"Now remember when I told you that's the last you'll see of me
Remember when I broke you down to tears
I know I took the path that you would never want for me
I gave you hell through all the years"
â I Bet My Life, Imagine Dragons
Four Years Ago, Ardenweald
The Veil that stood between Life and Death was still tenuous, then. No longer torn asunder but gossamer-thin in its renewal. Growing stronger. Healing. Soon enough, they said, few would be able to travel between the mortal realms and the Shadowlands.
Kyuusei didnât care much about what they had to say.
The Dream remained as close to Ardenweald as a lover. And if she went to the cool depths of Telâandu and slumbered, Kyuusei could walk those forests again in her waking dreams. See the twilight sky littered with stars strange to her, stretching above the canopy. Feel cool grasses beneath her feet.
Could walk with her again. With Delyra.
Sometimes, her love was a fox, lambent and shimmering in her soulâs shape. But on rare occasions, she walked in the form that Kyuu remembered. Slender like the willow, hair laden with midnight. Secrets in her smile. A form outlined in stars.
They talked of nothing most times. After the tears, and the confessions, and the forgiveness. The mending of what had been broken by fire, all those years ago.
But in this dream, Delyra was quiet. She walked silently on two legs next to Kyuusei, their hands entwined, Delyraâs feet leaving no trace in the soft grasses.
âWe canât do this much longer,â she finally said.
Kyuusei looked across. âI know what they said, but weâll find a way. Iâll go deeper into the Dream. I can make it w-â
Delyra put a finger against Kyuuâs lips, the touch a spark against her skin.
âShhh. Listen to me, Sei-sei. The Winter Queenâs preparing a gift for Tyrande, for all the kaldorei. A seed made from Eluneâs tear. And sheâs made an offer to all the souls that suffered. To be part of it, part of something thatâll grow and bring hope to the places it was lost.â
âBut⌠thatâs not where you died,â the one still living protested. âI - you died before all that, in the Firelands.â
âYou think I didnât suffer?â Delyra suppressed a quiet laugh. âSei-sei, I was so angry. Angry at the Hordeâs incursions, angry that Tyrande and Malfurion didnât seem to be doing anything, angry at all of it, so much that I let myself fall under Fandralâs spell. Under his madness. But even in that madness, you were the one I sought out when they came to the Firelands. Beneath all of it, I knew what the Flame had made me. In the end, I realized how wrong I was.â
She looked upwards, midnight hair falling back as Delyra regarded the lights beyond Ardenwealdâs canopy.
âWhen I woke up here, I suffered. Not just because of what I did but because I knew how much youâd suffer. How much youâd blame yourself, hate yourself.â Delyra's soul looked down again, her eyes finding Kyuusei. âAnd you, you silly thing, you wallowed in it for the longest time.â
Abashed, Kyuusei looked to the grasses at her feet. âI suppose I did.â
âYou suppose? If you didnât have a little bit of Ashamane watching over you, if you hadnât had me watching over you, you probably wouldâve ended up here yourself. And itâs Not. Your. Time.â Del smirked, drawing a finger beneath Kyuuâs chin. âNot yet. I have it on excellent authority.â
Kyuu grasped her lover's star-limned hand, a lopsided grin stealing across her face. âAre you keeping secrets from me, Del?ââ
âSpoilers, sweetie,â she drawled. âLet the dead keep their secrets. But listen to me. I want, I need you to promise me something.
âDora dor. Just tell me what.â
âAlways leaping in before you know where youâre landing." A soft smile eased Delyra's words. "Iâm going to be part of this gift, this hope. And when the time comes, I want to know youâll be there to guard and protect it. That youâll watch over it, watch over me, like Iâve been watching you.â She drew in Kyuuâs hand, brushed her lips across sharp-tipped fingers. âWill you promise me that?â
âOf course I will, Del. After everything? Of course. But how will I know? Itâs not like Iâm someone Tyrande Whisperwind speaks to. I doubt she even knows who I am.â
âYouâll know. Ardenwealdâs so close to the Dream they almost touch; theyâre part of the same cycle. You know this. Trust me.â She held Kyuuâs hand between both of her own, encasing it in faded stars. âYouâll know. Now promise me, promise you'll watch.â
Kyuusei brought up her other hand, clasping Delyraâs fervently. âI promise to you. Whatever it is, Iâll watch it. Iâll protect it. Iâll protect you.â
âThank you.â
Delyraâs soul stood still for a moment, then tugged at Kyuuâs hand as she began to walk again beneath the forestâs canopy.
âNow⌠tell me more about this other druid. Whatâs her name, Alania? And a druid of the branch, too.â Delyra suppressed a grin, her eyes dancing. âIsnât she a little young for you?
âSheâs a hundred and twelve!â It wasnât clear if Kyuuâs outrage was genuine or feigned.
âRobbing the creche!â Delâs laughter echoed among the trees, sending shimmermoths fluttering from their perches. âYouâll be a millennia before sheâs two hundred. Really, Sei-sei, you and some fresh-faced fledgling who doesnât even have her tattoosâŚâ
âHey! You know she does! Lani earned them atâŚâ
A squeeze of Delyraâs hand silenced Kyuuâs protests. âSo long as she makes you happy, Sei-sei.â Her tone was softer, reassuring. âThatâs all I want, is for you to be happy.ââ
âI will be,â Kyuu murmured, though doubt belied her words.
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As the partyâs getting to know one another more weâre discovering a whole slew of fun new tid-bits about each character, including our librarian having a worryingly good talent at skinning freshly-killed bears, apparently x3
Tucked away in the high branches, the two young kaldoreiâs giggling conversation fell to silence at the strident voice from the ground below. Delyra covered her mouth with her hands, eyes wide in mirthful mock-alarm, while Kyuuseiâs expression immediately fell. Her motherâs tone was unmistakable.
âKyuusei! Come down here at once!â
âMinâdaaaa, weâre fine up here.â
âYou are perched in the branches of an Ancient!â
âHe doesnât mind,â Kyuu protested, patting a branch, âdo you?â The Ancient of Loreâs boughs shifted gently, a low, creaking rumble the only response.
âIt is disrespectful, child. Come down here immediately.â
The edge in her motherâs tone had grown sharp; Kyuusei was fully aware that either lengthy prayers to Eluneâs grace or exhausting training under a watchful, unforgiving eye were to follow. Likely both. Her grimace at her fate, fortunately, was hidden from below by the Ancientâs branches. Hidden to her mother, but not to the other girl sharing their perch.
Delyra leaned forward, her eyes dancing as she placed a quick kiss on Kyuuseiâs cheek. âItâs okay Sei-sei, Iâll see you in Nighthaven. You better go.â
Hands gripped Kyuuseiâs shoulders, too strong for her to resist, and she was pushed face-down to the stone slab with her arms pulled cruelly behind her.
âI came to join you!â The kaldoreiâs voice rang out even as the stone pressed against her face - hot enough to redden her skin. âI offered myself!â
âYou offered nothing.â More than the harsh sound of his voice, she felt the blaze of his nearness - the slab beneath her cool by comparison. âYou hoped to find her, to quench her Flame rather than embrace your own. There is no place for you here.â
âShe doesnât belong with you!â
An abrupt movement behind her, caught only in the edge of her sight, as claws shredded the leather tunic from her back and left bloody runnels in her skin.
âItâs you who do not belong, who are not devoted to his service,â the voice said, the scent of sulfur and soot overwhelming as he leaned close. âThe Flame casts you out. But first you will be marked. You will remember, druid.â
Kyuusei felt his fingers press high into her back, hotter than any brand, the stench of her skin burning at his touch. The hot tang of blood on her tongue as she bit through her lip, trying desperately to defy him in her silence.
It wasnât until he turned his hand, pulling at her melting flesh, that she finally screamed.
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A dream that blooms beneath a canopy of trees well known. Blood red flowers freckled with yellow, bold faces toward the stars. They are poisonous. You know this. Their leaves are sharp at the edges; serrated like a knife. You cut your finger. It was careless of you. You watch the leaf drink your blood and its flowers bloom and bloom and bloom, but it cannot save the others. Mold gnaws at their roots and wilts their leaves despite their beauty. Why are they dying? How much blood can you give?
The canopy of leaves above was familiar to Kyuusei from centuries of remembrances. Nighthaven, Amethâaren, Valâ sharah. Teldrassil. Arms wrapped about her knees, she sat in a field of blood-red flowers, their blooms freckled with yellow, bold faces raised toward the stars. She knew what danger the brazen colors and sharp-edged leaves threatened.
But still, she reached out in concern, a wrongness drawing her hand until a careless motion drew blood. She watched as the leaf drank her blood, its flowers blooming vibrant and innumerable even as others withered and dulled. Mold gnawed at their roots and wilted their blooms despite their beauty, and Kyuusei reached out again to allow their sharp-edged leaves to cut into her flesh, to drink and become vibrant once again.
The want, the need, was insistent upon her senses. Great trees died in their time, new growth rising where the mighty had once flourished. The rich loam that nourished the woodland floor had once been living things brought low to the cycle by rot and decay. Of every vibrant forest that lived and grew, death was its equal measure. The quiet, persistent call implored Kyuusei to give in her own turn.
It was so easy to spread her arms wide, simple to fall back into the insatiable field of red and freckled yellow blooms. The cycle awaited. How could she give less than all?
Kyuusei.
She grew cold in the dream, warmth leaching from her flesh with each cut, the field of flowers blooming thick and hungry around her. The sting of their thirst slowly grew distant, the pain belonging to some other body. Not her.
You canât feed them all, Kyuu. Come back.
â...they need this.â Her voice was weak, the canopy fading from sight as she closed her silvered eyes.
I need you, Sei-sei. Come home.
She drew in the scent of mageroyal with her next shallow breath, felt a warming touch take her hand. And from that touch, warmth spread, grew until it was more. No longer just warmth, more than heat.
Fire.
It kindled inside her, a blaze that wreathed her body in reds and yellows more brilliant than any poisoned bloom. The flowers drinking from her shied away, the leaves of the closest withering even as the more distant basked in her radiance. Crusted blood burned away to ash, her rent skin whole once more.
Fire did not only burn, it also brought life. The fire of the sun gave warmth. The trees of the great forests needed fire to toughen their bark, to crack the hulls of their seeds. Breath itself fed the life-fire in every living thing.
Kyuusei carefully raised herself up, eyes bright once more, the ash of her wounds and blood falling away, a cacophony of red freckled with yellow swaying with gentle calm in the evening breeze. The flames that limned her body wavered and slowly faded, lingering on her hand before that, too, dimmed. Leaving only warmth...
* * *
âLand ho!â
Kyuusei blinked her eyes awake at the calling voice, taking a moment to orient herself. A small cabin little more than an oversized storage closet, sunlight blazing through the single porthole to rest warmly upon her hand.
â...Del?â She looked around her, emerging empty from the dream.
The shipâs rolling motion set her hammock rocking, but she extricated herself and found her feet with effortless grace, looking out the porthole before pulling on a vest and leather breeches. Opening the door and padding out to the deck, the druidessâ gaze found a familiar shore off coming into view through the ocean mists.
The lookout raised his voice again, words echoing down from the crowâs nest.
âJade Forest, off the starboard bow!â
The kaldorei smiled with the recognition of it, running sharp-tipped fingers through her pale green hair. Ironshield had been right; foolish name or no, the Pale Cabbage was a fast ship - theyâd made the voyage a half-day faster than the last time sheâd sailed aboard Moonlightâs Folly. She was here.
(A revised vignette from Nov 2018, originally written for a prompt about Keepsakes. âprompt 1313âł posted by  @selisekinsolvingâ made me decide to go back and edit it.)
Setting: Fireside Anchors, Boralus
* * *
âThis?â
Kyuusei leaned back in the loose assemblage of pillows at Fireside Anchors, light from the nearby firepit flickering over her features in the twilight, and lifted her right hand. Carefully twined strands of silver were looped several times around her wrist, bearing four silver charms. Each one was engraved with the same rune, the silver tarnished, with black soot worked deeply into the engraving.
âThere was a gnome.â The night elf frowned sharply for a moment, then smiled without humor. âI paid him to make these for me. He was an expert at crafting wards, among other things, and these were supposed to protect me from the fires of Teldrassil.â
She shook her head before the obvious question could be asked. âNo, this was after. But the flames still smoldered - Teldrassil was a World Tree, after all. And there was something I had to retrieve...â
The druid ran a hand along her left arm, over flesh that was covered not in burn scars, but in discolorations that twisted and swirled across her skin. She briefly lifted her tunic to expose similar markings, running down her left side and vanishing into her leather breeches.
âThings didnât go as planned,â Kyuu snorted as she reached for her glass of pale green liquor, taking a lingering sip.
âThree times Iâve been afflicted by fire. Those I once loved embraced it and were lost to it. For all that it brings light and warmth, fire has consumed hearth and heart and home.â
âThis,â Kyuu flicked at one of the charms with a sharp fingernail, the sliver clattering dully, âis a reminder.â
âThere are no agreements with fire.â
She turned to the firepit and reached over to toss on another log.