World of Warcraft®

Hasa pulled her palm back, making a face. Loa, she hated resorting to things like that. "Go eat. An' try ta remember we on da same side here, ya? Dey'll know where ta tell us where she went." She pushed him in the general direction of more food. "Ain't no good if ya find her an' faint from hunger. Or exhaustion."

Yoresh took two steps back as soon as he was able and placed his hand on the spot she had touched him, slightly rubbing. His jaw clenched when she pushed him toward the other room, but he went without comment and heavily sat by the table.

The same side? He snorted. There was no more side for him. His only remaining place was with his mate. And for some reason, the powers that be were placing one obstacle in his path after another.

He should have never gone after Sakinah. If he hadn't expended all that magic saving her wretched hide he would have been able to fight off his attackers. Even their cowardly numbers. He would never have been locked up.

And Brae would have never forgiven him.

Yoresh sighed and huffed a mirthless laugh. He could try to blame the tiny demon all he wanted, but truth of the matter was, it was his own ineptitude. He'd let his anger get in the way again. Then and now.

Enough of this, he thought, pulling a plate closer to him. You're not going to show up like a pathetic dog.

The garden of screaming heads hadn't really fazed her. Neither had most of the bumps and moans of the haunted isle. The spiders, she could have lived without, but they weren't so bad, either. In the midst of her poking and prodding through piles of rubble and loose stonework, Brae's hand kept straying to the little pocket that she'd stuck the feather in before leaving.

She had no idea why she'd done it- maybe she'd just wanted to feel close, one more time. Frankly, she was trying to avoid thinking about it. This place had enough pitfalls for the unwary as it was. The back of her mind was preoccupied with 'what if'. What if she'd looked longer? What if she hadn't given in to the omens surrounding her? Would it have made a single bit of difference? Would being able to bury him really have made it any easier? She shrugged it off, zapping another creepy-crawly with a spell and flick of her wrist. There was work to do, and it was best if she kept that in mind.

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While Yoresh ate, Hasa got together the light travel gear they'd need to head over to Booty Bay and ask into the courier's location. She shook her head and murmured to whatever spirits were listening about one minor gripe or another regarding the guest in the kitchen. She genuinely hoped that things went they way he hoped they were going to. It was hard to say, though- people changed an awful lot over time, even spans of less than a year. The mage had found her own way through things and more confidence in her own ability to care for herself than she'd had before. Who knew how that would affect things?

Only da loa konws dat.

She shook her head again at the wreck he'd made of the rest of the meal. He'd been hungrier than he'd been willing to admit. "Ya almost ready ta go? Rain's stopped, fo' now."

Feeling better for having eaten his fill, Yoresh pushed himself up and adjusted his over robe, thinking to himself that it had seen better days. He snorted at himself. His entire self had seen better days. He was almost past her to retrieve his heavy cloak when he paused and grimaced.

"T'anks."

Muttered though the word was, it was filled with genuine gratitude, but whether it was for the food, the roof over his head, her help or all of the above and more was not elaborated and he hurried to throw the cloak over his shoulders and fastened it.

"Where we goin'?"

Hasa was wise enough to accept the thank you as given. She shoved a hefty pack at him, mostly full of food and a few other necessities he hadn't come equipped with. "Booty Bay. Far as I go, but dere's some t'ings ya might find useful in dere when ya on ya way. Da office she works outta is over dere- dey'll know where ta finds her, if anyone does."

He'd quickly taken the pack with both hands and stared down at it while she spoke. Unbidden memories flashed through his mind of a book shoved into small elven hands. It brought an ache to his chest and he quickly refocused on the here and now.

"Dey better be knowin'," he growled, hoisting the pack onto his back, jerking his shoulders to settle it more comfortably.

He was out of the house first, waiting with little concealed inpatients.

Hasa snorted, making her way out behind him. "Dey'll knows. An' if dey don', I promise we can finds somet'in ta set on fiyah. Fair?" She was enjoying herself far too much, now. "Watcha gonna do if ya needs ta do somet'in like take a boat?" The Zulfi was fully aware of her companion's odd aversion to water and any of its relatives.

"You would be my first choice to set aflame," he grumbled in his native tongue. He eyed the sky, wanting to be certain it wasn't going to rain five seconds into their journey. Her next words snapped his attention right back, however, and he sneered at her. "Don' even be joke," he groused. "Dere no way I be take a boat! Water everywhere!" He sliced his hand in a harsh, negating gesture. "Nevah! You people crazy," he shook his head. "Boat sinks."

He tugged his braid, agitated by the mere thought of all that water surrounding him. It had been rough on him merely stowing away on the zeppelin that brought him to Stranglethorn Vale. How could people stand it? Suppressing a shiver he started walking, praying to the Loa that Brae was somewhere far, far, faaaar away form water.

Hasa bit back a laugh as the voices only she could hear translated for her. "A good boat don' sink." She stuck her walking stick out in front of her to feel for roots. While her vision was much improved, she didn't quite trust it yet. "An' down dis way, unless we manage to catch her in town...well. Boats are da only way one place or another." She looked over at him searchingly. "Suppose it depends on how much ya wanna fin' her. Or how soon."

Not that he'd needed the reminder, really, but Hasa let it hang in the air as they passed through the jungle towards the goblin town. "Be dere by noon, at da latest."

Yoresh followed her in silence, thinking on her words. Of course he wanted to find her. He needed to find her. And wouldn't he do anything for her? He'd fought against Spellbreakers to keep her safe and he'd already nearly killed himself expending all of his magic and then some in a harebrained rescue of an elf who had killed so many of his people, that she had her own title. But the pale demon was her friend and so for her he had done it.
Surely he could brave the waters on a boat if that was what it took to get to her. Brave. Yes. He was no coward.

Yoresh grunted softly, reaching for a feather in his braid that was still missing. I'll do whatever it takes, he thought with determination.

However, the further they walked, the more his determination changed back into agitation, the thought of having to take a boat filling him with dread. He couldn't help the feeling but he did his damnedest not to let it show.
Trying to get his mind off of it, he focused on thoughts of her instead. Conjuring an image of her in his mind, the way she would smile at him, the sound of her laughter. Yet, another thought intruded, one that frightened him even more than the thought of water; one that he had somehow managed to suppress all this time.

What if she didn't love him anymore? He had vanished on her without a trace and after all this time... what if she had moved on with her life? Hasa hadn't mentioned it, but maybe she didn't know, but what if she'd found someone else's arms to comfort her? The notion filled him with such sudden jealousy it elicited a growl.

Yoresh yanked on his braid to let the pain banish all these what if's. He was only going to drive himself crazy with these thoughts. He should be ashamed, even if a small voice said it would serve him right. He should have put up more of a fight when they ambushed him; should have forced them to kill him rather than be captured. He had still been so weak. So pathetic.

The mage suddenly realized he had stopped walking from all of his wallowing and hurried to catch up to the zulfi.

Hasa had paused to wait for him and lifted a brow as she looked over her shoulder. "Ya gots mo' questions. Might be I got mo' answers, if ya wants 'em." Mentally, she was shaking her head. What a damn mess these two were in. She nudged the rich jungle soil slightly with the end of her walking stick before eyeing him shrewdly again.

"Probably can answer at least one real big question, if ya gots it in ya ta ask." She looked up through the canopy at the sky, squinting. "But we should keep movin', questions or no. Might start ta rain again, an' can't be havin' ya melt or somet'in 'fore ya finds her."

Yoresh glanced at her, his frown deepening. There were many things he wanted to know, but he couldn't ask the questions. He remained silent so long she no doubt figured he just wasn't going to answer at all.

He glanced at her again and spoke slowly, trying to find the proper words. Brae would curse him if she could hear how badly his speech had regressed again. "Did she evah.. think... I leave-- left her.. willing-ly?" he asked instead.

The witch doctor wanted to be able to give him an unequivocal 'no.' Instead, she studied him quietly for a long time before turning her attention back to the road. "I can't say she ain' gonna have some questions." Hasa's lips pursed in thought, temporarily lost in remembering the wretched mess the mage in question had been for months. "She figured ya wouldn't...." There was an enormous caveat dangling unspoken. "We foun' some t'ings while we was lookin', though, dat made her doubt herself." She shrugged slightly and offered him an apologetic look. "Was easier fo' her to convince herself ya met da loa den consider an alternative. But she gonna have some questions."

She eyed him up and down thoughtfully. "I means, ya still an Amani." She decided to boil things down to unvarnished truths. "Exiled or no. No mattah who raised her, or fo' how long....she ain't. She s till jus' an elfie. Wouldn't da question sit like bile at da back of ya mind, too?" She held up a hand before he could answer. "An' fo' da record, an' loa only knows why- wasn't evah you she doubted. Jus' herself." She cleared her throat and turned back to the road. "Mess da whole t'ing made o' her..." She shrugged again. "Good t'ing Saki didn't get upstairs- she'da had ya hide." Hasa snickered faintly. "Brae still might."

Yoresh couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had to be sure he wasn't misunderstanding her and reached out before he could stop himself, taking hold of her shoulder to stop her. He quickly withdrew his hand. "Doubt herself how?" he asked, eyes narrowing slightly. "Explain.. please."

She shrugged, clearly at a temporary loss of explanation. "She jus'...did. She didn' really talk about it, ya knows. But we could sees it in how she hesitated 'bout some t'ings. She'd kinda jus' stop mid-sentence." Hasa gave another shrug, pushing her hair out of her eyes again. "Dat stutter got worse, even in Zandali, to boot. Some days ya could hardly undastands her, til ya gots her ta ease up a bit. Even thought 'bout runnin' back ta the library o' hers."

She sighed, feeling suddenly exhausted and much older than her twenty-some-odd years. All she wanted was for her part in this to be over- leave the dramatic bits to the main players and go back to the simple life she'd settled into. In all the time the group of them had been far-flung, she hadn't missed all the trouble, even if she had missed the gossip. "It's hard ta explain, but ya could tell she was second guessin' herself every step. Dis courier t'ing, once she got talked inta it- it helped, far as we can tell."

Yoresh slowly slid a hand over his face, trying to remain calm as rage and shame overwhelmed him. A faint, thin line of ember glow shimmered over his hand the way fire would burn paper without actually growing into a proper flame, over his wrist, vanishing beneath his sleeve. Finally he took a deep breath and exhaled on a soft growl, dropping his hand away. His eyes still shimmered like embers and his jaw was clenched but he kept himself in check and resumed walking.

It would have probably gone very badly had he been in possession of his magic.

Hasa rolled her shoulders. "Hey- how she handle t'ings be on her. She ain't done too bad, really." She shifted her feet a little uncomfortably before looking up again. "Pry gonna rain again an' we nearly dere, now. Dun wanna let her get too far ahead o' us, huh?" She offered a tentatively friendly smile.

He gave a single nod that he'd heard and while he didn't return the smile, the shimmer lessened little by little, his eyes very slowly returning to yellow. At the mention of rain he looked up and grimaced, shifting the pack on his back to make sure he'd be able to get the hood up quickly when he needed to.

"Shoulda taken de giant lizard," he muttered, referring to the stolen raptor. "Be faster."

He gestured to a particularly protruding root in warning so she wouldn't get caught on it. "Surprise no one attack out here," he vaguely indicated the jungle around them. "Many tribes here no?"

She shrugged. "Used ta be, yah. Not so many, dese days. Been pushed back pretty far, da ones as didn't ally wit' da Zandalari or get zombified." She avoided the root with a smile of appreciation. The road was getting better as their proximity to Booty Bay increased. Eventually, they could see the outline of the entrance to the port town.

"I means it, though. She been handlin' t'ings as she could, ya knows?" She looked tempted to nudge him with her elbow before thinking twice and settling on a wry smile. "Least she founds 'er own feet and didn' 'spect nobody ta do fo' her." Hasa watched him carefully out of the corner of her eye, figuring she might have answered a question he'd not had the stomach to ask. Begrudgingly, her opinion of the Amani increased a little. Maybe he wasn't a nice Darkspear boy, but he'd always done right by Brae- even beyond what most people would expect. She was less worried about he'd handle the reunion and more worried about how the courier would. Those were fireworks she'd be thankful to be far away from.

The relief that swept through him at the disclosure was only visible in the way he slightly lifted his head a little more.
As they neared their destination he gave a sudden snort and smirked with dark humor, gesturing to it. "Think neutrality extends to people not horde or alliance? Don' believe I welcome much on best of days."