Well, hope everyone has a happy holidays! You know how we're celebrating it in this thread? HALLOWEEN!
---
"Trick or treat!" Four voices called out with various levels of enthusiasm.
Valeera grinned at the candy that fell into her bag. Best. Holiday. Ever.
"Did you see the look they gave us?" Crocbait asked.
"I don't care," Ruby said, temporarily dropping the hood she was wearing, "I'm not sure why they'd be confused, I do this every year."
"Mh!" Valeera nodded, fishing out the lollipop and popping it into her mouth.
"Maybe it's because there's three grown human adults?" Blake suggested, "It's not exactly normal."
"Well," Ruby huffed, "it should be."
Valeera popped the treat out of her mouth, "Yeah!"
Blake rolled her eyes, only to jump slightly as Ruby slung an arm around her shoulders, "besides, we haven't had any time to relax since we met up! This is perfect for that!"
"Oh, yeah," Valeera span, walking backwards, "Where have you been? You ditched us when we got to Orgrimmar."
"I went looking for Blake," Ruby said, "then we went south to Silithus. I wasn't sure we would come back."
"Why?" Valeera asked.
"Just... I was angry at Rehgar…" Ruby paused, looking at Blake, "about you and Broll."
"Huh?" Valeera's eyebrows touched. Her and Bro-? Oh! "It's fine."
"No," Ruby said darkly, moving her arm from around Blake to rub the point where her right shoulder met her neck, "it isn't. And you should never think it is."
"Wait…" Blake looked between them, "what?"
"Val and Broll are technically slaves," Ruby said, the dark look not leaving, "Rehgar pays them, and plans to free them after Dire Maul, but that doesn't make it-"
"He plans to what?" Valeera blurted out.
The idea probably should have thrilled her, who wanted to be a slave? But… she had things she would have never had if Rehgar hadn't bought her. She had the promise of food every day, of a bed to sleep on (or a couch, at the least), she had money, meaning she didn't need to steal to get enough for her mana crystals... and she had friends.
Nobody wanted to be friends with the homeless thief. And that's all she had been. Hell, she was a slave because she had tried to steal another shaman's totems.
"He isn't going to kick you out," Ruby said softly, "but if you or Broll want to leave, you can."
"And if I don't wanna?" Valeera realized how childish her voice sounded, painfully aware that she was by far the youngest member of the group.
"Then you can stay," Ruby said, "Rehgar might be a grump, but he isn't going to force you to leave. And if he does, you can come stay with me and Blake. Right, Blake?"
"Uh…" Blake blinked, having clearly not expected to be pulled back into the conversation, "Yeah?"
"See?" Ruby asked, reaching out and tousling Valeera's hair, sending the hat falling to the ground, "you don't need to worry about it. We know what it's like, being alone without anyone. Right?"
"Yeah," Blake reached down, grabbing Valeera's hat and patting it off, dropping it on Valeera's head.
"Now," Ruby gave a lopsided grin, "that's enough gloom for today. Let's get back to trick or treating, ok? Rehgar's gonna be even more grumpy than usual when we get back, so let's not make it worse by being late, right?"
"Ok," Valeera smiled back, turning towards the next house and taking off, "Race you!"
"Cheat all you want!" Ruby called after her, "I'm still gonna get there before you!"
She liked having friends.
---
Xia walked through the forest, the only noises were the clacking of her staff on the stones that made up the forest.
She had started to walk the moment the sun had risen, and now the sun was starting to set on the horizon. She hoped she made it to the inn the people of Wu-Song had said was along the path before it became dark.
Shen-zin Su was much bigger than the maps at the academy implied.
Xia sighed, eyes roaming the giant stalks of bamboo on either side of her. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought she had been going around in circles.
The mistweaver closed her eyes, unleashing a pulse of chi with her breath. There were several cranes and one…
Out of the bamboo in front of her prowled a tiger. The white and black cat turned, looking at her with a cocked head.
Xia breathed in slowly, trying to slow the hammering of her heart. Standing across from her was an avatar of Xuen. At least, that's what the stories said about white tigers, and Master Shang Xi always said there was a fragment of truth in stories.
Xia bowed at the waist, watching the tiger stretch lazily. When it pounced, she was ready for it.
She dropped her staff, grabbing her swords and swinging them at the white tiger. The slightly curved blade went through the front paw like it was mist. The same thing happened when she span the other by the small hoop below the guard so she could ram it into the creature's skull.
That… wasn't good.
Xia tried to keep her meditative state, channeling her Chi into a thin layer around the cutting edge of the blade. Before she could use it, however, the tiger's claws slashed through her side, ignoring the Chi there to leave bloody rakes.
Xia felt her eyes widen as the cold air hit the gouges. From the moment she had woken up at the Academy, her Chi had held a strange ability to defend her even when she wasn't consciously channeling it for that purpose. She had known, logically, that there was a point it would give out, otherwise she wouldn't have been carried into the Academy close to death. But in the entire time she had been at the Academy, they hadn't had a spar so harsh they broke it.
They certainly hadn't done anything that was capable of ignoring it outright.
The tiger was watching her, head turned slightly. It didn't move as Xia bit onto the hilt of one of her dao to free up one hand, pressing the mist covered appendage to the wounds and feeling them heal.
The moment she had returned the dao to her hand, it lunged at her again. This time Xia was ready, weaving to the side as the tiger flew by her.
The tiger landed with amazing grace, using the momentum to carry itself into the forest.
Xia closed her eyes, stretching her senses once more as she did. The reason mistweaving was the purest form of Chi manipulation was because Chi was a way to communicate. With yourself and the world. While that could be done with fists, it was easier when you mended wounds than caused them.
Xia let herself spread through the area, connecting with each bran- There!
The tiger lept from the shadows as Xia turned to it. She could count the teeth in its mouth if she wanted to. But she didn't want to...
Seconds before the tiger hit, Xia thrust the aura covered dao into its jaw, watching the blade go through the tiger's head but still cause it pain.
The tiger turned to mist, before reforming a bit away. After another moment, in which Xia's light grey eyes met the tiger's blue, it turned and disappeared into the bamboo.
The forest seemed to shift in some way as Xia continued to sense for it, waiting for another ambush to come.
It didn't, and when she finally walked away, she reached the inn within an hour.
---
Gallus stepped onto the deck of the boat, sighing as he wound his rosary around his left hand. He had exited his trance a couple of minutes ago and decided to wait for the ship to land at the shore of Tanaris. From there, they would travel inland to reach Gadgetzan and stock up on supplies for the mortal members of the group before setting out for Silithus. All by the cover of night, so they could avoid the blistering heat of the day.
Gallus didn't particularly care himself. The threshold he stood at had ruined his ability to feel.
"Oh! Father Brightgrave! Why didn't ya tell anyone ya was up? Ya missed the meal."
Gallus turned, smiling lightly, "It's quite alright, Captain. I no longer have need for such things."
The tall troll privateer frowned at him, her tusks pointing out of the bottom of her mouth, "Ya sure? Da cook can make someting for you, it wouldn' be fillin' but better than nothin'"
"I'm fine, Captain," Gallus repeated firmly, "Tell me. How long until we make landfall?"
"Should be soon," she shrugged, leaning on her elbows, "Dere really be a war goin' on out dere, eh?"
"Yes," though Gallus wasn't sure of how much of a war it truly was at this point. When the Banshee Queen's first call for soldiers came, many of the Cult had volunteered making up a not insignificant fraction of the forces sent this way.
And where Shadows gathered, a Watcher followed.
The ship was packed to capacity with soldiers, mounts and supplies. Orcish warriors bunked next to blood elven paladins, tauren shaman next to undead mages. All with uniform, mass produced arms and armor. Even the ship's crew were wearing outfits meant to breath in the heat and owned bayoneted rifles to go with their knives and swords. A few of the higher ranked members had blunderbuss.
It made the ship's captain, in her bright red long coat, a pair of basket hilted sabers at her hips and a heavy monstrosity of a pistol smuggled from Gilneas strapped to the bandolier slung over her chest, stand out even more.
Gallus still wasn't sure how she got her finger in the trigger guard, but she had proved she could use it fine.
"Makes me wish we could land on da other side," the captain said, "See how dey like a storm o' cannon fire."
"Depending on how dire things get," Gallus said, tugging on the rosary around his charred hand, "We may well see cannons anyways."
She grinned, "Good," she span around, walking towards the wheel and yelling, "Listen up, men! Time for ya ta earn ya keep! We'll be hittin' land before da moon is high in da sky! I want everyone ready ta head out when we do! We got a long way ta walk ta Gadgetzan, and I don't think anyone wants ta spend more time den we need ta in da sun, with dat metal armor!"
Like she was one to talk, with that heavy coat.
Gallus walked below deck, watching some of the soldiers run around, hitching large sleigh with boxes and barrels to skeletal horses. Convenient, as there would be no need to feed them.
Reaching his bunk, Gallus lowered himself, grabbing the pack holding his things, including a lockbox with a letter from an old friend, and the staff that had once been a symbol of his authority.
Gallus couldn't help the amused smile that tugged at his lips as he watched the men and woman running around pulling on their armor as they went.
---
"Alright, what the hell is going on?"
Yang scowled as the other three members of their party turned to her. Fierna had cocked her head again, tail whipping around she smirked at Yang.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean," Yang gestured around wildly, "all this! I still don't know who you are or why Weiss doesn't complain when you start making out with her!"
"Yang-"
"We got attacked by a freaking ghost yesterday!" Yang growled, cutting Weiss off, "and you still haven't told me why we're going to Shadowmoon!"
"Yang-" Weiss tried again.
"Ever since we met Maan you haven't been explaining anything. You just keep doing stuff, and your eyes keep turning red, which Danath acts like a bad thing, and I want to know what the hell is going on!"
"Yang," Weiss frowned, "it's… just trust me."
"I want to," Yang said, "I really, really want to, but you aren't trusting me. Everytime this happens, you just dance around it or change the subject."
Yang turned away with a sigh, running a hand through her hair as she looked back towards where Honor Hold was. Yang span as Weiss's hand latched around her wrist.
"Don't go," the heiress said weakly.
Go? Had Weiss thought she planned to leave?
Yang span, pulling Weiss into a hug like she would have done when Ruby was younger. Weiss had ultimately replaced her heels with a pair of traveling boots when they were in Honor Hold, they had been worn out after six months of wandering and there wasn't anything like it at Honor Hold, and it left her about the same height as Ruby, maybe a bit shorter.
"I'm not going anywhere," Yang said, resting her forehead against Weiss's hair. The heiress had froze up for a moment at the hug, before returning it reluctantly, "but I wish you would just tell me what's happening. We're in this together, whether you like it or not, Weiss Cream."
Oh, sure, she makes out with Fierna, but hardly hugs her. Yang was pretty sure she should be offended.
"Never call me that again," Weiss ordered, before her voice slipped to a whisper, "I'd tell you if I knew. This stuff, it just… it just comes to me, like I've always known it. How to summon Fierna, draining energy. Even where Shadowmoon is."
"That doesn't seem normal," Yang said, "are you sure it's safe?"
"It hasn't hurt me yet," Weiss said, "and… it feels good. Like I'm as strong with it as I was with Dust, maybe stronger. I'm… I'm worried."
"Why?"
"I was trained to fight with Dust, Yang. Every part of my training before Beacon was built from the top down for it, my trainers were some of the foremost Dust specialists in Atlas. I can summon these," Yang felt something press against her back, realizing Weiss had created a glyph behind them, "but without Dust or these abilities, all I can do with them is push and pull things."
"And bind them!" Fierna chirped, a wide grin on her face as she said that.
Yang felt Weiss flinch slightly, "Yes, that too. I don't want to make you and Maan have to worry about me in fights. I don't want to be useless."
Yang looked around at the mention of their guide. Maan had walked away at some point, settling down on a rock and focusing on something in the distance, "You weren't useless yesterday."
"What?"
"During that fight with the ghost guy? You were doing fine with using your glyphs to block and didn't pull out freaky tricks until right before he died. Besides, there has to be something you can do."
"I…" Weiss hesitated, "There is one other thing, yes."
"Then why don't you use that?"
"I don't have much control over it," Weiss said, "Father said it wasn't important enough."
Yang frowned again, not important enough? How was part of her Semblance not important enough, especially when Weiss's combat style was based around her Semblance.
"I want to look into other options in Shattrath," Weiss said, "I can't be sure we'll find anything, but it can't hurt to try, right?"
"Right," Yang agreed.
"But," Weiss's grip on Yang's coat tightened, "until then, I'm using this, at least."
"Ok," Yang said, "but… if you think it's doing anything bad, if anything goes wrong, stop using it."
"Yang…"
"I can't afford to lose you," Yang said, "I'm hoping Blake and Ruby might be at Shattrath, but until we find them," or if they weren't there, "You're all I got of home," a smile appeared on her lips, "Can you imagine the two of them living together? Wherever they're staying is probably full of books."
"And cookies," Weiss said softly.
"Fish and strawberries too."
"I'm starting to think I'm lucky being stuck out here with you, you oaf," Weiss said, the affection in her voice countering the insult.
"Wait," Yang gave a cheeky grin, "You mean there's any place you'd rather be than with the great Yang Xiao Long?"
Weiss laughed again, "Yes."
"Wait," Fierna looked between them, "Who are Ruby and Blake? More friends? I hope they're better than Captain Grumpy over there," Fierna pointed her tail at Maan.
"Fierna," Weiss said, turning her head to look at Fierna, "You're not allowed to touch them."
Fierna pouted, as she seemed to do any time Weiss told her not to do anything, "But mistress-"
"You're not allowed to touch them," Weiss repeated, red starting to leak into her left eye.
"Weiss," Yang said, jostling her, "Don't worry. If Fierna tries to do anything, we'll take a page out of Nora's book."
"What's that mean?"
"If you touch my little sister," Yang was sure her eyes were as red as Weiss's one as she gave a grin full of teeth at Fierna, "We'll break your legs."
---
Ruby opened the door to the house, a wide grin on her face as she kicked her shoes into the corner, "We're back!"
"About damn time," Rehgar groused in his chair, Broll seated on the couch with a book, "It's almost nine, and we still need to eat dinner."
"Finally," Blake sighed, stalking over to the couch after doing the same and took her witch's hat to rub at her ears under the guise of adjusting her bow, "My feet are killing me."
"Wait," Valeera said, "You were wearing your bow under the hat? Why?"
Ruby shared a look with Blake as she fell into the seat next to her friend, beginning a silent conversation. Her eyes flicking to the bow and then Blake's face, raising one eyebrow, Why are you hiding them? They're gonna find out.
Blake's eyes jumped to each of the people in the room, before back to Ruby with nearly unnoticeable shake and a half shrug, We just met, I want to get to know them first.
Ruby tilted her head toward Rehgar, Rehgar knows. They're not gonna do anything.
Blake's broke her stare, shrinking back in her chair, I know, but…
Ruby sighed, shaking her head, It's ok.
Blake had been entrenched in the faunus rights movement since she was young. She had seen the worst of both sides over the years. Ruby had hoped that Blake taking off the bow at night meant she was beginning to get past all that, but she guessed the older woman was still a bit gun-shy.
Even after a living through the last few years being discriminated against, Ruby didn't particularly understand it, but it wasn't like she could slip on a bit of cloth and be able to pass as an orc.
"You two done?" Rehgar asked with a twinkle in his blue eyes and a wide grin.
"Huh?" Valeera frowned as she hopped up on one of the bench chairs, "Whatcha mean? They didn't do anything."
Broll snorted from his place on the couch, "That's where you're wrong."
"I didn't see them do anything either," Crocbait said.
"Listen," Broll sighed, "I'm older than everyone else in this room combined and multiplied by a hundred, they-"
"Multi-what?" Valeera asked under her breath.
Valeera didn't know multiplication? Ruby would have to work on that.
"Imagine you had four eggs," Ruby said, "Now add another four. That's four multiplied by two, add another four, it's four multiplied by three-"
"Oh boy," Blake sighed, "Now you've done it."
-Four multiplied by a hundred is four hundred. It's just a way to cut out the middleman of adding," Ruby said as she shot a pout at Blake. She liked math. She had been the top of the class in it, even trouncing Weiss. Well, minus that she tended to forget to show her work.
Sniping involved more math than people thought. You had to calculate how many potential targets there were (and since several Grimm moved in packs, that was especially important), how far away they were, and then adjust your shot.
It was how Ruby had known that there was no way they could have gotten to somewhere safe before the Warsongs ran them down. On her own? Easily, even with her Aura low. With Blake injured? Not a chance.
Thinking about that caused Ruby to frown harder. What had happened to the shamaness that had knocked her out? Had the Elements revoked her pact, or had she survived the destruction of the renegades?
Fire muttered to her then, She's alive, but her power has waned. If a day comes where you meet, it will not be a repeat of that day.
That didn't make Ruby feel any better.
"You know," Valeera said, drawing Ruby from her thoughts, "the more you two do these fancy things and use words like that, the more I'm convinced you're, I dunno, nobles that got into some trouble back east and had to run for it."
Rehgar and Ruby snorted as one, though what they said after were completely different.
"I've never been to the Old World," she thought it was technically called Azeroth, but at some point that name had expanded to the world as a whole.
"If she was a noble, she would have had better control of herself when we met," Rehgar said, "And how didn't you know this? I pay you lot by percentage."
"I didn't have time to learn any of that," Valeera defended herself, "I was too busy making sure I had enough to eat! I just assumed ten percent was a good chunk, since you gave me a lot."
"Ten percent?" Ruby frowned at Rehgar, "You used to pay Bloodeye fourty."
"Have to divide it up more ways now," Rehgar pointed out, "Ten goes to making sure they all get what they need for food, ten percent to each of them."
"And sixty for you," Blake glared. While Ruby was glad Blake wasn't going to let Rehgar off on this either, now wasn't the time for that fight. Ruby reached out and squeezed her hand gently, and did another series of minute gestures.
Tipping her head toward each of the gladiators without breaking her eye contact with Rehgar, followed by a tight squeeze. The message she hoped Blake and him got was that she was going to hold Rehgar to his promise of freeing Broll and Valeera after Dire Maul.
Which meant she was going to be at the Circle of Blood, both to cheer the trio on and make sure nothing went wrong. She was willing to bury her reservations about the whole thing until then, but if Rehgar betrayed the trust she was giving him...
Blake squeezed Ruby's hand in turn, while Rehgar nodded slightly, just a tiny inclination of his head.
Broll just looked between the two of them with an amused look on his face.
"I'm not a charity, Belladonna," Rehgar said gruffly as he stood, "I'm gonna go check on the roast. Keep an ear out, someone was supposed to drop by for a bit."
Ruby sighed. Of course Rehgar would try to bring work in on her birthday.
---
"It's for a couple of hours, go."
Jaina toyed with her hood, "but-"
"Girl," Aegwynn sighed, "Go. I can deal with anything that goes wrong, if it does."
"You seem oddly intent on this," Jaina said.
Aegwynn's lips jumped up slightly, "I think it would do you some good to get out of this tower for once. The dragon hasn't been seen in at least a fortnight, go. You say every year that you'll be there and every year you miss it."
Jaina nodded slightly, "Yes, of course, thank you.
"Just make sure she doesn't come around for a bit," Aegwynn said as she turned to leave Jaina's quarters.
Ruby and Aegwynn didn't- ok, Not quite true. Aegwynn didn't like Ruby, while Ruby was just sort of ambivalent to the chamberlain.
Jaina closed her eyes, focusing on the one part of Orgrimmar she truly knew from the various diplomatic talks that had happened over the years, she let her mana break down the walls of reality, overlapping two distant points where she was standing. Keeping something like this open would take a lot of mana, but she wasn't going to. Jaina felt the world repair itself, leaving her on the other side.
As she opened her eyes, she realized Thrall was clutching the Doomhammer and had a shimmer of heat around his other hand.
"Jaina," Thrall breathed, dropping his weapon back onto its pedestal, "don't do that!"
"I'm sorry," Jaina said, eyes roaming her friend's face.
There were several lines that hadn't been there months ago, when they had met to discuss the (failed) meeting between King Wrynn and the Warchief, and his face was covered in stubble. He was, for perhaps the first time Jaina had seen him as such, out of his plate armor.
Instead he was wearing a simple pair of beige clothes with a night robe, all clearly made with practicality in mind rather than comfort. Certainly not what you would expect the leader of the Horde to wear when his opposite number almost assuredly wore something made of silk.
Jaina sucked her teeth at the thought of King Wrynn. He had not responded to any of the message she had sent since his return, a level of silence even further than what she had experienced in the years between the Third War and when he finally agreed to meet with Thrall.
She still hadn't met him in person since they had both been children, when her father had brought her to Lordaeron for Arthas's eleventh birthday. But the description the guards brought her from the people moving through Theramore to the frontier was completely opposite the morose boy.
The tax that had been implemented to pay his ransom, which several people had agreed was reasonable given the circumstances, had been made permanent to pay for near weekly feasts. He had also abandoned his worry for his people, ignoring their requests for help at the urgings of one of his advisors.
"Do you mind telling me why you're here?" Thrall asked, falling back into the chair next to his writing desk, which was surrounded by crumpled up parchment, "It's not that I'm not happy to see you, but you normally send a courier first."
Normally...
"Ruby," Jaina lifted the wrapped gift, a last minute one acquired when Rehgar's message had been delivered by bird, "She sends me an invitation every year and I always miss it."
"She complained about it once or twice," Thrall cracked a wane smile, "but still, why here? Why not Rehgar's house?"
"I don't know where it is. Rehgar's message was… kinda lacking," Jaina handed Thrall the letter, though he sent an amused look her way before focusing on the blocky and, in many places, misspelt words.
"'Kinda'?" Thrall asked, "Ruby is rubbing off on you," he examined the letter closely, "You're right. There's barely anything here."
That was a bit of an understatement. All it said was the the celebration would 'prboably' start around nine and that the house was on the main street of the Valley of Honor.
"He spelled half the words wrong," Jaina pointed out.
"He doesn't write in Common much," Thrall responded, "if he needs a message written in it, he'd just get Ruby to do it. Though he isn't much better at Orcish."
Jaina's eyebrows jumped up, "He isn't?"
"He didn't get a chance to learn until we arrived in Kalimdor," Thrall said, "in fact, I think he was learning to write and read Orcish alongside Ruby."
"Ruby can read Orcish," Jaina pointed out. The younger woman had, in one of the times she returned to Theramore in a desperate hope that Blake would have passed through one of the four major hubs of Kalimdor, helped Jaina with translating an orcish scroll. Or, well, the majority of it at least.
Jaina's ability to read Orcish was passable, but she had focused on learning Thalassian, as the oldest texts tended to be in the High Elven language or, in some very headache inducing cases, Darnassian.
"I'm not saying he's illiterate," Thrall shrugged his shoulders, "but he's still not the best at writing," Thrall's eyes drifted towards his desk.
"What are you writing?" Jaina asked.
"A letter to High Priestess Whisperwind," Thall explained as he seemed to physically age before her eyes, "This war is looking like it's going to be very, very bad. I want to propose a temporary cease to our aggressions until this threat is dealt with."
Both knew, despite their desire otherwise, that the proposed ceasefire would crumble the moment this war was completed.
"Maybe send one King Bronzebeard?" Jaina suggested, "He's always been fairly proactive, even with his current troubles, I'm sure he'll send at least some troops and supplies."
"I need to petition the Goblin Cartels too," Thrall rubbed his eyes, "Steamwheedle is already with us in all but name, but I don't know about Bilgewater."
"Still," Jaina said, "The Steamwheedle Cartel is a major victory."
They were the biggest of the Goblin Cartels, and controlled the closest friendly settlement to Silithus, Gadgetzan.
Thrall nodded grabbing a piece of parchment and writing on it, "True."
"I've sent a message to Dalaran," Jaina said, "but their troops were delayed."
"Thank you nonetheless, we don't have many mages in the area at the moment. The first wave was made up nearly exclusively of druids and shaman. Here," Thrall held out the parchment, "Instructions to Rehgar's house. Take the back exit, it could lead to problems if you're seen leaving here."
"Thank you," Jaina smiled, sliding out of the keep and examining the instructions.
It took Jaina almost half an hour to find the house, even with the instructions. Jaina pushed her costume's hood down as she approached it.
Stepping up to the door, Jaina knocked on it.
"One second!" Ruby's voice called in Orcish, "I'll be right-" Ruby stopped as the door swung open unleashing the smell of something cooking, "Jaina?"
"Surprise?" Jaina said, " Do you mind if- Ahk!"
The wizardess was cut off as Ruby pulled her into one of the shamaness's patented 'my weapon of choice is hundred pound scythe' hugs.
"I was starting to think I'd never get you to one of these," Ruby said quietly.
"Well," Jaina gasped for air, "I'm here, aren't I?"
"Yeah," Ruby nodded, letting Jaina go and stepping aside to allow her into the house, "Guys! Jaina's here!"
"We heard," Blake said from where she was seated on a couch. In the chair next to the couch was a night elf with a pair of antlers sprouting from his forehead.
They were watching a game of Hearthstone being played by a young blood elf with golden hair who was, for some reason, seated on the back of the wooden chair she was on and a brown haired human around Jaina's age in another wooden chair. Neither of them looked up at her as they stared intently at their game.
Jaina wondered whether her card was still rare or not.
"So," Ruby said, all smiles, "You know Blake already-"
"Hi," Blake said, looking up from the game to give a half smile.
"-That's Broll," Ruby pointed to the night elf.
"We've met," Broll said.
"We have?" Jaina frowned, "I'm sorry, I don't remember."
"Hyjal," Broll simply.
Jaina nodded, sucking her teeth again. A bad habit she had picked up during times of stress. Hyjal had been a nightmare, one they had barely survived.
"Valeera," Ruby pointed to the blood elf, who looked up at them, jaw dropping just before her chair tipped over with an indignant squawk. Seconds before she hit the ground, Ruby caught her, helping her stand.
"Thanks," Valeera said briefly to Ruby, before focusing on Jaina again, "Holy shit. Is this some sort of trick? You're going as Jaina Proudmoore for Hallow's End or something, aren't you?"
"No," Jaina said, waving the burning rose "I'd be in a very poor costume, if I was, wouldn't I?"
Jaina's normal white top and purple pants had been replaced with a red one piece underlayer, with armored grieves, a fake chestplate of leather and metal, spaulders, a red scarf nearly as long as the cloak Ruby normally wore, and a red hood.
Jaina normally dressed up on Hallow's End anyways. When she gave her yearly speech, it helped both sides, her and the people of Theramore, remember that she wasn't above them. She wasn't even sure if she was technically a noble anymore, or if she had been disowned.
Even if she was still nobility, she wanted to be approachable. There were too few important Alliance members on Kalimdor, and neither Tyrande or Fandral were quite as willing to hear people out as she was. Especially Fandral.
"Oh yeah," Ruby frowned, "Who are you supposed to be?"
"Valla."
"Who?"
"Valla, from the Sanctuary Cycle," Jaina gestured to Ruby, "I thought you would know. You are dressed up as Malthael."
"I just picked it because it looked cool," Ruby shrugged, walking over to the couch and crashing down next to Blake, "It's a book series, right? Is it any good?"
"Yes," Jaina sat down on one of the wooden chairs with considerably more grace, "I'll lend you the first book next time you're in Theramo-"
"Whoa! Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Valeera was still standing, looking wildly between the two friends, "You know Jaina Proudmoore?"
Blake mumbled something, her bow twitching rapidly until Ruby planted a hand on Blake's own.
"Yep!" Ruby nodded happily.
"How'd that happen?" Valeera pushed her chair back up and returning to sitting on its back.
"Warchief sent me to help deal with a fire elemental," Ruby said with a half shrug, "after I'd drop by on occasion to see if Blake had passed through," Ruby jostled her and Blake's still connected hands, "and do a job or two."
"I never went to Theramore," Blake said softly, "it just never seemed important. Either Darnassus had jobs, or it was easier to go to an Alliance military outpost to look for bounties."
Jaina looked over at the last member of their group, who had been silent throughout the exchanges, "I'm sorry, I don't think I got your name?"
"Crocbait," He said simply.
"Uh…?"
"He has amnesia," Ruby explained, "Rehgar named him, which explains why the name suc-"
"I'm fine at naming things," Rehgar growled as he walked out from a room further down, heading towards the kitchen.
"No you aren't!" Ruby, Valeera and Crocbait chorused.
"And clean up that mess," Rehgar jabbed his finger at the forgotten game of Hearthstone, "We'll be eating now that Proudmoore is here."
"Yeah, yeah," Valeera sighed, grabbing her cards and reshuffling them into the deck with ease, before pausing for a second, "Hey, Jaina?"
"Yes?"
"After dinner, would you sign my Hearthstone card of you?" Jaina could practicality see the stars in Valeera's eyes.
"Of course," Jaina smiled back as the delicious smell of the roast got sharper.
---
Blake tightened her grip on her knife slightly, her ears pressed back as Valeera continued to talk loudly. It wouldn't have been so bad if Blake wasn't right next to the blood elf.
Sometimes having two sets of ears, two with incredible hearing, made things harder for non-discrimination based reasons. It wasn't bad in bursts, but sustained loud noises made her uncomfortable. It had been really bad when she was a child, when just going to one of the White Fang rallies was enough to send her into a panic. Her mom had been confused, saying that she had never felt the same, and it had only gotten worse during her time with the Fang.
It was a major part of the reason she had been incredibly quiet at Beacon. Ruby and Yang had been loud most of the time, and Weiss could match them when she was irritated.
Blake jumped slightly as Ruby's hand landed on her knee, muttering something under her breath.
"Do you want to switch?" Ruby asked.
Blake silently nodded, sending a thankful look as her friend stood, walking around the back with her plate to allow Blake to slide over.
Blake knew Ruby hadn't understood it when Blake had explained it to her years ago. Ruby was of the exact opposite mind, when Weiss or someone was making her uncomfortable, Ruby would slide on her headphones and blare them at loudly as possible. Nonetheless, it was immediately obvious that Ruby had started making a conscious effort to be quieter when talking.
"Uhhh," Valeera was looking between them, "What was that all about?"
"Don't worry about it," Ruby smiled, cutting another bite off her slice, "So, you were on the boat-"
"Technically a ship," Blake said softly, taking a bite.
Valeera was in the middle of explaining how a fifteen year old blood elf orphan (and now, slave), got to Kalimdor.
Blake silently scowled at Rehgar, tightening her grip on the knife to almost painful levels. Ruby was completely right, even if Rehgar planned to free them, that didn't make this right. That Valeera didn't want to leave was another point of worry, and Blake sincerely hoped Valeera took Ruby up on the offer to stay with them.
Ruby silently reached over again, running her thumb over Blake's clenched hand. As Blake unclenched it, she saw Rehgar and Broll both look on in amusement.
"-Ship, right," Ruby agreed, "So what happened next?"
"I realized I was an idiot pretty quickly. It took a month and a half to reach Kalimdor. That's a month and a half of laying low in the hold."
"You managed?" Broll asked.
"No," Valeera stopped for a second as she took another bite and a groan, "Light, Rehgar, why don't you make this more often?"
"Expensive," Rehgar said like that explained everything, and with the exception of Jaina and her, it apparently did.
"So," Valeera continued, "I got discovered two weeks in, which, all things considered, I count as pretty good."
"How'd you get out of that one?" Crocbait asked.
"The captain agreed to let me work on the ship for several voyages to make up for it. The minute we docked I booked it, haven't seen her since."
"Well," Rehgar said, "If you're suddenly jumped by a crew of pissed off sailors, at least we'll know why."
The roast, and strawberry shortcake that came after it, went by with slightly surprising speed, even with seven people there.
Rehgar quickly made it clear that it was time to open presents by pelting the first one at Ruby's head. Ruby's hand snapped up to catch it without looking. A second flew at her and was caught just as easily. Elements must have warned her.
The first present was a heavy ovoid brick, which Blake recognized instantly as a whetstone.
Ruby's head tilted as she looked at Rehgar, "A whetstone?"
"Enchanted," Rehgar said, "figured now that you've ditched the regular scythes for one with a that fancy 'Dust infused whatever' blade, you'd need something a bit better."
"He's right," Blake agreed. Beacon had supplied whetstones good enough for any student who needed them, but now it was another expense that had been keeping Blake perpetually hovering above being broke. Even then, it took a long time to sharpen Gambol Shroud with what she could buy.
The other gift was a bottle of oil clearly meant for use with the whetstone. Ruby didn't even have time to put it down before Rehgar chucked another present at her, so she chucked it over her shoulder. Blake caught it effortlessly, planted it on the table.
The third present was a heavy wooden box with golden clasps. When Ruby flicked it open, there was a series of tweezers, machine oil, and wrenches. All intended to service Crescent Rose, no doubt. Rehgar apparently was of the opinion that gifts should be practical.
"Before I give you this one," Rehgar lifted the last of his presents, "I'm also getting bullets made for you, but that'll take a bit. They'll be ready by the time you get back."
Ruby caught the package, opening it and unfurling the item, "a cloak?"
Rehgar nodded, "Never hurts to have an extra. Try it on."
When Ruby did, the difference between new and old became immediately clear. The hood was made to look like a wolf, similarly to Rehgar's own. The major difference, other than it missing the teeth, was that the blue gems where the eyes should have been was replaced with grey ones.
Rehgar smirked, "Like it?"
Ruby nodded, "Yeah."
"Well, let's get the other- AHK!" Ruby had pulled Rehgar into a hug, "Let go of me, damnit!"
Ruby let go, turning towards the others with a big grin on her face, "Whose next?"
"Me," Blake handed over her present, "It isn't much, but… well, I think it's for my peace of mind as much as you."
Ruby lifted the short blade, drawing it from the sheath spinning it in one hand, checking the balance. Blake saw the approval in Ruby's eyes.
"I just-" Blake swallowed, feeling her throat constrict, "I just want to make sure that-" Blake swallowed again, looking away and blinking to ward off tears, "I just want to make sure you never don't have a weapon your good with again. I know you've got Crescent Rose, but-" Blake's voice cracked, "would you please train with that too? I can't let that happen again, I can't let the chance that it could happen again happen-"
This time, Blake was cut by Ruby herself, who cast aside the sword to hug Blake. It wasn't as rough as her normal ones.
"You didn't let it happen," Ruby's voice was slightly above a whisper, "You were hurt and we both knew that he was using that Fel as a poison, all that would have happened is we'd have both died, or both enslaved and you would have died from the Fel. I made the choice to distract them myself, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I'd rather be a slave then have you dead."
"I'm not worth that," Blake protested.
"You are to me," Ruby said simply, pulling back raising her voice back to normal levels, picking up the sword and sheathing it, "and if you want me to train with this, I will."
Blake looked around the room, Broll, Rehgar and Jaina were all looking at them with amused smiles, while Crocbait and Valeera just looked confused.
What was so funny? They kept doing that.
"I'm last, I suppose," Jaina handed over her gift, "It's last minute, but from what I remember, shaman use these too…"
Ruby lifted up the book, "Runes?"
"Kalimag and Titanic," Jaina nodded, "as I said, it was last minute."
"It's great," Ruby smiled, "there's a shaman in Silithus who uses runes. He's really strong."
An understatement. Stormsong was their artillery at the moment, capable of creating lightning blasts that made anything Ruby put out look like static.
"I'm glad," Jaina stood, adjusting her outfit, "Thank you for the pleasant evening, but I should get back to Theramore before something goes wrong."
"I'll see you lat-" before Ruby finished, her eyes widened, and she fell onto her knees, clutching her head. Rehgar's eyes were clenched shut, resting his head on his fist.
"Ruby?" Blake knelt down next to her, "are you alright?"
"Yeah," Ruby said, "There was just a minor…"
"Minor?" Blake asked.
"Elements freaked out for a second there," Rehgar said, "saying something big hit Azeroth pretty hard just now, nothing to worry about."
Ruby stood back up, "Sorry about that Jaina, I'll see you later?"
"Yes," Jaina nodded, before disappearing in a flash of light.
"Right," Rehgar said, "Big day tomorrow. Time for bed."
---
So, apparently Jaina really, really likes eating up large chunks of the chapter, but I really wanted to get this day over with (we've been on it for three chapters now) so I made it a bit longer.
I don't think I've called attention to Valeera's mana addiction before this point. Nor how much having money means to her (both for recreational and for getting her something she needs to survive, since the Sunwell is down). Neither Ruby or Blake are quite so forgiving.
Unfortunately, when you're broke, a giant scythe with many moving parts edges closer to 'impractical'. Lucky Rehgar's got them covered.
Broll had a significant other at some point, Ruby and Blake might as well be radiating their feelings to him.
):
