No coincidences

[Srelok]

"You are worried."
Azguh's voice came from the edge of the fire I was huddled by, the nights a lot chillier out here then the days. She was right of course, in more ways then one.
"Aye... I am. The whole situation is just bizarre.." I rubbed the stump of my leg to get some feeling again. the sands had chafed away at it all day. She sat, her back to the fire to preserve her night vision. In the gloom I could make out the faint glow of my mate's eyes.
"Not the Silithus calls. You dream. I hear you, you know. You talk." I stayed silent a moment so she continued. "About them. Are they visions?"
I winced as I rubbed some sand from a scrape in the stump. I'd actually been bleeding a few days now, on and off.
"You know I have no Sight. They're just dreams..." I thought a moment, ordering what my mind had been telling me the last few nights.
"It's just... It's been so long. And with the war dragging on, I can't help but wonder if any of them still live. And with the link gone..."
"You're soft, cripple. You worry too much about things outside your control." Her tone was mocking, but I sensed a hint of amusement. Azguh loved needling me with these kinds of remarks.
"Mayhaps. My point stands though, I'm completely cut off. And aye, we've talked about his before, I know I made a choice to continue my path alone, but..." I halted again, trying to make sense of what I was saying, what I had been feeling the last few days. She remained silent, letting me finish.
"But It's like these dreams are telling me something. I feel... like there is more to it. Maybe it's the isolation, but it can't be a coincidence that I dream of my pack brothers all of a sudden."
A gust of wind blew past, stirring embers from the fire and blowing up some sand. It also tossed around my braids and played through the full beard that had been growing out these past few months. I jerked up as a feeling hit me. Not a vision, but I sensed purpose in the wind.
It's been too long. You're getting restless...
Not truly words. Not like Azguh would speak, but I understood all the same. Azguh looked at me directly, pretty much ruining her nightvision anyway.
"I have no idea how those spirit things work, but could it be they're warning you in your dreams?"
"Of what? There isn't a message, I just dream of my cousin, and others. Windwatcher, Bloodpaw, Slitskin.. Sometimes Devilstep too. Not all at once, but they all have one thing in common. They're in Stonetalon. No idea why."
I looked back into the fire, lost in thought a moment.
"stonetalon huh.. Why there?"
"No idea. Maybe we should investigate. We're not exactly getting anywhere out here.." She scoffed softly.
"Not exactly close by is it?"
"If we travel more toward the civilsed world we can be there in about two weeks.." I looked up at the green and broken planet orbiting Azeroth. I could sense it pressing down on me as if the damn thing was trying to crush me. Imposible, I know.
"It could also be a way to find out more about that thing..." She followed my gaze, then looked away.
"And head back into the war? Haven't you given enough already? We keep having the same talk it seems. What next, we go to the other world and start our own private war there? Be realistic will you." She was right ofcourse. Over the course of the latest Legion incursion I'd nearly gotten us killed several times. Two orcs travelling alone, one crippled. Easy targets. And we weren't even on the front limes. No Broken Shore for us. We'd left the Broken Isles rather early on too, to tend to the spirits in other places of the world also attacked. Places that didn't 'deserve' a front line force.
"Fine, we can head to Stonetalon. We're running low on supplies anyhow, so we'll need to head back to civilisation anyway. Besides, you need to rest that leg, or you'll get infections. I've seen you limp worse and wince when we walk." She sounded exasperated, but it was an act. In her heart she felt relieved to be leaving Silithus as well as I was. Damn bugs freaked me out...

****

Days later, in Gadgetzan. We were waiting for a ship to take us back to the Barrens. From there it would be an easy travel to Stonetalon.
Azguh returned to our camp just outside the city. We'd both grown accustomed to being alone. We both prefered it. She was holding a scroll.
"Read this. Some stranger handed it to me while I was checking up on the ship."
I unfolded the scroll, reading through it.
"Well... Guess we can rule out coincidence..."

[Kozgugore]

Glad to see these two are still up and about! Nice, little read into what they've been up to in the meantime. Foreshadowing, ho!

[Srelok]

((short little explanation as to why Sre will be late!))

“Come on bub, you’re a shaman! Can’t you, you know, tell the wind to stop?”
I smiled at the goblin’s discomfort.
“When the Elements rage like this, there's precisely fuck all anyone can do. They’ll rage until thy’re done. But don’t worry friend. The ship won’t sink.”
“You a seer then? That’s a relief!”
“I’m not. But I’ve been in enough shipwrecks to know. And dit would be a most glorious irony for me to die in one now. “ One look at his face and I was outright laughing. It felt good, been a while. Then the goblin crew around me started joining in, unaware that I was altering their emotional state subtly.

The storm had sprung up a few days out of Gadgetzan. With clear skies we’d have been in Ratchet in less then a week, but that estimate had to be adjusted up to 7 to 10 days now, depending on how long the winds would be raging. So far they’d shown very little sign of abating.
Looked like we’d be late for the meeting, and with the sense of danger emanating from the words I daren’t hire any windriders to get us there faster. We’d be travelling light and careful, off the beaten path.

Azguh was nowhere in sight. Probably on deck helping the goblins out. With my leg keeping balance was a bitch though, so she’d instructed me to stay in our cabin.
I grunted softly about my enforced helplesness. Oh well, nothing to do now but prepare. I rummaged through my saddlebag. The item I took from it was in ragged state, several patched cuts and frayed edges betraying the fights we’d been through, but it was still proud in disrepair, and it was still my tabard. I donned trhe garment, showing pride in our colours. If we were going down in one last glorious stand, the enemy would know who had made them pay so dearly.

[Rashka]

((Yey SRESRE! Good to see another not forgetting the Pride in our tabard! Rashka will commend this. *Nodnod*))

[Srelok]

Smoke. Pyre smoke to be exact, was the first thing I noticed when I entered the area in the Stonetalon area. I halted my wolf and dismounted, asking Azguh to stick with the animals. Usually she'd be the one scouting, but unspoken consent conveyed this was my quest. My pack.
I crawled into position where I'd be able to see without being seen. I'd picked up some new skills along the way...

By my calculations we were two days late for the arranged meeting. I say several orcs milling about from where I sat, but they were unknown to me. Seemed we were right not to trust it completely...
I moved through the woods silently, which might actually be a miracle on a wooden foot, until I found tracks. They moved east, a few of them. I set off after them in the hopes of finding familiar faces. Survivors maybe.

*****

The area I found myself in was... pleading. Something around here was calling to me. It was faint but there.. So faint I couldn't even tell if it was an elemental spirit or something else.. It was trying to lure my in though. A spirit in need, perhaps? A spirit calling out for aid? Maybe for someone else? I'd heard of this before. The sirensong was faint but certainly alluring. I grabbed my axe and started heading in that direction.

After a while I'd picked up the trail again. Things were coming together.. But I noticed something about the footprints I'd followed.. I leaned in closer, pressing my bares fingertips to the ground.
And recoiled. This was no orc I knew. The footprints were shallow, moving in such a way as to move quickly but stealthily. There were no real boot treads, suggesting a flat sandal or such.
But what told me more was the sense of cunning, of murderous intent coming from the footprints. This was a killer, not a tribesorc...

My head snapped up as a faint sound came from behind me. The soft scrape of a blade leaving a sheath. Thrall's balls...
I turned just in time to see a black clad orc leaping at me with a dagger aimed at my heart. Quicker then I'd anticipated, he was basically already on top of me, too close for my axe....
I closed my eyes.

[Kozgugore]

The cliffhangers! They're delicious!