Varian Wrynn, never a man to panic, was however a man subject to frequent bouts of rage in the place of panic. Now not only was Lady Proudmoore missing, but also Anduin had gone missing too. Varian was loathe to do what he was about to, and yet he knew this was more involved now than sending a few SI agents out to search and gather information. So here he stood, waiting in the Swamp of Sorrows at a small encampment containing only himself. Stormwind was left in the care of Broll Bearmantle and Valeera Sanguinar for the time being.
It was late, on the wrong side of midnight, Varian assumed by the blackness and cold of the night, and he was just feeling his eyelids grow heavy when a robed figure approached. The robes were brown leathers and suedes and the long greying beard and green skin marked him as the one Varian was waiting for.
"You're late." Varian snorted, not dignifying the Horde's former Warchief with a greeting.
Thrall chose to ignore the rudeness and instead make it very clear why he'd come. "I apologize, your highness. But know this; I only came because of her." A look of dislike to match Varian's crossed Thrall's face.
"You mean the woman you abandoned? Nice to know that you finally do care once she could potentially be dead." Varian sneered.
"Choose your words carefully, KING Varian, any feelings I have for Jaina will not prevent me from ending you. You called me here because she was in trouble and you needed help finding her, and so I'm here. If you truly cared for her, you'd put your dislike of myself and the Horde aside and tell me what you know." Thrall growled.
"Fine. She went to discuss a peace treaty with Sylvanas Windrunner. However beyond that, I am in the dark. I can't be sure if she's being held in Undercity for their vile experimentations or if she never made it there and was taken by the brute YOU appointed in your place." Varian replied, an edge to his voice indicating that it was taking every ounce of control in his body not to try and take Thrall's life right then and there. He crushed those thoughts and thought instead of Jaina, likely hurt, possibly dying. He thought also of Tiffin and how he had failed her. He would not fail Jaina as well.
"Then time is of the essence, but rushing into either conclusion would be foolish and the incorrect one would waste precious time. I will commune with the spirits as to Jaina's whereabouts." Thrall said, sitting down cross-legged and beginning to meditate.
Varian suppressed a snarl of rage, thinking this to be a waste of time. But no…Jaina trusted Thrall and Thrall obviously did care for her, he wouldn't risk Jaina's life. Varian forced himself to calm down and guard the orc during his meditations.
The black market district in Booty Bay was in full swing today, everything from prostitutes, to slaves, to mercenaries to illegal weapons and substances were being hawked and bartered atop auctioneer stands. Mikah, Anduin and Tari walked through the throng, looking about for the proper type of mercenary.
"Damn! Some of these girls are great!" Mikah grinned, looking the whores over. "Hey! Ladies! Who wants to polish this priest's staff?" He yelled, pointing at Anduin.
"Mikah, I swear I will send you running into the bay next time you do that." Anduin sighed, pressing his palm to his face in annoyance.
"Psychic scream is for pussies." Mikah retorted plainly. "By the way, where's Tari?"
"You lost her!" Anduin's eyes widened. "Mikah, that's not good! I told you to keep an eye on her!"
"She probably went to go masturbate over some super orc killing Dwarvish rifle or something." Mikah shrugged. "We'll find her."
"I found us a guide." Tari's voice grunted from behind them. "This is Aila, she's half-high elf and half human and her father was a member of SI:7. Can we go?" When Anduin and Mikah turned around, they saw Tari was holding a half-elf girl about her own age in her arms.
"Er…okay, hello Aila, where did you and Tari find each other?" Anduin asked.
"Well, I ran out of money and this goblin said he knew how could work off my debt and the next thing I knew, I was up on an auction block with a bunch of dirty old men bidding on me. But then Tari forced her way through the crowd, punched the auctioneer out, noticed my clothing and asked if I was a rogue because, you know, of all the black, and when I said yes, she drew her weapon, pointed it at the bidders and said she was taking me and the auction was over." The half-elf explained awkwardly as though the whole situation still seemed bizarre to her. Tari set her down and Aila stood up, shaking out her long golden hair. She wore a black high necked sleeveless chest piece which showed off midriff and a bit of the under part of her large breasts, her leggings were also black leather with empty dagger holsters and knee-high black boots made for silent, quick movements. Her hands were clad in long black gloves padded at the fingers and palms for easy grip on valuables and walls and her blue eyes gazed sharply around with the practiced stare of a treasure hunter.
"I have a question." Mikah asked, raising his hand.
"If it's about her tits, I'm killing you." Tari said bluntly.
"I no longer have a question." Mikah lowered his hand.
Anduin rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry for your troubles, miss, we're pleased to meet you and we will offer you money in exchange for your services as a guide. We're headed to Ratchet at this moment, so if you'll come with us, we'll also pay for your boat ride."
"Thanks, I REALLY appreciate it." Aila nodded as she followed the group towards the docks. "Oh…um…do you have extra weapons? I had to sell my daggers…At the time, I thought a few tankards of cherry grog were a more important investment, I won't make that mistake again."
Anduin raised an eyebrow and turned his gaze towards Tari with a look that plainly said 'really?' Tari nodded and moved protectively close to Aila. "Give her the knives, Anduin, I know you have them in the supply pouch, I packed them myself." Tari replied.
"Alright, but drinking will be kept in moderation on this expedition, we don't have time for taverns and drunks." Anduin pinched the bridge of his nose, shaking his head.
Jaina lay with Sylvanas in the library, Sylvanas reading aloud from a book of elvish poetry as Jaina rested her head against the banshee queen's chest, eyes half closed. She had not been able to relax this much in quite a long time. It was truly restful here. But, she supposed that restful was how one was supposed to think of the dead, though given recent history that was a bit of a laugh. Still, the poetry was beautiful, the chill of the library was offset by the warmth of Jaina's cloak and the softness of Sylvanas' full, well-shaped breasts beneath the more relaxed cloth armor she wore when at rest and at a lowered risk of attack.
When the poem was finished, Sylvanas gently closed the book and set it aside, moving to gently cup Jaina's chin in her hand and tilt her head up to kiss her. It felt right. Sylvanas had never had time for love, never really had time to discover her preferences. She certainly had no intention of going soft or laying down arms, but this was a pleasing distraction and perhaps Jaina could be brought over to her way of thinking. It couldn't be too difficult. "Jaina, you're a rare beauty, a treasure greater than any the Alliance could keep locked up in a vault. You deserve better than they offer, better than the Horde would offer. Though I spoke out of rage and hate when last I brought this up, they have passed you back and forth and treated you badly under the pretense that they'd agree to whatever peace summit or truce you devised. They think of you as a fragile flower, my love." Sylvanas twirled a strand of Jaina's golden hair around her finger, looking deeply into her blue eyes. "But I know differently, I know you are strong, I know if you only let a touch of darkness in your heart out, then you could control them. You could make them see your point. Imagine it, my darling, your peaceful utopia, the Horde and the Alliance in perfect harmony, you could have it…"
Jaina tensed slightly, looking a bit uncomfortable at that. "But…resorting to violence would undermine all I've ever said, all I've ever worked for, I-"
Sylvanas pulled her close in another much deeper kiss, caressing her softly as she did. When she pulled away, tiny string of saliva connecting their mouths for a moment, she waited before breaking the connection and saying "Think of yourself, Jaina, you deserve better."
