Kurohane
02-01-2006, 08:39 PM
The letter had been sent, Kurohane herself having dictated to Conidivh what it should entail. The wording, the suggestions, had turned her stomach to bring to her lips as he had nodded, jotting down notes on his ever present scraps of paper. Her friends had been contacted, informed of the plan, brought to speed on the reasoning, and both Liadain and Northface had agreed to aid her in this.
It was late that night, the bells ringing the eleventh hour. She sat in the Pig and Whistle, Galidon - her fellow hunter, her officer, her near brother, and her ever present gaurd - sitting with her, both falling to silence as the patrons laughed and drank around them. It was nearly time to go. She had told him of her plan, and despite her reassurance that she would be fine, he had instisted on accompanying her. One last time she toyed the her communicator. She couldn't afford for this to fail. She could call in... No, no more people. It was nearly time, and she agreed with Liadain - the fewer who could do this and complete the task, the better. The four of them would be enough. After all, Yomi was only one person. Only... It was Yomi. She bit back a sigh and stood, her chair's scraping on the floor lost in the roucus of the tavern.
The two hunters moved silently down the stairs, out the tavern, and across the way to get changed into thier armor. This could not fail... It would not fail. She wished her mind sounded a bit more sure. She wished her smile when Torold came running up to her didn't feel so forced.
"Hide me!" the dwarven priest hissed, darting behind her. She couldn't help but chuckle at that, the smile turning a bit more earnest.
"What did you do now, Torold?" she answered, drily.
"Nothing, nothing! Just don't let Ehm catch me!"
The huntress cast a wry smirk to Galidon as he emerged in his armor, before turning her attention back to the dwarf. "Get behind the boxes then."
Nodding, he moved over a few steps and Kurohane turned to watch the entrance. The last time he'd asked her to help him in such a manner, the priest had pulled a prank that had him being chased for the next few hours. She didn't really have time for this... How long had it been since the bells had tolled the eleventh hour? Her smile faded.
"Watch this," the dwarf beamed suddenly, and before she could answer, he dashed back into the tavern.
The hunters exchanged a glance, shrugging a bit and moved cautiously towards the entrance.
"KUROHANE!!" she flinched as Torold called for her loud enough that likely all of Stormwind heard him. "HELP ME!!"
Sighing, but unable to help her rueful smile, she entered the tavern - only to find the dwarf surrounded.
"Oh by the... Torold, what did you do?" she laughed, shaking her head.
He seemed not to hear her, his gaze dashing from person to person. Finally, he filled his chest with air and pointed towards Kurohane. "Look! A duck!"
Nobody would fall for that, she thougth drily to herself. He would never be able to... Heads turned and he dashed between legs and out the other side of the entrance. A small laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head, turning to go out once more. He waited outside, upon his new mount, proud as could be.
"I'm sorry, Torold, but we really must be off now," she smiled at him, offering a small wave.
His grin instantly vanished, "You're going to meet Liadain, aren't you."
"Try not to get yourself killed," she answered over him as she and Galidon turned toward the Trade District and the griphons.
"Oh you don't worry about that," he laughed back, waving.
It was only moments later that she and Galidon were flying towards Ironforge. She gripped the feathers of her griphon tightly, her free hand holding the communicator as she spoke with Liadain, explaining her plan, reporting when Northface would be joining them. Another flight to Thelsamar - she listened to the wind whistling past her ears in the lull of conversations with Liadain, and now Northface as well. The wind spoke to druids... She wished it would speak to her as well, now.
"We're here - moving to the location," she whispered to Liadain across the communicators as she and Galidon took upon themselves the aspect of the Cheetah. "Northface is awaiting a portal to Ironforge, and then he will be here as well."
"Understood," came the crackled voice in return.
Things were going as planned. This was going to work. She took a deep breath of the mountain air as she ran towards the gate between the Searing Gorge and Loch Modan. A twig snapped. She jerked to a halt, spinning on her heals. Her eyes narrowed, her sences expanding. The familliar presence of Torold came to her and she barely kept back her sigh of exasperation. Slowly, steadly, she back moving towards him - his hiding place behind a tree a poor excuse of subtlty. He jerked as he saw her approach, called for his ram, and dashed off around the hillside. Only to stop just out of sight. She sighed and flipped open her communciator once more.
"Get over here. Now," she barely kept from snapping.
Grumbling, the dwarf appeared from behind the hill, glowering.
"What do you think you're doing, Torold?" she sighed, glancing to the passing moon overhead. Time was growing short.
"Following you. Well, not so much you. You're going to lead me to Liadain," he answered matter of factly.
She stilled her hands from flying up in the air in exasperation. "Whatever for?"
"I know what you all are up to," he answered, oh so proudly. This time, she did sigh.
"I highly doubt that, Torold," she answered. Galidon shifted beside her - she knew that movement well enough by now. He was ready to defend her if necissary. She smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, but stop following us."
He nodded, all smiles. "Of course!"
For a moment, she considered throttling him. Finally, shaking her head, she turned and began making her way to the destination once more, Galidon at her heals. Torold's presence faded. He would be back. She knew that mischieveous smile of his too well for anything else.
Once there, they surveyed the land once more. Her initial planned placement altered slightly as Galidon made quiet suggestions. He had a good eye for terrain. She whispered further instructions over the communicators to Liadain, and then moved to the shadows. The two hunters hunkered down, thier race's natural ability making it nigh impossible to see them from a distance, thier cats mimicking thier form.
The sound of hooves above her made her grind her teeth. Torold jumped his mount onto the rock right in front of them, looking around. Galidon's blade unsheathed in the shadows, his face turning from it's normal calm to an annoyed glare. Silently, she placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. Torold was not thier enemy - though she wished she knew what it was he was thinking.
"I've landed in Thelsamar," her druidic friend's voice crackled over the communicator, nearly making her jump out of her skin.
Torold glanced around once more and, gratefully, finally rode off. With silent relief, she whispered back across the communicator, "Come to us, Northface - we are here."
Moments later, the druid slipped silently between them, prowling through the shadows in his cat form, eyes moving with his deep intelligence. Whispered instructions, whispered planning. He would use faerie fire as soon as she showed herself, to keep her from vanishing again. That would work better than the planned hunters' marks and poisoned arrows. The druid moved to his position, and Kurohane gave one final word to Liadain, that Northface was in place.
The minutes passed with grating drudgery, each seeming an hour in and of themselves. Kurohane's mind raced, checking over her plan until she found herself second guessing. What if Yomi did not show herself long enough for Northface to cast his spell? What if she was unable to get a mark off on the rogue, and the fiend spotted them? How close was she now? Why hadn't she thought to have someone along to watch and trail her?!
"She's coming," Liadain's voice hissed across the communicator. Kurohane felt the tightness in her chest loosen.
"You thought a step ahead of me..." she sighed in reliefe as a reply. "How close is she?"
"In the pass now," her friend answered, her calm never faultering.
Nodding more to herself than anything else, she passed the information along to Northface and Galidon. Moment's later, Northface's answer came - "I see her now."
"She's stopped and is poisoning and eating," Liadain's voice crackled once more.
Kurohane's heart raced in her chest, so loud she wondered why Liadain's voice didn't come once more, telling her to quiet it. Her fingers moved soundlessly across the fletching of her arrow, smoothing the feathers needlessly. This had to work. This had to go as planned... The gates opened and a soft curse escaped her lips before she could stop herself - Yomi was about as visible as she had been that day so long ago in Stormwind.
And then... A flurry of motion. The gaurds at the gate sprang to action, Northface flew from atop the pass, claws bared. Liadain and - was that Mayday?! - appeared as if from nowhere behind the rogue. Kurohane moved on instinct, her mountain lion, Balah, speeding past where she stopped to draw her bow taught. She heard the dual snaps as the arrows flew to thier target from both her's and Galidon's bows. Their cats found flesh. It seemed to last forever, it seemed to be over in a flash. How many shots she fired, she did not know. When Northface had taken the form of a bear, she was not sure.
Yomi lay motionless on the ground. Mayday smiled down at the corpse as Liadain snipped off a lock of the undead's hair and pocketed.
Slowly, she lowered her bow - but that was the only moment she took to calm herself. She dashed forward, sparring a wry smirk as she said off-handedly, "I should have know you'd bring him along. Thank you all for your help."
Liadain gave her welcome as Northface began checking to insure that no one had been seriously injured.
Her knee met dirt that was slowly starting to color with the black liquid from Yomi's wounds. Her fingers flipped open the bags on the rogue, searching quickly. Finally, she pulled forth the book - The Book of Locusts - and slipped it silently into her bag and stood, looking over to the human rogues. She knew what must be done now, but... Her stomach turned at the thought. Besides, Liadain might wish to do that task herself.
"Liadain, would you like to take her finger for me?" she offered, a touch more hopeful than she would have wished. "The one with the ring, if you like."
Thier gazes met levely and Liadain's simple answer brought back the ill feeling. "No."
"Very well," she answered, turning back as she reached for her skinning knife. It had to be done, she assured herself. It had be done - she had to retrieve the ring, but it could not look as though that was what she had been after. Izanami had to be protected. This was for Izanami, for her guildmate. She was about to cut off a finger... The thought of it must have paled her slightly.
"Ogema?" Galidon finally spoke up behind her.
Grateful for the excuse to delay the inevitable, she turned back to him. "Yes?"
"Would you wish for me to, since Liadain does not?" There was no grimace in his demeanor, no hesitation. He had always been far harder than she, and since recent events, he was nigh stone when he needed to be.
"Please," she all but sighed.
They all watched on in silence as he kneeled beside Yomi, drew out his skinning knife, drew it across the joint and jerked it free. She looked away for the briefest moment, forcing herself to breath. This had to be done. It was necissary. Silently, he stood and offered the finger, ring still upon it, to her. Thanking him, she pulled out a scrap of wool and wrapped it before placing it in her bag.
"That is all we need from her," the huntress stated with all the calm she could muster. Why was her heart still pounding so? "We should depart soon, I think."
Clasping her hands, she bowed to the two humans, offering her thanks once more. Liadain returned the bow as Mayday cheered at the gaurd that quite suddenly ran to dispatch a giant spider.
Turning, Northface smiled at the two hunters. "I shall remain with you on the way to Thesalmar, to ensure saftey, unless you plan on returning by more expedient means."
Yet again, Kurohane offered her gratitude, and the three Night Elves departed the scene.
Not half an hour later, Kurohane found herself back at the Pig and Whistle in Stormwind, Conidivh sitting across from her, and Izanami between them. The adreneline had finally left her system, and she could feel herself beginning to wilt with exhaustion. How could an ambush against one person be even more exhausting than the massive ambush she had been a part of with the Blades?
"Since you are here and whole," Conidivh intoned as they settled into thier seats - the tavern was now completely empty save them, "I assume the op was succesuful."
Kurohane nodded slightly, turning her gaze to the young priestess. "Izanami, may I see your ring please?"
Slowly, she drew her glove off of her delicate hand and held it up to reveal the glowing white ring. Kurohane sighed softly and unwrapped Yomi's finger, in her lap, enough to remove the matching, glowing, black ring. Izanami's gasp tore at her heart.
"That's my sister's!" she exclaimed, dropping her hand as her eyes widened.
"It was retrieved from Yomi's finger mere moments ago... I'm sorry, Izanami.."
The rest of the evening was passed comforting the young priestess, her tears staining her sleeves and thier matching black and gold tabards. Then, the full report given to Conidivh, who had been so helpful in orchestrating it all - the finger placed in the rogue's posession to be passed on to Garbhan... It was more of a blur than anything else, really. When finally Kurohane departed, Galidon once more at her side, her thoughts spun with new worries. What she had done could very well bring the Watch down on the Swordwaltzer's heads... But Izanami was under her protection. She did what she knew she had to do. The warning would be given in the morning. She fell easily into the waiting arms of sleep as Galidon reclined outside the door to her room.
It was late that night, the bells ringing the eleventh hour. She sat in the Pig and Whistle, Galidon - her fellow hunter, her officer, her near brother, and her ever present gaurd - sitting with her, both falling to silence as the patrons laughed and drank around them. It was nearly time to go. She had told him of her plan, and despite her reassurance that she would be fine, he had instisted on accompanying her. One last time she toyed the her communicator. She couldn't afford for this to fail. She could call in... No, no more people. It was nearly time, and she agreed with Liadain - the fewer who could do this and complete the task, the better. The four of them would be enough. After all, Yomi was only one person. Only... It was Yomi. She bit back a sigh and stood, her chair's scraping on the floor lost in the roucus of the tavern.
The two hunters moved silently down the stairs, out the tavern, and across the way to get changed into thier armor. This could not fail... It would not fail. She wished her mind sounded a bit more sure. She wished her smile when Torold came running up to her didn't feel so forced.
"Hide me!" the dwarven priest hissed, darting behind her. She couldn't help but chuckle at that, the smile turning a bit more earnest.
"What did you do now, Torold?" she answered, drily.
"Nothing, nothing! Just don't let Ehm catch me!"
The huntress cast a wry smirk to Galidon as he emerged in his armor, before turning her attention back to the dwarf. "Get behind the boxes then."
Nodding, he moved over a few steps and Kurohane turned to watch the entrance. The last time he'd asked her to help him in such a manner, the priest had pulled a prank that had him being chased for the next few hours. She didn't really have time for this... How long had it been since the bells had tolled the eleventh hour? Her smile faded.
"Watch this," the dwarf beamed suddenly, and before she could answer, he dashed back into the tavern.
The hunters exchanged a glance, shrugging a bit and moved cautiously towards the entrance.
"KUROHANE!!" she flinched as Torold called for her loud enough that likely all of Stormwind heard him. "HELP ME!!"
Sighing, but unable to help her rueful smile, she entered the tavern - only to find the dwarf surrounded.
"Oh by the... Torold, what did you do?" she laughed, shaking her head.
He seemed not to hear her, his gaze dashing from person to person. Finally, he filled his chest with air and pointed towards Kurohane. "Look! A duck!"
Nobody would fall for that, she thougth drily to herself. He would never be able to... Heads turned and he dashed between legs and out the other side of the entrance. A small laugh escaped her lips and she shook her head, turning to go out once more. He waited outside, upon his new mount, proud as could be.
"I'm sorry, Torold, but we really must be off now," she smiled at him, offering a small wave.
His grin instantly vanished, "You're going to meet Liadain, aren't you."
"Try not to get yourself killed," she answered over him as she and Galidon turned toward the Trade District and the griphons.
"Oh you don't worry about that," he laughed back, waving.
It was only moments later that she and Galidon were flying towards Ironforge. She gripped the feathers of her griphon tightly, her free hand holding the communicator as she spoke with Liadain, explaining her plan, reporting when Northface would be joining them. Another flight to Thelsamar - she listened to the wind whistling past her ears in the lull of conversations with Liadain, and now Northface as well. The wind spoke to druids... She wished it would speak to her as well, now.
"We're here - moving to the location," she whispered to Liadain across the communicators as she and Galidon took upon themselves the aspect of the Cheetah. "Northface is awaiting a portal to Ironforge, and then he will be here as well."
"Understood," came the crackled voice in return.
Things were going as planned. This was going to work. She took a deep breath of the mountain air as she ran towards the gate between the Searing Gorge and Loch Modan. A twig snapped. She jerked to a halt, spinning on her heals. Her eyes narrowed, her sences expanding. The familliar presence of Torold came to her and she barely kept back her sigh of exasperation. Slowly, steadly, she back moving towards him - his hiding place behind a tree a poor excuse of subtlty. He jerked as he saw her approach, called for his ram, and dashed off around the hillside. Only to stop just out of sight. She sighed and flipped open her communciator once more.
"Get over here. Now," she barely kept from snapping.
Grumbling, the dwarf appeared from behind the hill, glowering.
"What do you think you're doing, Torold?" she sighed, glancing to the passing moon overhead. Time was growing short.
"Following you. Well, not so much you. You're going to lead me to Liadain," he answered matter of factly.
She stilled her hands from flying up in the air in exasperation. "Whatever for?"
"I know what you all are up to," he answered, oh so proudly. This time, she did sigh.
"I highly doubt that, Torold," she answered. Galidon shifted beside her - she knew that movement well enough by now. He was ready to defend her if necissary. She smiled faintly. "I'm sorry, but stop following us."
He nodded, all smiles. "Of course!"
For a moment, she considered throttling him. Finally, shaking her head, she turned and began making her way to the destination once more, Galidon at her heals. Torold's presence faded. He would be back. She knew that mischieveous smile of his too well for anything else.
Once there, they surveyed the land once more. Her initial planned placement altered slightly as Galidon made quiet suggestions. He had a good eye for terrain. She whispered further instructions over the communicators to Liadain, and then moved to the shadows. The two hunters hunkered down, thier race's natural ability making it nigh impossible to see them from a distance, thier cats mimicking thier form.
The sound of hooves above her made her grind her teeth. Torold jumped his mount onto the rock right in front of them, looking around. Galidon's blade unsheathed in the shadows, his face turning from it's normal calm to an annoyed glare. Silently, she placed a hand on his arm, stopping him. Torold was not thier enemy - though she wished she knew what it was he was thinking.
"I've landed in Thelsamar," her druidic friend's voice crackled over the communicator, nearly making her jump out of her skin.
Torold glanced around once more and, gratefully, finally rode off. With silent relief, she whispered back across the communicator, "Come to us, Northface - we are here."
Moments later, the druid slipped silently between them, prowling through the shadows in his cat form, eyes moving with his deep intelligence. Whispered instructions, whispered planning. He would use faerie fire as soon as she showed herself, to keep her from vanishing again. That would work better than the planned hunters' marks and poisoned arrows. The druid moved to his position, and Kurohane gave one final word to Liadain, that Northface was in place.
The minutes passed with grating drudgery, each seeming an hour in and of themselves. Kurohane's mind raced, checking over her plan until she found herself second guessing. What if Yomi did not show herself long enough for Northface to cast his spell? What if she was unable to get a mark off on the rogue, and the fiend spotted them? How close was she now? Why hadn't she thought to have someone along to watch and trail her?!
"She's coming," Liadain's voice hissed across the communicator. Kurohane felt the tightness in her chest loosen.
"You thought a step ahead of me..." she sighed in reliefe as a reply. "How close is she?"
"In the pass now," her friend answered, her calm never faultering.
Nodding more to herself than anything else, she passed the information along to Northface and Galidon. Moment's later, Northface's answer came - "I see her now."
"She's stopped and is poisoning and eating," Liadain's voice crackled once more.
Kurohane's heart raced in her chest, so loud she wondered why Liadain's voice didn't come once more, telling her to quiet it. Her fingers moved soundlessly across the fletching of her arrow, smoothing the feathers needlessly. This had to work. This had to go as planned... The gates opened and a soft curse escaped her lips before she could stop herself - Yomi was about as visible as she had been that day so long ago in Stormwind.
And then... A flurry of motion. The gaurds at the gate sprang to action, Northface flew from atop the pass, claws bared. Liadain and - was that Mayday?! - appeared as if from nowhere behind the rogue. Kurohane moved on instinct, her mountain lion, Balah, speeding past where she stopped to draw her bow taught. She heard the dual snaps as the arrows flew to thier target from both her's and Galidon's bows. Their cats found flesh. It seemed to last forever, it seemed to be over in a flash. How many shots she fired, she did not know. When Northface had taken the form of a bear, she was not sure.
Yomi lay motionless on the ground. Mayday smiled down at the corpse as Liadain snipped off a lock of the undead's hair and pocketed.
Slowly, she lowered her bow - but that was the only moment she took to calm herself. She dashed forward, sparring a wry smirk as she said off-handedly, "I should have know you'd bring him along. Thank you all for your help."
Liadain gave her welcome as Northface began checking to insure that no one had been seriously injured.
Her knee met dirt that was slowly starting to color with the black liquid from Yomi's wounds. Her fingers flipped open the bags on the rogue, searching quickly. Finally, she pulled forth the book - The Book of Locusts - and slipped it silently into her bag and stood, looking over to the human rogues. She knew what must be done now, but... Her stomach turned at the thought. Besides, Liadain might wish to do that task herself.
"Liadain, would you like to take her finger for me?" she offered, a touch more hopeful than she would have wished. "The one with the ring, if you like."
Thier gazes met levely and Liadain's simple answer brought back the ill feeling. "No."
"Very well," she answered, turning back as she reached for her skinning knife. It had to be done, she assured herself. It had be done - she had to retrieve the ring, but it could not look as though that was what she had been after. Izanami had to be protected. This was for Izanami, for her guildmate. She was about to cut off a finger... The thought of it must have paled her slightly.
"Ogema?" Galidon finally spoke up behind her.
Grateful for the excuse to delay the inevitable, she turned back to him. "Yes?"
"Would you wish for me to, since Liadain does not?" There was no grimace in his demeanor, no hesitation. He had always been far harder than she, and since recent events, he was nigh stone when he needed to be.
"Please," she all but sighed.
They all watched on in silence as he kneeled beside Yomi, drew out his skinning knife, drew it across the joint and jerked it free. She looked away for the briefest moment, forcing herself to breath. This had to be done. It was necissary. Silently, he stood and offered the finger, ring still upon it, to her. Thanking him, she pulled out a scrap of wool and wrapped it before placing it in her bag.
"That is all we need from her," the huntress stated with all the calm she could muster. Why was her heart still pounding so? "We should depart soon, I think."
Clasping her hands, she bowed to the two humans, offering her thanks once more. Liadain returned the bow as Mayday cheered at the gaurd that quite suddenly ran to dispatch a giant spider.
Turning, Northface smiled at the two hunters. "I shall remain with you on the way to Thesalmar, to ensure saftey, unless you plan on returning by more expedient means."
Yet again, Kurohane offered her gratitude, and the three Night Elves departed the scene.
Not half an hour later, Kurohane found herself back at the Pig and Whistle in Stormwind, Conidivh sitting across from her, and Izanami between them. The adreneline had finally left her system, and she could feel herself beginning to wilt with exhaustion. How could an ambush against one person be even more exhausting than the massive ambush she had been a part of with the Blades?
"Since you are here and whole," Conidivh intoned as they settled into thier seats - the tavern was now completely empty save them, "I assume the op was succesuful."
Kurohane nodded slightly, turning her gaze to the young priestess. "Izanami, may I see your ring please?"
Slowly, she drew her glove off of her delicate hand and held it up to reveal the glowing white ring. Kurohane sighed softly and unwrapped Yomi's finger, in her lap, enough to remove the matching, glowing, black ring. Izanami's gasp tore at her heart.
"That's my sister's!" she exclaimed, dropping her hand as her eyes widened.
"It was retrieved from Yomi's finger mere moments ago... I'm sorry, Izanami.."
The rest of the evening was passed comforting the young priestess, her tears staining her sleeves and thier matching black and gold tabards. Then, the full report given to Conidivh, who had been so helpful in orchestrating it all - the finger placed in the rogue's posession to be passed on to Garbhan... It was more of a blur than anything else, really. When finally Kurohane departed, Galidon once more at her side, her thoughts spun with new worries. What she had done could very well bring the Watch down on the Swordwaltzer's heads... But Izanami was under her protection. She did what she knew she had to do. The warning would be given in the morning. She fell easily into the waiting arms of sleep as Galidon reclined outside the door to her room.