A/N: Apologies for those of you that have already read this, but it was pointed out to me that my interactions were too brief by several of my reviewers, so I have redone both scenes and split them into two separate chapters. Cause that's just what I do :P Hope you like the new version :)
Compared to the structured and well laid out streets of Theramore, Orgrimmar had very clearly been not so much planned as sprawled across the foothills of the Durotar Mountains. Coming into land from zeppelin that Jaina seemed to have for just these kind of visits, Harry had been surprised to see not only the walls and towers that seemed common in Azeroth cities but farmland as well.
Given the mythos on Earth regarding Orcs Harry had imagined things to be a lot more primitive and basic in their culture and society. Their nature was similar to how he had imagined it based on the little interaction he had had with them so far, he had been forced to sink a few Orcs into the ground when they had rushed at him and Nash'ala after they had stepped off the zeppelin. Much to the amusement of the attacker's more genial companions and his unhelpful mission target herself.
Jaina had managed to restrain herself to a shake her head and a small smile but Harry could tell that his plight was definitely one of the more amusing sights she had seen in some time, her appearance at the bottom of the zeppelin ramp only coming when several of the Orc guards had been drawn to the area and approaching Harry with weapons in hand.
At the sight of her the Orcs had come to a stop, thankfully for Harry as the Orcs he had restrained had been much stronger than he had anticipated and if he had been forced to continue his defensive he would have been in trouble. That was not to say the glares aimed at him and Nash'ala disappeared as they travelled through an area called the Valley of Wisdom, even the strange blue tusked creatures that made up a good portion of the population were very hostile towards Nash'ala.
He would have to ask about it later, but for now he was forced to pay attention to his surroundings a bit more, the crowd gathering ahead in greater numbers, a raised dais above them behind which lay a large building that was obviously the seat of power in this place. The crowd quieted as the three of them approached, Harry's hand never leaving the sword at his side, the crowd parting before him uneasily as he got within 5 feet of them.
On top of the dais there stood a large Orc in plate armour and wielding a giant axe that was bigger than Harry and probably weighed twice as much. The Orc was sneering at them and pointed down at Harry with his free hand, causing Harry to quickly activate the translation rune just in case what was said might be important.
"Your kind are not welcome here anymore dog, Orc blood is on you and your cowardly marines hands!" There was a general call of agreement from the gathered Orcs and Blue skinned warriors, several pounding on shields in a threatening manner. Looking over to Jaina in case they needed to make a quick exit, Harry saw her look more than a little irritated, gesturing around at the crowd before speaking to the Orc on the Dais.
"And yet you need to gather a hundred Orcs and Trolls together in order to confront two cowardly humans Garrosh? Your ancestors must be so proud of your courage..." Ouch, that was probably not the best tone to use when surrounded by a lot of angry warriors. Harry was proved wrong a moment later though, when laughter could be heard from behind Garrosh, the axe wielding Orc a cross between enraged and embarrassed as the laughter spread to others in the crowd.
The source of the laughter was made obvious a moment later as another Orc strode from the large building, followed by a dozen Orcs equipped with some of the best armour Harry had ever seen. The angry shouts that had followed Jaina's mocking comment silenced at the new Orc's arrival and judging by the deference even Garrosh gave the new Orc, Harry had to assumed this was Thrall Doomhammer.
"I am sure that Garrosh did not in fact intend for this crowd to be here when he confronted you Lady Proudmoore, it must simply be a coincidence that so many of my people were here when you arrived and got caught up in his emotional and rash state, which is understandable given the losses my captains have suffered at the hands of these pirates." Thrall, Harry realised in that moment, was a more skilled leader than he could ever hope to be, the Orc using one sentence to admonish, apologise and diffuse a potentially violent situation without seeming to be on any particular side or opinion as he did so.
Sensing a subtle order to disperse the crowd quickly began to break up under the watchful eyes of the guards Thrall had brought with him, the Warchief simply raising a hand as Garrosh began to speak once more and silencing him with a hard look.
"You are not Warchief Garrosh, you do not stand on this Dais and issue statements like that to one of our long time allies. Especially given that she has come here without protest, or a thousand bodyguards, not something a guilty party would do given our old hatreds." Given the change in tone, it sounded like this was not the first time this Garrosh had done something like this, though he didn't look repentant in the slightest. Garrosh stormed off a moment later with two guards, who were obviously there to make sure he didn't try and come back.
"Lady Proudmoore, welcome to Orgrimmar, I apologise for not meeting you at the Zeppelin hangar but you are earlier than expected. The other leaders are inside discussing matters related to the Horde and the threats that are arrayed against us and were meant to have left before you arrived. I have made it clear to them that you are no mindless servant of the Alliance, at least in the manner they are insinuating. But perhaps it would be best if you were to meet them in person." The welcome was honest, as was the apology, but Harry's senses screamed to him that Thrall was not being entirely truthful about the part about the other leaders.
Whether this was a ploy to be able to talk from a further position of strength surrounded by his allies, or instead an attempt to plant the seeds of friendship between Theramore and the rest of the Horde Harry didn't know. Giving a cough that caused both leader's to look over towards him, Harry weighed up whether being subtle would be a good idea, but in the end he decided to follow Jaina's lead.
"I apologise Warchief, but I think there is more going on here than us being early..." Having told Jaina about his ability to sense emotions, something he felt important to be truthful from the start about given the alliance he was forming with her, his statement let her know that he had sensed something off rather than just guessing.
The sorceress turned to Thrall with a questioning gaze, hand on hip in an obvious waiting stance, the Orc looking at Harry with interest and respect before laughing once more and raising his hands in a placating manner.
"I like your new bodyguard Jaina, he is certainly a lot sharper than most of the idiots that we have to put up with. Yes, there is a little more going on than I let on but I kept my peace at the request of someone else who wished to surprise you. I promise you there is no ill intent meant by this particular secret." Jaina gave Harry another glance to affirm Thrall was telling the truth, something Harry knew that Thrall had caught, even as he nodded that Thrall had been honest.
With that settled the Warchief lead them into the tall building that seemed to serve as the administrative centre of Orgrimmar as well as the quarters for the heavily armed Orcs that now numbered in their dozens if not hundreds. As they went further back into the heart of the building Harry could now pick out 4 distinctly powerful signatures ahead of them, each of them smaller than Thrall and Jaina in terms of power but still more powerful than nearly everyone Harry had encountered before.
These had to be the other leaders of the Horde, and Harry was worried that one of them had a very dark magical signature about them, almost as dark as those of the dementors or the Void Demons he had face on Earth. Jaina and Thrall seemed completely at ease at each other despite Harry's mistrust, the two talking about trivial matters before they reached the large pair of double doors which the other magical signatures were behind.
As the doors opened Jaina's poker face returned with an ease that Harry felt slightly jealous of, her eyes casting around the room for a moment before lighting up as they fell on one of the figures sat at the semi-circular table in front of them. Nash'ala spoke to him, Harry having deactivated the rune to conserve magic and to try and make the very nervous Naga a little more comfortable.
"These are the leaders of the Horde Jaina and her advisors were telling us about Harry, though I did not know the Blood Elves had joined with the Horde as Coira hadn't mentioned anything about it last time we saw her." The Blood Elf at the table was smiling warmly as the three of them approached, bowing his head at Jaina who smiled happily back before speaking, Nash'ala providing a commentary of what was going on much to the interest of the other Horde leaders.
"Jaina is saying how surprising it is to see Regent Loth'mar, the head of the Blood Elf forces on Azeroth whilst Prince Kael'thas is leading his expedition in Outland, here. The Regent replied that he was here to strengthen the non-aggression pact that he had with the Horde leaders and the Forsaken in particular..."
As Nash'ala talked Harry was only half listening, he got the gist of it and he was far more concerned with the undead woman who was sat on the far left hand side of the table, her dead gaze not having left his for a moment. He had been told about the Forsaken, their short history and current condition, but that didn't make the resemblance to the zombies that the Burning Legion had raised on Earth any easier to ignore.
It was taking a surprising amount of willpower not to draw his wand defensively, only the fact that he could not feel any threatening emotions from her calming him a little, all he could sense was scorn and... curiosity. It was then that Harry noticed the rest of the room had quietened, everyone watching him as Nash'ala repeated a question that he had missed in his conflicted state.
"Harry, Thrall asked why I was talking to you like this and looking at Lady Sylvanas like that, how would you like me to reply?" Flushing slightly at having been caught staring, even if it wasn't for the reasons that most of the people there probably thought it was, Harry decided it would be best to remove the middle woman as it were, at least initially at any rate.
So drawing on his magic to activate the rune again, he noted every single person present stiffen slightly as he did so, obviously more attuned to magic than most.
"I apologise to Lady Windrunner for staring, I have some bad experiences and it took me a few seconds to bury them, I won't let it happen again." He didn't make any inference to her undead state or that it was her unlife that was what had brought the memories to the fore, something he had been told in advance was a touchy subject for most of the Forsaken and Sylvanas in particular.
"The reason why Nash'ala is speaking to me in her native tongue as opposed to common is also the reason why Lady Proudmoore asked me to be her bodyguard for this diplomatic mission. I suppose I should begin by introducing myself properly. I am Lord Harry Potter of the Terran people..."
*Time Skip*
After his introduction and quick explaination regarding his people's origins, Harry had cancelled the magic to the translation rune, allowing Nash'ala to take over the speaking part once more. Regent Loth'mar had been quick to back his story, probably based on the reports from Coria and the other survivors from Ashenvale and that definitely helped smooth things over with the other leaders.
"What Lord Harry says is true, he has worked with one of my people and aided her in freeing some of my warriors from the Burning Legion's forces in Ashenvale." Harry had worked with Nash'ala so that she would for the most part simply translate what people said word for word rather than trying to summarise and specify who said what.
Whilst he was grateful for her efforts to make things easier for him, Harry found that he could judge people's moods and truthfulness better without the compression. It only fell down when multiple people were talking in quick succession, but that was why he was working hard to actually try and learn common so that Nash'ala didn't need to keep going through this. Then Cairne, the ancient Tauren leader who seemed to command the respect of the others through his wisdom rather than his strength despite his terrifying size, spoke up after a moment's quiet.
"So you are the one who saved Druid Snowhoof, I should have made the connection given your travelling companion, as few associate with the Naga by choice." The Tauren spoke with the kind of tone that meant Nash'ala didn't even react to his comments about her race, after all she was one of the most ardent advocates against her people's plan.
"Though the description of 'the sea witch and her blood demon possessed companion' are not what I would call the most accurate of descriptions. Having received the reports from Thrall's men I personally had a discussion with Ruul to make sure he knew exactly where I disagreed with his actions and words." There was obvious signs of restrained amusement from around the table at this statement and Harry got the feeling that this Druid Snowhoof, who he assumed was the Tauren they had encountered in Ashenvale, had not enjoyed the 'discussion' at all.
"What incident be this Chieftain Cairne, I not be doubting the human's strength given what the spirits be telling me, but I think you best be explaining for the rest of us..." Even as Harry threw Nash'ala a slightly amused and questioning look at the sudden change in speech and grammar, Nash'ala grinned cheekily and spoke quickly before Lady Sylvanas spoke up herself.
"You be telling me to translate directly mon, so that be what I be doing. And Lady Sylvanas asks that whatever the incident is we would be best going over it briefly, as she has to return to the Undercity. Despite her words, I think she is more interested in you than she lets on Harry. Shall I tell them or do you want to and I translate?" The jump between tones would probably start to irritate him if she kept it up for the long term, but Harry found it amusing more than anything else as he nodded for her to explain the incident in Ashenvale.
Nash'ala was right of course, despite not showing it in her body language or facial expressions Sylvanas' emotions were a mix of suspicion and interest behind the wall of prideful disdain she seemed to emit to everyone, and given her gaze never left him it was doubtful those emotions were aimed at anyone else. The suspicion faded as Nash'ala spoke of what must have been a very summarised battle and towards the end of it there was a mixture of respect and interest in the Forsaken leader's eyes as she spoke up, Nash'ala listening for a moment before relaying it to him.
"Sylvanas wishes to know about these portkeys that you used, primarily her question was are they a form of advanced hearthstone and what are their limitations? I know from the little you have told me that they are an entirely different type of magic but I don't know what you want me to tell her. This is obviously because she is worried the anti-hearthstone wards in place at places like here will not work against portkeys..." A valid security concern and one Harry realised he would have to consider for the Terrans, after all if portkeys might be able to bypass hearthstone wards the same could also occur in the opposite case.
"Be honest Nash'ala, I think letting them know it is a different type of magic is not a major concern and any further questions they have I can answer them if they aren't too intrusive. And about the wards I have no idea, we would have to do some tests to make sure there aren't any adverse effects." Nash'ala nodded, her emotions spiking with happiness that he was trusting her to effectively speak for him again, obviously his request for her to directly translate had worried her that he was upset at her.
The leaders had listened with interest as Nash'ala spoke, this time the blue skinned tucked creature, that Harry had now learnt was an Azerothian Troll called Vo'jiin, spoke up this time with another question. But Nash'ala answered it instantly and Vo'jiin sat back whilst scratching one of his tusks, obviously contemplating what she had told him. Several other questions later and the topic seemed to turn back to the Terrans in general rather than Harry's actions thus far.
"How many of your people are there that intend to come to Azeroth? And what of your allegiances, Nash'ala says that you have worked closely with Tyrande and now Lady Jaina, does this mean you are going to join the alliance with your fellow humans?" Sylvanas had been the most thorough with her questioning, something Harry thought was a normal thing at the Council by the fact the other leaders were content to take a back seat for the most part.
It was not as if Sylvanas was being purposefully hostile, that much he could glean from her emotions. In fact, if Harry didn't know any better, he would say that the questions were as much her desire to gain new and unknown knowledge as it was to ascertain if he and the other Terran's were a threat. Her question about his aims regarding alliances was one he was surprised didn't come sooner, given that the people of Azeroth had their own humans and history associated with them, so he took a moment to think before replying under the suddenly intense scrutiny of the Horde leaders.
"There are about 3000 people from Earth that we hope to relocate here before the Legion finish devouring our world's magic, though this does include some of our magical races as well as Terrans like myself. I would also ask that you try not to judge us for what Azeroth's humans have said or done to you in the past, we know very little of your world and definitely have none of the bad blood that seems to permeate between the two sides." Pausing to allow Nash'ala to finish translating, Harry saw that whilst Thrall and Loth'mar frowned, obviously concerned with their people's ability to do as Harry had just requested, Cairne, Vo'jiin and Sylvanas seemed to consider such a thing Sylvanas was still like trying to read a red crayon scribble on a sandstone canyon.
"With that in mind, I don't think my people will wish to join either group, no offence to any of you of course. After all, I do not see why I should stop being friendly with the Night Elves just because I want to trade with the Blood Elves or the lovely lady Sylvanas..." The laughs his last comment were worth the slightly angry look from the Banshee Queen, which given her rather stoic countenance was the equivalent of a murderous look from anyone else.
Sylvanas maintained her icy demeanour throughout and it was only after an hour when the Council dispersed to allow for the leaders to get back to their people did that change, Thrall and Jaina having moved off to an adjoining room to discuss the pirate problems part way through the questioning. Vo'jiin had been the first to leave, as he had a clan meeting back at the trolls main village in the area known as the Barrens. Given the troll's rather distinctive style and the style of speech, Harry couldn't help but smile even as they shook hands.
"Be good to meet the first Terran, when your people be settled make sure you be visiting Sen'jin village. If your portkeys be as you say, I think there be a lot of good you can do to help my people reclaim their home." The fact that such help if the Trolls were successful in retaking their home would mean an awful lot of goodwill and favour didn't need to be said, though Harry would need to find out the exact details of what had occurred to lead to their departure before he offered any concrete help.
"It was good to meet you as well Chieftain Vo'jiin, I thank you for your positive outlook on the situation regarding my people. When my work with Lady Jaina is done and our foothold secure we shall meet to discuss the details of your home." Warm enough to convey his gratitude at the troll's positivity, but cautious enough not to make any promises he might end up not wanting to keep, not a bad attempt Harry thought as the Troll nodded with only slightly dampened enthusiasm and then activated his hearthstone to return himself home.
"Honourable, but not naive enough to give your help without understanding the full meaning of what would be required of you and your people. Still, despite your obvious caution you try and save those you can without concern for race or attitude, an admirable trait young Terran." The floor shook slightly as the Tauren Chieftain made his way over towards Harry with the sort of ponderous amble that reminded Harry of Grawp.
Unlike the simple minded giant though each of Cairne's movements was measured and purposeful, the glint in his eye belaying the hidden intelligence behind his rather slow speech and measured words. With a hand that could easily crush Harry's skull Cairne worked with surprising dexterity to remove a bracelet from his other wrist.
"We Tauren are few, and despite the differences some of my kind have with humans, such a debt as saving the life of one of my kin cannot go ignored. So, I wish for you to take this charm, it has been in my family for centuries. The spirits of my family will watch over the one who wears it, and given your stance you will need protection from the fights you surely have left to come." Well perhaps it was a bracelet for the Tauren, it was more like a long double looped necklace for Harry, but given such a gift and the sentiment it came with might stop any Tauren he encountered from attacking him if they saw it, Harry wasn't going to be pedantic about it.
Harry could feel the magic that was embedded in his new jewellry and it had a calming effect on him that almost made him believe what Cairne was saying. After bidding the Tauren farewell and giving a similar promise to visit the Tauren village soon, Harry was left with two of the leaders he had come to meet, both ends of the emotional spectrum when it had come to interacting with him. Jaina and Thrall had bidden goodbye to the leaders before he had, the two then moving off to discuss the business that had been the real reason for Jaina's visit.
Loth'mar had been quick to step up and shake hands with both him AND Nash'ala, which was more than the other leaders were prepared to do at this stage, the others all ignoring the young woman in favour of him. Not that Nash'ala minded the lack of attention, her quiet request to the room for some water the only sign of how tiring the talks had been for her. As one of the Orc guards went to fetch the desired water, Loth'mar spoke to her for almost half a minute before his attention finally turned to Harry.
"Lord Potter, I must again state how pleased I am to meet you in person, Coira has given me a detailed account of your interactions since her rather unflattering introduction." Despite his rather regal demeanour Harry found that Loth'mar had a very down to earth, sarcastic, sense of humour.
He chuckled as Nash'ala finished translating, already seeing how well Blaise and Loth'mar would get along in his head, though there was a small chance they might see each other as rivals. Not his problem Harry thought wryly as he replied.
"Regent Loth'mar, thank you for your support of my position there, things could have gone a lot worse if the other leaders hadn't believed me. How is Coira, I assume she has settled back into Silvermoon City well enough despite our adventures?" Address by title, offer gratitude and pretend their help was more valuable than it actually was. His inner Blaise was feeling quite smug until Loth'mar shook his head dismissively.
"There is no need to play political games Lord Potter, whilst you seem to have some small experience you will find that both I and Lady Sylvanas have much more... ruthlessness at the game. Perhaps with Coira's help you can develop enough political sense to prove a modicum of challenge, hopefully not though as you are honest in your thoughts like Chieftain Bloodhoof, and honesty is a trait you will find valued here..." With that rather polite but forceful put down, along with the not so subtle hint regarding Sylvanas, Loth'mar returned to his more pleasant persona.
"But Coira was actually on her way back to your holding in Desolace when I left Silvermoon City to make my way here, she has always been one for travel and adventure rather than guard duty, she also said that her familiarity with you and your group would make it easier for her to pass on a hearthstone for you to travel to Silvermoon City." Of course, the primary reason for the hearthstone had been to allow Harry to come and introduce himself to Loth'mar, but the effort was still appreciated and Harry was sincere in his thanks.
Despite the trouble that could arise between the magic drinker race and his own given the vast number of mages that made up the remaining humans, Harry was just happy that there were people out there not so prejudiced as to rule out an alliance based on race alone.
"Thank you for allowing Coira to return to aid my group in our efforts, she has been greatly useful both on and off the battlefield. I apologise for my earlier attempt at politicking but one of my Terran advisers has been rather... insistent that I learn how to handle myself without resorting to magic." Loth'mar offered a polite chuckle and nodded in understanding, obviously this was not the first time he had dealt with warrior leaders as opposed to political ones.
"Not a bad thing Lord Potter, but I would advise you practice more with closer allies in future rather than potentially alienate yourself, I of course will be happy to help instruct you when you visit Silvermoon City before you go off to meet with the Alliance races. I assume that you do intend to do that?" The blood elf's unsubtle hint and comment about his future plans seemed to be the Regent's way of being friendly so Harry chose not to take offence at the obvious dumbing down of the Regent's speech for his benefit.
The fact that he had been intending to travel to the other main continent of Azeroth to do as Loth'mar suggested went without saying, if he did want to keep the Terran's neutral in this rather delicate standoff then Harry would have to ensure that he was not seen to favour either side in public. Loth'mar's offer was therefore quite a generous one, given he was in effect allowing Harry to travel his lands without any kind of agreement or treaty and go talk to those who could well become potential enemies given the Blood Elves seeming closeness with the Horde.
There was the smallest of shifts in Sylvanas' carefully controlled emotions, making Harry wonder if she was considering speaking up for the first time since the leaders had officially broken up to return to their homes after signing the new non-aggression pact between them. But he saw no change in her posture or expression so Harry decided that it would be more prudent to answer the question quickly rather than wait for a potential point from the Banshee Queen.
"Indeed, I have a few more things that I agreed to help Lady Proudmoore with and then I was going to start travelling to each of your territories. I will admit I was not expecting to actually meet any of you so soon, or in person given you are heads of state, more I was expecting to exchange correspondence at best given my human appearance. So I will travel to Silvermoon after Coira arrives with the hearthstone and then we can discuss things further before I continue my travels, after all another view on recent history would be very useful for me to come to my own conclusions." His statement that he didn't want to just take others words as truth was obviously the right thing to do as Loth'mar gave a true smile for the first time and grasped his hand in friendship once more before moving off to the hearthstone area to teleport out.
So that left the pair of them alone with Sylvanas, who had not yet shifted from either her seat or neutral expression, twin orbs piercing into Harry with all the emotion of a rock emanating from her. Seeing that she wasn't going to say anything or make the first move, Harry instead moved to sit across from her at the council table, making sure to offer Nash'ala a place first even though he knew she would refuse. Then he activated the translation rune, whilst it would put some strain on Nash'ala it would give her the opportunity to rest her jaw if she wished.
"So my lady, are you going to talk whatever business it is you wish to discuss? Or would you prefer for us to just gaze into each other's eyes across the room until the Warchief is done?" He smirked at his inference even though it got no visible reaction, sometimes that was all that was needed to show he had aggravated someone to the point that they hid their reaction.
Sylvanas did seem to be a little used to his style now as she was quick to respond, her tone about as alive as she was, given the total lack of inflection in her deadpan riposte.
"From what you said earlier human, I doubt I am your type, unless you are telling me you are into dead people..." Ouch, okay maybe word games wasn't the best approach, but at least it was something.
"I think the differences between our worlds mean that you won't understand if I were to say that you wouldn't be that out of place there before the Legion arrived." Sylvanas looked at him with only the slightest hint of anger, but it was obvious that she didn't believe him and even thought that he was being sarcastic with her.
"I highly doubt that your society would accept dead people walking around as easily as you might imply Harry Potter, humans have a great many taboos associated with those cursed to this unlife..." Harry could understand her disbelief as his own childhood with the Dursley's had shown the extent that the hatred of things that were different could go to, but they tended to be the extremes of society that were almost as different from the normal as those that they despised.
"How about I tell you about one of the magical creatures of our world, commonly known as a Vampire..." With that Harry began a conversation about Vampires and the strange fascination that many Terrans had with the undead bloodsuckers, Sylvanas actually looking slightly interested as he pointed out that the Forsaken seemed to have many of the advantages that came with Vampirism without the drawbacks such as the aversion to sunlight and the need to consume human blood.
Of course, Harry made it clear that he didn't think that Sylvanas and the other Forsaken should be happy with their undeath, after all the torment the Liche King had put them through he wouldn't wish such a life on anyone, but his outlook certainly seemed to have affected Sylvanas in some manner. The Banshee Queen looked thoughtful and her previous sarcasm and iciness had diminished a little over the course of the conversation, though Jaina and Thrall returned before she could ask any of the questions that she obviously had in mind.
Neither leader looked particularly happy which was at odds with their previously friendly interactions, Jaina making straight for the door without a word to any of them whilst Thrall moved back to his seat at the Council table. Realising that if he wanted to actually find out what was going on before Jaina decided to leave without him, Harry quickly bowed to Sylvanas.
"It looks like duty calls my lady, I hope that I get the chance to work with you in the future for the betterment of both our races." Sylvanas seemed almost amused by the comment for a moment but then the first true smile Harry had seen appeared on her face, admittedly it was so small it was almost impossible to detect, but it was there anyway.
"You actually mean what you said, I think you are the only person I have met other than perhaps the Blood Elves who were not initially wary or deceptive towards us... Now go before Proudmoore loses her temper entirely..." Despite the rather blunt dismissal Harry could tell that he had at least made a little headway with the most socially difficult of the Horde leaders, especially given the whispered instruction for Harry to contact her when he did travel to Silvermoon.
Now he just had to calm down his fellow human without her deciding to freeze everything within a hundred metres of her, not an easy task given her rather dark mood. He managed to catch up with her halfway back to the Zeppelin, the various members of the Horde passing through the streets were wise enough to give her a wide berth and Harry was content to do the same until they got somewhere a little more private.
After all, despite the demeanour of rage that she was currently exhibiting externally, all Harry was able to read from her was a mixture of frustration and amusement. His suspicions that this had in fact been a ruse were proven to be correct when they were aboard the zeppelin and had taken off, the three of them having a room for the 4 hour trip it would take to return, Jaina jumping onto the bed in the room and laughing in a disbelieving manner.
"I don't know who I distrust more, the Orcs like Garrosh who leap at every opportunity to try and start another war, or my own people who from the sounds of it are deliberately trying to aggravate them into doing just that." She looked over at Harry before shrugging apologetically.
"Sorry for dragging you away from Lady Sylvanas, but Thrall and I agreed that those discordant factions amongst his people would be less likely to try and stir up more trouble if they saw the pair of us getting angry at each other. So I got to put on a little show and avoid Garrosh trying some other stupid thing on the way back. Now I just have to do a little favour for Thrall and then I can go deal with the racist idiots amongst my own people." The defeated sigh at the end of her speech was very out of character to the upbeat and confident woman he had quickly become good friends.
Given how uncomfortable and frustrating Harry found his own role amongst the Terran survivors, Harry could only imagine how much more difficult it was with all the other races on Azeroth who were hostile to humans on top of the threat of the Legion forces and this Scourge that he kept hearing about. Grabbing a bottle of what looked like wine from the corner of the cabin, Harry quickly conjured three crystal goblets on the table in front of him.
"I think you should take a break first Jaina, I can speak from experience that being made to run a settlement of thousands of people will wear you down if you just focus on what needs doing. So first we will have a drink, then we shall get to wherever this favour Thrall needs you to do. Then, when that is done, I think I know just what you need..."
A/N: So, I might have changed the Cycle of Hatred storyline a fair amount... Yeah I am not going to apologise for the opportunity to both introduce Harry to the Horde and earn himself a load of brownie points with Jaina at the same. Thrall and Jaina have never struck me as the type to kowtow to the dissenters amongst their own kind just to make life a little easier, which is what they do when they start meeting in secret via zeppelin. So here they are still travelling between each city as friends and allies should, only putting on shows of discontent to allow them an advantage against their enemies.
What do people think of my Horde leaders? A fair differentiation of characters? Or do they need some more work in the coming chapters?