AN: It's almost shameful how long it took me to catch that this chapter was missing.

"You guys agreed to have team RWBY plan a party while I was gone?"

"Technically it's a dance, sis."

Yang watched as Ruby looked between her and Weiss, before turning around and walking away.

She and Weiss had to rush to keep up with Ruby's long strides while Blake slinked behind.

"Ruby, if you don't want to help you don't have to, Blake isn't."

As they entered the Ebon Blade's room Ruby made a beeline for the couch where Velann was napping again.

"Wake up."

When the High Elf didn't move Ruby rolled her eyes and swooped down. Flipping the couch with a crash, Ruby backed up as Velann leapt up, grabbed her sword from the floor next to her.

"Who did that!?"

"Who do you think did it, genius?"

"Why?"

"You didn't wake up."

"Some of us enjoy sleep and don't see the need to do so as little as necessary."

"Some of us once nearly successfully sieged Honor Hold and did succeed in destroying Thrallmar because they didn't sleep."

"Oh? Where the big bad Sons of Lothar too much for you?"

"No, I needed to come back and teach a bunch of idiotic Death Knights how to do their damn jobs and kill a bunch of religious zealots. I seem to recall you being one of them."

"We would have gotten them eventually!"

Yang leaned over to Blake and Weiss, "Are they actually arguing about who is better at massacring people?"

"We knew they had problems." Blake replied dryly.

"Like you succeeded at Light's Hope?"

"That doesn't count!"

"Why, because Tirion would have beaten your ass if I hadn't intervened?"

"I remember you losing to him too."

"Which I only did to keep you from getting half of Acherus killed, Scourge Commander Darkfall."

Yang watched Velann's hands curl into fists, and stepped forward, "Hey, guys-"

"Not all of us can butcher an entire town to impress their master like a good pet, Deathlord Rose." Spat Velann.

"Are you still sore about that? It was eighteen years ago, get over it."

"Highlord Rose, that's enough!" Malag and York had walked into the room.

"What, like you got over Ar-"

Ruby's hand lashed out, and Velann clawed at her throat, where a black tendril of energy had constricted around her.

Malag tore past them, tackling Velann as she yanked out a jagged green knife.

"I didn't tell you that so you could use it against me."

"Highlord Rose, why don't you go for a walk, calm down."

"Fine. Yang, Velann will help you with the planning and preparations of the dance. After all, elves always love a party."

Ruby marched out of the room, tendrils of energy lashing off her frame.

-X Line Break X-

Adam clenched his eyes shut, breath ragged, as memories and emotions assaulting his mind.

A Skeleton, horned and tusked, rising from a pool of tainted water, a glowing light burned from his chest and malevolent laughter filled the air.

Irritation, respect.

A bearded man, weapons in hand, looking at a sword encased in ice in awe and horror.

Foolishness, regret.

Another man, hunchbacked and wizened, green skin and red eyes peaking out of the robes he wore.

A woman, grey skinned and red eyed, an arrow nocked and ready to fire. Hatred clear on her face

Anger, hatred, revenge.

Blond hair, blue eyes, a laugh like bells as they slipped away to carry out their relationship in secret.

"Arthas, I have a lesson with Ruby soon!"

"She can wait."

Red hair, fangs poking from her lower lips, armor and a massive sword. She was going off to battle, he didn't know it at the time but she would never come back.

"I'll see you when you get back, Rulkan."

"You never know Ner'zhul, maybe I'll fall in love with a handsome Ogre and never return."

They had laughed about it at the time, the idea that she wouldn't be there was an absurdity.

She was standing in front of a piece of ice in their room in Icecrown, he could see the scars from Kel'thuzad's unauthorized 'lessons' from when he had been asleep when she reached down to pull on her pants, moving the cloak she had around her just enough to allow him to see the pale skin of her back.

"What excuse are we using for Kel'thuzad this time?"

"I needed your help dealing with some Nerubians."

"We used that last time, him and Alexandros are starting to get suspicious."

"Let them, I am their king, it is not up to them what me and my champion do in private."

"Oh, I'm your champion am I?"

"Of course you are, there is no greater warrior loyal to me."

"Oh Arthas, flattery will get you everywhere."

The smile on her face was downright predatory as he rose to help her pull on her shirt and armor.

Regret, fondness, lo-.

"NO!" Adam rammed his fist into his skull repeatedly.

'Think of Blake, think of Blake, think of Blake!'

He tried to picture her, but it was like trying to hold onto a piece of paper in a tornado.

'Blake, Blake, BlakeBlakeBlakeBlakeJaniaBlakeBlakeBlakeJaniaRulkanBlakeBlakeJainaRulkanRubyBlakeJaniaRulkanRubyJainaRulkanRuby'

More memories plagued him, of a man holding a hammer. Of a berserk green skinned warrior holding an Ax. A horse bleeding out in a snowy forest. A red skinned, horned being towering over him as he was encased in ice.

A knocking echoed out like a gun blast, "Sir, we have a new batch of recruits."

"Good, I'll be right there."

Reaching over he picked up his mask. Fitting it over his face he breathed in, trying to regain his composure.

Stepping out of his room he walked down to the hall, looking down to where the newest batch of 'recruits' were gathered.

He had picked up the term from Ruby, who always used it cheekily.

He looked over the collection of Humans, he wasn't picky on these ones.

"I would like to thank you for your… noble sacrifice."

"What is that supposed to mean you mon-"

Screams started as necrotic energy flowed across them, skin started to leak off their bones and and their bodies started to shift.

Ghouls and skeletons looked up at him as he basked in the rush of energy.

Another step closer to his goal, but something was missing.

As he returned to his room, specters of a past not his own following him he realized what it was. His heartbeat.

The laugher in his ears was chilling.

-X Line Break X-

Penny watched as Ruby and Mr. Mograine spared, a dance of whirling blades. The greatest Death Knights of Acherus were destroying the forest they fought in. Trees were cleaved in two to deflect blows, rocks were rent from the ground.

She had been following them when she saw Ruby march into Acherus and drag Mr. Mograine out.

Standing on the cliff she examined the area, Grimm were there, but seemed to be ignoring the two of them, despite the obvious rage Ruby was giving off.

Penny watched as the scythe Ruby added to her arsenal of weapons sailed over Mr. Mograine's head, before flying back like a boomerang. Flames trailed in the wake of the blade.

There were a lot of things that it was hard to remember about humans. Even after a few days of living on the Ebon Hold she had experienced a freedom she wasn't used to.

Nobody looked at her strangely for applying too much pressure during a handshake, or going without food for a while. Sleep was a luxury, not a necessity to them, so nobody questioned it if they stumbled upon her at odd hours. It did, however, raise questions on how divorced from other people that they didn't seem to notice the fact that she was supposed to be a normal human.

Outside of a few rooms, Ruby's quarters, a vault, and a room near the center of Acherus that most people seemed unaware of, Penny had been given free rein of the base. She was beginning to suspect that that was because anywhere that the didn't want her in was guarded by traps. A precaution, Pitwick, he had steadfastly refused to let her call him Mr. Blackneedle, had confided in her, from when someone had broken into the vault back on Azeroth, and, strangely enough, hadn't stolen anything. They had, in fact, left something. A sign saying, "Sorry for borrowing this! -N."

Penny wasn't complaining though, it made her job for Mr. Ironwood easier. She felt a bit guilty spying on her friend, but Mr. Ironwood had pointed out, just because Ruby might have the best intentions didn't mean that the rest of the Knights of the Ebon Blade did.

Penny wasn't sure what to think about the rest of them. Pitwick was nice, and Mr. Mograine at least tried to be civil with her, but a lot of them were hostile to her, like someone who wasn't one of them being there was a problem.

Penny wondered if it was because she wasn't as good at infiltration as they thought she might be. Even with her restrictions on lying turned off, she wasn't used to doing so.

Oh, well! She would just keep trying, Mr. Ironwood was counting on her!

-X Line Break X-

Azeroth felt the endless ocean of Light wash over her, and she opened her eyes. She knew if she looked away from the being in front of her, she would see thing that her mind would never comprehend, beings that could destroy her as easily as a human could kill a fly if they weren't forced to act through proxies.

"Hello Azeroth."

"Mother Elune, I have come to you, seeking advice, as you gave me during my long sleep."

"Then come, my child, sit with me, and I shall attempt to answer them to the best of my ability."

Settling down next to the being of pure Light, Azeroth searched her thoughts for the best way to frame her question.

"I am not sure what I am doing is… right."

"With Ruby?"

"Yes. Ever since you brought her to me, I've been manipulating events, forging her into a weapon against the Legion and Void. Having you guide Alexandros to her, so she could meet Uther, and witness from the two of them unshakable conviction. Guiding her to Arthas and Illidan, so she could learn how our enemies think. Implanting the suggestion in Varian's mind to send Ruby after Anduin, so she could learn to care for others again. Showing Kairozdormu a timeline he would have never found otherwise, so that she could see that nobody was incorruptible. And it has all backfired on me."

"How so, child?"

"She is plagued with self doubt, her relationships with Arthas and Illidan saw her incorporate parts of the enemies abilities into her own style. She cares for Anduin's safety to point where she refuses to speak to him, having gone so far as to not tell him that she was leaving, for fear that she will be the catalyst of his corruption, as she was in that timeline."

"I can not help but notice, despite you saying you came here with a question, you have yet to ask one."

"My question, Mother Elune, is two fold. First, With all these flaws, how can I trust Ruby with the roles I need her to play, and second, comparing her to the girl we plucked from Remnant so few years ago, firm in her beliefs and looking towards a better future, how am I any better than Sargeras or the Void Lords?"

"The answer to both your questions is the same, and you have already said it. Doubt. All who came before you two, Illidan, Arthas, Bolvar, Sagarus and Aman'Thul, believed that what they were doing was right, and nobody could break them from that mindset until it was too late. You and Ruby, both of you question everything you do, you looked at Ruby and see nothing but mistakes, so you tried to do something to make up for it. You gave her back the home you took from her, and gave her someone to make sure she wasn't alone. Ruby would have left you, even if the rest of the Ebon Blade had decided to stay and die, because she believes as long as she stayed on you, she would cause problems."

"You sound so certain."

"I would not have placed you two together if I didn't believe that my plan was anything less than the best for the job."

"Thank you, Mother Elune, I must think on this."

-X Line Break X-

Anduin felt his back crack as he stretched, grabbing his cane from where it leaned against the bed. Limping out of the ship, he watched the Vindicators train.

Not for the first time, Anduin wondered how things could have been different if he had taken Ruby up on the offer to train him that she gave after every time he had gotten into another scrap of trouble in Pandaria. Would he still have been injured when the Divine Bell collapsed? Would he have stood with his father on the Broken Shore? Would he still willingly stepped down as king of Stormwind to make way for a democracy?

... Or would that have been the first step to the pair of tyrants they could have been?

Anduin had never admitted it to anyone, but the two of them had haunted his dreams for months, watching as he used the corrupted form of Shalamayne to cut down anyone who got too close, while Ruby's helmed head poked over his shoulder as she wrapped her arms around him. Coquettish whispers of temptation flooding his ears.

Anduin shivered, disgust filling his form. What had happened in that timeline to cause that to happen? Even Ruby, who had once tortured a Orc just out of his sight to leave a message not to follow them, had reacted with complete disgust. Ruby was many things to Anduin, a strange mixture of sister and mother, but he could never entertain the idea of her as a romantic partner.

He wasn't sure how most of the others felt about their alternates, Jaina was embarrassed when confronted with the version of her who wanted to commit genocide on the Horde, he knew that, but Ruby and his father had both acted like nothing had happened, and he had never asked Baine, as by the time he saw his unlikely friend again there were more pressing things to deal with.

The part that frightened him the most though, was the fact that he couldn't deny that they had a point. Why had the Horde and Alliance always fought? Azeroth always seemed to be in danger and they chose to fight over land disputes and old grudges! Ruby had once said that her loyalty to the Alliance stretched only as far as they were being useful on any given day for that exact reason.

The year and a half he spent in Pandaria had been eye opening. To hide their identities Ruby had used the lie that he was a traveling priest and she was a sell-sword hired to guard him. Not technically a lie, so much as it was a stretching of the truth.

He had lost track of the times during those travels that they had come across war torn towns. He would always use Light and first aid to help the people there, and Ruby would help bury the dead. If they were lucky the townsfolk would spare some food, or clothing… they were rarely lucky. The Horde and Alliance would commandeer the food in any town they went through, and Anduin got used to being hungry. He had wondered if the constant gnawing in his gut was how Ruby felt with the Endless Hunger.

Despite that, there were times when he wished they could go back to that. Just the two of them (and Despair when Ruby felt they were far enough away from society to risk it) exploring the world, helping people.

Anduin leaned on his cane, watching Yrel drive her hammer through another Vindicator's guard. If Ruby was here she probably have made a joke about his… preference for Draenei woman.

"Anduin, I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Oh, hello Highlord Fordring, how are you today?"

"Well enough, but remember I am not a Highlord anymore."

"Ah, yes. You said that you had something you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Yes. Remnant has advanced prosthetics, ones that behave like an a actual limb. If you wanted, I could look into gathering enough money to replace your leg."

Anduin tightened his grip on the cane, feeling it shake under the pressure. Replace his leg? The past few years he had been restricted by it, even his old hobby of archery was beyond reach. The amount of things he could do with a new leg was staggering, he could run, he could learn how to be a Paladin, he could learn to wield Shalamayne.

"I would love that."

"I thought you would."

"How long?"

"Probably a couple of weeks, no one in the Ebon Blade checks the Lien they have so we could probably slip enough off the top, especially now that the wall is almost finished."

-X Line Break X-

As they stepped into the dance, Emerald took in the information she might need. There were six exits to the room, lowest windows were approximately thirty feet up. Balconies to use as leverage were twelve feet up.

Next were guards, two Atlesian soldiers off in the corner guarding a ginger haired girl. Ozpin, Goodwitch, Oobleck and Port were here, as was Ironwood. Was that all? No wait, up on the balcony, in the shadows.

A pair of women, who could have only been mother and daughter, even though the younger of the two stood at least a head above her mother.

The way the taller of the two way kept flexing her hands, like they were expecting something to drop into them tipped Emerald off. Two wrist sheathed weapons, most likely daggers. Expecting trouble, or just paranoid?

Emerald filed away the information, watching as the smaller woman was led away by a blond haired man wearing a suit.

Emerald started to dance with Mercury, but kept an eye on the area, just in case anyone slipped out and might have caught Cinder.

Half an hour in, the teachers had joined in the dance, and the silver eyed girl had been dragged onto to the dance floor by a blond haired girl, and pushed into dancing with a black haired girl.

Guiding her partner over to the pair she listened in.

"I'm honestly surprised you don't have a partner Blake."

"Nobody asked me, I don't really have any friends outside of you three and Team JNPR."

"Blake… I'm sorry."

"I hurt you worse than you hurt me."

"I'm older than you Blake, I know more about the world, I should have kept my temper."

A fight? Emerald would have to remember to tell Cinder about this, every bit of information could help. Especially as Emerald realized that she was spying on the head of the group who had been a thorn in their side.

"You're surprisingly good at this."

"Uther wanted to make sure that I was able to do things like dance, we didn't know how long I was going to be there and he wanted to make sure I could take care of myself if I was stuck there so long that he was unable to take care of me."

"Dancing is important to taking care of yourself?"

"Listen, Azeroth was so back-assed at times, I barely dodged getting married."

"To Illidan?"

"No, that's its own can of worms. Most people thought we were. Malfurion and Tyrande act like I was part of Stormrage family.

"What about you?"

"Huh?"

"Do you think you would have married Illidan?"

"I never really thought about it. I've never been the best at relationships Blake, I've only ever had two, and neither was what most other people would classify as healthy."

"And you think they are?"

"Blake, when you're an undying monster who literally needs to cause pain to survive, just about any relationship is healthier than none."

"You're not a monster…"

"Everyone says that, you don't know what I've done."

"I worked with the White Fang, none of you judged me for that."

More helpful information.

"Yes, and I killed… sorry I need to take this."

Ruby stepped back from her dance partner, lifting her scroll to her ear with a scowl on her face

"Speak your piece… did you stop her… don't worry, we'll find her, stopping whatever she was uploading was more important… suffer well."

She placed her scroll in her coat pocket, before looking back at Blake.

"I need to go. Save me a dance if I get back before the party ends?"

"Sounds fun."

Emerald blinked as her scroll went off.

"Yes?"

The ragged breathing from the other side caused her to freeze.

"Get… Get back to our room, now."

"Cinder? Are you alright?"

A wet cough came from the other side.

"Come on, we need to go."

Rushing out of the hall to the rooms Haven students were using, she threw open the door.

"Cinder!"

The upper portion of her outfit had been removed, something that normally only happened in Emerald's dreams. Any excitement she could have gotten was cut off by the wound.

The injury itself was bad enough, but the area around it made it all the worse. A set of black pustules lined each side of the wound, and the blood coming from it was mixed with a white substance.

"In my bag… vial of Fire Dust…"

Emerald rushed over to the bag, pulling the vial out.

"Now what!?"

"Pour some on your hand, and press it on the wound."

Cinder bit into one of her arrows as Emerald did what she said. When the mint haired girl lifted her hand the wound had been seared shut and the black boils had been burned away. Fire Dust had been used for cauterization for years, it was dangerous, but they couldn't risk going to the hospital and having to answer awkward questions.

"What happened?"

"The two of them were waiting for me, couldn't use Dust, they created some barrier, and Dust stopped working the minute it hit the damn thing."

"Did you get either of them?"

"I think I managed to hit one with an arrow…" Cinder trailed off then, slumping against the wall, her chest rising and falling.

"Cinder!?"

"Come on, Em, let her rest."

-X Line Break X-

To the surprise of absolutely no one, the first kill of the assault of Ahn'Qiraj went to Ruby, who hurled herself over Saurfang's head and buried her scythe into the obsidian head of a Anubisath, laughing maniacally all the way.

The second through twentieth kills technically went to the Anubisath for crushing its allies, though Ruby would claim them too. At that point the flying Silithid managed to get over the wall only to be shot down by a rain of arrows, spells, and bullets.

After that the fighting had started in earnest and it became impossible to keep track.

-X Line Break X-

Radulf roared with laughter, swinging his axes in massive sweeping blows. This was what he lived for! Despite Sylvanas's claims that they would have their vengeance, nothing had happened in the past three years! Without that, the only thing left to live for was the thrill of the fight, and the Horde gave him that!

One! Two! Three! Four! More and more and more! The scent of blood reached his nose, heady and intoxicating, it drove him on.

These insects' crushed corpses would be testament to the fact that he lived, Arthas hadn't killed him, the Scarlet Crusade hadn't killed him, some overgrown bugs wouldn't kill him!

A leg burst through his armor, tearing into his flesh. Good! Now it was a real battle!

He cleaved the leg off at the joint, and sundered the Sithild's head open. He tore the still twitching appendage out of the wound, a garbled order came from his mouth.

"HEAL ME!"

He wasn't sure which language he yelled it in, Common, Gutterspeak, Orcish, maybe even Scourgish, it didn't matter.

The response came in the form of Light, burning him, healing the wound even as the area around it cracked and burned, before healing in turn. Pain, pain was good, if he could feel pain than he could still fight.

His vision filled with red, and he could almost feel his non-existent heartbeat in his ears.

When you were Forsaken, you needed something to keep you going, for Radulf Skullweeper this was it. To a degree he didn't consider himself Forsaken, they had no home, no family, the Light had abandoned them.

Well, Radulf hadn't had a family before hand, he was one of the orphans of the second war, and he didn't particularly care about the Light, even before his death, as for a home? He had a home, it was here, on the field of battle.

An orcish death? A orcish death sounded perfect.

-X Line Break X-

Mitnus glared at her brother, this was supposed to be her day, and he had to show up and ruin it like an asshole.

First he gets someone killed, and that was so like him, to think that he was better than everyone else there. Now he was throwing around Felfire left right and center, for every one Mitnus killed Finkmink killed two, and he wouldn't let her not know that.

"That's another four, I'm on a role sis!"

He was also, to her irritation, counting the kills of his imp. The fact that he was counting the kills at all was annoying, this wasn't a game, but if he felt the need to do so, he could have at least had the decency to count the kills he was responsible for.

Another Silithid charged forward, smashing Finkmink into a wall. Looking over, Mitnus caught sight of a broken sword from one of the dead.

Grabbing it, Mitnus swung at the spot in between the thorax and abdomen. The blade, enhanced by fire dug into the bug. She channeled more fire into the blade, and it exploded, throwing her back from the force.

Her ears were ringing, and she couldn't see right. Something was coming towards her, and she wrapped her hand around the hilt of the sword. That was strange, where had the blade gone?

"Medic! We need a damn medic ova here! Hey, can ya hear me, girl?"

"You're blue. Hey Fink, look at this, she's blue, isn't that cool!"

"Just sit still, we'll get ya some help. Medic! We got injured!"

"I'm here, what are we looking at?"

"I think she be concussed, da other one ain't moving."

"Another Silithid, I'll need you to buy me time."

"Dat I can do. Alright ya damn ants, come taste my blades!"

It felt like Mitnus was bathed in warm water, like she was taking a nice bath. Everything seemed to come back into focus. A weird walking tree stood over her.

"Are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Never seen a druid turn into a treent before?"

"No, sorry for staring."

"It's fine, I know I look strange like this."

"Ya do mon, attack of da trees ya know?"

The other person walked up, a female Troll wearing surprisingly dapper clothes. She wore a tail coat, guns hanging off it one was in her hand being reloaded. A pair of cutlasses hung off her hips.

"Nice ta meet ya, little one, Cap'n Tal, privateer. Dat was an impressive move ya pulled back there, sorry bout ya sword."

"It wasn't mine."

"Still, it was impressive, ere, take dis, should be da right size for ya."

Mitnus took the offered dagger, it was, as the Troll said, the perfect size to be a sword for her.

"And, think of dat as a job offer. Good mages are hard ta come by in our line of work."

"Are- are you sure, you don't want my brother?"

Nobody had ever said Mitnus was good, not when Finkmink was around.

"I don't like working with Warlocks, always ends messily. Besides I didn't see ya brother just take down one of these tings, which, speaking of which, we should probably get back to dealing with. Ya can get him back to base?"

The Druid nodded, or at least Mitnus thought he nodded, and picked up Finkmink.

"I forgot ta ask, whatcha name?"

"Mitnus."

"Well den, Mitnus, shall we?"

Mitnus launched a ball of fire at a Sithild sneaking up behind Tal.

"Lets."

"I like ya already."

-X Line Break X-

Ruby looked around the hive, the bugs would keep coming if she didn't get rid of it.

Releasing a sigh, Ruby rotated her neck, letting it crack. Looks like she would have to stop holding back.

Slowly Ruby closed her hand, letting the fire gather in a ring around her, instead of her signature green, these were a brilliant silver, and Ruby knew if anyone could see her, they would say her eyes were glowing like beacons.

When the fire finally finished growing it had created an orb, bringing up her other hand, she pressed it against the loosely closed fist and pressed down.

Like the bang of a starting gun, her fingers cracked, and the flames launched out, burning through the corruption of the hive with ease.

She didn't do this often, the flames were attracted to anything that wasn't natural, and she ran a very real risk of burning herself, but when she did it felt so good. It was like, for a brief second, she was alive again, her heart was beating, her breath was something beyond an autonomous action, and blood flowed through her veins. For a brief second, she could tell what she was doing was wrong.

Then the moment was gone, she breathed in, and then back out, and nothing happened, the fetid air wasn't anything other than that, air, it gave no life, no sustenance. And somewhere deep inside Ruby, it hurt even more than if it had never happened at all.

Shaking her head, she walked out of the pit, looking at where Varok stood with the remaining member of the Might of Kalimdor, the last few months had been fun, but it was time to finish it. Arthas had called her back to Icecrown, and she didn't want to keep him waiting. The last time she had disappointed him had- NOPE! Not thinking about it!

"We'll hold the line here Varok, keep any we missed from getting to you, go, you have a god to kill."

"Ruby, why did you ever join the Scourge? You could have been a champion, a hero.

"My reasons are my own," Ruby sighed, it wasn't the same, "if we ever see each other again, we will be enemies. Suffer well, Varok Saurfang."

"Ruby Rose, may your blades never dull."

Ruby watched as they marched off, Redbrand walked behind her, "Deathlord?"

"Bring in the Necromancers."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"As you wish, Deathlord."

Ruby let her men get to work, using a Eye of Kilrogg to follow the progress of her unlikely allies through the temple.

"Suffer well, my friends…"

"What was that Deathlord?"

"Nothing! Hurry up, I want these Sithild brought to Avernus before the day is up!"

-X Line Break X-

Arthas stood on the balcony of Icecrown, waiting for Ruby to return, his present for her birthday hidden behind his back. He watched as Avernus docked, it had made the slow journey back to Icecrown, both because Arthas wanted to speak with her, and because he planned to reposition her. Naxxramas had gone out of commission a week ago, he needed someone in that area until he could find someone to replace that blundering fool Kel'thuzad and the Dark Portal had reopened.

The Horde and Alliance had both rushed there, meaning that there was something they wanted, and where there was supplies there were people, and where there were people, there were recruits for the Scourge. Ner'zhul came from Outland, back when it was Draenor, it was only fitting that they served him.

"Honey! I'm home!"

"Isn't it normally the husband who says that?"

"Yeah, but you never leave, so it fall on me!"

"Very funny."

"What are you holding behind your back?"

"Well, you see, it was your birthday last week, and I just so happened to have gotten a rather interesting weapon when I sent a raid to Karazhan to make a deal with the Dark Riders."

Arthas brought out the weapon, the guard was in the shape of a great horned skull, and the blade was massive, letting out a green glow.

"Meet Apocalypse, a extremely powerful blade made by the Nathrezim, it causes death and plagues, so I thought…"

Ruby yanked the sword from his hand, dancing around the balcony, "Cooool! Man, this makes the present I got you look stupid in comparison!"

"Oh? And what is that?"

"Well, I know we needed more forces, so I raised all the Sithilds."

"Really? Is that what I sensed?"

"Yep!" Ruby popped the P, "Redbrand, bring them out!"

The massive force of undead bugs walked out of Avernus, they must have been crammed in there.

"This will be extremely helpful Ruby!"

"I know, right! They'll never see it coming!"

Arthas swept her into a hug, "Come on, I have something I need you to do, but we can spend a day together."

Ruby froze, "That sounds… great."

"Ruby? Is something wrong, you can tell me."

"No! No! Everything's fine…"

Ruby trailed off, she seemed to do that more now, since Kel'thuzad went behind his back… maybe he should recover the fool who had hurt his Ruby and make him go through the same.