World of Warcraft®

((Starting a new thread for Drake's story, of late, since I've kind of invaded and overloaded Dree/Argustus' Undermarket thread, with all of my recent posts. ^^; Dreejin, I still think the Undermarket thread is bloody brilliant and I apologize if I've trampled it to death in Drake-angst and such.))

((Anyway, Drake had a meeting with Terra Incognita last night and I figgered the meeting was a big enough event that it should probably have its own thread anyway. So, here goes!))

It was done. The fine line that Drakehide walked had just become a lot finer. The meeting in Caer Darrow was ended, but as he walked back towards his lazy, dumb, slow rental wind rider, the warrior found himself reflecting on the new complications that presented themselves, and the events that had just taken place.

The meeting had started quietly. Too quietly, for the warior's tastes. He had come to the exact co-ordinates that Keedriel and the AAMS had earlier provided him with, and was standing right in what seemed to be the former market square of Caer Darrow. The specters of the past still lingered in this place, ghostly visages of a community that was no more.

While Drakehide was not as familiar with the history of this place as he should have been, based on the surroundings, he presumed they had been destroyed by the Scourge. Buildings were torn open, bones lay bare in the streets, old bite marks al over them. He'd taken cover in several of the buildings as he went from one side of the old city to another, checking for traps.

Had it been wrong for him to suspect an ambush...?

The first of the Alliance company had appeared while Drakehide was hiding in one of the nearby buildings using it as a vantage point. She was a night elf, and wore only cloth garments. When Drakehide had approached her, he had learned that her name was Arietha, she was a translator, and she knew just as much about why the warrior had been called here as Drakehide himself did. So, they waited, for the others to appear. And waited. And waited.

The next to arrive was a dragon. Yes, a dragon. Or something that closely resembled it. If there was an ambush in place, this was surely it. The trap had been sprung. Drakehide had unsheathed his sword and his shield, and backed away just enough to give himself a healthy charging distance. He'd been just about ready to strike when -

The sandstone drake, and the translator, had flown northward, and vanished. Drakehide had stood there, his blade in his hands, waiting for something to happen next.

Nothing did.

And so he made his way northward. Drakehide had hoped to scout ahead, find out where that dragon had landed, and find out just what he was up against -

- as he turned the corner, running up an inclined path and passing a large structure, he realized he was surrounded. Two armored humans, a worgen, the dragon, the translating night elf, and a gnome. The dragon, roughly at that point, turned into a human. Now Drakehide liked the dragon even less.

They had introduced themselves respectfully enough. Lahkin Stoneheardt, Derscha Kettlebomb, Erelyn, Kordrion, and Harmarth. The greetings were formal, and honorable. Salutes were exchanged between warriors who, on any other day, would be facing each other on the fields of Ashenvale or Arathi, in honorable combat. Nukenson, however, when Drake had met him those weeks ago, had also introduced himself honorably, and had spoken respectfully. While Drakehide bore no ill will against Derscha or Arietha, the human vipers were coiled, and Drakehide had every confidence that they would strike soon enough.

They wanted his assistance, they had told him. They wanted an ally in the Horde, in their struggle against Modas. This did not sit well with Drakehide - after all, when Silvermoon had come under Ocheliad attack, it was a representative of Modas who had helped him reach the city in time, and with Fearow and the assistance of reinforcements they had driven the Ocheliad back. Then the truth came out - not only did Terra Incognita, the group the humans represented, know of Drakehide's attempted infiltration of Modas' slaving ring, they knew details. They had been watching him. Spying on him.

There were three things that had bothered Drakehide deeply, at this point. First, and foremost, there was no Keedriel. It was Keedriel who had initially contacted him, and he had expected Keedriel to be present. The abscence of Drakehide's friend set him immediately on edge.

Second, Kordrion, the dragon-human, had revealed that he knew of Drakehide's activities, and had been spying on him. While Drakehide understood Kordrion's motives, namely the need to protect his fellows, if this group was trying to earn a son of Rukh's trust then spying on him was hardly the way to do it.

Third, and most important of all, Drakehide did NOT trust humans. He had made a deal with Nukenson previously, and had been burned. Badly. He was not inclined to trust humans, or work with humans, ever, ever again.

This meeting was madness. He wanted no part in this, any longer, and wanted nothing to do with the humans. He had experienced enough of Alliance hospitality, during his previous capture and torture at Tyrynna's hands, to know that the Alliance had enough problems in their own yard to solve. Modas' slaving procedures were cruel, and inhumane, but the struggle against them was Drakehide's. Who were these humans, to presume that they should tell the Horde how to - ?

Drakehide had been ready to abandon this course entirely when the human, Erelyn, had done the strangest thing. Something Drakehide had NOT expected from the humans. Something he did not know how to respond to, at first.

She had knelt, and placed her weapon on the ground. Placed herself at his mercy. A human, kneeling before a son of Rukh. This, Drakehide did not know how to respond to. The humans were his enemies. They were snakes. They were betrayers.

And yet...perhaps...these ones were different. These ones asked for his aid, and asked for nothing in return, not like Nukenson. Their commander and leader, Lahkin, even attempted to speak to Drakehide in the blood elf's chosen orcish tongue. These ones seemed honorable. Well, mostly, when they weren't spying on him.

The warrior could not help but feel overwhelmed. Honored. And so...he had agreed. Insofar as Modas' slaving operations went, and his own struggle against them went, he would assist the Terra Incognita. At the end of the day, Drakehide was still a son of Rukh, and a son of the Horde - the Alliance remained his enemies - but he would be a friend to this Terra Incognita, those who had honored him so, this evening. With a bow, he promised to them that much.

The fine line that Drakehide was walking, now...the line between patriotism and treason, the line between his loyalties and the betrayal thereof...so many lines...they were becoming finer, and harder to toe. Balancing his commitment to the Horde, to Homeland, to the sons of Rukh, and now to his newfound allies would not be an easy act, but...sons of Rukh did not like their battles easy.

The wind rider took off, headed for Tirisfal Glades. Drakehide had a zepellin home to catch.

((Please let me know if I have erred at all in this account, folks. ^^; I was a little scatterbrained last night, and short on time, and multi-tasking and such, so if I have missed anything at all I apologize.))

((Awesome write-up! Me likey. It was interesting to see Drake's thoughts on it all. You're good at crafting the moral dilemmas. :) ))

((Thankees! ^^ Like I said, I hope I got all the details and such right. ))

((Yay, moral dilemmas! Nifty stuff! ))

((Thanks!))

((Ahh, Drake. Life is not complete without his fine lines and personal conflicts.))

((Thanks! Yeah, I guess he's come a long way as a character from RAWR, DRAKEHIDE SMASH! xD))

(( Loving these entries so far! Nice to see I gave Drake such a high opinion of humanity. >:D ))

(( Personally, I actually think Jack is a brilliant, brilliant character. I'm hoping to eventually rolling an NTE alt of my own, if you're willing to have me aboard. Haven't decided if it'll end up being Leguizamo or my Scarlet Inquisition-alt, but I think the NTE as a concept and a group is bloody brilliant! Drake, however...well, you know his opinion. xD ))

fun stuff. I love reading your stories.

((Thanks muchly!))