Pandaria, a land shrouded by mystery and mist, or at least formerly shrouded, as the recent events of The Cataclysm had shaken the land free from its cover deep in the South Seas, and unfortunately for its native people, led to the continent becoming the newest staging ground for the ever escalating conflict between the Alliance and the Horde, with Warchief Garrosh Hellscream's forces seeking to plunder the land of its vast resources and riches for his ever growing war machine, while King Varian Wrynn and his fellow allies attempt to thwart the orc and hopefully establish a new set of ties with the Pandaren people.
With threats of war and conflict surrounding multiple sides though, there were still those who were lucky enough to avoid such harsh realities. Or, in some cases, “lucky”, as for Corporal Alexa Birdsong, she would much rather be in the thick of battle right now than in, what she would consider, the lowly reconnaissance and research mission she was handed.
“Examine the Valley of the Four Winds, verify if whether or not it's true that they have some 'miracle' rapid food growth process, and find out if it's at all applicable to the Alliance and her people”, a young blonde haired woman huffed as she trudged closer to Halfhill, the supposed center of commerce in this admittedly beautiful and exotic valley. Standing at medium height, a lithe young rogue, barely into her 20s, Alexa was one of the SI:7's fresher faces, but with numbers thinning across the board due to continuous war and strife, she was being flung head first into the latest battle between factions for the fate of Azeroth. One of those minor instances of strife happened just recently, as a set of skirmishes with the native wildlife in the Jade Forest had led to the rest of her squadron becoming MIA.
“Proceed with the mission at all costs”, she grimaced as she rubbed a sore bruise through her specialized leather armor. Her tender ache was delivered to her personally from a wild Hozen and its tribe of mischief-makers. “I swear, those miserable little freaks... I'll pay back every single one of them once the team is back together!” Her face turned beet red as she tightly clenched her fist. The dagger at her side ready and waiting to get some action. Right now though she needed to get her bearings, and if nothing else could be done about her team, she still had to at least report something on this goose hunt. Maybe afterward she could get reassigned to some real action.
The perturbed agent honestly found it a bit ironic. She grew up on a farm in Elwynn and joined the Stormwind military as a way to escape the rural life. She spent her youth running around getting into roguery and doing everything she could to not cement herself as just some dirt plowing bumpkin, and happily, she found her toned acrobatic figure a perfect match for the Alliance's spy organization, but here she was, asked to survey farmland and chum it up with the local yokels. The Pandaren she'd met so far on her journey seemed nice enough, if a little... corpulent. But who was she to judge? She always tried to be open minded on most things, and here was a whole new race and culture right before her. They were certainly more welcoming than those damned monkeys, to say the least.
Before she could continue her pondering though, her nose caught a whiff of something absolutely enticing. A mix of smells and otherworldly aromas she could hardly place. A far flung from the boar stew back home, and the rations she currently didn't have due to an unfortunate Hozen hold up. Just over the horizon she could see her target. The center of all the farmers, cooks, and brewers of the land, as well as hopefully home to an inn where she could rest her feet.
At that moment, her stomach rumbled.
As well as hopefully home to a good meal. That she could probably bet good money on.