Fox

She had an odd air about her with each of her glances towards me. Some were of admiration, others understanding, and a few, probably the ones that caught my attention the most, were ones of, well I... I don't know what they were. She looked at me like she had known me before or at least something of that nature; she had this strange fire in her eye. It could only be seen for the briefest of seconds before being buried as she turned her gaze away. She was beautiful, faultless. Her smooth purple skin was covered by light steel armor and accentuated by her white hair. The armor looked as if it had been fashioned in the style of an ancient Greek hoplite; except the metal was purple, she was lacking a helmet and truth be told she had quite a lot of skin showing.

I couldn't keep my bloody eyes off her she was just so damn entrancing. As gorgeous as the rest of her was however, I could not avoid staring at her massive ears. They were just huge in general. My staring had been too noticeable as she turned around while looking at me. We once again made eye contact and she looked as if she wanted to look away again. In truth, so did I. But this time she kept on looking at me and in my peripheral vision I could see her chest rise and fall heavily. Eventually she looked down and then quickly away from me, back up the path towards her companions.

She's very peculiar, and different, and well, just wow. I felt weird, my hand was tingling and my stomach was uneasy. Each time I looked at her I felt the same fluttering apprehension in my blood. She was almost intoxicatingly close. I felt... Hell I didn't know what to feel. I had been thrown from a helicopter and then I woke up in a desert. I had killed several aliens and now I was ogling a purple amazon that made my legs numb, my head light and my nerves tingly. What in the hell was I supposed to feel? I tried to take it easy and give my mind a break. I closed my eyes and I really did try to clear my head. But she just crept back into my brain.

After lasting as long as I could I just couldn't help but look at her. When I finally did turn my eyes towards her, I got a little worried; she looked troubled, and she eventually shook her head lightly before she started taking deep steady breaths. She looked up at the moon, just barely visible in the fading daylight. She looked back forward and began to speed up a little, I kept pace this time and I stayed right beside her. We walked like this for a few minutes before she abruptly stopped and turned around. I almost ran into her shoulder and I looked at her perplexed.

She opened her mouth and was about to say something but she instantly stopped herself. I was about to say what is it? But instead I just looked at her expectantly and my breathing dropped a little in anticipation. Her eyes darted around helplessly and she choked up. She looked at my belt and pointed towards it, at first I thought she pointed at my crotch and I was perturbed, but then she raised her other hand and pantomimed drinking from a glass. I made and oh sound and I switched my rifle to my left hand, resting the butt of the rifle in the crook of my arm I was able to grab the canteen off of its clip. Immediately I held it out for her. She smiled lightly and grasped it quickly.

For a brief second our fingers touched and an unexpected shock through my nerves before I relinquished my grip. She started walking again and I followed close behind. She grabbed the cap casually and began to pull, after the first few tugs however she stopped moving and began maneuvering the canteen around in her hands, trying to get a better grip on it while repeatedly tugging at the top. She was becoming visually frustrated and she eventually placed the canteen in between her knees and began tugging at the top furiously with both hands. I couldn't stop myself from laughing, I walked in front of her and she looked up at me helplessly.

I held an open hand out and she quickly gave me the bottle back. I simply wrapped my fingers around the cap and turned it. She looked really embarrassed and if she weren't purple she'd definitely be a bright red right now. I kept the cap in one hand and I held the canteen out with the other. She reached to grab it and just before she did I moved my hand so she'd touch it again. I just had to see her reaction this time. Her smooth skin rubbed against my hand and I couldn't stave off an honest smile. She looked pretty nervous, so quickly I let go of the bottle. She brought it to her mouth hastily, almost ignoring what had happened. After taking a few swigs and several even breaths she appeared to relax a little. When she finished drinking she had let out a satisfied huff before she handed the canteen back.

I grabbed it and I unintentionally wrapped my hand around hers. Her breath stopped sharply and she looked away, I was embarrassed and I felt a little disgust for being so… advantageous? No, for being so unfair I guess, hell I don't know. But it was her reaction that had spurred it. Her reaction whenever I had touched her was just so;apprehensive, her cheeks took on a shade of purple a little darker than her overall tone. She looked back at me while wiggling her hand, I looked down and I immediately maneuvered my hand off. When her hand was freed she let go of the bottle and wrapped her hands together in front of her while looking at me with an expression of coy nervousness. I tried to stay calm and ignore the shaking in my legs and gut. I looked away from her and I screwed the cap of the canteen back on. I could feel my hand shaking but I didn't think it was visible. When I looked back, her eyes told me otherwise. When I looked at my hand I quickly looked back up at her and she looked right back at me. This time it was my eyes that darted around. Her brow furrowed and I quickly looked away while re-clipping the bottle to my belt. At the same time I hefted my rifle across my back, freeing up both my hands. When I started walking again she followed evenly beside me. Outside I tried to not make anything obvious, but in my head I was quickly becoming a mess.

Get a hold of yourself man! Calm down and just take it easy.

I huffed and looked forward as I tried to ignore her. Fuck, I was trying to ignore the whole world right now. I just focused on the old road and occasionally I'd look up towards Sedna's companions who had shrunk in the distance considerably. She had gotten closer to me and I could feel her proximity but I did not look at her. I… I would not look at her. But, but I wanted to. I couldn't keep her out of my damn head at all! I tried to keep my composure and I was almost about to lose it when all of a sudden, she began humming. It started with a quiet and soft tune, gracefully repeating itself occasionally. I let out a huff of fatigue and I focused on listening to it. Her graceful beauty also manifested itself in music, it seems. Smooth notes were gliding along in a natural harmony as she hummed. I closed my eyes and tilted my head down while I continued walking. My helmet shifted on my scalp and a few beads of sweat rolled through my hair. Normally the feeling would have made me ugh or make an ick like reaction, but right now I didn't mind. I was alright, calm, at ease. I opened my eyes only after she had stopped.

Oddly I felt disappointed, I wanted her to continue. She looked at me with an eyebrow raised. Forgetting the fact she wouldn't understand me I spoke while adjusting my helmet, "You have a wonderful voice." As I should have expected she furrowed her brow in confusion. I touched my throat and I ran my fingers up and down a few times. She eventually hummed a single note. I nodded and she smiled slightly. We continued walking and she had a concerned expression as she looked forward. Her companions were gone, and the road made an awkward curve blocking any clear view down it. She looked at me with a face of urgency as she began picking up speed. I kept pace, but I had to slow down eventually. My rifle kept smacking into the back of my legs, the strap was too long and the adjusting clamp wasn't working right. So I took it off my back and held it in my hands while I sprinted to catch up to her, err Sedna I mean.

Wait, no. Sednaii, she said her name was Sednaii. If there was one thing I disliked, it was forgetting or screwing up people`s names, and I really didn't want to forget hers. Looking up from my rifle I saw that she unfortunately hadn't of noticed that I was lagging behind, and as such she didn't slow down at all. I panted and I began to throw my arms heavily, trying to use both their weight and the weight of the rifle to help propel me forward. I've never been good at sprinting, or long distance running. I could pass all of my training tests and regular evaluations but I guess in any other setting I just didn't perform the same. My legs started aching and my lungs bloody hurt, but eventually I started to gain on her. I'd be damned if I were to get separated from the only friendly in this humid, green, hell. I was able to maintain my position a few feet behind her, just barely keeping her fast pace. My head was swirling with anxieties; what this place was, hoping we could catch up to Sednaii's companions and wondering if I would survive this. But leave it to a sex deprived brain to begin looking at her ass. At first I didn't notice it and my consciousness was filled with rational things to be thinking of, but then my subconscious decided her attractive behind would take priority over everything else. I shook my head and mentally began scolding myself;

Come on! The hell! Stay current damn it!

I began running to the left and I tried going faster so I would catch up to her and be running at her side as opposed to watching her ass bob up and down while she ran. As nice as the view was I, one; didn't want to trip over something I should have seen otherwise. And two; I felt like a licentious prick just taking advantage of the situation. When we rounded the curve in the road and the way became clearer. Sednaii was audibly relieved that we had caught up to the others. She slowed her pace and I followed suit. She pointed in the distance at a large white stone at the side of the ancient highway; a mile marker of some sort. We were getting closer. The one Sednaii had gotten to talk to me had stopped near the stone, waiting for us. The other Kaldorei had stopped as well, albeit a little farther down from the marker. Sednaii tapped my shoulder with the back of her hand and she inflected her chin in the direction of the marker. She sprinted faster than what I thought was her sprinting. There was no way I could keep up, I attempted to but by the time I reached the marker my side felt like it was tearing and I began to think; Jesus H Christ, I`m wearing 30 + pounds of shit, and she`s barely got a full shirt. Of course she`d want to race! Oh it seems like the logical thing to do. Sednaii beamed me an ivory smile, as if to say I always win. After I nodded to her she turned and started looking at the marker along with her translator companion.

I held my head between my legs and when I could I leaned up and slung my rifle over my shoulder. I was panting heavily, both from the amount of running but also because of the heat. The deeper we were getting into the forest the more humid the air was, and the more difficult it became to breathe. I unclipped my chin strap and took my helmet off in an effort to cool down. Slowly I began to run my hand through my hair, mostly in an effort to spread the sweat and help cool my brain, but also to get the nasty liquid off my damn scalp. As soon as my right hand was flat against my head however I hissed from the unexpected shooting pain. As Sednaii hastily talked to her companion in their fluid like language, I looked my bad hand over. The knuckles were swollen slightly, and it had a little more color to it than it did earlier. Moving it normally was okay and the pain was slight, but having the first digits flat against anything hurt like all hell. I reached into one of my pockets searching for my glove, and when I located it I tentatively pulled it on.

If I can't see it, it probably won't hurt as much.

Well at least I hoped so. While I was preoccupied with my hand I didn't notice that Sednaii's companion had turned towards me. When I looked up she spoke quickly in her broken English. "We close to Astranaar may make it after fall of night." As she was turning back around, I couldn't help but quickly speak up. I raised my arm and took half a stride forward, getting her attention quickly so she would stop. She turned and looked at me courteously, waiting for whatever I had to say.

I ended up just blurting out; "I'm sorry" And she looked slightly puzzled, as if to say; what for? I continued, "I never asked you your name." she looked at me appreciatively as she spoke.

"Tayca Shan'tel."

I nodded, and repeated the name. She smiled slightly, but then raised her eyebrows as if to say: and you are? I held out my hand as I had done with Sednaii and I introduced myself.

"I'm James Fawks. And thanks for, uh. Thanks for taking me with you guys,"

When I said my name she looked like I had spontaneously spoken gibberish, she looked down at my hand and thankfully she didn't leave me hanging. She pinched the end of my fingers and shook them slowly.

All she said was; "You're welcome."

She quickly turned to Sednaii and the two looked at me oddly before looking back at each other. Then they spoke at the same time, "Fox?"

They seemed almost perplexed at the possibility of someone with such a name, and when they looked back to me, I just nodded awkwardly.

"Yeah I know, it's a, it's an odd name." Aside I slightly mumbled, "You can just call me fox if, uh if you want to I guess."

Sednaii spoke to Tayca and they both nodded while smiling. Tayca hid a laugh before turning to me and asking with disbelief, "So fox, like the sly creature?"

I didn't know how to respond, so of course I proceeded to sound like an idiot, "Uh sure, yeah."

She nodded and the two spoke briefly while I looked around. I was about to more closely examine the fauna surrounding us, but Tayca jabbed my shoulder lightly and spoke in a casual tone with a slight hint of concern.

"Fox, we need to move now."

I nodded and Sednaii began walking with Tayca following closely behind, I drew my rifle off my shoulder and did my best to keep up. The one Kaldorei who had been rather uncommunicative slowed down and the four of us started moving in a tighter formation then we had been in earlier. We stayed closer together but we maintained a steady pace. We were making pretty good ground, but here time is a funny thing. It felt like we were jogging for only a few minutes but through spaces in the canopy I could see that the sun had long since gone down. During the day the forest was humid, thick and hot, but now under the blanket of night everything gained a sort of velvet sheen to it and beams of silver light fell through holes in the greenery above us. That's not to say it wasn't still hot, it was. But the air wasn't thick with slight layer of dew.

Here and there along the path light blue lights began sprouting up with an unnatural regularity, at a quick glance the lights seemed to be coming from some sort of a luminous plant. The most peculiar aspect about the plants was not the fact they glowed, it was that after we passed them they would die back down, and fade quickly, turning back into just a regular plant, completely indistinguishable from anything around it. Up ahead the road bent again and there was a large hill blocking any view of what lay beyond. But from behind the hill were lights, and a little smoke rose through the canopy. I knew what was beyond that hill before Sednaii announced it. She tapped my shoulder and pointed forwards and she said it. A word I had come to idolize in my mind; Astranaar. Sednaii sped up and the four of us followed closely behind. When we all came around the bend I let out a huge huff of relief. The town was right there, and it was so tantalizingly close. The town itself was on an island surrounded by a large lake, the only way to it, aside from swimming, was an ornate wooden bridge. I was still trying to cope with the fact that this was all so very real. While I stood motionless and bug eyed, Sednaii turned to Tayca and talked quickly to her, then Tayca in turn spoke to me.

"Quickly give Sednaii your weapons, you must be no threat."

Instinctively I kept my hands on my rifle as I responded. "Why's that?"

Tayca looked at Sednaii briefly before she urgently spoke. "The Sentinels will kill you otherwise."

After finishing she pointed towards the sides of the road. I slowly looked to either side and was greeted by several heavily armed Kaldorei. All of them had some sort of a ranged weapon drawn and ready. The only two weapons that looked familiar were their bows and green-tipped javelins. The other weapons were too alien to identify. One of the women had what looked like a boomerang covered in a bladed edge. I turned my head slowly and looked directly at Sednaii. She held her hands out and slowly I relinquished my rifle. When I moved I could audibly hear the Sentinels tense, arrows were drawn even farther, armor shifted as projectiles were leveled. I kept my movements slow and I tried to speak quietly. "Tayca, tell them not to kill me, I'm pulling out my knife." She nodded and calmly announced my intentions, when she finished I slowly bent over to reach my boot. Un-clicking the blade I kept my arm straight and as far away from my body as possible. I would have handed it to Sednaii too but I thought it would be safer to just drop it. When the metal clanged onto the stone of the road I raised my hands high above my head. Sednaii slung my rifle over her shoulder and bent over to pick up the knife. A nervous bead of sweat ran down my nose and before anything else could transpire I looked at Tayca and I tried to keep a calm voice.

"What happens now?"

Behind me a loud voice answered and I nearly jumped in surprise.

"Now human? Pray that you shall see the light of day in the 'morn."

The women in the bushes all emerged from their cover, the majority of them lowered their weapons, but there were a few that eyed me with complete astonishment and kept their weapons up. Sednaii simply pointed behind me, indicating I was to turn. Slowly I complied. The Kaldorei that had spoken was less than two feet behind me, there was no way she was that quiet, no way. Her hair was a Cyan-like blue and her face bore several piercings, she looked a lot like Tayca and like every other one of these Kaldorei she was physically flawless. She smirked at my expression and uncrossed her arms, pointing back forwards. I complied and turned back around with my hands high in the air. Behind me she spoke again with her authoritative voice.

"You can put your arms down now."

I complied slowly and she gave my back a light shove, "Walk now."

"So you speak English?"

I heard a humph and she proceeded to respond, "I speak the common tongue, yes."

"Who are you?"

She didn't seem to like me, I really could tell. Her voice had such a plainly vehement tone.

"I am a daughter of this land, and you? You pink-skins are not welcome here."

For some reason I felt like I had just landed in the 1600's in the new world. Now captured by the indigenous population… I certainly hope that Sednaii's sincerity wasn't false, and also… I hope they don't burn me alive like Malcolm in Last of the Mohicans… Man I hope not…

Sylvanas

The heavy armored heels of horses echoed through the old decrepit forests of northern Lorderon. I was touring my empire of un-death and inspecting the rotting villages and villagers that I ruled over. I was accompanied by a small contingent of the Royal Guard, all of whom were mounted on their massive hulking war horses; the flesh and armor had long ago rotted into one. I preferred to only march with my guard at night, and I seldom needed to stop. I loved the night air; the cool breeze was one of the few things I still could feel. For the past several hours my entourage and I had been trudging down the ruined Kings' road, it was peaceful and the clopping of the hooves created an enjoyable cadence. I actually felt content, but of course there can never be a dull moment in my rule. The un-dead ambiance of the night had been interrupted by a large crash accompanied by a scream. Immediately the royal guard stopped and drew their weapons. At first even I was startled. After several seconds of inaction a few of the guardsmen dismounted and slowly crept towards the embankments on the side of the road. Dismounting my horse I drew my bow and slowly made my way behind the guardsmen. A howl of pain eventually roared from the bushes. I smiled slightly as a thought popped into my head; perhaps an assassin had fallen out of a tree? Confidence welled in my throat before I spoke, "Soldiers stay your blades I shall handle this. Mind the horses." One of my higher ranking guardsmen looked uneasily at his comrades before he voiced his thought to me:

"Perhaps it would be safer if we went with you my Lady?"

I became slightly irritated at his insubordination, but I of course appreciated his loyalty. "I thank you for your concern, but I am quite capable of dealing with an injured assassin." The officer looked at me and he risked a comment;

"An injured serpent may still bite, milady."

I could do nothing but smile, these humans, as undead they may be the little quips, sayings and idioms they have and come up with never cease to amuse me. I answered plainly; "It is good that I am not dealing with snakes."

The rotting officer groveled while he gave a brief apology "I beg you your pardon my lady"

I waved him off and he returned to the mounts. The rest of the men hesitantly followed him. Looking forward into the forest I was quite glad to be rid of them. Quietly I voiced my thoughts, "Now time to kill something."

Proceeding towards the sound of the pained wail I pushed aside a few bushes and somehow I wasn't surprised to see a human lying in a pile of broken branches and dead leaves. I was however taken back by his apparel, it was a deep brown and had several shades of tan almost splattered across it. It was a pattern I'd never seen before; briefly I considered the possibility of him being an Alliance assassin. I shook my head while aligning my bow; who he is won't matter. I prepared to let the arrow fly right into his heart. Before I could however the human's peculiarity broke my concentration. He had taken hold of his leg and began to realign the broken bone. That wasn't what caught my attention, what did however was the fact that aside from his initial howl of pain when he first hit the ground, and the occasional wince, he made no other sounds. He sat there with a broken leg, bleeding badly, and he looked like he couldn't have been calmer. I made my presence known and walked right towards him. At first he didn't even notice me but eventually he saw my legs and followed them upwards, upon seeing my bow he gave me an awkward smile. He looked back to his leg and then up at me before speaking. "I doubt I'm in a position to harm you. Would you mind lowering your bow?"

He spoke common? Strange, I hadn't heard true common in a long while. Gutter speak is difficult to get used to and the transition from true common to the former is rather disquieting. He gestured for me to lower the bow and instead I opened my other eye and tilted my head slightly to see around my bow. He shrugged "Well that's a start."

I smirked at his awkward coldness. His speech was slow, and nearly devoid of nuance or feeling. Looking at his leg he parted the ripped edges of his trousers to better view the protruding bone. "Do you understand English?" I waited till he looked up at me again before I nodded; I wondered where he was from to have called common by another name. He spoke again, "Do you know a doctor? Or do you have any medicine?"

I just stared at him blankly; any other human would be terrified of me. But not him, he was oblivious almost to the point of redundancy. I stared him down, but he stared right back. His eyes were a light grey, much like old marble, and behind them, there was nothing. No fear, or terror, or pain. His cold gaze was unsettling. My guardsmen had more emotion and warmer gazes than he. Eventually he spoke again, slowly and precisely; "Do, you, understand, me?"

I said nothing; my throat was suddenly too dry. He waited for a response but his stare was cut short by his leg convulsing. He looked at it and sneered slightly, as if the break was a mere inconvenience. He then looked around, searching for something. His eyes came to rest on a long black steel weapon at least six feet away from him. He took a deep breath as he accepted it was out of his reach. Turning back to his leg he looked the wound over before turning to me. "I'd ask you to not kill me, but I assume that would be a lot to request."

He paused; his speech was formed with an unnatural voice and cadence. He continued "Instead I will say this, I mean you no harm woman. I merely need your help." He was so strange, and off putting, he smelled like magic. It was faint but I could tell. He was not from this land; he must have come through some sort of portal or perhaps even a rift, something between this world and another. I stared at him a little longer before eventually I allowed my bow to lower. I had always enjoyed killing assassins. It was one of my more, eccentric fancies, so when I got off my horse I was fully prepared to gut the life out of some hapless poor creature. I was not prepared however for a human who fell through a rift at the wrong time, and ended up in the wrong place.

"Look woman, will you help me or are you just going to stand there and stare?"

His voice kept its courteous tone, but it was mixed with something else. Before I could come to a conclusion he yelled at me. "Help me you Goth wanna be!" I was taken back a little but I kept my silence and I just observed. He eventually stopped looking at me and he reached for a small bag on his hip. He didn't appear to be a mage and he was too far away to attack me with a knife so I didn't bother to worry, and I said nothing as the he proceeded to look for something in the small bag. He began to speak to himself in a light whisper just barely audible. "That woman over there is merely a figment of my imagination, something pretty and disturbing to look at while my body is in shock."

I thought to myself, pretty and disturbing? An odd combination, this human really knows how to flatter.

He pulled a smaller white bag out of his side satchel and opened it up with a strange "Zzzzz" sound. He reached inside and pulled out a bright orange bottle. He shook it and opened it quickly; he poured its contents into his hand and shook the majority back into the bottle. The remaining white items in his hand he threw into his mouth. Putting the bottle back into its bag he reached behind him for something. He brought out what looked like a water skin. He unscrewed the cap and washed whatever was in his mouth down. He looked me over with his empty eyes as he put the cap on his canteen. I felt odd. Even with my bow still somewhat aimed at him he didn't even bother to hide where he was gazing. He looked at my legs and then my abdomen, and for the longest time he just plainly stared at my breasts. Eventually I raised an eyebrow and he looked at my face. He looked away from me and grabbed hold of something on the ground. Bringing up a twig he held it while he visibly contemplated what to do with it. Eventually he threw it, lightly, at me. I watched it hit my exposed chest and lazily bounce off. I furrowed my brow and looked back at him. He tilted his head slightly and spoke, "Huh you are real." I took my arrow off of the bowstring and placed it back into its quiver. Then I loosened my grip on the bow and I let it fall. I drew one of my knives and I strode towards him, slowly closing the distance between he and I. He began using his arms and good leg to push himself away from me. I moved faster than him and eventually I walked right beside him. He stopped moving and waited expectantly.

"You'd best show a Queen a little more respect."

He smiled a little toothy smile "The Queen of what?"

I leaned close to him, dagger bared and responded; "The Queen… of Death."