World of Warcraft®

The huntress took a quick look around the Walk of Elders before she started to walk with SeaGull following closely behind. She was headed to the stables in Farstrider Square but was going to head that way via the Royal Exchange. Granted Coriani could go through Murder Row and get to the destination that way but she avoided that area of Silvermoon city even if had all her pets with her. Just thinking about the locals that lived there made her shiver.

As much as the huntress would like to take all her pets with her, she didn’t think it was possible at the moment. They couldn’t all fit in her flying machine that was parked in northwestern part of the ruins of Lordaeron. At the very least she was going to take her lynx pet, TigerCat with her along with SeaGull to Northrend. What were her reasons for taking the lynx? For one, he had almost located her cousin over a year earlier when she first started the search for Failiani.

Since TigerCat seem to know Faili’s scent, that was her preferred pet of choice in this search. The more Cori thought about Stinger, it might have actually been a good idea to not bring him along; he hated cold weather and tended to misbehave in it. She didn’t need any pets acting up, especially with someone’s life in jeopardy. The reason she wanted to bring the ghostly crawler along was in the scenario Oristanne tracked her down and attacked.

If that happened, she would have TigerCat and even SeaGull to defend her. The idea of the small bird disarming that fel rogue’s of his weapons amused Coriani. Her thoughts got interrupted as her hearthstone buzzed rather suddenly. Who was sending her mail? Had Qixilixa heard from Failiani or gotten that letter from the Huojin Pandaren and was letting her know of it. Maybe… there was a mailbox ahead close to the mining trainers in Farstrider Square where she could check.

She reached that mailbox and grabbed an envelope and a small box that was addressed for her. After opening the enevlope, Coriani was more than surprised to find a letter written in Uncle Taelis’ handwriting. She looked it over that read;

To my favorite niece, Coriani;

I sure hope this letter reaches you in good health. I realize this might be seen as a ‘prank’ but I can assure you that I’m alive; I’m sending you my mother’s old locket I got years ago as proof. I got myself stuck in a situation that I released from less than six months ago, talk about that another time.

There is a reason for this letter. It concerns my daughter, Failiani. Months ago, I found and told her that she could explore Northrend as long as she wrote me weekly and did her best to keep out of trouble. I haven’t received anything from her in two weeks and fear she’s in danger.

I’d like for you to meet me at Scalawag Point as soon as possible. Do try to keep safe in the meantime, Cori.

-Taelis Arrowind

PS- Lighten up on the Bloodthistle. Drink more Kafa!

The huntress appeared rather shocked after reading the letter and opening the box which contained the truesilver locket. That had belonged to her late grandmother who died many years ago. No, she hadn’t been expecting Uncle Taelis to write her a letter. Cori had fully expecting to have to search for him but she wouldn’t have to do that now. She wasn’t surprised that he was hiding out at Scalawag Point considering he was a pirate many years earlier.

Faili had even been at that location several months earlier; the huntress wondered if that’s where he found her. She would have to ask once she met with him. Considering Taelis seemed to have suspicions that his daughter was in danger due to the young one not sending him a letter on time, she knew that he most certainly would be very worried once he found out that Nisensi hired a death knight to abduct Failiani.

Speaking of letters, she needed to write some when she had a chance later. She had written a note to Fastice and informed him that Failiani was sending items to Oristanne and he responded back some time ago. It’d be a good idea to let him know of the situation of Faili’s latest letter and the danger the young one was in. Maybe the death knight would an idea on how to track down the mercenary that was likely holding her cousin at this moment.

Later, though as she needed to get TigerCat and go to various banks to get part of her father’s inheritance. The more she waited around here, the less time she’d have to find her cousin before Nisensi got a hold of her. That thought made her shiver briefly. Coriani put the letter and the locket inside of her main pack before walking over to the stables.

((I meant to get this up earlier last week but I've been feeling under the weather have and unable to get it finished until now. My apologies for the delay. The postt takes place last week Cori's latest post starts on #69.))

Eight weeks ago,

“It seems someone is trying to bring Noblegarden early, Pizaxxa…” Driqa said, closing the door behind her and walking over Pizaxxa who was near the cooking stove.

Qixilixa looked from her seat and noticed her cousins talking ‘quietly’ to each other. She was currently taking a break from trying to deal with the rabbits outside her cousin’s place. Not just any rabbits; mechanical ones. There were so many of them that one could barely see the ground surrounding the small house. To make matters worse; the mechanicals rabbits were resiliently created to withstand being hit by a two-handed wooden mace and efforts to ‘relocate’ them hadn’t worked. The critters simply hopped back.

The bruiser waved before returning to her activity she was doing during her break. What was it? She grabbed mail that had been looked over and started to tear it up into small pieces. All of it was junk mail; flying machine insurance (she didn’t even own one), one letter claimed she could get 2500 gold coins- if she sent 1500 coins as a ‘safety’ deposit, clearly a scam in her mind. Why send gold coins to receive them? The other rubbish letters weren’t even worth mentioning as the last one was tore into pieces.

“Did you get anything from that huntress Coriani? Or Failiani?” Driqa loudly interrupted, glancing over at the bruiser.

She rubbed her eyes. A few months earlier Qixi had received a note from the kid that worried her. It had blood splatters on it and only word written was ‘help’. Failiani had mentioned in a previous letter that a death knight had been following her. The goblin feared he was a mercenary hired by Nisensi and had taken the young one captive. She had given that letter to Fastice but she hadn’t heard anything from that death knight in some time. He was likely very busy with other matters and wouldn’t be able to respond.

Two week after that, Driqa found the Huojin Pandaren rogue mentioned in one of Failiani’s letters near Booty Bay- alive. It seemed he somehow heard Qixi had gone to Pandaria and had searched for there; getting lost in the process. He still had the letter for the bruiser and he gave it to Driqa. She had since received it and wasn’t surprised to find out that the kid had known all along Nisensi wanted her for a vile experiment.

Why hadn’t Faili told the bruiser about the threat she had against her over a year ago? According to that letter, the young one feared Nisensi would kill anyone that would try to protect her- apparently an old family friend had been brutally murdered. She understood the reason; the kid didn’t want to lose anyone, especially to that Quel-dorei.

As it was, Failiani had originally written the letter to warn her of plans Nisensi was making with Nappsixa to capture the bruiser. Her fists started to clench as she thought of that ordeal months earlier. Thankfully she had survived being chained up and left to die in an abandoned murloc village. If the pandaren rogue hadn’t gone to Pandaria, she might have actually got the letter before she had confronted the traitorous cousin…

Anyways, the goblin had sent the info of Faili’s letters to Coriani. She waited and finally got a response from the blood elf stating she was looking for Failiani. However, the huntress had managed to break her foot- something that didn’t surprise Qixi. Apparently that wasn’t going to stop her from searching and possibly negotiate with the death knight mercenary to release Failiani. That had been over six weeks earlier… she definitely had fears the huntress was injured further and wasn’t able to search.

Or worse, something had happened to Cori such someone abducting her. She did have enemies. The huntress didn’t mention where she was located at the time when she wrote the response. Based on the information from Failiani’s letters, that elf was somewhere in Northrend. One of Driqa’s mercenary’s friends, a male worgen had heard rumors that a blood elf with the last name Arrowind had been spotted at Argent Stand in Zul Drak.

Qixi turned towards Driqa and shook her head. “No, I have received nothing from her or Failiani. You heard anything from your mercenary friends?”

Driqa sighed and shook her head. “None of my friends have any seen or heard from those two blood elves. Hens recently met an old spacegoat that saw Failiani months ago. That mercenary learned about Nisensi and decided to help by actively pursuing Nisensi’s employees... currently the gnome ones are being sought for punting.”

She watched Pizaxxa chuckle. A spacegoat that wanted to punt gnomes? Interesting… that was something she would expect from a tauren, troll or orc; not a member of the alliance races. However, she wanted to find out if 'Hens' had found out anything in Zul'drak. “What about the Arrowind rumor? Was it false?”

“I was getting to that. He went to Argent Stand and met the blood elf. All he’s saying on that matter is that’s person is another relative of Failiani’s and Coriani.”

The bruiser sighed; she hadn’t heard of any other Sin’dorei with the house name Arrowind. Likely Failiani or Coriani weren’t aware of that fact otherwise they would have mentioned it in a letter. Maybe said relative had faked their death in order to avoid a debt or some other serious issue. Still, she wondered if that worgen (she had doubts that Hens was his actual name) had any other information to share. “Did ‘Hens’ mention anything else?” She asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Yep, he did.” Driqa cleared her throat. “He said on his way to the Storm Peaks to one of the Titan buildings to meet with his sister, Rob. Apparently she found a pair of runeblades- ones that a death knight would own.”

“His sister is named after a male?” Pizaxxa shook her head and muttered, “That’s a new one.”

Driqa nodded and spoke, “Apparently that’s the case with her. Anyways, Rob also spotted an undead raptor hatching...”

“Wait, undead rabbits were spotted outside a Titan building?” Qixi shrugged, a bit puzzled by that information.

“Raptors, Qixi. Not rabbits.” Driqa shook her head. She sighed and continued, “Hens heard that the mercenary that took Faili is a collector of raptors- living and undead.”

Qixi nodded, still puzzled. What were raptors and a pair of runeblades doing in the Storm Peaks? Did someone plant the items in that particular location? Or had something happened to the death knight who owned the runeblades? She couldn’t see a death knight leaving their weapons in a hurry. A bigger question was on her mind; did those items actually belong to the mercenary that took Failiani or someone else? She could see that remote of an area being used to hold the young rogue.

“Is the worgen suggesting that the mercenary that captured Failiani dead?” Pizaxxa asked.

Driqa rubbed her eyes. “He won’t know for sure until he arrives but that’s easily possible. It’s brings a real question of where Faili is? I hope the kid is still alive… and Nisensi doesn’t have her.”

The bruiser nodded, her fists starting to clench. If Nisensi had Failiani in her grasp; she wasn’t sure if the kid could survive long enough for a rescue; the alchemist planned on using the rogue as a ‘lab experiment’. They didn’t even know where that foul Que’dorei wench had her villa located and by the time they could find it, there was a good chance Faili would be dead. The thought of the young rogue being hurt by the foul high elf really upset and angered the goblin.

She needed to go and do another activity right now. Even if the mechanicals rabbits couldn’t be smashed into pieces, she sure was going to try. “I’m gonna head back out.” Qixi got on her feet and headed over to the door.

“Alright. Dinner still cooking and it’ll be a while before it’s done. Don’t let any of those rabbits in.” Pizaxxa commented, shivering briefly.

She nodded and was careful to not let any mechanicals critters inside the house as she stepped outside. The ground was almost covered currently with the annoying things. What to do now? Well, she needed to go briefly check on the hawkstrider hatching that had been given to her a few weeks earlier by one of the other cousins who had gone to Eversong Woods and Ghostlands. Why had said cousin gone to there?

Qixi sighed as she went over to the small stables on the property where the hawkstrider hatchling was staying. Stinky had had rumors that a goblin’s body had been found near the borders of Eversong Woods that matched Nappsixa description. Within a few days of him arriving; he confirmed that body was Nappsixa’s. Apparently she hadn’t alone, troll and scourge remains had been found nearby along with explosives. The family had in the process of hiring someone to deal with that traitorous cousin but now they wouldn’t have to with this development.

Anyways, she had trouble finding food for the creature to eat; even going to a Da Doctas clinic and asking for help in that matter. From their advice, she had found caught various critters in hopes it would find something it would eat. Qixi found out that from the critters, the hawkstrider enjoyed rabbit; as long as the meat was raw and cut into very small chucks.

Once at the stables, the bruiser noticed that the hatchling was fast asleep. Good, it needed to rest if it was going to grow. She wasn’t going to disturb it. The hawkstrider was an active little critter when awake and last thing she wanted was to hit and kill it by accident. That would upset her considering she wanted to give it to Failiani as a mount once it got older…

She shook her head and stepped away. Qixi then went over to where she noticed the annoying critters were trying to hop on engineering supplies. Driqa had brought them over in hopes of building a cannon that in theory could fire the mechanical rabbits a far distance where hopefully they wouldn’t be able to hop back. How far of a distance? The bruiser didn’t know and Driqa hadn’t given the exact answer to Pizaxxa in a letter.

As long as said cannon didn’t blow up when firing it up and took the mechanicals things more than a few feet, they were willing to try it. The device would take a bit of time to build. In the meantime, she would have to try and hope her wooden mace would eventually destroy one of the critters. With that thought in mind, the bruiser took hold of her weapon and aimed it towards the closest rabbot, one painted green. She swung hard and…

Whack! Qixi shook her head; the mechanical critter still hadn’t suffered any damage. She had gone after this one earlier before taking her break. The only good thing about these mechanical rabbits is that they shouldn’t have any enraged druids showing up once they found a way to deal or destroyed the critters. Well, the bruiser hadn’t heard of any reports of druids attacking folks for destroying mechanical critters. If they started doing that… she shuddered at that thought.

“Qixilixa...”

Was it her imagination or did just faintly hear Failiani’s voice? Qixilixa looked to left and right and didn’t see the Sin’dorei which didn’t surprise her. She sighed and went on with attempting to smash the green-painted mechanical rabbit. That activity lasted for a few minutes when suddenly a knife and bounced off a rabbot several feet from her. She walked and picked up the small weapon. She inspected the weapon further; it was a small throwing knife, one a rogue might use.

Wait, rogue? Was there an assassin around or had Stinky confronted his fear with rabbits and arrived to help? Yes, Pizaxxa’s brother was afraid of those critters, living and the mechanicals ones. He could take on naga, scourge and even giant spiders without any trouble but he’d cower and flee if he saw any size rabbit. That cousin had even considered visiting Pandaria; however he cancelled those plans when someone told him vicious rabbit humanoid creatures resided in Valley of the Four Winds.

The bruiser did understand his panic of them; his older brother had died in an accident involving explosive mechanical rabbits but he’d need to deal with his fear of those critters sooner than later. What happened if he took an assanation job that required him to take out someone that kept rabbits as pets? Anyways, she needed to find out who had thrown the knife; at this point she had strong doubts it was an assassin.

Qixilixa turned around with her weapon in hand and was very bewildered at the sight she saw; her face paling to a lighter green. Bewilderment turned to relief and worry; Failiani Arrowind was sitting against a stump some yards away. The rogue was clearly not in the best shape at first glance but still alive thankfully. How long had the young one been here? Better yet, how did she escape the death knight mercenary and find Pizaxxa’s place?

She sheathed her wooden mace and ran over to the young one, noting her condition. The bruiser couldn’t be sure but it seemed Faili was a bit taller than the last time Qixi saw her. However, the kid was paler than usual and emaciated- not surprising since she had as a prisoner. Faili’s carrot-red hair seemed to be dirty but surprising not matted. The gray leather armor she wore was damaged; not beyond repair such as the case with her gray-bluish cloak that was nearly shredded.

“Faili! It’s good to see you safe here, kid. I’ve been worried.” the bruiser said once she was at young elf’s side. “How long have you sitting there?”

“I haven’t been here too long. Your cousin, Stinky escorted me here before running away. I’d help but I’m not feeling so well right now, Qixilixa.” Faili said.

The goblin nodded and briefly put a hand on Faili’s shoulder before going through her packs for a canteen. Qixi noted the rogue’s were cracked and dry- dehydration was a possibility. She found one, containing water and gave it to the young blood elf. Faili then took a sip of water only for her to start coughing violently. Qixilixa noticed a hippogryph with black-bluish and orange feathers land nearby. She inspected the mount, noting it seemed to bit too thin. “Is that yours?” She asked, once Faili’s coughing calmed down.

“Yes, my… I mean someone got that for me.” Failiani rubbed her eyes.

“I see.” the bruiser commented. She wasn’t sure who had given Faili the hippogryph but was glad someone had. The rogue hadn’t had the best luck in keeping mounts alive. The kid had mentioned in a letter that her previous one had been killed by Nisensi’s minions, thankfully Failiani had stay hidden and hadn’t been caught by them. Before that, Faili’s hawkstrider died not long after arriving in Northrend. It seemed to be a resilient creature.

“It’s strong; it survived on little food while we were being imprisoned by the death knight for who knows how long- it felt like it went on and on. I can’t recall how long I was held.” Faili paused, her body started to shake. “He absolutely refused to give me any food, not even a crumb.”

She patted the kid’s shoulder gently, shaking her head. Faili briefly wiped a few tears from her eyes. Qixi was angry after confirming that the hippogryph mount was starved in addition to Faili. She would make sure that it got lots of food; Failiani, too. Why was he trying to starve the creature? Was Nisensi making plans to exterminate hippogryphs now? She wasn’t sure but could ask the young one. “Did Nisensi want the mount, too?” She watched Faili shake her head.

“No, he claimed it was going to be fed to his raptors hatchlings once he turned me over to Nisensi. That really angered me.” Faili’s eyes blinked. “That human mentioned… that happen once… something about ‘plans with Coriani.” She started to yawn.

“Easy, Faili. Is your memory fuzzy?” Qixi commented, watching Faili nod at her. She wasn’t surprised that the rogue wasn’t remembering everything that happened. That could have been caused by various things, including the narcolepsy-type curse the young one had. If Faili got into extreme emotional states, she would fall into a deep sleep suddenly. It was something that would need to be checked out. However, she was worried about ‘plans’ being mentioned concerning Coriani.

She hadn’t heard from the huntress in a while. This would have to be investigated; hopefully no one had abducted the huntress and she was recovering in a safe place from a broken foot. Due to the mention of raptors, she wondered if the kid had in fact been held in Storm Peaks. “Were you held in Storm Peaks? How did you get away?” She watched the rogue pull a single thieve lock-pick tool from her pack.

Failiani nodded before speaking, “Yes, inside of a Titan facility across from Ulduar. I escaped on my own, Qixi. That death knight let me keep all my remaining lock picks. He said it would be amusing watching me break all of them trying to pick the lock of the manacles; he had watched me break 75 picks opening up a strong iron lockbox in Zul Drak...”

“Wait, he let you keep all your lock-picks?” Qixilixa blinked. That was easily the most foolish thing anyone holding a rogue could do. Her skills were fairly pitiable with them but still, Failiani carried 200 of the tools whenever she could. Eventually someone with that many tools could free themselves. Was there an award for dumbest abductor? Hmm, she would have to check that out.

“Yes. Granted, I broke 124 them trying to free myself off and on. I remember waking up and noticing a drink close by. Drinking it, I realized it was hot swiftthistle tea. The death knight took notice and...” Faili shivered briefly before continuing, "My memory is foggy but I either fell asleep or passed out."

"It wouldn't surprise me if that mercenary harmed you. I presumed you woke up sometime later."

Failiani blinked and then nodded. "I then woke up to a female voice yelling out his birth name, at least his first part of it. Once I heard him mutter ‘rogue wench’ and he went to fight the human, I knew I had to escape with my last pick while I had the chance. I unlocked the chains and got away while he seemed to be losing the battle.”

Qixilixa nodded. She was glad that the kid had gotten free and escaped during a fight. Still, it was concerning enough that the rogue broke 75 picks opening up a strong iron lockbox- Stinky claimed opening those were as easy as eating chocolate cake. Clearly they would have to work and get Failiani’s skill with picking locks up to a point where she wouldn’t break any of the tools, in case she ran into this type of trouble again.

Not that would happen with Qixi’s watch. Now that Faili was safe, the task changes from finding to protecting her. If there was something she could do; it was preventing wayward mercenaries and Nisensi’s minions getting anywhere near the kid. She would need help if the foul alchemist showed up herself but the likelihood of that happening was slim, for now.

First though, she should get the kid inside and have her checked out by Pizaxxa; the likelihood that Faili had been examined by a healer since being imprisoned was extremely slim. The kid barely survived being starved from the looks of her. Plus there was the issue with her not remembering everything about her experience. Qixi was certain that Pizaxxa could perform a basic exam with the training she had so far received.

“I assume that you haven’t seen a healer since escaping.” Qixi looked towards Pizaxxa’s place. It was surprising that Driqa hadn’t come out yet. Then again she was likely still talking.

“Correct. I haven’t seen a healer since getting away… whenever that was. I’ve been feeling fairly ill since. Is Pizaxxa the cousin that's training to be a priest?” Faili scratched her head.

“Yep, she is.” She sighed as it started to rain. She shivered as an unpleasant memory flashed before her. This was not the weather the Sin’dorei needed to be dealing with due to her health. However, did the rogue have the strength to walk at the moment? The bruiser feeling on that matter wasn’t a good one. “We should be getting inside. You need help?”

“Sure, being inside sounds good. I’d walk over but I’m feeling very weak….” Failiani said, trying to get up but without any success.

Qixi nodded; Faili looked far too weak to be getting up on her own. It was lucky the blood elf had managed to make it this far with escort. She would need help in getting inside Pizaxxa’s place. The goblins were out of that element but supposedly Driqa’s pandaren employee, Xing-Hio was headed to help with the situation. However, the bruiser hadn't seen him arrive- that didn't mean he wasn't around. She didn’t want to leave Faili’s side given the rogue’s condition.

“Qixi, I’m ready to work on the… Failiani? She’s here?!!!” Driqa yelled, having a shocked expression on her face.

Granted Driqa yelling sounded much softer to her right ear but that didn’t matter. She watched her smaller cousin run over. “When did she show up?”

“Not too long…” Failiani commented, starting to shiver.

“It’s good to see you, kid. You must have been though quite the ordeal.” Driqa commented as she got a woolen blanket from her pack and handed it over to Qixi. “She needs to get inside. I’ll go see if Xing-Hio is here yet.”

Qixilixa put the blanket over the young Sin’dorei, hoping it would stop her shivering while Driqa ran over to the stables. Why was she running over in that direction; she hadn’t seen the pandaren when she went to check on the hawkstrider hatchling. Then again he could have been sitting down and out of her sight. Xing-Hio was on the shorter side for pandaren.

“Cannons? I thought Driqa builds Robo-Chicks.” Failiani said.

“She still does and that business is doing great profits. Driqa wants to try an idea out and test it using mechanical rabbits. Pizaxxa doesn't care as long as the mechanical rabbits are taken care of.” She rubbed her ear.

“Oh. Pizaxxa is afraid of rabbits, too?” Faili yawned, still shivering. “Do you know who’s responsible for the rabbots? They didn't build themselves...”

"Not a fear of them but a dislike." Qixi blinked. The rogue had brought up a point about the rabbots; someone had to built them but who? She wasn't aware of any relative of hers that had knowledge to build the devices. "As for the mechanicals; no idea who yet but that'll be figured out."

((I apologize for the big delay in getting this posted. My health is still on the poor side. Another post is incoming; however, it'll come later- part is being rewritten. This might be continue in a newer thread.

Cori is currently missing. All I'll say is that's she alive.))

((This is Coriani by the way. I hope there isn't an issue posting this. I'd consider this a follow-up to what happened on Wednesday evening Alliance side on Yani Qui. ))

Along a road near the Red Reaches in Blasted Lands, a lone figure walked with a staff in hand. Panting could be heard if one was close to it to the pandaren. Yes, the figure was a female one to be more precise; Xing Quai, traveling monk and explorer. What did she look like? Well, Xing had black and white fur and brown eyes. Her hair was black with a few red streaks and was normally partially kept in a bun held by chopsticks- which occasionally she would used to eat food with.

The pandaren looked ahead and noticed the road went up a hill. Great… it wasn’t her favorite to walk up but it was better than climbing stairs; those were her enemy. The stairs around the Temple of Five Dawns on Wandering Isle tortured her very existence. She shuddered briefly before traveling on. She was of average height but her weight was a different matter. She could be considered overweight even by Pandaren standards. However, she didn’t think of herself that way; she thought of herself as being… fluffy.

She stopped, panting once she made it to the top a hill. It was exhausting walking on foot with all her packs. Normally she would be traveling with her younger cousin, Yani Qui that would help with a small part of the load. The monk smiled while thinking of that pandaren who had stayed in Stormwind. Yani was the youngest one of her uncle’s six children and had recently reached adulthood before leaving Wandering Isle with one of her brothers and Xing.

What did Yani look like? The cousin had brown fur, blue eyes and was of a healthy weight. Yani did have a wild side to her; it wasn’t uncommon for see the pandaren dancing with scanty clothing at her father’s noodle shop or skinny dipping without supervision while growing up on Wandering Isle. For those reasons, Xing had hesitant to leave Yani in Stormwind alone for however long the monk would be in Blasted Lands.

However, the cousin had proven to behave by herself when Xing Quai had briefly left Ratchet for a few hours three weeks earlier. No instances of any trouble according to the goblins bruisers. The monk had agreed to let Yani Qui stay in Stormwind; with a few conditions. For one, there was to be no dancing or swimming in the canals and lakes while naked or scantily dressed. Also, her cousin was to keep out of other trouble and not get into any fights- Xing had made a vow to protect Yani from harm to her aunt and uncle.

Yani agreed to the terms, claimed she’d be taking care of Li Xing- the orange kitten that had been bought from the crazy cat human lady in Elwynn Forest a week earlier. Xing had left shortly after that, hoping the cousin would keep her word. The monk had been gone for some days now; maybe it was time to get going to Stormwind and check on Yani since she didn’t carry a hearthstone.

“Hi there!” a cheerful voice said.

The voice interrupted her thoughts. Xing hadn’t heard anyone coming. She looked and noticed a gnome male wearing light blue robes. He had white hair, brown eyes and facial hair that included a long beard. Something about him was familiar, why was that? It then occurred to her that she had seen this gnome three weeks earlier in Ratchet. Yani had been talking to him; he apparently created mechanical rabbits for a living.

He seemed to be friendly, nothing about his appearance indicated that he had nefarious intentions. Gnomes were a part of the Alliance, right? Still, she was suspicious that he had shown up in an area with no one else in sight. Something seemed off but as to what that was, she wasn’t sure. Maybe by invoking a conversation, she’d find out. “Hello.”

“My apologies for the interruption, Miss.” the gnome bowed briefly. He cleared his throat before continuing, “I could use some assistance in a matter.”

“Help? With what?” Xing asked, crossing her arms.

“You see, I build mechanical rabbits for a living. I finished one and was on my way to deliver it to the buyer when it escaped…”

Xing Quai shook her head. Where was this buyer for the gnome to have come this far? She didn’t recall anyone in the worgen fishing village ordering a mechanical one, at least while she had stayed. Had he gotten lost? Either that or he was lying. “How long ago was this ‘rabbit’ ordered? Who ordered it?”

The gnome shrugged. “Two, three days ago.”

She had been staying at Surwich during that time. And he still hadn’t said who ordered the rabbit. Why couldn’t he tell her who? Unless he was lying to her… and that’s when she saw the dagger partially sheath on his belt. It was a caster’s one but that’s wasn’t what alarmed her. It had blood and what appeared to be small bits of brown colored fur.

Xing was alarmed at the sight of it. However; before she could respond, Xing found herself unable to move her legs. Looking down she found thick ice surrounding her feet-paws that was rooting her in place. She tapped her staff against the ice root and found not even a sliver broke off. She briefly cursed in Pandaren; normally some would of chip off.

Unless she could find a way to break the ice, she wasn’t getting away anytime soon. Something about it seemed off. The monk then returned her glance to the gnome who was cracking up with laughter. “I had a feeling you were lying. Why are you here?”

The gnome chucked and responded with a cheerful voice, “I have another one in my grasp. I must sacrifice Pandarens to the Old Ones. You shall make a worthy one.”

“Old ones?” the monk was more than confused after hearing that. Wait a minute; did he say something about being sacrificed? Xing Quai would have to find a way to break the ice and prevent that from happening either by fighting or fleeing the gnome.

“The true masters of Azeroth. The voices say I must sacrifice all pandas… sacrifice pandas.” the gnome seemed to be losing his sanity if he had any to begin with.

“Laris.” a deep voice interrupted.

The monk turned towards the newest voice. About twenty feet away, there was a night elf male with white hair and purple skin. He wore dark leather armor. He was of average height for them, however; he was far too thin. She had seen other night elves before and they weren’t as malnourished as this one was. Clearly he didn’t eat enough to sustain himself. Maybe she could use that to her advantage...

“Oleren! But the voices…” Laris commented.

“Lady Nisensi wants this one taken alive long enough to see if her newest poison is effective in person.” Oleren shook his head before muttering in a language Xing didn’t understand.

Still who was Nisensi? Were they an ‘old one’? What was this mention of a poison? The monk was didn’t know what to think. If there was one thing could tell, it was the night elf intentions weren’t good, either especially if he had intentions of poisoning her. He wasn’t a part of the Alliance if he wished to do that.

“The voices… I must sacrifice more. The panda girl in Stormwind wasn’t enough. They want more! The voices want the fat panda.”

“And ‘they’ will get more with Nisensi’s plans. She wishes them all exterminated.” Oleren took a brief glance at Xing before muttering, “She’d make an excellent rug…”

Wait, a pandaren female was attacked in Stormwind? That had to been recent. She hoped they were still alive and recovering. Wait, why did the night elf have Yani’s pack on himself? Xing just noticed that and felt chills run down her. Had something happened to Yani Qui? Her cousin wouldn’t have been able to defend herself if she had been attacked by these two. She really hoped not but something told her she needed to get away quickly and get to Stormwind.

“Laris, what did you do with my weapons? I can’t break the ice to grab the fat pandaren without it…”

Xing shook her head at the comment. She was fluffy, not fat (even though that part was true) and that didn’t mean she couldn’t defend herself. She trained on the Wandering Isle for a time to defend herself without weapons. Granted, the gnome was fairly experienced but the night elf was a different issue.

Why he had 'given' his weapon to Laris she wasn't sure but hadn't been the smartest idea. Based on his comments, he actually needed one to fight. His lost weapon would cost him. The training she had taken to become a monk was about to come in… once she could move freely.

The monk looked down at her feet-paws and noticed they were still surrounded by thick ice. Still there had to be a way to break the unnatural ice, it should have dissolved by now. That’s when Xing remembered the test potion as she went to grab it from her packs. A draenei had given her it about a few months earlier- supposedly it could break stubborn ice and roots within seconds by breaking the vial.

It hadn’t been actually tested but right now seemed a good time to use the potion. Without hesitation, she dropped the vial and watched it break. Nice, it was working as she noted the ice melting. She looked at Laris and Oleren and noticed they seemed to be heavy distracted by the lost weapon.

However, they could turn their attention on her any time and she could be rooted again- this time without the test potion to aid. How could she safely get away, then? That should be easy as she bent over and grabbed two rocks; she had seen a rogue do this trick before.

She quickly threw one of the rocks on the other side of the road in order to further distract the two. That worked as Xing noticed the two look in the direction of the thrown rock. She then aimed the last rock towards Laris’ back before throwing it, too. If it hit where it was suppose to in a certain spot, it would temporarily paralyze the gnome long enough for her to be able to dispatch the night elf and get away.

Smack! Before she knew it, the gnome was on the ground and unable to move. Now was her chance to strike at Oleren who was standing about twenty feet away. Xing started to run a few steps before jumping, turning her body sideways and using wind/magic to propel herself into the night elf.

Her extra weight… fluffiness might be of an advantage; maybe there was the chance this particular kick would knock him out right. As it was, the pandaren was kinda flying through the air. Oleren was going to be in for a surprise and he appeared to be when he turned around and saw her coming at him.

The night elf seemed dazed when she did land and knock him to the ground. However, he was still conscious. Nothing that the right kick or punch could fix. With that thought, she kicked him in the head when he attempted to get back up, knocking him out.

“You chose the wrong Pandaren to come after.” She muttered before grabbing Yani’s pack along with a black one before taking off in case the gnome decided to give chase. Why not attack him? She hadn’t had enough training to take him down. Another reason was she needed to get to Stormwind quickly and check to make sure her cousin was alright.

Xing Quai ran north on the road, panting of course. It was to be expected since she was now carrying her staff, her packs plus the ones that belong to Yani Qui and the night elf. Could she stop and take another breather? Nope, since she took a brief glance back and noted Laris was going to give pursuit. A pandaren being chased by an insane gnome… how often did that happen? Times like this, it would be nice to a hearthstone or even a mount for that matter.

After running for a bit, she noticed up ahead the road started to go down the hill. The monk could use that to gain speed without expelling too much energy. How? Simple, she could bend herself into a ball or at least something close to that shape due to her ‘fluffiness’ and roll down. Granted, the last time she had actually done something like this was back on Wandering Isle but it seemed it would be a good time to do so again.

“Come my minions, the old ones demand the blood of the fat panda monk. Seek her..” Laris yelled.

Wait, he had what? She briefly took a look back and noticed many mechanical rabbits were also in pursuit; at least 20-30 of them. He built those devices…. great, she had a feeling they hide something sinister inside them. As to what that could be, the pandaren didn’t want to find out. Xing wasn’t going to let them catch up with her. After all, the road was about to take a turn and go down the hill.

Time to get rolling, literally. Xing managed to bend her body and get herself into a close enough ball shape. Her muscles were sore but she had to keep moving; otherwise Laris and the mechanical rabbits would catch up. With a simple push, she started to roll down the hill and she was moving at a quick enough momentum. Other than the small bumps, this was a good travel method. She was going to roll until it ran out of force and then she’d run again.

She managed to make all the way down the hill and even a little ways down the road before losing steam. She managed to get herself out of the ball shape and on her feet-paws. A slightly distant explosion sent her running again; Xing didn’t need to look back and realize it had come from one of the mechanical rabbits. As if she didn’t have enough reasons to run.

Now, where to go from here? Nethergaurd Keep was to the north; however it was a good distance away. Not only that, she would have to run up a steep hill. While that was barely more tolerable than stairs, she wasn’t sure how much energy there would be left getting there. Her fluffiness or weight had a good chance of working against her in this situation. She didn’t know if she had the stamina to do it without stopping.

The Dark Portal was a bit closer in distance and on the other side of it had a portal that went to Stormwind. There would issues if she chose that route. First, she’d have to dodge the dangerous animals, demons and strange cultists that littered the way. It was very dangerous to deal with while on the run from someone.

Another issue would be the occasional very bored experienced horde adventurer that tended to hang out in the outskirts of the portal and beat up victims for hours at a time. She didn’t need that happening to her but since Stormwind and other Alliance capitals had portals that teleported someone to the Dark Portal, maybe fellow alliance could help out.

“The fat panda girl will be sacrificed! The old ones will return!”

She shook her head at the latest yell and decided she would risk running towards the Dark Portal. She took a brief glance and noted Laris and the mechanical critters were definitely still in pursuit. That wasn’t surprising to her at all. Maybe the there was the chance the animals, demons and cultists would go after the devices.

The gnome though was a different story and Xing had a feeling he'd be able to survive them. She hoped if someone had taken a portal to the Dark Portal whether they’d be Horde or Alliance and made their towards her, perhaps they would notice the situation and she get aid in dealing with him. The pandaren wondered if this gnome was a possible reason Horde races didn't like the Alliance...

Anyways, she still had a good distance to go. Xing was beginning to feel a bit weary but she couldn’t stop for obvious reasons. There was something that did surprise her but aided the situation the more she thought about it. He didn’t own a mount- perhaps trainers prevented him from having one due to his insanity and that was something to be grateful for. There wouldn't have been a pursuit if Laris had one.

The monk panted but went running on. While she would like to eat something, doing that on the run wasn’t the best idea. Getting sick and vomiting wasn’t an option. Maybe she could do a few more rolls on the level ground to help with energy. There was even the possibility that she could do her one kick that she had done earlier to the night elf to gain distance, too. Once she got to the portal, she could roll down the crater there, too. Hopefully no stairs were present.

If there was one thing she was certain of whenever she’d make it back to Stormwind; there would adventure to tell of. She certainly hadn’t been expecting to have explosive mechanical rabbits and a gnome chasing after her when she had come to Blasted Lands. This might be more entertaining to share than the time as a child she took a dare and stole carrots from a virmen warren… that memory made her shudder briefly.

She looked ahead and sighed. There still was a distance to go and another mechanical rabbit malfunctioned and exploded in the small distance behind. If that kept up, there could be a chance all of them would be gone by the time she reached the Dark Portal. However, she needed to get more distance now so she didn’t get injured by debris which would slow her down. Time to do another roll…

(( Since this is semi-related to this thread I put it in this here. I hope I did okay writing the little skirmish- it's not something I have much experience with. I can put Xing Quai's posts in a newer thread if needed and would help.

I would like to extend a thanks to Stormwind Union for roleplaying with Yani Qui during her final moments. I haven't deleted the character yet as I'm not sure exactly what to do now. Would the body still be needed? Can I assume there would an investigation still going on her murder?

Now, if anyone wishes to reply to Xing's post, feel free to do so.. As for in-game role playing... that currently would only be possible by battletag and I'm won't give that on the forums. In-game I'm willing to do that.

Regarding the Horde characters, Qixi's post is still in-progress.))

(( An investigation is currently in progress, and should be ongoing provided we can learn some of the facts ICly :) We'd love to catch this guy!! ))

06/30/2014 01:21 AMPosted by Calent

(( An investigation is currently in progress, and should be ongoing provided we can learn some of the facts ICly :) We'd love to catch this guy!! ))

((Alright, that something that can be done. I'd like Laris to get caught, too. I have some ideas on that but would like to clear with the Watch first and hear any suggestions. OOC wise, what would be the best way to talk about it? Forums? Battletag? In-game on the gnome?

I originally posted Xing's post here cause it had semi-related to this thread since Laris 'works' for Nisensi. However, it can be moved to another thread if it would be helpful. ))

(( I sent you my btag information via in-game mail on one of my alts. I look forward to hearing from you! ))

Officer Aribet Sangsara sat in the coolness of the Stormwind Watch building. She opened the manila folder and began to peruse the case to which she had been assigned. It didn’t take long as the file was only one page long. Unfortunately, there just wasn’t that much information. Yani Qui’s dying words had been labored and few.

The only thing Ari really had to go on was a brief description of the assailants and the knowledge that Yani was poisoned – most likely by a created poison.

Sighing, she leaned back in her chair. This whole thing seemed like the work of another crazy cult. Even the commander had rolled his eyes at the mention of ‘old ones’.

Ari stretched one finger out to tap two names listed in the file – Laris and Ratchet. Those were the only clues they had to any of this. Pushing her chair back, she stood and tucked the file under her right arm. It was time to find Officer Calent. Perhaps some field work in Kalimdor was necessary.

((I am looking forward to roleplaying this out in game and will be sending you my btag information via a Horde alt to Coriani.))

Qixilixa sighed and sat down on the grass near Pizaxxa’s place in Azshara. She had gotten back from Ratchet and she was a bit tired; especially after she had to chase after her wolf mount when it got spooked. What had caused the bruiser to head to that goblin-run town? Originally, it had been to pick up more supplies with Driqa pandarens’ employees to repair Pizaxxa’s house. Yes, the house had been heavily damaged after the remaining mechanical rabbots suddenly exploded.

The frame of the house had somehow remained intact but the walls and furnishings had become toast. Thankfully, no one had been inside or near the rabbots when it happened a week ago although Qixi’s wolf mount had become more spooked since- nearly to the point she had quit eating rabbit, squirrels and other critters. The goblin had since managed to get the wolf to eat dead critter meat; however, she still ran at the sight of live critters. A wolf afraid of her food source…?

Anyways, the bruiser would have to go to another Da Doctas clinic if the wolf continued her actions. Perhaps she had suffered an injury the goblin couldn’t detect. She wasn’t a healer after all- neither was Driqa and Pizaxxa was still training to be one. That cousin’s skills were still basic while the clinic had fairly experienced healers there.

Qixi’s thoughts got interrupted when she noticed a small brown rabbit hopping several yards away. She wasn’t afraid of the critters; however, several of the rabbots that had exploded had appeared to look exactly like a living version of a rabbit. How could she tell if it was a real living rabbit or a mechanical one without picking it up? That was easy as she grabbed a small carrot from her pack.

Driqa had tested this out several weeks earlier when they full-scale invasion of the rabbots. Living rabbits would chase after the carrot while the mechanical ones would stay put. With that thought, she threw the small carrot several feet past the little critter. She smirked as she watched the brown rabbit hop after the carrot and start to devour it. Good, it wasn’t a mechanical and wouldn’t explode on them.

Regarding the full-scale rabbots invasion that happened weeks ago, did she figure out who was responsible for them? She along with Driqa had figured out the identities of the few persons involved with that mess; one of them had been confronted. Driqa’s ex-boyfriend was still angry after being rejected a few years ago and had built some of them; without explosives.

After a few threats and Driqa pointing him in a direction of a female goblin with spiky hair that seemed to have feelings for him, he had removed the mechanical critters he had placed. Qixi wasn’t sure if that new relationship with his employee was going to last but for now at least they wouldn’t be bothered by the ex.

Who were the others involved? A formal rival of Pizaxxa had left several rabbots on the property; those ones also didn’t have explosives and were very resistant to wooden mauls. Luckily the portable cannon Driqa built as a test model for an unspecified client had destroyed those when she placed and fired them- into many pieces on impact.

Still, those mechanical critters had nothing compared to the ones that had been placed by the other one responsible for the invasion. Nisensi…. Qixi spit at the name. The ones that foul Quel’dorei had ordered to be built were threatening to deal with. The devices had explosives; some had cloaking devices and others had fur to make them resemble actual rabbits. These were the rabbots that had damaged Pizaxxa’s place.

While those rabbots seemed to have been dealt with finally, they were repairing the mess. And who had Nisensi ordered to build the mechanical critters? The goblin figured it was the gnome employee that had been with Quei-dorei along with others shortly before the bruiser had been turned over to Nappsixa about 11 months earlier. Or was it a year now, she wasn’t sure.

Qixilixa shuddered, thinking of that gnome. He had graying-white hair and brown eyes. He wore a blue tunic and blue pants and had a dagger at the time. It wasn’t his appearance that made her shudder; it was the words he mentioned during that horrid time. She figured something about him was crazy when he mentioned ‘the old ones would return’ and ‘making sacrifices to the old ones’ over and over again.

She wasn’t even sure why Nisensi had let this gnome join her cause. Even Talen, the purple haired burly night elf who had tried to ‘punt’ Qixi had seemed very annoyed by him. The bruiser had a memory of him threatening to punt the gnome if he didn’t shut up.

Until her recent visit to Ratchet a few days ago she hadn’t known this gnome’s identity. She now knew what his first name was; Laris. His hair had turned to white and it seemed he was now causing problems in Stormwind. She had gone with Xing-Hio and his younger cousin Li to pick up more supplies in that town when a female night elf and female human had approached her.

Based on their appearance, she figured they were part of one of the Alliance guards groups; possibly the Stormwind Guard/Watch. If there was one thing Qixi didn’t want and Driqa didn’t need, it was Alliance interfering with Driqa’s Robo-Chick business which was headquartered in Stranglethorn Vale. It would be best to answer any inquiries they might have.

They had asked questions about if they knew a gnome named Laris and a pandaren named Yani Qui. Qixi had heard Driqa mention that Li had a twin named Yani Qui who was sweet but a bit wild if not watched by the older cousin Xing Quai. The alliance members had given the Pandarens the bad news that Li’s younger twin sister had been killed. Li had taken the news really hard while Xing-Hio was in shock. Even Qixi had been shocked to hear the news.

More questions later, she had found out that Li had seen the white haired gnome leaving Ratchet during their last visit about a month earlier which didn’t make her happy. She did some explaining that she had seen the gnome before but hadn’t known his name. She decided to explain that situation along with the Nisensi part and as the conversation went on to, she found out that while Xing-Hio hadn’t seen the gnome, he had seen a white haired night elf that was seen with Laris in Stormwind.

That minion wasn’t Talen as he was tall, purple haired and quite burly. The night elf Xing-Hio saw had white hair and was ‘very malnourish and thin’ according to Xing-Hio. Qixilixa didn’t share everything with the alliance duo due to the pandarens accompanying her. The bruiser figured them hearing that Nisensi wanted to exterminate pandarens and make them into ‘floor rugs’ would make their grief worse.

The exchange did eventually include Driqa’s cousins (which was starting to confuse Qixi as she had many of them.) and Failiani and her father for possible interviews. It was going to be hard for those two to get info that since Taelis had made it very clear that Faili was to stay in Horde territories- the kid wasn’t even allowed to visit Ratchet for reasons that Nisensi could have agents here. This situation with Laris been seen here reinforced that idea.

Faili’s father was currently in Northrend trying to confirm rumors that Cori’s flying machine had been found in Zul Drak- while keeping himself hidden. He feared he still could owe a debt from his days of being a pirate. The likelihood of setting up an interview with him was next to impossible. And no, she hadn’t brought Coriani up as a name, partly due to the huntress not being seen in some time and could be in serious trouble herself.

Also while the question had been going on, the bruiser had feelings that the two pandarens could be in danger along with the other cousin that had been Yani’s guardian. That was a situation in itself; supposedly she had been an adult but why would one need a guardian to watch over her? Being on the wild side didn’t mean she needed to be watched all the time.

Unless Yani Qui wasn’t actually considered one which might have been easily possible due to a situation that had happened two weeks earlier outside Orgrimmar gate in Azshara. Xing-Hio and even Li claimed to be adults but one Huijon male pandaren who knew the family said otherwise, claiming Li’s parents were quite old and had confused them with the older adult children and cousins. He planned on sending them back to Wandering Isle.

A red furred female pandaren then came by and said something else about the ages and claiming Xing Quai wasn’t even related to Li or Xing-Hio which the Huijon pandaren refuted. The situation was too confusing to Qixi and Driqa and they left with the two pandaren employees while the other pandarens argued. Driqa didn’t care if they were adults or not; they did good work on the Robo-Chicks and for that she paid them good wages.

Qixi knew these two pandarens didn’t know how to fight but she hadn’t met Xing Quai before and asked Xing-Hio if that cousin could defend herself. She found out from him that pandaren had training to be a monk; however she was overweight even by their standards. He was worried that Xing could pass out if the gnome confronted her and she ran away.

Xing-Hio didn’t know where the monk had gone but Li had heard her mention about visiting a worgen fishing village. To her surprise, that village located in Blasted Lands. That wasn’t the safest place for a visit between the various dangerous animals, naga that roamed the coast and demons near the Dark Portal. Between Laris and that, there was reason to be worried about Xing Quai’s safety.

After a bit, the two asked after if Qixi was in charge of them (she was since she was in charge of keeping them safe) if Li and Xing-Hio could come with them; stating there was a witness protection program or something of that sort since they had seen the gnome and night elf that was involved in Yani’s death. Seeing that the two already had some of their belongings on them Qixi agreed to that, someone else keeping an eye on them would help. Besides, she had Failiani to protect from Nisensi.

She told Xing-Hio and Li to behave themselves; which they agreed to do. The alliance two also said to send any information via AAMS if she or Driqa had any more information to tell. There was also the mention that they would see the gnome being brought to justice; something Qixi hoped they do if he was causing trouble in alliance areas. If the Alliance forces didn’t and she ever found Laris roaming, he’d be killed.

She watched the two Alliance and the pandarens leave and then left to find her wolf mount that had ran off after seeing a critter. That didn’t take too long and once she had calmed her down they went on to Orgrimmar. Once arriving at the Goblin Slums, the bruiser had sent a letter to Driqa, telling her cousin of the situation and what she had done.

Now that she had arrived at Pizaxxa’s place, she and Driqa could talk more. That was once she could find her. With that thought, Qixilixa got back on her feet and started to circle around the house. It seemed to the bruiser that the house size was being extended and made bigger, not a bad idea considering how many meetings had happened in the place before and the size of the family.

“Qixi! Good you’re back.” Driqa happily commented.

“Did you get my letter?” Qixilixa asked, watching her cousin climb down from the rooftop and land on the ground.

“I did and what you did is fine, Qixi. I would have done the same thing if someone offered to protect my employees.” Driqa said, wiping her forehead with a cloth. “I’ll be sure that Xing-Hio and young Li get paid time off. It’s the least I can do during this grieving time for them.”

She nodded and wasn’t surprised after hearing that, Driqa was a good boss for her employees; she gave paid vacation and time off such as for grieving. “They’ll need that.”

“I know. I really hope their one cousin is safe. I just have a feeling Xing will be pursued if that damned Laris finds her.”

“I agree.” Qixilixa nodded before turning her attention on the house. Pizaxxa wasn’t on the premises, likely doing some training or looking for furniture but hopefully knew what was going on. “I assume Pizaxxa agreed to what’s happening here.”

“Pizaxxa left for more priest training and will be gone for a while. She did agree to make her house bigger for the meetings. Those rabbots may have practically destroyed it but it’ll be rebuilt far superior than it was before. Bigger and stronger! It’ll be gnomish-engineering proof by the time I’m finished with it.” Driqa smirked.

Qixilixa smirked after hearing that. Goblin-engineering at its finest, as long as it didn’t explode. “Good. It’ll need to be gnomish-proof.”

“You bet it does.” Driqa looked around as if trying to find something. “How’s the wolf?”

The bruiser glanced around and didn’t notice her, meaning she had ran off again due to a critter. Qixi shrugged angrily and shook her head. “Dang it, she ran away again.”

“I’ll help find her and see if we can coax her back. I could use a break.” Driqa said before running off to a tent.

Qixi nodded as she wouldn’t mind the help in finding the wolf. The bruiser was certain she was going to have to go back to the Da Doctas clinic and get the animal checked out. She watched Driqa come back a minute later with a shotgun in hand. “Good idea.”

“I don’t want any surprises. We better get going.” Driqa said as both goblins left and went in the northwestern direction.

------------------------------------------

“So, who was the client that ordered that portable cannon?” Qixilixa asked as she looked at the sky and noticed it was nightfall. They had been traveling for hours and there was still no sight of the wolf, except for paw-prints. Currently, they were on the southeastern part of the Southridge Beach and headed towards the Ruined Reaches of Azshara; Driqa had spotted the wolf paw-prints leading in the direction.

“It’s for one of ours cousins.” Driqa said.

“Which one?” Qixi shrugged briefly. She had so many cousins it was hard to keep track of them.

“Zeendixia. You know, the one that kinda estranged?”

“Zeeni still alive?” Qixilixa shook her head. That cousin was many, many years older than the bruiser was; even older than Pizaxxa. Zeendixia, also known as Zeeni was the only child of her father’s oldest brother. She also had quite the speech impairment and was hard enough to understand before Qixi had become deaf in her left ear.

Driqa nodded. “Yep and she been dapping in the warlock arts.”

“Why does Zeeni need a cannon for, a portable one at that?” Qixilixa asked.

“She wants to fire imps from one.” Driqa shrugged.

“Limbs? Like tree branches?” Qixilixa was puzzled. Why would someone dapping in the warlock stuff want to fire tree branches from a cannon? That was new to her.

“Imps, Qixi. You know those annoying demons creatures… At least that’s what I think Zeendixia meant.” Driqa said, shaking her head.

Qixilixa nodded; her bad hearing at it again. Imps would make a little more sense to fire from a portable cannon. Still made the goblin wonder what plans Zeeni had that required such a device. Hopefully the plans weren’t too sinister otherwise a family meeting would have to be called for her eventually. Right now, they needed to find her wolf mount. “I assume we’re still headed in the right direction.”

Driqa stopped and looked at the wolf paw-prints on the sand. “Looks that way, Qixi. Wait, look up way ahead.” The smaller cousin pointed south.

Qixilixa looked and noticed about a quarter of a mile or so her wolf was lying in the sand. That alarmed her to say the least. She and Driqa ran over, the bruiser keeping an eye out for troublemakers. Something about the situation looked… off.

As she got closer, she noticed her wolf was also trapped in a net. It was still breathing; however, the goblin couldn’t wake it up. The symptoms were familiar, like it was being affected by the same potion that had been put on fish over a year earlier. Damn!

Not only that, there was a female goblin lying down on the sand, clearly bound with ropes. It wasn’t just any goblin, Pizaxxa. Wait, what? Hadn’t that cousin gone for her priest training? Clearly she had run into trouble on the way and got into this mess. “Driqa, get over here. Pizaxxa’s injured.” Qixi yelled, running over to the unconscious cousin.

“What? O no… Stinky was supposed to gone with her as protection.” Driqa said before running over.

Thankfully, Pizaxxa was still breathing and didn’t have life-threatening wounds on her. However, the cousin did have bruises on her and other injuries including a broken arm; someone had beaten her up. She cut the rope bounds off with a small knife and shook her head. If Stinky was supposed to protect Pizaxxa and had ran away due to a rabbit critter; Qixi would find him and beat him for that.

To say the goblin was angry was a big understatement. She was enraged after seeing her wolf unconscious and Pizaxxa injured. Whoever was responsible for this would pay dearly, she would make sure of it.

The bruiser then noticed Pizaxxa stirred and grunted; which Qixi couldn’t hear. The injured cousin opened her eyes and looked both happy and concerned at the same time. Driqa was bandaging up Pizaxxa’s right arm. “Are you okay?” She asked.

“It’s nothing too serious, Qixi. I’ll live.” Pizaxxa winced, looking around. “It’s a trap…”

Qixi looked around and noticed 4… wait, 5 gnomes and a tall female draenei wearing light colored leather armor. It was an ambush indeed. The draenei had light blue skin and had almost black hair that was kept in a pony-tail. She also carried a wooden staff; possibly a monk by the looks of it and probably the main one responsible for Pizaxxa’s injuries.

Where they come from? She hadn’t seen them when they first arrived and none of the gnomes appeared to be engineers. That’s when she noticed the small boat just off the coast. So, that’s was the likely location they had been hiding. Now, the real question was who they worked for? She had a feeling she already knew the answer due to the rabbots situation and Nisensi but it didn’t hurt to ask.

“So, what brings you here?” Qixi asked. “Sightseeing?”

“You should know the answer to that. Nisensi sent us.” the female draenei said.

The bruiser sighed deeply. She wasn’t surprised to find out they worked for Nisensi. The alchemist was brave in sending minions to attack. There were rumors going around that foul elf had one draenei worker. One rumor also said they were a good cook while the other claimed the exact opposite and even said murlocs could cook something better. She motioned to Driqa to get ready for a fight. “So what does that wench want?”

“Lady Nisensi isn’t a wench!” the draenei briefly stomped her staff in the sand before yelling, “She thinks you know too much and wants you out of the picture. If I do that task, maybe she’ll promote me…”

“To what? Head chef?” Qixi asked and smirked, grabbing her wooden maul and positioning herself in a battle pose. She didn’t know if she could take on a draenei monk plus five gnomes but she didn’t really have a choice. She was in a fairly remote area of Azshara and the likelihood of help arriving quickly was slim.

“That’s a good question; what would Nisensi promote Taanea to?” a female gnome muttered.

“We can hope it’s not head chef. More employees will die if that happens...” a male gnome answered in a quiet voice.

Of course Qixi couldn’t hear the gnomes but she could tell that she had struck a nerve with the draenei. This could be fun in insulting the draenei; especially if they couldn’t cook a decent meal to save someone’s life. “You must be a very terrible chef to have not received that yet. I have a feeling murlocs could cook better than you can…”

“Enough! My cooking is fine. I’ll have fun punting you once you’re dead.” the draenei seemed to be preparing for a jump or something of the sort.

That told the bruiser which of those rumors about the draenei worker was true. With that thought, Qixi ran with speed and stopped before the draenei would be able to jump far. The bruiser did get hit with a swift kick to her stomach but thankfully her plate armor had lessened the blow… a bit. It hurt but pain and rage would keep her fighting until she was unable to move or the draenei was down.

At first, all the gnomes had ran towards Qixi but something had distracted them. The bruiser looked and noticed a turtle was going after them. She looked at Driqa but that cousin didn’t seem to be charge of it; she was busy aiming her shotgun at one of the gnomes. No, it seemed one of the gnomes had attacked it by ‘mistake’ and was defending itself.

It didn’t take them too long to dispatch the turtle and the goblin fully expected them to come after her. If there was anyone that should be attacked close range, it was to be her; despite not knowing if she could take on that many at once. She didn’t want them going after Driqa, Pizaxxa or even the unconscious wolf.

The gnomes started to come after the bruiser again when something else sidetracked them. Qixi deflected the monk’s staff with her wooden maul and took a brief look to see what that could be. She had fears they’d be pursuing Driqa or even Pizaxxa but wasn’t the case at all. Instead, there were several small imps that were attacking the gnomes. That was the last thing she was expecting to see.

“This isn’t in my contract!” an imp yelled before getting wracked.

Both Qixilixa and the draenei had a very puzzled look, where had the imps coming from? None of the gnomes had appeared to be warlocks or even dapped in those arts. Qixi looked behind in the southern direction and noticed many yards a goblin female was loading something into the portable size cannon before firing it off. Many seconds later, another imp landed nearby.

“What the… where did that fel-tainted warlock come from? Kill all the imps and the one responsible for summoning them.”

“It seems Zeendixia has arrived.” Driqa commented loudly. “It’s a good thing I finished making one for her shortly before Pizaxxa’s house blew.”

The bruiser nodded, the goblin near the cannon was Zeendixia. She could tell by the light red hair the female had. Granted, imps didn’t seem to be the strongest creatures as they were being killed quickly by the gnomes but maybe this it signal there was trouble and neutral adventurers or Horde members traveling in the area might help…

As it was, that might have happened already. Qixi noticed an ebon-colored gryphon circling the area before touching down. The passenger on it surprising was a draenei female; a warrior one with curly brown hair and a jeweled headband. She had light blue skin and wore dark plate armor that had a very slight light green glow to the shoulderpads. The draenei had a giant bone-crushing mace in one hand and long two-handed sword in the other.

To make matters interesting, it seemed the draenei monk recognized the other draenei. “Mysiani? What the fel? I thought you left the Alliance army.”

“I did leawe and I could say the same about you, Taanea. Vhat happened to you? You allied yourself vith a genocidal high elf.” the draenei warrior scowled.

Qixilixa shook her head; it seemed this Mysiani had an accent. Between that and her hard hearing, she wasn’t going to have the easiest time listening to the draenei.

Taanea shook her head. “I see you haven’t changed at all. Nisensi has plans that fit with the Alliance…”

“You really think that? Hov do you knov that she doesn’t hawe plans to vipe out draenei or von’t in the future?” the draenei warrior interrupted. “It’s not just that; you also vork vith the gnome that took my descendent captiwe and vas going to sacrifice her in a ritual.”

“Laris? Everyone knows he’s insane, Mysiani but we have to deal with it. Beside, your ‘descendent’ is quite the idiot, thinking the Horde can be reasonable.”

Qixilixa noticed this Mysiani had very enraged facial features; then again the bruiser could share the sentiments. It seemed the draenei had suffered due to Laris. She wasn’t surprise to hear that gnome had taken a draenei prisoner. Those thoughts distracted her as she winced from being hit by the draenei’s monk staff.

“Vhy ‘deal vith it’? You do knov that Laris villingly join the Tvilight Hammer cult and still has their goals in mind. And that’s not the vay to talk about your daughter.”

The Light Hammer guild? What was that? A Scarlet Crusade off shot? Or had her hearing gone bonkers and Mysiani said something else? Clearly either way this guild was one with very nefarious intentions. The bruiser was going to have to ask the draenei warrior about it later and let that Stormwind Guard/Watch know about the strange guild.

Taanea scoffed. “My ‘daughter’ would never talk that way therefore she’s not my relative. Besides, Nisensi is making a cure for him that’ll…”

“He’s beyond a cure, Taanea. I have talked vith many priests and they agree that nothing vill vork.” Mysiani said, frowning a bit. “I vas hoping I’d be able to talk you out of this. I can see that von’t be the case.”

“I’ll have to knock some sense into that old brain of yours once this goblin is dealt with.”

“You’ll hawe to do that nov. I von’t let you attack the goblin anymore.” Mysiani said, intervening and stepping between Taanea and her. She shook her head before pointing at Qixi. “You, go fight those gnomes.”

Qixi nodded, that could she understand and wouldn’t have any issues with. She ran towards the gnomes and let the two draenei fight each other; that was one family clash she was going to stay away from. Interesting enough, one of the gnomes was already down due to a combination of the imps and Driqa’s shotgun.

Only four gnomes left and one of them appeared to be barely able to stand. She smirked as she knew what her first target would be. The bruiser then charged at him and with one swift hit from her maul, he was down for the count. Three left; two of them appeared starting to tire. One, a male appeared to have loads of energy and wasn’t going out any time soon.

Between Driqa’s shotgun, the remaining imps and Qixi, the two tired gnomes were dealt with soon enough. However, the energetic gnome was a different story and Zeenie’s cannon appeared to be cooling down from all the action it had received. She couldn’t fire any more imps over and besides, it seemed that cousin was sitting down on a chair and taking a break.

Wait, Zeeni was doing what? The bruiser looked over and shook her head; that cousin was currently drinking a canteen of what she hoped was water. She wished she could take a breather but that wasn’t going to happen anytime soon. They had to defeat Nisensi’s workers before she would even think of relaxing.

“Something magical in nature is controlling him.” Pizaxxa said, trying to get on her feet. “I can sense it but….”

She examined the gnome more closely. His eyes appeared to be more… glossy than normal. And he also seemed more eager to fight than the other gnomes had. She heard that Nisensi had brainwashed employees from leaving her organization; was this gnome one of them? It might have been possible but how to deal with that? If the gnome could be broke of it, perhaps they learn more about Nisensi’s plans in detail from someone willing to share.

“Is he brainvashed? Beat him up until he snaps out of it! I helped a fev that vay.” Mysiani yelled over.

The bruiser shrugged briefly. All she had to do was fight the gnome until he backed off? Interesting… that wasn’t something she had expected to hear. She thought it would take an experienced priest or a special potion to dispel a brainwashing effect. Beating him up sounded something that would easy to do; as long as he didn’t injured to the point of dying.

If that happened which she hoped didn’t in this case, nothing more would be learned. She had strong doubts Taanea would say anything assuming she survived; the bruiser took a quick glance and noticed it wasn’t pretty sight. Blue blood was splattered on the sand. They would have to be careful on this brawl with the gnome if information was to be learned.

She looked at him and shook her head. The gnome was starting to retreat or was he going after Zeendixia? If he went after her; he was going to be end up dead knowing that cousin. There was also Makrinni lobster humanoid creatures in that direction.

This could be harder than she thought. It was best to pursue him if they wanted to learn more about Nisensi’s latest plans. With that thought, the goblin ran after the gnome.