[IC] "Shadows of the Past", a Warcraft Roleplay

[Sinerathin]

"Oh hot damn."

Donald's face suddenly gained a pale tint as Shani told him everything. All the memories were now coming back to him! From the contract, to the Night Elves chasing him, and to his client betraying him.

"Your 'mistress'?" Donald asked with a curious look on his face.
"The tall one with the big ass?"

However, his last question didn't seem to improve Shani's mood at all. If looks could kill, he would have been dead by now as the Night Elf glared ominously down at him.
Fortunately for Donald, on the other hand, a spectacle that occurred behind him seemed to have taken Shani's attention away from him for a moment. As the assassin tried to twist around to see what was going on, he didn't see much more than the group around the table having grown silent, and further away a rather pleased pink haired Night Elf was sitting on the floor.

"Well, to get back to your original question... " Donald quickly said, peering back up at his large captor as he attempted to change the topic over to something that was less likely to get him killed in a righteous retribution from the Night Elf.
"I am quite good with a blade, and have won my share of marksman competitions with my crossbow. I am also no stranger to hand-to-hand combat."

[Rithy]

“…it seemed like a good idea at the time, okay? Don’t question it.”

Rithrynn's eyes only grew in size multiple times as she stared down at Kat-Liaena with a dumbfounded expression on her face. She knew that Liaena was capable of some pretty stupid things, and that logical thinking was not one of the virtues that the human girl prided herself on possessing, but whatever Liaena was doing now seemed nothing but outright retarded on every single level!

The Night Elf suddenly lifted Kat-Liaena closer to her eye to get a better look at the tiny human female, to see if her skin color was off or if her pupils were at an unnormal size.

"How many potions have you been drinking lately, Li?" Rithrynn asked quizzically as she studied Kat-Liaena in vain for any signs of severe potion, opium or alcohol abuse and ingestion, twisting Kat-Liaena around and holding her up-side-down as she looked for any clues.
Liaena was an alchemist after all, and the only thing that could explain the little human girl waltzing into a room full of Night Elves and picking a fight in their tournament, short of a complete mental breakdown and abolishment of any sanity that may been left in her skull, could only be severe chemical and drug abuse.

"I think you really need to cut back on them. They are bad for your health! - and brain."

*

"What did you say about the Captain?!" Shani immediately sneered down at the little prisoner in her hand, raising him up above her nose. Although the description he had given 'tall and with a big ass' could be very general and not very practical in identifying a single member within the warband, Shani knew all too well who the human was referring to.

Frankly, it was not the Captain's honor she was too worried about. Rather, it was the joy of seeing Donald's face steadily lose any remaining color that amused Shani.

"You know what, I think you do look delicious... " Shani said with a wicked grin, before suddenly lifting Donald further up above her head by his cloak. Opening her mouth up, she suddenly dropped the assassin down into it and closed it.

Yet, mere seconds after she had closed her mouth; Shani's eyes suddenly flew back open as she immediately raised a hand to cover her mouth.
The assassin in her mouth tasted nothing short of vile bile, sewage and feces, most likely from the sewer that they had captured him in! The Night Elf's cheeks immediately turned slightly green, before she looked down and spat the assassin down into her lap!

"Blaaaargh... eeeew!" Shani exclaimed, quickly reaching for the nearest wine glass to wash away the horrid taste that had infected her mouth.
"You're disgusting!"

[Feychild]

“wh…what?” Kathlin gasped as she dangled upside down. The satchel dangled dangerously and she caught it just in time to stop several vials falling out of it and plummeting towards the floor.

Dumped back into the relative safety of the palm of Rithrynn’s hand, the girl gave a sigh of relief at being on solid-ish ground again. Looking up at her large captor, the Night Elf seemed to be waiting for an answer of some sort.

“…yes. You’re probably right. I should cut back”

“…..”

“….Really?”

“uhh…sure. Lets go with that” Kathlin mumbled. A hand was vaguely flapped at Rithrynn, who looked as if she was about to have considerably more to say on the matter. “talk to me about this later, okay?”

In the short lull in conversation that this remark afforded her, the girl managed to make her way to upright, clinging to Rithrynn’s thumb to retain her precarious balance. Around the room, Night Elves were engaging in the sort of festivities that told her that while not entirely stable, Rithrynn’s hand was probably the safest place to remain for now.

The one elf that wasn’t involved in a gang or a pair of some sort; Shani; who sat alone in a chair looking deeply aggrieved with the world around her, caught her eye. She was also wearing a black cloak and –

“BLAARGH!”

“Arghhhhhh!”

Kathlin watched, spellbound, as a small, tiny, shrieking human covered in mucus flew out of Shani’s mouth. Landing on her lap, he floundered around in the folds of her cloak as he desperately tried to escape.

“Night Elves….eat…humans?”

“………..”

“Okay, that’s a bit worrying”

Turning back round to Rithrynn, Kathlin suddenly realised she was far closer to her mouth and sharp white teeth than she could perhaps have wished for as she gestured over at Shani, wordlessly asking her to make sense of the situation. “…what is she doing?”

[Sinerathin]

Donald lay in a pile of saliva on Shani's lap, covered from top to toe in the stuff as he stared down at his sticky hands. It was hard for him to decide what was worst. A bath in the sewer or that Night Elf's mouth?

But in all honesty, that was an easy decision: obviously the sewer could not swallow you!

"That's it, I'm out!"

At that moment, Donald decided that he didn't want to end his journey in some Night Elf's belly. With no regard for the consequences that might follow, he suddenly kicked off against the cloth in Shani's lap as he launched himself forward in a desperate escape attempt, shambling towards the edges of her lap by her knees!
Before Shani had time to move her hand from her mouth and down to grab him, Donald threw himself off her lap and plunged down the fall, bumping against and rolling down along her greaves before landing with a thud down on the soft carpet. Pumped up on adrenaline, Donald immediately recovered and went up on all four; ready to leap away!

A lesser, more foolish man might have chosen to run directly away from Shani, out on the open and exposed spaces of the carpet.

Donald, however, being trained in the arts of escape as he was, knew the folly and promised doom that would result from of attempting such an endeavor. Instead of running away from Shani, he instead slipped right between her legs and beneath her chair; using his small size to his own advantage as he ducked and dived beneath the larger objects of the room.

"Hasta la vista, baby. I'm sorry it did not work out for us!"

He yelled back as he ran for all he was worth!

As he reached the end of the line of low chairs and table, he moved to the side and jumped on top of the ankle of a Night Elf lying on the floor; passing over and along her sleeping body like a bridge before jumping off her head and down under a chair on the side side of the room. Zig-zagging between purple feet and wine bottles, he took a daring escape beneath the tournament table and the dozen of feet that surrounded it in order to avoid Shani, whom by then seemed to be the only elf in the room that had picked up on his escape!

"It's all or nothing now... "

[Rithy]

Rithrynn threw a confused look down at Kat-Liaena.

Kat-Liaena seemed outright scared and uncomfortable, something that was not a usual sight for Liaena. Usually, Liaena's complete lack of any self-preservation instinct or regard for her own safety left her normally very untroubled. Yet in this moment, the intrepid girl was showing signs of fear all over.
Which was strange, as the only times Rithrynn had ever seen Liaena display any sense of fear or reason for that matter was when someone else's life; particularly Sharon's; was in danger. And reading from Liaena's body signs and her expression of fear, this could only mean two things.

1. Sharon's life was in danger, and Liaena knew it.
or
2. Liaena was currently going on her wildest acid trip EVER following the unwise ingestion of a copious and ludicrous amount of home-made potions and chemicals.

"She'll be dead before she is even thirty... "

Eventually though, Rithrynn suddenly picked up on Kat-Liaena's silent suggestion and motion through the room and towards Shani. Just in time to see Donald roll off her knee, where the assassin barely managed to dive under the chair before the steamroller that was Shani launched herself into the floor where he had been less than a second ago.

"Uhm... " Rithrynn said, yet paused for a moment as she followed the bizarre cat-and-mouse scene between Shani and the tiny assassin.
"She is supposed to be guardian our prisoner... "

Rithrynn returned Kat-Liaena's own fear and worry with confusion as the sentinel scratched her own head, mentally trying to make sense of the whole scene.

Standing close to the exit, Rithrynn suddenly saw the tiny figure of Donald appear from beneath a furniture; racing between bottles and plates to reach the exit to the room. Yet, in a quick action, Rithrynn suddenly lunged forward and stepped down on Donald's cloak: stopping him dead in his track and caused him to gag himself on his own cloak buckle.

"Shani, I got him! You can stop now!" Rithrynn called out as she bent over to pick up the tiny assassin, holding him next to Kat-Liaena before she stared out across the room to see Shani, ramming at full speed towards the crowd around the tournament table where she had last seen Donald disappear.

" ... shani?"

...

*CRASH*

"AAIIIIIIII"

*BANG*

*CRACK*

[Feychild]

Spying on the elves from the comparative safety of the servants passage, Liaena’s eyes lit up as she watched Shani’s epic fail, and the subsequent loss of Donald. Running along the passage to let herself out into the hall outside the noisy living room, she stole up to the door to lurk expectantly behind it.

And lurked.

And….lurked.

"Shani, I got him! You can stop now!"

“……”

“….DAMMIT, Rithrynn!”

There were many torrents of abuse that the small human would have liked to hurl at the well-meaning elf as she pondered what to do next. Turning the handle, Liaena crouched down to hide herself behind the door as she took a furtive peek inside. Thankfully, most elves in the room were more preoccupied at staring at mess that Shani had made of the dinner table, including Rithrynn, who was standing just inside the door with her back to her.

*

“Uhhhh….Hi” Kathlin said uneasily as she looked over at Donald, who was being held in a pincer grip between Rithrynn’s fingers, in a very similar position to herself. The hesitation was born out of a strong sense that she should say something, if only to remain in character, but a subsequent difficulty in finding common ground with a man she had recently observed getting eaten by a Night Elf.

“Look on the bright side. It could have been the other end?”

What Donald would have said to that was unknown, as at that moment Rithrynn felt a hand unexpectedly grasp her ankle. Lying on her stomach outside the room, Liaena had reached into the room to coil her fingers around Rithrynn’s ankle, quietly lift her up and swing her foot around to send the Night Elf crashing to the floor with a squeal of surprise, mini-people flying everywhere with the incredibly inelegant landing.

Free, Kathlin found herself dazed and sitting on the floor, only a foot away from where Donald had landed. Glancing over at Donald as the brawl Shani had caused went on behind them and chaos reigned supreme, the pair exchanged a single glance as they clambered to their feet, before turning to flee in opposite directions.

For Donalds part, freedom was so very close. Racing towards the door, it had even been left open, a small gap between door and frame beckoning invitingly as if it had been left just for him, as he crawled through…

To be snatched up and stuffed into an empty stocking, shaken down into the end of the makeshift ‘sack’ as Liaena tied a knot in the open end. Dumping the now angrily kicking and shaking stocking into her satchel, she bolted for the servants passage as though all the hounds of hell were after her, which in a certain sense indeed they probably were, slamming the door behind her and ramming home the rusty bolt.
*

“Uh-oh” Kathlin mumbled to herself quietly as she edged around the leg of an armchair, which under the current circumstances seemed to be the safest place she could find for herself for the moment. Picking up the satchel that Liaena had so carelessly thrown at her, she hurriedly thumbed through the contents, squinting at each label as she tried to make out the chicken-scratch writing. “Shrink antidote, antidote….why do you never have antidotes, Li?”

“…..”

“….although I apparently have enough TNT to take the room with me, if it comes to that”

[Rithy]

Rithrynn watched with both horror and amazement as Shani plunged into the unsuspecting crowd around the tournament table, like a bowling ball heading on a royal strike.
As Shani crashed into them like a comet, Night Elves were pushed over like pins in a humanoid domino! The tournament table broke under the weight and collapsed, and tiny elves who had been participating in the tournament flew screaming in every direction. It had become a giant mess of purple limbs and ears, with curses and shouts echoing above.

“Elune, what a mess… “

Yet, Rithrynn did not have much time to study the little disaster that Shani had created, before someone suddenly grabbed her foot and pulled it away from under her; resulting in her doing an impressively un-acrobatic dive face first into the floor!

*CRASH*

“Owww… who did that?!!” Rithrynn groaned as she pulled her face up from the floor, rubbing her forehead. Fortunately for her, the room was properly covered with carpets that had cushioned her fall, some of which had been scavenged from other parts of Sharon’s house by her warband with or without his consent.
Rithrynn snarled as she stared angrily around to find the joker who had sent her to the floor, but saw no one behind her. Instead, she saw that the mess that Shani had started had managed to evolve into an unregulated brawl and free-for-all match!

The fight had quickly grow to encompass more than half the living room. At least half a dozen more sentinels had been embroiled in the growing brawl, either from being hit by stray punches, objects or flying elves.
Punches, wrestling movies, furniture and art decorations were all used as weapons in the fight, where no holds were barred!

One Night Elf gracefully dodged an incoming blow from one of her sisters, to quickly come back with a leg sweep and send her on her back. But the victory was short lived as out of nowhere, another Sentinel cannonballed into her and sent them both into the wall!
Naliyah, who had previously been enjoying the struggle of Janessa in her rear, had become aware of the fighting in the room all around her, not to mention how everyone were busy with the giant fight in the room, something that usually tended to demand your attention. But what caught most of her attention was a small sentinel running for cover from the ‘giants’ fighting overhead, before taking a quick refuge behind Naliyah.
A sly smirk suddenly forming on her face, as Naliyah slowly raised herself up into the air. The tiny elf was in the middle of catching her breath, before she noticed that a shadow was forming around her. Gaining a puzzled look on her face, she gazed up to see what it was – only to gasp before Naliyah’s large butt slumped right down over her, reverberating as it crashed down on the carpet.
“Hihi, scooore!” Naliyah giggled to herself as she pumped her fist, wriggling her butt around triumphantly.

The few Night Elves who had not been pulled into the fight so far, were either huddling together in the corners or still snoring blissfully away on the floor, unaware of the fight going on above them, or the fact they were being used as make-shift fight mattresses. One of them was gracefully dancing through the fight while also balancing her wine goblet, avoiding one fight after another, and ducking down just in time to avoid a flying chair that passed over her!

Rithrynn looked around, and suddenly realized that the two shrunk humans she had been holding were gone!

“Oh no, where are they?!”

Rithrynn quickly rolled over to see if she hadn’t accidentally fallen on them, but there was no disheveled Liaena or Donald on the floor under her or stuck to her belly.
Scanning the room around her, she looked for any clues. It was total chaos in the room, she couldn’t leave a tiny Liaena on her own!
Cursing herself, Rithrynn began to crawl around the room on all four, moving between the legs of the fighting sentinels as she searched for the tiny figure of Kat-Liaena behind wine bottles or the beneath furniture, while simultaneously ducking and avoiding any flying objects or sisters.

“Liiii, where are you?!”

[Sinerathin]

"Not again!"

Donald cried out as he was suddenly snatched away, and stuffed into a glorified sock. Tumbling to the bottom, the assassin spouted out curses and swear words on his way down.

This was the third time he had been captured. In just one day! For a supposedly masterful assassin, thief and rogue like himself, it was nothing short of outrageous! Professional had standards, yet now, any level of quality or professionalism that Donald had established throughout his career was quickly being abolished by one stroke of bad luck followed by another!

"This can't be happening, grrrllwwll!" Donald sneered to himself while grinding his teeth together, before shuffling around in an attempt to sit in a somewhat upright position in the stocking. He had no idea who his captor was this time. The stockings were partly see-through, but they were moving in a dark corridor, with the stocking jingling from side to side which made it hard to identify his kidnapper.

Yet, who would steal him from the Night Elves?

Admittedly, it was not the first time in the day that he had been snatched from one enemy by another. The first one being from his ex-employer Sherpa, by the Night Elves. But who would risk life and limb to snatch him from the Night Elves?
Was this the day all his enemies had decided to go at him simultaneously, but halfway through got into an argument about who was going to have the right to kill him? Was that why he seemed to be going from one pair of hands to another?

"Look," Donald called out from the stockings.
"I don't know who you are or for what you're pissed off for, but if you intend to kill me, why not do it now and make it quick? Being constantly kidnapped is getting real tedious!"

---

Up above in Sharon's study, Richard and Sharon became quiet as they listened to the ruckus downstairs.

"Do they ever sleep?" Greymoon asked while taking a sip from his glass.

Sharon sat in his chair, and merely rolled his eyes across the roof as the High Elf let out a sigh.

"I believe they sleep on rotation. That would be the best and most efficient way to torture me and my neighbors... "

"So you do care about your neighbors then, heh?"

" ... only when they file complaints to the city guard."

[Feychild]

“Shut up” Liaena muttered as she walked quickly down the narrow corridor, checking frequently behind her for the sound of any pursuers. She wasn’t overly bothered by Donalds words however, as all appearances indicated that none of the Night Elves had even bothered to pursue her. This part of the house – aside from the distant crashes and screams that could still be heard faintly from the direction of the living room – was as silent as the grave.

“That was suspiciously easy. They’re either a lot cleverer than I give them credit for…. or a lot stupider”

Climbing out of a door into the main part of the house once again, Liaena took a flight of stairs leading downwards, the air becoming noticeably cooler and damper as they progressed down into the cellars. Still, no noise could be heard from behind them. “….I’m going to go with ‘stupider’”

This part of the house was devoted to Sharons cellars and storage rooms, something that Frederick cherished and the Night Elves had taken great pains to empty. To that end when Liaena eased the door of one open to enter, the wine cellar looked notably depleted, with many racks standing empty which would otherwise have held bottles dating from decades ago, with many exotic labels. Far more importantly from Liaena’s perspective, the room was also empty of elves, drunk or otherwise.

Walking up to one of the wine barrels, instead of turning the tap to turn it on, Liaena took hold of the metal tap and twisted and pulled on it gently until it popped right out of the barrel itself. Reaching into the hole that it had left, she carefully fiddled with the mechanisms inside until she was rewarded with a faint creak and the front of the barrel swung out, allowing entry into a dark hole that was easily large enough for a high elf, or a human.

“I wonder if Frederick has got around to trapping these passages yet”

Liaena thought to herself as she unhooked a lantern from the wall, before giving a ‘meh’ shrug of her shoulders as she climbed into the hole, swinging the front of the barrel shut behind her. “Only one way to find out, I guess”

*

“hm…I think this one says ‘antidote’ on it”

Kathlin considered the label of one vial that looked promising, before letting out a sigh as she turned it upside down to study it again. “Or possibly ‘arsenic’”

*CRASH*

“Yaaargh!”

Spontaneously and entirely unexpectedly, the chair she was hiding under got ripped away to reveal two struggling Night Elves, entangled in and flailing at each other as one of them tripped over the aforementioned armchair. Kathlin stood rooted to the spot as they loomed over her, as a flashback to Janessas recent fate appeared very vividly in her mind.

Flinging out a hand, a faintly glowing sphere appeared around the tiny human just as a large purple foot crashed into her, shattering the shield with the force of the blow and also punting the girl across the room like a football, narrowly missing other struggling combatants before she finally collided with something soft.

“Sorry” Kathlin told the comatose elf she was sitting on, once she had got over checking her arms and legs to ensure that they were not pulverised. It was clearly not the safest place for either of them however, as the war Shani had inadvertently created raged around them. The elf that had become her refuge was herself in great risk of being picked up to be used as a battering ram or slung across the room as the girl scampered across her body, stopping just behind her ear to look out at the room around her.

“LI! WHERE ARE YOU!? LI!”

“Here! Over here!” Kathlin cried out immediately in response. Leaning out of the purple waterfall that was the sleeping elfs hair, she waved frantically to try and catch the attention of Rithrynn, who was still crawling around on the floor in a slightly different part of the room. “I’m here!!”

[Rithy]

As Rithrynn was crawling along the floor, she suddenly heard the tiny voice of Kat-Liaena while she was lifting up a goblet to see if the tiny human hadn't been trapped under it.

"Li!?"

Rithrynn immediately spun around, almost slamming her face into the knee of one of the sentinels battling overhead. Identifying the voice as coming from a passed out Night Elf some further ahead, Rithrynn quickly swooped towards it across the floor.

"Li! Don't worry, I'm coming!" Rithrynn said as she suddenly grabbed the sleeping Night Elf, and lifted her up from the floor to look under her.

"I'm here!"

"Where?"

Seeing no Kat-Liaena under her, Rithrynn let go of the Night Elf: dropping her and allowing her to slump back down on the carpet with a crash. Yet the reverberation of the collision made Kat-Liaena fall from her little perch on the Night Elf's ear, and drop down on to the carpet.
As she was in the process of opening the sleeping Sentinel's mouth to look for Liaena there, Rithrynn suddenly spotted the tiny Kat-Liaena on the floor and immediately stopped.

"Li!"

Picking Kat-Liaena up, Rithrynn exclaimed cheerfully to the tiny human.

"Hah, I found you,- OFFFFHH!"

However, the small triumph was cut short as two Night Elves caught in a wrestling match fell over and landed right on top of Rithrynn. Letting out a gasp, Rithrynn held her hand with Kat-Liaena as far as possible away from her as she herself was caught under a giant heap of shouts, limbs and grunts.

"Oww, aw,-"

"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Serphia's loud voice suddenly boomed through the room, and as it did; it was as if time stood still. All the fighting and quarreling ceased within the blink of an eye, and all the Night Elves in the room froze in their current positions to gaze back towards the entrance of the room. There stood Serphia, still wet from her bath, with towels wrapped around her body and hair. She glared out across the room like a Hawk, before her eyes eventually stopped at Shani who was trapped between three other sentinels.

"Shani, what is the meaning of this?! Where is the prisoner?"

"Uhm, mistress... you see... " Shani mumbled. The three sentinels around her; who had previously looked as if they had been ready to beat her up and with fists at the ready; immediately dispersed away from the target of their Captain's ire, leaving Shani on her own.

"I had him just a moment ago, but... theniputhimonafloorandafightbrokeoutandpleasedon'tkillme!" Shani said, trembling in fear before her Captain. She would rather have taken the beating from her fellow sentinels rather than be in her current position. Heck, even Janessa was in a better position than her right now!

An eerie silence fell over the room, as Serphia glared down at her; struck with disbelief as if the Captain had a hard time understanding what it was she had just heard.

"You LOST him?!" Serphia said, before her arm shot out like a cannon to grab Shani by her torso.
"You lost the prisoner?! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! THIS IS THE SECOND PRISONER LOST IN JUST TWO DAYS!"

Shani's face had turned white as snow, looking even more terrified than the time she had been possessed by the banshee.
Her mouth was open, as if she was trying to speak; but nothing but air came out of it as it moved around.

Looking as if she was about to explode, Serphia gazed back down at Shani with a look that would have destroyed the souls of lesser creatures.

"Gather the watchers and search the entire house! Scour every little wall, every little cranny and corner. I want the attic, basement, and every single room searched!" Serphia barked down at Shani, whom merely nodded frantically up and down in return with a horrified expression of her face.
"You've been a pain my ass, and I swear by the goddess; if you do not find the prisoner, that's where you'll end up!"

Dropping Shani as if she was a bag of potatoes, Serphia turned to the rest of the living room.

"The rest of you, I want a complete search and cleanup of this level before any festivities continue. But, if you do find the prisoner, I promise I'll make the High Elf that owns this house give you double meals!"

...

"And wine."

With the last sentence, a cheer suddenly appeared from the rest of the sentinels, before the ones who were not knocked out yet immediately ran off to begin searching and shuffling away broken furniture and bottles strewn across the room. Shani on the other hand shambled to get back on her feet, still shaken by her talk with the Captain before she ran out of the room to collect the rest of her watchers as if her world was about to end!
As the first of the two wrestling sentinels finally got off Rithrynn, Rithrynn gasped for air before throwing Kat-Liaena an annoyed look.

"All the things I do for you... " She mumbled, before letting her face fall down onto the carpet, letting out a groan of discomfort when the last sentinel who was lying on top of her used her as support in the process of getting up with her elbow.

" ... you owe me!"

[Feychild]

Walking along the secret passage as her footsteps kicked up small clouds of dust, Liaena paused part of the way along it to check that Donald was still stuffed securely inside her sock and her bag, and to bring out a full vial, the liquid inside a distinct brownish-red hue. Taking a gulp, she braced herself against the wall with a gasp as she waited for the burning sensation spreading through her body to subside.

With a rattling of a rusty bolt and a few well-placed kicks, a trapdoor under a wicker mat in Sharon’s greenhouse swung open and a human girl with an oval face, blue eyes and long copper-coloured hair climbed out of it. The navy robes she was wearing were noticeably short in the arm as she slammed the hatch shut behind her and made for the door.

In the middle of winter, the greenhouse looked sad and neglected (while in impeccable condition thanks to Frederick) and stood alone and largely ignored behind the mansion under a blanket of melting snow. Trekking through the snow in the garden and keeping a sharp lookout for any Night Elves sentries or sabre-tooths, Liaena made it to the boundary wall to clamber up and swing her leg over the top after a few false starts. Pulling herself up and over to hastily drop down the other side and land on the cobbled pavement, she fled off down the street without stopping to check for anyone observing or following her.

*

“Yes. Alright” Kathlin said cautiously, looking up at the big Night Elf who was currently looking very sorry for herself indeed. Not only was it clearly not a good idea to argue with her, but sitting entirely unharmed in the palm of Rithrynn’s hand, the little girl tended to think that the Night Elf might have a point.

Getting up to climb out of her hand, Kathlin walked carefully along the length of Rithrynn’s arm to reach her head, the elf’s face still buried deeply in Sharons soft-pile carpet. Apparently considering poking her ear before thinking better of it, the girl ‘knocked’ awkwardly on her head before speaking. “Um. Thanks for looking out for me back there, by the way. You didn’t have to….and I probably would have had a bit of a problem if you hadn’t. I’m sorry about all of the trouble”

Taking a very hurried step back along her arm as the Night Elf reared her head back up; Kathlin had never felt less Li-ish as Rithrynn looked down at her. If felt like any moment like someone was going to point a finger at her and scream: ‘imposter!’, and with that came the strong suspicion that any conversations with this particular elf should be kept to an absolute minimum, before she inevitably failed to know something. “Soooo…were you going to help your friends look for that man?”

Gesturing vaguely at the elves all around them scouring the room, Kathlin looked back at Rithrynn to give her a nervous smile. “You know…the free food and drinks…sounded quite popular”

[Sinerathin]

As Liaena, disguised in the form of fake Kathlin, was running down the street; the blizzard outside was picking up. Yet through the loud wind, a faint, abnormal whistle could be heard, as a pair of bolas came flying out of nowhere from the thick storm!

The twin metal balls tied together by a rope hit Liaena's legs right below her knees, where they stopped and wrapped themselves around the girl's legs; finishing the whole entrapment with a painful finisher as one of the metal balls smashed up into her knee cap.

As Liaena fell to the ground, hamstrung and tied up at her feet; a hooded figure appeared in the corner of her eyes. Walking out of hiding from behind a wall was a black masked woman, with a black shawl around her neck and up to her nose beneath her hood. She was wearing some ragged leather vestments over some simple cloth and wool clothes, and a thick, gray cloak around her.
Carassing a blackjack in her leather gloves, the woman walked towards 'Kathlin' lying on the ground before her.

"Well, well, well.... aren't you a stroke of good luck? All by yourself on your lonesome?" The woman said, as the wind suddenly blew her hood back. The woman had a long, blonde hair running down to her neck, and bright, crystal blue eyes.

It was Astrid Blacklake.
Her right shoulder was still aching from the wound she had received earlier, but it had recovered to the point it was functional again. Yet the moment she had heard that Donald had been captured by the despicable High Elf, Sharon, and his crazed Night Elf companions, Astrid had wasted no time to get out of bed and rush spy on Sharon's house.

Kneeling down in the snow next to Liaena, Astrid grabbed her by the back of her head to pull her face towards her to look at her. Studying 'Kathlin's' features, it was a brief moment of curiosity in Astrid's eyes before she spoke again.

She had not seen this girl before... was it one of Sharon's servants?

"She came from his mansion so she obviously must have some kind of connection!"

"You are going to come with me, and we will have a talk; little girl. And then you can go home." Astrid said with a cold voice, gently moving some strains of Liaena's hair that had fallen in front of her face to the side with her blackjack.
"But if you try to scream, or resist me in any other way; I will send you to the magical land of fairies and rainbows with a medium brain concussion. Do you understand?"

Astrid sneered as she gave Liaena a warning look. Ideally, she would have just knocked this servant girl out to begin with and dragged her off the street. But she would rather avoid having to carry the girl with her to the nearest shelter, with her arm still weak and vulnerable. It was a pain she would rather avoid!
She didn't know how long it would take for Sharon to notice that he was missing one of his girls. From what she had heard, he always had plenty. Surely it'd take him some extra time to notice if one of them were missing? Either way, all she needed to know was Donald's whereabouts and condition. Anything else was optional, so an interrogation shouldn't take long!

[Rithy]

“You know…the free food and drinks…sounded quite popular”

Rithrynn spent a few seconds, blinking down at the small Kat-Liaena. There was something awfully weird about Liaena today. The gratitude displayed by the little human for helping her was far beyond anything Rithrynn would have expected from Liaena. More or less, she had expected a quick nod or merely Liaena mentioning that she didn't owe her anymore.

"She's acting so weird all of a sudden... "

"Eehhhh... yeah, they probably do." Rithrynn muttered at in return to Kat-Liaena's comment.
"But first we should get you back to your original size! I'm not going to carry you around forever."

Rithrynn said, before standing up and turning to walk over to the pile of rubble that had once been the tournament table. She didn't quite share the enthusiasm of the other Sentinels in the room to find the missing human assassin, whereas they scurried round to clean and search the room. After all, if she did; she'd inevitably face another crisis of loyalty. Should she take Donald to Serphia, or Liaena?
She did not care much about saving Shani. Although she did care about the rest of her sisters, not to mention Serphia's temper that was at the very least most delicate at the moment.

Then again, Liaena had not forgiven her since her last supposed betrayal of her Royal Stuntyness.

"This isn't a part of your plot, isn't it?" Rithrynn asked as she held Kat-Liaena closer to her face, eying the little human with a suspicious gaze. She felt an air of suspicion over the last episode, what with Shani losing Donald in such a clumsy manner. It simply seemed all too convenient for Liaena and her agenda...
However, Rithrynn had not managed to get far before a familiar figure bumped right into her, throwing her arms around Rithrynn! Rithrynn instinctively pulled Kat-Liaena back just as Naliyah jumped into her side, to prevent the tiny human from being sandwiched between the two big elves!

"Heeey, Ri!"

"Oh, Nali!"

"Need any help!?"

"Uh... " Rithrynn peered back at Naliyah with an uncomfortable look. All the while Naliyah beamed back at her in return, looking happy as larry!
"Noo, eh... I'm fine!"

"Pfff, riiight! You're a terrible liar, Ri!"

Walking over to the heap of debris that had once been the now pulverized tournament table with Naliyah leaning on top of her, Rithrynn knelt down to begin to search through the broken pieces and strewn cloth for the potions they had been using during the tournament. In the meantime, Naliyah hunched down next to her, and grabbed some of the broken board plates and began stacking them on one another, all the while throwing Rithrynn numerous looks.

"That's your little human pet, isn't it?" Naliyah asked as she noticed the tiny Kat-Liaena in Rithrynn's hand, before she leaned forward past Rithrynn's shoulder to wave down at her.
"Ish'nu, human! I am Naliyah Shrei! I've known Rithrynn for so long! We are,-"

However, Rithrynn's elbow suddenly shot out into Naliyah's side, knocking her over on the floor.

"Sssshh, Nali. You're talking to fast! It's custom in human culture to exchange words!" Rithrynn quickly explained with a joking voice, before she looked back down at Kat-Liaena in her hand, giving the tiny human a light squeeze and a dead serious 'play-along!' look with her eyes!

"Isn't that right, Li? ... right?"

[Feychild]

“Nice to meet you” Kathlin responded politely to the beaming Naliyah. Glancing up and down, her eyes strayed over the odd garb the elf was wearing. “That’s a nice…outfit”

“Awww, thaaaanks!” Naliyah said happily, before her attention immediately refocused back upon Rithrynn. “Do you like it, Rithy? I got it from this little hummie shop next to the canal. So quaint! You should come with me next time….”

“Uh, maaaybe, Nali…”

Kathlin winced slightly as she received a very pointed glare from Rithrynn for not holding up her end of the conversation properly, as Naliyah started to edge closer towards her again. “So…have you been in the city…long?”

“Ohh, no. Not that long” Naliyah responded, momentarily sidetracked by the question. “Only so long as Rithy, and Mistress was soooo angry when she ran away. It’s a funny place though, and everything’s so small. Like you.”

“Uh-huh. Right.” Kathlin said cautiously as she looked up at the elf. “That’s probably why the clothes are so…”

Naliyah grinned down at her, showing a glint of teeth. The bulging human blouse that was held on her bust by one singular button was threatening any moment to burst its stitches. “so what?”

“….never mind”

*

“…You assassins are like cockroaches”

Liaena thought as she studied Astrid closely. She did recognise the blond woman, but her last memory of her had left her in relative certainty of her death. Clearly, that assumption would have to be revised somewhat.

Shifting slightly, she realised that she had landed partially on her satchel. Donald, inside and stuffed inside a sock had no doubt had an even more uncomfortable landing than her, and was quite possibly halfway to dreamland yet again by this point. Liaena readjusted her weight so as to avoid smothering him completely. “Y-yes. I understand. Just let me up”

Astrid sneered as she studied her, before grabbing her roughly by the upper arm and pulling her to her feet. Liaena reached down to disentangle the bola from her legs, as she established that her kneecap was only bruised, nothing worse. Her mind was also rapidly racing through her options, as she tried to figure out what to do for the best.

Fighting would no doubt not be the best plan. While she might be able to easily blow Astrid up in a sneak attack, Liaena was not under any illusions about her own incompetency in a physical fight, and Astrid was no doubt well-versed in fisticuffs. The woman clearly hadn’t recognised her, and under the circumstances her best option seemed to be to bluff until Astrid gave her an opening….

In a sudden moment of horror, Liaena realised that Sharons necklace had fallen slightly out of her shirt when she had been thrown off her feet, and was now partially visible for someone who was looking in the right place. Reaching up to adjust her cloak strings quickly, she dropped the pendant down safely inside her clothes again under the pretext of drawing her cloak more closely around her and shivering. “Where…where are we going?”

[Sinerathin]

"Oh, I have a place nearby where we can talk." Astrid explained with a smirk as her right arm moved up beneath her cloak to a piece of cloth hanging on her leather vest. Within the blink of an eye, there was little more than a glimmer of a steel blade before the rope around Liaena's legs had been severed with one quick motion by the assassin who was now holding a clean, curved pointed dagger, a weapon she had seemingly conjured out of nowhere.

Pulling the now expended bolas up from the ground and latching them onto her belt, she reached down to grab Liaena by her arm to pull her back up from the snow; letting out a slight grunt of discomfort as she had to use her shoulder.

"Don't worry, child. I won't take much of your time." Astrid said, attempting to reassure Liaena as she gave the human a pat on her shoulder. Positioning herself behind Liaena, her right arm with the dagger was right behind the girl.
Turning Liaena away from the main street, the assassin began to lead the girl towards the side alley.

"Astrid, is that you?" Suddenly came the muffled voice from the disheled Donald from the sock.

This immediately made Astrid pause for a moment, as the rogue looked instinctively from side to side in the street for the source of the voice; but there was nothing but empty windows and more falling snow for her to see.

"Did you say something? ... "

Astrid cast a curious look to Liaena, before smiling. Kathlin' merely turned her head halfway around to look back at her, the girl shrugging her shoulders.

"What did you say?"

"Hm, nevermind." Astrid muttered, shaking her head a little before she continued to lead Liaena towards the back alley.
"Who's your mom and dad? Are they rich?"

She asked, eyeing Liaena's necklace with a look of deep curiosity. Although it's exact origin eluded the assassin, she knew more than enough that the necklace far exceeded the wages of that of a common servant girl. It was a piece of jewelry she would not have expected to see anywhere else but on rich aristocrats, nobles or in the shelves of jewelry shops. The fact that it seemed to be of elven design was interesting, which in itself could add to its value.

Had she just kidnapped an Upper Class girl?

"If so, it would be some nice ransom money even if she has nothing to tell me."

[Rithy]

"Fahl rath, where is the stupid thing!"

Rithrynn muttered with an annoyed tone, just about to admit defeat in her search until she found the shrink potion amidst the smashed heap. Lifting it up to inspect the label, Rithrynn formed an annoyed grimace.

"Naliyah, do you have any idea where they put the antitode?" Turning to look at Naliyah next to her, Rithrynn threw her an inquisitive look.

"Uhhh... maybe." Naliyah muttered, an innocent smile forming on her face. Reaching a hand up into her bosom, she suddenly retrieved a small, oval potion bottle with a bright blue liquid in it.
"This one?"

...

Rithrynn merely stared dumbfounded at Naliyah for a moment. It took zero amount of brain work to figure out why Naliyah would be in possession of the potion, and her obvious motives. What puzzled Rithrynn more though was why she hadn't thought about it sooner!

"Than,-"

"Oh, wait!" Naliyah suddenly said, quickly withdrawing the potion away from Rithrynn as Rithrynn reached forward to attempt to grab it.
"Aren't you going to thank me properly?"

Naliyah winked her eyesbrows playfully at Rithrynn as she held the potion behind her. Rithrynn's facial expression turned to stone for a moment, as she simply gazed back at Naliyah. Normally, this was the time when Rithrynn usually simply called quits and would walk away from the situation!
However, she was currently holding Liaena; who needed that antidote! The thought of simply walking away and leaving Liaena shrunk crossed Rithrynn's mind, but as she cast a quick glance back down at Kat-Liaena, she remembered that she was after all in the process of trying to rebuild her tarnished ties with Liaena. And leaving Liaena shrunk and alone in a room full of big Night Elves would probably not garner her the most friend-points with the human.

"Elune help me!"

After a few seconds of mentally building up her courage, Rithrynn suddenly lunged forward and gave Naliyah a kiss on her lips, and making sure to retreat back in time before Naliyah could grab ahold of her!

"Awww, that's my Ri!" Naliyah giggled, her smile growing by at least ten times! Rithrynn didn't say a word in return, yet gave Kat-Liaena clear death threats through stares alone should the human ever even think about saying anything about what had just transpired between the two elves!
"But, I'd like a trad,-"

Before Naliyah could even finish the sentence, Rithrynn had already shoved the shrink potion into her other hand and grabbed the antitode in return! Naliyah smiled for a moment, before placing one hand on top of Rithrynn's shoulder as she stood up on her knee, grabbing a couple of broken wooden plates in her other arm.

"I'll just take this outside and then I'll be back, sweetie!"

Naliyah then stood up and swung around, before walking towards the exit of the room, letting her hips sway from side to side as she bounced her butt happily around.

When Naliyah was sufficiently far enough away, Rithrynn, who had previously been petrified and as frozen as stone, suddenly began to move once more as she lowered the potion down to Kat-Liaena in her hand.

"Take this. And know what I sacrificed for it!"

*

Sentinel Ashei was trudging through the snow covered streets of Stormwind all by herself, traveling through the narrow streets of the mage district towards Sharon's house. Having turned the wounded guardsman in at the Cathedral a long time ago, Ashei had spent the majority of her time simply wandering through the streets of Stormwind, utterly lost in the maze of buildings and walkways.

When it came to urban planning, she had long since made up her mind on that humans were dreadful at it!

Yet now finally the streets seemed to become more familiar. She was definitely on the right way, even if she didn't recognize the name on any of the signs or blocks! The snow had not done anything to make the whole trek any better, but the promise of finally returning to her rest of her warband and join the warm festivities kept her hopes up!

But as she was walking through a smaller archway under a large building that extended over the street, she suddenly overheard the voices of what sounded like two females further ahead, as she was just about to cross the corner around to see Astrid and Li-Kathlin!

(( teh cavalry has arrived, Li ^_^ ))

[Feychild]

“Uh, no….” Liaena said uneasily as she shuffled through the snow. Something about the rogues tone told her that claiming riches would be an extremely bad idea indeed, under the circumstances. “My mom works at the Suckling Pig in the trade district. My dad went to war and never came back – ow!”

Stumbling, the girl ‘accidentally’ swung her satchel into the ground – hard – as she fell to her hands and knees in the snowy ground. A few well placed punches followed under the guise of scrambling to her feet, just in case. “S-sorry. My knee hurts”

“Hey!”

Liaena froze in the midst of getting up, as did the woman behind her, as they both looked up at the large Night Elf that loomed over them. The elf in question looked cold, tired, and above all, pissed. “You. I’m looking for a house belonging to a Sindorei Mage that’s round here somewhere. Do you know where that is?”

“…….”

Not taking her eyes off the Night Elf, Liaena carefully edged forward. The startled woman behind her did not move, and neither did the dagger. “…would that be where Serphia Dei is?”

“YES!” Ashei’s gaze sharpened instantly with interest, as the chance for finally getting out of the wintery hell that surrounded her appeared. “You know her, human!?”

“No, sorry….but my friend does” Liaena said sweetly as she stepped out of the way between Ashei and Astrid, gesturing with all cheerful innocence towards the latter. “She was just telling me about how she just came from that house, so you should probably talk to her”

*

“Okay” Kathlin said meekly as the vial was thrust at her. A moment passed where Rithrynn shook the vial at the tiny girl impatiently, before finally realising the obvious size problems inherent in the situation and started to uncork it, grumbling quietly to herself.

Tipping it up so the liquid trembled on the rim, Kathlin managed to open her mouth and catch a drop as Rithrynn lowered it towards her. A moment later, she was her correct size again, landing hard on the floor as the Night Elf promptly dropped her. “Uh, thanks. Again, I guess”

“I’m not even sure what I’m supposed to do now. Hopefully, Li won’t be too long”

For lack of anything better to do, Kathlin bent down to right a chair that had been thrown across the floor, and then sat down on it. Reaching into the bag she was carrying (Rithrynn’s eyes widened perceptibly) she produced – a book. Licking a finger before opening it at a marked page, she glanced carefully up at Rithrynn again. “…I have a question”

“….yeah?”

Glancing quickly at the exit that Naliyah had just left by, Kathlin looked up at Rithrynn again. “what were the planks for?”

[Sinerathin]

"The bitch!"

Astrid's head snapped to Liaena, just as the Night Elf's gaze fell upon her. The dagger behind Liaena was already gently squeezing its tip against Liaena's back, needing only the slightest force to push through and penetrate through her clothes and skin. That damnable girl was trying to set her up!

But stabbing the girl wouldn't do much good now. She was currently the center of attention for a big Night Elf towering in front of them. It would probably only make the situation worse.

"Where had she even come from?!"

Astrid groaned mentally at the fact the elf had surprised her. She had spent hours charting every patrol pattern and point of interest around the house. This Night Elf had seemingly come out of the blue from nowhere!
What had begun as a brilliantly easy and managable kidnapping had quickly taken a turn for the worst as her luck had failed her yet again!

"Noooo-no, no no no... " Astrid was quick to answer, patting Liaena endearingly on the top of her head.
"You are mistaken, I don't know Sharon at all."

With eyes shifting between Liaena and Ashei standing in front of her; Astrid suddenly realized that she was still wearing her mask, something that didn't help her make herself look any more inconspicuous. Quickly moving one hand up to the shroud around her lower face, she pulled it down so that the Night Elf could see her face, conjuring up a broad smile.

"Though, I think you will find his house if you continue that way... "

Astrid said as she raised her available hand up into the air, pointing with her thumb back at the street behind them from where Liaena had originally come from. Throwing an almost pleading look up at Ashei, the rogue prayed that the Night Elf would accept the direction and just move on!

[Rithy]

Rithrynn raised her other brow at the question from the human, before she cast a watchful gaze at the exit that Naliyah had used.

"I'm pretty sure she was just going to dump them to help with the cleaning. I don't think she had anything else planned... " RIthrynn said as she rubbed her own nose slightly as she considered the possibility of Naliyah using the planks to create some insidious trap or wicked contraption to serve some sneaky end.
"If she was planning something with them, I would most likely have felt a chill in my back by now."

Although Naliyah could come across to many as an idiot at first glance, Rithrynn knew well enough how dire a mistake underestimating her was. Though she wasn't recognized as the warband's smartest, things had a disturbing tendency to always go her way.

"Though I won't exclude any possibility... she is crafty."

Rithrynn muttered in a careful tone, before another voice suddenly rang through the room.

"Rithy! Rithy! Do you have your pet human around?!" The voice of Vashi suddenly could be heard from the entrance to the room, as the Night Elven sorceress came stumbling into the trashed living room, almost tripping over one of the sentinels lying in a drunken stupor still on the ground. Vashi was still wearing her uniform, adorned with all sorts of weird trinkets, scrolls and books hanging from her that dangled around as she hurried over to Rithrynn and Kat-Liaena.

"Vashi?"

"Ohh, great! Great, she's here!" Vashi exclaimed as she saw Kat-Liaena sitting next to Liaena. Rithrynn merely stared at Vashi, unsure what it was that was driving the sorceress so excited. She noticed that in one of her hands, Vashi was holding a metal sprinkler seemingly containing some burning incense burning with a soft green light.

"What is that for?"

"Tracking alchemical components and residue in the air!" Vashi exclaimed, raising the sprinkler up so fast that Rithrynn had to quickly pull her head back to avoid being hit by it as Vashi displayed it in front of her.
"If the assassins tried to use some sort of potions against us, it would help us counteract them! But I need to test it, and since I've heard that your human is a potion addict, I thought.... "

"She could be your guinny pig?"

"EXACTLY! Well... actually, it's just a quick test."

Rithrynn peered back at Vashi for a moment. She could definitely see why Vashi would use Liaena as a test subject. When it came to potions, Liaena's throat was the closest you'd get to a human chemical drain pipe.

"If it's okay for,-"

"Would you take a quick bite of this?!" Vashi had already spun around like a whirlwind to Liaena, sending the sprinkler swinging through the air so that Rithrynn had to quickly dodge down low to evade it again! The Night Elf had summoned a small, green root from her pocket that she was holding up to Kat-Liaena in the chair.

*

Ashei stared down at the two humans in front of her, before her gaze jumped to the street pointed to her by Astrid.

"Thanks, human. I will... " But just as Ashei was about to take her first step to go past the two women, she suddenly stopped, pausing; and looked over to Li-Kathlin's face. Narrowing her eyes, she studied the human girl for a moment.

"Hey... aren't you the girl who came with that crazy old human?" Ashei asked while throwing a suspicious gaze down at the two women, as the memories from Sharon's mansion of the arrival of Marshall and his assistant passed through her head. What would his assistant be doing all out in the street by herself, and who was the second woman? And more importantly, why would Serphia even know her in the first place?

There was something fishy about the whole scene...

"Where are you going?"

[Feychild]

Kathlin eyed the root that was being waved expectantly in front of her face gingerly. “Uhhhh…No. I’d rather not, thank you”

“…..”

Vashi toyed the root in her hand, looking somewhat confused, before taking a purposeful step towards the girl. “Aww Rithrynn. I thought you said your human ate anything”

“W-wait! What I mean is….that’s probably not a very good idea” Kathlin bolted out of her chair hurriedly to back away from the elf that was advancing upon her “This thing, is for an experiment right?”

“….Yes?”

“Right. Right. Then using me as a test subject is a terrible idea” Kathlin said hastily. Gradually working her way toward the door, she held out a remonstrating hand toward Vashi, who at the very least seemed to be listening somewhat.
“Li…that is, I take so many potions that any results you get are going to be completely different from what you’d get from anyone else. Ideally, um…what you’d want is a person, who’d only taken one potion, y’know as a control measure. And that’s not me. Not me at…all”

Pausing in front of the door, Kathlin gave Vashi a weak smile as she backed into it. “I, uh, got to go”

“Wut?”

The swinging empty door greeted Vashi in return as she gave it a confused look. Out in the hallway, Kathlin headed up the stairs quickly, throwing several anxious looks behind her. “…pretty sure I was done with the living room, anyways…”

*

“Where are you going?”

“…..”

“This…could be better”

Liaena thought as she studied Ashei dubiously. Assassin or Night Elf? When it came to which she liked more, it was fairly close, but Ashei did attain an extremely narrow victory.

“Oh. I’m going to Mister Dal’diebs house too” Liaena explained innocently. Holding her satchel up, she shook it around for evidence, making the unfortunate Donald inside feel even more ill. “I got asked to do shopping, but…then I got lost in the snow. That’s why I was asking my friend here the way”

Walking casually away from Astrid, Liaena moved closer to Ashei as she started carefully walking in the same direction as the Night Elf. Turning back to look at the assassin, she gave Astrid a sweet smile. “Thanks so much. Um…were you going this way?”

“Wanna play Night-Elf-Chicken with me?”