Ava stepped out of Caruur's tent and into daylight, joining Will. Camp business was in full swing now and every member of the Crescent was busy with their chores. Will once again spotted the old orc, sitting quietly, watching the tent they had just left. Ava nodded to the orc and said "Hello Tukkar". The orc remained silent but nodded in return.
The pair turned and walked towards the east of the camp.
"Who was that?", asked Will.
"That was Tukkar, one of the few remaining members from my time here."
"I've noticed him around. Doesn't say much, does he?"
"He doesn't say anything at all in fact."
Will raised an eyebrow, urging her to continue.
"Tukkar was a very well-respected general in the Horde and led many battles. He had a reputation for being ferocious, unforgiving and bloodthirsty and he raised his two sons to be the same. You remember what Caruur explained to you about Thrall?"
"Yes, I think so."
"Well, this didn't sit well with Tukkar at all. He was, in many ways, the epitome of the animalistic Horde the Alliance feared and looked down upon. He lived for the fight, where he would fight to the end like a man possessed. That was, until his sons fell in battle at the Thousand Needles.
"They were quite literally torn to bits in front of him and their brothers-in-arms didn't even stop to allow safe retrieval of their bodies. By the time Tukkar cleared the area – singlehandedly, if the reports are to be believed – there was nothing but their armour left. The battle raged on around him but he just turned away and began the long walk home.
"What happened in the interim nobody knows but Caruur found him circling the walls of Orgrimmar, naked and mumbling to himself. He believes Tukkar may have been thrown out of the city for cowardice and desertion, with only the small allowance of his life left to him in knowledge of his service to the Horde, but he was never able to find out for definite.
"Caruur dressed and fed him but when he went to return to Feralas, he didn't want to leave him behind. Tukkar's sons were his life and he had nothing left. So he offered him a place here, a chance to end the war that had claimed his children and thousands of others. Since then, he hasn't said a word, though he's proven himself invaluable to some of our battle plans, albeit through gestures and drawings."
"Wow...that's intense. And he's loyal to the Green Crescent?"
"I think so. He's certainly loyal to Caruur anyway. When he's at camp he remains close to him at all times and obeys without question. Still the perfect soldier, even now."
Will sucked in air through his teeth. The Azeroth conflict was becoming more and more real to him. The people surrounding him must all have been touched by it, all have their own reasons to be here. Ava must have had her reasons as well. Now that her memories were returning – perhaps too rapidly for him – he would use the next opportunity they were alone to ask her about them. It was unlikely she had been motivated solely by idealism.
Lost in thought for a little while, they both found themselves standing on the outskirts of a fenced-off area. Inside, Ruaran was sparring with a bare-chested human male and getting the better of him. They danced gracefully around each other, the wooden clash of their practice swords growing more urgent. The blood elf stepped up his attacks smoothly and persistently and the human was increasingly being pushed back. Ruaran's look of intensity and concentration grew and the human was sweating. With a final dodge and a swing, Ruaran lashed him across the abdomen with the sword and the man fell back, a red welt beginning to appear almost immediately on his skin. He grunted as his opponent went to help him to his feet.
"Better but not good enough. And remember the rules; no healing. I want that mark to remind you just how dead you would be if you were in combat."
Without a word, the human hobbled off, slightly stooped from his injury.
"Ever the beloved leader", smirked Ava.
"I don't care if they like me. I only care if they survive. Petyr there has been with us for nearly year and he still hasn't managed to land his sword on me. Standards are slipping."
She laughed. "They always are."
"Come to test just how much you remember?"
"Not with you, not yet. It's been a long time since you managed to leave one of those marks on my ass but I think I just might be out of practice long enough for you to achieve it today."
Will's eyes widened and she spluttered a little. That definitely sounded wrong. In the early days, Ruaran had delighted in tripping her up in their duels and smacking his practice sword on her ass, for extra humiliation. Trying to explain that now would only cause problems so instead she moved on.
"I will pick up some of the throwing knives though. I need to start somewhere."
"Yes, they did become your weapon of choice when you became more rogue than paladin."
"And you? When was the last time you used the Light?"
"A long time. I'm just a plain old warrior now, but at least I do my fighting hand-to-hand and not skulking around in the shadows."
"Mock me all you want, there were plenty of times when you were glad of my skills in the dark."
As Ava turned away to choose her knives, she grimaced. Will had been tense when asking her about Ruaran last night and her careless banter was not helping. She exhaled silently and started balancing a knife on her hand, testing the weight. Balance, that was what she needed now. She concentrated on her fingers twirling the blade, staring at the sunlight reflecting from metal. She needed focus, calm. She needed both her lives to complement the other, a balancing act that could only be achieved by breathing in...and breathing out...and breathing in...and breathing out, she turned and flung the knife. It sailed past Ruaran's ear and landed on the bullseye on the target practice behind him.
Will's eyes widened once more and he looked behind him to see where the knife had landed. Ruaran didn't need to, he remained looking at her face with a bored expression.
"Well at least we know you haven't forgotten your basics, Sal. Up to trying a moving target?"
The moving target was provided by Baina, the female gnome who had been serving up breakfast earlier. She covered herself in the target board and started scurrying along. Will flinched as Ava picked up more knives but the gnome didn't hesitate as she ran through the makeshift obstacle course. Ava exhaled softly and ran after her, throwing knives at various distances. They all hit the red circle painted in the middle.
Ava looked back to grin at the two men. Will stared at her slack-jawed while Ruaran leant nonchalantly on the fence, still looking unimpressed.
"Easy when there's no-one attacking you, isn't it?", Ruaran drawled.
"Is that an offer?"
Ruaran smiled and threw her a wooden sword. Immediately Ava went on the offensive but Ruaran dodged and blocked her attacks effortlessly. Will watched him closely and the male elf even yawned, switching his sword-holding hand with a flourish. Ava's eyes narrowed in concentration but, after two minutes, Ruaran decided to end it and tripped his girlfriend up, raising the sword to strike her throat but stopping it suddenly before making contact with the skin.
"You get off lightly because it's your first day back. Tomorrow I start leaving bruises."
Ava frowned but nodded her head. "I told you I was rusty", she panted.
"We will fix that."
Ruaran strolled over to get her some water and Will grabbed his arm.
"I want you to teach me."
"Teach you what?"
"You know what. How to fight. Like you."
"When was the last time you picked up a weapon?"
"Um...never, I don't think."
Ruaran arched an eyebrow. "My, my, my, you two really have been living a cosy life, haven't you?"
"Well that's about to change. I need to know this stuff." The blood elf merely met his gaze. "I need your help with that."
Ruaran continued to stare at him then glanced over at Ava, who was watching the exchange with interest. He looked back to the human and said "Ok, Will, I will train you. But since I'm starting from nothing, I expect you to spend the majority of your waking hours here. You're going to be crawling back to your tent bloodied and bruised for weeks but you'll learn the ways of the warrior. I'm a hard taskmaster and I require total obedience though, is that clear?"
Will suppressed a growl. He didn't trust the blood elf, despite Ava's protests, and he had a feeling he was going to face a lot of humiliation in the near future but he had watched Ava closely as she moved through the obstacle course. She may have called herself rusty, but there was no doubt there was raw power and ingrained training in her fluid movements. He needed Ruaran so he nodded his head in agreement.
"Good. In that case I'll get you fitted in for some practice armour. We'll start immediately. And Sal? It's not for me to order you around, but you could really do with some practice too."
"I know", Ava said. "I can see a bow and arrow with my name on it. I think I'll leave you guys to it for a while and do some hunting in the outskirts of camp. We've got two more mouths to feed now after all."
"But you've always hated using a bow", said Ruaran.
"All the more reason for me to practice with it."
It was true she needed more bow practice, had needed it even before she left Azeroth. More importantly, Ava knew Will would spend a great deal of today clumsily losing his grip on the sword and falling on his ass. There was a reason children began their weapons training so young here; when you were a child you didn't realise how terribly you were doing. It was disheartening and Will didn't need her witnessing it, not today, not after everything he had been through. She would have to pick up training again, and hard, but she would do it as far away from him as possible.
She picked up a longbow and flung a quiver of arrows over her shoulder. Before leaving, she went on tip-toes and kissed Will, running her thumb softly over his stubbled chin.
"You'll be careful, right?" he asked.
"Of course. The outskirts of the ruins are deserted, apart from the occasional misguided adventurer and I'm used to hiding myself well if it comes to it. I won't be out of earshot of the camp. Good luck", she said, squeezing his hand before walking in the direction of the jungle.
Ava carried herself stealthily through the jungle undergrowth, bow poised to let fly as soon as she heard or saw an animal worth eating. Rogue training had come easily to her when she left the Blood Knights. Liadrin had trained her ever since she became of age and she had trained her well. The knowledge that blood elves' sudden paladin powers came from draining the Light from a Naaru hastened her decision to leave Silvermoon, though admittedly her mind was made up anyway. From then on, she had never touched the Light. If it could be bent to cause the entrapment of an innocent creature, how could it be trusted? Was it really any less evil or unpredictable than the arcane?
She had asked herself those questions many times before but to no avail. Her mind was so occupied with the establishment of the Green Crescent she could escape those difficult questions. Now she was back in Azeroth she wondered if she could call on the Light, after all this time. She pushed the thought away. Even if the blood elves were no longer draining a Naaru like Caruur claimed, it didn't make the Light a reliable source of power in her opinion. Better to only have to rely on yourself.
She quickly adapted her paladin training to the shadows and became a rogue. All the time spent with Darshan helped as well, under cover of the night, and watching him prowl around in cat form. She blushed as the thoughts of those other nights, the nights spent awake and alive in Ashenvale, came to her, unbidden. Again, she pushed them away, exhaled and forced herself to concentrate on the task at hand. She froze when she felt the sharp point of a spear digging into her back.
"Ya skills ain't what dey used ta be, girly."
Will was hot, sweaty and pissed off.
'When do I actually get to hold a sword?", he asked.
"When you can stand correctly. I told you, you need to balance your weight better."
"I am balancing my weight!"
"You are not."
"I am."
"Fine", Ruaran said, then promptly swung a foot underneath Will, who landed with a thud on his back. He looked up at the blood elf's lazy smirk and grunted.
"Fine! Now help me up and show me to balance my damn weight."
The troll giggled maniacally, holding the spear firmly between her shoulder blades. She swung and faced him with a frown.
"Nu'neren! You scared me!"
"Good enough for ya, girl, crashing aroun' like a raptor in heat. I heard ya a mile off. Imagine ma surprise when it's nobody but da blondey girly who likes to boss people aroun'."
"Yes, it's a bit of a long story. As you can guess, I'm out of practice."
"Ya better be gettin' in practice real soon. Ma tusks be itchin' me and you know dat means trouble."
Ava smiled. Nu'neren was the finest scout around but he was a little...off. For a man who spends most of his time prowling the forests of Feralas alone, he was surprisingly chatty when he got into company. It was near impossible to shut the troll up and Ava rarely had the heart to send him away when he got too annoying.
He had been a wilderness stalker from the Revantusk tribe, based in the Hinterlands which was about as far away from Feralas as was possible. He claimed he went for a long walk in the woods one day and just kept walking. He slipped silently and unnoticed through the entirety of the Eastern Kingdoms and hid on a boat going to Kalimdor until finding his way to Feralas and straight into the Green Crescent camp. Caruur believed his experiences and long time in solitude left him a little unhinged, and Ava tended to agree. He vowed never to leave the jungle again, but he was the finest scout imaginable and had kept them safe from numerous potential ambushes and wandering adventurers countless times. Ava bet he would just be happy to find another person to talk to.
"Is there any hunting to be found around here?"
"Nah, not righ' now. You'll need to head north-east of the camp for some juicy sharks swimmin' abou' de lake up der."
"Sounds good Nu'neren. I'll go grab a spear from the camp and head up there."
"Don't be a stranger now ya hear? If anybody be sittin' about in camp, dey can come and keep me company."
"I'll pass on the message!", she called, already high-tailing it back to the camp. She was pretty relieved she didn't have to practice with the bow anymore. She fancied getting her hands on some of those practice swords Ruaran was wielding.
Will was beginning to regret asking for a sword. So far Ruaran had him doing nothing but forms, reminiscent of tai chi. He kept falling off balance and was beginning to attract some attention with his training attempts. He spotted Eshara and Amber, among others, coming over to subtly judge his attempts. His face flushed red, with exertion and embarrassment. From afar, he spotted Ava strolling back into camp, looking perfectly at ease with her bow slung over her shoulder. Spotting him, she waved and he waved back.
Ruaran noticed and said "Trying to impress Sal?"
"Her name is Ava. And I don't need to impress her. I just need to be able to protect her."
"What a fine job you're doing so far."
"A student is only as good as their teacher you know."
"Oh I know. That's why you're staying here all day. I don't expect you to become a passable fighter anytime soon but the least I can do is ensure you don't run yourself through with your own sword. And don't worry about taking care of Sal. If there was ever a formidable woman, it's her."
"And you know a lot about that, do you?"
Ruaran smiled, amused. "I do. I've known her a lot longer than you. And, more importantly, I have fought her and fought alongside her. If you really want to know a person, you need to see what they'll do when their life is hanging by a thread. Until then, you don't know shit. Now stand up straight and get in form before you're on your ass again."
Will glared at him as he prepared to go over the postures again. He really didn't like this blood elf but he was damn well going to learn everything he could from him while he had to be in his company.
By sunset, Will and Ava were both aching from their practice. Will was also humiliated, feeling this much pain without even holding a wooden sword. Patience, he kept telling himself. His shoulders ached as he spooned the stew into his mouth.
Next to him, Ava didn't fare much better. She had a slight limp and a bruise blossoming on her jaw from sparring with a Galaad, a ferocious male worgen at the other side of camp. At first his aggression had overwhelmed her but after a while she had used her inner calm to sidestep him and lure him into a trap. He could not keep a cool head while in worgen mode and she repaid him twice over for her own injuries. It was also the first time she had seen a worgen in action. Being new to the Alliance, few had defected to neutrality yet and were often some of the more ardent members of the faction.
From across the campfire, Will saw Amber intermittently throwing Ava dirty looks.
"What's the deal with the redhead anyway?", he asked.
"She just doesn't like me. She never has, not from the moment she set foot in the camp. I wish I could give you some kind of explanation and I wish I knew myself. She's deeply unpleasant, even for a warlock."
"Do they really keep minions?"
"Yes. And they can call on demons as well. The Crescent is no place for such dark magic if you ask me. But everyone else has it at their disposal so..."
"You fight fire with fire."
"Exactly."
The thought of using dark magic turned her stomach. She wondered if it had something to do with Amber's acidic personality or whether that had helped her choose her class. She could never quite figure out why she had joined the Green Crescent in the first place, having expressed no particular political opinions about peace and neutrality. Ava suspected her involvement here might be out of necessity after being rejected from any respectable Alliance organisation. She couldn't prove it though and Amber had proved useful a few times over the years. Always to Darshan or Caruur though, and never to her. Amber would never help her with a request or a mission and never let an opportunity to dismiss her authority pass her by. As long as she remained loyal to the team as a whole however, she couldn't punish her, as much as she longed to at times.
Night closed in, but the couple remained seated around the campfire, despite the lack of cold. Ava leaned on her boyfriends shoulder and he put his arm around her, holding back a wince as his over-worked muscles ached. Despite the pain, he was happy. Curled up with each other, in front of a fire, he could almost ignore everyone else around them and pretend it was just the two of them, like the time they had sat in front of a fire on the beach one summer night, content just to watch the flames and sit in silence.
The sound of a roar shook him out of his reminiscing and he looked up to see Darshan standing at the other side of the fire.
A/N: A bit of a wait again but a long chapter for you. The character list has been updated with the new names and I don't think there'll be any further additions to this story. As always, every review, favourite and follow is appreciated!