![](http://cobalt-company.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images/writing:2025-07-26-a-trip-to-outland/style="margin:/medium.jpg) |
| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | Cressidha and Silvestre take a trip together to Outland. From the gryphons of Wildhammer Stronghold to the lightning of Netherstorm, they remember what came before even as they create new memories. ~7.8k words |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Chain: Cressil
Silvestre Silenstep stands with one hand resting on Nimbus's harness beside him, looking at the massive glowing portal resting on the scorched red dirt of the Blasted Lands. Lightning arcs through the sky, striking the magical stone of the doorway without leaving any mark. Cressidha could have opened a portal for them into Shattrath, but there was something to be said for entering Outland the way they had years ago — Cressidha with the forward squad that passed through with no knowledge of what might be beyond, and Sil shortly afterward, following to an uncertain reception.
This time, they both know exactly what they will find on the other side of that glowing membrane. They have maps, in fact, and a charted route for this trip specifically. Sil turns to Cressidha next to him, and as he looks at her, a smile transforms his face, his gaze softening. For just that moment, all troubles past and future are forgotten, and he has only the happiness of the present, here with her.
He holds out a hand to her and asks, "Ready to pass through?"
Cressidha takes his hand and smiles back. She is dressed in a white and teal mage robe that has a strong resemblance to one of her old robes, though it is a newer one - made of mooncloth and netherweave, enchanted to the extent that the fabric had permitted. She is not wearing her Cobalt Company tabard, because she was not on duty.
"Sir Ference saw us off the first time," she says. "I was concerned that you hadn't shown up - even if I didn't know much about you at the time, Ben was worried." Cressidha squeezes his hand lightly. "Let's go."
Sil nods, walking down with Cressidha towards the Dark Portal. "I don't know if I ever told you why I wasn't there, though I suppose the reason doesn't matter. I've done my best to be reliable, ever since." He pauses, drawing in a deep breath. "This makes me nervous, each time, even though we know what's on the other side now."
"I am curious, although if you would rather not talk about it, that is fine. Later, perhaps - we have a long flight." Cressidha smiles and takes a step forward. "I cannot sense anything irregular about the ley energy flow compared to the last time I went through, if that's any consolation. The portal's design is rather excessive, though, isn't it?"
"Yeah, makes you wonder who they expected to be walking through it, or maybe they were just overenthusiastic," Sil says, looking up at it. "And I don't mind talking about it — just don't want to seem like I'm making excuses. It was a mistake, and I own up to that. But now… if it's same as last time…"
Sil holds his breath and walks through the Dark Portal.
Cressidha passes through very calmly, and when they emerge safely on the other side, Cressidha glances at him and says, "See? All is well."
The first line of defense is relatively quiet - at least for the moment.
Hellfire Peninsula continues to live up to its name, from the scorched fel-poisoned dirt to the bruised, sunless sky. But indeed, there are not the endless armies of demons they both might remember from their first time through. All the same, Nimbus ruffles his feathers nervously.
Sil smiles at Cressidha and nods. "Just like I remember it, though with less raining internals for now. Let's take to the sky, and head down to Shadowmoon first?"
Cressidha nods. "Indeed." She moves off to the side to withdraw her carpet from a bag, and climbs on.
Sil murmurs a few soothing words to Nimbus and climbs astride. The gryphon takes off into the air and then settles into a smooth, easy glide to the southwest. Sil turns to gauge the distance between gryphon and carpet nudging closer for ease in conversation.
Cressidha sits down on her carpet, not anticipating that she'll need to stand and jump off immediately - it's a bit of a flight and some of that is over a void. "It's been quite a few months since I've had the opportunity to visit Quickfeather."
"I bet he'll be excited to see you," Sil says, getting comfortable in Nimbus's saddle. "How does it work, with that setup? Do they train him till a certain age, and then you'll take him with you one day?"
"Essentially, yes," Cressidha says. "I bought his egg, which in retrospect was an incredibly foolish thing to do. We had been told we needed to secure a flying mount for our work in Outland. I told the Wildhammers I was looking to buy a gryphon, and the woman I spoke to told me I would never have as close a bond with a gryphon as I would with one who'd known me all its life. Clearly a marketing technique, but I fell for it. And then once I'd been talked into buying this egg, I realized there was no way I would be able to ride it in the time frame available, so I made my carpet."
"Dwarves do live a little more slowly than we do, so maybe they didn't mean it as a trick," Sil says optimistically. "And maybe it didn't work out for the Outland campaign, but you can still build that bond. Do you like Quickfeather?"
"Of course," Cressidha says. "He's adorable."
It's a low bar.
Sil grins. "Gryphons are, aren't they? And we've got a few Wildhammers in the company, too, if you end up needing Wildhammer-specific advice — the Cloudskimmer family. Reckon they won't try to upsell you anything."
"Hm. I will keep that in mind," Cressidha says politely. "I cannot think of what advice I would need that Quickfeather's trainers cannot also provide."
"That's fair," Sil says agreeably. "What's he like, so far? Do you have any favorite memories?"
Cressidha smiles fondly. "He seems generous. He tries to share his food with me, whenever I catch him at mealtimes. He doesn't understand that I can't eat raw meat. I think he collects trinkets, like a crow. He gave me a copper once."
Sil chuckles. "That's sweet. And means he's clever, even at a young age. To recognize friends and try to take care of them. It's a good instinct."
"Indeed. It is true that he recognizes me. I have visited him often enough for that." Cressidha waves a hand. "He will remain in someone's care for most of his life, as I am not likely to own a personal griffon roost. I need to decide where I'm going to live next, since Dalaran will be relocating."
"Oh, yeah, I read that in the letter," Sil says, turning to look at Cressidha more carefully. "You can still portal there, though, wherever they end up taking it, right? I suppose it could end up somewhere you don't like."
Cressidha looks neutral. "It's a withdrawal. It means that Northrend will only be accessible by ship, now. Frostweave prices will be rising." Remembering their deal, she adds, "Frostweave prices are a minor inconvenience to me. I do not require a solution. I am simply complaining. I would not object to hearing your opinions on where I should live next, however."
Sil nods. "I can speculate on reasons for the withdrawal, but it wouldn't be helpful for the question on where to live next. I think it depends in part on what you want out of a place to live. Aze was in Shattrath for a while, I think in part because… it was a little bit separate from what's going on in Azeroth. When I used to camp, part of that was the same reason. Making a space that was a little bit separate. But then maybe that's not what you want. I can see reasons for why not Stormwind, with recent memories. Ironforge is close enough to be connected, but it's not very airy. What is the most important thing for you, in where you live?"
"I need space for my work," Cressidha says, but then she goes quiet as she considers that more carefully. "Dalaran was a retreat. It was useful for me, but it did isolate me. Colson was worried."
"So maybe space, and then somewhere… more connected," Sil says, sitting back on Nimbus in thought. "And from my side, I'd like it to be somewhere I can reach easily, which I don't know would be true of wherever they take Dalaran. Maybe somewhere like Darnassus, if you want the space and the retreat? You could connect to Stormwind by portal, and they've got the Highborne there now. I bet they're friendlier for mages now than they were."
"I had not even considered Darnassus." Cressidha considers it now.
"What do you think?" Sil asks, bobbing a little as Nimbus hits a stray air current. "They're probably more used to seeing humans around these days, too, with the worgen who settled there."
"I think that modern plumbing might be another requirement I had not considered," Cressidha admits. "There is a good chance it will end up just being Stormwind in the end."
"Well, if so, there's always that new northern area," Sil suggests. "Bit more spread out, so you could get somewhere with more room. And a little further out of the center of things, but easily connected."
"That's a good idea. I'll look into it." Cressidha smiles at him.
Sil smiles back, and then hastily grabs his saddle as Nimbus hits an air current and dips slightly. "I have a place in Stormwind now, over in Oldtown, but I can always move. It was mostly just to have a place to use as a home base, wherever we end up going with Cobalt. Or wherever you and I end up going, while we're not traveling with Cobalt."
As he speaks, the two of them pass above the brambles, where ravagers stalk and tend to their eggs. Ahead of them, the brambles fade into the distinctive trees of the Terokkar forest.
"It would be inappropriate for us to live together at this stage of our courtship, of course," Cressidha says. "I am only looking for something temporary at the moment."
"Oh, I didn't mean to imply, of course," Sil says, a faint red coloring his cheeks. "I only meant, I could go somewhere closer, if you ended up moving elsewhere. That my place was really only temporary too. I would like to be able to see you often, if that's something you'd also enjoy."
Cressidha nods. "I would like to see you often, yes."
Sil smiles at her as they pass above the tree tops, warp stalkers below blinking from trunk to trunk.
"Maybe now's a good time to talk about that first time we came to Outland," Sil suggests, "while we're gliding. It might be kind of a long story — do you know much about the Sullivans?"
"Primarily what you've told me," Cressidha says. "Your desire to remain distanced from them has deterred me from investigating further."
"I appreciate that," Sil says with a faint flicker of a smile. "This story is sort of a why on that desire, I guess. Not so long after I changed my name, my sister got it in her head I was planning the Sullivan family downfall. I can kind of see where she drew that conclusion, looking back, but it was all coincidental. I'm really not the vindictive sort, you know that. Problem was, instead of talking to me and clearing things up, she decided to have me kidnapped."
Cressidha's fingers twitch. "Did she, now," she says very mildly.
"Yeah. It worked, because who would be expecting that, honestly?" Sil shrugs. "Ben and Mizzy figured out what was up and came after me. But it was a big misstep for her, because — well, because she got caught kidnapping someone — but also because we found out the Sullivans had a really shady smuggling operation going on. Or Sylvie herself did, alone, according to the rest of them. My parents tied all the crimes to her and cast her aside. She ended up in prison in Booty Bay."
"Do you believe your parents were involved?" Cressidha asks in that same mild voice.
"I… honestly don't know. Sylvie said they were. When she was trying to interrogate me, she complained a lot. That they should've chosen her over my brother Simon to head the business, that she could do what needed to be done. That sort of thing," Sil shrugs. "When I was a kid, I was never planned to be involved in the business. My dad traveled a lot, and Simon with him, Sylvie less often. But I was always just… kept out of the way, you know?"
Cressidha nods, her expression neutral. "Would you like an answer as to their involvement? Colson had Mordecai's family investigated; I should be able to do the same, if you wished it."
"I…" Sil's gaze sharpens on Cressidha. "I don't know. There's a little kid now, my nephew Nate. And I don't think his mom's in the know, if there's anything to know. I don't want to wreck Nate's home, and… if they were smuggling, they surely aren't now. I bet they get scrutinized at every port, on account of what happened back then."
"I recall you telling me that they used to lock you in your room," Cressidha says with clear disapproval. "Having the information does not necessitate taking action. It would be primarily for your peace of mind to know, one way or another, if that is something you would like an answer to."
"They… yeah, they did that," Sil says, looking over at Cressidha. "My parents — they've already lost Simon and Sylvie and me, so they've been punished, if not by the law. Right now, I just want to make sure I stay in Nate's life, to make sure he's treated like a kid ought to be, and to know he's loved. But if it's just to know — maybe. I appreciate the offer, for sure. Let me think on it."
"Of course," Cressidha agrees easily.
"Hmm, where was I…?" Sil says, looking down at the passing trees. "That was all kind of background. Back when we were going to Outland, they told me to be on-call, that we didn't know when we'd be sent. And then Sylvie went missing from prison."
Cressidha nods and goes, "Hm," to indicate she's listening.
"I didn't know what'd happened to her," Sil says, apologetically. "Maybe she'd gotten out somehow, or maybe somebody was trying to take her out, you know? If she knew all the smuggling stuff, she'd know enough to sell out some other people, maybe powerful people. And I know I should've stayed clear. I have ever since. But I… went looking for her. So I was away from the mailbox, just a few days. And that was when the word came through to head to Blasted Lands, and by the time I saw it… I followed after, soon as I could."
"You didn't think to hire someone, you did it personally," Cressidha points out, but she seems like she is refraining from casting judgement at this time. "Did you find her? Tirisfal, you mentioned once…?"
"Yeah, at that point it's not something I would've thought of," Sil shrugs. "I didn't have a lot of money. Now, of course, I've been on and off squad for a while, so… if it happened now I'd do things differently. I mean, if I had to get involved for some reason, which I wouldn't. But yeah, I did find her in Tirisfal. She was… not willing to be rescued."
"How did she escape Booty Bay, did you ever find out?" Cressidha asks.
Sil tilts his head, considering. "Goblin jail, so I imagine substantial bribes were involved. It was implied at the time that folk in Tirisfal had offered her sanctuary, rather than wanting to kill her, like I'd guessed." Sil pauses. "I reported it, in case they were planning on using her for spying."
"I see." Cressidha gathers her thoughts. "We did not have the option of waiting to enter the Dark Portal. We had been given a time, and a set number of people that could pass through."
"I know, and that's why…" Sil sighs. "It had been weeks, what were the odds it would happen in those few days? Anyway, it was a mistake. I'm not the person now that I was then, in some ways. It's hard to turn your back on someone, even if they've never given you anything but hardship, though I reckon she'd really turned her back on me already. But that's — that's why I missed the Portal, and also why I'm more adamant now to not get tangled up in the Sullivan business. Except for Patty and Nate, 'cause I don't want to leave a little kid to whatever influence his grandparents might try to have on him."
"I understand," Cressidha says. "I hope that…" She glances at him. "…my family will be able to fill in whatever gaps you have found missing in your own life."
Sil looks over at her, something halfway between hope and affection in his eyes. "I like your parents, your brothers. What is… what would you say your father was like, growing up?"
Cressidha smiles gently. "Father was always… fun. Funny. We lived on a farm for many years, and he couldn't really do heavy manual labor in the fields because of his leg - he was born that way, he's used a cane his whole life - so he spent a lot of time playing with us children."
"That sounds really nice," Sil says, closing his eyes to imagine while Nimbus guides their way toward the fel-scarred land in the distance. "I didn't realize he'd always had — I assumed it was an injury. But it sounds like it meant he got to make a lot of good memories with you and the others." He opens his eyes to look over at Cressidha. "Did you like farming? Was there any part of it you'd want to bring to your life now? Like… gardening, or raising animals?"
"No, not particularly," Cressidha admits, honest to a fault as she often is. "I can admire their hard work, or appreciate a lovely garden, but it never appealed to me that way."
"I never really had much experience with it — Ben could tell me about some types of farming, and Mizzy about orchards of course," Sil says, looking down at the passing Outland wilderness. "It is impressive work, but… I guess I could say that I like the wild places of the world, but more to look at and marvel at than to cultivate."
"Certainly," Cressidha says. "I understand entirely. Although it seemed, when speaking to my father… that you had some interest in the family business?"
"Oh, wine," Sil says, a smile returning to his face. "That's a different sort of thing altogether. Well, I guess it's not that different from orchards and cider, now that I think of it. My knowledge there is mostly theoretical — I learned a whole lot about varietals of grapes, and how different things in the winemaking process affect the final form — it's actually really interesting… uh, to me, at least. I try not to overenthuse at people, usually. I think it would be pretty fun getting involved in the process, but I don't know about like… growing the vines."
Cressidha smiles warmly at him. "I think that's wonderful, Silvestre. If you would like to get involved in the process, I am positive that my father would be very pleased to collaborate with you." She studies him, tilting her head consideringly. "May I ask what drew you to that interest? It's a remarkable coincidence."
Sil's smile brightens as well, as he looks over at her, but he takes a few wingbeats to consider how to answer that one. "I guess it's sort of… what my parents did give me. I talk a lot bad about my family, and maybe I will ask you to investigate them someday… but they gave me an education, of a sort. They had tutors come in to teach me and Sylvie — there was the basic stuff, reading, writing, arithmetic, history, and also stuff that was like… I guess their idea of what upper-class people were into. For instance, I got dancing, etiquette, fancy penmanship, and wine expertise."
Sil shrugs a little. "I didn't have…. a lot outside of the classes, in my days. I mean, you know about the knife-throwing, but that was only when I snuck out. The wine was the most interesting to me of limited options, and after a while it just stuck as genuinely interesting. I think maybe part of it was that it was making something — it was learning about how a thing was made, but the final result was a concrete thing you could see and smell and eventually taste."
"It's good that they saw to your education, and I am pleased that you do not feel obligated to use it to their benefit." Cressidha's voice softens a little. "You are always welcome to 'overenthuse' to me about your interests, I hope you understand."
"The same for you," Sil says, as the gryphons approach the green-tinted sky over Shadowmoon. "I guess one thing I always thought was neat with wine is how many different flavors you can get out of it, even though it's all completely grapes. Like there's a varietal common in the Highlands that is just so clearly melon and honey, you might think they'd dropped some in, but no."
"Oh?" Cressidha looks at him curiously. "What does give it that flavor, then?"
"It's not really something people know for sure, but it's probably a combination of things. The type of grapes — different grapes have characteristic flavors you can bring out of them. The weather, the soil…" Sil breaks off briefly as Nimbus crests another air current, but then he continues with enthusiasm, "Things that can happen intentionally during the fermentation, and even what sort of wood you store it in. All of that imparts a flavor, so when you drink the wine, you're tasting basically the whole history of those particular grapes."
"And you're certain there isn't any melon or honey?" Cressidha teases, sounding overly serious.
Sil laughs, and turns a grin towards her. "Yes, no sign of bees or rinds. You know, it's easy not to realize that word covers a whole bunch of different fruits, too. So many different kinds of grape, other than the ones we'd usually have at a table."
Cressidha smiles warmly at him. "Indeed. I wish I could tell you more about the techniques my family uses, but you would have to ask my father, to be perfectly honest."
"I'm sure I will," Sil says, still smiling as they pass from the forest into the darker sky. "He seemed just as interested to talk about the subject as I am."
Cressidha leans towards the edge of her carpet. "Hm. Shadowmoon Valley." She turns her attention to their surroundings, on alert for trouble.
In the distance ahead, the Temple is visible — and maybe it's just a little less forbidding than it once was, as the Ashtongue continue their long work to restore it. Then Nimbus banks to the right, and Wildhammer Stronghold comes into view.
"Feels like only yesterday I was here, with a Cobalt squad," Sil says, looking down. "Wandering around with Ben and Sir Ference and the others. We did some acting, once or twice, and Sir Ference got pretty into it. I could imagine him on a stage."
Cressidha nods. "And I was with Cambrin and Velrin for the first time. I wonder how Cambrin is doing. I confess I'd not thought of him in some time. Velrin, at least, I know is still with the Company…"
"Cam, hm…" Sil considers. "Yeah, he was injured badly back in Light's Hope, if I remember correctly. Recovering, but slowly… saw him around Ironforge a few times since then. I don't know if he'll ever go back in the field, but otherwise he seemed alright."
They are blessedly not attacked by flying demons, but a few lingering core hounds are visible as they pass over a small area of fel lava. Sil glances down, "Auralind did not like those creatures. But then… later she was training one."
"Shei'van," Cressidha says. "Darnassian for 'Serenity'."
"Huh," Sil says, tilting his head in thought. "Unusual name for a creature like that."
"Mm. I assumed her reasons for training it were personal. It was young."
"She's a very… self-contained person," Sil nods. "Friendly, though. I've talked to her about kaldorei sometimes."
"Auralind? Yes, indeed." Cressidha pauses to consider. "I believe I may be self-contained as well at times."
Sil smiles at her. "I would say so, yes, but friendly too. I'm maybe… less so, which sometimes gets me in trouble if somebody doesn't want to know what I'm thinking about."
Several gryphon riders swoop by on their own daily errands as the pair draws closer to Wildhammer Stronghold.
"Has it?" Cressidha asks.
"Yeah, from time to time," Sil nods, as the massive gate grows larger in front of them. "Sometimes I guess folks think I've been too sympathetic to the enemy, in wartime, for instance."
"Ah. Dane," Cressidha assumes immediately.
Sil shrugs, kind of an implicit agreement. "He and I get on well now, though. I stayed with him and Ivri for a while, after the Cataclysm. He's an interesting guy — stern but has a lot of wisdom and experience and stuff."
Cressidha flies down towards the landing zone and steps off her carpet, rolling it up to put away.
Sil lands, and dismounts from Nimbus, letting him fly around to circle the Stronghold while he and Cressidha keep to the ground.
Cressidha nods, looking about. "Dane is a good man, even if I often disagree with his perspective."
"Yeah, even when we disagree, I still respect him," Sil nods. "And Ivri's helped me through a lot, over the past few years." Sil glances around. "Is your gryphon around here, or somewhere else?"
Cressidha leads Sil over to one of the multiple stables. "If he's not flying around, he should be in here…"
Sil follows Cressidha in, looking from gryphon to gryphon.
Quickfeather is not a full-sized gryphon - he has about another year of growing to do to be considered rideable by an adult. Cressidha knows what stall he's in, and he happens to be asleep, a cozy-looking ball of feathers.
Sil stops next to Cressidha at Quickfeathers stall and a soft expression best described as 'awww' comes over his face as he looks at the little fluffball. He whispers, "That one's him?"
Cressidha presses her hands to her cheeks. "He's so cute when he's sleeping."
"He is," Sil grins. "I could introduce him to Nimbus next time we catch him awake. I bet they'd get along."
Cressidha clasps her hands together in front of her. "Should I… let him sleep?"
"I don't know… do you want to wake him up?" Sil asks. "He might be sad he missed you, if he knew."
"Ah, well." Cressidha inches forward and reaches down to touch his feathers.
Quickfeather snorts, puffs up like a puffball, and bites Cressidha's hand.
Sil takes a quick step forward, possibly to protect Cressidha from her own juvenile gryphon. "Sidha, are you okay?"
Cressidha winces and taps Quickfeather on the beak to make him release her hand. She hisses through her teeth as she withdraws it. His beak has definitely pierced the meat of her palm, and her hand is bleeding. "No," she says mildly. "Good afternoon, Quickfeather. I apologize for disturbing you."
Sil does not have any ability to heal Cressidha's wound by magic, but he immediately pulls out cloth bandages. He does have first aid supplies.
Cressidha holds her hand still for him. "Thank you, Silvestre."
Quickfeather makes concerned gryphon noises and headbutts Cressidha's leg. He bit… the lady?
Sil carefully bandages up Cressidha's hand, taking care not to hurt it any worse than it already is in the process.
Cressidha pats Quickfeather with her left hand, now that the gryphon is safely awake. "I should know better," she says mildly. "I apologize, Quickfeather. It was not my intention to startle you."
Quickfeather chirps apologetically. He didn't mean to bite the lady!
"An accident," Sil nods, smiling down at Quickfeather as he ties off the bandage.
"Indeed." Cressidha shakes her head. "He did not bite down very hard, all things considered."
"Yeah, gryphon beaks can be quite strong," Sil says, looking over at her bandaged hand. Then he turns back to Quickfeather and says gently, "Hello, I'm Sil — a friend, here with your owner."
Quickfeather looks up at Sil and chirps curiously. He still looks like he knows he has done something bad and he is expecting to be in trouble for it.
Sil glances over at Cressidha. "I'm not sure — do we need to discipline him? Nimbus was already grown and trained when I got him."
"Ah… he knows what he did wrong already," Cressidha points out. "It wasn't deliberate, he was sleeping and I startled him."
Sil nods, relieved, and moves a little closer to Quickfeather, in case the gryphon wants to look at him more closely. "That makes sense. And he's pretty adorable awake, as well as asleep."
Quickfeather sniffs at Cressidha's injured hand and nuzzles against her. He really didn't mean to bite the lady.
"I believe I could take him out if you would like him to meet Nimbus?" Cressidha offers.
"Okay, yeah," Sil says, stepping back. "Let's do that? I'll call Nimbus down."
Sil moves over towards the entrance to the stable, raising his fingers to his lips to whistle.
So many of the stabled gryphons are interested in that whistle, but they stay put.
Cressidha gets permission from one of the handlers and leads Quickfeather outside. He walks next to her, occasionally jumping up and flapping his wings a little. He's mostly staying on the ground. For now.
Sil's gryphon banks and circles down to land, fluffing its tawny feathers. He spots the small gryphon at Cressidha's side and darts his head out, chirping curiously.
Quickfeather inches forward to investigate. New! This one is new!
Cressidha reaches up to touch the snowflake pendant around her neck with her unbandaged hand.
Nimbus likely smells of exciting far off places, like Azeroth. He crouches, to be on more of a level with Quickfeather.
Sil notices Cressidha's gesture, and something lightens in his eyes. He steps over closer to her. "I got Nimbus from the stables in Hellfire, but he would've been trained here too, when he was little. He seems comfortable here, I think."
"Oh?" Cressidha watches the gryphons, smiling faintly.
Quickfeather sniffs at the new guy, then flaps in a little circle around him.
Nimbus spreads one wing out low, for examination perhaps rather than intimidation.
Quickfeather scoots underneath it.
"Yeah, I reckon the Wildhammers here trained most of the gryphons, while the Portals was closed," Sil notes. "And Nimbus was a chick before it reopened. Sometimes I wonder if he feels like Azeroth is a strange world, and this is a home."
"Ah, very possibly. This is certainly Quickfeather's home." Cressidha flexes the fingers of her right hand and winces. "Excuse me, I believe I should…" She digs through a bag for a healing potion, which she uncorks and drinks.
How much of the wound is actually healed is entirely unknown, because Cressidha does not remove the bandages. She does stop wincing, though.
Sil relaxes a little more when Cressidha stops wincing. "He's bound to see all sorts of exciting lands, though, by the time he's old enough to travel with you. I hope we have a lot of exciting adventures ahead, at least."
"Indeed." Cressidha puts the empty vial away. "Have you made a new friend, Quickfeather?"
The little gryphon chirps.
Nimbus folds his golden wing back against himself, and chirps in response.
"I think so?" Sil says hopefully.
"Well, they're both behaving," Cressidha says, pleased.
"That they are," Sil says, smiling over at the larger gryphon. "I don't see any signs of aggression at all. Maybe he'll be a soothing presence, whenever Quickfeather does come of age to travel."
Cressidha nods. "The Wildhammers train them well."
"Damn straight!" says a nearby dwarf. Cressidha jumps.
Sil spins around at the sound, and then laughs. "Rightly proud."
Nimbus raises his wings slightly, and tilts his head at Quickfeather. An invitation to flight?
Quickfeather flaps a couple feet into the air, then lowers to the ground and turns towards one of the trainers, looking for permission.
"Aye, off with ye," says the dwarf who spoke earlier. "Ye'll come back."
At that, Nimbus launches into the air, and then circles low, waiting for the smaller gryphon.
Quickfeather takes off after him.
Cressidha sits down on a low stone fence to watch them.
Sil moves over to settle next to her, his shoulder inches from hers. "They do seem to be getting along, don't they? And yeah, I usually just let Nimbus take care of himself when I'm busy on the ground. He always comes with the whistle."
Cressidha folds her hands in her lap, fidgeting with the bandage for a moment before she catches herself and stops. "Mm."
"Does it still hurt?" Sil asks.
"No." Cressidha pauses, flexes her fingers, and amends, "Not significantly."
Sil smiles over at her, and reaches out to take her unharmed left hand in his. "I'm glad. This place — it feels healthier now, somehow. Or maybe part of it is the company."
Cressidha smiles faintly, glancing at him. "I'm afraid that might primarily be the company. Although there are fewer infernals falling from the sky."
"Less infernals raining is always an improvement," Sil says a little dryly. "So maybe it's a little bit of both."
Quickfeather does a loop-de-loop in the air. New friend, did you see? Lady, did you see?
Cressidha misses it entirely. "Very well."
Time Passes
The spikes of Blade's Edge Mountains reach up as if to pierce the sky, but Cressidha and Silvestre are flying well above, out of danger of any violent collisions. Nimbus is looking slightly winded, but not dangerously so.
Cressidha's carpet looks perfectly fine. It could do this all day. Cressidha herself seems quite calm. She has removed the bandages from her hand after getting it properly healed.
Sil looks over to Cressidha with a smile. "It's really something, seeing all this again. It feels longer ago than it was, but also… I felt like the whole place might come apart. It hasn't, though."
"It will," Cressidha says quite frankly. "But it is very possible that might not happen in our lifetime, but perhaps the lifetime of the draenei."
Sil considers that, and nods. "It'll probably outlast us, at least. I'm glad I got to see this place, that we were able to help the people here to carry on, for however long they can."
"Indeed." The landscape changes very abruptly as they approach Netherstorm, where everything has a purple cast to it. Purple rocks hang suspended in the air, and lightning flickers in the distance.
Sil flinches at the first flash of lightning, and then calms. "And here we are… Netherstorm. You worked up here with the Cobalt squad, right?"
"I did," Cressidha says. "It is not safe to fly for great distances, because of the… lightning."
"Think we ought to go close to the ground?" Sil asks. "I haven't really flown around here all that much, myself."
Cressidha nods and directs her carpet to land on the bridge.
"Gnomish, I hope," Sil says with a wary smile, as Nimbus's talons click against the see-through metal mesh of the bridge.
Cressidha glances at all the goblins working on the bridge and makes no comment.
"We will want to get you registered with the local flight paths," Cressidha says.
Sil nods, "Yeah, I probably should've done that ages ago, but… better late than never. This whole place… is it just soaked in the arcane?"
Sil looks down at the violet dirt.
The wildlife is immediately unfriendly. Rock flayers lurk behind spine-like outcroppings of rocks, lunging out at the two of them as they get closer.
Cressidha flings down a frost nova to give Sil time to dismount, and pulls up her ice barrier.
Sil hops off Nimbus, who huddles nearby as Sil's blades come out in a quick flash. He steps between Cressidha and the nightmarish rock flayer without hesitation.
"Similar to Deepholm," Cressidha points out, an ice lance forming along the length of her arm and shooting out into the creature's midsection.
Sil steps to the side of the ice lance, and then darts around the creature, stabbing quickly at its weakest points to ensure its fall. Then he nods to Cressidha. "It's odd to see such similar things here, and also in the elemental planes of Azeroth."
Cressidha gestures to a nearby stalk. "That's called Netherbloom, I believe."
Sil steps over, examining the bloom. "Yes, I've seen this before. It's amazing that anything can grow out here… Would you like a flower? I can take off one of the blooms without harming the plant."
Cressidha smiles faintly. "Certainly."
Sil kneels down and makes a careful cut, separating one of the flowers from the stalk. He turns on one knee, smiling, to offer it up to Cressidha. "A plant suitable for one so skilled with the arcane."
Cressidha waves off the compliment but takes the flower with a smile, tucking it securely into her combat bun. "Thank you."
Sil rises, and offers to take her hand as they continue down the path.
Cressidha takes his hand, but she remains alert.
The massive structure of a dormant manaforge looms behind them as they make their way towards the goblin outpost.
Cressidha shields her eyes with one hand as she enters, just in time for the spotlight to flash over them at the gate.
"Now that's an interesting welcome," Sil says, blinking stars out of his eyes.
"Welcome to Area 52." Cressidha gestures around. "The flight master is outside the walls, in, mm… this direction, I believe."
Sil looks around the outpost with curiosity, and says, "Looks sort of like Gadgetzan, doesn't it? They sure do have a style."
"I suppose it does, yes." Cressidha keeps a short distance from Krexcil. She bribed this goblin once.
Sil checks in with the goblin, still a little bit wary, and then returns to Cressidha. "Should be able to land here next time. I can leave Nimbus here and come back for him later, if we want to go on foot."
Cressidha nods. "I would advise that." She puts her carpet away.
Nimbus looks surprisingly calm about this turn of events, but then, he is an Outland gryphon.
"Shame one of the goblin cartels joined up with the Horde," Sil says, looking back as they leave the town. "That must seem so distant to the goblins all the way out here, though."
Cressidha points towards a pink dome in the distance. "That would be one of the ethereal eco-domes."
"Ooh, let's go have a look!" Sil says, staring at the dome as lightning throws the trees inside into relief. "They sound really cool, little pockets of life."
"They are climate-controlled and entirely different," Cressidha explains. "I've passed through them before."
"Hm… makes you wonder if they couldn't one day figure out how to make them bigger, bring this whole place to life," Sil muses. "Ethereal technology can be pretty cool."
Sil seems decidedly less nervous on the sturdy bridge that's likely of draenei or ethereal make. He pauses just in front of the pink, glowing barrier. "Is it alright to just… walk on through?"
"Yes," Cressidha says, and walks on through. She phases on through the pink light with no issues.
Sil follows and then takes a deep breath. "Wow. It's different in here. The air doesn't have that… sharpness to it."
The area inside the dome has plant life not unlike Stranglethorn Vale. There are huge ferns. There are lynxes that would probably love a little human snack.
Cressidha casually winds a skein of wool around her finger and turns one into a sheep.
"Maybe I should've come up this way," Sil says, looking around. "Just about as nice as Nagrand for camping, if I could find a spot safe from predators."
"How would you do that? Do they not climb trees?" Cressidha asks.
"Well, in Nagrand I just mostly kept out of the usual hunting areas," Sil shrugs. "And also used alarms, just in case. I mean, even in Elwynn you get wolves, and that's about as safe a place outdoors as there is in either world."
"I see." Cressidha looks up at a brightly-colored blue moth as it flies by.
"I don't camp as much anymore, anyway," Sil says. "I still enjoy it, for short trips. But I think long term, it was sort of a… withdrawal, like we were talking about before. Making myself hard to find. I don't plan to do that anymore."
"I understand." Cressidha reaches for his hand again, but keeps her wool ready. A very large crocolisk is hanging out near the pond.
Sil takes her hand, but keeps half an eye on the crocolisk. If the wool doesn't work, maybe a sword will.
The moment the crocolisk so much as turns in their direction, Cressidha polymorphs it into a sheep.
Sil smiles as a butterfly passes by. "Looking at this place, you could almost imagine they can hold Netherstorm together by will and technology alone. I guess… the ethereals might have experience with a world like this. I don't know how it happened, their home world."
"I suppose I couldn't say. It was a void lord who destroyed their world, but I don't know anything about what it was like before that."
"Given what they're making of Netherstorm, I wonder if it wasn't something… people like us could have appreciated, once," Sil says, looking at a giant fern. "It's a very sad story, but also… it's amazing they survived, as a people."
"Just so."
Cressidha gestures. "We can see the other side already. The domes are not so terribly large."
"Yeah. It's like a little oasis, in a very strange desert," Sil looks ahead at the looming pink barrier.
"There's another one, to the north, if you would care to see," Cressidha offers.
"Sure," Sil says, smiling at her. "Do you like them?"
"I like them more than the rest of Netherstorm," Cressidha says.
At the end of the bridge, they pass through into the second dome, bigger than the first.
"That's fair," Sil says with a shrug. "Do you like Netherstorm at all?"
Sil looks up at the stars visible through the pink barrier of the eco-dome.
"It has its uses, being so suffused with mana, but…" Cressidha gestures vaguely. "The lightning is constant and it's not particularly a welcoming place."
"The lightning is a little hard to get used to," Sil admits. "The mana… I suppose that might be a reason the blood elves were here, and the draenei with their dimensional fortress."
The two of them pass into a tunnel of greenery, with large pink and blue flowers attended by lazy butterflies.
"The town of Kirin'var was utterly destroyed," Cressidha says. "It remains haunted to the extreme."
Cressidha pauses, turning to Sil. "We helped an archmage break the curse that was keeping him bound to his tower and he decided to just stay in there." She looks a little indignant about this end result.
"Wow, the gall," Sil says, with a faint smile. "Maybe he wanted to stick around, help out with the haunting?"
"I confess I did not particularly care for the man." A butterfly begins to investigate the flower in Cressidha's hair as she speaks.
"Then maybe not," Sil says, pausing to glance at the butterfly. "But unpleasant or not, doesn't diminish the value of lifting a curse of an archmage — wherever he decided to go with his freedom."
Cressidha looks up without moving her head. "Is there…"
"A butterfly," Sil says with a smile. "One of them thinks that flower looks as nice in your hair as I do."
Cressidha takes out a little compact mirror and tries to angle it so that she can see the butterfly without scaring it off, but the butterfly gets spooked regardless and flies away.
"Ah. Well."
"Maybe another will take interest," Sil says, his gaze following the butterfly. "The archmage… is there any reason I ought to be concerned about him, for the future?"
"Hm? I do not imagine so…" Cressidha puts her mirror away and shrugs.
They emerge into a more open space, still beneath the dome, where a giant ethereal elevator leads up to the Stormspire.
"Alright, good," Sil nods. "Not particularly caring for a person can mean dangerous things when they're powerful enough to be called an archmage." Sil considers the elevator. "Looks a bit like the ones in Shattrath. Must be ethereal technology there, too."
"I don't believe I gave him any particular reason to dislike me," Cressidha says.
"Can't imagine you would," Sil says, as the elevator whisks them up to the city. "But I think you have good instincts about people."
Cressidha nods politely to the ethereal guards as they enter.
Sil looks around at the odd mix of ethereal technology and copious plant growth.
Cressidha wanders around, looking politely at the vendors' wares.
Sil follows, watching to see if there's anything Cressidha's eyes linger on.
One of them, Dealer Rashaad, seems to have captured - among other creatures - a mana wyrmling, and is trying to sell it as a pet.
Cressidha gives that little critter a good long look, but it might not be the kind that means she wants one.
"Remembering Auchindoun?" Sil asks quietly, looking at the mana wyrmling himself. "I think this one's safe."
Cressidha looks at him. "On its own, certainly, while it still lives." She moves away from the vendor, ignoring his pitch about how he also has a dragonhawk hatchling for sale.
"Do they make you nervous?" Sil asks, as they move away to another part of the market.
"Tense, I suppose. I don't know that I would go so far as to say nervous. That one was in a cage." Cressidha reaches up to touch her snowflake pendant absently.
"That's reasonable," Sil says, glancing to the snowflake briefly before raising his eyes to meet her gaze. "Practical. We know how to keep safe if we ever encounter a group of them again."
"Keep my distance," Cressidha says dryly. "Indeed. Is there… somewhere you would like to go while we are here?"
"I like it here in the dome," Sil says. "And here, there doesn't seem to be much in the way of predators. Maybe it'd be a nice place to have a picnic?"
Cressidha smiles faintly. "If we can find a place away from all of the buzzing… Certainly."