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| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | Having made the decision to joint the fleet (at least in his own mind), Sil goes to say farewell to a friend in the Argent Crusade. |
| Rating: | M for Mature 17+ |
The makeshift Argent Crusade camp is much busier than usual. Important things are on the move, and the push into Icecrown is happening very soon. The brown-haired young man ambling through the tents doesn’t seem quite as affected by the atmosphere of dread or nervous anticipation. Sil Silentstep looks more martial than he has in months, his leather armor well-tended and the well-worn hilts of his daggers protruding from the sheathes on his belt. Still, there’s something in his casual manner that sets him apart from the bustle. He isn’t here to invade Icecrown, he’s just visiting.
Everywhere he looks, there are paladins, priests, and other servants of the Light, bundled up against the February chill. So many cloaks and coats lined with fur and wool - for a moment Sil’s mind goes to Sir Fluffikins, Cressidha’s wooly new door guard, and he smiles. He hadn’t been really certain how Cressidha would react, whether she’d think it was a silly, childish gesture. But no, not her. There was something bright about her, underneath all the cool composure. She’d accepted the gift of the little sheep in exactly the spirit he’d sent it.
His thoughts wandering off to blue eyes and white wool, Sil is only half-looking at the Argents around him. The particular one he’s looking for should stand out, anyway. She doesn’t fit in here. Or then again, maybe she does by now? She’s been in the Argent Crusade for a while, after all… then he spots her taking down a tent, a slender, dark-haired sin’dorei figure in leathers with a prominently displayed Argent Crusade tabard.
“Aze?” Sil calls. “That you?”
The woman drops her half-deconstructed tent in a tangle to turn around with a delighted smile, and the dark cloth blindfold removes any lingering doubt that this is Aszera Sunstrike.
“Sil! Look what the jormungar dragged in,” Aze says with a laugh, and there’s only the faintest hesitation in her step before she steps over to embrace him. “You seem better. Still in Dalaran?”
Sil startles a little at the touch, but then gingerly returns the hug. The memories of old Shattrath don’t touch me Aze are still strong enough that this seems a little weird. But then, maybe it’s just that being around Light people for a few months has been good for her.
“Yeah, still, for now,” Sil answers, pulling back to look at her. “Thanks for that, by the way. You were right. I needed to be around people, around friends. A guy can get lost in a jungle, and not just in the trees.”
Aze nods, crossing her arms in front of her. “I’d have come to visit, but you know. Dalaran. What brings you out here, then?” She pauses, and frowns at him with a touch of concern. “Joining the Icecrown offensive after all?”
“No, no,” Sil waves this off, moving over to sit on the ground by her tent. “Well… okay, sort of. But not on the ground. I’m thinking I’m going to join the fleet, with Vice Admiral Siamus Fallon. Be a sailor.”
“A sailor,” Aze says, raising long eyebrows as she comes to sit next to him. “What brought that on? Is the Vice Admiral hot?”
“No!” Sil says automatically, and a faint blush creeps onto his cheeks. He can almost hear the scathing I didn’t know you were a mailbox in his ears. “Or yeah, but um, I mean, that’s not why I’m joining up with the fleet, anyway.”
“Ah,” Aze says, sitting back on her heels and resting her hands back on the cold ground. “Totally unrelated, I’m sure.”
“It is,” Sil insists. “I just thought… maybe it’d be a better way to fight for me. I’ve been thinking about it, while I was in Dalaran, and I don’t think I’m really a good footsoldier. Maybe I never will be. But I still want to help, you know? And this’ll be different, I bet.”
“Different, yeah. Better, debatable. I guess you’ll see. Sailing’s alright, but I’d be wasted on a ship. I’m better with enemies I can get within arm’s length.” Aze sighs. “When would you sail out?”
“Soon,” Sil says, and looks around at the half-broken camp. “You too, I guess.”
“Yeah,” Aze sits quietly for a moment, then adds, “This whole continent has been like a recap of all my least favorite things in life. But it’ll be good, killing Arthas Menethil. Wiping that smug fucking expression off his face. Not that I could see it.”
Sil doesn’t comment on that one, but scoots over a little bit closer to his friend. There’s a stretch of silence, but it's the companionable type. Just two people together in a terrible place, contemplating a similar goal. Then Aze reaches up to rub at her temple, like maybe her head’s hurting her.
“You holdin’ up alright? Nightmares get you down?” Sil asks, looking over at Aze to check for other signs of exhaustion. If there are, it’s definitely not as bad as it was back when they first met in Outland. No smell of alcohol, either, which is a good sign for sure.
Aze shakes her head dismissively, dropping her hand to her lap. “Me and nightmares have a long history. So these were a little more vivid than most. Big fucking deal. I didn’t get trapped, if that’s what you’re asking, but my sister did. You?”
“No, just bad dreams,” Sil rakes a hand through his hair and then pauses. “Your sister? Do they… even sleep?”
“They can,” Aze says, rocking forward a little and clasping both hands in her lap. Her shoulders hunch slightly, a faint hint of vulnerability. “They don’t have to. Bad luck on her part. And then I was fucking worried about her, like an idiot. I spent a week at her side, keeping her safe, watching Roper when he went in to fight, and then… the moment she wakes up, she tells me to leave.” Aze makes an indignant sound. “And Roper, he was almost panicked, at least for him, when he first came asking me for help, and I went with it, and he didn’t even give a fuck, either. He got what he wanted, goodbye Aze. I shouldn’t have bothered.”
“Maybe it says more about you than it says anything about them,” Sil nudges Aze’s shoulder with his. He struggles to find the right words. It’s always hard to find the right words for this sort of thing. “That even with all her… stuff… you still try to take care of her. That doesn’t mean nothing, even if they throw it away.”
“Are you saying I’m nice, Sil?” Aze perks up, tilting her head toward him. “I know that, I’m nice as fuck. That’s why I’m in the Argent Crusade, right? Because I’m a good person. I don’t need to prove that by hanging around death knights.”
“So you’re done with them?” Sil asks, with a touch of hope he can’t quite keep out of his voice. He does not even address the niceness-does-not-equal-goodness topic - a guy has to pick his battles.
Aze lets the question linger for a while, then shakes her head. “No. She might be an ungrateful bitch sometimes, but she’s still my sister. And he’s… well. It was probably just the nightmares freaking her out, anyway. Maybe she dreamed I turned on her and was hunting her down or something. She didn’t say. How did it go for you? Did you do the whole kaldorei trust fall thing?”
“The kald… oh, you mean the call from Malfurion Stormrage?” Sil shakes his head, and Aze looks a little relieved. “I’d come down to Wintergarde, to keep the sleepwalking soldiers from hurting people. Before that I was in Dalaran, so it wasn’t as bad. I knew some people who were helping them keep the shield up, like Lady Cressidha.”
“…Aspenwood?” Aze asks, with a quick flash of a smile.
“Yeah? Do you know her?” Sil looks at Aze suspiciously.
“Don’t act so surprised, Sil, you introduced me to the Aspenwoods,” Aze says with a quick laugh. “Or one of them anyway, and I found my way to the others. I like her. Good sense of humor, and I’m pretty sure she made my clothes look amazing. Hard to say, because I’m fucking surrounded by dour paladins, so no one’s really been hitting on me. Except maybe Kit? But that could just be kindness, it’s hard to tell sometimes. You know, I should probably look into that…”
“Kit du Lac? Um… You could be… a little circumspect,” Sil offers. “Just in case. I mean, probably not all that many paladins are into… no offense, Aze, but you’re not…”
“Full of Light?” Aze grins. “I get around it. Loyalty makes up for a lot of lack in Light, from what I can tell. As for Kit, I don’t think she’d balk at the whole demon situation. It doesn’t really matter, if it’s a one-night thing, anyway. I’m not contagious.”
“Maybe not, but she doesn’t strike me as a one-night type,” Sil says, looking away. For a moment his mind is elsewhere, at an evening at Bruuk’s Corner, remembering fear and Kit’s stubborn expression. He shakes his head, trying to banish the memory.
“What about you? Meet any charming, adventurous mages during your stay in Dalaran?” Aze asks, not turning toward him. Still, Sil thinks she’s probably looking. She sees more than she lets on sometimes.
“I… met a lot of people,” Sil hedges. “Spent some time with Mizzy. The Cobalt mages were around, of course, like Gwenivene and Captain Jo and Cressidha and the others, but I don’t really move in the same circles.”
“And up she comes again,” Aze says, spreading her hands. “Cressidha on your mind or something?”
“What do you mean? She’s… I mean, I hope she’s like a friend?” Sil says, feeling that blush creeping in again. “We’ve been on squad together, and like, I saw her die once. She got better, obviously, but… she’s impressive, you know? Even when she’s really upset, she keeps it careful under wraps, when I think I’d be falling apart. Like when she got eaten by that worm in the Undercity…”
“When she fucking what?” Aze breaks in. “What the fuck were you doing in the Undercity? That’s like… the shittiest Horde city.”
“We were, uh, surprise invading. I guess I didn’t mention that?” Sil widens his eyes in innocence, but maybe Aze doesn’t see things that well.
“You get to invade the Undercity, but I can’t even visit Stormwind. Life is so unfair,” Aze says, deadpan. “Maybe try invading a city without giant worms next time.”
“Aze, this was serious. Cressidha was so angry about the invasion, all of us were, but we couldn’t go against what King Varian ordered,” Sil explains. “And then the giant worm ate her, but we got her out alive. It was amazing how she kept it all together, even so. So maybe she’s on my mind because it’d be nice to know her better? As a friend, before you say something un-paladin-like. I sort of didn’t think she’d really be interested, but I sent her a gift, and she wrote back…”
“A gift, huh? And I hope you didn’t invite her to invade another city together?” Aze asks, propping her head on one hand and turning towards Sil. “You should invite her dancing. She’s a good dancer, and you’re passable yourself.”
Sil raises an eyebrow. “Thanks for that, but I’m a fair step above passable and you know it. I don’t know as there’ll be much chance for dancing in Icecrown, but… I’ll keep it in mind. I’m honestly not sure of the propriety thing - am I supposed to write back to a thank you note or is that just starting to get awkward?”
“I’d say no,” Aze shrugs. “But then, I’ve never been one for letters, so…”
Sil chuckles. “Right. Maybe I’ll just leave it for now. We’re both Cobalt, so we’re bound to see each other again. And who knows? Maybe I can invite her to dance somewhere, after the Lich King’s dead.”
“After he’s dead,” Aze echoes, some of the animation dropping out of her voice. “I know it won’t bring anyone back, or undo anything he’s done. But I think it’ll feel right. I hope it’ll feel right.”
“It’ll feel right,” Sil says, with more certainty than he feels, and he rises, reaching over to offer Aze a hand up. “In the meantime, I could help you break down your tent? I’ve got practice with camping.”
Aze reaches for his hand.