Chapter Eight
Larraine stood by as Rell and Sully spoke to Bold Karasshi and another jinyu who she assumed to be the leader of the village, occasionally looking to where Admiral Taylor was resting. Mishka had come as soon as she could following Rell's communicator call to her, and after a cursory examination assured them all that Taylor would be fine and merely needed to rest for a while. Larraine was still anxious, however, as the longer it would take for him to regain consciousness the longer Anduin would be out in the wilds of Pandaria. She knew he wasn't completely defenseless, but if he were to be ambushed by a group of Horde soldiers he would likely run out of stamina and end up at their mercy... and the Horde weren't exactly known for showing mercy, especially since Garrosh Hellscream took over.
"Please, take my younger brother with you," Karasshi said, gesturing to a shorter, slimmer jinyu nearby. "We may not be friends, but you should not go into unfamiliar territory alone."
"What's he talking about, Rell?" Larraine asked, approaching the small group.
"We're goin' ta go look fer Prince Anduin," Sully informed her, and Rell looked to him before turning his attention to Larraine.
"By 'we,' he means the two of us," he told her sternly. "I want you to stay here in the village until we return."
"But, Rell-"
"Someone needs stay be here in case Taylor wakes up," he cut off her protest, nodding toward the admiral's resting form.
"Mishka can-"
"He might know where Anduin is," he reminded her. "I'm sure you're anxious to hear whatever he has to say. So just stay here and make nice with the locals while we scout nearby for signs of the prince."
"Fine," Larraine reluctantly agreed through clenched teeth. She watched as Rell and Sully prepared for their trip, along with the young jinyu – who was apparently known as Little Lu. Karasshi asked Rell to look out for him, which Sully agreed they would do, and within the hour they were gone.
For the rest of the day, Larraine spent time introducing herself to some of the higher-ranking jinyu in the village. They all seemed friendly, if a bit suspicious, and one of them even admitted that they preferred to keep to themselves ever since they made the mistake of trusting the hozen – who then promptly wiped out the vast majority of their tribe. They weren't nearly as hospitable as the pandaren had been, but they were kind enough and offered her, Mishka, and Fang something to eat and a place to sleep for the night.
The next day was fairly uneventful, as well. Taylor was still recovering, and so she offered to help the fishermen of the tribe. They were doubtful that she would be of much help, but when she successfully pulled in the first catch of the morning they started to open up to the idea of her presence. She didn't catch much else throughout the day, but she learned that the village had been having trouble with the nearby hozen for a while and that their warriors weren't having much luck fending them off. To her surprise, when she asked if perhaps they had tried attacking at range the jinyu looked at her as if she had suddenly sprouted an extra head... and so she took the question to the village elder.
The elder gave her much the same response to the question, but with the addition of informing her that all of the jinyu received the same training in close-quarters combat. After confirming that they actually did have the appropriate weapons for different fighting styles available, she suggested letting some of the members of the tribe try something other than melee combat if it suited their skills. The elder agreed to give her suggestion a try, albeit begrudgingly, and then tasked her with deciding which of his people should be give the opportunity to try their hand at something other than the standard warrior training. And so the rest of her day – and much of the following one – was spent talking to nearly every resident of the village, determining where their skills were best applied in a combat situation and attempting to instruct them on how to use those skills. Those whose abilities mirrored the ones of the rogues she knew were a bit easier for her to assist, since she had been living at SI:7's headquarters for the better part of three years, but the casters posed more of a problem for her. Thankfully, the innate ability of those who were able to wield spells of magic and healing did most of the work for her and she only needed to focus on helping them learn to properly aim their spells – which, as an archer, was more her forte.
Her fourth day among the jinyu she found them much less guarded around her, and a small group of them even approached her to ask about Fang and how she had managed to train a wild animal to act as her companion. She was happy to discuss her own skills and training, glad that she could finally talk to them about something with which she was wholly familiar rather than a method of fighting which she only understood the most basic fundamentals of. She even demonstrated the taming techniques she had been taught on some of the local wildlife, including a rather large crocolisk. The jinyu were in awe of her, and she couldn't help feeling a bit proud of herself – which was a nice change from the worry that had been plaguing her since before she even left Stormwind.
By the time her fifth day in the village rolled around, that worry had begun to change to panic. She knew Rell and Sully well enough to know that they were experts out in the field, and yet they hadn't returned. She assumed that the unfamiliar surroundings might have something to do with why they were taking so long, but she also knew they had Karasshi's brother as a guide and that Rell had a reputation for getting things done in as timely a manner as possible. Of course, given the way he'd run off after the Horde as soon as they arrived rather than sticking to the prime objective of their mission, she was starting to doubt that reputation.
"We need help!"
The sun had just reached its peak in the sky when Larraine heard a familiar female voice calling for assistance from the far end of the village. She turned around and was surprised to see Amber approaching, but even more shocking was the unconscious form of Rell balanced between her and Karasshi's brother, with Sully situated between them and holding up the night elf's legs. Mishka immediately ran to them, along with some of the jinyu who had taken up healing duties only a few days earlier, and Larraine watched in stunned silence as the group brought Rell over to where Taylor was still recovering and placed him on his own cot next to the admiral.
"What the hell happened?" she asked when she finally got a good look at him. His dark purple skin was ashen, and if not for Mishka's assurance that he was alive she wouldn't have believed that he wasn't even breathing.
"It's... a long story," she heard Rell say, his voice little more than a weak wheezing sound passing through his lips.
"Rell!" Amber cried out, practically knocking Mishka over in her haste to get to his side. The tall draenei woman gave her a dirty look, but said nothing and resumed in doing what she could to apply aid to Rell's injuries.
"You should probably rest, Rell," Larraine told him, moving to stand next to Amber and raising an eyebrow at the was she was holding Rell's hand. "You look like shit."
"No," Rell protested before coughing violently for several seconds. "You need... to know... what happened. Everyone... needs to know."
"Just take your time," Larraine requested, sitting down on the ground beside the cot he was on.
Rell nodded and closed his eyes, then took a few shaky breaths before he began to finally speak.
"We traveled... north. Several hours," he said, his eyes still closed. "Found... a fallen tree. Amber's plane..."
Larraine's jaw tightened, but she said nothing. Rell had apparently not wanted her to stay behind in case Taylor regained consciousness, but because he had intended to go looking for Amber all along.
"Lil' Nimm was just hangin' from another tree nearby," Sully added, chuckling. "Her chute got stuck in the branches. Was the funniest thing I'd seen in a good while."
"Sully, please," Amber admonished him. "Let him finish."
"Amber..." Rell wheezed. "Had to... protect Amber. Hozen... ambush."
"That's enough, Rell," Amber told him, squeezing his hand, and she reached up to brush some of his long hair back from his face when he broke out into another violent coughing fit. "We'll tell her the rest."
Rell nodded and murmured his thanks, then allowed himself to relax while Mishka continued to work on his injuries.
"So once those bleedin', dirty hozen 'ad been taken care of we got Nimm down an' sent her along back to the pandaren village," Sully picked up where Rell had left off. "Amber here joined us as we continued on our search fer Prince Anduin. Farther north, we found this big ol' clearing with some strange shrines. Knowin' the prince is a priest, we figured it was worth checkin' out to see if he'd been there."
"And did you find anything?" Larraine asked him, leaning forward eagerly.
"No," Sully replied, hanging his head sullenly. "Amber covered me while I checked all three o' the shrines, but no sign o' the prince. I did make a couple o' new friends, though."
"New friends?" Larraine wondered, and Amber let out an annoyed groan.
"He adopted this raccoon that he found."
"Two o' them!" Sully corrected. "Course I wouldn't 'ave had ta find a second one if ye hand't shot poor Gizmo!"
"Sully, just drop it," Amber snapped at him. "I said I was sorry."
Sully huffed and turned back to Larraine. "Unfortunately, while I was occupied with checkin' those shrines an' Amber was busy coverin' me, poor Rell got ambushed."
"And where were you?" Larraine asked the jinyu who had accompanied them.
"Rell sent Little Lu off ta gather firewood so we could make camp fer the night," Sully informed her, then looked to the jinyu in question. "It's not his fault the hozen followed our trail an' ganged up on Rell."
"I am still sorry I could not have been there to help him," Lu said, bowing his head in shame. "I am also sorry I did not notice the danger we walked into on our way back here to the village."
"What are you talking about?" Larraine asked, looking between the two of them. "You ended up getting ambushed again on your way back here?"
"Not exactly," Sully said, shaking his head. "See, after Rell was injured, we followed the trail o' the hozen who had attacked him an' Amber took them out from afar while I set up charges ta blow up their huts. But then, we discovered that they're workin' wit' the Horde! So we got outta there faster'n I don't know what 'cause Rell was getting' worse. An' then... I..." His voice broke and he let out a sob, shaking his head.
"I can't stand ta tell the rest. Little Lu, you tell 'er."
"Of course!" Lu said eagerly, proud to have been acknowledged as part of their team. He then went to sit next to Larraine, and she couldn't help smiling at how happy he was in spite of the situation, simply because he had been acknowledged by Sully.
"We meant to return to the village, but with Rell being injured we got turned around and ended up heading farther north into the woods," he began his part of the tale, gesturing with his hands as he spoke. "There, we found the home of a pandaren and decided to ask if the owner might be able to offer us food and a place to sleep. Except, she was not a normal pandaren. She was some sort of witch, and had numerous statues made from jade that I realized – almost too late – were actually living beings she had cursed into jade."
"Oh, Socks!" Sully wailed. "Me poor lil' friend! Why?"
"What's his problem?" Larraine wondered.
"The witch turned Sully's pet raccoon into a jade statue," Lu told her. "The creature jumped in front of him just as the witch cast her spell, and saved both of us."
"It sounds as though he died a noble death," Larraine told Sully, feeling a bit sorry for the dwarf. "You have my condolences."
"Thank ye, lass," Sully said, wiping his eyes with his sleeve and sniffling loudly. "But what was perhaps more disheartening than Socks' demise was that one o' the jade statues in that witch's yard was an orc."
"Really," Larraine muttered, not at all surprised that he would bring up the Horde.
"Unfortunately, it seems the Horde are already making headway in their attempt to claim this land as their own," Amber added, her attention still focused on Rell.
"And what about Anduin?" Larraine asked, attempting to remain calm. "Did you find anything that might help us locate his whereabouts, or were you too busy chasing after the Horde to be bothered?"
"We were looking for him," Amber snapped, turning to look at her.
"You looked in one place, Amber," Larraine pointed out. "Then Rell got hurt and all you did was run around chasing down hozen to get revenge for his injuries. And I'm guessing you didn't bother checking any of those huts you blew up for evidence of his presence, either, did you?"
She turned an accusatory gaze toward Sully, and he looked at the ground and shuffled his feet a bit, muttering something under his breath.
"What was that?"
"I said, I didn't think ta look," he repeated himself, and Larraine got to her feet and began pacing.
"Does no one but me remember what your orders were?" she posed the question to the agents Mathias had trusted to complete the task ordered by the King of Stormwind, himself. "We're supposed to find Anduin and bring him home. That's it! You weren't told to chase after hozen or worry about the Horde, but to bring home the king's son. He is your prince, and his safety should be your top priority. You should be happy that Varian wasn't here to listen to that report you just gave, because I'm sure he'd hang you all by your ankles for failing to do your jobs."
She turned on her heel and walked away from them, wanting to put as much distance between herself and the lot of them as she could before she ended up taking a swing at one of them. She didn't get very far, though, before she heard Amber calling her name. She debated turning back to see what the older woman wanted, but instead she kept walking in the hopes she would take the hint and leave her alone.
"Larraine, stop," Amber said sternly, halting her in her tracks. Still, she refused to turn around to look at her, and Amber had no choice but to step around her in order to face her.
"Believe it or not, I know exactly how you feel."
"No, you don't," Larraine argued, shaking her head.
"I do," Amber insisted, her voice softening. "He's important to you. If you knew something had happened to him, it would be bad enough. But not knowing... It's tearing you apart. Your mind's running through all these possibilities, each one worse than the next, and and you keep thinking to yourself, 'Light, if I lose him I don't know how I'll ever survive.'"
Larraine swallowed thickly as tears began to form in her eyes, and all she could do was nod in response to her words. Amber had hit upon the exact thoughts she'd been having, and in that moment Larraine suddenly realized something.
"You and Rell, huh?" she asked, the corner of her mouth quirking up slightly. She didn't know how she'd failed to notice it sooner, with the way he'd reacted to her plane being shot down and how she had been too stubborn to leave his side while he was being treated for his injuries.
"It's nothing we've acted upon, but... He means a lot to me," she confessed, and Larraine nodded in understanding. Mathias always told his people that relationships were the bane of the best assassins, so they'd been forced to hide their feelings for each other. She couldn't imagine what it would be like to be in that situation, but she suddenly felt bad for having given Rell a hard time about wanting to ensure Amber's safety – especially since his motives were so close to her own for wanting to join them on the rescue mission.
"We really did look for the prince, you know," Amber assured her. "But there was nothing to find, and we're searching totally blind in this new land. If we had some sort of clue, maybe we could have found him. Right now, though, all we have is Admiral Taylor. As soon as he comes around and we find out what he knows, Sully and I will take Little Lu back out and find him. I promise."
Larraine took a slow, deep breath and nodded. "Thank you, Amber. Like you said, though, we really have nothing to go on until Taylor wakes up."
"Then why don't we head back?" Amber suggested. "He's looking a lot better than the way Rell described him, so perhaps he'll come to soon."
She didn't really want to go back. Despite everything Amber had just said, the fact of the matter was – whether they knew where to look or not – they failed to actually search for Anduin. Amber had been too focused on seeking revenge for Rell being hurt, and Sully seemed to care more about those damn raccoons he'd found than the safety of the prince. Still, she followed the other woman back because she was right: Taylor was their key to finding Anduin.
Larraine remained quiet for the rest of the afternoon, pacing back and forth near Taylor and Rell, Fang following closely at her heels. Each hour that passed, Rell got worse – coughing violently often for minutes at a time, bright red blood occasionally tinging his lips, each fit making it harder for him to breathe. She began to worry her bottom lip between her teeth as she wondered if he would even survive his injuries, and a look at Mishka's worried face caused her stomach to tie in a knot.
"If only Anduin was here," she said mostly to herself, thinking that if he was with them Rell's injuries would have been easily dealt with.
"Aye," Sully agreed. "Soon as we find 'im, we kin go home and then I'm gonna drink till I'm sick an' spend a nice night with a couple o' fine lasses at The Singin' Strumpet."
"Sully!" Amber chastised him, and Larraine merely gaped at his comment.
"What?" he asked with a shrug, seemingly oblivious to the situation.
"I meant that I wish Anduin was here because he'd be able to heal Rell," Larraine clarified, and Sully at least had the decency to look ashamed for what he'd just said.
"Anduin," Taylor groaned, pulling their attention to his cot next to Rell's. "The White Pawn... is safe..."
"Admiral!" Sully cried out, hopping to his feet and rushing to assist Taylor in sitting up. The admiral let out another groan and brought a hand to his head, which he suddenly jerked away when he felt the thick bandage wrapped around it.
"How... How long have I been out?" he asked, looking from one relieved face to another.
"About a week," Larraine informed him.
Taylor's expression went blank and he screwed his eyes shut, bringing a hand to his head again. He winced a bit, shaking his head, then finally let out a sharp gasp as his eyes snapped open once more.
"The prince! I left him on the ship," he said, his voice strained in panic. "I locked him in his quarters for his own safety... Light, what have I done?"
"He got out," Larraine informed him.
"He did?" Taylor asked, looking to her, and she nodded.
"He managed to break out a porthole and escape the ship before his quarters were completely flooded."
"Light be praised," Taylor said with a relieved sigh. "So, where is he?"
"We don't know," Amber told him somberly.
"We was hopin' ye'd have an idea where we should look fer 'im," Sully added, and Taylor's relief turned back into panic.
"I... I'm sorry," Taylor told them all, shaking his head and closing his eyes in shame. "I don't know where he is. I meant to return to the wreckage, but I was captured by those horrible monkey things."
"So I take it that means he wasn't also captured by them?" Larraine wondered, and Taylor gave her a curious look. "I found a piece of his sash tied to one of their spears."
"Not that I know of," Taylor replied. "Of course, I was slipping in and out of consciousness so I suppose they could have brought him through their camp during one of the times I was out."
"Looks like we're back at square one," Sully remarked, and a sense of defeat permeated the atmosphere of their small camp. Silence fell over them all, the only sounds being the nature around them and Rell's ragged breathing as they all contemplated what to do next.
"Is he going to be okay?" Taylor finally broke the silence with his question, nodding toward Rell's prone form next to him.
"I..." Mishka started, then faltered and shook her head. "I am sorry. I have done all I am able for his injuries. I fear the only thing we can do now is make him comfortable."
"Dammit," Larraine swore as she started pacing again, and she gradually moved farther and farther away from the group as she willed herself not to cry in frustration. Taylor had been no help in their search for Anduin, and now Rell was dying. If she only had some clue where to begin looking for the prince, she could easily remedy both situations by finding him and bringing him back to the jinyu village in order to have him give Rell the necessary healing he would need in order to make a full recovery.
A hand on her arm soon stopped her, and she looked up to find the young jinyu, Lu, standing before her with what appeared to be an uneasy smile upon his fish-like face.
"I may know someone who can help you find your White Pawn," he told her quietly.
"You do? Why are you only telling us this now?" she asked, gesturing toward the others, and Lu's face flushed pink.
"I was so excited to be included in such an important mission that it slipped my mind until now," he offered, bowing apologetically.
"So?" Larraine prompted. "Tell me about this person you said can help."
"His name is Cho," Lu informed her. "He is a pandaren who lives in seclusion here in the forest, and he knows this land better than anyone."
"So how do I find him?"
"Head southwest of the village, to the far edge of the marsh," Lu instructed her, pointing in the direction she would need to go. "There, you will find a pandaren-style pavilion upon a small hill where he makes his home."
"Thank you, Lu," she said and kissed him on the cheek, causing his skin to turn an even brighter shade of pink than it had before. "Tell the others I'll be back as soon as I can."
Lu nodded and she smiled at him, then went back to the hut of the tribe elder to retrieve her things from where she had left them earlier in the day. She double-checked to make sure she had enough provisions in case she had to travel farther than the hut of he pandaren she was going to speak to, and was surprised to find someone from the village had tucked a generous amount of tortoise jerky in with her regular supplies. She grabbed a piece and tore it in half, then stuck one piece in her mouth and offered the other to Fang – who eagerly gobbled it up while she finished preparing.
"Alright, boy, let's go," she told him once she was ready, and he let out a small bark of approval. She ruffled the fur on top of his head and the two of them set out, Larraine hoping against hope that – finally – she might find a decent clue as to Anduin's whereabouts.