(( violence warning, as usual. With special thanks to Alathreal for editing and Arli for letting me use his char ^^ And yes i know it was on the previous forum :p))
Dirinni spurred her olive coloured riding raptor on. It was running as fast as the busy streets of Dalaran would allow it. The wondrous city of mages, with its mixed human and elven architecture, was more crowded with people then any other city Dirinni had ever seen. The slightly smaller then average female troll looked grim. Her face, that was more delicate then most trolls, was set in a frown. The young priestess let out a curse when she had to make her raptor stop abruptly to avoid riding down a small humanoid in flowing robes. The sudden stop had made her bite her lip with one of her small tusks and it started bleeding slightly. She ran a hand through her blue coloured hair, messing up her already winded mohawk and tried to control the rage she felt bubbling up inside her. The small humanoid with its big nose and extravagant moustache peeped something to her in the language of the humans. Dirinni had to use all her willpower to keep herself from jumping off her mount to strangle the annoying gnome. She was part of the Horde and proud of it! Had she met any of the alliance races, Night Elves, Humans, Dwarfs, Dreanei or Gnome, outside of the Sanctuary of Dalaran she would have blasted them with her Loa given magic without a second thought. Inside the city, she had to behave. Her job as a nurse in the Dalaran hospital had even forced her to heal an Alliance rat on more then one occasion. The only thing she hated more then aiding Alliance was not killing a gnome. The pesky little vermin held a special place on Dirinni’s list of grudges. She startled as she realised she was still staring at the now empty spot where the gnome had been a few seconds before. The priestess asked her Loa, the spirit type beings her kind worshiped, to forgive her, her foolishness, then made her raptor run once more.
When she arrived at the Dalaran hospital she practically jumped off her raptor and started tying it to a nearby lamp-post. She fumbled with the rope in her hurry, she was already an hour late and it didn’t look like the Loa where going to give her a break anytime soon. It had been her fault of course. It had been a particularly slick goblin, the green skinned little humanoids that looked slightly like the demonic imps, which had tricked her into helping him get some stones for the Argent Tournament grounds. It had seemed like a good deal, just pick up some stones real quick and I receive a couple of gold pieces in return. The goblin, that had been a particularly smart businessmen even for it’s trade dependant race, had of course not mentioned the fact that she had to actually blow up huge pieces of stone herself to get the blocks until after she had agreed to help.
Dirinni walked to the building and then froze in mid-step as she spotted a small elf. The male had its back turned, but his spiky black hair and dark brown leather clothes somehow looked familiar. Not to mention that he was wearing the colours of The Vile Thorns, a guild that only recently had been pardoned for their crimes against the Horde. The Blood Elves, smaller and lighter skinned cousins of the night elves with green glowing eyes and the stink of fel magic around them, had joined the Horde little over a year ago. Relations had been strained. They had been part of the Alliance for centuries after all, not to mention the thousands upon thousands of trolls they had slaughtered in their wars. Of course those had been mostly Amani trolls, but Dirinni couldn’t help but feel a bit uncomfortable around the race of magic users.
The male turned and she finally recognized him. “Ah it be Catari’s mon,” she mumbled. The male fully turned with a frown on his face that would have made Dirinni giggle (male elves look way to feminine in any case) if it where not for a large bleeding gap on the elves chest and a wound on his thigh ”More like Catari’s ex-mon.” he said. Luckily for him, Dirinni was already to busy assessing the situation, or the mocking tone would have been rewarded with a smack on the head. “Ah wounded Catari’s mon come lil elfie, let ya auntie Dir take ah look at ya now.” The elf’s face was set in a frown, and this time Dirinni indeed had to giggle. He looked like an angry child with that pout on his face. She peered at the male, wondering if he was in any form attractive for one of his race. If he was, she couldn’t see it. “Why would you help me?” Dirinni looked down at the bleeding elf with a look that clearly expressed how ridiculous she thought that question was. “I mean… you’re a Shatterskull… and I’m a Thorn.” The elf, whose name was Arli she now remembered, looked at her with a suspicious expression on his child-like features. Dirinni frowned in annoyance.
“Ya also be Horde, ‘this mah job ta help.” The troll tried to usher the male into the building, and he went reluctantly.
The hospital was actually just one large room filled with beds on the walls, most of them where taken by wounded soldiers of both Horde and Alliance. Dirinni walked to the nearest bed and waited for the elf to undress. He didn’t. “Take of ya shirt hun, and ya pants as well by da looks of it.” The elf blushed! Dirinni stared in surprise at the elf, and they looked at each other with big unbelieving eyes for a long time. “Uh... I’d rather not...” Arli looked around pointingly letting his eyes rest on all the people in the room. Dirinni straightened her back and puffed out her chest. She put up her most commanding voice; “Ah hear ya elfsies don’t be too picky when it comes ta showin’ ya naked selves ta otha’s.. So stop actin’ like a shy lil’ virgin girl and take of da clothes so ah can take a look at ya!” If he had been a troll, she would have strengthened that comment with a smack on the head but since he was a tiny fragile elf she just made herself look as fierce as possible. The elf started to undress slowly, blushing even redder and muttering things in his own tongue under his breath. “Hurry up lil mon, dis ain’t no striptease and ah ain't ya womon!” Dirinni had to smirk at the murderous glare Arli shot her way. She made a show of eyeing the elf up and down; she even managed to lick her lips in a mock sign of interest. Of course the elf wasn’t even in the least bit attractive in her eyes, but a little bit of fear would leave this one nice and docile during her work.
Arli stripped down to his underwear and sat on the bed, avoiding Dirinni’s gaze as hard as he could. She fingered her bracelet of prayer beads. She didn’t look at it, but more felt it. Every bead was made for a specific type of Loa. She was now looking for the one of Lukou, the Loa of healing. She found the round bead and pulled it from the bracelet without breaking the jewel. It was a round red bead, the colour of a potion of healing. Dirinni held it into the light, and it became transparent, revealing a tiny piece of frostweave bandage inside. The light reflected back and forth inside the bead, and within moments it looked like a glowing red orb. The priestess began to move her body slowly, starting the movement of a ritual dance of healing. The movements where slow and wide, her body language trying to express the feeling of pain one gets with a wound. She whispered prayers to Lukou under her breath. After a few minutes, Dirinni felt filled with power, and she could almost feel the eyes of the beautiful Lukou on her. The priestesses senses expanded, and she reached out to the wound. In her minds eye, she could see every muscle, every drop of blood, every piece of skin around the wound. Dirinni focused, and started to will it to close. The magic aided her in this, and the wound closed up slowly, but perfectly. She then focused on the wound of his leg. The ritual was mostly the same, except that Dirinni got an increased feeling of unease while working on the small elf. There was something a bit off about him.
The healing was done and she looked at the elf, who was inspecting himself with a surprised look on his face. Clearly he had not thought that the troll female would be able to heal his wounds. He looked up at her and smiled. That smile told her she wouldn’t get any straight answers from him. Well… she had to know right? What kind of help would she be if she just let him leave here to get another beating? And this one might be fatal. She extended her being to his mind, whispering soothing words at his spirit just below the actual volume where he’d be able to consciously hear it. Arli’s eyes glazed and a ridiculously broad, happy smile came to his face. Dirinni kept up the soothing words, and then subtly tried to enter his mind completely. The elf fell to the bed with his eyes closed, seeming asleep to the outside world. Dirinni frowned at the ease of her entering but quickly dismissed it from her mind and looked around.
This ones mind was filled with chaos and shadow. He clearly never bothered to bring some order to his mind. He was dreaming, She saw him sit with a female elf they where talking and laughing. Dirinni frowned slightly as she recognized Quynné. They had never met; Dirinni had only seen her decapitated head when Yuska had proudly shown it to the Marauders. Little Yuska Darkspear, whom was like a brother to Dirinni, had been very proud of his kill. At that time, the Thorns and Shatterskulls had been at full out war after all. Dirinni shook her head, or at least it felt like it since in this form she technically didn’t have a head. “I’m here to find out what happened to the little one, not to ponder about the fairness of death in wartime!” She told herself sternly. Dirinni’s will focused on Arli. The priestess focused on the now healed wound and tried to imply the word “why” in his head to get him to re-live the moment.
She blinked when she suddenly stood in Stranglethorn Vale and almost screamed as a dark armoured elf swung a big two handed axe at her. His blue and green eyes looked menacing. Dirinni rolled away, but received a slash on her chest anyway. She looked down at the wound, and then realised she had small, pinkish hands with five fingers instead of three. Of course! She was Arli, or at least experiencing what he had. The presence of Arli was letting out pitiful wails in the background. She got the feeling that he somehow thought he deserved this beating. “Rythe... it was all my fault...” She heard him say. “What was your fault?”
The image shifted again, and this time she let out a short high pitched scream. In front of her was a huge male troll. His red dreadlocks where covered in white flakes from the snow that was falling around them. He is even bigger then a Zandalar troll, Dirinni thought in a panic. He looked fierce, his face covered in Darkspear war paint, and then the priestess laughed cheerfully. This was not some freakish form of troll, this was little Yuska Darkspear. He just looked a lot bigger because she was seeing it through Arli’s eyes. She looked on in amusement for a few moments, amazed at how scary and fierce Yuska looked in the eyes of the elf. The bigger then life Yuska cut the palm of his hand and offered it to Arli. Dirinni startled, and focused on the conversation around her. She felt a slight pain and then saw her “own” hand move towards Yuska’s. They shook, sealing the blood bond.
No! Yuska offered a bond of blood to this… elf?! She, or more like Arli, laughed. She felt her lips move and heard her voice come out with the rough speak of the male elf. “Catari and I will finally be released from Quynné.” The past Arli seemed relieved, even happy. The presence of the current Arli felt like a gloomy shadow of sadness. So Arli had made a deal with Yuska, even though their bands had been at war. No time to ponder that now though, she wanted to know why it made Arli so sad now.
This time she wasn’t Arli… she was somebody else. She was riding on a horse in the woods of Eversong. Arli was with her, looking pale and almost sick. They stopped at a reclusive spot and she noticed two small places where the earth looked as if someone had recently dug two holes there. She picked up a small tombstone and started carving a name. She vaguely remembered that she recognized herself as being Alathreal, the female Blood Knight that was in her war band. The rest was cancelled out as Dirinni drew a protective shield over her consciousness and took a few deep, steadying breaths. She felt sick… Quynné had been pregnant... with twins by the looks of it… She watched through the hazy blur of her barrier as Alathreal helped Arli with his own carving. The male looked weak with grief and Dirinni finally understood where the melancholy that clung to him came from. He had asked Yuska to kill Quynné. Apparently she had stood between him and Catari, and by the look of grief on his face Dirinni would guess how. Quynné had been pregnant with him, he just hadn’t realised it at that time. Dirinni felt angry with Arli, with all elves in fact. Since their joining with the Horde, it seemed like the elves had caused nothing but trouble. They married and separated, cheated and lied to each other as if they had no common bond, no goals as a race. Dirinni let the feeling pass. She would have to help this elf somehow, because he would only cause more grief if left in this state. She sighed and let go of the shield. Arli’s consciousness tried to take her to more memories, but she quickly put a stop to it. This was getting her nowhere. She forced her being in deeper, trying to find some foothold so she could take his mind over for a short while. Dirinni was taken by surprise as the elf showed more willpower then she thought he would and she was almost repelled right out of his mind. She fought back, scanning through his memories to find something that could be of use to her. There! She found it. She giggles at the foolishness of the elf. What kind of man is scared of such small things? Dirinni willed her form to change, her arms became longer and more chitin like, her body changed and claws sprouted from her eight newly formed legs. Her head shrivelled and her eyes multiplied, until she had taken the form of a huge black spider. Arli’s memories had shown her he was terrified of them, and she hoped she could scare him into submission. Arli screamed in terror and he fought her even harder. Dirinni’s trick hadn’t worked and she quickly withdrew from his mind so she wouldn’t cause him more damage.
She opened her eyes and looked down on the wakening form of the elf. He looked a bit startled at first, and then smiled at Dirinni. Clearly he thought it had just been a dream. “Thank you miss.” He smiled again, and then reached for his clothes. Dirinni said nothing, she just looked at him. If he left now, she would never get a chance again. He chitchatted about how good she had healed the wound, then seemed to notice something was wrong. He had just put on his pants and had been reaching for his shirt, when he stopped and looked at her with a questioning expression on his face. Dirinni’s arm shot forward and closed around his throat. She looked him into the eyes and projected the image of a huge carnivorous spider into his mind once more. Arli reacted with lighting fast reactions, trying to hit her and kick her to fight her off. Dirinni had trouble concentrating while trying to subdue the trashing elf. He managed to land a punch in her face and her lip split. She almost lost her grip but managed to get a hold on him again just in time. She prayed for aid in her struggle. A shadowy humanoid form slipped out of the shadows and held Arli to the bed, giving her more time to focus on entering his mind. She used all her willpower to try and take control, and she was finally rewarded when the male slumped down to the bed.
Dirinni had no trouble entering his unconscious mind. She looked around. It was black... no. it was beyond black. It was empty. All Arli’s feelings, hopes and dreams had been pushed so far down by the terror that it appeared like there was nothing left. In the middle of the emptiness she saw Arli. He looked weak and pale and was sitting on the ground completely naked. His skin looked greyish as if he had been sick and he was hugging himself. He didn’t even reach Dirinni’s hip, since the image of Arli was even smaller then the Arli in the flesh was, the elves eyes where red and tears streamed down his face. He projected feelings of loneliness, shame and fear to the blue skinned troll priestess. Dirinni took a deep breath and prayed to Lukou to aid her once more. With the help of her favoured goddess, Dirinni was able to extract the things she needed from his mind in the blink of an eye.
She stepped to the miserable form of Arli, and as she walked her body became smaller and more compact, until she had the form of a female elf when she stood in front of Arli. He looked up at her. Dirinni’s face kept shifting into the faces of all the female elves she had known. “Leave me alone!” He said. Dirinni’s multifaceted elf face nodded and smiled at him, projecting a feeling of understanding. She spoke in a voice that was enriched by the sound of the voices of all the female elves Arli had ever known. “I will if you want, but it’s only going to get tougher from here on. Are you sure you want to do it all by yourself?” Arli looked at her in amazement, surprised that Dirinni would leave him if he asked her to. The elf/troll offered her hand. Arli looked at it for a long time then clasped it. Dirinni smiled and her body started to glow. It multiplied then turned into different forms, until all the female elves Arli had known stood in a circle around him. Catari, his ex-wife, was there, so where Quynné, Alathreal and many more. Dirinni’s presence moved behind Arli, as if she was an invisible beacon to give him strength. Arli didn’t look to the females; he just sat there hugging himself. The guilt made him look even smaller. Many more forms appeared, male ones now too. They stood around Arli in circles. Dirinni had to smile as she saw her old and now dead friend Kirithan appear in one of the circles in the back. Arli was not so pleased to see that even his old enemies had cared to show up.
“You think they hate you…” Dirinni whispered. Arli looked miserable. ‘It was all my fault… all” of it. Dirinni looked at the image of Quynné, as two small children had appeared at her side, both where looking curiously at Arli. The elf broke into tears as he recognized his unborn children. “It’s not them that need to forgive you Arli. You need to forgive yourself.” As if on queue, the children ran to Arli and hugged him close. Then they disappeared as suddenly as they had come. Quynné smiled at him and blew him a kiss then she herself slowly faded away. One by one… all the people that where dead started to fade. His old Thorn mistress Anethrax, his enemy Kirithan… and many more slowly faded away. Arli almost chocked in the weight of his own words. “So many gaps... so many have died. And it’s my fault…” The images of the people that where still alive today started to close the ranks. Dirinni explained. “People die... that is something we can’t escape. Others will take their place. Such is the circle of life.” Arli shot back “that doesn’t mean it’s any less my fault, or that they will hate me any less now!” Dirinni smiled then said: “look around you Arli. Do they hate you, or do you hate yourself?” Arli looked around with a frenzied look in his eyes. He noticed that all of the ghostly images where smiling at him. For the first time since the whole ordeal had started, Arli truly calmed down a bit. “Its not them that need to forgive you Arli, you need to forgive yourself.” The air shimmered in front of Arli, and two new figures appeared.
Both where Arli but they where by no means the same. The one on the left looked sickly and coughed. He peered around with a haunted and scared expression on his face. Even his black hair seemed less healthy, and instead of being spiky it clinged to his head and face in greasy locks. The Arli on the right looked strong and healthy. He had a calm expression and a happy smile on his face. He looked around with amusement, seeming completely at ease.
The real Arli realised he had his mouth hanging open, and quickly closed it “Its time for you to choose.” This was it. He had to choose between the Arli who he was becoming, and the Arli who he wanted to be. The lonely Arli glared at him, and tried to crawl away from him. The happy Arli offered him his hand, smiling at him in a friendly matter. The real Arli took that hand, and was pulled up. Both Arli’s faded away, together with the images of the people he knew. The emptiness around them slowly turned into a beautiful grass field in the spring, filled with flowers. There was a feeling of calm, acceptance and peace in the air. Dirinni smiled and sent out a feeling of a hug to him, before leaving his mind. Once back in her own body, she noticed that her nose had started to bleed heavily from the strain. She fainted and collapsed next to the peacefully sleeping elf.
Vivex walked around with a wicked smirk on his face. He had gotten more then he had ever dreamed he would get this day. When he had been scrying on Alathreal yesterday, he had received a feeling about the young rogue that had been with her. Instead of scrying for Alathreal, he had been scrying Arli instead today. It had paid of marvellously. He avoided a hole in the thick jungle ground and jumped nimbly on the exposed root of an enormous tree. He smirked at the broken wooden wall up ahead. The mind of this female troll priestess was primitive. Even her mental barriers had looked like actual wooden walls, even so, he would never had been able to penetrate her mind so deeply if she hadn’t used all her strength to help Arli. The ordeal had amused him. It had been hard not to mess it up just for the fun of it, but now that he was almost at the centre of Dirinni’s being he saw that it had all been worth it. He had seen the large pyramid shaped temple from miles away, and was now finally able to climb the stairs to the top. Once there, he saw the essence, the centre of Dirinni’s being. It was roughly troll shaped, but it was hard to tell since it was glowing with an inner light stronger then he would have thought possible in such a primitive race. The image was floating in a kneeled position in the air, recovering from the ordeal of helping Arli fight his inner demons. He laughed as he quickly used his warlock powers to throw a mental cocoon over the form. She fought back, and hard even considering her weakened state. But right now, Vivex was stronger, and he quickly subdued the female. He bound her in thick strands of fel magic, until she was unable to move. He felt shivers of pleasure course through him as he realised he had done it! Dirinni was his to control. The jungles around them became more dark and foreboding as Vivex’s laugh of triumph echoed through the huge vale.
