Safe (Annie/Vale)

by **Valerias** Mon Feb 27, 2012 9:22 pm

Aniane Caan crouched in the shadows beside a twisted hawthorn bush, fingering the smooth red stone set in the pommel of her dirk. She smirked briefly as she scanned the dry fields that stretched out in front of her. Westfall: not her favourite place, not only because of the shitty memories it held, but because these days it was little better than a torn-up wasteland.

On top of the nearby ridge, a man stood looking up at the moon. A few other figures slipped out of the darkness, and from her hiding place Annie could hear the muffled sound of voices. She checked the blades tucked beneath her leather bracers, checked the knives strapped across her chest, checked the pouch of powder at her belt. It wouldn't be long now. It wouldn't be long...

She squinted up at the moon. It was a bright night for an assault, but she knew that Ledgic and the others had waited as long as they could wait. They needed to make their move. So she waited for them to gather and set off toward the mansion that loomed up from the shallow valley. In spite of herself, she felt her heart beginning to beat faster.

Because she wasn't supposed to be here.

Ledgic had told her in no uncertain terms - told her the same as Zech had told her - that if she accompanied them in their attack on Landrus, she would die. Well, she wasn't exactly accompanying them this way, was she? She shifted slightly as her leg began to cramp. She was following them, which wasn't the same.

*

'Mama?'

It was hours earlier and Annie was inside one of the finer houses in Stormwind. Rosemary Dawn was at the window, looking out anxiously into the fading evening light, and Annie was on one knee beside a handsome oak chair with Ledgic's three-year-old twins standing in front of her.

'Aye luv?'

'Daddy's comin' back soon, right?' Belle stared up at her with wide baby eyes, and Annie attempted a smile.

'Course he is. I jus' gotta go 'elp 'im with somethin' an' we'll both be back, an' we can all go 'ome. But Auntie Rose'll take good care o'ye, jus' like always.'

She didn't sound very convincing she realised with a wince when Lucas suddenly began to cry.

'Ey, 'ey now... don' y'worry, Luc.' She put an arm around the little boy and pulled him toward her - gently, what with all the hardware she was wearing - and planted a kiss on top of his head. 'Everythin'll be jus' fine, sunshine.' With her other arm she embraced Belle, too.

'Everythin'll be jus' fine,' she repeated as she climbed to her feet.

*

'Keep yersel' together, An',' she muttered as she scratched her leg. She had been in battle before; this would be nothing different. Another stealth mission, just like Hyjal. She could do this.

A brief smirk crossed her face as she realised how she sounded. Annie Fox, who had taken so long to find a home, more than risking her life for a clan that wasn't her own-- She shook her head. No, that wasn't how it was. She was no better person now; it was just that Ledgic was hers, and that was enough. She needed to keep him safe. It had been the same with Dorian and his ragged crew of bandits back in the caves of Hillsbrad. Her life didn't mean that much unless she had people in it who she wouldn't mind throwing away that life for.

And then, the group on the ridge began to move down toward the dark shape of the mansion. Annie rose from her crouch, her hand closing around the hilt of her dirk. This was it, then. This was the beginning.

She crept in the wake of Ledgic and his allies, keeping to what little cover the wind-stripped land had to offer, biding her time. Ledgic had his plan on which to focus, and the last thing she wanted was to be spotted and to give him something to worry about... it was the other way around. She was going to be there, watching, to ensure he made it out of this alive.

Her senses flared as a sudden whoosh of flame exploded in the valley below. Leaping out from behind the rocky crag that had been her last bit of cover, she prepared to run--

--and found herself face to face with a woman.

Hawthorns! In that brief moment of surprise, her impression of the figure in front of her was of a white face surrounded by wild, unkempt hair. Annie yanked the dirk from her belt, a knife flicking into her other hand. The thing with shadow-wielders is that you had to hit them fast.

Just as she was about to thrust the dirk forward, the figure lifted a hand and spoke her name. Annie nearly yelped, just managing to keep from making a load of noise.

'Fuckin' Vale?'

Valerias Caan, for it was she, smiled. It was a very strange kind of smile, and for some reason, Annie shivered.

Rubbing an eye briefly with the back of the hand still holding a knife, Annie looked over the very familiar woman who was looking anything but familiar. The robe she wore was torn in too many places to count, and from what she could tell in the wavering of the moonlight, stained and filthy also. The dark hair was wild and tangled, bits of leaves and twigs sticking in it, and her white face was dirty. The second thing that Annie noticed is that she was also very pregnant.

'Th' feck?' she said, because nothing else seemed to come to mind.

Vale turned and looked down into the valley, where the explosion seemed to have settled into flames, and the sounds of steel and shouting drifted up the ridge. 'Ye can' go down there,' she said, and her voice, although hoarse, surprised Annie with its steadiness.

Snorting, Annie jerked her knife in the direction of the fight. 'Down there's where Led is. Fuck knows wha' yer doin' showin' up 'ere, an' fuck knows e'en more why ye'd care what 'appens t'me, but I got work t' do lass. Go... go fin' yersel' a stream t'wash up in or somethin'.

She turned away from Vale and started to run down the hill.

Or she would have, if she hadn't suddenly found herself rooted in place. 'Th'feck?' she said for the second time, her head turning quickly to look at Vale.

The other woman stood as still as she had before, but in her hand was a small orb of shadow, and Annie looked down as she noticed a faint glow from the ground beneath her feet. Amidst the browned grass was a delicately traced rune, flickering with moving shadow.

'Yer with the 'awthorns! I shoulda known!' Annie threw caution to the winds, swiveling as best she could - only her feet were immovable - and throwing her knife at Vale.

Vale lifted a hand, and the knife dropped to the ground short of her. 'Ye don' understand, Aniane o' th' north. I dreamed this... I dreamed th' downfall o' Landrus 'awthorn. I dreamed an 'ill, a sky on fire and all th'winds o' Westfall behin' them.'

Her accent was as thick as Annie had ever heard it, which jarred strangely with the singsong nature of her voice. Annie gritted her teeth. Great, so Valerias had gone insane, and she couldn't get down to the one place she really, really needed to be.

'Let me go, Vale. This ain' th'time... this... ye got t'let me get down there.' She clenched the dirk in one hand, looking desperately down toward the valley, where she could see almost nothing but flames eating at what had been the gate and occasional flares of violet shadowflame.

'It ain't yer time t'die, Aniane. Nor mine... not yet. Not yet.' Valerias lifted her hand, the shadow orb in her hand pulsing and flickering with eerie light. 'We all 'ave our place. It ain' time yet... hush now, hush-a-bye.' Her voice trailed off into a soft murmur as she looked at Annie, but to Annie it seemed as if she was looking at something else.

Annie threw herself forward, trying to move. 'Vale! Feckin' feck! Ye've got t'stop this!' She began to shout from frustration, going so far as to fling the dirk uselessly at Valerias. 'This is Led we're talkin' about! An' Eothan's down there... fuck, I know ye care! I know y'do!'

Vale's eyes seemed to refocus on Annie, then: the leather-clad woman with hair like fire, trapped in shadow like a wild thing in a cage. It was a strange sight. Valerias looked up at the moon and a sigh drifted from her throat.

'This is me' place tonigh', Aniane o' th' north. Yer not a Caan. But I 'ave t'keep ye safe.'

Then, she cupped her hands in front of her and blew gently against the orb of shadow in her hand. It dissipated, the violet light wavering and spreading out like smoke in front of her. Annie, clenching her fists, suddenly heard a quiet music... a strain of something long-forgotten, that took her attention even though she didn't want it to. She could still hear the clashing of steel, the shouts of men-- but the music overwhelmed her, wrapping her up in its embrace, and the last thing she heard before she lost consciousness was Vale's voice, singing.