#riathane

[ Into Northrend - Part Three ]

[ Part Two ]

The bitter blast of cold was the first thing she felt. The wind skirled through her hair and her cloak flapped to one side, and with it came the sting of snow and ice across her face from the nearby dune. She took a step and her foot sank through the frozen crust of ice atop the snow, trapping her up to her knee. “Sen!” she called over the howl of frigid winter. She pulled her cloak tightly around her body and shuddered, pulling her foot free and choosing instead to step where he had already stepped. “Sen, you idiot…” Her voice was low, muffled by the wind and the wasteland around them. How a vacant space could be so loud, she wasn’t sure.

She stumbled forward a step and grabbed his arm, pulling him to face her. “We didn’t bring any provisions! You don’t even have a cloak!” Looking over her shoulder, their tracks led to an end but the portal was no longer there.

He looked down at her. “Why didn’t you think of that?!” he shouted back to be heard over the din.

“ME?! I was just following you!” she countered, turning her face into his arm as the wind kicked up and sprayed them again with snow.

“Why couldn’t you have been a mage?” he asked. On the horizon was a patch of sparse, leafless trees. Their trunks and branches were coated on one side with snow, and twisted from years of being battered by the elements. He took her hand and started the slow process of battling that wind and the snow that cracked beneath their feet to head for the minimal shelter they’d find there.

“We going to need fur, and shelter.” she remarked, but Sen was already thinking the same thing.

“Don’t worry I’ll get us something.” he agreed, patting the gun holstered at his hip. They made it to the small gathering of trees and he immediately started pulling low-hanging branches from the trees and digging them into the snow, making a sort of makeshift wall to guard against the wind.

“You stay here.” he ordered, laying his hand on her head and ruffling her hair. “Try to stay warm, just stay crouched, keep your head covered with the neck of your dress or something, keep the heat in. I’ll be right back, there’s gotta be something around here I can kill and skin.”

Blonde eyebrows lifted at the way he took command. Senayr has always been protective of her, even back before she left him for his brother, but she hadn’t been around him for so long that she had almost forgotten. But when he reached down to pull his knife from the sheath in his boot, she gave him a scathing look. “I’m a woman, Senayr; that doesn’t make me helpless.” She took his knife when offered and huffed, looking down at his gun. “I wouldn’t fire that. We don’t know what’s around, what would hear you. This place is filled with scourge… I don’t want to attract any undue attention.”

He paused a moment and then pointed at her in agreement. “It doesn’t make you helpless, you’re right, but I was being thoughtless and I got us into this situation by being my usual idiot self and I don’t want you to suffer for it.”

Reaching down, he patted the gun at his hip gently. “No matter where I go, if I’m not familiar or I am familiar with the territory, my gun could always attract undue attention. It’s what it does. If I thought like that, I’d never shoot Betsy.. And she’s a good girl. So…” his brows raised. “I think we’ll make it through.”

She wasn’t sure which she was more surprised by. The protective streak he was displaying, the fact that he named his gun… or the fact that the name he settled on was Betsy. Her eyes narrowed at him and she let out a breath slowly. “Just focus on finding a trail.”

He put up his hands. She was staying put “Fine - stay huddled, I’ll try to find a trail, but it’s months old, with this snow? I mean it’s possible but, if we can just…”

Looking back down at her, he found himself looking at a woman, cold and wary but also increasingly sure that he was daft. “What?”

“Sen… I meant like a deer or something.”

[Into Northrend - Part One]

In a small alcove, off the main streets of Dalaran sat a little jewelry shop. It was nothing grand or ornate, and the sign above the door was the only thing that marked it as a place of business at all. Easily lost in the shuffle, it was a testament to the quality of the product inside that the proprietor got any customers. Still most people in the city were blissfully unaware of the store, or the huntress that ran it. But it was that huntress, in fact, that Senayr Runesong was waiting for.

She lived above, in a small apartment just barely big enough for her and the large feline that shared her home, but she wasn’t home at the moment, and he knew this for a fact because he had already climbed up and pried open her bedroom window to call on her. An odd thing for a man to do, but she hadn’t answered her door so he was left with little choice, he figured.

The house was empty, the workshop where she often passed out in the middle of a project was abandoned, and so now he was just waiting. It was almost time to open, so surely she’d be back soon, right?

He must have been waiting close to an hour, leaned against the door and biding his time. He needed to talk to her, and unfortunately it wasn’t something that he felt could wait, no matter how tempting the smell of freshly baking bread was down the street. Breakfast would have to wait.

His patience was rewarded. Riathane turned the corner and caught sight of him, immediately grimacing. Sen was almost never anything but a load of trouble, and while she was fond of him, he was still a pain in her ass.

She walked over to join him, looking tired and well-ridden, wearing the same clothing she had worn the night before. He leaned his head to the side, noting the distinct scent of sex and sea water around her. There was no mistaking where she had been or what she had been doing.

“You look like you were rode hard and put away wet.” he commented, grinning down at her. “And you smell… like whiskey and bad decisions. ...And sea salt?”

Ria let out a long sigh and looked up at him. She pulled her key from her bag and slid it into the lock, pulling the door as she turned it. It was an old lock, and finicky. “I did most of the riding, thank you very much. And how I look is none of your business.” Finally the door opened and she stepped inside. Much to her chagrin, he followed in behind her. “What do you want, Sen?”

He made his way to one of the glass counters that had several beautiful pieces of jewelry on display and idly lifted the corner of the top, checking to see if it would open with only that tug. He had no intention of stealing anything from her, and it seemed he was unaware of what he was doing. Old habits die hard, and the once-pirate before her could not fight the instinct. Not that she believed for a second that he had gone even half as straight as he claimed. “I was coming to check on you and give you news, but I was also going to take you somewhere that requires being a functioning adult and you don’t look like you’ve slept much or are in the mind to do anything.”

He finally looked up from the display case and over at her. For once the concern in his eyes was genuine rather than the mocking tone most people got from him. “Why do you do this to yourself?”

The huntress stopped short for a second at that question, not entirely sure how to respond. In the end, she chose to ignore it. Approaching him, she stopped only a couple of feet away and furrowed her brow. A small ray of hope was blooming in her chest. Had he found something? “News about Sabbath?”

Sabbath had been her stalwart companion for the last decade or so. A demonic soul, forcefully shoved into the hulking body of a snow leopard by a vindictive warlock, he was an unorthodox hunting partner, but over time she had become incredibly fond of him. His disappearance had caused her more grief than she knew how to express. He was a cruel creature, with a sour disposition, but he was loyal. He would never have left her alone. Not willingly.

Senayr weighed his options for a moment and lifted his chin, giving her a short nod. “I found something.” he agreed, “It might not be Sabbath but I wanted you to see it.” His arms crossed over a broad chest and he shifted his weight, watching the blonde before him. “Now answer me: Why are you doing this to yourself? Does it help anything or do you just feel worse about yourself in the morning?”

“Oh come off it, Sen.” she sighed, “Like you don’t take strange women to your bed every now and again?”

“Yeah, but I’m me. And you’re you. I do what I do for a living, and you’re a respected and functioning member of society.”

“I’m a respected and functioning widow! And I need a firm seeing to every now and again. There’s nothing wrong with that.”

He rolled his eyes and, without thinking, mouthed off. “Pft, I’ll give you a firm seeing to…” Senayr often said things without thinking, so his comment should have drawn no real attention, but Ria lifted a brow and when the realization of what he said hit him, he looked stunned, and then confused, and then - after a moment of deliberation - he shrugged. “I’ll give you a real hard seeing to.”

The grin on his face was broad and playful, but she wasn’t having it. Waving him off, she grumbled under her breath. “Yeah, because that’s what I need.” It had been a bad enough idea to fall back into bed with Drath that night. The last thing she needed right now was to do the same with her brother-in-law.

[Into Northrend - Part Two]

[Part One]

The portal room in the heart of Dalaran was usually a buzz of activity. People from either faction and all walks of life came here to step through the whirling magic. Its shimmering images of lands beyond called out to any adventurer’s soul and it had once affected Riathane in the same way. But now, as she stared at the portals, she felt only a sense of dread. Magic had become less of a awe-striking force and more a thing to be wary of. In that way, it may have been smarter to live and work in some less magey city, but she couldn’t always move her shop around wherever she pleased.

It was mostly dark in the portal chamber, the only light afforded to them coming from the various alcoves and the arcane power within. But there was enough of it to catch a glimpse of a small tuft of silvery fur trapped in a crack along the wall. Ria bent to lift and inspect it, and she was almost overwhelmed by the familiarity it brought with it.

How many times had she fallen asleep with Sabbath at her side, his fur at her cheek? How many times had she run her fingers through it? She would have recognized the color and texture anywhere. Out of a hundred different samples she was sure she could have identified Sabbath’s fur in a heartbeat. And there it was. A justified sense of hope filling her heart and lifting her weary soul. Tears came to sting at her eyes and as she stood, she swallowed down, trying her best to blink them back.

Fel green eyes looked from one portal to the next, until finding the one that led to the Dragonblight, in Northrend. She stared at it for a few seconds, that hope dying out inside of her, before finally speaking. “...I think I know where he is.” She approached that portal and tensed her jaw, looking over her shoulder at Sen as he joined her at her side. “No one had any reason to take him. No one knew what he was, except me, you, Drath, and my sister.”

“Neither of us said anything, and you don’t think Drath did it…”

“He swears he didn’t.” Looking back at the portal she drew in a deep breath. “But that just leaves Shin - and she’s dead…”

“Maybe not.” Sen offered quietly, “I’ve had people think I was dead before. I mean, I let them think that on purpose. It’s not hard to pretend to be dead.” A second passed between them and as Ria processed the new information, Sen laid a hand on her shoulder and squeezed reassuringly. “Do you have any other ideas?”

“No…”

“Well then, let’s go. Or… you can stay home, be boring, and I’ll go rescue your kitty cat.” The grin he gave her was broad and teasing and he turned his back to the portal, hands going out on either side of him as he stepped back through the glistening vortex of magic.

She grimaced. “Uh... recently or overall?” 

Sen let out a sigh as he looked at the faded picture he’d had for far too long. His brother had been dead for 11 years now, and Sen had stolen the photo of Ria when he’d found it in some of his brother’s things shortly after the funeral. He didn’t know why he still had it, maybe there was a sort of comfort in it. She was a beautiful woman, but she was also something greater. She was the only form of home that he had anymore aside from his boat and crew. She was the only person in his life that still really actually meant something, and so he clung to the picture and some of the memories of her during those more carefree years when she was happy and vibrant and not this lonely ghost of her former self. 

FROM SEN

Them as a person: She’s wonderful. It’s just that easy. She’s always been great.

Level of attractiveness: Ria has this elegant look to her, a great body, and a haunting sadness to her eyes. She’s one of the most attractive women I’ve ever laid my eyes on. Probably because I hold her in such high esteem.

What annoys them most: She has no clue, and will likely never know how I’ve always felt about her. It’s probably better that way, but if she says I’m like a brother one more time…

What they like the most: She’s patient and genuine and just as up for a crazy time as I am. I trust that whatever is thrown at her she can handle for the most part. I might be incredibly protective, but for the most part? She’s always been able to keep up with my stupid ass.

What they’d do if they were locked in a closet together for 4 hours: There’d probably be a bit of awkward silence and then a lot of laughing and goofing off. It’s hard to stay serious around her sometimes.

Overall opinion: She’s amazing. Even though she left me for my brother, what a chump. 

Them as a person : Suuuuuuch a pain in the ass

Level of attractiveness : He’s handsome, but he’s always got that shitty grin on his face...

What annoys them most : He has a habit of playing big brother on me, and while I appreciate it, I don’t need to be coddled. I’m a big girl.

What they like the most : I like how impulsive he is. It’s nice to not always be the reckless one.

What they’d do if they were locked in a closet together for 4 hours : Probably laugh about it and make sex noises for whoever’s listening.

Overall opinion : He’s great, really. He has his shortcomings but I don’t do well around perfection, so it works.