Salvaging Salvage

It was a calm, sunny day in Durotar. Upon the shores to the east, the waters drifted to and fro, emptying seaweed and seashells onto the rough, rigid sands. The cool breeze swept over the isolated beach, giving anyone present a small token of peace and relaxation. All in all, it was a simple, peaceful day, and not too much was going about.

It was an opportune time to finally find some rest from the throes of work and hustle. See, the calm waters? Feel, that cool breeze wrap around your toiled hands and bare skin? Hear, the calls of the animals, or perhaps the allure of silence? This was rest at its best; and, especially considering Kor’kron work, this rest was perhaps the best there ever was, maybe ever will be.

Demura left her armor on, as it was simply too difficult to get used to lighter wear. She adjusted her circlet, standing near the shores, admiring the view and gazing past the horizon, searching for peace, finding it. She blinked; a long, calm breath was inhaled, then slowly let out. As she closed her eyes, her mind went blank; the toil of yesterday had been met with just rewards today.

A human garbed in red leather sauntered up to the orcess, floundering about in a playful manner as he moved. He was incoherently singing some sort of tune that perhaps only he knew of, and the ghostly mist around his mace sang along, too, but with more – actually – greater precision and coherence. Demura made a smile as she heard the two voices creep up closer to her, but she did not want to open her eyes or turn; no, she wanted to admire everything around her and know they were there, to know that her work had not been wasted.

“Helloooooo,” Cham said, all sing-songy. “Hello, hello, hellooooo!” Cham twirled about, facing Demura with a genuine smile of sincerity and good will. He began waving a hand about her face, rotating it in a circle, and Demura responded with a stifled smile as she tried to keep still without making a reaction.

It was an odd friendship. Not only was he human, but he was also a death knight, despite being freed. How could she trust him the way she did, and without much question as to his antics or motives? He was simply too stupid to be taken seriously, maybe? It was difficult to question Cham, let alone his motive, as his mood always flailed and flopped, never tending to stay in one emotion. But, he always had a way with words, and gained his trust through them. Enough of this, however! It wasn’t a time to be questioning the now and now, it was time to be relaxing.

Demura finally gave in to Cham’s silly disposition. When she opened her eyes, he was making an odd face to her, and she playfully slapped him in the face, making him grunt hyperbolically.

“Alright, alright,” Demura said, turning around with her arms crossed. “That’s enough of that, let’s get to work.” The irony was humorous to her, smiling about what she had just said. Cham decided to call her out on it.

“Work?” he questioned. “Aren’t you on vacation? The hell we’re working!” Cham flailed his hands, looking incredibly shocked and appalled at such a word, but it was all in good jest. Demura let out a laugh as they trekked over the arid lands, observing the wildlife do what they do and gazing at the boulders and rocks that jutted out of Durotar like pimples. Demura knew this walk would take some time and decided to partake in some light conversation.

“So, how’s Reichel?” Cham was busy watching over himself as he walked with exuberance and flair.

“Hm? Oh, I dunno, how IS Reichel, Reichel?” He snickered like a monkey, but that was natural for him, even if his body and voice were infused with the magics of the Scourge.

“Reichel says Reichel is fine, you dummy.” Reichel responded with a scolding, humorous tone. She laughed along with Cham and Demura joined in soon after.

“I have a mind to ask you this, but, uh…,” Demura hesitated with the rest of her question, tapping her chin in thought. Cham looked at her with a quirked brow, feeling that the question would be something rather saucy; a grin formed over his face and Reichel felt the sting of a bad joke from the carrier’s mind.

“You’re such a pervert!” Reichel blurted out. Cham could only laugh aloud as the thoughts came streaming over between their minds. Demura looked to them, slightly dumbfounded, then realized what was happening.

“I wasn’t going to ask that!” A diligent cover, but futile. “I was going to ask something else!”

“The fact that you THINK you know what I’m thinking of is a testament of your guilt!” Cham chimed in with another laugh as Demura’s face began flushing up with red. The ghostly apparition of Reichel popped out of the mace and began bonking him on the head, but no reaction came whatsoever. After all, she was a ghostly spirit, what could she do? Cham felt the hits, but didn’t react to them, which questioned how magic worked at all in this damn universe.

They conversed for several minutes, laughing and nodding and doing such and such to each other’s statements and questions. Cham finally had a lapse of time and looked about, wondering how much had passed since their departure.

“How long have we been walking?”

Demura shrugged. She didn’t even look concerned for the time. “Not long enough, maybe?” A little snicker came out of her mouth, along with a grin.

“Bah!” Cham retorted, his usual exuberance evident. “I’m dead, tired, and dead tired!”

Demura looked over her shoulder and spoke back. “You’re free to fall back asleep.” A laugh came out of her; Cham stuck his tongue out since he had nothing else to say in return. He had lost the game, for now.

Overall, a half an hour passed. The two finally stopped near the outskirts of the destroyed Kul Tiras outpost, just behind some rock formations that shielded them from the eyes of any hostile force that was patrolling the area. There wasn’t anything there, so why did they stop? Cham hoped they weren’t going to storm the base with all those marines still hiding out in the ruins.

Demura crouched down beside the rocks, gazing toward the destroyed buildings. Her faced showed focus, a predatory expression to match her intentions. She was thinking very carefully, and Cham realized, yes, they were going to do something that involved breaking someone and finding something. To show his slight disdain, he let out a sigh.

“Is this really what you call relaxing?” Cham hunched over, closer to the rocks, to catch sight of the ruined base. Demura didn’t answer, and continued to scan over the ruins, noting the small green specs that were the marines. However, after a few minutes, she finally responded.

“Finding something that belonged to a someone is what I call relaxing.” Demura gave him a wry look. He furrowed his brows, groaned, then flailed his hands up, surrendering to the current situation.

“Hell, I better not be a meat shield again.”

Demura shook her head. “I’m pretty sure even with YOUR battle experience that this shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Yeah? Last time I remember, you were running away and leaving me behind to get impaled by quillboars!”

“Hey, you can’t die, technically. I can, and I had a damn quill through my arm at the time! Now shut up and be quiet.” Cham grumbled like a scolded child, then went silent without any other word. He watched the patrols around the ruins as Demura did, watching for patterns, any changes or movements, anything that would help them get to where they needed. They had scouted for the rest of the hour, then made their way towards the ruins.

Cham kept his voice low and asked what the objective was. During the incursion of Kul Tiras, many grunts had died in order to defend their outpost. An orphan had come to fighting season and requested that her father’s axe be acquired for her. The major problem was that the axe was dropped somewhere near the base where the Kul Tiras marines had built their outpost. This was the mission, and it would be completed at all costs, according to Demura.

Cham finally understood what was going on. “Well, if you told me THAT, I wouldn’t have complained so much.” Demura shook his hand at Cham, telling him to quiet down and keep low. They made their way under the shadows of the buildings, privy to the patrols that littered over the ruined outpost.

As the two quickly made their way throughout the ruins, Reichel focused her attention behind them, acting as a sentry to anyone who may have caught sight of the two. They continued past several buildings and finally reached the barracks. Two guards were near the front, conversing about stuff that wasn’t really important, and isn’t important enough to mention.

Demura gestured to them. “Take’em out. Do it silently and quickly.” Cham nodded, then grabbed hold of his mace. He prowled his way to the side of the steps leading into the barracks, then glanced around the corner ever so gently. The two guards began laughing about something. Cham sensed their false sense of security, then struck!

He flung his mace toward the farther guard, smashing his face right in. Blood shot out from the wound and he fell with a thud. The closer guard twirled around, catching sight of Cham. It was too late to unsheathe his blade, and the carrier grabbed hold of the guard’s head and rammed his knee up to his face with a sickening crackle of bone. The guard fell down, without so much as a soft grunt, his nose bloodied to hell. Demura came around the corner and took the closest guard by the legs, dragging him into the barracks. Cham did the same with the other guard, also minding to retrieve Reichel from the guard’s caved-in face.

“I should’ve mentioned clean, too,” Demura quickly whispered as they dragged the bodies into the barracks.

“Yeah.” Cham glanced behind them, noticing the blood trail that was coming from the guard with the caved skull. “Looks like I just made us a timer!”

They dispatched the bodies in an overshadowed and concealed location, then quickly continued on their hunt. Internally, the barracks was a complete mess, boards nailed to the stone walls to close up holes, other run-down repairs no matter where one turned; it seemed the structure wouldn’t hold for any longer, but yet, the roof did not collapse.

They turned a corner, still mindful of the patrols. They scurried like mice, not making a sound, lurking and watching. Should they be caught, should the enemy see them, they will surely be killed. But, if they are not swift, they will be found, for the clock began ticking once they entered the barracks. Time wasn’t on their side.

“You got any idea where this thing is?” Cham spoke in a whisper, barely audible in its own self. Demura peered around a corner, then motioned Cham to follow. They came across a large, wooden door, fastened with iron bars across its front. Whatever this door held was important, it seemed. Demura looked over the door and gave a stern nod.

“This is it,” Demura answered in a low voice. Cham looked between the door and the orcess, frowning more at the door.

“I hope you got a key. I don’t think we can open this without making some noise.” Demura flashed her tusks at him, a sly, cunning grin, that gave Cham an answer only he understood. Time to blow something up. He quickly produced some explosives from a pouch and made his way to the door.

“Get ready for some serious shit,” Cham said, very sinisterly. He did his monkey snicker as he finished setting up the explosives. He drew his mace from his back, grinned wickedly at the explosive fuse, then raised the weapon over his head and chuckled in an incredibly vile manner.

“BAM!” He shouted. All over the barracks, guards and officers alike looked to where the sound originated from. Within a few, small seconds, an explosion ringed out throughout the barracks, causing chaos and mayhem among the soldiers. Everyone could not control themselves and panic was thick in the air.

“Why the hell did you put that much dynamite on the door!?” Demura shouted through the anarchy, coughing from the thick smoke that spawned from the explosion. Cham frowned, looking as if he came back to his senses.

“Ahh, too much powder it seems! Let’s just get the thingy and get outta here!” Cham flailed a hand, trying to locate Demura, who was still coughing from the smoke, which was building up with each second. Successful, Cham grabbed her hand, and led her into the small armory, which, surprisingly, barely had any smoke, but most of the armaments had been damaged by the incredible blast dealt from the explosives. Demura growled, angry at the error, fearing perhaps that the weapon she sought had been caught in the blast, and then what? She would have to face her client and report, report her failure and how she was so close, but failed miserably.

“Hey, that axe looks nifty,” Cham said in a calm voice. Demura whipped her head up, eyes wide and hopeful. Success! The weapon was unharmed! Such an elegantly-crafted, Orcish axe, with raptor feathers and a sharp blade that could probably sunder through bone without so much as a small flick of the wrist. With determination and a victorious grin, she made her way to the weapon and took it off its hold.

“Get ready for trouble,” Demura cautioned as she lead the way through the chaos. Marines were yelling throughout the ruined base, armaments clanged and clattered as marines set over the barracks to find the reasons for disturbance. The two trespassers made their way out of the barracks, but a force awaited them outside.

“Shit,” Cham commented as he surveyed the group of marines waiting just outside the building. They charged straight at the two, brandishing blades and shouting their beloved home with vigor and valiance. “To hell with this!” Cham swung a fist right into the first person he could come in contact with, catching the assailant in the face. He grunted and fell off the small stairway, grunting again as he hit the dirt.

Demura swung the ornate axe, slicing another marine through her side. It split open like a paper package, blood splurging out once the wound was created. A dozens shouts of pain, then the blood loss took its toll and the marine toppled to the floor, dead and still. Demura glanced at the axe, surprised it could be that sharp. Then more marines started to come and she hopped over the stairwell and motioned for Cham to follow.

“Run, just run!” Demura shouted through the enraged marines. Cham socked another marine in the face and began running along with the orcess. The two strafed and turned through the buildings, but the marines didn’t falter and kept in hot pursuit.

“They look really angry,” Cham yelled to the orcess as they fled.

“What the hell would you expect!? Shut up and keep running!” The two continued running, but the marines didn’t stop, not even for a breath. It was at this point Cham had an idea, and, usually from his friends’ point of view, was not always a prudent idea. The carrier unpacked a land mine, pressed a button, then tossed it behind him. The mine began beeping and clicking, then a harsh, metallic noise emitted from the mine.

“What the hell was that?” Demura shouted behind her.

“A going away present, just keep running!” Soon after, a huge explosion rang out from behind the two. Blood-curdling screams swept and echoed over the area; limbs and blood discharged from the smoke, toppling over the ground in a crude and horrific pattern. The marines were no longer in pursuit, vanished within the maws of the explosion and its black smoke. A bloody success in escape, but a successful escape nonetheless.

The two hid themselves far away, behind a cluster of rocks, allowing themselves to embrace some peace and calm after the tense mission. Demura looked over the acquired axe and wiped the blood off with a cloth.

“I think I enjoyed that too much.” Cham wiped off the blood from Reichel, who was grumbling about how he shouldn’t have did what he done to neutralize the guard. He only smiled innocently, then continued to wipe the mace off with a cloth of his own. Demura shook her head at him, then let out a sigh.

“Good work, carrier. But, lay off the explosives next time.” Cham looked to the orcess, tilted his head in confusion.

“You mean, you didn’t want me to use explosives? What the hell was that glance for back there, then?”

Demura shook her head again, this time in pity. “I was expecting you to smash the lock open, but this is just as fine. Least I got what I came there for.” She took a double-take on the axe again. Such a beautiful piece of weaponry, she thought, knowing that the inherited owner would surely be pleased. She bobbed her head up, gazing at the blue, clear skies up above with great contentment. Sure, this may not be what another would call rest and relaxation, but having the peace of mind to know that someone else would be able to rest easy was. The orcess slowly inhaled as much as she could of the fresh air, closed her eyes, then slowly, ever so slowly, exhaled. The toils of “yesterday” were met with just rewards “today.”