The orc looked at the closest others to the bench she sat on – and the ones on it – due to board the zeppelins headed to the Twilight Highlands. A fair-skinned elven priest with pale blonde hair, dark brown robes, and a simple metal staff adorned with a few runes. A short goblin mage with heavy stubble, various burn marks along his hands, and what appeared to be a mohawk similar to those trolls favored. A burly orc warrior, her darling Hadrios, with two small axes at his sides, a large war-axe strapped to his back, and a face-concealing helm. And finally a troll, the only other female in the small group waiting for their zeppelins to dock, with oddly dark purple hair, an awkward face, and daggers at her side.
She knew she could effectively have gone to the Southern Terminus, where the Spear of Durotar would be docking soon, and get on what the goblins had claimed to be the best of the assembled ships, but she wanted to be able to say goodbye to her mate in anticipation of the many hours they'd be parted as they crossed the seas. She wished that she'd been quicker to try and get herself on the same zeppelin as him, the Heart of Orgrimmar, but by the time she'd made her request to be sent on it, there was to be no more room.
Ilika herself was an average orcish female, with black hair in a tight braid, beady orangeish brown eyes, and a toned body. She wore uncomfortably tight and concealing leathers in shades of dark brown; with itchy bracers made of what she'd been told was boar hide.
"'ow much longah will de ships take? We no got fo'edeh ta get ta de 'ighlands, now do we?" asked the troll, with a thick accent that was present in all trolls.
"Don't ask me, troll," snapped the blood elf, turning an icy glare on the female.
"Mebbeh I no be askin' ya, little elf. Mebbeh ya be wantin' ta go try and differahrentiate yaself from de female elfies, ya?"
The elf glared, turning his gaze away from her.
"Dat's w'at I t'ought."
Hadrios laughed loudly at the two, grinning wickedly. "Haven't seen anything like that for a while, good to see there's still bite in the Blood Elves," he chucked, watching as Orgrimmar's Heart docked. "Goodbye, Hadrios. I will see you in the Highlands," said Ilika, her voice still as brash and loud as it always was, if a little bit softened by fondness.
Hadrios waved, stepping on the zeppelin amidst a crowd of the others due for it. A troll that looked similar to the one who had just mouthed off to the elf also boarded, nodding at the other troll.
The troll muttered under her breath, nodding back.
Several moments passed and another zeppelin docked, Hellscream's Fury. The Goblin, snickering from the incident moments prior, boarded it, waving lazily to the troll woman that had granted him the amusement, she 'tsk'ed, giving him a lazy wave.
Ilika eyed the troll, noticing how much she must have taken care of her appearance. The thin hide that coved all jungle trolls had to have been very thin and glossy on this one.
It was a few more moments before another zeppelin docked. The one Ilika was to be on.
She should have felt honored that she would be on the same zeppelin as Warchief Garrosh Hellscream, but something felt off about it. The troll woman stepped on, walking over to a member of the crew that appeared to be on suck-up to the Warchief duty. Ilika stepped on also, saluting to the Warchief.
"Hello Miss, I will escort you to your shared quarters. In case of water landing, there are assorted flavors of cyanide under the seats, beds, and in a convenient portable bag. Please return the cyanide to us if you do not have to use it. In case of zeppelin losing altitude over land, there are eight parachutes on the top. Please do not destroy them in a mad bid for your survival," said one of the crew members, beckoning her to follow with a spindly finger.
"Very well then, goblin."
"Gizzle Flamesprocket."
The goblin woman led her down a set of steps into what appeared to be a cargo room with seven doors. The goblin led her to one of the doors, gesturing at it. "This is the women's quarters," she began, "that is the women's restroom," she gestured to the door to the right of it, "and that's another cargo room full of explosives," she gestured to the door to the left.
"Right." Ilika nodded. "Glory to the Horde, goblin."
"Yeah, glory to the Horde!"
Gizzle rushed back up the steps, probably to show the rest of the females to their quarters, if the person showing some of the males their quarters which were across from the females' quarters was any indication that they were gender segregating so that someone of the same gender showed people their room.
Ilika shrugged, opening the door and peering into the room. Bunk-beds lined the wall, with sheets that looked like they'd came off a deep-discount rack at a Silvermoon tailoring shop, pretty looking, but incredibly brightly colored. Safety mats covered the floor, probably as some cheap alternative to rugs. Cheap bedside tables made out of scrap metal were by every bed, with lamps on each and every one of them. And the most disconcerting detail, the large mounted guns at the end of the room, placed in such a way one would have to climb over a set of beds to reach.
Within an hour the room was full, the goblin lady taking each female aside individually and showing them to the room.
"I t'ink de goblin ladeh was tryin' not ta offend us by shovin' us all into de room at once, yeah?" said the troll woman, snickering softly to herself.
"Probably," an orc said.
"I'd put a bit of my pay on it."
"Agreed."
"Dey seem ta t'ink we start infightin' at de slightest provocation, ya know? Dey don' know 'ow stupid dey be when dey be doin' dat, t'ough. Mebbeh dey need some mo'e common sense, ya?"
Ilika nodded along with various other females in the room. "I'm offended by them thinking that, the soft little explosives lovers…"
"Yeah! They think so poorly of us?"
"Dat be exactly w'at dey be t'inkin', dey don' know 'ow wrong dey be, t'ough." The thickly accented troll turned around, walking over to one of the windows on her coltish legs and peering out. "Dey 'aven't even left de dock, yet."
Rikka Axecry, an old member of Hadrios' squad, snorted in disdain. "Lazy goblins, how are we getting to the Highlands if they aren't going to leave Azshara?"
"Ya? 'ow we be gettin' ta de 'ighlands if dey don' even leave de dock?"
A few more complaints were said in the cramped room, with an orc inadvertently punching a troll priest in the arm as she raised an arm, no apologies said.
"I gonna go tell dem dat dey need ta leave sometime soon." And then the dark-haired rogue was off, moving with odd fluidity on coltish legs.
A few of the other females muttered complaints under their breaths as they chose beds, Ilika climbing onto a close to the ceiling bunk as the lower beds were filled quickly, seeing that anyone in the bunks would likely bang their head a lot against the ceiling.
"Those goblins are nasty," complained one of the orcs, looking towards the door longingly, "they forced me away from Fanghowl. He's probably howling like a lost pup now… stupid goblins, parting me and my wolf."
"Tell me about it, Makki hates zeppelins as it is, he won't like having to be away from me and on one," added a tauren, her hair braided with feathers and beads.
It was several moments before the dark-haired troll returned. "Dey compleetely ignored meh, bu' I t'ink dey'll be leavin' soon."
Ilika eyed the signal-flare the troll held in her hands but said nothing, the troll stowing it away in a small bag at her side.
Ilika surveyed the churning sea below, waves crashing loudly in the water.
The troll woman, Amthona, an odd name for a troll, stood behind her, looking around lazily.
"So, w'at's dis sistah you been tellin' me about?" asked Amthona, rather abruptly.
"Hekili? She was my sister… she was a hunter, her and her pet Rehj… she died when Deathwing attacked the Burning Steppes," hissed Ilika, fists clenching. "So I'm coming here to prove my worth and avenge my sister. That dragon killed her so I'll see him killed."
Amthona looked neutral, almost pensive. "Well, dat be… sad, mebbeh t'ings'll get bettah when de Destroyah is dead, yeah?"
"Maybe. At least Heki will be avenged." The troll woman walked forward, placing her hands on Ilika's shoulders. "I guess I would feel pretteh bad if meh sistah died, 'er name is Sahona, I t'ink you seen 'er befo'e. I 'ope I'll see 'er in de 'ighlands, de 'eart of Orgrimmar is a good ship, but jus' in case… she 'as meh hope…"
Ilika didn't exactly remember the blue-haired troll that had boarded after Hadrios but she nodded anyway, hissing softly at the memory of her sister. The body had never been recovered, but there was no way that Hekili just vanished en route to Chiselgrip around the time of him burning the Steppes.
"Well, t'ink o' it dis way. Mebbeh if you gonna be playin' a big part in de Destroyahs downfall… mebbeh it wouldn't 'appen if you don't have de drive to avenge ya sister, yeah?"
Ilika didn't respond, jerking her shoulders from Amthona and stalking towards the other side of the ship, glaring at the air in front of her. The troll simply remained where she stood, sighing softly before chuckling.
"We'll be at the Highlands in a week, Warchief!" intoned Gizzle Flamesprocket, waving her hands in an arc above her head. The massive, brown-skinned orc grunted, looking down at the goblin. "Speed the entire fleet up! That's an order!"
"Right away, sir!" shouted Captain Whirlspark. "Navigator Silverpants, send the orders to speed the fleets up pronto!"
"Sir, it's Silvers-"
"That's nice, just do what you're told, kiddo."
"Listen up folks!" He yelled. "Navigator Silverpants! Send the orders to the Heart of Orgrimmar! Flamesprocket! The Spear of Durotar needs to speed up, it's falling behind! Fizzlegold! Hellscream's Fury! It needs to keep its pace! Jinglepouch! Get over to Nagrand's Cannon and tell them to speed it up to keep the pace!"
The sheets were scratchy, unwashed for almost one-and-a-half weeks, but Ilika paid them no mind as she pulled on her armor. They were approaching the Highlands, and would be at there in three hours if the goblins kept their breakneck pace.
She stood up and walked to the top of the zeppelin once her armor was secure and on properly. Warchief Garrosh Heallscream was giving them what summed up to an Orcish pep-talk, which was boasting of honor, glory, and the spilt blood of enemies.
"PULL UP! PULL DOWN! PULL SOMETHING!" The voice of Captain Krazz was loud and clear over the humid air, and followed by a deafening crash, the sound of explosions, and screaming.
"SAHONA!" Amthona was looking at the Thandol Span, and within seconds Ilika could see why. The remains of a zeppelin lay on the bridge, flaming and with bodies strewn across the ancient stone. In the waters below, black and red plumed in a sickening mix as most of the zeppelin lay there.
"Oh, the Goblinity!"
"H-Hadrios?" It wasn't a question. Ilika rushed forward, standing next to Amthona as they passed over the Span. "HADRIOS?"
"TAHO!"
"GISSRIL!"
The names of the people who had been on the Heart of Orgrimmar were shouted across the air by friends and family as the zeppelins passed rather blithely over the waters.
Hellscream, however, seemed un-affected as he began to shout. "Fellow warriors of the Horde. Hear me now! Ahead hides our foe. Worshippers of chaos who seek to remake the world. A new world is coming, friends. But it is not the world of their design. Together, we will crush the Twilight's Hammer, raze their stronghold, salt the earth, and burn the bodies. All will tremble at our might. Then we will stand astride this world as its masters - united in our conviction, unrivaled in strength, beholden to no one. Today, WE will remake the world. Our world. FOR THE HORDE!"
Ilika didn't even register his shouts as she stared blankly ahead, unregistering of the fact that the zeppelin her beloved was on had somehow managed to crash into a bridge.
"The Alliance steams in close formation without escort! Air guard, attack! Strafe them now, while they cannot maneuver!"
It hit her like a sack of rocks falling from Thunder Bluff onto her. Hadrios was dead.
Hadrios was dead.
HADRIOS WAS DEAD.
She let out a roar, tears streaming down her face as she tightened her grip on the edge of the zeppelin. Next to her Amthona looked around sullenly, shaking her head as she walked to the front of the zeppelin.
Tense moments passed before the sound of a flare shooting into the sky was heard. Purple lights burst all over the sky, with streaks of purple, indigo and a reddish shade also shooting into the sky.
"IT'S AN ATTACK!"
It was two seconds of confusion before the streaks revealed themselves as Twilight Drakes, breathing volatile flames over one of the zeppelins of the fleet without care as the zeppelin quite literally blew up, passengers not even bothering to grab parachutes as they ran off the ship and into the churning waters below.
Goblins jumped to the guns, shooting small bullets rather ineffectively at the monstrous drakes. A few roared but none seemed truly injured by the metallic bullets.
Amthona caught Ilika's eye, the troll woman doing the unthinkable. Taking her daggers and rushing at Garrosh.
The Warchief slammed the blunt side of his axe at her chest, knocking the rogue to the floor. "Traitorous dog? ON MY SHIP!" he bellowed, stepping forward and raising his axe.
Amthona threw her arms up in the air, a shadowy bolt of energy shooting at Garrosh, knocking him back. The rogue wasted no time, running off the edge of the zeppelin.
The next thing Ilika saw made her blood run cold. Deathwing the Destroyer flew over the battlefield, his appearance as if though here was merely surveying the work of the Twilight Flight, though his mere presence seemed to give the Twilights an increased vigor to their strikes and breath-attacks and raised the ambient temperature extraordinarily. Several more Horde soldiers jumped off their zeppelins, some taking parachutes and aiming for land, though most of them met their demise at the talons of circling drakes.
She noticed that most of the fleeing soldiers were goblins.
A purple drake rose from near the zeppelin, breathing some Twilight Flames on it before circling around to the Spear of Durotar, an indigo colored Twilight by the purple one.
All Ilika could do was look at the battle, lacking any form of ranged weapon and with no spare turrets for her to mount. No drake dared land on that particular zeppelin, the warriors standing at attention for the inevitable direct assault as the Twilight Flames were put out by a shaman.
A giant dragon, pink in coloration, dived for the zeppelin. It creaked as the behemoth perched on it, massive wings beating behind it. The behemoth took a deep breath, flames flickering in its maw.
"GET!"
The behemoth seemed to almost chuckle in that single second. "OFF!"
Drakes began to circle the zeppelin with sickening speed. "MY!"
Garrosh Hellscream lunged forward. "SHIP!" His axe sank into the behemoth's neck, blood spilling as he dug it across. The pink dragon fell off backwards, landing in the sea with a loud splash, but not before releasing the flames in its mouth.
Purple and orange flames raged on the gas-balloon above the zeppelin, and with an explosion, it started the short plummet down.
Ilika did all she could do. She jumped off with the other guards while screaming bloody murder.
She barely even realized she crashed into the water, the salty liquid stinging her nose. Her lungs felt on fire almost instantly, and she tried to cough. More liquid entered her body.
Why was there blood in the water? She didn't know as oil spilled from the wreckage, burning her body by simply being close to it.
She felt dizzy. She felt like she was on fire. She felt like she was dying.
Shh, close your eyes little one…
Who was that? It didn't sound like her… or did it? Maybe she wasn't thinking straight at she struggled to the surface.
Sleep, it's time to sleep child.
Why did the voice remind her of her mother?
Come on, sleep. We'll be here. Me and Rehj, we'll be here for you…
Was that Hekili's voice? Or was her mind making it up? She couldn't tell which way the surface was, her eyes stung too much to open them.
Sleep, my love. Look around one last time, then close your eyes.
Her mind had to be making the voices up, a foggy feeling overwhelming her. She felt tired, like fatigue wore her down too much to continue swimming. Why did the water burn her? Why did she try to breath down there? Why did Hadrios have to die? Why did Hekili die? Why did the Twilights attack? Her mind buzzed with questions, following the train several times before she could give the closest she could to focus.
It hadn't been twenty seconds but it felt like ten minutes. Why? She didn't know.
Amthona had looked so… trustworthy. Why did she turn on them? Was she ever even with them? Ilika couldn't tell, she could barely recall the troll's name.
Why did it all happen? Could some poor, innocent child one day just did an innocent, good act and it spanned out from there? Becoming a murderous monster? She didn't know. It was all cold and hot, like burning in flames made of ice.
And it was all quiet.
A/N: So, I've been meaning to do this for a while, because the Horde Twilight Highlands intro quests are awesome. Minor creative liberty taken in places. Parts of dialogue shamelessly copypastaed from the game.