A/N:
Ugh. I can't write fight scenes to save my life. My apologies.
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The trek to the shore was further than it looked. They had to skirt a waterfall and a rather treacherous, staggered series of rocks before they made it to the sandy beach and then they were almost immediately beset upon by murlocs.
Tanyth would just like to point out how absurd murlocs were. Most of them were slightly shorter than she was! They had bulbous bodies- with comically skinny legs and arms and a squat body- and large mouths lined with rows of sharp fangs. Their skinny legs and arms tapered off into dangerously, wickedly clawed hands and feet. Their skin was slime-coated; and not just slime-coated, the slime burned when it flecked off onto Tanyth's skin.
Still, they were so ugly they were cute. Running around with makeshift spears shouting 'mmmmgrl!'.
That didn't make them any less deadly, cute or not. Their makeshift spears had unexpected reach, given their disproportionate arms and even unarmed they could inflict damage with their hardened nails and jagged teeth. After fighting Withered all morning, the murlocs weren't as intimidating as they could have been but the battle had been far from easy.
One launched itself at Tanyth and tried to take off her shield arm. Thankfully the enchantments on her armor deflected all but a few scratches, but those scratches bloomed worryingly red and puffy. Her renewing her Consecrate fried the little bugger, but her arm definitely felt much weaker and almost on fire afterwards.
After taking heavy losses, the murlocs scattered, leaving their allies behind as they raced for the water. Tanyth and Kannan weren't stupid enough to immediately follow the vicious little mutant fish into the waters.
They fished out a few potions from their bandolier belts- which Kelo'reem had insisted on- and drank them down. A few cure poison, one cure disease, and restorative draught each, they tucked away the empty phials and discussed their next options.
It was a bit odd to watch wounds seal up without using the Light to do so. Instead of the healthy brilliance sinking into the skin and repairing it from the inside, the restorative draught used provided alchemic properties- 'healing potions' used stored fat or muscle in desperate cases- to speed up the natural healing process.
Not unlike a time lapse video or something.
The wounds itched nearly unbearably while they closed, and there was a lingering itch that remained afterwards. According to Kelo'reem the itch would last until the body had caught up to the draught- anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks, depending on the injury healed. Still better than going into a battle underwater with open wounds, though.
"Ok, so waterbreathing- well, technically the spell is called 'unending breath'." Kannan spoke softly, and neither of them took their eyes off their surroundings. "It lasts about ten minutes, and since it's mostly used in the Nether, the newer versions also help compensate for physical resistance. It can be renewed while underwater, but if it breaks you have to start over."
"So, if it breaks you gotta surface before it can be recast." Tanyth murmured, mostly to clarify the fact for her own peace of mind.
"Precisely." Kannan answered as a particularly strong breeze ripped over the waters and kicked up sand, blood, and fish scales. "It gives off a blue glow that slowly fades to green- the greener, the shorter the time left. The problem is, the color can only be seen by whoever the spell is cast on. Something to do with how it pulls in fresh air and gets rid of spent breaths. So I'm going to cast it on myself first, as then if I forget and the spell breaks I'll notice. It can break from strain so try to dodge as best you can."
"Got it." Tanyth replied, squinting against the sun, which was hanging low in sky and dyeing the waters a myriads of reds. "The captive Nightwatchers should be straight out, right? Near that broke-in-half, sidewayish bridge?"
"From where she pointed, yeah." Kannan replied, still tense and wary. "Ghosts tend to give off a bit of an aura, so they should be reasonably easy to spot underwater. We've only got an hour, maybe two of light left, though."
"And those overgrown lizards on the far shore look like trouble." Tanyth pointed out, gesturing towards some crocodile-cousin looking things surrounded by eerily lifelike rock statues.
"Yeah, those are basilisks. Some can petrify with a look." Kannan sighed and scrubbed at his hair in a very stressed manner. "Let's try to not mess with them, if we can help it. That way one of us can free the Nightwatchers and the other can keep an eye out." Kannan muttered under his breath for a moment. "Oh, yeah. You'll be able to talk, but it'll be really muffled and it messes with the spell so try not to as much as you can. Not so bad in the Nether, but underwater the spells acts weird."
"No time like the present." Tanyth muttered, standing still while Kannan muttered an incantation. Once for himself and once for her.
'Unending breath' felt strange. Like she was wrapped in plastic wrap or something. It was almost as if a machine was breathing for her instead of her breathing for herself.
They made for the shore, carefully edging their way in. Once underwater Tanyth felt the calm of the arcane brilliance spell take hold of her, and she returned the favor by keeping her Power Word: Shield and Power Word: Fortitude enhancements up. While Kannan's waterbreathing spell was rather uncomfortable, it at least kept her clothes mostly dry. So there was that. Power Word: Shield expelled the water from around her person, so it was a little tricky to walk inside of it while underwater.
Actually, it was very strange. She was still underwater and yet it felt like walking on dry land- she took steps. Then the shield collapsed and she was swimming again.
Peculiar.
Underwater was much like above-water, really. A ruined utopia covered in moss and other green reclamations. The detail on a lot of the buildings had survived, though. A testament to the craftsmanship of the ancient kaldorei.
As far as underwater pests. Turtles left them alone, but there were a few small sharks that took some effort to chase away. Packs of murlocs did their best to use the downed pillars and other debris from the ancient cataclysm as ambush points, but Kannan and Tanyth were able to dispatch them fairly handily. The largest pack was one of twelve, and that one was tricky but they managed. Mostly thanks to Kannan heating up the water on one side and forcing all the little cretins into Tanyth's sword. A few especially smart ones made a run for it, so that helped the duo too.
Tanyth still ended up with some stinging, oozing scratches on her face while Kannan had a nasty set of cuts on his arm. Tanyth didn't dare heal them, either, because they bled sluggishly- a sign of poisoned wound. And it wasn't like they could potion up while underwater, so they were forced to let the wounds ooze.
Blood in the water meant attracting sharks, so they ended up having to kill one or two of the persistent ones.
It was weird swinging her sword underwater, as it took a great deal more force to make her hits connect. As she was also swimming while fighting- at least whenever her shield was down- a lot of her momentum came from using random bits of debris- or Kannan- as a springboard. She didn't even bother calling Dorah out just yet, preferring to save her energy. Kannan had put away his bow and was using a polearm, spear thing that he had kept stored inside his bracer.
She hadn't even known he could use a polearm.
Asshole.
And he'd made her work so hard back in the Barrens trying to teach him combat skills, too!
The light dipped lower and lower on the horizon as they skirted around the above-water ruins of the city of Nar'Thalas and towards the bridge. The crystalline stones that Tanyth was fairly sure came from a leyline being exposed gave off a fair bit of light, though, so there was some light other than the overhead sun.
Rounding a time-worn section of ancient night elf architecture Tanyth nearly had her head taken off by a wicked looking trident.
Naga looked like upright snakes with fishy accents. They had arms but walked upright balanced on a snaketail. There were fins and colored membranes on them as well as glittering scales. It was difficult to judge height underwater, but they were taller than her. There were also brutes- an unholy combination of a normal naga and a monkey, with four legs and a 'I bench-press chumps like you for breakfast' core. Also taller than her.
Guess which one was trying to kill her?
Both of them!
Because Kannan was beset upon by three naga, so she was on her own.
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Tanyth choked, retching water as she dragged Kannan's body out of the water. She had one of his arms thrown across her neck and took them both down when she slipped in the sand. She struggled up to her knees and banged her fist against his back, grateful when he started coughing. Gently she tipped his head to the side while he coughed up copious amounts of water.
Moonlight fell over Azsuna in fits and starts, obscured by clouds that had moved in while she and Kannan had been fighting for their lives underwater. Tanyth only felt slightly- very- betrayed that the Nightwatchers they had rescued had taken off, leaving her and Kannan against a host of naga. It had only been the arrogance of the leader- "If you can make it past the minions, you might be a challenge!"- that had kept them from having to fight three brutes, six naga- four being spell casters; frost spells underwater were a whole new level of miserable- and the leader at the same time.
The leader wasn't sneering arrogantly anymore, though. His shit-talk while they had been battling her minions had made her unbelievably irritated, hence the joy she had taken in cutting off his damn head, once she had gotten Kannan to the surface, floating safely in a priest bubble while she collected their evidence. She had jammed the head of Zarithos-or-whatever onto Kannan's spear and strapped the spear onto his back, so they had achieved their objective. Of course, she couldn't recall the spear as she wasn't Kannan, so she had to carry the weapon and the ugly head as well as her companion.
They were damn lucky the murlocs had been scared off by the battle. You know. Since none of the fucking Nightwatchers stayed to help! Tanyth didn't even want to think about how terrible it would have been had she been attacked while trying collect dead-arrogant-douchnaga's head.
"You're such an asshole." Tanyth informed Kannan wearily after popping a strength elixir, struggling up to her feet- covered in sand and debris from her fall- and dragging his coughing, hacking form half onto her back. 'I think it's called a fireman's carry.' She thought through her exhausted haze as she followed the broken trail through sand, shallower pools of water, and other muck to the curved, moss covered stairs that led back up to where they had met the Nightwatcher.
Even with the temporary shot of stamina and adrenaline she was exhausted. Barely able to put on foot in front of the other. She pointedly ignored the lingering ghosts, not even bothering to ask them for help after how the Nightwatchers had fled like cowards.
Tanyth grimaced as Kannan kept coughing up water onto her and forced herself to keep moving.
"What a damn day, man." She bitched out loud, mostly to keep herself awake and alert. She needed to put some distance between them and the threats before she could treat him. "Withered. Dragons. Ghost elves. Murlocs. Naga."
She made it to a landing and glanced around, pleased that it was mostly intact. She eased Kannan down next to a wall- kicking at his spear so he could slouch somewhat comfortably- and grimaced, popping a healing draught, a curing potion- supposedly good for eradicating up to four poisons- and gently coaxing the potions down the groggy and disoriented Kannan's throat. Then, because she was a worrywart, she mustered her strength and checked him over with the Light, directing the brilliant splash of color to check over Kannan's lungs.
"I'm fine." He rasped after a couple minutes of eerie silence between them- the creatures of Azsuna seeming hellbent on making every sound they made seem ominous- grabbing a ahold of her wrists and gently moving her hands away from him. "We get the bastard?"
Tanyth let her bright healing spell fizzle out and she sat back on her haunches with a strangled sob, pressing her hands up to her mouth. "I thought- Kannan you almost died! What were you thinking?"
Now that she wasn't wholly focused on getting them to safety so she could treat her companion, she felt all the fear, fatigue, and terror crash down onto her. Noticing she was shivering, she wrapped her arms around her drenched-as-a-mermaid self and glared at the asshole.
"It's not funny- don't smile!" Tanyth snapped at him, angrily swiping at tears as she glowered at Kannan- who looked about as sodden and bedraggled as she felt. "What were you thinking? Jumping in front of his spell like that! I almost had a heart attack!"
Kannan gave a short laugh and looked up at her, letting his head loll back against the curve of the retaining wall as he stared up at her through stark, white lashes. "I was thinking that I could survive that hit and you couldn't. Idiot."
Tanyth smacked him on the arm and wrapped her arms around herself again when a violent shiver ripped through her. "Asshole! What if I hadn't got my shield up in time? What if you had bled out before I managed to Light-patch you? What if I hadn't got us to shore? What if I-"
"What if, what was. You did, did, and did again. End of story." Kannan leaned forward and spat out some water. "Come on. We need to change clothes before we freeze to death."
Tanyth made an inarticulate noise of rage and threw some…moss at him. "I hate you." She informed him petulantly, tears dripping off her chin pathetically. She swiped at her nose and glared when Kannan merely levered himself upright and offered her a hand up. "You're such a jerk!"
"Of course I am." Kannan assured her patronizingly as he pulled her to her feet.
Tanyth narrowed her eyes at him and spun around to kick him in the shin before she stuck her nose in the air, turned her back on him, and stalked up the stairs. "You're an asshole!" She called over her shoulder, the statement coming much wobblier than she had intended. Fumbling with her potion's belt, she tipped back a healing potion and lesser curing potion of her own.
There were two more segments and three more landings before they reached the top, and by then the two were both shivering fairly regularly. The road took them up near the ruined palace's courtyard, but Tanyth and Kannan ignored it and made a beeline across the broken grounds to where they left their bags.
Kannan tossed his spear near the Nightwatcher woman's feet and they utterly ignored her while they changed into dry clothes.
-XXX-
"That's him, behind me." Their Nightwatcher escort- Idri- informed them blandly the next morning, her back to the interior of the ruined palace.
They had set up camp after changing into dry clothes the night before, figuring they should greet the Prince properly, ghost or not. Near the Nightwatcher's post was a tilted, pavilion looking thing that they took shelter in for the night. I was high up- needing stairs to get there- and covered for all that it only held slim pillars. They cleaned their armor and laid it out to dry, sleeping in shifts. That morning they had washed up a bit in a nearby impromptu lake- freshwater, thankfully- and ate some of their packed rations before asking Idri to take them to see the Prince.
Upon closer inspection, it seemed that the palace had once been a series of interconnected buildings instead of just one. Idri led them to the 'main' building, which had no doors and seemed to be made out of the traditional ancient mix of stone, earth, and wood. It gave the stone a seamless appearance, with delicate- impossible- patterns. There were two curved, ancient staircases that led up to an overlook, where an elf ghost with golden eyes looked down at them curiously.
On their way up the stairs they heard many snide comments about the Prince from the attending ghost elves. Some were in side rooms that spidered off from the entrance hall, others were just milling about aimlessly. One ghost commented that they hoped Kannan and Tanyth were assassins, there to murder their 'no good' Prince.
It took every bit of willpower she had to not open up a can of truth and justice on the arrogant jackasses. Ten thousand years and they still had no idea how brave it had been for Farondis to oppose Azshara? The Legion?!
The fuck was wrong with the idiots? Were the demons not a huge gorram clue?!
Tanyth pointedly ignored the mutterings, not feeling the least bit of sympathy for these undead ghosts. Instead of standing around blaming Farondis for ten thousand years maybe they should have done some research or something- anything- other than standing around feeling sorry for themselves. Honestly these ghosts were moping like jilted sweethearts about the Queen being displeased with them.
Ugh. This had been a terrible idea.
They rounded the top bend and stood outside the decorative area the golden eyed Prince was standing on. "Prince Farondis?" Tanyth politely inquired, her accent thick and her words flat despite her practicing with Kannan during breakfast and the walk over.
Kannan had pointedly informed her that she would have to take point, as he would likely be dismissed out of hand.
"According to the ancient texts, the Highborne-come-High Elves shrank in stature over the centuries between the Well's destruction and the founding of Quel'Thalas. So it will be obvious that I am, at the very least, a lowborn elf." Kannan grinned at Tanyth's stormy expression. "Highborne were bad enough to their own people, a possible mixed race or bottom-of-the-ladder elf has much less merit than a purely different one. It wouldn't seem off for one such as –" He leaned back away from Tanyth's half-hearted swat. "-to be in the service of someone like you." Kannan gave her a cheeky grin from across the campire. "Like it or not, Tan, you give off the aura of a Lady. Someone to be respected."
Tanyth, well aware that she was a fatherless daughter who regularly tripped over thin air, raised an eyebrow and hummed noncommittally. "Whatever helps you sleep at night jerk."
But, best to not get distracted while addressing ancient Highborne royalty. So between a few guiding comments and information provided by Kelo'reem that had hammered out a reasonable story.
"Yes?" The elf replied, seeming confused if pleasantly surprised. He had white hair and rather bushy white eyebrows that stood out rather starkly against his red-tinted skin. "You came to speak….with me?"
"Yes!" Tanyth beamed at the bewildered ghost as she gave him a light curtesy out of reflex. "We came to ask if you would be amendable to- uhm." Tanyth gave Kannan a panicked glance, finding herself tripping over her words. She tended to- at least think- a lot of slang terms and idiomatic phrases, which weren't doing her any favors in trying to be diplomatic in an unfamiliar language.
"Forgive my companion's difficulty in speaking." Kannan cut in smoothly, stepping forward to stand beside Tanyth. "We were gifted knowledge of the dialect by your neighbors as thanks for saving some of their whelplings, but Common and this dialect of Darnassian are a rather jarring transition and she hasn't had much time to practice."
The Prince nodded regally and waved a hand negligently. "No harm done."
"Thank you, Highness." Kannan replied for the both of them before getting straight to the point. "My Lady Tanyth's patron is a renowned master of the arcane and skilled researcher. He greatly desires the opportunity to study the 'old lands' as these lands are referred to by most. Kelo'reem Morningspring assisted the Guardian of Tirisfal in sealing the Temple of Elune, and he mentioned that you might know the location of one of the Pillars of Creation the Guardian used, in order to prove the validity of his claim. He offers aid in restoring the artifact, as a gesture of goodwill." Kannan gestured to Tanyth before he continued. "We, of course, are willing to prove that our intentions are just, if you would like. We rescued some of your Nightwatchers and defeated a naga captain yesterday to prove our mettle to Nightwatcher Idri, our escort."
Ah. Well. Tanyth hadn't known that. Made an incredible amount of sense, in hindsight, but it was news to her.
It irritated her to some extent, that Kelo'reem hadn't let her in on using his knowledge of the Tidestone- and tis present broken state- as a way to ingratiate themselves. But it would make sense that Kelo'reem would entrust such information to his son, first and foremost. Just in case.
You don't get to be the ripe old age of five millennia by being a trusting fool. And Aegwynn had only used a shard of the Tidestone to help seal away the physical remains of the Avatar of Sargeras inside the ancient Temple of Elune. Though nowadays the Temple was referred to as the Tomb of Sargeras.
For obvious reasons.
At any rate, back during the War of the Ancients, Queen Azshara had shattered the Tidestone in retribution against Faronids, once one of Farondis' own nobles informed the Queen of the Prince of Azsuna's plan to seal the Well-of-Eternity-turned-Legion-portal with the Titan artifact.
Farondis' palace had been several leagues away from Zin-Azshari, the Queen's palace. And he had not been entirely pleased with the Legion's arrival, promises of power or no. Queen Azshara had ambushed Farondis on his way to the Well with the Tidestone and shattered the Tidestone in a terrifying display of arcane prowess, the backlash doing an inordinate amount of damage to Azsuna and cursing the inhabitants to remain as ghosts after death.
"The Tidestone." The Prince commented heavily, glancing rapidly between the two of them while stroking his goatee. "It's been quite some time since we've had a champion. I suppose you will do." He spoke to Tanyth, as if it were a great honor that she would never protest owning.
The arrogance of elves would never not exasperate her, Tanyth was certain
"When the Guardian came to us she dealt directly with my Captain, Thaldrys." The Prince's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "I understand why she did so, after everything…but, no. I have run from my failures for too long. I will lead you to Nar'thalas Academy, the Tidestone's resting place. Perhaps if we can repair it I might find a way to lift this curse and regain the respect of my people."
The Prince glanced around, his shoulders dropping a bit when he took in the pure loathing on the faces of his Court.
Farondis might be arrogant and somewhat patronizing, but Tanyth had never felt the urge to punch so many people in the face since….well, never. At least Stormwind had a little bit of an excuse.
(Then her common sense pointed out the hypocrisy of that statement- Stormwind's people had been enthralled with a beautiful, powerful woman who had presented a benevolent front- and Tanyth told her inner voice of reason to shut the hell up.)
"Well, I am taking my leave, Nightwatchers. Though I doubt you will miss me." Prince Farondis informed them, snatching up a nearby staff and turning his glowing golden gaze towards Tanyth. "With me, champion."
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"Halt!" A ghostly man ordered them, an array of warriors formed loosely around him as they crossed the bridge to the ruined town. "You can't possibly think that we'll let you enter! Not after what happened last time!"
Farondis, who had endured a rather grueling gauntlet over their two-hour or so walk to the ruins of Nar'thalas, smiled wanly. "Thaldrys! My trusted captain!"
"Not anymore!" The captain snarled back, his bladed weapon rising higher as his ethereal eyes flared in anger. "You betrayed the Queen! Sundered the lands we called home! You are not welcome here, butcher!"
Tanyth had had about enough of this shit. For the past few hours she had heard nothing but abuse and loathing hurled towards the Prince and she was reaching her limit of tolerance for this sort of shit. Stormwind was only a handful of months in the past, and while the wounds on her body had long since healed, the damage to her mind and spirit had not. How was Farondis even still sane?
"Please, Thaldrys! Tell me what I must do to make amends!" Prince Farondis nearly begged, his hands held forward in a gesture of conciliation.
"I doubt that there is anything you can do that will fix-" The ghost gestured to the ruined utopia around them. "-this. Prince." The last was a sneer, a mocking insult of what should be a respectful title.
The Prince of Azsuna bowed his head in acceptance, clasping his hands as if in prayer as he bowed properly. "As you say." He murmured softly before he straightened and gestured to Tanyth. "This is my champion. She seeks to unite the shards of the Tidestone to bring a contemporary of the Guardian to Azsuna. Please, old friend, if you do not hold any value in my words then test her mettle yourself. This…Kelo'reem is a renowned researcher and, at the very least, might consider studying the curse that keeps us bound as ghosts."
"Hm." The guard- Thaldrys- grunted, sheathing his weapon and crossing his arms, visibly sizing Tanyth up. "I suppose a recommendation from the Prince- no matter his reputation- requires me to test you."
Kannan's stare of, 'hoe, don't do it!' was a nearly physical weight against her back. It was about the only thing that kept Tanyth's temper from shattering.
That and her lack of being able to bitch out these people in their native dialect. No sense losing her damn mind if she couldn't be understood!
"I will see your tasks through." Tanyth replied pleasantly, instead of anything she actually wanted to say. "With the aid of my friend, of course." Just so these people might get the hint that the blatant, judging stares they were subjecting Kannan to were a Bad Idea.
"I see." Thaldrys answered, his silvery gaze narrowed as he tried to stare her down.
Tanyth, fed up and ready for lunch, glared back.
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"This is stupid." Tanyth hissed to Kannan as they walked around the ruins of Nar'Thalas killing murlocs, the occasional naga or naga brute, and gathering up sodden animated arcane tomes.
"Highborne." Kannan corrected, shaking a weakly fluttering book at her mockingly. "I'm surprised it has been this smooth, really. My father's kin weren't known for their inclusion and diversity."
"Unless you count strains of arrogance and delusions of grandeur." Tanyth bitched, hopping over some rubble to dig out another book. "They're had ten thousand gorram years to gather these books, why are they sending us to do it anyways?"
Kannan knelt in front of her, cupped her face and very clearly enunciated. "Hi-gh-bo-rne."
Tanyth gave him a droll glare, batted his hands away and went back to her bitching. While also doing her best to ignore the stupidly superficial crush she had somehow recently developed on her only friend.
Well, to be fair it was almost fall, which meant she was closer to fourteen than thirteen. Uh, sort of. So she was well within the age range for stupidly timed, inconvenient crushes. Blowing out an exasperated breath Tanyth checked the position of the sun outside of the ruined building's doorless entryway and groaned. "We're going to have to head back soon."
Which meant there would be at least another day of looking for lost tomes in her future.
Outstanding.
"Well, we're up to forty-seven with these two." Kannan commented, rising from his crouch and stretching languidly. "So we only need three more."
"What's the damn difference between the tomes we're rescuing and the others anyways." Tanyth asked sourly, tugging at the weakly flapping book trapped under what looked like the zillionth statue of Azshara.
There were a creepy amount of them. Tanyth might or might not have taken to practicing her fledgling frost magic on them. Mostly to try and shatter them by all manner of blunt force objects. Like pillars. And rocks. And Kannan.
"The ones that are animate take more skill to find." Kannan replied, leaned up against a curve in the wall as he watched her work. The days in Azsuna were temperate and breezy, but some rain have been blowing in or something because it was actually fairly chilly, despite it being a few hours to sunset. "They are generally older or hold more valuable information, as they were specifically enchanted to stay out of the hands of those who weren't ready to use their knowledge. The Kirin Tor and even my old man's library are much the same."
"So some arcane books have a limited amount of self-governance." Tanyth asked, wriggling the book free and letting it flutter happily free for a moment before she stowed it away in her original backpack.
"To some extent. They respond more to power than character." Kannan told her, laughing at her disgruntled expression. "Come on." He said, offering her a hand up, which she gratefully took.
Fairly limber or not, spending days crouched in weird positions to find ancient books made her sore.
"If we push it we can finish this up tonight and then be fresh to brave the ruins of the Academy tomorrow." Kannan finished as he fell into step with her. "Given how addled some of these ghosts are, I don't think getting into the sealed Tidestone chamber is going to be a simple in-and-out thing."
"Doubtful." Tanyth agreed as they made their way across the sundered city's center and up a set of curved stairs to yet another grand building's carcass. "But it is what it is, I guess. We manage to get the Tidestone and Prince Farondis will allow your father to move his estate to Azsuna without causing any trouble. I mean-" A purple sheen caught her eye and she swiftly changed direction, swinging up onto a ledge to compensate for some broken stairs and then skirting around the crumbling ledge- circles were a theme in kaldorei ruins, she had found- to what looked like a ruined bookshelf.
Ah-ha!
'Come to mama you stupid book!' She thought with vaguely maniacal glee when she caught sight of a properly animated book in the ruined silt. Pitching her voice a bit louder, she continued. "It ought to make him happy. Having ancient elves to learn from."
"Yeah." Kannan's voice was distorted, echoey. "And it will keep the elves of Azsuna from attacking the estate, which will be a definite benefit.'
"Still." Tanyth grunted, jamming a fallen piece of decorative strut over a sizable rock and then throwing herself on the end in the air for leverage. "I don't want to- fuck that hurt!- don't want to have to do this again. This is really annoying." She glared at a nearby cluster of ghosts that were watching her apathetically. 'Really fucking annoying."
"Noted and seconded." Kannan replied from down below.
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Tanyth's first thought was 'wow, she's pretty'.
The person hovering over her- slipping what looked to be a healing potion phial away- had grey eyes and a pretty tattoo of some sort that- well, it looked a lot like Kannan's arcane script thingy, really. Only it was done in blues and golds in what appeared to be calligraphy of some sort. It snaked down from her eyebrow, sprawled across her left eyelid and temple, and then curled back around the underside of her eye, ending with a flourish near her tear duct. The woman's hair was bound in a crown braid- anchored by a golden headpiece- highlights of caramel and lighter blonde threaded through it with a thick plank of shock-white originating near the right temple.
The armor the person wore was reminiscent of Tanyth's own- eerily reminiscent, actually, if done in golden, cream, and navy blues rather than her current color scheme of crimson and golds.
And was that Solaria's hilt peeking over her shoulder? Actually now that she thought about it-
"Well, that's amusing." A very, eerily familiar voice commented wryly.
Tanyth squinted through the incessant pounding inside her head- it felt like the Muppets were having a rehearsal in there- and then blinked in consternation. "What. The. Fuck?"
A giggle came from the side and Tanyth lolled her head to the side to find the- oh.
"Chromie? Of the Bronze Dragonflight?" Tanyth commented rather flatly once she took in the golden-haired gnome's appearance.
Dressed in white robes edged in gold, with twin buns on either side of her blonde head, it was rather to mistake the dragon-disguised-as-a-gnome when one looked into her eyes. Chromie's eyes were the color of golden sands, the colors shifting as if they were in constant motion.
"Chronormu of the Bronze Dragonflight, at your service!" The little gnome chirped with a grin, rocking back onto her heels. "You can call me Chromie, though! I'm comfortable with such familiarity!"
The Bronze Dragonflight were the watchers of the Timeways. Which explained Tanyth's suspicion of the person she had somewhat stupidly called 'pretty' being herself. Just from a different time. Future, if the filled out curves and height were any indication.
"Nice to meet you, Chromie. I'm Tanyth." Tanyth replied, finally noticing that she seemed to be just outside a metal cage of some sort, inside a cave that also held a mildly interested sea giant and several dead naga forces.
Sea giants were huge, hulking mases of muscle. With loincloths made of reef materials and various seashells and other sea animals as decoration. Tanyth remembered that the Titans had created them to look after the original Pangea-continent of Kalimdor. Gentle, patient, and able to walk the seas like they were on dry land, they were among the many Titan races to fall to corruption.
"Ah! This must have been the first time we met, Tany!" Chromie chirped to the person who had silently freed Tanyth's hands of some seaweed-inspired metal-feeling shackles while she'd been distracted. "I must have forgot!"
Older-Tanyth smiled at the gnome before returning her gray gaze to Tanyth-the-younger. "I bet your head hurts like hell and you're having trouble stringing two thoughts together, huh little-me?"
"Yep." Younger-Tanyth drawled, feeling entirely confused. And sore. And hungry. And really thirsty.
Older-Tanyth huffed a soft laugh and handed over a waterskin, which younger-Tanyth guzzled down greedily. It was a sweet berry juice of some sort; thicker than melon juice and somewhat filling as well as refreshing.
Handing the flask back- it had to be enchanted, because she had guzzled down quite a bit- younger-Tanyth tried to pull herself together. "I remember- well. The Academy. Doing a bunch of little tasks. Bullshit tasks. Being attacked by the headmistress for asking to be let into the Tidestone vault. Killing the headmistress, or at least until she regenerated from the curse. Getting the key to the Tidestone's vault. Gathering the shards and then- oh. What the hell? We were attacked by naga!"
"Queen Azshara managed to her her…fins? Multiple snake hands?- on some Bronze Dragonflight…ehhh, I'd better not say." Chromie admitted, tapping a well-manicured finger to her lip thoughtfully. "At any rate she used, uh, well- Tidemistress Athissa and a few other naga are out of their proper time. To try and steal the Tidestone before it was protected. Sent back an echo of herself to taunt Prince Farondis, too! That's where future-you and I come in!"
"Okay." Younger-Tanyth replied, trying to chew on that information a bit. She wasn't quite up to her usual level of following along with shenanigans at the moment.
In the lore, Prince Farondis encountered a projection of Queen Azshara when rescuing his 'champion' who was taken prisoner by Tidemistress Athissa after gaining entry to the Tidestone vault at the Nar'Thalas Academy.
When Farondis arrived at the cave the naga had taken his champion to, the projection of Queen Azshara showed up. First in her naga form before shifting into her night Elf form when he didn't recognize her.
"I'm giving you the chance to kneel before me princeling. And maybe something can be done about that…..little curse." Queen Azshara crooned at the shocked Prince of Azsuna.
"To life this curse. To free my people and redeem my legacy." Prince Farondis considered, glancing at the queen and the cave behind her before shifting his golden gaze back to the Queen.
Queen Azshara's lips curled into a wicked, satisfied smile.
"The people of Azsuna are, and always have been, too proud to kneel before your demonic allies, witch!" The Prince proclaimed boldly, having made his choice. "We will never-" He shot a tightly controlled burst of fire at the woman's snarling visage. "-kneel-" Prince Farondis shaped massive boulders of molten fire and launched them towards his former Queen, anger in every line of his form. "-before you!" A trio of flaming rocks rained down on the Queen's projection.
The projection, which had been knocked down twice, laughed cruelly and sneered. "My wrath is coming." She warned him ominously before disappearing in a crackle of arcane power.
Afterwards Prince Farondis' people had rallied to him in order to defeat Tidemistress Athissa, who had stayed back to cover the retreat of her underling, Warlord Parjesh, who disappeared through a portal to a set of broken, mostly sunken lands called the 'Eye of Azshara'.
It had been a dungeon- an instance- in the game. One where the reassembled Tidestone had been implanted into one of Azshara's handmaidens, turning them into a destructive force of nature- a loosely held together storm of raging winds and unforgiving tides. With arcane bombs.
Because a skyscraper tall chaotic force of nature was just so last expansion.
"Don't worry." Older-Tanyth assured herself. "We're not far behind the Warlord and Azshara is vain enough to use her past-self to reassemble the pieces and wipe Azsuna off the map for Farondis' second refusal of her. It's not because of your-our actions, really. Just this is the only time the Tidestone wasn't behind strong, nearly impenetrable wards. Thus being a window of opportunity for our enemies."
"Not to mention a chance for them to destroy the place the Tidestone's being kept safe in the present!" Chromie butted in cheerfully. "I tell you, never a dull moment, guarding the Timeways." Chromie smiled at younger-Tanyth. "But you're different, Tany! You're- well. You're allowed. It's not meddling if it's just a person living their lives, you know!"
"Exactly. So the Tidestone will be whole soon enough and the Wrath sent to the Eye of Azshara send Azsuna to the depths." Older-Tanyth grinned brightly. 'That's why we're here."
"If Azshara has access to time travel, why wouldn't she come herself?" Tanyth asked somewhat plaintively. "Or just have her minions tell her everything that happens between now and then so she can have a whole bunch of foreknowledge? You know, counter moves before they're made?"
Chromie let out an unimpressed rush of air and crossed her arms huffily. "The Timewardens watch over the Timeways, you know!" The little gnome planted her hands on her hips and continued her lecture. "Even though she managed to slip Tidemistress Athissa and Warlord Parjesh back in time to do this one task, the Bronze Dragonflight's mastery of the Timeways means- well." Chromie tapped her lips with a thoughtful finger and considered her words carefully. "Azshara is powerful, of that we've no doubt. But using blunt force to punch a hole in the Timeways to compensate for trying to use a Bronze Dragonflight artifact without a Bronze dragon- it's noticeable. And that means that the Timewardens- like me!- are closely monitoring the situation."
"That's why we came back to help, little-me." Older-Tanyth assured her younger counterpart firmly. "Tidemistress Athissa and Parjesh are chumps, but the Bronze decided that destroying the Wrath of Azshara here in the past- well, my past; your present- was the best fix for the timeline as a whole. And the Wrath of Azshara is no simple opponent. At least, not according to Kelo'reem's achives."
Younger-Tanyth scooted over- away from the highly unpleasant mass of barbs that were the walls of the cage she had been held in- and leaned against the wall of the cave itself. "Time travel is confusing." She complained.
Chromie giggled and spread her hands out wide to emphasize her next statement. "That's why people should leave time travel to the Bronze Dragonflight!"
Older-Tanyth made a choked sound, but said nothing.
"You- uh, older-me- and Chromie?" Younger-Tanyth asked, somewhat warily. Then she realized she hadn't seen Kannan since she woke up. "Kannan!" She shouted, rolling to her feet and looking around worriedly.
"He was taken by Parjesh while we were dealing with Athissa but we'll get him back, no worries." Older-Tanyth soothed, holding her hands up in the universal expression of surrender.
Younger-Tanyth scowled and started preparing herself to stand up. She had apparently been tied up pretty tightly because the pins-and-needles sensations were killing her.
Older-Tanyth reached out and caught her younger counterpart by the shoulders. "Listen, little me." She said seriously, holding younger-Tanyth's gaze seriously. "Some of our party you know and others you don't know yet." Older-Tanyth gave littler-Tanyth a firm look. "You're what? Just a few months out of Stormwind at this point?"
"Yeah." Younger-Tanyth drawled, slowly getting to her feet and scowling a bit when she noticed that older-Tanyth wasn't all that much taller than her. "About three months to the day. Why?"
Older-Tanyth grimaced and crossed her arms, wisps of loose hairs falling loosely around her golden headgear. "Look, girlfriend. A lot happens between Stormwind and…well." Older-Tanyth huffed and propped a hand on her hip while using the other to gesticulate. "It's difficult to explain. We're…." A wry expression passed over older-Tanyth's face, twisting her lips into a sardonic grin before she smiled wistfully at her younger self. "We're not quite as irrelevant as I- we thought."
Something cold dropped into Tanyth's stomach and she hugged herself to hide her discomfort. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Older-Tanyth replied, that same sad smile on her face. "It- just remember that hate is the easy way out, yeah?" Something bitter lingered in the too-familiar gray eyes of her older compatriot and it caused the icy knot in younger-Tanyth's stomach to plummet.
"Ok." Younger-Tanyth replied, the words barely managing to force themselves out of her suddenly dry throat. "I will."
Older-Tanyth smiled, the darkness behind her eyes receding as she bounced on her toes and Solaria's hilt glittered in the light falling across the floor of the cave from the entrance. "Awesome! Let's roll!"
Tanyth followed after her older counterpart, stepping out into the bright sunshine and blinking away spots in his vision afterwards.
Once her vision cleared though-
"Calm, little me." A gauntleted hand came down on her shoulder, causing Tanyth to look up at her older counterpart with a sense of betrayal. "Remember what I said." She murmured in a lower voice as they came closer to the loitering group.
A man with rich chocolate colored hair and mossy green eyes noticed them first. "Ah, Commander [unintelligible]. Everything alright?"
"What the hell?" Younger-Tanyth asked, looking between the man and her older counterpart warily. "What was that gibberish?"
"Ah, sorry!" Chromie piped up from the other side of older-Tanyth. "That would be the work of my fellow Timewardens preserving the timeline. It might happen a lot." Chromie tapped her lips thoughtfully. "Actually we should just go by nicknames from here on in or there's going to be a lot of that."
One of the elves- looked like a High Elf, but Tanyth was no expert- raised an eyebrow. "Very well, Timewarden." The woman- clad in blue and wielding an elegant staff brimming with arcane power- smiled at younger Tanyth. "You may call me Maddie."
"You know who I am." A woman draped in black, shimmering fabrics that covered everything but her lower arms from view stated evenly. "You may refer to me however you wish." Her molten orange eyes glowed in the shadows beneath her hood, and even through the dark fabric that covered her face Tanyth could see the curve of the woman's smile.
Tanyth's hands involuntarily clenched into fists. Her teeth groaned from the force she used to keep her jaw clamped firmly shut to prevent herself from exploding out into a thousand scathing questions.
The covered head nodded lightly in her direction and black nails glinted against the dark metal of the star-topped staff.
"Yo." Older-Kannan greeted lazily, waving two fingers at her in a lazy salute. Older-Kannan smiled down at her, his bright eyes full of fondness and good humor. His armor was a mix of cloth and leather, all in reds. His white hair was pulled into a high tail at the back and he was holding a particularly intricate goldenwood bow that radiated power- the Light and the arcane. His arcane script was also changed- it spiraled across his cheekbone and over his nose; blues and purples threaded with gold. "I had forgotten how cute you used to be, mini-Tanyth."
"He's still an asshole." Older-Tanyth sing-songed brightly, grinning at older-Kannan's pouty expression.
Tanyth was gathering some subtext there that made her slightly uncomfortable.
"Self-sacrificing idiot?" The man with the moss green eyes offered dryly, earning a bark of laughter from older-Kannan. The man was outfitted in typical Paladin gear- silver armor edged in gold with a tabard with a silver fist over the front. His hair was tied at the base of the neck and trailed across his left shoulder.
"Well, no time like the present." Chromie trilled brightly. "We've got baddies to see to! Move it people!" Chromie made for the swirling light blue portal across the shallows, directly opposite a ruined outdoor theatre and the spectral forms of Azsuna elves. "Older Tanyth is Tany and younger Tanyth is Tanyth! Now let's get movin'! Or I'm gonna be late!"
-XXX-
The portal dumped them on a ruined section of land far enough away from Azsuna that Tanyth could see the screaming wall of winds and water that was the Maelstrom. They portal'ed onto a sandy high ground, filled with turtles and angry naga. This far out the air was fairly clear of beach smells- such as rotted fish- but the winds were rather persistent and cutting. Somehow the winds made the broken little section of land warmer instead of cooler.
Straight ahead, at the end of the slope, was a large, horseshoe-shaped area where a large naga was laughing at people inside cages that were made of the same wicked-looking metal as her cage in the cave had been. Beyond the sand embankments was a massive, wide shield of dark purple arcane power.
Where the Wrath of Azshara should be.
But Tanyth-the-younger didn't have much time to gawk.
"Stay back and keep us healed up, 'kay little me?" Older-Tanyth ordered before nodding to the Self-Sacrificing Idiot, who went charging towards the heart of a group of naga, sword raised high and yelling some sort of battlecry.
Tanyth-the-younger didn't even have time to scream that she didn't know any healing spells before her older self hurled herself into battle, Solaria's blade dancing brightly under the midday light.
Younger-Tanyth called Solaria and kept her Consecration up, circling around some crude battlements and stabbing a naga caster in the back. The caster went down and Tanyth took that opportunity to cut the head off the snake.
Or she tried to.
Fledgling battle senses flaring, she tugged Solaria free as she rolled to the side, a massive mace crashing down into the space she inhabited just seconds prior.
On the bright side, the caster was dead. But now she had an angry, slippery naga melee type chasing her. She dove left, the mace crashing into the crude battlements she had skirted just a few minutes earlier. Tanyth renewed her Consecration spell as she made a strategic retreat towards the other fighters, trying to keep herself mostly out of the way of naga-dude's mace.
This set of naga were definitely much tougher than the ones they had been fighting in Nar'Thalas!
The mace impacted Dorah, Tanyth having called her shield to her arm with barely a heartbeat to spare. However, while Dorah successfully blocked the blow from killing her, the blow still made her bones rattle and she barely managed to keep her footing in the frost-spell-tipped grass. The next blow made her scream despite her best efforts, confirming her hazy suspicions that she had broken her arm.
Tanyth set her jaw defiantly and recklessly surged forward, ducking under the next blow from her opponent and slamming, full-force into the naga. Just before they collided, Tanyth slipped in a pile of ooze- naga blood, she later realized- and veered off to the side. The naga overbalanced, pitching forward without her expected weight there to arrest his momentum. Tanyth rolled over, landing on her shield arm. She grit her teeth, tasting copper in her mouth, as she tried to press her advantage.
The naga recovered first.
Tanyth got her feet under herself in just the nick of time to backflip- she couldn't believe she managed it and it was sloppy as hell- away, landing hard on her knees. She could feel blood trailing from her lips and she wanted to scream in frustration.
The naga advanced on her, wickedly spied mace stained with blood and an unfriendly, too-wide smile on its face. "Die, landwalker!" It roared angrily as it swung its mac up in an arc.
Tanyth moved. Without thought, without consideration and partially due to the arcane frost on that particular piece of ground. She flowed around the blow and flipped Solaria, holding her sword in a reverse grip. As soon as she slipped level with the naga she shifted her weight, pivoting and driving Solaria's curved edge into the cretin's back.
When she looked up she noticed a naga caster had circled around and was aiming an unstable looking arcane spell at the High Elf's- Maddie's- back.
Tanyth was too far away. Too far away and wounded and standing on a sodden piece of arcane-frost glass that was so cold she feared frostbite despite her armor and she wouldn't-she couldn't-
Without taking her eyes off the opponents in front of her, the Maddie negligently waved her staff and the magic that had been building between the naga's palms detonated, sending the naga flying backwards into a thick tropical tree.
Tanyth pushed herself of the patch of frost and scrambled to her feet as best as she could, hurrying towards the group. When she got somewhere near-ish, she tossed out her Consecration spell whenever it began to fade and took stock of her injuries, watching for ambushers.
The battle didn't last much longer, with the group from the future being victorious. Tanyth kept her Consecration up, but that was about it.
"I told you to stay back and heal!" Older-Tanyth yelled heatedly, splattered in ooze-blood and a dash of red blood. "Why didn't you-"
"I don't know any healing spells, you moron!" Younger-Tanyth snarled back, her broken arm aching something fierce. Winds battered her blonde-copper-brown hair into her eyes, the strands being tugged out of the halfhearted braid she had done them up in after she was freed. Her whole body burned with varying stages of discomfort and she could barely feel her calves, as cold as they were. "I can Shield, Fortitude, toss out a Consecration, and Purify but that's it! You, of all people, should fucking know that!"
Older-Tanyth halted, mid-angry-march, and closed her eyes for a long moment. "Right. Fuck." Gray eyes fluttered open and she gave younger-Tanyth a strained smile. "Sorry, kiddo. You lose some of the finer points after a [unintelligible]- really Chromie?"
"Sorry. That's the way it goes." The little gnome shrugged unconcernedly. "The Timewardens censor anything that could threaten the timeline."
Older-Tanyth made a noise of frustration and younger-Tanyth just wanted to curl up and cry. She hadn't asked for any of this! Her head was still pounding, her arms as throbbing, and she felt like she was never going to be good enough. Despite all she and Kannan had accomplished since they came to Azsuna, these naga were almost too much for her.
Were too much for her. In the time it took her to take out two of them, the others had taken out at least four. And her Kannan wasn't in sight! Not in any of the bramble, seaweed metal cages that littered the broken bit of land in front of the fighting pit, where the Warlord was taunting them from.
Younger-Tanyth grit her teeth and glared up at her older counterpart through teary eyes. "My apologies, Commander." The title was coated in sarcasm, the syllables ripped from her chest through a miasma of anger. "But I suggest we move forward. The Warlord grows impatient." Tanyth-the-younger set her chin and walked past herself, shoulders thrown back insolently and most definitely not crying tears of embarrassed helplessness.
"Always have said that you're your own worst enemy, Tan." Older-Kannan murmured, just loud enough for younger Tanyth to hear.
-XXX-
Warlord Parjesh was annoying, as he had a penchant for throwing spears and those spears hurt like hell.
From what Tanyth could hear anyways. She was huddled outside the walls. On older's orders.
Tanyth- the present Tanyth- huddled outside the arena for that fight, setting her arm and downing a few healing draughts. The draughts wouldn't heal her arm, but would help set the bone. She used a few handy pieces of wood- spear handles- to make herself a splint and then fitted Dorah over her makeshift patch job.
A little internal application of the Light and her arm was serviceable, if not whole.
Not a moment too soon, either. Down the sandy, broken pathway were several clusters of casters. At first they had been entirely unconcerned with the fight with Parjesh, but as the fight wore on they started to get….well, annoyed. Not worried. Irritated. Towards that end a pair of spellcasters peeled away from the mass of serpentine bodies and arcing, violent threads of the arcane to- presumably- come and join Parjesh.
Tanyth intercepted them, keeping them at a distance with Consecration- she had never wished she knew Smite quite as badly as she did at that moment- and ended up pissing off one of the ambling turtles for her efforts
Before Tanyth's situation became too tenuous the group caught up to her. They made easy work of the two spellcasters and half-beaten turtle before charging down the path towards the naga spellcasters that were channeling some sort of powerful spell, minions and arcane…oozes? Globs? Gathered around them.
Tanyth-the-younger sat that fight out as well. Well, series of fights. There were five clusters of spellcasters. And then a giant snail of some sort.
Victory assured the group regrouped near Tanyth's Boulder of Protection and regrouped for a moment.
The small fry taken care of, they now needed to deal with a massive naga- at least as tall as the average storefront back in Stormwind- channeling a massive amount of arcane power towards a shield that obscured the view of a small cove, behind the Warlord's slave pens. The hulking beast- it had, like, six arms and snakes-for-hair- had been entirely apathetic while watching older's group slaughter its brethren.
Actually it laughed- high pitched and cruel- and sneered condescendingly as its compatriots died. At the moment it was taunting the resting group of fighters, insinuating- heavily- that they should enjoy their final moments before it crushed them like vermin.
"See anything that would make shoving a sword through Ugly's gullet a bad idea Maddie?" Older-Tanyth asked, wiping her hand across her mouth after taking a long pull from her waterskin.
"Just arcane disturbances. However-" The elf grimaced and settled back down behind the meager shelter the rocks provided. "-given that the skies are slowly clouding over and going grey, I would assume that the Wrath is either here or nearly here. We need to move quickly. If it reaches maturity…." Maddie and older exchanged a grim look. "We need to disrupt the runestones holding the barrier protecting the Wrath. Given what I can see, it's a standard three-anchor arcane ward. Simple but incredibly powerful. The massive naga is standing on one such runestone, there is another near the wormling, and then one across the bay, on the rise."
Older-Kannan whistled, impressed. "Damn. Azshara works fast."
"Let's not praise the enemy, ok?" Older-Tanyth grumbled, settling onto her knees and looking directly at her younger counterpart. "Sorry, kiddo. I know this is frustrating and uncomfortable, but-"
"Save it." Younger-Tanyth replied, tone strained. "We've got bigger issues than….whatever the hell this shit is." She pushed herself to her feet, narrowing her gaze at the naga. "Are we killing Ugly or Uglier first?" Younger asked, referring to the looming, flailing worm sticking up from one of the holes in the shoals, around and north of Ugly.
Older-Tanyth sighed heavily and stood, brushing sand off her armor and glancing between the spellcaster and the gigantic worm swaying in the distance. "Uglier, I think. If we are careful we can circle around the wreckage to the north and get the worm before doubling back to the spellcaster." Older-Tanyth shot her younger counterpart a weak grin. "At least with naga we can use their arrogance to our advantage. They like grand speeches and to watch their underlings die off while they gloat. Normal beasties? Not so much."
-XXX-
The storm that Maddie had noticed grew worse the winds more violent and the waves more devastating- as they cleared the way to the Wrath.
The opted to murder the ridiculously tall worm first, as it seemed to be agitating the winds. Somehow.
The worm guardian spewed green acid that ate through everything- Dorah took some damage from one such spewing, and more than a few places in Tanyth's armor now needed repaired, but her skin was mostly spared- and liked to split itself. The runestone holding its sections of the wards had glowed poison green until the black robed woman had melted it into slag.
Spellcaster naga- "I am Lady Hatecoil! Of the noble line of Hatecoil! We are favored by the Queen Herself!"— liked to toss around lightning and wind attacks, requiring use of the sand dunes to remain uncrispified. When she fell Maddie rushed in and destroyed the massive sandstone runestone the naga had been protecting.
The arcane barrier- a solid wall of blues, pinks, and purples meshed together- rippled ominously, but didn't fall.
Then there were the murlocs. And the hydra. And the makura.
Arguably, those fights had been harder than the naga ones. Though they didn't actually have any importance in the overall objective, they were just full of 'fight me!'.
They passed through a cave and had defeat a sea giant- Tanyth came up to its ankle- of some sort to rescue younger-Kannan, who had been chained to a post next to that particular runestone. The last anchor destroyed- and Kannan freed, if unconscious- and the shield hiding the Wrath of Azshara fell. Like porcelain shattering on a floor, the ward cracked, splintered, and then buckled unleashing the sweet scent of the arcane into the cove.
"Damn." Younger-Tanyth swore, gazing at the tall, spiraling, vortex of doom with no small amount of trepidation.
"Yeah." Older-Tanyth replied, grimacing. She turned to her younger counterpart. "Let's go clear the air, little-me. You guys take five."
And with that the older hauled the younger away, back towards the cave.
-XXX-
Shoving younger's back against the sandy wall of a cave, older-Tanyth gave the girl a pitying, sympathetic look. "Look, little-me. I'm sorry." She let her hand fall from younger's shoulder, letting on hand rest against her hip, leaving the other free to gesticulate. "You've got some hard times coming. Good ones, too. Lots of good ones. But it usually gets worse before it gets better." Older smiled sadly and crossed her arms under her bust. "And, well, we're pretty known for- [unintelligible]- motherfucker! Uh, healing. Let's go with healing."
Younger-Tanyth arched an eyebrow.
Older-Tanyth had forgotten that she'd been this jaded after Stormwind. Then again after-
Well. That information would be interfering with the timeline.
"Follow your gut." Older advised her younger self, trying to search for the right words to say. She remembered whatever she had told herself had been important- incredibly important- to younger, but they just- the memory was just out of her metaphoric reach when she tried to remember the exact words.
Looks like she was winging it.
"You've- we've- there are answers out there, little me. Answers and questions and mistakes and victories. But if you live in fear of messing up the intricacies of certain events, you'll be miserable." Older-Tanyth smiled wryly, eliciting a similar response in her counterpart. "I know it's not our way- that we follow our heart, no matter how crazy it seems. Just remember to use your common sense from time to time, too."
Younger-Tanyth laughed and older-Tanyth stepped forward, wrapping her younger self in a hug.
"At least I get a little taller, eh?" Younger-Tanyth sniffled into elder's shoulder.
Older threw her head back and laughed, feeling a strange disconnect from the girl she once had been. "Yeah. Not much, but a few more inches."
"Do we- I mean- grr- doweeverfindahome?" Younger stammered out eventually.
Older knew what her younger self was asking, though. "Yeah. Yeah we do."
"'kay." Younger sighed, seemingly trying to soak up all of older's comfort and steadiness before she withdrew, shifting back into the survivor that she was.
It made Tanyth-the-elder ache to see how lonely, how broken this version of herself was. To be starkly reminded of how alone Tanyth-at-thirteen had thought herself to be, entirely unaware of-
"There are so many things I wish I could tell you." Tanyth-the-elder told her younger self as they made their way back towards the group. "Things that would make so much sense and make everything better….but I can't. There's so much for you to discover- and." Older-Tanyth closed her eyes and pushed back at the frustration of being so close and yet so far from being able to reassure her younger self.
Younger hastily brushing away tears from her eyes as they walked.
"Just….shine on, little me."
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Tanyth gasped, doubled over on her knees as she vomited up what felt like acid. Her limbs were jelly, not even having the strength left to shake after the series of brutal, constant movement fights this day had been.
But. They had won.
The Wrath was defeated, the Tidestone- whole and restored- glittering in the tranquil remains of the former enemy.
"Fighting a watchtower-tall localized hurricane that tosses out random arcane bombs is so not on my list of things to do for fun." Kannan-the-younger gasped out beside her, his hair half-white again from being caught on the fringes of an arcane explosion.
"Same." Tanyth panted, utterly exhausted from trying to keep the arcane bomb targets Purified. The targeting mechanism of the large arcane spheres of doom- they were bigger than a kodo- snapped under the strain of Purify. The bomb kept falling from the mouth of the Wrath, which meant running away while also dodging localized little circle-flares of unstable arcane energy.
But at least most of the explosion could be avoided.
Of course, the loose sand, screaming winds, and random tsunami waves generated by the Wrath were also a major cause for concern.
Moss-green did a wonderful job trading off with older-Tanyth to keep the Wrath distracted, while the black-clad woman and Maddie pelted the Wrath with spells and both Kannans fired arrows at it.
Still, they had whittled away at the network of magic holding the Wrath together until it essentially exploded into a violent gust of sea spray, the handmaiden's wails of denial scattering on the winds.
Tanyth swiped the back of her hand across her mouth and shakily staggered to her feet, Kannan rising behind her.
"So, what now?" She asked the older group, who had moved away to discuss what happened next without getting censored every fifteen words.
"Now you take the Tidestone back to Farondis." Older-Tanyth replied, her shock-white plank of hair having worked free and plastered to the side of her blood-and-dirt streaked face. "And-"
Chromie waved her hand and the group suddenly dissolved into golden sands. "Sorry. But you'll have to figure it yourself, Tany!" Chromie pulled out a pocketwatch from…somewhere and her eyes widened almost comically. "Oh no! I'm late! See ya around Tany!"
Then she disappeared in a whirl of sand as well.
"Well." Kannan said dryly, having woken up shortly before the main fight with the Wrath, but after they had scaled the rocks and a wrecked ship down from the overlooking ledge. The Wrath had started trying to drown them as soon as they left the higher ground. "That was fun."
"Yeah." Tanyth echoed dully, exhausted. She ran a hand over her face and scrubbed at her aching eyes a bit, grimacing at the layers of sweat and brine on her skin. She walked towards the gently bobbing, churning Titan artifact. It was made of crackling lightning and swirling waters, a multi-sectioned stone centered around a dense core. "So this is the Tidestone of Golganneth, huh?"
"What do you know about it?" Kannan asked curiously, holding his multihued hair out in front of his eyes for inspection. Parts were still dark red, while others were bright red, and some strands were his natural shock-white.
"I know that Golganneth was the Titan of, uhh, skies, storms, and seas? Skies and roaring seas? I think? Something like that." Tanyth replied, crouching down in front of the artifact and debating on how to move it. "I know Golganneth empowered two of the Titan Keepers here on Azeroth- Thorim and, uh, one other."
"Hm." Kannan hummed noncommittally, standing and meandering over towards her. "I think we should use a net to carry it back…..I'm leery of touching it."
"Same." Tanyth sighed tiredly before she cursed. "All our gear is in Azsuna!"
"Shit." Kannan swore, running a hand down his face and glaring out over the area. "I guess we'll just have to make do with whatever we can find."
Tanyth groaned tiredly. "Awesome."
-XXX-
The portal back to Azsuna had collapsed.
"Well. This sucks." Tanyth stated blandly, the Tidestone secured inside a crate, with length of rope tied together so they could carry it between them.
Kannan started cursing in Thalassian.
Before Tanyth could decide whether to cry or laugh hysterically- the journey back to the portal site had been long, hot, and all around unpleasant- there was a spark of arcane power. Just a tiny flicker in the circular ancient window-used-as-a-portal before there was another spark, and then another before a portal swirled into existence.
Tanyth turned to Kannan, who shrugged. "Beats dying of starvation here." Was his profound statement of action.
"Agreed."
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