#azurecoast | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

juniper-rose-blower · 6 years

Text

A Blast from the Past

June picked up a rock to skip across Olivia’s pond. She wound her arm back and lugged it forward.

SPLOSH!

The flat stone landed with a thunk in the water, sinking to the bottom. If there was ever a time when she wished Ky were with her, it was now. Her mind went back on everything said the night before...

June stood at the door of the Stormwind office, hesitating in her attempt to knock.

Malodar wrinkled his nose as they passed through the acrid air of the Dwarven district, waiting behind her patiently when she paused. "Are you alright? Second thoughts?"

The Botanist lowered her hand, shaking her head. "No... just..." she let loose a sigh, "... just remembering what happened the last time we were here."

The Gilnean gnawed on her lower lip, her hand moving to rest over one of her pockets. She let out another softer sigh, shook her head, and raised her hand to knock on the door. RAP! RAP! RAP!

The little slit near the top of the door made a grinding sound, and a pair of eyes appeared through it. "Can I help you?" a muffled man's voice drawled lazily.

Mal cleared his throat in a way that vaguely resembled the word 'rude'.

Juniper glared up at the eyes, sniffing softly before her mouth twitched on one side in recognition. She pointed to herself and then to Mal, "We're here to see Chief MacLeod."

The eyes narrowed at June, "Do you have an appointment?"

June nodded, motioning to herself, "Asset Lark for a consult, accompanied by Asset Crane."

The pupils narrowed more, brow arching, "Anything physical to confirm that?" In response, June pulled the reassignment note from her pocket, holding it up just enough to show the seal on the paper.

The elven healer folded his arms, quietly staring and lightly sniffing the mixing scents around them. He offered no response, examining the pair of eyes with a serious gaze.

Ramirez scrutinized the paper, examining the seal for several long moments. Then without a word, he disappeared from the slit in the door, its cover grinding back into place as if they were just going to be left on the doorstep. Several moments later, the door opened and the wiry Ramirez waved them in.

The Botanist walked through the open door with Mal behind her, doing her best to steel her nerves as Ramirez motioned lazily up the stairwell, "If you want to see the Chief or the Major - they're upstairs, as usual."

To this June bowed her head in a single nod, reaching into her pocket to pull out a folded note, "Thank you. Can you get this to Captain Wren please?"

A quirked brow and a five second silence later, the cheesy-smelling man plucked the note from her grasp and went to go find Quai's favorite arcane kitten to get the missive sent out.

Once alone, June and Mal headed upstairs. It took several long minutes before June found the courage to knock on the sanded wood door of the office. In response, a crisp voice called out: "Enter!" Exhaling the breath she didn't know she was holding, June pushed the door open and walked inside, Malodar following behind keeping a neutral but examining expression. He took position at the back of the room, leaning in a corner.

Glenice was sitting in another corner, working at a side-desk, various files and folders spread haphazardly across its surface. Alanna, meanwhile, was standing on the side of the main desk closer to the door, back to June and Mal as they entered. Juniper cleared her throat gently before saying as neutrally as she could: "You... wished for a consultation... Chief?"

Malodar was brought back to the memories of their previous encounter with the chief and her staff and had to suppress a frown. He remembered his unfondness for her tone and demeanor. She struck him as being quite too fond of her own position of authority.

Alanna lifted her gaze as she turned, irises shifting from June to Mal and back again several times. She gave a curt nod of her head. "I did." When June held out the reassignment missive, the Chief took it and set it on the desk out of the way, "That was nearly two weeks ago...?" Her tone was far more relaxed this time, though it still held a little formality to it.

June shrugged unapologetically, "Couldn't find a portal, so we took a ship instead." She left it at that, waiting for the woman's reaction.

Mal kept his ears trained on the conversation. At hearing her tone he relaxed, however slightly, and leaned on the pillar with his arms crossed. "My fault, portals do not treat me well."

Alanna looked back at Malodar curiously, nodding twice. "Yes, that is curious. But not as curious as to why you are also here, Recruit." She did not wait for Mal to answer before turning to look at Glenice, "Major, do you still have the file for Asset Lark regarding Azurecoast Port's algae problem?"

The conversation had taken a turn June never expected it to take. Her facial expression changed immediately, brow furrowing as a confused curiosity shined in her eyes. Her lips parted slightly, mouth hanging open in recognition.

Glenice located the file and held it out to Alanna. The Chief walked over to take it, flipping it open to observe a shot taken by a Gnomish camera of a gloomy port town under an overcast sky. She lifted the picture so June and Mal could both see it - the only thing out of the ordinary was that the normally crystalline blue water appeared bright orange from an overabundance of algae-covered kelp.

Malodar tilted his head as he examined the picture, taking in the details briefly. "Looks like a lovely vacation locale," he said with more than a hint of sarcasm, unable to stop himself.

The Gilnean's face blanched at seeing the picture up close. A lost look shined in her expression, mouth still hanging open. Alanna placed the picture in June's hand, tilting her head sideways, "Something on your mind, Asset?"

Mal was glad his slip up didn't seem to interrupt the flow, and stepped up to take a closer look over June's shoulder at the image.

Juniper blinked as Mal stepped up behind her, and she looked at Alanna with a frown, "They could try freezing it to remove it. But they'd have to dispose of it carefully to keep it out of the soil," her statement was said rather quickly, ending in an inhale taken to transition to her next, her tone shifting from expository to hopeful, "Do you have an extra picture or two of this place?"

Mal stole a glance to June's face before moving back to the photograph, trying to gauge the connection between the picture and her tone.

Alanna shrugged gently, "Perhaps. Just depends on what Ramirez took." She dug through the file and pulled out an image of a large tower in the mountains and a second image of an ornate town with little houses about its body and a great estate house at its head, wreathed in more mountains in the background. She handed both to June, quirking an eyebrow, "You are familiar with these places then?" To this, June said nothing, looking at the two additional pictures with glossy eyes and giving the tiniest of nods.

Malodar frowned more deeply as she examined them and looked up with a deep breath. "Where is this again?"

Alanna pointed to the first image, turning her gaze to Mal to speak to him directly, "Azurecoast Port. In Gilneas."

Mal face dawned with understanding. He hadn't recognized the name of the port initially, having never ventured to that particular region. Now recognizing it as June’s homeland, he at least started to get the beginnings of her tense reaction.

The Gilnean gave a slow nod and held the images back out to Alanna. They were taken from her grasp and slid back into the file folder, "Are there any long term effects they should know about in regards to that algae?"

June shrugged, "It's not exactly my strong suit... but if they bring the amount down a little, it should help the fish population grow." She shook her head confusedly, "I don't understand, that port was evacuated after the Wall fell... has Lord Sterren returned?"

To this, Alanna shook her head, "No. It was recently rebuilt with the aid of House Matheredor, from what we gathered. Some sort of trade agreement for stone from House Sterren." When the Botanist still looked confused, Alanna added, "Headed by a Kaldorei or something... Lady..."

June recognized the race immediately, stopping Alanna, "Headed by the Sentinel Captain... strange... why not Lord Sterren?"

At this, Glenice piped in, "According to intelligence, Lord Ian Sterren, Count of the Blue Mountains, was lost at sea two years ago... no one has seen him. His widow Lady Shadestar has since undergone a name change... twice."

Alanna inclined her head, motioning to a copy of the Courier over on the desk's corner, "Didn't she just have twins or something?"

Glenice nodded, "That's the one."

Mal followed along, at quite a loss from all the names and houses being bandied about. If he was generally unconcerned with the trappings of society in his homelessness, he was incalculably uninterested in the goings-on of human nobility, which from his occasional interactions struck him as somehow even more inane and nonsensical than the military. None of which it felt appropriate to express as of now. He let their exchange of information continue, absorbing what he could and cataloguing the rest for June to fill in later, in more amenable company.

June 's brow furrowed at the mention of Lord Sterren lost at sea. Something she didn't understand panged in her heart and she looked down at the floor. Alanna shrugged and turned to look back at June.

"Well, that was what we needed consulting about. Since it just needs to be managed, we'll pass the word along." She exchanged a glance with Glenice. Her blue irises moved back to June, "Was there anything else you needed?"

The Botanist seemed at a loss for words, standing there in the silence. Malodar chewed the inside of his cheek in the awkward silence, stepping sideways a little to set a hand briefly on her shoulder before retreating back to the wall.

The Gilnean looked between Alanna and Glenice, chewing her lower lip softly. Eventually she spoke, "Would... would you happen to know where Lord Sterren was last seen?"

At this, Glenice shook her head, not even turning around, "That would take more digging to find out." Alanna motioned to Glenice lightly, looking back at June.

June held her own, unblinking as she stared back at Alanna, "Could you?"

The Chief gave a nod, "We can see what we can find. In the meantime, I'm assuming you want a portal close to where the others are, to catch back up?"

At this June hesitated, brow furrowed again, "I... don't know that they need me."

Mal bit his lip, and hard too, though it likely went unnoticed by anyone else. He stayed silent, unblinking.

Alanna looked back at June and shook her head, "Kid, you're too hard on yourself sometimes. I doubt your Captain would've vouched for you as she had if they did not need you." After a few moments of silence, she added, "It will take time to dig up the information you've asked for. And if anything comes up as covert or red-lined, there won't be anything I can do. But we'll look into it. You should at least try to rest from your trip."

At this, June nodded, pale gaze shifting down, "I also will be looking into something... with the monks past the back edge of the District... Do we have leave to leave the city?"

After a few moments of thought, Alanna nodded nonchalantly, "Certainly. Our courier can find you when we have more information." June nodded in understanding, thinking of Ky playing with the little kitten Quai despised so much.

The elven healer tensed up somewhat as they went back and forth, but slowly eased back down. He put his hands in his pockets, lost in thought for several minutes. But at the last he withdrew his hands again, exhaling slowly.

June relaxed where she stood, shoulders sinking several inches. She looked over Alanna as the woman moved back to her desk and sat down. June bit down on her lower lip hard, looking uncertain about something, but Alanna seemed to pay it no mind. She motioned to the door gently, "Did you need anything else, Miss Blower?"

At the shift in tone and the use of her real name, June shook her head, glancing back at Mal before responding only with, "Just Lark is plenty... and no."

Alanna gave a nod, lip quirking in the corner briefly, "Well, then, Asset, you and Crane there are on leave until you either request to be sent back or we find another mission that needs your attention. For now, that is unlikely. As long as you keep your armband, we'll be able to send the courier to your location, so feel free to go wherever you like... assuming it's not in the middle of Horde territory, if you please. We don't need to be starting a war."

June let out another soft sigh, looking out at the lake. Lord Sterren, lost at sea. It just didn’t sound right. She was antsy to get more information from MacLeod and Morcant, but knew it wasn’t going to happen overnight.

“Let me seek out a colleague,” Mal had offered after they’d eaten a decent meal that hadn’t been prepared in a ship’s dirty galley, “I think her opinion on how to proceed with your healing abilities will be invaluable.” His hand on her shoulder was reassuring when she gave him a nod and watched him head toward the Cathedral District.

Things were so strange right now... she’d take any help in direction she could get.

(( so many mentions!!! : @malodarstarstrike @killerkyara @quai-mason @brian-wellson @ephriza-dawnblade @selene-duskwind @alanna-macleod @glenicemorcant @ladysaraholt and so many other supporting characters coming to light as June’s past comes into the light! ))

#Juniper #The Botanist #plot #writing #RP #so much stuff going on!#holy cow #also way longer than I meant it to be

8 notes · View notes