It's short, it's poopy, but it's here and pretty much done. The first half of this chap has been sitting around for a while, just threw out the second half to get it done. I need the two on the ground for this to get interesting again... wait, is that a hint at something?

I feel cuddles coming on.


Voices began to sift through the trees and snow, and Peridaous' knuckles began to turn white on the reins of his mount.

Backing up, they crowded around each other to better block their noise.

"We take them in a rush," the captain whispered, "Larthis and Jael in back, on the tree line."

"Peridaous," Keplue started.

"If neither I nor Namue are able to give orders, our plans stand; all survivors group up and get back to Everlook with Jinzry. Then head to Ogrimmar, but be subtle and-"

"Captain!" Keplue hissed. His leader looked up. "Sir, beg pardon, but we don't even know how many there are."

Peridaous blinked at the other paladin, who shifted.

"Makes it more fun," Dagrian finally grunted, lifting his blade and shield.

Leaving their horses tied to a tree, they cut from cover into the open, silent but for their harsh panting in the cold, the steady churn of their feet.

Peridaous' eyes flicked from figure to figure, counting the number of their enemy and trying to sight on his commander.

Two night elves, he thought at first, until he remembered what Kix had said. He clubbed the closer one to him over the head. With a Thalassian curse, the Sin'Dorei crumpled. A quick hand gesture had Jael dragging their captive magically to Jinzry, who bound him swiftly.

The night elf disappeared. Rogue, Peridaous gulped as he blocked a swing from the human warrior. There was a Draenei mage kneeling in the snow, trying to coax some fire out of the ground, but Keplue was there to take care of her. The captains eyes flicked to a pair of gnomes, one cloaked in shadows, the other glaring distinctly at Jael. When he caught sight of Dagrian, a succubus' whip tight on his thick neck, he threw his human opponent aside and came at the demon. Her snare slid past his iron will, and he cut her from his soldier, leaving Dagrian free to tackle the abandoned human with a roar.

Jael suddenly shouted, though from anger or glee Peridaous didn't want to know, and then began to cackle, filling the air with an unnerving sound of crackling.

Arcane magic slashed through the air, knocking the gnomes from their feet and stopping the night elf midair in his leap for Peridaous. With rapid fire spells, Jael continued to immobilize his three captives, finally knocking them unconscious.

Panting slightly, Peridaous looked around the field again. Keplue was forced to grapple with the Draenei, who used her height to her advantage. Dagrian was pulling his blade from the humans gut, but froze in surprise.

Whipping his head around to the cliff face, the captain finally noticed the dwarf. Lykos was dealing with an angry snow cat while Tavain struggled through a trap towards the other hunter. Even Larthis was trying to run at the short man, his hand clouded in his rare shadow attack.

When Dagrian screamed a battle shout was about when Peridaous noted the dwarfs prize.

Her face was battered and covered in blood, her hair matted with snow. Her arms were at a strange angle, as well as one leg, and he swore he could see white bone at her side.

But what bothered him the most was the snow in her coppery hair.

Snow that was not melting.

He was charging through the snow, Light coursing through his veins. Larthis' shadow attack had the dwarf flinching, but he still managed to drag the body of the young Sundragon to the cliff edge.

Someone was screaming something, a denial it seemed, but Peridaous was too busy running to notice who it was. His throat began to ache as he continued to close with the enemy.

The dwarf stumbled, giving Peridaous the spare few seconds he desperately needed. Dagrian dove first, but he skidded to a stop short of their commanders limp fingers. Tavain had emptied his quiver and had pulled out his slim blades, but was still too far away. Larthis had stopped bothering with the dwarf, instead choosing to yell as many healing spells as he could, dragging his robes through the snow.

As Peridaous passed the priest, their eyes met for a split second. The healer blinked and cast a slow heal on his captain.

Peridaous' last rational thought was something along the lines of, "That man deserves a promotion."

Then Namue's body was tumbling over the edge of the cliff. The still running paladin let his blade sink into the dwarfs side, before his feet left the ground, and the earth fell away.

Surprisingly warm air slammed into him, slowing his fall but spinning him wildly. Gasping, he tried to right himself and caught sight of Namue. Angling his body, he caught her limp one and curled around her.

Then everything went dark.


Dagrian grunted, nudging his captive. The night elf snarled at him from horseback before falling back into desolate silence.

"I'm only saying," Jael snapped, "We can't bring captives to Everlook! It's neutral for Light's sake-"

"Right," Jinzry nodded, and drove his elbow into the unconscious gnome he was seated on.

Larthis stared at the snow, Tavain leaned on Lykos, and Keplue gazed into nothingness.

"So," Jael continued, ignoring the others, "we really should just send someone in to get supplies, and then head back home. I personally do not want to linger very long in this place of frozen evil."

"What about the storm?" Larthis pointed out. Indeed, the heavy flakes that swirled around them had a dizzying effect.

Jael grimaced. "I can protect us from most of that."

"He's right," Dagrian sighed, "There's no use lingering. We might as well head back to Ogrimmar and report."

Tavain looked up. "Do you think they will send a hunting party?"

"I, for one, know they will," Jael answered smugly. "Fiaccola herself will transport them to Azshara. See if she doesn't!"

"No one survives that fall…" Keplue whispered suddenly. Everyone, even their conscious captives, turned to look at him.

Silence fell, and they marched onward.


He woke up to white. For an instant he thought he was dead, surrounded by fluffy white, suspended…

Then the pain kicked in. With a grinding assessment, he realized his shoulder was severely dislocated, his ribs probably cracked, and his ankle wasn't even worth trying to move. In essence, his entire left half had been knocked out of action. Not to mention the nowhere place he was. Very cold, very white, and he had no idea which way was up.

Blinking, Peridaous nearly slammed his palm into his face. He was in a snow drift. Instead of rolling his eyes, he cringed and began sweeping snow away with his good arm, thankful that the action kept him warm until- there! Light and slightly warm air broke through a crust in the snow. Heaving and trying to not whimper, he pulled himself from his white landing zone and took a look around.

He promptly felt the urge to crawl right back into that nowhere place.

The ocean sprawled out before him, a hearty breeze buffeting his face. It was a lovely view, he admitted, a few trees here and there, would make for beautiful sunrises. If you forget the part where you are so far up that you can't even see the shore.

Sitting back on the ice, he went about setting his shoulder, some thought still trying to nag his still half unconscious mind. When his body was back in some sort of order, he frowned.

Wait a second… he shook his head. Why was he waking up in a snow drift?

And then the panic set in as he remembered what had happened. Forgetting his ribs and useless foot, he spun around and dug frantically into the snow, mentally kicking himself for being so forgetful.

"Namue Namue Namue Namue…" he chanted under his breath. She had to be in here somewhere, she had to…

He found her cloak, curled and clotted with snow. Clearing his way, he found her shoulders and pulled her gently out, leaning back and pulling her still body into his lap.

Her lips were blue. Bad sign, he thought to himself even as his heart began pounding out a terrifying beat. Pulling off his gloves with wince, he rubbed them together for a moment before pressing them softly to her face. She was freezing.

"No…" he pleaded, pulling her closer, "No no no…"

She'd taught him a little about Healing. He wasn't onto anything like bones, tissues, but he could keep himself fresh after marching for days, could brew a little health into a drink.

He called on the Light now, cringing as he strained the small bond he'd made with it, but the sight of the golden glow sifting from his body to hers was worth the stress to his body he knew he would suffer later. The slightest help he could give her would be worth it.

Peridaous chose, however, to ignore the fact that he didn't even know if she was breathing. He had no idea how long he had been unconscious, how long she had been out before they fell over the cliff, how much damage they…

He couldn't think about that. No, he was pumping her with as much help as he could give her, warming her where he could, and praying to any entity worth praying to.

It's not unexpected that he didn't notice right away when the drift they were seated on began sliding.


"Did you hear that?"

Daggon rolled his eyes and looked up at his brother, "What are you on about now? Is it anotha bear, or is it a eagle this time?"

Moggan waved a hand briskly down at his brother, resettling his grip on their climbing rope. "No, I'm serious! I heard somethin, maybe a yell."

"A yell?" Daggon spluttered, and guffawed. "By the rock Moggan, how tha blazes would anyone even get up 'ere? You do realize we've already broken tha record for tha highest climb on this face!"

"Aye, I know alright? I'm just sayin…"

"Sayin what?" Daggon looked down the dizzying height for a moment to re-set his feet on the rock face. "You can't exactly chicken out now, brotha. I thought you wanted to be tha first dwarf to reach Winterspring from tha coast. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Aye, Bronzebeard's ear, I do! I just-"

He was cut off however by the ever increasing yell. Daggon blinked stupidly, leaning around his brother to look up the face.

"D'you hear that?"

And Peridaous slammed into Moggan, knocking the terrified dwarf from his harness. They spun, tumbling, and took Daggon with them, ripping the climbers rope it's holdings.

Slightly stunned, the elf shoved the two bewildered dwarves away and flipped in the air, searching for Namue. She had been right behind him, falling like a dropped rag doll. Sure enough there she was, face calm for all that her hair was whipping around her face and air was knocking her around.

Still trying to think his way out of the situation, Peridaous had immediately ignored the unfortunate climbing brothers in order to try and save his and his commanders life. That is, until he heard a dull thwo-thwoomph.

He landed on canvas and immediately spread himself out across the surface. Parachutes, he thought numbly, are just lovely. Namue hit the other one with a low thump, and Peridaous took a second to close his eyes and imagine the world wasn't falling apart around him.

Not that he could dream for very long. However slowed they had been by the brothers, the ground was still coming up fast, and with it, a surprising amount of trees. And of course, Namue was slipping from the other parachute.

He slid off after her, angling his body and catching hers. Gripping her with his good arm and both legs, he sent off a final prayer, and grabbed at a tree with his already injured arm.

Unsurprisingly, he passed out almost instantly from the pain.

Meanwhile, poor Daggon and Moggan floated down to the ground, where they packed up camp and headed home, never to become the famous climbing twins, though they did have a great story to tell in the bar.