"Wrathion, we can't protect you if you head out there alone. What if the Horde and Alliance run into each other?"
"Then I'll just have to stand my ground, won't I?" Wrathion bit at his bodyguard.
"I think they'll tear you apart if they find out you've been playing both sides, and with armies rolling in from all sides you'd think maybe you shouldn't put a target on your back for both of them." the woman scoffed.
"I don't pay you to think, Raven. Now shut up and hand me that box of mana potions."
"I still-"
Wrathion moved faster than a breath of air, with the rage of a wildfire as he lifted her off the ground with one claw-formed hand. He snarled at her and dug his claws deep enough into her skin to draw blood. She didn't shriek, she didn't cringe, but he could feel her heartbeat quicken and the fear in her eyes was apparent to him.
"Hand me. The potions." he growled menacingly before dropping her to the ground.
She coughed sharply, but she kept her balance. She grabbed the case and wordlessly continued helping Wration pack.
Anduin sighed heavily and stared out the small porthole. Mist clung to the outside and covered the inside with small beads of moisture. The air was hot and clammy, as if someone had tried to boil the sea outside – and had succeeded. The hotness was unbearable and made Anduin's leg throb painfully.
"Please, Prince Anduin, try ta heal yerself as best ye can. With them reports of Horde Ships about in these bleedin' mists – excuse the language – we cannae afford ta lose any mana fer our healers." the captain had told him.
Anduin winced as he tried to shift in the uncomfortable cot. It was too small, too cramped, and seemed to barely have a mattress after he'd gotten used to the lush Pandaren beds. He'd give just about anything by now to be back there, resting easily in cool mists and not this hellish boiled seawater… To be back there with Wrathion, who'd massage his leg with the oil…
Suddenly he gasped in pain and sat upright as pain shot through his lower body. The memories had sparked his arousal, but the shift in blood and pressure, though limited, was painful. Anduin exercised his breathing, in through the nose and out through the mouth, trying to calm himself and soothe the pain, banning any and all thoughts of Wrathion out of his mind in an attempt of self-preservation. But the pain didn't stop.
Three breaths later Anduin sensed a shift in the air near him. His eyes had closed automatically, and he didn't bother to open them. If the captain had come to check on him again but still wouldn't give him a way out he wasn't worth the attention and effort. Anduin grunted as a soft hum of magic started in the cramped room. Even after the distinguished whooshing sound of a teleport spell came to an end, Anduin still didn't open his eyes. He was simply in too much pain, too focussed on dulling the agony with what little magic he had left.
"Anduin."
He grumbled a reply, staying still as a statue. He paid little attention to the rummaging sounds and clinking of glass. He cursed the captain and his rationing. He cursed his leg. He cursed Garrosh Hellscream and the Bell of Harmony. He cursed the Light for not answering his prayers.
"Open up."
Anduin grunted again, clenching his teeth. He was about to tell whoever had entered to sod off when a particularly sharp wave hit the port side and made the entire ship roll. He let out a scream of pain with the sudden shift, but found his mouth immediately filled with a sweet tasting potion. He coughed, swallowed and coughed again, moving to push away his assailant and opened his eyes.
"Wh-Wrathion?" Anduin managed between his coughs. "How did- how did you get here?"
Wrathion shook his head. He seemed genuinely worried and pulled off his turban, releasing his shoulder long black curls. He propped it up as a pillow behind Anduin's back.
"I gave you a mana potion. You looked like you were running low. Do you want another one?" Wrathion asked as he walked over to the single door of the room and barred it.
"How are you here?" Anduin managed, trying to control his scrunched-up face and painful gruns.
"I made you swallow a Hearth Stone Anchor. It's a, uh, trick I learned… Don't worry, it should dissolve by tomorrow or so."
"Tomorrow? Wrathion, it's been three days!"
"Oh, right, … Well, it'll just pass naturally then. I hope."
"You HOPE?!" Anduin exclaimed and reached out to Wrathion.
Another wave hit the ship and Anduin yowled in pain. Everything went black.
Anduin woke to candlelight. He felt heavy, warm, content… He felt comfortable. He let his eyes close halfway again. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling he was still asleep. He couldn't be this comfortable and be awake. But perhaps he wasn't awake. Perhaps he was asleep. Or perhaps he was dead, and this was the way it felt to be taken into the Light.
That thought made Anduin start wide awake. He tried to sit upright, but was almost immediately pushed down again by Wrathion, who sat on the side of his bed, smiled and put a finger on his lips.
"Hush now, Human Prince. It's alright. You're safe. I put the oil on your leg to help you sleep. Didn't look like it could hurt, from the bags under your eyes and the way you went out like a light with those waves."
It took him a little while to put things into perspective, but eventually Anduin managed a smile. Wrathion was here. And even better, the pain in his leg was gone. Or at least greatly dulled. He couldn't tell with the great sense of calm that came over him.
"You… put a stone in me. An anchor?" he asked.
"Yes…" Wrathion answered. "Carved from my very own Hearth."
"I see. That's a pretty crazy thing to do, Wrathion."
At that the Black Prince laughed and nodded. His cheeks coloured with a blush whilst his earrings and curls shook gently.
"Would you rather I hadn't?" Wrathion asked then, looking at Anduin tentatively.
Anduin smiled and shook his head.
"I'd rather you had come sooner."
They sat in silence for a few seconds before a knock sounded at the door. It was the captain that burst their happy bubble with his gruff voice. Anduin looked panicked up at Wrathion, who leapt to his feet silent as a cat.
"Prince Anduin? Are ye awake?"
"Ehh, … yeah, what is it?" Anduin answered while Wrathion dashed towards the door and carefully, nearly soundlessly slid the bar off the lock.
"Ye missed suppertime, Prince Anduin. Would ye like fer me ta bring ye some now?"
"Y-yeah, that's okay."
"Alright, Prince Anduin. I'll be back soon with the cook's slop. Gotsta keep yer strength up, eh?"
"Thanks, captain." Anduin called out to the door.
Wrathion was still pressed against the wall next to the door. They looked at each other. They both knew that Wrathion couldn't stay. But neither wanted for the Black Prince to leave.
"I can't stay…" Wrathion started in a hushed tone.
"I know." Anduin answered him huskily.
"When will you land?"
"I don't know. We're sailing blind in these mists." Anduin sighed. "Could be days, could be weeks."
"More like days, judging by the Stranglethorn Vale-esque heat if I should guess." Wrathion mused.
"He'll be back soon. This cot doesn't really provide any place for you to hide… Not even…"
"Not even for my whelp form, I know. I… I should leave. Can you open the porthole?"
Anduin reached up towards the porthole, stretching to feel for a latch that kept it in place. He didn't find a latch, but he found a magical rune instead.
"Yes. I think I can."
"Then open it, and I'll slip out through there." Wrathion whispered, rolling his shoulders to prepare for his transformation.
"Will you fit?" Anduin wondered.
"Heh. I sure hope so."
"When will I see you again?"
"Days or weeks, Prince Anduin. I'm not giving up that easily. After all, you owe me now." he murmured and winked at Anduin.
Anduin frowned. However attracted to Wrathion he was, he wasn't keen on the idea of owing anything to Wrathion. Footsteps sounded on the walkway outside however, so there wasn't any time for reconsideration. Anduin wiped out the rune and opened the porthole. Wrathion turned into his whelp form and the fat little child-dragon zipped towards the misty darkness. The iron scraped against Wrathion's tough scales, hurting only his belly-scales a little before he wrung out of the narrow window. Anduin had scarcely clapped it shut again when the captain entered the room, wondering who had left the chest full of mana-potions, exotic oils and wine in Anduin's room. The Human Prince smiled sheepishly, but wouldn't explain. The captain didn't dare ask further, since at least now the Prince was eating and looked somewhat healthy again. All the better the Prince wouldn't look like a horse's back end when the captain would deliver him to Stormwind.