Even the most hardened warrior can be distracted in the midst of a heated battle, and Ichinora was no exception. She'd decided on a shortcut back going back towards Wintergrasp Keep when she spotted it. A most cherished and rare flower, growing in the harsh northern enviroment. A Frost Lotus, it's delicate petals unfurled in the frigid air and chaotic land, growing at the base of a large tree.

The rogue pulled hard in her snowy talbuks reigns, causing the beast to groan and skid to a near halt before she spurred him onwards, sprinting the twenty or so feet to the lone herb. Somewhere in the distance came the loud rumble as a wall was shot down by mortars. It seemed the alliance may win this battle after all, but all Ichinora could worry about was not damaging the delicate flower as she knelt in the snow. The blood elf's shining emerald eyes sparkled with glee, a happiness only known by other herbalists, as she reached for the skinny stem of the lotus.

Sadly, she was not the only one to have spotted the rare herb. Being pounced from behind and paralyzed by a Druid was never a pleasant experience. Ichinora was no stranger to the battlefield, and in fact often stepped into the competitve areana, so she was somewhat accustomed to receiving a vicious bonk on the noggin. His next move, however, had her completely outraged. The lanky form of the cat slid into view, mere inches from her body. His silvery eyes cut from her to the flower and then back again. She thought his feline expression was completely condescending as the cat turned back to the herb, then reached his maw forward, preparing to tear the lotus out with his bare teeth.

Perhaps if she'd been a little more clear headed, she would have said something witty. Instead, as she felt her limbs begin to cooperate once more, she shouted something completely unintelligible as she slashed out with her daggers. Completely lost to her fury over the prospect of losing her lotus, she hacked at the air blindly, which the druid dodged easily. A grumbly chuckle could be heard coming from the throat of the night elf, which only fueled her blood lust further. The cat landed some ten feet away and was closer to the frost lotus when he crouched low to the frozen ground. Ichinora gnashed her teeth together, barely holding back a scream of frustration. Shouldn't fellow herbalists be bound by a code of honor? Surely he would understand that since she saw it first, she was -entitled- to the rights to pick it and sell it on the auction house for a ridiculously high price!

Ichinora glared maliciously, standing up straight and slowing her breath. There was a rudimentary language that most assassins knew and used in cross-faction situations. It was quite possible that this sneaky little druid didn't know of it, but there was no harm in taking the chance. To say it was a 'simple' language was an understatement, consisting mostly of verbs and a few nouns, only the essential things needed when talking in a rushed whisper with an enemy in a dark alley.

/"Mine, go!"/ she barked loudly, the explosions in the distance nearly drowning her out. She pointed towards the keep with one of her daggers, giving her order a direction for the druid.

She knew he could understand when he slowly, deliberately shook his head from side to side, never letting his gaze drop from the rogues eyes.

Muttering darkly, Ichinora rolled one of her shoulders and widened her stance. She'd have to move them away from the herb, less risk having him get sneaky about trying to snatch it, or worse, purposefully destroying the delicate plant.

A horn sounded from the north, the alliance was pushing her people out of Wintergrasp Keep, the battle was over, but she wasn't leaving without her flower. In her moment of distraction however, the druid had faded from view and she quickly followed suit. She slinked towards the flower quietly, not wanting to give him a seconds chance at it, but just as she stepped over the lotus, she felt a familiar sensation at her throat. Cold metal pressed against the skin of her neck, while his other hand settled on her stomach. He had shifted to his regular form, and the rogue had been caught.

She could barely make out the wicked looking contraptions strapped to his hands. Undoubtedly some sort of rare, deadly sort of claw weapon, fitting really, for a druid. He chuckled softly, "/easy/.." he muttered into her ear in merc speak as he pressed his face to the side of her head, nuzzling her with his cheek. She had to admit, it was a tad unsettling to have her enemy do so. He carressed her stomach, practically molesting the smooth leather there for a moment. She didn't know whether to be completely outraged or scared to death. A nagging thought kept fluttering in her head, hadn't she been told before to never take shortcuts?

The druid pushed her foreward a step, then quickly knelt and plucked the frost lotus from the ground. She felt him press his chest against her back, forcing her to take the last few steps to the tree until she was flush against the trunk. When the bark was scraping against her cheek, he brought the herb up to her face, spinning it between his forefinger and thumb.

"/Pretty, mine/," he chirped happily, then noisely sniffed the blossom. Ichinora was practically spitting in her fury. It was bad enough having it stolen right out from under her, but to have the fact waved in her face was just adding insult to injury. The wicked blades on his hand, glowing with a powerful enchantment, were mere inches from her face, while the hand on her stomach still absentmindedly stroked up and down. At times, the sweeping motion of his hand would dip low enough to cause her muscles to clench in anticipation. A low growl started in her throat and the druid chuckled in response.

Not a second later he knocked her out with a clean hit to the back of the rogue's head.

The sun had dipped below the horizon, casting the last refuge for Horde soldiers in darkness. The temperature was quickly dropping as the fiery orange sky faded to black. The land of Wintergrasp was nearly completely silent, the mobs of elementals making little noise in the darkness. The peaceful night however was not destined to remain so. Heavy wings pounded the air, something large was fast approaching the small outpost. The few soldiers there grabbed their torches and weapons, preparing for the worst, yet as soon as it would seem their visitor would be upon them, the noise stopped. Only a few seconds passed before a large Orc stepped to the edge of their encampment, his torch raised high. The warriors beady eyes scanned the darkness, head tilted as if to catch any slight sound.

"Tharr! Come'ere, someones hurt!" the Orc shouted over his shoulder as he jogged into the darkness, Tharr quickly following on his heels with his axe held at the ready. Both Orc's returned into the camp's circle of light shortly after, Tharr guarding his sergeant's back as he cradled an unconscience Blood Elf's body in his arms.

Ichinora groaned softly, her eyes clenched tightly shut as she started to become conscious once more. It felt like her brain was trying to escape through her nose. Muttering a curse, she brought her hand to her head, as if to make sure it was all intact.

"Ah you're awake I see," a gravelly voice spoke up, somewhere close by where she layed. "You'll want to drink this then," a cold, clammy hand gripped her's lightly, putting a small mug in her grip as he helped her sit up slowly. She sipped the contents obediantly after cracking an eye open, seeing that her friendly helper was an undead man wearing Kor'kron colors.

"That was quite a nasty bump on your head," the forsaken busied himself putting vials and poitions back into a satchel.

"I don't want to talk about it," Ichinora grumbled, staring hard at the smooth mug between her hands. She brought her knees up and balanced her arms on her legs, letting her head drop nearly between them.

"Well, no permenant damage at least," he shrugged the strap of his bag onto his boney shoulder after standing, "but I'd head out unless you want to get caught in the next assault."

Ichinora just wasn't in the mood to get up, let alone travel anywhere. Every little movement she made was accompanied with an ill-mannered grumbled or petulant groan. Eventually she made it out of the tent, where an Orc explained her odd drop off in the cover of darkness. It didn't take long for the rogue to put the pieces together, but she chose to stay silent for the sake of simplicity. She really wasn't in the mood to tell these people her rather humiliating story. Doing her best to keep a pleasant, grateful smile, she thanked the soldiers one last time and hopped on a wyvern bound for Dalaran. The flight, while shorter than most, wasn't over quick enough for Ichinora.

When the spires of the floating island were in clear view, Ichinora let out a long, exasperated sigh and gathered the view remnants of her pride. She told herself that no one else knew of this embarrassing little incident. There were plenty other Frost Lotus's growing in Northrend, this single one really didn't matter. She spent the last couple of minutes on the wyvern convincing herself to forget the transgression. When the beast finally settled onto Krasus's Landing, she slid from it's saddle feeling much better.

It was midmorning as the rogue navigated the busy streets of Dalaran. She was determined not to let the pushy citizens of the floating city dampen her good mood, and thus took her time getting to the inn where she was renting a room. The Legerdemain Lounge was the only thing that suited her tastes and accepted her kind in all of Dalaran. The Filthy Animal was too barbaric and she avoided the Underbelly at all costs. It had taken the rogue days of searching before she finally came to realize that was all there was in the huge city. When she reached the inn she walked straight to the bar and ordered both lunch and dinner. The waiter deftly fetched her requested items, hardly looking up as he tied everything into a neat sack and sat it on the counter, one hand resting on the parcel until she handed over the coin.

"Thank you come again," he said mechanically. Ichinora noted that this particular barkeep didn't come out of his shell until the sun started to set. She grabbed the knot in one hand and turned her back to the counter with a polite remark to the man, her eyes reflexively sweeping the room. It was a habit that she quickly regretted. Thinking back, Ichinora never got a good look at the thieving druid's face, but she'd never forget those claw weapons he had. They were rare, and definitely eye catching. They also weren't something that you'd wear on a daily basis, but one just happened to be sitting on one of the dinner tables in the lounge, practically screaming for the attention. It took a moment for Ichinora to register that she was standing stock still, openly glaring at the object, and when she did her eyes went immediately to the Night Elf leaning back in his chair.

The druid was grinning widely at a pretty young Night Elf sitting across from him, simpering and giggling like he was flattering her with lavish praises. Ichinora could easily imagine this druid was a smooth talker. She watched him take a flower out, bringing it to his nose to enjoy it's fragrent scent. He spoke some more before leaning forward, offering the girl to enjoy it's aroma with a suave grin. The rogue blinked a couple times, her green eyes widening when she finally realized it was the frost lotus he held before the girl.

All that work to steal it from her, and he's using it to pick up girls! The rogues's cheeks burned red with rage. For a moment she imagined herself pummelling his ass right out of that chair, but she couldn't forget that the mages did not tolerate violence in their city. It was a shame, really. One the waitresses touched her shoulder, an older human woman, snapping the rogue out of her trance. Her face showed concern, and Ichinora held the grace to look embarrassed. She waved her hand, trying to gesture that she was fine. She really needed to head up to her room now.

Before she turned to start heading towards the staircase leading to the guest room however, she looked back at the table, she locked eyes with the druid. She watched his grin slowly grow as he recognized her, and it perhaps the cockiest gesture she'd ever seen someone make, he raised the flower as if toasting a glass of wine to the Blood Elf. Ichinora glared daggers at the druid, shaking her head and did the only thing she could do; retreat. She stomped all the way up to her room, and slammed the door, locking it for all the good it would do. It wasn't like it helped block out the image of him mocking her right in the middle of the lounge. He was probably sharing his little victory with all of his assinine buddies.

Ichinora tore through her lunch, eating too quickly and swallowing too hard to really enjoy it and tried to sleep on her upset stomach. Peace didn't come quickly, and she tossed and turned in her sulky mood until she managed to finally force herself asleep. Images of stabbing cocky night elves and pretty flowers invaded her dreams.

Author's Note-

Helloo and thank you for reading my new story, it's a little short for my liking, but I know the next few chapters will be more robust, and full of exciting, naughty little details and scenarios! ^_^

I'm really in need of a beta reader, if you're at all interested, send me a note!