(2023-11-09) A Dwarven Expedition For a Dwarven Expedition

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Author:	Athena
Summary:	Jo meets with Oranna to talk about an opportunity back on the front lines of Cobalt's efforts in Northrend, and the possibility of finding Brann Bronzebeard. 2800 words.
Rating:	T for Teen

Arc: Season 12

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brief mention of animal death

Jo walks through the unusually (magically?) clean streets of Dalaran, headed for the little seating area by the Antonidas Memorial, perhaps the only park-like area in the magical city that involves neither alcohol nor graves. The memorial is, in its own way, a little bit sad, given that Antonidas died trying to protect the city, but perhaps there is some encouragement in the fact that Dalaran has been rebuilt. The city endures, despite so much grief. It's possible Jo may have spent far too long considering where to ask Oranna Stormbreaker to meet her in Dalaran, and that in any case whatever subtle message the location sends will be disregarded or misunderstood.

Arriving perfectly on time, Jo straightens her mage's robe, takes off her goggles, and moves into the memorial area to look for a place to sit.

There's a bench, and on that bench is a dwarven hunter, dressed in a heavy, dark red set of mail that looks like it was bought as a set, not at all like how Oranna used to get her gear of one piece at a time and not pay any notice to the clashing colors or odd combinations. Her gun is stowed away, and Befound is at her side, sitting rather than lounging lazily.

Oranna is staring straight ahead with a fixed sort of look, the worry line prominent between her brows, but a strange sort of peace to her. It isn't a serene peace of calm waters; this feels like a too quiet peace of hard stone.

Jo pauses in her steps and a smile lights up her face. "Oranna! Good to see you. I hope I didn't make you wait? I did say 4PM, didn't I?" She moves over to take a seat by the hunter on the bench.

Oranna startles out of the thought, looking at Jo. "Oh, ach, no, I wasn't waiting — " That's not really true. "I mean, I was, aye, waitin', but I…no, I was early. I wanted ta be sure I knew the place, an' get th' lass settled. Th' city makes her a wee nervous."

Befound does not look nervous. But, then again, she's a giant, fully grown snow leopard. She might just always look like that. She blinks two blue eyes at Jo, and then licks a paw, just once, with that casual attitude of someone sticking their hand in their pocket.

"It's good ta see ya, too," Oranna adds, a little belatedly, as if her manners are catching up to the rest of her. She pats the bench next to her.

Jo hops up onto the bench and sits with her feet dangling. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to check in quite as regularly as I would've liked, with all the Company stuff going on. But you look well! Are you well?"

Oranna shrugs. "It's only been a few months. I…it's fine. I'm." Is she well? Her face shifts in several directions, and in the end Oranna settles for a shake of her head. "I'm gonna be alrigh'. I'm no' sure I am now, but I'm no'…gonna jus' fall apart. I've been. I remember wha' ye said, after ye lost yer people. Bein' busy. An' maybe puttin' things in a box an' pokin' holes in it jus' fer now. I've been tryin' ta find things ta do. Lireen's been helpin' with tha'. An' I've been seein' Mordecai. Good lad."

"Oh, I'm glad to hear it," Jo says, blinking her eyes for a moment. "And that box… it has gotten easier to carry with me, over time. As I let things out, I think? It lightens, little by little. I hope it will be the same for you, but that's not a thing that has to happen in months, of course. So you and Lireen have been working around Northrend?"

"Aye. Well. Workin' is maybe a little too focused a — we haven't been doin' many jobs, or…more walkin'. An' tryin' ta see wha' we're walking around." Oranna sets her left hand over her right arm, her thumb picking up a bit of a nervous sort of tapping. "I've jus' been trying to find somethin' in tha'. There's no' a lot of places though, in Northrend, where ye can wander. But it. Sometimes it helps tha' I don't…" Her expression wobbles, lips trembling before she presses them harder. "There's no' already memories here ta trip me. I'm jus' carryin' the ghosts with me, but they're no' everywhere I look."

Jo nods understanding. "That… in some ways that made it easier for me, too. Not having the old places, everything being new." She falls silent, remembering, and then adds, "That was another reason I wanted to talk to you. To see if you might want to see new places. New things to keep you busy."

Oranna's thumb goes still, and she looks over at Jo, curiosity written obviously across her face, followed by nervous and worried. "New? We've no'…there hasna been another portal or sommat to another Outland or…" The spiral has begun. What terrible new thing has happened while she wasn't looking?

"No, no, nothing like that," Jo hastens to say. "I've just had a request to send some support up to a goblin camp up north, in the Storm Peaks. As far as I'm aware, it's mostly mountains up that way. And also, it's… it's in the direction Brann Bronzebeard might've headed, if the clues in his journal are anything to go by."

Oranna heaves out a sigh of relief. Whew. Mountains. Not the end of the world. Probably. Maybe depending on the mountain. "Oh. Oh, aye." The words catch up. "Wait — Brann Bronzebeard." As if Jo could possibly mean someone else. Oranna's eyes are wide, and she looks like she's about to stand up and has to remind herself to stay seated. "I… yes! I, ye…I dinna know if you know how…I mean, this would be verra important to us. King Magni…well. Aye. If tha's, I'd be…" She stops, pauses, breathes in and out, and tries again. "I'd be righ' honored ta be of help, if I could, help track him down. I. I am a tracker."

Jo brightens. "Then you'd be incredibly valuable on the team. Of course, the official mission is with the goblins, but I rather hope you'll get a chance to poke around and see if there's a trail to follow. But yes, if we could actually find him - I do know how important that would be." Jo hesitates, then adds, "What I'm getting at, I suppose, is whether you'd be interested in working with a team again. On a squad."

Oranna's expression goes through a small journey. You can track the thought process as it happens, as easily as a hunter following a trail — there's the first bent leaf of someone about to immediately reject it, and then a scuffle of dirt as they reconsider, wonder about why they're saying no. A few footsteps preserved in the soft dirt and leaves that show the work of several months, of over a year, to move past a mental hurdle and realizing that they have, in fact, cleared it, and that there isn't another one there. And finally, the telltale sign of the trail ending with a dwarven hunter sitting on a bench and slowly nodding.

"Aye. I…aye, I think I am. I would be. Fer this. I dinna mind goblins, an' if there's even a chance we might find Brann. It'd be…it'd be good ta do tha'. Ta have had tha' chance."

Jo watches her with worry at first, but then the tension in her slowly subsides as Oranna comes to her conclusion.

"Then you're invited to the team, and I hope you'll find something of his trail up there," Jo nods at Oranna, and then, after a pause, adds, "You know, we've had some indication that the other brother might be in Northrend somewhere as well. Muradin Bronzebeard. At least, we've had evidence that he survived splitting off from Prince Arthas, though we've no idea what happened after that. No idea where, but… there's a chance for King Magni, maybe to recover more than one brother."

"Oh, aye, the newsletter said sommat of tha'. Tha' ye think he might still be alive at least. Or…well. Given th' Lich King, somethin' like alive, maybe." Oranna looks like she thinks that's probably more likely, and that it's at best a mixed feeling of what that might mean. "But, aye. Muradin was never quite so difficult ta pin down as Brann. Less of a…wanderer. Might jus' be somethin' about the name tha' makes a person more inclined ta it. I've ne'er known a Brann or Bran no' inclined ta wander. Not," Oranna hurries to add. "Tha' there's anythin' wrong with wandering! I've been…I've been wanderin'. It's fine ta wander. Jus', ah, makes it a wee bit harder ta track someone sometimes, if they're no' like ta make linear…sorts of…moves."

"In that case, maybe it'll help that I've got Bran as your healer?" Jo says with a hopeful grin. "Not Bronzebeard, the Stillwall one."

"Oh! Bran! Oh, aye," Oranna's expression brightens up enough that for a moment, some of the tension around her brow lifts. She smiles with a warm fondness. "It's been a little while since I've seen him. Some few years, I think now. It'll be good ta catch up."

"I'm glad to hear it," Jo leans back a little, looking at the nearby statue. "For other familiar faces… you'll be with Auralind. I'm afraid I'm still going to be on the organizing side of things for now, so I won't be with you in the field."

"Oh, tha's good. I mean, about Auralind. An' also maybe th' organizing, if ye've been wantin' ta…organize."

"Well, I do like being on a team, but I recognize when a person's needed to look over everything and not one part," Jo gives a little shrug, tiny general. "And about Auralind… I should warn you, she lost Elu'shalla at Wrathgate."

Oranna looks like she's been hit in the chest, and Befound, either in response to the words (how much Common does she understand?) or to Oranna's reaction, makes a feline sound of pain, setting an enormous paw on Oranna's lap. "Oh. I'm…" Her voice sounds a little hoarse, and she clears it, her eyes overbright with tears. "I didna know. I'm…sorry fer it. It's a hard thing."

"Yes, I would say I understand, but… I can't claim that particular grief. I just know that it is a hard thing, She's found a companion, though, one of the spirit cats of Zul'drak. I think… I hope it's brought her some comfort." Jo reaches out one little four-fingered hand to touch Oranna's shoulder in comfort.

Oranna gives Jo a wobbly smile. "Aye. It helps, it does. Having another reason, but…it doesn't always take out the sting of the other, jus'…gives you more. I've been remembering tha' meself. It hurts, but it's not all hurtin'."

Jo nods, giving her shoulder a squeeze (assuming Oranna let her do the shoulder-pat). "I think you've likely met the rest of them, too. There's Ben, Elohad's adopted son, and another dwarf, Aiseia… Ace. She had a bit of a time at Wrathgate, too, but came out of it wanting to help, I think."

Oranna's smile warms again. "Oh aye, I'm well familiar with Ben. Good lad. He…ye know, he sent me a thing, back when." Oranna swallows hard, everything wobbling again. She clears her throat. "Jus' a kindness, really. I recognize the name Aiseia, from the paperwork, but we've no' met."

"I hope you'll like her," Jo smiles. "She's a paladin from Ironforge, though I'd never met her until this year, either. And the other team… there'll be some familiar faces there as well. Dane, Cressidha, and I'm not sure if you've met Erixa, Iphindra or Velrin?"

Oranna shakes her head. "No, I mean. I know who they are, but no, I've no' met 'em."

"Well, maybe you'll run into one another up there," Jo says, with a faint shrug of one shoulder. "I'm really so glad you're willing to do this, Oranna. I'm hoping to get everything moving this weekend."

Oranna looks surprised, and opens her mouth to say something, considers the reality of her life, and then closes it again. "Okay. Then…I'll be…ah, where are we moving things?"

"To start with, it'll be a goblin outpost in the south of the region… which is north of Crystalsong and Zul'drak. I think it was called K3 or something of the sort," Jo furrows her brow, trying to remember if that's right. "But anyway, it might not be perfectly comfortable, because it'll be goblin-made, but at least everything will be roughly the correct size, right?"

Oranna laughs. "Oh, aye. Ye'd think they were building fer the vrykul th' way some of these places have been. Roomy tents though, I'll give them that."

Jo giggles. "The tall folks might find themselves feeling wrong-sized for once. Clothespins, Tadget used to call them. I suppose it was much the same out at Fizzcrank Airstrip. Did you ever wander that far west?"

Oranna shakes her head. "No, I never…went out that way."

"Well, it should be a little nicer there now, if you do. It's a gnome outpost." Jo takes back her hand, and straightens a little. "You'll let me know, if it gets to be too much, being in the field again?"

Oranna nods, and gives a little, self-conscious laugh. "It's no' like I'm like ta be able ta hide it, if it is."

"I won't be there with you, so I might not know." Jo hesitates. "And Lireen can follow as well, before long. I'm sure there'll be other Cobalt in the area in the days to come." (edited)

"I'm sure Ben'll notice, and he's a good lad. He'll tell ya if sommat's wrong, but aye, I'll be sure ta say somethin'." Oranna sets her hand on Befound's head.

"In the meantime… have you had a chance to see much of Dalaran?" Jo asks, pushing off the bench.

Oranna shrugs, looking around at what they can see. "Oh, aye, well. It's…a city. An' lots of shops ta…look at." Oranna tries very hard to make that sound like it's a positive, but it's obvious from the squint of her eyes and not quite hiding the grimace that these don't hold a lot of appeal to her. "Befound gets a wee twitchy. Might be the magic. Or tha' we're hanging suspended in the air through nothin' but magic tha' could possibly be disrupted by a sudden dragon…thing…an' send us all crashing ta the ground."

It might be Oranna who is constantly on edge.

"Oh, I don't think that's likely. Not any more likely than Ironforge having a catastrophic eruption that fills the city with lava." Jo pauses, possibly considering that her words may be the opposite of reassuring. "How about we just head to Krasus Landing and head out, then? And I can always meet you in Amberpine or somewhere in the future. I didn't realize it'd be so… unnerving for you."

"It's fine." Oranna considers that phrasing, if it's a lie, and adds, "It's no' worse really than most places here. There's always somethin'. Amberpine is right on th' edge o' that cliff there, easy ta…fall off." Assuming you're maybe very drunk and/or uncoordinated enough to stumble twenty yards off it, but #okOranna. "I've been out in Westguard, an' there's more cliffs there. An' vrykul. An'…well. Lot of places ta fall from in Northrend. Dalaran's no' much worse than the rest, all things considered."

"Maybe Fizzcrank, then. There's cliffs at the edge of the tundra, but it's all flat near the airstrip. Nice and flat." Jo smiles.

"We could go now. If….well, I know yer likely busy, an' if have other — I don't mean ta… if ye." Oranna pauses just enough to get the sentence back under control. "I'd like ta have ye along, if ye'd like ta show us where it is."

"Sure," Jo says, holding out a hand to help her up. "I'd be happy to show you. I needed to stop by anyway, check on the progress with the environmental cleanup."

Oranna takes Jo's hand, standing up, and not entirely letting immediately, a relieved smile on her face, that vague sense of a too quiet stone faded back, for the moment.

"I bet it's going well, though," Jo says as she leads the way towards Krasus Landing, her eyes bright with hope. "I think we're due some good news soon, don't you?"

Oranna offers up an attempt at a matching hopeful smile; it comes out as tired, and worried, but trying, definitely trying. "Damn straight."