Once Kennocha and Nisi had left the tavern, the taureness couldn't help but look up at the sky. Rain had begun to drizzle down from the clouds above. They were deep gray, low to the ground. The rain was only coming to come down harder later on then.

Sighing, Kennocha began walking to the meeting.

It always seems to rain here, does it not?

While the question seemed rhetorical to herself, she answered anyway.

Indeed, but it is not like my rain.

True, it was as warm as the air around her. Never warming her up but never chilling her. However, it wasn't like her home, where rain meant hurrying to bundle up and hoping you remembered to put the waterproof hide over it.

Suddenly, a light tug on her robe made her look back. Staring at the taureness, Nisi looked as though she expected something from her. She couldn't put her finger on it, so she decided to kneel down to pet the fawn.

Her knees touched the wet stone, confusing her for a moment before she looked even farther down. It was the paved road she used most days she was in the jungle, but the increasingly sparse weeds growing from the cracks between they were getting closer to the Arena.

Looking back up at her fawn, she realized she hadn't stopped staring at her.

"We are almost there. Do not worry."

The fawn simply turned her head to the right side of her body, eyes still stuck on the taureness's face.

The taureness did not understand what she was doing, so she lifted herself up again to continue walking. Puzzled, she thought about what the fawn was doing for a moment before pushing it to the back of her mind. After all, they had just arrived at the Arena.

It was a large coliseum, made of that familiar aged limestone. A large ramp beckoned patrons inside to watch the fights inside, where the screams of excited fans and gladiators alike would normally fill the air. However, it had been a long time since the stadium was actively used. Vines wrapped themselves around the sides, stubbornly holding onto their territory. The carvings of the ancient troll empire were faded away, making them difficult to see, never mind understand. The weeds between the cracks were only limited by the few determined trolls and crafty pirates that enjoyed using the area for their own purposes. Today, this arena would be holding the second round of their sparring matches.

Searching the area now for signs of the others, Kennocha concluded that the others had yet to make it. She decided to stay at the front of the Arena while she waited for the others. After all, it made looking out for the others easier. Pursing her lips, she once again kneeled down to Nisi's level. She reached her hand out, allowing it to place it securely on the side opposite of her. While she appreciated the jungles of Stranglethorn, she always worried about getting attacked by something in the dense trees.

There she stayed as more and more people began entering the Arena. She would greet them as they came and most would simply nod as they stood there. A few that she knew well would make small talk with her, but silence would befall the group eventually. The taureness recognized a few of the members, but many of them were either new recruits or back from a long break from duty. All in all, there was a large group of trolls chatting together on the far side of the ramp with their little drunk goblin. A few Sin'dorei came as well, but were standing near the front as they watched everyone come in. She towered over many of them, feeling rather lonely as the others conversed. Maybe she should have tried harder to convince Winoa to come….


The brawling matches had been all that she had hoped they would be. While a few people were shot or stabbed, most were simple to heal and wouldn't cause too many problems for the injured. Even the harder hits hadn't seriously hurt someone. Thankful that no one was maimed or benched due to injury, Kennocha sighed in relief as she began walking back to the post.

Kennocha looked up at the heavens. She couldn't see An'she or Mu'sha but she knew that Mu'sha should be high into the sky. The thought comforted her as realized that it was raining harder than it had been when she left. Her clothes and fur were completely soaked through, much to her displeasure.

Nisi cried out.

Oh, Nisi!

Kennocha panicked for a moment as she began looking around frantically. She turne back to her front where she found the fawn at the base of her hooves. She was looking up at her, but not at the level she normally looked at….

Oh. She was freaking out about her wounds. Kennocha looked at her chest to see it pulsing with dark magic and blood. The shadowy magic flickered on and off, licking the tattered hide of the robe as it singed her fur. It laid between her breasts, close to her heart. Fortunately, the gash wasn't so deep that it cut into her ribs or organs. Her arm was in a similar state, but its cut was far less deep.

Sighing, Kennocha sat on the ground where the water rushed around her hooves. The taureness carefully took off the ripped robe so that she could have a better look at her wounds. She began charging a healing touch spell to sustain her injuries until she could have it properly looked at. Once that was done, she took the bottom layer of the robe where there was hardly any damage and she ripped it into long stretches of cloth. Tightly wrapping it around her chest, the taureness continued whispering spells to try and heal her chest. A few of them healed, but many of them only aggravated it.

After repeating the process on her arm, she rummaged through her bag, finding her Cohort tabard. It too was soaked, but would do for now. She dressed herself in the tabard, ensuring that she had some basic decency as she and her fawn walked back to the post.

Kennocha decided to take a longer route to the post. After all, she couldn't risk the safety of the wildlife more than she had to. She walked in from the back entrance by the zeppelin tower. She had begun walking to the tavern when she heard someone screaming her name.

Running to its source, she found Winoa in a dream. She was laying on the slumbering Faeren, who didn't seem to mind her constant turning. Yadwi however, was awake and had hopped off to the side of the tower. The taureness in question was screaming, alternating between Kennocha's and Jafern's name.

Biting her bottom lip, Kennocha shook her friend's shoulder once. "I am here. Winoa? I am here. It is alright."

She didn't realize how shaken her voice had been until she had spoken those words.

However, it seemed to do the job as Winoa opened her eyes to meet Kennocha's gaze. They stared at each other for a moment, waiting for the other to speak.

"We need to go."

Neither of them wanted to speak more than that.. Instead, they awoke the tired wolf and headed to the top of the zeppelin tower.

The trip from the post to Orgrimmar and then Thunderbluff was entirely silent.

Author's Note-So this chapter had to have a large section of it edited out as it didn't make much sense for what I wanted this story to be about. The events at the arena will still have an effect on Kennocha, but it won't have as big of an impact as it did originally. As always, reviews are great and so are you!