(2025-11-06) How Are You With Everything?

Details

Author:	Luridel
Summary:	Dane meets Estel at the Thunderfoot Inn and takes the opportunity to check in about how White Squad has been doing.
Rating:	T for Teen

Arc: Season 18: The Valley and the Jungle

Atley marches into the Thunderfoot Inn and removes his helmet, raking the fingers of his gauntlet through his hair as he glances around the tavern.

Estel sits at a table inside the Thunderfoot Inn, picking individual grains of rice out of a near-empty bowl of rice with her fingers and eating them. She waves.

Atley raises his head and nods, marching over. "Hullo', then. Good meal?" he asks, glancing down at the bowl.

"Yeah, just about done." Estel grins. "Basically everything I've had here's been good. But I ain't picky."

Atley grunts, and juts his head to his right in a nod. "Care to follow me outside to speak?"

Estel hops up, snatching the last few grains of rice in the bowl. "Sure. What's up?"

"I mean to touch base with you on a thing or two," Atley says, gesturing to the door, waiting for her to proceed.

"Yeah, sure." Estel heads on out to the back porch.

Atley follows her out and performs a subtle, brief perimeter scan before turning towards her. "Well done with White Squad, Estel. Wise of Gwen to choose a second. Good of you to step into it."

"Eh? Oh, yeah. Thanks." Estel nods to him. "I'm decent at herding cats. They're good folks, Alysson and Iphindra."

Atley nods slowly. "That they are." He narrows his eyes with grim amusement. "Cheeky sorts, them. Ought to carry on well."

"We, uh, took a kid on a tour of a silk farm last week," Estel says, rubbing the back of her neck. "Fought the biggest and most aggressive moth anybody's ever seen."

Atley grunts and nods slowly, tonguing the inside of his cheek. "So I'd heard. Must've been quite the beast. How are you, with everything?"

"Me? I'm fine," Estel says nonchalantly. "With which everything? I miss Shun, obviously, but he's got experience in the Stromgarde-Alterac region, he knows what he's doing."

"How're you doing?" Estel fires back at him.

"Aye, I can think of few people, if that, with more experience in that region, with those enemies," Atley explains before nodding. "I'm well. Our mission's changed. Expanded greatly. We've still to safeguard the Prince, make diplomatic gains by stabilizing the region, but we've a greater purpose here. I'm not quite sure yet as to wot' all it is."

"Solve the Sha problem, I'd kind of assumed," Estel says like it's a simple task. "Figure out why it's happening an' if it can be fixed."

Atley grunts. "And wot' all that entails." He lifts his head. "You know Shun better than anyone. How's he been taking to squad duty?"

"He's restless," Estel says honestly. "He wants more to do. I think he'd prefer to be fighting Sha himself rather'n fighting virmen at the farms, y'know? But he does his part. Doesn't belittle the work, or the people we're helping, or the necessity of it."

Atley grunts and nods slowly, turning to look over the rolling hills for a moment. "I understand the sentiment. Held it before, myself. I'm certain he'll get his time to bring the fight to them, at full charge."

Estel smiles fondly. "Yeah. Sounds about right. It's been fantastic working with him again, I'm glad I talked him into joining."

Atley nods. "He's a sturdy asset. Hate to lose him here, but I trust his work in Arathi," Atley says.

"Yeah." Estel waves a hand like she's shaking a thought off. "Gwen's surgery went well, they said. No complications."

Atley inclines his head. "That's good news. I'll be grateful to have her back with us. The body can betray you at the worst of times, no matter how well you've treated it."

"No kidding." Estel leans back against a nearby post. "She's really been giving squad work her all."

Atley grunts. "She's stepped into it well, herself. No surprise. She's always been a leader, long before she's known it herself, I warrant. Both squads are finely equipped for wot' we're facing here," he says, gesturing vaguely behind him.

Estel nods. "Iphindra seems like a solid healer, an' she's great with animals. And Alysson… honestly, I think he fits in really well among the pandaren. He's creative and generous, he shares what he has."

Atley grunts. "Wot' do you make of Pandaria and its people, so far? Wot' does Shun?"

"For Shun's opinion, you're always better off asking Shun himself," Estel says sincerely. "It's good for him. I mean, I can sometimes speak for him, but he ought to talk more. As for me…"

"I have gotten so much free food here," Estel says, grinning broadly. "The pandaren seem like people. They value patience in their culture, but there are plenty of impatient ones, y'know? They're just people."

"They're a fine sort," Atley begins. "Fortunate to have some of them among the Alliance, now — even if they're not direct natives of Pandaria itself. And I'll seek Shun out, when he returns. Hear it all in his own words, as you say."

Estel nods. "As for Pandaria as a place, it seems like… oh, this is gonna be weird, maybe. It feels like we get to see the normal bit, where turnips are like two to three people tall. And that's great. But there's something… rotting, I guess? With the Sha. I'm sure it's a history thing, and history ain't my thing, you'll want Bran for that."

Atley grunts. "A sensitive topic," he says, lowering his voice. "The Pandaren revere Emperor Shaohao, and with good reason, but we seem to share the late Emperor's enemies. Your sentiment is shared, among the Company, and elsewhere. We'll drive it out of this land, and keep it from spreading anywhere else."

"This 'rot.'" Atley adds.

Estel nods. "I feel like everybody's willing to tell you 'don't feel any big bad feelings' but they don't tell you where the Sha actually came from in the first place."

"Our arrival here will change us," Atley says, before he nods past her. "And it will change them. Forever. Whether or not they're ready for it, it's upon them."

"I feel kind of the same," Estel says frankly.

Atley appraises her and grunts. "'Course, we're not the only newcomers here. There's Horde… And the Stormstouts," he states with a mirrored frankness. "Wot' do you make of Chen, and his niece, Li Li."

"They're explorers," Estel says, shrugging. "Chen's been gone for a bit, I'm hoping he's found what he's looking for and not fallen down a ditch or something. Li Li is a fun kid who says whatever's on her mind, even if it's rude. She's great."

Atley nods slowly. "I'd like you to keep an eye on them. Treat them as you have, that won't need changing. They've given us no reason for distrust or suspicion, but Chen has a history. He once fought alongside the Horde."

"Okay," Estel says, blinking. "Sure. Can do." It doesn't sound like she considers this a difficult request, or a particularly big deal. "Do you want us to go looking for him if he doesn't turn up soon?"

Atley shakes his head. "No. Stay true to your current mission, your tasks, but pay close attention to him when your paths do intersect. It's hard to imagine someone like him spying for the Horde, especially with a child in tow, but it's hard to imagine him having fought for them in the first place. Innit'."

"Did he fight for them? Or did he fight with them?" Estel asks. "'Cause, like, there's a difference, you know, if you're fighting like Deathwing or whatever or if you're fighting the Alliance."

“He fought alongside the Horde champion who led the attack on Theramore, after the Third War had ended,” Atley explains with a short growl. “Helped kill Lord Admiral Daelin Proudmoore.”

"I first saw him then, then nothing, for years… until we stumbled upon him sitting down the trail there, weeks back," Atley explains.

"Oh. Huh." Estel shrugs and just accepts that. "Definitely the same guy? Okay. Yeah, that is kinda hard to imagine, but I'm gonna take your word for it."

Atley grunts. "It was Thrall's Horde, in its earliest days, during the founding of Durotar. I can't say wot' he'd make of it under Hellscream's reign, now, but something to keep in mind. He may just as well be traveling with his niece."

Estel nods. "The thing he got interested in that made him run off was a brewery with his family name. So, like, that's about as legit an excuse as it gets. If he comes back, I'll keep an eye on him."

Atley furrows his brow and grunts. "Good, then. That brewery may prove of interest as well." He sets his jaw. "That's all I've for you. Have you got anything else for me?"

"How's Florande?" Estel asks. "She seemed like she was bein' shy when I saw her."

Atley says, "Never was much of a talker, but she's settling in well. Useful. Especially in the jungle there. Prime territry' for a druid."

Estel scratches her head. "She talked her fair share when we were underwater together." She shrugs and waves that thought off. "She'll get used to you guys."

"Indeed," Atley says. "Ought to happen soon enough."

"And Oranna's okay?" Estel checks. "Shine? Bran?"

"Oranna's steady. Her and Befound both. I've grown fond of that pairing, over the years. Both justly suited for a dense jungle environment," Atley says. "Shine's quiet, but steady, as well. Speaks when there's something to be said, and hasn't yet said anything not worth saying. Bran's also in his bloody element. Mogu ruins, ancient temples. May start a bloody brush fire with how fast he gets his sketchings down," Atley says.

"I warrant Shun's something like Shine, in that way. If he limits his speech naturally, that's just as well, so long as he's not restricting himself out of feeling his insight would be unwelcome," Atley adds.

"I was about to say," Estel says, smiling fondly. "They're both quiet types. But all people have opinions, when they feel safe to express them. You got a good team."

"We do," Atley agrees. "It can be challenging entering a new unit, especially a group as well established as Cobalt Company. Especially if you're transitioning from solo duty."

"Ask your lot if they need any potions, yeah?" Estel grins. "I know Bran can make 'em, but he's, like, trying to absorb the history and culture of an entire continent right now, so I've got more free time."

Atley nods. "I'll pass along the offer." He shifts his helmet around and extends a gauntlet for a handshake. "Come find me anytime, for any issue."

Estel shakes his hand firmly. "Will do. You too. Later, later!"

Atley nods and tugs his helmet on before marching off.