Living Room Archive
A cluttered, but comfortable room. The main feature of this room is a large, stone fireplace, large enough to fit a standing person in. Arranged around this are a number of davenports and chairs, somewhat decrepit, but quite comfortable. There are a number of paintings on the wall, covered in shrouds, and even moreso, a number of dark spots, where it's clear a painting had been hanging for a long time, but no longer remains. Most notable of these, is one that would have hung over the fireplace, the same width of hearth.
||Continued From HH High Roads and Low Roads||
Arriving at the bottom of the stairs, Jamie took the first turn through an open arch way into the Living Room. "Woah. ... Weird." He commented, mostly to himself. The collection of furniture was so eclectic. He partially felt that he was in a haunted house, in a movie. What places in real life LOOKED like this? "So- ... this is a house? Like a bed and breakfast, maybe?" If so, then what was his room doing attached to it? He hadn't read any books on dream psychology and symbolism. He'd have to do that when he woke up. If he remembered any of this.
"An inn?" Yalaa asked, not use to the B&B term, but able to figure out what it meant. "I know of no inn dat transports your bedroom to it. It is possible, but I remember falling asleep at the Exodar, and dis is not it. Looks human. Or Vorgan." But wasn't the Worgan land destroyed by the Undead? But that didn't stop them starting up new townships around Azeroth. Moving into the room with Jamie, she paced slowly around it, looking at the items, and distinct lack of ones. "Dere must be an owner den, someone to run dis."
Jamie walked, running his hand along the back of one of the couches. It was too dim to see, but he could smell the dust he was stirring up. He glanced over at Yalaa. "What's a Vorgan?"
Jamie's question helped to confirm that he was indeed Human, instead of the possibility of a Worgan in its Human form. "A Vorgan is a Human who can take up the form of half man, half Vorg. Luckily, they are members of the Alliance, as they are a powerful people if vrongly crossed." The damage she had seen Worgan do with their claws and teeth was impressive, and the idea of them being allied with the Horde was not a desirable one.
"Oh, half man half Vorg, of course, of course. What was I thinking." Yalaa's explanation cleared up NOTHING. "At least they're on- our side? Right?" Looking around, he noted the shrouded paintings, and large fire place. "... this place doesn't look very lived in. It looks abandoned." Or haunted. Definitely haunted.
Yalaa nodded, unaware of Jamie's lack of knowledge on Worgs, but sharing his view on the state of the living room. "Den I vould like to know who it vas dat brought us here, if dere is no one around." A trap maybe? Teleporting them into an empty house, but for what reason? So far she hadn't seen any spirits, but it didn't mean they couldn't just materialize whenever they wanted to. "Ve must of been brought here for a reason." A quest, a fight, a team, something that needed help. Or... an enemy who wanted to get her away from her home base, and Jamie from his, despite the fact the boy did not look like he could fight off a squirrel.
Hey! Jamie had fought squirrels in the past! His campus had big, mean grey ones! They were like the mafia of squirrels. And he had, on many occasion, run them off. ... Of course, they still got away with his sandwiches and popcorn, but the point of the story is he stood up for himself!
"Yeah. That's the question of life, though, isn't it. 'Why are we here'?" This dream was getting philosophical. He fingered the shroud covering one of the paintings, lifting it to try and see what was under, but being too short to do an effective job at it.
"To fight for the Light." Yalaa answered instantly. She knew her path in life; she represented the Light, the Naaru, and her people, and given the chance to live long enough to see it, she would fight at the side of her people to destroy the Burning Legion. If she could have some fun until that time came, well, she was going to make the most of it. Seeing no signs of Undead or anything even closely resembling them, Yalaa glanced towards Jamie and what he was doing. "Vhat is it?" Why would anyone cover the paintings? Why not just take them down? It seemed a pointless act.
Jamie looked back over at Yalaa. Hopefully 'the Light' wasn't a sly way of saying 'Lucifer'. His brow crinkled, and he turned back to the shroud. "I think it's a painting. Hyuup!" He jumped a little, trying to loosen the shroud so they could see the painting underneath. The shrouds were, apparently, very carefully hung, because it didn't immediately want to come off. While the cloth fluttered up, though, a painting of a nice, though slightly rocky shore line could be seen, with a cat seated on one of the golden coloured rocks.
Yalaa didn't really have an eye for painted work, not compared to her scribe friend Thalera, her talents lay more towards jewelry. Only catching a quick glance at it, she strode over towards Jamie, lending a hand to actually pull the shroud off. Her extra height made the task far easier for her than that of the boy, and in one quick motion the shroud was gone and resting on the floor. The picture was nice enough, yet the contents didn't explain why the painting was covered. "Hm." Was all she really had to offer on the image, wondering if there was any real point in uncovering the others to see if they offered any help. She moved on past Jamie, heading to uncover the next image.
"Thanks." Jamie gathered the shroud in his arms, as he looked at the painting. A stripey cat at the beach. Huh.
A stripey cat at the beach who then winked at Jamie.
He jumped backwards, surprised by the painting, you know, MOVING. Simultaneously
, he did his best to let Yalaa know something was not quite right, and that perhaps she should wait a moment, in the most articulate way he could. "Aughgh!!"
Jamie's scream instantly forced Yalaa into combat mode, her hand snatching up her her mace as she pulled her shield from her back, both firmly in place in an instance. Jumping forward, she placed herself in front of him, eyes darting around to find whatever it was that caused him to yell like that. But there was... nothing... Not even a rat. A shake traveled down her form, almost a physical trigger for her to relax and step back out of fighting more, trying to shake off the adrenaline she felt spike through her. Lowering her weapons, she turned back to Jamie, raising a brow as if to say, 'Really?' before she replaced her shield on her back. "Vhat happened?" Civilians, they could be a problem.
Jamie immediately pointed at the picture, arm outstretched,finger shaking. "It- It moved!" His eyes were huge again.
Maybe it was less that Yalaa was terrifying, and more that Jamie was just a bit of a scaredy cat. If Yalaa was paying enough attention, she could notice that the cat had indeed changed position, it's head now facing in another direction.
Following the pointed finger, Yalaa fixed her eyes on the painting, her mace still in her hand, just in case. Stepping forward from the boy, she moved up closer to the image, studying it. It did feel a little different from the first glance she had at it, but she had not really taken the time to focus on it originally, having found it of little importance.
It was possible, given the technology of Azeroth. Maybe a Gnome or Goblin creation, a moving image. Sniffing the air she shrugged off the need to smirk, not picking up any smell of gunpowder or any other scented explosives. Couldn't be Gnome or Goblin then, as both kinds enjoyed blowing stuff up. "How exactly did dis move?" She tried to keep the disbelief from her voice, not wanting to make Jamie feel bad for his earlier reaction.
Jamie looked between her and the painting and back again a few times. Ok. Now he felt like an ass. "It... The cat! It- it winked at me." It sounded even more lame when he said it out loud.
For it's part, the cat now had it's eyes squeezed shut, motionless, enjoying a ray of sunshine on a hot rock, as cats are want to do some times. Could it really have moved?
"Vell," Yalaa spoke, keeping an eye on the cat and even raising her hand to tap a finger against the image of it. "If it did... den it has stopped now." Not saying she didn't believe him! Just... was unsure if he was sure of what he saw... Turning to look at Jamie, she offered a smile to him. "And a vink is not harmful, yes? So it is nothing to vorry about." She seemed unphased at the idea of a moving painting still, as who knew what technology was coming out. Maybe the scribes and painters had learnt a new way to made images, interwoven with magic so it could move. And interesting idea if it had not been done yet, and maybe something for her to suggest to Thalera when she saw her next. She gave the cat one more tap of her armoured finger tip before stepping back.
When Yalaa went to tap the cat again, the cat opened its eyes, and swatted lazily at her finger.
Jamie yelped again. "Aaugh! AHAHHAHH!" He would later try and pass that off as an emphatic "Ah-hah!" to anyone who asked. Really though, it was just a yelp of terror. Because the painting was moving. Again.
Oh, would you look at that, it did move. "I apologize Jamie, for not believing you. It seems it is a moving painting." How interesting, and while the cat battering at her finger gave Yalaa a startle, she seemed hardly as phased by it as Jamie was. It wasn't the most shocking thing she ever saw in her time, but still an interesting one. "How entertaining. I vonder if the other paintings move too."
She smiled back at Jamie, trying to show him not to worry. "Maybe dere is another nice scene dat does the same. A person, or another type of animal, yes?" And the fact the cat reacted to her interaction with the painting was so much more fun than it just moving. Who ever made this technology deserved a few gold, as it was a fun piece to have. She wondered if she could have one made up for her, to keep in her bedroom, it would add nicely to her other collections.
"Entertaining?" Jamie squeaked. "Try haunted! Or possessed! Paintings shouldn't move!" Mutants, he could accept the idea of. But moving paintings were just plain WRONG. Unless they were some sort of technology. He paused, a moment to think on this, and the old saying about technology and magic and how they are indistinguishable from one another at a certain level.
Rolling on to it's back, the cat batted at Yalaa's fingers a bit more, before suddenly stopping, and sitting back up to wash itself. Then it started moving towards the picture frame-- essentially walking towards Jamie and Yalaa.
Yalaa eyed Jamie suspiciously, his concern for the dead and demons supporting her previous thoughts that he may be a child of the Scarlet Crusade. "You seem very concerned about ghosts and demons." She had previous had run ins with the Crusade, during her times in the Eastern Kingdoms. Dangerous extremists who started with a noble cause, but took it too far. The feeling of extra weight on her finger, and something batting against it turned her focus back to the painted cat. While she didn't hold the same fear towards it as Jamie, she was starting to wonder if she should be concerned about the moving contents, and if she was being too carefree about their safety. "Maybe it vould be safer to be further avay from it, yes?" Just in case...
"We're in a freaking haunted house. It seems like a good time to be concerned with them!" Jamie hissed back, nerves fraying a little.
"Further or closer, I see no reason to think that has any baring on your situation," the cat commented, close enough in the frame by now to appear life-sized.
"Not all ghosts are harmful, nor have I actually seen any here yet." Yalaa replied calmly, but kept an eye on this approaching cat painting. It seemed far too small to be any real threat, unless of course it was a magic user, then it could be tricky. However, nothing the bottom of her hoof couldn't take care of if need be.
The fact the image now spoke, did not clear anything up for her. "Are you alive, or an illusion?" She quizzed it as she wondered if the other covered images held other such beings, and maybe there was a reason they were all covered.
For the moment, Jamie was speechless. His brain short circuited, somewhat, from Yalaa's blasé 'of course ghosts exist' answer, and a talking, moving painting. He did, however, start looking extremely pale.
"And what does one to do with the other?" retorted the cat, resting it's head on the bottom of the frame, peering out at them with sharp eyes. It had the effect of looking like the cat was resting it's head on a windowsill. Except it wasn't a window. It was a painting.
What was this cat on about? It couldn't be a real cat, cats couldn't talk. No animal could. "It must be magic," Yalaa said to Jamie, "No animal talks." Voicing her thoughts. "Vhich means, dere is a caster around somevhere." Maybe they were getting somewhere finally, and she focused on the cat again. "Vhere are ve? Vhy vere ve brought here?"
"Well, which is it? Where or Why? You shouldn't be greedy." The cat raised it's nose, looking haughty.
"That's not being greedy!" Jamie protested. "That's a decent and reasonable question!"
"Yes, but one which assumes you're dealing with decent and reasonable hosts."
Yalaa opened her mouth to answer, then promptly closed it. What was she going to ask? If they only had one question to gain an answer from, it should be an important one. But both 'why' and 'where' were important elements. 'Where' could turn out to be useless, if the name they were given was unknown to them. 'Why' could equally be a waste of time, if they did not know the background to the situation. Was it worth just chancing it and asking one anyways, so they did not miss their chance?
Confused and lost for a choice, Yalaa looked to Jamie, the puzzlement clear on her face. "I do not know vhat to ask, if ve only have one question available to us. Dere is so much ve need to know."
"And now--" the cat suddenly jumped out of the picture, landing in a small puff of dust on the living room floor, "--you're confusing Need and Want. You Want to have answers to these questions. You Need to survive." It looked up (and up and up) at Yalaa. "Or maybe you don't. Still, most seem to prefer it."
Jamie Yelped and stumbled back, landing softly in an over stuffed couch, immediately grabbing onto the back and armrest, in reaction to the cat leaving the painting. "What are you?!"
Staring down at the cat on the ground in front of her, Yalaa quickly came to realize she did not like this trick. Her temper never did like those that spoke in riddles, much preferring a straight up answer, and this illusion or whatever it was was going to make it difficult. However, she did accept the cat's strange logic.
"All right, if it is a choice between dose two questions, yes? Den vhy are ve here?" The where could wait until later, as knowing their location was not going to help them leave it, unless of course they were in walking distance to the closest center, such as Stormwind, but she doubted that.
The cat started to rub up against Yalaa's legs. "We're all here for different reasons. Life would be very dull if we were all the same."
Jamie was trying not to freak out. Again. Or more. Still. Whatever. "I- I think she means why are we here. Not, like, in life. But this room, this place..." It occurred to him that this was the same sort of purposeful misunderstanding he had had earlier. But he wasn't carrying answers! This- demon cat could be! He wished Cordy were here. She was always so good with animals.
The cat stopped rubbing against Yalaa and gave Jamie a grin with FAR too many sharp pointy teeth. "We're here because we're wait-ting."
"Vaiting for vhat?" Yalaa asked before Jamie had a chance to. "Is dis a quest of sorts? Do you vork for the Keepers of Time? Or a mage?" She didn't have a thing against normal cats, but this one had her on edge. It could be the fact it was being used to communicate through, or the because it was not giving them any simple answer, but it creeped her out, and she was in a profession of taking down demons, elements, dragons, and many more. Give her an enemy she knew any over this ridiculous waste of time. She looked to the other shrouds around the room. Maybe something under one of them could help them better, and she carefully stepped away from that cat, heading to the next one in line.
The cat rolled over on to it's back and disappeared, like a wipe in an old movie. One minute there, the next gone. It reappeared-- or most of it, least wise-- on top of the next shrouded painting, it's light stripes showing up, along with it's face and paws, but the rest of it conspicuously absent.
"Oh God, I'm going to be sick," Jamie cringed at, what looked to him, a cut up cat.
"Haven't you ever met a cat before?" It addressed Yalaa.
"Of course I have," Yalaa sniffed, what a stupid question. "However, I have never had a conversation vith one before. You are the first one who has ever spoken, dus, you must be a puppet, controlled by a magic user. But da only thing dat comes close to using animals, is a mage, and dey only turn beings into animals, not control dem." And for another fact. "And you are far too small to be a dragon." She doubted any dragon would take the form of a cat anyways, far too small. Even in their humanoid forms, Dragonkin were often larger than the average human, some standing taller than Draenei.
The cat laid its ears back, all of it disappearing except eyes teeth and claws soon after. "I would not Wish to be a dragon." It hissed at her. For his part, Jamie grabbed up a pillow and held it between himself and the cat. However, he needent have bothered, because almost immediately after it faded back in, in its entirety, lounging atop the next shroud still. "Perhaps-" It eyed her arrogantly "You have never had a conversation with a one before because you are not worth having a conversation With."
The cat was not the only one growing increasingly annoyed at the conversation, and as it brushed her off as unimportant, Yalaa could feel her temper begin to boil. "If you are not a quest giver, den you are a vaste of time," Unable to stop herself, she added, "And perhaps cat, you should take some tips from your fellow felines, and stay silent den." Wait, she was arguing with a cat. "Enough, stop using dis form and speak to us in person. You have dragged us from our homes vithout explanation. Ve deserve one, especially if you are requiring our help." Even annoyed, if the being that controlled hit beast needed help, and it was for a noble cause, Yalaa would offer her hand. Misunderstandings and differences were not a strong enough reason to turn down those that needed aid in hard times.
"Seeing as how time is all you have right now, you might do well to start using it." The cat regarded her evenly, eyes half lidded. "You think you know so much. You don't even know where you are." The cat's voice echoed, as it suddenly faded out of sight. with a wispy puff of smoke, or possibly dust.
"... I think you made it mad." Jamie offered, helpfully, from the couch.
"It seems I did..." Yalaa relied, not overly happy with herself and how she behaved, but the silly thing was not offering any help at all. "But it vas hardly da help ve needed. Nothing better dan a critter." She continued her path to the shroud the cat was half seated on. "Do you suppose ve vill have any more luck vith da other images?"
"We might. Or we might find something worse. The world is full of variables." Jamie continued hugging the pillow, eyes still a bit wide. "And- not to point out my own short comings, but I think we've already established we shouldn't judge people by what they look like, here."
Yalaa blinked at the wisdom Jamie just exhibited, shocked by the truth of his words from one so young. "Dat is a very good point. I shall try and remember it from now on." She had done to the cat what Jamie had to her, and she felt her gut drop in guilt. "I vonder if it can still hear us," She said before raising her voice, so to speak to the room and not just Jamie. "If so, I apologize for my vords, cat. I did not mean to offend, and vill velcome any help you have to offer." Before lowering her voice to normal talking tone. "I really shouldn't be alienating any possible allies, it vill not help us."
Jamie waited a beat to see if the cat would come back. When nothing seemed to happen, he sighed. "Well. Maybe it wasn't an ally. Maybe it was just a, a cat." He shrugged, standing, but still hugging the pillow. "Cat's- at least all the cats I've met- are pretty arrogant. Or at least that's how they seem." He was almost starting to get a hand of the weirdness of all this. The pillow helped.
What didn't help were the sudden white flames that surrounded him, burning white with intensity, and reaching high enough to block his vision in an instant. His instant reaction was, once again, terror. Yes, he could duplicate himself, but that didn't mean he couldn't feel pain! If he had been slightly less terrified, or slightly more aware, he would have realized that the flames didn't hurt him at all.
||Continued in HH War Room||
"I suppose." Yalaa offered to Jamie's summary on felines, feeling a little silly for talking so loudly into the air, only to receive nothing in return. However, as the flames rose around Jamie, her thoughts left that of the cat, and turned to concern for the boy. Reaching out to try and snuff the fire from his form, he vanished a second before the same white sparks flared up around her. Her line of thought was not so different to Jamie's, she could always heal herself, but it did not stop her from burning before she healed.
||Continued in HH War Room||
Stumble!