Variant Attachments
[[ Co-written with @kidcatgemini, player of @sinafay1 and @sinafay-the-defiant ]]
~*~
The Kyrian’s duties in Korthia were primarily as scouts. Their air superiority gave them a distinct advantage in surveying the area. But even for a wingless Kyrian adherent like Grakkar, scouting was the best way he could contribute to the joint efforts of Death’s Advance. An eye in the sky was one thing, but without getting a sense of things on the ground, it didn’t count for much.
The orc hefted his axe over his shoulder, relaxing his stride as he stepped out onto the open road. He’d trudged and crawled through the thickets, underbrush, and cliffsides of this unforgiving land enough for one day, and now returned to the Keeper’s Respite up the hill. Today’s report wasn’t much different than yesterday’s-- fighting here happened quickly and spontaneously, and ended equally so. It made it hard to predict when and where the Mawsworn would strike. But they weren’t amassing anywhere out of the usual. For now.
Grakkar stopped, eyes shooting wide as he entered the encampment. His heart skipped a beat, swelling up in his chest! It was a face he’d know anywhere-- Sinafay’s! What was she doing here? And why was her skin so much more blue than before? Her eyes, too were--
“... Oh.”
It dawned on him, heart beating back normally again… though feeling excessively heavier now, as a result. It was Sinafay. But not his Sinafay. His wall of a Soulbind by her side confirmed it, as the two spoke indistinctly across the camp. Shared a kiss… then Argonas stepped away, approaching the Kyrian forward commanders. Likely to report in. He’d been scarce lately, but Grakkar understood why. After the Battle for Ardenweald, he finally attained what he came here for in the first place. Sinafay.
And… there she was. Standing alone now, watching her mate from afar. That same hopeful, jovial expression as she looked at Argonas that her Lightbound self back home would give Grakkar when he was around. It made him miss her all the more, seeing this facsimile here and now.
Before he knew it, his legs took off without him, closing the distance between him and Sinafay. By the time he was within talking distance of her, he realized he had no idea what to say!
“Nice body.” was his knee-jerk reaction.
He could almost taste his foot as he shoved it in his mouth.
“--Uhh, I mean… I’m glad you restored it. Your body, I mean.” he tried to correct. “Because, you know… last I saw you were a soul.”
An attempt at a save. Not a good one, but an attempt!
Sinafay visibly bristled at the voice. She recognized the gruff Orcish accent easily enough. Her eyes narrowed as she snapped an ice cold glare at Grakkar. Her tail twitched, clearly demonstrating her annoyance as he fumbled his words out.
She hadn’t yet had a chance to discuss with Argonas how he’d ended up with an Orc as a Soulbind. Either way, she at least attempted not to be immediately hostile towards him, if anything because she wasn’t aware of the specifics of how the connection worked.
“Thank you…” she replied, though it appeared to take great effort on her part, “It has served me well thus far.”
She crossed her arms over her chest and stuck out her hip, brows knit as she looked him over. Old… very old. No doubt a good fighter to have reached that age. She wondered how many Draenei deaths he was responsible for…
There was an awkward silence as they both just stood there eyeing each other. She wasn’t certain why Grakkar wasn’t leaving… was he attempting to befriend her because of the link with Argonas, she wondered? Sinafay looked over towards where her husband had gone, hoping to catch his gaze and indicate he should come back, but he appeared to be in a deep conversation about the mission report. She let out a heavy sigh before returning her attention to the Orc.
“You and Argonas are… Soulbinds, yes?” she figured she might as well attempt to gather information, “What exactly does that entail?”
“It’s, uh… complicated.” he sputtered out, not entirely sure how to answer that. “The Kyrian do this ritual to connect people, so they can draw on one another’s strengths. Argonas and I share a link of sorts. Memories. Emotions. Those kinds of things we can glean from one another’s pasts.”
It was honestly about all he knew about it, for having undergone a Soulbinding ritual personally. The rest of it felt… innate. Unable to be put into words, just understood through the experience. He found a lot of shamanistic rituals were like that, too.
“--Ah! You’re a shaman, right?” he brightened, smiling as he remembered that fact! “I remember Argonas mentioning that. Or… reading it from his memories. Either way, that’s impressive! Where I come from, not a lot of Draenei have the tenacity or commitment for such a sacred calling.”
He smiled a bit. Relaxing. This was going well… he thought. He hoped.
“I… am, yes,” she replied, tail flickering behind her. She wasn’t about to mention that having a new body made it so that she had to reconnect with the elements once again. It was one of the main reasons she wanted to accompany Argonas to Korthia, what better place to reconnect than on the field of battle itself?
The idea of him gleaning memories and emotions from Argonas was… disturbing, to say the least. Especially considering she and her mate had spent the past few months doing nothing but celebrating her return in very physical ways! She couldn’t help but wonder how much of that he’d picked up. Perhaps it was the reason he was so relaxed around her. Her nose scrunched up in disgust. It was uncomfortable to say the least. This Orc already seemed to know so much about her, yet she knew next to nothing about him.
For the moment, she pushed aside the memory and emotions issue to concentrate on the other things Grakkar had divulged.
“What do you mean ‘where you are from?’” She couldn’t help but ask, noting his skin color and tattoos, “You speak of Nagrand?”
"Heh, good eye. You know your clans, it seems." he nodded.
Grakkar then spread his arms and turned slightly to further show off his Warsong clan markings. He was impressed; this Sinafay seemed as interested in Orcish culture as his was!
"I'm from a different timeline than you are, though-- the one you Azerothians returned to and saved from the Legion's devastation." he clarified, straightening up once more. "After you all left, the Orcish clans and the Draenei empire lived in peace… for a time. Before the Lightbound Crusade."
A frown crossed his features, diminishing the polite and friendly smile he had tried to maintain in her presence. Even now, the sudden betrayal of the Draenei weighed heavily on his heart. He lost so many people he cared about to that zealous treachery. Including Neelah.
"But… that isn't a very pleasant story." he shook his head, shrugging the negative memories away for now. "Regardless, it's impressive to see a Draenei cultivate an affinity to the elements."
Sinafay simply blinked as a pack of new information came rolling out of the Orc’s mouth. Draenor? Draenei and Orcs living in peace?! Lightbound Crusade? She shook her head as she tried to digest it all… except none of it made any sense!
“Wait wait wait,” her arms finally uncrossed from over her chest, to bring her fingers to rub at her temples, “You are saying that the portals to Draenor are OPEN again?! Since when?! What the fuck is a Lightbound?! What crusade?!”
So many questions filled her head. She looked towards Argonas once more. He hadn’t mentioned anything of the sort!
Fuck, she needed a drink!
Grakkar's eyes widened, brow raising. His lips grew narrow, as he began to recognize the familiar signs or panic and confused anger in this Sinafay he had learned from the true one back home. He had definitely upset her.
"--Oh, uh… no, no. The portals aren't open again. They were briefly so we could escape the Lightbound Crusade." he tried to explain simply and quickly as possible. "The, uh, the Lightbound were what the Draenei in my timeline became after the Azerothians left. Their leader grew zealous and broke the peace to try and force the Light onto us. They killed anyone who resisted, so… uh…"
Only after he expounded on the terrible incident did he realize… knowing more probably wouldn't calm this Sinafay down. Just like the feeling of shame and anger he felt learning the Orcs of the Azerothian timeline had succumbed to the Fel, he suspected this particular Sinafay might not be pleased to hear her people had become oppressors.
Whoops.
"I, uh… I'll let Argonas fill you in on the rest of that. Where'd he get off to, anyway…?"
He joined Sinafay in looking for his Soulbind… but the crowd had grown. Argonas was nowhere in sight!
She took the opportunity to get up in his face. Hands grabbing his tabard and tugging his attention back to her as she growled at him. He was right, she was upset. Tail flicked erratically behind her, and despite having not fully reconnected to the elements, static electricity and sparks of lightning became evident at her growing sour mood.
“Details, Orc,” she practically barked out the command, “Now.”
His lips almost curled into a smile. Almost. Sinafay was so sexy when she was angry and aggressive… even this Azerothian variant! It took significant willpower to keep his hands at his side, rather than grabbing at and groping the Draenei like he would do back home in a situation like this. He had to remind himself this wasn’t his Sinafay.
Hopefully she didn’t notice his erection-- the damn thing clearly couldn’t tell the difference.
“The, uh… the clans were thinned, and forced to merge into one clan and unite against the Lightbound. But even that didn’t stop them, after their empire had grown so powerful. The last of us escaped through the portal to Azeroth, right after the Ogres succumbed.” he elaborated, at her insistence. “Light drove them to madness, same as an excess of any magic would. I know things worked out differently in your timeline, so this must be hard to hear, Sina. But… your people on Draenor turned into zealots.”
He brought his hand up to gently push hers off of him. His arousal abated, after recounting the awful tragedy that ended his life on Draenor. That, and Sinafay’s rage was far less sexy when he couldn’t fight back, as it turned out...
“--Look, don’t get mad at me, alright? I didn’t raise my weapon to any Draenei who weren’t trying to kill me. After the peace, anyway…” he attempted to quell her anger further. “No, during the Lightbound Crusades, I even worked with a Draenei; the real Sinafay, actually! And later after that, Sinafay and I… well… she became my mate.”
He smiled. That would’ve surely cheered her up, to learn that her true self wasn’t one of the oppressive out-of-control Lightbound that conquered his people!
“We even had a child together-- but that’s more recent, once we got here to Azeroth. Argonas thought it was his at first, and we had a big fight over it. I won, easily, but it was still a sore point in our relationship.” he continued, filling Sinafay in on the more recent details. “But we’re past it now, and are working together! One more point of proof, if you need it, that I’m most definitely a friend of the Draenei! Married one, have one as a child-- and if I can work well with Argonas, what more proof do you need?”
With a hearty laugh, Grakkar brought his hand firmly down on Sinafay’s shoulder! He was so glad they were getting along now!
Sinafay’s head spun. She remained in front of Grakkar, hands still up in front of her, balled into fists as he recounted all the details to her. Her eyes widened as he explained the path her kin on Draenor had taken. Surely, the Orcs must have provoked them somehow! But then, she’d seen for herself how the Naaru and the Light could corrupt back on Argus. It turned her stomach that such a corrupted path had been the one Yrel had taken…
She shook her head slowly, face visibly paled and brows drawn together as she tried to make sense of it. Surely, Rurik wouldn’t have stood for something like that nor would her mother or—
—The news of her Draenor counterpart took her completely by surprise. She blinked as Grakkar updated her on her alternate self. She stared at the Orc in shock and disbelief. Part of her was pleased that the other Sinafay had both fought against and survived the crusade. It seemed their will to do what was right and their survival skills were similar.
Apparently, though, that was where their similarities ended. Her counterpart was mated AND had birthed Grakkar’s child?! And why would Argonas think the child was…
Wait.
He would only think the child was his if…
Anger returned to the forefront of her mind as she realized two things. One: her alternate self had managed to cross over and was now living on Azeroth. Two: Argonas was sleeping with her again.
The hand on her shoulder was the breaking point. Baring her fangs, Sinafay grabbed Grakkar’s upper arms and moved forward as she raised her knee, swiftly connecting hard into the Orc’s testicles.
“Fuck that bitch and fuck YOU!”
She was furious! Her eyes flared as lightning sparked around her form. Shoving Grakkar aside, she stomped off into the wilds of Korthia, tail swinging aggressively behind her.
She needed air.
~*~
Grakkar wasn’t sure how long he was on the ground. His eyes fluttered open to see his Soulbind Argonas, scowling down at him. Slowly, sound returned to him. Muffled mumblings at first, but growing more clear as his senses returned to him.
“... ere is she? Where is Sinafay?” Argonas asked, demandingly.
That’s when it started rushing back to the Orc. The memories and the pain, both. He winced, feeling the intense pain in his groin all at once.
“--A-Ancestors…” he whimpered.
Argonas, too, grimaced-- their Soulbinding translating that physical pain in Grakkar into sympathetic pain for the Vindicator. He glanced down, and briefly brushed his hand overtop the Orc’s battered bundle. A flash of Light, and the pain was suppressed. For now.
“--Hnngh… Thank you…” Grakkar managed to speak, no longer straining from the intensity of the pain. “She… kicks really hard… I didn’t expect it-- we were getting along so well!”
“Clearly not as well as you think!” Argonas resumed scolding.
He pulled Grakkar up, whether he wanted to sit up or not, and crossed his arms before him.
“I will ask again; where is she? You were with her last, and clearly upset her!”
“I… I don’t know. We were talking about Shamanism, then about Draenor…” Grakkar replied, as the memories started lining up again. “Then about the Lightbound, and the real Sina… then our child, and--”
“--Wait, you told her about the other Sinafay?” Argonas interrupted, frowning. “What exactly did you say?”
“That she and I had a child together. I told her how we fought over it, when you thought it was yours, but only to indicate that we had moved past that, yeah?” the Orc replied, grunting as he slowly stood up. “I was trying to show her I’m not like most of the Orcs you and she have encountered in your timeline. That I’m a friend. I thought that’d be best, given our circumstances.”
Argonas had stopped listening after the part about the baby. His eyes widened, skin growing a paler shade of blue. He turned, staring at the ground as a million thoughts raced through his mind. None of them good.
“... She knows, then. And she is not happy about it.”
“About what?”
“About the other Sinafay. And how we--”
He gasped, turning to Grakkar. He didn’t have to say it-- their soulbind link conveyed it well enough in the moment. Argonas was not supposed to have rekindled things with the Sinafay from Draenor. Grakkar could tell immediately.
“... It’s alright, big guy. Look, you just explain to her that you thought she was gone for good, yeah? She’ll forgive you!”
“Does she seem like a forgiving person to you!?” Argonas snapped back, brow furrowed. “They hated each other! Light, I should have warned you, but I did not expect you would speak of that in your first ever encounter with her!”
“... Second, technically.” the Orc mumbled to himself. “I… I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
The silence lingered between the two of them for a moment. Both feeling the complexity and awkwardness of the situation through their soulbind. Finally, Grakkar shrugged.
“I’m gonna go.”
“I think that would be best, yes.” Argonas nodded. “Lay low for now. I will sort this out so it does not interfere with our duties to the Kyrian.”
“--No, Argonas… I’m gonna go home.”
Argonas raised his brow, as he looked at Grakkar. The Orc nodded resolutely, as he hefted his axe back over his shoulder. Aside from a pair of bruised berries, his encounter with Sinafay had left him with one thing; homesickness. As much as he wanted to help, he was starting to realize what this time apart from his mate and daughter was really costing him. He had been able to push his feelings down until now. But seeing Sinafay? Even a copy of her? Those feelings were too much to ignore.
He didn’t have to say it, though-- Argonas could feel it. And honestly, were he in the same position, he couldn’t say for sure that he’d continue to squash the feelings for the good of the mission. It was time for his Soulbind to return to Azeroth.
“... Mm. So be it.” he replied, nodding.
He stepped forward, and extended a hand. A gesture of goodwill-- the first he’d ever made towards an Orc! Grakkar smirked, taking Argonas’ hand in his and squeezing it firmly. They grinned to one another.
“Honor and glory to you, Argonas.”
“And Light’s blessings upon you and yours, Grakkar.”
Grakkar nodded one final time, before turning to depart. He paused, calling back as he approached the portal.
“--And good luck with all that!”
His chuckle echoed across the Sanctuary, before fading away with his physical form back to Oribos.
~*~
[[ @sinafay1 / @sinafay-the-defiant / @argonas / @grakkar-gorefang ]]
