Author's Note: Don't bother going after me. I own nothing.

Name: Potter, H

Location: Blue Recluse Tavern (Warcraft Canon)

Mission: Survival

Time to Completion: 24y 11mo 12d 10:26:36

Harry was grateful for the past few weeks of rest. After the debacle at the Stockade (several in fact), he spent the past few days getting to know the city of Stormwind and it's inhabitants. Harry learned that this was not only the human capital, but the central hub of the Alliance, one of two major factions of Azeroth locked in eternal conflict for some reason or another. The Alliance and it's opposite, the Horde, always fought over some issue or another, even when it was beneficial to ally themselves towards a common goal.

Harry was walking down the garden path of the Mage's Quarter, heading for the Blue Recluse. Unfortunately for the wizard, Harry grew bored rather quickly in the last two weeks. People were nice to talk to, but actually doing something with them was a different animal. Most of the adventurous types only tend to stop in to resupply and take off again. I need to find something of interest here, Harry thought to himself. I doubt Commander Rivera would care if I just played it safe, hiding out in Stormwind for the duration. Besides, seen one tavern or jeweler, seen them all.

As the wizard walked up the steps to the entrance of the Recluse, he saw Captain Kaedrin, out of her armor and running up the sidewalk. At the same time Dryson Merrick was walking down the spiral stonework surrounding the central Tower in the Quarter, heading towards the guardswoman. The pair started walking to the Recluse themselves, stopping only for Dryson to give a half-hearted 'Hi' to Harry. The wizard noticed the look of grief on the the captains face as the two stepped inside. Perhaps I should wait outside for a moment, thought Harry as he sat at one of the tables by the tavern entrance. Opening his pack, Harry started going through the items inside. Never did get around to taking stock. Probably should have when I got the thing. Looking inside, the wizard pulled out a small white stone. Pulsing with power, the stone had only a single inscribed spiral on the surface. Attached was a yellow sticky note:

Hearthstone. Quickest way home.

-N.R.

Harry began rubbing hearthstone when he heard an ungodly crashing sound coming from inside the tavern. Jumping to his feet, he had accidentally pressed the center of the inscription. Just as Potter made it to the door, he felt himself disappear from the entrance as his vision went dark. When his vision returned, time seemed to slow as Harry noticed a few things:

1. He was now inside the Blue Recluse, right at the bar.

2. Captain Kaedrin was standing by a table, looking downright pissed off.

3. There was a large, blue-skinned being coming straight for him.

There was just enough time to take a leaf out of Ron Weasly's book before the draenei slammed into him:

"Oh, bloody hell..."

Several hours later, Harry came to in his room at the tavern. Seated in the chair next to the bed was Dryson, with Diana Kaedrin standing next to him.

Dryson spoke first. "So, first time getting hit by a draenei?"

Harry sat up, feeling his joints creak as he did so. "Yes, though I thought that it would just be his fist for the first time."

Dryson let out a small chuckle. Kaedrin however, was not amused. "Well, my question is why you decided to burn off a hearthstone charge just to walk in the door about fifteen feet. Seems kind of lazy to me."

"I honestly didn't know what that was. I heard the crash and must've activated it." replied Harry.

Now it was Dryson's turn to stare at Harry. "You have a tuned hearthstone and no one showed you how to use it? You're lucky Auntie didn't throw Diegon very hard, or you would've been damaged beyond what I could heal."

The name Diegon had struck a chord with Harry. "Diegon... I saw him get pitched out the bar a few weeks ago. Got frisky with some elf, apparently. What did he do this time?"

Diana replied, "More of the same. He's spending some time at the Stockade's Healer's Wing right now. Damn fool didn't recognise a Guard Captain out of uniform. So much for a quiet drink after the news I got."

Harry nodded. "About that... anything I could do to help?"

Kaedrin sighed. "Not particularly, Judas. Not unless you can convince the Guard Commander to let me take leave for Nighthaven."

Harry raised an eyebrow, "Nighthaven?"

Dryson replied, "It's the home of our clan. She wants to accompany me there for the funeral."

The wizard looked to the guardswoman. "I'm sorry, Captain. If I may ask, who died?"

"My brother, Lucas. He was killed during an assault in Outland. The body is being sent back to Nighthaven," replied Kaedrin, a flat tone to her voice. "I can't leave, but Dryson here would need protection."

Dryson looked incredulous, "I don't need protection, Aunt! Makale said it himself, I could handle myself just fine!"

Sensing a way out of Stormwind, and an impending family argument, Harry cut in quickly, "Before anyone says anything else, I can go with him. I've got nothing going for me here besides bumming around the tavern. Another day and I would go nutters." Turning to Dryson, he continued, "Yes, you did handle yourself well in the Stockade, but you could still use some help." Turning back to Kaedrin, he said, "Will this work for you?"

The guardswoman thought it over for a minute, then nodded. "That would be excellent. Changing the subject here, but where is Makale?"

Harry shrugged. "He said something about a 'Mt. Hyjal.' Don't ask me where that is."

Kaedrin nodded in understanding. "Well, that explains a lot." At that moment, the bells of the clock tower began to sound. As the guardswoman rose, she said, "Well, I need to get to my shift. Judas, your pack is by the door. Someone noticed it as you disappeared and brought it inside. Dryson, It will take some time for Lucas' body to make it to Nighthaven, but you should get home as soon as possible. I'll arrange for a ship to take you to Kalimdor in the morning." As she walked out the door, she said, "You two should get some rest. I'll leave the writs of passage with Joachim." With that, Kaedrin walked down the stairs and out of sight.

Harry turned to Dryson. "Well, I'm going back to sleep. You should as well."

The priest nodded and started towards the door. "I'll see you in the morning. Try not to run into any flying draenei tonight."

Harry chuckled. "Oh no, I'm sticking with land-bound for the next few hours. Good night." With that, Harry slid deeper into the sheets and fell asleep.

A knock came from the door about six hours later. Harry let out a half-hearted "Enter," and Joachim Brenlow walked into the room.

"Hello there, Master Judas. Got yer tickets right here for the seven o'clock from Dock C: The Bravery." The innkeeper set the writ of passage on the night-stand next to the bed. "You're all set now. Hopefully you'll be back again."

"I should. Thank you for your hospitality, Master Brenlow."

Thirty minutes later, Harry and Dryson stood before the Bravery. As the pair walked the gangplank onto the ship, a human woman came forward to greet them. "Welcome aboard the Bravery, folks. I'm Angelina Soluna, Captain of this fine vessel. I hear you two want to get to northern Kalimdor?"

Dryson nodded at the captain. "I'm Dryson Merrick, and this is Judas. We need to get to Nighthaven as quickly as possible. How long will this trip take?"

The captain replied, "Should be no more than a week. The winds are not in our favor this time of year, so we make do. You folks understand we'll be landing in Rut'theran Village, right?"

Harry looked confused. "Where is that?"

Dryson let out a sigh, "It's the southernmost area of Teldrassil. It's the quickest way to get to Moonglade from here. Do you even know where you are?"

Harry gave a half-hearted shrug. "Not particularly. Been meaning to get a map lately."

Dryson reached into his pack. Fishing out a scroll, he handed it to the wizard. "Don't bother. This one is enchanted, so you can actually zoom in and out with it. I'm usually too sequestered in the Cathedral's academy to make much use of it. Just don't lose it, Judas. That was a gift from my cousin Gideon. Speaking of which, you might actually meet when we get there."

Harry took the map from Dryson and unrolled it. Initially blank, a large image appeared when he fully opened the document. Three large masses were visible on a blue background, the name 'AZEROTH' in large bold letters at the top. The names 'Kalimdor,' 'Eastern Kingdoms' and 'Northrend' were printed on the left, right and upper mass respectively. Dryson turned to the map and tapped a point on Northern Kalimdor. As he did, the map zoomed in far enough to show a small section of land. The word 'Moondglade' appeared in large letters above it. "Pretty cool, isn't it? Just tap the bottom right corner to zoom back out. Also, if you point to this here," the priest pointed to a small image on the bottom left; a silhouette of a person, "the map will locate you and show your surrounding area."

Harry rolled the map back up. "Thank you very much. Now, if we can get this show on the road." The wizard turned to the captain and said, "We need to get to this 'Rut'theran Village' with all haste. I'm ready when you are."

The Captain nodded. "Indeed. We'll be off momentarily."

Two days into the voyage, Harry stood up in the crow's nest, speaking with a night elf woman by the name of Sentinel Winterdew. "So, what's it like crewing on Bravery?" Harry asked.

The elf looked out into the ocean as she replied, "Boring, mostly. Most Sentinels are out fighting on the frontlines of various battles. Brightgrass and I, however, were stationed here on this ship. I haven't seen many try to attack Bravery in several years. Passenger transports are usually off-limits in warfare, on both sides. Lately that hasn't always been the ca-" The Sentinel froze suddenly as she saw a pair of shapes on the horizon through her binoculars. Two ships, circling each other, were straight ahead of Bravery.

Sensing the seriousness of the Sentinel's actions, Harry quickly asked, "What's going on out there?"

Winterdew lowered her optics and immediately jumped off the crow's nest, yelling, "General Alarm! Two warships dead ahead!"

Harry followed elf's way down, coming to a landing on the main deck. Without missing a step, the wizard ran for his quarters. Once there, he ripped open his pack and pulled out the railgun airfoil magazine from inside. Running back outside, he saw Sentinel Winterdew talking with the captain.

"One ship is definitely ours, and she's taking a pounding. The Horde ship is shrugging of most cannon-fire from the Alliance craft." The elf said. "We won't withstand any assault if it's a crooked warship. My suggestion is to clear away from them and try to alert the nearest Alliance scout craft."

The captain nodded, "Noted, Sentinel. We cannot risk the ship in any kind of battle. Our priority is to get Merrick and his friend, as well as our cargo to Teldrassil as soon as possi-"

"I can help."

Soluna and Winterdew both turned to see Harry behind them, his wand in his left hand as his A.R.M railgun was engaged and loaded. Captain Soluna was the first to scoff at Harry. "And what would you do? We would only be able to get onto the starboard side of that ship, and then where would you be? Stuck on a sinking vessel as-" her words were cut off as a round was fired dangerously close to her left ear.

"Enough! If you can get me near that ship, I might be able to help them!" Looking around, the wizard saw an iron grappler and rope nearby. "You get me just close enough for me to lauch this, and I can help fend off attacks from on deck. Now, we don't have any time to lose."

The captain looked at the wizard. "Well, if you think you can do something to help them, I'll see to it you get onboard that warship." Turning to the helm, she yelled, "Wavesinger, get us on the safe side of that warship!" looking back at Harry she said, "You got one shot. Botch it and we're leaving the area as soon as possible, with or without you."

Harry shrugged, "Fair enough." As crew scrambled across the deck of Bravery, Harry saw Dryson running by. The wizard let out a whistle, beckoning the priest over to him. "Dryson, you up for another adventure? I could use a man on my six."

Dryson took one look at the ocean ahead and said, "Naval battle?"

"Definitely."

"I'm in."

Author's note: I'm really dragging mah feet, aren't I?

I'm sorry this chapter took nearly a month. To be honest, I haven't really planned this segment out very well. I know what I want to do with these characters, but getting them there is always the hard part for me. That and I have a problem writing filler (Which this is for me.)

Thank you kindly for the follows, reviews and nearly 1600 views. I really appreciate it.

As always, please don't be afraid to read, rate and review these chapters. I always value input from outside sources.

Until next time,

MasterMerrick

P.S. Inherently funny words: Flying Draenei