"Heroes rise and fall, in Azeroth." My father used to say, us sitting, surrounding him listening intently. "Despite this, evil will always root its ugly head and stay constant."
My mother would smile and my sisters and I would glow with daydreams of being in glorious battles, fighting giants, and ogres and evil creatures of the like, The Legion and rescuing villages and cities from certain doom. All the glory, all the fame. As Goblins, we really couldn't help ourselves.
My youngest sister, Azerieh, took our father's stories and proverbs to heart, listening so intently that she would fall off of her seat in anticipation. She was so excited when he'd tell stories of the heroes he'd watched save entire villages, crush enemies scarier than a Dragon, and yet still be as kind as a Tauren Priestess. She was the most boyish of us all, wrestling with the Everlook boys, brawling and never worrying about getting dirty. A warrior from the forward command in Orgrimmar, despite Goblin's naturally neutral standing, recommended her for the academy, and she jumped at the chance.
Azerieh and I never got along well. She, despite being the youngest, always teased me for being less willing to get my hands dirty. I was the smallest of the four of us, and very sickly as a young kid. But, my older sisters, Crysanthemum and Xaedrienne, would always scold Azerieh and remind her that not everyone was interested in playing in the mud.
Xaedrienne, despite having a gentle nature, took the path of a marksman, a hunter. Almost a spitting image of my father, with emerald green eyes and hair to match, strong cheekbones and a cheeky smile, she, along with Crysanthemum, was considered to be one of the more attractive Goblins that existed in Everlook. Despite this, her hunting skills went unmatched by anyone in the community. She was able to track most animals easily, and she almost never missed.
She was also the most child-like of the four of us, and clung to our mother from a very young age. Our mother tried her best to teach us all about how to survive in a frugal world, how to barter and trade, and to never take a bad deal, no matter how stiff the merchant. She would always emphasize that a good deal would mean the difference between living comfortably and barely getting by. Xaedrienne was very good with money, and our mother was very proud of her. She often passed down those teachings to Azerieh and I when she fully understood, and could explain it all.
Crysanthemum, Xaedrienne's twin, was most likely the strangest of us all. She was quiet, reserved, and caring. Not at all bossy, or nosy, or any of the "Deal-Breaker, Money-Maker" qualities that most goblins were well known for. In fact, Crysanthemum rarely even cared about anything involving money. She never felt the need to gain a profit from anything, all she wanted to do, was give. A strange quality for our race, and it worried our mother very much. You could practically see her biting her nails when Crysanthemum went to purchase food.
Crysanthemum was also odd in looks. Identical to Xaedrienne as far as face, her hair was naturally, a bright lavender hue, that was extremely rare amongst our kind. Many goblins accused her of using magic to seem "prettier" but Crysanthemum could care less about her looks. Despite this, many males courted her, seemingly entranced by her.
Xaedrienne and Crysanthemum took after our father in looks, but had our mother's cunning and charm. It was amazing to watch the two converse with others, they always seemed to speak so seamlessly between one another, oftentimes finishing the other's thought and defending against frugal merchants that would otherwise take advantage of Crysanthemum's lack of financial prowess.
Crysanthemum, Crys, as a lot of us called her, left home on a journey of self-discovery when she was 16. Unlike Xaedrienne and Azerieh, she had not found her professional calling at a young age, as they had. Rather, she felt her calling was outside the goblin community, something unheard of and widely abhorred within Everlook, where one was expected to follow the norm of day in and day out. So naturally, at first this scared our parents.
They had felt that Crysanthemum was… different, even from birth. Her hair wasn't the only indicator of this. Her childlike behaviors, her speech, even the way she walked, from a young age concerned our kin that she would not be right in the head. However, as she aged, Crysanthemum proved several times that she was just as intelligent, if not more so, than many of the goblins in her age group.
At first, mother had suggested that perhaps Crys was meant to take on a normal job, mining, engineering, something easy that would keep her at home and working, contributing to the goblin ecosystem. She used to suggest that perhaps Crys would do menial work such as this until she was ready to settle down and have a family, as she had. Father would gruff from his chair, sniffing at whatever contraption he was tinkering with, and mutter beneath his breath that no goblin was good enough for his precious daughters.
However, Crysanthemum surprised them both by describing her insatiable urge to pursue the Light. Now, no one in Everlook was a complete stranger to the followers of the light. As a trading post, many different kinds of people traveled in and out of Everlook, day in and day out, everything from traders to Heroic travelers, Priests, Warlocks and Warriors alike, all visiting in passing for shelter or trade before making their way onward back to wherever their original destination was. Thus, it was impossible not to know of at the very least, the fabled "Light" and its cult like following.
My parents did what they thought was best, and immediately sought out a priest trainer in Everlook, an older goblin named Corren, and described their daughter's "ailment". The old man begrudgingly agreed to take her in as his apprentice, and at first, Crys seemed satisfied, and elated at the prospect of finally understanding the urges she'd been experiencing, perceivably her whole life.
It became almost immediately apparent that priesthood was not quite what Crysanthemum had been looking to do. Despite having a better understanding of what the Light was and why it was calling to her, Crysanthemum did not explicitly want to heal, and shadow priest was not anywhere near what she seemed to be called to do. In the evenings, Crys would come home, tired and disappointed by her training, and would tell me stories of great warriors that sought the light and wielded it like a shield, or, using a shield, used it to protect others, healing and fighting for justice. The perfect protagonist for the perfect story book. I could see the excitement in her eyes and the spark of joy run through her, only to watch as it extinguished slowly when she realized no one in Everlook had a solution to her problem.
When I was 11 years old, a bath of Horde ambassadors made their way through the snowy plains outside Everlook to make headway into our humble trading post. There were whispers everywhere, and some of the shadier customers had long since disappeared to avoid drawing attention to themselves, and our kinder guests began clearing out their rooms for the esteemed guests. However there were only four Ambassadors that stepped foot into Everlook, and none of them were there for negotiations or barter.
Instead, the four, an Orc Warrior, Tauren Shaman, Troll Rogue, and a Blood Elf Paladin, had come to Everlook to offer training, and passage to Orgrimmar for jobs and missions. They offered their services for only a short time, as they had other areas they had to travel to, but they emphasized that they would do their best to offer quality training above quantity. At first, many of our number seemed to flock to them, asking questions and getting information. But after the first few days, only a few seemed to actually be interesting in studying under any of their tutelage. One of these was my sister Crysanthemum.
Crys was the only one to consistently consort with the Blood Elf Paladin male. During the duration of his stay, she would come home late into the evening, a fire in her eyes that I had never seen before, and a skip in her step that gave her away. She was now, more than ever, truly happy. I myself had been training as a warlock for a little over a year, and I couldn't quite see her seemingly "obsessive" search for the Light, but nevertheless, I was happy for her, and glad that she'd seemingly finally found her calling.
Once the ambassadors took their leave, a noticeable change occurred in Crys. She would spend her nights pouring over tablets and scrolls, learning them as if she was running out of time to memorize their texts. Her days were spent honing her aura, tinkering with metal to create strong shields, and forging swords, swinging them with great ease into training dummies outside the walls. Occasionally I'd stand at a window and watch her, and see a shining aura like a headlamp covering her sword or shield, as if it were embracing her weapons. I was awed by her control, despite having such a short time to work on her skillset.
Goblin teen years were usually fraught with puberty, dating, and job security, namely ensuring continuous training in your field, lest you be cast aside to take side jobs like mining and engineering as your permanent jobs. Then again, someone had to do it, so all in all, it wasn't too bad a gig. I spend my 13th year beginning to learn advanced dark magic, and of course, chasing boys, namely one Lypson Fritzbang, who as a child, had made great fun of my fair hair and amethyst eyes.
Unbeknownst to as all, my sister Crys had begun to pack her bags, and was preparing to rocket to Orgrimmar to further her training. It was done so quietly that I was blindsided when I caught her, bags and weapons in hand, headed to the exit of Everlook, to where a rocked, steamed up and fuming, was parked outside the entrance.
"Crys…" I asked, my heart sinking slowly. "Where are you going?"
My sister turned to look at me, and looked past me, and I realized I wasn't alone. I turned, seeing Azerieh behind me, staring wide-eyed at her sister as she watched me ask our eldest sister the question. I looked back at Crys and suddenly it occurred to me how much older she seemed.
"I have a rocket to catch." She said, gesturing towards the puttering machine. She smiled wistfully, and embraced the two of us together, hugging us tight. "But once my training is complete, I will come back here. Someday." She glanced around the frozen wastes and I felt in my gut that that was as far from the truth as it could get. No one who adventured on Azeroth would want to return to Everlook for any amount of time. Not with luscious jungles, sloping plains and tall mountains and trees to see and explore. Within a moment, she turned away from us, and was gone, her rocket fading into the distance.
Well everyone, its been a very long time since I have written anything. I have been writing this story on paper for a while, and I am just now getting it onto the computer. Hopefully you all will enjoy it as much as I have, and there will be more to come soon!
~Suzuka