• Published 15th Jan 2015
  • 4,654 Views, 1,358 Comments

Equestria Was Merely a Setback! - Thunderscourge



Trixie, stranded from Equestria and in a mysterious land named Azeroth, tries to get by day by day...but it'd be easier if there weren't so many Crack Elves, zombies, and pesky gnomes getting in her way! Comedy/satire crossover with World of Warcraft

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Rest Experience 5: Brewtiful Celebration!

A/N: Special thanks to SilentMech, Mister E, and refferee for joining me last time with our meta chapter. I may do more of those in the future as bonus material things, so I hope to hear from you on them since I'm willing to answer questions and things about the stuff I mention there!

Hope you enjoy this brewtastic chapter, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! This chapter would have taken weeks more to finish due to my workload right now if not for your comments last (real) chapter, so I do hope you will inspire me once again with your comments here!


With a crowd rallying behind her, Trixie managed to corral some of the viewers and some of the participants into joining her on her quest to defeat the Scarlet Crusade on their own turf. The crowd was not an army but rather a random assortment of those willing to join her, starting with the mercenary that she learned was named Bronn, and also two of her previously defeated opponents, the Dwarf and Gnome she faced in the first round. In an attempt to ride off her glory and cast aside their shame at having been defeated so easily they found themselves in her party.

The other participants had not joined her, especially not the now imprisoned Hunter, but those enthusiastic enough in the crowd had. None of them were fighters or soldiers of any known repute, according to Lavitz, but bodies could make a difference. Out of all of them only one stood out to Trixie in that they had dyed hair, blue at that, which led to the following altercation.

“Blue hair? I didn’t think Humans had those.”

“Hey, we can have all sorts of hair! Haven’t you heard of hair dye? Sheesh, especially coming from silver and blue…”

Trixie kept her mouth shut about the issue after that, and was just glad that she had recruited a spirited ally. When they all took to leave Stormwind behind, however, the group ran into a snag: for right outside the city’s walls was a festival that seemed as if it had been sprung up within the past few hours.

“What is this?” Trixie questioned, only for Lavitz to slap his forehead and groan. The blonde soldier sighed and hung his head as he sorted through how to deal with this complication.

“Brewfest? Really?”

A member of the festival, seemingly an officiator of sorts given his uniform and dress, stumbled over to the group and hoisted a wooden mug of beer up into the air…which meant about navel height for most of those gathered, as he was a Dwarf and thus the action was not as dramatic as it may have otherwise been.

“Of course werrrre having a fesst! It’s that, hup, time of yir!”

Lavitz shook his head and scowled, losing his normal good cheer as he thought about how this might delay them given the up and rising event’s popularity amongst many.

“It’s not Fall, you drunkards. Not every month is Brewfest!”

The Dwarf seemed to sober slightly at the scolding, “Oh…” he turned and faced the small grouping of tents, tables, and stands, “Oi! Fellas, it’s not the right timm of yar!!”

Burps, laughs, and hiccups came in response to the displeasure of all that heard them except the Dwarf himself. Having heard their thoughts on the matter, the Dwarf shrugged and drank from his mug.

“Me fellas say they don’t care. Beer is bur!”

Lavitz shook his head one last time as he turned around to face the others, “Yes, it seems so.”

Kael and Trixie were each still confused, but Lavitz began to speak and clear things up before they could question this happenstance again.

“Sorry for not explaining. There is a yearly festival, known as Brewfest, that people of every faction and race partake in. There are pretzels, assortments of cheese, and of course there are all kinds of brews. Given that the organizers this year have not really thought things through, I doubt as many brews have been prepared in time, but the booze they do have ought to be cheap despite its higher than average quality.”

Trixie’s long ears visibly perked up at the mention of alcohol. She had money. Life savings level money, if she were to be frugal. She could afford a glass or fifty of her favorite drink.

“Do they serve wine?”

Kael shook his head after looking over the area and spotting no bottles or glasses for them, “Probably not. Bit too high brow for this low brow crowd I would reckon.”

Trixie nudged Kael and winked at him, “Haha, it’s funny because they are low to the ground,” not realizing that he hadn’t intended to make a joke, she whispered smugly, “I understand humor.”

The group of about ten they had managed to get together from the arena was enthused by the prospect of drinking themselves silly before heading out, and given that most of the day was already over it was agreed upon that they all would participate in the event, sleep the alcohol off, and head out the next morning.

Lots of cheering and boisterous yells greeted Trixie, Kael, and Lavitz to the event as they split off from their allies. It was overwhelming in some ways to the former two, while not phasing the experienced soldier in the slightest. He had been to many such celebrations, and now that they were becoming a bigger thing his only problem was that it was going to set them back slightly on time.

“Drink, drink, drink, drink!” came the shouting of a crowd gathered around two people drinking in a competitive format.

A stall set up by the entrance had a woman in full armor, helmet included, ordering in a tomboyish voice, “Hey, bud, you got any cider?”

“We have some applejack liquors, if you wish.”

For whatever reason that made the woman shake her head and laugh to the confusion of the Human behind the counter, “Hehe, no thanks, I’d laugh too much when I drink it.”

As Trixie and Kael each tried to make sense of the festivities, Lavitz spotted someone across from the entrance who he recognized. He took no time in announcing this, as he lifted an arm up and began both waving and shouting to them.

“Hey, you with the fur! Chen!”

Indeed the man being called to had fur, and by far was not like any of the others gathered at the proceedings. Black and white fur covered his tall and rotund body, which in turn was covered by a black and white robe. He had a jug nearby him that he just finished emptying into the mug of a Human who had been talking to him, and over his shoulder was a staff with what appeared to be more empty containers for liquids.

His sensitive ears picking up on Lavitz calling his name, this ‘Chen’ turned to face him and smiled broadly as he came to join them by the entrance.

“Lavitz my friend! How are you? You seem paler and skinnier since I last saw you. Do they pay soldiers in celery these days?”

Lavitz laughed as he moved to shake hands with the bear-like humanoid whose fur was most like that of a Panda. Kael and Trixie stood back and tried to understand while the two went through their greetings.

“I would have cherished celery the past few months. I was captured by some bandits, only to be freed by my two companions here.”

Lavitz turned back and held an arm out to the two Elves, who Chen seemed confused to see in this setting.

“This is my friend, Chen Stormstout. He and I met when he came to these lands looking for a new brew to make. Chen, this is Trixie Lulamoon and her companion—”

It had taken him a moment, but Chen’s eyes shot open and he jumped back a step and moved a paw to the staff he previously held in one, taking a defensive stance as he finished Lavitz’s sentence, “Kael’thas Sunstrider?”

Kael nodded, not being caught off guard by bad reactions at this point, “In the flesh,” he moved a hand from his chest to his head, “and mind.”

Lavitz decided to be the arbiter to clear things up, since he knew Chen would trust him, “There is a fake pretending to be him currently. He is seeking to take back his position and remove the imposter, who is running their people into the ground.”

Chen relaxed and lowered his second paw-hand, “I see,” this done, he bowed before Kael and gave him respect befitting of a Prince, “I am honored to meet you, Prince Sunstrider. Any friend of Lavitz is a friend of mine. I apologize for my reaction, but, as a traveler, having heard of what happened in Silvermoon—”

He would have finished his explanation if not for poking and prodding on his forearm. Chen looked down to see Trixie looking over his fur with seeming wonder, her face inquisitive and her mind seemingly not understanding that this was an invasion of personal space.

“Uh, yes, I have fur. All of my kind do, so if you wouldn’t mind…”

Trixie didn’t seem to notice that she was being spoken to, instead talking to herself, “Talking panda…” after a moment of thought, she let go of Chen’s fur and pumped her fists in the air, “I’m not alone! Yes!”

Kael gently guided Trixie away from Chen and flashed an apologetic look at the man, “Please excuse her. You are the first Pandaren she has met.”

Chen nodded, not really understanding what Trixie had said but understanding what the Prince had explained. His laid-back personality resulted in him not really caring about Trixie’s insensitive prodding of him, and her seeming closeness to the Prince who she let touch and move her made him even less wanting to bring attention to it, “Ah, well, yes. We do not leave our island very often, and those who do tend to be wanderers such as myself. I would imagine nearly everyone outside Pandaria has little to no experience with my kind.”

Trixie turned to Kael and tugged on his sleeve, whispering as she thought about her new discovery, “Can I ask Chen some questions?”

Kael acquiesced to her wishes and took Lavitz with him to a nearby bar where stools and a couple tables had been set up around a stall with kegs. Once it was just them, Trixie jumped right into questioning the now confused Chen.

“What do you know about talking horses?”

Chen furrowed his brow and laughed at the random and absurd question, “Do you mean centaurs? Or maybe a Dryad?” he paused a moment before remembering a detail from a recent journey, “Oh no, wait, those are deer. My mistake.”

Trixie shrugged, as she was just happy to hear about any and all talking animals from a talking ‘animal’ like herself, “Anything works.”

“Well, I hear that Centaurs are a menace to the Darkspear Isles and I have had minor altercations with them there in my travels, but I cannot say I know them well. Half-humanoid, half-equine beings that are known to be...well, savage. I would not suggest seeking them out.”

Trixie bowed her head and tried to replicate the bow he gave to Kael, but found herself less practiced and it came off in an awkward fashion, “Thank you, Pandaman.”

Chen laughed, finding himself amused by this Elf’s eccentric nature, “Anything I can do to be of help. Why such an odd question though?”

Trixie looked around to make sure no-one was listening to them. After making sure they were clear, she leaned in and whispered, “I may or may not be a shapeshifting horse who changes forms when she sneezes.”

Chen reached into a pocket and produced a vial of what appeared to be—

“Pepper?” Chen jokingly asked, as he extended it out to Trixie.

Trixie shook her head no, not wanting to transform in the middle of a festival. People were beginning to like her, and she did not want to spoil her reputation by becoming a horse all of a sudden, “Hehe, no. No thank you.”

Chen nodded and smiled to her as he put it away, “I can look into the matter more if you wish, as I do travel the world and all of its wonders. I would not mind returning to Darkspear Isles and the shores nearby it to corral information, though I do not know when I would next meet you.”

This was great news to Trixie, who was beginning more and more to want to find out about herself, possibly using these Centaurs to perhaps explain things, “I would be most grateful and be willing to even pay you for your troubles when we next meet.”

Chen chuckled and shook his head no, “Oh, no payment necessary. I would be glad for the experience alone.”

Trixie bowed again, this time doing so in a less awkward fashion, “Thank you, Chen.”

“Oh, I am no longer Pandaman? What is this world coming to?” he laughed.


“What do you think they are talking about?”

Lavitz snickered as he brought a mug of beer to his mouth. He had almost forgotten what it tasted like and was grateful to have some now, especially since some of the best brews came at these festivals.

What amused him though was not the beer, but the transparent jealousy in Kael’s question, leading Lavitz to tease him, “How she loves men with a lot of fur, no doubt.”

The death glare he received did little to spoil his mood or amusement. Sure fire might be able to melt right through his armor, but he knew Kael wouldn’t strike him out of anger nor fire him due to a joke. While they were of different stations, they got along in a manner that did not feel master-servant and Lavitz did not want to segue into such a relationship when he could get along so much better with the man in a friendly way.

“What? It’s not as if she is taken or anything. She is free to talk with whatever men she wishes.”

To Lavitz’s surprise, Kael nodded in agreement without arguing the point at all.

“You are right.”

That put Lavitz off, especially after he just told Trixie to try and win Kael over at the arena. He saw that they were a good couple, but how they had not come to the same conclusion was still eluding him, “Just gonna give up like that?”

Kael shrugged, not seeing any kind of urgency to the topic at hand. He was happy with how things were and did not want to be the one to ruin them, “I’m not all that worried that Trixie is going to run off on me, nor do I see a need to woo her at this very moment.”

Lavitz could see what he was getting at, but that didn’t mean that it encompassed the subject completely or was without flaws, “Say a handsome man with power, wealth, and charm comes and asks for her to join him over dinner. I am sure you know more than a few womanizers, or at least did once upon a time.”

Kael felt his shoulders sink as he thought back to Silvermoon, where he did in fact know of a womanizer who was all of the listed things. But he did not fear Reuenthal poaching Trixie…the man was a loyal retainer and, unlike Lavitz, held the barrier between himself as a servant to his perceived master. He would never so much as look at Trixie inappropriately if he thought Kael had the slightest interest in her, and he most certainly would not regardless due to her partnership with Kael on equal terms. Kael could perceive that to his followers that such a thing equated to “queen-in-the-making”, “mistress”, “consort”, or even just “very close friend”.

But how many other handsome men with a slew of good qualities were there out there? The thought that he might lose out to someone who did not have half the passion for her made Kael’s blood boil, and if he had been holding a glass instead of a mug it would have shattered from his tightened grip.

Seeing that he was beginning to have an effect on Kael, Lavitz spoke up again, though he was making sure to avoid Kael’s eyes as he did so.

“Let me tell you about a love triangle I once heard about: a man fell in love with a young mage who was learning with him, but her heart belonged to another. A Paladin who had looks, charm, and wealth more than almost any other.”

“How did it end?”

Kael was none the wiser that the trio at hand was himself, Jaina, and the Human Prince Arthas who became the Lich King and leader of the Scourge. Lavitz enjoyed the irony of telling him this though, and so he continued to make his point.

“The woman loved the Paladin and followed after him, completely forgetting about her fellow mage who loved her so dearly. He did not win her over and he was forever left with an ache in his heart.”

Lavitz finally looked up and lifted his own beer up partially.

“Don’t be like that guy. Chen isn’t the romantic sort, or even a womanizer, so you don’t have to worry about him, but just because he’s not doesn’t mean that every man is like him.”

Kael smiled and lifted his own beer up as well, appreciating having the support of the man in this romantic matter, “I see your point.”

Their mugs clanked together and each man took a drink, after which Lavitz used his to point at the various activities going on around them.

“There are games and things to do here. I can distract the others and leave you alone with Trixie. Have some fun with her and show her how much she means to you in a subtle, but also obvious, manner.”

“She’s not stupid. Just a bit of a dork,” Kael laughed, “I’ll owe you if this works in any way.”

Lavitz nodded and finished his drink off, “Buy me some of Chen’s own brew then, to make it up for me, the next time he has some to sell.”



By the time Kael finished his drink and left Lavitz to go keep the others in their group from pestering him and Trixie, Trixie was already done with speaking to Chen and had moved on to one of the many activities being done at the event: arm wrestling.

“Trixie?” Kael questioned as he approached her table, where he sat across from a brawny Human whose muscles bulged from his body. If this was about muscle mass alone, he would crush the Elf whose only meat really was in her thighs, but instead it appeared like Trixie was playing with him and not taking it seriously. Some of the festival’s crowd had come to watch and was laughing and cheering as Trixie slowly but surely forced the other man’s arm down towards the table.

“One second,” Trixie told Kael, not wanting to break her focus. She was crushing the other man’s hand in her grip and he was trying his best to not cry out in pain. She wasn’t trying to be sadistic, only trying to force him to give up which would be more satisfying and praiseworthy than simply defeating him in the half second it would take her if she really tried.

After a minute of his pained agony, Trixie slammed his hand into the table in a quick swing that brought him to yelp as she in turn yawned.

“I told you I have the strength of a horse. Do not doubt the Great and Powerful Trixie. Her title is most fitting, as she is as strong as a horse or three.”

“Maybe a pony,” her opponent taunted, though he did not seem to realize that this was not wise when she had not let go yet.

Trixie didn’t bat an eyelash as she twisted him and forced him to flip over the table, his arm’s joints making various pained sounds as she did so. This done, Trixie let go and stretched out while getting up from the table.

“I’m sorry, that sounded like your elbow agreeing with me.”

As the crowd laughed at the haughty and pained man who had challenged Trixie to a contest of strength, hoping to defeat the arena champion, Trixie turned to Kael and joined him away from the others.

“Yeah Kael?”

Plan ‘be subtle but unsubtle’ was about to go into motion for Kael, and so he took a breath as he tried to think of how to approach this subject, “There’s a lot to do here. How about we do something, just you and I?”

Trixie grabbed a mug of beer off the table she had been sitting at and smiled at Kael from behind it, “So long as there is alcohol, sure. We’re going to be here awhile, and besides you, Lavitz, Chen, and Brawny-boy I don’t even know anyone’s name.”

The first thing the totally-not-on-a-date duo came across was an fenced off area where a waist tall harvester was wandering about inside. On one side of the circular fence was a table with mugs on it, with a Dwarf sitting on a stool beside it. Curious about what this was, Trixie led Kael to it and asked what they were supposed to do here.

“Okay, so the game is simple: drink a pint, then chuck the mug at the robot. Have a try!”

Trixie smirked up at Kael and nudged him again, “My pretty boy can’t hold liquor like me, so it’ll be more fun if he does it.”

Kael rolled his eyes as he took a mug to his lips and downed its contents in one go. This done, he pulled his arm back to throw the object while watching the movement of the mini-robot. He could see the many mugs of previous throwers in the area, though Kael doubted they were very successful given how random the spots were while the robot seemed resigned to move about in the very center.

One quick toss later, the mug made a ‘clang’ sound as it bounced off its target’s head. Having succeeded on his first try throwing an object about twenty feet to hit a small target, he found himself comfortable with smugly looking down at his surprised companion.

“How’s that?”

Not about to let herself be shown up, Trixie scoffed and took a drink herself, “My turn.”

She aimed just like Kael, but her throw sailed way past the robot and smashed into the far fence, actually breaking some of the wood as well as the mug.

“Oh.”

Kael laughed as she blankly stared at her mistake. She could swing her whip around decently since it never left her hand, but something lobbed through the air? She was hopeless.

“Strength of a horse, and the hand-eye coordination and dexterity of one.”

“Hey!” Trixie pouted before playfully shoving him. This did not deter Kael from taking another turn and once again succeeding perfectly, his mug once again colliding with the robot’s head as it wandered back and forth.

His success was making Trixie both curious and jealous, so she decided to learn from him to keep from humiliating herself further, “How do you keep getting it?”

Kael leaned in to her and whispered into her ear, “I’m using my own dexterity, firstly, and guiding it slightly with my magic, second.”

Smirking now with her knowledge of his technique, Trixie felt invigorated for her own second attempt, “Let me try that.”

Instead of nearly hitting the Dwarf, the cup exploded a few feet after being thrown, sending wood and metal in every direction as Trixie and Kael each ducked for cover.

The officiator of the game seemed none too pleased, given that it exploded right by them, “Lady, that darn cup nearly just killed me!”

Gripping her fallen hat in one hand, Trixie laughed nervously as she climbed to her feet and tugged on Kael to leave with her as soon as possible.

“New game time!”

The next set-up was a track of some kind, with rams standing at what seemed to be the starting line. Someone was handling the rams when the Elven duo approached, and so they moved towards this seeming Brewfest official to ask about it.

“What do we do here?”

“Ram racing!” the woman dealing with the rams cheered as she finished setting up a harness on the last ram in the group.

Trixie looked over the animals for a moment, her mind’s gears turning as she looked on pensively.

“…I’ll pass.”

Kael patted her on the back and left his arm around her shoulder, “Oh come on Trixie, don’t you want to know what it’s like to be the rider?”

Trixie scoffed and crossed her arms indignantly, “I rode on a dragonhawk just fine, thank you.”

“Come on. You might even enjoy yourself.”

Trixie’s voice lowered to a murmur as her gaze lowered to the ground, “You riding me is just fine since I allow it, but I feel uncomfortable putting another animal through that. Just a personal comfort thing.”

Kael tried to keep a grin off his face at her completely serious statement that was said so shamelessly out of what he hoped was ignorance, “I’ll abstain as well then. What else is there to do together?”

“Announcing the one and only, King Wrynn!”

Each of the Elves turned around to see that an announcer for the festival had climbed atop a table to shout to everyone this news, and surely enough the Human King was standing nearby with a smile on his face. He seemed ready to enjoy the festivities, if his glancing at the various drinks indicated anything.

“Wrynn is here?” Trixie whispered to herself, not really getting why someone like that would come to such a commoner-type event. Was it for some political reason? Or did he really just like drinking?

The King waved to the crowd he now had the undivided attention of, for even the most drunk person in attendance had their head turn at the mention of ‘King’.

“Hello everyone. I was not aware that there would be a Brewfest here today, but I made some time to join you all—”

Trixie gawked as time once again stopped for her, for right as this happened the King before her disappeared in a flash, with Chromie standing by where he had been.

“Phew! Nozdormu will be happy we fixed this…”

Just as quickly as it had come up, time resumed, and Trixie noticed that nobody was looking in that direction anymore, like the King had never arrived in the first place.

“Did anyone else see that? No? Really?”

Kael turned to Trixie with a confused look on his face, but he decided to not question it since Trixie might just be a bit tipsy. He had no idea how much she drank before he came to her arm wrestling match.

“Kael, who has asked us to stop the Scarlet Crusade?”

His memory seemingly unaffected, Kael shrugged as he said exactly what Trixie was hoping he would, “King Wrynn. Why?”

Turning to a nearby member of the crowd, Trixie flagged their attention and began to question them instead.

“Where is King Wrynn?”

The man shrugged just like Kael before going back to what he was doing, “I don’t follow politics, lass, but I think he’s kidnapped or something.”

So Chromie had ‘fixed’ things and Wrynn was no longer in charge…did that make his mentioned son the leader? How would that change things? Were they still being employed? Nothing else seemed to have changed all that much, so Trixie was willing to bet that things were relatively the same right now…

Still, it was beginning to mess with her being the only one to see Chromie do these things. She hoped the Gnome would leave her alone and to her own peace soon enough, or else others would think she was just seeing things.

“Huh…”

Her reverie was broken by another crowd member taking notice of Trixie and whistling.

“What a prittttty lass, with a fin matching as—”

Trixie beat Kael to the punch of grabbing the man’s arm before it could slap her on her behind. A sickening crunch came before Trixie twisted the arm around and then tossed the man to the ground, now writhing in pain.

“Hands off what you can’t afford and most certainly isn’t yours, cretin.”

The man started cursing as Trixie knelt down on one knee to stare at him even closer.

“My mother was the old-fashioned sort, and I am not going to let some creep touch something that isn’t his,” she patted his now broken arm in a mocking manner, “Especially not without a broken bone or two. I hope this has been an informative lesson of how to treat a fine lady such as myself.”

Standing up and turning around to face the stunned Kael, Trixie smiled and acted as if that altercation had never happened even as the man continued to howl in pain.

“I hear music. Want to go see what they are playing?”

Kael nodded wordlessly as Trixie took his hand and led him over, showing the opposite level of comfort to him as she had the other man. He was grateful he was on her good side and could even tease her without any real retaliation, since Trixie just demonstrated that (perhaps after a few gallons of alcohol) she would destroy someone who actually irritated her.

The music at the festival was nothing too special, mainly an assortment of townspeople using what instruments they had in a cacophony of sounds, but a stage was set up at some point for them to take turns. Kael found listening to the music with Trixie to be a nice and soothing alternative to engaging in all the random activities around, especially after he realized that Trixie had decided that she could see better if she used his lap as a booster of sorts to see over the others in the crowd.

Of the many different songs put on for them, the first to stand out was a violin solo that a young man performed as the other noises and things quieted down to allow for his presentation of a song named “Decretum”.

While neither were expert on the subject of music, the solo was quite comforting to the sensitive ears of both Trixie and Kael, who each had started to become overwhelmed by the loudness of the festival with their larger than normal listening devices. Trixie turned around partially on Kael’s lap to look at him, a smile on her face as she realized how nice this was to just be quietly enjoying themselves for once rather than running around manically.

“You should hire him when you get back in charge. He’s quite good.”

His attention had to turn back to Trixie, as Kael had noticed one of the other people to sit down and listen was their blue haired comrade, who seemed especially attuned to the music playing. Once he was looking at his partner again, Kael smiled and nodded over to the Human woman.

“One of the crew we brought with us certainly thinks so.”

When the young man finished to a standing ovation of those listening, Trixie found herself looking around to see if anyone else was going to go up on stage. She was partially entertaining the idea of going up and doing a magic show, but she decided against it since she had not practiced and going unprepared might lead to embarrassment and deflate her current rise to stardom. Still, she was interested in seeing the musical talent of others who might be as good as the last performer.

“Who is next? I like this community get-together.”

Kael laughed as he sensed Trixie’s enthusiasm, though he was hoping for a specific kind of performance and not just any one in particular, “Anything but that random loud noise from before would be nice.”

Soon after he said this, the next performer took stage, this one appearing to be a woman with purple skin and a lithe body.

Trixie put a hand to her chin as she inspected the women further, something about her feeling familiar but she was not able to name what.

“She’s purple, but not a squid.”

“A Night Elf, maybe?” Kael suggested based on what little he knew about their sister-race.

Each of them quieted down as she began to sing, her voice singing a calm and motherly melody to the crowd assembled, making those gathered begin to feel the day’s shift into the night as she sang them what might be a lullaby in other circumstances.

Trixie shifted herself so she could lean her head on Kael’s shoulder and chest, “She is quite the singer. It makes me feel at home.”

“At home?”

Trixie nodded, trying to think through what she just said. Something about singing felt almost innate to her, like it should be far more common than just a result of festivities, “Yes, singing is more…common there, I think.”

Trixie paused as her eyes noticed something else about the singer. They had a habit of moving their body around a lot, which made Trixie uncomfortable given the swaying of hips made her self-conscious of her own pair, for she would die of embarrassment if she ever showed them off in such a shameless fashion.

“The hip swaying is a bit much though.”

Kael laughed and moved a hand to pat Trixie on one thigh, “Think all Night Elves are like that?”

“I hope not,” Trixie muttered as she moved a hand on top of Kael’s, enjoying the physical comfort of sharing touch, “Though I wouldn’t mind if they all have the voice of a Siren.”

“Siren? The wee-ooh-wee-ooh noise?”

“No, the mythological creature. Don’t tell me you all don’t have Sirens in your folklore? Seductress fish people who feed on emotion.”

The description brought Kael to more laughter, though he was not really sure whether or not such beings existed or existed in folklore in this world. After a talking Panda, who knows what else might exist? “Perhaps we do, but I am not the best person to ask. Naga, maybe…”

It was somewhat comforting to him, but when Trixie suddenly stood up and removed herself from his lap Kael felt confused. What was wrong?

Fortunately, Trixie was just stretching and letting out a yawn. She had had a tiring day and she was beginning to feel an ache in her muscles.

“Kael, I haven’t gotten to stretch my legs in awhile. Mind if I go for a walk?”

“Sure. Where do you want to go?” Kael began to stand up as well, but Trixie held out a hand to stop him as he did so.

“I…I kinda was hoping to go alone. I need to stretch all four legs, if you know what I mean, and if you leave with me someone might question why you suddenly have a horse and not another Elf. If I’m alone…”

Kael nodded, understanding her reasoning. He would have liked to go on the walk with her, but he did not want to seem needy or pushy. He already got to have her spend the afternoon with him, with a good deal of it in close contact, so he was satiated that things were progressing well.

“Whatever you want.”

“Thank you…”

With that, Trixie left the festival and wandered into the nearby woods, where less prying eyes would be, leaving Kael behind with the others who all were beginning to run out of steam as well as daylight faded faster with every moment.


With a spare key made specifically for him, Mitter’meyer entered his best friend’s home and began to search for him. Reuenthal had given him permission to come and go whenever he pleased so it was in no manner an intrusion, especially not between two people who were like family to one another.

Mitter’meyer found his friend in a study, his half-Elf friend reading a military strategy book by himself as the day began to end.

Mitter’meyer had brought a small gift, a bottle of wine, to greet his friend and he set it down on his friend’s large table while also announcing his arrival, “Reuenthal, it appears that whoever is in charge of the Brewfest celebrations has arranged the wrong date. They probably mixed up the day and month.”

His more stoic friend smiled as he set his book down, his attention now focused on the blonde Paladin, “Likely after their twelfth bottle of the night, I would assume.”

The truth of the statement made Mitter’meyer give off a hearty laugh, though he soon recovered to offer his reason for coming in the first place, “Care to join me? Might as well take advantage of it while it is here.”

Reuenthal closed his eyes and shook his head no, his smile shifting into a crease, “I believe I will pass. I have dinner arrangements for tonight, and I do not think cheap brews will prepare me well for it.”

Mitter’meyer took a seat by his friend, his own face morphing into a poutier one, as much as a manly man who did not actually pout could at least, “Who is it this time?”

“I do not believe you know her. Some orange-yellow haired woman with a fine voice. This will be my first dinner with her,” Reuenthal looked at his friend devilishly before closing his eyes again and just smirking smugly, “Perhaps this will be the one.”

“I think we both know that won’t be the case,” Mitter’meyer stated, his eyebrows raised in a bemused manner as he looked over at his bachelor friend.

The look he was being given actually made Reuenthal grow concerned. He frowned and displayed his concern on his normally stoic face, removing his flat affect to show actual emotion, “Have you no faith in me?”

Mitter’meyer shook his head, ever candid with his friend, “You don’t like things that are good for you.”

“How about I let you choose for once?”

“Hmmm…” Mitter’meyer began to entertain the prospect for a moment before realizing that this was not perhaps the best idea: all the people he would suggest were people he would rather not have his best friend begin a relationship with only to then break their hearts, and the others were Eva’s friends who he would receive hell over if he let them get hurt in any way, “This feels like a trap, and given your fondness for them and other cunning things, I think it best to think this over before I answer.”

Reuenthal seemed enamored by his own idea and so he pressed on with it, “Oh come now, what could I gain or lose if she happens to have been suggested by you? Perhaps you would be able choose a better match for me than I could myself.”

“Well let us see…” Mitter’meyer looked up at the ceiling as he pondered and counted on his hands about Reuenthal’s traits, “You are cynical, do not trust women, spend countless hours away from home when you are on military campaigns, have a total of one person as a friend, and hate yourself. What kind of women would be great for that?”

If it was said by someone else it would have been a barbed statement meant to insult, but Reuenthal knew his friend spoke only with his best intentions in mind, especially as all of it was true. As such instead of become outraged Reuenthal laughed, “You wound me like a spear through the heart.”

Mitter’meyer snapped his fingers and shot his friend a smug look, “Oh, I’ve thought of the perfect match: someone who despises you and wouldn’t want you around anyways. How many people like that do I know?”

“Some of my past partners, no doubt,” Reuenthal joked, all the while standing up and moving to leave the room.

Mitter’meyer stood up as well to fall into step behind him, “Where are you going?”

“To get a drink. I am afraid some comments spoken to me recently have made me awfully unhappy, and I need to remedy my sorrows,” Reuenthal sarcastically commented, feigned hurt on his face.

“And your date tonight?”

“She is chasing me, not the other way around. Perhaps missing our appointment will increase her drive.”

“You’re incorrigible.”


It took awhile to get everyone settled in, especially since so many of their followers had gotten drunk, but Kael managed with the help of Lavitz, Bronn, and Chen, before he left to travel, to set up camp and arrange tents for everyone to sleep in. The supplies were paid for quite easily with the winnings of the tournament, and others were provided by their hired mercenary who simply took the supplies no longer needed by his old crew and who were no longer traveling as a group anyways. The Elf had bought the supplies, so now that she was jailed he was just repurposing them.

Still, despite the length of time it took for Kael to set up camp, Trixie had yet to return. It was already night and light was fading except the vague hint of a moon beneath the cloudy sky.

“Trixie? Are you there? Trixie!”

It took him very little time to find her because he employed the same method he had the last time he needed to: he let Nana out of their bag, and the Mana Wyrm found its way around the forest until it found where Trixie had ended up.

Trixie was huddled underneath a tree when Kael found her, and she seemed to be awake but severely drunk given her sluggish movements. Bottles and mugs surrounded her where she lay and Kael found himself confused about how she had come across so much alcohol, but he was mainly concerned with if she was okay.

“Trixie?”

She murmured something unintelligible in response as Kael closed the distance between them and knelt down beside her. Nana curled up in Trixie’s arms and nestled into her body, with Trixie mumbling as she began to pet the animal.

Kael’s eyes widened as he realized just how much alcohol it would take to actually make Trixie of all people drunk. How much alcohol did she consume? “Are you drunk? Better question, how are you drunk? I didn’t think you could even get drunk.”

“Bad horsie…” Trixie said in response, not really answering his question in any direct fashion.

“What?”

Trixie rolled over and moved a hand from petting Nana to instead playing with Kael’s long hair as it hung in front of her, “I was gething air as horse-pursen. Met whorse.”

Trixie had come across a horse in the woods…Kael was still confused why this made her drunk. He decided to just let her talk, especially since she might be so drunk that she was just rambling.

“He not talk likke me,” Trixie hiccupped before moving her hand to one of Kael’s long eyebrows and poking at it, “Thinks I’mn his mare.”

Kael’s eyes widened as he realized why she had taken to drinking so much after leaving the drinking festival: a wild horse had likely wanted to mate with her, and she responded with alcohol.

He lowered himself down so he could embrace his very drunk partner, who he was thankful did not seem to be hurt despite drinking herself to oblivion in a forest late at night, “Don’t worry Trixie, I’m here for you,” he gathered her up in his arms and held her tightly, wanting to let her know she was not alone and that he was there for her, “Are you okay?”

Trixie nodded, her face forming a very smug smirk, “Brock jaw. Went bye-bye.”

Kael smiled as he thought back to the festival. Trixie really could handle herself, but he was happy to be there to help anyways. The person he was told he was supposed to be was a selfless Prince who lived for his people…but without the memories of his Prince-self, he felt that same attachment and devotion to the singular person who was willing to be kind to him back at Sunstrider Isle.

Trixie curled up in his arms as Kael lifted her off the group, one of her arms draped around his neck as she continued to groggily and drunkenly mutter, “Pretty…smell nice...”

Kael’s smile persisted as he looked at her innocent body. This was the Trixie he loved, and he was not going to let anything happen to her ever again so far as he could help it, “Let’s get you back to the camp.”

The murmuring response was not what he expected.

“L…love you...”

Kael was about to start walking when his heart stopped.

“W-what?”

Trixie buried her face in his chest, alcohol hanging off her breath as she continued.

“Best frind…”

He knew he shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up, but Kael was both happy and sad to hear her say that. She loved him…but as her best friend. Perhaps he could change that, but for now that was more than enough.

“Come on, let’s get you some sleep. You’re going to need it with how much you must have drank.”

“Not now, moth. Er…More train…power…maximum…”


“Hey there. How are you doing?”

“I’m okay…”

“You’ve been working really hard. I brought you dinner, since you forgot it again.”

“Thank you, Princess…”

“Remember part of training and learning is rest, so don’t forget to take care of yourself.”

“Mother…”

Author's Note:

A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope to hear from you in the comments below! So much to talk about, so many references made, so much I'd love to hear about!

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