Arai Sunshield, "Vigilance & Honor"

Pandaria House Sunshield Estate “Wha the.. – EVELYNN” The feminine shriek isn’t what caused Evie’s head to jerk up, nor was it what caused her to wobble in her chair before crashing to the floor. It was the too-close face of a not-so-happy Pandarian woman zoomed up all personal and in detail with her goblin-designed headgear. Evie grunted as she half sprawled, part of her on the floor, with her legs splayed into the air propped that way by the seat of the overturned chair. The gears of the headgear whorled loudly in an attempt to focus on something - anything. The headgear allowed her to see all of the details of each item she received from the reliquary to categorize but in this case -  it also let her see the angry lines on the female’s face. “Good morning Nara.” Evelynn cleared her throat, her head lulling to the side so the goggles could focus on the housekeeper. Nara, in Pandarian, meant happy and at this moment the woman didn’t seem that happy. The fragmented thoughts caused her to snort-laugh and also earned her a fierce scowl as a result.

Nara Mellowbell, local and Lord Sunshield’s housekeeper set a glass cylinder with a wooden base on the desk. The movements were slow and careful. Inside the jar, a yellow tainted water and what appeared to be a Kun Li sprite or perhaps a Timeless Isle sprite floated, well preserved and very dead. 

“Some things are not meant to be kept, Evelynn –.. “

“I didn’t kill it.” She protested at once, pushing the goggles to her brow.

There was a sigh from Nara but she continued as if Evie hadn’t interrupted. “-- In the kitchen.” “Ah, well. You see the liquid had begun to crystalize during the journey from Kun Li, so the only option was a slow defrost so the uh –” Gangly legs draped in loose linen pants dropped down over her head, giving her the momentum to roll backward and come to rest on her knees.  “--- so, it made logical sense. The bread helped pull the moisture away from the glass as well. Very helpful, thank you.”

“Spirits protect me from myself.” Nara huffed. “That was my fresh bread, Evelynn!”

Silence followed for a moment. Perhaps Nara didn’t understand? Evelynn’s voice gentled as she explained herself. “Well, yes. Because if it was the day-old bread I couldn’t mold it around the glass. Too stiff, you see.”

“JUST NOT IN THE KITCHEN EVELYNN TALLOH OR SO HELP ME.” “Okay. Thank you, Nara, I understand. Not in the kitchen.” Evelynn chirped, blinking owlishly at the Pandaria who seemed very close to losing her temper. Did she truly understand? No. Though the housekeeper seemed pacified and turned to leave, pausing in the doorway only to point one furry finger back at the elf. 

“And not with my bread!” “Okay Nara, thank you!” Once the housekeeper left, Evie went about setting her chair to rights. Her lips twisted to one side as she contemplated substitutes for bread, though distraction came in the form of the sprite. 

“Oh, that is a Kun Li sprite for sure..”  Just as she began lowering her goggles into place, another voice sounded from the doorway.

“What did you do?”

Arai Sunshield, Lord and Master of House Sunshield settled into the den’s doorway, his shoulder propped against the wood frame, and from what she could see, he looked amused - perhaps curious. Good. She couldn’t sort through two angry people today. She settled the goggles over her eyes and calibrated the lens so she could see him clearly.  He was the poster boy for Lord and Knight of Silvermoon: tall, broad shoulders and tapered in places that made the ladies swoon when he was geared up in his red and black armor.  He wasn’t geared up today, though. His gold hair was top knotted and he wore linens, hand made by locals if that rugged stitching was to tattle.

“Evelynn?” “Ah, I can explain.” She chirped, leaning against the table with one hand to take her weight while the other hand twisted the preserved sprite to face him. Did he need to see the sprite’s face to know what it was? Perhaps not but she faced it anyway and then motioned her hand into a ‘tada’ gesture. 

“A sprite?” He questioned gently, waiting for her whirlwind of thoughts to clue him in on where she was going. 

“Kun Li sprite to be exact! You see the liquid had begun to crystalize from the journey from Kun Li, so the only option was a slow defrost – it made logical sense. The bread helped pull the moister away from the glass as well.”

“Would not a rag have done the same thing?”

“Yes.”

“I see. Do you know why Nara is upset?”

“Yes, I used her bread to absorb moisture from the sprite specimen.”

“When you could have…” He prompted but at her stillness, broken only by the clicks and whorls of the goggles, he finished the prompt himself. “.. used a rag.”

“Yes, next time I will use a rag.”

“Very good.” He didn’t move from his propped position, his attention on the sprite. 

“You look like you are walking straighter, you have been hunched since your defeat – sometimes Warlords are supposed to wait for others to fight with them and not take on Legion invasions on their own.” She scolded as she set her desk to rights once again. The sprite was not on her list to catalog today, so she collected it from where Nara had set it and relocated it to the awaiting shelf of stuff she hadn’t gotten to. 

“I will keep that in mind.” He laughed, pushing from his lean to wander into the room. He normally didn’t come fully into the building designated for her research and reliquary study often. The walls, tables, and shelves were filled with things better off not touched and the air smelled of herbs, preservatives, and magic.  Arai was not an herb, preserves, and magic kinda elf.  He stopped walking when he reached her desk and with only his index finger he began moving unopened mail and letters, reliquary nonsense that she’d get to sooner or later.

“There is a runner here..” He continued to thumb the mail until he seemed to find what he was looking for.  Meanwhile, she wandered back to the desk to watch him pop the seal with his thumb. “These are coffee stained.” 

“I like coffee but it has to have cream in it, not from cows but that special cream that Nara makes from plants. I don’t like marks it leaves on my desk.” Evelynn sat back in her chair, her legs moving to criss-cross before her and her elbows perched on the desk’s top. 

Was he in a hurry? No. She watched him as he read through three letters, setting each coffee-stained one aside before he found the one he was looking for. “This..” He sighed, sliding the final document her way. “A summons to the Dragon Isles, you are very late.”

“Dragon isles..” Again the goggles were removed and lifted to perch on her head. “And the runner?”

“Is here to collect you, it would seem.”

“I am not ready.” She blinked up at him, her round-rimmed glasses removed from her sleeve and shoved onto her face quickly. 

“He will wait.” Arai straightened a bit, changing from Arai to Lord Sunshield in that movement. “Let’s get you packed.”  He didn’t linger, taking his leave shortly in what she assumed was a mission to deal with the reliquary runner. 

Evelynn gripped her hair, her head hanging as she read over the summons. Kodo shit. How did she miss this?

“We go den?” Atal, now a permanent part of the household, stepped into the room. The troll’s body filled the doorway and then some, forcing him to sink into a crouch. 

“We?” Evelynn grinned childishly at him, earning herself a matching grin though admittedly, he was more dangerous when he smiled. “You are ready to adventure this world, again?”

“It be what outcasts do, Evie.”

“Minn’da!” 

“Ma’da!” 

“Here..”  The steps of the hut were steep and time-consuming to navigate when one had non-troll legs and so the quickest alternative was to slide. A one-sided railing, flat-topped, had been installed at the request of two mischievous elves. And, since they were some of the only children in the small encampment, the request had been granted without much protest.  Though, in true Zuldazar fashion, as soon as the railing was installed it was creatively carved with etchings to honor the Loa that was said to live on the mountain tops just over their heads. The Loa of Winds. 

Evelynn sank down to sit at the bottom of the stairs, her dig brushes perched upon her knee. The dig had seen no success today and the soil had given them nothing. She waited in contemplating silence for the reckless sliding to begin, a sliding which would send breakable seeming children airborne and hopefully into the very large hands of the excavation team’s escort: Atal. 

Atal did not fail them. Ever.  His wide green hands with strong fingers gripped small bellies and he held them high in the air, twisting about once before settling each child on the ground, flushed and happy.

Atal. He had taken her from his capital when the Alliance attacked and when news of the God King’s murder found them, he kept her with him - moving them further into the protective jungle. Even when the danger passed, he stayed, assigning himself as guardian to the archaeologists that had been given permission to dig, though she doubted he knew what they were sent to find else surely he would send them off any way possible.  Her thoughts were pulled from the troll as he set the children down and they rushed to crowd her, cheeks flushed and both speaking over each other. “Letter –” “ – they were looking for you but you –”

“ – you weren’t here and so they left it — “

“Sum read it!”

“I did.” 

“Anar'endal dracon, Minn’da. It says uncle Arai has been brought home wounded from the war.”

“Where is the letter now?” Evelynn listened intently; Arai had focused his attention on protecting Pandaria while they were deemed safe here in the Kraal. Between the children’s shoulders, she could see Atal lingering, his keen hearing surely picking up what the children were saying.  The jungle had been their home and he… their guardian these months. They had created a place for the reliquary to move inwards from their base on the coast, and they lived here — learning, comfortable and safe. 

“Atal has something to show you..” She offered, leaning forward to press loud kisses to their dirty brows before she turned to crawl up the stairs. It was just faster to crawl.

“Is it another petrified night elf head?” Tiny called out behind her. “Ask him!”

Once inside the hut, she settled onto a chair, pushing aside journals, catalogs, and bits of something or other so she had space to breathe. To think –  Arai had been hurt badly, almost cleaved into two pieces.  She read the letter and then reread it, digesting the information.  While they were sure he was going to live, it was requested that she return to Pandaria as other events were unfolding at the same time. They didn’t have to request, all they had to do was tell her that he was hurt. 

It would take over a week to pack and travel back to the city and the portals that waited for them there wouldn’t take her directly home. This was going to take ages.

“We go den?” A voice found her and she shifted, twisting about to stare at the troll that easily filled the doorway. The doorway was built for his bulk and so he didn’t have to hunch to fit.

“We?” Evelynn grinned childishly at him, earning herself a matching grin though admittedly, he was more dangerous when he smiled. “You are ready to adventure this world, Atal?”

“It be what outcast do, Evie.”

“We will have to ask for the Loa of Winds blessing. They have watched over us for a long time. The children dream of flying..”

“Perhaps we be flying to the capital den..”