A/N: please be advised before reading this. I used to counsel inmates in prison, and heard both inspiring stories of redemption as well as the shocking reality of those who liked the way they were. This story is an attempt to explore some of what I witnessed (through the medium of Warcraft) as well as come to terms with some things I saw.
Please understand, readers: I do not enjoy the characters here. I am not getting some sort of excitement out of writing what evil people do; this is only an attempt to cope with some of the worse stuff I learned of. Nothing more.
This warning will be repeated at the beginning of each of the four chapters. This is a lead in to the much, much lighter 'Before Summer's End.' If this story is difficult to read, then you will learn its resolution in that story and I won't be offended if anybody reads that without reading this.
You've been warned...continue at your own peril.
The group of five scattered, but in an organized fashion. Mei Guo directed the two new guys to chuck the remaining corpses in the river as the others began preparing food. Whether they ended up luring the couple to sit down and eat with them or not, the five would need food themselves. Either way, things were looking up in One Ear Guy's eyes as he discussed the plan with the boss.
"We need to know how many languages they can understand," Mei Guo explained slyly while laying out the ingredients for his poison next to the seasonings for the fresh stew they were preparing. "Knowledge is power; if these two are traveling alone like this, they're either very dangerous or very stupid."
Suppressing a sinister grin in anticipation of his theatrical performance, One Ear Guy carefully hid everyone's weapons inside a sleeping bag. The others had worked furiously to change out of their armor and into simple peasants' clothing behind a few trees before the couple had arrived, and the scene couldn't have appeared more peaceful; just a group of travelers doing their part to fight the Iron Horde.
"We'll find out within a few lines whether they're the real deal or not," One Ear Guy whispered as he walked from the campsite near the riverside to the main road. It was paved by the locals, most likely ages ago, but was narrow and could barely accommodate the husband and their load bearing mount both. "I'll keep you posted."
Once out to the main road, One Ear Guy was about to sit on a rock before something caught his eye.
Strapped to the back of the talbuk was a large crate with the familiar red symbol for the work supplies of a healer's ward. Thinking as fast as he could, he took note of the wife's surgical apron as well as her shy, almost defensive demeanor behind her imposing husband. A pure medic, he figured, and by the looks of their personal bags - barely large enough to carry a spare set of clothing or two - he could tell that the couple were down on their luck.
"Jackpot," One Ear Guy murmured to himself.
He'd been stabbed in the arm when they took out the poor saps they had liberated the camp and their current stash of gold from. The cut had already been sterilized with their last bit of hydrogen peroxide, but it hadn't begun to heal yet. Ripping off the makeshift bandage Earl had fashioned for him from an old rag, One Ear Guy inspected his wound. It was thin and shallow but long, and painful looking - like a papercut. Placing his thumb on one side and his index finger on the other, he started to pry it open even wider. The pain was excruciating and the burn even caused one of his eyes to tear up. He let it flow - all a part of the act. For whatever reason, the stupid Light hadn't forsaken Earl entirely and he could always cast a heal spell later. As One Ear Guy watched his own skin tear open, more of his red blood seeped out onto his green skin and covered the stains from his old, dried blood. Digging in to the uninjured flesh to the side of the cut, he managed to push some more blood out just as the couple came close enough to see detail.
Sitting on that rock in order to appear as non threatening as possible, he clutched the cut with one hand and allowed himself to grimace for real at the sting. The husband wore an Alliance tabard. Although the two factions were still legally enemies, their joint efforts at fighting Hellscream's forces led to many a traveler to break the factional barrier. Just another way for their guard to be down, as he and Earl had found working in tandem together for the past few weeks.
The couple slowed down, and the wife walked a little more closely to the husband and lined her figure up behind his such that she couldn't be seen. The husband made no secret that he was inspecting One Ear Guy and his nonchalant allies as they milled about the camp, and the big guy seemed to buy in to their innocent act. Chump.
"Lok tar, friends," One Ear Guy said in Orcish with the cheeriest expression he could manage while still grimacing in pain. When the husband continued staring at him blankly, he realized the man had no idea what had been said.
"I apologize; I slipped back into my own language. Hail to you, friends in arms against Hellscream's tyranny." His flowery introduction was almost over the top, and he held his breath wondering if it would work.
The male worgen looked surprised. "You speak Common well," he remarked before shaking his head in disbelief. "Oh...hail." His caution insinuated that he may be uncomfortable around Horde races. This might take some work.
"Well, seeing as how we're all joining forces now, I figured it would help to learn the language of the other side of the good guys," One Ear Guy replied while wincing. When the couple continued walking without pausing, he dove in. "You don't happen to be...selling any of those medical supplies, do you? I'm a little hurt, as you can see."
At that comment, the wife peeked out from behind the husband to take a look at the wound on One Ear Guy's arm as he pretended to look at it himself. The couple shared a few words before the husband spoke on their behalf.
"We do have some extra bandages we could part with. Supplies are a bit difficult to come by out here; we can't let them go for less than two silver a roll," the man said.
"Oh...thank you, so much!" One Ear Guy sighed, a look of insincere gratitude that would have fooled the most talented mind reader plastered across his face. "I'd actually like to buy three rolls, if that's okay with you. You never know what might happen on the roads out here; this place is more dangerous than my friends and I had realized!"
Using his non bloodied hand, he pulled six silver pieces out of the coinpurse on his belt and offered it to the man without waiting to see if he would even agree to sell three. The husband hesitated a few seconds before accepting it, and remained facing One Ear Guy as his wife dug through the crate for the rolls of bandages. As One Ear Guy tried his best to look unassuming, he was able to size up the couple properly with a few subtle glances. The male wasn't quite as large as that socially inept sack of shit Khujand, but was fairly close, and One Ear Guy's head only came up to the bottom of the worgen's chest. He looked about as beefy as the big blue retard, too, and the heavy armor he wore would protect his body. If they could poison him well enough, though, he might not even be able to get back up after falling. His head and part of his midriff were exposed, in addition to his feet and ankles. People of all races had a lot of blood vessels around the ankles that could be sliced, though the exposed fur over the guy's stomach cried out for a stabbing, too. One Ear Guy would make sure to keep that in mind.
Still hiding behind her husband, the female worgen handed the rolls of bandages to him so he could hand them over. Though he didn't smile, he did nod politely and obviously didn't notice the glance One Ear Guy had stolen from the wife. She was a good foot shorter than her husband, which still make her almost a foot taller than One Ear Guy and most of the others. But she was also thin for her kind, and her delicate movements insinuated that she had zero ability to fight back; they would only have to worry about her husband.
Not wanting any discomfort to enter the couple's minds, he quickly tried to keep them talking. "Pleasure doing business with you, sir!" he said, making sure not to address the obviously conservative man's wife.
"Oh...uh, likewise," the warrior mumbled, seemingly in shock at the civility from an Orc.
Scratching his head meekly, One Ear Guy flexed his theatrical skills even further and practically bled sheepishness as he avoided eye contact. "Hey, listen...my friends and I have some fresh stew we're preparing, and there's more than we can finish. The ingredients will go bad if we wait any longer, though. I was wondering...oh gosh, this is awkward." The wife had already finished sealing up the supply crate, but the couple remained standing where they were, and he realized they were already considering it. "Well, you know, it's rough out here, trying to do the right thing...my friends and I, you know, we have both Alliance and Horde here...perhaps you wouldn't mind helping us finish some of this stew before you continue on your way? Perhaps share any news you've heard about the war effort?"
He fumbled with the bandage rolls and even pretended to drop one for effect, giving off the air of a complete buffoon who couldn't hurt anybody. The husband looked to One Ear Guy and then to Earl, clearly suspicious about the interfactional group. His wife, however, poked him lightly on the back to grab his attention.
"Just one moment," the man said, and he turned slightly to engage in a hushed conversation with his wife.
It was do or die time. The wife spoke softly, even softer than the husband despite the fact that they were both whispering. Neither of them gave away what exactly they were thinking, and One Ear Guy could only wait with baited breath as he hoped his deception would pay off.
He only had to wait half a minute for the good news as the husband turned back to him. "We would be glad to stay for a few minutes," the man said without looking glad, but both him and his wife looking hungry.
"Oh really? Well, glad to have you with us, then!" One Ear Guy practically chirped as he sat up too fast and winced for real. "I'll let the others know to prepare you some bowls before I even distribute the bandages!"
Not even waiting for the couple to follow, he hobbled off, bandages in one hand and wound held closed by the other. At the camp he made a show out of only speaking Common to Mei Guo and Earl, as though Wrecking Ball and the Hulk couldn't understand the language. Quick, exaggeratedly polite news was delivered of their guests and true to their roles, nobody reacted much aside from cordial nods. One Ear Guy provided some 'translation' into Orcish warning them of the couple's reserved nature and that they had to avoid offending the wife's modesty if they wanted this to work.
For their part, the worgen couple stood off to the side of the camp as they waited, chatting quietly as the wife stood behind her husband and the talbuk while the husband remained half facing her and half facing the camp. Trust levels were clearly low and One Ear Guy warned the others again not to sit too close or to directly face toward the couple save himself and Mei Guo. Like a team of professional actors, they were all business, nobody making sick jokes or muttering over what awful things they wished to do. Just a group of consummate professionals, enriching and enhancing their own lives by ruining those of others.
Mei Guo used sweeping hand motions as he mixed his poison in between adding seasoning to the stew and the Hulk actually had to turn away as he stifled a laugh, pretending to repackage whatever rubbish they found in the bags of the other couple they had murdered that night. The others all pretended to be busy after politely waving to the two worgen, and the entire camp gave off an aura of quiet calm; it was as though the violence that had taken place earlier was erased from the annals of time.
One Ear Guy really drove the performance home when he remembered that Earl was still wearing some robes he stole from an abbey priest in Stormwind before porting to Ashran. Excusing himself from the sitting ducks, he sat across from the blasphemous priest on a log and showed him the cut on his arm.
"Brother Stevenson, do you think it will become infected?" One Ear Guy asked in Common with big saucer eyes.
Falling into his role immediately, Earl leaned forward and squinted his eyes, obviously trying to appear a bit tired but also concerned. "The power of the Light heals all," he mimed in a voice that sounded much more aged than it normally did. "We can wrap that for you, but prayer must never be neglected."
From the corner of his eye, One Ear Guy noticed a shift in the wife's demeanor. She no longer hid behind her husband so closely, and a certain openness seemed to overtake her. The religious appeal had struck a chord, and One Ear Guy winked with the eye that was concealed from them in a tacit encouragement of Earl's direction. Not wanting to delay them long enough to allow the husband's suspicions to take over, he then turned to Wrecking Ball to make some small talk.
"I'm talking in Orcish right now to pretend that we're sharing news right now," One Ear Guy said lightly in his native language.
Mei Guo's ears turned back against his head at the phrase, and Wrecking Ball looked at the couple to check for a reaction. "Hey, just be sure you don't say anything they might recognize," the mercenary answered back in Orcish.
"Nah, don't worry about it. These saps are completely cluess." One Ear Guy's tone carried all the arrogance one would expect of someone pulling off such a caper right under a mark's nose. Switching to Common, he tried his best to reassure the two worgen. "Our buddies here mentioned something about the Spires of Arak to the south; you may want to stay out of there."
The wolfman nodded politely, his gaze fixated on the stew Mei Guo had begun pouring into wooden bowls. One Ear Guy shot the big man a pleading look as though he felt legitimately offended that no news was offered back. As if sensing he had caused offense, the husband finally responded with news of his own.
"Oh...we just came from Tuurem, to the north," the husband mumbled. His interest sounded forced. "The town was destroyed by the Iron Horde, but it has since been retaken for the locals. We participated in the rebuilding the best we could - much of the north of this region should be relatively safe now."
"Dinner is ready!" Mei Guo chirped in a voice that was almost disgustingly cheery.
One Ear Guy clinched his stomach in an attempt to force a growl, but when that failed he sufficed with licking his lips like a giant mental case. Fucking asshole, he thought...
Mei Guo handed a bowl to One Ear Guy first, flashing a look of fake sincerity at the bandaged wound on his arm so believable that Earl actually had to bite his thumb to avoid laughing out loud. The second bowl was passed to Earl, and he bowed his head in a mock prayer before beginning to spoon it gingerly. Quickly hurrying back to the cooking pot, Mei Guo stood such that his back blocked view of what he was doing, and One Ear Guy grinned as he slurped, knowing what was happening. The next two bowls were passed to the worgen husband, who took them somewhat cautiously and waited for the pandaren to turn around and walk back to the pot before handing one bowl to his wife. They both smelled the soup one time before whispering among themselves and digging in, finishing the stew rather quickly. One Ear Guy's pulse shot through the roof as their plan went underway; the husband whorfed the whole thing down in under a minute, and the two new guys had barely even began their own before the husband was waiting to take his wife's bowl and hand it back.
It only took a minute or so for everybody to finish, and One Ear Guy made sure to finish his first to demonstrate to the couple that everything was fine. Once the bowls had been collected, Mei Guo feigned drowsiness and everyone else followed suit.
"Well, we may be heading north in just a few minutes, then," the scheming Orc mock yawned to the couple. "We'd much prefer to avoid any potential difficulties on the road. Do take care of yourselves on the road south, alright?"
The couple apparently couldn't wait to get out of there, as they didn't protest or even shoot a dirty look over the fumblingly brusque farewell.
"May the Light be with you," the husband said as he roused the talbuk from its grazing on the side of the road. "We thank you for your kindness."
As they walked away, Earl hung his head low in mock humility. It had worked better than he may have anticipated; as the travelers left, One Ear Guy noticed the wife look back and shoot the human an expression of respect for a moment before turning back to the road. Everyone milled about the camp a little more and pretended to be setting up for northbound travel until the two worgen were out of sight.
Earl switched the conversation back to Orcish. "Boss, how long before that poison starts to kick in?"
Mei Guo had already pulled his armor out of his sleeping bag by the time the question was asked. "It's fast acting but also fast to disappear from the system; it has to be mild to avoid affecting the taste and smell of the food," he explained. "We have to move if we want to catch them as he passes out. I can scout ahead to keep watch until it's time to strike."
Following Mei Guo's lead, the rest of the partners in crime rushed to don their weapons and armor. So excited were they that they merely hid their stash and equipment behind a tree, opting for fast travel rather than moving the entire camp. Once everyone was dressed, One Ear Guy pulled the final piece of his intimidating combat gear. Donning his totally awesome looking blue headband, he turned to the others.
"The hunt is on."
A/N: I'm going in for surgery tomorrow. Wish me luck.