Desert Nights

Rosellina tossed and turned in her bed. The heat from the day had been intense, and she'd slipped under the covers in nothing more than her underwear. In her sleep, her dreams made her thrash, her covers thrown off and twisted around her bare skin as she fitfully drifted from one dream to the next.

In her mind she saw a woman with the sky framed behind her. The woman was beautiful, her skin darker than Rosellina's own, with the blue sky contrasted against black hair that was streaming behind her in the wind of their passage, a golden circlet resting upon her brow. The vision bobbed up and down, as if Rosellina lay across a horse, and she felt a chilling sense of urgency in herself. The feeling was mirrored on the woman's face as she looked behind her now and then, before brown eyes that matched Rosellina's own looked down at her. The woman spoke to her then, the words only in Rosellina's mind.

They're coming for us my desert rose. We must get to the flowing sea. Over the water you are safe, safe forever. 

The sense of urgency in the dream grew, and the woman's face drew into a grim expression, the voice pounding in Rosellina's mind.

Wake up my rose. Wake up NOW!

********************************

Rosellina jerked awake in her bed. Perhaps it was the dream that had awoken her, or perhaps the faintest stirring of air, an errant current that didn't belong. Regardless of what the reason was, Rosellina went from a dead sleep to sudden, heightened alertness. Not knowing why, she jerked herself to the right, rolling out of bed and onto the floor of the room she'd rented in Gadgetzan.

The blade that would have pierced her heart slammed into the feather mattress that Rosellina had been laying on, feathers flying from the pierced fabric. The assassin holding the blade gasped as his target suddenly and inexplicably jumped out of the way, whirling his head to track her position in the room.

Rosellina was no stranger to assassination attempts; she'd been trained to perform such actions for many years and instantly recognized the situation for what it was. Before the black cloaked and masked assassin had a chance to regain the upper hand she had already lurched to her feet, leaping onto the bed and hurling her body into the figure.

The assassin was lighter than she'd expected, and when her torso collided with his head her weight easily carried him backwards, driving him to the floor at the foot of the bed with Rosellina's rather bare body atop him. His blade, a short sword, was launched from his grip and skittered across the floor before coming to a rest against one of the room's walls. Beneath the mask Rosellina could see two fel-green eyes blinking in surprise as she attempted to pin him into place with her legs.

Unfortunately, the assassin was far more capable than he appeared, and the sudden reversal had not thrown his attack off balance. His arms were still free and he quickly jerked a hand up, slamming his stiffened fingers into a pressure point under Rosellina's arm and then punching her in the throat with his other free hand. She gagged, her arm numb and the force of the two blows making her fall backwards. The assassin used the chance to shift his body, throwing her against the end of the bed and making the breath gasp from her as the bed stand slammed into her back.

Quick as a cat she lurched back to her feet, the assassin drawing a dagger from his belt. Her eyes locked with his beneath the mask, her hands spread out before her as she dropped into a fighting pose. He jumped at her and she batted his first stab out of alignment with her palm, quickly moving within the reach of his arms, her knee coming up into his groin. He gasped and she punched him in the stomach before ducking to avoid the sweep of his knife as he tried to stab her a second time. He snarled, his knee coming up and colliding with her nose and sending her reeling. Her hands reached out and snagged his clothing, his mask and hood pulling free as she fell backwards on the bed.

It was the blood elf she'd seen dealing with the goblins. He wasted no time in taking advantage of her prone position on the bed, jumping at her with his dagger and attempting to stab her in the heart. She managed to push the blow to the side with one hand, causing the blade to bite into the mattress beside her, the edge leaving a bloody scratch on her right arm. She brought her legs up, bare feet hitting the elf in the stomach and hurling him away. He staggered backwards and slammed into the dresser in the room, the sound of the impact making Roselllina grin.

She lurched back to her feet and then felt a burning sensation in her arm. Her eyes widened as she looked at the cut and at the elf, his blade dripping with a faint green liquid.

Poison. He's poisoned me. Feels like a toxin. Maybe a fast reacting agent that affects the blood. High lethality rating I'd guess.

Rosellina slumped, her memories of her training surfacing in her mind. Specifically she recalled the six hellish months where she had been introduced to various types of poison and the inoculation she was forced to undergo to obtain some resistance to each of the most common forms. She had been as sick as she'd ever been in her life, but it had given her the ability to at least partially resist a small quantity of many regularly used poisons; a quality necessary in a person who would be expected to carry poisoned weapons frequently and who might accidentally cut themselves.

While she was actually sick, she was not as sick as she pretended to be, allowing her body to slide to the floor. The elf smirked, walking confidently towards her as he prepared to deliver the death blow. He stood over her, looking down at her and shaking his head and speaking in perfect common, "Such a waste. You're quite lovely."

Rosellina grinned, looking up at him as she sprung her trap, "That's so sweet."

She punched him in the groin. He was definitely not expecting it, and doubled over in agony. Her next blow was beneath his armpit, causing his dagger to fly out of his hand. Her third blow was to his throat, causing him to stagger back into the dresser again with another loud thump. Rosellina stood her ground, facing off against the now unarmed blood elf, both looking worse for wear.

He broke the silence first, rubbing his throat, his voice a hoarse croak, "Y-you are not a 7th Legion supply officer..."

"And you are not a simple Sin'dorei merchant," Rosellina stated, never taking her eyes off the elf. "Or do you normally attempt to assassinate your rivals in business?"

His fel-green eyes narrowed as he studied her, neither of them moving, "Why are you purchasing weapons here? The 7th Legion would contract them back in Alliance territory. Your actions mark you as a pirate or at the least an illicit arms dealer; exactly what I'm here to investigate and stop."

Rosellina laughed, rolling her eyes, "Oh really? And your investigation involves purchasing said illicit weapons? Please, I wasn't born yesterday."

The blood elf grinned, seeming to relax slightly, looking over Rosellina's nearly naked body with a nod, "No, I can confirm that you weren't. Although you are uneducated surely. Weapons have the marks of their makers upon them. When compared to other similar weapons, their origin can be discovered. Someone is sneaking weapons from Alliance territory to the Kor'kron. Someone from Quel'Thalas. I have enough evidence to show this, and I'm trying to find out who it is that is behind it."

Rosellina's eyes widened and she held her hands up in the sign of a truce, "You and I have the same mission then. I already know where the weapons originated from, but not who purchased them. A human noble was the supplier, and those supply lines are now cut. The buyer must be identified before they locate another source of supply however."

The elf nodded, remaining quiet for a few moments as he thought about the situation. Finally he straightened, looking Rosellina in the eye, "My name is Braeth'el. I work for House Sunfire, and certain interests in Quel'Thalas do not wish to see any additional weapons making their way onto the field if you understand my meaning. If you remain out of my way during my investigation into the matter, I will give you no further trouble, as it appears we work towards the same end."

Rosellina smiled at him, "You can call me Rose. SI:7 has an interest in this as well. We don't like our people supplying weapons to the enemy. If YOU stay out of MY way then we won't have any more conflict."

The blood elf grinned, his messy blonde hair falling around his face as he began to laugh, "Oh that's rich. You think you're the better spy. I'm sure I'll have this wrapped up before you've even figured out what direction the weapons were taken from here. Why, I bet you can't even-"

His words were interrupted by shouts outside. Goblin guards could be heard mustering, their shouts showing that they were beginning to search room by room for the source of the banging and sounds of combat they'd heard. The goblins of Gadgetzan frowned on Horde/Alliance conflict in the bounds of their town. Human and Blood Elf stared at each other across the space, looking alarmed as the guards drew closer.

A moment later the door to Rosellina's room banged opened and three goblin guards burst in, maces ready to club anyone who was bringing the conflict into their town. Their jaws dropped in scandalized shock as they saw Rosellina embracing the blood elf, one bare leg wrapped around his as they kissed. She quickly broke the kiss off, looking at the goblins innocently, "Oh I'm sorry, were we making too much noise...?"

The goblins shook their heads, one of them spitting on the floor and all three backing out of the room, "Just keep it down will you...? Ugh..."

Rosellina smiled and nodded at them, "Sure, no problem! I guess I'll leave the whips in the drawer for now..."

The goblins ran out of the room, slamming the door behind them. As soon as they were gone, Rosellina released the blood elf, managing to contain her laughter somehow, nodding at him.

The elf grinned at her, giving her a mock bow before turning to gather up his weapons and sheathing them. He appraised her with new eyes, nodding at her finally before heading towards the window that he'd come in through, "It seems you are more than you appear to be Rose. Perhaps we will meet again on better terms in the future."

With that he was gone, the curtains around the window moving slightly with the breeze of his passing, leaving Rosellina standing in the middle of the room, a smile playing across her lips. She spoke aloud to no one, watching the space where he'd been, "Perhaps we shall Braeth'el. Next time though I will be one step ahead of you my rival."