Writin' a mooooo.
The flap of the hut was hastilly shoved aside as the Shu'halo dashed in. A bright pink plainstrider that almost came to her shoulders in height darted in after her, but she made no effort to shoo him. She panted hoarsely and knelt slightly, catching her breath.
Before her a short Forsaken woman worked away at some sort of device, sporting a garishly bright pink festival dress and three rather childish short ponytails. She turned to her with a spanner in hand and opened her skeletal jaws - the most she could do in her decay to present a smile. "Back so soon dear?"
She cocked her head slightly as the panting tauren wandered over, a frantic look in her rugged red eyes. "Annie..." The blonde woman's jaws gaped in concern.
"Something wrong Ashanka...?" She took a deep breath to replenish her tired muscles and looked her firmly in the goggles. Behind those, Annie didn't even have eyes.
"There's been...Trouble. Lots of it." Her hands worked around to get her bagpack off and it fell to the dry ground within the tent with a thump. She rumaged around a side pocket, before removing a rolled-up scroll and unravelling it. She handed it to the Forsaken briskly, her hands appearing so massive in comparison to an emaciated human's. Annie took her time unravelling it and stared at the parchment in silence. Occasionally she would roll out a little more to read, but she gave no sign of a response to its contents until she was done. Her head raised to look away from the parchment to look straight up at her.
"What is the meaning of this...?" She spoke quietly.
"There's cultists in Orgrimmar." Ashanka responded worriedly and pulled out two spare scrolls. "They're fortelling -"
"That Azeroth will be destroyed?" She cut in in disbelief.
"That a 'raging inferno will cleanse the wicked', that if you go with them you will be spared, that they can help you ascend mortality and survive..." She looked at her with a distraught frown. "They were even trying to hurry up the process by bringing maddened elementals to Orgrimmar." She gestured to her tail and the bald patches that had gone a harsh ruddy pink, speckled with darker blisters around its edge.
All she could do was have her jaw pop open in response.
"Oh...D-deary me, did you get that treated?" Ashanka nodded with a solemn look on her face and continued. In the background, the strider as pink as Annie's dress strode over to her mechanical device sitting firmly on a table and gingerly pecked at it.
"They say their sages have predicted Azeroth's end, and they're managing to get others under their sway...I don't want them sucking you in."
Annie's jaw quivered. "I - I would never join such a thing." The white and tan-furred tauren looked more solemn.
"People have left their families to join this cause. They seem to hold a lot of power." She shook her head, partially from dismay, partially to get some hair out of her face. "I asked to do some extra undercover work on the matter. Didn't find anything they didn't already know of, but..."
The Forsaken's teeth chattered together slightly in the silence. "But...?"
She chewed her lip. "They're trying to make things fit their master's arrival by releasing aggressive fire elementals within Orgrimmar. I don't know who. The visage never said, just that he will reforge the world in his image...The Blood Guard said it is the Twilight's Hammer." A long, tentative silence fell between the two.
"What are we going to do, Ashanka...?" She spoke up quietly in her vaguely-posh voice that leaned more on a high note.
"Run."
The Forsaken looked up at her.
"Perhaps Outlands could be safe from the imminent destruction, if it is true...I don't want to risk staying here." Her gaze turned to a 'doorway' within the animalskin tent, obscuring an extra room from view with a flap of leather. "We have to..."
"Think of Toyah...I know." Annie sighed shakilly. "I-I want to get her there as soon as we can, but the others...?" The Shu'halo's gaze was distant and contemplative. A breeze rolled in, tussling the leather flap that substituted for a door and tipping the pilgrim's hat from her mane.
Before her a short Forsaken woman worked away at some sort of device, sporting a garishly bright pink festival dress and three rather childish short ponytails. She turned to her with a spanner in hand and opened her skeletal jaws - the most she could do in her decay to present a smile. "Back so soon dear?"
She cocked her head slightly as the panting tauren wandered over, a frantic look in her rugged red eyes. "Annie..." The blonde woman's jaws gaped in concern.
"Something wrong Ashanka...?" She took a deep breath to replenish her tired muscles and looked her firmly in the goggles. Behind those, Annie didn't even have eyes.
"There's been...Trouble. Lots of it." Her hands worked around to get her bagpack off and it fell to the dry ground within the tent with a thump. She rumaged around a side pocket, before removing a rolled-up scroll and unravelling it. She handed it to the Forsaken briskly, her hands appearing so massive in comparison to an emaciated human's. Annie took her time unravelling it and stared at the parchment in silence. Occasionally she would roll out a little more to read, but she gave no sign of a response to its contents until she was done. Her head raised to look away from the parchment to look straight up at her.
"What is the meaning of this...?" She spoke quietly.
"There's cultists in Orgrimmar." Ashanka responded worriedly and pulled out two spare scrolls. "They're fortelling -"
"That Azeroth will be destroyed?" She cut in in disbelief.
"That a 'raging inferno will cleanse the wicked', that if you go with them you will be spared, that they can help you ascend mortality and survive..." She looked at her with a distraught frown. "They were even trying to hurry up the process by bringing maddened elementals to Orgrimmar." She gestured to her tail and the bald patches that had gone a harsh ruddy pink, speckled with darker blisters around its edge.
All she could do was have her jaw pop open in response.
"Oh...D-deary me, did you get that treated?" Ashanka nodded with a solemn look on her face and continued. In the background, the strider as pink as Annie's dress strode over to her mechanical device sitting firmly on a table and gingerly pecked at it.
"They say their sages have predicted Azeroth's end, and they're managing to get others under their sway...I don't want them sucking you in."
Annie's jaw quivered. "I - I would never join such a thing." The white and tan-furred tauren looked more solemn.
"People have left their families to join this cause. They seem to hold a lot of power." She shook her head, partially from dismay, partially to get some hair out of her face. "I asked to do some extra undercover work on the matter. Didn't find anything they didn't already know of, but..."
The Forsaken's teeth chattered together slightly in the silence. "But...?"
She chewed her lip. "They're trying to make things fit their master's arrival by releasing aggressive fire elementals within Orgrimmar. I don't know who. The visage never said, just that he will reforge the world in his image...The Blood Guard said it is the Twilight's Hammer." A long, tentative silence fell between the two.
"What are we going to do, Ashanka...?" She spoke up quietly in her vaguely-posh voice that leaned more on a high note.
"Run."
The Forsaken looked up at her.
"Perhaps Outlands could be safe from the imminent destruction, if it is true...I don't want to risk staying here." Her gaze turned to a 'doorway' within the animalskin tent, obscuring an extra room from view with a flap of leather. "We have to..."
"Think of Toyah...I know." Annie sighed shakilly. "I-I want to get her there as soon as we can, but the others...?" The Shu'halo's gaze was distant and contemplative. A breeze rolled in, tussling the leather flap that substituted for a door and tipping the pilgrim's hat from her mane.