Knights in White Satin

Ark and Verloren headed off to start questing for the Tol'Vir in Uldam, but they were both waylaid right after they got started. Verloren escaped, but saw no sign of Ark. It wasn't like Ark to just leave her like this. She wouldn't get that far ahead without her Verbear.

Ben Ark's Argent Squire approached Verloren as she prepared to leave the city gate after giving her captor's a proper thrashing. "Miss Verloren I have a message from Ark." Ben Ark's Argent Squire said.

"Thanks." Verloren was concerned, Ark rarely if ever used her squire to send messages, she was an engineer, she had tools for that. How could she have gotten so far away so fast. Verloren wasted no time, she read the letter, and her heart sank. She hearthed to Stormwind to drown her sorrows.

Hello vErLoren,
Perhaps you can find soMe usE for thIs child. i tire of him And his aMtics. i am also tIred of you and your desparate Needs. I willT no longeR be chained to yOu like a millstone aboUt my neck. anB that goes doubLe for thE Guild. I will stayE in unTil i Have find a bEtter more progressed one, because you are all so Full of fRail. you alwayEs gIve away Ny loot to DumboS like PRIME' and I am tired of this Shit. Now get Out ofS my lifE. Perhaps you can move on, buLt I doubt it you Are all so failsauCe I am glad I aSM hEre. i Love pLuggingS. No I Can reAlly Nove to whereA Y belong. Morever dropping engineering for a Useful profecion. Ha ha Losers Only get Very littlE After aLL.

Ark

Ben who had no hearthstone found Verloren in the Golden Keg several guildies surrounding Verloren. It had been several hours, precious hours wasted. He knew the message was not complete, but he was honorbound not to say very much. Ben had to hope they understood what Ark said, and fast.

"Miss Verloren I am in a hurry." Ben said trying to get her to understand without breaking his oath.

"Go then child leave my sister to her misery." Beldonna was trying to be nice, but she was a little mad at Ark, and taking it out on her squire.

"Miss Verloren," Ben tugged at Verloren arm he had to make her understand, "I AM IN A HURRY!"

Beldonna was tired of this child, she now understood why Ark wanted to be rid of him, she transformed into her wolf form. "GO THEN CHILD!" she growled.

"Miss Verloren," Ben was scared of the wolf lady, but his master needed him for the first time in months she had asked him to do something, and he refused to fail her. "Miss V..Ver..Verloren AR..Ark said I I ha..have t..to g..get you th..this mmmmmmessage," Ben was scared, shivering in his boots actually. His voice cracked as he said her next order "She said if you were too stupid to have Prime help you." Ben held his hands in front of his face, and stood shaking. He closed his eyes tight and prepared for the beating he was about to get, but he would not leave until they understood.

Beldonna would not have her sister treated this way. She raised her hand to strike the child. Verloren caught her hand mid-swing.

"Wait she said what?" Verloren asked, she had gotten than a little drunk in the time it had taken the child to get here, but Ark would never say that. Ark always told her she was smarter and wiser than people gave her credit for. Ark believed in her. She meant something else, something she could not say. Ark and Prime had been growing closer, Ark was opening up, and Prime was one of the people she was opening up to, perhaps Prime knew something.

"I won't have this whelp treat you like that in your sorrow, or ever." Beldonna growled.

"He is under orders Bel. Aren't you son?" Verloren asked.

Ben nodded.

None of this made sense anyway, Ark's grammar was almost perfect, she rarely if ever misspelled anything. Sure the letter was written in her handwriting, but none of this seemed right.

"Verloren Ark collects companions, she never EVER throws them away." Luliana said her finger resting on her chin.

"Ark led by example, this isn't her, and she had excellent spelling and grammar. This letter looks like it was crayoned by a youngling." Moto said, it was starting to dawn on them what was going on.

"And she loved engineering. She loved her bombs. She said she felt naked without her explosives. The only thing that does make sense is that none of this makes sense." Verloren said absentmindedly.

Beldonna picked up the uncooperative child and held him against the wall. "Tell us where she is?" Bel growled, she hated seeing her sister this upset, and it was bringing out her feral nature.

"He can't or he would have already Bel, put him down." Verloren said as she rested her hand on her sister's shoulder to steady herself. Verloren shook her head to clear the drunken fog. "Is Ark in trouble?" Verloren asked Ben.

"I can't say." Ben said.

"Is Ark okay?" Verloren asked trying to find a way to ask a question the boy could answer.

Ben shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know."

"Could you tell me if she was okay?" Luliana bent down to the boy's eye level, perhaps if the boy knew he could trust them...

Luliana was better with riddles than Verloren. But this was going to be pulling teeth to get the right question.

Ben shook his head, "No."

"Did Ark say anything else?" Verloren asked.

"That Prime is the best person to read her note and that Prime should read it aloud at the next guild meeting." Ben said squeezing his eyes shut to remember his master's words exactly. "She made sure I understood that Prime was to read it, and that I should hurry. She made me promise Prime and Hurry. She made me repeat it, 'Prime and Hurry, Prime and Hurry.'"

"Ver that's it get Prime and hurry she can decode almost anything." Luliana said hugging Verloren and Motokume as the realization that Ark was not leaving dawned on them all. More troubling was the fact that Ark was in serious trouble.

"Bel you are the fastest and I am more than a little drunk, if Prime shows up here I will stop her, but she could be almost anywhere." Verloren said, whatever was going on it was bad. Ark could not tell her openly and she sent her squire which meant she didn't trust the mail to arrive. And if Ark did not trust her machines something was very very wrong.

"Jaq's behind this." Moto said pounding her fist on the table. "I am going after her."

"We don't know that Moto." Luliana, always the voice of reason tried to calm the guild leader down. "But I suppose it wouldn't hurt to find out what she knows. Let's go get her, while Ver and Prime decipher the note."

"I'm going with," Fred said. "I don't want either of you getting hurt, and I want Ark back."

"What about me?" Beitrim asked.

"Ready the irons, in case we need to persuade Jaq to talk." Moto said.

Luliana waved her hands to say no as they left the inn. Fred came back in to get something he forgot and just gave Beitrim a nod and a wink.