World of Warcraft®

*Boom*

She sighed as she sat on the walkway that overlooked the Stormwind Harbor. The sounds of another blasted firework interrupted her mediation. Was it due to someone causing mischief or celebrating a ‘holiday’? Who knows but whatever the reason, she was a bit annoyed. All the pandaren wanted was some quiet and that wasn’t happening.

If there was something the monk had to be thankful for, it was the fireworks were happening at a distance and none were in danger of hitting her. Several weeks earlier during a meditation session, she had one that nearly injured her. She reported the incident to Stormwind Watch. She had her suspicions that the rogue, Carena was responsible for it.

The monk had seen the shape of a human the same size as the rogue leaving the scene of other firework light-offs at the harbor near the supplies. However, a dockworker told Xing it was a male worgen who was guilty of attempting to harm her.

He witnessed the rogue (who did have fireworks on her likely to cause mischief) chase after the worgen who got away on a spotted hippogryph. For some reason, Carena left candy for the monk; which Xing consumed.

Hmm, she couldn’t remember if she told anyone in the Stormwind Watch about the dockworker. It didn’t matter, there hadn’t been any fireworks light-off near the supplies in Stormwind Harbor since the Pilgrim’s bounty thing. Hmm, was that something she should be worried about…?

Since the fireworks were going off, she might as well do something else to pass the time. Worrying wasn’t something she wanted to do right now, she had done a lot of it recently. Why? Again, she didn’t want to think of the reason right now.

She thought for a moment and then smiled as she got out the parchment letter she received from Li two days earlier. Yes, this would be a good use of the time.

He had returned to the Wandering Isle four months earlier. She missed having Li around and having the younger cousin bother her with his engineering designs. He left one of drawing with her that was of a mechanical virmen. The pandaren thoughts drifted to the events that led to Li leaving four months earlier.

Xing-Hio and Li acquired some fireworks and wanted to light them off. Granted, the monk didn’t know where they had gotten the small rockets from but she took them to the coast of Westfall, near the lighthouse. There was no way she was going to let them light the firecrackers off in Elwynn Forest.

While her cousins were starting to light off the colorful fireworks at dusk, she noticed a flying parchment crane coming towards them. It landed on the sandy beach and Xing knew just from looking at it that it was like the other notes and letters she received from the Wandering Isle.

She of course picked up the paper crane and read the letter from Ping Qui, Li’s oldest brother. It didn’t bring the best news. Li’s father had gotten into some sort of accident with his work and was seriously hurt. At the time, it wasn’t known if her uncle was going to survive as the injuries were numerous.

Xing was very surprised. Uncle Hung ran a small dumpling and noodle shop. He was the most cautious pandaren she knew. As far as she could recall, there were no accidents at his business while growing up. How did he get injured to the point of not knowing if he would survive? Xing’s happiness vanished after reading the letter.

Still, she didn’t tell her cousins as fireworks exploded and did a wondrous show in the sky. Xing-Hio and Li especially would be upset once they learned of Hung’s condition. After the boys finished lighting off all their rockets, they happened to notice Xing’s sad expression and that’s when she told them of the news in the letter.

As she expected, Li was very distraught and right then decided to return to Wandering Isle. He still grieved for the loss of his twin sister and wanted to spend as much time with his father in case he passed away. Xing understood and very much approved of his decision. She made the arrangements to get him there safely.

Anyways, she looked over the letter written in pandaren that read;

To Xing,

I’m writing to let you know that I’m doing well. Shui apparently has an interest in engineering so I’m been teaching her what I know. I’ve been making drawings up designs for a portable cookstove- Qiang gave me the idea.

My father is still recovering from the accident. He’s resting a lot. He’s also has a new dumpling soup recipe he wants to try out- he’s hoping he can go back to working at least a few hours a day in a few weeks.

Ping has been doing all the cooking around here. He’s had a few accidents but nothing too serious. Ju helps out when she can- she’s got a young son now to take care of. His name is Kang. I’ve been enjoying the time with father, mother and other family relatives.

Stay safe!

Li

~ I hope Li Xing is behaving for you.

She looked down on her lap and noticed Li Xing was sleeping. The orange tabby cat was fully grown and well, getting slightly plump. He was still healthy and didn’t give her any problems. He was the perfect pet.

From what she read, Li was safe and doing well. One might wonder what could be worrying the pandaren. That when she noticed another origami parchment crane next to her. Hmm, when had that letter arrived? She knew that had arrived from Wandering Isle. Xing quickly unfolded the crane and read the letter that said;

Greetings to my niece,

I hope you are doing great, Xing and not getting too thin. Size is strength! I found information about your birth parents. You may wish to sit down if you’re not already.

A couple days ago, an elderly pandaren who could barely walk with a cane came by the noodle shop. I knew by resemblance that he had to be related to you in some way. He told me his name is Liang Quai. Apparently Xio Quai, Xing-Hio’s late father was his son.

I served him some noodle soup and asked if he had other children. Xio had a younger brother, Chang that died from an illness a few years after reaching adulthood. I was about to ask more questions about that son when Liang said he had a daughter.

The question was asked on who his daughter was and if she was still alive. Xing… he said it’s you. The elderly pandaren showed us birth records that proved he’s your father. I realizing it’s shocking; not only is your father older than us, Xio even gave us the impression that your parents were dead.

I know Xio told us up until he died that you were his niece but that wasn’t the truth. He was your brother which makes Xing-Hio your nephew. Liang mentioned the last time he talked with Xio was when you a very young cub and I get the feeling the conversation didn’t end well.

If you will allow it, your father wishes to send a letter that’ll explain the situation more.

There is another reason I’m writing. Have you heard from Xing-Hio? He hasn’t written us in some time and our letters to him have been returned. I realize he’s now an adult but I still worry for him as do others.

If you hear from him, will you let us know? We would appreciate it. Now keep safe, dear. We love you!

Auntie Lan Qui

The pandaren was stunned. Her parents were alive? Xing-Hio was her nephew? She was very surprised by the information in the letter. The monk let out a long sigh and recalled her early cubhood.

From what she knew, Xio and his wife Ying took 'guardianship' of her when she was a very young cub. He fished for a living while she was a tailor. Ying’s health faltered and they went to live with her older brother, Hung Qui and his family when Xing was about five.

Ying's health did improve over time but she died suddenly about one month after Xing-Hio was born. Xio died in a fishing accident when Xing was almost fourteen years old. The impressions he gave while alive was that his biological family was 'dead'. 'Uncle Hung and Aunt Lan raised her and XIng-Hio as their own as after that.

Still, the pandaren was very interested in hearing from her biological father. What was he like? She would have to write a letter and give permission for him to write her.

Xing was worried that her aunt and uncle hadn’t heard from her… nephew. That was going to take time in getting used to. She hadn’t heard from Xing-Hio since he left Stormwind City three months earlier.

Where was he? She frowned and the worrisome feelings came. She recalled the last night he was in Stormwind. He surprised her with a meal of dumplings and brewed tea. The food was delicious but she had felt really tired and fell asleep within an hour of eating.

She ended up sleeping for over an entire day and he was long gone by the time she woke up. She found a crystal vial and a note. An alchemist told her the vial had contained a strong sleeping potion. Who gave him that? She had her suspicions and would keep it at that. She was more bothered at the fact Xing-Hio willingly ‘poisoned’ her like that.

As for the note he left, it claimed he wanted to explore and be on his own. She had her doubts. About eight months earlier, she told him and Li they couldn’t work for Driqa again. Why? Well, she got a letter from an anonymous someone that the goblin’s robo-chick building business was a front for far more sinister and illegal activities.

Li objected but understood the reasons while Xing-Hio was… silent on the matter. The more she thought about it, he had been rather quiet for the past year.

Even after his adulthood birthday five months earlier, he hadn’t said anything on wanting to explore and be on his own. The monk would have allowed it, she liked to explore, too. Why keep silent? It was a mystery to her.

Yes, she was worried for her nephew. Even though he gave her the sleeping potion and left suddenly, Xing-Hio was still family. The monk might have been able to relax if she didn’t have the feeling that his life was in significant danger.

There were reasons for that fear, Xing-Hio didn’t know how to defend himself if he got into a fight. She hadn't taught him to use a weapon; she would have if she had known his intentions. He was also on the shorter side which in her mind, made him a target for someone with nefarious intentions. She frowned as she thought of her late cousin, Yani Qui..

Was she perturbing too much? Maybe but if other family relatives hadn’t heard from him, either, perhaps she had justified reasons. It had been three months since she last saw him. Was he in troubling situation that he couldn’t get out of? Perhaps it was the reason he hadn’t contacted anyone.

Should she get officials involved? No, this was a family matter. She could do some more investigating on her own. Besides, she didn’t have any hard evidence that he was in danger. It was a feeling…

She eyed the night sky and sighed. Well, it would do her no good in worrying outside. She put the latest letter into her pack and put Li Xing onto her shoulders. The cat purred. Xing then got to her feet-paws and headed towards the small dwelling she stayed at.

Driqa Quickfuse sighed as she opened her eyes. How long had she been asleep? It was getting close to dusk when she fell asleep and it seemed to be nightfall now. Did she only sleep for a few hours or had she been resting for more than a day? She had no idea. Either way, she was tired and sore.

Why was she in pain? There was a good reason as she stretched out her arms and saw the bandages on her left wrist; Dinner tried to kill her. Did she go hunting and a potential meal strike back? Na, it was a companion crawler pet with a terrible name who attacked her suddenly when she was getting ready to sleep.

She tried to command the crawler to quit but it didn’t listen. Driqa defended herself the best she could. The goblin wasn’t wearing her boots and therefore, lost a few toes off her left foot. She managed to break her right foot and the crawler pinch that leg rather hard in an attempt to...

A knocking sound on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Enter.” Driqa sighed as she saw her younger cousin, Qixilixa open the door and enter the place. She was carrying a lantern in one hand and a stack of envelopes.

“I got the mail for ya’, Driqa.” Qixilixa . “Where do you want it?”

Driqa nodded. “Put it on the table, Qixi.”

“Are you sure? You’re hardly in a position to be up.”

“This table, Qixi. Near the bunk bed.” Driqa pointed to where she was talking. It might have been dim lighting right now but Qixi had good eyesight and should be able to see.

Qixi closed the door behind her and walked towards the small table near the bed. The bruiser set the stack of envelopes down before walking to the lantern on the big table. “I can’t believe the crawler tried to kill ya.”

“I know.” Driqa let out a sigh as she watched her cousin light up that lantern before walking to the workbench on the other side of the room. “Thankfully that new contact was around.”

“Agreed... what’s inside the crate?” Qixi pointed at the small wooden box on the floor near the workbench.

“It’s my ma’s belongings.” She frowned, thinking of the late parent.

“Really?” Qixi had a surprise expression. “My pop’s stuff? How did survive the eruption of Mount Kajaro to get here…”

“No, Not your papa, Qixi.” Driqa interrupted with a loud tone. Her younger cousin’s hearing seemed to be off again. “My ma, Nakkza.”

The bruiser nodded with a solemn expression. “Oh. Aunt Nakkza’s stuff. Someone actually located it?”

“My new contact did and brought it over two days ago. I haven’t opened or looked inside of it yet.”

Qixilixa walked over to the crate. The bruiser managed to pick it up and bring it over next to the bunk bed. “Want to have some help lookin’ through the crate?”

“Sure, Qixi.” Driqa watched the cousin open the lid of the wooden crate.

“Maybe we’ll find something that shed light on why someone killed her.”

“Yea.” She let out a sigh. Nakkza was found dead eight months earlier outside of her torched home in Winterspring. Based on the type of injuries sustained found on the body, the cause of death was confirmed to not be natural. Someone- a spellcaster of some type seemed to be responsible for the crime.

Driqa had her suspicions as to who did it; one or more of her former family members. She thought back to a family meeting nine months earlier that Qixilixa and Pizaxxa didn’t attend. Her ma had strongly objected to Zeendixia, Wort and Stunk returning and wanting to take part in family matters. Why? The estranged relatives were warlocks.

Nakkza did have a strong dislike of warlocks. Driqa’s oldest brother was killed by an Alliance one about two years earlier. She claimed the niece and nephews had only returned to corrupt and ruin the family name further.

However, Nakkza didn’t have any evidence to back her claims. Zeendixia seemed nice for a warlock- Driqa created a special cannon for the cousin and was paid well. That cousin also help repel an ambush that happened on the coast involving gnomes and a draenei. She was also a single ma raising a daughter by herself.

Driqa felt bad about it now but at the time, she argued with her ma to give the warlock cousins a chance. If they screwed up once, they could kick them out and deal with them then. The other relatives listened and decided to give the estranged family a chance to prove their intentions.

Her ma had left the meeting in anger and a month later was dead. The warlock cousins were questioned first to see if they were responsible for the murder. They all had really good alibis that didn’t place them anywhere near Winterspring. The investigator the family hired didn’t think the cousins were responsible and let them off the hook.

“Look it here. Fireworks!” Qixi pulled a few red-colored rockets out of the crate.

Her thoughts were interrupted and she smiled. “Not surprisin’. She loved those things.” Ma had a fascination with collecting fireworks- not lighting them. It was rumored Nakkza had a few warehouses filled with them. The small goblin confirmed only one small warehouse in Tanaris and it was mostly empty of fireworks.

Was it raided? She didn’t think so. She didn’t find any evidence that the lock on the building had been picked and there was a good amount of dust inside the building. She figured the last person to visit was her ma and the collection may have not been as big as the rumors suggested.

The goblin shrugged as she watched Qixi get out a small portrait painting of a female goblin. Her ma did have a few prized paintings that had gone missing. What else did the crate contain? Qixi then grabbed Nakkza’s prized cape and leather ammo pouch.

The engineer had a puzzled looked when her cousin pulled out a steel lockbox from the crate. Huh… She hadn’t seen that before. What was her ma keeping in that?

“Hmm… this seems too small to be a rifle.” Qixi carefully pulled out what appeared to be a smaller gun from the lockbox.

“It’s a pistol. My old worgen contact had one.” Driqa gestured for the younger cousin to let her it. The handle of the pistol was mostly blue with gold metal. It also seemed to have small blue gems embedded in it. The trigger on the gun had a lock that was working, thankfully. She didn’t see any evidence of corrosion or rust on the weapon. “It seems to be in really good condition. Is there anythin’ else in the lockbox?”

“A small ammo pouch and a bandana. I wonder where Aunt Nakkza got the pistol.” Qixi shrugged.

“Who knows… put this back in that box and let me see the bandana.” Driqa handed the pistol to the bruiser who stuck it back inside of the steel lockbox.

“Okay.” Qixi pulled out a red bandana from the crate and handed it to the small goblin.

She looked at the red bandana and noticed some interesting embroidery on one-quarter of it. A pirate ship with two blades behind it. Two figures were below the ship; one was a not-so realistic lion that seemed to be holding a pistol, the other figure was a wolf with an eyepatch and sword. Above the pirate ship was a smiling moon.

“I didn’t know ma had this type of stuff. It has a… pirate feel to it.” Driqa blinked. She had no idea where this parent could have gotten the weapon. It didn’t belong to Driqa’s late papa; all of his possessions were sold after he died when she was young. Ma’s stuff would have to sold, too once it was all located.

“Xing-Hio might be interested in the bandana.”

Driqa smiled and thought about the young pandaren. Him and Li were some of the best employees she had. The boys were always in a good mood and worked hard. They were forced to go into a protection program after Li’s twin sister was murdered and the group responsible had a hatred towards pandaren to the point of wanted them exterminated.

From what Driqa knew, the organization was gone but the boys hadn’t returned and she didn’t know why. About five months and two weeks earlier, she got a letter from Xing-Hio explaining he had been forbidden to work for Driqa due to a letter his relative Xing received.

That particular letter claimed Driqa’s robo-chick business was a front for ‘shady, illegal activity’ involving selling captives as slaves or experiments projects. The engineer had been very surprised and was quite angry. Yes, there might have been ‘shady activity’ but that was related to her secret engineering project.

If there was one thing this goblin hated, it was slavery. Driqa had briefly been a slave once after the Catacylsm and it was a horrid experience. Thankfully she had gotten rescued from that situation. She wrote a response and asked if he could sneakily send that letter his cousin received to her.

A week later, Xing-Hio managed to send her that letter along with a note asking for help. He reached adulthood but Xing still didn’t want him working for the goblin. She even threatened to send him back to Wandering Isle, something that irritated him. He didn’t want to physically hurt his relative but needed something that would make her sleep long enough so he could sneak away.

Driqa understood his reasons. He was an adult and should be able to make decisions on his own. She told Qixi of his plight and the bruiser was more than happy to help out. The cousin created a special sleeping potion that would hopefully knock out someone for a period of time without harmful side effects.

How to get the package to him? That was something she was able to do and didn't want to get AAMS involved. She and Qixi happened to been in Stranglethorn Vale making sure old business location was cleared out when Xing-Hio sent the letter and request.

Before she headed to Azshara, she made a trip to the border of Westfall where found and bribed a poor, dim-witted human to deliver the package to the pandaren.

While she waited for a response to see if Xing-Hio managed to sneak away, the small goblin read the letter that had been sent to Xing. Something concerned her about it- it was written in blood and had a fel-fire smell to the parchment.

It was very likely whoever drafted the letter dapped or hung out with warlocks. The person seemed to know a lot of details about the family. Were her cousins responsible? The scribble was rather elegant and Wort and Stunk couldn’t write very well. One cousin, Zeendixia was illiterate and couldn’t write at all. The script on the letter didn’t match Zeeni’s young daughter, Trixxi.

The writing didn’t match the style of Driqa’s surviving brother who owned a bakery. With that in mind, she suspected one or all of her warlock cousins could have been easily responsible for the idea of the note. Any one of them could have an associate or hired someone that could have drafted the blasted letter, even if it was done as a ‘prank’.

Anyways, she was relieved when Xing-Hio sent a letter that stated he had snuck out of Stormwind and thanked them for helping. He left a letter for his cousin that stated he ‘was going to explore’ and hoped she would fall for it and not track him down.

She received that letter about four months ago. Right after that, she wrote and sent a note that had the exact coordinates of her new business location in it. It also warn him of some recent family matters that happened and be extra careful in case the claims were true. A few days later, Xing-Hio sent a quick response stating he’d be cautious.

Xing-Hio then sent a note two months ago that stated he was in Booty Bay and found safe passage to Kalimdor. The pandaren hoped to her business location within a month. However, he also wrote that he felt someone was ‘watching’ him despite he couldn’t see anyone nearby. That right there had worried the engineer.

She actually made a trip to Stranglethorn Vale after receiving that note. During her search, she started to feel sick and had to leave. She found out she come down with one of the jungle fevers. She was cured after visiting the Da Doctas clinic a few times. While she was sick, she hoped he would show up but he didn’t. He was a month overdue and there was no sign of him.

Qixi’s business partner, Failiani Arrowind volunteered to search Stranglethorn Vale further and see if she could find him or evidence of foul play. She let out a sigh; while’s the rogue’s skills had gotten better, they still needed improving. There was also the issue of the narcolepsy-curse condition she suffered from that worried the goblin. Faili said she would be very careful and respond where it was safe.

“Speaking of the pandaren, have ya heard from him?” Qixi asked.

“Not since the letter from two months ago.” Driqa said with a sad expression. “I’m worried, Qixi.”

Qixi clenched her fists. “I hope he’s safe. I’m gonna be angry if our former family is responsible for him not being here.”

“Agreed. We might be in trouble if one of them is responsible.” She thought about the severe family issues that caused her and Qixi to break ties recently. She thought it was bad with Nappsixa and her twin sister. That was nothing.

Three months after Nakkza’s death, Pizaxxa’s place was burned to the ground. The investigation of it suggested the cause was an accident- the cookstove was supposedly found to been leaking. That relative wasn’t at her house at the time and didn’t believe the investigator. Pizaxxa broke ties with the family then and hadn’t been heard from since.

Some of Driqa’s contacts had heard some rumors concerning the activities of the warlock cousins. Despite those relatives denying the claims, something told the small engineer that there could have been some truth to it. Driqa hired Faili’s father to investigate the rumors and report back whenever it was convenient.

Things did get worse; Qixi was assaulted by one or all of the warlock relatives. All the cousins pointed fingers at the other. The bruiser wanted to break ties then but Driqa was a bit hesitant until she found out her old robo-chick business location got torched in a similar matter to her late ma’s place.

That and an incident with Failiani being poisoned by one of the relatives was enough for them to break ties with the family. Driqa and Qixi considered the almost-adult Sin’dorei to be family and to hurt her made her blood boil. If they had anything to do with Xing-Hio disappearing, she would be very angry. He had been one her best employee and made her loads of profits. That wasn't something to mess with.

“I know, Qixi. I suppose I better read the mail. Maybe he sent somethin’.” Driqa let out a sigh as she grabbed the stack of envelopes on the small table and looked them over. Based on the amount of mail, it could take a while to read it all.

“Are you certain Xing-Hio went this way, Cori? I don’t see any paw prints…”

Coriani let out a sigh as she looked at her younger cousin Failiani before taking a look at her pet lynx, TigerCat. He stopped and sniffed the ground briefly. He sniffed the ground and then motioned with his head to go east along the Southridge Beach in Azshara. “Yes, Faili. TigerCat still has his scent. He headed that way.”

Failiani nodded, getting a few strands of her carrot-red hair out of her face. “Alright. I hope we find him soon. Driqa’s worried between him and Qixi being missing. ”

“I do too, Faili. Besides, it’ll hopefully her calm down some.” Coriani let out a sigh.

She then thought back to the last conversation with Driqa about two weeks earlier. Cori received a letter from the small goblin asking for help in a matter that needed to be discussed in person. Since the huntress had finished her latest ammo order and no other ones had come in, she made a trip to Driqa’s place.

Failiani had told Cori before she left that engineer was injured by a crawler pet that turned on her. The blood elf hadn’t realized the extent of the injuries until she saw Driqa. More details about the crab and attack were mentioned to the huntress. Cori quickly got the idea that the crawler had an extreme anger temperament that only experienced hunters should try to tame.

If there was one observation Cori had made, it was the fact Driqa was anything but knowledgeable when it came to caring for and naming hunter pets. That engineer could use a gun proficiently along with traps but that was before being injured. The tiny goblin now had a permanent limp whenever she walked and that was with the assistance of a cane or staff.

Thankfully Driqa decided to not tame a crawler again. Instead, the goblin planned on designing and building a mechanical pet. Coriani wasn’t surprised to hear of this idea. She had heard a few strange rumors that those type of pets were in the process of being designed and already being built- something the Sin’dorei hadn’t been able to confirm.

Even though the huntress herself was an engineer, she was perfectly fine with living animals as pets. She actually preferred it that way. That being said, if any goblin had the creative genius to design a realistic, mechanical pet, it was Driqa. Considering the goblin skill’s with handling live animals, a mechanical version of one might be better option- if it could be constructed.

Still, with the permanent injury; Coriani had her doubts the small goblin could use the type of machinery required to build such a device without assistance. Coriani wondered at the time if Driqa was going to ask her to help with that task. The situation which the goblin needed help with hadn’t been discussed yet.

Right then, Driqa told her of the circumstances she was dealing with. Apparently most of her employees quit due to prank letters. She had four workers who kept working despite the notes. Two employees left after gnolls attempted to attack them while they were returning from a business trip. Apparently, that was one of the reasons the robo-chick business location was moved from Stranglethorn Vale.

One employee vanished near the Steam Pools in Feralas during his paid vacation and still hadn’t been found. Driqa still had one worker employed but that was her bookkeeper. She hadn’t had anyone but Qixilixa to help her with the lifting. Cori knew that bruiser was willing to help her small cousin out but Qixi was no engineer. Cori asked if goblin had tried to hire any help.

Driqa told her she had two pandaren employees, Xing-Hio Quai and Li Qui that had been placed in ‘protective custody’ a while ago and had to stay in Stormwind City. That situation had ended but as Cori found out, the pandarens had an older cousin who decided they weren’t allowed to work to the goblin after being sent a prank letter.

The huntress was shown the letter after asking for it. She knew these particular claims against Driqa were false but they were eerily similar to ones Uncle Taelis was carefully investigating on some of goblin’s former relatives. She asked to keep the letter for the next meeting with him. Perhaps he would have an idea on who wrote this letter.

Driqa granted the request and talked more. According to a note from Xing-Hio, Li decided to return to Wandering Isle after his father was severely injured and wanted to spend more time with family. The goblin was perfectly fine with Li not returning to work for her.

The goblin then told her that she and Qixi had managed to smuggle items to Xing-Hio to help him sneak away from his relative who was still not allowing him to leave despite the fact he was an adult. The last thing they heard, he managed to get away and was in Booty Bay about to head over to Ratchet via boat.

However, he was long overdue in arriving. The Sin’dorei could easily tell that the goblin was worried for wellbeing of the pandaren. She knew Driqa hadn’t located him and wouldn’t be able to with her limp. Faili volunteered to help look for the pandaren and hadn’t been successful at all.

She wasn’t surprised to hear that since her young cousin had no experience in locating missing persons. Coriani herself wasn’t experienced as she needed to be but she had taken some steps to get more tracking knowledge since her last official search when Faili ran away and went missing.

The only other person that had been trying to locate the whereabouts of Xing-Hio at the time was Qixi. That bruiser though hadn’t made any contact since receiving a love letter about a week or so earlier. Driqa was also concerned about Qixilixa’s health especially considering their former family members.

That right there was a good reason to be worried at the mention of those vile goblins. Much pain had been caused by them already and they could decide to cause more trouble for the goblin cousins. Cori volunteered to search for the pandaren employee and Qixi which seemed to make Driqa relax a bit.

Since the huntress never had seen the pandaren before, she got a description of Xing-Hio’s last known height, weight and appearance. Cori also received all of the letters Xing-Hio sent and the last note made her wonder why she hadn’t been made aware of this situation sooner. The mention that he sensed someone was ‘watching’ him was enough to bother her.

“Cori! I found something.”

The blood elf’s thoughts were interrupted as she noticed her cousin approaching a satchel on the sand. Failiani then picked it up. “Does it belong to Xing-Hio?” Coriani asked, looking around for any sign of the pandaren.

Failiani briefly inspected the contents of the satchel. “Yes it does. I remember Driqa giving him this.” She held out a small utility knife. “I see paw prints, Cori!“

Coriani nodded while walking over to a set of foot-paw prints in the sand. She briefly knelt down and noticed they were from a pandaren. TigerCat slowly came over and sniff them. The direction of the paw prints seem to head toward an old shipwreck distantly on the beach ahead. “They are his.”

“Do you think he’s taking refuge in the shipwreck?”

The huntress focused her vision and just a few feet west of the shipwreck, there was a figure- possibly pandaren lying on the sand. At the distance where Cori was standing, she couldn’t quite tell if Xing-Hio or someone else. The elf couldn’t even tell if the figure was still alive. Either way, it was worth checking out.

“There’s someone lying just west of the shipwreck.” Coriani pointed in the direction of where she saw the figure just as she heard TigerCat growl in pain. The huntress winced after hearing the lynx.

About… six days earlier, she had taken him to Da Doctas clinic after he had for the most part quit eating. There he coughed up a ring, fragment shells from a crawler and other objects. Apparently, he sneaked and ate a contaminated crawler or two in Stranglethorn Vale where she first started the search for Xing-Hio.

“I suppose you want me to get Nighty and head over there quickly to see if it’s him.” The young elf said before whistling for Nighty, her hippogryph mount that was flying above.

Coriani nodded as she went through her engineer toolbox to look for a flare. She left her flying machine near the Southern Rocketway Terminus hours earlier. It would take a while for the machine to get to the eastern part of Southridge Beach assuming her remote worked at this distance. Besides, there was also the issue with how long the red haired Sin’dorei had been without sleep.

“Are you sure you should be flying right now? You’ve gone over 36 hours without sleep.”

“It’s not the remote I’m getting out, Faili. Besides, it’d take too long to my flying machine to get here.” Coriani handed her cousin a flare. “If it’s Xing-Hio, fire this. I’ll be over once I check on TigerCat.”

The young elf hopped on her hippogryph before taking off and heading in the direction of the shipwreck. Cori knelt down next to the lynx. She then got out a canteen of water and a wooden bowl from her pack. The elf sighed in relief as he drank. She offered him a small emperor salmon from the pet’s food pack.

TigerCat only ate about one-quarter of the fish as he snubbed his nose at the rest. She shook her head- normally he would eat at least a few fish of that size per meal but in the past week, he had only ate about ½ fish per day.

Hmm… he wasn’t as bad when he got affected by the potion-affected fish when she was stranded in Ashenvale. They were both lucky to have survived and got rescued by the death knight. But still, TigerCat wasn’t as well as he needed to be. She would need to take the lynx to another clinic and have him checked out more thoroughly.

Her attention was interrupted as she heard something ‘whoosh’ by. Her ears twitched at the sound. TigerCat heard the same noise and let out a menacing growl- the type he did when he sensed being spied upon. Coriani listened for a bit and felt chills.

Someone… no, something was watching them. She motioned for the lynx to look for the source for the noise while she grabbed a flare off her belt. Not just any flare; this type could spot stealthy persons, animals and such when it landed.

Before Cori could fire her flare, TigerCat leaped and pounced on something a few yards west from where she was standing. It wasn’t a person but some sort of object. Hopefully that meant she hadn’t been spied upon for a long period of time. She shivered briefly but recovered as she walked over to inspect her pet’s ‘kill’.

Coriani smiled as she watched the lynx’s tail move; she could tell based on the way it moved that TigerCat was proud of what he did. She petted the lynx on the head. She inspected the object and noticed it was small, had the appearance of an eye and very likely demonic in nature.

Wait, was there a warlock around? She scanned briefly scanned the cliff above and didn’t see anyone standing at the edge. That didn’t mean one wasn’t up there causing mischief. The thought of that send chills down the elf. Her ears twitched as she then heard the sound of a flare. The huntress looked in the direction of the shipwreck and noticed her Failiani waving at her- with her gloves off.

Did her young cousin use the flare without gloves? That was a possibility and a burn-type injury was bound to happen if that was the case. She would have to teach the elf rogue to light a flare off properly- later though. She needed to go head where Faili was and check on the lying figure… especially since there was the chance someone else was still observing.

With that thought, she quickly ran off towards the shipwreck, motioning for TigerCat to come along. Hopefully she wouldn’t trip along the way.

-----------

Several hours later, Coriani climbed out of her flying machine and yawned. It was morning and she was really tired; not surprising when one considered the amount of time she had gone without sleep. Thankfully she had made it to Driqa’s place without trouble.

Her attention turned to a green kite landing a few yards away. The figure on it was a pandaren male with black and white fur. His height was a bit short for a pandaren male and he was also thinner than some pandaren she had seen. He appeared to be exhausted but that wasn’t surprising to Cori considering the experience he had getting to Azshara.

“How are you feeling?” She asked as she noticed Faili getting off Nighty.

Xing-Hio yawned. “Tired, hungry, but glad to be back.”

She nodded as she noticed Driqa open the door of her place. Cori contacted the small goblin via an engineering device earlier that the pandaren employee had been located.

“Driqa!” Xing-Hio smiled as he wearily walked over and knelt down to give the tiny goblin a brief hug.

“It’s really good to see you safe, Xing-Hio. I was worried for ya.” Driqa smiled.

“I know. Am I really..?”

“Hey, don’t worry about being late.” Driqa limped over to a small log and sat on it. “Xing-Hio, why don’t ya head inside and eat. I grilled stag steaks.”

“Mmm. Stag.” Xing-Hio muttered before going inside the building.

“Faili, ya can go inside and have some, too. I made lots.” Driqa smirked.

Coriani watched her cousin go inside briefly before walking over to the tiny goblin. It had been many hours since her relative ate a slice of bread and yes, that elf needed to eat. Besides, Coriani needed to talk with Driqa alone.

“Thanks for finding him.”

The huntress got out a parchment paper and handed it to the goblin. “I wish I could have found him sooner. He’s been through an experience.”

Driqa read the notes and frowned. “O brother. He can’t remember anything between getting on the boat at Booty Bay and waking up with injuries outside of Orgrimmar a few days ago? That’s not good.”

“I still believe he’s in danger, Driqa.” Coriani let out a sigh. “Faili burned her hand but she wants help out by keeping watch until Qixi’s located.”

“After readin’ this, I agree. I could use some security help. I got somethin’ for Faili’s burn.” Driqa let out a sigh. “If you find any evidence my former family is involved with whatever happened to him or Qixi…”

Coriani nodded. “I’ll let you know first.”

“Okay. I do have one other task. Can you show Taelis this at your next meeting?” Driqa got out from her pack an embroidered red bandana.

“I can do that.” The Sin’dorei nodded and put the bandana away. “Did it come with anything?”

“A pistol but I got it locked away.”

The huntress nodded as she walked and climbed into her flying machine. “I’ll let him know in the case he asks. I better get going back to search. Fare you well Driqa.”

“Be careful, Cori." Driqa waved.

It was nightfall as the human listened to the bells signaling another ship had entered the harbor. Carena Vhitaker-Vasile was sitting on top of a lamp post overlooking the Stormwind Harbor. Did it deal with cargo, passengers or both? She couldn’t see the type of ship due to her poor eyesight but if she had to wager a guess, it was a transport type without defense cannons.

Why was she observing vessels with her hearing? Simple, she was taking a break. One might wonder if she even had the time for doing this with the infiltrating she had done in the past. The human shuddered as she thought of the most recent one that happened a while back. It was dealt with and she considered anything associated with that last undertaking ‘classified’. Car hadn’t infiltrated any organizations since then as she took a far better prospect.

Her uncles Erdin and Greywell offered her the job offer when she first met them a few months after the Cataclysm. She had got a similar opportunity once before but it was taken away abruptly. As much as she wanted to, the rogue wasn’t to take it then due to the circumstances she was in.

About a year earlier, she asked and was surprised to find out their job offer was still available- only family (especially ones not affected by the worgen curse) was eligible for the position. A bit after that, she accepted and started to work with them.

What type of business did the family do? The rogue wasn’t going to say what they really did as it wasn’t exactly ‘legal’. Still, they all had legitimate fronts in the transport business; Uncle Greywell dispatched clothing of all types while Uncle Erdin shipped tea, biscuits and muffins.

Car planned to her business ‘front’ to ship tea, cocoa, wine, rum, some clothing and possibly birds. It still had to meet the approval of her uncles which didn’t bother her. They were in charge after all and she was still learning the ropes of the actual trade. As they told her, experience was the best teacher.

Experience was something the female was starting to get. She was given command of a ship- one that was being repaired again to be seaworthy and the crew of it. How did the vessel get damaged? Well, she learned a lesson from it; choose her navigators more carefully. Someone who has fainting episodes shouldn’t be anywhere near the wheel…

Anyways, that was something to think about later. She turned her attention towards the southern dock where the transport ship just anchored, well, trying to. Even though she couldn’t see that far or anything past twenty feet, there seemed to be trouble with the ship. If she had to wager a guess, it likely had to do with ship’s anchor.

It was a good distraction for someone to cause trouble. Maybe she should? Hmmm…. as tempting as it was to light off lunar-festival type fireworks near the excess supplies at the docks and cause a bit of mischief, she had other ‘fun’ matters to attend to.

Aye, some stuff that had come up beside her regular obligations; one which had been on-going for some months now. She had to locate a missing cat, collect more goblin or pandaren made fireworks for a special task and find out the situation with the pandaren monk, Xing Quai.

Carena let out a sigh. The missing cat was a female black tabby and belonged to her twin brother. Aunt Etta got him the pet while he was recovering from a horrific situation he endured. The animal did have a name but the human didn’t use it due to how terrible it was.

A situation came up and she was asked to watch and take care of the cat for a few days. She liked cats and didn’t mind this task- especially since the black tabby didn’t attack birds. She had a mute Rustberg Gull she found on Tol Barad Peninsula. That ‘pet’ was on her ship.

But the rogue didn’t want to have the cat on her ship for a few reasons she didn’t want to get into and instead brought the cat with her to Stormwind City. It was fine until Car went to visit Aunt Etta who at the time was staying near the Mage District with a friend. Aunt Etta’s small pug, George woke up and spooked the black tabby. Who knew the cat was afraid of something smaller than her but it fled.

It had been many days since the cat was missing and she still hadn’t been able to find it. Aunt Etta hadn’t been able to locate the animal either. Danner knew about the situation and was worried about his pet- the type of cat wasn’t exactly the most common type out there. He feared someone would steal the cat and try to sell it if it hadn’t been done already.

Unfortunately, he was extremely busy with his duties at Lion’s Landing and not able to help. Carena didn’t know if Stormwind Watch handled missing pet cases but she wasn’t about to ask one of their officers. She generally went ‘stealthy’ if she had to go anywhere near their office. There was the chance she may be wanted for questions concerning an incident with fire-damaged supplies that happened months earlier.

Aye, it was best to avoid the law officials. Fortunately, Uncle Erdin just returned from his ‘business trip’ at sea and heard about the missing cat. He had the time and volunteered to help. He was the one to tell her to take a quick break while he used his worgen sense of smell to locate the pet.

She heard steps; foot-paw steps approach. Were they of a guard, she would have vanished and ran by now. Besides, the steps were familiar and of someone who was deeply depressed. She briefly turned and noticed the shape of Xing headed her way. The last thing she wanted to do was startle and possibly give the monk a heart attack.

Carena frowned, hearing the steps made her sad. The pandaren was very quiet and had gained an excess of weight in the past few months. Even by their standard, the monk was too overweight. It seemed the monk had lost interest in everything… even candy and Li XIng. Car could tell the orange tabby cat was desperate for attention as it meowed and rubbed up against the monk while she sat down.

How long had the pandaren been this depressed? Car first noticed about eight weeks ago that something was bothering Xing but it escalated the night Stormwind Watch officers held a crime prevention meeting of sorts. Carena had other matters and wasn’t able to spy on the event.

The monk apparently went and wrote down the details of the meeting later in the evening but Car didn’t think the stuff mentioned there should have caused this amount of depression. Wait a minute, how did the rogue know what was said at the meeting if she didn’t attend. Carena smiled. She managed to ‘acquire’ a small parchment notepad that belonged to the monk one week ago and had read it over.

Xing suddenly burst into crying as Carena stayed silent. Something really had to be making the monk sad but what? Maybe she could have a conversation with her? As long as she could do it without startling the monk. However; the monk stood up with the assistance of her staff weapon and started to head back towards the canals, dropping an envelope.

Hmmm, maybe that had something that could give a clue to what was bothering the pandaren. Carena waited for Xing to be out of hearing point and then jumped down from the lamp post- somehow damaging it as she jumped. She winced as she heard glass fragments under her boots before shrugging. She hadn't seen any laws that prohibited sitting on or jumping off lamp posts- not that would follow one if it existed.

As for the damage, hopefully one of the patrolling guards wouldn’t notice if they came by. The likelihood of being able to bribe one was extremely slim. Thinking of them, she briefly listened while walking over to where the envelope landed. She picked it up and stealthily started to walk over to the northern archway of the Mage District.

Once there, she opened the envelope and noticed a parchment paper inside. She took it out and immediately noticed a fel-stench coming from the note. Carena sneezed. The paper had a message that was written in blood… possibly pandaren. She felt chills as she read the writing;

Stole from me your young relative has. Pay for his life, he must. Labor and zoul.

Escaped your younger relatives has for now. Mine his zoul is. Prevent this you cannot.

Happen to you, Xing the same fate will.

She blinked and frowned. Damn goblin warlock scallywag was at it again. Yes, the rogue knew the identity, well the alias of the female goblin behind the note; a 'minor' slave trader currently known as Zoultraitor which was a recent change from the previous alias of Soletraitor.

The human shook her head. She didn't know the goblin's actual identity but according to a document a crew member of Uncle Greywell's ship obtained a few months back, it implied 'Zoultraitor' was associated with a warlock relative of the Quickfuse family. Whether it was an actual family member or friend, it didn't specify.

No, the document didn't tell much about the goblin except it hinted that she may have actually started out hunting slave traders before becoming one shortly before the Cataclysm. Still, Car knew was the goblin was dangerous. Uncle Keeneth was forced into hiding a while back due to this horrid scallywag.

Hmm... she looked at the note again. When did the pandaren receive the strangely written note? Was it before or after the crime prevention meeting. Aye, this could be a reason why Xing was in such a depression. If there was one thing Car knew about the monk, it was she very much cared about her family.

Assuming the threat was genuine, which relative of Xing’s was in danger? She thought for a moment. The monk's younger cousin, Li returned to Wandering Isle after his father was injured. The note mentioned it was a male family member- Car found out that Li had two older brothers who lived on Wandering Isle. Was one of Li's brothers, another relative she hadn't heard about or Xing-Hio in trouble?

Speaking of Xing-Hio, the human realized that she hadn’t heard him in months whenever she visited Stormwind. Usually he was at the docks whenever Xing was mediating or near the pond looking over engineering schematics.

Was he the relative of Xing's in danger? Maybe but he also could be in Ironforge or another Alliance city safe. She didn't have any solid evidence that he was the one in danger- unless he left on that 'exploring trip' he wanted to take or worse, decided he wanted to go back working for a goblin engineer who was apart of the Bilgewater Cartel.

Aye she had reasons to worry now if he was the one mentioned in the note. Xing-Hio was one of the few who knew what Carena actually did. The rogue sneakily took him to her ship many months ago during the night and offered him a position. As much as he showed interest, he politely declined at the time.

He might have actually joined if her crew hadn't ran under the deck in fear. It wasn't from Xing-Hio but from a black cat that was sneaked aboard by a former worgen crewman. Curse that traitorous scallywag! That might have been a reason he said no. Car told him the job would be available if he should change his mind.

This situation would need more investigating done but first, Carena needed to find Uncle Erdin and show him the note.

With that thought, she put the note and envelope in her pack. Quietly, she went to locate the worgen using her hearing. Hopefully she wouldn't run into trouble along the way...

((OOC, I hope this is okay. ))