Not just a river in the desert

The stories and lives of the Grim. ((Roleplaying Stories and In Character Interactions))
Mirathendia
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Not just a river in the desert

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Mira sat down at her desk, pressed her palms against the cool smooth surface. The dust and heat from Razor Hill still clung to her skin. The questions from the Inquisitors, and her answers to them, still chased themselves around in her thoughts.

She'd been tracking rumours for long enough that she held onto the solid reality that had been her evening. Khorshah's questions at the end had rattled her more than any of Qabian's.

Do you care for your sister? Is her life important to you?

And she'd dodged them. Of course she cared for her sister. She wouldn't have spent so much time sifting through the streets of Silvermoon, paying urchins in Orgrimmar to for whatever information they might be able to find. Of course her life was important to her, or she'd have given up trying to find out where her sister had gone, why she'd disappeared.

And for all of her time and coin she'd had precious little more than rumours. As though her sister had slipped into the void.

No.

They were just rumours. They had to be. Her sister, consorting with Void Elves. There was no sense in it.

And yet those rumours had lead her to reach out to The Grim. Khorshah and Qabian and the troll hunter, they all seemed to know Shahadra.

No.

Mira balled a hand into a fist and bowed her head. No, they knew Khelendra. The drunk one. The troll had said. In no universe would anyone have thought to refer to her sister in that way.

"What is your game, Shahadra?" Mira lifted her head and sighed, unpinned her hair and shook it out. She caught sight of her sister through the window and her throat tightened. When her sister blinked as she did, she realized she was only seeing her reflection.

She'd hoped to see Shahadra at the Inquisition, that they'd talk and her sister's truth would be laid bare. But Shahadra hadn't been there.

If her sister was involved with void elves--and that she was with The Grim indicated there was some truth to the rumours--then it had to be a ploy. Some plot to infiltrate and destroy them from within their ranks.

Mira walked across the room, poured herself a goblet of Kaldorei Ginger Wine. "It has to be a ploy." She sipped and the troll's words came back to her once more. The drunk one. She set the glass down again.

Her sister was not enraptured by the whispers of the void. She had not turned from the light of the Sunwell to embrace the twisted darkness. She had not forsaken the Horde to join with the Alliance. There was something else going on, and Mira would find out what it was so she could keep her sister safe.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
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Khorshah
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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“You don’t understand, Z, she’s my sister. I can’t just -- not talk to her.” Khelendra paced the length of the barn on what was still called “Dabyrie’s Farmstead” even though the eponymous family were long dead. The bodies of a half-dozen Syndicate mercenaries lay scattered over the hay, limbs twisted into painful-looking positions.

“She hasn’t talked to you. Are you sure she’s your sister? I mean, you’ve been awfully drunk most of the time. Maybe you’re seeing things.” Zarindrel’s stillness was a contrast to the other elf’s constant movement, and her tone was calm. “Maybe you should cut down on the sauce. Get a little… clarity.”

“It’s the only thing keeping the voi-- the voices quiet. I’ll get caught. You don’t want me to get caught, do you?” Khelendra ran a bloodied hand through her ragged hair, not noticing the mess it left. “Caught, and banished, and then what. The Alliance. No. They won’t have us, not after what we did. We’ll just have to prove--”

Zarindrel examined her fingernails dispassionately. “What we did? Mm, that was mostly you. I’m free to turn my coat anytime. I’m sure Umbric would be glad to see me again.” She gave Khelendra a pitying smile. “I’m only here out of loyalty to you, dear. And I don’t think you’ll ever prove that Lor’themar was wrong to banish us. After all, Alleria did nearly destroy the Sunwell. He takes that per--” The void elf was interrupted by a noise outside. “Someone’s coming.” She vanished in a puff of shadow that lingered for just a second before an orc in plate armor strode into the barn.
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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Whisper of Calm whickered as Mira lifted the charger’s riding saddle from his back. The scent of horse sweat and dust filled the air and Mira leaned against the stallion’s side. He huffed and she sighed, picked up the brush and went to work.

She could have had one of the stable hands do this. In the past, before her parents were gone, she might have insisted.

Now, she relished the quiet, the scent, the grit on her hands and fingers, the room to think. Whether or not she wanted to, she wasn’t quite certain. Whisper dragged a forehoof over the ground, huffed again. “I haven’t forgotten about you.”

She brushed the stallion, considered what to do next.

She’d seen Khelendra a handful of times and been completely ignored. No, not completely ignored. Seen, and unacknowledged.

Shahadra would have smiled, laughed, thrown herself at Mira for a hug.

Mira had seen Khelendra, but hadn’t been able to talk to her. And this conversation demanded privacy, not a confrontation in front of the rest of the Grim, with the smell of rotting blood in her nostrils and ichor soaking her armor. Each time the Grim had fought and disbanded, Khelendra had disappeared before Mira could get to her, as if she’d been swallowed by shadows.

Maybe the information you have was wrong. Maybe Khelendra isn’t Shahadra.

Mira frowned. Perhaps rumor had drawn her to the right place, but too late, and her sister had slipped away.

She doesn’t want to be found, not by you, not by anyone who knew her before. The thoughts seemed outside her head as much as inside.

Whisper of Calm snorted, danced in place, his ears flicked forward. Mira shook herself and glanced around the stall. When had it gotten so dark, so late? She soothed her hand over his shoulder. “Shhh, it’s okay. I’ll make sure your dinner is served promptly, m’lord.”

Whisper of Calm turned his head as she walked past, bumped his nose against her shoulder.

She laughed softly. “I promise. You’ll get your dinner soon.”

She left him in his stall. She’d go track her sister down. Not, as the troll had so crassly suggested, by the stench of liquor. No, she would need the Light to pull her sister from the shadows.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
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Khorshah
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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...But sometimes the Light was one step ahead of her. Khelendra stepped out of the shadows and into the doorway, not meeting her sister’s gaze. A shaky hand rubbed at the side of her face as she looked around the stable, and she spoke before her sister could get a word out in a voice that seemed… unfocused, as if she was talking to someone that wasn’t there. “You need to stop. Looking for me. With the Grim. All of it. Get out while you can.”
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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“Shahadra?” And for all of the times that Mira had prayed for her sister, that prayer faltered now. Something was so very not her sister. “Where have you been? What are you talking about?” She waits, and when she’s met with nothing but an unfocused stare, as if her sister is listening not to Mira, but to someone--something--else. “Please. Tell me what’s going on.”
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
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Khorshah
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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Khelendra focused, just for a moment, when Mira said her name. “I don’t use that name anymore.” She walked past the paladin and into the stable, her eyes closing as she took in smells and feelings that had once been familiar - but even now seemed as chaotic and lost as the rest. “I’m too sober for this. You don’t know - you can’t know what this is like, sober.” She turned back to her sister, golden eyes bright in the stable’s gloom. “You need to stop. Looking for me. With the Grim. Get out before--” She stopped, took a breath, let it out slowly. “They aren’t what you need. They aren’t what the Horde needs. We can’t -- I can’t protect you.”
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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Mira’s chest tightened and she swallowed. “Protect me from what? What are you talking about Shahadra? Where have you been?” She followed her sister. Whisper of Calm whickered and snorted, perhaps irritated by the delay of his dinner, or perhaps sensing his mistress’s disquiet. “Who is ‘we’?” She reached for her sister, her hand glowing gently.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
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Khorshah
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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Khelendra stayed quiet through the questions, looking around the stable again with that detached air - until that glowing hand reached for her. She darted back, slamming against the stable wall hard enough to send dust wafting down from above. “I said I don’t use that name anymore.” Her voice had the same pained tone she might use to say ‘I think my arm is broken’, and she looked past her sister into the shadows behind. “I told you this wouldn’t be a good idea. That I can’t do this -- I need a drink.” She focused on Mirathendia again, lucid, just for a moment. “I can’t stop their plans for you. You need to get away. I’m --” A breath. “Mira, I’m sorry.”

Her focus vanished, and she stared into the shadows again. “This was a mistake. We have to go.” And suddenly the shadows behind the Paladin were darker, a rift opening in the void in the already-cramped stall. “I have to leave.” Khelendra lunged for the portal, dodging past Whisper of Calm’s hooves as the charger reared up.
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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A sense of wrongness prickled over Mirathendia’s skin as the rift opened up. She danced back as her charger reared and said, “No!” She looked from her sister to the agitated horse and back. Instinct said soothe Whisper of Calm, her heart said stop her sister. “Shahadra why?” Anguish filled her voice and a million questions ran through her head chased one after another by a gentle but insistent chime.

It doesn’t matter why. The thought was insistent, melodic. She made her choice.

The void crawled over Mirathendia’s skin and she grabbed for her sister again as the portal closed around them both.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

Unread post by Mirathendia »

Narath's howl caused Rilasuka's muscles to tense. The wolf's cry was pain and fear and Rilasuka took long enough to assess the direction the call had come from and was already in motion, bow in her hand, quiver flung over her shoulder.

The stable.

Narath pawed at the stable door, but it didn't budge. He whined and growled, then heaved his weight against it and forced it open. He disappeared into the darkened stable, growling and snarling.

Rilasuka nocked an arrow and followed her wolf.

Inside the stable, the darkness stank of fear and horse sweat. Whisper of Calm was nothing like his namesake. He pranced in his stall, kicking at the wall. His breath came in great heaves as though he'd been fighting something.

Narath was fighting something at the far end of the stable. Star-shot shadows that moved unnaturally, unjointed. Some kind of abomination rather than flesh. The wolf finished his prey and padded back to Rilasuka.

She turned her attention to Whisper of Calm. His hooves were dark and the floor of his stall was dark as well, and slick-seeming. Rilasuka sniffed. Not blood. She shushed the charger, calmed him and when he kept his hooves on the floor, she soothed her calloused hand over his neck.

"Where is Mira, hmm?" She breathed the question against his neck and listened for anyone else in the stable. The charger nudged her toward the stall entrance.

"Mira?" Rilasuka kept her voice low so as not to spook Whisper of Calm again.

Eyes fully adjusted to the darkness inside the stable, she saw the paladin, curled in a fetal ball on the floor. For a moment she glowed golden and radiant and a whisper of chimes carried on the wind.

Narath bounded over and howled, a low mourning sound; the orc's throat tightened. She left the charger and crouched beside Mirathendia. The paladin trembled and her skin was chilled, but she lived. Her breath came out in ragged whispers of, "I'm sorry."

Rilasuka gathered the paladin up in her arms and lifted her from the stable floor. Mirathendia cried out, clutched something tightly to her chest, and Rilasuka soothed her much as she'd soothed the charger.

Narath followed as Rilasuka carried her beloved into the house. His muzzle and paws were slick with star-shot ichor. She'd seen him like that once before and she frowned. What were void beasts doing here?

Rilasuka laid Mirathendia down on the bed and she curled up again. She looked so fragile in that moment, Rilasuka almost couldn't remember what she looked like swinging a weapon. Narath laid on the floor at the foot of it and closed his eyes, though his ears remained alert.

Rilasuka coaxed the thing Mirathendia clutched away from her with gentle touches, soft whispered words, like she'd use with a wounded beast. It looked to be some kind of starry orb at first.

Mirathendia cried out as Rilasuka finally removed it from her grasp and found it was not an orb. She raised her eyebrows at the skull and soothed the paladin again. "Shh, you're safe."

"Ri?"

"I'm here, Mira." Rilasuka brushed Mira's hair from her face.

"Oh, Ri. I... I..." The paladin clutched Rilasuka's hand, reminding her that she was not as fragile as she appeared.

"Sleep."

And as though the command carried some sort of mystical weight, the paladin's grip relaxed and she slept.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
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Posts: 86

Re: Not just a river in the desert

Unread post by Mirathendia »

Mirathendia arrived at the Grim garrison and took in the decorations. Peons walked around in festive clothing. Lights twinkled on trees. Someone had made a snowman. Mira hadn't felt much of anything for the holiday this season until that moment. A tiny smile pulled at her lips.

They celebrate Winter Veil. Her sister's voice chased Mira into the garrison tavern the cold pushed away by the roaring fire inside. That's ... civilized of them. Shahadra's voice sounded haughty and perhaps amazed. Possibly only that the celebration didn't involve blood and dead Alliance children hung lovingly from trees as decoration.

Shahadra's running commentary had ceased to startle Mira. When there were Grim around, her sister always had something to say. Khorshah had been right, Shahadra was a talkative one, though how he knew, Mira didn't want to consider. He had her skull, after all.

Mira pushed memory away and edged toward the warmth of the tavern's fire. She waved to Syreena. "Where does this go?" She held up a package tied with a purple ribbon. Syreena gestured to the pile of presents near the bar. Mira smiled, settled her gift carefully with the others. She acquired a warm mug of mulled wine and settled on the floor near the fire.

Khorvis gestured to Mira with his mug and the contents splashed over the rim and onto his fist and the fur rugs at his feet. Mira smiled, raised her mug to the orc, quite a bit neater about it than he, perhaps for fewer glances at the bottom of hers.

"Got a blessing for us this Veil, blood knight? Fel, does Silvermoon even celebrate this season?" The orc slurred, a clear indicator that his mug held something stronger than water or hot chocolate.

Yes, a blessing. For all who've crossed over and all who remain. And then Shahadra abruptly changed the topic. Remember when you first felt the call of the Light? After the Sunwell’s return?

By all that she once considered holy, Mirathendia wished her sister would shut up. She shrugged at Khorviss. "What Silvermoon does or doesn't has little bearing on my winters." She took a deep breath, considered, then said, "May your blade always be sharp and never want for flesh to cleave." She raised her mug again.

As Khorviss cheered, Mira's sister sighed in disappointment. A blessing fit for the Grim.

There was no arguing with that. No arguing with her.

"Anyone planning to battle pets tonight?" Syreenna's question pulled Mira's attention back to the room.

Why not. She got up and went out into the cold with Khorviss, Riana, Umbralheart, Cayli, Syreena and Qabian. Pets battled, and Mira's choice in a thematic team fared poorly against the equally inspired teams put together by the others.

In the end, Khorviss's mighty rock won him the evening.

They all came in from the cold and Mira sat on the floor near the fire once again, though the flames were doing little to warm her. She'd lost track of how many drinks she'd consumed by the time Syreena began passing gifts around, and for the most part, her throat no longer burned with each sip from her mug.

The box Mira received seemed particularly wiggly. She untied the ribbon and the lid burst off and a small pup put paws up onto the edge of the box. Next she knew, Mira was getting a face full of huffs and licks and she tilted her head back, nudged the pup back. The pup scrambled up out of the box and leaped onto the floor, wagged all over, turned circles, then flopped down on the floor beside Mira, tilted her head and looked up, tongue lolling out of her mouth. Mira sighed, scritched the puppy's ears. "How you managed to stay so quiet in there, I will never know."

Khorviss brought a huge mug over, handed it to her. She looked into it, sniffed. Something stronger than she started the evening with, and stronger than her last. She looked up at the orc. "Are you trying to part me from my liver, then?"

The orc said, "I would hear the tale of Mirathendia Morrowblood. How did she come to the Mandate?"

Mira looked into her mug to hide her face. She sighed.

Ooooh. What are you going to tell him, hmm? Her sister's voice was softer, farther away and less clear. Was this what she'd meant with her nonsensical ramblings? Was this what drove her again and again to drink herself to this wavering sort of oblivion. Will you tell him how you proved yourself to your new friends? There was long enough a pause that Mira thought perhaps she'd said her piece, then she added, Do you consider them friends?

Khorviss held up a meaty hand. "No."

Mira swallowed, said, "Hmmm?"

"What would the Morrowblood be this Veil, without the Mandate?"

At the manor with me? With your delight? What would you have gifted me with this Winter Veil, I wonder? Her sister's voice was a hiss of a whisper and her laughter rolled in Mira's head like a distant storm.

"Ahh, that's a harder question to answer." Mira took another long sip from the mug, shuddered and drummed her fingertips against it. Where would she be without the Mandate? Without the Grim? Where would she be if her sister had not been seduced by the void and taken from her? Would she still be swinging an axe or a sword? "Training chargers, perhaps." She let the easy answer fill the silence and reached for the frostwolf pup, scritched her ears. The pup huffed softly and tilted her head, licked Mira's fingers.

Mira clarified that, no, she didn't mean the hawkstriders, and hoped her distaste didn't show when the orc noted he wanted to roast one of them. When she noted she preferred horses, Khorvis said they spooked too easily. Mira and Riana said nearly in chorus that a well-trained horse would not spook. Mira smiled at the huntress. That one. Perhaps that one she might one day consider friend.

The conversation ebbed and flowed, demonic coming in behind her. Do you suppose they're talking about you? Her sister's voice slurred as though she too had--once again--drunk more than was sensible. I can’t understand them, you know.

Cayli's words drifted over from a different conversation, the Demon Hunter saying, "It was act, or be destroyed."

Mira held her drink to her lips and echoed those words softly over the lip of her mug. "Act, or be destroyed."

Is that what happened? She was so far away now. Mira had to listen very hard to hear. Did you think I would destroy you? I was trying to save you. Was that anguish in her voice?

Mira shivered, downed the rest of her drink and stood. The void would have destroyed her the way it destroyed her sister. She wobbled, her head spinning from the drink. So much drink.

Too much drink. She took a breath, forced a smile and turned to Syreena. "Syreena, thank you for the delightful evening." And then she turned her attention to Khorvis. "Though my liver may not thank you--" Nor your frame of mind? "--it has been a delight."

She considered repeating the blessing the orc had asked for earlier in the evening, but she needed to leave, needed to get away from the crackling of the fire that refused to warm her and the throbbing in her skull and the whispering of her sister's voice, the words now incomprehensible.

The new pup nosed her ankle and she clucked her tongue as she'd heard Ri do so many times to gently call Narath after her. To Mira's surprise, the pup followed. Her gaze flicked to the topless demon hunter, then away quickly. She focused on the door, paused as the cool air hit her face, and waved to everyone then walked outside. She unpacked a cloak and fashioned it into a sling for the puppy and strapped her across her chest.

Whisper of Calm snuffled the pup then Mira, stomped the floor, then stilled. "You'll get us home, won't you." Mira pressed her hand against Whisper's neck, and held the reins loosely trusting the charger to do just that.

#


Narath met her at the manor door, sniffed the pup, snorted, then padded back to the fireplace, flopped down and yawned. The pup bounded after the much larger wolf and flopped down in a similar position between Narath and the fire.

"Are you well?" Rilasuka's voice was soft and gravelly.

"It was a long trip home." Mira walked to the wine cabinet, pulled the crystal stopper from the decanter. The scent of it went through her and she shuddered, stopped it again and sat down on the rug in front of the fire. "And this sweater..." She shuddered, pulled it off over her head and let it fall to the floor.

"It is hideous."

Mira rubbed her face. "That's half the point of it."

"But you're well beside that?" Ri wouldn't let go any more easily than one of her traps would.

Mira closed her eyes, bowed her head, rubbed the back of her neck. "There was drink." Mira sighed, looked up at Rilasuka. "And then more drink. And another round from Khorviss. There was a lot of drink." And eventually there was blessed quiet from her sister.

"Ah." Rilasuka sat down beside her, cocked her head. "You went up against an orc and lost?"

"I wasn't trying to win."

"You smell as though you were."

Heat rushed into Mira's cheeks and ears. "You haven't said anything about the pup."

Rilasuka looked at the sleeping pup, huffed softly. "She's a frostwolf."

Mira nodded. "Khorviss asked what I was going to call her. I told him I'd see what kind of personality she had before I called her something other than You Tiny Little Pain In The Ass."

Rilasuka chuckled, nodded. "A wise course."

The silence inside her head was a relief. She closed her eyes, leaned against Ri. The orc shifted, wrapped her arm around Mira. "I think she's intimidated by you."

Rila snorted. "The pup?"

Mira shook her head. "My sister."

Rila sighed. "Your sister is not intimidated by anything. I think she learned it from you."

Mira squeezed her eyes tightly closed.

Rila stroked Mira's neck, then down her back, her touch firm and gentle, soothing. "You found her."

Mira nodded. Ri still hadn't asked about what had happened that night in the stable, nor about the skull or the tapestry.

"Will she be home for Winter Veil?" Ri asked the question as though she already suspected the answer.

Mira shook her head. "Some... some decisions have consequences and some actions cannot be undone."

Ri bowed her head, breathed a gentle sigh through Mira's hair. "I'm sorry, beloved."

Mira pressed her lips together, nodded, whispered, "So am I."
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

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Mirathendia focused on the void elves twisting the raptors in Zuldazar. The Zandalari would be glad of what she was about to do, would be grateful, as their loa would be as well. Mirathendia didn't care.

You don't have to do this, Mira. There was anguish in her sister's voice, and it wrapped around the base of Mirathendia's throat and squeezed. She strode toward the cowering Ren'dorei, half surprised the traitorous creature hadn't slipped through the void to escape her advance. Hadn't ripped a hole in reality the way her sister had.

She could still feel the cold.

Could still hear the whispers.

"Don't I?" She hissed the words through clenched teeth. "If it wasn't for them you would still be here."

He didn't do anything.

"Didn't he?" Light--the light of vengeance, of retribution--filled Mirathendia and she swung her weapon.

This isn't you. This is their fault. I told you the Grim were no good for you.

Mirathendia cleaned her blade on the Ren'dorei's robe and looked around the clearing. There had been other Ren'dorei, but they were gone now. Slipped through shadow, slid through the void, found something like safety from Mirathendia's fury. For now. They'd be back. They always came back.

Raptors eyed her as she circled, but kept their distance from her. Whether that was their own nervousness, or some intervention from the loa, Mirathendia neither knew nor cared. "This is Alleria Windrunner's fault. Magister Umbric's. They are traitors and they dragged you down with them. This is their fault, not the Grim's."
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
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Re: Not just a river in the desert

Unread post by Mirathendia »

The rogue leaned against the wall in the back room of the bar and eyed the gnome who was standing on tip-toe in the front room looking around the bar for the rogue. Her contact from SI:7.

Amusement bubbling in her breast, the rogue pushed away from the wall, walked to the open door and gave a sharp whistle. The gnome startled, made a face, then walked into the back room, closed the door behind her. "How long were you watching?"

The rogue chuckled, straddled a chair. "More than long enough. You're late."

The gnome didn't sit. "Had to cut off a tail."

The rogue waited. She had a guess about what SI:7 wanted from her, but she wasn't going to make the first move.

"We've been spreading information of interest to one of your past targets."

The rogue inclined her head. "Misinformation." She corrected the gnome.

"Toe-may-toe, tah-mah-toe. Hardly matters if it's true or not, does it?" The gnome crossed her arms, cocked her head and looked the rogue over. Distaste was evident in her expression; the rogue's childhood friend didn't like working with the uncrowned nor did she like the path the rogue had taken. "We just need you to make sure it's gotten where it needs to go."

We. The rogue wondered who all was included in that we. "Why?"

"Em."

The rogue tsked, stood up and walked toward the door.

The gnome sighed. "She's dangerous, particularly to our void elf allies. And Umbric believes it is in all of our best interests if she is no longer on the table."

The rogue stopped, laughed, turned back. "There are plenty of more dangerous, higher-value targets you could waste my time with."

The gnome pressed her lips together. She took out a rolled up piece of parchment and a heavy-looking coin pouch. "I've been authorized to double your usual payment."

The rogue raised her eyebrows. Now that was interesting. "Keep talking."

"Make sure she gets on a boat. Make sure she gets to Northrend."

"Make sure my daggers find their way into her back?"

The gnome shook her head. "No. Just make sure she gets there. We've got someone else there to take care of it. Shaw doesn't want your hands dirty on this one."

That was also interesting. She wondered what game he was playing now. "Show me."

The gnome unrolled the parchment, smoothed it flat on the table, and set the heavy pouch at the top of the parchment. The rogue skimmed the elegant script of the contract. There was no mention of additional payment beyond the bounty at contract completion. She nodded toward the pouch. "Show me."

The gnome sighed, opened the pouch and upended it. The contents poured onto the table.

The rogue drummed her fingers against her thigh, quickly taking in the value of the coins and gems glinting in the lamplight. "Fine." She scratched her initials at the bottom of the contract-M.T.-and her talon signature, then scooped the payment back into the pouch and pocketed it. "Tell Shaw I'll handle Umbric's garbage and keep my hands clean."

"Thanks, Em."

The rogue patted the pouch in her pocket. "Don't mention it."

She walked out of the back room and frowned. Getting Morrowblood to Northrend wasn't going to be easy if she hadn't already taken the bait that SI:7 had been throwing out. She considered how else she might get the Sin'dorei where Shaw wanted her.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
Member
Posts: 86

Re: Not just a river in the desert

Unread post by Mirathendia »

"Have I upset you?" Rilasuka’s voice carried through the air gentle and calm.

Mirathendia stopped cold inside the manor's entryway. She hadn't seen Ri's warwolf in the stable, nor had she seen any indication that Narath was nearby. Mirathendia licked her lips, pressed them together and tried to compose herself.

Has she?

Mirathendia shook her head. "No, beloved."

Ri stepped in from the lounge. "Then why do you avoid me?"

"I'm not avoiding you." Mirathendia ignored the waiver in her voice and prayed Ri would ignore it as well.

"You sleep elsewhere."

"I'm handling something."

"For the Grim?" There's no accusation in the orc's voice only curiosity.

Mirathendia's throat tightens. "Yes." The lie that's not a lie echoes in her head. "For the Grim. For the Zandalari. For the Vulpera. For the Dark Lady and her champion." She cannot hold the distaste form her voice as Blightcaller's orders echo in her memory.

Ri bows her head and closes her eyes. "You stink of the void. Let me scrub the scent of it from you."

Mirathendia trembles, swallows, then nods. "As you will."

Ri sighs, holds a large strong hand out to her. Mirathendia presses her lips together then rests her hand in the orc's.
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
Mirathendia
Member
Posts: 86

Re: Not just a river in the desert

Unread post by Mirathendia »

"Look at me child." The rogue curled her fist into the young nightborne's hair, forced him to look up. He'd been easy enough to track down once she knew who to look for. So had his twin brother.

The elf's gaze held a hint of fear.

The rogue smiled a dangerous smile. "I'm not going to hurt you. You have a friend, who has a friend. I need you to tell your friend something. I need you to sound sincere. I need your friend to believe you."

"Wh- what if she doesn't believe me?"

The rogue tsked softly. "Why on earth would you lie to her?" She glanced at the elf's twin, bound and gagged. "What reason could you possibly have?"

The elf licked his lips. "What-- what if her friend doesn't believe her?"

"That isn't on your pretty head."

He looked at his twin, then nodded at the rogue. "What do you need me to say?"
The Grim: Mirathendia Morrowblood | Tweezle Sparkscatter | Nahmiri
Blood Moon Rising: Rilasuka | Nethendia | Nahedrie | Merralynnia
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