Hi there! How have you been?

Well, here's the second chapter of this fic. Hope you'll all enjoy it and don't forget to read the warnings and the notes at the end!

Chapter's Warnings: Genderswap (obviously), Silliness, Dragons are like cats (I'm not the only one who thinks that, right?), Chairs are unsafe, Desko's never there so this things can happen, blame the boredom!, Anduin is not amused and Wrathion just wants a friend to play chest with.

Disclaimer: Warcraft and all its universe belongs to Blizzard Entertainments, and trust me, is better that way...for the most part, at least.


Chapter II: Forfeit is a fancy word for loosing.

He was bored out of his mind! There was literally nothing to do. Nothing!

No secrets to be discovered, no adventurers to send on a quest, no plots to be made, nothing! Today was full of nothing. He would have liked to go take a nap under the sun, but no, not even that he could do, thanks to the heavy rain still falling outside.

The Black Prince huffed in boredom, balancing on the back legs of his chair, arms hanging limply by his sides. He still has that set of Xuen-Ji, a pandaren boardgame, that he haven't use in a while, yet there was no one he could play with.

He supposes he could ask one of his Black Talons to play with him, but the ones that may agree to do so, were mediocre opponents at best and really didn't enjoy loosing. Everyone could still remember what had happened during the 'friendly' chest tournament they had last summer, and no one wanted a repetition.

What made this day worse, which is amazing considering how awful it was already, was the knowledge that the only thing that could bring him out of this horrendous monotony, meaning a certain human princess sleeping upstairs, was being kept away from him.

Yes, he admits that his first meeting with Anduin Wrynn hadn't gone down that well, but Sunwalker Desko was clearly over exaggerating with his restrictions.

He wasn't allowed inside the girl's room, whether Desko was there or not. And if the tauren was gone, the doors and windows of said room were to be closed and locked, with the curtains shut.

The dragon wasn't allowed to see the princess, he wasn't allowed to talk to her, he wasn't allowed to be near her, and if it were remotely possible, he was sure that Desko wouldn't let him even breath the same air as she.

Wrathion was confident that, given time, Desko will get over his animosity towards him and trust him more around Anduin Wrynn; but that day has yet to come, so he was seeing none of her.

And, back to what was important, he was so bored that he had started to count every notch and crak in the wooden panels that formed the tavern's roof -174, by the way-. He could read something, but given that he had already read all the books at his disposal, and unless some adventurer had left behind one -which was highly unlikely, as most adventurers weren't keen to literature-, he was too lazy to even bother to get one.

So time went on in a tortuous, insufferable slow pace, and the Black Prince dozed off on his chair, still balancing on its back legs. So you can imagine how startled he was when a ruckus coming from upstairs abruptly woke him up from his light sleep -and he may have fallen backwards on his chair, but...nobody needs to know that.

His gaze immediately focused on the place where all of the noise was coming from, and not able to hold his curiosity, he headed towards the room where none other than Stormwind's Princess was resting -his Black Talons faithfully besides him, just in case.

He hesitated a little at the door, he was, in all sence, forbidden to be here. And although Wrathion was not afraid of Sunwalker Desko's retribution if he were to break his rules -he wasn't!-, it would be harmful for his plans to get on the bad side of the leader of a whole faction of tauren.

But then again Desko wasn't here, gone to gather some herb or another that would help in the princess's recovery, and the still falling rain was sure to keep him away from quite some time. And so, with no more doubts, he knocked on the door.

"Your majesty, is everything alright?" he asked and knocked again when no answer came from the other side, trying to sound concerned and not just plain curious.

"Ye-yes! Everything's fine!" was Anduin Wrynn's response, and not a very honest one at that.

The girl was breathless and in obvious pain, the still going noises made it clear that something was going on in her room, and the voice in which she answered had been rushed and panicked, like someone who has been caught up doing something wrong or embarrassing.

He was about to ask again, when the harsh sound of something falling to the floor and a muffled, pained groan left him with no choice but to barge into the room -and of course he has the keys to every room in the tavern! He just 'forgot' to tell Desko about it.

The image he came face to face with was...unexpected, to say the least.

"Light, hasn't anybody taught you any manners?" came the angry voice of one Anduin Wrynn, but it was obvious that she was just trying to cover up her embarrassment, the light-pink tone across her cheeks was a clear give away "You can't just barge into a lady's room uninvited"

One of Wrathion's eyebrows rose in confusion, while he started down at the blonde girl wondering just what the hell has happened.

The bedside table has been knocked over, the water that had previously been in a pitch above it now soaking the carpet. Pillows and empty containers were scattered every which way, a chair having hit against the fragile shelf where they had resided, thus throwing everything to the floor. And in the middle of it all was the bed, where Anduin Wrynn has her encasted legs so tangled up in the sheets, one could just wonder how she had managed to do that.

The lower part of her body was still over the bed, it's movements even further restricted by the tangled sheets, while her upper body was hanging off of it, her head and shoulders touching the floor, in what was possible the most uncomfortable way to sleep there was. Yes, it was entirely possible that the girl had fallen off of the bed, but that explained like...10% of the whole picture, at best.

And of course, how to forget the utter disarray in which her garments are?

Her shirt had rolled all the way up to her armpits, leaving only light linen bandages to cover up her dignity, and her trousers had fallen down - or up, depending of how you look at it- her hips, exposing her navel and royal blue undergarments.

"My apologies" the Black Prince said after a while, in which the princess only glared at him in an embarrassed-but-pretending-to-be-angry way "But may I ask what were you doing?"

"I was..." Anduin bit her lower lip before she could answer, and the light-pink that had decorated her cheeks became a furious red; she was obviously embarrassed about the whole thing and at the end she just said "...bored".

At those words a smile found its way to the dragon's lips, and his scorching-red eyes shined with excitement. This. This is what he has been waiting for all day.

"Well, why didn't you say so?" he crossed his arms over his chest, his smile getting bigger and bigger, though he tried to keep it in check, as some mortals had commented on how his smile tended to look...malicious in a way.

"I have just the game that would helps us both pass the time more pleasantly" Anduin looked at Wrathion in confusion, his sudden change of topic having thrown her completely out of charts; she was sure he would have asked for a more detailed explanation of her current situation "Would you like to partake in it?"

She blinked a few times, maybe those potions were still on her sistem and her eyes were deceiving her? But after some seconds in which nothing changed, she came to the conclusion that yes, there was indeed a black dragon standing at her doorstep, smiling in an utterly creepy way and asking her to...play with him?

She made a mental note to ask Desko just what the hell he puts in those potions.

"Um...sure" she hesitated a little, mumbling her words and shrugging her shoulders as best she could in her position. It's not like she has anything better to do.

"Terrific! I shall prepare everything!" Wrathion clasped his hands together, his face lighting up in what honestly looked like childish excitement, and turned around to set everything up when the slightly embarrassed voice of the princess stopped him.

"Wait!" he turned back around at her call, noticing with amusement that she had extended one arm to reach him, which was now resting on the floor besides her head "Could you help me get up, please?"

Anduin made a futile attempt to get up, providing that she was, in all the extent of the word, stuck. And although she wasn't all that comfortable with asking a black dragon she didn't really know for help, she didn't have much of a choice.

Oh, what would her mother said if she saw her right now?...Yeah, Varian wouldn't have left her side for even just a second, so this wouldn't have happened in the first place, so...

"Why, of course!" Wrathion said smirking in amusement at the disgruntled expression the girl had on. Whatever made her think that he wouldn't help a damsel when she was in distress?

"Left, help her majesty up, would you?"

/-/-/-/-/-/

The game board was beautiful, pristine white and red colors with intricate golden patterns carved at the edges. All the game's pieces were equally as masterfully made. Wrathion had loved it since he first lay eyes on the set, and he knew he must have it, as there may come a day when he finds someone worthy to play with.

And today may be that day. And as Left helped Anduin Wrynn into a chair, mindful of her injuries, he carefully laid out the game on the table. Red pieces facing him, white pieces facing her.

"What's this?" and that question had potentially killed all the expectations he was building up in his mind.

"What's this?" he repeated the question to the curious, yet not impressed human in front of him "You don't know what Xuen-Ji is?"

"Not really" Anduin answered simply, looking a little bored and just a bit curious as to why the dragon sounded so offended by her question. That looked similar to a chest board to her, was she supposed to know what it was?

"You don't know what Xuen-Ji is. The most popular game in all of Pandaria" she has to be joking, how come she doesn't know what Xuen-Ji is?

They've both been in Pandaria for about the same time! She has to know about Pandaren's most favorite pastime, that doesn't include drinking -usually-. So far, everyone had lead him to believe that Anduin Wrynn cared about Pandaren culture, so she must know.

"What have you been doing all this time?" he asked, indignant when the girl's response was to shrugged her shoulders in ignorance.

"Seems all I've done lately is getting crushed by ancient artifacts" Anduin's tone had been soft, as if trying to make light of her situation, yet she sounded bitter, as if she wasn't quite ready to laugh at what had happened to her just yet, but trying to.

And it made the atmosphere tense between them, as Wrathion didn't know whether to follow along with her attempt at humor or just express his condolences.

Maybe stay quite, or better yet, change the subject. It's definitely not the right time to talk about certain things.

"So anyway..." he cleared his throat, hoping that would end the awkwardness in the room. He got Anduin's attention at least, and the bitterness in her eyes was mostly gone now "It's really easy to play..."

And so he went on to explain each and every single rule of Xuen-Ji.

/-/-/-/-/-/

To say that Anduin Wrynn was the opponent Wrathion was hoping for was to be lying.

She wasn't. She was bad. And although somethings could be attributed to the fact that she had only known this game for as long as they've been playing, the constant questions of 'Wait, what did this do again?' or 'How was this piece called?' made it clear just how bad she was at it.

And although the Black Prince would have been bored with such an opponent for a long time now, there was just something about watching the princess struggle to play that was...fun.

Yes, that was the word. It was fun to see her loose and get frustrated, yet keep trying and keep loosing and getting even more frustrated.

What? It was amusing! He's just being honest.

"I must say..." he must have a huge grin on his face right now, he hasn't have this much fun in a long time "I do admire your tenacity, Anduin Wrynn"

He didn't even have to look at the board to know that the other couldn't counter his moves! It was so enjoyable to see the adorable way she'll bite her lower lip while trying to come up with a way to defeat him.

"Most people would have given up by now, but not you" they've been at this for...almost two hours now? Time does fly when you're having fun! "It's remarkable how you can keep trying, even though the chances for you to succeed are..."

"Checkmate"...

Wait, what?

Wrathion's gaze immediately fell to the game board, noticing that, indeed, his Red Chi-Ji piece was surrounded while Anduin Wrynn's White Xuen was safe and sound.

"What...? How...?" he couldn't look away from the game set, trying to recreate in his mind the moves that must had been made to reach this situation, and how come he hadn't seen it before!

"Well, you have been using the same moves for the last...half an hour or so" has he, really? Honestly, he hasn't been paying that much attention, so...oh...Oh...

"It didn't took me that long to figure out the pattern and come up with a counter play"

The Black Prince was speechless, utterly speechless. Has Anduin Wrynn been playing him all along?

The frustration from before was completely gone, and she didn't look as joyful as he had imagined she would were she to finally beat him. Has she been faking it? Had that been all an act, so he'll let his guard down and she'll be able to decipher his tactics? Was she capable of such a thing?

The smug smirk decorating her lips right now lead him to believe that she was indeed so.

"You should really stop being so cocky"

To be continued...


So...how was it? Bit short? Well, maybe, I don't know...

Xuen-Ji is, indeed, the combination of the names Xuen and Chi-Ji (and yes, that's not original, but what'd you want from me?), two of the august celestial. I decided to give it that name, because I don't know if that board game they play all over Pandaria has a name (does it? If it does, tell me and I'll correct it), and I bases the game on Xiangqi, a Chinese strategy board game (racist? Uh...maybe? but Blizzard started it, so...), so you can google it if you wanna know more.

I want to thank all the people who favorite, followed and read this fic! I'm so happy you liked it!

Special note to my anonymous reviewer: (but other people can read it too, has some info that you may be interested in)

First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to review! I'm glad to hear you like my sorry excuse for a story!

I would have liked to writhe to you privately, but you didn't signed in, so I decided to update instead (and please don't take that as an excuse to leave unsigned reviews so I'll update faster, I just did it this time 'cuz I have this chap. almost done).

To answer your questions. This fic will have around ten chapters (first two included), then one bridge chapter, and then another three or four chapter and maybe an epilogue. I have ideas for about that amount of chapters, if I can think of more I'll add them or maybe I'll fuse two ideas together, idk. The length of each chapter will be more or less the same as the first two, some may be longer, some may be shorter, can't know for sure till I actually writhe them.

The chapters before the bridge will be all focused in the MoP timeline, and the others will be based some years into the future. About WoD...well, I don't like WoD. I didn't liked it since I found out they killed off AU!Velen (during the beta), liked less when they killed off Maraad and liked it even less when I found that Thrall stole your Garrosh kill, by cheating! (God, I hate Thrall). And that's just the first patch, I don't even know what happened afterwards, I stopped caring. So, no, unless I get a really good idea, I won't be touching the WoD timeline.

And about changes...Ahh...I don't think I made any mayor change so far...nothing besides the genderswap...or what do you mean with that? If I do change something, I generally say so in the notes of the chapter where said change happened, anyway.

Updates!...yeah, no, I don't have an schedule for that. I did the 'update once a week' thing with another fic, and actually kept to it, but that was two years ago and things have changed, I no longer have the time. I try to update as fast as I can, but sometimes writer's block or just life happens and I can't, so...sorry about that.

Well, I hope you have all enjoyed this chap! Bit silly and pointless, I know, but fun!...right?

Why don't you tell me so in a review? Send me your questions, doubts and advises! If you feel like correcting something (writhing skills, lore-friendliness, correct use of the English language, life choices...), be constructive about it and I'll look into it!

Thank you all again, have a great day and take care!

C'ya next time!