Disclaimer: I have found another way to butcher yet ANOTHER game's good name. "Good" being a relative notation with World of Warcrack...Warcraft... sorry... I don't own anything.
Author's Note: I... ya know what. I'm not even gonna justify this with simplifications. Draw your own conclusions. Shoujo-ai. If you don't like it, leave. Now.
Deception in the Deadmines
"Here, Arowin. You can tell the good captain that this is where the Defias Brotherhood is holed up. Inside this abandoned inn is the entrance to the Deadmines. Fight you way past all the miners and you'll find the leader, Edwin VanCleef. I just hope you survive. If you do, we'll meet again." The Defias Traitor which had shown the three people to the location began walking away, taking as many evasive actions as possible. Arowin, a young Night Elf and the elected leader of the group, looked at her two companions. The first was a Human Paladin by the name of Leroi. The second was a Human Rogue who went by the name Gyle the Great. Both of the men looked to Arowin for leadership.
"So. What's on the agenda, boss?" Gyle muttered, looking at his daggers.
"We go in and find this Edwin VanCleef and bring him to justice. You guys with me?"
"To the end of Azeroth..." Leroi responded, standing. All the heavy armor he wore tired him out often, so he was always sitting down to recover. Arowin stepped in first. She scouted around, making sure nothing was in the way. Seeing nothing or no one, she motioned her companions to enter. They followed quietly behind and kept close. The passage winded for some time before finally coming to the mine proper. The passages were littered with shirtless men picking endlessly at the walls of the cave, hoping to find that little valuable mineral that was there. The group managed to slip past them with relative ease, as continuing their jobs seemed more important then killing three intruders.
"This is too easy..." Leroi spoke as they entered a safe area. Arowin nodded.
"Far too easy..." The girl muttered, looking around. "Why aren't they paying us any attention?" She peeked around the corner. "And more importantly, what are they looking for in here?"
"Who knows. Who cares. Let's just do out job and get back for the reward." Gyle hissed. All he cared about was money and what he could gain.
"Is that all you think about?"
"Nope. I think about so much more." The rounded the corner to a large room with a rounded, fat goon at the far end. "Who's that?"
"The Foreman. Try to avoid the hammer." Leroi answered, drawing his claymore. "Arowin, I'll rush him, and you snare him."
"Right." The Night Elf looked up to see several roots dangling from the ceiling. She focused on the roots and manipulated them to bind the rolly-polly Foreman in place.
"Hey!" He bellowed, struggling to get loose.
"Don't squirm. It'll only hurt more..." Leroi jumped into the air and drove his claymore into the creature's face. The scream echoed dully throughout the cavern. "Okay. It's official. That was too easy..." Arowin continued. Just as she did, the door behind her slipped closed. The tumblers on the huge lock slid closed. "Hey! Gyle, what are you doing? We might need that exit!"
"No, Arowin. We won't. You see, you're quite the little... problem to the Sunhawks. We can't have you meddling in things that don't concern you." Arowin raised an eyebrow.
"'Sunhawks'? What is a Sunhawk?" She asked, staring at Gyle. "And more importantly, what are you getting at?" From his back pocket, Gyle pulled a small orb out and tapped it. Almost like a sheet, his human form disintergrated, showing his true colors. "What are you?!" Arowin continued.
"You call us Blood Elves... a poor misnomer at best. But what we are is of no concern to you. Because this mine... will be your end. Leroi. Let's get this over with. Although... I can't say I'm not happy to destroy such a defensless thing..." The pair of Blood Elves closed in.
-At that time.-
"Why do these locks have to be so difficult to open?" Kyle muttered fuddling with the large padlock.
"Stop your complaining and open it!" The blue skinned girl behind the Night Elf ordered. Rolling his eyes, Kyle continued to play with the lock, before it finally snapped off.
"There it is!" He kissed the lockpick and slipped it away. "After you, Akki." The Night Elf continued. The blue skinned girl had a very stern look about her. Her feet were constructed like a goat, hooves and all. Horns protruded from her head. Her name was Akkiabra, a shortened version of her real name, AkkieiakAbrakrata. She was a Draenai. She entered the mine to find the corpse of the Foreman tangled in roots.
"Well... this is certainly an interesting turn of events..." Akkiabra spoke, addressing the corpse. Her voice was soft, but thick with what sounded very similar to a russian accent. She scanned the room, looking for anything out of place.
"Akki! Over here!" Kyle shouted from a corner. He was moving some debris away from a pile when Akki arrived. Using the butt of her staff, she pried the heavier pieces off the pile.
"Ugh..." A soft female voice groaned.
"Move these rocks faster, Kyle!" Akkiabra commanded. Groaning, Kyle complied, pulling the last of the rocks off. "By the Naaru!" Beneath the rocks was the battered and beaten body of a young Night Elf woman. She was covered head to toe in bad bruises and cuts. "What happened?"
"Su... Sunhawks... Ambush..." She groaned. Akki dropped her backpack from her back and threw it open, pulling out some bandages.
"Hold on. I'll have you patched in no time." Akkiabra began wrapping some of the nastier cuts in the soft wool, trying to stem the bleeding. She patched to smaller ones in rougher linen bandages, which absorbed the blood. She cracked open a flask of water and held it to the Night Elf's lips. "Here. Drink this." The injured woman complied to the best of her abilities, swallowing the liquid rather painfully.
"Akki... I know you mean well... but there's no way in hell we can get her outta here alive. She may not be too heavy to carry, but she'll slow us down." Kyle spoke.
"Don't worry, I have that planned out too." The Shaman's hands began glowing purple. Soon, Akki's body disappeared, a semi-transparent wolf replacing her. "Think you know the way out, Kyle?" She asked.
"Uh... yea, I can find my way out."
"Good. Start when I tell you. First, strap our guest down."
"Where?"
"My back, you idiot!" Akki replied, barking the order. Kyle did as he was told, hoisting the Night Elf onto his shoulders. She grunted against the pain, but held. He set her down on Akki's back. "Ah, shit. Take some of that stuff off of her. She weighs a ton and a half..." Kyle stripped the Night Elf of her boots, gloves, belt, anything unnecessary and weighty, putting it into his own pack to carry. "Ah. Much better. Right. Meet me in Stormwind. You know my room number, right?"
"Yep. Five."
"Good. Go." The Night Elf took off like a bandit, disappearing into the mine. "Hang on, girl. This is gonna be bumpy." Akki continued, rocketing from a standstill, she bolted through the mine, the now-unconcious girl on her back.
-That Night-
The sun sank into the horizen just as Akkiabra was trotting into Stormwind. As she entered the gates, she was stopped by two hostile looking guards, who drew their swords. She dismissed the enchantment, shifting back into her normal form. The guards softened.
"Sorry about that..." She muttered as she walked passed them. The Night Elf was still on her back. She walked back to her hotel room slowly, weary from all the running.
"Akki! You're back! And with her too! I gotta hand it to you. You're good. I would have never thought about the whole Ghost Wolf idea."
"That's because you're not a Shaman, Kyle. Clear the bed." The Night Elf slid bags and odds and ends from the bed, clearing it. Akki dropped the girl on the bed. She was sleeping, the bandages worn. Akki tore the worn bandages from her body and discarded them, applying fresh ones. "Kyle, do me a favor, would you?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"Go to the Chapel Square, and bring a medic of some kind. I'm not sure I know enough to keep her alive..." Akkiabra continued. Kyle saluted and ran out. Meanwhile, the Draenai scanned her guest. Blood was beginning to bleed though her vest. She couldn't get it off like this, not with her sleeping. Akki dug into Kyle's bag, pulling a knife from within. "You'll forgive me for this little intrusion of personal privacy when you come to." Akki spoke to the girl, motioning to begin. She then paused and added. "I hope." And sliced down her thick leather armor, cutting it free from her body. She had several puncture wounds and bruises on her chest and stomach. Akki peeled another few bandages from the roll and wrapped her chest and stomach to staunch the bleeding. She stepped back and sighed. "You better make it. These bandages are not cheap."
"Back!" Kyle announced.
"Cripes, that was fast!"
"Caught her on the way to her house! Here she is!" Kyle showed a human into the room. Her face was that of a seasoned medic. She gave one good look at the bandages before speaking.
"Your handywork, I assume?" She spoke directly to Akki.
"Yes." The medic nodded.
"Very good. Let's see." She looked the Night Elf over. After a while, she smiled. "You did a fantastic job. She'll pull through. Good job on those bandages." The Draenai smiled at the praise. She was glad her new friend would pull through.
"What should we do now, doctor?" Akki proceeded to ask, looking at the sleeping Night Elf. The medic smiled.
"Rest and stillness. Let her sleep, don't move her. That's best. She'll wake up in due time." The physician nodded and left.
-That Night-
As long as the unconscious Night Elf was monopolizing her bed, she thought it best to go out and occupy her time with a little exploration around Stormwind. The city was beautiful, even more so at night. The streetlights did little to mask the bright, shining stars above.
The Trade District was empty. No one, save for city guards were out. Akkiabra sat down on the cobblestone and laid back, staring at the stars above. Draenor... so far away, yet so close. She sighed deeply and closed her eyes.
"Citizen." A male voice droned. Akki's eyes sprung open. "Are you well?"
"Uh, yea." She sprung up and dusted herself off. "Just... stargazing. Sorry, sir." The guard looked the Draenai over and smiled.
"Quite alright. You should be getting home, soon. The streets are not safe at night." Akki saluted and nodded.
"I shall. Thank you." The guard nodded and continued about his route. Akki returned to her hotel room with sleep in her eyes. She entered and promptly sat herself on the floor and fell asleep.
-
"Akki? Waky-waky. You're guest is finally awake." Kyle's voice came into the Draenei's ear. The Shaman cracked an eye open and looked about the room. She was on the bed, fully clothed, with her staff proped up against the nearby wall. Coming slowly to, the Shaman rubbed her eyes and stretched.
"What time is it?" Akki asked, looking out the window.
"About nine-ish." A female voice cooed. Akkiabra looked to the source of the voice, seeing it was none other then the young Night Elf woman who's life she had saved. Akkiabra stood up and smiled, happy her life-saving efforts were not in vein.
"Well. Hello. How are you feeling?" Akki looked over the woman. She didn't look like a Mage... she was dressed in what appeared to be a bath towel and a smaller one wrapped around her hair.
"I hope you didn't mind, but I had a bath."
"No, no. Not at all. I take it you are feeling better?"
"A lot. I need to thank you properly for saving my life... but I'm afraid I have a favor first..."
"Sure. What is it?"
"You look capable enough... the people who did this to me... they're still alive. On the outside, they appear to be a Human Rogue and a Human Paladin, by the names of Gyle the Great and Leroi. Leroi's the Paladin, and Gyle's the Rogue. I want them brought to some form of justice... they hang around the Stormwind Auction House looking for saps to kill. They're 'Sunhawks', whatever they are."
"Blood Elves! In Stormwind?! How...?" Akkiabra blurted out.
"An odd orb which shifted their shapes... The jumped me." The Night Elf groaned drying her hair vigorously.
"I will do anything you ask, if it is your wish." Akki continued.
"I don't want them dead. I want them to suffer. Rot."
"I can do this. I shall return. Kyle, keep our guest company."
"Yea. Alright." Kyle responded as Akki left. Kyle let out a nervous smile as he looked at the other Night Elf.
-Stormwind Auction House-
"Good people of Stormwind!" A man in gold armor shouted. "The city is in peril! Join my friend and I in a quest to rid Westfall and all of Elwynn Forest of the Defias Brotherhood! Together we can do it!" Akkiabra walked up behind them.
"I'll go with you boys. I'm always looking for fun." She wrapped her arms around the men and smiled.
"Ah! A valiant warrior! Please! Join our cause!"
"Oh, just one question. What do these do?" She yanked two orbs out of their back pockets and smashed them on the stone floor. Like a curtain, the men's cloaks vanished, showing their true colors. "Oh, hey. Look at what I have here. Blood Elves! There are Blood Elves in Stormwind!" She called. Three guards advanced on the Blood Elves. Akkiabra smiled.
"How! How did you know?!" They shouted as the guards grabbed them.
"That good-looking Night Elf woman you nearly killed? She happens to be a friend of mine. Oh, and she gives you her love."
"Arowin!? She survived? How?!"
"By luck and a helping hand from me. I hope you rot, Blood Elf scum." The two Blood Elves screamed as the guard drug them away.
"You were supposed to kill her!"
"I thought I did you dolt! You were supposed to make SURE she was dead!"
"I did you dolt! I thought-" The continued to bicker like this until they were out of earshot. Akkiabra smiled.
"Citizen!" A guard asked her. Akki snapped to attention. "I'm pleased you were able to bring the culprits to justice. We've had six reports of murders, and these two have been at some source of all six. There is a reward on their heads, and you brought them in alive. With the blessings of King Adrian Wyrm of Stormwind, I am pleased to award you with a bounty of seventy-five gold piece each for the capture of these two Blood Elves."
"S-Seventy-Five? EACH?!" Akkiabra gasped, taking a step back. The guard smiled behind his plate helmet, and took out a bulging coin purse from his belt and placed it in Akki's hand. She felt very feint. "Wow... this is more gold then I've ever seen... Thank you!" She breathed.
"No, citizen. It is Stormwind and the Alliance that should thank you! Take care, Citizen." He walked back to his patrol. Akki rushed back to her hotel room, feeling very unsafe at the moment with all the money.
She came to her hotel room with a very pained looking Kyle holding a bag of ice to his cheek.
"What happened to you?" She asked. Kyle smiled with difficulty.
"I tried to move in a little too fast, and she smacked me. Pretty. Damn. Hard." Akki just motioned him back in.
"Arowin?" She asked as she entered.
"Hum?" The Night Elf woman answered, walking in, still dressed in the towel.
"Catch!" Akki lobed the coin purse at Arowin, who caught it.
"What's-" She began, opening it. "Oh my-" She gasped. "Oh, no, I can't take this. It's yours."
"Half of it is mine. The other is yours. You helped capture the Blood Elves, so you deserve half the reward money. Seventy Five gold." Kyle's ears piqued. He leaned up and whispered into Akki's ear.
"If she refuses, can I have it?"
"No!" Akki replied. "Well... maybe some."
"I don't know how to thank you... you saved me twice, and I don't even know your name."
"My name is Akkiabra. I am a Shaman who hails from the planet Dreanor. Our ship crashed just south of Teldrassil. Which is precisely where I met Kyle." Kyle just waved. "Speaking of which, here." She dropped six gold into Kyle's hand. "Go hit the Auction House or something."
"Awesome! You're awesome, Akki! Awesome! Did I say you're cool? And Awesome?!"
"Yes. You did. Stop kissing ass and go."
"Yes!" He darted out, stumbling on his feet on the way out. Arowin sat on the bed and closed her legs. Akki sat in the chair adjacent to her.
"So. What do you plan on doing now? I don't think Kyle would mind going back to Darnassus, if that's where you want to go. Ironforge, you know, even back to the Exo-"
"I can't go back to Darnassus..." Arowin answered, her head hung in what appeared to be disgrace.
"Why not? Forgot the way? I can show you that!" Akki smiled. The frown on Arowin's face only deepened.
"I've been banished from Darnassus... and the Cenarion Enclave..." She muttered, her eyes facing off down left.
"What for?"
"I'm a Druid. An element of nature's fury. I was bound at birth to uphold the way of nature... and I failed..."
"How so?" Akki continued. A slight tear rolled down her face. Arowin looked up and stated very firmly:
"I don't swing the normal way."
"I'm sorry?"
"I score a double-zero on my attraction test."
"You're not making any sense..."
"I sweep the carpet with my tongue."
"Horribly lost here." Arowin was getting very distressed.
"Sorry boys! No snakes on this Druid! Cats only? Getting it?"
"Nope. You're shooting the Twisting Nether here." Tears were now drowning her emerald glowing eyes.
"I'm a lesbian! God, do I have to draw you a map!?"
"OH! Now, why didn't you just say that?" Akkiabra realized what she meant finally.
"Arch-Druid Staghelm caught me with my... friend. He said it was an affront to nature's way, and said I was no longer welcome in Darnassus, or Moonglade." She sniffed heavily. "And to rub salt in the wound, he had my friend executed... Publicly."
"Oh my... I'm so sorry..." Akki put a hand on Arowin's shoulder.
"It's all in the past."
"I know how you feel. Do you... believe in luck? That most things are the roll of a dice?" Arowin nodded a little. "Well... I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for my very close friend and..." Akki herself tried to hold back a tear. "And my lover... She saved my life..." Arowin leaned in to listen. "Bah, but you don't want to hear about the past! Let's not dwell in the shadows." Akki tried to smile, but tears still rolled from her eyes. Arowin, being the good friend she was trying to be, put her hands caringly on Akkiabra's shoulders.
"You'll feel better if you get if off your chest." Akki inhaled.
"You're right. We were together when the Exodar crashed... The pilot told us that we had to get to the Cryo-Core for Crash Positions... we made it.. but there was only one pod left. I told her there was enough room for both of us, and that we could make do. She told me no... Only one of us would survive anyways... She was always so grim. I told her... you go. You have to live..." She sighed. "I suppose, thinking back now, I was right. She agreed, and I opened the door for her, but... she pushed me in and closed it. I have two images burned forever into my mind, Arowin. The first is the sight of her tear-filled eyes as she turned the pod on. I can't say what happened after that... I awoke a month later after the crash... and I went to search for her."
"Did you find her?"
"I did... Several days after that, I was looking into a Blood Elf camp in the island we landed on... They had her caged like an animal. She looked so sad, so distraught, so drained. She saw me and her eyes lit up for a second. She called out... and in those few seconds for her to say "Akki my love!" She was... struck down without hesitation. I don't remember much about that night, but I do remember being... thrown into a blood rage, slaughtering countless of them for hours... Men... Women... Children... the injured... the sleeping... Civilians, soldiers... I finally calmed myself at the sound of her voice. She was alive... but just... I ran to her side after pulling my teeth from the neck of a long-dead female. She was hanging on just to talk to me one last time... The second image I have burned in my mind is her tear-filled eyes as she slipped away from me. I... I..." Akki had been loosing her composure for several minutes now as she told this story, but as she drew to a conclusion, she lost whatever composure was left, dug her face into her hands and began crying. Instinctively, Arowin pulled the broken Draenei towards her, holding the back of her head and shhing her tears. The distraught Akki wrapped her arms around Arowin's waist, crying. After a few moments, Akkiabra recovered.
"Oh, I look like such a child doing this..."
"No, no... it's okay..." Arowin ran her hand down one of her horns, feeling the cool bone. Eventually, Akki pulled away and sat on the bed, her back turned to Arowin.
"Come to think of it, I haven't tought about Kyra in weeks... ever since I left Azuremyst Isle..." Akki thought to herself.
"I haven't thought about Paine in months... She made me feel so alive..." Were the thought buzzing around Arowin's head.
"Now that I really look at her..." Akki thought to herself again.
"Now that I see her for what she is..." Arowin's thought were along Akki's.
"Damn..."
"She reminds me so much of Paine..."
"She reminds me so much of Kyra..."
"Maybe this is Elune's way of showing me her love..."
"Maybe the N'aaru do smile on the unfortunate... maybe they do get..."
"Maybe I can have a..."
"Second chance..." The pair came to the same conclusions in their minds.
"Arowin...?" Akki began slowly.
"Hum?"
"Do you believe in... Destiny? Do you believe that... even if things do happen by chance... they all lead to one outcome? One happy ending?"
"That depends. Elune lights all of our paths... but for some... some find happiness only after trudging through some dark swamps..."
"Some unhappy times..."
"Shadows..." Arowin finished. "But yes... I believe Elune may have brought me to this end... what happens next... what happens next is..."
"For us to decide." Neither of the two looked at one another. Arowin had her hands folded on her lap, and Akki tugged nervously at her vest, thinking. The air was thick with tension, and both racked their brains to find a way to break it. "Look at the bright side." Akki spoke.
"Hum?"
"Having a Draenei girlfriend... you can say we're always horny." She muttered nonchalantly. Arowin chuckled nervously at the well-placed joke. "Arowin, I'm going to come out and say it."
"I have something to come out and say, too... but you first."
"Arowin... I think this is both of our chances to start our lives over... I think that... together... we can make something from this shattered world..." Akkiabra heard no verbal response. The bed raised slightly as Arowin stood and went to the window. Stormwind was such a beautiful city, filled with possibilities, opportunities, and naïve people just waiting for something or someone to save them.
"I don't know... what would everyone think?"
"Bull to what they think! I don't judge other girls just because they fit into the normal constraint of normal! I don't judge anyone, so why should others judge me! If I had my way, no one would care who you loved... They'd just care that you're in love." Falling back onto the bed, the Draenei sighed heavily. "Who the hell am I kidding. There's not a chance for us to work out. You'll only end up like Kyra."
"E anar ano." Arowin spoke in her native tongue.
"I'm sorry?" The Draenei asked, not even sitting up. From the end of the bed, Akki watched Arowin crawl on her hands and knees on top of her, the towel mysteriously missing from her body.
"E. Anar. Ano!" Arowin said again.
"I'm sorry, I don't speak Darnassian." Arowin laughed at the language barrier.
"I said 'I love you'." Even though these words were hurtful in some way to Akki, she smiled anyways.
"X amir ruk, tor." The Shaman responded.
"I have no idea what you just said, but it sounded hot..." Arowin laughed and pressed herself to the Shaman. For the first time in what felt like decades, the two star-crossed individuals, whom had suffered so much pain and agony in their past, had found a way to make the best of their present, overcoming the painful shadow of the past. As the two kissed one another, they felt that, although they were alien to one another in sight, in heart, they were just alike.