A Leave Taking

The night elf sat curled up on the chair in front of the desk. Her glowing eyes stared pensively upon the items lying upon the desk and her fingers toyed with a Knight-Lieutenants Alliance insignia. The insignia lay atop a pile of tabards for the various Alliance forces that she had worked for since the night elves had joined the human Alliance. Her eyes traveled from the pile of Alliance items to the second pile on the desk. Her Sentinel’s armor lay folded or arraigned neatly in the second pile, a Darnassus insignia setting atop the pile.

A pair of white paws was suddenly set upon her leg and she blinked turning to look. Rupert sat up on his hind legs, his ears turned forward as he looked at her.

“Not this time my little friend, you must stay here for this mission. Tis past time I left the Alliance. I cannot follow a leader who cannot see that a war on two fronts will only loose the most important one. I cannot follow one who tells me I must kill my friends.”

She reaches a hand out and gently rubs between the white ears. The little rabbit sneezed at her and then pushed off with his back feet to land in her lap. He set his paws on her chest and looked up at her. Merlet smiled a moment and dropped a quick kiss on his head.

“No Rupert, you’re not going.. I need you to stay here, and watch over the others for me. Fang goes with me this time, I’m not going alone, nor am I going to do something stupid there is just too much at stake to do something stupid. I am going to Stormwind and resigning my commission, and then to Darnassus.. Tis time to leave the Sentinels as well.”

She hugged the little rabbit for a moment, resting her forehead against his ears. With a soft sigh she put him down on the floor and stood up from the desk. She quickly dressed in her armor, sliding the tabard of the Ebon Blade over her head and placed the items on her desk in two separate packs. Slinging them over her shoulder she left the room to head up on deck. Quickly making her way to the small shrine she had made for Elune and kneeling to say a prayer.

Standing back up she looked out over the seas the Stormreaver road on. A chuckle drew her attention and she turned to see Hukari and Mioria who were standing at the prow of the ship. The tiny Forsaken woman was holding a ball of yarn in one hand and shaking her other fist at the troll for one reason or another. The snippet of conversation that flowed on the wind to her made her grin. Hukari must have threatened to use Hope as a cannonball again. The troll squatted down and set a hand on the little brown rabbit and wrapped his other arm around Mio.

Nothing and no one was going to make her kill those she cared about. The Alliance thought themselves so high and mighty and the Horde so evil. She snorted her eyes narrowing. Twas Alliance men, who had treated Mioria so horribly, made her life a living hell before she was killed by Arthas’ men in Stratholm. In the last few months she’d spent time amongst the Horde, she could even speak passable orcish without her translator, and they were no more evil than any member of the Alliance. She shook her head and whistled for Hathir. Her violet drake flew down and landed on the deck with a shake of his great head. She scratched his nose, secured her pack to her back and climbed upon his back. With a wave and a big smile to the two on deck she urged Hathir into the air. On swift powerful wings she flew to Darnassus, with a powerful back wing, Hathir landed.

“Home my friend, I’ll return soon.”

She dismounted and rubbed his head ridge before stepping back. The massive nether drake snorted and lifted off, turning towards home. Merlet turned and at a run, made her way to the portal room. Stepping through the portal to Stormwind she appeared in the tower in the mage district. Once outside she closed her eyes and called Snowpaw and Fang to her. Snow’s swift feet carried her to the keep quickly and she dismounted, leaving him to stand outside as Fang followed her inside. She didn’t even spare King Wrynn a glace as she ran past him and into the room which held the various battle masters she’d worked with over the years. In silence she handed each of them the tabard she had worn for their various factions. At last she turned to the commander who had awarded her the rank she held. To him she handed over the insignia and a letter of resignation. He looked down at the items in his hand, then up at her, arching an eyebrow.

“There’s work for me in Icecrown. The Argent Dawn and the Ebon Blade have need of my services, tis to them I will look for my orders now.”

He nodded and attempted to hand her Alliance insignia back to her. She held her hand up to him and shook her head. He eyed her for a moment and with a sigh nodded his head.

“Watch your back Darkendale, I hate to loose a good soldier, but from the colors you now wear, I see you’ve other duties to keep you.”

The elf blinked at him, nodded and saluted him with the utmost respect.

“Aye, I do. Keep yourself safe sir.”

She spun on her heel and walked out. Again she broke into a ground covering lope, using her gifts as a hunter to move with greater speed. As she broke into the light outside the keep she drew a deep breath, setting her hand on Snowpaw’s head. Fang butted against her.

“Alright you two.. One more place to go before we get to go home. That may be the hardest..”

She sighed and slid into the saddle on Snow’s back, once settled, the massive cat took off for the harbor. The elf guided him with her knees as she looked around her. She tried to turn the cat to follow the path, but he ignored her and leapt from the wall to the ground below in the harbor. With a growl he shook his head and kept running down to the dock and straight onto the waiting ship. He turned his head and snorted at her.

“Missing your mate eh? Don’t want to be gone long?”

He snorted again and turned his head to look out over the ocean as the ship slid away from the dock. The trip to Auberdine was swift and as soon as the ship bumped along the dock the cat was off again, making all speed straight at the boat to Rut'theran Village. It was already starting to leave and Snow made a mighty leap, landing them neatly on the deck. The elf arched an eyebrow at her cat but said nothing. Again the trip was swift, and again the cat was off down the dock before the boat had stopped moving. The battle saber increased his pace, racing through the portal to Darnassus. The transition didn’t slow him down, and his claws dug into the earth and stone of the paths taking them straight to the Sentinel barracks.

Merlet pulled back on Snow’s rein, forcing him to stop. She slowly dismounted from the cat and looked around at the building that had been home more than once. She raised her head and walked inside. There was a bed with a chest at the foot of it in the far corner that she’d called her own for many a year. After today it would no longer be hers. She stooped to open the chest, dropping to her knees she began to pull her belongings from it and stuffed them into her packs. Once it was empty, she stood and pulled her armor from the second pack. Tipping the chest lid closed, she made her way to the Sentinel’s command center.

Sitting in her usual desk was the woman she’d called commander for countless years. Taking a deep breath she squared her shoulders and stepped forward. She carefully set her armor and insignia on the desk. A pair of stunned glowing eyes looked up from the armor to Merlet.

“What’s this Merlet? Your armor and your commission?”

“I’m resigning my commission. I’ll better serve Darnassus and her people by working with the Argent Crusade and the Ebon Blade against Arthas.”

The woman eyed Merlet closely. Her aged eyes did not miss the lack of any Alliance insignia, nor the new tabard.

“It’s come to this; you disagree with King Wrynn and his edicts, so you’re walking away from it. I can’t say I’m surprised.. You’ve long been one to follow only that which you felt was right.”

“He’s not -my- king, and I’ll not follow his edicts. I’ll not betray the Alliance or my people, but I’ll not kill Horde for the sake of killing them.”

“Doesn’t have anything to do with that troll does it?”

“He’s part of it, the rest is that I’ve walked among the Horde, they are not evil monsters, they are just people trying to survive, just like we are. Fighting a war with the Horde, the only other group strong enough to help us defeat Arthas will sign the death warrant of every living thing on the face of Azeroth. I cannot abide that, nor can I live with those orders. I may be branded a traitor for leaving, and I’ll not bring that upon the Sentinels.”

The night elf shook her head and stared at Merlet.

“Long and long you’ve fought the corruption of the Legion, you’ve worked hard to ensure that they did not take over Azeroth. I cannot envision you doing less in regards to Arthas. I’ll take your resignation, and your armor but I’ll not file it. I’m putting you on leave, dispensation to work with the Argent Crusade and the Ebon Blade. Continue the work that you have done for your people on a different front. Tread carefully within the walls of the Horde cities.. Not all will abide your presence when they learn of your true identity. When this is finished, come back to your place with us.”

Merlet blinked at the woman who’d been her commanding officer for thousands of years. She nodded and bowed her head.

“I’ll not shame you or the others. Should it come to pass that I can return to these ranks, I shall, if not.. May Elune shed her grace upon you and light your path.”

The two women stared at one another for a long moment before Merlet turned, and placing a hand upon Fang’s head, triggered her hearthstone and disappeared.