#aerolice

                                      Alusand - Determination

She could almost hear her daughter's bright laughter fill her ears once more, her heart melting with desperate joy. In fact, she was in Eversong all over again, with her daughter playing with the critters that pranced around the golden fields. Aerolice looked up at the sky, and realized the moon was coming out and the sun was setting slowly, but surely. 

"Alusand! Come to me, it is getting very late!" Her voice was very warm, teamed with a gloriously joyful smile. She watched as her young daughter, barely twenty-five years old, stumbled towards her. The mother opened her arms for the young one, as she crawled up into her lap and draped her fragile, little arms around Aerolice's neck. 

"M-..minn'da..," whispered the tiny sin'dorei child into her mother's ear. She began to entwine her dainty fingers in the snow-white curls of Aero's hair, playing with the locks.

"I am here, Alu. Do not worry..." Aero held onto her child, wrapping her own arms around her ashisore as tight as she could without hurting her. She began to hum gently the lullaby that was passed down generation after generation in her family, it's hypnotic and eerie notes lulling the child to sleep. The little girl continued to play with her mother's curls in her lullaby-induced slumber.

Aerolice looked down at the little girl in her arms, coming to the realization she would never love someone so deeply, or be so passionately attached. She adored her child, more than anyone/thing she had ever encountered or would. And this... she was certain of.

As soon as Aerolice woke up, she found her arms were inevitably empty and her eyes dripping with unwanted tears. 

                                    Ashisore - Daughter

Aerolice woke up abruptly; her heart feeling as if it would pound itself right out of her chest, due to it's violent beating. Sweat and tears dripped down her face in beads, as she sat up. Her expression was blank, surprisingly for what she had experienced, but what she had gone under was nightly for this sin'dorei woman.

It happened... again, thought Aerolice Thorne, as her hands went to cover her expressionless face. The sin'dorei sat limply at the edge of her bed, with her back now hunched and head in hands. She slowly, yet surely attempted to recover from the nightmare. Thoughts racked her mind, leaving her more exhausted and numb than she had began before her restless slumber. Her mind had grown so fragile, she knew, feeling helpless as these memories and odd dreams and hideous nightmares haunted her so.

She couldn't help but relive the nightmare, remembering it's details all too well.

All over gain, she was within the dream, surrounded by white, pure light, and engulfed within the impression of serenity. She strode nonstop a few miles within the seemingly vacant white expanse. It felt as if it could go on forever, nothing in sight. Until, she spotted a little black dot in the distance. An urge to go investigate possessed her, so she did so, sprinting towards it swiftly. As it got closer, she realized the dot was fairly small.. a small creature. A butterfly! The tiny insect was yellow on it's wings, in color, and it's body was entirely ebon. It fluttered around her frantically, as if it were attempting to tell her something of great importance. 

Suddenly, it flew in the opposite direction of her, faster than she could have ever imagined to run. She did not pursue the yellow-winged butterfly, but she had the impression it wasn't flying away from her, but something else..

Chills traveled down her spinal chord. Her ears perked up at the sound of an other-worldly voice singing a familiar song - her minn'da's lullaby. The enchanting voice was both nostalgic and eerie. She knew the voice, and it was coming from behind her.

(( https://soundcloud.com/rude-regez/pans-labyrinth-lullaby The Lullaby))

As she turned around, everything in the strange, white realm seemed to freeze. She was face to face to an all too familiar figure. The figure who was singing the lullaby only her family knew... It was her Ashisore. Her baby girl. Aero burst into tears, but before she reached out to what she was convinced was her daughter, she paused. There was something wrong. None of the small girl's face was visible, her features were all covered by her raven locks. She had her father's hair... And eyes. If only she could see them.

The overwhelming desire to see her daughter's face flowed within her as if it were her own blood, her hand reaching out to the child's dark hair.

But as soon as she out-stretched her arm, without warning, the mysterious singing came to an abrupt stop.To her horror, as she tried to speak, her lips and vocal chords refused to move. Aero was stuck. Her large felfire eyes stared down at the small, figure, whom had possibly caused this. 

In a gust of foul smelling air, her face was revealed. It was the smell of rot. Aerolice Thorne was in shock, all of her senses were screaming to get out of there, nearly inches from the girl what she thought was once her daughter. But she could not move a muscle.

The creature's face was bare of any skin and some flesh, some bone showing, as if corrosive acid were poured heavily over it's features. Terror stricken, all Aero could do was watch it's actions. She- it, now reached out and caressed her 'minn'da's' face with a still, intact hand.

"You abandoned me," it's words were in the same smooth voice of a horribly familiar person.

Dear Miss Thorne,

I apologize for not meeting with you again since we first became acquainted. I hope you received the invitation to the Manor on this coming Sunday.

I write to you today for a different reason, however.

After mentioning your skills, abilities, and my interests in you a close comrade of mine has requested to meet with you at your earliest convenience.

Please send word to me of your response and I will ensure he receives it, the two of you can discuss from there.

 Sincerely,

Lady Elenaris Eventide

Aerolice loved roaming Northrend, but most of all, the breathtaking and certainly captivating landscape of Grizzly Hills. Nowhere else could she find such natural beauty that she personally favored so. Since Aero is nomadic in nature, she made regular trips to this terrain, often staying the night in a simple wooden hut. She was used to the cold; Aero was able to conquer her aversion to the cold a long time ago, inheriting her beloved minn’da’s strong, leather armor. It kept her warm and snug in Northrend’s extreme weather. 

As she was climbing up a hill with her usual, long-legged strides, she came across a flat stretch of land, covered in dainty clover. It was more of a clover field of sorts, patches of bright canary flowers splattered around as if with a paint brush. The sin’dorei woman looked up at the sky; it was naked from any clouds, but beautifully magnificent aurora borealis danced within the heavens above. This was her favorite part of Northrend, the Northern Lights, people called them.

Suddenly, her peace was disturbed by a dreadful realization. There were no animals grazing or simply prancing around within the radius of the field. 

"Odd," trailed off Aero as she observed this lack of life, which usually flourished within Grizzly Hills. She had never come across an area where there were no animals.

She came to a final conclusion. There was something wrong, she could feel it in her bones.

A sense of deep worry erupted within her, the absence reminded her all too much of… many happenings in her past. She frantically ran towards the bushes, she could have been in danger herself! Hiding in the thick, green smelling shrubbery, she peered carefully at her surroundings, ears perked up to the maximum degree.

To her horror, a thick green cloud of what she assumed was Plague, drifted and tumbled slowly over the mountains before her, past the flat clover field. Her silvery white locks were blown behind her shoulders by a draft caused by the plague pushing the air towards her, revealing her to whatever monsters were releasing such tainting filth. Diligently crawling blindly, backwards, to her best ability, She attempted to escape before the plague cloud reached her. But as she did so, her for once bare fingertips brushed back against something… fluffy. 

She turned around at warp speed, finding herself looking down at a small, helpless.. dead? Fox kit. 

She lay on the ground next to a tree stump, almost lifeless, until, she opened her eyes. She was practically a newborn! Aero felt her motherly instincts kicking in, slowly, yet efficiently, trying to not get them killed, lowered her hand back to the kit. The foxling was curled up, most likely abandoned by the mother, due to their instinct. She was damaged, the kit. As soon as she attempted to stand up, she fell down and returned to the fetal position she was once in. Tiny whimpers escaped from the kit, melting Aerolice’s heart, emotions swelling within her.

"I’m not going to hurt you…" She attempted to pick up the kit, thankfully successful; once she looked over her shoulder and realized the deadly, vile plague was less than a quarter mile away, creeping towards them. As she cradled the hurt kit-possibly runt, she began to sprint in the opposite direction of the plague as fast as she could will herself to do.

"Think happy, calm... think... okay..."

Aerolice began to slowly and gracefully wade into the warm, welcoming waters of Stillwisper Pond. Nostalgia immediately tumbled over her  and disoriented her like a vicious tidal wave. This was where she belonged, in the water. Her minn'da (mother) used to bring her to this very pond almost every day, during this time of year. This caused memories to flood her mind as if she were colliding with an avalanche flow. Aero's malachite hued orbs twinkled with good and sour memories; the memories seemed to blur all together, each day she spent at this pond. 

As the tiny, colorful fish inside the ample with life water swam away from her in primal fear, it reminded her of all the other sin'dorei children whom had fled from her presence in the past. It seemed that people- including, if not especially children, did not fancy her at first glance. Not because of her looks, definitely, she was well off in that aspect; gifted with natural beauty. But something about her triggered fear in others, they could sense an 'off' aspect about her.

Her bare, lithe body appreciated the break from her easily over-heated leather armor, enveloped by the refreshing waters. She closed her eyes with an extremely peaceful expression painted onto her features, instead of a worried, contorted grimace. She could almost hear her minn'da's enchanting voice in the chirps and songs of the night-birds and creatures singing their berceuse. Her voice would say, "Don't frown like that, Aerolice, your face will become stuck like that." Typical for any minn'da to tell her grimacing child, but in Aero's case, it was a questionable and worrisome consequence for her constant glare. 

But her face was not contorted, and she was relaxing in the latest hours of the night. 

She missed her minn'da.