Disclaimer: I do not own World of Warcraft...I feel like I've said this before.

Whaddup? Nice to see you all again. I'll keep the Author's Note short today since there's not much to say this time around.

My computer's still broken, and they've found more damage that what they originally thought, so it's going to take even longer to fix and cost more. I'll try to keep updates as consistent as possible, though, but no promises.

Also, finals are here, so you guys may not see me for a while.

Last thing before we start, we're already 1,000 views! WoW! And thanks to Charra Loon, Ihsan997, and cherry for the reviews, Clawmask for the favorite, and to Charra Loon, SpyderWings, liquidpandora, EnvyRoxx, and Saori Dreyar for the follows.

Alright, let's get started!

Part 3: Some Nights

He was asleep.

Or, maybe he was awake.

Although, it was very possible it was neither, as the mirage-like scene around him suggested otherwise.

He was back on the Echo Isles, he could tell that much. The sound of the sea mixed in with the music of the breeze brought along by the winds over the ocean. It was nighttime, or perhaps very early in the morning. The darkness was illuminated by torches that lined up along the sand, fire pits that steadily burned here and there, and lanterns and candles that glowed in the windows of huts. Palm trees waved in the breeze, and people were out and about despite the apparent time of day, their voices blending into the aforementioned noises.

Everything however, even sound, was warped.

The world around him shifted and turned like heat waves in the desert, the only solid thing being the sand beneath his feet. He could not make out any of the people who walked about as they were nothing more than faceless shadows. They moved in a way that looked as though they were constantly speeding up and slowing down again, like the wings of a hummingbird. Sounds and voices were muffled in a way that made it sound as though he were underwater somehow. There were no stars or clouds, not even the moon was out, making it impossible to tell where the horizon split the dark sky and land. Though, strangely, the sand gave off light as though there were something in the sky reflecting off it after all.

Feminine laughter suddenly cut through the air, and all other sounds faded into the background until it was almost the only noise altogether. He could not tell how many there were though there were two that he could distinctly make out. One was deeper and slower, sounding more like a hum than a laugh; the other was much more high pitched and girlish.

Ayida and Erzulie, he thought while slowly glancing around. He could not see them but could feel them watching with obvious amusement. Never before had he interacted with either loa; they weren't exactly in his range of expertise. But he supposed that didn't matter anymore, as they must have sought him out for some reason.

There was a shift in the air and the loa began to laugh again, louder than before, as if sensing his confusion. He clenched his hands; they were the only thing he could move apparently, and he growled in frustration. Many other loa that he recognized from his past were joining in now, clearly amused by his struggle.

And then, all of a sudden, they stopped. The world went quiet as one by one the fires and torches went out. Trees, huts, people, the sea, and more all faded into the night until all that was left were him and the practically glowing sand on which he stood. He suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable standing there in that vast, barren expanse of gold and black. A tense silence followed, as though both troll and loa were waiting for someone to make the first move.

"Can I do it now?"

Ah, so it would be the loa to make the first move. This voice was higher pitched and more...excitable. Erzulie, most likely. The troll listened curiously as the hummed laughter from before caught his ears.

"Not yet," the other voice replied, lower than the first but still very feminine. Ayida.

"Oh, but dis is gonna to be so much fun. I want ta start now!"

"Patience, sista. Be like dis one, who has waited so long. Too long, really. Dat's why we be helpin' him."

Well, this was new. He, a Shadow Hunter, had always considered himself a loyal servant of the loa, keeping his end of the bargain and giving credit where credit was due. Almost never was he the subject of ire. Or, in this case, the subject of seemingly unwarranted and most certainly suspicious 'help'.

The loa, all of them present, began to laugh again. Different giggles and chortles of all tones and pitches invaded his hearing one after another, after another until a cacophony of cackles was all there was. It almost became overwhelming, but they stopped again as quickly as they had started.

It was bizarrely silent after that; as though they were still staring at him, waiting for him to do something interesting, like speak for once. He worked his jaw and tried to open it, but found that he could not. There was snickering, and he groaned to himself as some of the present spirits began to titter once more.

Eventually, they stopped, and he felt their presences fade one at a time until Ayida and Erzulie were the only two left. They both seemed to be regarding him with what felt like intense curiosity and anticipation. Anticipation for what? He didn't know.

"Ya shouldn't 'ave waited so long, son of Sen'jin." Ayida's tone became slightly more serious, "Sure, you got wars to fight and people to lead, but dere be time for otha things, too. Many, many loa be pleased wit ya so far."

Erzulie began to giggle again, "Except for us!"

"Yes, except for us."

Well, this was most certainly interesting. Interesting, because while it was nice to know he was doing his duty for the most part he had no idea that two loa that he'd never really interacted with, well, cared. He wasn't exactly the best candidate to serve them.

"Ha! On the contrary, Shadow Hunter." Apparently, his thoughts were not his own anymore, as Erzulie seemed to know exactly what he was thinking. He could feel her looking him up and down, examining him with humored interest, "Ya line be one of da best; it only makes sense for us to want ta continue it. Having a woman ain't gonna hurt, either. So, get out dere, an' start doin' ya duty to us. Da more troll kind dere be, da bettah off everyone is, ya? Understand what I be saying?"

He did, somewhat, but that didn't make this any easier for him to grasp.

"Now, wake up."

… … … … … … … … … … … … …

The next thing he heard was silence. Not the whooshing silence like being underwater, but the kind of silence that could only be caused by the still air of a lonely night.

Vol'jin opened his eyes. Instead of the mirage like dream he had been a part of only a few moments ago, he saw now only the empty ceiling of his expansive room. For a moment, he just lay there, taking in the silence.

He didn't want to think about what had just happened; anything but that. So, he would think about anything else instead.

He thought about the ceiling above him and how it looked very empty. Back on the Isles, most ceilings were decorated with tapestries, long pieces of fabric looped and woven together, and hanging charms or other ornaments. He glanced to the left and thought about how he could tell it was very early in the morning by the way the sky was slightly lit up outside the window. The time of day was that horrible in-between of being too early to rise and too late to go back to sleep, which meant he was doomed to lie there and distract himself for at least another hour.

He turned his head from one side to the other, unable to make out much in the darkness except for the outlines of some pieces of furniture and some scant decorations and began thinking about them.

For as long as this had been his personal room, there still wasn't anything personal about it really. He wondered why that was and then decided to try and correct it if he ever had the time. Or, was that really the issue? There had been opportunities in the past to refurbish the Warchief's quarters not too long after the Siege, and to an extent the whole Hold, but he'd always passed them up. He supposed he just wasn't very good at it.

Apparently, it required a certain kind of creativity that he lacked, evident by his failure to design the interior of his own home back on the Echo Isles. Oh, he'd tried multiple times, but each attempt got him nowhere, and Zen'tabra and Vanira seemed to find joy in teasing him about it every now and then. They were always saying how his home could use a little bit of a woman's touch...

A smack broke the silence in the room as Vol'jin's palm connected with his forehead. Here he was trying to distract himself, when all he had accomplished was going in a full circle of thought. He had started his thoughts on taking a woman and then ended on the exact same topic. It seemed that the effort of trying to rid his mind of marriage was in vain.

He let out a slow, long breath and slid one arm behind his head in an attempt to make himself more comfortable. The troll glanced out the balcony again and was disappointed to find that the sun hadn't risen any more in the past few minutes. Meaning, there was still a significant gap between his current situation and work; also known as, his most recent distraction from...this.

But is "dis", exactly? An' would it really be that bad?

"Yes," he whispered in the darkness, his voice was so quiet that he almost hadn't heard it.

It wasn't that Vol'jin had never considered marriage before. In fact, there were a few times he had almost conceded to everyone's desires. But every time, he always came to the same conclusion.

If he were to take a wife, he could never be a good husband. No matter how much she might've fit his fantasy of what the perfect woman was, or how she would say she understood and that it was alright, or how she might always stand by him, or how she might simply be good to him, he could never be a proper mate.

The duties he had before were almost child's play compared to the new responsibilities he'd taken on. Now, he loved what he did, there was no doubt about that. Serving the Horde in one of its greatest capacities was both an honor and a privilege, and he faced each day's new and old challenges and rewards head on. It was enlightening and invigorating; unfortunately, it left little room for much else, even personal upkeep.

It had been months since he had been able to take a day for himself. His sleeping schedule had become completely unpredictable, as well as his eating schedule. Which, now that he thought about it, made him wonder if he had eaten that night. As if on cue, his stomach growled loudly. It was a hollow sound that made him feel empty inside in more ways than one and reminded him just how still the night was once it finally quieted down.

I guess not, he thought while making a mental note to make time for breakfast for once. Vol'jin waited for the empty feeling in his core to go away...it didn't. He groaned and turned to lie on his side, now facing the balcony instead of the dark ceiling, trying to will the hollowness to vanish. It didn't work; in fact, the more he thought about the worse it seemed to get. The emptiness inside him had infected his entire stomach now, slowly slithering its way into his chest like some snake until it finally wrapped around his heart. It constricted and suffocated the beating organ to the point where it was actually becoming harder to breathe.

Now slightly irritated with himself at what he thought to be weakness, the shadow hunter snarled and threw himself onto his other side. He only succeeded in casting himself out of the few rays of dim light from the terrace and further into darkness. He didn't like the hollow feeling that was gripping him, not at all. It made him notice...things.

Like, how the room looked a lot more void of a certain something, a certain touch, a certain spark of life. And, how his bed felt too spacious and cold with just him in it. And how the only breathing and heartbeat he could hear were his own…

Be dis how the loa mean to help me? Ta fill dis...emptiness?

Having a wife would have its perks, he admitted to himself and himself alone. His mouth flexed into a smirk around his tusks as he thought about all the unobtainable benefits of taking a mate. Her things would take up the eerie space in the room, filling it with personal items instead of darkness and cold. His bed would be warm, he would have someone to talk to and confide in on those lonely nights when he just could not sleep. To have warmth, a sweet scent, a soft pulse, life beside him would be -

He stopped right there. Turning to face the window again, he was relieved to see that the sun had lit up the sky almost enough to where he could begin his day without causing further worry or suspicion in his comrades. He licked his dry lips and continued to suppress his wishful thinking, as going further down that path would lead to no good. The hollow feeling in his belly had faded when he thought about the woman who did not and could not exist, though, if only for a moment. But now it was back, much more constricting and empty than before that now it felt different. It no longer resembled a juvenile feeling, something to be easily ignored.

It was now an ache. A pain. A need. Those were not so easy to ignore.

Vol'jin stared silently out the terrace and into Orgrimmar. He would ignore it; he had to. He was the Warchief. He didn't have aches, or pains, and most certainly not "needs". He wasn't free to go after his desires with reckless abandon, or find a wife, or treat them with the care and respect a dutiful husband was supposed to. He didn't have that luxury.

Maybe the loa would intervene, but for whose benefit he could not ascertain. Not his, and most certainly not this hypothetical mate. If they had someone in mind already, he sincerely hoped that they would leave her be. Leave her be to find someone else, warm their bed, fill their home with her trinkets and her scent and her heartbeat.

Maybe they would not intervene, and they were only teasing, as loa tended to do, and she would be free of being tied to someone who could never treat her right, who carried with him the burdens of an entire faction...as well as his own.

And as he waited for this wretched morning to finally begin, he tried desperately to convince himself that those were his wishes and no others.

He wished to accomplish lying to himself that he didn't need a companion, and that it wasn't cold, and that his rooms weren't too empty. But most of all, he wished for this nauseating emptiness inside of him to stop getting worse and fade away...

It didn't.

Thanks all! I tried really hard not to write too much like last time, because it was, let's face it, exhausting! Hope you liked it, and I hope I didn't write it too dark. :P

Come back next time!