Reggie

Magdalena Appleby yawned.  It was a fine afternoon, despite the season, and the sun slanted in the office windows to warm the room.  The building was silent but for the muffled ticking of the clock in the kitchen.  She fought the urge to nap as she read back over her work.

"I said I can't spare Brightsteel, Major.  We have reports of a massive Horde invasion that same night."  Sterling said he waved said reports in the air, " I need him incase we have to move the Royal family to the safe house"

"I'm not requesting that he follows my people to Uldum, Sterling."  Larosa held up her copy of the same report," I just need him to meet my people in the Garden and to stay alert incase my people need to be pulled out."

The paladin snorted and crossed his arms. Larosa sighed and dropped the papers to rub her temples.

Travis clucked his tongue as he moved around Larosa's bedroom, "All I'm saying is that when the Commander asks what happened, just tell him that you look better then your opponent … It's the truth."

He moved Larosa's teacup closer to her hand before laying down the thick war council minutes beside it.  She did have plenty of time to sit and read it now.  She wasn't going to be moving from her bed for the rest of the night.

"Here are those meeting minutes as well as a copy of the new squad list, Mrs. Goldengale posted.  I put the pine nut bread on the other side of the bed as well as the reports from the interviews from Friday's event," Travis pulled out Larosa's current journal and a pencil, holding it out to her to take, "The current reports from SI:7 are on your desk, if you want those I'll get them for you."

Travis took a breathe, "I also found that salve you like and I got your boots and things from the practice room like you asked, they are in the other room.  Anything else I can do before I hit the rack, Major?"

“It’s frustrating.  There are so many things I don’t know, but I cannot ask direct questions because it offends people.  I cannot even ask them if someone can overhear and be offended. It is no wonder there are no quantitative and objective studies of behavior other than a few Gnomish texts.  And even those are suspect.

The trek south from the Burned Woods had not been easy. He had helped defend his blind mother from creatures unknown to him using shoddy sword skills learned from dueling his elder half sister who was always doing her best to try and kill him. Anterian wielded the Light offensively to back him up and later heal whatever scrapes he had earned over the day. However lengthy and dangerous as the journey was, standing in front of the large gate that was the entry into Stormwind made it all worthwhile.

The great statues that lined the causeway leading into the majestic city were imposing, yet beautiful. Certainly not the smooth Elven design he had grown accustomed to, but these seemed to have more of a lifelike quality than those of the arcane-shaped creations that stood around Silvermoon. 

Head?

*Lifting said body part up produced a large headache that forced her eyes to open and suddenly close from a blinding light.*

Fel, Check

Arms?

*fingers slowly moved to form fists, the older callouses on her fingertips reassuring her that she did still have ten fingers and not eight.*

Check

Legs?

*toes wiggled, the lack of boots was silently disturbing, but the feeling of socks and a weight of what was likely a blanket over her legs eased her thoughts.*

Check

"I owe Laelan a drink." Larosa thought as she squirmed in what she figured was an infirmary bed, "And Cerwis might want a better explanation of what happened between me and Reggie in my room.

This truly was a nightmare. The magic chains that bound him to the ground had a silencing effect which left him helpless as well as powerless, and he had to watch as the inky shadows on the ground tore apart and devoured his loved ones as they tried to fight or flee. He needed to wake up.

This had to be a nightmare and he had to wake up. He had to or he would go mad. He struggled against the chains until the shadows started to coalesce nearby. They rose and shifted in shape until they were a rough copy of one of the women they, it, had just torn to pieces.

The week-long vacation had gone by far too fast. From camping on the white sand of a beach, feeling the grains of sand between her toes as the salty sea breeze and noonday sun kissed her face to the cold, lacquered wooden floors of her kitchen on the soles of her feet and the burning cedar blocks in the hearth overlaying the woody scent of the forest on a winter morning. 

Reginald brushed her hair gently to one side and kissed the now bare nape of her neck, rest his chin on her shoulder and slid his arms around her waist as she poured a bit of cream into her oatmeal, “So, how are your evenings looking for the rest of the holiday?”

The final twinges of sunlight tumbled into Larosa's room as the Night Elf opened the door.  Her nightsabre, Dori, padded between Larosa's legs and the door frame hurrying into the room and heading straight to the nest of blankets the cat had claimed as her own.  Larosa smiled as she watched her companion curdle the nest of blankets and fluffing it up before settling down to sleep. Larosa paused in the doorway  before closing the door and tossing her pack onto the bed.

"It has been a long night, Dori," The blue haired Elf said to no one in particular, happy to hear the words in her native tongue as it echoed briefly in the room," But I'm afraid only you get to sleep right now …"

Tired hands removed the tabard and boots, carefully hanging them up, before a pair of pants and small undershirt followed.  Her hands wanted to reach for her extra large linen sleeping shirt, but instead the Kaldorei made herself reach for her uniform robe.  She had her shift in a few hours and she wasn't going to let someone else pull double duty just because she had spent her sleeping time doing paperwork.  She turned to eye her pack, a sigh esceped her lips as she decided to start pulling out the papers that quietly screamed at her to finish them.

Cerwis glared at Reggie as he tried to take her pen away, “I need to finish this report. Let me finish this report and then I'll take the stupid drugs and sleep.”

Her husband frowned at her, “You've been trying to figure out how to end it for the past thirty minutes, it will still be here when you wake up in the morning, get some rest.”

There was always that feeling like you had been kicked in the gut after bad news. Anterian just stood there in my own living room, playing the part of the untouchable healer. He'd made sure Cerwis was resting comfortably in our bedroom.

She was waiting for him when he came in, the shoulders of his dark woolen coat sprinkled with snow. Cerwis helped undo the double row of silver buttons and eased the heavy fabric off her husband's back before hanging it up, “How did the meeting go?”

Reggie hobbled to the couch, letting his cane support most of the weight on his left side, before sitting and relaxing back into the soft cushions as the fire crackled merrily in the large fireplace, “As well as could be expected. Half the team is dead, or still missing. Errin and Gale had me listed as next of kin on pretty much everything, probably as a joke, but... I got my last pay check as well as both of theirs. I don't think I'll be able to play if the season picks back up this year, then again, most of those capable of playing joined the war effort.”

Lir,

Two steps back.

The small communication stone on the side table crackled to life and was quickly followed by raspy hacking and a groan of pain from whoever was on the other end. It took Cerwis a moment to figure out what exactly had caused her to wake up. Jurik's voice cut through the silence then, “Somethin' wrong, lass?”

The Huntress threw a hand unceremoniously onto the nightstand and felt around for her comm stone until she was able to grasp it and bring it over towards her face, the 'what' she attempted came out as a simple, “Mmm?” instead.

The voice in peril, presumably one of the new recruits, filtered through again, “Nngh, y-yes...big.....shadow....f-fire.”

Cerwis ran the silver comb through her husband's wet hair over and over again to help the drying process. She always considered it a fairly intimate gesture, but every time she'd been hurt badly enough to require bed rest, he would do it for her. So, this time, she returned the favor. He'd splurged on the strangely shaped bowl that one had to use almost a year ago, back when her leg had been far too damaged to let her out of bed.

It sat on the floor now, full of water and smelling faintly of shampoo. Reggie smiled blissfully up at her, enjoying the cocktail of pain killers and medications that were being fed directly into his blood stream, “Your side is bruised pretty badly.”

Reggie looked at his wife after the healers left the room, “What are you?” 

Cerwis knit her brows and frowned again, inching closer, afraid if she did anything suddenly this would stop being real, “I don't understand. What do you mean what am I?”

He bounced and bashed against harder objects; he couldn't get his bearings, couldn't control his downward course.

Had Camyra been able to Blink herself to solid ground? She'd tried to take him with her...

He slammed into something solid, something jabbing in through his side, and stopped moving. Far above him, the sky seemed to be burning. Beyond the pounding of blood in his ears, he heard a roar that shook the world more than any of the elements had before.

 The Cathedral was packed with casualties to the point that they had begun to spill down the steps and into adjacent buildings; Healers swarmed trying to save who they could. Some were too far gone, and hard decisions regarding those people had to be made. The shrieks and groans of the injured and dying echoed throughout the space and masked the quiet hymns being sung in the corners of the large space, the air smelled faintly of copper and sweat, covering the delicately scented incense that continued to burn as it did every day; Priest and Paladin healers rushed around, splattered in blood that was not their own.

It wasn't something she ever expected to see in Stormwind. 

I was hoping for a quiet night before my graveyard shift.  The evening was always a prelude to the rest of the night, giving me an idea of just how much to expect as I began to patrol the various shires and city streets.

I kept my face neutral as I heard Pinapple laughed freely, "You deserved that."

The elder High Elven woman scoffed as the fireball he'd been trying to control snuffed itself out. He tossed one of the books across the near uncomfortably warm and smoky room in frustration. She narrowed her eyes and retrieved the lesson book, putting it on a shelf with it's bretheren. 

She had a seat on a cushion across from him, her red silk robe crumpling elegantly around her as she folded her knees underneath her in a single, graceful movement before taking a drag off the long pipe she was so fond of smoking and exhaled, looking quite like a pensive dragon, then spoke in an even tone, “This magic is not controlled by anger or rage. This is a mistake you continue to make. Fire is passion, life, joy. It destroys, but it also creates... You lived most of your life in the Burned Woods, you have seen first hand what can come when things are turned to ash.” She brushed a lock of thin, snow white hair behind a long ear, the lines on her face more apparent in the low light, inhaled the substance in the pipe once more before smiling pleasantly and blowing a smoke ring, “Now, try again. Think of my granddaughter this time, future children, or your sport. Something you care for.”

(( Tossed the Mature tag on this one for the Door entry. Figured it was a good plan. ))

Dark
He'd never been afraid of the dark before, not until he'd begun the journey southward with his mother and brother. Outside of Eversong and the Burned Woods were new horrors that lurked in the night, bats, giant spiders, wolves, Forest Trolls (not new to him, but still terribly scary), bears, the occasional dragon, and raptors...
Even now, a little over a decade from the journey, when the wolves in Elwynn howled loud enough to be heard inside the city at night, he still shivered. 

I picked up the empty cigarette pack and looked over at the woman on the bed. If she noticed my entering, she didn't say anything. My wife lay on her back, guitar on her stomach as she plucked out some melody that I'd never heard. I sat on her workbench and unlaced my boots before leaning back against the desk, “I thought I told you if you upgraded to a pack a day, I'd tell Lirriel.”

The music didn't stop, “It's been one and a half today, go ahead and tell her. When I figure out what to do, I'll go back to four or five a day and less drinking. How was training?” 

Something was off, I narrowed my eyes, “Training went... surprisingly well. Your grandmother is a wonderful teacher. What's going on, Cer? Talk to me, please. I can't read your mind like I know you want me to be able to.”

The candy pile in the corner of the room was growing steadily bigger as Reggie continued to bring more and more candy home. The new grout between the tiles in the bathroom was setting up, protecting the heating coils underneath. She'd worked on the generator all day before and it worked like it should after a few minor adjustments. Cerwis sighed and kept her eyes on the far wall in the low light.

The earthquake shook the small apartment rather roughly for it's short duration. Books fell off shelves, glasses rattled out of cabinets and smashed to pieces on the floor. The wood frame of the building creaked ominously and accumulated dust dropped out as it's resting place was disturbed. Originally they were small, easily confused with a passing Mammoth mount running by on the street. Now you couldn't mistake them. 
The front door wasn't seated as it used to. Light came in through a crack where the wood from the frame didn't quite reach anymore. The building was starting to shift on it's foundation, more like this and it probably wouldn't last. It wasn't a nice thought. Cerwis kept her arms around her fox and coyote as she sat on the couch, Reggie's cat Merlin in her lap, not letting her socked feet touch the floor. She'd have to clean this mess up soon, but the animals were spooked. Standing on the ground when there was a quake wasn't terrible, but standing on the second floor of a wooden apartment building? She could only move with how the building moved, and it was unsettling. 

Reggie sat in a chair next to their bed with his feet propped up on the mattress. He methodically picked at the blueberry muffin as his wife mirrored his movements with her apple turnover, “You're not eating, are you feeling okay?”

Cerwis shook her head, her eyes a little watery, “No, the Fel burn hurts. I want to be laying on my stomach, I really do, but I can't because I need to keep my ankle elevated and I do need to eat which is sort of hard to do if I'm laying flat.”

The hot water ran over her hands as she scrubbed the dishes one by one and put them to the side to dry. The only lights on in the apartment were the few mana-lamps Reggie had brought home from Dalaran leaving small, bright spots of light purple here and there. 

Cerwis had already gone through all of her usual pre-slumber motions: changing into her silk pants and robe, washing her face to remove her make up, cleaning her teeth, braiding her hair back to keep it neat overnight, and now she was cleaning up the house.