![](http://cobalt-company.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images/writing:2026-02-27-dumpling-stop/style="margin:/medium.jpg) |
| Details |
| Author: | Alli |
| Summary: | The team guarding the White Pawn -- Briar, Emdee, Fredrica, Joelle, Marley, Lathrik, Leric, and Reniya -- make a supply stop at Halfhill before they head up into the mountains. ~3100 words |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
It's a chill February morning in the Valley of the Four Winds. The farmland still is green, likely due to the effects of the water that allows farmers to grow melons the size of small houses, but it's a muted green in these leaner days. A thin frost clings to the edges of things, glittering on fence posts and the rims of rain barrels.
Halfhill market is still there and thriving, on the hilltop, despite the ongoing colder months. There's still produce to be had, but there's a distinct shift towards hardier plants — root vegetables, hard squashes, dried mushrooms and heavy sacks of rice and millet — and at other stalls steam rises from warm stews and meat or vegetable skewers. A variety of non-perishables, canned and pickled fruits and vegetables, as well as smoked meats, are available as well.
The pandaren merchants and customers don't seem to have lost their cheer with the colder days, or from the recent mantid incursion over to the west. They're grilling, laughing, talking, and bargaining just as they usually do, though maybe they're huddling a little closer as they do it. It's into this pleasant, communal atmosphere that the army team accompanying the White Pawn intend to enter.
Lt. Commander Leric Azuredown scans the market for threats as they enter, but it's clear from his relaxed posture that he expects none. The Pawn hasn't led them anywhere terribly dangerous so far, and Halfhill doesn't look to be any different. Leric nods back to the rest of the team, all clear.
Lathrik, who is following closely, sends the signal back, all clear, until it reaches Joelle who is positioned at the back of the group.
Joelle glances behind him once, as if he might send the signal to someone else, but there is no one. “I saw a tauren,” he offers casually.
At once Lathrik whirls around, while Reniya and Marley reach for weapons. Even Briar and Fredrica lift their heads from the device Fredrica is holding, though their expressions are more confused than concerned.
“I d-didn’t see any,” Briar says softly, glancing back at Joelle.
Joelle blinks at the reactions, then understanding seems to reach him. “Oh,” he says. “Not today.”
Marley groans, Reniya laughs, and Lathrik lets out a sigh.
Leric looks back sharply at the mention of the tauren, and then relaxes again at the following conversation. "They haven't seemed aggressive so far, so they may be on their own mission. I wouldn't want to test that theory, all the same."
Safe in the center of the group, a smaller, hooded figure stays quiet. He may have been strongly advised not to announce his identity at every town they enter.
Every once in a while, the light catches in the air around this hooded personage in such a way as to suggest a priest's lucent shield — but it is either a very discreet one or a trick of the thin winter sunlight.
An even smaller hooded figure — just smaller, not any more hooded — rides a shaggy gray goat at the center of the group beside her likewise-hooded, possibly-shielded quiet comrade. This might be because her Gnomish legs would not keep pace with her companions on foot for long distances; certainly the goat is not likely to outpace them, as it shows no inclination of moving any faster than is absolutely necessary, and occasionally requires a prod from behind. In addition to its petite passenger, the gloomy animal is laden with various bags and bottles of medical supplies.
"Is anyone hungry?" a little voice chirps from within the gnome's hood. "Besides Intransigent? I think Intransigent would like to stop."
(Intransigent is the goat's name.)
"We've pretty much arrived, in any case," Leric says, shooting a casual smile over to the gnome and her goat. "So you won't need to persuade Intransigent to keep going. And yes, we should grab something nice here, before we head back out into rations and camp food for who knows how much longer."
“Wot’s the bet on the bath situation?” Marley chimes in. “Yea? Nay? Reniya smells like one of them yak creatures.”
“Oi,” Reniya protests, gesturing pointedly to the hooded human figure.
The gnome waves a small hand casually and a second barely-perceptible priest bubble springs to life around Reniya. "There you go, Marley," says Emdee. "There's also a perfectly good river back there."
Leric looks back with mild amusement at the group, and then nods to the hooded figure. "You can rest at the Lazy Turnip, until we're ready to move out —" he snaps his mouth shut before he adds any honorific. It seems contrary to his nature to do so, but clearly this is intentional subterfuge and not disrespect. He turns to Reniya and Marley, and adds, "You could see about bathtubs, too, if the river's too cold for you."
Reniya pokes at the bubble and makes a face. “What’s everyone sidin’ with her for?” he sulks. “I smell as fresh as the day I was born! If anyone needs a bath, it’s ol’ Lathrik, here.”
Lathrik eyes Reniya, then shrugs. “Bath won’t help ‘im, anyhow,” he says lightly. “’Less ye like the smell of wet yak.” He turns back to Leric. “Right, food then? Ye got anythin’ specific in mind?”
Marley laughs and gives Reniya a playful nudge, reduced in effectiveness thanks to the bubble.
Briar ignores the ribbing and readjusts his glasses, his attention now on Leric in response to Lathrik’s question. Fredrica remains focused on the device, her blonde hair a curtain that hides most of her face.
"Impartially speaking, we all need baths," says Emdee. "I smell like a goat, and the goat very much needs a bath. But at the moment, my more pressing interest is in anything but army-issue rations." The medic eyes the back of Leric's head. "Soup dumplings would be ideal," she suggests, "but anything stir-fried is also acceptable."
"Newborn babies, famously clean and sweet-smelling," Leric mutters dryly, but then he turns to Lathrik and Emdee. "Let's get the dumplings — I saw a steamer further into the market. And if we can get some fresh things that will last, at least for a few days… it would make the journey into the mountains a little more agreeable."
Leric takes a turn through the market in the direction of rising steam. The hooded figure hangs back, and then slips away in the direction of the Lazy Turnip.
His head turning slightly to follow the prince's trajectory, Leric stops for a moment. Quietly, he adds, "He should be safe enough there, if he doesn't decide to give us the slip. He has no reason to — I think we've made that clear enough."
"Do you want me to go with him?" Emdee asks in a tone that makes clear her priority is dumplings rather than princes.
Leric hesitates for a moment, and then shakes his head. "Let's see to the dumplings. If he does try to leave us… he is many things, but a stealthy traveler is not one of them."
Fredrica finally looks up from the device, fixing Leric with a brown-eyed stare, before leaning up to murmur something in Briar’s ear.
Briar bends down to listen, then nods. “We could o-offer Unit 833713 to watch him,” he says. “We w-won’t need it to scout while we’re in a village.”
Unit 833713 is a prototype mechanical beetle, operated by the device in Fredrica’s hands, that sends infrared visual data onto the device’s screen. The pair have been using it to observe their surroundings, though the beetle is never more than ten feet away from them, and suffers from mobility issues. Apparently, utilizing its flight capabilities at the same time as its camera function drains the battery too much. It’s a work in progress.
"Oh, what a phenomenal idea." Emdee brightens. (She is a huge fan of Unit 833713.)
Leric looks warily between Emdee and Briar. He is less of a fan of Unit 833713, but he is a fan of what it might be someday.
"Might be a good test of remote operation," Leric allows. "Can you get it over to the inn from here, do you think? Or does someone need to drop it off closer?"
Briar and Fredrica exchange looks, then Fredrica straightens and offers a salute. “Permission requested to commence retrieval and placement operation for Unit 833713, Lt. Commander,” she says in her usual wisp of an indoor voice.
"Permission granted," Leric says with a return salute, as if nothing is out of the ordinary at all with Fredrica's wispy voice. "You know our mission — alert us if the target leaves Halfhill."
Fredrica moves off at a crisp jog towards where the beetle is resting, set on carrying out her mission.
“Right, so, dumplings, what else?” Lathrik asks, his eyes wandering over the group.
“Fish?” Reniya offers.
Marley makes a face. “No! Ain’t no bleedin’ way, not after you tried to feed us that octopus,” she says.
“Oi, it was a perfectly good source of meat,” Reniya protests.
“Melons?” Joelle offers, pointing to a pandaren carting a reasonably sized stack of melons through the marketplace with her goats.
Reniya forces his hand back to his side. “Mate, y’can’t just point at a lass and start talkin’ about ‘er melons,” he says.
“Oh,” Joelle says, though there is visible confusion in his eyes as he watches the melon lady disappear.
Marley snickers, and a blush appears faintly on Briar’s cheeks as he tries to look anywhere else.
"Their melons are enormous," Emdee remarks. "It really is impressive. I think fish would be fine as well. There was that chili oil steamed fish we had in the Jade Forest? We could ask that lady there if she knows how to do the spicy stuff."
Leric looks from Ren to Joelle to Emdee, a faint twist of amusement to his lips. "Melons might keep well enough in the mountains, to speak of the fruit. And I'd take fish over octopus. Maybe we can find some dried, to spice things up when we're on rations again."
He glances after the melon seller and adds, "When all this is over, I hope we'll have some leave time to head back to Stormwind." What that has to do with melons may be left to interpretation.
“Aye,” Lathrik agrees. “I’ve made a promise to my lass come springtime. I’d like to keep it. An’ Ren’s got a tyke to look in on.”
Marley gives Reniya a suspicious squint.
“How ‘bout you, Snarley?” Reniya asks, raising his hands innocently. “What’ll you do when we get leave?”
Marley shrugs. “Help out around shop,” she says. “My Da’s a blacksmith.”
"And I'll be heading back to my wife, to our lands," Leric says. "I should likely share what I've learned of the local fighting style at our hunting lodge. Any of you are welcome to come by as well. I hope it's going to be an increasingly interesting place, a mix of human, quel'dorei, and now pandaren fighting traditions."
"Oh, and I suppose visit with my step-niece and step-nephew, the little lords and ladies, speaking of tykes," Leric adds, as he moves to get their group in line for Yan Ironpaw, a pandaren man in a tidy chef's hat and a little goatee banded with red cords. The pandaren man stands next to a steamer from which delicious cooking smells are emanating.
“Hunting lodge eh? Might be interested in a look-see,” Marley says.
Joelle does not volunteer any information himself, filing dutifully into the line with the others. Maybe he doesn’t have any plans? Briar, too, remains silent.
Lathrik glances at Emdee, and for a moment it looks like he might ask, but Marley beats him to it.
“Got any plans, Emdee?” she asks, turning to focus her attention on the gnome, her back to Lathrik as if deliberately shutting him out.
Leric glances over at the gnome curiously.
"I might have a sandwich," Emdee says thoughtfully. "And feed my cat."
Leric chuckles, but only a little. He's pretty sure Emdee is serious. "Practical priorities. I can appreciate that. I've never had a pet cat before, though… my little sister had one. I suppose that nearly counts." Leric shifts forward in line. "I'll be away for a little while today, as well. More of that ECHO training — I thought I might handle it before we headed up through the mountain pass. Ebek, if there's anything you'd like to pass along to Miralynn? I can't guarantee I'll see her, but she does seem a regular in there."
“Oh. To Miralynn? Does she…” Joelle hesitates, looking away, then shakes his head. “I have nothing to report.”
Reniya glances back at him with something like a sympathetic cringe. “I’d appreciate if y’didn’t tell ‘er anything about me, Lt. Commander,” he says. “Ol’ Miralynn doesn’t much care for me.”
“Ye don’t think it’s got anythin’ to do with you referin’ to her as ‘ol’ Miralynn?’” Lathrik says with the tease of a smirk.
“Naw, mate, I haven’t done it to ‘er face,” Reniya protests. “Yet.”
Briar adjusts his glasses and leans towards Joelle. “Is M-Miralynn the one we’ve been p-producing the recording devices for?” he asks.
“Hana,” Joelle gently reminds him.
Briar looks mildly embarrassed. “R-right. Hana. Sorry. Names are…” He lifts one of his hands in a vague gesture. The hand shakes probably more than he means it to.
By the time Fredrica jogs back to join them, the line has already moved, and more customers have stepped in behind the army crew. Without any hesitation, Fredrica moves straight to the back of the line to wait.
Reniya stares after her with a faintly puzzled expression.
Leric looks back and seems about to say one thing, then his expression changes and he says another, "Fredrica, what'll you have?"
Fredrica gazes helplessly at him from two customers back. She appears entirely uncomfortable with the idea of shouting, and a quick glance over her shoulder tells her that someone has filed into line behind her, and she will lose her place if she moves closer. There is a pause as she visibly grapples with this, but finally she cups her hands around her mouth, takes a deep breath and…
Changes her mind, instead holding up three fingers. Which means… something, surely.
“Oi, Briar, what’s she on about?” Marley asks.
“Hmm… unclear,” Briar says, studying the gesture. “Three… dumplings? Is there a m-menu? Third… menu item?”
Lathrik’s expression has gone very bland.
"Third menu item," Leric nods, though he doesn't sound entirely certain. "Let's give that a try. I should really learn lip-reading." Just then, they get to the front of the line, and Leric smiles at the pandaren man at the steamer.
"What will you be having then?" the pandaren asks cheerfully.
"I'll have the ginger chicken dumplings, and…" Leric pauses. "A three."
"Of course, of course," the pandaren says, without clarifying what a 'three' is. Does he know? The pandaren turns to the others. "And the rest of you?"
"I'll have the steamed shrimp dumplings and also a three," says Emdee.
The pandaren somehow seems to not be looking down at Emdee, even though physically he definitely is, as he bobs his head agreeably and looks over to the others.
Joelle holds up three fingers. “Three,” he says. Does he understand what a three is? No, but everyone else seems to be ordering it.
Reniya snaps his fingers and points at Emdee. “Shrimp sounds good, let’s do that,” he says.
“I’m gettin’ pork, who’s with me? Briar?” Marley glances around.
Briar nods. “Yes, please.”
Lathrik, too, raises a hand, though Marley regards him suspiciously.
Fredrica, who can hear them from where she is standing, glances nervously at the pandaren behind her. Should… should she leave the line?
Yan Ironpaw hums quietly as he serves up each of the orders, wrapping them in rice paper and handing them over steaming hot. Judging by his actions, 'three' appears to be a trio of mushan beef dumplings, vegetable dumplings, and imperial salmon dumplings. Is that what Fredrica wanted? If not, surely there will be plenty of hungry army people to eat them.
Leric glances back to where she stands nervously in line, holding up the rice paper package with a question in his eyes. Yes or no?
Tentatively, Fredrica steps out of line. Whew, safe. She slinks over to the group, looking embarrassed, and retrieves her loot from Leric.
“Thank you,” she says in that barely there voice, her head lowered so that her blonde hair hides most of her face.
“So!” Marley says, unfazed by Fredrica’s mannerisms, “Where are we settin’ up to eat? Someplace with a view?”
"You're welcome," Leric says quietly, not drawing any further attention to it. Then he looks around and nods. "Maybe up the hill, so we can see over the countryside? I bet we could find a bench or two up that way, and we can say our farewells to the Valley. We've done some good here, but it's clearly not our charge's destination. I hope we can find our way there, up through the Kun-Lai mountains. If it's a real place he's after."
“It is,” Lathrik says with a sudden and intense conviction. Then the lazy smile eases back onto his face. “Feels real, at least. Can see where the lad’s comin’ from. S’pose we’ll find out either way.”
“Suck up,” Marley mutters, side-eyeing Lathrik. “I’m not buyin’ it. What’s saying this all isn’t just a teenager having a rebellious phase an’ trying to prolong his adventure away from home? Guess it doesn’t make a difference either way, we’re in it now.”
“Hold on there, Snarley,” Reniya says, giving Lathrik a nudge with his shoulder. “Last time ol’ Lathrik was havin’ dreams, one of ‘em came true and I died!”
Lathrik pauses to glare at Reniya. “Oi.”
Joelle’s muscles go tense.
“Ya sound a bit too proud of that,” Marley says, raising an eyebrow.
"Dinnsfield, if you have any dreams of any of our deaths, or of our charge's, tell me," Leric says. "Any intelligence we can get is helpful, however unconventional the source." He begins to head up the hill, shading his eyes against the growing sunlight that warms the day. "Though I hope this place is one of peace, and not untimely deaths. If we can get there, I hope our charge will finally stop wandering for a while, and our mission will be complete. As you say, I suppose we'll find out."