The Guilt Ridden Brother.

by **Raene** Sun Feb 24, 2013 4:10 am

((Foreword: One of the characters in this story does not belong to me, and the inclusion of Gienna in this story is subject to change at a later date. Last I spoke with the Player, we agreed that Gienna would be instrumental to the resolution of an ongoing plot that is affecting my characters, but we were not able to co-write a script on what had transpired. Being unable to contact Gienna, and wishing to jump straight back into Roleplay upon return to the UK, I have taken it upon myself to bring about my own resolution to this plot, with the involvement of Gienna. The events of this story are canon, whilst Giennas involvement is subject to later scrutiny, and may be removed and/or altered depending on the players wishes.

Secondly, this is a story that will be split into four parts, and a later addition of artwork commissioned by the lovely Wulfgnar to further elaborate the story where my inadequate words could not. This story will reveal where Senariul, Seras, Gienna(?) and Aelrath have been in the past few months, and prepare them for returning to Silvermoon. Hope you enjoy.))
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Chapter 1 of 5; The Aftermath.

With a thump and a sigh, the golden haired Sin'dorei dropped himself smartly in the corner of two crates, releasing his staff the moment his rear hit the floor, and sending a small shockwave of dust underneath him to spread out as the loose fibers of his robe waft them clear. Across from him a few metres away were his two lovely Sisters, one laying on her right side, curled loosely atop a small rug facing away from him and the other sat beside her, meticulously running her hands through the sleeping ones hair.

"A necessary cost." Gienna says in a calculating and clear manner.

"You are aware that's my Sister, and YOUR Sister-in-Law, right?" He replies, fixating his gaze on the sleeping one.

"Thanks to her, the Tenderhearts as a whole can reclaim their lives. You know the Sunfury would not have stopped at you, they would have taken her, taken Seras, taken me and our child. You know the cost is worth it, and she will agree." She says, unerring in her calculated methodic way of reasoning.

"She didn't even want to be here. She wanted to stay at home with Starri, patrol the streets, impress Tiffane. She'd just been promoted to Knight-Master, and you're telling me it was necessary? You know I could have handled it on my own, there was no need to drag her into this, Fel, any of you into this. It was my mist-..."

"And what?" She interrupts."... Leave me alone for months on end within Silvermoon wondering if my Husband will be returning home? Wondering if the Father of my child is alive and thriving or laying bloated face down in a River? Constantly locking and triple warding my home as I fear that you have failed and now they come for me in retaliation of your fight for survival? You're weak, tired, and your pride as well as your body is injured Senariul, so I will forgive you your weakness, but do not make idle fancies out of what ifs when you have your future to take care of."

Senariul sighs in return, idly poking at the bandage across his face as he turns his attention to Gienna who now stands cradling her small bump, glaring down at him. The words need not be spoken, she could see he was apologising with the defeated glower upon his face. Her words were a bitter truth to swallow, and the last thing he needed was to alienate his wife, so with a pained groan he shifts himself on the floor to make space for his partner, holding his arm out for her to make room for her to cradle into his grasp. Settling besides him, she gets to work removing the bandage covering the top left quarter of his head, the only indication that there was any wound in that area being that his eyelid remains constantly closed.

"How does it look?" He asks, snorting slightly in jest.

"Pink... Just pink." She replies, her tone as emotionless as ever. "There is still fat, muscle, tissue here. Only the eye has been donated, and what little muscle of hers that was damaged. She was remarkably lucky...

"I wouldn't call losing an arm and an eye "Lucky", my love. He replies, cutting her off.

"She was remarkably lucky...! That she had a good match genetically, and had such a fit specimen donate his tissue to her. Whilst it's still too early to make a final call, it looks like her body is taking to it well, and there are no signs of rejection."

"That's because she had such a talented Doctor, Serah. Did I also mention beautiful?" He purrs, letting the first smirk of the week creep up the corner of his face.

"We are long since past the point of idle flirtation, Senariul. Your kind words are wasted air... Although they are appreciated, and it has been noted."

She replies, her tone changing to a higher pitch, the change almost indistinguishable to the untrained ear. He had been with her long enough now to know that this was the closest he had come to her smiling in public, and as the final cloth fell from his head, he reaches out and grips her hand in his right, and brings her closer into his chest with his left. She huffs in reply as she tries to shift position to get at her fresh bandages, only to stop and stare at him as the grip on her hand gets almost painfully tight and his body goes rigid. Seconds later, he lets his head roll back to rest the crown of his skull against the crate, groaning through his teeth as he speaks.

"Another bandage won't be necessary..."He hisses through clenched teeth. "I refuse to look like a blonde Aladras." He continues as the smell of flesh, burning with Fel fills the air. She looks at him briefly before realising what he is doing, and resigning herself to nestling in tightly to the Felcaster.

by **Raene** Sun Feb 24, 2013 7:22 am

Chapter 2 of 5; The calm before the Storm.

Trudging up the slight incline, the four gallant heroes make their way deeper into Sunfury territory, their quest almost at an end. Having spent the past four months exhausting every lead and clue, searching for the culprits behind the attacks on Senariul back in the contrasting environment of Eversong, they find themselves at the perimeter of one of the last Sunfury encampments.

As he trudged up the hill, Senariul reminisced about how the remainder of the Tenderheart family found themselves in such a predicament. It all began a year and a half ago with an innocent little offer from a Blonde Blood Knight, and her quirky Mage companion. They promised him a better tomorrow, a brighter Quel'thalas, and all he had to do was bend his knee? How could he have known that as a result of wanting a better tomorrow, a stronger future for his race, that he would sacrifice so much and gain so little in return.

Failing to write in Legislation. Alienating his loved ones. Starting a secretive shadow-war within Silvermoon. His own death and eventual revival. The kidnap, and almost murder of a renowned public Silvermoon official. The resulting Cold War between factions. Threats of civil war. The loss of his loved ones. An exile and the eventual return to normality in a fractured Silvermoon.

Enough was enough for him, and so he came to an agreement with his supposed superiors. He would return to Silvermoon and not breathe a word of the Elite, nor his work with them, and in return he would aid one of their agents wherever he could, and accepting that the agent’ secondary role was to act as an observer over him. This was a reasonable compromise for Senariul, and so he began to rebuild his life again.

So why did they want him now?

Six Months ago he came under attack by the underlings he once had command over, some of them he even recognised by name, and it was not just one attack, there were several, many of them were weak assassination attempts, as if testing his preparedness and many, many more ambiguous threats and warnings. It wasn't until he came home one day to find that the entirety of his home defences had been breached in his absence and his home had been decorated in the entrails of dozens of rotting Sin'dorei carcasses. Deciding enough was enough for a second time, he would find out why the Sunfury had changed their mind and gone back on their deal and after lengthy deliberation with his wife Gienna, it was decided that he would spend some time in hiding until Gienna found the assailants and dealt with them.

It was not long after this, that he announced his plans, and his history with the Sunfury to the newly appointed Blood Knight Champion, Starri Evensong and his Eldest sibling, the Farstrider Captain Seras Tenderheart. Seras vowed to finish her duties in Silvermoon before joining him on his self-imposed exile, whilst Starri on the other hand granted permission for Aelrath to leave her post in Silvermoon to act as a Guard for a Silvermoon politician. Much to her anger and upset, Aelrath agreed to escort her Brother along on his journey, and so it was that they ventured out across Azeroth and beyond, never stopping in one place for too long out of fear of being found. True to her word, it wasn't long before Seras trailed them and caught up with the pair, and Gienna, having exhausted her resources in Silvermoon soon caught up with the trio to continue her investigation out on the field, and after four months of patient hunting and with the combined skill set of a Farstrider, a Blood Knight, a Warlock, and a Tactician, they finally found their target deep within the territory of the Netherstorm.

"Hey..." Aelrath says, breaking the unnerving silence that had plagued the group for the past hour. "... Do you ever think about what Sunburn said just before we left? Y'know, about Tiffane and everyone being corrupt?"

"It's best you don't think about it. Who knows what goes on in that head of hers." replied Senariul, charging ahead of the group as their pseudo leader.

"You're just saying that because she's your ex and you had a nasty break up. Besides, she seemed really earnest about it all! Like she really believed it."

"I wouldn't call suicide, a drug and drink problem, and the brainwashing of a Draenei a 'nasty break up'. Look, don't talk about things you don't understand. We're here now, and Scuzaloo went off the deep end, that's all you need to understand."

"It's like I'm dragging new recruits out on their first field mission. You two whine like Dragonhawks fresh from the egg... I swear, it's almost like you want them to find us." Seras interjects, only to be dismissed and ignored as the conversation begins anew.

"... Tiff' told me all about how you were still hung up on her anyway Sen." Aelrath says, jeering at Senariul, glaring daggers at his back. As if sensing the glare, Senariul stops dead in his tracks and looks back at her over his shoulder. "What's the matter Darkling, cat got your tongue?" She says, snickering under her breath.

"Two minutes ago, you thought she was corrupt, and now she's the leading authority on who's into who within Silvermoon? Besides, if you haven't noticed, my pregnant wife is here with us, and I'm sure you're just doing this to start an arguement." He replies, taking particular offence to being called a 'Darkling', Scuzette's name for those in his profession.

"Oh no, let her continue. It's mildly amusing to watch Children talking amongst Adults about matters they do not understand." said Gienna, as cold and unnerving as ever, without a trace of emotion in her voice. "I have seen inside his mind, and I know exactly what he feels even if he does not. It is more of a survivor’s guilt after witnessing her reaction to his death and how it tore her apart. He has yet to come to terms with this guilt, and this is why others might misconstrue his behaviour around her with love. Now can we drop this talk of my Husband being unfaithful before I flay your mind?" Gienna says, looking back at Aelrath, who just puffs out her cheeks and glares in silent protest back at her.

"That was a joke, Ael..." sighs Senariul, trying to ease the tension.

"Is this the point where we just paint targets on ourselves and wait for the Sunfury to just kill us? Honestly, we're about to assault their main camp, and we're just talking in a blasé fashion just outside of it. It's like you want us to die." Seras snaps, glaring between the three of them. With a sharp nod, Senariul continues his walk up the incline, carrying on the expedition.

"You know I wasn't joking, correct? Gienna says telepathically to Senariul, her words bouncing around within his skull in their quiet correspondence, to which he just shoots her a squinted glance, reinforcing the silence for a while between the quartet.

"We are going to kill Dad one day, aren't we...?" Aelrath asks after a long pause, a solemn and miserable tone to her voice.

"Yes, Aelrath. He will answer for what he did to this family, you have my word." Senariul replies after a short while of silence amongst all parties. Seras just grits her teeth and clenches her fist in the rear flank, her inner turmoil and pain hidden from the rest of the group. Being the Eldest, Seras was there to witness most of what Aelrath and Senariul had not. They would never know the true splendour of heights that the Tenderheart family had reached, their downfall, and the loss of two of her younger siblings, and eventual murder of her Mother by her Father. It was up to Seras to bring up her two remaining siblings now, and it was her more than anyone who wanted revenge for all the atrocities that their Father had committed.

"Master Tenderheart...? You do know, that even combined, I predict a high casualty rate for all four of us. There's a reason they kept a weapon like him alive rather than kill him outright." Gienna whispers to Senariul, once again echoing her thoughts within his mind from a metre away.

"We'll find a way... We have to..." He replies, thinking aloud within his head so that she may read his thoughts and hear his reply just as they come to the top of the ridge, overlooking the Sunfury camp below...

by **erwtenpeller** Sun Feb 24, 2013 11:37 am

Cooooool... I shall await the next parts with glee!

by **Fyffe** Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:20 pm

I look forward to reading the followups as well. I don't really know anything about High Elf or Sin'dorei lore, so it's good to read something different within the same universe Smile

by **Raene** Sun Feb 24, 2013 9:56 pm

It's more server lore than Sin'dorei lore. The events that led up to this scenario are all things that have happened ICly in server history, and the 'Sunfury' here, are an old guild that Senariul was a part of.

Thanks for the messages though guys, the remaining two parts should be up tonight.

by **Raene** Mon Feb 25, 2013 12:56 am

Foreword: I apologise for misleading readers that was expecting a short third chapter, however this part of the story seemed to drag on longer than I had expected. As a result, I'll be making this a chapter in itself, and still hoping to complete the other two tonight.

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Chapter 3 of 5; All the Worlds a Stage, the Rehearsal.

"There's no way we're going to get this done silently..." Seras laments, muttering to herself from her prone position on the overlooking ridge before crawling backwards from the peak to relay her findings to the group. Aelrath, Gienna and Senariul found themselves huddled by a small non-magical fire with their shoes and socks off, roasting slivers of rationed meat over the miniature flickering flame that threatened to burn out at any minute. Believing Seras to be distracted with her reconnaissance, Senariul nudges his damp socks closer to the fire, hovering his hand just over it and crooking his fingers in a methodical pattern as if about to cast a spell to intensify the flames. "Don't get complacent now, keep it to small non-magical flames. We don't want them to see our fire, and we don't want..."

"... Them to sense my magic, yes, yes... I'm just cold, and I miss having clean socks. Is the desire for dry feet that much of a crime?" He interrupts, having heard Seras's speech a dozen times during their expedition.

"After what I've seen over that ridge, wet feet are the least of your concerns. Huddle in, we need to discuss this." She says, beckoning the three closer to her position away from the fire as she starts drawing with her finger on the purple tinged ground, parting the sand-like dust to draw out a map. "We, are here. She says, drawing the letter N to begin with aside from the drawing, a square far below it, and a jagged overlook to the western side of the square, dabbing it with her finger to emphasise that the group was atop that ridge. "I estimate that the distance from this ridge to their camp in a straight line is roughly around six hundred, to seven metres. Going North..." She continues, trailing her finger around the ridge up the northern side and curling it back around south at the top of the cliff as it joins the ground level, and curling it back around and leading it towards the squared compound. "This is the only way to get to their camp from this position. We can come from another angle, but we'll be travelling for another day before we even get to a position where we can co-ordinate ourselves to attack, and even then there looks to be nothing but open ground for a kilometre on all sides.. We'll be dead before we even reach a half a click. Now, it looks like their security is a little loose, complacency would be my guess, but they've taken all the precautions they would need for such a remote place. Two pairs of guards walking parallel atop the ramparts, one en-"

"Ramparts?" Senariul interrupts, putting his socks and shoes back on.

"Walls."

"Could have just said walls then. Anyway, we've got three long range attackers here, we could take them from the walls, could we not?"

"No. I already tested this... I threw a rock off the ledge towards the encampment and it fizzled mid-air. My guess is a magical barrier, a shield. Anything touches it, and zzrp, gone. Arrows or magic. I'm not going to risk an aerial bombardment that may fail and just give them time to prepare against us. Now, as I was saying... They have only the one entryway, and two sentries guarding it. We can't penetrate the walls as each wall is surrounded by bundles upon bundles of razor wire around five to ten metres away from the main rock wall. By the time we cut through it, the sentries on the ram- walls, will have done a rotation, spotted us, and alerted the camp. We'll be dead before we breach the razor wire, never mind the walls." She elaborates, pointing to her diagram as she speaks.

"So, what do you suggest? I assume that you have a plan...?" Gienna inquires, folding her arms as she studies the diagram.

"I'm not confident, and if this was a proper military encounter, I'd wait until we had reinforcements from Silvermoon..." Seras says solemnly, pausing briefly to look up at the sullen face of Aelrath who seems more than disappointed at the futility of it all. The trip had taken a toll on her and this latest revelation did nothing for her morale. She missed her lover, the warmth of Eversong, the pride she felt after a days worth of work on the streets of Silvermoon, and the knowledge that her efforts were wasted, or that she'll be required longer out here in this desolate wasteland left her melancholic. "... But we're here to do a job, and I'm going to make sure all of us are home by the end of this week." She says, nodding at Aelrath who’s drooping ears suddenly perk at the news to match her widening eyes. "So here's the plan... We go down together, north up this ridge, and south at precisely the moment they move around this corner." She says, jabbing her slender finger into the crude drawing of the compound. "Fortunately, they seem to take a rough estimate of fifteen to twenty minutes to do the entire circuit, and they go in a clockwise fashion. We wait for him to pass, and follow behind at a distance staying close to the fence. We wait for them to pass over the bridge over the entryway, and when they're at their furthest point away from us, we move in, take care of the sentries, and move through each of the makeshift structures, eliminating anyone and anything in our path. Senariul..."

"Yah-huh?" He answers; clenching his fists tightly as the leather on his gloves stretch and creak the tighter he bounds his hands.

"You and... it... Are going in first..." to which a deep rumbling in Senariuls shadow responds as if on queue. Rising out of its hiding place the Voidwalker Thantaz appears in Senariuls shadow, clutching to the darkness his shade provides, the two golden eyes glare towards Seras. "That thing's creepy... I'll be right behind you, firing over your shoulder so watch your head. Gienna, you're behind me, and you've got watch over our left and right flanks. Aelrath, you'll cover the rear two-seventy. Aid Gienna on the left and right flanks, but your main focus is on the rear guard, keep us secure from behind. Any questions?"

And with that, the fires within each of their respective eyes set alight, each of their own passions stoked and inflamed with their respective desires, and it was at this moment that despite their own motivations and goals, the Tenderheart family had never been closer.

by **Raene** Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:00 am

Chapter 4 of 5; Sacrifices

With a sharp short whistle through his teeth, Senariul calls Seras's attention from the front as she leads the charge towards the camp in a hunched sprint towards the walls.

"Oi! Seras! I appreciate we've got a schedule to keep, but Gienna is struggling to keep pace here!" He says in a loud, barked whisper as if to stress his point whilst maintaining the quiet that they had worked so delicately to protect.

"I'm fine... Just keep going." She protests, panting with puffed cheeks as she tries to keep up with the group.

"You're not. Seras, keep going, I'll catch up." He rebukes, chastising her as he stops dead in his tracks. With bent knees and bent arms he stands like a statue amidst the open field as Aelrath charges past him keeping the rear flank behind Seras whilst Gienna slows to a panting stop not far ahead of him. No words are spoken as Thantaz rises from Senariuls shadow, moving from the darkness to within Senariul, merging into him and disappearing inside his very being.

"You are the dark apotheosis of their destruction, tear them all asunder and assert your dominance as the apex predator." He hears within his own mind.

Thantaz's thoughts, but his own voice echoing within the chamber of his mind, and for a brief moment, it panicked him. Were they his thoughts being tainted by the Voidwalker? Did 'all' just mean their enemies, or his loved ones? As for the Dark Apotheosis of their destruction? The last Blood Elf who had thoughts of godlike ascension found his untimely end within Magisters Terrace at the end of his own peoples blades. These prospects rattled him to the core, but all it took was one look at Gienna to know that this corruption of his body was worth it if only to secure her future.

With a primal roar, a pair of dark violet wings tainted with the Void that compromised the entirety of Thantaz's being burst forth from his back. Senariul was now metamorphosed to include the demonic creatures’ genetic make up within his own body, manifesting in the large wing span sprawled about his back. Leaping forward with a massive push from his wings, he grasps Gienna within his arms and bounds towards the running pair, taking large impossible strides as his wings support him, gliding the pair across the field.

"DRAGONHAWKS!" Aelrath yells moments later, her voice a screaming roar as she points her sword skywards towards an incoming pair of mounted Dragonhawks charging in their direction. Moments later a shrieking alarm came from within the Sunfury camp, followed by the blood lusting cheers of the camps occupants.

"Where the fuck did they come from! Shit, shit, shit!" Senariul yells in turn, coming to a stop alongside Seras and Aelrath who keep their bow and sword respectively, pointed skywards.

"Over the Horizon. They must have been out on a mission, that's why we didn't see them! What do we do? She replies as she backhands an arrow with her shield that had been shot at her from one of the Dragonhawk riders circling above. "Looks like they're coming out of their camp to take us head on."

"That's good, it simplifies things. We take them head on! This ends here, and now! Cover me, I'll be in position in thirty seconds! Selama ashal'anore!" She roars, bloodlust and rage tinting her voice as she begins a sprint back towards to the ridge from where they began.

"Look at how she quits the field! Cowards! Let her run! Kill the Target! Show no mercy!" an indistinguishable female yells from the crowd of incoming Sunfury.

"Hah... Let her go? Oh boy... They're in for a rough time..." Senariul muses. "Hold on tight love, this is going to get fun." he continues, looking down towards Gienna still nestled within his arms and with an almighty roar, he leaps into the air, charging at the two Dragonhawk Archers. As he reaches the apex of his leap Gienna takes the initiative. Using him as a platform from which to cast her spells she reaches her arms out to each mounted Archer, utilising her incredible magical talent to invisibly grip the two rangers and yank them from their mounts, leaving them to fall to a grizzly death as they fall atop the amassing crowd that awaits at their feet.

"See how the traitor haplessly kills his former Brothers!? Slay him! The one who brings me his head will never want for the rest of their lives!" The voice yells again, urging on the bloodthirsty crowd of Fel-drunk Sunfury soldiers. "I'll deal with the Girl..." is heard from amongst the crowd as one of the Soldiers, a svelte and half-clothed raven haired Elf remains behind from the charging crowd, turning slowly towards Aelrath with her oversized Scythe spinning precariously within her grasp as she edges towards the Blood Knight who hefts her sword in shield in turn, preparing for a fight.

As Seras gets into position she begins raining arrows upon the massed crowd around Senariul and Gienna whilst the lovers stand surrounded in a circular pit, fighting off the weak peons with relative ease. What the attackers lack in skill and prowess, they make up for in sheer flesh, proving a true challenge as they attack en masse. Whilst Senariul rends flesh from bones with the help of his Voidwalker enhanced claws, Gienna telepathically grips the assailants and tosses them about like ragdolls, crushing bones and tearing internal organs with the sheer amount of G-Forces she puts on their bodies whilst throwing them around. All the while, Aelrath struggles to hold her own against the Scythe wielding assailant. As Aelrath deflects blow after blow from the Scythe with her shield, her feeble attempts to return strikes are laughed off as they fail to even get close due to the extreme length of the Scythe and the shorter range of her sword. Even attempts to blast her opponent with the Light were rendered useless as every time she tried to power a spell the Scythe would hammer down upon her with such speed and ferocity that she was forced to focus on defence rather than counter-attacks. Truly, the unstoppable force had met the immovable object between these two combatants.

Using one attacker like a club Gienna smashes a secondary attacker clear of the field, and as he comes to a rolling stop not far from Aelrath and the Scythe wielder, he realises that as neither are gaining ground on each other, it is up to him to finish the Blood Knight once and for all. Hefting his weighty claymore, he leaps high into the air with his blade overhead screaming bloodthirstily at the top of his lungs as he goes to bring it down atop her. Distracted by the scream, Aelrath looks to the second attacker and with mouth agape, she reacts instinctually by raising her shield to the second attacker in the hopes she would deflect his blow, only a moment later however does she realise it was all in vain as the attacker explodes in a cloud of green dust, the result of a Fel-Fire bolt launched by Senariul to intervene.

"Got you..." the Scythe wielder mumbles as she looks at the stunned and distracted Blood Knight. With a show of pure elegance and dexterity, she twirls the Scythe within her grasp, spinning it back behind her, arching it high overhead, and before the Knight has chance to react, bringing it down upon her left shoulder, cleaving the arm straight off of the bone.

Before the shield arm has time to hit the floor, and before Aelrath herself realises what has happened to her, Seras has already witnessed the entire thing and has knocked a pair of arrows to a single string on her bow. "Straight and true... That's the way." she mumbles under her breath with increasing fear and trepidation as she releases her draw, firing them with amazing accuracy towards the Scythe wielding attacker just as she brings it around to cleave the other arm off.

The two arrows hit their respective targets. The first, embedding itself within the attackers throat shattering her spine and killing her instantly, and the second hitting the shaft of the Scythe separating the blade from the shaft in the hopes of knocking it off course, attempting to save the other arm, and ultimately her Sister.

The last thing before losing consciousness that Aelrath witnesses before passing out, is a large blade falling towards one eye, and the death of her attacker out of the other...

by **Raene** Mon Feb 25, 2013 5:45 am

Chapter 5 of 5; Numb

The beaten and wounded Aelrath lays there atop her mat with Seras besides her. The top of her shoulder where her arm once was wrapped in bandages despite the wound being healed closed by Gienna, and the top left quarter of her face being covered in bandages and a pad over her left eye. With a groan and a fluttering eyelid, Aelrath stirs awake atop her mat. Seras responds by gripping her by the shoulders and rolling her onto her back, straddling her stomach and holding her down with a loving but firm grip.

"Oh Belore... She's waking up, guys, she's waking up... Listen, Aelrath... Look at me, just look at me. You are okay, alright? You're okay." She pleads, her voice croaking and unconvincing as she hovers inches away from her younger Sisters face with tears welling up in her eyes. Aelraths own expression remains blank... Emotionless. As if struck by incredible apathy, she scans her surrounding as best as she can without moving her head. As Senariul and Gienna come into view, she opens her mouth and speaks quite softly, weak from having lost so much blood.

"I lost an arm, and an eye... I'm... I'm not okay." She replies, her voice almost monotonal were it not for her struggled breaths.

"I-I'm so sorry Ael..." Seras stutters, unable to hold back her emotions as she rests her head atop Aelraths collar bone, blinking back her tears.

"How're you feeling, Sis?" Senariul asks, his tone solemn and mournful as he kneels besides her, gently cupping her cheek.

"I don't know... I remember it happening, but its only been a few seconds since its become reality for me... How do I feel? I feel numb, tired, exhausted, drained... Let it settle in first... Then I'll know how I feel." She replies, her tone weak as she shifts her focus towards him.

"Each mind is unique in how it deals with problems. Give her brain time to take in this new information, and be prepared for anything Senariul. Blubbering like a child will not help her either, Seras. You need to be strong for her sake. Crying will not fix her, nor will it aid her." Gienna says, her tone informative at first, turning into a more commanding tone as she addresses Seras.

"I know... I know... I just... I'm so sorry Aelrath, I'll never be able to forgive myself for t-" Seras continues, only to be interrupted by Gienna.

"I just had this same conversation with Senariul, and I refuse to have it again. The only person to blame are the Sunfury, and they're all dead." She continues, staring coldly at Seras as she speaks whilst Seras slowly rises off of Aelrath, moving to kneel on the opposite side of her. The group remains quiet for quite some time as they stay beside Aelrath, comforting her. None of them are quite sure what do, and so they resign themselves to comforting the Blood Knight until such a point where they feel comfortable to move on. It is Aelrath, who finally breaks the silence.

"Sen... Why's your left eye on fire...?" she inquires, staring intently at him.

"Oh, this...? It's a spell... Orcs dubbed it the "Eye of Gul'dan"... Khm... Listen and for the love of Belore do not argue with me on this... It's my fault you were involved in this entire debacle, and I forced you out here despite your protests... The least I could do to make it up to you, was donate you my eye in return." He explains.

"You mean... I... I haven't lost my eye?"

"Oh no, you definetly lost that eye Aelrath. Senariul just donated his eye to you. He wanted to give you his arm, but your body types are too different. As did Seras, but a Farstrider without both arms would be useless." Gienna explains, still standing slightly apart from the group with folded arms as she watches the trio.

"... Thanks, Senny." She replies, moving her attention from Gienna to Senariul.

"Don't thank me, Gienna did all the work. I just supplied what is rightfully yours."

"Then thank you too Gienna... But Senny...? Cover up that Gullydumb eye, it looks gross..." To which Senariul can only laugh at her request. "I'm serious..." Sighing into his hand he nods in defeat at her request.

"Ready to go home...?" He asks after a short while.

"Only if you'll carry me." Ael replies, groaning as she tries to sit up only to fall back down onto her back.

"Relax, Ael. Of course I'll carry you. Come on, it's time we all went home... All of us. He says as he lifts her into his arms as they begin their long journey home.

by **Fyffe** Mon Feb 25, 2013 8:44 am

Your writing emphasises that 'odd family' feel quite nicely. I also liked the dynamic (if somewhat gruesome) action as well as inventive use of the lock abilities.

Cover up that Gullydumb eye, it looks gross..."

Unfortunately I will forever read his name as "Gullydumb" from now on. X3

by **Raene** Mon Feb 25, 2013 9:02 am

xD Haah, thanks bud'. If it helps, Gienna is an in-game priest and is quite infamous in Silvermoon for using the 'Leap of Faith' move to just grab people, which explains why her method of combat was to indeed just 'grab people' and throw them around.

Keep an eye on this thread however, as I'm getting Chapter 4 illustrated by Wulfgnar, and the pictures will be posted here as and when they're done.

by **erwtenpeller** Mon Feb 25, 2013 1:18 pm

Nothing short of epic.

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