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pixiesstolemyapples · 6 years

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Stormy Nights Chapter 9

A/N: This is a repost, it came to my attention that none of my tags were working! So hopefully my tags will work now since I’ve been working hard on this fic for everyone! So I do apologize if you’ve already seen this, I just hope it works this time! If you would like to read this chapter on my FanFiction or my AO3, please click the links! And as always, please enjoy!!

Chapter 1/Chapter 2/Chapter 3/Chapter 4/Chapter 5/Chapter 6/Chapter 7/Chapter 8/Chapter 9

Pidge had never felt so happy in her life. She had amazing comrades, she'd traveled to so many far off places, met so many amazing and interesting people. But the best of all was that she got to go to sleep next to the person she loved every night only to wake up every morning wrapped in his loving embrace. She'd been doing that for months, but... it was different now. Everything was different now.

They loved each other. Actually loved each other. And the rest of the team was finally seeing it in action, in real time. Shiro was still skeptical, Pidge still a little irritated by the comment he had made before, but she chalked it up to the fact that he was just worried for her, like a big brother would be. She knew his comment wasn't meant as a jab at her character, that in the past it was a fact that Lance went for tall, drop dead gorgeous, tall ladies. He apologized to the both of them, giving Lance the benefit of the doubt. After all, he and everyone else knew that Lance was in no way the type to just prey on cute girls.

As for her actual brother, despite the with your sister remark (which despite its implications, Pidge had to laugh at, come on), Matt was growing on Pidge and Lance, hard. Pidge wasn't sure if he was just happy she had found somebody or that he didn't have to worry about her as much, or if that anybody had to have a special place in his sister's heart, he'd want it to be Lance. All she knew was that Matt actively tried to talk to Lance, ask him questions, hang out with him when he could. Pidge was just happy they were getting along.

Allura may have been the best out of all of them (or at least second to Hunk). In the week or two since everyone had found out about them, Allura had closed in on Pidge's tailfeathers whenever Lance wasn't around. Allura hadn't had a significant other in more than 10,000 years, but that wasn't about to stop her from having some good old girl talk with the only other girl on the ship, besides her little mouse friend. And now Pidge had a boyfriend, so they could really girl talk. And as much as Pidge thought it would, talking with Allura about those types of things didn't even make her feel awkward. It made her incredibly proud actually that Allura saw so much of a friend in her that she wanted to talk to her about personal matters, day to day topics, or even about a certain paladin residing in the castle. Whatever the case, Pidge was happy to talk, happy to hang out, happy to have as good of a friend as Allura.

"You know," Hunk said one day as the three of them sat in the common area playing a board game called Knights of Valor, rolling some dice and moving his little yellow knight four spaces, "you two seem a lot happier since you finally started dating."

Lance and Pidge both looked up, Lance's arm stretched over the back of the couch, Pidge sitting sideways on the couch, leaning into Lance's side. Pidge and Lance looked at each other for a moment.

"I guess we had never really defined it until now," Pidge confessed, picking up a card and moving her green piece on a space near the lake. Lance just smiled, pressing a quick kiss to the back of her head. "And, I mean... I know I'm happier, why wouldn't I be? Lance is my first boyfriend."

"Ahhh," Lance mused, laying his head back on the top of the couch, "I gotta say, I love hearing you say boy- wait!" he exclaimed, sitting forward, his head whipping in Pidge's direction. "Did you say first? I'm your first boyfriend?"

Pidge peered over her glasses, shrugging her shoulders.

"Soooo," Lance questioned, trying and failing to mask the smile threatening to spread across his face. "Was I your first kiss, then?"

Pidge looked away, her eyebrows knitting up. "Obviously..." she murmured, a sad look passing over her face. "I wasn't exactly the most popular person at my old school, Lance..." she explained, running her finger along the seam of the couch. "I got made fun of most of the time, there wasn't really anybody who ever liked me enough to want to kiss me..."

Lance scrunched his eyebrows, looking over at Hunk as he shot him a concerned but sympathetic look. Lance hadn't thought much of it if he were being honest, if only maybe occasionally, and at that it was mostly when Shiro brought it up not long before that. All Lance saw was an incredibly smart, quick witted, funny, badass girl. Plus she was gorgeous, as much as Pidge didn't want to admit it. Lance wished she could see how amazing she was. He loved everything about her; he loved her honey colored hair and the way it tweeked up in random spots; he loved her amber eyes that glittered like a geode in the sun; he loved every single freckle on her body, her person like a detailed star chart of the cosmos; he loved her laugh, like music to his ears, like strums from an acoustic guitar. Someone could ask him to name one thing about her and he'd have a whole list of wonderful things that would read off as an elaborate sonnet. He loved her confidence, but even she faltered at times, especially when she thought of her past. He just wanted everyone else to see what he saw.

He pulled her into his lap, Pidge gasping at the sudden movement. "I like you enough to kiss you," Lance murmured, giving a look so smolderingly hot that it made Pidge instantly blush. She smiled, gently touching her fingers to his smooth jaw, pulling him close enough for their noses to bump against each other.

"And I'm so glad you do," she whispered, their lips barely brushing against one another. She felt his arms tighten around her.

"You really don't know what you do to me," he muttered, lightly closing the gap between them, feeling a fluttering in her chest. Just as she felt Lance deepen the kiss, they heard dice roll, quickly pulling away and looking toward Hunk, who they had nearly forgotten had been sitting next to the coffee table across from them, nonchalantly moving his little yellow knight in one hand, his chin sitting in the other, happily staring up at his two best friends.

"S-Sorry, Hunk," the two said simultaneously. Hunk laughed, waving his hand as the other laid on his chest.

"You guys are so gross!! Get a room!!!!" Hunk mocked, the two laughing along with him.

"But really, I don't want you guys to ever have to worry about that," Hunk said, scrunching his eyebrows in seriousness. "You guys just seem so happy and... well, I'm just so..." Hunk stammered, looking down. Finally crossing his arms on the coffee table, he looked up with a sweet smile. "You're my best friends, and as long as you're happy, I'm happy. So please, just... be as happy as you can be."

Pidge beamed at Hunk, smiling so wide her eyes crinkled. How in the world did she become so lucky in finding such a fantastic friend in Hunk? He'd been so incredibly supportive in just about everything he did for them, cooking their favorite foods, hanging out with them, laughing and goofing around with them, especially his support as the yellow paladin. He protected and provided such important aid to them, in so many different ways. They surely could not live happily without Hunk.

"Soooo," Hunk murmured as Lance moved his blue knight around, "I'm right, aren't I?" Lance and Pidge both looked up inquisitively. He side smiled, an almost wise looking expression passing over his face. "You're both way happier since you started dating."

Pidge blushed, chuckling as she felt Lance plant a hard kiss on her cheek. She leaned into him, curling her fingers into his jacket. Once again, Hunk proved to be incredibly intuitive. "Yeah... we're definitely a lot happier, Hunk."

After their game was finished, they both bid Hunk good night, the two of them heading down the hall and into their room. Lance was the one who decided that it was their room, no longer just his room. While at times they alternated between her room and his room, the two tended to play video games until they were tired so they would just crawl into his bed. Plus Pidge's room was a hoarding messy trash heap. His words, not Pidge's. Although she couldn't exactly argue with that. But since then, she had a few belongings in his room, some clothes in his drawers. Even her trash floofs found their way over to his room. No, their room. And he'd be lying if he didn't admit that it made his heart pound just thinking about their room.

Finishing his bathroom regimen, Lance walked out of the bathroom and padded down the hallway. The door whooshed open, Lance walking in and seeing an oblivious Pidge sitting cross-legged on his desk chair, coding on her laptop and humming a song to herself. She had her bangs pinned up on her head, away from her forehead. Seeing her sitting there, one hand on the mouse, the other casually pinching her lip between her finger and her thumb, made his chest swell. There was something so beautifully... domestic about it. Lance almost smiled at how peaceful she was in that moment as he walked into the room, but he stopped in his tracks when his ears registered the song she was humming. His breath stopped short, feeling his heart drop into his stomach. He silently padded up to the chair, gently setting both his hands on its arms, leaning toward her, roughly whispering, "Katie."

"AAUUGHH!!" Pidge jumped from the chair, nearly dropping her laptop, pressing her hand to her racing heart. "Lance!!" she huffed, setting her laptop on the desk, glaring at him. "You scared me!"

"Where did you hear that song?" Lance asked, his lips pressed together, his eyes serious as he stared down at Pidge.

Pidge's eyes got big, her cheeks flushing red. "U-Uh, wha-what?"

"Where did you hear that song, Pidge?" he asked again, taking a step closer to her.

Pidge frantically looked for words to say. She hadn't even realized she was humming it! "W-What, so I like Spanish music, is that a crime?"

"I never said it was a Spanish song," Lance said, crossing his arms. Pidge's face burned a fiercer red, looking down at her toes. "Where'd you hear it, Pidge?"

Pidge forced her brain to overwork, desperately trying to find an excuse for why she would know that song. Couldn't possibly be because I was snooping around the bathrooms, could it? Maybe? She tugged at her sleep pants, scrunching her eyebrows together in thought.

"I dunno... I... I must have heard it on a Spanish radio station a couple years ago!" Pidge laughed nervously, stepping past him to get to their bed. Lance sighed, shaking his head and grabbing her wrist.

"That is impossible, Pidge."

"What?" Pidge asked incredulously, turning back and peering at him from over her glasses. "How's that?"

"Because my dad sang that song when he married my mom," Lance said, his eyes softening but his eyebrows knitting together. "My dad wrote that song, I grew up to him singing that all the time to my mom. Where did you hear it, Pidge?" he asked again. He loosened his grip on her wrist, his hand sliding to grasp her fingers. "Please, just tell me?"

Pidge blanched. His dad wrote that song?? She felt so stupid. She couldn't believe she had been caught in such a bald face lie. She was ashamed. And the look on his face... she felt so hurt in her heart for lying to him like that.

Pidge sighed, sitting cross legged in the middle of the bed, Lance doing the same, facing her as he waited patiently for an explanation.

"So..." Pidge began, blushing and looking down at her feet. She peered into his face, his eyes focused intently on her, Pidge looking back down and scrunching her thick eyebrows together. "Well... now I'm embarrassed..."

"It can't be that embarrassing, Pidge," Lance said. He just wanted to know, it's not like she committed a heinous crime. "Please, just be honest with me."

Pidge sighed, poking her toes absentmindedly, peering up into his face. His ocean blue eyes were soft, and despite his concern they were calm. His eyes searched her face, finally settling on her own eyes, staring deeply into her. She peered back down, a slight blush dusting her cheeks. He has no business looking that cute.

She inhaled a breath. ".... You sing in the shower..."

"What?" Lance said, his face turning red. "What do you mean I- What were you doing sneaking around in the showers?!"

"I wasn't sneaking around!!" Pidge exclaimed. "I was taking my own shower, and the walls in the bathrooms are amazingly thin.... B-But when I realized you only sang when you thought no one was around, I... I-I," she sighed, "snuck into the opposite showers and would listen to you sing until you were finished..."

"You were sneaking... So you know I sing in the shower?" he murmured, peering into her eyes sheepishly.

Pidge nodded. "I'm sorry.. but I just loved hearing you sing, and that one particular song was just so beautiful and I didn't understand what it meant, but I just felt like it was so loving and romantic that-" Lance's stomach dropped, an intense feeling ripping right through him.

Lance pulled her by her ankles flush into his lap, wrapping his arms around her and smashing his lips to hers, a surprised "oomf!" escaping her throat. It was such a quick movement, Pidge barely registered what was happening. His lips moved swiftly against hers, a fervent desire heavy between the two as her ankles hooked around his back. Pidge wrapped her arms tight around Lance's neck, Lance moving his head to get a new angle on her lips. She shivered as his tongue touched hers, threading her fingers through his chocolate hair to deepen the kiss further. She gasped, feeling the touch of his warm fingers touch the skin under her shirt, pushing it up and feeling the cool air hit her exposed skin. The two fell back against the mattress, Lance peeling his lips from Pidge's, pressing quick kisses to the corner of her mouth, her cheek, her jaw, finding a spot behind her ear, pressing his lips firmly against her skin. Pidge quickly inhaled a shaky breath, biting her lip at the sensation. His hands moved further up her waist under her shirt as his mouth met her lips once more, her shirt riding along all the way up her chest, Pidge feeling her breasts flush against his soft sleep shirt. She shuddered, murmuring incoherently against his mouth. Lance's eyelids fluttered at her quiet sound, suddenly breaking apart from her, sitting up and backing away toward the end of the bed.

"Shit, Pidge!!" he exclaimed, covering his eyes so fast with his hand Pidge could hear his hand slap against his face. "I-I-I'm so sorry!! I dunno what came over me!"

Pidge quietly sat up, peering his way as a blush crept its way onto her cheeks. "I-It's okay, Lance," she whispered as she pulled her shirt properly back down her waist. She'd be lying if she said she hadn't enjoyed what just happened. It was a different feeling, one that wasn't exactly unpleasant in any way. Pidge looked his way, seeing that his hand was still over his beet red face. She giggled, gently removing his hand from his face and holding it on the bed between them. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine," he said with a chuckle. "I just think, I think that... hearing you hum that song, saying that it was beautiful and romantic, I... I just had such a reaction to it, and just thinking about what it means to my mom and dad, and that someda-" Lance stopped short, his eyes getting big, forcing himself to stop what he was about to say. He began to nervously laugh. "Never mind. I'm just... I'm sorry, Pidge."

Pidge's pupils dilated, her heart beating so hard in her chest she thought it may explode, millions of butterflies fluttering around her stomach. She smiled a genuine, soft, loving smile. "Don't be sorry," she whispered, moving toward him to plant a short kiss on his lips. He took her face in his hands.

"I love you, Katie..." he murmured as he laid them back down once more into the soft mattress. Pidge snuggled close to his side, feeling one of his arms hook around her waist, pulling her closer. She sighed, relaxing as she closed her eyes. That's when she heard him. His lilting voice gently pierced her ears with his soft, deep Spanish words, digging deep into her chest as she felt her heart beat harder and harder with every rolled R. She couldn't understand most of the words, but she could at least understand mi amor, or estoy enamorado... Te necesito...

"Te amo, Lance," she roughly whispered, hearing him stop for just a moment to softly laugh and press a heartfelt kiss to her head. She curled her fingers into his shirt as his intense, melodic voice began again, lulling her off into an incredibly happy and comforting sleep.

***

The distress signal sounded off, Allura and Coran quickly heading to the main deck to retrieve it. Coran projected the call up onto the big screen in the back of the room, a light blue woman with ears like a fox and the teeth of a boar appearing in front of them, her piercing yellow eyes in deep panic.

"Paladins of Voltron!" she gruff, high pitched voice exclaimed over the monitor, a boom startling her from behind, her breathing fast and labored. "W-We need your help! Our base is being attacked by a small Galran fleet, b-but we are outnumbered!! At this rate, our base will be destroyed!"

"Vremni!!" Pidge called out, barreling onto the main deck, concern washing over her face. "What's going on, where's Matt? Can you send your coordinates?"

"Matt is currently away on a mission, Pidge, he's fine!" Vremni said, another loud boom sounding behind her. "I have no idea how we got located all the way out here, b-but there's nothing we can do now! Sending coordinates! Please get here as quickly as you ca-" The transmission cut off, the screen going blank.

"Team, get to your Lions!" called Shiro. The team quickly left for the Lions' hangars, changing into their paladin gear before boarding. "This is an incredibly important mission. It is imperative that we all stay focused if we are to keep this rebel base intact and more importantly, save the rebels currently in that base."

Coran set a course for the coordinates sent by Vremni, everyone quickly traveling through the wormhole. They weren't expecting such a battle going on, even for a small rebel base such as this, quite a few of the rebel forces already fighting for their lives. Allura used her Lion to encase parts of smaller Galra ships, Hunk using his cannon to blast those pieces to smithereens, almost completely incapacitating those ships.

Pidge was firing her laser, encompassing an enemy ship in vines when she received a fuzzy but operational transmission, a disheveled red faced rebel with silver scratches on his face and orange eyes appearing before her.

"Mukdack, what is your status?" Pidge asked frantically, hoping that the rebels were going to get out of this okay. But the look on his face said otherwise. His thick accented voice was panicked, but otherwise understandable.

"W-W-We are fine for now, Pidgeon," he said, her name coming out as pidge-ee-in, " but we may not be for long. Our shields are down, and our only engineers are currently incapacitated!"

Pidge nodded. "Okay, listen to me, Mukdack," she said quickly, "I'm coming to help, I need you to get the rest of the rebels on base to your pods and get out of there for now. You hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Pidgeon!! Please stay alert!" And with that, the transmission ended. Pidge switched her comm.

"Allura, Lance!" Pidge called, the two sounding off immediately. "I need you two to cover me until I can get into the base. If I can fix the shielding system, we may be able to hold the Galra off and keep this base from being destroyed.

"All right!"

"You got it!!" she heard the two of them say simultaneously.

She guided Green quickly down toward the base, Lance's face suddenly appearing on her monitor. He smiled a fierce smile, but one that had a look of underlying concern and worry. "You be careful, Katie," he said gently. "You got that?"

"Heh, you got it, Sharpshooter," she mused, giving him a cute wink.

Lance snickered, smugly licking between his lips. "Hey, you come back safely, I'll show you why they call me Loverboy-"

"LANCE!" Hunk appeared on the screen, his face blanching, Lance nearly rolling with laughter and Pidge giggling with her hand up to her mouth, a soft blush covering her face.

"Guys, can you please focus?" Shiro suddenly growled, Pidge swearing she could him muttering "nasty freakin' teenagers" under his breath.

Pidge got serious, landing Green in the hangar, stepping out quickly, periodically looking down at the map projecting from her arm communicator and heading toward the base's circuit breakers on the middle floor. She slid into the tight space, immediately touching her fingers to the screens, quickly finding the shields page and desperately trying to work her technological magic. The further she went into the process of fixing the shielding system, the more she realized something was incredibly wrong. The shielding system was offline, not only that, the coding for the system was also completely off. Could it have been a weird malfunction? Pidge thought to herself. Nevertheless, despite the anxious feeling in her chest, she pressed on, recoding the system as quickly as she could. Just one last code and-

Pidge's heart sank. Her skin crawled. Her face grew pale, her eyes growing wide. She shakily brought her arm up, her fingers trembling as she pressed the buttons on her communicator.

"M-M-M-Mukdack...." she murmured, her teeth chattering. "H-Has everyone b-been evacuated?"

"Yes, Ma'am, Pidgeon!!" Mukdack quickly replied. "Is everything okay? Pidgeon?"

Pidge sank to her knees, her chest so heavy, her stomach so nauseous she thought she may vomit. She had only just realized then that her hearing was muffled when she suddenly heard a loud voice in her ear.

"PIDGE!" a loud voice rang frantically.

"Y... Yes...?" she murmured.

"What is going on??!" Lance shouted. Pidge stared back in front of her, her shoulders trembling, her fingers feeling cold.

A countdown. The shielding system had been sabotaged. The rebels must have been infiltrated or had a traitor or something, Pidge didn't know. All she knew is that the enemy would have known Voltron would show up to a distress signal, and that one of them would go in to help if they took out the remaining engineers of the base. And there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Pidge hadn't even heard herself explaining the situation to Lance, but she suddenly heard him screaming at her to get out of there. Pidge blinked, looking back at the clock. Roughly two doboshes. Pidge willed her legs to move beneath her. She ran. And she ran and ran, but only one thought pierced her mind with every long stride her short legs could carry her.

I'll never make it.

"L-L-Lance..." she said breathlessly, still running as fast as she could despite the feeling of dread spreading throughout her body. "Lance, I-I-"

"Pidge, no. Just get out of there, Pidge, get out of there," she heard his frantic voice tremble.

"Lance!" Pidge cried, tears streaming down her face. "I-I-I love you so much."

"No.. No, Katie, don't say that, don't-!"

With every stride she took, she could see her life flashing before her eyes, her small hands holding her dad's finger; playing with her dog; her mom's peanut butter cookies; sitting next to Matt reading a book; her time at the Galaxy Garrison; laughing with Keith and Hunk; hugging Allura; the first time her and Lance kissed; telling him she loved him. Pidge bit her trembling lip, closing her eyes.

"Katie!! Katie! Answer m-" Lance screamed, tears pouring down his face as he raced his Lion toward the rebel base, orange, red and yellow flashing as the base exploded before his very eyes.

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neo-kajatrash · 6 years

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Short WoW fic below the cut:

If anyone’s interested :/ It’s about my boy Ruszell, and my other boy Karuon.

Fall from Venture Co.

“I’m gettin’ real sick o’ your attitude, boy!” the older goblin growled, pointing a knobby finger at Ruszell and taking a threatening step closer.

Ruszell held his ground and glared right back at him, turning his round nose up and baring his sharp teeth. The messy brown hair that wasn’t tied up in his ponytail fell over his forehead, and his bright pink eyes glinted with annoyance and frustration. He leaned with his elbow on the handle of his pickaxe, wearing only his working pants and boots, with his shirt tied around his waist and suspenders hanging over his hips. Sweat from the day’s work glistened on his earthy green skin in the evening sunlight, which cast long shadows across the grass in front of him.

They stood at one of the smaller entrances to the Venture Co. Mine--just a few feet from a tall cliff that dropped down to the plains of Mulgore--and were only now just taking their afternoon break. A few other goblins were taking their break as well, but they all sat closer to the entrance near the log piles enjoying the shade the mountain provided and talking amongst themselves. Just beyond the rocky clearing was the beautiful dry valley, stretching on for miles below and practically glowing in the setting sun. From where they were, they could see much of Mulgore and its peppering of pine forests and rivers--along with the tall silhouette of Thunder Bluff far away against the cloudless sky.

Ruszell hadn’t eaten yet, so he was getting even more annoyed that this old goblin he only just met a few weeks ago was trying to start something with him. His large, turned-up ears swiveled towards him angrily, multiple piercings swaying from the movement.

“Ahh, shove off!” he barked back. “I’m only just lettin’ you lot know that I don’t belong here with all o’ you. I’m supposed to be all over Azeroth, traveling and adding to my map--if it weren’t for my dragon being stolen!”

“So you’ve said,” the older goblin grumbled, dark eyes narrowing. “About a million times over! What makes you so much more special than any of us? Too ‘good’ for this work, huh? I swear if I hear about your so-called ‘adventures’ one more time, I’ll--”

“You’ll what, old man?”

The goblin stopped and glared at him for a moment, wrinkled face twisting with anger. But then he seemed to relax slightly, and his voice lowered.

“I’ll get rid o’ ya... so we don’t have to hear it no more. Anyone ever tell ya you’re unbearable to be around, ya lousy conceited git?”

He took another step towards him, clutching his own pickaxe in his hand. Ruszell stiffened a little, ears flicking back for a moment as if remembering that only a few steps behind him was nothing but a sheer cliff.

“Ahh, shut ya trap,” the hunter argued back, glancing around a little uncomfortably. “What, ya gonna kill me? Just cause I’m better than you, and you’re jealous? Huh?”

“...Ya say ya had a dragon, right?”

Uneasy now, Ruszell swallowed and lifted his pickaxe. He glared harder at the goblin as if daring him to take another step closer, but it was obvious by his trembling ears he was getting nervous over his threats.

“Yeah,” he answered through his teeth. “A rocket-enhanced, two-headed wyvern.”

“Well then… you better hope it’ll show up now and save ya, then,” the older goblin said with a crooked, malicious smile.

In a bit of a panic from the miner’s aggressive tone, Ruszell lunged toward him--but the old man was too fast. Without warning the goblin swung his pickaxe and flung the young hunter’s own tool out of his hands, sending it clattering backwards down the cliffside. Ruszell’s eyes widened at that and he tried to jump past his attacker to avoid him, but the fed-up goblin quickly swung again. He caught the younger goblin’s bare side with the end of his pickaxe, sending blood splattering over the grass and drawing a shocked and painful shout from its victim.

“Aauughh!! Damn!”

The injured goblin fell to his hands and knees, breathing hard and wincing as sticky blood seeped over his skin. Head bowed, he quickly lifted a hand to grip his wound, as if it would help.

After a short second of suffering he looked back up at his enemy, seething furiously with pain glimmering in his eyes. But instead of fighting, he started to scramble desperately further from the cliff, towards safety--and possibly towards another goblin miner who would help him... However the old man just chuckled darkly and leaned down to grab him forcefully by the neck. Dragging him up with strength that the younger goblin didn’t expect, he walked back towards the cliff and only stopped when Ruszell was hanging over the edge by his outstretched arm.

Scratching hard at the old man’s strong hand around his throat and thrashing his feet as he choked, Ruszell’s eyes were now only filled to the brim with mortal panic. His face paled when he glanced down at the lightly forested plains below, watching as his own blood dripped down his leg and sailed towards the earth.

“P-Please!!” he gasped as he struggled in the air, pink eyes wide and ears pulled far back. “Don’t… I-I’m--s-sorry…!”

“Heh… too late, little boy…” the older goblin hissed, still holding his pickaxe in his other hand. “I’d tell ya you’ve learned your lesson for next time… if there was to be a next time.”

“L-let me go…!” Ruszell pleaded pitifully, heart pounding and chest rising and falling with panicked breaths. His whole body trembled with the threat of death so close, and he had no way to escape. Was this really how it was all going to end?

“Poor choice of words,” answered the old man with a smirk.

The miner suddenly released his grip, watching with satisfaction as the younger goblin plunged downwards. Crying out with fear, Ruszell tried in vain to grab the dusty cliffside with scrambling hands on his way down… But soon the old goblin couldn’t see him anymore, and only just heard his screams echoing in the dry air.

After a good moment of just staring out at the plains, the old miner just sniffed and hoisted his bloodied pickaxe over his shoulder.

“Good riddance, kid.”

The large black and white tauren sighed tiredly and glanced around, running his fingers through the loose black hair that fell forward between his curved, front-facing horns. He huffed through his ringed nose, pierced ears flicking for a moment to ward off small flies. As he put his hand back down and stroked his braided beard once, his bright green eyes searched the place for any more herbs he needed.

Karuon decided he was all stocked up on gathering, and shifted his bag over his shoulder as he turned around to go back home. He walked casually through the few pine trees as he made his way north, glancing up at the darkening sky. He figured he’d be back to Bloodhoof Village by the time the sun set below the towering mountains that surrounded the valley.

However, he wasn’t expecting to suddenly catch such a strong whiff of blood. Turning his large head and making his beaded necklaces sway with the movement, he stopped in his hooved tracks and stared with wide eyes at something a good few feet away that he never expected to come across. It was a shirtless goblin on his back, clothes torn and caked in dirt and blood--as he had obviously fallen from the cliff and rolled a long ways down. It seemed as though his arm was broken badly, and his face was turned away towards the rocks, ears and body limp as death. Karuon felt a spell of grief and horror at seeing such a terrible sight on such a nice afternoon… but he had nothing to do with this poor dead goblin, and opted to just leave him where he was. Either someone else would find him, he thought a little guiltily--or the animals nearby would soon have an easy meal.

But just as he was about to move on, his floppy ear perked up at a small sound. A sound of slow, pained breathing. This goblin was alive… and now Karuon knew he couldn’t just leave him here. Even if he was to die soon, at least the tauren druid would be sound in the knowledge that he tried his best to help him. He’d never heard anything very good about the people of his stereotypically untrustworthy race, and he had to admit he didn’t love the idea of even touching the dirty little guy… But that wasn’t enough to dissuade him from kneeling down and carefully picking him up. Surprised at how light he was, he cradled him safely in his arms and tried not to hurt him more than he already was. Red blood from his mouth was smeared over his cheek, as well as from multiple cuts on his face and body. The goblin was all sticky with dust and sweat, too, which made Karuon’s large nostrils wrinkle--but still he was determined to do what he could for the small, injured thing.

The sun was slowly disappearing along the mountain range when Karuon returned to the village, and he hurried to his tent near the outskirts before anyone could see what he was holding. Gingerly laying the unconscious goblin down on a thin rug over the soft, grassy ground, the tauren turned and closed his tent door by fastening the beads on the edges. Then he sat down near his hurt guest with his legs crossed, sighing to himself and mumbling that his home would smell like dirty goblin blood for a while.

In the pale darkness cast through the fabric of his tent, Karuon took a moment to just stare at the goblin. He’d never actually been so up-close with one before--besides walking past the good few that usually bustled around Thunder Bluff for trade, but they never paid him much mind. Their ears were so big, and their green bodies so small and stocky, with such long faces and large hands and feet… the tauren couldn’t help but stare.

But when the injured goblin stirred a little and coughed blood over his stubbly chin, Karuon was suddenly reminded why he brought him here in the first place. He quickly took a rag and a bucket of water from the other side of his tent and cleaned the little guy up, managing to wipe away all the blood and dirt he could. He was still scored with cuts and bruises, especially the large gash on his side--not to mention his broken bones and the little, unhealable tears in his ears--and for a moment Karuon felt bad that he didn’t have a potion or a healer to help him quicker.

As he stared down at the goblin again, the tauren figured he could go to a shaman he knew of in the village. Sure it would be an awkward conversation, this late in the evening… but wasn’t this a matter of life or death he was dealing with--goblin or no? Besides… he couldn’t deny that he liked having an excuse to speak with the shaman he had in mind.

Ruszell’s face twisted and he suddenly smelled all sorts of grass, earth, and leather around him. He was warm but shivering, and his weak ears slowly straightened against the ground. It took him a moment… but when he finally remembered what just happened to him, his eyes flew open and he shot up.

Immediately wracked with the pain of broken ribs and a broken arm, not to mention the dark bruises that were forming all over, he grunted and groaned and fell weakly back to the ground with a soft thud. He choked on blood for a minute before managing to swallow it, gritting his teeth at the splitting headache that made him feel sick. He couldn’t move his arm and the thought made him panic a little… Then with fearful breaths he finally opened his eyes again, and looked around at what looked to be the inside of a tent… or a home… Where was he?

It was just then that Karuon returned and ducked back into the tent, with a promise from the shaman that she would meet him here soon to heal the little stranger. He was surprised to see the goblin awake so soon, and he was also a little proud of himself that he’d managed to help him this far. However, the goblin did not seem grateful; he tried to scramble painfully away on the grass and lifted his hand in defense--snapped arm useless by his side.

“Back off!!” he shouted in goblin with a broken, scratchy voice, baring his sharp teeth stained red. He trembled and breathed hard against his cracked ribs, confused and afraid of this strange place. But just now he noticed how he’d been cleaned up… and when he stared into the tauren’s green eyes, he saw no malice.

Karuon frowned and hurriedly lifted his hands to show he wasn’t armed, staying a good distance from the goblin and still standing.

“Don’t worry…” he said softly in orcish. “You’re safe… You fell a long way, little goblin.”

Ruszell’s hand dropped and his eyes welled up with shocked tears as he sat back on it in the padded-down grass, realizing just how close he was to death--and yet he’d been spared from it. His ears drooped back and he looked up at the stranger with chattering teeth and clouded, pain-filled eyes.

“...Th-thank you…” he answered in goblin, feeling his pride crumble as he admitted his gratitude.

Karuon didn’t know what he said, and now he wasn’t sure this goblin could even speak orcish. He wasn’t expecting him to look so fallen apart, though, and he wondered if he really understood this was a safe place.

“...So, this is the one in need of healing?” came a deep, female voice from behind Karuon, before he could say anything more. When he moved aside, the shaman peered at the frightened, beaten up goblin curiously and entered. She slowly kneeled down a couple of feet from Ruszell, who was having a hard time processing what was happening as he was mostly just wincing and huffing and distracted by the pain. Giving him a calm nod of greeting and a soft “hello,” the light brown tauren woman held her hands up towards him and emitted the only healing spell she currently knew, palms glowing.

Ruszell didn’t know how to respond or feel--but all he knew was that the terrible pain all throughout his body was fading away. His bones slowly mended and he gasped and coughed with freed lungs, shocked but feeling so much better. After a long minute of this, the shaman stopped and put her hands on her lap, sighing tiredly with the mana she’d exerted.

“...How unexpected, that you should be found...” she said with flicking ears, watching with gratification at her own abilities as Ruszell stood up cautiously and dizzily with perked, yet newly-scarred ears. He gazed down at his healed body with shock and relief, moving his arm and flexing his fingers--which just moments ago he couldn’t move at all.

“Thank you, for this,” Karuon said quietly to her.

Ruszell finally looked back up at the two tauren with misty eyes, amazed that they would bother to save him and feeling more lucky than ever.

“...I… I-I don’t got no money…” he confessed in orcish with trembling ears, holding out his empty palms as if to show them. He assumed they expected payment for this, and he worried that since he couldn’t, they might try to take something from him or maybe track him down.

“For saving your life?” Karuon asked with a casual wave of his large hand, glad that the stranger understood. He stepped closer to the two of them with a soft thud of his hooves on the grass. “Leave your healer’s payment to me, goblin. All I ask is that you go to Mulgore’s capital now--and with this, they’ll lend you a ride back to wherever you came from.”

He reached out and dropped a couple of coins into the goblin’s outstretched hands, much to Ruszell’s surprise. As Karuon did so the shaman woman looked at him with a lovely soft expression, and he easily yet somewhat bashfully returned it.

“No… I owe ya my life,” Ruszell finally said with a weak voice, taking their attention away from each other. But he slunk around the edge of the tent towards the exit while still facing them, hand over his rapidly beating heart to show his sincerity.

“I’ll be back one day… To repay you… Believe me…”

And with that, he was gone.

The lucky goblin quickly made his way by foot in the darkness along the clear road to Thunder Bluff. As he walked, he untied his shirt from his waist to button it up again, and pulled his suspenders back up over his shoulders. As he did so, he stared up at the quiet, dim stars with watery eyes and a shaky sigh... He now viewed his rescued life in a completely different, much more humble light.

#wow #fanfic #fic #ruszell #karuon #goblin #tauren #ocs

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