World of Warcraft: The Ties that Bind

by Blackdrag-rose

Suramar: Blood and Wine

After their venture into the Waning Crescent, where they assisted Vanthir, Silgryn, Deline, and the fine people that were being tortured by Elisande's decree about the Arcwine shortage, Thalyssra had Lyra and Trixie spent the rest of the day, as well as the following day, resting from all of the activities they had gone through so far. During their break the two of them watched as the Arcan'dor started to grow in the middle of Shal'Aran, while at the same time the druid that came with Trixie's chosen heroes reported that she had spent some time quelling the infection of the corrupted World Tree that was trying to break into Suramar. The other heroes reported that they had been hard at work as well, apparently dealing with the Nightborne that had assaulted Moon Guard Stronghold, dealt with some spiritual business in Tel'Anor, brought peace to Jandvik, and, to Lyra's amazement, had another demon hunter braving Felsoul Hold once more.

The only benefit Lyra and Trixie were seeing, besides the fact that their fellow heroes were helping the other races that called Suramar home, was that the Nightborne and their demonic allies were being stopped at every turn, meaning that they could focus their attention on their true enemy... though they had to stop what they were doing at one point as Farodin approached them, which was a day and a half after their visit to the Waning Crescent.

"No doubt the two of you have noticed our guests." Farodin commented, to which he waved a hand and gestured to the moths that were flying around the chamber now, though both Lyra and Trixie had seen them and had said nothing because the moths didn't seem all that important, "I have watched them for a time and seen how they are attracted to the tree. I do not know if they are harmful to our sapling, but we cannot take that chance. Collect a handful of the insects and bring them to me. I will examine them and determine if they are to be left alone."

Lyra and Trixie looked at each other for a few seconds, as they weren't sure if this was something they needed to worry about, but since Farodin had been annoyed with them releasing the Acan'dor and worried about the seed at the same time they guessed that they might as well humor the elf. There were plenty of moths flying around Shal'Aran at the moment, so the two of them simply walked around their hideout and carefully picked some of them out of the air, while at the same time earning some glances from their allies. All they did was shrug in response to the stares, as they were sure that this was somewhat important and figured that since Thalyssra didn't have a mission for them they could afford to spend some time messing with the moths.

Once the two of them had four moths, totaling in eight months altogether, they returned to where Farodin was standing, while at the same time noticing that the amount of moths hadn't really gone down since they started gathering the ones they had picked.

"Hmm, yes. It is as I suspected." Farodin stated, though at the same time he earned Lyra's annoyance when he said nothing more and beckoned for them to speak to Thalyssra, meaning that he had spoken to the leader of their rebellion before coming to them and that it was time to see what they had been talking about earlier.

The two Equestrians let out a sigh as they walked over to where Thalyssra was standing, though she stopped what she was doing and turned to look at them, meaning that she had been expecting their arrival and likely had something for them to do, as they were growing tired of sitting around when their enemies were ruling the city.

"I need the two of you to infiltrate the Twilight Vineyards and bring back something to deal with these insects." Thalyssra told them, meaning that they might have underestimated the threat that the moths posed to the Acan'dor, to which they carefully listened to their orders, "To do that, you will need a way to bypass the guards that keep the orchards secure. Ly'leth will be able to help us there. I will arrange to have her meet you near the entrance. Go quickly!"

As Trixie nodded Thalyssra beckoned to the map, where the two of them noticed that the marker had changed so they would know where to go, to which the two of them walked over to the portal that would take them to Ly'leth's property and teleported to the small sanctuary. Once they arrived at their destination the two of them donned their masks and assumed their disguises once more, to which 'Anarys' and her 'guard' walked out into the party area, which seemed to have a new one going on, before venturing out into the city once more. From that point forward they carefully made their way towards the part of the city that Ly'leth happened to be waiting for them in, which appeared to be some walkways connecting the various parts of the city... and allowed them to look down into what happened to be a zoo of some kind, with animals that looked like they hated their lives.

It didn't take them long to find out where Ly'leth was standing, as she and her constant servant companion were standing next to what appeared to be some sort of personal carriage of some kind, one that was unlike anything they had seen in this world so far.

"Sister, it is good to see that you are feeling well," Ly'leth said, indicating that the cover story for her 'absence' from the city was likely due to her feeling sick, though Lyra had no idea if that was possible or not, but considering why they were here she didn't question the statement.

"Thank you, my beloved sister," Lyra replied, once more thinking that Trixie would have been a better actor than she was, but since no one had challenged her yet she guessed that she was doing a decent job of pretending to be someone that she wasn't, "A 'friend' of ours told me that you had something planned for me and my guard... something about the Twilight Vineyards if memory serves."

"Yes, and I even procured a palanquin for the two of you," Ly'leth said, to which she gestured to the floating circular vehicle that was to their right, or Ly'leth's left, for a few seconds, indicating that this was how they got into their destination, "Oh, and try to look imperious while you ride in the palanquin... it will help with the illusion. Now then, the woman you are looking for is named Margaux, and she has shown a positive interest in our cause."

Lyra had no idea why Ly'leth wanted her to wear an arrogant expression while she and Trixie rode the palanquin to the entrance of the Twilight Vineyards, and she wasn't exactly sure that she could pull that off, but she guessed that she was going to have to try. Once the two of them knew exactly what they were doing, however, Trixie stood like a guard as Lyra climbed into the magical vehicle before following after her, though the moment the two of them were inside the palanquin it started moving on its own. They remained silent as they rode towards the entrance of the Twilight Vineyards, where Lyra noticed a fair number of guards that could have torn through their disguises if they had walked towards the entrance... to which she silently thanked Thalyssra and Ly'leth for thinking of this alternative.

A minute or two passed before the palanquin stopped in front of the entrance that they had been heading towards, where it pulled up alongside the stairs and stopped, allowing Trixie to climb out and act like a guard again before Lyra stepped out like Anarys would. Once the two of them had climbed out of the palanquin, however, it started moving away from where they were standing and headed back towards Ly'leth's previous location, to which Lyra and Trixie steeled themselves before they walked up the stairs they had been brought to. Fortunately it was rather easy to find where Margaux was standing, as she stood near the main path that went into the vineyards and seemed to be waiting for someone... which happened to be them.

As they approached Margaux, who eyed them for a few seconds, Trixie carefully revealed the coin that Thalyssra had given her for a few seconds before stashing it away, though she could tell she was successful, as the look in Margaux's eyes told them that she knew they were the people she had been waiting for.

"Ah, Anarys Lunastre, I have been awaiting your arrival," Margaux said, though at the same time she glanced around her for a few moments, indicating that the guards were looking for any suspicious behavior, before smiling at them once more, "Let me show the two of you around the vineyards."

"That would be nice," Lyra replied, though at the same time Trixie nodded her head a little bit, not enough for the guards to notice that she was moving her head, but just enough for Margaux to see that she agreed with the plan.

"It is my job to maintain appearances here." Margaux said, though as they started to move away from where she had been standing she smiled at them, in a apologetic manner, while also keeping her voice lower, "You will have to endure a little showmanship while I walk with you two through the vineyard. It is the only way to avoid suspicion. I will try to help you as I can, but only when it is safe to do so. Come with me... our first stop is the tasting pavilion. There you can sample some of our work."

As they walked forward Margaux told them that they had been in what was the courtyard that was open to visitors, and that to move into the actual vineyards they had to be accompanied by one of the staff members, to which Lyra and Trixie silently agreed that they were fortunate to have her lead them through the area. She also mentioned that they could purchase souvenirs from her assistant on their way out, making it seem like they would come out the normal way, once more making it appear that they were an ordinary group to whoever was watching them. The first building they came to was the testing pavilion, where three samples had already been prepared for them before their arrival, making Lyra and Trixie chuckle at how quickly the elf had prepared for their arrival.

When they arrived at the pavilion, however, Lyra learned that she would be the one to actually taste the three samples, as she was the one everything had been set up for, to which she mentally sighed and got to work at lifting the three cups and tasting all three of their contents. Since she never bothered to taste wine before she had no idea what to expect, so she picked up the middle sample and downed it in a matter of seconds, where she felt like she was floating for a few seconds before she returned to the ground. The one on the right seemed much stronger than anything she tasted before, as she only took a few sips and felt dizzy for a few seconds, where she wondered why someone would want to make something like this. The final sample, the one on the left, brought out some happiness inside Lyra for a few moments, something that she felt was desperately needed in this day and age... to which she wondered if it was possible to get more so she could share it with the other Illidari.

Once the side effects of the samples wore off, and she felt like her normal self once more, she turned her head back towards Margaux, while at the same time ignoring the small smirk that was on Trixie's, which was something that only she had seen for a few seconds.

"You may want to cleanse your palate... we craft some strong flavors here!" Margaux stated, though Lyra nodded her head towards that statement, as she liked one of them for sure and the other two she didn't really like all that much, to which the elf beckoned to her for a moment, "Shall we press on?"

Lyra nodded her agreement and followed the elf away from the tasting pavilion, which meant that she and Trixie moved deeper into the Twilight Vineyards, though while they walked the two of them noticed that the guards weren't exactly kind to the people who worked here. One other thing that happened while they walked was the fact that Margaux continued to act like the tour guide she was supposed to be, while occasionally asking questions in a lowered voice so no one heard what she was trying to say. Trixie was the one that answered the questions, telling her what little she could of the rebellion without revealing too much, as once again they had no idea who was listening in on their conversation or who was spying on them.

Lyra could easily determine that Margaux wanted to fight alongside Thalyssra and her new rebellion, in her own way anyway, and that she was definitely passionate about what she believed in... though at the same time she couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen before the end of their tour.