As the new boat going from Stormwind to Booty Bay sailed into the southernmost harbour three days later, Beatrix, Bunny and Tawnee stood on the bow, watching the pier excitedly. Beatrix had insisted she'd come alone, but then the girls had complained that she had already seen so much of the world, while they did not often find a good excuse to leave Stormwind. Bunny's fiancé and Tawnee's boyfriend had also tagged along, not sure how to handle the fact that the three girls were travelling anywhere to meet up with an old friend who happened to be an undead rogue that went by the name Bony.
While they searched for the rogue among the many buildings of the harbour, Bunny and Tawnee used the opportunity to explore the Bay's shops, but Beatrix was way too nervous to even think about shopping. On several occasions there were undead people passing by her, and she turned and smiled, only to find it was the wrong kind of face that looked at her in distrust.
It was rather late in the evening when they reached the harbour so they decided to stay at the inn to wait for the boat that was going back to Stormwind the next day.
Beatrix was feeling down since she had yet to find the rogue, and the others tried to cheer her up.
"He might not be here yet," Dan, Bunny's fiancé, told her.
"He should have been here since yesterday," Beatrix sulked. "And if he says he's gonna be here, then he won't let anything keep him."
"But it's a big harbour, and we haven't been through it all," Dan continued as they walked to the inn.
Dusk was falling and the multitude of lanterns which kept the Bay active even at night were being lit.
As they reached the inn Beatrix stopped and sniffed the air curiously.
"That smell!" She looked around her and tried to follow her nose. "I know that smell."
"Oh, shut up! I don't smell that bad."
Turning towards the voice, Beatrix grinned happily as she spotted two bright, shining eyes within the hood of a cloak. There was a flash of ember glow as a cigarette was discarded on the ground and stepped on by a soft leather boot.
"Val!" Beatrix was surprised to find herself hugging the rogue.
She had imagined this moment many times in her mind, but it had never really included any hugging.
"Bee, I have some broken ribs," he complained. "Don't break them more."
When she let him go she cleared her throat embarrassed and turned to introduce her friends.

Ten minutes later they were ordering dinner from a lady in the inn. Beatrix tried looking into the blackness of the rogue's hood, but he was trying to be a hermit crab, hiding inside his hole.
"Can I not see your face today?" she asked him, nudging him with an elbow and remembering the broken ribs just a moment to late.
He didn't seem to notice the pain, if there was any, but shook his head.
"No. You'd be sad to see how I've deteriorated," he told her, blunt as always.
"I thought you weren't vain," she teased, but it failed to provoke him.
When their food arrived, Bunny had to ask:
"Don't you want to eat, Bony? I know you can, because you ate your biscuit!"
He answered by stabbing a small piece of meat on Beatrix' plate with one of his many knives and chewed it in silence while the rest enjoyed their meal and talked. After the food he touched Beatrix' arm and leaned against her to whisper:
"I need a smoke. And I know the perfect rooftop."
As he stood up, so did she, following him outside after explaining to her friends.
Valante offered to help her up onto the roof and looked surprised at while she levitated up on her own.
"You've certainly gotten some new skills," he laughed, climbing up after her.
She was impressed by the agility and speed with which he climbed, even with only one arm.
The rooftop really was perfect. There were chimneys to sit between, sheltered from wind and curious eyes.
A match flared in the darkness and lit the tip of a cigarette that was sticking out from his hood.
"Enough of this silliness," Beatrix told him, pulling the hood back.
He had the mask down, and at first she could not see any change in his face, but when she looked closer the skin seemed more worn, the nose thinner, the eyes more sunken. The hand holding the cigarette had changed too, now the index finger was also without skin.
He cringed as she grabbed his collar, smiling when she found what she was looking for.
"You still have the lucky wire!"
"Yeah," he smiled, and she noticed there were two stitches in his cheek that had opened when the thread rotted away. "No more yellow ribbons for my leg now I have my lucky wire."
"And you still smoke like you life depended on it," she giggled, pulling up her legs and putting her arms around the knees.
"It does!"
"No, Val, that's just a bad excuse."
"Nope. Smoked meat lasts longer."
This made her shake with laughter and he watched thoughtfully how her shiny eyes reflected the moonlight and the sea, while he took deep drags of the cigarette.
"You still have no filthy habits?" he grinned. "You don't smoke, don't drink, don't swear, don't speak bad about people, you don't... do nothing wrong."
"Yes, I do!" she was almost insulted. "I'll have you know, mister Bony, that once I sprung an enemy from jail and hid him in my room!"
Now he laughed, and she could not remember the last time she had felt so happy.
"When we're together we laugh a lot," she smiled, looking out across the Bay.
"Yeah, it's on accord of me being naturally cheerful and it rubs off on you..."
She laughed again, realising how she had missed these little moments.
"So... your friends seem nice." He fumbled the cigarette and had to pick it up before it set fire to the thatched roof.
Beatrix watched him trying to save the remnants of it, swear and then light a new one.
"They are." She hesitated. "You do remember Bunny and Tawnee, don't you?"
"Sure, how could anyone forget them? I was referring to the other friends."
"Aha. The male ones."
"As it were, yes."
"Dan is Bunny's fiancé, and Petar is Tawnee's boyfriend," she said, watching hard for any sign of emotion in his face.
"Aha," he said, still focusing immensely on the cigarette. "And you left yours at home?"
"No." She had to stop herself from laughing when she realised he really was fishing for information. "No, I don't have a boyfriend."
"Whatever happened to the paladin you were in love with back then?"
"How do you know that?"
"Bunny."
He didn't need to say more, Beatrix knew how Bunny was. If there was something you would like the whole world to know you could just tell Bunny, and in two days work she would have gotten the information halfway to outland.
"It didn't work out," she said, glad the dark was hiding her reddening cheeks.
"Aha. Why?"
"Well, I tried. I really tried, but he just weren't... for me. He was pretty, sure enough, and strong. I even took him to the sanctuary, on the roof, and he just told me he didn't like it. I'm sure if you like hiding on a rooftop it's the place to be, but there's really not much here, is there?" She made her voice dark and caused him to snigger at the impersonation. "And I've really tried you know... With him, and with the other guys. It seems it was not hard to get a boyfriend, the challenge was finding one I would keep. I want to travel, I want to see things, not sit at home like a good wife and wait for news from the front."
He snorted, and she decided it meant he agreed.
"Besides," she said, trying to sound as casual as possible. "None of them made me laugh."
She looked at him and got a rather awkward look back. They both knew they had come to a point they were both dreading.
"You see, Val. None of them were..."
His hand shut her mouth and she shivered by the touch of his skinless fingers.
"Don't. Please," he really was begging. "Once you would not kill me with a rock, do not kill me with this... Let's just talk about easier things, things that can be."
"None of them were you," she said, determined to end what she had begun.
"Bee, don't do this." He waved a hand at her when she opened her mouth to protest. "No, listen. If I was alive things would have been different. I could have been what you needed. I would have loved you with every nerve in my body. And don't look at me that way, or I'll stop and not talk again."
She closed her eyes, because after what he just had said it was very hard not to look at him that way.
"I don't know how or why you have gotten it into your heart, but don't waste your feelings this way. We both know what I am. Just look at me. This filthy, dying body, void of feeling, void of love..."
She touched the soft, smooth skin around the scar on his cheek.
"Then why are you shivering from my touch?" she asked cleverly.
He hid his face in his hand, almost scorching his hair with the cigarette, and she could see there was pain in the glittering eyes.
"Do you have any idea what you're asking of me?"
"As far as I know I haven't asked anything of you. Yet," she added when he looked at her again.
"I don't know how many years there are left," he shrugged. "I don't know how long I'll look somewhat human. I have nothing to give."
"Good. Because I'm not asking for anything."
He got to his feet and stood with his back towards her, she guessed he was trying to build up again the walls she had delicately brought down.
"You are not making any sense," he told her.
And then her hands were touching the dirty locks of old, dead hair. He could feel her leaning against him.
Beatrix just stood there, not knowing how to say everything she felt, but she knew she was just as scared as him.
He smelled. Worse than she remembered. There was a small hole in the skin at the back of his head, showing her the skull beneath. She found it repulsive. She found him repulsive and the way her heart beat for him terrified her.
"The problem," she began, trying to form her words around a thought that was escaping her. "The problem is that I didn't fall in love with your dead body, but I fell in love with your very much alive soul."
She slipped a hand around his chest and placed it where she would normally have found a heartbeat. To her surprise he took it and held it tightly.
"I know you'll fade away, but at this point in my life the only thing I want to do is spend my days listening to your complaining and watching you blow smokerings."
"You are absolutely sure?"
"Yes."
"Then don't expect anything," he said, sitting down again and tried to get a new cigarette out of the box.
She pulled one out for him and placed it between his bloodless lips. As a reward he stroked a lock of her golden hair between his fingers.
"It's a waste," he told her. "That something so beautiful should wither by my touch."
"Oh, shut up," she grinned, lighting a match for him.

*************************************

Well I stepped into an avalanche,
It covered up my soul
The cripple here that you clothe and feed
Is neither starved nor cold
He does not ask for your company,
Not at the centre, the centre of the world.

You who wish to conquer pain,
You must learn what makes me kind
The crumbs of love that you offer me,
They're the crumbs I've left behind.
Your pain is no credential here,
It's just the shadow, shadow of my wound.

I have begun to long for you,
I who have no greed
I have begun to ask for you,
I who have no need.
You say you've gone away from me,
But I can feel you when you breathe.

Do not dress in those rags for me,
I know you are not poor;
You don't love me quite so fiercely now
When you know that you are not sure,
It is your turn, beloved,
It is your flesh that I wear

***************************************

I hope you liked it :) From here on there will be some episodes.

I don't know if anyone reads the lyrics (I am just trying to spread some music into the world ) But if you are gonna read just one song, then read this one.
"Avalanche" by Leonard Cohen (I grew up with this song, and love it) I have shortened it down to the bare essentials, because it is long. But I kept the parts that I think could fit the story.