Equestria Was Merely a Setback!

by Thunderscourge

Level 12: Nananana, Nananana, Say Hellooooo

It was on the way inside the farm house that Trixie’s eye caught something. It was a mechanical contraption that formed an odd shape, what one might even call a malformed heart if not for its metallic composition, and the manner in which it moved around despite not being attached to anything else is what drew Trixie’s attention.

Trixie figured it must have fallen off or out of one of the destroyed machines, so she looted it from the ground and held it in one hand as she and Kael went inside. It was whirring around and making mechanical noises still, some oil running down one side of it and the sound of moving gears enticing Trixie’s ears.

Saldean turned and smiled at the two mechanical vanquishers as he closed the door behind them. Captivated by the weird device in her hand, Trixie held it out to him in hopes for an immediate answer about what it was, “Trixie found a thing. What does this thing do?”

“Now what have you got there…” the farmer said to himself as he leaned down to give it a better look. After some brief observation his face became shocked and he turned up to look at Trixie.

“Is that...Is that the heart of one of the watchers?”

Trixie shrugged, as did Kael because neither of them had a clue. Kael hadn’t really noticed what Trixie picked up, and he didn’t even think before that the machines had hearts.

Seeing that neither of them were going to answer his question with anything definitive, the farmer answered his own question as the young children of the house gathered around the taller residents, “I've heard stories about using one of these to power up a watcher for personal use. Of course I'm really in no shape to try such things myself.”

That was all Trixie needed to pull it back towards herself before thrusting it into the air triumphantly.

“Dibs!”

The others in the room were less well versed in such slang, and so Trixie received a chorus of questions from Kael, their two hosts, and the three children present.

“Dibs?”

Realizing that perhaps her own sense of language differed from theirs, Trixie backtracked and composed herself before continuing, “Ahem, may I tinker around with it, Mr. Saldean? It sounds like it would be quite useful.”

“Oh, why sure. From what I've heard, all you really need to do is find a suitable harvest golem and drop in the heart. Once you've done that you should be able to take full control of the creature.”

He took a look outside the window and then pointed in the direction Trixie’s map indicated was west of the farm.

“I think that there's a whole field of overloaded harvest golems west of here, at the Molsen Farm. Look for the arcs of electricty. Should you manage to get it working, use your golem to destroy the energized harvest reapers at the old Molsen farm. Those monsters are much more destructive than the ones on our farm.”

Trixie gave a noblewoman’s laugh as she thought about harnessing the power of one of the behemoths that had so recently wounded both her and Kael. She’d ask him to tag along, but he was in far worse condition than her.

Of course Trixie was not going to admit that she was worried about her still-bleeding companion and friend, so instead she sought a way of keeping him out of this. Her eyes darted around the room until she found Salma working off in one corner on sewing the new clothing for both of them.

“This’ll be fun,” Trixie gave her partner a patronizing pat on the shoulder as she moved to open the door that had just been shut, “Kael, why don’t you help our dear hostess with her sewing?”

The savvy Elf who was beginning to become attuned to Trixie’s eccentricities gave her an annoyed look, “I have a feeling you’re only saying that because usually men do the mechanical things, and women do the sewing.”

By now Trixie was already outside and placing the heart into the body of a lightly damaged Harvester they had defeated earlier by making it crash into another, taking this one offline but not destroying it.

“Sorry, can’t hear you, taking control of a killer robot!”

Kael groaned and shut the door with a slight amount of force, though he took care to make sure it did not slam. Trixie had just signed him up for sewing of all things. Who did she think she was?

After all, it’s not as if she had the comprehension and awareness to actually notice that she could get him to do whatever she wanted, at the cost of some banter of course. She didn’t know he cared for her more than just how partners did, and so she was just being her pretend-bossy self.

“Your lady friend is quite the interesting woman,” Saldean mused as he and the three orphans all moved to the window again to see what was going on outside. Kael spared himself the humiliation of watching Trixie do something cool, but he could still hear her.

“Harvest-tank launching!”

Kael hung his head. She was ridiculous and over the top at times, but he wouldn’t have it any other way.

She owed him one though.

“Believe me, I know,” Kael replied in a half-amused, half-annoyed tone. He only hoped it was not something that ran in the blood. One Trixie was adorable if annoying. Two would kill him. A half dozen would be a living Hel, he’d reckon.

His thoughts about a later chapter in his life with Trixie were brought to a close by Salma calling him over to her.

“Hey handsome, mind helping me for a little while? I’m sure your lover won’t be gone long, and I doubt she’ll be jealous over lil’ old me.”

Lover? That made Kael want to laugh. He had to put up with Trixie’s equine habit of sleeping without conventional clothing every night and he had no such luck.

Perhaps though if he just weathered the pain for now, it’d pay off? Perhaps he could sew Trixie something she’d like—

Kael’s eyes lit up as he realized something.

He could sew her something HE liked.

Trixie had poked around inside of the machine she had taken control over before doing much of anything with it, and from this she actually gained a basic understanding of the motor functions. A puncture wound on the back of the Harvester let her peer inside the large tin can, and Trixie found herself not all that baffled by the inner workings. Perhaps, she considered, she had some experience with mechanical things in her previous memories that were poking out now. Minor experience though, because she still managed to cause the machine to explode after a few minutes of piloting it from the inside.

Trixie groaned as she stumbled back to the farm in a daze, glad that it wasn’t much of a walk. A good part of the day had passed by though because she fainted due to a certain explosion, and so her overall mood was sour. She had wanted to keep piloting the Harvester since it was quite fun to go around inside, “Well, that could have gone better…”

Upon her return to the farm Trixie was met by an enthusiastic Saldean, who ran up to meet her with a bright expression on his face. He seemed to have just finished his farm work for the day and was glad to have something else to focus on, “It actually worked? That's incredible, Trixie. Hopefully that takes care of the harvest golem problem here in Westfall.”

Trixie didn’t want to lie about this to the nice man, especially given that the golems were so dangerous, “I mean, there are still some around. I just misclicked a button and fell out. Then it crashed into another Harvester and exploded. I don’t think they’re meant to be controlled like that.”

It had been fun to slash at unsuspecting Harvesters, but the fun wore off with the bruise Trixie felt on her head. That surely wasn’t going to help her amnesia anytime soon.

“Here, let me bandage you up. You look like you took quite the beating today!”

Trixie submitted to the suggestion and let the elderly man begin patching up her wounds. She wished she had potions like Kael had before, but she doubted such things would be as common in the less magic infused human society.

As the farmer fixed Trixie up at a table on the side of the room, Trixie cast her gaze over to her partner who was seated at the dining room table with various pieces of cloth before him and Salma, “Kael, how was sewing?”

Kael appeared so focused that he didn’t even turn to acknowledge her, though he did respond verbally, “It’s actually not all that hard,” he held up a silver linen t-shirt that was made for Trixie, “Sorry, I could only make your clothing like your hair color. There was no purple dye. I hope it is alright.”

Trixie looked over it and actually found herself impressed he had managed to make something wearable on the first try it seemed. Trixie bit her lip as she realized just how into it he appeared to be, as soon after holding up the garment he went back to working on the matching pants he was making.

“…you’re liking this, aren’t you?”

Extremely handsome, not too masculine overall, a possible interest in sewing…

“Actually, yes,” Kael confirmed, having gotten quite enthralled by the activity as the day progressed. It required focus to do right, and the idea that he might one day improve enough to make something…nice…for Trixie to wear made him all the more determined.

Of course, he had no idea that this made him appear as if he played for the other team in her eyes, and so he blissfully went on making clothing for her as Trixie found herself wondering why she was worried.

It wasn’t as if they were actually involved or anything, or that she was romantically inclined towards her fabulous Elven partner. Nothing like that at all she told herself.

To change the subject from Kael’s fabulousness, Trixie got up from where she was sitting the moment her host was finished bandaging her various cuts and approached her determined partner. As she watched him work a part of her mind realized something odd about making clothing for someone else, someone who wasn’t even there.

“How do I know these will fit?”

“Well, I didn’t have you to model for me so I did my best.”

Kael was pretty sure he had every curve of her body etched into his memory. After all, he had quite the experience every night trying not to look at them for what seemed like hours.

Admittedly, he had to make her pants quite large to fit his large hipped partner, but he deemed it worth it. It was better than making her a skirt, which could be looked up, or making a more form fitting pair of pants, which would drive him insane at every point of the day in addition to his normally frustrating nights.

Trixie picked up and began to pull on the shirt only to realize that it wasn’t quite taut, “This is so loose.”

“Better to err on the side of caution. If it was too tight your b—I mean it might rip with how much wear and tear they’ll take.”

Making her clothing went both ways. If he made it appealing to him, it would also appeal to other men, and Kael didn’t want her to draw unnecessary attention. Not in that way at least. So loose, form concealing clothing it was.

Besides, it’d help him not notice her body. So win-win, even if Trixie found it weird.

Trixie bought the excuse, “You’re right…” she paused to look the shirt over more, and quickly began to think about wearing it the moment she could change, “Thanks.”

It was then that Trixie noticed that across the table where Salma was working there was a set of red cloth and some leather pads dyed red as well. It seemed that she was making some kind of reinforced clothing for Kael, which Trixie considered a good idea since Kael was determined to not let her get hurt, and who was she to go against his wishes?

“You really like red.”

Kael shrugged nonchalantly as he continued to sew. He wanted to finish the pants now so that later in the night he could perhaps do socks, which he had noticed Trixie didn’t seem to remember existed, “I feel as if I have an affinity towards it, though it’s not my favorite color.”

Trixie ran a hand through his hair, “Well I think it fits you, I mean after all—”

She paused as she almost admitted his true identity as leader of the Blood Elves…a race which had red as one of its main colors. To go along with their cover and to make up for her momentary falter, Trixie shifted her sentence as she leaned in close to Kael’s face.

“You look so handsome in it.”

He blushed as he felt her lips press against his left cheek, though it was followed by a very soft whisper.

“I’m keeping our cover. Say anything and die.”

As if to break up what might possibly become an indecent exchange of kissing in front of the young children, Saldean spoke up and started with a laugh.

“While you two were busy I prepared some ingredients for a stew. We’ll be cooking some meals for the homeless here in Westfall. Would you care to assist us?”

To tease Kael about his less than masculine new hobby, Trixie needled him with a sweet but patronizing voice, “Of course. I am sure Kael loves cooking.”

Even awestruck by the warmth on his cheek, Kael wasted no time in retorting her statement, “If it has to do with plants, I’m sure Trixie knows better how to prepare them.”

Salma assumed it was because of her being a vegetarian or on a diet, her husband didn’t care, but Trixie was plain confused why Kael would say something so odd, “Why would you think—”

Horses eat plants.

Trixie wanted to retaliate in some fashion, but she couldn’t because it’d draw attention to the issue rather than let it fade.

It was in this manner that Trixie found herself cooking a meal with marginal help from Kael, who just smugly grinned at her as he mostly sat to the side with his beautiful sewing.

Trixie wanted to grumble and complain, but she didn’t as she made the food lest she appear ungrateful for all she was being given by the farmers. After Trixie and Salma finished cooking the latter thanked the former sincerely, even bowing to her momentarily.

“Bless your heart, dear. These poor orphans haven't had a hot meal in days.
And it does look like we will have enough left over to help feed some of the homeless of Westfall.”

Trixie averted her eyes and began to poke the ground with one foot, one hand rubbing the back of her neck nervously while the other hung at her side, “It’s nothing. I may have even done them harm with how bad it might be.”

Salma’s husband gave a hearty laugh from the nearby dining table where he and Kael both sat, “Oh nonsense. It's been many years since anyone has offered to lend us aid, you two. Had you not come along, we might not have made it through the coming winter. You have proven yourself to be selfless individuals - people that we can trust. I can only wish we had something of value to offer you.”

This time Kael spoke up, given how nervous he could see Trixie was at receiving genuine praise and not something more superficial, “Everything you have granted us is more than enough. We are grateful for your hospitality.”

Salma began to pack up the stew when she realized how it was already mid-afternoon, when she ought to see about getting things prepared for the night and finishing the rest of the tasks she had to do. The stew ought to go to the mouths it was meant for though, and while the three orphans in the house were currently enjoying it along with some bread there were still many other hungry souls out there.

“Our little girl works at Sentinel Hill and is very close with the homeless of Westfall. Perhaps she can help distribute what we’ve made tonight. Could you run an errand for us to her?”

Kael wasn’t looking forward to carrying a lot of stew a long distance, but perhaps he could convince Trixie to carry him if he carried it all, “You mean Hope? I was meaning to ask, she seems a bit shy. Is there a reason for that?”

Salma and her husband exchanged glances, sighed, and then she spoke up with some reservation. It seemed to be a touchy, private subject that Kael almost regretted asking about the moment he saw their expressions.

“About four years ago, in the dead of night, a little girl walked right into our farmhouse and collapsed on the floor. Nobody had a clue as to her identity. The poor little thing had no recollection of who she was or where she came from - truly a lost soul.”

Salma paused before smiling to herself. She remembered that day well, and while it brought her almost to tears to think about what the poor girl had to have been through it did not make her any less happy about the family they’ve become since.

“Soon after, we adopted the little girl and named her Hope - for that is what she represented,” Salma continued to smile as she finished her tale, “She is now a very young lady, caring for the destitute and homeless of Westfall. Now, before it gets cold, please take my Westfall stew to her at Sentinel Hill, south of here.”

Any follow up to that conversation was cut off by the sound of hacking across the room, where the young Kikka had tried eating a piece of bread too big for her small throat. She threw it up along with some of the stew she had ingested, causing Salma to rush over to her side like a mother ought to.

“Oh Kikka, chew before you swallow!”

“Sorry mommy…” the child apologized as Trixie took one container of stew and motioned for Kael to take the other.

“Well, we’ll take the stew! See you all later!”

Kael didn’t know why Trixie rushed outside, but after they escaped the house and she blanched he began to figure out why.

“Bleh!”

“Bleh?” Kael joked, amused by the random noise she made.

Trixie wanted to cross her arms as they moved away from the house, though the idea that she could transform and make this easier on them both did not cross her mind, “Yes, bleh. I don’t know how they can stand it,” she stuck her tongue out as if she was still disgusted to make up for how she could not cross her arms crossly, “Skipping past the icky-smushy page would be nice.”

Kael smirked as he imagined a way to make a conversation go right over Trixie’s head. It was becoming his favorite pastime.

“Perhaps adoption would suit you then?”

As the two continued on their path to Sentinel Hill Trixie paused to think. It did not take her long to come to a conclusion though as she soon shrugged her shoulders. She had taken a moment to change right before they finished cooking and was finding herself comfortable in the clothes Kael helped make for her…even if they were pretty loose.

“Eh, that feels a little less personal. After all, why would I deprive the world of more of myself?” Trixie laughed haughtily, unknowingly sending a chill down Kael’s spine, “What do you think about adoption?”

That was something that had been toying in Kael’s mind ever since he found out about his identity. Wouldn’t certain things be expected of him as the Prince and future King of his people?

“If I am to be king I believe I ought to have my own bloodline carried, but so long as that is fulfilled I would not mind also adopting,” seeing Trixie nod made him grow a devilish grin. Perhaps he could use this topic to investigate something, “After all, it’s not as if I won’t have the resources to have as many as I please.”

Trixie glowered at him, “Are you talking about a harem or are you referencing the fact that you will be rich?”

“…I can’t have both?”

He said it innocently yet smugly enough to invoke the reaction he was hoping from her: jealousy. While perhaps not 100% pure unadulterated jealousy, Trixie was not pleased by him saying he was interested in a harem, which she would have no stakes in if she didn’t have some emotional attachment to him of some fashion. In reality Kael would just be happy to stay with his dear partner every step of the way without anyone else, but he could feign a different interest if it meant revealing what Trixie’s thoughts were.

Trixie threw her nose up in the air, her voice sharp as she berated him, “Hmmmph. Good luck finding women of any worth who would be willing to be a part of such a system.”

“Oh yes, I must work on my pick up lines for later. ‘Excuse me miss, I am a rich and powerful King. Would you like to join me in the palace?’ Does that work?”

The sarcasm soaked into his words made Trixie snap, “Oh quiet, showoff. I never pictured you as the more-than-one sort of man.”

There it was again, but it was about time Kael revealed his ruse so as to not anger Trixie in any permanent fashion, “That’s because I’m not, but it is fun to see you get ruffled about it.”

“I’m not ruffled!” she denied as her voice grew increasingly agitated, directly contradicting her statement.

Kael let out a nervous cough to bridge back to the previous topic, “Anyways, to answer your question, yes, I can see myself having an adopted child or two.”

“Good.”

Kael smirked. She might not even know it yet, but he could tell there was something there.

“Why is that good?” he smarmily joked.

“Stop questioning me Kael, we’re here!”

Trixie was right, because in the near distance on the path they were headed was what each of them assumed was the destination: a large circular set of disconnected walls with gaping holes in their defenses that all sat around a tower that served as the main structure, and all around the landscape there were enough people with the appearance of stragglers to populate the entire area into the hundreds.

Sentinel Hill really looked like it could use a hand.

As they approached Trixie found herself a bit frightened about the prospect of giving homeless people food. The whole street rat thing made her feel off, as if it was something else she could feel at the tip of her mind but not at the point of conscious thought. As such she gave Kael the stew she had been carrying and opted to go look around rather than directly interact with the cause of her unease.

“I did the last big thing Kael all alone while you were sewing like a little girl, so you’re up next. I want to look around.”

Kael tried to chase after her but the encumbrance of twice the amount of stew containers kept him from actually doing so.

“Wait, Trixie—”

She was already out of sight since Kael dropped his gaze to focus on the wobbling stew in his arms, at which point he lost track of her.

He sighed at his fortune. Now he was going to have to help with twice as much stew, since both he and Trixie correctly assumed that when they got to their destination they would be obligated to help the teen distribute all the stew.

“Well, damn.”

Trixie’s words sunk into him then, causing Kael to shout after her.

“And sewing is a legitimate profession!”

Some of the disgruntled, disheveled crowd nearby gave him a look that Kael indignantly returned.

“What are you looking at? I’m perfectly secure.”

As Trixie slipped away from her poor partner she tried to find a place to go that had less street rats, a place where perhaps she could sort out her feelings and maybe remember something. On the far side of the settlement she noticed a patch of trees that did not have downtrodden people by them and so Trixie set it as her new destination.

On her way Trixie passed by the tower and found herself overall unimpressed. It was not even more than a few stories tall, ending at about the height the stonewalls surrounding the area were made out of…though one must wonder what the purpose was of having a defensive perimeter that did not fully encircle your base?

On her way past the tower Trixie overheard a conversation from the structure that caught her sensitive ears given the odd word one man said.

“Might I ask, what's with the worgen in the stocks?”

Worgen? That didn’t sound familiar to Trixie. Stocks did though, and Trixie assumed it was a derivative form of “stockade”.

Trixie moved to get a better look at those talking, though it was all she could do to keep from gasping at the sight of their conversation’s subject.

“We caught this beast skulking by the farms up north. He is unrepentant and easily agitated. Keep your distance, lieutenant.”

Held in stocks as mentioned by one of the two men speaking was a werewolf of sorts, neither wolf nor man, with grey and white fur as well as a dark mane of hair on his head. His small, bloodshot eyes served as a tool to further creep Trixie out, and his struggling in his bonds did not make him anything less than intimidating. He appeared large enough to tear a man apart with his bare hands, or rather claws, if given a moment.

The so called Worgen snarled as he continued to try and free himself violently, “When I break out of these stocks I'm going to rip out your heart and devour it whole!”

One of the two men walked away, leaving the other to look at the Worgen with amusement, “Wow, the marshal wasn't kidding.”

The man walks over to the Worgen and smirks as he pulls out a pair of sunglasses, “But is your bark...”

Trixie cringed not from fear of the Worgen anymore but rather of fear about the line she was sure was about to be said.

The Human finishes slipping on his sunglasses as he speaks, “Worse than your bite?”

“That joke was in terrible taste,” Trixie groaned. Okay, so there were wolf people. That was a thing. A terrifying thing, but a thing nonetheless.

She continued on her previous path to the trees without further interruption, something she wasn’t entirely sure she was content with. She had almost hoped Kael would run after her and chastise her for abandoning him…

A noise faintly familiar to Trixie drew her attention from her thoughts, because it was a noise she hadn’t heard since she arrived in Westfall.

“What was that?”

She couldn’t exactly determine what it was, but Trixie still wanted to seek it out and see what was giving the sound of an animal that ought not to be this far south.

After some brief wandering, Trixie found a Mana Wyrm chained to one of the trees she had approached. It was out of sight of the main encampment of the Humans and as such did not appear to be a part of the city, but Trixie couldn’t really find an easy explanation as to why such a being would be right here. Did they have these here too? For some reason that felt odd and wrong, given that it was the opposite half of a continent.

“Naaa…” the animal weakly let out, its normally floating and shining body limply hanging on the ground. It appeared skinnier and bluer than normal Mana Wyrms, though Trixie doubted the latter had much to do with the former. What she could see though was that the poor animal was starving, and that was simply unacceptable.

“Awww, poor thing,” Trixie cooed as she approached it and lowered herself down to its level. It was most definitely chained to the tree, but a little frost magic to chill the chain so much it became brittle solved that dilemma.

Even freed, the Wyrm did not get up. It seemed disheartened, as if it didn’t have a will to rise.

Trixie ran a hand gently over its smooth scales. It really was like an eel in its texture and that made touching it both a little weird as well as nice, since it was soft.

“What are you doing so far away from home?”

“Naaa…” it responded, its linear body curving to have both its glowing eyes look up at Trixie.

Well, someone left it for dead, and Trixie felt like she owed the Mana Wyrm community a favor after the damage she was told to do to it previously. As such she continued to pet it with the intention of making it want to be her pet.

“Don’t you want to come with me?” she gestured to the broken chain, “See, you don’t have chains on you anymore. No more mean humans to trap you.”

It didn’t move though. Whoever left it there must have really instilled a sense that it ought to stay there in the Wyrm or else Trixie could not explain why it was being so stubborn.

“I promise I don’t bite,” Trixie looked around to see if anyone was looking before she followed up with a joke, “Well, at least while I’m in this body. I think I may have nibbled on Kael last night since he has some marks on his neck that don’t look like claws, but I was dreaming about food, okay? Nothing weird about that.”

The Wyrm continued to look at Trixie just as it had, but the fact that she was being stared at made Trixie self-conscious.

“Oh don’t give me that look. We’re just partners. I’ve only known him a few days. What, do you think I want to be his queen or something? Don’t be ridiculous.”

Her words seemed to be having no real effect on the Wyrm as Trixie continued to indulge herself in self-accosting behavior.

“Hey, this isn’t about me!” Trixie groaned. Why was this so difficult? Couldn’t every Huntard do it? “Why won’t you come with me? I promise I’ll find you something to eat. You look starved you poor little Wyrm.”

The mention of food made the little beast rise. Seeing that she had its attention, Trixie smiled at the Wyrm as it began to float finally.

“That’s a good Wyrm. Come, we’ll go see how Kael is doing. I bet he’s done something to scrape together a few coins, and so we can all afford something to eat.”

Trixie stood back up and began to walk away only to realize it was not following her. She turned back and noticed its hesitant budging towards her, as if it was not sure it should or not, but with a beckoning hand Trixie managed to call it to her side.

“Good boy…or girl…” she looked over the reptile to no avail, “I can’t tell to be honest.”

The Wyrm began to float about randomly around Trixie which ended up giving her an idea.

“Boy one spin around me, girl two spins.”

The Mana Wyrm did two laps around her and Trixie pumped a fist into the air to celebrate the occasion.

“Haha, now we outnumber Kael!”

“I smell Westfall stew! Mother sent you!?”

Kael had just walked right into the tower, where a guard directed him after he politely asked where to find Hope, when the cheerful voice of Hope met his ears. He now got a better look at her than the other night when she slipped by him, though all it ended up doing was affirm what he saw previously: a teenage girl about the age of the next two oldest Saldean orphans put together wearing a white and grey outfit that formed a monochrome look with her black hair.

“Yes, she had me come along to bring it to you.”

Hope nodded and helped Kael set it down so she could begin transferring it to some nearby containers to distribute it in, “There are many people here who simply no longer have the means or inclination to keep themselves fed. They have given up hope,” she paused at the pun to smile at Kael, “Do you understand what it means to be left so hopeless as to stop caring about life? We must work together to show them that there is hope. That with the dawning day a better life comes.”

The way she smiled at her own unfortunate life…Kael had seen that once before, and it didn’t sit right with him any more this time than the last.

Hope held out a few bowls of the stew to Kael, still smiling as she spoke, “Take my mother's stew and help feed the homeless around Sentinel Hill.”

The fact that someone who was likely half his age or less was giving him orders made Kael want to laugh, but he chose not to in order to not demean her, “A bit bossy for a little girl, aren’t you?”

She chuckled at his observation, “Oh you have no idea. Now do it, please.”

Kael actually wasn’t all that ready to go about doing this without first learning a bit more about the location, so he could perhaps avoid any unsavory company, “Mind if I ask a couple questions?”

“Have you fed the homeless?” Hope cheekily responded, in effect implying that she would talk to him after he was done doing his job.

To that Kael relented, for he could feel a distinct stubbornness in this girl, “Fine, fine.”

Kael went about distributing the stew to various members of the community, though he wished they had the willpower to come to the stew instead of forcing him to get up and approach each and every one of them with it. These people really did seem to be without hope, as if they had checked out of life itself. Was this the result of a city casting out its own members to a dangerous land?

“Thank you…” one member of the community said to Kael as he gave them what likely was their first meal of the day, but as Kael began to leave them behind to continue he was brought to a halt just like Trixie had been.

“The Defias said they are recruiting…”

“What, you want to be a criminal?”

“If it means we get fed, why not? What has Stormwind done for us?”

Defias…Stormwind…Kael continued to listen in on two of the nearby poor men with definite interest.

“But the Defias got crushed a few years back by that joint expedition. How are they gonna pay up?”

“I heard they just got a huge payoff from somebody. They’re richer than ever, and they wanna use the money to expand their numbers—”

It was then that the two men noticed Kael lingering nearby them, and the one that had been speaking turned to face the Elf with a dark glare.

“Hey, what are you looking at, pointy ears?”

Kael placed the last of the stew down by the feet of the man before holding his hands out in a gesture suggesting he was nonchalant about the conversation.

“Nothing. But if Stormwind has wronged you, why not take a stand against it?”

One of the men looked at the other with curiosity, “You hear that?” he turned back to Kael with a furrowed brow, “What, you one of the Defias?”

“No, just a traveler who is not so fond of oppressive authority right now. So go ahead and strike back at the ones who have ruined your lives,” Kael joked at first, though his voice became colder and colder with every word after that, “Just be careful and don’t let it slip up into harming innocents. I hear the Defias is a plague on this land. There are good people here. I won’t tell if you join them, in fact I’m all for the idea, but if I run into you and see you harming an innocent soul there will be no mercy.”

Kael supported these Humans in getting back at their leaders who had so carelessly cast them aside, but the harming of innocents crossed a definite line. While some might just see this as a black and white issue of thieves versus order, he saw it more as a battle between those in power and those who were powerless. In this case he felt more for the underdog, though that did not mean he would excuse bad behavior not directed at the deserving foe.

“You’re a weird guy, Elf,” one of the men took the stew and began to back away from Kael, who was beginning to frighten them with his tone, “Thanks for the stew.”

“You’re welcome. Just be smart with what you choose to do.”

The poor mostly had been on the outskirts, so it took a moment for Kael to return to the tower. When he did return though it was to a smiling Hope, who held out a pouch of coins like what he had received before.

“You have a kind heart, Kael’thas. You have done a good thing, today, and that act will reflect back upon you when judgment day comes.”

Once again she left without saying much more, but Kael felt no desire to chase her down. She must have her reasons for being so shy, and he wasn’t about to go and make her uncomfortable over nothing.

“What an eccentric kid…”

Kael opened the pouch and found not silver pieces inside, but rather gold pieces. He hid the shock from his face quickly though given the hundreds of destitute souls around him, some of whom were considering joining a thieves guild. He didn’t think everyone to be bad here, but he was worried that someone unscrupulous would take the gift he was just given.

“Kael, look what I found!”

By the time Kael turned around he was face to face with Trixie, who had run over to him after finally tracking him down. He had been moving around so much she had a little difficulty finding him, and since she hadn’t met Hope she was not able to use her to help.

Kael instantly noticed the floating animal by Trixie’s side, since it seemed quite interested in floating about in quite the energetic fashion. It being there did not explain it being there though, so Kael decided to confront the mind boggling subject before acknowledging the subject of taking in stray animals, “What is a Mana Wyrm doing here?”

Trixie really didn’t care. She had a beautiful and friendly pet now that glowed with magic. Perfect for someone like her, “I don’t know, but isn’t she pretty?”

Kael had to admit that the animal had some beauty to it with how it shimmered with magic, but he was still worried about the implications of it being here.

“Someone might own her. Have you seen any other Elves?”

Trixie scoffed and crossed her arms, “Are you accusing me of stealing Trixie junior?”

“No, not at all,” Kael paused before scrutinizing the abominable name just used, “And we are not naming her Trixie junior.”

“I think the name suits her fine,” came the obvious disagreement from the first Trixie, who was quite indignant that Kael was not honoring her right as the one who found it to name it.

“And what, pray tell, would you have named it if it was a male?”

“Ka—why do you keep asking me such weird questions?”

So she would have named it Kael Junior. Not obvious or anything. So she was seeing this as their “baby” of sorts? Kael sighed as he realized that this was not the kind of adoption he had meant earlier, as well as that they weren’t exactly in the best position to be taking in other mouths to feed.

Still, the fact that Trixie out of nowhere had a Mana Wyrm made Kael unsettled. It wouldn’t be this far south if someone didn’t bring it this far south, meaning it belonged to someone else, “Did you steal it?”

Trixie became grumpy as she found herself defending her illicit action, “Someone left her out in chains, and she is starving. I couldn’t just leave her.”

To that Kael did not have a further objection. If they were removing it from the care of someone abusive then perhaps this was for the best, even if it should only last as long as until they returned north, “So what are we going to name her?”

“Lulamoon the third?” Trixie asked cutely, hoping to get this one to work.

Kael glared at her. He knew she was egotistical, but this was just silly, “Trixie.”

“What? Lulamoon sounds better than Sunstrider, which is why I used it as our last name.”

“I think Trixie Sunstrider would be just fine,” Kael said with a smirk, knowing its real meaning would go over Trixie’s head given her seeming obliviousness.

As expected Trixie had no real reaction to it, “We’ll do that later, but for now we need a name for our new pet. If you are so clever, why don’t you come up with one?”

Kael was forced to actually think now. He had taken it for a given that Trixie would put all the effort into this, so he hadn’t even come up with a single idea better than Trixie’s, “How about…”

The Mana Wyrm began to make noise as if it was voicing its opinion, except it could only make the one noise, “Naaaa…naaaaa….”

The noises together gave Kael an idea, though as he said it he wasn’t quite so sure about it, “Na-na?”

Trixie scoffed at the name, “Nana? What, like an old grandma?”

“Nana” began floating around Kael at an excited pace, making it seem like it was displaying approval. Trixie took a step back and gasped, taken aback that the Wyrm didn’t like her choices.

“…Trixie Lulamoon the third, please tell me you don’t like that silly name?”

“Naaa,” the Wyrm bobbed up and down in a manner that resembled a nod. This made Trixie finally throw in the towel, and she groaned as she conceded the naming war.

“Fiiiiiiine, Nana it is.”

Kael pointed at Trixie and smiled while giving his first command to their new pet.

“Nana, go to Trixie.”

The Mana Wyrm happily floated over to Trixie and brushed up against her face.

“That’s a good girl,” Trixie laughed as the slippery feeling of the Wyrm tickled her cheek.

Trixie was glad she ditched Kael now. It resulted in a nice pet, even if it didn’t like her names for it.