10-06-2010, 08:36 AM
In the Tournament Grounds
Spoiler:
It was dusk in Icecrown by the time Lene Surus'ilamar arrived at the Argent Tournament Grounds. Most of the inhabitants were already in their tents, picking up their goods, or making preparations for tomorrow. A sheet of snow stuck to the dark-brown roofing of the towers and Coliseum; it had snowed recently, and it had been solidified with the icy mist from the sea far below. Lene walked through the grounds, keeping an uneasy watch on the perimeters of the camp, which stretched away to sharp vertical angles and blackness beyond that. The golden-brown wyvern keeping pace alongside her shook its mane free of ice.
"Remember the first time we were here, Sereth?" Lene asked, voice fittingly low for the frozen silence of the place. "When the Lich King was killed, and everyone was celebrating?"
"Of course. That was when my last master and I had our falling-out. But coming here was still worth it." A thoughtful pause. "How are Arlyn and Lux doing? I haven't seen either of them since we left the celebration."
"They're fine. I hope Arlyn isn't too upset with me for wanting some alone time; sometimes, I can't tell what she thinks. I'll talk to her when I-" She broke off. As they passed the empty Ring of Champions, Lene looked over at it for a long time. "You like him, don't you? Lux."
"I do not!"
Lene kept crunching through the snow with her sabatons en route to the living quarters on the southwestern side of the Tournament Grounds. All the way, she kept up a steady argument with Sereth about the romantic preferences of a certain wyvern, and how that pertained to another certain wyvern. For the moment, at least, their purpose was forgotten.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was only a few hours before the two woke amidst the early-morning rush of the Argent Pavilion. Lene stayed nested in bed until Sereth put her front paws on it and gave Lene a gentle cuff, as a cat might do with her kittens. Lene blinked and sat up immediately, the blankets still pulled over the lower half of her face.
"Hmmhph? What's it, Seriphh?"
The wyvern didn't reply. Around them, the other people in the Pavilion were already getting dressed and preparing to put on their armor. The tinkling sound of bowls being set out heralded the breakfast to come. Within a few moments, Lene had smoothed the blanket over the bed again, and was pulling clothes on over her sleeping tunic and pants. Blinking, tousle-haired, she took her place amongst the others at the table, and helped herself to a bowl of oatmeal with dried fruit in it.
"-Heard? Of course I have. The Vanguard's packed with people now. I think Ausara and Baor both got shipped out."
"Shouldn't have been such a threat. Why did they need three full squads? That Heroes' Valley was cleared out months ago."
"There were a couple of Flesh Giants in the northern half of the valley. Someone had the bright idea of bombing them from that zeppelin." A snort of laughter. "Let's just say it smelled really bad there for the next few days. A few people from Aleroth's troops kept petitioning to change the patrol route, so they didn't have to be downwind of it the entire time."
"It won't take long 'fore Icecrown is cleared out for good, lads." Lene flinched at the voice right next to her. She stopped eating and looked over. "Better get your last taste o' killin' before all of the Scourge are gone." The speaker was a grey-bearded Dwarven paladin who alternated shoveling down his food and talking with an unconcerned drawl.
"We've still got a long way to go. Most of us have already been on the front lines once or twice; didn't you notice that drop in recruitment? You know the feeling - all of a sudden, you start looking around, then you realize that you've been seeing the same faces for months." Someone sighed. A couple of people left the table for the tournament grounds. The empty bowls stayed behind at the table. Lene glanced around the pavilion for Sereth. She was already gone.
Lene shoved her chair back and went outside.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"It sounded pretty-" Whack. Lene's side was caught by the wooden practice spear in her opponent's hand. She winced at the shock, and forced her Human opponent away with a couple of back-facing-out sword strikes. A quick look down at her armor told her it was barely dented. She approached the human this time, but warily; staying in a defense posture with her sword ready to either block or strike.
Sereth, who was curled up on the snow just off the practice ring, laughed softly. "Don't try to fight and talk at once. That's how you get killed on the battlefield." She settled deeper into the snow hollow which guaranteed her shelter from the wind. "If what you have to say is that important, then it deserves total attention."
Lene barely had time to nod before the Human charged her. She sidestepped too quickly on the packed, shiny surface of the practice ring, and hit the ground, back-first with a massive clatter of armor. A few of the people in the other practice rings looked over, then returned to their own matches. Even after her opponent bowed to her and left, she stayed in that position, staring up at the cloudy grey sky. As the first sprinkling of snowflakes drifted down onto anything flat enough to hold them, she blinked a few times to clear her eyes, then got up.
"Why do you do that so much?" Sereth asked. "It's a bad habit to have in a place like this. If it was one of the jousting arenas, then you could've been trampled."
Lene stood on the perimeter of the practice ring and began the exercises to stretch out her muscles and cool down. "I.. just like to look up at the sky and think - or not think, as the case may be. I've been doing it for years. It's very relaxing." She looks over her shoulder at Sereth, curled into the snow. "You should try it," she adds.
"I'd rather not. What were you trying to say before?"
"I'm starting to think we should volunteer to go to the Argent Vanguard. After you left and everyone else was eating breakfast, I was listening to some of the Argents talk about it. It almost sounded like they were having real trouble." Lene sat down next to Sereth on the snow crust, flexing her hands to get the tingling feeling out of them. "You don't mind if I.. uhm.."
"Go ahead.." Sereth huffed a sigh, the mist from which drifted off into the grey atmosphere around them. Lene grinned and sat right up against Sereth.
"Thanks. Elves aren't very comfortable in cold weather. Anyhow, I did manage to talk to a couple of those people after I left. One of them said that a band of wandering Scourge killed almost an entire troop, just a week ago. And the other kept telling me that now that the Lich King's dead, recruitment's dropped so much that the Argents still in Icecrown have to keep rotating people. The people here have all been here for months."
"If you join them in the Vanguard now, you won't be able to leave until they let you. Are you sure it's worth it? Arlyn's waiting for you back in Dalaran, and the Crimson Templars are in Silvermoon. How will you explain it to them?"
"I'm not going to just tell them. I'm going to go back to Dalaran, and ask Arlyn, then send a letter to Calleda. Arlyn's told me before that she always wants to fight alongside me, wherever we are. I want to do the same with her. And Calleda and Calandil have both been in service to the Argent Crusade before. We were in Zul'drak together." Lene tips her head back slowly until it touches Sereth's snow-flecked side. She rests it there.
"I've fought the Scourge for years, Sereth." Her voice is low and serious. "I was alone in the Ghostlands for almost a year. Compared to the things we've heard and seen and felt already, this will be nothing. We'll join the Argent Vanguard together, and fight together until we've done our duty as paladins. You'll see."
"Remember the first time we were here, Sereth?" Lene asked, voice fittingly low for the frozen silence of the place. "When the Lich King was killed, and everyone was celebrating?"
"Of course. That was when my last master and I had our falling-out. But coming here was still worth it." A thoughtful pause. "How are Arlyn and Lux doing? I haven't seen either of them since we left the celebration."
"They're fine. I hope Arlyn isn't too upset with me for wanting some alone time; sometimes, I can't tell what she thinks. I'll talk to her when I-" She broke off. As they passed the empty Ring of Champions, Lene looked over at it for a long time. "You like him, don't you? Lux."
"I do not!"
Lene kept crunching through the snow with her sabatons en route to the living quarters on the southwestern side of the Tournament Grounds. All the way, she kept up a steady argument with Sereth about the romantic preferences of a certain wyvern, and how that pertained to another certain wyvern. For the moment, at least, their purpose was forgotten.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It was only a few hours before the two woke amidst the early-morning rush of the Argent Pavilion. Lene stayed nested in bed until Sereth put her front paws on it and gave Lene a gentle cuff, as a cat might do with her kittens. Lene blinked and sat up immediately, the blankets still pulled over the lower half of her face.
"Hmmhph? What's it, Seriphh?"
The wyvern didn't reply. Around them, the other people in the Pavilion were already getting dressed and preparing to put on their armor. The tinkling sound of bowls being set out heralded the breakfast to come. Within a few moments, Lene had smoothed the blanket over the bed again, and was pulling clothes on over her sleeping tunic and pants. Blinking, tousle-haired, she took her place amongst the others at the table, and helped herself to a bowl of oatmeal with dried fruit in it.
"-Heard? Of course I have. The Vanguard's packed with people now. I think Ausara and Baor both got shipped out."
"-Losing ground."
"Shouldn't have been such a threat. Why did they need three full squads? That Heroes' Valley was cleared out months ago."
"Pass me some of that- thanks."
"There were a couple of Flesh Giants in the northern half of the valley. Someone had the bright idea of bombing them from that zeppelin." A snort of laughter. "Let's just say it smelled really bad there for the next few days. A few people from Aleroth's troops kept petitioning to change the patrol route, so they didn't have to be downwind of it the entire time."
"It won't take long 'fore Icecrown is cleared out for good, lads." Lene flinched at the voice right next to her. She stopped eating and looked over. "Better get your last taste o' killin' before all of the Scourge are gone." The speaker was a grey-bearded Dwarven paladin who alternated shoveling down his food and talking with an unconcerned drawl.
"We've still got a long way to go. Most of us have already been on the front lines once or twice; didn't you notice that drop in recruitment? You know the feeling - all of a sudden, you start looking around, then you realize that you've been seeing the same faces for months." Someone sighed. A couple of people left the table for the tournament grounds. The empty bowls stayed behind at the table. Lene glanced around the pavilion for Sereth. She was already gone.
Lene shoved her chair back and went outside.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
"It sounded pretty-" Whack. Lene's side was caught by the wooden practice spear in her opponent's hand. She winced at the shock, and forced her Human opponent away with a couple of back-facing-out sword strikes. A quick look down at her armor told her it was barely dented. She approached the human this time, but warily; staying in a defense posture with her sword ready to either block or strike.
Sereth, who was curled up on the snow just off the practice ring, laughed softly. "Don't try to fight and talk at once. That's how you get killed on the battlefield." She settled deeper into the snow hollow which guaranteed her shelter from the wind. "If what you have to say is that important, then it deserves total attention."
Lene barely had time to nod before the Human charged her. She sidestepped too quickly on the packed, shiny surface of the practice ring, and hit the ground, back-first with a massive clatter of armor. A few of the people in the other practice rings looked over, then returned to their own matches. Even after her opponent bowed to her and left, she stayed in that position, staring up at the cloudy grey sky. As the first sprinkling of snowflakes drifted down onto anything flat enough to hold them, she blinked a few times to clear her eyes, then got up.
"Why do you do that so much?" Sereth asked. "It's a bad habit to have in a place like this. If it was one of the jousting arenas, then you could've been trampled."
Lene stood on the perimeter of the practice ring and began the exercises to stretch out her muscles and cool down. "I.. just like to look up at the sky and think - or not think, as the case may be. I've been doing it for years. It's very relaxing." She looks over her shoulder at Sereth, curled into the snow. "You should try it," she adds.
"I'd rather not. What were you trying to say before?"
"I'm starting to think we should volunteer to go to the Argent Vanguard. After you left and everyone else was eating breakfast, I was listening to some of the Argents talk about it. It almost sounded like they were having real trouble." Lene sat down next to Sereth on the snow crust, flexing her hands to get the tingling feeling out of them. "You don't mind if I.. uhm.."
"Go ahead.." Sereth huffed a sigh, the mist from which drifted off into the grey atmosphere around them. Lene grinned and sat right up against Sereth.
"Thanks. Elves aren't very comfortable in cold weather. Anyhow, I did manage to talk to a couple of those people after I left. One of them said that a band of wandering Scourge killed almost an entire troop, just a week ago. And the other kept telling me that now that the Lich King's dead, recruitment's dropped so much that the Argents still in Icecrown have to keep rotating people. The people here have all been here for months."
"If you join them in the Vanguard now, you won't be able to leave until they let you. Are you sure it's worth it? Arlyn's waiting for you back in Dalaran, and the Crimson Templars are in Silvermoon. How will you explain it to them?"
"I'm not going to just tell them. I'm going to go back to Dalaran, and ask Arlyn, then send a letter to Calleda. Arlyn's told me before that she always wants to fight alongside me, wherever we are. I want to do the same with her. And Calleda and Calandil have both been in service to the Argent Crusade before. We were in Zul'drak together." Lene tips her head back slowly until it touches Sereth's snow-flecked side. She rests it there.
"I've fought the Scourge for years, Sereth." Her voice is low and serious. "I was alone in the Ghostlands for almost a year. Compared to the things we've heard and seen and felt already, this will be nothing. We'll join the Argent Vanguard together, and fight together until we've done our duty as paladins. You'll see."
Notes: Prelude on my character's obtaining Argent Dawn Templar training.