Chapter 9

At the top stairs I see a spread of different races of the Alliance. That's the one thing I liked about the Alliance, the people worked well together. Even with their differences in culture and how they deal with things, they have learned to compromise and fight together. I smiled to myself, when Ari barked and started to sprint to the group.

"ARI!" I shouted as I ran after him. I watched as the people of the group parted. When I caught up to Ari he had tackled someone to the floor.

"Ari off!" I shouted at him as he scrambled off of whoever he brought to the ground.

"It's okay Ari, it's good to see you big boy" chuckled a deep voice. The way the voice flowed out was familiar. I jolted backwards as a familiar face smiled at me.

"Well long time no see" said a dark haired elf with eyes that looked like a tigers eye. An elf that looks very similar to Aldon.

"Manlan?" I questioned as the elf stood up. I knew Manlan as the emo boy that would be in the back of the room alone or by his big brother's side. He was not really the type of guy that would fight. Manlan had a jade green spear with what looked like a ruby that looked to be hovering in the middle of the spear head. A long screech came from outside of the group.

"Oh hush you big impatient idiot," Manlan growled

"It's good to see you … you got tattooed?" I muttered as I realized that he had a tattoo on his face and along with his arms.

"Yes I did and it's good to see you too" Manlan clarified as he stuck his arm out. I looked at him confused as he whistled. After a few seconds a gray owl perched on his arm.

"A crested owl?" I question as he brought the owl to his shoulder

"Ah you did read the book I got you" Manlan prompted as another long screech came from the other side of people. I could see the upcoming frustration on his face. Manlan sighed as he looked at me with an apologetic look.

"Are you ready to find him?" I questioned

"Yea we need to get going that way, come," Manlan answered as he made his way though the people. As I followed him. I could see little snippets of feathers and what looked like antlers. When I could get through the last of the people. I could see a Hippogryph, to be more specific a Cenarion War hippogryph. The deep blues and bright silvers of its armor were no match to the bright oranges and sky blues that shined through on its feathers. It seemed to be happy that it got Manlan's attention.

"Okay you have my attention, what do you want?" he chuckled as he petted the beast. I pulled Ari behind me before he spooked the hippogryph. Cenarion Hippogyph's are known for their sharp talons and beaks. They can break an orc apart in just a couple of minutes. They can get very possessive over their owners, and they can be very aggressive if not trained right.

"Don't worry he's not going to hurt Ari. I made sure that I exposed him to as much as I could when he was a hatchling. Come here and touch him. I promise he is friendly," Manlan coaxed as I slowly walked towards the two. I cautiously stuck my hand out for him to smell. I jumped a little when it stepped closer and smelled my hand. It made a soft cooing sound just like if I was a hatchling. I smiled when it got close enough for me to touch its beak. Ari whimpered as Manlan motioned for me to get on, with shaky legs I walked next to the hippogryph and got on with a soft jump. Manlan shook his head as he turned the Hippogryph around. It started to run for the bridge. Ari ran next to the bird. I watched the buildings as they passed. When the Hippogryph stopped and Manlan got off. There was the Sky Admiral and a Pandaren dressed in light yellows and light reds.

"Thank you Mr. Khang again for letting the Alliance stay in your village," thanked the Sky Admiral.

"It is of no issue, you are welcome to stay for as long as needed," smiled the Pandaren.

"Manlan it's good to see you could make it, we believe that we found Admiral Taylor 's ship on the beach below" motioned the Admiral as she pointed towards the cliff. I managed to get out of the saddle and walk over to the cliff to see. A ship that looked like it went through a bad storm and didn't make it out. The sails were tattered and half of the ship was gone. I was surprised to see what looked like monkeys running around the pieces of the ship. But they weren't ordinary, their arms didn't fit their body. Their arms were long and thin like they couldn't hold their own body weight. Some were hanging off the mast and others were holding spears. They had tails that were longer than their body. I swung my bag to the plush grass, and rummaged through it. At the very bottom was my brother's book that he would keep notes about different races that he had encountered. One time in the middle of the night in the kitchen I saw him unbinding the book so he could add more pages. Close to the middle of the book was a sketch of what looked like a monkey with very long arms eating what looked like a fish with a spear at its feet. My brother had written it down,

"Very aggressive and can't be reasoned with, but can be scared off with loud noises. This does not always work. Their facial structure reminds me of baboons. Long face and sharp teeth that rip through flesh like a knife through butter. They are also freakishly strong. Most look up to the bigger monkeys almost like leaders. Some can speak but it's slurred and most of the time don't make sense. Have sharp nails but they don't cut like claws. Their fur is long, shaggy, and waterproof. Also can swim fairly well though not fast in water but on land they can run. Sleep in made up huts, and in the vines of trees. Some like to be high off the ground. Their diet consists of fish, red meat, fruit, bread, cheese or anything they can scavenge. I found one passed out in one of the food crates at camp one time. One of his friends ran off with the camp's tea pot (never saw that tea pot again).They call themselves "The Hozen" from what I can understand."

"The Hozen?" I questioned as I held up the book to compare the drawing of what my brother did to what was hanging off the mast of the ship. Sometimes my brother's description didn't make sense. I heard something walk up behind me. I looked over my shoulder to see Ari and Manlan.

"Figured out what we are dealing with?" Manlan puzzled

"Hozen I believe?..." I questioned as I looked up at Manlan. He seemed to be watching them and how they interacted with each other. We watched them for a couple of minutes.

"Okay that's long enough. We need to get down there" Manlan chimed as he walked over to a green haired gnome.

"We?!" I barked.

"Yes we," Manlan growled, I followed and dropped my bag with the green haired gnome. I chased him down the hill and crouched down next to him.

" Okay here's the plan, I'm going to get their attention and you make a run to the ship and see if you can find a log book or something. Sound like a plan," affirmed Manlan as he took the spear off of his back. I nodded as I grabbed a chonk of driftwood. Manlan made a run for one of the hozen, the hozen went down with a screech and that got the rest of their attention. I watch as the hozen drops off the ship. Manlan made a run for the far side of the ship. Then I made a dash for it. All the attention was on Manlan so it made it. I scrambled onto the deck to find it trashed. I frantically looked around then I saw a glimpse of green rather than a large splash of water. I spun around and saw Ari trying and failing to get on the deck. I rushed over to him and pulled him up,

"You're getting too big dude" I groaned, struggling to pull him up out of the water. After some pulling, I got him onto the boat.

"Okay, let's go look for a log book. Be quiet," I signed to Ari not wanting to make any more noise. I walked back to the back of the ship or what was left of it. Ari quietly followed as he sniffed around. I softly walked up the stairs, I winced as the wood squealed. I got up to the wheel to find an orc's body, I flinched as Ari growled. I walked up to the orc, the orc was flat on his face with many stab wounds and bruises that looked like bite marks. Ari sneezed when he smelled the orc's body and then whimpered.

"I know I don't like seeing the dead too," I whispered as I searched his body for anything else that could be useful. The orc had soft green skin with torn clothes. There was a clunk sound, I looked up to see a Worn Thrash Blade in Ari's mouth. He seemed proud of himself.

"Where did you get that?" I quietly questioned Ari as I plucked the blade from his mouth. The handle was made of red wood and the blade was of marbled steel. I looked down at the orc with a sigh. I put the blade down and I attempted to roll the orc over onto his back. I managed to get him on his back, I crossed his arms and aligned his feet. Then picked up the blade and worked back to the front of the ship. I was looking around and then I tripped over something. I rolled over to see a royal bodyguard on the floor, how did I not see him? I went to see a hole on the deck's floor. I scrambled to my feet, and I walked down into the lower deck. The place was flooded and just five feet of the wooden deck was walkable. I gathered the courage to get into the water and started to swim. The water was cold. Not too far in the water I could barely see what looked like an Alliance banner that was floating in the water. By the door's entrance was a crate and on the crate was what looked like a book. I was able to get the book when there was movement in the water. I turned around and left the water coughing. I could hear Ari crying, he didn't like it when I went into water of any depth.

"Okay … let's go" I coughed, there was a long thud almost like someone was landing on the deck. I froze when whatever was on the top deck made a sound that was not human. Whatever it was I didn't want to find out but there was no way out than the top deck. Ari sniffed the air than softly growled, I made my way up the stairs to see nothing,

"What" I mumbled, as I emerged from the lower deck. There was nothing. I looked up the mast of the ship and saw nothing. What could have made that noise if there was nothing here. I searched the entire deck when I realized that the bodies had shifted. I looked back at the personal guard to see his sword missing. Well that's a problem I thought to myself wondering what would take a weapon and run. The sound of footsteps that walked the top deck warned me about something there, but there was no one visibly there. I slowly made my way off the deck and into the water. Ari hesitated but jumped into the water to follow me. Whatever it was had the brains to not come into the water. As we made our way from the boat there was a soft growl, the growl was distorted.

I made my way to the shore with Ari paddling quickly behind. I could never figure out why Ari didn't like water. He likes slashing and playing in it but when it gets up to his chest he starts to cry and whine. If I'm in the water and in trouble he jumps right in. Bathing him as a puppy was a challenge. He sounded like someone was trying to kill him. My dad got tired of hearing the screaming. He picked up Ari, brought him outside and washed him with a bucket of water.

The sand felt warm under my hands. Ari shook off the rest of the water with a whimper. When I managed to get on my feet. I looked over the sand to see that the beach was clean except for a small trail of blood that led up the hill. I followed the trail thinking something was wrong. At the top of the hill there was Manlan with a few cuts and a stabbed wound to the side.

"Something sneak up on you?" I ask as Ari sniffed the ground that Manlan was on.

"Yea one of them caught my side then vanished," Manlan grumbled as he bandaged himself. The owl was on a branch that was just above Manlan's head.

"Can I help you? I hinted at his bandages.

"No I heal extremely fast, this is to keep the dirt out" Manlan confirmed

"I see, are you sure that I can't fix it?" I reasoned

"Umm excuse me! I'm important to," a high pitched voice demanding attention. Manlan and I looked towards the ground to see a very upset green haired gnome tapping his foot. He brutally stuck out his hand and grabbed the air. Remembering that I found a log in the wrecked ship. I cautiously gave it to the demanding gnome. When it touched his small fingers it was torn out of my hand. I jolted back when it was ripped from my hands. Gnomes scare me sometimes, especially when they're upset.

"Good riddance kids these days are so insensitive" screeched the gnome. I slowly shift backwards. Manlan looked over his shoulder as if to say to not leave him there.

"Where do you think you guys are going," hissed the small gnome

"Just giving you some space… you know, being respectful," I stammered out, wanting to keep my shins. I looked over at Ari to see what he was doing. He was playing with a few small fireflies. The hippogriff was focused on whatever was on the ground.

"How about you go check that small construction of bamboo of about a mile and half that way," The gnome prompted as he shooed Manlan and I away. I looked through the vast forest of bamboo, the way the sun had a slight green haze to it. I looked to the sky, it was filled with bright leaves of the bamboo stocks. There were small flashes of the vibrant sky that hung above. This forest must get a ton of rain, the ferns, grass and the many flowers that littered the forest floor seemed very happy. It was when Manlan abruptly stopped is when I started to pay more attention. Both the hippogriff and Ari growled.

"Whatever you do don't move, not a muscle," Manlan whispered.