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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 16:51:38 GMT
The eternally youthful-looking pair of Quel’dorei stared intensely into each other’s eyes as they tread water. Their clothes lay on the far shore, the one nearest Stormwind’s walls. The morning was cool, the water lukewarm and still. The cliffs surrounding most of Stormwind towered over the lake, housing an eagle that took flight from her nest at a peak to search for breakfast with a screech. The earthy smell of the lakeshore and the pure smell of the freshwater lake filled the air. All was silent, save for the gently lapping water, the occasional call of a bird, the far distant noises of Stormwind’s citizens rising for work, and the sweet voices of the skinnydipping elven couple. The early morning mist combined with the portals on the island in the center of the lake shielded them from view. It was just the two of them.
“Love of my life,” the male with the long blonde hair past his shoulders said in a low voice to his beloved. “I tell you, the natural beauty of this lake, these cliffs, the magical beauty of the portals, none of it can compare with the beauty within my arms.”
“Dearest soulmate,” the elf woman with the blonde ponytail responded, swooning in her husband’s arms. “Within your arms I feel safer and better cared-for than within the walls of that city.”
“My dove,” the male replied. “There is none like you. The sun rejoices when you grace her rays with your presence, and the forest sings in celebration of your flawless countenance.”
“Oh, my husband, let not the world part us from sweet embrace. We belong as one. One body, one heart, one mind, one soul.”
The pair spoke in Thalassian, declaring their undying love at length as they held each other’s bare forms in the water. The words were honey, their delivery intense, yet gentle. The couple seemed young, but had, in fact, been together many centuries, and it showed in the way they held each other, the way the either elf’s words caressed the other. It was a tender, sweet moment.
*******
A Kaldorei strode out the low arch in the low wall behind Stormwind, exiting from the Dwarven District to walk around the lakes. The tall elf with the short black hair bedecked with green leaves picked her way easily, smoothly, despite the blindfold she wore. Her movements were graceful, her clothing stylish, and her face smooth and beautiful. Yet, though her outfit covered the scars and tattoos of an Illidari and the pistol, it did little to cover the swords at her belt, and less to cover the mischievous spirit within. Nahlia “Nah” Lifebloom, who bore the name “Felbloom” for a time before she turned from that path, was probably the most lovable troublemaker in all of Stormwind City.
This morning was no different. As the roguish Night Elf sauntered around the lake, looking for fun anywhere she could find it, she heard the sound of voices from the other side of the little island with the portals. Curious, she broke into a jog. A hop, a skip, and a flip later, and she was around the lake, creeping through the bushes to see what she might see. Her ears twitched – Thalassian! Elves! What fun!
She crept a bit closer.
She spotted two magically brilliant bright yellow auras with her spectral sight floating in the lake. The auras were pressed together rather tightly. She smirked slyly, looking around. She spotted a pile of what had to be clothes, a lingering aura upon them that matched the auras in the lake.
She crept a bit more, snickering quietly to herself.
The auras were professing their undying love for each other in flowery prose, and it was all she could do to keep herself hidden when what she wanted to do most was burst out in a maniacal cackle.
She crept a bit closer.
“YOINK!” she suddenly yelled, snatching the elven couple’s clothes, taking off with them around the lake. Her cackle, having welled up within her for some time, came bursting forth as she took off in a full sprint. The sprint was necessary -- the elves proved to be fast swimmers. They gained the shore in seconds, tearing off after Nah angrily and shouting profane threats in Thalassian. Nah only laughed harder, fleeing the scene while flapping her arms like a bird, the clothes flapping in the breeze.
Nah reached the low wall around the Dwarven District quickly and, rather than run all the way to the low arch to enter, she used her grappling hook to scale the wall and leap down the other side. The elves were forced to take the long route, and soon lost their quarry. Nah slowed down, snickering quietly to herself, rifling through the clothing to see what loot she might discover.
Suddenly, Nah froze. A familiar voice was humming to itself nearby. Smirking even more broadly now, she leaped up onto a tall lamppost, waiting for the expected aura to round the bend.
Sure enough, a purple aura, emanating a bit of shadow and fel, yet almost a purity of heart and a joyful spirit, was showing up through the walls of the auction house, and soon came around the corner, passing right beneath her. Nah waited for her to pass, then snickered again, knowing it would get her attention.******* Natasha Ebonlocke wandered through the Dwarven District to visit the Gnomish engineering trainer. She had a new project in mind from Lady Whitewind, founder and CEO of the Whitewind Company, and for whom she and Nah both worked. As she reached the main square, however, she heard a familiar snicker from above and behind her. She gasped in happy surprise, turning to look up at the lamppost. “Bestie Nah!” Nat giggled, her purple eyes shining from her round face, her black dress with the purple trimming ruffling a bit in the breeze. She beamed up at the smirking elf on the lamppost, gasping again, quietly, as the elf hopped into the air, did a late flip, and landed barely a foot in front of her.“’Sup, Tasha?” Nah smirked slyly. “How’s my bestie this morning?” “Great!” Nat replied. “How are you?” “Oh, you know me,” Nah grinned, shrugging, an outfit still in either hand. “Same ol’ same ol’.”Nat’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, eying the outfits that were obviously made for people considerably shorter than her mischievous best friend.“Miss Troublemaker, what have you do-“ Nat managed, before a pair of voices yelled from down an alley.“Halt!” a Quel’dorei man said. Nat blushed profusely… The elf was wearing absolutely nothing at all, and seemed to feel no shame about that fact. Making it worse was the elf woman beside him, in the same state of dress… or lack thereof. Nat gasped, covering her eyes even as the pair advanced on them, stalking forward with anger in their glowing blue eyes and purpose in their stride. “Bestie NAH!” Nat complained, peeking up at her friend and her extra outfits from between her fingers as she put two and two together. “Heh-hah!” Nah snickered, smirking at Nat’s reaction. “Better run for it, Tasha.”“B-but I can’t run!” Nat protested, backing away as the elves got nearer. “You know I’d just fall down in like twenty steps!” “Well, in that case…” Nah grinned mischievously at her awkward little friend. She stepped forward -- "Yoink!" and grabbed Nat around the waist, then… “Hyup!” slung Nat over her shoulder as Nat squeaked, startled. Almost in the same motion, she turned and tore off down another alley, cackling madly as the two Quel’dorei broke into a sprint once again, giving chase with shouted Thalassian obscenities and uttering threats in Common. Nat squeaked and squealed as she was carried off, though Nah’s smooth Kaldorei sprint did little to no jostling of her sudden passenger. *******
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 16:56:12 GMT
A Bronzebeard dwarf strode through the main square to the smithy, grumpily going along and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He had it in mind to craft some more thorium armor and to use some old plans for a sword he called the Truesilver Champion, a pretty sort of two-handed blade he’d been forging for over a decade and a half for those who loved to buy such ornate weapons. He rubbed his face with his hands, then tilted his head back in the hopes of catching a cool morning breeze to help him wake up.
Suddenly, the dwarf froze. The sound of a squealing lass and a cackling lass were approaching.
“Wot th’ feck-“ was all he managed before a tall, athletic Kaldorei lass with a thick, curvy, squealing human lass slung over her shoulder came tearing around the corner, nearly running him over. ‘ ZOOM!
“HEH-HAH! HEH-HEH-HEH-HAH-HAH!” cackled the Kaldorei lass, two extra sets of clothes flapping in the breeze as she zoomed by the dwarf.
“EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!” squealed the curvy human lass, her arms flailing behind the Kaldorei the same way the outfits did.
“Wot in tarnation is-“
ZOOM!
“COME BACK HERE, YOU DEMON WENCH! I’LL MAKE YOU PAY WITH A POUND OF YOUR OWN FLESH!”
A butt-naked Quel’dorei man zoomed past next, so close and so quickly that it made the dwarf’s beard flap in his slipstream.
“CONFOUND IT ALL, WOT TH’ FECKIN’-“
ZOOM!
“ADORE BALAH! THORIBAS SHANO! DIEL SHAR TAL FULO AL BANAR!”
A butt-naked Quel'dorei female followed, hot on the heels of the male, and neither had a single care for all that flapped in the breeze as they sprinted after the cackling Kaldorei and squealing human lass. The high elf woman careened off the dwarf without even seeming to notice him, knocking him to the cobblestone as she ricocheted off of him and shot down the street, clearly out for blood.
“Feckin’ Stormwind…” the dwarf griped, harrumphing and rising to his feet and dusting himself off. He grumped and groused in irritation, snorting and shaking his head as he continued on to his forge, his mood now even sourer.
*******
Nah cackled with glee as she led the angry high elves on a merry chase around the Dwarven District. She eventually gave into her human friend’s protests of “being carried around like a sack of potatoes,” and ended the chase with another grappling hook toss to the roof of a nearby building. Carefully, she set Nat down on her feet. Less carefully, she no-look-tossed the two sets of clothing over her shoulders, where they drifted on the breeze to the cobblestone below. The high elves pounced upon their clothing, shouting obscenities up at the rooftop that made Nat blush even more. Nat continued averting her eyes as the elves dressed. A few more obscenities later, and the elves wandered off. She gasped as she was suddenly scooped up again, and found herself swooping down in Nah’s arms to Cut-Throat Alley, and the front door of Nah’s house.
“Come on, bestie,” Nah prompted, her white fangs glinting as she grinned. She unlocked all four of her front door locks quickly. “We’ll be safer in here.”
Nat followed Nah into her new home. Despite Nah’s mischievous hints at trashing the place as soon as she’d settled in, the sitting roomed still seemed to be pretty well-kept. Nat looked around, smiling and nodding as she saw everything in its proper place, free of dust. Nah seemed to read Nat’s mind as she read Nat’s expression.
“Yeah, yeah,” Nah said, grinning mischievously. “It’s soooo clean. …You should probably not look at the upstairs bedroom.”
Nat giggled, shaking her head a bit.
“I was looking for you, bestie,” she said.
“Oh? Whatever for?” Nah inquired.
“Ciel gave us a job,” Nat answered. “We gotta go find a gnomish engineer that can sell us schematics for a flying machine that can provide air support to the Whitewind’s Grace, and a landing pad for it as well.”
“Hmmm… alright,” Nah mused, looking deep in thought. “And where do we find this gnomish engineer?”
“Well,” Nat said. “I figured if there was one here in Stormwind, then we’d find him or her in the Dwarven District, where the gnome engineers hang out between the auction house and the bank. If none of them know how to make it, we’d likely have to take the nearby tram to Tinkertown in Ironforge. Surely one of those gnomes know it.”
“Alright, Tasha,” said Nah. “Let’s see if the guys here have the know-how. You’re the new engineer, here. Lead the way.”
Nat nodded, turning to head back out the door – she peeked about the alley for angry elves first – then proceeded out of the alley, through the Shady Lady, along the canals, and back into the Dwarven District proper. She spotted the cluster of gnomes and their funny machinery and approached with her bestie in tow.
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 16:59:07 GMT
The gathered gnomes turned to face the pair warily – they hadn’t failed to notice the confusing street chase earlier – but smiled as the familiar young woman approached. One excitable young gnome male spoke up first.
“NatashaEbonlockeitissogoodtoseeyouagainIhopeeverythingisokayaftertheexcitementfromamomentagoareyouokay?!” the excitable little gnome with the short green hair and bushy green beard and handlebar mustache said, his eyes wide. He spoke very quickly, causing Nah to quirk one eyebrow in amusement.
“Erm… y-yeah,” Nat blushed, trying to get past the awkward moment to get to business. “Erm… w-w-we’re looking for some schematics for-“
“Ohyeahyoucametotherightplaceforschematics!” the gnome squeaked, bouncing excitedly.
“Erm… Perhaps it would be better to try and talk just a bit more slowly…” Nat said, eyeing Nah, who looked like she was trying to stifle a cackle.
“Oh, yes, I quite forget myself sometimes,” the gnome said, causing the rest of the gnomes to chuckle at him and bob their round, colorful heads.
“Thanks, Hank,” Nat smiled. “So, schematics…”
“Ah, yes!” Hank said, bouncing again, enunciating his words carefully as he tried to quell his excitement. “I have some new ones to show you! I have here, right here, the brand-new schematics to the Prototype Bolt Action Rocket-Propelled Radiation Expeller Mega Turbine With Whirlygig Haver And Neon Light Flasher 3P-Dash-N 1000!”
“Oh! That sounds fascinating! But I’m actually look-“ Nat started.
“Waitwaitwait,” Nah interrupted, unable to contain her mischievous nature any longer, her intentions to have more fun etched all over her smirking face. “I think you said that too slowly. Say that again, but at your normal speaking speed.”
“Nah! We’re trying t-“
“Ahyes!Rightyouare!IhaveheretheschematicsforthePrototypeBoltActionRocketPropelledRadiationExpellerMegaTurbineWithWhirlygigHaverAndNeonLightFlasher3PDashN1000!” Hank blurted out.
“Nah-“ Nat tried, but Nah talked over her again, grinning ear to ear, her gleaming white teeth shining where her eyes, under the blindfolds, could not.
“Waitwaitwait, now it was too fast,” Nah said next. “Try again, except EXTRA slowly this time.”
Hank nodded, smiling happily as he complied.
“IIIIIIIIIhaaaaavvvvvveeehhheeeeeerrrrreeeeeettthhhhheeeeeessscccchhhhheeeeeemmmmmmaaaaaatttttttiiiiiiiiiiccccccsssssssffffffoooooooorrrrrrrrrtttthhhhhhheeeeeePrrrrrrrooooooooottttooooooootttyyyyyyyyyypeBoooooolllllllltAaaaaaactiooooonnnnnnnnRrrrrrrrooooooockeeeeettPrrrrrrooooooopeeeeeelllllllllledRrrrrrraaaaaaadddddddiiiiiiaaaaaaaaatiooooonnnnnnEeeexxxxxxxxxpeeeeeeeeelllllleeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrMmmmmmmmmmeeeeeeeeegaaaaaaaaaTuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrbiiiiiiiiiiineWwwwwwwwwiiiiiiiiiiiiithWhiiiiiiiirrlyyyyyyyyyygiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigHaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvveeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrAaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnndNnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeoooooooooonnnnnnnnnnLlllllllllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiiightFffffffflllllllllllllaaaaaassssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhheeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrThrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeeePeeeeeeeeeeeDdaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaashNnnnnnnnnnnnnnOooooooonnnnnnnneThoooooouuuussssaaaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnd….” Hank said as slowly as he could in his excited state, though each word seemed to bleed right into the next.
“Nonono…” Nah said, shaking her head and smirking slyly. Her hands were out in front of her, palms outward, and she was shaking those as well. “That was slow enough, but…” her voice trailed off, as she looked up and to the side a moment, stroking her chin, clearly thinking hard. “-Monotonous,” she finished, nodding and grinning impishly. “Yeah. Monotonous. Say it slowly one more time, alright, but this time, let your voice randomly rise and fall as you say it.”
“Now, see here, Miss Troublemaker-“ Nat started again, trying to stifle a giggle and a grin and look stern, but Hank was already taking off again with a confused expression on his face.
“IIIIIhaaaaaaaaavvvvvehhheeeeeeeEEEEEEERETTTHHHHEEEEEEEeeeeeescheeeeeeemmmmmmAAAAAAAAATIIIIIIIIIIIICSSSSSFOOOooooorrrrrrtttttthhhhheeeeeeeePrrrrrrroooooooooooTOOOOOOOOOOOTYYYYYYPEBooooolllllllllllltAaaaaaatiooooooooonnnnnnnnnnRRRRRROOOOOOOOCKEEEEEEEEETPRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOpeeeeeeeeeelllllllllledRrrrrrraaaaaaaadiiiiiiiiiAAAAAAAAAtioooooooooooonEEEEEEEEEEEEXXXXXXXXXPEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLEEEEEEEeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrMmmmmmeeeeeeeeegAAAAAAAAAATuuuuurrrrrrrbiiiiiiiinnnnnneWwwwwwwiiiiiiitthhhhWWWWWWWWHIIIIIIIIIIRRRRRRLLLLLLyyyyyyyyyyygiiiiiiiiiiigHHHHAAAAAAAVVVeeeeerrrrrrrrrrAaaaaaaaaaaannnnndddNnneeeeeooooooOOONNNNLLLIIIIIIIGHTFLAAAAAssshhheeerrrrrrrrTttthhhhrrrrrreeeeEEEEEPEEEEEEEDAAAAASHNNNNNNOOOOOooooonnnnnneeeTTTHHHHOOOUUUUSSSSaaaannnnnnnd.”
The other gnomes looked as confused as Hank as Hank went through Nah’s instructions. They looked amongst each other as they huddled in, with one gnome girl with purple hair leaning in on a green mechanostrider so far she fell off it. She plopped to the cobblestone unnoticed, casually but quickly hopping to her feet to wiggle into the tight huddle. Arms went over shoulders in a circle as hushed voices spoke in Gnomish, occasionally rising to look at Hank as he spoke strangely.
Nat, however, had both hands clamped over her mouth, trying not to laugh, and Nah was laughing opening, partially doubled over with her hands on her knees, slapping one of them repeatedly.
“Waitwaitwait,” she gasped, grinning her most mischievous grin yet and gesturing excitedly as she spoke. “That was almost perfect. It was just a bit too slow, you see. You should do it exactly like you did just now, except also speed up and slow down sometimes at random. I think people all around you can hear it better if you turn around in slow circles as you say it, too, so your voice projects in every direction. Then wave your hands around in the air to draw attention to yourself so more people know, alright?”
“Rightyouare,miss!” Hank nodded eagerly, not seeming to notice his huddled friends. He started turning in slow circles on the spot, head thrown back, speaking through his bushy neon-green beard to the heavens and waving his hands wildly.
“IIIIIIIhaaaaaaavvvvvveHEEEEEEEERRRRETHESCHEMATICSFORTHEBOLTaaaaactiooooonnnnnnnroooooockeeeeeeeetProooopeeelllledRADIATIONexpellerMegATURBINEWWWWiiiiitttthhhhWhiiiiirrrrlygigHaverAAAAAAAAAANDNEEEEEEEEooooonnnnnLlllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiightFLASHERTHREEPEEDAAAAAAAAAASHNNNNNNONETHOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!”
Hank finished, finding himself tilting to his left, balanced just on his short left leg, hands above and to the left of him, left eye closed, right eye darting around this way and that tentatively, seemingly unsure if he should return to a normal position. After waiting a moment, he began to teeter a bit, hopping on that one left leg.
“Right,” said Nah, ignoring Hank’s situation, grinning and stroking her chin thoughtfully. “Now grab that mechanostrider, and-“
“NAH!” exclaimed Nat. “We’re gonna be here all day!”
“Ah, right, Tasha,” chuckled Nah, looking over at her and then back at Hank, giving him a crooked smirk. “Right, that was brilliant, then. From now on, you should do all your schematic announcements that way.”
“ThanksalotmissIreallyappreciatethehelpI’msuretogetlotsofattentionforthemnow!” Hank said excitedly as he finally fell over. He hopped back to his little feet, standing normally now and beaming happily up at Nah through his thick green whiskers.
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” Nah said with a smirk. “You have yourself a good one now, Hank, you hear?”
“Andyouaswell,missandmiss!” Hank said, waving. His friends peered at him suspiciously from behind, breaking their huddle, appearing to be unsure of what to say to him now. Hank didn’t notice, possessing after all no eyes in the back of his head.
“Wait,” Nat spoke again suddenly. “I still had a question about the other schematics I was looking for. I need to find some for a flying machine that can provide close air support for a ship, and a landing pad for it aboard said ship.”
“Oh,buttons,” Hank said, his whiskers drooping. “Idon’thaveschematicsforthat.” He suddenly perked back up again, looking excited.
“ButIshallgettoworkonsuchrightaway,miss,andwhenIdo,I’llbesuretodeliverthemtoyouusingthenewannouncementsystemyourfriendhastaughtme!”
“Oh good, thanks!” Nat said, still stifling a giggle fit. “Goodbye, Hank! I hope things go well with your… N-Neon blaster thingy, and-“
“Ah,yes,thePrototypeBoltActionRocketPropelledRadiationExpellerMegaTurbineWithWhirlygigHaverAndNeonLightFlasher3PDashN1000!” Hank said with an excited nod. He gasped next, his big brown eyes widening, obviously realizing he said it wrong. He took a deep breath, winding up, putting his hands in the air. “UhImean,the-“
“No-no,” Nat said quickly, waving her hands to stop him. “I got it, yeah!”
“Ah!” said Hank, lowering his hands. “Verygoodthen!Goodday!”
Nat smiled, waving back with one hand while prodding a cackling Nah toward the tram with the other as the rest of the gnomes peered at the Kaldorei suspiciously. The two headed for the tunnel, bursting into riotous laughter that didn’t stop until they were in the waiting area of the Deeprun Tram. The pair continued walking until they reached the chairs in between the two rails so they could catch whichever tram arrived first.
*******
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 17:00:47 GMT
Nah smirked as she emerged with Tasha from the Deeprun Tram’s Ironforge-side tunnel and into Tinkertown. She peered around at all the interesting little auras. The place smelled and sounded like oil and machinery. She could hear things whirling and whizzing and clicking in every direction. The little auras exuded several different bright colors, feeling of intelligence and an almost maniacal drive to learn and understand and invent.
She smirked wider. Some of these gnomes were here when she’d led Tasha through here in her bikini on a Deathrolls Dare. Her bestie had looked like a tomato in the face the entire time. She sensed the heat in Tasha’s face and her smirk grew still wider – it seems Tasha recognized the same gnomes. She strode to the room at the back right of the little mechanical segment of Ironforge’s outer ring, where the engineers hung out at Springspindle’s Gadgets. Tasha followed, looking embarrassed and not making eye contact with anyone.
“’Sup, gnomes?” Nah snickered, hopping with a flip onto a rather unstable-looking giant red rocket balanced precariously on a set of little wooden wheels. “Got any air-to-surface, rocket-shootin’, machine gun-havin’ flying machines around, or some schematics for one?”
Springspindle Fizzlegear, proprietor of Springspindle’s Gadgets, turned a nervous smile on the short-haired Kaldorei woman while three other gnomes gave cries of alarm at the woman jumping on explosives. The light-footed Kaldorei rogue gave no hint of actually setting the thing off, though Springspindle still looked uneasy.
“Uh, well,” Springspindle stammered nervously. “As luck would have it… or… not have it? …we do… Err, well, that is to say, we did…”
“So you used to have them,” snickered Nah, crouching to perch on the rocket and then rock it on its wheels side to side, causing one of the gnomes, a bald little guy with a combover, to faint on the spot. “But you don’t anymore?”
“W-well…” said Springspindle, trotting across the room to hold his hands up as though waiting to catch the rocket if it tipped over entirely. “We took it with us to Gnomeregon to check the dimensions of the tunnels there and scale the flying machine to fit through, but we were ambushed by leper gnomes that thought we were troggs, and Cogspinner over there on the floor-“ he pointed at the fainted gnome, “he dropped them, and one of the leper gnomes picked them up and folded them into an admiral’s hat and placed it atop his noggin, and he and the rest of the leper gnomes disappeared back into the tunnels again!”
“Hmmm...” mused Nah, stroking her chin and looking lost in thought again. “Well, I’d say we have an expedition on our hands, wouldn’t you, bestie?”
“Gosh,” exclaimed Tasha. “I’m just glad everyone got out okay! And yeah, we’ll go get you your schematics back!”
“Ten percent off the rights to them if you do,” nodded Springspindle eagerly. “But be careful! Those guys are NUTS in there!”
Cogspinner stirred on the floor, climbing back to his feet and looking around. He gasped as his memory prior to fainting stirred, and he whirled around to peer up at Nah with wide eyes, still rocking the rocket.
“Ten percent, eh?” she grinned. “Well, I reckon that’d please Ciel just fine. Tasha, what say we- WHOOPSADAISY!”
Nah grinned impishly as she flipped off of the rocket, taking care to launch from it hard enough that it slowly begins to topple over. Cogspinner gasped, fainting again, causing Nah to snicker as she casually reached behind her to catch the rocket at the last possible second and right it again. Even Tasha’s aura was quickly backing out of the little shop, and the little gnomes were taking cover behind the rest of the shop’s explosives. Nah snickered slyly once more, returning her attention to Springspindle.
“Right,” she said. “We’ll go and get your schematics back for you then. We’ll be back before you can say,” she paused to grin around the shop at the emerging gnomes, ‘IIIIIIIhaaaaaaavvvvvveHEEEEEEEERRRRETHESCHEMATICSFORTHEBOLTaaaaactiooooonnnnnnnroooooockeeeeeeeetProooopeeelllledRADIATIONexpellerMegATURBINEWWWWiiiiitttthhhhWhiiiiirrrrlygigHaverAAAAAAAAAANDNEEEEEEEEooooonnnnnLlllllliiiiiiiiiiiiiightFLASHERTHREEPEEDAAAAAAAAAASHNNNNNNONETHOUSAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND!’”
*******
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 17:02:11 GMT
Nat was still giggling at the looks on the confused Gnomes’ faces as she flew over chilly Dun Morogh with her bestie. She doubted they’d forget this morning for quite some time yet. They were still trying to work out what Nah had said with her parting words when they’d moved from Tinkertown over to the Military Ward and the voices had faded out from range.
She refocused on the present as she looked down from Onyx’s back, where she sat sidesaddle as always. The snowy mountains and valleys of Dun Morogh were passing beneath her, and the little Dwarven town of Kharanos seemed like a dot from this elevation. Onyx, her wispy black netherdrake, never really seemed to mind the cold. Nat wondered if he even felt it. They turned west at Kharanos, flying over Shimmer Ridge, and Iceflow Lake came into view, with Crushcog’s Arsenal to the north. The massive garage fielded all manner of mechs, from mechatanks to walking mechanized armor suits. Alarm-O-Bots ran amok on the lake’s frozen surface. Further west, the Toxic Airfield belched green smog from its vents amongst the green toxic pools. The entrance to Gnomeregon lay beyond that, just up the hill from New Tinkertown, with its frozen mechanical parts surrounding its mountainside entrance showing the way to its polluted depths. Nat descended with Nah, flying for the entrance.
The mechanical whirring and clicking was overwhelming when Nat entered the engineering marvel that was Gnomeregon, and she noticed Nah’s ears drooping. She felt bad for her bestie; the noise was probably horrible for her Kaldorei ears. But the two pressed on anyway. They had work to do.
Just down the ramp from the entrance was the elevator down to the gnomish city proper. Nat jogged along as well as she could down the ramp, stumbling a few times, but her bestie caught her each time. She gasped suddenly when they reached the elevator – it dropped just then, with a mechanized stopper for the elevator shaft slamming down from above right in front of them! The pair waited in stunned silence for a moment while the elevator returned, then walked onto it nervously.
The ride passed without incident, however, and the two scurried off the elevator quickly once it reached the bottom. They looked around. The place was bustling with gnomes from the Survivor Assistance Facilitation Expedition, or S.A.F.E. Down the hall they walked, past friendly gnomes from S.A.F.E. and their decontaminated survivors. As they passed beyond the limits of the S.A.F.E. guards, one of them called out.
“Hey, you crazy?” she yelled. “You can’t go out there! There’s rats and roaches and even the dreaded mutant rat-roach!”
Nat paled at that, but Nah merely quirked one eyebrow at the gnome, snickering at the thought of such a creature. The two made their way into the train depot, proceeding down the tunnel and into the main part of Gnomeregon. The tunnel from the depot opened up into a massive, cavernous room, all of which was entirely metal and mostly mechanized. Nat’s heart leaped into her throat when she peered over the side, down to the floor hundreds of feet below. It did so again when Nah grabbed her, spreading her now-rarely-seen Illidari wings.
“HYUP!”
“NAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!”
Nat squeaked all the way down, holding on for dear life. Nah snickered at her bestie once again, but took it slow, however, simply gliding to the floor. The ground was broken and uneven down here, with toxic green oozes sliding life-like in every direction. Nah put Nat back on her unsteady feet while Nat caught her breath and tried to get her heart to stop pounding. She looked around. The broken ground had been heaved up in some areas and left in sudden potholes in others. The two picked their way around the oozes, Nah leading the way to a tunnel on the left.
“Let’s see here,” she said, smirking at her own wordplay and looking around through her blindfolds with her spectral sight. “I can see an aura that faintly matches our Tinkertown friends, but it’s much deeper than where we are, and off to the southwest some. Let’s try this western tunnel and see where that leads us.”
Nat nodded, looking all around and above her, marveling at how far beyond her wildest dreams gnomes had taken their engineering. Even this cavernous space’s destroyed floor and leaked moving oozes was a marvel. As the pair wandered into the western tunnel, she looked around again. It was smaller than the Deeprun Tram’s tunnel, with a square-shaped trench running in a groove down the center, and, as with the rest of the gnomish city, it was all metal-plated and seemingly mechanized, though all was inert. Nat followed Nah down the left side as the two avoided the trench, keeping to the high ground, as Nah mentioned wanting to “see” better with a snicker. The tunnel wound on and on, eventually opening into yet another cavernous space. As before, the floor below was hundreds of feet down. As before, though she should have seen it coming this time, Nat squeaked in surprise as Nah scooped her up with one arm and slung her over a shoulder for the third time that day, gliding down to the floor so very far below.
“Bestie Nah!” Nat gasped as they reached the bottom and she was placed, again, on her own two unsteady feet, holding herself upright by grabbing onto Nah’s arm.
“Right, then,” Nah snickered at Nat. “Onward.”
Nah gazed around, her spectral sight causing her eyes to flare up a bit from behind her blindfolds. She turned on the spot slowly, gazing in every direction. When she stopped, a grin spread across her face again.
“Aaaaaahhh… Got ‘em.”
Nah sauntered toward the tunnel to the south as Nat followed, looking all around the room as she went. Massive cogs turned noisily in some colossal machine in the center. The floor here was in good shape still, metal plates from wall to circular wall, though all was covered with a thick layer of dust. Nah covered her nose and mouth with the collar of her black dress with the purple trim, gazing around wide-eyed at the technological marvel of Gnomeregon until they reached the south tunnel.
This tunnel looked just like the one before it, though with what seemed to be a steeper downward pitch and a deeper, broader trench down the center. Down, down, down they went, the area mostly free of gnomes due to so many excursions by adventurers over the years. They passed bits of broken Alarm-O-Bots and pieces of gnomish mechs of various sorts. They were each mostly shells, as each one had been salvaged for parts over the years.
Partway down, the pair passed a tunnel leading off to the left. They paused, Nah’s eyes flaring up as they peered down into the dark depths of the tunnel.
“Uhhh, I wouldn’t,” said Nah, smirking a bit at Nat, who seemed inclined to investigate. “You don’t wanna see what’s down there.”
Nat shuddered, remembering the warning of a dread mutant rat-roach. She scurried after Nah in a hurry, leaving the tunnel behind as quickly as she could.
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 17:03:26 GMT
A few minutes later, the two reached the bottom. The hallway leveled out, but the end was walled off. The lights here weren’t working properly, and it was beyond dim. The two stopped in their tracks, Nah looking with her spectral sight, Nat with glowing purple eyes that had long since adapted to darkness as she grew up in the Duskwood.
This time it was Nat’s turn to shine, albeit only in a small way. She recognized the outline of a sliding door, noting the grooves around the frame, and nodded after a moment.
“What do you think, bestie?” Nah inquired.
“Well, this door is a mechanical door, and it opens by sliding upward, not by pushing or pulling in or out. There should be a button to enter.” Nat peered around, spotting a button on a small panel to the left. She pressed it, and, sure enough, the door slid straight up, just like she said. Beaming with pleasure, Nat followed Nah through.
The moment was short-lived, however. The room was startling in appearance. Hanging from the center of the room like a chandelier was a mechanism that held what appeared to be four gnomish ray guns of some kind, each pointing outward around the centerpiece. The centerpiece itself held faces of some kind of mechanical-looking gnome that put Nat in mind of pictures of Mimiron she’d seen in old books. The face was repeated in larger fashion a half-dozen times all around the room, mounted on things that faced the center platform, as though the eyes themselves might open and blast a target there.
What gave Nat pause far more than the room’s mechanisms, however, was what was standing on that central platform. A large party of green-tinged leper gnomes was aimlessly wandering about on the spot, gibbering to each other in an odd sort of Gnomish, and one of them was wearing an admiral’s hat made of folded paper! The paper hat itself was cleared made from some sort of engineering schematics; it had dimensions, geometric shapes, and mathematical formulae etched all over it. The gnomes seemed to ignore the opening door and the arrival of two Tall Ones.
Nah looked deep in thought, eyeing the room with that impish look on her face that Nat knew meant she was up to something particularly mischievous… and, quite possibly, dangerous.
“Right, well, Tasha,” Nah said, turning that troubling smirk on her. “Infected or not, these little guys are still our allies. I’d feel awful whacking them all for a paper hat… What say you walk up to the platform and pretend to be a trogg?”
“Wh-what?!” Nat spluttered. “I… t-trogg… b-but… how does one even… b-but they HATE troggs! They’ll a-attack me!”
“Exactly!” chuckled Nah. “And while they do, you lead them on a merry chase, and I’ll sneak up on the one guy and yoink that nifty hat!”
“B-but I can’t RUN, bestie! I’ll fall down!
“Best make the most of those twenty steps, then, eh, Tasha?”
Nah cackled maniacally, and then, with a flash and a poof, she disappeared. Nat gulped nervously. She trusted her bestie implicitly not to let anything bad happen to her. She approached the platform uneasily, then, when she got within about ten yards or so of the leper gnomes, she raised her hands, arching her arms forward, and started shuffling forward like a hunchback.
“RRRAAAAAWWWWRRRRR!” she tried. “ME TROGG! ME TAKE PAPER HAT!”
“A TROGG!” gasped one of the gnomes, screeching and pointing.
“VILE TROGG! GET IT!” yelled another.
“EEEEEEEEE!” screeched Nat, turning to flee for the nearest mechanized… whatever it was with the face. Ducking behind it, she peered around the side. No good. The leper gnomes had already found her! She shot back out to the center platform, the gnomes hot on her heels. Seeing the wide-open door, she ran for it that way next. No good! The gnomes were cutting her off, driving her back to the center platform! Nat ran as quickly as she could, but, trying to scramble back up onto the platform, she tripped again. Rolling over onto her back, lower legs draped down the ramp, she looked out at the angry mob coming right for her.
“EEEEEEEEEEEE!” she screeched.
BANG!
A single pistol shot rang out, and the gnome with the paper admiral’s hat was suddenly hatless, though he didn’t seem to notice it. The mob charged at Nat as fast as their little legs would carry them.
“YOINK!” yelled Nat’s bestie’s voice. Nat found herself scooped up, and, for the fourth time, slung over a shoulder. “HYUP!”
Nah had reached her just on time to snatch her from the grubby little three-fingered hands of the leper gnomes, sprinting around them in a wide circle and stooping briefly to grab the paper hat. In the next moment, the two were dashing out the door, being chased by the leper gnomes. Nah, cackling with glee, ran to the button Nat had found earlier as Nat squeaked and screeched, having a front row view as she did to the angry mob of little green people chasing them. Nah snickered as she reached the button, kneeling a bit to get Nat to slap it instead. Nat did so, and the door slammed shut just in time to cut the gnomes off. Their confused voices from the other side revealed muffled plans to find the other button to open the door. That seemed like it would take them a while.
Nah set Nat down on her own unsteady two feet once again, and the two set off back up the tunnel. Upon reaching the first large room, the two stopped, looking around.
“Oh gosh, bestie, how do we get back up again?” Nat asked, looking around with wide purple eyes once again.
“Heh-hah!” snickered Nah. “Good question. Guess I didn’t think about that when I hopped us down here. I reckon one of these tunnels might lead back up, but why spend all the extra time? YOINK! HYUP!”
“EEP!” squeaked Nat. “Not again!”
Nat cackled madly, her bestie slung over one shoulder for the fifth time, and her grappling hook in her free hand. She stuffed the paper hat down over Nat’s head for safe-keeping, and used her grappling hook to take the pair of them back up to the top. Up the next tunnel they went, and, after wading past the oozes in the next cavernous room, Nah picked the highest point in the busted-up floor, beckoning Nat to her with a smirk. Nat sighed in resignation, dragging her feet as she approached the impish Kaldorei. Up she went again for the sixth time. The two reached the next ledge, and Nat found her feet once again.
“I think I’m finally getting used to-“ Nat started.
“YOINK!” Nat shouted, lifting Nat for the seventh time and tossing her over her shoulder again. “HYUP!”
“Bestie Nah!” complained Nat. “What NOW?!”
“I need to get out of this mechanical town before I get a migraine,” chuckled Nah, turning to sprint up the last tunnel. “Plus, it’s just funny to hear you squeak like a mouse.”
Nat sighed, resigning herself to being carried like a sack of potatoes once again. Yet she had to admit, she made it out of Gnomeregon far more quickly than she would have on her own two feet. Before long, the pair were zooming through the train depot and back to the safety of, well, S.A.F.E., rounding the corner, and back onto the elevator. The lift shot upward, and then Nah shot onward. A blast of cold air later and the two emerged into the early-afternoon sunlight of New Tinkertown in Dun Morogh.
“Alright, bestie,” Nah said soothingly, though still with a smirk. “That’s all the yoinking for today. Now, let’s see… Those gnomes back at Tinkertown, they wanted us to pay ninety percent for these schematics we just recovered for ‘em. Why turn them in and pay to get them back? We could just keep ‘em ourselves, y’know…”
“Nah!” Nat gasped, looking scandalized.
“Heh-hah!” snickered Nah, holding up her hands partially in joking surrender. “Okay, okay, I was just havin’ a little fun, Tasha. Let’s go turn these in so we can take them back with a bit of gold exchange… then Ciel can wear that hat! Heh-hah!”
Nat grinned, looking up into the skies, shielding her eyes from the sun. She waved down Onyx, climbing up and sitting side-saddle once again. Nah let loose a sharp whistle, and her weird winged fox swooped in. Nah mounted up as well, and the pair launched into the sky, flying like the wind back to Ironforge.
*******
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Post by Natasha Ebonlocke on Jun 1, 2021 17:05:40 GMT
“Awww, really?” Nah griped jokingly, looking around Springspindle’s Gadgets. The rocket on wheels was gone behind a hastily-erected wooden façade, as was nearly everything else. Nah grinned around the shop, taking in the auras of this and that, getting a feel for what the place must look like with normal vision. She turned her attention to a rather frazzled-looking Springspindle Fizzlegear, who winced as he looked at the troublemaking Kaldorei woman.
“Heh, ‘sup, Springy?” Nah snickered at the little gnome. “How’s ol’ Cogspinner?”
“Ah, yes, eemmm…” Springspindle said, wincing a bit more at Nah’s new nickname for him and wringing his hands. “Dear Mister Cogspinner is… indisposed at the moment. He apparently experienced a series of rather unpleasant heart palpitations from when… well, anyway… He is now at home, resting with his family. We’re sure the fits of diving under beds and the screams of ‘BLOWN TO BITS! BLOWN TO BITS!’ will subside soon. And what of you and your companion here? Were you successful?”
Nah grinned, yoinking the paper hat from Nat’s head, ruffling her hair in the process, and deposited it into Springspindle’s hands. Springspindle looked at it with such a look of disgust, he might well have been one of the snootier of Stormwind’s nobles who had just been given a turd.
“What have those mad fiends DONE to it?!” he moaned, carefully unfolding it. “There are creases all through it! Look, you can barely read the bit about the piston-fired zippy doodad, and the rotor twirler’s all twisted up!”
“Well, if the quality of the product has been diminished, I suppose you’ll be selling it at a lower price, then, amirite?” Nah smirked slyly.
Springspindle moaned, covering his face with his right hand, holding the creased-up schematic in his left. He proceeded to haggle with Nah until a price he was clearly unhappy with was finally reached. Nah grinned over at Nat, pleased at her victory as she counted out the agreed-upon sum.
“Alright, Tasha, what say we head on back to Stormwind and see if we can hunt Ciel down and hand this off to her?”
Nat nodded, waving her bestie through the door first. When Nah was distracted outside talking to another pair of gnomes, Nat turned to Springspindle and gave him another sack of gold from her purse with a wink and a finger raised to her lips. Springspindle looked delighted, and Nat left the shop feeling a bit better about how things had turned out for him. The gnomes started hurriedly taking down the cheap wooden facades from in front of all the things in the shop that go bang, as the gnomes Nah was talking to were now coming in. Nat hurried Nah over to their mounts. They climbed into their respective saddles, turning their mounts to fly back home to Stormwind City. As they rode across the ground first, exiting the tunnel from Tinkertown into the Military Ward, the pair looked at each other, then burst out laughing at the day’s events.
“You know, Bestie Nah,” Nat began as she wiped a few tears of laughter still clinging to her purple eyes. “You really could have just told the first gnome, Hank, that we needed schematics drawn up of an armed flying machine instead of causing so much mischief.”
“But Bestie Tasha,” Nah said with the broadest, most impish grin of the day. “Then it’s just work.”
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