A Warrior's Life I
((Part of a series of short conversations/stories I plan on doing as Mists of Pandaria gets closer, so that Valestiel is in the right spot development and story wise once the expansion hits. This might or might not make sense to anyone but me...>.>; ))
“You cannot simply refuse! I am counting on you!”
Valestiel stubbornly folded her arms across her chest, but her ears drooped at the sudden outburst on Lady Svanrae’s part. The usually cold and collected elder woman was now pacing back and forth in a huff, her hands resting on her hips in annoyance.
“Valestiel, the chance I am offering you is golden. The small unit I lead is held in high regard by Orgrimmar, the brutes have actually learned to respect -me-. I am giving you a chance to become associated with it, not even as a soldier, for the light knows you were not given prowess as a warrior…”She regarded the girl with a mocking smirk. “But rather as a scout. You’ll earn good gold, which the light knows you need; you’ll earn something of a good name for the Sunmist House and…”
“And what? What do you get out of it? …if I am so useless why do you insist in bringing me with you?” Valestiel retorted, a wary frown taking over her features. Svanrae seemed taken aback by the direct questioning, but proceeded to respond nonetheless.
“You know how I feel about all of the youth being wasted away, languishing in Quel’thalas. I refuse to allow those of my own blood to waste their potential by raising birds for the rest of their lives…Valestiel, I don’t know what storybook land you have constructed for yourself to live in, but this world…This world is forged in war and blood, and the only way you will survive in it is by fighting with claws and teeth for your own. Our kind mistakenly thought we could lock ourselves away from it, and the Scourge invasion was nothing but a reminder of how fragile we are if we are not alert and ready to rip out the throats of our enemies! What do you want, Valestiel? You want to be surprised once again when the enemy comes to your doorstep and kills everything that you hold dear? You want to lay helpless in a puddle of your own blood? Tell me, do you think your friends will help you? Your dragonhawks are not war creatures and will be the first to die while you are powerless to defend them; your so called friends from that damned book will not come to your aid; and that little lying goblin will scamper away if she as much as hears the tingling of coins.” Svanrae paused for effect, giving the girl a hard, unyielding look. Valestiel had sunk against the wall, her eyes wide and teary as she allowed the image her aunt was painting to sink in. Much to her distress, she could imagine a near future where such scenario would take place, she had summoned up such images many times before in dark, twisted nightmares. “Is that what you want? Only a fool would survive the invasion as you did only to fall back in the same old ways. You need to fight for your potential, you need to become something. Come along, serve in my unit…your hawks will be safe in my house, you can hire someone to care for them; or even better, you can finally find potential buyers that will take them…You may keep Goldenwing and even Jade, since I know you have an unnatural attachment to those birds…You agree, don’t you? Good. See sometimes you are more reasonable than your sister…”
“What…?”
“Oh, don’t mind that…”
“What? You mean Thanuz is behind this?”
“No, not that way! She...She refused the offer, you see. I had held an open spot within our unit, stating that I would bring a trusted member of my own family to fill it, but Thanuz refused…I cannot very well turn around and tell the commander to assign me some half-wit grunt because my family despises being in service of the Horde! It would be a disgrace to my career!”
“Oh Sunwell…”Valestiel leaned even further into the wall, her voice very quiet. “This was never about me…It was about Thanuz. I should have known…” She gave Svanrae a rather despondent look, but the oldest woman did not seem to care.
“Oh now, this is no time for petty sisterly rivalries. If nothing else, remember who helped you last year when you thought Thanuz was out to murder you, remember that it was me who found you a job at the Molten Front without asking for anything in return…Take this as a personal favor, if you will!”
“So I have no choice?”
“I am afraid not. If you decline, well, I will be in a rather tight spot -and in no position of offering you any aid should you need it…"Svanrae's words were laced with a sharp, threatening edge."Will you risk that, Valestiel?”
She shook her head. What was there left for her to say?
“No. I…I’ll fight.I'll take the job.”
“Good. In the end you'll see that this is all for your own good."