Unlikely Friendship Part II

“Bar keep! I’m still thirsty!!” I growled while slamming down my empty mug. What does an Orc have to do to get a drink around here?

“Jarisi, you’ve drank one of my kegs already. Can’t you wait till tomorrow to run me dry?” Ok’thar asked. He was eyeing me again, waiting for me to have an outburst so he would have an excuse to throw me out of the bar. Well, try to at least.

I barred my teeth at him and snorted, the only polite thing I could think of doing at the moment. “May I have another drink…. pl…. pl…. NOW!” I slid the empty mug towards him and started to tap my nails on the bar. Ok’thar looked at it, picked it up, and filled it up with the frothy goodness I so craved. I grabbed at it eagerly and slammed it back and savored the feeling of the cold drink flowing down my throat. There is nothing better than a couple dozen beers in the early hours of the day.

So this is what I’ve come to? Spending my days at the bar drowning my guilt and sorrow in the drink? It doesn’t matter, I thought. Nothing matters. I tried to find who murdered my family! I searched most of Kalimdor and half of the Eastern Kingdoms, and found nothing. No one even offered to help me! It doesn’t matter, I thought again. Why should I care about that anymore? People accuse me of murdering my mother, father, and my poor little brothers. They are afraid of me! They call me Kinslayer now. I chuckled under my breath… “Kinslayer”.

“What was that Jarisi?” Ok’thar asked. He was looking at me funny again. It seemed everyone was looking at me differently. Well… they should. I’m not what I used to be. Before I was strong, agile, smart, and one of the better looking female Orcs. Now… now I was a mess to look at. My belly was soft and hung loosely over my belt. I hadn’t showered in days nor have I changed clothes. I felt my chin and sighed, even a female Orc can get a coarse beard if she didn’t keep it under control. Yep, I was definitely a mess.

“Nothing, leave me be.” I needed to get away from here. After this next beer I’ll leave. “One more Ok’thar, and then I’ll be out of your hair”. I need to change. This isn’t who I am. I’m not a loser drunk whose only friend is the bartender. Tomorrow. Tomorrow I’ll start working out again. I’ll go practice with my axe in the early hours of the day and redeem myself. People will forget about my past, and start remembering me as Jarisi the Brave! That has a good ring to it. Or maybe Jarisi the beautiful? Okay, maybe not the beautiful, I couldn’t even think that without laughing. Oh, people are looking at my funny again. I need to stop acting like I’m crazy, talking and laughing to myself. Tomorrow, I thought again, tomorrow will be so much better.

I looked up and saw Ok’thar smiling at me and holding my beer. Now that’s service! I reached for the mug and right before I could close my fingers around it, it was gone. Why do things keep disappearing on me!? I was staring dumb founded at the hand that was supposed to have a mug in it when suddenly something splattered onto it. It was blood. Again with things disappearing and blood. I’m cursed, I thought. I looked up to question Ok’thar only to find him looking at me with a horrid look on his face. Two daggers were stuck deep into either side of his neck, and he was bleeding badly. Before I could even ask what happened or shout for help I felt myself being pulled to my feet with surprising strength.

What is going on!? What just happened? Who is this person? Then things started to come into view. I started to see like a warrior again. On the bar, near where I was sitting was an empty vial. Ok’thar was trying to hand me a poisoned drink. But someone had stopped him. Okay they did more than stop him, they killed him, but I was saved either way. My unknown savior pulled me into the shadows of the Inn and threw down some flash powder to hide our escape. Whoever this was, they sure knew how to make an exit.

We ran for what seemed like hours until we finally came to a building and my savior ushered me in. I finally got a chance to look them over and to my surprise it was a young beautiful Blood Elf. She was almost my height with long shiny red-orange hair that flowed down to her lower back. Her emerald eyes looked at me with such a steady calm glare that made me avert my eyes.

“Why did you save me?” I asked still unable to look her in the face. I felt ashamed this is what I had become. Unable to sense threat around me and not even able to save myself. I should be dead.

“You managed to piss someone off Orc” She said, her voice sent a shiver down my spine.

“Why did you save me?” I asked again. I had to know why this Blood Elf felt my life was worth saving. In my thoughts kept hearing those dark words from that mysterious cloaked figure. That I would meet unlikely companions and they would have a hand in changing my future.

“Because you couldn’t. What’s your name Orc?” Those words hit me harder than a Tauren’s punch to the face. She spoke the truth though; if she hadn’t been there I would have been too drunk and stupid to see what was going on around me. And I would have died, and no one would have cared.

“Jarisi. My name is Jarisi, elf.” I tried to stand straight and tall, to feel like my old powerful self again and to show her I am indeed something to be feared. But because I was not in the best shape, the button on my pants popped off and flew towards the elf who gracefully caught it midair and handed it back to me.

“My name is Lynnius. Look, Jarisi, I’m not sure what’s going on here, but we should probably leave the city. They will be looking for us and we need to figure out why someone wanted to kill you.” Lynnius looked at me impatiently waiting for my response. I stood there flabbergasted. My life is never going to be the same after this.

“ I would still like to know why you saved me.” I knew I wouldn’t get a straight answer from her but I thought I would ask again. So maybe the cliché saying that Orcs are stubborn is true. Lynnius smiled, which sent another chill down my spine. I could tell her face wasn’t used to smiling. It looked forced and rigid.

“Come Orc, we will talk in the forest” She turned and began to walk towards the gates of the city. And like a lost confused puppy I followed.