No Rest for the Weary
By Serinthia Draftwood
A full moon hung in a clear night sky over Stranglethorn Vale. In the town of Booty Bay on the southern coast, the night life was in full swing, even though it was well past midnight. It was almost as though the city never slept. However, those that were trying to sleep found plenty of ways to tire themselves out despite all the noise.
Lakota let out a deep gasp and moan before relaxing back against the pillows, letting Serinthia draw her close, the two sharing a passionate kiss as they basked in the shared warmth of their love. Serinthia grinned slightly as she watched Lakota yawn slightly.
"Not that boring, am I?" Serinthia asked with a grin.
"Not hardly, love," Lakota said, snuggling closer "You just have a lot of energy. Maybe we'll sleep in, in the morning."
"I think so, too," Serinthia replied "I think after slaying all those trolls we could use a long vacation. The Orcs sure paid well enough for one."
"How many was it?" Lakota mumbled, closing her eyes some "60? 70?"
"91, dear," Serinthia said, stroking Lakota's mane gently "Plus their chieftain so we got that nice bonus."
"Mmm, yeah…that should keep us going awhile," Lakota mumbled, soon fast asleep in her lover's arms.
"Time enough to have a little peace together," Serinthia said, smiling slightly before feeling herself drifting off to sleep as well.
True to prediction, the two did sleep late. Not that the innkeeper would care, they were paid up through the end of the week, so what they did or didn't do was absolutely no business of his.
It was almost noon when Lakota stirred first, sitting up carefully so as not to disturb her lover, grabbing her robe before tying it round her waist and going to open the window. Being on the top floor, she had an excellent view. She looked out upon the bay, seeing the goblins that ran the city hurrying about their business. The town really never did sleep. She had never seen such a busy place, not even in Orgrimmar.
"Good morning up there!"
Down closer to the main floor of the inn was a balcony that looked like a reused section of the bow of a ship. Standing there was Fleet Master SeaHorn of the Blackwater Raiders. A male tauren, certainly, but a true pirate through and through. Still the goblins seemed to tolerate him and his men since they didn't seem to bother any of the locals.
"Or should I say good afternoon?" he continued.
"Good morning to you, fleet Master," Lakota said politely "How are you doing?"
"Crew's getting geared up and ready to pull out again. You sure you lovely ladies wouldn't want to see my cabin while we're still around?" he asked with a wide grin.
"As Serin told you last night, we're really not that interested in how big your sword is…nor your cabin," Lakota said with a smirk, recalling when the pirate had been hitting on them most of the night down in the bar.
"Your loss," he smirked slightly as he finished his drink, glancing towards the horizon. He paused then, blinking a moment as he stared into the distance before heading indoors.
Lakota watch him a moment before shrugging to herself. It was then someone's arms encircled her and drew her close from behind.
"Good Morning, love," Serinthia said quietly, nuzzling her "Flirting with the good Fleet Master before lunch, hmmm?"
"Jealous?" Lakota asked.
"Maybe," Serinthia admitted "Maybe you need a reminder of who you love?"
"Maybe," Lakota said with a grin.
Serinthia smiled softly, drawing Lakota away from the window and back to the bed.
The two hadn't realized there was a problem until they heard a general alarm raised all around the bay an hour or so later. Both donned their armor as quickly as they could and hurried down to the main room where the Fleet Master was busy giving directions to members of his crew.
"What's going on?" Serinthia called to him over the various other conversations going back and forth.
"Bloodsail Buccaneers," SeaHorn replied grimly "Just saw them through my spyglass not long ago."
"What the heck are they doing here?" Serinthia asked with some surprise "They must know how well defended this place is."
"Which is why they've apparently avoided the wrath of the long nines at the mouth of the bay and circled round to the beaches to the south. Word is they've already set up camps there and are moving into the jungle," SeaHorn stated factually "I'm rather busy massing the crews for counter assault at the moment, so if you'll excuse me…"
"Wait, is there anything we can do to help?" Lakota asked suddenly.
The Fleet Master paused a moment before nodding.
"Maybe," he replied walking over to the bar where he had a map laid out.
Serinthia glanced at her love as they followed.
"Weren't we on vacation?' Serinthia whispered.
"Not any more," Lakota replied, equally quietly "Besides you wouldn't be able to sleep with yourself…or me…if we didn't do something…"
"Point taken," Serinthia replied as they got to the bar, looking the map over.
"A full on assault is what I have planned for the beaches. It's wide open and should be easy to get a full blown war going. However, I just received a report minutes ago of a small camp having been set up in the jungle north of here. It's apparently another scouting party except its being headed up by one of their senior Captains, Captain SeaBreeze. Her head, I want. Unfortunately, I don't have the extra manpower to spare in sending a group up there. But if you bring it to me, then I'll make it worth your while."
"How, exactly?" Serinthia asked expectantly. If they were going to get involved, they might as well earn something.
"Two Gold," SeaHorn stated "Plus free passage back to Kalindor if you happen to be going that way any time soon. We sail to the town of Ratchet on occasion."
"We'll keep that in mind," Serinthia said "For now, we'll see what we can do."
"Thank you, ladies" SeaHorn replied "I mean that."
Serinthia nodded and turned to Lakota.
"I guess get the rest of our gear," she said "I'll get Kirika from the stable master. And tell the innkeeper to hold our room. We'll be back."
"Got it," Lakota said, heading back upstairs.
Thirty minutes later, the two tauren were fully armored with tiger in tow and heading out of Booty Bay into the surrounding jungle.
"I'm kinda surprised he'd want two hunters for this job," Lakota said "I would think some kind of rogue or assassin would do better."
"Well, I think we do a better job of tracking our targets," Serinthia replied "Especially in a jungle like this. In either case, let's get this done and get back to our rest."
The two tauren crept through the jungle, making their way towards the western coastline, keeping their eyes open for any signs of somebody having pasted their way. In time, they came to the coast itself, with the blue ocean stretching out before them. They continued north then, sticking to the edge of the jungle, when they came to a small alcove in the coast, part of the ocean having flowed inland and creating a site that would be perfect for landing a small longboat or two. And that's exactly what they found.
Crouched among the thick brush of the surrounding jungle, the pair looked out into the clearing, sizing up their targets. There was one longboat beached on the shoreline and the group had evidently set up a small camp and work area. They counted five men…as well as the Captain they were after. She seemed a very powerful, commanding sort who drew the respect of her subordinates, either through fear or respect…or possibly both.
"Six altogether," Lakota said "If we take them as a group, I doubt we'd survive. They look well armed."
Serinthia nodded, looking around carefully before noticing something.
"Look, one of them is headed into the jungle…probably looking for fresh water," she said "If we take him out, the others will search…possibly not all at once. Let's see what happens."
Lakota nodded and armed her rifle but Serinthia shook her head.
"Let's keep it quiet for now," she said "Or at least as quiet as we can."
She led Lakota deeper into the brush, letting Kirika pick up the human's scent. True to Serinthia's prediction, the man was found approaching one of the jungle's rivers where he began filling water jugs.
Serinthia drew her huge axe carefully, motioning to Lakota and Kirika to stay put for now, hoping to take the pirate by surprise. While nowhere near as good as a rogue was, sneaking was something many hunters had to be good at and Serinthia used the skill to the best of her ability to creep through the brush carefully until she was a couple yards behind the pirate. She took a deep breath…and charged.
Later Serinthia would assume the Earth Mother smiled on her, because the man barely had time to hear the whistle of the axe blade gliding through the air before connecting with his neck and taking his head in one blow. His body fell to the ground, bleeding out as Serinthia backed off and took a deep breath, turning away from the gruesome scene and rejoining her companions.
"When he doesn't return, the others should come."
"What if they all come?" Lakota asked.
"If they're stupid enough to leave their Captain unguarded, then they can hunt through the jungle all they like and we'll kill her when they're not looking," Serinthia replied "Let's head back and see what happens."
The two tauren had to be patient this time as the group apparently had expected their fellow to be gone awhile. The two sat quietly in their hiding place near the edge of the jungle, watching carefully, Serinthia stroking Kirika gently to keep the big tiger calm.
Just as the sun was beginning it's decent towards the horizon, the attitude in camp seemed to change to one of concern, and, much to Serinthia's surprise, the entire camp, with the exception of the captain did, indeed, begin to make their way into the jungle to begin a search. It was then that they began to hear distant rifle shots and the cries of battle to the south
"Sounds like SeaHorn has his paws full," Serinthia said quietly "Even better, that noise should provide some cover for our own activities. Lock and load."
The Captain had stepped out of the tent then to review the maps she had sprawled out on a table in the middle of the camp. It was then that the tauren struck.
Kirika charged ahead as normal, Serinthia and Lakota running behind her into the clear where they both took aim to fire. Just as Kirika was about to tackle her target, Captain SeaBreeze dove to the side, drawing her multi-shot pistols and fired at the tiger, hitting Kirika's thick hide a couple times before Serinthia quickly called to her to retreat at the same time she made Lakota take cover as well before ducking behind a large boulder herself.
"Fire at will!" she called to Lakota as they both leaned over and began to fire.
Captain SeaBreeze knocked the heavy table over quickly and ducked behind it, beginning to return fire, her bullets blasting off the rocks the tauren hid behind, while their bullets slowly began slowly eating away at the table, none of them quite having the power to penetrate all the way.
"It's a stalemate," Serinthia called over to Lakota "Lets hope she runs out of ammo before we do."
Lakota nodded in ready agreement as she quickly reloaded and leaned over to fire again, her shot chipping more splinters from the decaying table. Serinthia leaned over to fire again, herself, but the Captain returned fire then and Serinthia yelped sharply as a searing hot pain buried itself in her shoulder, knocking her back. Quickly she dropped her rifle and began unstrapping her shoulder armor, tearing it off to find a gunshot wound steadily oozing with blood. Lakota nearly rose up to go to her lover when more gunfire ricocheted off the rocks around her, forcing her to keep her place.
"Are you alright?" she called.
"Think so," Serinthia growled through clenched teeth as she fumbled for a bandage to stop the bleeding "Gonna need a doctor when we get back though, damn it."
Seeing that Serinthia wasn't able to continue the fight, Lakota chanced glancing around the boulder to see where the Captain was. Captain SeaBreeze had paused in her assault and was looking over the top of the table carefully as well when she called out.
"Surrender now and I'll make your deaths quick!"
"Just was I was going to suggest!" Lakota called back "We have the advantage."
"Not since I took down your friend there," The Captain replied "Don't think I didn't see my shot strike true."
Lakota frowned and quietly set her rifle aside, drawing her axe instead and looking over to make sure Serinthia had bandaged the wound.
Serinthia's eyes widened as she finished tying the bandage.
"Are you crazy?" she whispered urgently.
"No, I'm just going to trust your aim," Lakota said simply. She then called out "Single combat then!"
"Deal!" the captain replied. She waited for Lakota to emerge and come closer, then rose from her hiding place behind the table and tossed her pistols aside, drawing her sword instead. Lakota advanced carefully, keeping her eyes fixed on the pirate in front of her. The two circled each other, waiting for some sign of weakness on the part of the other.
With frightening speed, the pirate captain lunged forward, trying to drive her sword straight into Lakota's chest. The young tauren just barely blocked the move before swinging her axe around to slice at the captain's side, but the captain's sword parried the move expertly before she followed through punching Lakota muzzle sharply and making the tauren stagger back slightly.
Suddenly on the defensive, Lakota shook her head quickly and began to block and parry the assault of sword swings the captain dealt her. The Captain was obviously a refined swordsman and was substantially better with one than Lakota was with an axe. Still, the Captain's sword struck true a number of times, most being soaked by the armor, but a couple opening neat, thin slices in Lakota's side. Driven back further and further, Lakota tripped and fell back into the shallow water washing up on the beach. Captain SeaBreeze chuckled quietly as she moved her over, aiming her sword tip at Lakota's neck.
Her smile didn't last long. Lakota heard the shot and it seemed as though the back of the Captain's head exploded in a bloody mess. The sword dropped as the captain's body fell forward, onto Lakota who quickly pushed it off her and got to her feet. As she had trusted, she saw Serinthia had propped herself up over the top of that boulder and managed to take enough time for one carefully aimed shot.
Lakota ran back over to her quickly and hugged her gently.
"Well if this shoulder wasn't broken before it probably is now," Serinthia said quietly, still in a lot of pain "The recoil on these things isn't exactly gentle."
"You just rest here a moment then," Lakota said "I'll fetch the head and we'll get the hell out of here."
"Hopefully we still have a port town to go back too," Serinthia said as she listened to the distant battle still raging.
By the time they returned to Booty Bay, however, the battle seemed to be winding down. The Bloodsail Buccaneers had been thoroughly defeated and what was left of them was making a hurried retreat as quickly as they could. Returning to the inn, both tauren quickly sent for a doctor or healer or anybody who would be available. Everyone seemed to be busy with the wounded from the main battle, however, and what they ended up with was a near-sighted goblin who assured them he'd done lots of stuff like this before.
The surgery to remove the bullet from Serinthia's shoulder was painful for Lakota to watch, though not nearly as painful as it was for Serinthia to experience it. Still, Lakota refused to leave her side during the procedure. Thankfully he did the job well enough, though Lakota later suspected he was highly motivated by the way she fingered the handle of her axe as she watched him.
"Well, that should do it," the goblin was saying as he packed his tools away and Lakota paid him "Not unlike fixing broken machinery really. Told ya I'd done this before. Just have her rest for a couple weeks and she ought to be fine. Same for you, keep those bandages on those cuts for awhile."
Even Serinthia who had been floating in and out of consciousness from the pain found something funny in that statement and she chuckled quietly with Lakota as the goblin departed. At the salve the goblin had thought to put on the wound was easing the pain a bit and Serinthia looked up at Lakota.
"Wasn't that what we were supposed to be doing when this whole thing started?"
"Maybe," Lakota replied "Still as long as you're still with me at the end of it, then it was worth it."
"You think so?" Serinthia asked "Two gold is nice, but this was supposed to be our vacation."
"Well if you don't agree," Lakota said casually "Then I guess I won't share the sack of silver I plucked off the captain's sword belt. There's gotta be at least 5 gold worth there."
Serinthia's eyes widened a moment then she grinned and relaxed a bit more.
"Maybe we'll extend that vacation awhile," she said quietly, yawning slightly from exhaustion.
"We'll see," Lakota said "For now, you rest, my love."
She leaned down and kissed Serinthia's forehead. Serinthia smiled and nodded slightly, as she drifted off in no time.
Lakota watched her for a time before going to the window and looking out at the bay.
No rest for the weary, she thought to herself. The best she could do was pray to the earth mother that it wouldn't always be like that. Still, as she watched the sunset, she felt confident they were safe for at least the near future, and as long as she stayed by Serinthia's side, she could find contentment in that.