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Captain Skychaser,

I've been doing fine! Life's been peaceful here on Pandaria. The war hasn't really made it here. The pandaren ready for war still go seeking adventure, and travelers and wanderers share their tales with us, but aside from keeping an eye on Zandalar, we still focus mostly on ourselves.

I'm sorry to hear about your friend, but if this Azerite stuff is so powerful, it's definitely worth looking for and getting some for ourselves! I bet it can make us even stronger than we were back on the Broken Isles! If you can make it to Pandaria, we can use my new ship, the Pursuit, to get to Zandalar. It's a small ship with a cargo hold. I can get a contract to ship supplies or people to Zandalar. Now that the Horde is making a move there, there's been a surge of ships moving supplies from Pandaria to Zandalar. It would be easy to get us there, if we can survive the trip. There's pirates, no doubt. But compared to naga and drogbar I'm sure they won't be any match for Team Chaser and the Pursuit!

Come to the Valley of the Four Winds or the Jade Forest; the _Pursuit_is docked and ready to go after I arrange some things. I can't wait to see you again. It'll be like old times! I can't wait to explore Zandalar! Maybe we can even go to Kul Tiras too! Send me a reply as soon as you get this! This will be so great, Captain!

Your fellow Chaser,

Lilica Stormchaser

---

Lilica,

Still with the naming conventions? Well, we'll take you up on that. None of us have been to Pandaria before, but at least according to the map my friend has, there's a nice village in the Jade Forest that we can meet you at, called Greenstone Village. I'm sure they wouldn't mind having people from either faction there, at least visiting. We'll make our way there after my friend arranges transport for us to Pandaria.

I have to give you fair warning. My friend gets angry easily. Please try and not be too...eager to be friends with him. You might upset him, as he gets annoyed very easily. It's the disease he has influencing his mind. Keep contact with him to a minimum and everything should be fine. Odds are he'll stay in his room, or cabin, or whatever he'll be using to sleep. Try not to bother him. He has a lot on his mind. Alanea's still a kid, too, but she might stick close to Jayden. We'll probably go our separate ways when we arrive at our destination on Zandalar, since I don't know if it's wise for you to come with us. But given how uncertain everything is, maybe this all falls apart by the time we get to Zandalar.

Earth-Mother guide us.

Kirima

---

"Tell me again why you decided to go along with the idea of 'Team Chaser'."

"It's not that I went along with it, it's more that...I didn't stop it? She was a handful, it was hard to keep her in check."

"So tauren are just naturally passive and submissive to the whims of others?"

"Do you really have to bring up the _entire_race when insulting me?"

"There's another tauren right here."

"Yeah, but you broke her."

Andereon had handled transportation to Pandaria. The day after he had gotten the letter from Kirima's "team member" he had gone out with Alanea to try and arrange passage with a ship not affiliated with either faction. Kirima didn't know what exactly that entailed, but he had returned the next day with details, securing a route with a cargo ship. Alanea's suggestion from earlier that week regarding mercenary work had actually panned out somewhat; the crew of the ship had been understaffed, and hired the three of them to assist with the shipments of food, tapestry, and ore. The trip was essentially free for them save for all the labor.

During the three or four days they were on that ship, Kirima was able to find out a few things. First, trading between the mainlands and the islands were heavily monitored. Supply ships were under Horde and Alliance scrutiny in order to prevent spies or saboteurs from passing through. That gave her a bit of worry. Secondly, the patrolling navies weren't massive, but were sizable. When the Horde broke the Zandalari princess out of Stormwind, they sunk or rerouted a part of the Alliance navy chasing them, leaving the Alliance ship numbers low. The Horde themselves had a smaller navy than the Alliance did, and given that the war was still going on in parts of Kalimdor and the Eastern Kingdoms, several of their ships were protecting existing supply lines and transport routes. A small enough ship would be able to slip past patrols better than a barge or battleship.

Third, pirate activity. The seas around Pandaria had more heavy pirate activity due to the nature of the materials shipped to and from the continent. Now that the navies were focusing on Zandalar and Kul Tiras, pirate activity was both intensifying from the notion of treasure in Azerite and other valuables, but also because the pirates were having to give the navies a wide berth, putting civilian ships and transports at risk.

But that had given her an idea. The_Pursuit_, from how she remembered Lilica describe it, wasn't a large ship. Its crew size was ten, maybe fifteen. It was a sort of hybrid ship, one that could transport cargo or people, and was more of a specialized, speedy ship for special shipments. Andereon, hearing her describe it, had said it reminded him of a private transport ship, meant for the wealthy to transport themselves, mercenaries, or luxury goods.

Maybe there was a vague chance this could work? She knew Andereon was already planning something. Ever since they had made landfall, he had a look in his eye, a look that had usually been followed by a plan against the Legion that usually worked and gave them an edge in the Barrens. She knew he wasn't planning to hijack the ship or anything. What was he thinking? He wasn't telling, and she wouldn't be able to pry it out of him.

Now they were settled in Greenstone Village, in the Jade Forest. Alanea had been turning her head and looking around since they had disembarked. Andereon had been kind enough to not assert his authority over her and even let her wander off the path on the way from the pier to the village. Pandaria was certainly different in terms of look. Thunder Bluff was certainly green, as was Moonglade no doubt, but the Jade Forest was called "jade" for a reason. Kirima had to admire those wandering eyes and the wonder she was taking in. Even being broken down at the mental and emotional level, the tauren still had the capability to know wonder and awe.

The spires dotting the region pierced the tree canopies, and one could see a spire almost everywhere they looked. The Pandaren style of buildings, from the Temple of the Jade Serpent in the distance to the homes and farmlands they passed, left Alanea speechless as she was getting to experience Pandaria for the first time. The pandaren also fascinated her; it occurred to Kirima that the pandaren had yet to embrace the ways of the druid, and so Alanea had probably had never seen a single pandaren in her life before now. The pandaren, meanwhile, didn't pay the group much mind. Given that they weren't wearing their armor, stowed away in packs they were carrying, they seemed like civilians, and Kirima was fine with that. It would never hold up to Alliance or Horde scrutiny, but the pandaran around here didn't seem to care much for the faction conflict.

Now they were resting in the Greenstone Village inn. They had a corner table in the main room, and were having lunch. Alanea, in her cat form, tore into some toasted fish jerky while Andereon was devouring some peanut chicken and Kirima nibbled on some frybread. Local pandaren food, Kirima thought.

"That doesn't change what I said," Andereon said, bringing Kirima back to their conversation. "You tauren probably enjoy getting walked on."

Kirima sighed. "I know I can't stop you, but I can still at least ask. Please don't be so disparaging?"

Andereon scoffed, but he did change the subject, much to her gratefulness. "So this monk. I'm going to hate her, aren't I?"

"I told her that you should be avoided. We're going to get aboard, we're going to hope nothing happens on the way to Zandalar, and then we'll figure out a way to get us some Azerite. But you're more interested in tauren, aren't you? A pandaren wouldn't get your attention."

"It would if she's obnoxious."

"I'll try to keep her reigned in. I'd rather not see either of you get hurt."

"Afraid I'll hurt her? That's sweet, Skychaser."

Kirima furrowed her brow. "You both will hurt each other. Unlike me, she specializes in melee combat like you do. You both would hurt each other. I'd rather not see my friend and my...owner fight."

Andereon was about to take another bite of his chicken, but then stopped. He stared at Kirima and set his chicken down on his plate. Kirima stared back. Did she say something wrong? She fidgeted in her seat slightly.

"Do you remember what I told you in the infirmary?" he asked her.

She nodded. The words burned themselves into her mind. She repeated them slowly. "'One day your bleeding heart will run dry, you dumb bitch.'"

Andereon nodded. "Exactly. But it's admirable that your adventures fighting demons didn't change that." He gave her a slow clap, and then returned to his chicken.

"She's just a few years older than Alanea. She just has that excitable spark that hasn't been dulled by war," Kirima reasoned. "It'd be nice to not have someone hurt her. And I would prefer she doesn't hurt you. I'll try to keep her calmed or at least keep her from bothering you too much."

The worgen nodded. "Here's hoping," followed by a crunch as he bit into his food again.

Once lunch had been taken care of, the three of them left the inn, trying to figure out a way to burn more time. Kirima had no way to know if Lilica got her letter outside of the fact that Lilica had given her a response to her first letter. The small village didn't have much aside from some farmland. Kirima thought of maybe checking out the monastery nearby, assuming it wasn't dangerous; she had very little information about what was dangerous here or not. She had heard a lot of things about the "sha", something about them being the spirits of the land, or from the Earth-Mother itself, or...something. They were things that both factions had to address when they first arrived here since they were evil. Or mostly evil?

She tapped her chin as Andereon spoke with Alanea. Maybe Jayden knew more than she did. When Gilneas fell, the countrymen spread across Azeroth as they served the Alliance. Maybe he was a part of the group that found Pandaria after the Cataclysm? Or maybe he knew someone who did? Ashton visited Pandaria at one point but he didn't really talk about his experiences, so it was probably uneventful.

She knew Alanea was curious. Slave she may be, it was clear that Jayden hadn't focused on killing her spirit completely. She was interested in learning as much as she could. Maybe Kirima could stop thinking too deeply about things to actually focus on what he was saying, given he was pointing things out to Alanea.

"Captain!"

She blinked. She saw Jayden suddenly stiffen up at the mention of the military rank. Alanea looked over at Jayden, then at Kirima, and then behind Kirima.

Kirima herself turned around, and took a step backward immediately to avoid being crashed into by the pandaren approaching her. The girl definitely looked like a slightly older Lilica: Her fur was majority red, with a cream-like coloring around her belly and part of her face. Matching dyed leather covered most of her upper torso and parts of her lower body, giving her some protection but more freedom of moment compared to Kirima's own leather armor, which covered a lot more of her body. The pandaren's dark-red hair was tied into a braid that went down half the length of her back, her emerald eyes looking right at Kirima.

"Captain!" she exclaimed, just as excitedly. She almost tackled Kirima as she moved forward and hugged the hunter tightly. "It's been so long! I thought something might have happened to you after the war started!"

Her grip was as strong as it ever was. That was the thing about monks. Kirima strained for breath as she patted the pandaren on the back with a hand. "No...no, I'm fine," she said in a strained voice. "I'm fine, Lilica. Just...fine. Please stop squeezing."

She did so, but she held onto Kirima as she broke the hug, looking her over. "You look well! Keeping fit from all the adventuring!" She patted Kirima's chest, almost squeezing one of her breasts through the fabric of her clothing, making Kirima exhale sharply from her nostrils in shock. "Very healthy," Lilica observed.

"...I _hate_spunk," Andereon muttered, getting closer to the two of them. "Do you two grope each other often?"

Kirima let out a nervous laugh. Lilica wouldn't do it _all_the time, but she liked to get very hands-on about things when she wanted to. It really didn't help that their first meeting had been in a bathing area. It was like some boundaries didn't exist, and Kirima didn't really bother to try and enforce them.

What Andereon talked to her about that first night they had sex was really true, she thought. She would have sighed if she wasn't in the presence of a friend.

Lilica extended a hand toward Andereon. "Lilica Stormchaser!"

"Andereon," he replied. He held out his own hand, and Lilica grabbed it with hers excitedly.

"Captain Skychaser told me about you!" Lilica told him. "Does it hurt to have fel energy in you like that?"

Kirima immediately took a sharp breath. She put a hand on Lilica's shoulder. "Lilica, please," she said in a firm voice, or at least as firm as she could in her slight shock. "Don't say anything that might antagonize him..."

Lilica gave her a quizzical look. Did she not know what she was getting herself--of course she didn't know what she was getting herself into. Slowly, Kirima replied, "It's not something he's proud of, don't--"

"Well...does it?" Lilica asked, turning to face Andereon, who was now just staring at her incredulously.

"Ah...don't..." Alanea tried to interrupt by getting between Andereon and Lilica and raising a paw.

"She's a druid?" Lilica asked, now kneeling down to look at Alanea's cat form. "She's _so_cute! Alanea, right?"

"Alanea Sharphoof," Alanea replied.

Lilica shook the raised paw. "Lilica Stormchaser, one half of Team Chaser!"

"We're not a..." Kirima began, then just put a hand over her face. "...Never mind..."

Lilica patted Alanea on the head and ran a hand down her neck and spine. "How come you're a cat, huh? People here don't care if you're a tauren."

Andereon touched her collar with a finger, and Alanea quickly shifted back to her normal form, face reddened slightly. "I d..." she looked at Andereon. "S-should druids be pet like that? That felt weird...it reminded of when..." she blushed harder, and Kirima knew immediately what she meant, and didn't want to think about it too hard.

"You have no concept of personal space, do you?" Andereon asked, crossing his arms as he stared at Lilica.

"Well, I know I can do it 'cause I'm Captain Skychaser's friend! And you all are her friends too!"

Andereon glanced at Kirima, who immediately waved her hands slightly behind Lilica. She didn't want the pandaren to worry about her, leaving out in the letters that Andereon was her master in all but name now. Andereon apparently read up on this, since he put a hand on his snout in clear annoyance.

"Before I lose my cool, can we get to your ship now?" he asked.

"We sure can! The goods we're shipping should be loaded up by the time we get there!" Lilica smiled and turned to face Kirima. "We're going to be delivering a lot of local stuff, vegetables, fruits...a lot of barrels of ale and wine too. Most of it is alcohol, actually. Expensive stuff, too. Someone's probably wanting to make a good foothold in Zandalar."

"And you're sure they're going to pay?" Kirima asked. She was at least slightly worried of getting fleeced or attacked at the end of the journey; it wouldn't be the first time she tried a "freelance" mode of transportation not authorized by the Horde.

Lilica nodded. "I know they're trustworthy. Apparently the only other way to get some luxuries is to smuggle some on a Horde transport, and some goblins aren't going to be that willing to risk their neck for a profit, since it's a crime for them to be smuggling things not essential to the Horde's efforts in. The increased Horde presence is driving up demand for the imports, too."

She knew all that? Kirima always thought Lilica was a bit lightheaded, but that was...surprisingly very smart deductions on her part. "I'm pretty impressed, Lilica."

"I need a reason to have a ship of my own to explore the rest of Azeroth," she explained, adjusting her braid. "The job will help me have some more spending gold too. Everyone wins."

"So everything's planned out?" Andereon asked.

"Yeah. Got food for the trip and everything!"

"Alright. Let's not waste any time. Where's the ship?"

"Northeast. Follow me!"

Lilica began to walk at a brisk pace, her backpack almost bouncing with every step she took. The three of them watched her walk, and Andereon snorted.

"I don't like her," he said.

"She'll mellow out once she uses some of her energy," Kirima reasoned.

"I doubt it. You keep a short leash on her, or I'll put one on you, Skychaser."

Kirima just laughed nervously.

* * *

The _Pursuit_was docked off a pier that looked relatively new. Kirima figured that after the wrecks that punctuated the arrival of the Alliance and Horde, the two groups--separately, of course--added some piers and small harbors along the coast to help ensure ships wouldn't run aground as often. The ship itself was mostly steel, with some wooden supports. It was nowhere as big as the ships that moved between the faction cities or crossed the entire Great Sea in one go, but ti wasn't a personal ship either. There were two decks above water, with a covered staircase leading down to three lower decks and ramps leading downward as well, for easy movement of goods to the cargo hold. The top-most deck had the ship's wheel, a covered area next to it to set down maps and plot routes, and the captain's room. The deck under that was mostly flat, meant mostly for crew or passengers to look out from or mingle and such, with a ramp heading up to the second deck.

The first lower deck was for the crew to sleep and live, with a couple of private rooms and a bigger communal room, and general storage rooms for food and clothing and water and what passed for a kitchen on the sea. At the back of the deck was a room housing the engine and the fuel needed to run said engine. The second lower deck was meant for passengers. The third lower deck was the cargo hold for transporting shipments, and was reinforced in case of attack. Andereon had mentioned that it was likely some armored ship repurposed by whoever had it before Lilica, and that it likely wasn't meant to last as long as the faction transport ships, but he didn't know for sure.

Lilica gave them the brief tour, and Andereon helped her release the ship from the pier. Engine fueled and running, the _Pursuit_departed, heaving northward toward Zandalar, white smoke slowly venting from a steel pipe running along the back of the ship from the engine room. Alanea watched from the main deck as Pandaria slowly began to shrink.

Kirima was with her, while Andereon was below deck, getting settled in and making sure the engine was running well. The two tauren watched Pandaria, and Alanea couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

"One day I should ask Master if we can come back..."

Kirima glanced at her. "Fascinated?"

"I haven't been to the Eastern Kingdoms nor Pandaria, nor Northrend...and never to Zandalar or Kul Tiras. Lilica is...weird, but I like her idea of travel. There's so many places I've never been. You never realize how big the world is until you've been enslaved and dragged across it almost one and a half times."

Kirima put a hand on Alanea's back. "Yeah. There's a lot of wonders out there, but a lot of danger too. Having someone to watch over you makes it a lot safer, but there's a lot that can go wrong."

"Like being caught by a worgen on the eve of an invasion?" Alanea gave her a side glance and a vague smile. Kirima wasn't entirely sure how to respond to it, but gave Alanea a confused smile in return and a light shrug.

"At least we're a group now," Kirima reasoned. "Having Lilica around on the Broken Isles helped me a great deal. If something went wrong, she was there to help. Now, you have Jayden and myself. Sure...our arrangement is...different, but we're a group now. Whatever waits for is on Zandalar and these other islands, we'll be fine if we just..."

"Obey and be obedient?"

A flat laugh in response. "Yeah...yeah..." Kirima leaned against the railing. They needed some sort of plan for once they arrived in Zandalar. She knew next to nothing of the land itself. Lilica might given she had to know where they would be docking. Did she have a map of the island as well? Working out a plan and running it by Jayden would probably be best. "I'm going to go talk to Lilica."

"Have fun."

Kirima made her way to the top deck. Kirima was at the wheel, making sure the ship was angled properly in the direction they needed to go. On the table next to her, a map of Azeroth was pinned to the table, and a smaller map had been pinned below it. She had a route charted out down to the angle from the Jade Forest in Pandaria to a place named the Redrock Harbor, in the Vol'dun region of Zandalar. Their contact there, according to the contract that Lilica had also pinned to the table, was a human named Randall Redmond, an employee of the Ashvane Trading Company. The intermediary that gave Lilica the contract was also a human, so she explained on the way to the Pursuit. She didn't know what the Ashvane Trading Company was, only that...they were probably a trading company run by someone called Ashvane.

Kirima studied the map of Zandalar. The Zandalari Empire controlled the entire island. The region they were going to was a harsh desert, very inhospitable. They were all going to be miserable, that was for sure, but hopefully they wouldn't stay there for long.

"We need to talk about what we're going to do once we get there," Kirima said as she went over the names of landmarks in Vol'dun. "We're not going to be comfortable with the heat."

"The guy we're supposed to deliver the goods to probably knows a lot about Zandalar or the area around it," Lilica replied. "We can get a few leads for your Azerite stuff from him. You think we can all get some? Being stronger would be pretty great."

"We're probably going to need a good amount to experiment. I don't know if we just need to hold it, or drink it, or eat it, or prepare it like a salve, or if it's something to channel magic into...I just know it's all arcane energy."

"I never really looked into that arcane and fel stuff, Captain. I knew enough to get us through the Isles, but magic was never my thing."

"I hope it's simple, otherwise we're going to have a lot of problems." Kirima focused on the map again, tapping the Redrock Harbor, marked with a small circle.

"It has to be something great if the world's about to melt down into war again over it, right?"

"Isn't that the truth..."

Now Lilica leaned on the wheel casually, relaxing. "So what's the story of your friend anyway? He seems like he needs to loosen up. You didn't really explain much about him aside from he's sick. He looks pretty strong. I guess he was a Gilnean? Most civilized worgen are Gilnean."

Kirima nodded. "Yeah. He was a captain in the Gilnean army, a real veteran. He had some issues before we even met, and after, everything kind of spiraled out of control. I owe it to him to try and get him fixed."

"You're always helping people, Captain. That's why you lead Team Chaser!" Lilica giggled while Kirima rolled her eyes and gave a stilted laugh.

"We're not a team anymore, Lilica. Or at least, I'm not team captain anymore, that's Ja...Andereon. And his name has nothing to do with chases, though I guess in a way he himself is chasing something. Or...he caught something. Somethings. But maybe he wants to chase...more...?" She put a hand to her head. Trying to put Andereon in the metaphor of chasing was giving her a headache, she had to admit. "And Alanea is...chased? I don't know if she's chasing something." She shook her head. "Team Chaser isn't really around anymore, I'm trying to say."

Lilica locked the wheel in place with a wedge and approached Kirima. "We're still here, we just need a new name. Maybe we can talk to Captain Andereon!"

Kirima put a hand to her face. "He's not a captain anymore. Well...he _might_be, I don't know if they discharged him, but it's been a bit more than a year...you're making my head hurt, Lilica."

"Well, if he's the team lead, then you get demoted and he gets his title back, doesn't he?"

"Oh, I'm demoted_now?" Kirima gave her a look of slight offense. Sure, she didn't really _enjoy being the "captain" of Team Chaser, but to be so blatantly be tossed aside like that, especially since her title of Huntmaster didn't mean anything anymore...

"You just said Team Chaser isn't around anymore! That means you're not Captain! But if we're making a new team, we need a new captain, and since this Andereon guy seems like he knows his stuff...it makes sense!"

Lilica had no idea what she was getting herself into. Kirima raised a hand to metaphorically stop her. "Maybe give him some time to settle in and get...used to you first."

"Or you could talk to him!"

"I think maybe we should see what happens on this job first, Lilica."

The pandaren tapped her chin for a moment, appearing to be deep in thought. Kirima knew exactly what that meant, and immediately said "Take the wheel, Lilica."

"Fine, fine."

"I don't want our journey to end because you ran us into a rock when you're supposed to be paying attention." Kirima's tone was flat, eyes narrowed.

"Fine, fine!" Lilica went back to the wheel and unlocked it, giving it a very slight turn. "I need to make subtle adjustments anyway."

She began to hum to herself. Kirima shrugged again and went downstairs. She could do with a rest.

* * *

That pandaren was annoying. It was taking everything Andereon had to not just grab her by the throat and slam her down to shut her up. She was chatting his ear off when all he wanted was peace and quiet. He was trying to keep calm since he still needed her, and because Skychaser practically begged him to, but he could feel his own anger building slowly inside as she talked to him.

"So what was it like, fighting the undead?" Stormchaser asked as he leaned against the railing, his back to the sea as he had his eyes closed. He was trying to think of anything other than his military life.

"Horrifying."

The undead. Gilneas' primary enemy after the king built the Greymane Wall and cut Gilneas off from the world. They had heard of Lordaeron falling and Lord Crowley sending a brigade of Gilneas loyal to him across the sea with other members of the Alliance of Lordaeron, under Jaina Proudmoore's leadership. The undead were relentless. Killing them permanently was difficult, and any man lost to the scourge added more to the ranks of the enemy. There were a lot of sleepless nights in the barracks.

"And then the worgen appeared, huh? A battle on two fronts."

Once that damned archmage unleashed the worgen on the scourge, the battle had begun to turn in Gilneas' favor. The king had hoped that would end the undead threat, but the worgen were mindless beasts, and they turned on the Gilneans. beginning the two-front war the military had to suffer through for years. All that howling, all the blood, seeing allies turn into the beasts, himself becoming one mere weeks before the Cataclysm, his sanity restored by the visiting night elves once the wall fully fell with the worgen and Forsaken invasion in full force. He couldn't remember how many he had killed after turning, all that he knew was that there had been dried blood on his claws and teeth and fur when they "fixed" him.

The feral beast had been quelled, or so he thought, but he always felt that urge, that primal nature that lurked in the hearts of the worgen. He knew that others had felt the same way, and the soldiers who had turned felt it, especially the veterans of the second war, the war against the scourge, the rebellion, the worgen...that desire to just "turn off the mind" and not think for a while, letting the feral heart take over. He had found a way to channel it while using it to escape his own issues, the nightmares and stressors he faced during the time of the Cataclysm. All the way to the Burning Legion invasion, the failed battle on the Broken Shore, the Northern Barrens...

Why wouldn't she just shut up?

"But you made the best of it, right? Sometimes I wish I had the brute strength of a worgen. I'm pretty strong, but having a worgen's strength on top of that would make me powerful!"

"It's not worth it," he muttered.

"I don't know of pandaren can become worgen anyway."

"You can't."

"Well, at least we'll have the Azerite."

"If it works."

Stormchaser blinked and looked at him, leaning in curiously. "You don't think it will? Kirima thinks it will."

"She's a hopeless optimist. I'm expecting it won't work. Arcane and fel energies don't cooperate; they're polar opposites. It's liable to kill me rather than fix me."

"How do you figure that, Captain?"

He stifled a growl. He didn't like being reminded of what he left behind. He wasn't a captain any more than Skychaser was a damned Huntmaster right now. Yet this bitch wanted to talk about making him the captain of their team, something he never agreed to and something he didn't want to agree to! No wonder Skychaser considered her a handful. Still, his naval expertise was at a minimum, and they needed her. He had to manage his temper lest he do something everyone would regret.

With a strained voice, he explained slowly. "The fel is a part of my body. When the Azerite cleanses it, there's a chance that it destroys the parts of me that are tainted, rather than just erases the fel taint, because the fel is so ingrained into my being. It's like cleaning rust off metal. The rust is a part of the metal, and removing the rust removes what it's consumed. For all I know, just holding on to that Azerite might just cause part of my body to burst into flame."

He opened his left eye, showing her its vague glow, as he was hiding his anger over her pestering well, but letting some of it show through the glow. Stormchaser looked at it and scratched the back of her head, playing with her braid for about a minute.

"You're not worried that...it'll kill you?" she asked quietly, suddenly serious. Now she was getting it, stupid girl.

"The warlocks say that I'm doomed anyway," Andereon replied. "If this doesn't kill me, I'll be dead in a year or two anyway as the fel overtakes more and more of me. If not dead, then driven mad enough to go on a rampage and need to be put down like a feral worgen."

"...And you're fine with that?"

"I've had to fight undead as they swarmed over Lordaeron and the neighboring villages after our king cut us off from the world. The worgan arrived after. Night after night, week after week, month after month, year after year, we were fighting, slowly losing numbers to the worgen. At the apex of it all, we had a civil war. It was quelled, but not without losses, both to the rebels and the worgen. Then I got infected before the Cataclysm. Then we lost our city to the Cataclysm and the Forsaken invasion. Then I had to fight what was inside me while helping the Alliance and the Horde by proxy against the Twilight Hammer cult. I was there to assist the Alliance in dealing with Pandaria once it was rediscovered and enduring the assaults from the Horde while the warchief Garrosh Hellscream slowly went mad with power, I was there when the Alliance and Darkspear Rebellion laid siege to Orgrimmar to put a stop to it all. And I was there on the Broken Shore when the Alliance lost its high king and the Horde lost its new warchief."

As he spoke, the glow in his eye intensified, and the fel-touched veins under his fur began to glow past his shirt. His voice raised and lowered as the memories of the constant fighting returned to him, shouting orders or getting shouted at himself, howls, screams, the crunching of bone, the smell of blood...the fear, the sleepless nights. The jaws ripping at his arm the night he became infected...waking up covered in blood as the night elves brought him back...

"I've seen more battles than a soldier should. I just wanted to live a quiet life knowing I'd be gone soon. But apparently I can't have that. I went on this trip to entertain Skychaser's idea that I can be saved, but I don't believe it's possible."

Stormchaser's frown grew. "That's...a sad existence."

"You play the hand you're dealt, Stormchaser. The three of you were lucky to grow up in places where you don't need to fight. The second war left several scars on the world and its people, and some of us still feel its effects. The tauren, the pandaren, you all live in relative safety. Thunder Bluff and Pandaria were and are safe havens compared to Gilneas and the Eastern Kingdoms. You all can choose to be a part of whatever chaos is spewing most of the time. Even if I still considered myself a Gilnean, I don't even have a home to return to. Gilneas is still mostly uninhabitable, and Teldrassil burned. All I have left is a small patch of land in Duskwood. I was content to just live there until my end."

"So then why come here and put yourself through all this?" Stormchaser crossed her arms and stood right in front of Andereon. The pushy girl was determined to try and get to the bottom of everything.

He scoffed as a rebuke, but then replied shortly after. "There was a time where I was developing feelings for Skychaser. She was much younger than I was, but she had an innocence about her that I wanted to protect. She was under my command during the Burning Legion's invasion of Azeroth. She wasn't green, exactly, but she still had a lot to learn. I knew she had a bright future ahead of her assuming she survived. But after what happened--and if she didn't tell you, that's tough, because I won't--those feelings became warped. How things are now are how they are. Anyone that got caught in the crossfire...or _gets_caught in the crossfire, that's on them."

Stormchaser suddenly looked at him with suspicion. Andereon knew her type. They liked to play stupid and eccentric, but they were always examining things, trying to read a person's fighting style through their posture, or getting a read on their personality. The way her eyes narrowed, her stance changing with her slightly spreading her legs a bit further apart, her body relaxing...she was preparing.

"What does all that mean?" she asked quietly, her voice low. "What are you and trying to imply?"

"I'm implying that it's best that you stay away from me once this job is done, Stormchaser."

"Well, of course. I'm doing this because Kirima is my friend. You two are supposed to be friends too."

Andereon didn't respond immediately, just giving a slight nod. He was letting his emotions get to him, and he knew it. He needed to shut her up somehow, without getting violent about it.

"You need to get some sleep if you want to keep this pace up," he told her. "Especially you monks. You guys are the 'bright and early' types."

"But I want to talk to you more!"

"I don't. Unlike Skychaser, I don't have a high tolerance for things anymore."

"And what, are you going to stay up all night?"

"Someone has to watch the ship."

Stormchaser gave him that look again. She wasn't sure if she could trust him. In a way, he wanted that. He wanted her to just _stop_talking to him; she was annoying, with her peppy attitude, optimistic outlook...she was just like Kirima before the incident.

"I don't know if it should be just you...but alright, Captain." He clicked his tongue in annoyance, but she gave him a bow. "I'm off to sleep then! Have a good night, Captain."

He waved her off dismissively. Damned pandaren. He watched her go up to the captain's cabin and turned around to gaze out at the sea. The skies were clear, the moon mostly full, its light reflected like diamonds in the water. It was a peaceful night. Nothing else to worry about now that Stormchaser was--

"One last thing though!"

_ THUNK _! Andereon let out a snarl as he reflexively spun around fast enough that his foot kicked the metal railing. "Fucking...!" he leaned against the railing and glanced up at Stormchaser. "What do you want!?" he exclaimed.

She looked down at him from the railing on the second deck. "You know, you say that you're fine with dying and stuff like that. But I don't believe you. I think you want this to work just as much as Kirima wants. And while it doesn't sound like you and her are on good terms...I know her enough to know that whatever you two have between each other, it's something she wanted for some reason. I can respect that. That's why despite the fact I know something weird is going on with you, I can trust her to trust you. I think you're the most experienced person I've met, and I'd love to learn a lot from you, and I think I'd be sad if this trip killed you or if nothing happened."

"I'd certainly love to teach you a few things..." Andereon muttered. He didn't need this grand speech about what he really wanted. He lived a decent life. One full of fighting, sure, but a decent life. He would be fine just retiring with his two tauren and going insane or dying in Duskwood. And he certainly wasn't going to be getting good advice from a pandaren probably almost half his age.

"Maybe tomorrow we could spar? I like to think you don't fully know someone until you fight them."

"I use blades and shields," Andereon told her.

"And a monk's body is a dangerous weapon." The girl flexed an arm proudly.

"I_don't_take well to being challenged. I don't think you realize how much it takes to control myself. A competition wouldn't bode well for you."

"Well, now it just sounds like the Captain is a scary monster in disguise." Stormchase smirked lightly. "But sometimes scary monsters make for good companions."

...What in the name of the Burning Legion was wrong with this damn girl?

Unable to take it, he jumped onto the railing and crouched low, using all of his force to jump upwards toward the second deck. She took a step back as he landed on the railing with a heavy _thud_and then stared at her as he crouched low.

Stormchaser was in awe. The height was easily a big jump, fifteen, maybe twenty feet up. It wasn't something he could do in his armor, weapons, or gear on his person, and it was real useless in a chase, but it had its uses.

"So that's a worgen's physical strength at work, huh...?" The slack-jawed look then gave way to a smile. "That's amazing! Is that how worgen climb tall buildings and trees!"

"Go to _ bed _, pandaren," Andereon ordered. He was at his limit, couldn't she see that?

Stormchaser saluted. "Aye, Captain!" She turned on her heels and walked toward her cabin again.

He watched her go until the door was closed, then jumped back down. A large part of him wanted to follow her in there and pin her to the bed and teach her a damn lesson...but he needed to be out here, relaxing, letting the fires inside him die down. It was like a line he was being dared to cross, and everything was telling him to just step over it and damn the consequences.

Deep breaths. Don't think about breaking a young pandaren girl even if she deserved it. Focus. Focus on...the sea. The moon. The wind. Focus. The last thing he needed was to make another suffer his wrath, even if...

Focus.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Andereon had snuffed out the lights on the lanterns along the decks of the ship soon after Stormchaser went to bed. They were a four-man crew; if the Horde or pirates spotted them, there would be no way they could feasibly fight them off. The Horde would sink them and the pirates would outnumber and overwhelm them. They needed to be as invisible as they could be, so all of the light had to go.

He was left with the darkness for several hours. It gave him a lot of time to think. He had to focus, but even he couldn't stop his mind from wandering.

It wasn't a voice. It never had been. It was a violent urge from the start. That desire to just throw the sword and shield aside, start ripping and clawing at things with his claws and teeth, spreading the infection if he could still do it. The discipline that had been drilled into the Gilnean soldiers had kept him in control of it, but sometimes he wanted to give in to that urge and just howl at the moon or wander around the forests after the wall fell, just getting lost in himself until he took his wits back. But he had his duties, so he didn't give in often.

At the time of the Northern Barrens, he had felt like he and the primal urge inside him had come to a sort of co-existing agreement. It let him deal with the stress of combat and he got to satiate it. It let him focus on tactics as a captain in the army, an it let him become a monster on the field. Him and the other Gilnean worgen. It was their strength, just as with their king.

But then Skychaser went and charged behind the damned Legion line! Someone had to get her out! He wasn't about to lose a soldier due to their own stupidity! And he took a blast for her while a healer preemptively tried to heal him from the blast. He blacked out then, but supposedly he was still fighting until he pulled her back. He didn't remember "waking up" until that night, in burning pain and rage he had never felt before.

That worgen urge had increased in intensity. And it had all been focused on Skychaser. That damn cow, who did she think she was, ignoring orders and trying to save a damn cat!? He had liked her, and she repaid it by doing something so fucking stupid! All of his thoughts had focused on making her pay from then on. For about a week he had tried to think about how worth it using Arbury's new collar on her, put her under his control and make her unable to disobey him. He would still need to protect her, keep her safe, but at least he would have her and she would learn to be an obedient girl.

But something had stopped him. A tiny pang of...something as he stared over her that final night. Something that made him just take the collar and flee. Pity? Sadness? Regret? He didn't know. He had made it to Ashenvale by the time morning had come, and by then he couldn't really think anymore. All he had was the collar and what money he had saved. But he knew that he was a danger now. If he had seen her again, he wouldn't be able to stop himself, and those urges to lash out at anyone was starting to grow. The fel was manipulating his mind, he knew, starting to see everything as an annoyance or something to be dominated, overcome in any way. He wasn't scared of it, exactly, but he knew that if it got out of control, he would start hurting others, others who wouldn't really deserve it.

It was why he had a house built for him in Duskwood. There were few humans there; if he ever got violent, he would be lashing out at the feral worgen around the region rather than attacking the human settlements. Once the full diagnosis had been given to him, he was sure of it. He just wanted to live quietly. And he was prepared to, getting some final work done, scraping some last gold. A quiet life doing local mercenary work, he was ready to fully just isolate himself in Duskwood. Just one job in Ashenvale...

And then the Horde decided to invade. And the calf got in his way. Damn her, the stupid child. By the time he was putting the collar on her he wasn't thinking. At that moment, he was teaching her a lesson after she lost the challenge against him. She deserved it. After Skychaser's mistake, he was starting to think maybe all tauren were just like that as the collar was secured around the druid's neck. But what was done was done. At least he could train her to be a good girl.

And then Kirima came back into his life anyway. He felt he had slowly been reining in the fel and the worgen urges, only for them to bubble up. It wasn't enough that he had to save her from being raped, she voluntarily came back to him, and with some plan about some magic miracle thing, something he knew wouldn't work. He admittedly didn't know much about arcane and fel energies, but if they counteracted each other, there was no guarantee he'd be fine, just as he told Stormchaser.

But it didn't really matter. If he was cured, good. He'd be able to return home, and he had two tauren who belonged to him. If he couldn't get cured...well, he still had two tauren to entertain himself with. If it killed him then and there, then that would be the end of it at least.

But that pandaren...she was too lively for her own good. But maybe she was aware of it, and was testing to see how far was too far. Whatever. He had to focus on other things. If he dwelled on it, even he wasn't sure what would happen. Just focus on the moonlight, on the water, the "diamonds", or the lights in the distance--

Wait. Lights in the distance?

He leaned forward. A set of four lights, tiny...he couldn't see much of anything else. But if there were lights, it had to be a ship. He needed to figure out who they were.

He jumped back up to the second deck and ran over to the table by the wheel. He reached under and felt around, looking for a spyglass. He knew that some Gilnean ships had one under their map tables in case the proper one couldn't be found, and he didn't have time to look around. If it was a Gilnean habit, maybe others did it too.

He felt the brass against his fingers, and slid the spyglass out of its resting spot under the table. He extended it all the way and moved to the railing, raising it up to his left eye.

A larger ship. Three decks, longer than the Pursuit. The sails were plain brown, no Alliance or Horde designation, so it was a civilian ship. Mostly wooden, so it wasn't fitted for war or combat like the warships the factions used. No cannons that he could see. The crew...he could see three humans, an orc, two worgen, two small fox-like creatures...and what he figured might be the captain, complete with pirate hat, a female worgen.

He did another quick scan of the ship to see if there was a crow's nest or someone searching for ships with a spyglass. Sure enough, there was a worgen atop a tall mast, looking around with a spyglass. Dammit! If they got caught, this would get ugly. Were they splinters from the factions that went their own way, or were they career pirates? Maybe the _Pursuit_would be able to sneak past if it moved slowly.

He saw the spyglass turn toward their direction. he stood stone still, watching the worgen watch the sea. Then he noticed the spyglass holding steady.

"Damn it all," Andereon muttered.

Once he saw the worgen lean over the railing and begin to shout, Andereon almost threw down the spyglass in annoyance. He only didn't shatter the glass by holding onto it as he swung around. Given they were smaller and running in darkness, he doubted that the worgen was certain it was a ship, but he no doubt saw some anomaly in the water. They would investigate and notice it was a ship on closer inspection.

It was time to rouse the troops. First things first, then.

He opened the door to Stormchaser's room and let out a bark. "On your feet!"

Stormchaser sat up slowly, looking a bit drowsy. "Huh? What...what time is it?" she asked in a groggy voice.

"We have pirates, 'captain'," he said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Clothes on, armor on. We have maybe half an hour unless they speed it up."

She suddenly blinked awake and hopped off the bed. The girl slept naked, and she made no attempt to cover herself up as she opened a trunk at the foot of her bed, pulling out her armor and clothing and practically throwing it all onto the bed.

"Make it quick and meet us on the main deck," Andereon ordered.

"Aye, Captain!"

He hopped the railing and then ran down the stairs to the crew deck. "Tauren!" He shouted. "Get up!"

Andereon opened the door to Alanea's room, and saw her getting up. "Pirates. Get your clothing."

Her eyes went wide. "P-pirates? They're going to try and take the ship?"

"And kill us. Or just me, and turn the three of you into slaves, and if you think I'm_a horrible person...they'd be _worse."

She went paler than she usually was, and nodded.

"Main deck once you're ready."

He closed the door to her room and saw Kirima step out of her room. She wasn't as groggy as Stormchaser was, but that didn't surprise Andereon. She was still an adventurer and was likely a light sleeper. And unlike Alanea, she looked serious. She obviously knew Andereon wouldn't have woken her up without a reason.

"Pirates," he told her.

She frowned and gave a determined nod before slipping back in her room. He stepped into his room and began to unpack a set of clothing and his armor, taking a few minutes to get it all together. He debated on taking his two swords with him, but settled on one and his shield. The group would need someone to protect them, and he was the only one equipped to do so.

Pirates. And some of them were worgen. This was going to get very violent. He knew Skychaser and himself would be able to handle it; they were used to killing. Alanea...she hadn't killed anyone yet, though he knew she would try if she ordered him to. Her healing magic would be helpful' she could be a support for them. And if Stormchaser was with Skychaser in the Broken Isles, she would be used to fighting, though those were mostly evil creatures.

He would need to hope they could keep it together, and he didn't like that. He wanted certainties, but he had to take what he could get.

Ten minutes had passed since he spotted the ship. As he was securing his heavy plate to his legs, having done it everywhere else, his door opened, and Alanea poked her head in.

"Um...Master, the p-pandaren, Lilica...she told me to tell you she saw the ship. It's definitely approaching."

He took a few steps to make sure everything was secured. He nodded and attached one of his swords to his back, and the shield on top of that. He then beckoned Alanea to enter the room, and once she did so, he tied the second sword to her.

"You hold this if I need it," he told her. "I have a plan."

She nodded and touched the blade, tied to her back, then followed him up to the main deck. Skychaser and Stormchaser were watching the ship, which was definitely bigger now, moving closer. Skychaser had her bow hidden from view, looking unarmed as it laid on the deck.

"I counted ten on deck, Captain," Stormchaser said. He scowled, but knew that there were more important things to worry about.

"I just counted nine. Not surprised they have more numbers," Andereon muttered. "They don't have cannons; they'll be boarding us or outright trying to ram us. If they ram us...well, that's that. But if they try to board us, we may have a chance."

"What's the plan, Captain?"

"I can protect us, draw some of their aggression. If they all storm us at once we might get overpowered. Stormchaser, I expect you to focus more on dodging blows than trying to land yours. We'll need to outlast them. Alanea, second deck, you're healing. We won't be able to dodge or block everything. Skychaser, you're guarding Alanea. You focus on whatever target is closest to you two or take out their archers or gunners if they have any. Stormchaser, we need to bear the brunt of their force. We can't allow any of them to reach the second deck. We'll need to trust they can take out any ranged attackers, but we absolutely cannot let them get past us. The one benefit we have is that the paths between decks is narrow. We use that."

The girls nodded. They understood the plan, or at least what he could come up with on short notice.

"If they start making an effort to ram us, try and keep the ship away from theirs. It might not last long, but we need to buy time. If there's a way for us to take the fight to them, we will, but they may just drop via ropes. If we have to adjust things on the fly, we will. Don't be afraid to shout out what you need to."

"Come on," Skychaser led Alanea to the second deck, taking her bow with her.

Now alone with Stormchaser, Andereon tripped the railing tightly. Stormchaser cracked her knuckles. "If we get out of this," she said, "I think you'll see that you're as cold as you think you are."

"Don't," he warned her. He did _not_want to do this right now.

"We'll show them what Team Wolfpack can do."

"Alright, that's it. Once we clear this, I'm going to teach you a lesson."

"Well, now you _can't_let us just die here, right, Captain? Otherwise you'll never be able to teach me a lesson." She tapped her chin. "Maybe the Andereon Pack?"

"I'm going to use _you_as a weapon."

"Ooh, that's an idea!"

"Go make yourself useful and get the lights on," Andereon ordered.

The ship approached ever closer. Now he could see the gleam of swords reflected in the light of the larger pirate ship. As Stormchaser began to light the lanterns on the Pursuit, he was sure the pirates could see them ready to go now. They weren't going to go down without a fight, and Andereon was damn sure he wasn't going to let them get hurt. Not while he could still have the tauren and maybe even get the pandaren back for being annoying.

No, they were going to fight their way out of here. These pirates wouldn't know what hit them.