The World as it Should Be

Chapter 1



Five years later...



Treris squatted low to the ground, carefully keeping the stag in sight. It was not aware of her presence yet, as she had taken great pains to stay downwind of it. Her cat, Ripper, stood silently beside her, waiting for her signal to go and take it down. She carefully scanned the area, taking note that the pack had moved on, while her prey was still investigating the food she had laid out. When she was sure the stag was reasonably isolated she carefully drew back her bow.



The arrow flew from the shaft and hit the stag squarely in the hind quarters. Ripper leapt from his cover and was in a moment on the creature, tearing at its flesh and keeping it from running. Treris stood up and let another arrow fly, this one burying itself in its side, hitting the heart. The stag gave one last cry and fell back.



She walked over to the body, still twitching with the last vestiges of life, feeling pretty good about herself. Pulling out her skinning knife, she quickly went to work in getting the skin separated so she could make leather out of it. The flesh was still warm and by the time she was done, her hands and arms were caked in congealing blood.



She wasn't particularly tall for her kind, with short legs and a long torso. She always felt awkward, especially compared to the other women of her race, all of whom were tall elegant creatures, even those who, like her, were more inclined towards physical pursuits than spiritual ones. And so she always wore loose leather and would spend days out in the wilderness hunting, coming back to civilization dirty and bloody. Her purple hair she kept short and tied behind her head, was often a tangled mess when she would finally get back to towns.



Swinging the carcass on her back she began the trek back to Astranaar. The afternoon sun trickled through the thick branches above her. The cover did not make it cooler, in fact it held the heat of the summer in, and she felt sweat trickling down every part of her body and she took step, after slow step home.



It seemed an eternity before she finally got back to the town, although it was probably less than half an hour. The Sentinels nodded as she passed, but otherwise made no move to help her as she made her way to the inn's kitchen.



Kaela, the cook, looked pleased when she came in and quickly took the cooling stag off her shoulders.



“Oh this will be excellent,” she said when she hung it up on the hook and appraised it, “lots of good meat here.”



She whistled for one of her helpers, who came in with a purse and waited for instructions. Kaela was already cutting into the dead animal's belly so that she could remove the organs.



“I can get a lot of uses out of this, Treris, say, 50 silver?”



Treris nodded and greatfully took the money from the helper, who then went back into the main part of the inn. She then grabbed some salt and headed on outside to start curing the hide so she could sell it too. Laying the skin down on the ground, she was distracted by a chuckle behind her. An elf she had never met before was standing there. He wore the colors of a messenger of Darnassus and looked rather full of himself.



“50 silver for all that work?”



She scowled at him but didn't say anything. If he had something to say he could come right out and say it, not beat around the bush like an idiot.



“I would think someone of your talents would be out in the world, making far more than that, and having a lot more fun while shes at it.”



She snorted at him, “What are you talking about? I don't know who you are, so you can't know about my talents.”



“Well a stag of that size killed so cleanly,” he said and then with a smirk added, “and I assumed it ran in the family.”



That made her stop. She got up and turned to face him, mere inches away. Ripper sensed the tension and came up beside her, ready to attack when she gave the signal.



“And what,” she said, her voice making it clear that how he answered next was important, “is that supposed to mean?”



He smiled and said quietly, “I knew your sister.”



“'Knew'?” she repeated, her voice edging close to violence, “as far as I know she isn't past tense yet.”



“As far as anyone knows,” he said, “the fact is, no one knows.”



He turned the giant cat and started to head off, “you've been requested by the Moon Priestess Denalia, at the Temple in Darnassus. But if you prefer hunting game and making a pittance for it, then by all means stay here.”



He then rode off, leaving her blinking and staring, her rage no less diminished.



“Really, he's right.”



She turned and saw Kaela was standing in the doorway with a dish of organs which she put down for Ripper.



“We all know that you're bored here, you want to do something more, like she did.”



Treris shook her head,”What? Disappear and leave her family behind?” The anger and bitterness in her voice was something she didn't bother hiding. Not for her friend, who understood her rage. Treris' sister, Sejova, hadn't been back to Darnassus in years, hadn't checked in on her younger sister, hadn't even sent her a letter. For all she knew, her sister was dead, a distinct possibility given her work.



Kaela sighed, “You have wanderlust, your sense of duty has kept you here long enough. Go out and see the world, have some adventure, you know we'll all still be here if you want to come back.”



Treris didn't know what to say, Kaela was in fact right. She wanted to get out and see what the world had to offer, maybe even find out why Sejova had never come home. Perhaps she had found something wonderful, something better. She looked at Kaeala, a tall, beautiful creature, and felt the pangs of guilt. She had been traveling throughout the Night Elf lands, doing small local jobs when she came here and met her, and their passionate relationship that followed had kept her here.



Kaela stepped closer and kissed her, but it wasn't the wild kind of kiss they used to share. There was once a time when they would then go off into the woods, tear each other's clothes off and make passionate love for hours. The fire had sizzled out she knew, just as it had with Carm, a druid in Darnassus and her first real lover. Now their kisses were of a more friendly kind, and even when they did join it was in a more sated and subdued kind, usually in the bedroom and quietly.



Her interests had wavered from the cook, and she was feeling restless, and she knew it bothered her far more than it did Kaela. She was bored with Ashenvale, bored with hunting animals for the inn and as much as it pained her to admit it, bored with her lover.



“Alright,” she said with a sigh, “you're right, I need to go on.”



Kaela smiled sweetly at her and said, “I know you will be fine, but,” she said rubbing a finger on Treris' temple and revealing the dirt she found there, “you are going to need to bathe if you're going to see a priestess.”







Two days later, she was in Darnassus. Her hair had been cleaned, brushed out and neatly braided behind her head. She had put on her nicer leathers, which she wore when she was a small time adventurer. Ripper stalked beside her as she entered the Temple of the Moon, feeling confident and ready for anything, which lasted for about a minute.



The priestesses always made her feel self conscious. They were all beautiful, almost fragile like, dressed in delicate linens, giving them an ethereal loveliness that Treris, even when she was in her opinion well dressed, could never hope to achieve.



Well at least she could be business like. She found Denalia pretty quickly by asking around. She was sitting by the pool in the center, staring dreamily at nothing at all it seemed. She looked up as Treris approached and smiled at her, beckoning for her to sit down.



“Thank you for coming,” she said, “I'd hoped you wouldn't turn me down.”



“My pleasure,” Treris answered and got straight to business, “I understand that this is about my sister.”



“Mmmm,” Denalia said nodding, “as you know she hasn't been back to Darnassus in a number of years. Given the nature of her work, we are used to her disappearing for long periods of time, but now we are starting to get worried.”



Treris nodded, but did not answer, and so she continued, “she had finished her last job for us, and we didn't have anymore work for her, so she said she was going to go to the Plaguelands and find work there, since then no one has seen her. At first we thought she had been killed there, but we couldn't be sure,” she paused and said very carefully, “since no body ever turned up.”



Treris knew exactly what the implication there was. People killed in the Plaguelands didn't always leave a body, they became part of the Scourge. So the possibilities were either she was dead and stayed dead, she had risen to serve the Scourge or she was just hiding.



“We just want to know if she's alive or not, and where she is,” Denalia said, “but your sister is nothing of not professional. If she doesn't want to be found, she wont'.”



Treris nodded, understanding, “you think she'll come out if she knows I'm looking for her.”



Denalia said, “yes, we were hoping that if you put your name out there, she might come to you and let you know that she's alive.”



She was hiding something, Treris realized, there was something else going on, but she knew that she was not going to get it.



“So,” Denalia said standing up and beckoning a page over, “we have some small jobs for you to do, and from there on you can go your own way. We only ask that you keep your eyes and ears open.”



Treris nodded, making a note to find out exactly why they were suddenly so interested in finding her sister, as soon as she found her herself.