World of Warcraft: Journey of the Huntress

Chapter Five

Larraine awoke to the sound of quiet humming near her bed and rubbed her eyes as she sat up slightly, causing Fang to stir next to her. Turning her head, she found the same female pandaren from the inn the day before moving about in the small kitchen of the house she, Bixby, and Gardenia had been permitted to rest in for the night.

"Oh!" the pandaren exclaimed when she realized she was being watched. "I am sorry. Did I wake you?"

"It's fine," Larraine assured her with a small smile, stretching her legs out on the bed. Fang jumped down and wandered over to the innkeeper, who gave him a friendly pat on the head and then handed him a fish to eat.

"Are you hungry?" she asked Larraine, picking up another fish from the basket full of ingredients she had next to the stove and placing it into the wide cooking vessel she was using. "I was just preparing breakfast."

"Yeah, food would be great," Larraine muttered, looking about the room for her companions. "Where are the two women I came here with?"

"Ah, the little ones," the pandaren said with a small laugh. "They woke up some time ago and spoke to the tall, purple-haired elf before going to see one of the town elders."

"They talked to Rell without me?" Larraine wondered, jumping to her feet and hastily pulling on her boots before heading for the door of the small home.

"Here," the pandaren said, holding out a steaming bowl of rice and fish to her. Larraine turned on her heel and took it from her with a slight bow and thanked her even as she continued on her way out the door, Fang eagerly following on her heels.

She stopped the first group of pandaren she came to in the town and described the pair she was looking for, and they directed her to the distillery near the central fountain of the town. Sure enough, as she drew nearer to her destination she heard a familiar, loud giggling. Bixby and Gardenia were seated next to one another on the grass next to a large water-powered building which she assumed to be the distillery. Three pandaren – one male and two females – were with them, and the younger of the two females was pouring some sort of drink from a large earthen pot into the small cups in the gnomes' hands.

"Larraine!" Bixby called out to her when she saw her, waving her hand up above her head to get her attention. "Over here! We're having cider and telling stories!"

Larraine sighed and went over to them, offering a polite greeting to the three pandaren as she took a seat on the grass between Bixby and Gardenia.

"This is Teng Applebloom and his daughters, Cui and Ju," Gardenia introduced them.

"And this is Larraine!" Bixby exclaimed loudly. "Doesn't she have such pretty hair?"

She started giggling again and reached up with one hand to stroke Larraine's hair, and Larraine turned her head and looked at her more closely. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed and though she was sitting she still seemed to be a bit wobbly.

"I think you've had enough cider, Bix," Gardenia told her, reaching over to attempt to take the cup from her hand, but Bixby snatched it out of her reach and whined.

"No, I'm fine. I promise! Just let me finish this cup, and I won't drink any more."

"How late did I sleep?" Larraine wondered aloud, figuring that, surely, if Bixby was already drunk it had to be at least early afternoon.

"It's ten in the morning," Gardenia informed her, making another futile attempt to get the drink out of her sister's hand. Larraine, however, was closer and easily plucked the cup from the giggling rogue and handed it to her.