A note for 'Blaze' Whiteclaw

[Blaze]

Mushal sat on his haunches watching his mistress. She was clearly upset and he felt helpless to do anything for her. An uneasy noise rumbled in the large cats chest and throat as he sat watching.

"Rook!" The red curtain of her anger was pulling back now as she assessed Rook's injuries. Biting her lip she scooted up behind him and laid his head upon her lap as she awkwardly tried to make him comfortable.

She nodded, "Yes, right where you wanted him. You did good." A grimace touched her lips as he continued to talk. Talk talk talk, even now. Still, she found she didn't want him to stop talking right now.

Belt pouch. She nodded again and reached into the pouch and found the vials. Uncorking the tops of them she carefully placed first the red one to his lips, tenderly holding his face with a free hand, and then the green one. She rubbed his throat to help stimulate him to swallow, he really didn't look very good. Her eyes flicked to his bleeding wounds and she jerked out from under him- but stopped in time to barely catch his head from hitting the rock again. She winced and mumbled an apology carefully laying his head down.

With a bandage in hand she knelt over him, and used her dagger to cut open his armor to give her better access to the wound under his collar bone. She leaned in further and caught herself. She was about to lick the wound to help clean it but reminded herself she had to think like an elf right now. She had some spring water in her pack which she used to pour over the wound before she dressed it with the bandage. Then she seen to the wound on his flank, cutting the armor enough to get to it properly, then cleaning and dressing.

Once that was done she put his head back into her lap and stared down into his face.

[valrae]

Rook's head lolled back as Blaze ministered to him, but he kept his eyes open, staying awake as best he could... He could feel the potions working, combatting the heavy coldness that was spreading through his body, brought on by blood loss and the poisons scouring through him.

He felt a bump and thought he heard her apologize.

"s'alright." He mumbled. "y'r doing... Fine."

In fact he was feeling better with each passing second, as the potions did their work. By the time she had finished with the bandaging he felt ready to sit up. He looked up at her a moment, then reached up to caress her cheek.

"Lifesaver. Thank you."

He grimaced and pushed himself to a sitting position, wincing as the wound in his side complained, as it was still knitting together. No time to coddle himself just yet. It wouldn't be long before someone would head back this way.

He rose shakily to his feet and headed for the chest, pausing only for a moment to look at the still form of Kestrel before walking on. "Let's do this and be gone." He said tightly. "We may not have much time."

He made his way to the chest and halted about fifteen feet away, turning to Blaze.

"And closer than this and it will start to hurt me. It's locked, but I can take care of that. When I've finished you will have to open it. Inside there will be a number of figurines. One is black. I need that one."

[Blaze]

Seeing he was coming around and quickly put her at ease, and by the time he caressed her cheek she had her wits about her enough to pull away from the hand. When he stood, she did as well quickly and ruffled Mushal's ears when he immediately came over to her side.

"Let's do this and be gone." He said tightly. She couldn't agree more.

"And closer than this and it will start to hurt me. It's locked, but I can take care of that. When I've finished you will have to open it. Inside there will be a number of figurines. One is black. I need that one."

She wrinkled her nose not fully understanding but nodded anyway.

[valrae]

Rook took a deep breath and stepped forward. The pain in his hands started immediately, like a thousand small pins pressing into them at once. He gasped and brought them to his face instinctively. Amongst the many black lines of his tatoos two sigils were glowing a painful red, one at the base of each wrist.

The glow intensified as he drew nearer to the chest and he grimaced in pain, but kept going regardless. The red outlines grew brighter, until their shapes were revealed clearly. They depicted a hammer against the flare of a setting sun, the symbol of the Twilight's Hammer.

He reached the chest and dropped to his knees, and reached behind his ear for the lockpick. Tears of pain squeezed out of his eyes as he slid the pick into the lock and began toying with it, fighting to keep his fingers under control and his touch delicate as pain and red light seared the back of his hands. His teeth ground against one another, it seemed like it was taking an eternity...

But finally the lock turned with the most miniscule of clicks. Rook eyes opened with relief and he nearly threw himself away from the chest, the red light and scorching pain receeding immediately as he put distance between himself and it.

He stood, clutching his hands to his chest and breathing hard, for a moment before nodding to Blaze.

"It's unlocked. Open it and bring me the black figurine. It won't hurt you."

[Blaze]

Watching on anxiously, Blaze waited. Everything was so confusing, and part of her wanted to know and understand more. But that would require more time with Rook, and that, she couldn't have.

When Rook flung himself away from the chest she tilted her head skeptically at his assurance that it wouldn't hurt her. Mushal also looked doubtful and even stood in-front of her to block her path when she took a step forward. She looked into the tiger's eyes and carefully slid around him as she advanced on the chest. So this is what she was drug out here to help with. It didn't look very special. Kneeling down she flipped open the latch and then opened the lid to peer inside.

She saw just what he told her she would. With a shrug she pulled out the little black figurine and walked away from the chest, not caring what else may lie inside. As she approached Rook she held out the item but kept a firm hold on it. "My father."

[valrae]

Rook's eyes locked onto the figurine and stayed there. It was a mineature carving of a night elf, standing upright with it's arms at it's sides. Two blood-red rubies were set into the backs of both it's hands, and a diamond in it's forehead. He breathed slowly and carefully.

"That's it." He whispered. He looked up into her eyes as he realized she wouldn't be letting it go.

"I gave my word." He said, looking a little hurt. "But hold on to it if you like. Just be careful with it." He looked at her soberly. "And be careful what you say. If you speak to me, call me Rook. Nothing else." Whether she knew it or not, right now she was more dangerous to him than any other thing in the world. He bit his lip.

"Let's go see to your father."

The trip back to the cave entrance was a fast one. Rook had recovered most of his strength and was again moving quickly. They emerged from the greater darkness of the cave to the lesser darkness of ash-smothered skies without any further interruptions.

The Troll was waiting outside the entrance with lightning crackling in her fingers.

"Mera!" Rook cried, taking a step forward. "Mera stop!"

The Troll tilted her head and her eyes widened. She dropped her hands. "Crow." It said in a gutteral voice, broken Common enunciated laboriously around a set of full teeth. "Crow back. Why?" She looked at her dead comrades at her feet and shook her head. "Why?"

"Mera... I had to." He stepped forward, a sad look on his face. "I had to."

The Troll snarled and spoke a string of harsh syllables in it's own tounge, ending in Common. "WHY!?"

Rook blinked, not understanding the rush of words at all. "I'm sorry. I wanted to live."

The Troll seemed to notice Blaze and her tiger for the first time suddenly, and just as quickly picked out the figurine she still held. Her eyes widened, then narrowed, then simply looked confused.

"New... Master?" She pointed to the figure, then Blaze.

Rook winced, putting a finger over his lips. "No.. No.. Sssh.. Please. Mera..."

Mera turned back to look at him. "No?" She tilted her head again. "Crow free?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Crow free." ...he hoped...

Mera seemed to consider this a moment, then nodded.

"Good." She looked him up and down, the barest hint of a smile forming on her mouth. "Be happy. Fly, Crow."

She turned around and looked at the sky. "Fly away. Mera did not see you."

Rook exhaled slowly. "Thank you."

"Mera not hear you."

Rook smiled, turning to Blaze and motioned her to follow. "Let's go. We're all done here. I need one thing more and then we can leave this place."

[Blaze]

"If you speak to me, call me Rook. Nothing else." the rogue had said very seriously. What else would she call him! Things were supposed to make sense now, not be more confusing.

On their way out of the cave, Blaze glanced a time or two at the little statue, even drawing a fingertip down its side. Curious. She knew rocks and minerals, yet what this thing was made of seemed to elude her. The rubies and diamond was easy to discern though, and knew those alone made it reasonably valuable. Still, there were more things out there a lot easier and safer to obtain of value one could get hold of. Why this little statue? Her eyes flicked up briefly, the mouth of the cave was just ahead, then she looked back to the idol she held with a new interest her eyes flashing brighter. Perhaps this was a magical item that connected the holder closer to the merciful Elune! She clutched it to her chest tenderly and bit her lip. Perhaps with it she could plead her father's case and have his mind set free so they could be together again!

"Mera!" Rook cried, taking a step forward. "Mera stop!" Rook's cry made her look up sharply to see the troll they hadn't killed. She knew it had been foolish to allow it to live! She took a breath to send Mushal at her when she blinked and looked at Rook. Mera?? With a confused look Blaze stared between Rook and the troll, doing her best to hold Mushal back. After all that had happened he was pretty aggressive and ready to attack anything.

The Troll tilted her head and her eyes widened. She dropped her hands. "Crow." It said in a guttural voice, broken Common enunciated laboriously around a set of full teeth. "Crow back. Why?" She looked at her dead comrades at her feet and shook her head. "Why?"

Crow. There was that name again, she looked slowly at Rook and narrowed her eyes. What in Azeroth was going on! When the troll looked at her she snarled and showed her teeth taking a firm step forward, but faltered when the troll pointed at the statue.

"New... Master?" She pointed to the figure, then Blaze.

Master? What did the statue have to do with a master? Master to contacting Elune? Master of good fortune? Rook's reaction made her stare blankly at him. There was much more he was not telling her. She frowned. He would be telling her everything very soon.

Rook smiled, turning to Blaze and motioned her to follow. "Let's go. We're all done here. I need one thing more and then we can leave this place."

Nodding Blaze kept a hold on Mushal's tail as they inched around the troll and headed away. Her gaze fell to the idol once more, then Rook as she tucked it away into her pack carefully.

"Where go now."

[valrae]

"To pick some flowers."

His smile was showing itself again as they drew away from the cave, though he turned to look back frequently, almost as often as he took glances at Blaze's pack where the figurine was.

"For you, this is the most important part. We're looking for firebloom. It's a small red flower, hard to miss out here. It's the main catalyst of the potion we need to help your father."

The search took only a few minutes, they came across the plant nestled between some stones and a rock vent. The rogue stooped, wincing again at the pain in his side, and gingerly dug the plant up by it's roots, shaking the ash and dirt from it before wrapping it in a square of linen and putting it carefully in one of his pouches.

"And there we are. I have everything. ...I should explain now. There is a bit of timing involved with this... The potion requires about twelve hours to brew and set before it will be ready. I'm going to do that on the ferry to Auberdine, after we fly back to Menethil and once I've had a chance to rest. I don't want to do it tired." He looked in the direction of their makeshift camp and sighed.

"Can I trouble you for a ride back to my things?"

[Blaze]

So she would not be rid of him as quickly as she thought, and already it was time to make camp. She watched him gather the firebloom quietly, then looked up when he spoke.

She shrugged and ruffled Mushal's ears before calling upon her mount. The large panther eyed the rogue with a considerable amount of contempt. Blaze thumped a hand upon his shoulder assuringly then looked at Rook, then behind her waiting.

[valrae]

"Thank you." He murmured, climbing gratefully on behind her and looping his arms around her waist.

The adrenaline from the fight in the cave was wearing off, and he was exhausted again. With the Firebloom secured there was nothing more he had to do. Nothing more he could do, in fact, until the reached Menethil. He laid his head against Blaze's shoulders and relaxed.

Things weren't quite finished yet... He still needed to get the figurine back from Blaze, and he still needed to fix the potion to save her father... But the sword that had been hanging over is head since the Twilight had discovered he still lived, and had discovered his real name. That was gone.

"Back to where we left our things." He said into her ear. "Then to Thorium Point and the flight path. We fly for Menethil. With luck we could sleep in an actual bed tonight." He closed his eyes, slipping further into an exhausted half-sleep.

[Blaze]

She stiffened as he got up behind her and looped his arms around her waist and the tips of her ears went a darker purple. His voice sent a shiver down her spine and she had to shift in her saddle to shrug it off.

Reining her panther she headed back to where they had left their things, much weighing on her mind. The warmth of him against her back did not help sharpen her concentration. On the way back she had to carefully avoid the poacher patrols, and the strange glowing spiders, but soon, had them back safely. The panther loped up the side of the mountain to their clearing and she wriggled her shoulders to make him wake up.

"Get off."

[valrae]

Rook shook his head to clear the cobwebs and slid wearily off the cats back. "And thanks once again."

Arineva prrrowled happily when she saw him, and he walked over to scratch behind her ears, then put her riding tack back on. He pulled his travel packs out of the corner when he'd left them and settled them on either side of the cat's saddle, then mounted, ready to head out.

The path to Thorium Point was well-travelled and easy to follow, and they arrived without serious incident. The dwarves in residence peered curiously at them, and Rook slid out of the saddle to talk with one, gesturing frequently to Arineva. Eventually they seemed to come to some sort of agreement, and a few gold coins changed hands.

Rook walked back to his cat and rubbed her ears again for a minute, then led her over to the dwarf, who took over the reigns.

"I've bought her lodging here for a week." He explained to Blaze as he walked back with one of the heavy travel packs slung over his left shoulder, sparing his still painful right. "I'll come back for her later and take her home." His mouth quirked a bit.. He wasn't quite sure where home would be, now... He shrugged. There would be time to think about that later.

He padded over to the flightmaster and after another sort discussion was on the back of a gryphon, ready to bear him back to Menethil.

"See you there." He said, looking her over and smiling. The flight master let go of the Gryhon's lead and slapped it's flank, and the beast was up and away.

[Blaze]

He must be feeling better she decided. He was talking more often. She gave a wry smile and listened to him ramble on. When he mentioned home, she pictured him back on that boat in Menethil whistling along as he did whatever it was he did on it. The faint memory of his scent tickled at her and she growled.

When he took off, she glared at the dwarf and shoved some coin into his hand before grabbing a griffon and taking off after him. During the flight as the air swept over her she patted the idol in her pack and chewed on her lip. Maybe it had magical powers to contact Elune. She would have to try, and she decided she had twelve hours to do so once she landed and everything was straightened away for the night.

Upon arriving in Menethil Blaze paused and looked around for Rook while idly tapping Mushal's neck.

[valrae]

Rook was sitting against the base of a tree when she arrived, looking half asleep. He perked up when she landed.

"There we are." He smiled tiredly. "I almost fell off the damned thing in flight. I need to lay down."

He struggled to his feet, hauling the pack up with him.

"Not going back to the boat tonight. Too much explaining to do." He unceremoniously hoisted his gear and headed for the inn, and after a few moments of discussion and several repeated promises to not get bloodstains on the sheets, arranged a room.

That done, he trudged tiredly up the stairs, motioning with his head for Blaze to follow. He found the room and kicked the door open, dropping his things just inside the threshold and collapsing into a chair. He felt like he'd been trampled by an Elekk. Leaning back he looked through the doorframe to see if Blaze was following. There were a few things to say to her yet.

[Blaze]

Blaze found she was happy to see him, a feeling that was beyond what it should have been. It didn't make sense to her so she frowned and pushed it aside while glaring at him. Damned right he had much explaining to do.

The innkeeper gave Mushal and Blaze both a very wary look, which the elf returned with a scowl of challenge and a perk of her chin. Rook headed for the stairs then, so she followed after another long long look at the human. When they made it upstairs and Rook dropped off his things, Blaze was not long behind him and then Mushal. The tiger wasted no time making himself at home by jumping up upon the only bed in the room. He yawned mightily and stretched out.

Blaze began to peel off her mail armor. It wasn't hard to tell she was in a foul mood, ontop of everything weighing on her mind there were no fresh water bodies nearby that were not crawling with leeches and mud-skippers. She sorely wanted to bathe. With each item of mail armor she peeled off and dropped unceremoniously to the floor it created a small halo of ashen dirt around it. Soon she was wearing only her off-white linen undershirt and underpants. Rolling her shoulders in turn she then reached into her pack and brought out the idol. Her eyes flicked to the rogue as she carefully sat on the floor and held it in her lap. The little diamond winked at her as she ran a finger over its design.

Frowning she drew her eyes to Rook and leaned her back against the wall. She was sitting a couple feet from him now. His weariness was not lost on her, however she had already resigned that she would sit on him and slap him awake, if she had to, until she had all her answers.

[valrae]

Rook pushed the door closed with a foot once Blaze and Mushal were inside. He chuckled a little as the tiger made himself at home on the bed.

"Well... I was going to ask if you wanted to stay, but I think that's been decided." He turned to find Blaze already shucking herself out of her armor. "...Doubly so, apparently."

He chuckled and sank back into his chair, unbuckling his boots and pulling them off with a pleased sigh, wiggling his toes. His shoulder guards and top came next. Frowning, he stuck his fingers through the holes Blaze had cut so she could tend to his wounds. They could be patched, he supposed, but perhaps it was time for a new piece altogether... He shrugged and let the sodden leather drop.

With his top off he removed his black undershirt so he could inspect the damage he'd sustained. he sighed and clucked his tongue.. The Elekk analogy still seemed to apply, but perhaps he'd been gored rather than trampled. Kestrel's blades had scored him in a half-dozen places - (Kestrel was dead now, he reminded himself.. It was hard to imagine) - and the half-healed, purple scars criss-crossed his skin. It would take a fairly good healer and a fair bit of coin to smooth those over...

He poked gently at the spots where Kestrel's swords had impaled him.. They were still very tender, and not quite closed. The complained constantly when he moved. He had no doubt that some measure of poison was still at work in there. Carefully he applied a few dabs of salve from his pack before binding the wounds tightly again with fresh bandages.

Standing again, he undid the buckles at his waist and let his belt pouches and scabbards drop off. He stretched a little, feeling light on his feet with the weight gone. Turning he noted Blaze was down to her skivvies. He admired her physique once again through the corner of his eye. After a moment's hesitation he undid his belt and wiggled out of his own leather pants, to stand there in his loose black underdrawers. That was much nicer. And really, after last night there wasn't much call to be shy around each other...

For a moment he considered flopping on the bed, then remembered the tiger and immediately thought better of it. Instead he took a spot on the floor, smiling apologetically at Blaze as he used her shoulder to help himself down to a sitting position next to her.

He noticed the figurine in her lap. That answered his question, really. She still had it, and it was alright. He sighed lowly with relief and leaned his shoulder against hers, getting closer so he could look at it. Such a little thing. But so important. He looked up to her face, wondering if she knew what it was she held, and what she could to him with it.

[Blaze]

She watched him wordlessly, her eyelids heavy. It had been a long exhausting day, a day that was still not yet over. Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly hoping to release some of her tension along with it. Her eyes washed over Rook's form, it was strange how mood and lighting could change how one perceived another. Still, he still had a very appealing form no matter what lighting was available. Catching his eyes on her she only smirked and tilted her head as he removed his pants.

Mushal was now laying on his back looking much like an overgrown kitten, both massive paws curled neatly over his chest his back legs splayed wide. If a tiger could smile, that's what he would be doing. It seemed after last nights guard duty he intended to make the most of a real bed, something that was a luxury to him considering the odd places Blaze chose to bed down sometimes. An ear flicked, a whisker twitched and a purr began to rumble in his chest.

As Rook used her shoulder to slide down next to her she blinked at the contact. For someone who purposely sought out bold males one would think she would be used to it, and not be phased. Yet the tips of her ears grew a darker purple and she shifted uneasily. Holding up the figurine she glanced at him and wet her lips, the questions that had been building were thrashing against her mind and ready to spill out.

"What is this? Who is Sybrian Blackwing and why did that troll know you, and why both people call you Crow? You druid?"

[valrae]

"What is this? Who is Sybrian Blackwing-" ....and that was as much as Rook heard. His head craned back as his mouth opened in a pained gasp, his eyes wide but suddenly seeing nothing. The rogue's entire body tensed and shook as though he were in the grip of a seizure. His hand shot out and clawed blindly at Blaze's knee as he fought to draw breath.

The figurine grew warm in her hand, the diamond in the head gleaming with brilliant white light.

[Blaze]

Mushal snapped over on the bed and stood up at Blaze's frantic cry of alarm. As she got up on her knees the figurine thumped to the floor and rolled a semi circle as she knelt before Rook, both hands on his shoulders.

"Rook!" Her grasp went from his shoulders to try and cup his face thinking maybe he was choking. "Rook! Rook! Breathe!" Again she grasped his shoulders and shook him at a loss for what to do her heart gripped in fear.

[valrae]

Rook's blank eyes filled with panic as the figurine fell away from Blaze's grip and his stalled breathing unlocked in a huge gasp of air as he shot forward into her arms, clutching her to him tightly and relflexively. "Stop. Stop. Stop. Stop." He uttered into her ear in anguish, each word coming on a tiny, pained breath. When the rolling figurine bumped into his leg he nudged it quickly away, afraid to damage it but unwilling to let it touch him. The brilliant shine of the diamond in the statuette's forehead dimmed and gradually went out. He trembled in agony against her for a moment before loosening his grip and pulling back to look in her face with wide, pained, astonished eyes.

"Oh... Gods..." He looked in her eyes imploringly then dropped his gaze, panting. "It hurts so much. Don't... Do that... Please. You'll kill me." He leaned forward and ground his forehead into her collarbone, whimpering at the exquisite agony that was just now starting to fade.