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

[Feychild]

“…A while” Liaena said finally, after pondering the question for several seconds with a scientific mind, before looking back at Doin. “I haven’t actually tested it past a few hours, but I’m pretty sure it usually takes a few days to get it out of your system. What I normally do is take another dose of the same potion, but set to turn you back into your normal self, instead. Then whenever the potion runs out, it’s not as though you’re going to notice the difference”

“….although, I should probably test that one. It’d probably be important” the girl said dubiously after a pause. Mind obviously moving onto cheerier pastures, she gave the dwarf a cheerful grin. “Either way, I’ve been looking at modifying this stuff, so it’d be something to check out then. I’d like to be able to get the strength, or the skills, from whoever you’re looking like, it’s just the looks right—“

*SLAM*

Pausing with the huge thud of the door emanating from downstairs, Liaena gave Doin a funny look. “…weren’t you guys closed?”

“Eh? Probably one of tha guys getting’ back from tha brewers. There’s bin a lot of missions o’ mercy of tha’ sort, what with them damn elves trashing all our last collection”

“Hm” Liaena mumbled, clearly not paying 100% attention to him as she listened hard to movements from downstairs. “It’s gone really quiet. Would more booze make it quiet?”

“Has it?”

“I’m just going to…be right back one sec” Liaena muttered. Getting up, she slid past him to get to the door, turning back at him to give him an apologetic glance. “I just want to make sure…I won’t be a moment, okay?”

*

“Ehhh….” Kathlin muttered almost inaudibly under her breath as she stared out over the room, which had to a man fallen silent to watch the new form of entertainment. “…yeah, that does kind of sound like the sort of thing that ‘I’ would do”

“…”

“Uhm…actually, I’m pretty sure that my…friend…here, already told you pretty much everything that went on” The girl began awkwardly, with several of the men already losing interest and turning away with the target of their attention failing to provide sufficient entertainment. “And honestly, it really wasn’t that special, you don’t need to hear about it…look”

Here Kathlin turned swiftly to Fran, who’s expectant smile had been swiftly replaced by confusion as she gave him an apologetic smile. “Look. There are a lot of things that are really, really awkward to explain right now, but I need to find a friend of mine. She is…”

Looking over Frans shoulder, Kathlins attention was caught by the auburn haired girl in robes, who had just reached the foot of the stairs, to fold her arms across her chest and give her the mother of all Evil looks. “…just over there. Hi”

Stalking across the floor of the bar-room, Liaena did not greet her in return, nor did she unfold her arms as she reached the small dark-haired girl to peer down at her. “What are you doing here?”

“Looking for you” Kathlin said cheerfully. Glancing from side to side, she lowered her voice slightly to a pseudo-whisper as she leant forward towards the other girl. “Oh and…Rithrynn’s outside, by the way”

“what. Look…just…come on, will you” Liaena growled finally, grabbing the other girl by the hand and dragging her towards the stairs. Kathlin followed compliantly, waving a farewell to the assembled room as she was towed forcefully away. “Nice to meet you…again, apparently”

*

If Doin was surprised from the relevation earlier, his jaw probably dropped still further when ‘Kathlin’ dragged ‘Liaena’ into the room and shut the door firmly behind them, before the former turned on the latter. “Why did you bring Rithrynn here!?”

“Actually, she kind of brought me”

“How did you find me?”

“Hester helped” Kathlin said neutrally, apparently fairly unperturbed by the less-than-warm reaction that she was receiving. Liaena glared, before rolling her eyes towards the sky at her words.
“Useless traitorous bird….look, I told you to stay in the mansion and pretend to be me until I get back! What, exactly, was so difficult about any of that!?”

“……….”

“……….”

“So, about those Night Elves outside?” Kathlin enquired carefully into the long pause. Liaena scowled at her for a moment longer, before making for the window to look down on the snowy street. “I can’t see anyone. Just one of her tigers…..you used the plural”

“Yes”

“….”

“why are there two or more Night Elves outside!?”

“Hey. The second one was not my idea” Kathlin said a trifle defensively, holding up a finger to Liaena. “And we picked her up after you drugged her and left her leaning against a waterbutt in Morcambe Street”
“This is just…great” Liaena muttered finally, after she was done pressing her fingers into her forehead. “…Sorry about this” (this was to Doin)

Kathlin looked that way also to give him a nervous smile. “Uhh….Hi. It’s nice to meet you…”

“He knows”

“Oh good” the girl said immediately in relief. Looking over to the dwarf, she gave him a much more genuine warm smile. “Hi. Sorry about all of this”

[Sinerathin]

Doin found himself to quickly become little more than a spectator to the absurd events that happened before him.

Apparently, Liaena was wearing the guise of the other girl; who was wearing the guise of her, whom had also apparently failed in whatever mission she had been given by Liaena, who was in her guise; the parameters of which was seemingly to sit around in whatever mansion the elves occupied, but she had failed and dragged the elves over to them?

Inhaling deeply from his pipe, the older Dwarf breathed out a large cloud of smoke up into the room as he scoffed at the situation.
He had long since given up trying to understand what was going on. He was used to hear of secret plots, but those usually involved simple things such as ambushes, jealousy and violence.

Whatever scheme it was that was Liaena had gotten herself into, it seemed complicated enough to be something you'd expect to hear in the noble houses, not the street where Doin worked!

"I'm too old for this." He muttered to himself under his breath.

"Ya mean tha say that there be elves about 'ere?" Doin inquired, as the dwarf's eyes passed from Liaena and over to Kathlin.
"And what in the nether be this talk about a bloody tiger in the city? They're illegal unless ye have a circus permit!"

[Rithy]

Rithrynn stared intently down into the room from the ceiling window, as Liaena both left and entered with Kathlin.

"They're three now." Rithrynn muttered to Ashei as she observed the events inside the room like a hawk, never once even blinking as she studied Liaena and Kathlin. It was quite obvious that they had switched disguises, and RIthrynn doubted that they had had time to switch back to their originals in the short time that Kathlin had been at the alehouse.

"That's no issue."

"We gotta take them down before they warn the rest of the place."

"Easy peasy..."

Ashei replied confidently, as the sentinel fiddled around with the frame of the window. RIthrynn paused her observation, to turn and look at Ashei as the sentinel was still working with the window.

"How's it coming along?"

"Ohhh, I got this... " Ashei answered reassuringly as the sentinel moved her dagger forward, buried it into the side of the window frame; and began pulling in it like a lever.
"Any second no,-"

*CRACK*
*WHOMP!*

" - ow... " But as Ashei had just finished her sentence, the entire window suddenly broke off from the frame to collapse inwards. Falling down through the room, the window(and the frame) tilted sideways as it fell with its corner first! The occupants became aware of the sound, and looked up. Unfortunately for Doin, he did not look up fast enough, as the poor dwarf barely had time to see the falling window before its lower corner fell right down into his head; knocking the dwarf out cold on the spot as both the window and the dwarf fell to the floor!
The burning cinder of his pipe fell out on the carpet, and the window fell to the floor where it smashed into a thousand smithereens next to the dwarf; only its frame now intact!

Meanwhile, on the outside; standing haunched over on the roof, Rithrynn merely stared down into the room with a look of disbelief; her jaw hanging loosely as her eyes returned to Ashei. Ashei in turn quickly raised her hands as if she was going to deflect the blame, throwing Rithrynn an innocent look in return.

"Look, I could not foresee that! ... stupid stunty architecture!"

"Forget it.... ATTACK!" Rithrynn sneered, quickly turning the focus back to the situation at hand as the sentinel pushed herself through the window! But as she did, her foot accidentally slid on the icy surface of the roof; causing the Night Elf to instead do a barrel roll through the window, and fall uncontrollably down through the room with a quick yelp!

"Oh crap... !"

... and landing right on top of Li-Kathlin, who was instantly brought down into the floor by the large Night Elf!

Upon seeing Liaena get crushed by the big, falling Night Elf; Kathlin instinctively moved towards the door. But just as she did, Ashei came falling from the roof, landing gracefully on the floor; quite unlike her sister; and quickly propped herself up against the door where she switched the lock, pulling her sword and pointing it at Kathlin.

"Not so fast, traitor!" Ashei said with a confident tone as the Night Elf pointed the sword at Kathlin's chest; the girl having immediately stopped upon seeing the razor sharp tip now pointed at her.

Letting out a groan, Rithrynn rolled around on top of Liaena; further grinding the girl deeper down into the hard, wooden floor and old carpets, before she looked down at her.

"Oh, hey, Li! ... " Rithrynn first said as she looked down at the suffering human beneath her, before she suddenly realized why she was there!
" ... what are you doing here?!"

[Feychild]

“Oh hey Li. What are you doing here?”

“……”

“Choking” Kathlin ventured after a pause, when it became apparent that no other answer was going to be forthcoming. Liaena was indeed becoming increasingly purple in the face as she gasped for breath, while doing her best to give Rithrynn death glares at the same time.

“…Oh!”

As the big elf finally sat back onto her haunches, the purple in Liaena’s face reduced noticeably as she finally managed to take in large gasps of air. She didn’t look any happier for her change in circumstances. “…You. IDIOT.”

“Wut?”

“What am I doing here? What are YOU doing here!? Are you, incapable of not getting in my way for more than a few seconds!?” Liaena spat. At the very least, she hadn’t landed on her bag, so Donald and Astrid hadn’t been reduced to a fine mush, at least for the moment. It was only one thing that had gone right in a recent catalogue of errors, and it did very little to improve her mood. “I TOLD you, not to get involved! …And get off my legs!”

[Rithy]

"You disappeared!" Rithrynn complained, frowning at the little girl below her.
"How could I be sure you had not been captured by one of the assassins?!"

The Night Elf cast a rather unhappy look down at Liaena as the human was frothing back up at her. Intentionally taking a few extra seconds just to stand up from the human's legs, Rithrynn folded her arms and let out a huff.

"You're acting as if I'm the problem!"

"You ARE _the_ PROBLEM!"

Liaena screamed right back at her, with a volume that her tiny figure was most unfitting of! If it hadn't been for the fact that Liaena had been a human, she could probably have done a great sub-officer under Serphia purely for the sheer volume of her voice! Rithrynn cringed at the complaint, moving one hand up to her ear as she feared the risk of her going deaf increased exponentially the longer she spent in the close proximity of the shrieking human girl!

"Elune have mercy on me! Why did you give such a small creature so loud a voice?!"

Leaning forward, Rithrynn picked up the satchel with Donald and Astrid in it that was lying on the floor. But as soon as she had managed to lift it no more than a couple of inches above the ground, Liaena had swooped in like a hawk to pull it out of her fingers to tuck it nicely away under the embrace of her protective arms while throwing her a dark look.
As the cinders from Doin's burning tobacco lingered on the old carpet; the occupants of the room oblivious to its threat; a thin trail of smoke began to rise as the carpentry caught on fire; filling the room with a distinct smell of charcoal and burnt socks from the mold and filth gathering in it that was now being incinerated.

"I think a more immediate question would be what is the midget doing in the den of our enemies?" Ashei eventually interrupted the deadly silence that had fallen over the room, courtesy of Liaena's cold fury.
Tilting her head to the side, Ashei gazed up at the Red Vanguard banner that hung along the wall.

"These are enemies of the mistress. I would ask what kind of evil plots and wicked schemes she is involved in."

[Feychild]

“Uh, guys….”
Glancing worriedly at the thin trail of smoke rising from the wreckage, then at Ashei, Kathlin withdrew a very thin, slightly crooked stick gingerly out of her pocket to hold it behind her back as she pointed it in the direction of the developing fire. With a flick of it, that entire area was covered in a deep layer of hoarfrost as Kathlin slipped the wand back into her bag and reverted to shrugging in complete bafflement at anyone bothering to look at her.

Oblivious to current events and dusting off her satchel to hold it protectively under one arm as she climbed to her feet, Liaena turned slowly to give Ashei a look of utter contempt. It was obvious to all that the Night Elf had largely failed to endear herself to the little human, and the recent ‘midget’ had caused all recent goodwill from Ashei’s put-down of Astrid to evaporate. “…Because, if I didn’t want to be in a ‘den of her enemies’, I’d have to leave town. She’s just that popular”

“…..”

“….Light, Rithrynn, why do you do this to me!? I’m running out of places to put these idiots….I swear, this one is going up your ass too”

Looking back at Rithrynn, Liaena shot a ‘why-do-you-do-this-to-me’ stare at her as she eased her right hand into her pocket. Her fingers closed around the reassuring neck of a vial and tensed in readiness as she watched for any sudden moves from Ashei. “So. You wanted to make sure I’m not captured by assassins. Congratulations. I’m not”

Making a mocking slight-bow at the ‘congratulations’, Liaena straightened back up to give Rithrynn a dark look “…Although you did a good job of increasing the chance that I might be by blowing my cover, so thanks for that. So. Were you leaving, or did you want to brain any more of my friends, trash any more of my plans, or bring along any more of your elf friends to gawk? You know, just to be helpful!?”

[Rithy]

"We're not here to trash your plans!" Rithrynn retaliated, becoming angered by the human's whirlwind of accusations at her. She had just tried to help, and now she was being scolded for her very presence!

"Why do I even protect this midget?! Gahh!"

"Trash what plans, exactly?" Inquired Ashei with an inquisitive look as the elf leaned forward, her focus having abandoned Kathlin in favor of Liaena who inspired no great amount of love in the Night Elf.
"Why the secrecy from your own guards? Last I recalled, we were in the mansion, partly because mistress had promised to protect your useless ass."

It was no secret that Ashei was not happy with the human's answers at all. Even an Ogre would have understood that the human was clearly hiding something from her! Why was it that she could not tell?
She couldn't possibly believe that the Night Elves were cooperating with the assassins, could she? If so, it would have been an awful cooperation as Liaena was still alive despite having been surrounded by them for the last couple of days!

Walking confidently through the room towards Liaena, Ashei went closer to the little human than what Rithrynn would have considered a safe distance from the volatile girl. Stopping, she stared down at Liaena with a gaze of suspicion, her eyes shifting between the little human and the bag that she was holding.

"What exactly is in that bag that is so important? ... "

[Sinerathin]

*Knock* *Knock*

"Is everything all right in there?"

The sound of someone knocking suddenly emanated from the door to the room as Frarn pulled in the handle, yet the door remained shut as it was locked. The dwarf stared down at the handle for a moment, surprised to see that Doin had locked the door; before shrugging it off.

"Do ye need any refreshments?" Frarn called through the door, placing one ear against the wooden surface to listen for what was going on on the other side.

What business his father had with the mysterious girl that required him to lock his room was questionable at best. Though Frarn chose not to judge, as Doin was in his white years and so deserved a modicum of extra privileges and peace.

---

"It's us!" Suddenly sounded the muffled voice of Donald from within the bag as they had heard Ashei's question. His voice was quickly followed up by Astrid's, as the girl shouted out as loud as she could.

"She's a maniac, she's kidnapped us!" Screamed astrid as she wriggled around in the bag, doing her best impression of 'the damsel in distress'!

"Yes; yes, she stole us from your mistress! ... I was actually her prisoner, you see!"

"Don't tell her that!" Astrid quickly reacted to Donald's revelation, giving him a light flick in his shoulder with her healthy arm as she sneered at him.
"We're trying to deescalate this whole mess, not make it bigger!"

Astrid whispered furiously to him, and Donald held up a hand with a confident smile in return.

"Hey, gotta make sure we piqued her interest!" Donald chuckled confidently, giving Astrid a reassuring hug with his other arm.
"Besides, we'll just vanish in the transition... "

[Feychild]

“No, no, we’re good. Thanks” Kathlin called back through the heavy wooden door to Frarn amiably. Liaena meanwhile, looked like a deer caught in headlights briefly before she composed herself at the very audible voices of Donald and Astrid emanating out of her satchel as they cried out for help.

“Light…Dammit. Why does this have to happen all at once?”

Looking up to catch Ashei’s gimlet eye, Liaena allowed her shoulders to slump in a defeatist sort of way at the Night Elf standing over her. “Alright! Alright. I’ll show you”

Clutching her satchel as she turned it around to face her, Liaena grabbed onto one of the lumps inside and gave it a hard squeeze through the fabric as she slowly undid the buckle holding it closed. The cries of Astrid and Donald had reached feverish pitches as they professed their profound innocence and the wickedness of their ordeal, which was almost completely drowning out the other noise that was now emanating from the satchel. “This wasn’t my fault, okay? I didn’t mean any harm…”

Ticktickticktickticktickticktick…

Gathering the satchel in her arms, Liaena straightened up to her full height as she shoved the open mouth of the bag up towards Ashei’s face for her to look into. Standing over by the door as she watched the proceedings, Kathlin promptly covered her face with one arm.

Tickticktickticktick—BANG!

An intense flash of light accompanied the loud crack that emanated from Liaena’s satchel, burning and blinding the eyes of anyone who happened to be looking that way when the flash-bang went off. As Ashei reeled back, Liaena stuck the muzzle of her elephant gun – which had recently appeared – into her stomach and squeezed off two shots.

BLAM – BLAM!

Careening backwards across the room, Ashei hit the door and smashed it clean off its hinges to plaster her against the wall on the other side of the corridor with sticky paste. Looking out through the hole that had been created, Kathlin caught Frarns eyes – who seemed to have avoided the carnage- barely, to give him a weak smile. “Well, not good exactly…but I think it’s all under control now. Sort of. I should go”

“Why did you even bring her?” Liaena spat at Rithrynn, before snapping her bag shut again and setting off to where Doin lay in the corner. The other girl joined her quickly as she knelt down next to the groaning Dwarf. “I don’t think he’s concussed, Li. Just shocked”

“What in tha….” Frarn was still standing in the doorway, looking at the chaos that had wrecked in the room. “Wha in Bronzebeard’s bronze ass-cheeks happened? Liaena?”

“Oh” Liaena glanced up quickly, to give the dwarf an apologetic smile. “Hi, Frarn. Sorry about the mess. I’m Li. Long story.”
“She is Li” Kathlin was quick to volunteer, before giving the other a quizzical look. “You are Li? Are we not doing that anymore?”

“Well, not if the whole world knows there isn’t much point, which is what some people seem to want to happen…” Liaena groused bitterly, before looking up to catch Rithrynn’s eye. “Do something useful and get the guy you brained a chair, would you?”

[Rithy]

"I didn't do it on purpose!"

" ... "

"Fine... " Rithrynn grumbled reluctantly as she moved through the room to find the nearest chair, a fur covered wooden chair that she pushed across the room before heading over to the door on the floor.
Reaching her arms around him, Rithrynn pulled him up and walked over to the chair; where she turned him around and dumped him into the chair with a groan. For being so short, the dwarf sure weighed a lot!

"There. Done!" Rithrynn announced, before she walked towards the door. Noticing Frarn, Rithrynn peered over to Ashei for a moment; before her silvery eyes returned down to the dwarf.

"Don't worry, I'm a friend of Li. We'll be gone as quick as we came!" Rithrynn said reassuringly, throwing the dwarf a quick smile as she passed by him to walk over to Ashei who was currently pasted to the wall in the sticky goo released by Liaena's crazed contraption. Upon reaching Ashei, Rithrynn glanced over her sister to make sure that she was alright.
Despite the beating, Ashei let out a groan, as she tried to get her bearing on what was going on; but unable to move due to the sticky substance trapping her limbs.

"Probably best we get out of here soon!"

Throwing a glance in either direction of the corridor, Rithrynn made sure that there were no other members of the guild watching. The last thing she wanted was to be discovered with Ashei still stuck to the wall!

Walking back inside the room, Rithrynn noticed that Doin was still unconscious in the chair. Moving towards the wall, Rithrynn picked down a bottle of beer that was standing on one of the many shelves in the room as she walked over to Doin.

"Uhh, so Li... " Rithrynn muttered as she uncorked the bottle, throwing a gaze over at the little human. Accidentally looking at Li-Kathlin first, Rithrynn blinked before turning to the real Liaena, as she motioned towards the door.
"Do you have something for short term memory loss? ... something NOT dangerous?"

Rithrynn asked as she casually lifted the bottle up over the dwarf, and suddenly began pouring the rich, thick liquid of the mead down onto Doin's head in an attempt to wake the dwarf up; whether through the watery surprise, or the fact that she was spilling one of the dwarf's prize liquors!

[Sinerathin]

As the golden liquid from the mead bottle held over his head by the elf made its way down to the dwarf's gray and white hair and out across his face and neck, the dwarf suddenly roared to life as he shook his head wildly around!

"Rah-rooofh-tha sheeet, what is!? ... " The dwarf growled as he spat out some mead and looked up to see the perpetrator! But as he saw Rithrynn's purple face, the dwarf immediately paused in his own track; merely staring up at the Night Elf with a look of surprise.

Turning back to the rest of the room, Doin gazed out across Kathlin, Liaena and Frarn with an utterly dumbfounded expression.

"What in the nine 'ells be goin' on in here?! And what happened to me window?" Doin demanded to know as he pointed down at the shattered window on the floor. However, as the Dwarf waited for an answer, he suddenly became aware of the continuous stream of mead that was still trickling down his skull. Quickly launching an arm up, he grabbed the bottle from Rithrynn before lowering it down to his chest.
"And stop wastin' me drinks, ye puerile fairy! Yer worse than the Church's own damned Temperance lot!"

The dwarf gave Rithrynn an evil eye, before raising the mead bottle and chugging down whatever remained of the drink that had survived Rithrynn's vile alcohol desecration!

"Father! Are ye alright?" Frarn asked as the younger Dwarf entered the room, throwing a concerned look over to Doin who was sitting in the fur chair. Doin let out a huff as he gazed out across the room.

"Not nauw, sonnies. Yer dad's got this situation tha handle." Doin stated as he threw the now empty bottle away, while moving one hand up to rub his sore skull. Looking over at Liaena, he threw the girl a puzzled gaze.
"What's goin' on here? What are those overgrown fairies doin' in here?! ... and sorry 'bout that, lassie. Normally oi never pass out before me first drink! I guess it's me age... "

[Feychild]

“What are those overgrown fairies doing in here!?”

“Wrecking the place” Liaena grumbled as she picked her satchel back off the floor. Checking the flap was firmly secured, she threw herself into one of the chairs still standing in the room. Resting her head on her hands briefly as she enjoyed the softness of the armchair, she raised it up again to give Rithrynn an evil stare. “It’s never dangerous…No. Not yet. I’m working on it”

Giving Rithrynn another black look as though the absence of any immediate mind-altering potions was also the Night Elfs fault, Liaena raised a hand to stab a finger lethargically at the glued-up Ashei. “Anyway. You brought her, so she’s your problem now. I’ve got more important things to do than clear up after you….again.”

“…..”

“Eh, you handled your drink pretty well under the circumstances” Liaena stated after a pause, looking over at Doin to give him the ghost of a smile. Noting the confused look he gave her, the girl gave a long shrug as she also glanced around the trashed mess of a room. “…The ‘fairies’ broke in through the skylight, looking for me as it happens. They’re going soon, anyway.”

“….but what am I supposed to do with her!?”

“How should I know? Shrink her. Give her to Naliyah. Drug her….if you fill her full of booze, it’d do the same thing as a memory potion, no doubt” Liaena growled back at Rithrynn. The little girl did not look very happy with the Night Elf at all, with Liaena’s characteristic scowl looking strange on Kathlins face. That girl simply gave Rithrynn an apologetic look where she stood well out of the firing line and off to one side. “You lot seem to have the short-term memory of a fruit fly for all intents and purposes anyway, so it shouldn’t be that difficult”

[Rithy]

"That stupid, little midget of a bitch - I can't believe her!"

"Yeah, and that's coming from someone who barely lives for half a century!" Rithrynn sneered back down at Liaena, throwing her a poisonous stare as she folded her arms defiantly, unwilling to submit to the human's criticism. However, as the two girls became deadlocked in a contest about who could give the other one the meaniest stare; Rithrynn eventually subsided as she turned away from the human as she let out a huff.

When it came to being an annoying twat, no one could best her mighty stuntyness, Liaena. But more importantly, Rithrynn realized that she had to get out of the building before any other members of the guild came to check up on what was going on. She doubted they would be as docile as the two dwarves.

"What the hell am I supposed to do with her... " Rithrynn muttered under her breath as she grimaced at Ashei who was out cold against the wall.

...

....

!!

"Eureka!"

As she was staring at Ashei as if she was a wall, a light suddenly appeared in Rithrynn's head as a plan was hatched! Quickly dashing out of the room and into the corridor to cut her sister loose, Rithrynn carried Ashei back into the room as she headed towards the nearby window; temporarily stopping to give Liaena and Doin a last gaze.

"Do not worry about me, I know exactly what to do!" Rithrynn explained, before her gaze zeroed in on Liaena.
"And take your time. It might be best if you didn't return to the house too soon... "

With a smirk, Rithrynn then turned towards the windows. Successfully unlocking them as she carried Ashei over her shoulders, Rithrynn carefully navigated her way through the small frame and out onto the roof. However, this time she was carrying the weight of yet another Night Elf; something that turned out to be far too much for the snow on the roof to handle. For as she took her second step out on the roof, the snow beneath her feet immediately gave away as the entire side of the alehouse suddenly experienced an avalanche, followed by a quick shriek before Rithrynn tumbled down onto the streets below; alongside an enormous mass of snow!

*

About half an hour later, Rithrynn arrived at the spot she had first found Ashei lying unconsciously against the wall riding on Nisha, with Ashei still sleeping behind her. Identifying the exact spot from the lower mass in the snow alongside the wall, Rithrynn dismounted her nightsaber before she carried Ashei over to the spot. After placing Ashei in the same position, Rithrynn made a last adjustment to make sure it looked believable before she knelt down next to Ashei.

"Wake up, ASHEI!" Rithrynn suddenly shouted as she reached forward and grabbed Ashei by her shoulders, shaking her sister violently.

"Wha-whersfh Rithy?!" Ashei gasped as the Night Elf came back to life, throwing a confused look back at Rithrynn.
"The midget, where is she!?"

"The midget? ... " Rithrynn asked quizzically as she threw Ashei a confused expression in return, before sharpening her gaze.
"I'm more curious what you're doing out here, sleeping in the alley. It's freezing outside!"

Ashei blinked for a moment, quickly turning to look around her as she identified her new, yet familiar surroundings.

"What... " Ashei muttered, before her head snapped back to Rithrynn.
"But you were there! You even lead me to her!"

Rithrynn remained as absent as ever as she merely listened to Ashei's tale, face tilted to the side as she seemed incapable of understanding what her sister was saying.

"I... lead you? Ashei, I just found you! I haven't seen you since you took that human guardsman to the Cathedral!"

Ashei stared back at Rithrynn; the Sentinel now looking utterly bumfuzzled at the turn of events. Had it all been a dream? Had the talking bag been an illusion? What had happened?!

"Rithy, is this a dream... ?" Ashei asked with a voice of uncertainty. Rithrynn squinted her eyes at her for a moment, before moving a hand over to pinch her right cheek.

"You tell me. Does it feel like a dream?"

"Owwh! Okay, okay. That hurt!" Ashei complained, waving Rithrynn's arm away again. Rearing her head, Rithrynn helped Ashei back on her feet.

"Lets get you back to the High Elf's mansion and warm you up! I think you need rest!" Rithrynn suggested as she lead Ashei back to Nisha, as her sister nodded absentmindedly in return to her words.

"Yes... I need time to think. Everything's so fuzzy... "

[Sinerathin]

"Wait, hold up ye!" Doin tried calling out after the Night Elves, but Rithrynn had already stepped out on the roof by then with Ashei.
"Who's gonna pay for me window?!"

However, the Dwarf was soon answered with a deep rumble as the entire font of snow on the side of the house crumbled and fell down - taking with it both of the elves!

At this point, both of the dwarves were rather speechless as they merely stared at the window that the two peculiar Night Elves had disappeared through. After a moment of pause, Doin eventually reached out towards the shelves along the wall to pull himself another bottle of beer that he opened up and proceeded to half-empty in a single chugging session.

"By Muradin's flaming beard, I pray that's the last we see of them elves... " Doin mumbled as he placed the bottle down on the side of his chair, before his stare returned to Liaena and Kathlin. Taking a moment to remember the fact that their roles were supposedly shifted, Doin turned to Liaena in Kathlin's form.

"They are supposed to be protectin' ya?" Doin asked with a slight smirk as he motioned towards the window where Ashei and Rithrynn had disappeared.
"It's a wonder yer still alive, lass!"

[Feychild]

Liaena studied the hole in the ceiling, through which Rithrynn exited with all the ‘grace and elegance’ of her kin. “I’d probably be a lot safer if they were trying to kill me. At least then I wouldn’t have to put up with them as house guests”

“….You say that like they’re not” Kathlin remarked dubiously. Looking noticeably relieved that Rithrynn had departed; the girl also placed a stool the right way up and sat down. “Aren’t you worried that they’re going to come back with friends, Li?”

“No. Night Elves have this amaaaazingly short term memory – If you give them half an hour, they forget what they’re mad about and go and find something else to punch. Besides, most of them are black-out drunk anyway. You might have noticed”

“Moreso from the fight than the drink, but yes”

“Best bodyguards. But yeah, I’m sorry about your window” Liaena added, looking towards Doin as she gave the remains of the skylight a slightly apologetic nod. “I really didn’t mean for anything to get blown up while I was here….I’ll try and get your money back”

“Uhh, ahh Lass, don’t go puttin’ yourself outta pocket on my account…”

“My pocket? Noo no no. I happen to know for a fact that Rithrynn has a fairly large stash of loot from the North she’s got hidden away in her room – and she hasn’t got around to pawning any of it yet, last I checked” Liaena said cheerfully. The grin she gave Doin had a slightly evil tinge to it. “I’ll sort it out. Just give me time”

[Rithy]

"Where have you two been?" Sounded Falaani from the other side of the gate when she saw Rithrynn and Ashei approaching on the back of Nisha through the snow. Spotting the gatekeeper, Rithrynn put on a smile as she raised her hand.

"Lieutenant business, that's all. And I picked up Ashei on the way!" Rithrynn explained as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, pointing back at Ashei who stared past her head.

"You took your sweet time, Ash!" Falaani commented as she fiddled with the keys and opened the gate, allowing Rithrynn and Ashei to pass through into Sharon's frozen gardens on their nightsaber.
"Did you meet a charming human on the way?"

"Shut up." Ashei growled back at Falaani's mocking remark, throwing the smirking sentinel a dangerous look as they passed her. Dismounting from Nisha once they arrived at the grounds before the mansion, Rithrynn turned to look up at Ashei.

"Could you stable her?" Rithrynn asked as she nodded her head towards Nisha. Ashei raised an eyebrow and was about to talk, but RIthrynn quickly stepped in before her.
" .... that's an order, by the way! Bye!"

Rithrynn smiled, before quickly turning around and marched towards the house; leaving Ashei hanging in the start of her complaint as she merely stared after Rithrynn's cloak as she disappeared into the house through the front door.
Being Lieutenant, even if it was merely a temporary position; was something Rithrynn felt rather comfortable with. She could easily get used to having such powers....

*

Arriving inside of the house, Rithrynn looked around. The atrium was empty, with the exception of the rows of weapon and armor left behind by the sentinels by the walls, and a lone Night Elf lying over a tilted chair, wearing nothing more than an undersized thong that was well on its way of being devoured by her butt. The living room sounded quiet by comparison to what it had been earlier during Donald's escape, yet that did not mean that it did not play host to its fair share of noise, laughter, shouts and occasional scream from the celebrating occupants.

Quietly stepping through the atrium and to the stairs, Rithrynn headed up towards Sharon's office.

Upon reaching the door, she stopped, carefully raising her hand as she threw a quick look in either direction to make sure that the corridor was empty; before violently bashing the bottom of her fist against the door, making it shake!

*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*

[Sinerathin]

Upon hearing Liaena's little scheme of 'barrowing' the payment from Rithrynn's loot, Doin burst into a bellowing laughter; with Frarn joining in in the background.

"Hah! That's the girl I remember from the Trade District!" Doin almost shouted out as he pointed at Liaena, raising the girl yet another bottle that he had snuck from the nearby shelves.
"Yer a crafty devil! Though it be a most justified plot, if I'm a say meself so, heh!"

Smiling at Liaena, the two dwarves waited to talk again until their laughter had subsided. As the atmosphere in the room once again became lulled, Doin sat up in his chair as he leaned forward, gazing towards Liaena.

"But, if I may return to tha original question; what brings ye to us this hour'o tha night?" Doin asked as he furrowed his brows at Liaena, secretly motioning for the girl to help him understand.
"Not that I mind the company; not at all! But I still dunnea what brought ye here, before we were interrupted by those maladroit fairies!"

---

Sharon, who had been fallen asleep on his chair; still wearing his armor and cloak from his earlier run through the sewer; suddenly snapped out of a light sleep as he sat up in his chair, awakened to a dimly lit room by the hammering on his door.

"Light have mercy... did I fall asleep?"

Sharon muttered to himself as he managed to throw himself out of the chair and onto his feet, as he shambled towards the door. Rubbing some sleep out of his face, he straightened his hair to reach for the door handle; as the incessant hammering still continued.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming; I'm coming. No need to tear down the door!" The High Elf said as he grabbed the handle and turned it around, before pulling the door to the side to look out into the corridor. However, it was not Friedrick's weathered old face he saw, like he had been expecting. Instead, he found himself staring right into Rithrynn's ample bosom. Taking a moment to realize this, Sharon quickly raised his head to gaze up at Rithrynn who was staring down at him.

"Rithrynn, I did not expect to see you here this late." Sharon said as he threw the Night Elf a slightly confused look, as he noticed that the Sentinel was alone as well.
"Is everything alright?"

[Feychild]

Liaena, who had previously been chuckling along with the dwarves at her own joke, acquired a slightly defensive expression at Doins last question. “Well....actually...”

“....”

“....would you prefer me to pretend I don't know about the people you've got locked in your bag?” Kathlin enquired a trifle dryly, after the silence stretched a bit too long. “Because it would be nice to know at least what you're going to do to them, if I do?”

“....”

“Eh. Okay, basically, those Night Elves that are supposed to be acting as Sharons bodyguards?” Liaena deftly sketched finger quotations in the air as she looked over at those two dwarves. “They smashed up a trap that some of the assassins tried to set for him, and managed to capture one of them to interrogate into the bargain. However, most of what's going on at the moment is none of their damn business, so I stole him, and we're going to have a word in a bit later. On the way over here another assassin tried to abduct me, so I ended up capturing her and she's in the bag as well. It all worked out surprisingly well...all things considered”

Pondering her next words, Liaena gave the two dwarves a shrug. “As to why I'm here....really, I just needed somewhere to crash, that wasn't infested with Night Elves. Well – when I say 'crash', that really wasn't supposed to be literal. This was supposed to be a low profile, under-the-radar visit. Unfortunately, Rithrynn can be a bit hard to shake at times. It's a bit like owning a really large, poorly house trained puppy”

Kathlin eyed the satchel carefully, the bag which was now held securely in Liaena's arms. “Do you think they can hear you?”

“Probably” Liaena replied unconcernedly as she also looked down at her bag. “FYI – Stop trying to kidnap me. It really doesn't work, now does it?”

[Rithy]

"Oh, no; no! Everything's fine!" Rithrynn quickly replied to Sharon's concerned expression; eluding to the fact that Liaena had left the house; and swiftly conjuring up the most reassuring smile that she could give him. Leaning a little over him to peer into the room, noticing that it was empty; Rithrynn's eyes fell back down to Sharon.

"Mind if I come in?"

Rithrynn asked, yet the Night Elf had already squeezed herself through the opening in the door and inside the room; pushing Sharon back inside as she entered before the High Elf could even have time to answer properly.

Standing in the room, the Sentinel took a moment to gaze around in the dimly lit room. Given the Night Elves' natural affinity for darkness and superior night vision, the lack of lighting bothered her much less so than what it probably did the High Elf.
Moving one leg behind the other, she used the back of her heel to close the door shut behind her. As they were finally alone, separated and removed from the noise in the rest of the house; Rithrynn's attention finally returned to Sharon. Walking over to the High Elf, Rithrynn grabbed him by his shoulders as she looked down at him with a look of almost unbridled glee as she smiled.

"I just wanted to talk to you, Shaw... "

[Sinerathin]

Sharon gazed back up at Rithrynn for a couple of moments, his eyes racing over happy features on her face.

Although his old, natural instincts shouted out the obvious warning signs; the High Elf slowly nodded, before smiling back at Rithrynn.

"Of course," Sharon confirmed, making an attempt to move; yet Rithrynn's solid grip prevented him from doing much. Staring back at the Night Elf, Sharon eventually motioned towards a set of sofas and table at the side of the room.
"Why don't you find yourself a seat over there, and I will get some light up in this room? I really did not expect anyone at this hour."

---

"If you hadn't been so damnable lucky with the appearance of that elf, you'd have been MINE!" Sounded Astrid's angry voice from the bag as it shuffled around, much to Donald's discomfort as he was on the bottom.

Doin furrowed his brow at the bag, intrigued by the unusual sight. There was a lot he did not know about Liaena, yet he learned something new everything he met her.

"Say'e, there shouldn't be annea problem with ye spendin' a night over. We got more rooms than we can fill, and we usually don't rent them out to just anybody; this being guild property and all." Doin finally said, giving Liaena a smile as he picked up his pipe.
"After all, the boss owe me some favors. I'll get ye tha finest room we have available!"

"Hopefully without any overgrown fairies breaking in through the windows this time." Frarn mentioned jokingly as he walked up next to his father. However, the two dwarves paused as their eyes drifted over to Kathlin, in Liaena's form; who was currently standing in the room.
"Is that a friend of yours?"

Doin peered over to Kathlin, before chuckling.

"I'm pretty sure she is, son. After all, who in their right mind would ever trust their own image in the hands of someone they didn't trust absolutely? Hah!"