Author's Note:

**Updated (August 2010): I decided to continue this story after all. The idea was too much fun to give it up. I'm not entirely sure where this is going, but at any rate, hope you enjoy reading it :)

To sum up, this is my revolt against the hundreds of poorly written World of Warcraft OCs out there. I think I've seen at least a hundred "lone, young" heroes who "set on a journey to find their DESTINY! *drumroll*", turn out to be long-lost brothers / sisters / cousins / whatever else to certain lore characters, save the world(s), etc. An original character is supposed to be original – not aNOTHER Mary Sue / Gary Stu / Super-Bat-Wonder-Man (or Girl).

Authors have the liberty to write their characters however they want to write them – and I have the liberty to like them or not Feel free to flame. Aside from that, reviews and CC would be greatly appreciated.

Chapter I

The audition

The lounge was packed with people of all races - elves and draenei, orcs and undead, trolls and dwarves and humans, all together. Eyes of all shapes and colors peered from underneath exotic hairstyles, and clothing and armor embroidered with rare thread and dazzling jewels sparkled in many different patterns. A large plaque hanging from a wall read, "World of Warcraft Original Character Audition TODAY!" in bold, gold letters. "Leave all weapons at the entrance. No summons, hexes and curses allowed", read another plaque in ominous crimson.

Most of the heroes waiting were female, though in several cases it was hard to tell. Each held a number card. Some looked sheepish; most, however, glanced around with undaunted confidence. Horde glared at Alliance and Alliance glared in turn. A few Naga huddled together in a corner glared at everyone else. Animated chattering burst here and there.

A lone Night Elf woman sat cross-legged on the floor and turned her number card around and around. Her hair was the usual shade of blue characteristic to her race, and her silver eyes were trained firmly on the opposite wall, staring down an imaginary point above the fiery crown of a gnome mage. Vinaiya Nightbane was a seasoned druid - better than many, but still a far cry from reaching the true potential of her class. She wore dark leather armor with nothing distinctive to it, save for the few gashes here and there that appeared to have been mended on the spot and with hardly any concern for aesthetics.

For the tenth time that morning, Vinaiya found herself wondering what in the name of Elune she was doing here. Surely there was no way she'd stand a chance of being chosen. Whoever got picked at this particular audition had a chance of making it big in Azeroth and beyond – embarking on epic quests, meeting with legendary heroes and serving as a well of inspiration for fanfiction writers everywhere. Vinaiya could already picture them – sitting at their desks, quills twitching, eager to chronicle the wild adventures of whichever hero would be chosen on that very day.

"Forty-five! Selenia Moonfeather! Forty-five!"

The shrill voice of the goblin announcer almost made Vinaiya jump up. Selenia Moonfeather, a tall, slim Night Elf woman with amber eyes and silver hair and clad in a gleaming armor that looked like it had been polished ten times over, sat up with a smirk and followed the goblin out of the lounge. Vinaiya gave a small sigh. That woman was a worthy contestant.

The druid checked her number card. It read, "Vinaiya Nightbane: 47, Room C." She still had time to get up and leave before she made a fool out of herself in front of whoever judged this contest.

"Forty-six! Thor… err… P..." The goblin scratched his head. "Own-hammer, I guess…? Forty-six!" Nobody sat up this time. The goblin scribbled something on the clipboard he was holding, muttered something to himself, then cleared his throat. "Forty-seven! Vinaiya Nightbane! Forty-seven!"

Suddenly, Vinaiya felt everyone's eyes on her. She stood up, feeling small, miserable and about as interesting as the dried carrot on a stick that she used to prod her mount. Forcing herself to put one foot before the other, she made her way to where the goblin was fidgeting with his clipboard and followed him out of the room. Before she knew it, she was standing in front of a massive wooden door. "Room C", she read on a plaque just above the doorknob. What a strange place for a plaque, she thought. The organizers had to be very sensible about races who were... vertically impaired.

Vinaiya sighed, gave a curt nod in the general direction of the goblin, and finally knocked and entered…

…and less than a moment later, she fought back a very strong impulse to turn back and run.

It seemed that all of Azeroth's finest heroes had gathered there and were now looking – no, staring at her with arched eyebrows. Tyrande Whisperwind was there, and next to her stood a weathered Blood Elf mage, whom Vinaiya refrained from naming even in her thoughts. Thrall and Jaina Prodmoore sat at a large table, the latter's fingers drumming on the table lightly. Finally, a massive, winged figure loomed in the back, but Vinaiya averted her eyes quick enough to be able to at least pretend she hadn't seen him.

"Is something wrong, girl?"

It was Thrall who spoke, and Vinaiya forced herself to shake her head and take a step forward.

"Very well then. Sit down."

The druid did as she was told and folded her hands in her lap.

Jaina was the one who spoke next. "Before we ask you anything, could you tell us a little bit about yourself? Anything is fine, just keep it brief."

Vinaiya swallowed. "Well, I suppose you already know my name…" She mentally slapped herself for stating the obvious. "I'm five hundred and twenty-seven years old, although my parents seem to disagree on when exactly I was born, so that could be wrong", she continued. Was it her imagination, or that comment had actually caused several brief smiles?

"Do you have any siblings?" Tyrande asked suddenly.

Vinaiya pondered the question for a second. "Not that I know of", she answered truthfully. "My mother-"

"Half-siblings, maybe?"

Vinaiya shook her head firmly, "No."

"And you're not claiming to be descending from royalty, dragons, demigods or anything of the sort, correct?" For some reason, Tyrande seemed a little relived.

"No", Vinaiya said a second time.

Her baffled expression made Tyrande smile. "You must be wondering why this sudden question."

Vinaiya nodded.

"You'd be surprised how many… people come in here, claiming that they're the sons, daughters, brothers, sisters or distant half-cousins of a powerful figure or another," Tyrande said with a sigh. "Just now, we spoke with a priestess who was firmly convinced that she's my long-lost half-sister. Yesterday, Thrall had at least half a dozen 'sons', including a troll who pretended to have some orcish blood".

The other heroes in the room grinned and snickered. Thrall made a grimace.

"You're training to become a druid, from what we read", Jaina cut in after everyone quieted down. "Do you have any special… skills that would make you stand out from the other druids? A spell that only you can cast, a demigod watching your back, anything like that?"

Vinaiya shifted in her seat. This was particularly the kind of question that she had dreaded all along. "Well, I do have a stronger connection with nature than most, or at least that's what my shan'do told me a few times, but… no." She bit her lower lip. "I am training to become better, though," she added after a moment, "and someday I hope to-"

"That's enough, thank you." Jaina scribbled something on a clipboard, while Thrall and Tyrande exchanged a glance. Vinaiya could've sworn she'd seen Tyrande nod, but then Kael spoke and she shifted her attention to him.

"This question might seem a bit… sudden, Vinaiya", the elven prince said while the arcane orbs circling his head spiraled in a lazy motion. "Tell us… Is there anyone in Azeroth – or beyond – whom you feel… let's say… attracted to, in any way?"

This time, Vinaiya couldn't help raising her eyebrows and tilting her head to one side. "Excuse me?"

"Most of the heroes who came to audition today," Jaina interjected, "were young women like yourself who came to… pledge themselves to some ruler or another, in the most inappropriate sort of way."

"Two of them even brought me letters", came a deep, rumbling voice from where the winged figure stood, followed by an unearthly fit of laugh. "I'll have you guess what sort of letters they were."

"I wanted to make sure you're not one of those… fangirls", Kael followed after casting a quick glance behind his shoulder towards the grinning figure there. "Falling in love with your liege can be a death blow to any plot – and the authors we've decided to work with definitely wouldn't want that sort of character around. They were very firm about that."

By this point, Vinaiya's features were adorned with a wide grin. "Oh, no, not at all! No offense to you all" – she glanced around the room once – "but I have myself the best man in all of Azeroth… well, the best dwarf, to be more precise. And I wouldn't trade him for anyone."

This new insight caused roars of laughter from everyone present. Jaina was scribbling down furiously, and even the winged figure doubled over while cackling madly. Vinaiya wasn't sure what exactly it was that had made them so cheerful all of the sudden.

"One last question", Tyrande said eventually. "The heroes we work with always have a say in their own story. If you do get chosen today, and if you are to become a fanfiction character… what do you think that your story would be?"

Everyone watched Vinaiya intently now. The druid frowned for a few moments, deep in thought.

"Well," she said finally, "I don't really see myself doing anything extraordinary. I can't really fight that well, but I can mend wounds and listen to the trees." Listen to the trees! Vinaiya flinched. What a silly thing to say.

A brief moment of silence followed. The other heroes in the room exchanged glances and whispers, and Vinaiya shook her head slowly. This had been a bad idea from the start. Why in the world had she even-

"Congratulations, you've got the part!"

Vinaiya blinked, shook her head, then blinked again before finally arching both her eyebrows at Jaina Proudmoore. "Right. What?"

"I said you've got the part", Jaina repeated with an actual smile. "You'll hear from the author who's going to write your story in a few weeks. Until then-"

"Wait", Vinaiya interjected, not caring that she was being a bit rude. "Why?"

Behind everyone else, Illidan – Vinaiya was sure that he was the tall, winged shadow there – laughed again, seconded by everyone else.

"I mean," Vinaiya continued above the noise, cheeks darkening, "I'm… normal. I haven't even done anything to prove myself yet, I didn't slay any dragons, I didn't find any legendary treasures… why?"

Tense silence followed.

"Because of everything you've just said," Kael answered, his expression turning serious. The other heroes nodded. "You seem like a mature and emotionally stable girl, for one, you have wits-"

"-and you're not sixteen," Jaina cut in with a smirk. "Not to mention you're not exceptionally pale, you don't have dyed silver hair and you don't wear fake golden contacts, like some other Night Elf we spoke with just before you came."

Vinaiya shook her head. "I don't understand."

"You don't have to." Jaina and the others sat up, signaling that the interview was over. "Congratulations."

And again, before she knew it, Vinaiya was back in the lounge, feeling like she'd just been whacked over the head by an enraged ogre from the Barrier Hills. Then, very slowly, the realization of what had just happened began to sink in.

'I'm going to be in my own story!'

A grin slowly spread over her face, and she made her way out slowly, not caring now that the other contenders tried to stare her down.

'I'm going to be in my own story!'

'

Vinaiya couldn't wait to get home and tell her beloved dwarven mate the good news…

…If he wasn't out raiding again.

Author's note – PS:

Vinaiya used to be my bank alt ^^; My old main was a Night Elf druid (faction-switched a few months ago) – she's a Tauren now. If anyone happens to be playing on Khaz'Goroth (US-Oceanic), gimmie a whisper sometime (main name: Vaalå, or just /who Val Exiled and it's gonna pick me up if I'm online). I always enjoy a good talk.