The Faire's journey into Elwynn was less daunting than she had anticipated, the caravans were well armed enough that few beasts dared assault, and those that had attacked were swiftly rebuffed by the guards. Shadean admittedly helped little in these situations, being urged to stay behind and heal the wounded through their struggles instead of charging into battle like she usually did.
Still, she continued her practice with the large blade the dwarf had given her, sparring with the Faire's strongwoman and slashing at the occasional practice dummy. By the time the stone of Redridge faded into the green, rolling hills and old oaks of Elwynn she had already mastered the use of the blade. She relished the idea of being able to test her skills against something more dangerous. She had heard of the bandits loose in the area, and of course, was always sitting on the edge of the wagon, just waiting for a band to charge at them.
When at last, the Faire's carts and wagons, loaded to the brim with marvelous spectacles and treasures of Azeroth, arrived at Goldshire, Shadean found herself surrounded with surprisingly happy people. A few young rogues were dueling in the path between the blacksmith's forge and the inn, another few watched eagerly as they parried each other's blades with expert precision. People of all shapes and sizes gathered in Goldshire, awaiting the Faire: gnomes with their wild haircolors, short, stout and often drunken dwarves, humans of all classes, and the occasional, mysterious Night Elf.
Shadean sat, rather tired, on a rickety fence watching the rogues battle nearby. Her fingers trailed along the hilt of her blade, strapped to her back with rough leather and twine. She longed to try out her skills, but she noted that these two rogues would easily overwhelm her limited abilities. Even with her unique abilities to protect herself from their blades, she recognized their talent was far greater than her own.
"You think it's pretty neat, huh? Watching them spar like that?" A gruff voice sounded from her left. It was a man wearing the colors of Stormwind, the blue and gold lion roaring on his crisp tabard. Shadean smiled at the guard and nodded her head, turning back to face the rogues, still at it though one of them had fallen to the ground not moments before. The guard chuckled and leaned against his own section of fencing.
"I take it from you gear that you're no rogue. But, if you want to learn to fight with that rusty thing you're carrying, I suggest you travel up to the Abbey. Just up the ways there." He pointed toward the fork in the road, to the one carrying off to the Northeast. She saw the slightest glimpse of white granite walls in that direction, and nodded her head to the guard. He winked, playfully, at her and put his helm back on, going back out on patrol.
Shadean made her way back into the area where the Faire's performers were currently setting up. Thanking them profusely for their help, she slung her pack over her narrow shoulders and started walking up the road through Goldshire. She caught the attention of a few mangy wolves on her journey, but they were easy enough to deal with, even for someone her size. Collecing their sharp teeth as a prize, or more likely, to simply sell to some willing vendor later on, she approached the fabled Northshire Abbey. It was in this place, she remembered hearing, that Medivh spent his years in a coma. She sighed and breathed in the air: it tasted like Lordaeron, before the plague swept through.
"Welcome, Paladin! Do you seek training?" Came another voice, this one booming and bold. The man quickly walked over to Shadean, taking her hand in a firm shake before stepping back to get a good look at her. She blushed, standing in front of this soldier in full plate wearing only rusted mail links and leather.
"Hm, and you look like you've had a bit of experience already, am I right?" He asked, surveying her one more time. She nodded her head slowly and he smiled at her through the slit in his helm. "Well all right then, let's get you integrated with the others. No need to have you running around killing wolves, let's have you start your training and then get you into some real work!"
The soldier grabbed Shadean roughly by the shoulder and lead her to a nearby grassy knoll where a few students were observing a sparring match between a warrior and a paladin, like her, looking to be a few years older than she was. Unlike Shadean, however, this paladin used a shield and a short sword. She glared at her opponent, who wore a thick helm covering her face, and heavy mail covering the rest of her form, but weilded a pike with precision that Shadean could only dream of.
Shadean watched, the soldier at her back bellowing at the crowd to listen for a moment. Shoving her forward, he introduced her as the 'recruit' and told the others to look after her. Shadean's cheeks burned as she looked from person to person, seeing no friends in the group, only mild curiousity or distain. The paladin with the shield watched her, dark hair falling into the girl's bright blue eyes, as if wondering why the girl had interrupted training. The red-head balked under her gaze and quickly averted her eyes to her leather boots, frowing at the amount of dust on them.
The paladin smiled after a moment and walked down the knoll to hold her hand out to Shadean, smiling politely. Shadean, cautious, took it lightly, only to wince as the paladin's grip crushed her unexpecting hand. She turned her grimace into an odd sort of smile and shook, taking her hand back with a whimper and flexing her fingers experimentally.
"What's your name, kid?" The paladin asked, brushing her hair behind her ear. Shadean quivered and took a deep breath, trying to steady herself, well aware that in the group standing before her, only two seemed disinterested now. It looked to Shadean as if the other paladin was their ringleader, or perhaps their teacher, but she could never be certain of that.
"S-Shadean Dresner," she said, stammering as she looked around, her eyes catching on those of a young mage wearing a flame-red robe. The mage smiled slightly back at her and she caught her cheeks going a shade of deeper red, though this time not out of embarassment. Shadean's ears burned as she looked back at the warrior.
"Right Shadean," the paladin said, clapping her hard on the shoulder. "You're a paladin, too, right? From the looks of it not entirely?" The other paladin sheathed her blade and slung her shield over her shoulder. She curiously gripped Shadean by the shoulder and spun her slightly to look at the weapon she had strapped to her thin body.
"You fight with that?! Blimey! You probably wouldn't stand a chance against Angelos there, and she's trained as a protector!" The warrior laughed from the top of the knoll and pointed over at the other paladin, who rolled her eyes. Shadean frowned and pulled herself out from under Angelos's hands.
"I bet you I could beat your arse from now until sunset and not even break a sweat." Shadean glared at the warrior, who pretended to balk under her gaze before laughing out loud. Even the paladin chuckled a bit behind her, and walked away, leaning lazily against a nearby post,carefully watching the two. Shadean reached for her blade and drew it from the hapahazard harness, holding it loosely in one hand.
"You couldn't even hit me with that blade, kid," the warrior said, smirking at Shadean. "I bet you ten gold you won't even touch me with it. Twenty that I knock you on your ass before you can even try to knock me on mine." She leaned against a nearby post, earning admiring looks from many of the other students in the nearby crowd. Shadean growled low, her eyes narrowed as she stood up to the warrior, staring at her through the narrow slit in her helm.
"Fine, I take your bet." She gripped her weapon in two hands and smirked at the warrior. "I'm used to dealing with bullies like you, take your best shot." She stood her ground, legs bent and squared to her shoulders, ready for battle.
"Aluciena, try not to hurt her," Angelos called from her position on the grass, watching cautiously before whispering to a hooded priest sitting close to her. The woman chuckled and leaned back into Angelos's ear, whispering a response which caused Angelos to crack a smile.
"Aluciena, that's your name?" Shadean said as her opponent drew her weapon and held it at the ready. The warrior in the helm nodded and smirked toothily through the helm.
"And I'm going to make sure I hear you say it when I'm done with you. In a begging sort of tone." She sneered and Angelos, sitting on the grass still, clucked disapprovingly. The crowd watched with baited breath as the duel flag was raised, and Shadean steadied herself against the upcoming charge.
In an instant, Aluciena was on Shadean, striking her hard with the hilt of the pike, disorienting the human for a moment. As Shadean regained her composure, she saw Aluciena lift the sharp weapon, intending to bring the blade down into Shadean's mostly unprotected shoulder, disarming her. Instinctively, Shadean dropped to her knee, feeling the sharpened blade rip just slightly into her armor, but missing it's intended target.
With an angry grunt, Shadean lunged upward, her shoulder hitting Aluciena in the stomach, knocking her off balance. The warrior yelped as Shadean's weight toppled the two of them over, Shadean landing, partially winded, on top of Aluciena, her blade still clutched in one hand. The priest next to Angelos chuckled, though her stance was stiffened, obviously watching to see if either of them were actually injured. Shadean leapt back up to her feet with a triumphant smirk on her lips, leaving Aluciena to push herself hastily back onto her feet, an angry glare on her face behind the helm.
"Don't let your arrogance get the better of you, Alu. Little Shadean's no push-over, it seems." Angelos said sternly from her spot on the grass, one arm carefully resting on the priest's shoulder. Shadean paused, watching the two for a moment, curious, before turing her attention back toward the warrior.
"She's good, I'll give her that. But there's no way I'm going to lose to a human child!" Aluicena snorted and pulled off her helm. Shadean pulled back, shocked to see a Night Elf up close for the first time. Aluciena threw the helm down and regripped her pike, pointing it firmly at Shadean. "That was just practice, let's see how you do this time!"
Aluciena charged again, but this time Shadean was prepared. Leaping desperately out of the way, she left the warrior wide open for attack and brought her blade hard down into the pike. The wood splintered under the heavy blade, and the pike broke in two, just short of Aluciena's hands. The warrior gasped as Shadean conjured a hammer, striking the elf cleanly in the head, sending her reeling in pain.
Shadean drew her blade back for another strike, but suddenly found her sword arm clenched in a strong grip, preventing her from finishing the strike, Angelos was looking at her sternly as she held her arm. Aluciena dropped to her knees and grumbled, lowering her head in defeat. The priest smiled under her hood, her exposed features very thin, very beautiful, but sharing a particular trait Shadean recongized: the priest was a blood elf, most likely. Though why she was here, in the kingdom of Stormwind, she could not guess.
"All right, that's enough. Ran, can you help Alu out here a little bit, I think it's mostly wounded pride, and a damage weapon," Angelos said as Shadean lowered her stance, her cheeks flushed pink as she looked down at Aluciena. The night elf looked furious, but clearly knew she was beaten. The priest smiled and spoke softly to her, helping her up to her feet and gathering the splintered remains of the weapon, leading her back to the post to check her wounds.
"You fight a little more brashly than I would have expected," Angelos commented as the crowd dispersed, the new girl having proven herself, the spot was suffficently boring again. The only ones remaining were the priest"Where did you train?"
"I..um...well...Lordaeron." Shadean stammered, lowering her weapon to stick the tip of it into the soft earth. "I was the squire dwarf paladin until the undead overwhelmed our camp...and then I went to the Scarlet Monestary...to...to...train." Angelos frowned slightly as she looked over Shadean, before she smiled again.
"No matter, I can still train you on how to use that blade of yours with a little more finesse." She said and placed a hand gently on Shadean's shoulder. "Let me see that stance of yours again, there are a few things to improve."
Shadean nodded, suddenly feeling very foolish as she grasped her weapon in both hands, holding it as if she was ready to strike at an enemy. Angelos circled her, eyes traveling up and down the other teenager's form, as if surveying her for weaknesses. Frowning she shook her head, walking to just behind Shadean, but close enough to still be in her visual range.
"You're not holding it right, you're trying to use it like it's a shortsword." Angelos said kindly, placing one hand on Shadean's hip, the other on her shoulder to guide her back into a more appropriate stance. Shadean felt her ears burning as Angelos's hands carefully guided her into a more appropriate stance, half closing her own eyes and sighing. The priestess watched curiously, having helped Aluciena back to her feet, eyes glowing beneath her red hood.
"Well while you two are snuggling up there, it's about time for us to go get something to eat before the dwarves eat it all," Aluciena snorted indelicately, throwing a small dagger toward the two,embedding the blade into the grass by their feet. Angelos straightened and smiled, walking over to the two, gently leaning in to whisper softly into the elf's ear again.
"Come on, Red. Haven't got all night," Aluciena's expression softened slightly as she gestured toward Shadean. "Oh, and I don't owe you squat because you broke my pike. It'll take me a week to get this fixed properly." She prodded Shadean in the side and threw her arm over the shorter woman's shoulders.
"In case you were curious, Aluciena can't respect anyone who can't face her in combat. So, in other words, you're in," Ran said lightly looking over her shoulder at Shadean with a smile. Angelos smirked over her shoulder and the four walked toward the small vendor stand outside the abbey, where most of the trainees had gathered to buy food and trade their treasures for gold.