. Mischief!" She said with a sing-songy voice. "We're going to have fun today aren't we?" She said with a smile as she continued to hold him up by his diaper.
Murky stared at her for a moment, not making a sound. As Brightwing looked back at him she could hear a rumbling in his stomach. Murky's cheeks started to puff up a bit until his upset stomach caused him to vomit right into Brightwing's face, covering her face in a sticky slimy puke. Almost immediately afterwards, another grumbling could be heard in his lower belly. Murky quickly tucked his hands between his legs and crossed his legs at his ankles before letting off a soft grumble. When Brightwing wiped off her eyes she could see a large lump at the bottom of his diaper.
Brightwing lowered her eyebrows. "Well...I guess that answers that question..." She said, slightly frustrated.
A few minutes later, Brightwing had gotten herself cleaned up and had murky laying on his back on a table so she could change his diaper. She unstrapped and removed his diaper before grabbing him by both ankles and lifting his legs up into the air so she could get him cleaned up.
As Brightwing was changing him, Murky looked up to see a butterfly had flown into the room, most likely coming from one of the few open windows. It was a Monarch Butterfly with bright orange and yellow wings with black stripes all around. Such pretty bright colors immediately caught the young Murloc's attention, lighting up his face with a smile as he dreamed of catching it. Already he was lifting his arms into the air, trying to reach for it but unfortunately it was too far away. He kept his eyes on the butterfly for about a minute until he decided he wanted to catch it.
After she was finished wiping his bottom and disposing of his old dirty diaper, Brightwing started looking around. "Where are the new diapers?" She said before spotting them on the kitchen table a few yards away. She quickly took flight over to the kitchen table to open the package. She used a claw on her front toe to open the package before pulling out a fresh clean diaper.
"Alright, now I just have to-" She said before turning around to see Murky wasn't on the changing station any more. She looked to her left to see he was walking around naked and was trying to climb up onto the nearby couch to try and catch the butterfly he saw early.
"No don't go up there!" Brightwing exclaimed before quickly flying over to try and stop him from getting too high.
By the time Brightwing flew over to him, he was on the top of the couch and the Butterfly was just barely in reach. He lifted out his hand to grab it but right before he did, Brightwing's wings quickly wrapped around him. The commotion caused the butterfly to fly back in the opposite direction.
Murky quickly jolted his head back to try and spot the butterfly in the air. His head moving backwards hit Brightwing right in the face, causing her to let go of him and fall off the couch and land on the carpeted floor, landing on her back with a thud.
Brightwing having her wings around him when she fell caused Murky to lose his footing and fall off the couch. When Brightwing saw him falling she gasped loudly and quickly leaned forward and clapped her wings together, creating a swirling emerald wind right beneath Murky that slowed his fall and caused him to land gently on the ground in front of her, unharmed.
After he landed unharmed, Brightwing sighed in relief before covering her face with her wing and fell back onto the ground, laying on her back. "Thank goodness..." She said, already exhausted. After catching her breath she perked her head up to see he was standing in front of her with a curious look on his face. She looked down and noticed his legs were crossed again.
Brightwing opened her eyes widely. "No no no...please don't... don't pee! Please! Not on me!" She said, desperately trying to scoot back and away from him but unfortunately she was too late. He couldn't hold it and started to go, spraying onto her belly and face. Brightwing quickly recoiled in disgust and screamed, trying to cover herself with her wings as he was peeing all over her. Once Murky was finished, he sat down on the carpet in front of her.
Brightwing uncovered herself and looked down, her whole body was soaked. Already she was starting to lose patience, thinking to herself that this is not how she wanted to spend her day off.
Some time later, Brightwing got herself cleaned up yet again. She had put a clean diaper on Murky and gave him a toy to play with while she scrubbed the carpets with a rag, trying to clean up the mess Murky had made so his adopted parents wouldn't see it when they got home. After giving the carpets a thorough cleaning she sighed once more, trying to compose herself.
"Alright Murky, let's try this again... I think we got off on the wrong foot." She said walking over to him. She noticed he was playing with some sort of toy. "What cha doin'?" She said, smiling as she watched him play. She sat down right beside him, placing one wing over his shoulder.
Murky was playing with a bubble wand that his adopted parents got for him. He was blowing bubbles all over the place. When he noticed she was sitting by his side, Murky smiled and let out a happy Murloc "Mrrrrggllll". He pointed the bubble wand towards her and started to blow bubbles in her face.
Brightwing smiled and giggled, the bubbles tickling her face. After blowing a few bubbles in her direction, Murky held out the bubble wand, putting it near Brightwing's lips. She figured he wanted her to blow some bubbles with him. She a took deep breath and blew into the wand, blowing bubbles all across the room. Almost immediately, Murky's face lit up with joy and he started to clap happily. Brightwing's face lit up with joy as well as she giggled along with him.
When Murky offered her the wand, she took it and held it between the two of them. They both took a deep breath at the same time and blew, making bubble together happily.
After a few more rounds of bubble-blowing she looked at him and tilted her head. "Why use a bubble wand when you can make your own bubbles!" She said, trying to encourage him to use a little magic. To demonstrate, she took a deep breath and blew, creating a green misty ring infront of her that traveled forward before fading.
Murky clapped happily, making cute murloc Mrrrglls the entire time. After watching her make her own magic he took a breath of his own and was able to create giant bubbles like the one he made when Brightwing first arrived.
"Very good!" She said, impressed that he knew magic at such a young age. For the next couple of minutes, the two of them practiced harmless magic together, Brightwing making sparkles and clouds while Murky made bubbles and water. They laughed joyously together the entire time.
"Watch this!" Brightwing said before raising her wing over him. She sprinkled a bit of pixie dust over him, causing him to float into the air slightly, just a few inches above ground. When Murky saw he was floating, he was overjoyed and started to flap his arms like he was a butterfly, causing Brightwing to cover her lip with her wing and giggle. She reached forward and tried to tickle him while he was suspended. She was surprised to find he was very ticklish as he laughed and wiggled about the entire time.
After a while the pixie dust wore off and he fell to the ground harmlessly. He stood up and made another loud "Mrrrrrgggglllll!" raising his arms into the air.
Brightwing tilted her head at him wondering what he was doing. As she watched him, she felt something wet and sticky forming underneath her. She looked down to see a large tentacle wrapping around her feet. She looked behind her to see Murky had summoned an octopus. The octopus' long tentacle wrapped around all four of Brightwing's ankles, grabbing her and hoisting her up into the air.
Brightwing was caught off guard and tried to back up a bit but was quickly swept up into the air. She was now dangling upside down, hanging by her feet. When she looked up she saw Murky standing up and cheering something in Murloc. In his hand was a large wet fish that he had summoned.
"Uh Murky." Brightwing said nervously. "Maybe this isn't the best ide-" before she could finish her sentence, Murky swung his fish, gently brushing her across the cheek with the fish.
Brightwing quickly spit as he got slime all over her face from the fish. "Eww..." Brightwing said as she didn't particularly enjoy being covered in slime. Before she could say anything again, Murky gently brushed the fish over her other cheek, causing her to spit in disgust once more. He brushed the fish over her whole face one more time. By the time he was finished Brightwing's face was covered in sticky slime.
"Alright, we had fun! Time to put Brightwing down okay?" She said as she was still being firmly held by the octopus.
Murky used the tail of the fish to tickle Brightwing, tickling her belly. When Brightwing felt him tickling her belly she could help but giggle. "No no! That tickles! Hah!" She said as she flinched about.
As the Octopus held her still, Murky tickled the bottom of Brightwing's feet with the tail of the fish, causing her to giggle even more. "No no no! Hah hah! Stop! That tickles to much! I can't take it!" Said Brightwing in between laughs but no matter what she did she couldn't break free.
Murky then looked her in the eyes and said "Ahhhhh" opening his mouth real wide, wanting her to do the same.
Brightwing perked a confused and nervous eyebrow, it took her a while to figure out that he wanted her to mimic him. "Ahhhhh?" Brightwing said, opening her mouth real wide.
When Brightwing opened her mouth wide open, Murky stuck his fish into her mouth, figuring he was doing her favor by giving her something to eat. Brightwing had a disgusted look on her face as her mouth was full of slimy fish, the tail of the fish was sticking out of her mouth.
When next she looked up, she saw Murky had summoned a pufferfish in the middle of the room. He then started cheering once more. The pufferfish soon started to grow, swelling up bigger and bigger.
Brightwing shook her head and try to say something but the fish was still stuck in her mouth. All she could do was mumble. "Mmmphh! Mmmpph!" was all she could blurt out. The pufferfish started growing bigger and bigger until soon it was larger than either her or Murky.
She started mumbling even louder as she knew the pufferfish was about the burst. She squirmed and flailed about the best she could but it was no use. She looked up to see the pufferfish at max size and after a bit of wobbling, it blew up, covering almost the entire house in messy slime.
Sometime later, Brightwing had drawn up a warm bath in the bathroom tub. Both of them were a mess after the pufferfish explosion and she was trying to get both of them cleaned up yet again. Murky was sitting in the water at one end of the tub while she sat the other end, her back against the wall.
Brightwing sighed again as she was scrubbing her wings with soap. "This is my third bath today..." She said, tired of bathing by this point. As she was scrubbing behind her ears with a washcloth, she was suddenly splashed in the face with water. When she looked up she saw Murky was standing up straight, using his hands to try and splash her with water in a playful manner. After splashing her a second time he turned his back to her and started shaking his rear at her in a taunting manner, trying to get her to splash him back.
Brightwing could help but giggle at his adorable little baby butt. "Alright, want to play that way?" She said before scooping up a bunch of water with her wings and splashing him. After being splashed, Murky clapped joyously spun around in circles as she splashed him again. It came as no surprise to Brightwing that Murky, being a Murloc, had a deep-rooted love for water. Every time she splashed him he seemed to become more and more joyful which put a smile on her face as well.
"Alright, come here, you." She said, wrapping her wings around him and pulling him over to her so she could get him cleaned up. She sat him down in front of her and started covering him with soap. As she got him all soapy, Murky pursed his lips and started to puff, blowing bubbles all over the room. Brightwing's face lit up when she saw him making his own bubbles. "See? You don't need a bubble wand!" She said before grabbing a washcloth and scrubbing his chest and back, taking advantage of him being distracted to finish cleaning him up.
She lifted up both of his legs and prepared to start washing but as she did so he also reach into the water and lifted up both of her hind legs. She tilted her head, seeming amused that he wanted to mimic her actions. "You going to help me get cleaned up to?" She asked playfully. As she started scrubbing his left leg with soap and water, he also started scrubbing her left leg as well, trying to copy her every move. When Brightwing moved to start scrubbing his foot, he continued to copy her, scrubbing her foot as well. She still seemed amuse by his desire to mimic her. Murky wanted to help her as best he could. He continued to scrub her legs and wash her feet as she was doing it to him.
Once they were finished Brightwing smiled. "Well aren't you helpful?" She said happily. She then leaned forward to give him a kiss on his forehead. After she kissed him on the forehead he moved forward to try and give her some kisses back. She held him at bay with her wings, pushing him back. "No no no! Not fishy lips!" She said, not wanting to be kissed by his slimy lips. He quickly lunged at her, getting past her wings. Brightwing giggled and laughed joyously as he started kissing her, both of them splashing around in the water. They both laughed, splashed, and played together in the tub for a few more minutes.
After they were done bathing, Brightwing wrapped him in a towel and was carrying him out into the room to get him all dried up and put a clean diaper on him. When she looked around she noticed the entire place was still covered in dirty slime. As she was drying Murky off, she had a look around and sighed, knowing it would be a pain in the neck to clean the house up.
It took Brightwing multiple hours to clean up the mess. By the time she was almost finished, it was getting dark outside. Using a rag, she finally cleaned up the rest of the slime and wiped her brow, exhausted. She collapsed to the ground on her belly, tired from all the cleaning she had to do today. Her attention was only grabbed by the sound of Murky's stomach growling and she was able to tell he was hungry. She let out a slightly frustrated sigh and went to go fix him up something to eat.
About five minutes later, Brightwing had prepared the food that she was instructed to make. She had put Murky in a booster-seat kitchen table and was trying to get him to eat. Of course, getting him to eat the food that he liked was no trouble but when it came to eating his vegetables, he turned his head away from her.
Brightwing held the spoon up to his mouth. "Come on, vegetables are good for you! They're yummy!" She said, trying to make it sound interesting but was unsuccessful. She thought for a moment before coming up with an idea.
"Murky! Look!" She said holding her wing out. Brightwing was able to control the color pattern on her skin and wings to whatever she wanted and used this ability to turn her wing into the color of a monarch butterfly, which almost instantly caught Murky's attention. When Murky saw her butterfly-colored wing he smiled and gasped. Brightwing took advantage of this to put the spoon in his mouth while he was gasping.
"Haha! Not so fun when it happens to you, hmm?" She teased but Murky wasn't amused. When she tried the same trick again, he wasn't falling for it. Brightwing had to be more clever if she wanted to get him to eat. She quickly came up with another idea.
"What about your cookies?" She said, holding up the cookies that were supposed to be his dessert. When Murky saw the cookies he held out his hands wanting them but Brightwing pulled them from his grasp.
"Ah ah ah...vegetables first." She said, smiling quirkily. When Murky refused the spoon of vegetables once again Brightwing shrugged. "Alright...more for me." She said, opening her mouth and preparing to eat the cookie.
Murky quickly shook his head and exclaimed, not wanting her to eat it.
She perked her brow. "So you do want it? Well I'll make you a good deal. Vegetables first and then you can have cookies!" She said, holding the spoon up to his mouth. He refused at first but when he saw her open her mouth a second time to eat the cookie he quickly put his mouth around the vegetables and started chewing them.
Brightwing smiled happily. "That's more like it. Just a few more bites. Say 'Ahhhhhh'" She said, trying to get him to open his mouth again.
Murky reluctantly opened his mouth, allowing her to feed him more vegetables.
"There we go!" She said. "Come on, one more!" She said holding the spoon up to him. "Say 'Ahhhhhhh'" She said, waiting for him. He opened his mouth again, allowing her to feed him the rest.
"You did it!" She said patting him on the shoulder with her wing. "Here you go, you've earned em!" She said giving him the cookies for dessert. When she saw him happily munching on the yummy cookies, she couldn't help but laugh at how adorable he was acting.
As he ate his dessert, Brightwing started cleaning up his tray and the rest of the kitchen.
By the time Brightwing was finished cleaning up, it was night time outside and the crickets were chirping. Brightwing lit a few candles around the house so they could see. After grabbing a candle for herself, she grabbed Murky and wrapped him in a blanket. The two of them cuddled together on the couch before Brightwing revealed she had a book, ready to read him a bedtime story.
"You like stories?" Said Brightwing as she looked down at him. She had her wings gently wrapped around him for comfort. "This one is called 'The White Whelp'" She said. Murky seemed interested and was accustomed to being read to. He leaned his head against her chest and got comfortable in his blanket as he prepared to listen.
Brightwing opened the book to the first page. "There once was a large group of green Dragons who lived in northern Val'sharah. Two green Dragon parents were waiting for their little baby dragons to hatch from their eggs." She said turning the page. "The first one hatched and out came a little green dragon! The next one hatched and out came another green dragon! The third once hatch and yet another green dragon came out! ...But when the fourth one hatched, everyone was surprised to see a white dragon come out." She said turning the page again. "When it came time for the young dragons to go to school, they all had a wonderful time learning and playing! ...But not the White Whelp. The other dragons mocked and bullied the White Whelp because he was different! 'Go home to your real parents!' they said, 'Go find other white dragons to play with!' they said..." Brightwing said turning the page again.
"The White Whelp was sad...he felt he didn't belong. When he looked around, all he saw were green dragons. He didn't feel like he belonged with them so he set out to find his real parents!" She said, flipping to the next page. "The White Whelp went out into the forest, determined to find his real parents but he lost track of where he was. He was lost and scared and all he wanted was his mother...but he wasn't sure who his mother really was..." Said Brightwing, flipping the page again. "The further he went into the forest, the more he got lost. Eventually, he came across a small brown sprite named Needlenibble. Needlenibble wasn't like the other sprites, he prefered to give people things rather than steal them. Needlenibble asked the White Whelp why he left his home. The White Whelp replied 'I don't belong there. I'm not a dragon. I'm different...' he said sadly. 'Not a Dragon? Two wings, four feet, a snout, a tail, and horns... you look like a dragon to me!' Said Needlenibble as he tried to cheer him up. 'What's wrong with being different? I'm different and it makes me happy!' He said. The White Whelp was confused. 'What do you mean?' He asked. Rather than reply, Needlenibble reached into his satchel and pulled out a shiny gem and handed it the whelp. 'Woah!' Said the White Whelp 'Why would you give this to me? I thought sprites were supposed to steal?' Said the White Whelp." Said Brightwing before turning the page.
"Needlenibble chuckled. 'I thought Dragons were supposed to be green!' Said Needlenibble, causing the White Whelp to go deep in thought. Needlenibble lifted the White Whelp's chin. 'Keep your chin up! Just because you're white doesn't mean you're not a dragon! Your family loves you no matter what color you are! They're probably worried sick about you to.' He said, to which the White Whelp nodded. 'You're not different, you're special! Just like me! I give, I don't take!' Said Needlenibble. The White Whelp nodded. 'I suppose you're right.' he said. Needlenibble patted him on the shoulder. 'Don't ever think for a second that you're not as good as everyone else just for being different.' He said. 'You should head on home before your mother gets too worried.' He said. The White Whelp nodded and took the gem that Needlenibble offered to him. 'Thank you' Said the White Whelp." Brightwing said, nearing the end of the story. She fipped to the next page.
"When he tried to find his was back home, he couldn't. He was lost and soon got stuck in a raging thunderstorm! Lightning crashed WHOOSH! Thunder roared BOOM! The White Whelp started to think he would never find his way back home. A tree was struck by lightning and fell, ready to crush the White Whelp! Before the tree landed on the White Whelps little head, his mother came soaring in, knocking the falling tree out of the way and scooping up her lost child! 'I missed you so much! Don't even leave us again!' Said the mother as she was almost in tears. 'You're my mother.' Said the White Whelp, finally accepting who he was. After being brought back to the cave, the White Whelp laid curled up with his parents and siblings. While the rest of them slept, the White Whelp opened up his talons to see the White Gem that Needlenibble had given to him, and promised to never forget who he was." Said Brightwing as she finished the story.
When she closed the book she looked down to see Murky sound asleep in his blanket. As she watched him sleep she couldn't help but smile. She leaned her head forward and gave him a quick kiss on the top of his head and hugged him close to her chest. She gently scooped him up and carried him over to his crib, setting him down nice and gentle so he could get some sleep. She watched him sleep for a bit, a smile on her face all the time as she started to realize that maybe he wasn't as bad as she thought. She couldn't help but think that Murky was exactly like the White Whelp in the story. She hoped that no one would ever bully him for being different from the other Night Elf children.
A minutes later she heard a knocking on the door. When she answered it, it was the parents, who seemed very pleased with her work.
"Wow this place looks great! You did a wonderful job!" Said the mother.
Brightwing smile and picked up her satchel, hoisting it around her shoulder. "Thank you. Always happy to help." She said before bowing to them. "Murky is asleep in his crib over there." She said pointing towards the crib with her wing.
"I hope he wasn't too much trouble." Said the father to Brightwing as she was walking out the door.
Brightwing stopped for a moment and rubbed her chin for a moment before looking back to him. "Not at all." She said politely.
As she was on her way home, Brightwing ran into Malfurion who was also walking the woods at night. "Ah Brightwing!" He said happily. "How did it go?" He asked.
"You know..." Brightwing said. "All things considered, I'm happy how today turned out. I wouldn't have had it any other way." She said.
Malfurion smiled and bowed to her. "You're a good friend. The people of Val'sharah are lucky to have you." He said extending his hand towards her.
Brightwing also smiled and reached her front foot forward to shake his hand.
When she arrived back at her hollow, she took the satchel off her shoulder and collapsed to the ground, exhausted. For a moment she just listened to the sounds of crickets chirping in the otherwise silent night. She then opened up her satchel and began to unpack but what she found inside what something she did not expect.
She found the bubble wand that she and Murky had played with earlier. After learning to make his own bubbles, Murky, having no more use for the wand, had slipped the wand into her satchel as a gift to remember him by.
A heartwarming smile slowly lit up her face, her heart touched by his thoughtful gift. She mounted his bubble wand on the wall of her hollow, alongside her other prized possessions that her closest friends had given to her.