Paw'don Village's Plight

As Cinder flew away from the Skyfire with Lily in tow, the pandaren looked back to see the gunship's aircraft begin descending to engage the Horde base below them. Closing her eyes and sighing, she returned her gaze towards the village the two were headed for. But as the structures of the village began to get close enough to make out details about the buildings, Lily suddenly realized the buildings looked amazingly similar to the homes and temples that were built by the pandaren living on Shenzin-Su.

"Where exactly…are we?" asked Lily.

"What's wrong?" asked Cinder, glancing back at his rider.

"Those structures look like pandaren structures. But…this isn't the Wandering Isle," said Lily.

"What do you think it means?" asked Cinder, returning his gaze forward.

"I don't know. Either way, land outside of the village. We don't want to scare the locals by just charging into the village commons," said Lily.

"Very well," said Cinder as he began to descend towards an apple orchard at the outskirts of the village. The trees were in full bloom as the twilight dragon landed amongst the beautiful landscape. Lily dismounted him. Looking at their surroundings, Lily noticed in the distance to the north was the rather large remains of a temple that looked ornate even in its ruined state.

"This place…feels familiar to me in a way. Like a dream I've dreamt before or perhaps a story I was told in my youth," said Lily as she continued to take in the sight of the temple. She looked back at the village in the distance to the east. "Even the village is oddly familiar looking."

"I've never seen anything like it before myself, but it all looks pristine in a way. Like the outside world has never touched it since an age far beyond what we might think," said Cinder.

"It certainly does," said Lily. She then started walking in the direction of the village. "Come. Let us make contact with the locals and see if they have any useful information we can use to find Anduin and the other survivors."

"This should be interesting," muttered Cinder under his breath as he followed after her. As the entrance to the village came into view, Lily ground to a halt. Cinder stopped as well, looking over at his friend.

"What's wrong?" asked Cinder. Lily had a stunned look contorted onto her face. Cinder followed her gaze to see something that took him by surprise. Walking out of the village in their direction were two male pandaren. They were approaching cautiously as if Lily and Cinder's presence had them somewhat spooked.

"It's not possible. Even pandaren that have left Shenzin-Su wouldn't settle down and make a brand new village on some uncharted landmass, especially if it wasn't here till recently," said Lily. By now the other pandaren had come within about thirty yards of the duo.

"Stranger," called out one of the male pandarens. He had black fur and was wearing a yellow and white outfit with what looked like a traditional pandaren straw hat on his head. In his right hand was a staff that looked similar to Lily's own weapon. "You come to our village riding on this great beast the likes of which we have never seen. We saw it take flight from the flying fortress above where the Horde have been building their structures. Tell us. Do you come to do us harm?"

"I apologize if we have scared you, mister. I am Lily Silentpaw and this is my friend Cinder. We come in peace. We are here to find a missing young man and the rest of the crew of a ship that ran aground here not long ago," said Lily. Cinder morphed himself back into his high elf form.

"It is true, pandaren. We do not seek to harm you or anyone else," said Cinder.

"What sort of creature are you? You change from a great beast into a much smaller creature the likes of which we have never seen," said the pandaren.

"I am a dragon, sir," said Cinder.

"A dragon? Interesting…" said the pandaren as he stroked his chin. "We have heard of 'dragons' written in ancient texts from before the last emperor ruled our land." The first pandaren then looked back at the other pandaren.

"Seer Yong. Do these two truly have no ill will towards us?" asked the black furred pandaren, looking over at the much older male pandaren. This one had light gray fur, a matching beard with a braided mustache, and was wearing a tan outfit similar to the other pandaren. But while his body showed signs of age getting the better of him, his eyes shone with a look of great wisdom and a youthfulness greatly misleading to his physical state.

The older pandaren stepped up to Lily and Cinder. Both of them stood still as the elderly pandaren gazed into first Lily's eyes for nearly half a minute before turning to Cinder and repeating the process. Turning back towards the other pandaren, the elderly pandaren had a warm smile on his face.

"It is true. These two have no ill intentions towards us," said Seer Yong. A smile crossed the first pandaren's face as he relaxed.

"Well then, I bid you welcome to Paw'don Village friends. I am Mayor Sunke Khang. When the mists fell, we knew it wouldn't be long till outsiders found Pandaria. But those 'Horde' animals left us afraid of what would happen if more outsiders came. They have proven to be a dishonorable, yet dangerous force," said the pandaren. Shocked instantly lit on Lily's face.

"Wait a second…Did you say 'Pandaria'?" asked Lily.

"Why yes, that is the land you now stand upon," said Mayor Khang with a questioning look on his face. Lily fell to her knees as she gazed at the ground.

"I don't believe it. This is the long lost homeland of my race," said Lily. Mayor Khang looked over at Cinder with a questioning gaze.

"Is your friend alright?" asked Mayor Khang. Lily slowly stood back up.

"Forgive me, Mayor Khang. I'm a pandaren from the Wandering Isle, also known as Shenzin-Su," said Lily. Now it was the mayor's turn to have shock written on his face.

"Did you say…'Shenzin-Su'?" asked Mayor Khang.

"I did," said Lily.

"Shenzin-Su…The sea turtle of Liu Lang, the first pandaren explorer. That is a name that has only existed in stories for hundreds of years," said Mayor Khang. "Pandaria has believed Shenzin-Su and the pandaren that had left with him had long since perished. Shenzin-Su has not been seen on these shores in hundreds of years."

"Shenzin-Su and the descendants of Liu Lang are still very much alive," said Lily.

"That is comforting to know," said Mayor Khang as he waved at the two to follow him and Seer Yong. "Come. Let us see what our small village can do to assist you and your friend." A smile crossed Lily's face as she and Cinder started following them back into the village.


"I said all units report back. We've softened them up enough for a ground assault," said Admiral Rogers into the Skyfire's radio communicator that connect the gunship with its aerial assault units. Rodgers looked over at Rell. "Are the SI:7 agents ready to go?"

"We are Admiral. Once your forces have engaged the front lines, my team will sabotage them from behind. In the confusion, we'll take their leader," said Rell. Rodgers smiled in response to the news.

"Good. Let's get down there and give them hell," said Rodgers.


As Lily and the others arrived back at the entrance to Paw'don Village, a young, male, black-furred pandaren dressed in an orange and green outfit with a parted beard and hair done in a top knot was arguing with another male pandaren. This one was dressed in brown and light tan battle armor and looked older by the looks of it with his gray hair done in a ponytail.

"Listen to reason, Chut. If we don't get our harvest back then our village won't have anything to trade for other supplies with the neighboring villages," said the black-furred pandaren.

"And I have told you already Teng that protecting the village is my primary concern. After what the Horde have done, I can't afford to leave the village unguarded," said the older pandaren.

"Arg! Then what would you have us do, Chut? Wait for the winter months to come and for us to starve instead?" asked Teng.

"I see you still haven't given up on your cider, have you, Teng," said Khang as the quartet walked up to the two arguing pandaren.

"I'm just trying to look out for the future of our small village, Mayor. That is all," said Teng. But his frustration gave way to curiosity when he saw the two people with his fellow villagers. "But for the moment I will give up on my point. Who might you two be?"

"I am Lily Silentpaw and this is my friend Cinder," said Lily, motioning to the high elf.

"Teng Applebloom. A pleasure. And my stubborn friend here is our village's protector, Chut Sri Nu," said Teng, motioning at the older pandaren.

"Nice to meet you," said Lily, bowing to the older pandaren.

"Always nice to meet new people, so long as they have no ill will towards us," said Chut, returning the bow. He then eyed Cinder cautiously. "Your friend is a person we have never seen the likes of in Pandaria before."

"More so than you know my friend," said Cinder with a slight smile on his face.

"These two came here from that flying fortress and are here to find the people of a ship that ran aground somewhere nearby," said Khang.

"I was not aware of such a thing happening nearby," said Teng. "Perhaps someone else in the village knows of what you seek." It was then Lily noticed something that had missed her gaze till now. In the window of the home closest to them, she saw a female pandaren crying as who was presumably her husband held her in his arms trying to comfort her. Looking around them further revealed to her that something was seriously wrong.

Most of the villagers that she could see looked downtrodden and full of sadness. The forge up the hill off to their left, despite being fully ready to accept the work of its blacksmith, had its crafter sitting off to the side with little interest in performing his work.

"Excuse me, Mayor Khang. May I ask a question, if it is not too intrusive for someone you just met?" asked Lily. Having watched Lily's gaze look around them, Khang only sighed.

"I suppose it's obvious to the trained eye that our village has seen better days," said Khang with a look of sadness on his face.

"What has happened?" asked Lily.

"Two days ago, our village was attacked by the Horde. They didn't use brute force to take what they wanted from us like we expected them to do. Instead, the orcs and these shambling, rotted creatures that were with them took several of our cubs captive to try and force us to surrender the supplies we were not willing to part with before. Including my little girl Hazel," said Khang.

"That's terrible!" cried Lily. Anger crossed Khang's face before he spoke again.

"I knew the Horde were desperate for supplies, but to take our children as bargaining chips!? How can those orcs be that low?" asked Khang.

"A desperate man will do desperate things to survive, Mayor," said Lily.

"True words, young one," said Chut. "But that does not change the gravity of the situation we now find ourselves in. Still, we sent word to the Shado-Pan Monastery right after the attack. Members of their order should be arriving from Kun-Lai anytime now. They will help us get our children back."

"Who are the Shado-Pan?" asked Cinder.

"They are Pandaria's finest collection of warriors. They work in the shadows to safeguard us pandaren from whatever may threaten us," said Khang.

"They sound rather enigmatic to me," said Lily.

"To us normal pandaren, they very much are," said Teng. "But if anyone can save the children of our village, it's the Shado-Pan."

"If you won't turn me away, I would like to help save your-" said Lily, suddenly freezing as a wave of uneasiness washed over her. Years of meditation had greatly heightened her natural senses, and right now she could feel something wasn't right.

"Is everything alright? You look concerned," asked Khang.

"Do you feel that Cinder?" asked Lily. She knew a dragon's natural senses would be heightened as well. Right now she wanted confirmation that her feelings weren't misplaced.

"Yes…I do. That unnerving sense of doubt that now wafts in the air. What is causing it?" asked Cinder. Suddenly several large, swirling black pools of smoke started to appear at random points on the ground while hissing and growling noises echoed from within their dark depths.

"Everyone! Something terrible is about to come out of those smoke pools! Get back!" shouted Lily. The other pandaren retreated back into the safety of the village as Lily got into a fighting stance. Cinder raised his hands into a casting position, ready to unleash his draconic magic on whatever was about to emerge from the smoke.

Suddenly, out of the ground, a somewhat small black and white creature resembling a blob with arms emerged from each of the smoke pools. Each one either growled sharply or hissed at the two of them.

"What sort of evil creatures are these things? They each exude a sense of doubt around them that tickles at the back of my mind like they're trying to get a foothold of some kind," said Lily.

"I don't know, but they won't be around long enough to cause any trouble," said Cinder as violet flames ignited around his hands. Flinging his right hand at the nearest creature, a purple bolt of fire shot from the high elf's hand. The bolt slammed into the creature as it gave a shrill cry of pain before vanishing in a puff of smoke.

"At least they are weak," said Lily as she charged the nearest creature to her, leaping into the air and landing on top of it with a flying kick. The creature let out the same shrill cry before it too vanished in a puff of smoke. The remaining creatures began to growl loudly as they started to charge the two of them.

"Stay back Lily. I will handle them," said Cinder. Lily nodded and retreated behind Cinder. The high elf clasped his hands together, both of them engulfing in violet fire. As the creatures came within a few feet of being in range to attack Cinder, the high elf unleashed a wave of purple fire from his hands that washed over the creatures. Each one shrilled loudly before vanishing into a cloud of smoke. However, instead of dissipating like its predecessors, the smoke left by these creatures instead started to converge and coalesce.

"What is happening?" asked Lily as the two watched the gathering smoke.

"Nothing good, I'll bet," said Cinder. The uniting smoke started to take on a physical form as a much larger black and white creature took form. This one had spindly spikes on its back and hovered in the air without legs underneath its body. Two thin arms with clawed hands stretched out as the creature cried out in anger at the high elf.

"Don't think merging yourselves will save you," said Cinder as he shot another bolt of fire at the creature. The creature raised its arms to shield itself from the attack as the firebolt hit and exploded harmlessly off its hide. Growling, the creature then advanced on Cinder and swung with its right arm. The high elf barely dodged to the side as the attack missed. The creature turned to continue advancing on Cinder, but in doing so took its gaze off of Lily. That was all the opening the pandaren needed.

"Be gone vile creature!" shouted Lily as she ran up to the creature and thrust her left palm hard into the creature's side. This knocked the creature away from Cinder and to the ground. Lily then leaped high above the creature, gathering blue chi energy in her palms as she held them to the right side of her body.

She then threw the ball of chi energy at the creature, the energy colliding with the creature as it cried out in pain before its body exploded into smoke. However, unlike the last time, the smoke dissipated till it vanished. Landing on the ground, Lily instantly looked over at Cinder with concern on her face.

"Are you alright? Did it hurt you?" asked Lily. Cinder shook his head in response.

"I'm fine," said Cinder.

"What were those creatures and why did they give off that noticeable sense of doubt when they were alive?" asked Lily.

"Valid questions for outsiders," said a deep male voice from behind them. Turning around, they saw a male pandaren with midnight black fur flying down from the skies on the back of a jet-black, serpent-like creature. But when they saw how the pandaren was dressed, they both knew this pandaren was anything but a local villager.

He was dressed in a dark gray and brown outfit wearing a traditional pandaren hat set with a golden emblem on its top. A gray and golden ornamental tiger face was situated on his right shoulder. Wrapped around the bottom third of his face was a red bandana.

"Those creatures you fought were the results of these 'Alliance' people having doubts about killing the people trying to get to shore in cold blood," said the pandaren as he dismounted the serpent, collecting its reigns in his hand as he led the creature along with him towards the two outsiders.

"What do you mean?" asked Cinder.

"Those creatures are negative emotions made manifest. Anger, fear, hatred, doubt, violence, and despair. Each negative emotion can trigger the appearance of sha related to the negative emotion from the very land itself," said the pandaren as he secured the serpent creature's reigns at a nearby hitching post.

"I see. So the land reacts to negative emotions and spawns these 'sha' in response. Have they ever caused any serious problems?" asked Lily.

"Nothing too serious that I have witnessed. At least not till today," said the pandaren.

"What do you mean?" asked Lily.

"Till today, the sha only spawned once in a blue moon and even then nowhere near the number that has appeared along the coast where the Horde and Alliance were fighting. Thankfully the Alliance is willing to take responsibility for unleashing them and are currently clearing the area of the foul creatures," said the pandaren. Khang came running out of the village, quickly arriving next to the mysterious pandaren and bowing deeply to him.

"Thank you for coming so quickly, Lord Zhu," said Khang as he rose back into a standing position. "When we petitioned help from the Shado-Pan, we never would've expected to see you answer our call."

"This situation that this…'Horde' has created warranted our best to respond, so I decided I would handle the matter personally," said the pandaren.

"Wait a second. You're the leader of the Shado-Pan?" asked Lily.

"I am. My name is Taran Zhu. I've lead the Shado-Pan ever since I became an adult," said Taran.

"Forgive me if my trust is misplaced, but are you alone enough to save our children," asked Khang.

"Even I am not capable of a rescue operation of this size alone. I made sure to bring some help," said Taran. "The best of the Shado-Pan elite is currently scouting their base up in the old ruins. She should be able to spot all their weaknesses, allowing us to mount a successful rescue operation."

"I just hope you didn't bring 'The Firecracker' with you. No offense, Lord Zhu, but her reputation of wanting to set every enemy ablaze that she sees might hinder us more than help," said Chut. Taran chuckled slightly.

"You need not worry Chut. Fei Li is great at what she does, but she's more of a liability than a help on this kind of mission where stealth and guile will win the day. No, I brought Taoshi with me. My best scout and assassin. Her skills are best suited for this task," said Taran.

"I have heard of Taoshi, but I have never had the pleasure of meeting her," said Khang.

"That is partially because she stays in the Monastery most of the time, only venturing out when she is needed elsewhere. The other part is because she knows how to keep an extremely low profile when she is away from the Monastery," said Taran.

"I guess it makes sense. A master assassin does have to keep one's self hidden in the shadows most of the time," said Khang.

"Though sometimes there is no need for staying in those shadows," said a female voice directly behind Khang, causing him to jump slightly in surprise as he whipped around to look at the person the voice belonged to.

A black furred, female pandaren dressed in a blue and red uniform with a large golden emblem for a belt buckle now stood in front of Khang. Her long black hair was done up in a large ponytail with several red bands going down the ponytail at certain increments. Attached to her belt were two sais.

But it was her eyes that caught Lily's attention. They looked cold and calculating, with no emotion behind them. Looking a little deeper, Lily could see that cold emotionless feelings weren't all dominating. There was a softer emotional side hidden deep down, but she could tell it rarely showed itself. No, this pandaren was business before anything else.

"Report Taoshi. Did you find out what we need?" asked Taran.

"I've located the cubs. They are being held in the eastern courtyard. However, there are several issues that trying to extract them successfully will bring up," said Taoshi.

"Such as what?" asked Lily. Taoshi looked over at her with a glare but held it only for a moment before returning her attention to Taran.

"There are magical eyes guarding the children. Not only that, but the entire complex is swarming with these orcs and what I can only describe as walking dead people dressed in armor. Also, there are siege weapons of some kind contained on the upper platform ready to fire below at a moment's notice," said Taoshi.

"What truly presents a problem is there is a large floating creature with a single large eyeball in the middle of its face in the ruins. While the orcs have it bound in a stasis prison of some kind, it nonetheless spotted me all the way on the other side of the complex even thru my stealth techniques. I managed to slip away before they were able to locate me, however," said Taoshi.

"It sounds like they have employed a large beholder demon to watch for any signs of intruders approaching the ruins," said Cinder as he stroked his chin. "Rather smart on their part, though I doubt the creature likes being bound into servitude."

"A demon you say?" asked Taran, looking back at Cinder. "We have never seen the likes of an actual demon in Pandaria before. We have used the term "demon" to describe other creatures, but never have we encountered a creature that was, in fact, a true demon before."

"I can only assume they have a fairly powerful warlock in their ranks if they were able to summon and entrap a demon that powerful," said Cinder. "That will complicate things even further. Warlocks are known to have powerful corrupting powers at their disposal that drain your very life essence away till you wither and die."

"Lord Zhu. As much as I hate to say this, with just the two of us I don't see any way possible to save the children without putting them all at risk," said Taoshi.

"Cinder and I can help if you will have us," said Lily. Taoshi again glared over at Lily.

"Forgive my bluntness, but amateurs would only create more problems for us than solve," said Taoshi. Lily's calm demeanour turned to one of annoyance at the senior Shado-Pan's verbal jab at her and Cinder.

"I am no amateur. I have been fully trained in the windwalker style of fighting. Master Shang Xi praised me as his best pupil for several years before I left Shenzin-Su," said Lily. She looked over at Taran with a look of determination in her eyes. "Lord Zhu, please spar with me so I may show your associate I am no amateur."

"You must be joking outsider. You wouldn't last ten seconds against Lord Zhu," said Taoshi angrily.

"Calm yourself Taoshi," said Taran in response. He then looked over at Lily. "I will honor your request. I personally want to know if you can be of help to us or not."

"You can't be serious Lord Zhu," said Taoshi, clearly shocked my her lord's declaration. "Not even Master Snowdrift's best pupils have sparred with you before. Why allow an outsider to do so?"

"Because I saw her defeat a fairly powerful sha when I first arrived in the village. She is no amateur and her skills might help us," said Taran. He then leaped away from Lily to about a ten-meter distance. He then bowed to her before setting himself into a fighting stance. "Now then, let me see just how strong you are outsider."

"Thank you for indulging me Lord Zhu," said Lily before returning his bow. She then took her own fighting stance.

"It would be wise to stand back I think," said Cinder to the other pandaren. The others nodded in agreement before backing away from the two combatants. Several seconds ticked by, but neither fighter moved from their spot.

"What's wrong outsider? Afraid to come at me?" asked Taran.

"I could ask the same of you, Lord Zhu," said Lily with a smirk. "You have a great defense. One of the best I have ever seen."

"I return the compliment. There aren't many that can put up a defense that I find hard to see weaknesses in," said Taran.

"Well, one of us has to make a move or this fight will never get started, so I suppose I will go first," said Lily.

"By all means," said Taran. Lily then charged Taran, throwing a right palm strike at him. But Taran spun away and grabbed her wrist before throwing her arm even further behind him. This caused Lily's momentum to keep her going further into the strike than she had wanted to do. Taran began to swing a left-hand chop towards Lily's neck.

However, instead of fighting the falling motion she was now in, Lily used the extra momentum caused by Taran's move to flip onto her right hand, spinning and throwing a right kick at Taran's attacking arm and knocking it away before it could even come close to connecting. A surprised Taran recoiled his hand in response, being forced to take a couple of steps away from Lily as she flipped back onto her feet and whipped around to face him again.

"You surprise me outsider. There are very few who could have turned my counter-strike back at me like that. We do not need to continue. I have seen the value of having your help," said Taran. Lily glanced over at Taoshi, only to smile inwardly at what she saw. The master assassin had a stunned look of disbelief on her face. But she was quick to recover, her face returning to its stoic look almost instantly.

"Well, I suppose my initial thoughts about your skills was unwarranted. If Lord Zhu sees the value of you helping us, then I will not argue his judgment," said Taoshi.

"It looks like the Alliance outsiders are finally making their way to the village," said Taran as he saw dozens of humans in armor walking towards the village from the orchard, many of them carrying injured. Rell walked up to Taran as the others began to spread out amongst the village commons to start tending to the wounded.

"Pandaren. We have done as we pledged. Those creatures that were spawned because of us have been dealt with. However, having never fought such creatures we sustained a fair number of injuries. I'd like to request aid in helping our wounded," said Rell.

"Is that alright?" asked Khang as he looked over at Taran.

"Mayor, you may give these soldiers quarters at your discretion, but we are not picking sides. This is little more than a race war between these two factions. We will not get caught up in it," said Taran with a stern tone.

"Lord Zhu. Rell and his people might be able to help us free the children. They will know best how to combat the orcs. If nothing else they can be a diversion while we save them," said Lily.

"How so? All I've seen them do is cause destruction," said Taran.

"Free children? What exactly is going on?" asked Rell. Lily filled Rell in on what was going on, the night elf SI:7 agents taking note of everything Taoshi had witnessed.

"So do you think you can be of help to us?" asked Lily.

"Of course we are willing to help. Fighting adults is one thing, but taking children captive is just monstrous," said Rell. He then looked over at Taran. "Lord Zhu, please allow the Alliance to make amends for what happened on the shoreline today. We would be honored to help you recover the kidnapped children."

"I will say for the record that this is against my better judgment, but right now we can use whatever help we can get. The odds are too stacked against us to refuse your aid," said Taran.

"Then let us find a place to discuss our strategy," said Rell.

"The local inn will suit our needs. I shall take us there," said Taran as he turned and started walking deeper into the village, the others following him.