By the time they had reached Moonglade, Dur'ock was thoroughly used. His breathing was ragged, his wing beats uneven. Every few miles until they reached the glade, the giant lizard would whine in despair at the ache in his bones and muscles. The last few days had been a marathon for the drake, forcing him to the limits of his physical capabilities. When they finally dipped beneath the colossal trees surrounding Moonglade, and the lamps of the town lit the forest floor, the weary dragon let loose an exuberant yip, a sound Thraze had never heard, but he felt the meaning.
His drake was tired, and more than ready to feast and sleep.
The sun was beginning to rise, turning the inky black of night in to deep shades of midnight and purple. Soon, the horizon would be pink and orange with the first rays of morning. Thraze, sitting directly behind Aria on the saddle, could see the bob and sway of the elfs tired body. As time wore on, she became increasingly fatigued. She would not last much longer in the land of the conscious.
Dur'ock landed a few paces from town, taking to the ground to enter the quaint village. As they approached the gates, they were met by a small woman with copper curls and a slightly scarred cheek. A human woman. Thraze remembered, then, where he'd seen her face. She had been the young girl, just a few days prior, who had escaped the miasma at the gates of Lordaeron. He remembered her clutching the portal stone, sobbing from the chemical burns on her face, neck and shoulder. She looked infinitely better now, with only light pink scars splashed across her ivory flesh to show for her agony. It gave her cherubic face a strength that Thraze hadn't seen the first time he'd lain eyes on her. She appeared ashamed of her two tone appearance, turning the scarred side of her face slightly away from the troll and elf as she timidly approached.
New wounds were often hard to come to terms with.
"Welcome to Moonglade. Everyone has been informed of your commendable actions, and there has been a feast prepared in your honor. If you would follow me.." She trailed off, eyeing the troll rogue who sat so tall and towering above her on his slobbering, heaving russet drake.
He looked anything but the savior, his outward appearance emanating shadow and collusion. In his lap sat a small night elf woman, one that Claire suddenly remembered seeing only days before, and on the back of the very same drake she was atop now. This was the woman who had been kidnapped from Zul'Drak by a troll.
Claire's anger spiked, but she tried to keep her tongue. She was horribly worried for the exhausted woman who appeared to be snoozing, covered in blood, in his lap.
Thraze noticed the change in the girls demeanor almost immediately. She emmanated concern and caution, and her brows knit together every time she made eye contact with the shady troll.
A few tense moments passed before Thraze released a heavy sigh, the sudden sound startling both Claire, and Aria. The drowsy druid in the saddle before him fluttered her luminescent eyes, focusing in on her surroundings before settling on the little woman in front of them.
"Oh, Claire. I didn't know you were in Moonglade as well. It is good to see you well." She said, breaking the silence that she had easily slept through the discomfort of. Thraze chose to remain silent, worried anything he might say would condemn him in this small woman's eyes, who looked at him so critically.
Her suspicious emerald gaze never relented, but she beamed at Aria nonetheless and let out a breathy, nervous, giggle.
"I was the first to return. Evanna was kind enough to send me to safety after the first bomb hit, so that I could tend my wounds. It has been a rough few days, but nothing as worse as what you've experienced tonight. You look absolutely ragged." she finished, taking a hesitant step forward so that she could see the elf better.
From where Claire stood, she could see the massive blood stain that marred the purple satin of the elfs dress from breast the mid-thigh. A slice in the dress revealed a stretch of ragged, purple scarred flesh, and Claire cringed. The wound looked to be inflicted by a blade, and once again, her eyes found the trolls' accusingly.
Thraze's anger began to stir at the loaded glares he kept receiving from the apparently spiteful young human woman.
Aria seemed not to notice, and continued on easily.
"I am famished and in need of rest, but I fear Dur'ock needs it more than I. Perhaps you could guide him to his deserved feast and I will find my way to a bed." She mumbled out, trying hard to stifle a yawn while stretching her tingling limbs.
"I will escort her." Thraze finally supplied, speaking for the first time since their departure from Teldrassil. Claire visibly jumped at the baritone of his voice, and she appeared shocked that he could speak her tongue. She had been warned that he knew common, but it was eery how human he sounded. She became visibly nervous, and ignored his comment to engage Aria again.
"Are you sure you couldn't eat? You look ravenous, and a large meal has been prepared. It will do you good to have food in your belly when you lay down to rest. Let me take you." She said quickly, turning on her heel and striding quickly away from them. Dur'ock, understanding her gestures, followed the copper haired human.
Thraze grunted with his discomfort and leaned forward to whisper in Aria's ear.
"I don't think she likes me." He said, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion when the elf began to chuckle so hard she had to stifle her mouth with her hand.
When she finally calmed, she leaned back against him so that she could whisper back.
"You terrify her." Was all she said before she broke out in to giggles again.
Thraze was perplexed as to why the humans terror would be funny in the least to the elf sitting between his thighs.
"I don't understand why that's funny." he admitted, watching Aria's expressions carefully. Her mouth quirked again with a hint of a smile, and she met his gaze over her light blue shoulder.
"It's funny because she reminds me of myself, just days ago when we first met. You terrified me. It's your energy." She said easily, as if it was all in the distant past. As if she hadn't been falling apart at the seams because of him just a day or more ago.
"Are you still terrified of me?" he asked, quickly becoming anxious of her answer. Her malachite brows pressed together in contemplation for some time before she replied.
"You are still unsettling, to say the least. I still don't understand your motives or your drive, but I understand that you mean me no harm. For now, it is enough." Was all she said before turning completely away from him, effectively ending their line of conversation.
The truth was a little hard to swallow at times, but Thraze appreciated her honesty. He hadn't expected much, to be honest. He was not completely unaware of his appearance, or the fact that he seemed to radiate darkness. 'Unsettling' is a title he feared he would always carry around with him, but he hoped Aria could eventually see passed it.
Dur'ock followed Claire's quick pace to an open faced building with a long table placed within. The ornate surface was covered from one end to the other in different meats, cheeses, breads, soups, spreads and jams. Aria wiggled excitedly in the saddle at the interlacing aromas wafting from the open building, and Thraze was hard pressed to slide from the saddle before she threw her tired body to the ground in her excitement. He reached up just as he touched the ground to assist her from the top of his grumbling drake.
Dur'ock's stomach matched his throaty rumbles and growls, and a sentinel stepped forward to guide the famished drake away and to his own feast of fresh deer and bear.
Aria leaned heavily on Thraze's arm to steady herself a moment before collecting her shaking body and easily stepping away from him. He remained a few paces back while the starving little elf busied herself with filling a plate and sat down excitedly to eat. Within a few minutes of her animalistic feasting, her cheeks began to regain color.
Thraze noticed Claire standing hesitantly beside him, eyeing him sideways as he leaned on the strut of the building. She audibly swallowed a few times, attempting to gather the courage to confront the domineering rogue, who stared so intently at the night elf woman at the table.
"You are the man who kidnapped her." Was all she seemed to be able to squeak out, her timid voice flittering out at the end. Their eyes met in an awkward sideways glance, amber meeting emerald. It was not a question she asked, but rather just an awkward statement. Thraze knew it would do no good to deny it, and so he assented.
"Yes." he said simply. He hoped it would be the end of the uncomfortable exchange, but Claire was too curious for her own good.
"Why?" Was all she asked. She asked as if there was a simple answer. She asked as if Thraze even knew for himself why he'd done it. He understood then, that it was more complicated than he could even explain.
"I don't know. I couldn't help myself. Even now, I can't help myself. Her aura has a gravity to it that I have no interest in fighting. I want to be near her. I want to protect her." he admitted. He tilted his head back to watch Aria tear in to a flank of juicy meat, her kanines making quick work of the succulent flesh. She looked wild and beautiful. Feral.
He knew Claire was not satisfied when she sighed heavily and crossed her arms at him like she was heavily disappointed.
"What do you even really want from her?" she finally asked, exasperated at his lack of forthcoming information. She was utterly confused as to why he was so obsessed, and why the elf now seemed so complacent to be in his frightening company.
"At first, I wanted her attention. I wanted her fear and her passion and her anger, but now… Now I only want her forgiveness. After that I will take my leave, and everything will be as it should." He broke eye contact with Claire at the end, lead settling in his gut at his confession.
He had hoped to avoid coming to terms with his imminent departure tonight. He had hoped to crawl in to a bed and ignore the wriggling in his gut at the thought of leaving Aria. It was harder this time than it was the last, even considering leaving her side. He didn't know how he'd managed to make it all the way to Orgrimmar a day ago. Even the thought of that much distance between them set his stomach in knots. Somehow he would find a way to sever his ties, but the thought was too painful tonight.
With a grunt, and an unceremonious exit, Thraze strode away to disappear in to the darkness of the trees.
Claire remained where she stood, watching the back of the tall troll as he stepped into, and then disappeared, in the dark of the treeline. Claire's heart still raced from the short conversation they'd had. He made her deeply nervous, but he seemed otherwise docile. Almost personable if you could overlook the frightening outward appearance and energy. Claire shook the anxiety from her arms and hands before smoothing her linen skirts and stepping forward to catch Aria's attention.
"We have a room prepared, if you're ready to rest." She supplied, offering a hand to the druid.
Aria had seen the last part of terse conversation between Claire and Thraze before he walked away, and she was hard pressed not to ask what had happened. Claire seemed to avoid Aria's gaze, even as the elf took her slender alabaster fingers within her own.
"I am more than ready for rest. I only hope that he may find some rest as well. I think he is more tired than he lets on." She said offhandedly, referencing the troll who had just left. Claire seemed startled at her words, and her eyes shifted nervously.
"It sounds as if you care for him." she said quietly, a blush coming to her scarred cheeks. Her copper curls fell in her face, partially shielding Aria's penetrating gaze.
Aria took a moment to think about Claire's statement, and why she had sounded so bitter. It wasn't normal for someone of her faction to have any other feeling for the horde than fear, or hatred, or disgust. And especially someone who had first-hand been kidnapped and manipulated and utterly toyed with.
But she did care for him. Out of all the things she had felt since first meeting him, 'caring' was the newest feeling. Since the start, she had been some mix of terrified, worried, attracted and disgusted with his behavior, and with him as a person. But within the last 24 hours, she had started to see how attached she had become to his erratic, savage behavior. His chaos seemed to make all of her pieces fall apart, and then back together. She was a different person now than she was a week ago, and it wasn't bad. She felt refreshed, more level headed. She felt as if she had a new understanding of the dynamics of her world. Things were not as they seemed, and though that frightened her in the beginning, it excited her now.
"I do care for him." She finally said softly, admitting it not only to Claire, but to herself as well.
"I don't understand…" the young Priestess finally said, utter confusion in her words.
Aria looked down at her, her glowing eyes meeting Claire's green, and she gave a smile and a small chuckle to the human.
"I don't understand either, but it's how I feel. It's what feels natural. I'm too tired to continue to fear and hate him, when he has done me no real harm. What has caused the most damage, is how I let my terror control me. It is much easier to let things go, and grow, than to hold on to what harms us." she said listlessly, her energy fading quickly. The food did well to sustain her a bit longer, but she was exhausted.
"But.. He kidnapped you! We saved you from his drake in Trisifal. You were bound and everything, and covered in blood!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up in exasperation and then crossing her pale arms indignantly.
"But the blood was not mine, and I am in the process of forgiving him for what he's thoughtlessly done. He is not capable of truly harming me, I think..." was all she managed to say, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't have the energy to argue with the little human, and released a heavy sigh, swaying on her feet.
Large hands came out of nowhere to support her arms, steadying her stumbling gait. A familiar presence towered over her, and the smell of leathers and ember from his drake wafted in to her sensitive nose. Aria opened her eyes, not fully aware that she'd even let them close, to see that Claire had stopped walking when Sul'thraze had appeared from the shadows. She didn't glare at him this time, but kept her distance nonetheless. One of her small hands lifted to point to a small, single roomed building just up the hill on the outskirts of the busy glade.
"That room is hers while she's here. We have a room for you also, when you're ready." she said curtly, turning and walking away from the pair before they could speak.
"Thank you, Claire!" Thraze called politely to her retreating back, causing the poor girl to stumble. She quickened her stride in an attempt to escape her embarrassment.
The rest of the walk to the cabin, Aria leaned heavily on Thraze's side. And when the walkway began to pitch in a steep climb to the front door, the rogue lifted the smaller woman in to his arms and brought her to the entryway. Aria's heart fluttered of it's own accord, but she allowed herself to enjoy the moment, resting her head upon his chest to listen to the rhythm of his heart. She fell asleep before he could even open the door, her breathing evening out in record time as she snoozed against his broad chest, nestled in his arms.
He looked down at her as he stepped in to the small house, closing the door silently behind him. Her cheeks had regained some semblance of color, and her lips were back to being the pretty pinkish-blue he was used to. She seemed so small, curled into his arms and chest as she was, one of her small hands on her stomach and the other resting, palm down, against his heart. Her body was warm, even through his worn leathers, and a tingling sensation settled itself in his stomach as he watched her sleep.
He couldn't leave her now. He couldn't put her down if he tried, his heart not allowing his hands and arms to release her. He settled for seating himself on the bed, his back against the wall with his legs crossed and her securely in his grasp. He sat like that, enjoying her presence and watching her slumber, for no more than half an hour before he too slipped in to sleep, exhaustion overcoming him.