A/N: Hello! Welcome to my first WoW fanfiction! I don't know if it's going to go anywhere, but I hope you all enjoy what I write and leave reviews on your way out! They are very encouraging, you see. This story was based on the beginning quests of Vashj'ir, and inspired by my passionate love for naga and hot male blood elves in dresses! -cough- I mean robes.

Warnings? I'll list them as they arise. However, if there is a main pairing, it will most likely be homosexual of the MalexMale persuasion, so if that makes you twitch or something, you might want to look the other way. Don't leave! Just don't read those parts!

Sea Shanty

Prologue: Overboard

Lucien had always hated the sea. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that he was a rather poor swimmer, or the fact that he couldn't hold his breath for very long without feeling like his lungs were about to explode. Perhaps it was because he felt helpless underwater fighting against creatures that were so much more adept at undersea life than he. Perhaps it was simply because he loathed the feeling of uncomfortably heavy and soaked robes reeking of seawater.

Or perhaps it was because of the giant sea monster.

"What in Thrall's name is that thing?" an Orc Vanguard from Orgrimmar yelled in barely masked fear as he stared with horror at the giant writhing tentacles that had suddenly appeared just off the starboard bow of the mercenary ship. Lucien, along with a sizable squadron of Hellscream's finest warriors, had been journeying to the newly revealed island of Vashj'ir in order to attempt to claim it for the Horde when they had come across the wreckage of another Orcish vessel. There had been a few survivors, before the sea monster had appeared and had flung them into the sea like broken rag dolls.

"Stand your ground, brothers! Make it bleed!" Legionnaire Nazgrim, the Orc commander, roared over the rush of the churning sea and the screams of the panicked mercenary woman aboard the ship, holding his own battleaxe aloft. The Orcs lined up along the edge of the ship and readied themselves for battle.

The ship pitched violently as the tentacled monster moved unseen beneath the ship's hull, and Lucien winced as he nearly lost his balance. A firm, almost unbearable grip on his bicep stopped him from falling, and he turned to give his companion a grateful smile. Shaaghun, the demon who Lucien chose to accompany him on most of his adventures, merely sneered in reply.

"Watch yourself, master," the Fel Guard growled, seemingly undeterred by the roughness of the sea as he charged headfirst into battle with one of the mysterious creature's sinuous tentacles.

"Thank you," the warlock replied with a roll of his luminescent green eyes. He turned to focus on his own target, pulling his staff off of his back and immolating the closest tentacle.

The deck of the ship was filled with complete chaos. The Orcs ran to and fro, trying to keep up with the erratic attacks from the sea monster while the crew of the vessel, a menagerie of strangely assorted characters unsuited for any type of combat, cowered and fled below deck. The yells and battle cries of the warriors blended in with the squelching of sharpened axes hacking through slick flesh and the screams of crewmen and Orcs alike as they were grabbed and flung carelessly into the sea. A fine mist, the result of the constant thrashing of the ship in the writhing sea, made it increasingly difficult to see.

Shaaghun, yellow teeth bared and covered in the green blood of whatever they were fighting, grunted in satisfaction as the slithering appendage he had been mercilessly hacking into retreated back into the water. He turned to check on the progress of his master - the weak blood elf might need his help - and froze in horror.

"Master!" was the only warning that Lucien received before a tentacle suddenly wrapped around his waist and yanked him off the ship. Lucien hated the air almost as much as he hated the sea. He loathed the feeling of weightlessness, of being at the mercy of a force which he could not control. He hated the sense of breathlessness that came with the fall, the heart-wrenching feeling of panic that he could never stave off. He probably yelled, but he was too terrified to remember, and, once he hit the water, everything just seemed to fade away.

Beneath the turbulent surface of the sea, the water was thick with dozens of vile naga. They swarmed like a hive of angered bees, snatching up drowning warriors and carrying them off into the abyss while their monster, an octopus the size of which no mortal had ever seen, proceeded to drag the mercenary vessel into the depths below.

Lucien's unconscious form bobbed this way and that in the undulating current, rocked and buffeted by uncaring naga who passed him lugging their half dead burdens. One of the naga, who stood apart from the others in that he lacked the excited frenzy of his brothers, swam close to the warlock and circled him slowly.

"Interesting," he hissed softly under his breath. "I've heard great stories about you, softskin, great stories indeed. You may be the most powerful warlock of our age. I've been waiting for someone like you for a long time..."

"Setheriss," a sibilant voice from behind him caused the naga to turn. Another naga floated in the water nearby, an Orc tossed carelessly over his shoulder. "A fine specimen you have there...I'm sure our Lady will be pleased with your efforts."

"Thank you, Razhja. I'll be sure to bring this land dweller to the Clutch immediately to be put to work."

"Good, excellent. It is only a matter of time before our Lady's plans come to fruition and we become the true masters of the sea!" Razjha chuckled to himself as he took his leave, not minding (indeed, perhaps it was on purpose) if his charge dragged along the sea floor and ran into various flotsam and jetsam as he went.

Setheriss sneered derisively at the retreating naga's back before turning and swimming purposefully in the opposite direction, cradling the warlock carefully in his arms. "Fool," he hissed into the lonely depths of the sea. "I have much bigger plans for this softskin..."

And Happy New Year, by the way! - Jam