Author note: So you may have noticed I haven't updated this story in several months; there is a story behind it. To see the long version (and to see what's generally going on in my artistic life) check out the latest post on my blog: oriwhitedeer(dot)blogspot(dot)com.
The short version: rage quit wow. Alliance lore, lore in general was not to my liking and forever jacked up my attention to lore in Straydog Saga. A few months later I Started getting back into it again, was able to write fan fiction again.
And now without further ado...
Straydog Saga
Flea 41: Lovesong
The cool night air was like a soothing blanket on the elves' sweaty, and passion-heated, half-dressed forms. Though the physical barrier of clothing still remained on their forms, the elves' realized love was so intense; it was as if they did not have bodies to bar their souls from one another's bond.
Shandori allowed herself to slip into a light snooze with a rare, soft smile on face as her ears took in the sound of her partner's heartbeat. Christoffel gave a small, smiling sigh as his hand idly stroked Shandori's blushing cheek. His hair hung unbound and was long enough to reach Shandori's fingers, which were slightly tangled in the ebony tresses.
He looked to out the window, keen hearing picking up the sound of cheerful voices and lively music a small distance away.
He slowly turned his attention back to the shifting woman in his arms as his eyes grew a little softer. Shandori opened her eyes with a sleepy snort as her face contorted into a hideous yawn. She blinked a few times before nuzzling deeper into the space between her companion's arm and chest.
"You smell like shit," Shandori lovingly, sleepily spoke causing Christoffel to roll his eyes.
"That's you're fault, miss molester. I took a bath before bed, you know?" Christoffel informed.
"Yeah, I know; I was there." Shandori gave sly smile as she cast her lover a smug glance as her hand moved to gentle tug on her lover's long mane. Christoffel leaned into the action and found himself pulled into a long, passionate kiss.
"Indeed," Christoffel slowly broke the kiss and breathlessly spoke. His eyes shifted from loving contentment to slight doubting disbelief as Shandori's own blushing smile slightly faltered.
"Something wrong?" Shandori asked as the momentary look of doubt quickly morphed into an amused grin.
"Nothing, for once," Christoffel softly spoke as he brought a gentle hand to cup the side of Shandori's face. The rough scars on Christoffel's callused hand barely registered as the beautiful star vision that captured his own brought a hint of something long buried back into his marred heart.
The feeling began to swell as evidence of its presence rose to shine in his fel-tainted eyes. Though his pride and his lips would not bring words to the feeling, his partner seemed to playfully smile as she learned forward to confirm her suspicion with a full-lipped kiss. Her lips spoke without fear or restriction in her steady voice.
"Love ya, demon sucker."
"Hmm, is that right?"
"Yeah, maybe even more than money."
"Wow, I should be so honored," Christoffel laughed as he brought her arms around her thin-clothed form and pulled her a little closer.
There was a moment of calm silence between them as the blood elf's gaze returned to the light-hearted noise that came in through their window with the night breeze. Christoffel felt a cold, sinking feeling in his chest as thoughts of the coming dawn filled his mind with wretched images of death and suffering.
Shandori felt her companion tense as she lifted her head to give him a questioning look.
"Is something eatin' you?" she asked with a raised brow. Christoffel didn't answer; instead, he shook his head and turned to give his love a quick but passionate kiss. He paused for a moment to cast her a worried look before replying.
"I don't want to be a hero again, and I don't want you to become one either," Christoffel spoke with grim implication between his words.
"Uh, what?" Shandori watched as Christoffel shifted, pulling himself away for a moment to sit up against the headboard of their double bed. Shandori followed, moving to rest her hand on his shoulder and give him a slight squeeze to continue.
"Now that things have changed…I don't want to loose you, not after what happened at Mydrassil-I can't go through that again. I mean, haven't we done enough?" Christoffel thought out loud, earning him a quiet, smirk-lipped laugh.
"Well you might not be a hero anymore, but you got the girl. I'm more than happy to ride off into the sunset and blow this stupid battle off, red dragons be damned!"
"Isn't this the part where you give me some uplifting speech about heroism and duty and…you're right, who am I talking to?" Christoffel gave a rare, hearty laugh, an action that caused Shandori's face to melt from its usual smugness into one of gentle, loving softness.
"Hey now, you're the one who loudly confessed his innermost feelings right smack in the middle of a busy Dalaran park," Shandori spoke in a wistfully voice and batted her eyelashes. The action caused an almost-wincing smile to come to the blood elf's face.
"Yes, yes, I did," Christoffel spoke as the pair leaned into a kiss and returned to a prone position. As the two continued on, the first hints of dawn, though as bright as it always was, barely seemed to touch them as they drifted further into one another.
They continued with curious, playful exploration as their hands and hearts connected in disrobing, consummative joy. When their energy was spent, Shandori and Christoffel still lingered in one another's arms as they blissfully sank further into their plush pillows.
They lingered in calm, shared silence as the sun fully rose into the morning sky. Shandori exhaled with a happy sigh.
"We'll need another bath, probably separately this time," Shandori suggested, causing Christoffel to give a smiling nod as she shifted to sit up.
"We don't have anywhere to be, right? Stay a while," Christoffel softly implored as he reached to pull his lover back into his arms. Shandori's usual, indomitable will was seemingly absent as she allowed herself to return to Christoffel's embrace.
"Mmm, yeah, let those heroes handle this. I say we villains head back to Booty Bay and find us another job- an EASY, non turning-into-grand-adventure-saga kind of job; just the two of us," Shandori yawned.
"Sounds good," Christoffel smiled. "Though you must admit, it has been quite a ride."
"Yeah, remember when we were attached by that warlock bitch—what's her face? Kesha or something? You nearly overdosed…I was pretty scared," Shandori admitted. Christoffel smiled and gave her back and shoulder a little squeeze.
"Yeah, that was a pretty horrific trip, but thinking about you got me through it," Christoffel confessed earning him a smile and a rolling of Shandori's eyes.
"Yeah well, not to continue the mush fest but having you around always made me feel better. Like when my mom decided to lay into me that one time. She always had a knack for making me feel worthless."
"Sounds pretty familiar," Christoffel mused as images of his adoptive father's cold stares and indifferent shrugs as his accomplishments rose in his mind.
"Yeah well, it's good to know at least one other person knows what it's like, you know…hey remember that first really big-money job we did?" Shandori asked with a slight snarky smile.
"Which one?"
"The one with the dragon bones in the temple?"
"Oh yeah, the start of all this; I remember. We picked up quite a bit of gold and our tusked pet that day," Christoffel confirmed as a joined, jarring thought sparked in both their minds. The image of a small, young, scared form seemed to assault them as her terrified shrieks brought both elves into a fully alert state. They stared at one another as the shared thought caused both pairs of eyes to widen into fright and worry.
"Ima!" they shouted as all sleepiness seemed replaced by urgency and vigor. They leaped from their beds, and began reclaiming their carelessly tossed clothing.
"That kid'll be torn to pieces if we aren't there to protect her blue ass!" Shandori frantically spoke, as she splashed some of the water from a pitcher on the table beside the bed onto her sweaty form before beginning to dress. She nearly kicked through her own boot while attempting to put it on. While the urge to tease his beloved rose in Christoffel's throat, his own compassion for the young, kind-minded girl overtook his concentration.
"She's too distracted by maintaining her gnome persona; she won't be able to focus on the battle—Booty Bay will have to wait," Christoffel gave a hissing sigh as he moved to bind his black mane into his usual high ponytail.
"Ughhhh. When did we become such freakin' softies?" Shandori jokingly cursed as she wriggled her fingers in her gloves. Christoffel did not answer as he fastened his belt and began scanning the floor for any last, forgotten items.
"We'll ponder that later, we need to get going if we're going to make the airship," Christoffel informed as the pair gave one last look to their comforting bed before rushing with fleet feet toward the rendezvous point at Krasus' Landing.
Deep beneath the snowy wastes of Eastern Dragonblight, within a small, darkened chamber, several violet dragons and their lingering Twilight minions gathered before their stone-faced leader.
The most powerful among the group sat before a large, magic-made map of the area and seemed to ponder the red marks on its surface. His scowling maw slightly twitched as one among his draconic brood took a step forward and cleared his throat with a guttural hack.
"M-My leader, we…"
"Get on with it. What is your report?" Dargonax spoke with a menacing tone that was more than enough to send chills down the other dragon's spiny back. The slightly shivering dragon swallowed before finding his voice again.
"My leader, we've moved the bulk of our air and ground forces to Icecrown as you asked. We met…resistance from the mortals. Even now, they are storming our southern perimeters and have taken back Star's Rest." The quick-breathing dragon tapped his front claw on one of the red dots on the map before swallowing again and returning to a more falsely-proud stance.
Dargonax snorted and dismissively waved his front claw, eyes fixed on the map before him.
"Don't worry, I sent a battalion of drake riders to face the mortals in the south. Steinaxion will not fail me…" Dargonax decreed, not looking up to see the looks of horror and panic on the faces of his subordinates. They looked to one another as if trying to find who would tell their dear leader the grim news.
The dragon who spoke trembled, unable to look at his towering leader as he slowly, hesitantly spoke.
"M-My leader…Steinaxion…" he tried to speak, but he found the words unable to escape his trembling maw. Another violet dragon took a step forward and quickly spoke.
"Steinaxion did not bring the drake riders as you instructed. He thought he could handle the mortals himself-he perished late last night at their hands," the other dragon informed. One could have heard the smallest pebble drop in the thick air as Dargonax's eyes went wide. One of his eyelids gave a slight twitch as he raised a claw, trembling with anger, and placed it on the map in front of him.
His neck slightly twitched as he slightly rolled his right shoulder before speaking in a tone that would have stopped the hearts of the weak.
"Twilight Generals, stay. The rest of you-get out of my sight," he growled as those prescribed to leave by their terrifying leader more than enthusiastically obeyed. When the last of the cowering supplicants left the silent space, Dargonax slammed his claw on the map and addressed his generals with a booming voice that echoed in the subterranean bunker.
"YOU FOOLISH WORMS! WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE THOUGHT HE COULD VANQUISH THEM ON HIS OWN! I GAVE A DIRECT ORDER! DO MY GENERALS THINK THEMSELVES SO WISE AND GREAT THAT THEY DISREGARD MY WILL!"
"M-My leader, he was only-"
"HE WAS OLNY WHAT! DISOBEYING A DIRECT ORDER! ALL THE TIME OF BREEDING HIS WORTHLESS HIDE AND PREPARATIONS WASTED! I set aside the battalion just for that purpose-where are they now?"
"S-Sent to the north, my lord."
"To the north! TO THE NORTH?" Dargonax raged as he brought his claw smashing down on the magic-made map, causing it to shatter and turn into a pile of spent lavender sand. "You allowed that idiot to send our forces north, when the mortals and their vermin dragon pets usurp us from the south? Have they made it into the caverns?" Dargonax paused, mind frantically trying to grasp some escape, some plan that would turn his generals' missteps to his advantage.
"Yes sir—but we're holding!"
"Hah! You merely slow them down. It would be only a matter of time before they reach our inner sanctum. I did not slip through the cracks in time, escape death only to have it served now. No, I will not. You four-recall the battalion and bring them back to the Old Kingdom. Gather the drakes, advance any eggs you can and hatch them. We will squash this ant army, and Azeroth will no longer suffer their wretched presence!" Dargonax declared.
His generals bowed low before departing to carry out their leader's terrible orders. All the while, the brooding Dargonax schemed, eyes darting to and from the halls that used to house the Nerubian kings. He snarled a moment before angrily striking a crumpled, toppled pillar, sending his fury and ancient dust into the chilly air.
Ima shivered from more than just the cold. Standing around her were students and other agents of the Kirin Tor, many of whom had been in her classes. Though her body appeared to be as small as any other gnome teen, she crouched and did her best to stay blended into the gathering troops.
Her blood seemed to freeze when a familiar voice called to her through the humming sound of the chatting crowd.
"Good morning, little miss! Long time no see, eh?" a gruff but cheerfully melodic voice spoke as Ima turned with wide blue eyes to see its owner. The familiar black-furred worgen woman, covered in mail armor and carrying a large gun, smiled with pointed yellow teeth as she moved to scoop up the gnome and give her a fur-lipped kiss on both cheeks.
"C-Cici! Hello again! Did you dye your fur a new color?" Ima spoke with nervousness shaking through her trembling form.
"I so did, thanks for noticing! Fawn fur was sooo Cataclysm-era." Cici perked for a moment before giving the gnome-troll a concerned look and placing her back on the ground. "But you're shaking! Do you need a thicker cloak?" the hunter, known to Ima as Cici Millan, the pet whisperer, asked. Ima quickly shook her head.
"No just, just a bit nervous is all," Ima spoke with a half-truth laced in her words.
"There, there, little thing! You got your best friend Cici with you now, not need to worry, ah? Me and Mercury, we gunna take good care of you," Cici enthusiastically informed. Ima gave her a questioning look before speaking.
"Mercury? What happened to Inverno?" Ima asked, referencing the white leopard with a frigid blue mouth that she'd become accustomed to seeing whenever Cici would appear. Cici nodded for a moment and gave a little whistle. With an echoing, metallic roar, a massive, hunched cat with liquid mercury for skin and glowing ruby eyes cut its way through the crowd and appeared at Cici's side.
"Inverno is a wonderful pet, there's no question, but for this battle, Mercury is the best man for the job, aren't you, yes you are!" Cici spoke, her voice changing to a babyish tone in the latter part of the sentence.
The mercurial cat growled and smacked its lips together before hungrily turning his attention to Ima. Despite the hungry look from Cici's pet, Ima felt a measure of relief fill her. Her reasoning found that though Cici was a perceptive hunter, her lack of magical awareness would not endanger the mage's carefully crafted costume.
But just as her breathing slowed and the tension that wracked her tiny frame seemed to disappear, another voice came, one that nearly stopped her heart. She turned in horror to see two of her classmates, a boyish looking human girl and a blonde-haired and fine-robed high elf, bounding towards her.
"F-Finley, Blodwyn, what are you doing here!" she gaped as her two roommates moved to stand in front of her.
"Same reason you're here, I reckon: joining the effort, of course. We can't just sit here and let those nasty Twilights threaten Dalaran, can we?" Finely spoke with an affirming nod. The high elf beside her rolled her eyes and looked with annoyance to her perfectly manicured nails, which would surely be marred.
"Y-Yes, of course. Where's Herold?" Ima inquired about the fourth member of her small group of friends, as the other two didn't seem to notice anything amiss with her gnomish form.
"He's on break, his pa was sick and had to go help with the farm a while. We'll get to meet up with him when the new term starts, if we survive," Finley informed. "Archmage Diver and Gawain are here too; they're already getting into formation, I think."
"Think we'll be heading out soon, then?" Cici asked, polishing the barrel of her gun with a worn rag. Finely nodded.
"I think so, but I think there's still another airship coming; it's what I heard anyway," Finely shrugged, eager young hands were itching with spellbound intent.
"M-My friends will be on that airship, I bet. You'd like them: they're very interesting people," Ima commented as the group seemed to struggle to keep their anticipation in check.
"I HATE waiting on slow people. I mean honestly, we have a glut of mages and I know there are warlocks around; couldn't we have just ported everyone here?" Blodwyn huffed as she crossed her willowy arms.
"I told you, not everyone likes magic. You expect a paladin to use a portal from a warlock?" Finely rolled her eyes. "So how about these friends of yours, Ima? Are they studying at Dalaran too? Do I know them?"
"N-No, I met them on break, they're…interesting, heh," Ima spoke, unable to find a better adjective. She was unaware of a pair of long, purple, priestly ears nearby, which had been idling picking up on the conversation. "Shandori is a real trip, and Christoffel can be kinda scary at times, but he's pretty kind once you get to know him."
"Christo-fel?" Blodwyn asked with a raised brow, "Please tell me you're not associating with THEM again."
"Give it a rest, will ya?" Finely hissed.
"Well Christoffel isn't really a blood elf, he just got addicted to fel magic. I think he was forced or something because he doesn't seem to want anything to do with them. Besides, if he and Shandori can get along so well-let alone be in love-why can't I have him as a friend?"
"Oh wait, I think I heard about that—a blood elf and a night elf were making out in the park or something, was that them?" Finely asked with whispered Dalaran gossip fresh in her mind.
"Heehee yeah, it was SO romantic—you kind of had to be around for the build-up, but trust me, it was a long time coming. I'm so happy for them; it makes me wanna giggle just thinking about it," Ima chirped, her anxiety and trepidation seemed to flee despite the gaggle of mages and other magic-users amassed around her.
The idly listening night elf priestess tensed at Ima's words, doing her best to further home in on the conversation while still providing the usual smiles and nods to her chattering priestess fellows.
"Gross!" Blodwyn shuddered with a sour expression. Finely gave her a scolding look.
"Um, given YOUR circumstances, little miss 'tail-chaser', I don't think you have any room to judge," Finely scolded with a knowing, wise expression on her young face. Blodwyn attempted to shoot a snide word or any manner of comeback to the reference to her own blue-skinned and hoofed beau, but she felt the words choked from her lips as they closed with a huff.
"Anyway, it looks like they're getting everyone in line," Ima informed as the wind around them seemed to be picking up. The group looked above to find two airships, one from the Alliance and one from the Horde, getting into drop-off position. With guns stowed, the two airships hovered a moment before a series of flying beasts began delivering the final batch of heroes to the battle formation.
Ima's excited blue eyes scanned the skies for any sign of the pair of elves she had so fondly spoken of. Despite her confident words, the last of the beasts touched down, none of them bearing the colorful personas of Shandori and Christoffel.
Ima heard a bitter snort from behind, and turned to find a night elf priestess with her own snide vision turned skyward. The woman could have been Shandori in much older skin in Ima's sight as the little gnome froze for a moment in wonder. It wasn't until Finely's voice came calling in her small ears that the gnome mage broke away from the scene and walked with heavy feet towards the front.