The Story of Qiris

[Qiris]

Xiris sighed with exasperation. She was in a hurry to get home after a long trip to Thrallmar, and she'd run out of runes. Now she'd have to take a stupid, slow bat. Patience had never been Xiris' strong suit, and she was doubly annoyed that this delay was no one's fault but her own. "Well Ah'd better get going or Ah'll never get there," Xiris grumbled. She settled on the bat for the long ride, and opened a manual about herbs for a little light reading. She'd picked up an item or two for Jiris and Akiris, and couldn't wait to give them to her sisters. Akiris had really been growing and Xiris was very proud of her. She knew it was only a matter of time before Akiris left to explore distant lands and she treasured every moment she could spend with her baby sister. Although, really, she needed to stop thinking of Akiris as a baby—babies didn't learn how to control Felhunters, after all.

At last the ride was over. Xiris could feel her bones creaking after sitting in the same position for so long. That was one disadvantage for the Undead, their bones just didn't take kindly to any mistreatment or drastic weather changes. Say what you want about Molten Core, Xiris laughed to herself, at least her bones didn't hurt in that hot zone. She might burn, but she sure didn't ache!

Xiris quickened her step as she approached her home, and she Blinked into the house—she wanted to surprise her sisters with their gifts and also share with them the news of a new addition to the family.

Xiris heard raised voices coming from the back of the house, probably in Jiris' lab. Wondering what was causing such a ruckus, she headed toward the lab and stopped outside the door to eavesdrop and figure out who was in there with Jiris.

"That orc sed Xiris made Qiris leave becuz Qiris was planning to do something wicked to me! Is that true?" Akiris demanded. With a sinking heart, Xiris realized both her sisters were back in Jiris' lab, and from the sound of it, someone with a big mouth had been blabbing about things that were best left alone.

Jiris spoke calmly. "Yes, Ah will tell you what happened. But you must remember that what Xiris has done, she has done for you, to protect you and to keep you safe." "That's a lie!" Akiris sniffed. "She doesn't love me, she treats me like a baby, and never lets me go out with mah friends to explore dungeons." In the hallway, Xiris winced—Akiris was right, she had been very protective of her sister, maybe too protective. But those words still hurt, after all Xiris had done.

"Here, Akiris, sit down, you can play with mah new Life-like Mechanical Toad whilst Ah tell you what happened. Ah was going ta give it to Kytae, but you can have dis one, Ah will make her another one." Jiris put the toad in Akiris' lap, hoping the pet would help calm her sister down. Really, Jiris suspected the reason Xiris and Akiris butted Undead heads all the time was because they were so much alike—both were very strong-willed and accustomed to getting their ways. Jiris always thought that mages and warlocks seemed to be the hotheads, while priests were calmer and more easy-going. She thanked the Dark Lady she wasn't a mage or warlock!

"Uki, here's what happened. You remember Qiris, right? Ah know you were young but latz does remember her?" Akiris nodded as she petted the toad. She'd calmed down as Jiris had hoped she would.

"Well Xiris had brought her into the family after finding her, Ah know you remember dat part, Dark Lady knows we did talk about it often enough. And Qiris did uki for a while, she seemed ta fit in with the Undead even though she was an orc. But as she grew older, she changed or maybe she didn't change, maybe she was always that way. Latz recalls she was a rogue, eh?

Akiris nodded again. "YES!" she said, "Ah KNOW all dis! Git to da POINT."

"Yes, yes, Ah know you know all dis. Grow a little patience, latz doesn't have to be rude hmm?" Akiris flushed a little—her sister was right, she was being both rude and impatient. "Ah'm sorry Jiris," she apologized.

"It's uki, girl, you are so much like Xiris sometimes, Ah forget that!" Jiris grinned at her little sister while Xiris frowned in the hallway.

"Uki, so Qiris had learned to pickpocket and she got the loot sickness. You know about dat, right? When Horde act like Alliance and just live to get loot and shiniez? Well that's what Qiris was doing. She pickpocketed everyone, including the vendors in the Undercity and got banned from hanging around dem. They even came to Xiris for restitution, cost her a pretty penny, let me tell latz." Akirs eyes' grew round with shock. No one ever stole from the vendors, that was just not done.

Jiris nodded. "Yep, dat was not very good nor was it very smart. Ah always did wonder if Qiris suffered some brain injury when she was laying out there in the Barrens before Xiris found her. Ah well it's hard to tell now, if she was always dat way or if she became dat way. Either way, her lust for shiniez and loot did not go away. She'd struck up a . . . well latz can't really be friends with the gobbies, so Ah guess you'd call it acquaintanceship with a goblin in Ratchet. He was a new one, none of us had seen him around before, but eh, those gobbies all look the same, so no one really paid attention to him.

Akiris narrowed her eyes at her sister. Jiris was getting long-winded again and despite her best intentions, Akiris was about ready to start throwing shadow bolts. "Patience, you little deadie, Ah'm getting to the important stuff!"

"Uki, where was Ah? Oh yes, the goblin. So anyways, Ah still dun know how Xiris found out about dis, or what she had to do to uncover everything, but somehow she did. Qiris had made arrangements with that goblin to sell you to an Alliance alchemist who had some harebrained idea Forsaken blood and bones could be made into a weapon against the Horde."

Akiris felt faint. "Qiris did what?" Akiris gasped. Just then they both heard a floorboard creak in the hallway.

JIris looked both guilty and relieved. "Ah know you are out there, Xiris, you better come in and tell her yourself."

"Yes Ah guess Ah better," Xiris said as she stepped into the small lab. Akiri's lower lip trembled, she was scared of her sister and angry with her, too. "Quit treating me like a child, Xiris. Tell me what happened, Ah am old enough to know!" Akiris demanded.

"Yes, you are, and Ah am sorry. Latz deserves to hear this from me, not from some stranger, or even second-hand from yer sister." Xiris sighed, and smoothed her hands over her robe nervously. That shocked Akiris, she had never seen her sister nervous or at a loss for words.

"Well Ah am not going to repeat everything Jiris told latz already, no need to beat dat dead cow." Xiris smiled slightly, thank the Dark Lady she could make a joke about cows since no Taurens lived with them. "Qiris had hatched that plot to poison latz, and then deliver yer body to that goblin in Ratchet." Akiris blanched at the thought of dying by poison, she knew rogues were deadly with their poisons.

"Ah never could find out who the Alliance scum was that was looking for Forsaken victims, although Ah tried very hard. When Ah confronted Qiris, she denied everything at first. Ah had to resort to . . . force . . . to encourage her to talk." Xiris spoke in a flat tone of voice, she disliked what she'd done to get the information out of Qiris.

"Is, is she dead?" Akiris whispered. "Ah thought Ah heard you kill her." A single tear rolled down Akiris' cheek at the memory.

"No, Ah didn't kill her. Ah offered her a choice, I would transport her either to Thunderbluff or Orgrimmar but she was never to come back to the Undercity again or come near you or us. She cried and sniveled and said she was sorry, and then she used that flash powder rogues love, and vanished. The last Ah was able to track her down, she'd gotten all the way to Tanaris, almost to the border of Un'Goro Crater. Ah wasn't able to find any more traces of her after that."

Xiris sighed heavily. She'd wanted to help an injured member of the Horde and had nearly wrecked her family in the process. Where was the glory and honor in any of this? Xiris struggled with overcoming her distrust and dislike of all rogues and all orcs, even though she knew that wasn't fair or honorable. Now Akiris would bear the burden of this information, and Xiris only hoped her sister would do better than she herself did in regarding orcs and rogues with suspicion.

And now she'd opened her home up again to a member of the Horde. She only hoped she wasn't making a big mistake allowing a Blood Elf to live with them.

[Volonazra]

The story has been an interesting tale of family life in our little online world. Its something not often explored, and less often explained. Thanks for your time and effort to paint us the picture of what things might be like. I certainly wasnt expecting Qiris' plot. (what an evil ######) Now, you have a Sin'dori added to the mix? eeep.

[Rhoach]

Soap opera-ish!