A/N: Hmmmm, finally another chapter eh? Very sorry! This time I feel ashamed of myself because my boyfriend bought me RIFT and I've gotten sucked right into the bloody game. Curse you RIFT! But I still love WoW, and I still eagerly look forward to writing this story! Thank you for all the reviews, they make me happy. I love seeing new ones. I would apologize on the shortness of this chapter, except that it was important to get the boring details of their grouping up in, and for some reason at the point where I ended it seemed like such a good ending point for a chapter, despite being so brief. It was like the story just latched onto me and demands certain...things to happen in each chapter. Since I accomplished what I needed to in this one, I ended it so that we can have a nice fresh paper to start the adventure on. And believe me, what an adventure they are going to have :). Thank you to all of you loyal readers who have read this from the beginning and stuck with me, and again thank you for the lovely reviews. I'm quite proud to own 12 now! With that, enjoy your chapter. And be assured that there is more to come!
Chapter 10: If At First You Don't Succeed, Alcohol Is Not For You!
"I feel guilty for leaving everyone at the Enclave so recently after being accepted there." Anaiya quietly admitted this while folding up various odds and ends that her aunt handed her across the table. Verfanas raised an eyebrow.
"It's your choice Ana, no one can force you to go or stay. This is a serious undertaking and you can't be having regrets while on this journey."
Anaiya bit her lip, than sighed heavily. "Alright, I will just have to make the best of my decision and live with the consequences. No one will stop me from going through with this!" She grinned suddenly. "I wonder if I'll get to meet any Dwarves. I hear such interesting tales about them."
Her eyes wandered as she finished tying off the ends of a length of leather and found, much to her dismay, that the occupants of the nearby table were none other than her "favorite" stuck up blood elf and his Forsaken companion. Without consciously realizing it, she wrinkled her nose in disgust at sighting the blood elf.
She was even further put out by the fact that he was in fact looking in their general direction and seemed to be studying her quite thoroughly. Anaiya gave him a full glare before turning her attention back to her work. She just knew that no good scheming elf was up to something by the way he was regarding her.
Even with her back turned, she could feel his eyes on her, and it was making her uncomfortable. Trying not to squirm noticeably, she scowled at the pile of belongings still stacked neatly by her backpack.
"What did that poor little chunk of thorium do to you to deserve such a black look?" her aunt's amused inquiry made Anaiya blink and glance up.
"Huh?" Was her intelligent response. "Oh, nothing. It's that blasted Blood Elf. I think he's stalking us." Verfanas frowned skeptically.
"No really, look, but don't make it too obvious!" Anaiya jerked her head slightly to indicate Ver should look behind her. Rolling her eyes, the older druid slowly and casually stretched, yawned, than glanced around. Her eyes narrowed upon seeing the Blood Elf watching them closely.
The Undead female was sitting with her arms folded in front of her, holding something, giving the elf scathing glances now and then. "Eh, he's probably admiring your beautiful body." Verfanas commented off-handedly, brushing the circumstance aside. Anaiya blushed.
"Well he can admire someone else's body, I don't want his lecherous eyes on me" She muttered darkly, too quietly for her aunt to hear. After she'd almost completely packed away every item that her aunt had made her buy (with her aunt's money for the most part since she barely had enough savings from her training), Anaiya was becoming quite irate at the constant staring she was getting from the Blood Elf.
He obviously wouldn't take the glares she occasionally sent him as hint enough to shove off and leave her alone. If anything every time she glared at him, he became more amused by the situation. Determined that enough was enough, she suddenly stood up.
Verfanas had long since finished her packing, having done this before dozens of times, and was now giggling into a half full mug of port that a "thoughtful buddy" had poured for her about ten minutes ago. Studiously ignoring her aunt's startled blinking at her abrupt standing, Anaiya pushed back her chair and swung around.
Sure enough, the Blood Elf was still staring. Gritting her teeth, Anaiya marched over to his chair and smirked at the height difference she had over him while he sat. Not at all perturbed, the elf settled back further into his chair and tilted his head up to gaze at her with a smile pasted on his face.
The Forsaken was nervously shifting her eyes between the two and fingering a string of shining white beads that snaked around one skeletal hand.
"Is there something I can assist you with, young night blossom?" The blood elf asked in an amused tone.
"Ya, there is." Anaiya snapped back. "You can stop staring at us, its getting really irritating. What's your problem anyway?"
The Forsaken across the way chuckled, earning her a frown from her erstwhile companion.
"Well, my voluptuous young companion, I have a proposition for you. Something that would be of benefit to myself and of course you as well. Would you like to hear me out?" He raised a long blonde eyebrow suggestively. Anaiya scoffed.
"In your dreams elf. I hardly think anything you have would be of interest to me. I don't even know you."
She turned to go, and thinking quickly, Key called out "even if it has to do with your precious dragon trinket?" Anaiya froze with her back turned, in the process of returning to her own table and forgetting all about mister green eyes.
She turned back around slowly.
"How do you know about the soul gem? What do you know about it?"
The blood elf sent a wink in the Undead's direction, who just rolled her eyes and fastidiously picked at her graying nails. Instead of answering Anaiya, who was hovering near his side, he turned back to his drink, took a sip, then hooked one of the empty chairs at the table, pulling it out slightly.
"Have a seat while we talk why don't you babe? This could take a few minutes." He gave her an innocent grin, which she frowned at. She was getting awefully sick of the pet names. Weighing her options, and the concerned glances her aunt was giving her, Anaiya decided that it wouldn't hurt to go along with the Blood Elf, if only to see if he actually did know anything about the trinket or was just spouting rumors he'd heard around the village.
She reluctantly sat in the chair, and a serving maid immediately wandered over with a small porcelain cup with red tinted liquid inside. Thinking she'd somehow been maneuvered into something, Anaiya pushed the cup aside and turned her attention to the elf.
"You were saying?" She demanded sharply. Normally she'd be more respectful toward others she'd just met but this particular elf had worn her hospitable nature thin.
"Oh yes, what was I saying? Shana, do you recall?" He waved a hand at the Undead, who ignored him. He shrugged and took another sip of his drink.
"Oh yes, your little dragon crusade. Well, one hears things. I couldn't help but pick up the story of the girl elf who fainted dead away at the table after touching a mysterious artifact. Druids just love a good mystery to study. Especially if it involves their precious Emerald Dream. I know where your relative found the trinket, the Temple of Atal'Hakkar. I've been there myself actually. Nasty place."
He paused for effect, watching Anaiya's reaction. Anaiya thoughtfully mulled this information over, thinking regretfully that it sounded valid, although she still didn't trust him.
"Okay so you listen in on gossip, what does that have to do with my quest?" She admitted she was curious despite herself.
"I admit I have no interest in your quest and know nothing about this dragon trapped in your trinket, but what I do know is that if you found it inside the Temple, it has something to do with Hakkar. And Hakkar, I know plenty about, including his current location."
"Hakkar?" Anaiya echoed, lost for a few moments. Then she remembered what that one Druid had told her, about the powerful creature, Hakkar, who some Trolls worshipped as a God. The idea that she would be involved with an incredibly ancient and evil creature like that hadn't occurred to her before, and she wondered again if this undertaking was a good idea.
"How do you know anything about this Hakkar? And why would you just tell me this? You don't strike me as all that inclined towards altruism."
Again the Forsaken snickered from across the table.
The male across from her heaved a loud, exaggerated sigh, and gave her a put upon look. She stared back. He sighed again.
"I admit, I have but a simple request for my valuable information. I would ask to accompany you when you leave for Winterspring, along with Shana of course."
He added the last as if an afterthought, with a gesture at the Forsaken woman.
"And perform a simple cleansing spell every morning while on our journey. I would be very grateful for your aid, and I'll willingly give you all the information I have on Hakkar and his cult." He paused dramatically, waiting to see what Anaiya thought.
She was staring at him with mouth open, and he cringed. So his plan to make himself an invaluable asset to the pair of Druids hadn't exactly been very intelligent, but what choice did he have? He had to get out of Moonglade, he couldn't leave by himself, and these two were the perfect candidates.
"Why do you need a cleansing? How do I know this isn't just some Horde trick to get us alone so you and your friend can ambush us and-"
"And what?" He interrupted with bemusement, "steal your precious little soul gem? I honestly have no interest in it, or anything else you may have on you."
His eyes wandered down her figure before he could stop himself, and he quickly focused on the table.
"I simply wish to get back to the Eastern Kingdoms as quickly as possible. As to needing a cleansing, you said you knew why I was here. Obviously you didn't pay much attention beyond the bare details."
"Oh really?" Anaiya felt just a tiny bit of concern despite herself, she would never wish suffering or harm on another and the story she'd heard about how the Blood Elf arrived in Moonglade made her inwardly cringe. But she couldn't recall anything else beyond that he'd been healed and had ran out the infirmary door the second he woke up. He looked fine to her, if a little pale.
But then, she wasn't sure if that was normal Blood Elf color or not since she'd only ever met this one. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of her aunt watching her with apparent concern, as if deciding whether she should come over and see what was going on.
Anaiya shook her head in Ver's direction and gave an 'ok' motion to prove that everything was fine. Then she turned back to the male elf and raised a brow. Key sighed, seeing as how the druids obviously hadn't paid much attention when they'd 'gotten his story', as they'd claimed earlier.
So he explained his unique…problem to the girl, and watched her expression change to one of sympathy and concern. She unconsciously leaned forward slightly, as if wanting to make sure he was okay herself. Really, Night Elves were too caring.
"So if you wouldn't mind we'd appreciate being able to travel with you as far as Everlook. There's a Goblin transportation device there that I've heard will transport us a similar machine in Stranglethorn Vale. In exchange, we'll be extra defense against dangers, and I can give you all the information I know on Hakkar and the Nightmare. From what I know of it, you'll need all the help you can get if you plan on going through with your quest."
He gave her sincere eyes, hoping she'd go along with it. He was pretty sure she would say yes, since most Night Elves were, by nature, a caring, nurturing race, and hated seeing any creature in pain.
The idea that he'd suffer if they didn't let him come along wouldn't sit well with her, he knew. Shana was still avoiding looking at either of them, afraid she'd burst into laughter if she did. Anaiya chewed on her lip, glancing between the blood elf, and her table where her aunt was still sitting, occasionally giving them glances while she chatted with a few elves and tauren who wandered by.
She didn't want to say anything to the blood elf one way or another until she'd talked with her aunt, since her aunt was older and more experienced, and might see something about this story that Anaiya would miss. But she also felt sympathy for the elf, to have such a terrible thing happen to him. She sighed.
"Let me talk it over with my…um, traveling companion. Prepare your things for travel. If she agrees, you'll need to be ready to leave quickly."
The blood elf nodded at her, and gave her a wide smile, which made her feel vaguely like a hound that had performed the required trick. Without thinking, she downed the reddish liquid in her glass and got up from the table.
The drink was horrid tasting, and obviously alcohol of some sort, she recognized the tang of it. Great, just what she needed. Already her head felt a bit heavy and her tongue too thick and dry. She swayed slightly once standing, feeling a wave of unbalance before she grew accustomed to her new state. Ugh, how Dwarves practically lived off this stuff was beyond her.
With a threatening scowl at the blood elf as warning when he made a move to "assist" her, she turned and slowly made her way back to where her Aunt was sitting. She sat heavily down in her chair, sighed, and shook her head slightly. Unfortunately this only made her slightly tipsy situation worse and she had to hold back the sudden urge to toss up her last meal.
Since said meal consisted of items that she had no desire to see on the return trip, she tried evening out her breathing and focusing on a grainy blemish in the table to keep her mind off the sick feeling. Her aunt sidled her chair over beside Anaiya and patted her on the back somewhat sympathetically.
"S'okay Ana, you'll get usshh…ush? used to it eventually…hic!" Feeling justified now that she'd quite thoughtfully reassured her niece, Verfanas turned herself around and gave a blurry glare toward the table where the two Horde were still sitting, apparently deep in some discussion.
Anaiya sighed, not feeling at all reassured by her aunt's behavior. She really did not want to 'get used to it', having had no desire to drink the stuff to begin with. And her aunt's fluctuating behavior and habits left her feeling amused and slightly concerned for the journey ahead.
Maybe it would be a good thing to have that Blood Elf trail along after them. Somehow she got the impression that her aunt didn't always think things through beforehand.
"Sho, what did that no-good pansshy want with you anyway Ana?" Anaiya was brought out of her thoughts by her aunt's somewhat loud words 'whispered' into her ear. Really, Night Elves had sensitive hearing at the best of times, and right now she didn't feel at her best.
So her aunt's comment sent her head throbbing, and Anaiya groaned in dismay. So much for an early start on their journey. From the looks of it, her aunt wouldn't be sober enough to leave Nighthaven till around noon the next day, and Anaiya wasn't feeling up to any traveling either.
"We were just going over the last little bits of our traveling arrangement."
Anaiya decided to see how that would go over with her aunt, since she couldn't think of any other way to broach the subject anyway. Somewhere in the background light music started up, followed by a high lilting singing voice telling the story of some sort of dragon slaying.
Her aunt swung around, full attention on her young charge, and blinked twice, glowing white eyes a bit unfocused.
"Say what? What arrangement? That was fast. What exactly have you two been doing when I wasn't around?" Anaiya sighed. Her aunt was now giving her the kind of look her mother always donned whenever Anaiya did something…not necessarily bad, but at least without permission.
"We haven't been doing anything other than talking at the table, where you watched us like a vulture the whole time, as if you didn't know. I'd never do anything…like what your thinking anyway."
Anaiya blushed. "Least of all with that dirty, womanizing elf." Verfanas nodded absently, again patting Anaiya on the shoulder.
"Anyway, the point is, they're going to be traveling with us when we head out to Winterspring to talk to that Spiritspeaker person, whatever his name was. They…I think that it would be of mutual benefit if we journeyed together, since we're going in the same direction anyway. And we'll part ways at Everlook, which I'm assuming is some sort of town in Winterspring. He has some information that could be valuable to our quest."
Anaiya let out a breath, feeling better for having said it, and now that she did say it, the idea did make a certain sort of sense to her, and her compassionate side told her that she'd feel horribly guilty if she just left the poor elf behind, even if he deserved it.
When she received nothing but silence in return from her somewhat drunken companion, Anaiya sent her aunt a look, only to sigh in exasperation when she found a snoring passed out Night Elf drooling onto the table. Anaiya wrinkled her nose.
Thankfully, a few of Verfanas's friends, who apparently weren't all that surprised by her aunt's predicament, carried the comatose druid upstairs to her room. Soon after, her human rogue came in. Before he could even enquire as to her aunt's whereabouts, Anaiya pointed up the stairs and slumped further into her chair. It was now getting on in the night, and she was left here with the packs and supplies for their journey.
Eventually she carted all the things up to her own room, then went back downstairs to kindly ask the Innkeeper to have her awakened at a suitable hour in the morning. She was determined to get this started. Somewhere inside, she had this urgent feeling, like a frantically beating heart, except different, this dreaded feeling that they needed to be gone from here and in Winterspring as quickly as possible.
She felt that by communicating with the trapped dragon in the Nightmare, she'd awakened something else, and could almost feel its sinister eyes upon her as she crawled under the woolen blankets, tracing a finger idly over a leafy pattern at the hem.
Back downstairs, Key grinned triumphantly at Shana, who rolled her eyes in return.
"For Sylvanas' sake, wipe that smug grin off your face before I melt it off with a spell." She warned threateningly, eyeing her companion in disgust.
"It's not as if your idea was anything fantastic or ingenious. So much for grandiose plans and plots." She snorted amusedly. "She really doesn't like you, you know. I find that kind of funny considering that most girls who've met you end up falling all over you." Shana appeared to think about this, than chuckled some more.
Key pouted. "She just doesn't see what a babe I am. I took the wrong approach before, but can you blame me? I was clearly confused and disoriented. Just you wait, soon she'll be begging for me."
He smirked, draping one armor clad arm over the back of his chair. This just sent Shana into a fit of giggles. He pouted some more, than grew serious.
"Well, it seems we've gotten ourselves a pet druid, at least until Everlook. Now hopefully that conversation I overheard from those two drunk Tauren will prove true and we can use that transportation device in Everlook to get us to Booty Bay."
Using his other arm, he rubbed his chin, then grimaced upon feeling bristly whiskers. He'd have to shave in the morning before leaving. Had to look his best to impress….whatshername, that Night Elf. What was her name anyway?
"And you really want to place our well being into the hands of some lunatic gnome or goblin? I'm not so sure about this Keyanomir. I've heard plenty of stories about their so called flight-worthy zeppelins. Not to mention their other inventions. I know we need to find a fast way back to the Eastern Kingdoms, but I don't think getting ourselves killed by a crazed engineer who's insurance policy is to make sure our relatives receive our body parts is the best way to go about this." Shana insisted, frowning in slight worry.
Being a typical Forsaken made her overly cautious with risking her life, and using an gnome/goblin designed teleportation device to get from one continent to another, when half the things those creatures made always exploded in their face instead, didn't seem like such a good way to spend her time.
Maybe by the time they arrived in Everlook she'd have come up with a better plan. Not to mention she was concerned for Key, having grown close to her comrades and party members while they were together, and he was the only one left that she knew of still.
She had no idea how they were going to deal with the curse once they did arrive in Booty Bay.
Hopefully Key had a plan, because she had rarely traveled outside of Silverpine Forest, and had only went to Tranquillien at the behest of her queen. The situation sure went downhill fast, she thought mournfully, and sipped delicately at her drink.
Eventually the Inn thinned out, and Key and Shana drifted off to their beds, wanting a few hours sleep before their journey tomorrow, because they knew they would have to keep their wits about them, traveling with whimsical Alliance members.