Secret Fires ((Finished!))

[Rhowen-Prea]

(( Sorta boring first half of what will probably be a pretty big post - wanted to break it up so I didn't just -crush- you guys and so maybe you would actually read it. I have to learn to stop trying to post on three hours of sleep - nothing ever turns out near as grand as I see in my head. Excuse all the alliteration. ~_~ ))

Despite the mild winter, early morning frost clung to the windows and flowers of Stormwind. The sun was mute, rising in the east as if equally reluctant to rouse itself from its sleep. A heavy mist of fog seeped and strung itself through Elwynn Forest and through the front gates of the city just as the General, Jonathan, was taking his place at the center. It rolled through the streets, carrying with it the warm smells of breads, teas, and coffees, of pastries still in the oven, and brought all these things through the front door of the Gilded Rose. The scent-laden fog carried the delicious odors into cabinets, around corners, and under the cracks of the closed doors.

In Rhowen’s opinion, it wasn’t a bad way to wake up. As she inhaled deeply, body twisting in a stretch, she lifted a single eyelid to peer over the chest of her sleeping companion. She draped an arm over the sprawled out body. He didn’t react, and for once, she didn’t leap out of bed. There was business to be about, true. But none of it was immediately necessary. That, and the Kaldorei warrior couldn’t remember the last time she’d lounged in bed. It’d been a long few days, and equally long nights. (Though in Rhowen’s always honest opinion, it was a fair trade.) She felt she’d earned it.

That single lazy eye closed again, and she pulled herself in tightly against him with a satisfied grin. As for the people she had to see.. Well, they weren’t going anywhere.

*******

You always were lazy, you damned fool girl, Rhowen cursed herself as nightsaber and rider raced across the sweltering heat of the Shimmering Flats. The trip was going smoothly, as she expected - the cat needed his exercise. She’d kept him cooped up for far too long. Lean muscle moved cleanly beneath that fine grey-black pelt, and he seemed to be running himself out of the sour mood he’d been in the past few days. Rhowen, however, was sinking into a progressively worse mood. No matter the mindset, wearing plate mail in devilish heat was bound to put anyone in a foul mood. And Rhowen was not notorious for her patience and understanding.

The wind was dry and blowing from the south, and the salt it carried pickled her tongue in her mouth. The smells of fuel and fire burned her nose. The cat’s great long claws left deep gouges in the brittle ground beneath his paws. The sun hung heavy, hot, hateful in the sky. And despite the heat and her discomfort, the landscape brought her relief. Kalimdor had always been her home, inhospitable as it was. Always would be Home. No matter how packed with souls the world got, no matter how much blood was shed, or how much technology and society the gnomes and goblins spread, certain parts of Kalimdor would always be uninhabitable. No matter how the mortals tamed the world, certain parts of Kalimdor would always be wild.

You are mortal, now, too. He can die, but so will you. And you are glad of it. It is always what you wanted, that single great finality.

Rhowen grimaced. Kadian growled as she heeled him roughly.

[Lovely]

((Why break this up? I love it! Can't wait to see more))

[Rhowen-Prea]

((Frostshock. ^_~))

The large cat pulled himself over the uneven terrain of the pass between the Shimmering Flats and Tanaris, the great grand sea of sand. The lady Elf steered him with a sure hand, a loose but sure grip on the reins guiding him carefully despite unfaltering speed. And at the highest point in their climb, she pulled him sharply to her left. He turned, nearly on a coin, and she had to make the effort to slow him. Rhowen leaned back in her shoulder, using thighs, knees, and heels to steer while braiding her hair. Kadian nearly threw her as he came sliding to a halt at a particular spire-less expanse. She scratched between his shoulder blades as she threw a leg over him to dismount. It did little to calm the thing, his shackles rising.

Small clouds of dust rose as her booted feet hit the ground, and the distant, pensive light left increasingly stormy grey eyes. She took a step forward, hand sliding from the night saber’s head. The cat growled still, ears laying back against his head. His reaction was enough to confirm her thoughts; this had to be the place. Rhowen dropped into a crouch before moving any further. Fingertips touched the ground and ran over a shape. Kodo tracks, scuffling and heavy. At least two. Light, tight tracks of a raptor. And the occasional paw-print of a wolf. But there were no hoof prints left in the dust, and it gave Rhowen cause to grin. Good, she thought to herself, They have not become so desperate yet, that they would turn to the Forsaken.

She rose, brushing her hands together to free the dust. In that single moment of dropped guard, a soft, swift whishing sound brushed her face. The only responsive moment she allowed herself was a sharp redirection of her eyesight. Her jaw clenched as a heartbeat later there came the sting of blood; it was not deep. Nor was it a serious attempt. A throw meant to miss - someone was toying with her. Rhowen moved hands, all careful control, one loosing the phantom blade from its bindings on her back, the other pulling the shortsword from its place on her belt. Sinking into the lower levels of herself, she grinned as every inch of her body became an antennae, reaching out, trying to find and feel. There was a prickling in her mangled ear; she spun and brought the ghostly blade to block just as a brutish orc warrior leapt out from behind a spire. A curse slipped through grit teeth as she miraculously managed to parry the blow from the axe. The orc fell back a few feet, stopped momentum throwing her off balance. And in the middle of it, there was a shifting of sand and salt which did not belong to her, or the orc. Spinning on a toe, Rhowen brought both a blade behind her to block what was sure to be a kidney shot. Seen, and unable to vanish back into the scenery leaving a trickle of blood in his wake, the troll rogue only grinned at her. This one is younger than they used to be.

The rogue was young, yes, but fast, and deft with his blades. He had her on the defensive, and while she matched his every blow with a block of her own, his blades glanced over her plate more than once. To her own credit, he was bleeding from a handful of knicks. She gave ground, a step here, a step there. The orc righted himself and hauled the axe back. The troll sneered up at her. If she could manage to parry both the shortsword…

It was a forgotten point a moment later as the orc toppled to the ground under a large blur of black and silver. Rhowen saw only a moment of it out of the corner of her eye, but it brought a panic upon her. The growl of the cat was met with the battle-cry of the orc, all intermingled with the metallic jingling of the cat’s gear. With a feral growl all her own, she pushed the rogue back, managing to plant a foot between his chest. He was fast, but bold, and toppled quite nicely to the ground. The lady warrior spun to turn her attentions to her cat and the orc.

But as she did, she was nearly knocked from her feet, as if taking a blow from some heavy, blunt object. Her first instinct was to look for a second heavy blow from a mace, but as the cold crept into her skin, and grabbed frigid fingers around her bones and joints, the answer became quite clear. A shaman. She found her footing, caught between the two separate groups - the graying Tauren shaman and cocky young rogue, or the cat and orc. The nightsaber seemed safe, pinning the orc down by his shoulders with massive paws, but the orc was reaching for a dagger kept on his belt. Rhowen shouted the cat’s name, as warning if nothing else.

“Kadian!”

The only creature who ignored her was the massive cat. He stood, holding the now still orc down, growling the menacing growl that only a feline could manage. The orc, meanwhile, had turned his head to stare at her. A quickly averted gaze brought to her attention the stares of the other two, rogue and shaman, as well. She held her ground, focused enough on her breathing to keep it deep and calm, and the fury of battle seemed instantly replaced by tension and shock. And then, from behind her, the sound a voice she recognized all too well.

[Rhowen-Prea]

((All Horde characters are of my own creation, by the way.))

“Well I’ll be. If ‘tisn’t th’prodigal daughtah ha’self. Call yer cat off’a’im, ‘ey? They was jus’ havin’em’selves a bitta fun, you know?”

Rhowen turned, easing up on her swords but a hair. The gnarled voice belonged to the exact Troll she expected it to. Age was showing on his face, and after so much time she would have expected no less, but the blond shock of hair still fell between his shoulder blades. He was grinning at her, leaning a staff as tall as he was. She gave into a soft, genuine smile. “Kaido.”

He answered the smile, closing the space between them as she replaced her blades. There would be no more need of them. She turned to call the beast off the orc, but he was already backing away. Judging from the light in his eyes, he resented it. No worries, friend, you’ll get your kill one way or another. The orc hauled himself to his feet with a sulk to match his adversary’s.

“Battle, it does such strange ‘tings to people, you know?” The troll chuckled and gave a nod to his comrades behind her. “Come, walk wit’ me.”

Rhowen fell in beside him. As she got nearer to the Tauren, she realized she recognized him, and blinked once. He was smiling at her, in that strange way that Taurens smiled. Going grey, stains on his horns, and more than a few scars on the humungous beast, she had not recognized him. It occurred to her she must be staring incredulously, but he only chuckled and murmured.

“Rhowen.”

She laughed, an amazed chuckle, and answered in a jilted murmur. “Merrick? Is that… you?”

The old troll laughed and brought a three-fingered hand to rest on her shoulder. “Th’lady does not age a day, and forgets that others don’t receive the same courtesy!” The Troll and shaman laughed together, Rhowem smiling sheepishly as the two younger Horde only watched in stunned silence. The Tauren turned, at length, murmuring to the Troll in Taurahe. A motion of a great, meaty arm, and the younglings were vanished, though not without sullen frowns. Kaido beckoned Rhowen close; she laughed and shook her head. “Aye,” she muttered, “Strange things.”

The pair walked together, him leading her to a summit hidden away from the initial meeting ground while the old Troll babbled about where they were taking her cat, and the great many hiding places the new location afforded them.

“But why here?” she asked, as they came to rest near the edge of the cliff. He shrugged, sinking into a crouch, and she did the same.

“Eh, it’s close to Gadgetzan. Me, I don’ care much fo’the big cities, these days. Too many souls, too much noise. Too much smoke an’ grease.“ He spit on the ground, muttering an oath about goblins. Rhowen resisted the urge to join him. “An’ too many… unnatural things. This be th’ Forsaken’s world, now, an’ they’ll stamp out every livin’ thing before they’re done. ’Sides, not like we gettin’ some large numbah’ recruits, these days. Dey come to us, every now’n’gain, but not too offen. I be thinkin’ our days’r numbered, Rhowen of the Circle.”

The elf dropped her eyes, wetting her lips with the tip of her tongue and letting the old title slide. “Aye, I know the feeling, Hunter Kaido. I know the feeling.”

He laughed, a sound like gravel falling down the mountain. “Oh, don’ insult me, girl, you’re scratchin’ out a livin’, from the rumors this old hunter hears. Th’birds still talk, you know. An’ I still be listenin’, to what it is dey have to say.”

“No, I’m just an old elf, with little to live for.” She grinned wryly, looking up at him from out of the corners of her eyes. He was smiling at her, and if she let herself, she could see his brother in his face. In another world, he could have grown old with me. It drove a sharp pang like an icy knife straight through her heart and into her soul.

He shook his head in response. “Nah, ya’ got plenty ta’live for, even if ya be an old maid, hey?” And he laughed again. She clenched her jaw to restrain herself, but barked a short laugh despite herself. “He treats ya’ right, hey? He’s good’ta yah and takes care of ya? Hasn’ ever hit’cha, or hurt’cha, waited on yah hand’n’foot, yah?”

It was her turn to nod, features softening under the new string of thoughts. “Aye, he’s good to me. You might have gotten along with him. You know, if…”

“Aye, if I could meet’im. An’ in such a world, I wouldn’ ever have to, because you’d be…” He trailed off, and the silence hung over them both. In such a heavy lack of sound, the pain and memories wrapped themselves around Rhowen and closed in on her. Tension mounted in her, pulling muscles taut and giving her all the rage that made her pick up his swords in the first place. The old Troll spoke up. “You still got’is blades, right?” Rhowen only nodded. “Well, girl, ya’ didn’ come all this way just to let the wind blow salt into old wounds, right? Wha’ju need?”

[Rhowen-Prea]

Rhowen tried to ignore the way his gaze moved inadvertently to her butchered ear. He’d been there, Kaido hand, holding the body of his fallen brother while the Sentinels had held her down and torn her ear apart. He’d scooped up the limp body and made off while it while she had bitten back screams, silently glaring at Tyrande Whisperwind and her women, may they all rot and burn in the pits of the Core. She cleared her throat, burying the memories deep once more.

“Aye. I’ve… been a partner in the creation of a new endeavour.” The Troll chuckled, and she grinned. “Yes, who would have ever expected me to a leader, hm? It’s a merc company, he’s called it the Greyward. He has agreed to my request of aligning ourselves neutrally. I have friends and enemies on both sides, and value both sets of friends because of these enemies. And we have found that there are more like us, looking for the same balance as us. However… we have already found ourselves falling out of favor with my last set of comrades.”

Kaido settled back, leaning against his staff to steady himself. “The Tears of Elune, wern’dey? I’ve only heard about’dem.”

She made a small sound of confirmation, sighing and lifting an arm to stretch over her head. “It seems that, despite only having been in existence for a number of days, they’ve decided to spread slander about us and call guild war.” Rhowen shook her head, grin fading as she sighed. “It’s quite ridiculous, honestly. They’re resentful of us, I think, but I’m not sure. Either way, I don’t want to back down. You know how I despise dishonesty. I come seeking council.” Her voice dropped to a low murmur. “I don’t know how to lead a people, Kaido. We tell them there is no real leadership, but we founded the company, they will look to us… someone will have to give an order, else there is chaos. It isn’t all fame and fortune.”

There was a moment’s hesitation as the hunter regarded her silently, and somewhere in him was a stirring of pride. She might be cruel and broken, full of hate and resentment, but if everyone was as truthful as her, there might have been peace. Pride, yes, and regret, and sorrow. But he donned a cocky grin and shrugged. “I’ll tell’ya what I think, girl. Obviously, this Tears group be havin’ a bit of upheaval, yah? Let them worry about der problems, you worry about yours. You ain’ta blame - if dey really were as mighty as dey be posturin’, they wouldn’ have none’ta worry ‘bout, yah? You take care’a yours. An’juu always got friends here, girl. Jus’ wah’choself around’ dem Forsaken. I don’ trust dem.”

With a sigh, she rose to her feet. “Thank you, Kaido. Maybe one day… I’ll join you here.”

There was a pause, before he rose to stand beside her, a mischievous light. “You know, ‘dere be another reason we chose this place.” She lifted a brow, glancing over at him. “C’mon, girl, lemme show ya’da hot spring.”

[Lovely]

((Yay! Very enjoyable...You rock, Rho!))

[Kestril]

((Very, very nice! And thank you for finishing it while I have my lunch break...I would have been waiting in suspense all day till I got home to read the rest. :P))

[Rhowen-Prea]

(( Thanks. ^_^'' ))

[Keraph]

((Great work! ^^)

[Aelendil]

((Amazin' work, Rho. We definitely oughtta link it from the forums.))

[Caelyn]

((Great piece. I hope there is more.. somewhere.. about something... :D ))

[Rhowen-Prea]

(( Right, I realize it's really vague. >.< That was just me forgetting that not everyone knows my backstory - really no one does. I'm tempted to write more, maybe. Maybe a cliche'd flashback? we'll see tomorrow. ))

[Keraph]

((not everyone knows my backstory - really no one does. ))

((I do, I do! :O))

[Daly]

((You have a real flair for writing believable dialogue that comes off as natural and not forced. The Troll quickly becomes sympathetic without losing "Horde" credibility. Well done.))

edit: Forgot the stinking parenthesis.