This is my first piece of fan fiction, it's based on my main WoW character's recent race change to a worgen, please add your review. Also, this is sort of a sequel to Qtxadsy's "Flowers in the Dirt" story, so be sure to check it out.

Part 1

Glory to the Alliance

Azeroth always had a homey feel to it. No matter where a quester or a travelling merchant went, a welcome feeling could be found (except for areas that belonged to the opposing faction that is). The Cataclysm changed all that. Deathwing's escape from the elemental plane of Deepholm shattered the world, lands were left unrecognisable, forces aggressive to both the Alliance and Horde had begun to take control of certain stretches of land and the threat from the raging elementals and the Twilights Hammer cult loomed over the innocent people of these now broken lands.

My name is Kogan; I'm a Dwarf Warrior, although the everyday people of Stormwind and other cities as a Quester, or an Adventurer usually refer me to. They simply label us as being an adventurous and heroic crusader of the light, but I don't mind – It's good publicity. They think that for Heroes like me, nothing can go wrong...I can assure them that this isn't the case.

It had been a few weeks since the Cataclysm when my friends and I had been called away from the efforts being made to capture Tol Barad - a relatively large strategically placed island that surfaced during the Cataclysm - and summoned to Stormwind.

"I really don't see what all the fuss is about! Wouldn't we be needed more fighting the Horde in Tol Barad?" remarked a clearly frustrated Gnome Death Knight.

Jirus was never one to be amused by being pulled away from a chance to fight the Horde. Despite having a small stature and commonly being used as the butt to all the jokes in Orgrimmar, his resurrection as a Death Knight made him far more skilled in combat. He still had his odd sense of humour from his old ways of being a rogue, but he could put up more than a fair fight, even against a fully armoured Tauren Warrior.

"Oh, calm down Jirus" I replied. "I'm sure it's more important than beating up some random Troll who was giving you funny looks."

"Hey, you saw what that Troll was gesturing at me! I just didn't realise that Gnome Punting was a real sport in Orgrimmar..."

The two of us eventually arrived in Stormwind, the main Human capital. We landed our flying mounts in a quiet area between the districts so that we wouldn't cause any hazards by landing a large Onyx Netherwing Drake and a Skeletal Ebon Gryphon in a busy market area.

"Where did Goilir say he was meeting us?" I asked Jirus

"He should be here any minu-"

Jirus was cut off halfway through the sentence by a loud explosion a few metres above our heads. Before we could look up, a burning heap of metal and wood crashed down in front of us. We looked at each other, slightly dumbfounded by what had just occurred. The sound of a custom engineer parachute opening above us, followed shortly by a scruffy looking Dwarf wearing mail armour landing in front of us reassured our momentary confusion.

"Why in the world does it keep doing that?" asked Goilir, sounding both frustrated and confused at the same time.

Goilir, the Dwarven Hunter standing in front of us, seemed to have made a small trademark introduction for himself, since his Mekgineer Gyrocopter had a tendency to explode these days. It's not that Goilir was a bad Engineer - by all means, he was one of the best I had ever met - It's just that he could never seem to properly configure the Gyrocopter correctly for some unknown reason.

"I'm sure you'll fix it eventually Goilir" said Jirus, who was attempting to hide a slight smirk.

"I'll look into it later I guess," sighed Goilir. After a few seconds of disappointingly staring at the wreckage that was his Gyrocopter, Goilir turned to face me, putting the failed piece of machinery out of his mind.

"So, who called us here anyway?" he asked.

"Well, the notice I received wasn't very specific" I replied. "It just says the we were needed for an urgent mission."

The letter I had received a few days prior was addressed to 'The Three Musketeers' (our little group's nickname). The letter itself was apparently from the Council of Stormwind, a group of people who made decisions for Stormwind that King Varian was too busy to do himself.

"Let's just ask a guard. Surely someone here will know about it" suggested Goilir, clearly eager to get going.

"Here's a better idea" said Jirus. "How about you clean up your 'mess' first?" he continued, gesturing towards the Gyrocopter wreckage.

"Oh, all right!" said Goilir, who was now showing some more frustration towards his failed mount.

XXX

We cleaned up the wreckage quickly. Most of the wood was burned beyond use and had to be thrown away, but some of the metal we were able to salvage was sold to a nearby blacksmith. By the time that had been dealt with, Jirus and I had stabled our flying mounts and the three of us were now on our land-based mounts. We approached a guard, who turned to attention when he saw us.

"Greetings! How may I help the three of you?" asked the guard

"We received a notice from the Council of Stormwind saying we were needed urgently for a mission of some sort. Know anything about it?" I asked the guard as I handed the letter to him.

He read the letter then looked up at us with a hint of adoration in his eyes.

"You're the Three Musketeers?" he asked.

"You were expecting the Three Stooges?" remarked Jirus in a sarcastic manner.

"Well, you don't seem very far off " chuckled the guard.

"Oi!" Jirus almost shouted at the guard.

"Anyway, the other guards and I were told to send you to Stormwind Keep upon arrival. King Varian himself wants to see you" said the guard, pointing in the general direction of the King's Keep.

Needless to say, the three of us were surprised to hear that it was King Varian Wrynn who had summoned us. He only ever personally called on specific people for his most important assignments. Jirus, Goilir and I thanked the guard for his assistance and headed to the King's Keep.

"I wonder what King Varian wants with us?" said Goilir as we approached the entrance to the keep.

"Whatever it is, it's nice to know that we're respected around here" said Jirus as he pouted out his chest, acting as though he had just saved the world or something.

XXX

Upon reaching the Keep, we were surprised to see how much it had changed since the Cataclysm. Stormwind was hit the hardest by the Cataclysm, mainly because Deathwing himself flew into the city and destroyed the old park, but reconstruction of all the main districts that were still intact had been under way for quite some time now. Stormwind Keep in particular had been upgraded from a huge hall of defence into a thing of beauty and glory. A magnificent statue of King Varian stood before us as a fountain flowed like a small waterfall just below the statue's fixed gaze. We made our way into the keep, our mounts stabled just outside. The main throne room was different, but not too different. Guards stood against almost every part of the walls within the circular room, and at the end of the room stood a mighty throne, supported at the base by four golden lion statues. And sitting in the mighty throne of Stormwind, his sword rested on his lap, was the mighty King Varian Wrynn himself.

He nodded at us and beckoned us forward. We made our way towards the stern looking king, but before we reached him, a young teenage human came up to us.

"Greetings friends! Welcome to Stormwind Keep!" said the young adult.

It was Anduin Wrynn, Varian's son and the Prince of Stormwind. When Jirus, Goilir and I first began our lives as adventurers, Anduin had acted as a child king of Stormwind in his father's absence, guided by Bolvar Fordragon who lost his life in Northrend during the crusade against the Lich King's armies several months ago. Anduin had come to know us well and often asked us for favours during his time as child king. But he has aged now and with his father's return, he could rest from his early kingship and focus on other personal matters.

"Good to see you again Prince Anduin" I replied to him.

Before we could start any sort of idle conversation, we were interrupted by the sound of King Varian clearing his throat in an assertive manner.

"Shouldn't you be studying in the library Anduin?" asked King Varian, showing both a hint of friendliness and seriousness.

"My apologies father. It's just that I know the adventurers of the Alliance so well, I can't help but greet them," said Prince Anduin.

"It's perfectly fine to greet your friends son" King Varian began as he rose from his throne. "But if you don't mind, I have important business with these three."

"Of course father," replied Prince Anduin, as he quickly made his way back to the keeps library.

When the Prince had vanished from sight, King Varian turned to face our motley crew of adventurers with a somewhat stubborn look in his eyes.

"Glad you could make" he addressed to us collectively.

Jirus, Goilir and I knelt down before him.

"Your highness of Stormwind." I said to the mighty King. "What would you have from us?"

"Follow. I have an important assignment for the three of you"

We raised ourselves and quickly followed the King who was striding quickly towards a large room to our right. Upon entering the room, we saw several tables with maps of certain areas of Azeroth that were being contested between the Horde and the Alliance laying on them. A collection of men stood around each table, discussing and occasionally bickering over strategies of attack or defence. King Varian brought us over to a separate table close to the centre of the room. On the table was a large map of the northern half of the Eastern Kingdoms, often referred to as the Kingdom of Lordaeron, despite the fact that the main capital fell to the scourge many years ago and now belongs to the Forsaken of the Horde. King Varian pointed to a large section of land just below Silverpine Forest.

"Tell me" he began. "Do you know where this is?"

"Of course" replied Goilir. "That's Gilneas."

"Exactly" stated the King. "A few days ago, High Priestess Tyrannde Whisperwind, the leader of the Night Elves in Darnassus, sent me a letter, stating that she had received a plead for help from King Genn Graymane."

"Graymane?" the three of us replied almost in unison.

"I thought King Graymane and the rest of Gilneas wanted to remain seperated from the rest of the world after the Second War" said Goilir, stroking his ginger beard in thought. "Isn't that why they built the Graymane Wall?"

"It is odd, yes," replied Varian. "But Priestess Whisperwind also explained in her message to me that the Gilneans need more help than ever now. You see, when the Cataclysm hit, the Graymane Wall was shattered, allowing the Forsaken to enter from the north. Gilneas has apparently been under siege from the Forsaken forces for quite some time now and have asked to rejoin the Alliance."

"I don't see why we shouldn't help" said Jirus who was standing on the table due to the fact he was too short to see what was on it. "They're addition to the Alliance will bolster our forces and add to our suppliers."

"Besides" continued Jirus, now with a look of confidence on his face. "I wouldn't pass up on a chance to cut down some Hordies."

"You and me both Death Knight" replied King Varian, returning Jirus' look of confidence.

"The assignment you're likely asking yourselves about at the moment is this" stated the King, grabbing our attention. "I want you to travel to Gilneas and assist their forces in driving out the Forsaken. We already have Night Elf forces set up in Gilneas, but if Graymane sees that our Adventurers are willing to assist his cause, he'll rejoin the Alliance no problem."

"No problem your Highness!" the three of us said in perfect unison.

Before the three of us could rush of to our flying mounts, King Varian stopped us in our tracks by repeating the assertive throat clearing he had made earlier.

"Priestess Whisperwind also stated in her message that Gilneas currently has...a Worgen problem, in a manner of speaking" said the King

"Worgen you say...?" asked Goilir, as he stroked his beard again, now with a look of curiosity.

Goilir's idea of a 'Holiday Home' was one that could be easily disagreed with. Out of all the places in Azeroth, from the lush shores of Stranglethorn Vale to the beautiful views of the Hinterlands, Goilir's favourite place to be was Duskwood – he always had an interest in that haunted place. In turn, he also had an interest in the Worgen curse, since it was more common around Duskwood than most other places.

"Yes, but she didn't go into much more detail than that" continued King Varian. "But I'm sure it's nothing you can't handle" added the King, smiling at us almost menacingly.

"I guess it'll make things more interesting" I replied confidently. "Where do we meet with Graymane?"

"You'll meet some of Graymane's men at the Graymane Wall, just on the border between Silverpine and Gilneas. They'll take you straight to Graymane for your jobs" explained King Varian, pointing specifically at where we would likely meet our employers.

"We'll head out straight away your Highness" I replied.

"Very well. Be on your way. Glory to the Alliance" said King Varian, giving us a salute of honour.

"Glory to the Alliance!" we said in unison. Then we rushed out to head to the long forgotten kingdom of Gilneas.

The story will be 6 chapters long i reckon, so stay tuned if you want to see the rest of it.