COINCIDENCE & KISMET: CHAPTER 6
Updated: Sep 27
THE FESTIVAL: PART TWO
"Ho. Ly. Shit."
Enoki glanced up at the warlock sitting across from him. "What?"
"She's. Laughing." Teegan said in that stuttered pattern of disbelief. Curiosity peaked, Enoki turned around so he could see what had the normally unflappable woman so stupefied. He didn't expect it to just be the night elf and Xan simply sitting at a table across the courtyard, talking civilly and laughing at whatever it was they were talking about, based on Teegan's reaction.
"Uh…huuuh…" Enoki drawled warily, looking back at Teegan with a confused look. The gnome was just staring, mouth agape, at her friend having what by all standards looked like a nice chat with a friend.
Enoki had initially gone to help Teegan thinking that she was in fact going to get more drinks for their table, and to ensure any actually spiking stayed to the non lethal levels. Almost an hour later, he and Teegan had only acquired two drinks and made it as far as the nearest table to the ale vendor on this side of the seating courtyard. Teegan had plopped herself down immediately and they had started talking and laughing and…Enoki found himself almost forgetting how horribly the night had started.
This had happened last year at various points throughout their trek to Booty Bay as well. They'd set out to do some task or set up something and get distracted. Often by the dumbest things. This time was no exception, though the initial subject matter was less amusing, as of course the first thing Teegan asked was whether or not he was going to ever actually tell her the whys and whats of their situation with the Horde Army, but when he'd shrugged and just said it was complicated, she'd let it pass with a smile and a shrug. With an internal sigh of relief, Enoki had fallen into that comfortable pattern of banter and tried to forget that they'd walked in on them while they were ankle deep in ransacked goods and vandalized raptor saddles.
It wasn't so much embarrassment at the situation; they'd crossed that bridge more times than he could count in that month of traveling. No, it was the fact that he had inadvertently developed a bit of a crush on her, and Teegan was a wildly inappropriate flirt on a normal day. Navigating that quagmire on a frayed temper was possibly the one of the worse scenarios Enokie could have come up with, and he wasn't exactly sure how to deal with it. Especially when she did things like flaunt how extremely ill fitted her dress was for someone with her chest size.
He knew his preferences in women were odd for a troll. Being...well...like he was and also being shit at finding the right words in the heat of the moment did not make it any easier. He had found it was better to hold back and say nothing concrete, letting any potential bed partners make the first move to avoid intimidating them. Most of the time that still ended badly the moment they realized he might be serious.
When out of habit he'd fired back at Teegan with a few flirty comments of his own, and she not only took that as a sign to start being more overt and physical with her teasing, but also to see just where he'd stop her, Enoki didn't really have a next step planned. He silently breathed a sigh of relief when Teegan had gotten distracted and switched topics to whatever was going on over at Xan's table.
"No no no you don't understand," Teegan stammered, seemingly oblivious to Enoki's internal dilemma. "Armesan. Is laughing. And not that polite canned laugh she gives people she's humoring! She's ACTUALLY enjoying herself!"
Enoki snorted. "Dat tends ta happen at a party, ya know."
Teegan shifted her focus back onto Enoki and shook her head. "Oh Red, you are delightfully oblivious to how significant this is for a thousand plus year old sour puss," she said airily, using the nickname she'd coined about an hour ago.
"So da cold aloof bitch act ain't an act? Kinda figured all da old Kaldorei are like dat," Enoki asked. Teegan did love her gossip, and he was happy for the distraction so he had a chance to sort through the idea that his crush might return the affections.
"Most Night Elves I know have some length of stick up their asses, you're not wrong. Personally, I attribute that to living in a tree for 10,000 years," Teegan said matter-of-factly. Enoki snorted at the casual insult to night elven habitats, which earned another proud grin from the gnome before she turned back to the topic of their gossip. "But no, she's not like that. I thought she was, when we first met, but with her it's different. It's not born from a sense of superiority or rightness or even duty like most of them."
Her expression shifted ever so slightly, that look of genuine concern reappearing.
"Den what is it?" Enoki pried, seizing on the opening of rare honestly amidst all of Teegan's boisterous flair.
Teegan didn't seem to mind and merely smiled sadly. "Sadness. I think. She's been alive a loooooong time, and even though I don't know all of it…I know some of what she's seen. That kind of shit does things to your head."
Enoki gave the Night elf one last glance of appraisal and turned back towards the warlock. "Ya known 'er long?"
"Long enough to have tried multiple times to get her to have a good time rather than skulking in the shadows and I have never once seen her laugh like this. Do you have any idea how many times I've tried to get her laid?" The gnomish woman threw her hands up in the direction of the assassin in exasperation.
"Ya be WAY too invested in ya friend's personal life, ya know dat, right?" Enoki grinned, side-eyeing the gnome.
"It's called a vested interest. The more she's having fun, the more I get to have fun. Do you have any idea how annoying it is when she gets all practical and shit? Which is all the time by the way - whoa what the fuck?!" Teegan interrupted herself with another gobsmacked expression on her face. Turning around Enoki saw that Xan had disappeared at some point when they weren't looking, and watched as Armesan tossed aside the mug she had been holding and was on the move, heading in the direction of the circle of dancers over by the bonfire at the center of the courtyard. Unfortunately he couldn't see much more than that, but Teegan hastily remedied that by standing on top of Enoki's drink stein to get a slightly higher vantage point.
"Holy fucking shit is she? She's dancing?! Willingly?!" the gnomish woman's jaw dropped and she hopped down so she could look Enoki in the face and say with extreme seriousness, "Whatever your brother is doing, I will do unspeakable things to make sure he keeps doing it."
Enoki just shook his head. "Da day Xan starts datin' is da day da world's gonna end."
"Well, then what unspeakable thing am I going to have to do to get you to do something?"
Enoki hadn't even realized she'd moved until she spoke, her voice having dropped a few octaves and switched to a VERY different tone. That was also the point where he realized she had snaked her arms around his neck from behind and was playing with some locks of his hair, just hovering outside of raking her sharpened fingernails along the sensitive skin of his neck.
"Ya want me ta throw a mug at ya an' drag ya out dancin'?" Enoki bantered back, tilting his head so he could see her better.
"I can always leave you to your ale if I'm boring you," Teegan snorted, flicking his ear playfully.
"I mean if ya want me ta do somethin' else ya might have ta be mo' specific," Enoki volleyed back with a wolfish grin.
"Hey. Warlock Bitch."
It would have been funny, if had been anyone else at any other moment, watching as both Teegan and Enoki's expressions went sour at the sound of the uninvited intruder. Enoki could hear Teegan's teeth grinding slightly in aggravation as she didn't even deign to turn around as she replied, "Go to hell, Pidge. I'm busy."
"You can stop humping legs for five minutes. We need to talk."
Enoki leaned off to the side enough to see Pidge, in all her disgruntled glory, standing behind Teegan on the ground, arms crossed and expression conveying it's usual disgust and barely restrained rage. His eyes narrowed as a low growl threatened to bubble up in his throat. Of all the fucking luck…
Teegan, far less restrained that him, let out a low growl of frustration and pushed back away from Enoki, very clearly reluctant to deal with their unwelcome visitor. "Argh….I…Don't go anywhere. I'll be….RIGHT back," she said quickly, glaring behind her for emphasis. Enoki gave one last glare at Pidge but muttered something akin to 'sure'. Satisfied with his response, Teegan hopped off the table and grabbed the death knight's arm, roughly dragging her into the crowds. It did Enoki's mood a bit of good to see Pidge scoff and try to throw the warlock's grip off only to fail and have Teegan speed up and pull her with her.
The girl could move and toss when she wanted to, that was for sure. However, Enoki's mirth was short lived as it only took one whole minute before fate saw fit to strike again. Though at least this time it was less abrasive than Pidge's ill timed arrival.
"Well whaddya know, 'noki actually does like girls. Jus' alot shortah den we figahed. An' here I thought I'd have ta come save ya from 'er clutches."
Enoki groaned, before turning around to see Sai'in standing behind him with an ale and a platter of some form of deep fried critter snack. She must've come over for the drinks they'd never brought back and seen him with Teegan nearly draped around his neck.
"Da fuck ya mean by dat?" Enoki drawled in a bored tone, a sharper edge than he'd like in his voice. Sai'in seemed to take note of it but simply grinned in that way that only siblings could do with each other.
"Ya were in da army, ya know da only t'ing anyone talks 'bout is who dey be fuckin' or who dey ain't fuckin'," she snorted with a grin, stepping closer and idly offering the platter to her brother. He sighed and picked some random fried thing off of it with grudging thanks. "Ya skip one too many mixahs an' people start ta talk. Ya nevah talk 'bout who ya fuck at da whorehouses, den people start takin' bets. It goes on long 'nough, it reaches da shaman ranks aaaaaall da way from da warrior barracks."
"Oh fuck you," Enoki snorted, flipping her off. Sai'in snickered proudly, but then a softer, more sincere look came over her face.
"Hey we were worried 'boutcha. Ya know we wouldn'a cared if ya liked guys or cows or whatevah. Xan's probably feelin' out a Night Elf, mah mate be debatably undead, an' Duma says it's all just a fuckin' mess an' is fine wit'out it. No one gonna be disownin' ya just 'cause ya got a t'ing fo' short girls," Sai'in said pointedly. Enoki had to laugh weakly at that one. She had a point.
"Sooooooo? She seems ta like ya."
Enoki sighed and began worrying the…probably spider leg with his teeth.
"Uh huh," he replied non-committedly.
"Aaaaand? Ya seem ta like 'er back."
"Uh huh."
"So whacha be doin' still sittin' 'ere drinkin' dis shitty ale an' not doin' what we all thought ya were doin'?"
"We had an unexpected interruption, if ya didn't notice," Enoki growled.
"Ya two disappeared an hour ago! An' ya just now gettin' around to it?"
Enoki was quiet for a while, nibbling on the spider leg while Sai'in just waited for his reply, showing no sign of intending to leave until she had an answer. Eventually, the warrior sighed and relented.
"Ya got any idea how rare a girl like her is outside da brothels?" Enoki sighed.
Sai'in blinked in confusion. "Gnome wit' big tits an' not a lick of common sense o' fear in 'er?"
Enoki gave his sister an irritated look. "What I mean is…a gnome who's pretty, funny, smart, fearless, an' doesn't balk when a guy mo' den twice 'er size shows an interest in 'er?"
Sai'in narrowed here eyes at her brother a bit until she parsed what he was implying and her red eyes went wide in surprise.
"Oh! Ya t'ink ya might LIKE 'er like 'er. Oh."
Enoki sighed. "Been tryin' ta figure out how ta deal wit dat when da Lich Queen ovah dere showed up." He jerked his thumb towards where Pidge and Teegan had gone.
"Okay, well da girl ain't shy 'bout sex, so show 'er ya ain't shy 'bout ya heart," Sai'in said after a momentary pause.
Enoki raised an eyeridge at his sister. "Sai…dis whole fuckin' night's been sideways from da start. I fuck up phrasin' t'ings half da time anyway, an' if ya haven't noticed, Teegan uses words like I use swords. An' every time I think I'm gettin' somewhere, somethin' else happens to mess t'ings up mo'. Startin' ta get da feelin' I should quit while I'm ahead."
After a moment, he heard his sister's telltale sigh and felt her hand on his shoulder sympathetically.
"Take it from someone who's been dere, waitin' don't make it any easier," Sai'in said softly, finally managing to draw Enoki's attention back to her. "Waitin' till ya got da perfect t'ing ta say is jus' gonna fuck wit' ya head until ya end up breakin' someone's face anyways."
"Speakin' from experience?" Enoki shot back harsher than he'd intended, but Sai'in merely grinned toothily and laughed.
"First t'ing I did when I met 'Tolo was bite 'im an' he still be keepin' me around, ya can't do much worse den dat,"she grinned and slugged him lightly in the shoulder again, and gathered up the various snacked and drinks as she headed back over to the table where Dotolo and Duma were entertaining Sohto. "Bettah a one-night stand an' a sore heart in da mornin' den nevah tryin' in da first place."
Enoki grunted a bit in acknowledgment and waved her off. Some days he really wished his siblings would mind their own damn business.
Even if they might have had some good points.
He wasn't sure how long he was just sitting there, weighing the pros and cons a various plans in his head when finally he had to admit that his sister was right, and either he'd key himself up enough that it would all blow up in his face anyway, or perhaps by some miracle it might work out somehow. So naturally, it was then, when he'd finally managed to convince himself of a course of action as soon as Teegan managed to come back from disposing of Pidge, that the other 'something else' happened.
"Enoki da fuckin' Breaker!"
Violently pulled out of his thoughts, Enoki bolted to attention, hackles raised because no one friendly ever really called him Breaker. Only people who knew him from the army used that nam-oh no.
"Oh fuck," Enoki muttered, scanning for the voice as soon as he realized what was probably about to happen.
Sure enough, Enoki spotted one of the troll soldiers who had been in the band of harassers likely responsible for their earlier mugging. He snarled threateningly, storming towards the lame warrior, weapon in hand. Duma must've gotten back at them good enough to convince them that the weapons ban wasn't worth honoring. "Ya fuckin' dead!"
Patrons scattered quickly once it became obvious the soldier was armed, some to watch from the sidelines, others to fetch guards. Path now clear, the disgruntled troll whose name Enoki absolutely did not remember, charged with murder in his eyes. He clearly expected this to be a quick fight in his favor, the way he charged without caution, or maybe he had suffered one humiliation too many and didn't care what happened, just so long as he got even with the one of the siblings.
Unfortunately for the soldier, while Enoki was not particularly graceful with his limp, he wasn't helpless. The axe came down hard, but before it could hit any intended mark, Enoki's arm shot out and grabbed the hand holding it, stopping it dead with a sickening crunch.
This was the last straw. He'd had enough. Fate wanted to fuck shit up tonight? He'd fuck shit up.
"Okay, ya wanna fuckin' go?" Enoki snarled at the soldier, eyes flashing bright red and his grip tightening enough that the creak of bones could be heard. "Let's fuckin' go."
If Enoki had been an uneasy powder keg before, that was the exact moment when the poor namless troll realized he'd lit a match and let it drop.
Gnomes as a rule did not move particularly fast if they didn't have to. It came with the shorter stride. But Teegan moved with a purpose and fury she rarely allowed anyone to see publicly unless she was lighting them on fire or commanding felhounds to devour them. Of all the fucking times, she had finally gotten up the nerve to finally outright ask if Enoki was interested in a good time tonight, and then this monstrous bitch had to just fucking ruin it.
Did she know how hard it was to convince men that she wasn't just some kid or doll? It was like a fucking production, getting people to look past her racial traits! Teegan had briefly considered trying to curse the Death Knight into screaming in fear for a few hours, but then remembered that the damn undead were nigh immune to her fears, and ultimately decided that the fastest and most efficient way to get rid of her was to see what the fuck she wanted. She just hoped she was far enough away that Enoki didn't have to hear any of this. People got weird when they thought too hard about exactly what kind of chops it takes to wield dark magic and demons like she did.
"Okay, you have exactly five minutes before have my felguard fuck you up for the rest of the night," Teegan snarled, shoving Pidge in front of her once they'd gotten far enough away from the constant stream of patrons. "What the fuck is so fucking important you couldn't just leave us the fuck alone for one night and wait until tomorrow?!"
"What's important is that while you assholes ditch your posts to go to a fucking bender, the FUCKING LICH KING is trying to kill and enslave EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING! I don't know about you fuckers, but I don't intend to just sit around and let him do that! But to stop him, I need fucking phials. And UNFORTUNATELY you're the only fucking bitch who seems to offer them as far as I can find," the diminutive Death Knight fumed.
"Gee with an attitude like that, I wonder why," Teegan deadpanned, armed crossed and face fixed in a glower that would make Armesan proud. "One. We're not 'ditching our posts,' we're officially on medical leave after that raid on the Lich's fortress. Two. We have been fighting the SAME EXACT SHIT you have for the last six fucking months. We KNOW what the stakes are. And three, your attitude and impatience is NOT my problem. If you want to charge back into the fray without taking a break, be my fucking guest. I am taking my EARNED R&R, and using it to recuperate and rest at a festival with my friends. It's called morale, and if you run out of that people tend not to give a shit about saving the fucking world."
"The fuck good is your morale going to do when we're all fucking dead? You think Arthas is going to go take a nap because we killed a few legions of ghouls or his Lich Bitch Kel'Thuzad?!" Pidge snapped back. "Evil like that doesn't just 'take a break' because you want to go fuck some cripple at a beerfest."
Teegan narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Pidge, I am going to be honest with you," Teegan said carefully, fingers twitching at her side in anger. "While I appreciate your insane fervor to murder that cosmically fucked up pretty boy paladin, I couldn't care less about your opinions on what I do. But if you insult any of my friends again, phials will be the least of your worries."
"Like I fucking care," was Pidge's easy reply. "I paid you double up front."
"And I told you we were heading to to the Eastern Kingdoms and I was not making them until we got back. You still did it anyway."
"Arthas is still out there and he is WINNING and he doesn't care about your morale, or your friends, or your fucking contracts, and I don't intend to just sit back and let him kill and enslave the world!"
"You don't intend to let him enslave you, you mean," Teegan shot back, her patience and grace fully expended. It probably wasn't the wisest to hit the death knight with that particular one-liner, but Teegan was well and truly fed up with the accusations. "Because that's really what this is about, isn't it?"
The rage in Pidge's expression could probably have melted glass.
"Say that again," she snarled and Teegan could hear the twang in her voice deepen and the hiss of magic boiling just beneath the surface.
Teegan narrowed her glare at the Death Knight. She and Armesan had figured out what Pidge's deal was awhile ago, and there was a sliver of sympathy for the woman. She'd gotten the short end of the resurrection stick; Her memories were scrambled beyond recovery, so badly, in fact, that she had only learned what her name was because it had been written on the back of the shirt she had died in. The best anyone had been able to figure was that she had been some sort of warrior, and the sheer amount of dark magic Arthas had instilled in his Death Knights when raising them had fucked her up extra badly. The standoff at Light's Hope that had freed them had only succeeded in messing her head up even worse.
She had been slated to be put down like a rabid dog until Armesan and Teegan had offered to take her voucher, and this wasn't the first time Teegan was second guessing their decision to intervene. The only thing that survived into this new life of Pidge's was rage and hatred for the one who had killed, and damned her. She had every right to want to wipe Arthas off the face of the planet. But she did not have the right to ruin what could possibly be one of the best nights Teegan and Armesan had had since this fucking war had started over a bunch of potions.
The warlock took a deep breath and let it out calmly.
"Okay," Teegan said through gritted teeth and narrowed eyes, steepling her fingers together to try and calm her mounting anger at the whole situation. "Here's how it's going to go down. We, are at a party. My best friend is having fun, and is potentially on the cusp of getting laid, possibly for the first time in 10,000 years. I am here to enjoy the night, HOPEFULLY, with that warrior you just dragged me away from if you didn't give him time to think and chicken out. So you, are going to chill the fuck out, and piss the night away in any way you want that does not ruin this party for us. Because if you ruin it? The Titans themselve will not be able to find where I shove your motherfucking phials. Do I make myself clear?"
"I could fucking kill you right fucking now," the death knight seethed.
Teegan's voice grew darker and she stamped down the urge to let her magic do the talking for her. "Go ahead. Try it. Just know that if you do, not only will you NOT get your phials, but I will make it so…sooooooo difficult for you," she said instead. "So. Difficult."
They stood there in the face off, Pidge visibly shaking as she warred with the urge to carry out her threat and what little of her common sense she still had in tact. Teegan braced for either outcome. Pidge was pretty powerful, and seemed nigh unkillable, but Teegan was no pushover either and she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. Armesan hadn't been able to disarm her of all her cards.
Eventually though, Pidge broke the stalemate and clicked her tongue in disgust. "Fuck you. Fine, whatever. Just don't die from some fucked up STD before you pay up you fucking slut."
Teegan let out a silent sigh of relief and put her mask of snarky humor back on. "Awww look at you, using all your big girl words," she cooed, completely unphased by Pidge's name calling. "You'll get your fucking phials when we're back in Northrend, but tonight is ours so fuck. Off."
Pidge just scoffed and pushed past Teegan, checking her roughly in the injured shoulder which the warlock was certain was intentional. The warlock let it pass with just a hiss. The situation was handled, and she had other, more enjoyable prospects to get back to.
"Alright, now that that's handled," Teegan sighed to herself, turning back to the party, but much to her dismay she noted that Enoki had disappeared from the table where she had left him. She couldn't help but facepalm in exasperation. "Oh come on, really?!"
Which is right about when Teegan heard the crash and finally noticed the crowd over by the far end of the food stalls. Mildly cursing her lack of height to see above the tables and legs, Teegan scaled the nearest bench to get a better vantage point. What she saw at the epicenter…well, on the one hand, she found Enoki. On the other….holy shit, was that really Enoki?
"What the actual fuck?!"
The crowd had closed in around what definitely LOOKED like Enoki and another troll who Teegan didn't recognize, except he was surrounded by shattered food stalls and benches, and had what looked like the remnants of a freshly broken table in one hand. The rest of said table was strewn around the other troll, with several very large chunks sticking out of his side. The troll was yelling something in either Orcish or Zandali that Teegan couldn't understand but she could hear the fear in his voice. Enoki on the other hand, either didn't hear it, or didn't care, because he lunged at the unknown troll and barely missed stabbing the table leg into the guy's neck. Enoki was aiming to kill.
"Hey hey hey, what the fuck is going on?!" Teegan grabbed the nearest dwarf who just happened to be sitting on the bench she'd climbed up on and was yelling something incoherent.
"Oh man itsh great!" the dwarf grinned, thoroughly plastered and enjoying the spectacle for what it was. "That skinny guy ran over with an axe an' tried ta attack that other one with the bad leg and Bad Leg is winning! Skinny has like three chairs in 'is back! Oh look! The orc is back! With axes this time!"
"With WHAT?!" Teegan balked and whirled back to the fight, where sure enough, an orc had joined the fray and was dual wielding axes.
"Git 'em Bad Leg!" the dwarf yelled, completely ignoring Teegan's question and focusing back on the fight.
Enoki seemed oblivious to the crowd and had abandoned the table leg in favor of just grabbing the troll the dwarf had named Skinny by the neck. The orc was coming in from behind in Enoki's blind spot and the guards were NOT stepping in.
"The fuck are you guys doing?!" Teegan yelled at the goblin bruisers on the sidelines, to no real avail as she was still too far away for them to hear her above the din of the boisterous crowd. Turning back Teegan shrieked as loud as she could, "ENOKI! LOOK-"
She would have said "out", but before she could finish her warning, Enoki whirled around and swung the troll in his grip like a rag doll at the orc, using the orc's own weapons to further injure the poor troll. Bowled over, the orc hit the dirt, and Teegan breathed a sigh of relief.
That relief however, was short lived as immediately after that, Enoki slam his foot down on the orc's shoulder and grabbed the arm that was still feebly holding onto the other axe that wasn't embedded in a screaming troll and started to pull.
"Holy shit you seeing this little miss?! And with the bad leg too!" The dwarf laughed, but Teegan was just stunned. The orc was screaming and she could see the bones dislocating and the arm starting to stretch to lengths that meant it was only a matter of time before it came off, and Enoki seemed almost gleeful at this.
"Ah fuck it's one of those berserkers."
The voice of the goblin bruisers somehow managed to reach Teegan's ears and break the spell she'd been put under watching Enoki, the very calm, level-headed, Enoki she had been flirting with all night, literally rip this orc soldier apart, and her head whipped around to focus on the guards. There was a new group that was closer to her than the other and one of the goblins seemed to be wearing some more authoritative looking armor than the others. She had been the one talking.
"Better call in the mages before he gets weapons," the goblin captain, or who Teegan assumed was the goblin captain, said, almost with a tired resigned sigh.
"I ain't goin' in there!" One of her underlings balked.
"Sheeping doesn't work on berserkers until you get them calmed down!"
The captain sighed again. "Fuck, get the big guys then."
Teegan glanced at the goblin bruisers and back at Enoki, who…oh yeah, nope that orc was definitely going to need a new arm.
"Shit shit shit…." the warlock muttered and before she really thought it through, leapt onto the table and raced across the sea of onlookers, pulling out the soul shards she'd sewn into the underside of her dress before they'd arrived. Imps and felhounds popped into existence as she cracked the soul shards, and she dimly heard various obscenities from the goblin captain and her bruisers, but she ignored them and climbed over the last hurdle of bar stools and tables into the circle. "Enoki stop!" Teegan yelled out, her last set of shards held in hand. Enoki didn't seem to notice so she threw a fireball just shy of his feet, sparing the orc actually having his limb entirely removed but...oh wow she didn't realize one orc could bleed that much from only one orifice.
She succeeded in drawing Enoki's attention, but there was something off in his expression, like he wasn't really seeing her, and seemed to simply note that she and about a dozen demons were standing opposite him, ready to fight.
"C'mon Red, you won, don't get the bruisers involved, please," Teegan pleaded quietly, but unfortunately her pleas went unheard. Enoki snarled in her direction and gave the poor orc's arm one final yank and threw the now dismembered arm at her before he leveled into a charge. Teegan sighed internally and shattered the last of her soul shards, calling forth a set of vilefiends that materialized just in time to take the hit and intercepted Enoki. "Pin him," Teegan hissed in demonic, her fingers flashing with felfire as she issued the binding command and her armada charged with gleeful fervor.
It was quite a spectacle really. Imps bounced and threw fireballs over the shoulders of the felhounds that charged and went for Enoki's legs, attempting to trip him while the vilefiend twins teamed up and each grabbed and arm, heaving their heavy bulk against the raging troll. And it still didn't entirely stop Enoki's charge.
"Fuck, what the hell is going on, Red," Teegan hissed. She saw an imp go flying and heard the sick crunch and pitiful whine which meant one of her felhounds had just been taken out. The vilefiends were still holding on but by a much slimmer margin than Teegan had expected. Whatever had gotten into Enoki…he was a monster.
"Alright, fine," the gnome said darkly, green eyes meeting eerie bright red. "If you won't stay down, I'll make you."
She was not as well versed in curses as some of the other warlocks, her specialty was with controlling multiple demons, but when she needed to, she could draw on the dark magics and twist it into curses. The problem was figuring out how to stop Enoki without actually hurting him. Would exhaustion even work on a berserker rage?
"Only one way to know," Teegan said and started chanting the incantation that would brand the target with the curse of exhaustion. There was a sickly snap of magic in the air and an audible growl when Enoki felt the curse attach itself, and then Teegan held her breath.
It didn't….not work…but it was enough to slow him and allow the vilefiends to hold him in place.
"Okay okay the gnome's got him, get the shackles!"
Teegan whirled around and saw the captain and goblin bruisers from earlier racing to fetch the mentioned shackles.
"No it's fine! You don't have to do that!" Teegan yelled, putting herself between the goblins and Enoki.
"Ain't takin' chances, lady!" the goblin captain said. "Rules are no weapons, no exceptions!"
"He doesn't have weapons!" Teegan yelled.
"Lady, the guy IS a weapon, if ya haven't noticed. Ungh, will someone get that guy's arm off the stalls? And…I guess get one of the healers? Is the skinny one dead?"
Teegan glanced back at Enoki, who seemed to have calmed down and was now shoving the vilefiends off of him sluggishly. The exhaustion curse was finally beginning to take effect, and that eerie red burn in his eyes seemed to have faded. With the goblins momentarily distracted, Teegan made a command decision.
"Enoki! Enoki!" Teegan hissed as she stomped over quickly. She didn't quite dismiss the demons but she commanded them to back up enough so she could get over to the warrior without stepping on them. She did not let the vilefiends release their hold on his arms yet.
"Teegan? Oh shit dese were yours?" Enoki blinked, as if his vision was finally clearing enough for him to make her out clearly.
"Hey lady, back da fuck outta there or we're gonna arrest yous too!"
Teegan ignored the captain's yelling and glared at Enoki. "Enoki, quick, who are these guys?"
"Teegan I'm sorry I-"
"Sorrys and what the fucks later!" the gnome snapped. "Who are they and who hit first?"
"Da raptah jackers," Enoki groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose, probably as the effects of the curse started digging in. "One of 'em came at meh wit an axe."
Teegan nodded. "Good enough," she said, snapping her fingers and dismissing her smaller demons.
"What are ya-"
"Shut up and watch as master at work, Red," Teegan said, a shaky grin on her face as she marched over to the goblin captain and prayed she was as good as she thought she was.
Teegan didn't often like to brag about her innate ability to bullshit people, but she had to admit, she'd just performed a miracle.
And…okay it definitely helped that Sai'in had come over with Duma at some point once word of the berserker attack spread. Sai'in had the rep as the local alchemist and the gnome had to admit, despite Duma being THE SHITTIEST rogue she'd ever met, he was pretty great bullshitter. Not as good as her, but credit where it was due, especially since her orcish wasn't that great.
Teegan had smooth talked the bruisers into hearing out Enoki's case, but they had refused to let him, or her, leave their sight the entire time, preventing Teegan from performing the same miracle on the festival organizers who were glaring daggers at them. Technically she had also violated the rules of the festival and the imps had lit a bit more than one stall on fire with their salvos. It was either be interrogated by the bruisers or the manacles, so the two of them had gone with the guards and let Sai'in and Duma take over.
Eventually, after enough people repeated a similar enough story, the goblins agreed that Enoki had simply been defending himself and it had gotten out of hand. And despite Teegan breaking the festival rules of smuggling in weapons, she had managed to keep damage limited to the food stalls, the chairs Enoki had broken over the troll soldier's back, and the two instigators. With a harsh warning that they were on probation for the remainder of the festival and would be banned if they got involved in any other shit, Teegan and Enoki were allowed to leave their custody.
Not that they went very far. Enoki was still sluggish from the exhaustion curse and didn't seem eager to return to his siblings, and Teegan, despite everything, refused to leave him half asleep on a table alone. So she simply hopped up next to where Enoki had been quietly sitting ever since she'd released him from her vilefiends and sat down. Enoki merely glanced over and attempted to scoot over to give her room, but he didn't get very far before he stumbled a bit.
"Shouldn't be too much longer before it wears off," Teegan piped up finally, breaking the silence that had descended over the two of them since they'd been released. She almost reached out to pat the warrior's shoulder but hesitated at the last second, unsure of where to go from there. Enoki noticed and simply sighed heavily, hunching forward and looking ahead at nothing in particular.
Teegan had salvaged some bad nights in the past, so it wasn't easy to throw her off her game, but tonight had made certain that whatever plans she had were thoroughly derailed. Enoki seemed in a similar mood.
"You know," Teegan chuckled, glancing up at the warrior out of the corner of her eye. "I didn't expect you to actually rip his arm off."
"Prob'ly woulda done worse if ya hadn't jumped in," Enoki grumbled.
Worse? Teegan worried her lip for a moment before she simply sighed internally and said,“Do you get mad like that a lot?”
Enoki sighed heavily. “I try not to.”
“So this has happened before?”
“On da battlefield mostly. Few times when I was youngah," Enoki muttered quietly.
Teegan blew out a frustrated breath again.
"They must've really deserved it. You didn't go that ballistic when you attacked us, the first time we met, and you thought we were abducting your sister." Teegan mused thoughtfully, following his gaze to the carnage of bar stalls strewn all over the food area.
Teegan didn't hide that she was fishing for an explanation. This was clearly beyond what any normal warrior at Enoki's level should be capable of, but it also was something he hid. And she knew a thing or two about having to hide abilities that others feared. Hells, it was what had gotten her banished from home all those years ago.
He didn't respond right away, but eventually she heard him say, "Sometimes when I get angry t’ings get…hazy and people get hurt. Bad.”
"I've met berserkers before, Enoki. None of them could fling people around like that with a crippled leg." Teegan chuckled half-heartedly at his not answer. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I won't take it personally but…don't treat me like I'm an idiot."
Teegan wasn't really surprised at the silence that followed, at this point she figured this was as far as their friendship went. But when eventually Enoki spoke up again, that did surprise her.
"It's not a troll t'ing," he muttered, seeming to fumble around how to phrase what he wanted to say. "Least, not a Darkspear t'ing. It's a Bloodscalp t'ing."
There was resignation in his voice that made Teegan turn her full attention to the warrior at her side. "Bloodscalp? I didn't think they were allied with the Horde."
"Oh they ain't. Not even close," Enoki nodded in agreement. "But our motha' was."
Suddenly the missing pieces clicked into place. The mentioning of 'purists', the odd treatment with the army, Enoki's weird berserker fury. She'd seen Stranglethorn, helped comb through the mess in Zul'Gurub. Teegan made a noise of understanding. "Ooooh, you're technically half-breeds."
"Mmm-hmmm. We ain't nevah been really accepted in da Horde. Da Bloodscalp traits ran too strong wit all of us fo' dat," the warrior muttered, hand propping up his chin as he hunched over staring ahead at nothing.
"So when you say berserker…" Teegan said slowly.
"It means somethin' very different," Enoki sighed. "Our motha called 'em True Berserkers."
“So you repress it?”
“Only t’ing I can do," Enoki blew out a breath. "Normally it ain't a problem, but…dis whole night. Nothin's gone right an' when dat asshole came runnin' at meh I jus'…snapped. An' made everythin' worse fo' everyone."
Teegan sighed. She couldn't refute it. Sai'in and Duma they'd left desperately trying to smooth the ruffled feathers of the local authorities without letting slip that technically Sai'in was his sister that was supposed to be dead. They had no idea where Xan and Armesan were, but assuming they'd heard the ruckus, and really Teegan was certain there was no way Armesan hadn't heard, she figured either one or both were doing something sneaky and rouge-y. Dotolo was probably hiding with Sohto. And she and Enoki were on Brewfest's shit list now, if not the damn Horde army's as well.
"Knew ya had a knack wit demons but…didn't t'ink ya could have dat many at once."
The gnomish woman snorted, glancing up at Enoki who was studying her out of the corner of his eye. A subtle jab back, but she couldn't really blame him. One doesn't exactly hop into bed with the woman who downed them with a curse and a dogpile of demons.
"Most can't. Some can," she said vaugely. Enoki made a sort of half assed chuckle in response but said nothing else.
They sat there in silence for awhile after that, watching as the party slowly built back up. The brewers brought out new kegs, the healing staff had stabilized Enoki's 'vicitms' and carted them off to Goblin jail. Within about ten minutes there was barely any indication than anything had happened at all, save for the lack of a few stalls and the flock of seagulls that had swarmed over the scattered food.
"I was seven when I summoned my first imp, you know."
Enoki blinked, turning to look down at Teegan who was still staring ahead, watching the seagulls peck at their feast.
"I was so proud, I ran right to my parents to show them. 'Look! I can do magic, just like you and Daddy!' I said to my mom," she continued without waiting for a response, pausing only to chuckle sadly at the memory. "I will never forget the look of utter disgust on their faces."
Teegan blew out a heavy sigh and leaned back, staring up at the stars that were just barely visible beyond the hazy glow of bonfires and torches.
"They took all my books after that. Tore them up. Burned them. Told me they would not tolerate such disgusting magic in their house. They were both from old mage families, well respected. They had a reputation to uphold and couldn't have their only daughter dabbling in the profane. I cried for a week," she laughed, but it was forced and hollow. "They replaced the books with 'proper arcane tomes', forced me to tutor with other arcane scholars. 'We will make a proper magister of you yet.' my dad declared."
She trailed off, not even sure where she was going with this anymore. Truth be told, she wasn't even sure why she was telling him any of this. It just felt…bad leaving Enoki hanging after he fessed up about his own skeletons in the closet. It didn't make it any less uncomfortable though. Teegan hated feeling uncomfortable.
"'m gonna guess dat did not work out so well fo' dem?" Enoki prompted suddenly. Teegan startled, not expecting Enoki to really respond, and finally looked over at the warrior, only to find him actually grinning with that curious lopsided grin she liked so much. She couldn't help but grin back with only a marginal amount of uncertainty.
"I was awful at it. Failed every mage qualification test they threw at me. No matter how much I tried it was never enough. And every time I tried and failed, the look of disappointment and disdain dug in a bit deeper. Until…I just didn't feel anything," the gnome shrugged helplessly. "I just…couldn't bring myself to care anymore. So….I didn't. I just did what I wanted; what I was good at. Lied about it. Told them I was studying their stupid mage books while I had imps go get grimoires from the warlock covens in all the nooks and crannies between Gnomergon and Ironforge. I was 14 when they finally figured it out and then…well….then I left. Haven't been back since."
Teegan glanced at Enoki again, and for a moment debated leaving it there, but in the end decided that she was already in this deep, might as well see it through.
"Not many warlocks can control that many demons at once, and I don't like showing off that part of me because it usually freaks people out, and…well I have enough trouble getting people to look past the whole 'you're a gnome' thing. Having to explain every time that yes I can control that many demons at once, no I did not sell my soul to Gul'dan, yes I know what I'm doing, no I'm not an idiot. It's fine when you're fighting and killing shit, but it kinda kills the mood when someone realizes you can summon a swarm of vilefiends on their head if they make too many short jokes."
"Makes it hard ta know when anyone's bein' honest though, don't it?" Enoki said quietly.
"In my experience honestly rarely ends well," Teegan scoffed sadly. "It's better not to risk getting too attached because no one sticks around once the sun comes up. No expectations except a fun night? No disappointment when the goodbyes start coming out."
"An' what if dey still wanna be dere in da mornin'?"
"I'll let you know if that ever happens," Teegan snorted dismissively, but after a moment she glanced over at Enoki who was still looking at her intensely. "What?"
Enoki raised an eyeridge at her. "Ya really find it dat hard ta believe dat someone might actually like ya fo' who ya are an' not just whacha look like?"
"Enoki, I JUST told you how every time I've opened up and been honest about myself with people they go screaming in the opposite direction," Teegan said bitterly. "I'm possibly one of the worst examples of gnomish society, and people who aren't gnomes don't see us as real people most of the time. We're…kids, or dolls, or jokes, or oddities to them, but we're not people. Anyone who says they 'like' me, usually means they like the novelty of me. Not the person. So yeah, I kinda do find that hard to believe. And if this is you saying YOU do, let's just remember I dogpiled you with demons and cursed you less than two hours ago."
"Teeg…ya watched me almost tear two people apart an' take out a not small amount of ya little demon army. Most people who ain't tryin' ta lock me up fo' dat are tryin' ta use me," Enoki volleyed, giving the gnome a rather incredulous look. "An' not only are ya still here, ya most riveting response ta all dat was 'Oh' and sharin' a story 'bout ya shitty childhood ta make me feel bettah. Novelties an' jokes don't do dat. People who care about ya do." He paused for a moment, looking like he was about to say something more, and after a beat he continued, but with a look of sad resignation. "An'…I like ya. A lot. But I ain't exactly interested in just being' anotha story ya swear A'm ta secrecy over."
Teegan's eyes went wide and her spine went ramrod straight. "What?! No that's not…Enoki I don't…that's not…" She stammered, panicking to find the right words, hands flailing as if that would help her explain what she was trying to say. Is that what he thought she thought of him? "I…I don't….you're not just..I don't think of you like….ARGH why is this so hard?!" she shrieked angrily settling on burying her face in her hands and hunching over, all to a very bewildered look from the troll at her side.
After a moment of muffled screaming into her hands, she took a deep breath and tried again. She very specifically didn't look at Enoki because that look of sadness had just about gutted her and she wasn't sure she could handle seeing it a second time.
"What I mean is…you're not…never were…I never thought of you as just another roll in the hay. And…I never meant to make you think that. But…I don't…plan ahead. With feelings. I just know that you're my friend and I like you, and I think you're attractive and I may have promised Stripes a lot of things if she broke me out of the Alliance's infirmary and helped me find you again and that's as far as I've gotten."
Enoki studied her for a moment but for the life of her, Teegan couldn't interpret the look. "So all dat flirtin' was…"
"My way of seeing which way you saw me," she sighed defeatedly. "Like I said, if you go into things with a low bar, you're rarely disappointed."
"An after da whole rippin people apart ting?" he said cautiously.
"Hey I'm a warlock, we have weird kinks, what can I say? That was…kinda hot…" Teegan said sheepishly. She tried flashing a grin up at Enoki but caught a rather surprised and confused look on his face and her heart sank a bit and the grin didn't quite reach her eyes anymore. Of course he'd be weirded out. When Enoki didn't answer right away, and just kind of sat there fidgeting a bit, the last few gasps of hope died out, and Teegan just sighed and made to hop down off the table "Yeah I'll just…you know…see ya later then."
"Gods 'n Loa, Teeg, will ya stop talkin' fo' ONE SECOND an' just sit da fuck down an' let meh think for a minute?!"
Teegan froze midway into getting to her feet, stuck with half a foot hanging in the air and an arm half holding herself up when Enoki snapped at her, an annoyed look on his face. For once in her life Teegan was speechless and merely sat back down comically, eyes wide at this sudden turn of events. This seemed to mollify Enoki and his expression lightened a bit.
"Ya really need ta let someone else get a word in edgewise, ya know dat?" the warrior sighed, shaking his head at the warlock. Teegan almost opened her mouth to protest but immediately clamped it shut when Enoki mocked glared at her. "First of all, I ain't askin' ya ta marry meh o' anythin'. I just wanted ta know if ya be lookin' fo' anythin' serious o' if dis is all fun an' games ta ya. Ya be so up an' in ya face 'bout everythin' it kinda be hard fo' me ta tell."
Teegan could not even hope to hide the flush of embarrassment as her pale face turned redder than it already was. Enoki, if he saw it, didn't comment and just ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "Ya say ya dun do feelin's? I dun do words. Nevah been much good wit 'em, so it doesn't always come out right. An' when t'ings are kinda fucked, I REALLY ain't good with 'em."
"You had me fooled," Teegan couldn't help but mutter but then clamped a hand over her mouth apologetically. Enoki chuckled at the slip and waved it off.
"Tellin' old war stories wit friends an' tellin' a girl half ya size ya wanna date 'er be a bit different," the warrior snorted. "'specially when ya be used ta people freakin' out on ya taste in women."
"Okay…okay that's….I didn't think about it that way," Teegan said softly. She glanced at the troll cautiously. "So what was with that look?"
"What look?"
"That look when I said I thought you taking out those assholes was kinda hot?"
"Teegan. I'm a guy, an' da girl I've had a crush on fo' half a year jus' told meh dat da ONE part of meh dat most people fear me fo' is a turn on for 'er. Wasn't sure I heard ya right," Enoki laughed incredulously, raising an eyebrow at her.
Teegan had to actively slap her forehead. "Oh my gooooods I thought you were all weirded out because I was a gnome and everyone always assumes gnomish women are these breakable little innocent dolls!"
"Who da fuck evah thought ya were innocent?!" Enoki barked out, laughing even harder now, and Teegan couldn't help but laugh along after awhile. It was a strained and weary laugh but it was desperately needed by the both of them.
"Okay…so here we are, sober, ankle deep in assault charges, sob stories, and feelings." Teegan groaned loudly and scrubbed at her face in frustration. "Ungh…This night really went tits up, didn't it?"
"Tits up an' ass backwards," Enoki agreed, but after a minute, nudged Teegan gently and grinned. "Least we be in good company, eh?"
"Yeah but…I'm not gonna lie. I'm kinda out of my depth here, Red," Teegan blew out a breath. "I'm not used to people sticking around when shit goes sideways."
"Okay, well, speakin' as a qualified expert on when shit goes sideways," Enoki grinned, indicating the festival at large and everything that had happened. "Far as I see it, dis is still a party, da guards said we could stay so long as we didn't start no more fights, ya still wearing dat skimpy t'ing ya call a dress, an' I still t'ink ya look hot as fuck in it." The warrior purred 'accidentally' dragging the back of his nails across her shoulder as he gently pushed her hair over to one side so he could lean close to her ear. "So maybe we pick up where we left off befo' all dis shit happened, and den…we see where dis goes from there."
Teegan arched her neck at the touch and hummed in approval, green eyes flashing playfully. "See where this goes hmm?" Teegan said coyly, leaning over and putting an elbow on Enoki's leg, looking directly up at him. The troll all but growled in approval. "Don't you want to see if you make it to morning first?"
"Pretty sure it's a safe bet, but if ya wanna call it fuckin' around an' findin' out I can work wit dat."
"Ya an' Duma got it all sorted?"
"We gotta have ALL da Gods an' Loa watchin' out fo' us, because I dun know HOW we ain't been caught wit all dis shit dats gone down. 'Parently mah name be Ramunda now by da way," Sai'in sighed heavily, slowly trudging back to the table where her mate was sitting. Dotolo snorted in amusement.
She had spent the last few hours with Duma smoothing things over with the festival runners and had spotted one of the surviving raptor jackers, the one Enoki hadn't torn the arm off of, on the road heading out of town. On a whim she asked one of the Ratchet guards if she knew where that guy was going. The goblin bruiser was one of Sai'in's regular clients and happily told her that he had said something about reporting some traitors and skulked off.
Sai'in had decided that maybe the local wild earth elementals needed to have some fun tonight, and made sure there was no body to bury.
"Of all da bone-headed fuckin' stupid things dey coulda done, dey picked a fight wit Enoki. Wit fuckin' weapons," Sai'in grumbled, leaning back in exasperation. "Dey always t'ink da stories be exaggerated cause he dun look da part." Dotolo chuckled and patted her shoulder sympathetically.
Sai'in leaned easily against Dotolo, taking that odd comfort she found in his cool skin. Sohto shifted a bit in his basket against the death knight's chest and snuggled in further, finally exhausting his seemingly endless energy supply and succumbing to sleep a few hours ago. Dotolo had happily offered to play the role of stationary bed post, while Sai'in and Duma played damage control after Teegan and Enoki got dragged off by the guards.
"Take it dey won't be botherin' no one no more?" Dotolo asked, knowing full well why Sai'in had returned dustier than she'd left.
Sai'in chuckled. He knew her well. "Least not dat one. Dunno where da otha ones went."
Dotolo nudged Sai'in's shoulder and when she looked up at him he grinned and nodded over towards the bonfire area. Most of the patrons were either passed out on the ground or had wandered home or to their inn rooms, given the hour, so it was easy to see what Dotolo was indicating. Xan and Armesan perched on one of the tables, still chatting and talking away as if nothing had happened, but Armesan had a dagger hilt sticking out of her boot that hadn't been there before, and Xan had what looked like its twin hastily shoved under his bracer.
"Dunno dat anyone's gonna know where da othas went either," Dotolo chuckled, careful not to rouse Sohto.
Sai'in had to laugh, but stifled it when Sohto moved a bit too much.
"Of course dose sneaks would do somethin'," Sai'in muttered after she was sure her son was still asleep.
Whatever doubts or fears she had harbored almost a year ago about Teegan and Armesan seemed so stupid now. Utterly ridiculous. If the feeling of sudden happiness when Teegan had said that they'd missed them hadn't more or less cemented it, or the way Armesan had let them joke around and tease her, the fact that it was the gnome who had stepped in between Enoki and the guards and saved him from doing something he really WOULD regret, or that apparently the night elf had helped clean up the loose ends before it could spiral further out of control, did. Whatever their racial alliances said, whatever other reasons they were here, Teegan and Armesan were their friends.
Friends they could trust. The one thing Sai'in had never truly had.
Sure, the thought had crossed her mind a few times during their journey from the Thandol Span to Booty Bay, but it wasn't until she'd exploded on that boat after they'd bid farewell to the two Alliance members, defending them against Duma's ranting and afterwards, that she had to confront the truth of the matter. What Duma had said back then was true; she had once upon a time looked upon the Alliance as their natural enemy. There was no question. But time and circumstance kept moving that needle, until now when she realized it had never bothered her when anyone spoke of the evils of the Alliance races before, but it bothered her now.
It bothered her because they were her friends. And they deserved better than to be slandered behind their backs, even if one was a Night Elf assassin and the other a gnome warlock.
The Death Knight that kept hanging around them could go to hell though.
"He sure knows 'ow ta pick 'em," Sai'in snorted, but part of her was happy for her brother. Like most of them, he didn't have many friends, if any, and at least he seemed to have cracked the night elf's shell and found a kindred spirit. Maybe both of them had.
"Did ya know she 'ad a son?" Sai'in asked idly as her thoughts wandered through the events of the evening.
Dotolo coughed a bit and didn't quite meet Sai'in's eyes, which meant he definitely had known. Sai'in gave him a bored look and slugged him gently in the shoulder. "Ya shoulda said somethin'."
"Dere wasn't much ta say. Just dat 'e was dead," Dotolo said defensively. "Wonder if Xan evah got da rest of dat story out of 'er."
"If anyone could, it'd be 'im," Sai'in snorted, giving the elf and her brother one last amused look. She leaned back against Dotolo and idly stroked Sohto's hair.
"Dis whole night was a fuckin' nightmare. But…I dunno…I ain't dat mad 'bout it?" she said softly, eyes studying the landscape of passed out patrons, late night chatters, and closing food stalls. "An' da parts dat weren't ruined….dey were fun. When was da last time we had fun?"
Dotolo just shrugged slightly. "Dunno," he replied. "Probl'y since we were travelin' wit 'em last?" He nodded at the elf.
"We sure dey ain't cursed? T'ings always get weird when dey be 'round," Sai'in said jokingly.
"Eh, dey could be," Dotolo snickered. "Only one way ta find out though. Maybe we'll have ta meet up wit 'em at Wintah Veil o' somethin'. Ya know. Fo' science."
The shaman smiled. Maybe. Maybe was a good place to start. Maybes had pulled her out of that trap and rescued her mind from the insanity of Zul'Gurub. Maybes had stopped Dotolo's runeblade and broke that last chain tying him to the Lich King. Maybes had put them on that road in Deadwind Pass.
And maybe, despite everything, maybe they could all be happy for a night. Because who the hell knew what would come by morning.
Xan was a bit surprised when he heard the gentle padding of leather boots come up beside him, but not as much as he would have been three days ago.
The aftermath of that first disaster of a night had further reaching consequences than they'd initially realized, and in hindsight, perhaps killing four Horde soldiers, no matter how much they deserved it and how useless they really were to the war effort, had not been the wisest course of action. It had been the smartest though. The chance that they would connect Sai'in to them was too great, and if word got back to the army, no amount of loyalty from the locals would be enough to keep her and her family safe.
Surprisingly, Xan had barely started explaining that he needed to take care of this when Armesan had handed him a dagger and asked what the targets looked like. It was almost scary how short of work her help made of them. Though he supposed that was what 10,000 years of experience got you. The end result, however correct it might've been, was that when those soldiers didn't report into Ogrimmar the next day, a few commanders came calling and asking questions. Too many questions.
Thankfully, between Teegan's gifted lies and some creative rumor mongering from Duma, what had actually happened and what everyone believed had happened were two very different things. Some Alliance officials came by as well, clearly having been here for their own R&R, but deciding to exercise due diligence and interrogate Teegan and Armesan separately, to about the same amount of success. Hell, even Pidge actually helped out by vouching for their stories, not that Xan thought she actually cared what those stories were just so long as it got Teegan released sooner. By the end of the third day, the offical story was that two of the four Horde soldiers had gotten blitzed and tried to steal some mounts for a joy ride, only to get lost in the barrens and fall to the elements. The two that had tangled with Enoki had mysteriously ended up dead a day later. The guards said they'd left them sleeping in the cells the night before and when they came to check on them in the morning they weren't breathing. The local alchemist, who definitely was not Sai'in going by a fake name, said there was a dangerous trend going around with some of the younger, dumber soldiers where they were mixing some of the contaminated herbs from Outland into drinks for some sort of cheap high. That was probably what stopped their hearts and definitely not an overdose of paralytic poisons.
However this entire thing had put a huge bullseye on Enoki's back because no amount of lying or bribing could cover up the fact that a supposedly crippled unarmed troll ripped two armed soldiers to pieces with little to no damage to himself, and had only been brought to a standstill by a veteran warlock with an armada of demons. The commanders that showed up had Enoki on the list for reinstatement and deployment before noon that first day. The next two days were spent deciding what the rest of them were going to do about it, and in the end, despite Enoki's protests, Xan's name was on the list too.
It went without saying that Sai'in…or rather 'Ramunda'…was needed locally as one of the only higher class alchemists in the area, but neither she nor Dotolo were practiced liars. But Duma and Xan were, and between the two of them Duma was better. He'd already inserted himself into Ratchet as 'Ramunda's cousin three times removed' that first night during the flurry of lies that explained who he was and why the bruisers should listen to him. It would be easy enough to transition that into a plausible reason why he would hang around and help run interference from any nosy recruiters who might look too closely at the whos and whys.
That left Xan, and really, it wasn't really much of a question. The commanders knew Enoki had siblings, enough people had seen them arrive together. If they gave the Horde two, they would likely stop looking for the third. So it was that they had said their goodbyes early that morning before too many people were awake and Sai'in and Duma had headed back to her hut where Dotolo and Sohto were waiting. That left Xan and Enoki to collect their belongings and head north to Ogrimmar, but for a very different reason than they'd originally intended.
Out of spite, they had decided to wait with Armesan, Teegan, and a surprisingly not-intensely disgruntled Pidge until their boat to the Eastern Kingdoms came back the next morning. If they were going to get drafted they were going to enjoy the damn festival for a few more hours before they signed the paperwork. Which was how Xan had ended up out here on the docks just staring at the empty port under the dim torchlight and distant mutterings from the brewfest patrons until he heard those familiar bootsteps on the planks behind him.
The almost comforting presence of the night elf rogue at his side was becoming more consistent as the days had gone on, and if he was being honest, he wasn’t sure what to do with it. He had a feeling she didn’t either.
“Hell of a way to spend a vacation,” the elf mused quietly, leaning out over the railing next to him and staring out at the moonlit waters.
“Eh, doin' things da easy way was nevah our style anyway,” Xan chuckled lightly.
“Mmm,” was the only response. The two stood there in companionable silence for awhile longer, the only sounds the gentle lap of waves on the dock posts. An occasional noise from where the mounts were stabled nearby.
“I suppose this will be good-bye then,” Armesan said quietly, glancing out of the corner of her eye to gauge Xan’s reaction. He replied in kind, eliciting a small smirk from the night elf.
“Guess so,” Xan snorted, earning a light jab in the ribs at the comment.
"Stuck up in Northrend fighting hordes of undead for the foreseeable future. Death is pretty likely. The odds of us seeing each other again are pretty low, wouldn’t you say?”
“Well ain’t you the cheery one,” Xan mumbled.
They were silent for a few moments more, almost long enough to believe the conversation was over, until very suddenly Armesan spoke up again.
“You know…” she said nonchalantly, not quite looking in Xan's direction. “Despite what our oh so idiot leaders might say, we’re all fighting the same war on the same side. And I hear that a lot of the missions Alliance troops are sent out on are crossing paths with Horde ones these days. You know…if you happen to find yourself in the field. In Northrend,” she mused idly, almost as if she were just thinking out loud. "I hear two rogues are better than one."
“If it jus’ so happens, ‘eh?” Xan grinned, but let the question hang for a bit. An offer of friendship in the field. Sure the two of them had bonded some over a shared profession but Xan had to admit, he had not expected to hear her make the offer.
The troll fully turned to look at the night elf. For all the world she seemed to just be calmly looking out over the ocean, but a keen observer would notice that she was standing a bit too still, her muscles tensed in a way that meant they could spring into action at any moment. As if she were holding her breath for what came next.
His initial interest in the elf was purely threat assessment when they'd first met, but he'd be lying if he said he wasn’t intrigued by her at this point. Sure she was beautiful; most of her race tended to be, but there was something about her that kept needling him in that way he knew meant he wouldn't be able to leave her alone. And on some level she seemed to be of a similar mindset. But this…aiding each other in the field…what they would be toying with could by some be considered treason, and he had no plans of dying just to hang out with a friend. His old instincts from his spy days kicked in, and he sighed. He wanted to say yes, but he needed to know her reason for the offer.
“Ya be an odd one, ya know dat A’m?” Xan started cautiously. “Figured ya for any other Alliance elf, but not only have ya helped an' outright saved mah family multiple times, but now ya offerin' ta work wit' a troll on da battlefield? Most of ya Alliance t'ink we be barbaric monstahs.”
The Night Elf chuckled slightly, but she didn’t respond right away. He saw her biting her lip some, as if debating how to phrase what she wanted to say.
“I have always been….different. I love my people, I love who and what I am, but my people’s culture has a stagnation problem. They are unbending and unwilling to change without significant amounts of time to assess and adapt. And as you may have noticed, I do not share their opinion on judging people simply by what race they were born to. What matters to me is who they are, not what.” She glanced over at the troll. “It’s why I traveled during the Long Vigil, why I opted for adventuring work with an overzealous gnome warlock over solitary mercenary life…” She paused and grinned up at him as she continued. “And it’s why I decided to help two lost trolls ferry an orphanage to Booty Bay. Your lives have been so short compared to ours and yet you embrace life and change with such fervor, it’s almost envious. Plus, I have been alone for most of my very long life, and despite everything to the contrary, I find that…I enjoy your company.”
“What about Teegan?” Xan remarked, though he relaxed some at the honesty in her answer.
“You mean to tell me you don’t think that Teegan and Enoki are having this exact same conversation right now?” Armesan raised an elongated eyebrow at him.
“Ya kiddin’? Dey had it last night. Among otha’ t’ings.” Xan countered.
That elicited a proper laugh from the Night Elf which she actually had to stifle as it echoed across the docks. “I already know way too much about what my best friend does when she’s horny, I do not need to know any more.”
"How ya t'ink I feel, dats mah brotha'!"
Armesan snorted in response, shaking her head and muttering something in Darnassian that probably amounted to 'like he needed convincing'. Xan made a mental note to brush up on his Darnassian sooner rather than later.
“Regardless, unfortunately it’s more than likely Teegan will start getting sent to the more direct assault fronts. I will likely start being sent to spy and assassinate as needed. The days of contracts are quickly coming to an end.”
“So I’m just ya replacement friend cause ya lonely?” Xan raised an eyeridge at her.
Armesan held up her hands innocently. “I’m not replacing anyone. I just am aware of how isolating our particular line of work gets during these sorts of conflicts, and thought you might also be interested in a reprieve from that isolation as well.” she looked out over the water at the reflection of the moon and it’s silver glow that was cast down on them.
“Friends at a party be different den trustin’ someone on da battlefield,” Xan volleyed.
The assassin shrugged. “You’re free to decline, and if we live, maybe I’ll catch you at the next Festival and we’ll have a few more stories to swap.”
Xan studied her a bit, noting how her features had fallen ever so slightly as the conversation had gone on, but that familiar air of guarded indifference and aloofness that seemed to serve as her shield was creeping back in. He recognized it well, he’d worn such a shield back when he was still active in the rogue guilds, and if he was right, she probably only let it down around Teegan, and now maybe she had started dropping it around him. Interesting.
The troll made a bit of a show of indecision, but his grin gave it away at the end. “Eh, why not? If ya gonna be stuck goin’ ta war eitha way, why not go wit someone wit 15,000 years undah her belt?”
Armesan’s eyes went wide for a brief moment, having been pretty certain he was going to decline. It was an amusing display watching the smile threaten to appear, only for her to wrinkle her nose at him when she registered what else he'd said.
"I told you that's not my actual age, you ass."
Xan chuckled at her mock indignation. “What ‘bout ya grumpy Death Knight friend?”
The night elf actually face palmed at the mention of Pidge. “An unwelcome albatross that has attached itself to us. So long as Teegan continues to supply her, I don't see her going anywhere, but I also don't see her trying anything aggressive towards us. So long as the Lich King exists as a target for her rage, you need not fear her wrath."
"An' aftah?"
"Ask me that if we live."
"Fair 'nough."
"Though I did overhear Teegan say something about throwing Engineering schematics at her and she's been much less insufferable since. I think we might've accidentally found that little monster a hobby."
"Gods an' Loa help us," Xan snorted in amusement.
The conversation lapsed some then, picked up with some idle comment and segued into Armesan giving him a shortened version of the true goings on in Northrend, and in the back of his mind Xan couldn't help but think that despite the fact that his family was being forced apart, facing either horrifying odds of survival in war or potential discovery and capture, somehow this didn't feel like the end of things.
It felt like a beginning.