Okay, here's the next chapter for, 'The Ashbringer Reborn'. Read and Review when done please, I'd greatly appreciate it. Now, on with the chapter!

Bold- Ashbringer/Scourge Dialogue/Lich King

Italics-Thoughts/Letters/Flashbacks/Timeskips/

"I was pure once…" the voice spoke.

"Who are you?" John asked, looking around the darkness.

"Destroyed by, Kel'Thuzad…"

"Hello?"

"Betrayed by my order…"

"Betrayed, what are you talking about? Who are you?'

Sunlight beamed through the window and pierced John's eyelids. He gave a frustrated groan and rolled over. Opening his eyes, he could see fog outside his window. John sat up and rubbed his drooping eyes. The voice returned again last night while he was dreaming. This time, however, the voice spoke more than it normally did. Usually John would only hear one thing every night, but this time he heard three different things. All of them sunk into his head and wouldn't leave.

John yawned and hopped out of bed to put on his farm clothes. Today was the day George would be sent to Stormwind to join his squad and prepare for departure in two days. He was getting irritated that his birthday seemed to be nearing slower and slower each day. One more week to go until he could sign up to join the Stormwind Rangers. John picked up an apple and biscuit from his table before exiting his house. He neared the center of the neighborhood where everyone was standing to see George off.

He cut through the crowd to get to the front. When he arrived to the front of the group, he saw George shaking hands with one of the many farmers that worked with him. George turned and his eyes fell on John. He grinned and hurried over to his childhood friend. George held his hand out and John shook it. George pulled John into a brotherly hug and patted him on the back.

"You look after yourself, alright?" George whispered into his ear.

"You, too, George." John replied.

"Remember what I said about the training, Ramirez. Do not, under any circumstances, show weakness. If the officers see you look weak or nervous about the training, they will do everything to break you and try to make you quit. Stay strong and prove to them you were born to be a Ranger."

"I will, George. Now I want you to stay alive long enough so I can fight alongside you. I don't want to hear about you earning all sorts of medals by putting yourself in harm's way. Got it?"

"Alright."

A wagon with the Stormwind Lion on the cover came into sight. It came to a stop in front of the crowd and a man stepped out of the wagon. He was wearing his uniform that would be seen for formal gatherings. The uniform consisted of brown leather pants, black boots, a green linen t-shirt, and a black flak jacket. The jacket had two patches along with some medals. One patch was on the left breast holder which was the Rogue Dagger. The second patch was on the right sleeve which had a lion's head with a dagger between its teeth.

The man stepped forward and looked around the crowd of people. Many of them looked at him with admiration and respect for being one of the best soldiers in the eyes of the Alliance. He cleared his throat to gather everyone's attention.

"I am pleased to see that you citizens are gathered here to say goodbye to some of your local soldiers. When I call the names of the soldiers, I want you to step forward and enter the wagon." The man stated.

"Private, David Cook."

A black haired boy stepped forward and walked to the wagon. He turned and gave a small wave to the crowd before climbing in.

"Private, Gary Jones."

A blond haired boy stepped forward and did the same as David.

"Corporal, George Smith."

George stepped forward and hurried to the wagon. He turned and waved at his neighbors giving a grin. Many of them cheered at George and saluted him as he entered the wagon. The officer thanked the crowd for coming again before climbing into the wagon and cracked the whip. The horse snorted and began to walk down the road. The group started to walk away from the town square and head to their jobs for the day. John stood there and watched until the wagon disappeared over a hill. He turned and walked to the barn to start milking the cows.

John was grinning broadly as he waited for the recruitment officer to come to the town. It had been a week after his birthday and now he was going to be taken to Stormwind for training. He looked in the distance and saw a small cart being pulled by a horse appear. The butterflies in his stomach made him feel anxious but he shrugged it off. His eyes shifted to his house down the road behind him and he smiled at the memories he had in it. It would be a long time until he would be able to sleep in his comfy bed again, but that wasn't important right now. That time would come, but hopefully not for a long time. The wagon stopped in front of John and an armor covered paladin stepped out.

"John Ramirez?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, that's me." John replied.

"I'm, Lieutenant Foley. I'll be your escort to Stormwind and I'm going to be your officer for these next nine weeks."

"Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise, now we need to get moving. There are still others we need to pick up before getting to Stormwind."

John nodded and slung his bag over his shoulder. He pulled himself into the wagon and sat down behind Foley. The wagon began to make its way out of the town and towards Sentinel Hill. John looked out the back of the wagon and watched his neighborhood fade from sight and he opened his bag. Pulling out an apple he took a bite of the juicy fruit and relished the taste of it. He was going to miss the apples that grew around here.

"Have you heard that there was another group that joined the Alliance a couple weeks ago?" Foley asked, making conversation.

"I heard rumors about that. The Draenei, or something like that?" John replied.

"Yeah. Well apparently some are joining the Ranger Division like you. You might end up meeting some fairly soon."

"Really? This will be interesting."

"Indeed it will."

"What do they look like?"

"I'm not sure. But I heard that the females are just as attractive as the Night Elves."

This caught John's attention since the Night Elves were one of the most exotic races in the world. Now hearing that the females of this new race known as the Draenei could give the Night Elf females a run for their money made John's face turn red. He had seen some Night Elf females before, and they were some of the most beautiful beings he had ever seen. He was so lost in thought about the Draenei, he didn't notice the wagon stop. Foley hopped off the wagon and went to greet the new recruit.

The wagon sunk as someone climbed into the back. John turned and his eyes fell on a dark brown haired boy. He gave a nod in recognition and John nodded back. John noticed the boy was carrying a small rucksack and he had a rifle strapped to his back. Being the curious one, he decided to ask his question.

"So what do you plan to join the Rangers as?" John asked.

"I plan on being a marksman. I'm not one cut out for assault." The boy replied.

"Oh."

"I'm, Craig Jackson."

"John Ramirez."

The two shook each other's hand and gave a grin. Foley hopped back onto the wagon and they set off down the road towards Elwynn Forest. The three of them sat in silence, not sure what to talk about. John wondered how George was doing in the Eastern Plaguelands. He heard that there was a lot of activity going on near the base he was stationed at. The last letter he received from George told him that there was this massive battle that the scourge outranked them ten to one.

George said that the battle ended when some giant pillar of light appeared from the sky and struck the ground. The force of the divine power had obliterated every bit of the scourge army that attacked them. He wasn't quite sure how it happened since he was leading a counter attack to strike from behind. All he said was that one minute the scourge was there, the next minute they were gone. He also noted that he got a battlefield commit ion and was promoted to Sergeant. John was both happy yet envious of his friend for getting a promotion so quickly.

The wagon came to a stop again at a small farm. Foley got off the cart to greet the new members. John and Craig turned to see two girls and one boy climb into the cart. The girls were quite good looking and the boy was keeping his eyes narrowed at John and Craig. The two of them looked at each other in some confusion from the look the boy was sending them but shrugged it off.

"So, what are your names?" Craig asked, being polite.

"It's none of your business!" the new boy snapped.

"Matt! I'm sorry about my brother's reaction, he's just a little cranky." The brunette said with an apologetic smile.

"No, it's okay."

"Well, anyway, the three of us are siblings. I'm, Erica Hartwig. This is my twin sister, Emily. And that, over there, is our dick of an older brother, Matt."

"Pleased to meet you," John said, holding out his hand to shake theirs.

Erica and Emily shook his hand and gave him a smile. Erica sent him a flirtatious wink which made him turn slightly pink. When John tried to shake Matt's hand, Matt slapped it away and glared at him.

"I don't shake hands with other farmers." Matt hissed.

"I'm sorry, just trying to be friendly." John replied.

"Well don't be friendly. It's shit like that that makes you weak."

John frowned at this and turned away from Matt. Matt didn't seem to like being ignored and tried to get John's attention again. He tried to punch John's arm, but stopped when his fist was caught by John's open hand.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. You wouldn't want to be kicked out before you even start your training, would you now?" John inquired.

Matt wrenched his fist away and turned around in a huff. Eric and Emily sent apologetic looks to John from his little episode with their brother. The tension lowered around them and they found themselves at peace. Erica and Emily told John and Craig that they joined the Rangers for similar reasons like themselves. Erica was training to be a mage and Emily was training to be a medic. When Craig asked what Matt was joining for, he received a glare and a rude gesture. Erica informed Craig that Matt was training to be a paladin.

"Well, looks like we'll be seeing more of each other, Matt." John laughed.

"Whatever, I'm still going to be the best paladin in the group. When that happens, all of you other paladins will be taking orders from me!" Matt retorted.

"You do realize you have to be selected for a leader, you're not just given the rank, right?"

"That won't be hard to do. I will simply prove I'm the best choice for being the leader."

"I think you're going to have a lot of competition for a leadership rank."

"Are you telling me you're one of them?"

"Yes I am."

"No matter, I'll dispose of you later."

John shook his head and fell silent. He wasn't too fond of Matt right now. They haven't even known each other for more than half an hour and they were already at each other's throats. Making up his mind, John promised himself he wouldn't let Matt surpass him. If anyone was going to be selected as a leader for the paladins, it was going to be him.

The wagon entered the city of Stormwind a short while later. All of the recruit's jaws dropped at the sight of the city. None of them had ever seen a city like this before. Multiple statues of historic leaders were on either side of the road. Houses and shops stood by each other. The streets were bustling with citizens and their daily jobs.

"This place is incredible!" Craig said to himself.

"Trust me, Jackson. You haven't seen anything yet." Foley replied back to him.

The wagon entered a square with a fountain in it. It came to a stop and Foley motioned for everyone to exit the wagon. All of them hopped off the cart and stood in a line in front of Foley. They stood before a giant cathedral that could be seen by the whole city.

"This here is the, Cathedral of Light, and as of now, your new home. Go inside and head towards the barracks downstairs. Once you've set your things on your cot report back to me and everyone else should be here." Foley instructed.

John, Craig, Matt, Erica, and Emily ascended the blue carpet draped stairs and into the cathedral. They walked into the main hall and noticed some priests and paladins walking around or discussing some things with others. Craig beckoned them to follow him after they found the stairs that led to the basement. Just as John was about to descend to the barracks, he felt eyes on him. He glanced to his left and noticed an elderly man looking at him with his golden eyes. This made John somewhat uncomfortable, but he shrugged it off when the older man walked off.

He entered the barracks a few moments later and dropped his bag on an empty cot. He decided to bunk between Craig and Erica since he viewed them as friends. Once they all placed their things, the jogged back up the stairs and back outside to Lieutenant Foley. He was currently standing in front of twenty other recruits. All of them were human, except for one. The recruit on the far right was almost as tall as John in height. She had blue skin, glowing white eyes, and long blue hair, but the thing that made her stand out the most were her hooves. At first John thought it was a Tauren, but realized it wasn't covered in fur.

"I wonder if that's the Draenei that Foley was talking to me about." John wondered.

He hurried over to the line and stood next to the attractive girl. Craig jogged up and stood by his right. They gave each other a grin and turned to face forward.

"Now that we're all here, I would like to point out some things." Foley began.

"The first is that we have a new faction that joined the Alliance recently, they are known as the Draenei. And we are fortunate enough to have a Draenei in our group here. I would like you all to give a warm welcome to, Rora Dranovich."

The recruits turned to the blue haired girl and acknowledged her with a nod or a wave. She gave a shy smile and waved back at them. John thought Rora had a beautiful smile. All of them went back to attention when Foley cleared his throat.

"Next, I want all of you to go to the barber and the tailor to get your hair cut and your uniforms fitted. After that, report to the mess hall for dinner. When you're done with dinner, you'll have an hours worth of downtime where you can go and stroll the city. Be at your cots at nine o'clock tonight, you'll be waking up at five o'clock every morning for these next nine weeks. Move out!"

All of the recruits turned and walked back into the cathedral to do their tasks. John, Craig, Erica, Emily, Matt, and Rora walked together. Each of them were grinning at finally being able to start their lives as a soldier.

That's the chapter! Read and Review as always! Next chapter, Basic Training starts to take effect and begins to get to the heads of our friends. See you next time!-CaptainPrice