Hi, here's chapter two of the story Bittersweet Blues. I'm calling it this because one of the characters is bitter and the other is sweet I guess, and also because I couldn't think of any better titles- yes, I'm stupid. Anyway, disclaimer: I don't own World of Warcraft, nor did I make it. I have made chapter two fairly fast, because like most fanfic writers I get really into my stories at the very beginning and like writing it a lot more. By the way, any ideas, comments or criticism will be much appreciated. Enjoy chapter two.

Chapter 2: The Veinhaart Eight

Sharrania took a seat in the Gadgetzan inn and let out a long breath. The massive journey from Thunderbluff to there was long and arduous but she had finally made it. Despite the fact it was early morning she was in dire need of a rest.

She peered into the glass of ale she had on the table in front of her, resting her head in one hand. She thought for a while about the tiring journey she had embarked on, but mostly about that human warrior, Tray, she had met. A slight smile came to her face as she reflected, but drew herself away from thinking about him too much, 'I'll probably never see him again anyway.'

A figure in regular goblin attire sat down on the bench next to her. His head and his gaze were kept straight in front of him, not bothering to look at her. She raised an eyebrow in question.

"You the innkeeper?" he asked to another goblin, who replied to him with a nod of the head. "That's good; I'll have one of your Tanarian breakfasts."

"Alright" replied the innkeeper, coughing before continuing. "I'll call you when it's ready."

"May I ask how it will be signalled?" asked the goblin, sitting near Sharrania. This question confused the innkeeper, but Sharrania just smirked. It was just as she thought; he was the intelligence agent she was looking for and the last line of the note that was given her now made sense. She turned to face him.

"I believe it is signalled with a silver spoon." The goblin glanced at her and nodded his head, beckoning her to follow him as he left the table and moved to a quieter part of the inn. They both peered about themselves, ensuring nobody else was listening in on them.

"I'm glad you got here ok agent Sharrania. I'm going to keep this short." He said this in a near whisper, but Sharrania's ears were not only large, but exceptionally good at hearing. "unfortunately we are still not completely sure of this 'stones' location, but tomorrow one of my boys should be back with more information. You must be tired, go get some rest ok, and be here the same time next morning. If any news comes before then I'll find you." Despite his height Sharrania could tell just by the tone in the goblin's voice that he was a confident guy, and no stranger to danger. Without awaiting reply or saying anything more the goblin slipped back into the slightly more crowded area of the inn. Sharrania shrugged, she wasn't going to say no to a break, but even though she was tired she didn't want to sleep either. She didn't like sleeping in places she wasn't used too, since she was wary of those around her, worrying that someone might come in a murder her in her sleep…or worse. She was after all a Horde agent, and if word got out then she would fast become a target for the Alliance. There were always large bounties on opposing faction's agents, so there were always plenty of people up for risking life and limb trying to kill them. Always cautious of this she never trusted anyone other then her family.

"I was hoping I wouldn't have to summon you all for this purpose, but it is necessary for this assignment to be a success." A broad, dark green orc stood looking out of one of the windows in the melancholy grey room. It was the only real source of light that flowed into the dull area. His angered expression was emphasised as he brandished his sharp yellow teeth and lowered his large brow, slightly squinting his dark red eyes. He was completely aware of the other figures that were behind him, standing or sitting in various poses and stances, but continued to talk with his back to them, showing them only the black, greasy hair that came down just bellow his shoulder blades. He let out a sigh before turning to face them, showing the two thin braided strands of hair that ran from either side of his head down his chest. His face had no beard, but instead prominent stubble.

"Word has reached me that one of my assassins has been killed whilst trying to complete his mission… this… displeases me." The other members in the room shuddered slightly. They knew how he was prone to angry outbursts of violence, and were even more aware that when these happened someone was about to meet an unfortunately painful end. The orc composed himself. "I have decided not to take any risks, and that is why I have called for this meeting. You are my elite. The Veinhaart eight.

To any who had not seen these eight people before they would consider them to be misfits and freaks judging from their appearances and costumes, but any who had said that openly hadn't had time to say much more about them before being silenced for eternity. The first of them to speak was a vicious looking troll.

"Masta' Veinhaart sir, Don' you worry a ting mon… you can be countin' on me." The troll's voice seemed to echo throughout the room in a low, thunderous tone. Previously sitting, he now got to his feet. He was massively tall, even for a troll and his high, dark purple mohawk only added to his overshadowing appearance. He was wearing platinum plate armour which contrasted with his blue skin. "Dey is no match for any o' da Veinhaart eight, hell, I bet even Kraken cud' finish of deez lightweights!" he chuckled to himself lightly, and in reply to this a short, undefined forsaken grunted.

"Watch what you say Roo, you may be big but it's not the size of the dog in the fight that matters, but the size of the fight in the dog… and I certainly have a lot fight in me." If looks could kill then the undead wouldn't have stood a chance against the gaze of Roo the troll, his pale eyes fixated on the bald headed undead. Not fearing Roo the undead would have met his stare with his own, but his eyes were covered by a pair of yellow tinted goggles. He knew that no matter how much they hated each other that the troll couldn't touch him, since he was Veinhaart's chief scientist and engineer.

"Roo, professor, enough!" bellowed Veinhaart, his command hastily fulfilled. The two sat back down, disgruntled looks on their faces. "These agents after the fabled artefact do not understand its power. They have no idea who they are dealing with. They will be stopped. They will be eliminated. They will not interfere with my destiny!" The sinister way he spoke would have chilled the heart of even the most courageous adventurer. His threw a pile of papers towards the eight. They had on them the names and faces of the agents who were after the stone. "Take one of these… find the one you have and kill them." The undead, Kraken, reached to take one. "Not you professor… you are to continue researching the whereabouts of the stone itself. The rest of you get going. Do not fail me."

The seven who had a note in their hand examined it, and exited the room, preparing to embark on their assassination.

"Professor Von Kraken, return to your libratory and examine your research. Remember what happened last time you failed me? Don't make me bring out the Battlehoof."

"Yes master, of course master, your will be done master." He walked out of the room backwards, bowing as he backed out as a sign of respect for his master. Kraken didn't really respect Veinhaart, it was more like fear. Upon leaving the room his face came over with a frown. 'One day it will be I who brings the Battlehoof to you, you ugly green bastard…'

The other seven reunited outside kitted out in their armour, trinkets and weapons.

"Just got a message from one of our spies, one of the Horde agents is close in Gadgetzan. He's stalling her till we can get there." came the voice of human rogue amidst seven. His words were slightly muffled since his face was completely covered by a mask resembling the face of a demon. It was blood red, with black and white features such as eyes and ornamentations. The mouth of the mask was complete with fangs and at first glance one would think this was a real demon it was so intricate. The odd thing about it was that it covered not just the front of his face, but the back of his head too, making it a full mask much like a helmet. It even had long, fake black hair sprouting out of the back of it. "Mount up; we'll raid it first all together, after all; the lord didn't want us to take any risks on this mission."

"Who died and made you ass the leader of the group?" questioned Roo.

"If you don't shut up it'll be you doing the dying" replied the human. He was know to the group as Multality and had never revealed to them his true name, nor face… that's the way he liked it. Roo laughed, he liked Multality for the opposite reason he hated Kraken: Multality was an exceptionally skilled fighter with a few tricks up his sleeves, and what's more he wasn't afraid to make threats, even to Roo himself. "So then, to the Gadgetzan inn…" each of them mounted their steeds and began to ride the short journey to Gadgetzan.

Evening had fast approached the lands of Tanaris. Sharrania had gone up into the room she had purchased for the night. She had lain down her daggers on the bed and was slowly removing her armour. The fireplace was lit, and the light from it illuminated the whole room. She was changing into her night robes when she heard a loud noise approaching outside. 'Great, what now… sounds like a stampede or something?' She slipped the green robe that matched her sparkling eyes on more securely and tied it around her waist. She approached the window and peered out of it, but what she saw made her freeze in horror. Seven people of varying races had roped their mounts up outside and were entering the gates of Gadgetzan, but this was not what shocked her. It was the fact that she noticed something on each of their suits of armour… the same mark that was on Bronk's shoulder. Veinhaarts' insignia. Shit, what do these guys want? Noticing them entering the inn she locked the door to her room and grabbed the daggers that lay on the bed in front of her. She was planning to escape through the window but as she went to do so she noticed that one of them was guarding the entrance to the inn. 'Great…another sticky situation…' She was forced to turn around as she heard a slamming on her door. She drew her daggers preparing for an outnumbered battle. She said a silent prayer, hoping some kind of miracle would be able to save her. The door continued to knock a few more times before it gave way to whoever was behind it. 'Here we go.'

Through the door burst a human warrior with a familiar face. 'Him?'

"Come on, we gotta go!" he cried, she lowered her weapons, allowing him to take the opportunity to grab her by the wrist and tug her nearer to the window.

"Wait, what? What's going on here? Are you crazy you-" Here questioning was cut short as Tray pulled her out of the window. 'This guy really is crazy!' Below them the female human looked at them as they landed, about ten metres away from her.

"She's out here!" she shouted, calling her six associates. Curious to whom the other guy with her was she raised an eyebrow. 'Who's this guy with her? An Alliance helping a Horde agent?' She drew a short sword and a shield and let loose a bloodcurdling battle shout.

"GO! I'll hold them off!" Tray pushed Sharrania towards the Gadgetzan gates, whilst he drew that trademark broadsword of his. She stared in awe as he made a couple of strikes; both of which were blocked by the females shield. "Come on, go!" he once again yelled.

"You don't know who you're dealing with boy!" announced the female warrior battling Tray. She laughed as she began to make strikes of her own against him. One of them managed to clip the side of his arm, making a small cut. He ignored the sharp pain and went once more onto the offensive. He noticed how strong her shield and armour was, and adding this to the difficulty of fighting in the dark he didn't know if he could defeat her. He turned and thanked his lucky stars as he saw a couple of goblin guards came charging towards them. They, however, were not aware who the threat to Gadgetzan was and in turn threw two nets hoping to capture them both.

A sudden mysterious nudge hit him, and with such force it pushed him out of the nets grasp before it hit him, stapling him to the ground. It was the blood elf. It seemed as if she had somehow stepped through the shadows of the night themselves to get to him, well that's how it appeared since she moved with such speed. She had heard of rogues who had done similar things but never seen it done in person. 'Maybe she is more capable then I first thought?' The movement combined with her tiredness however, made her almost collapse, but she was able to lean up against him for support.

Looking behind him he saw that the other warrior had not escaped the net, and was pinned down by it. There was no time to celebrate however, since at the door appeared another one of their new found enemies. 'Gimmie a break…' thought Tray, noticing the elf's sudden inability to run. He lifted her up in his arms, which reminded him of the pain in his arm.

Roo stood at the door staring at the two for a second, before pulling out a sheet of paper which was tucked into his belt. Looking at it and then back to Tray he realised he would be able to kill two birds with one stone, for the face of the note was Trays'.

"Shit." Tray said this aloud to himself, looking back at the elf whose eyes were closed due to exhaustion. He began to run to the steeds that were tied up outside the gate.

"O' no you don' mon" said the troll at the doorway, and drew an unusual weapon from his back. It was a double edged sword, the handle of which was in the middle, between the two long blades at either end of it. Even stranger about this double edged sword was that the two blades appeared to be emitting electricity. He span it around himself and began to sprint after Tray.

Unsure of how he was going to get away with the blood elf Tray began to panic. All of the goblin guards were holding off the other five foes in the inn. He gently lowered the blood elf to the ground and drew his broadsword, ready to engage the troll, who appeared to get even larger as he got closer. The huge troll raised one edge of his double-blade and brought it down upon Tray.

The Strike was nullified by a strange force which repelled the blade. Roo's eyes widened in confusion. He attempted to land another strike on Trays flank; which was also forced back before the hit could land. This is when he realised that Tray and the blood elf were concealed in a shimmering golden sphere of light.

Tray was taken aback by this. He didn't even know what had happened until he noticed the presence of a familiar night elf priest. She had cast a defensive ward around the two from her tiger-like mount she sat on. "Tray, jump on!" she yelled. Without hesitation he sheathed his sword and grabbed raised the elf back into his arms.

Roo grasped his weapon tightly as he strode towards the priest on her white striped tiger. 'You is gunna wish you had'n interfered, elfie.' His movement, however, was halted while some rather small shadow fiends summoned by the priest began to strike him on the legs- slowing him down. He could only watch as the human and the blood elf he was holding clambered onto the tiger and hastily rode away. Angered by their escape Roo let out a chilling growl of displeasure. 'I be workin' wid idiots…'

The elf priest did not bother to ask about the blood elf that Tray had just rescued, but instead focused on getting as far away from Gadgetzan as she could. Resting in front of Tray, and his hands around her for support, the blood elf opened her eyes and spoke in a low whisper.

"Sharrania"

"What?" questioned Tray, wondering what this meant.

"My name, I said I'd tell you when you saved me again…" Tray managed to let out a small laugh as she said this.

"Sharrania eh?" he said this forgetting he was thinking aloud. He continued to smile as they rode further from Gadgetzan. 'Sharrania… pretty name.'