#Zalaojin Stilldancer

[celestialkiri]

I miss summer...so I drew Kiri and Zalao’Jin enjoying summer warmth.  Zalao’Jin @airanke <3 

[calywitsune]

Face to Face

A look at Kaisra and Nascent’s first in person meeting after two years of secret love letters and a game keep away

Finally, after so many long months of waiting and worrying, the day had finally come. The day that the soldiers spearheading the attack in Northrend would return for reprieve; and among them would be a certain admirer.

Hopefully.

Kaisra had received his last letter approximately a week ago, but it had been dated a week before that. That letter was the last bit of contact she had with the man of her affections, and while she had every reason to be confident he would return today she couldn’t help but fidget. The hunter had read over it a dozen times in the days approaching the zeppelin's return.

My Dearest Rose,

I hope this letter finds you in high spirits - and if not, then perhaps this bit of news will lift any burden from your shoulders.

I am to be returning to Orgrimmar in the next few weeks! The battles here have been long and dreadful, the most recent especially so, but we’ve managed to push back the Scourge far enough to allow a changing of the guards as to not exhaust out ranks.

My thoughts were filled with nothing but you during the last battle, my Sunrise. I do believe it’s about time we finally meet face to face after such a long game of cat and mouse. The idea of holding you in my arms at last helped me push through to the end. Keep an eye on the Northrend zeppelin arrivals.

All my love,

Nascent Morningwhisper

Now there she sat, absentmindedly stroking the head of her new beloved spirit leopard. It had taken quite a few nights of bonding, but he was comfortable with her touch now. After all the stories she had gathered from other hunters and bounty collectors in Sholazar Basin, there was no questioning why he was such an isolated cat. But Kaisra could tell once the bond was solidified, nothing would break it.

The blood elf’s feet dangled off the edge of the zeppelin tower in anticipation. A breeze picked up, tousling her curled hair - which she quickly smoothed down. She had put in extra effort into her appearance this morning and did not want her first impression on the man to be the least bit sloppy.

Although the thought crossed her mind that he had quite possibly seen her in...unappealing light some days without her knowing. After all, he knew her already at the beginning of their romantic exchanges, but she hadn’t the slightest inkling as to what Nascent looked like.

After learning of his name after his departure to Northrend, Kaisra had scoured Silvermoon for anyone who would be willing to share details of the man. She had hoped that with his name in her pocket now, others she questioned before would have new information to give up. However it was wishful thinking; anyone who’s expressions belied the fact they knew of Nascent refused to reveal anything about him! At least he wasn’t a simple man, if he had thought ahead and took precautions in addition to hiding his scent from her animals.

Kaisra couldn’t help but chuckle at this. It would not matter. She had fallen for this man not once seeing anything of him: only being charmed by his words and unbridled affections. He could be an ogre for all she cared.

She was shocked out of her contemplative state by a shrill whistle, and the shout of a goblin zeppelin master at the docks.

“The zeppelin for Warsong Hold on the horizon! Make way for incoming passengers! Please wait until boarding is called for!”

The glow of the blood elf’s eyes shimmered bright, an equally bright smile overcoming her features as she stood and strained to see the balloons over the desert hills. She could make out the same sort of shapes she had seen leaving months ago. Soldiers packed together - some leaning out to wave at others waiting on the docks. Despite not knowing what to look for, save for possibly the usual paladin attire, Kaisra scanned the crowd as well.

A minute or two later, the goblin zeppelin masters and handymen were securing the balloons and lowering the loading planks. Dozens of soldiers flooded out into the arms of their loved ones; there were shouts and tears and hugs to go around. In all the commotion, Fravardin has bristled and fled out of the foot traffic. Kaisra let him go, not wanting to stress the cat out any further. She had faith he would return when he felt safe.

Kaisra herself maneuvered through the bodies as best she could, stopping to observe any man who appeared to be a paladin. Disgruntled, she began shouting “Hel-Hello? Morningwhisper- Is Nascent Morningwhisper aboard!?”

It took one or two more mentions of his name and the dispersal of the more rowdy reunions, but when that name was clearly heard a slightly unsettling hush trickled through the soldiers still on the zeppelin. Kaisra’s heart sank, mind immediately going to the worst case scenario. She looked around desperately, waiting for someone to come and break any news.

But then the soldiers began to shift to the side as heavy armored footfalls thumped against the wooden floorboards. The hunter raised her gaze to the monstrous form approaching. Though the man was not towering over most present, the intimidating air he gave off made up for it. Dark red and black armor peppered with spikes, blades and teeth, a large smoldering mallet strapped to his back, and piercing red eyes under the helm - Kaisra’s instincts were telling her to move aside, but her legs stayed firmly in place. Yet she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the soldier.

She expected him to shove past at the least but...he steadily strode over and halted directly in front of her.

In one smooth motion he removed his helm. Underneath was not a battle scarred orc or troll, but a fine youthful face of a blood elf. Sun-kissed skin - albeit a bit dirty - and crimson hair framing his features. With the removal of the helm his eyes no longer gleamed a frightening red, but now held a warm golden hue.

Kaisra took in a soft breath at the surprisingly contradicting man underneath the ensemble. He noticed her surprise, a devilish smirk tugging at his lips.

She could feel the heat rising in her cheeks at the simple gesture. And when he firmly grasped her hand and bowed, placing a light kiss on the back of it she was sure her face was as red as his hair; he never took his eyes from hers.

“I believe I am the one you seek, Miss Autumnbrook.”

The hunter swallowed a noise in her throat, scrambling for words that seemed to escape her. However not a moment later Nascent’s eyes darted to her side, and a burst of joy spilled past his lips. For a brief flash there was yet again a different man in front of her - one more innocent and cheerful. A low rumble told Kaisra that Fravardin had returned at the sight of a strange man encroaching on his hunter.

“By the Light you did it!!” Nascent exclaimed, “the fabled Loque’nahak is more than just a myth!”

Kaisra smiled, placing a hand atop the cat’s head. “Y...Yes! This is Fravardin, my “Guardian Spirit.”

Although her emotions were more calm now, Fravardin continued to stare down the strange man before him, tail twitching in an agitated manner. Nascent seemed unbothered by the cat’s distrust, and he raised his smiling eyes back to Kaisra’s. Her heart lurched once more, but out of affection this time rather than fright.

She opened her mouth to speak, but in that instant a rather decorated individual shouted Nascent’s name. The paladin’s gaze flickered to the official before wrapping Kaisra’s hand in his own two.

“Just a moment, my dear. I won’t be long. I am eager to hear of your adventures.”

He turned heel and strode away before Kaisra could reply. She watched his back for a beat before she felt a hand at her elbow. Shifting to look at the source she saw an orc shaman, whose face was creased with concern.

“Miss Autumnbrook, was it?” Kaisra nodded, noting how his eyes darted to Nascent for a second before continuing. “It seems as if you are acquainted with Morningwhisper?”

“Ah-! I suppose so.” a light blush blossomed over her cheeks,, “we have been engaged in…. affectionate contact for some time. This however...is the first time we’ve met in person!” Her expression was that of a lovestruck child, but it darkened along with the orc’s.

He spoke in a hushed tone now, “I think it fair to warn you, miss...Morningwhisper experienced some traumatic encounters in the battles against the Scourge. More than a handful were against the Lich King himself. The man...well...he is not who he was at the start of all this. Something broke inside of him. Please, be cautious.”

With that, he patted the hunter on her shoulder and hurried off the dock, leaving her standing there to process the sudden warning.

Of course she had expected the events in Northrend to be anything but pleasant. Nascent had written many times of the hardships he and his allies faced. Without going into the gory details, the stories still chilled her to the bone. But reflecting on the quick shifts of personalities she had just witnessed firsthand...perhaps there was some truth here.

Before she could catastrophize further, another voice pulled her back to reality - the telltale accent of a troll.

“Ey dere!” a young male, violet skinned troll smiled down at Kaisra. He had slicked back hair, and night elven-esque warpaint over his eyes. A verdant warpstalker sidled up to his leg, and the blood elf instinctively smiled at the beast, extending her hand in an inviting manner. The beast was steady though, until the troll gave a command that caused it to relax and sniff the woman’s knuckles.

“Ya like scaley critters, eh?” He chuckled, and Kaisra nodded as she stroked the warpstalker’s snout with her thumb.

“Is it that obvious? What’s his name?”

“Fin! He’s friendly when he ain’t, ya know, tearin’ scourge t’ shreds. An’ I be Zalaojin, pleasure t’ meet such a lovely hunter~”

Kaisra extended a hand to the troll, “Kaisra, pleasure’s mine.”

Zalaojin nodded in the direction of the paladin and his official casually after releasing her hand. “Saw ya talkin t’ Nas ovah dere. He be a good friend of mine! Been fightin’ wit him for a long while now. An’ I take it you be de famous Autumnbrook gal he won’t shut up about!” he shot a wink her way, which she giggled at. The thought of Nascent gushing over her outside of his letters was somewhat embarrassing, yet endearing.

“But uh-” Zalaojin sniffed, staring coldly after the orc shaman that had just skittered off, “dat guy...what he be whisperin’ about?”

Kaisra’s eyes darkened and darted askance. Perhaps it would be good to touch bases with someone who was close to the man in question, rather than take the word of someone who only saw one side of the story.

“...He warned me about Nascent; said he wasn’t quite himself anymore..? I’m not exactly sure how to take that. The only Nascent I’ve known was the one in our exchanges. And I cannot say if he was the same outside of the letters.”

The troll hunter scoffed at her reply, but grinned either way. He nudged Kaisra’s arm knowingly.

“Ah, don’t be listenin’ t’ dat ol’ coot. Take it from me: Nas ain’t gonna cause no trouble for ya. True, he went through some nasty shit out dere, but he still be a good man~”

Truthfully, his words did wonders for calming Kaisra’s nerves. She could tell by the warmth in Zalaojin’s expression when he talked of Nascent that he thought highly of the blood elf.

By now Nascent had completed whatever business he had with his official, and turned to see the two hunters chatting. A slight look of panic flashed in his face as he cycled through what embarrassing nonsense his friend might be spouting in jest. Zalaojin noticed the paladin making a dash for him, and quickly spouted a cheerful goodbye to Kaisra as he attempted to halfheartedly outrun his companion.

Kaisra watched in amusement as as the friends roughhoused around the dock, much to the zeppelin master’s annoyance.

[airanke]

Zalaojin did not participate in anything that ultimately led up to the burning of Teldrassil, but he showed up when he got a panicked message from Hajentaay about Shion’s condition (Haj wanted Shion to get pulled out of the battle ASAP). Hopefully that explains why he’s uninjured but Haj is.

He arrived just in time to see Teldrassil go up in flames. His mother is a night elf. She told him stories about Teldrassil and how beautiful it was, and he dreamed of being able to go there someday.

Fate has a habit of killing your dreams though, doesn’t it?

((Hajentaay knew this. Her distress over the tree is less for herself, and more for him.))

[celestialkiri]

Chibi wedding is always a cute idea to draw <3  Zalao’Jin @airanke   Btw I have a twitter! 

[celestialkiri]

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I kind of image this how Rapsora lost his other tusks :’D 

Zalao’Jin @airanke

[celestialkiri]

Yay for troll hands! I found some hand poses from Pinterest and I tried to create some troll hands of them because it’s pretty good practice actually!  @airanke @bristlefurr I borrowed your boys hands so...yeah :---D

[celestialkiri]

I saw some of my babes doing this love calculator thing and I needed to do this too! So I picked all the ships I have with Kiri. <3 ;D 

Zalao’Jin @airanke Tam’Brien @bristlefurr Vani @tricksterthief Kranky @meet-the-far

[celestialkiri]

Revenge!   Zalao’Jin @airanke Tam’Brien @bristlefurr

[calywitsune]

;)

@airanke

[airanke]

More wips.

Zalaojin and Kiri, and smth for me, Ire and Hravart (yeah the shaman guy who’s chasing him around has a name now HAHAHA). The more I draw Hravart with short hair the more I like it... and I’m kind of also liking the idea of him having short hair + no tusks, but I’m not sure what event would have led up to him having no tusks so.

Here he is with shorter tusks than usuAL HAHAHA HE LOOKS LIKE A TOTALLY DIFFERENT CHARACTER.

[celestialkiri]

Love is pretty, love is kind. <3  Zalao’jin @airanke

[airanke]

Zalaojin x Kiri playlist

01. Check Yes Juliet - We The Kings || 02. All To Myself - Marianas Trench || 03. Classic - MKTO || 04. New Love - Maroon 5 || 05. Hummingbird Heartbeat - Katy Perry || 06. That’s what I like - Bruno Mars || 07. Stutter - Marianas Trench || 08. Insomnia - Craig David || 09. No Air - Jordin Sparks ft. Chris Brown || 10. It’s Gonna Be Love - Mandy Moore || 11. Rhythm of your Heart - Marianas Trench || 12. Kiss Me Slowly - Parachute || 13. Helium - Sia

For @celestialkiri, sent in by @sleepysmeargle!!

(( Zalaojin and Kiri remind me of bubblegum and cotton candy HAHA ))

[celestialkiri]

Aaah the lines are old but I did it! ;w; It was too cute to throw it away! <3 Zalao’Jin @airanke

[airanke]

13, 11, 9 and 2 for whoever you'd like?

13) What kind of parent they would be. 

Zalaojin would be a pretty incredible parent. He’s like the perfect balance of disciplinary and HAPPY FUN TIME. And always gonna’ be there for his kids no matter what. Proud of everything they do (okay not literally everything but things like being proud of any grade his child gets in a class regardless of whether it was a C or an A). Definitely the encouraging sort, wants to see his kids succeed in the things THEY want to do.

11) This character’s favorite piece or pieces of clothing. 

Quintessa stole a jacket from Balsam at one point and he’s literally never getting it back ever it’s hers now she claimed it.

9) What calms them when they are upset. 

Shion is always calmed by tending to his pets. Brushing fur, cleaning skin or rocks (like on his spiders), doing other pet caring tasks (yes even cleaning up after them and feeding them). These are Shion’s go to when it comes to calming his nerves or seeking comfort (especially during BfA shenanigans).

2) Who they want to please the most.

Kayode is out here wanting to please his dad so bad. Especially since he was so all over the place as a child and definitely got more than a little jealous at all the attention that Xah’aria seemed to get from Vol’jin (spoiler alert: Vol’jin is a great dad who did whatever he could to mitigate Kayode’s envy). So yeah. Kayode goes the EXTRA FUCKING MILE if Vol’jin is around, anything to get praise from him.

Likewise, Xah’aria is always out her wanting to please her mama. And also similarly, Aria was constantly jealous of all the attention that Kayode seemed to be getting from Amita (spoiler alert: don’t let Amita tell you she’s a bad mother, she’s actually a pretty good mother once she gets her life sorted out and thankfully by the time the twins show up she’s got it mostly sorted + Bujune is there too). She also goes the extra mile if Amita is around watching her do anything like training or painting or even with mundane house tasks Xah’aria WILL make this plate spotless even though it’s already spotless.

[calywitsune]

Some doods from this past week

[airanke]

//THROWS CONFETTI ALL OVER @celestialkiri

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE YOU HAD A WONDERFUL DAY I’M ALSO LATE / ON TIME IDEK WHAT ARE TIME ZONES?!?!?!

Love is in the Air is the best event ever and this was my first time painting over a screenshot... and then painting over candles and making them 3D and not 2D.... AND HERE’S A BONUS DOODLE:

Also yeah, you can consider this my Valentine’s day drawing this year too!! I don’t know if I’ll have time to get something done FOR V-day, but I love how this came out and AAAAAAA HOPE YOU LIKE IT KIRI //WHEEZE