Author's Note
I've been wanting to write this short for months! I know it's completely out of season, and that I perhaps should have written a Midsummer short, but… you've heard of Christmas in July, right?
Also, I know that Legion gave us the name of Sylvanas' mother, but being as I gave her another name before that expansion, I'm sticking to what I have, or people will get a trifle confused.
Disclaimer:
Most of the characters depicted here belong to Blizzard Entertainment. I am merely a visitor in the wonderful World of Warcraft, and make no money from this venture.
A light magical snow was falling over the woods of Quel'Thalas. The trees had been covered in what appeared to be sparkling sugar dust, and the air felt cold and crisp, invigorating everyone who stepped outside their home.
In a village close to the sea, people bustled around in one of the main squares, getting ready for a small Winter's Veil festival that would be happening at dusk. The fountain at the edge of the square had frozen over, and a few feet away from it, children were laughing as they handled brightly colored baubles and hung them to a large fir tree that had been erected in the center of a glittering mound of snow.
Carriages passed back and forth, filled with families containing laughing children, who looked up at the sky and held out their hands to catch a frosty snowflake.
In one of those carriages, a girl sat wearing a mint-colored cloak lined with white fur. She was a pretty girl, like most of the other elven maidens in the world, but there was an air about her, one of magic that was only perceptible to a trained eye.
And the woman watching the carriage had trained herself to watch this particular maiden very carefully.
Sylvanas Windrunner, Ranger-General of Silvermoon was leaning against the wall surrounding the square, her sky-blue eyes on the girl in the carriage.
The girl, perhaps sensing that she was being watched, turned her head. She gasped audibly, and before the carriage even came to a stop, she got up and leapt to the ground, landing gracefully on her feet. Her cloak opened for the briefest of moments, revealing a dress that exactly matched its color. Watching this, Sylvanas licked her lips.
"Faith," she said to herself.
For that was the name of the girl. Faith Everstone. Daughter of the mayor of Everstone Village, and the one person in the world capable of making Sylvanas lose her head completely.
Not that she ever let it show. Much.
Faith walked towards Sylvanas, looking composed. But Sylvanas knew a little something about her. Even if she hadn't known, the way Faith had gasped when she'd seen her would have told her everything she needed.
Would this be the day that they both caved and told each other how they felt? For years, the two of them had been performers in a dance that left Sylvanas quivering for Faith's touch. Her kiss. Desires long denied because of a backward mentality their families had. It was fine for others to love members of the same sex, but for their daughters? No. It wouldn't do.
Faith reached her, a smile on her face, "General Windrunner!" she said. "I… we didn't think that you would be home in time for the festivities."
Sylvanas smiled. For years, Faith had called her 'general', no matter how often Sylvanas insisted that she call her by her first name. She supposed Faith liked the way it sounded, and she had to admit, she liked the way Faith said it.
"I figured I couldn't miss them. I'm happy I came home, especially when I see the hard work everyone's putting in." She nodded towards the square. Snow was falling a little more thickly, coating the ground and allowing children to start a snowball fight.
"The mages did a good job with the snow," agreed Faith.
"They really did. Are you going up to the Spire to see my parents?" she asked, as if having no idea that Faith and her family were going to be staying with them until the following day.
Faith gave a nod, "I am."
"I'll walk with you."
She straightened up and began to walk with Faith by her side. Their hands brushed together once, and Faith made a small sound in the back of her throat that she chose to ignore.
It took them ten minutes to walk to Windrunner Spire. The mages of Quel'Thalas, perhaps wanting to give everyone an authentic winter experience, had been a little exuberant with the snow and ice, and Faith slipped when they were within view of the archway that led to Sylvanas' home. Sylvanas tried catching her, but ended up slipping as well, and falling on top of her, both of them laughing.
"Are you all right?" Sylvanas asked her.
Faith nodded, her cheeks as red as summer apples. "You?"
Sylvanas nodded wordlessly. Faith's hood had come off, and the general brushed snow out of her honey-colored hair. She leaned closer. Faith closed her eyes, her heart hammering in her chest.
A snowball came flying out of the trees, hitting both of them just as their lips were about to meet.
"Oh, no he didn't…" muttered Sylvanas, her head snapping up. She caught sight of Faith's brother, Taegan, sitting on a branch and roaring with laughter. Below him, Sylvanas' sister Alleria was giggling uncontrollably.
Faith glanced around, "This means war," she said.
"I agree," Sylvanas told her, getting up. Just as she pulled Faith to her feet, another snowball hit her from behind, and when she turned her head, she saw Faith's other brother Estelien with a snowball in his hand. He was laughing too.
"What are you gonna do, General?" he called.
"Oh, he's asking for it!" Sylvanas bent down, gathering snow in her hands. For her part, Faith was using magic to levitate snow from the ground.
"Don't you dare, Faith!" called Taegan.
"Watch me!" laughed Faith. With one movement of her hand, she sent the snow flying towards him and Alleria, who suddenly found themselves splattered with it. Taegan fell off his branch into a snowdrift and Alleria shrieked, slipping backwards. Sylvanas released her snowball, which hit Estelien on the shoulder, sticking to his red hair.
"No fair, using magic!" said Taegan, getting to his feet. He was covered head-to-toe in snow and was sputtering indignantly.
"Everything goes in a snowball fight!" called Sylvanas. "Besides, you hit us when we were down!"
"That's the whole fun of it!" exclaimed Alleria, throwing another snowball at them.
For the next ten minutes, snowballs flew through the air, and when their parents came to investigate, they found themselves joining in the fight. They didn't stop until they started getting hungry. Faith's lips were blue by the time they walked inside Windrunner Spire, and Sylvanas led her towards the fire, helping her take off her sodden cloak.
"That was entertaining," she said.
Faith nodded, shivering now, but smiling still. "We should do that every winter."
"I like the way you think, Faith." Sylvanas sat next to her, unlacing her boots.
"Don't take those off here!" cried Alleria from behind them. "We don't wanna smell that!"
Faith turned her laughter into a cough.
"My feet don't smell!" said Sylvanas indignantly. She turned to Faith, "Do they?"
"How am I supposed to know that?" asked Faith, her cheeks coloring.
"Trust me," said Vereesa, Sylvanas' younger sister as she walked into the living room. "You don't want to. When Sylvanas enters a tent and starts to take off her boots, soldiers run in the opposite direction."
Sylvanas shook her head, embarrassed, "Not true."
Faith suddenly bent down and tugged Sylvanas' boot off her foot, along with her sock. Sylvanas watched her, a little stunned, and waited. "I don't smell anything unusual," she said.
"I'm sure you're just saying that, because, oof!" Vereesa waved her hand in front of her face and left, laughing, and Sylvanas looked after her in exasperation.
"Your feet are freezing, Sylvanas," Faith told her quietly. "Warm them up, come closer to the fire."
Turning her attention back to Faith, Sylvanas nearly lost her breath when she saw her so close to her. Her hand touched her as she deftly undressed her other foot. "I guess I hadn't realized how cold they were," she said.
Faith smiled, then looked down at Sylvanas' feet. She cupped her hands together, conjuring a small bright fire. Once her hands were warm, she tossed the fire into the fireplace and put her fingers on Sylvanas' left foot, massaging the arch gently. She said nothing, only thinking that the general had exceptionally pretty feet, as she did everything else. She had painted her toenails a sparkling shade of lime green. "You still use peacebloom cream?"
A nod, "It's a good remedy after I've been on my feet all day. The fire doesn't burn you when you handle it like that?" she asked when Faith conjured a second one.
"No. A mage from Silvermoon once passed through the village, and he told me that one's own fire can't be painful to the conjurer unless it grows out of control." She warmed Sylvanas' other foot, then stood up.
"Thanks." She was about to say something else when Faith's sister Ravenna walked into the room. Sylvanas' brother Lirath was with her, munching on a gingerbread cookie.
"Come on, you two! We're about to eat!"
"We need to get changed first," said Faith. "We're soaked."
"Well, you're the ones who decided to play in the snow!"
Sylvanas shook her head ruefully and stood up, picking up her boots, "Come on, Faith, you're in my room for the night."
Faith swallowed, suddenly very conscious of how close Sylvanas had come to kissing her. Had her brother not thrown that snowball… She blinked and forced herself to smile. Did Sylvanas know how she felt? Had she nearly kissed her because of the situation they'd been in? Or had it been because of something else?
She followed Sylvanas up the winding stairs until they reached the second floor, where her room was located. Taking a deep breath, she walked inside, seeing that her bag had been brought there already.
"I have a present for you," she said in a voice so choked with emotion that she barely heard herself.
Sylvanas turned to look at her, "I have one for you too, but my mother took it downstairs." She tossed her boots in her closet, "Are you going to change?"
Faith nodded, opening her bag and pulling out a powder blue velveteen dress with long bell sleeves and a draped neck.
"Those are pretty," said Sylvanas. "Blue has always looked best on you."
"You think?"
"Definitely. I'll be right back." Ducking into the bathroom that adjoined her room, Sylvanas quickly closed the door and leaned against the wall, her eyes closed. Her hands were shaking.
You almost kissed her. She was right there! One more inch and you would have been able to taste her!
She wanted to be with her so badly… she could hear Faith on the other side of the door. A small sound told her that she was right there, wanting her too.
"Girls! Hurry up, will you?" called Sanalla, Sylvanas' mother.
Sylvanas sighed, "One moment's peace, can they not give us that?"
Quickly, she put on navy blue leather leggings and a matching tunic, both of which had silver accents on them. She also refreshed her perfume, that combination of sweet spices and flowers that she'd worn since she'd become Ranger-General. When she went back into her room, she froze for a second.
Faith looked like a dream. Her dress was perfect, draped in all the right areas, and the collar was just low enough to show the barest swell of her breasts. She opened her mouth, with no clear idea of what she was going to say, when the door to her room opened. She and Faith jumped.
"Honestly, what are you doing?" asked Faith's father. "Come on, lunch is ready! And we're exchanging presents."
"Already?" asked Faith.
"Yes, so hurry up, everyone's waiting for you."
Sylvanas heaved a sigh and took a pair of navy blue boots from the closet, tugging them on. She was acutely aware of Faith in the room with her, but when she glanced around, she saw that she was at the window, looking out at the falling snow.
"Faith?"
The younger elf started, "Yes?"
"Are you okay?"
Faith nodded and turned towards her, smiling, "I'm great. Let's go downstairs before they call us again."
They found everyone in the dining room, standing around the table, chatting amiably and putting the finishing touches on the decorations.
"There you are," said Faith's mother Velariel. "Come sit down." She pulled Sylvanas to sit next to her, and Faith was left to sit as far away from her as possible, in front of Estelien and next to Lirath at the end of the table.
"How much food do you have?" exclaimed Ravenna as soon as they sat down. Sanalla had just brought a huge honeyed ham, which joined the sautéed carrots and mushrooms, mashed potatoes and cornmeal biscuits already at the table.
"Oh, not too much. After all, we'll be eating a lot tonight once we go into town."
"It smells delicious, Mother," said Vereesa, passing around the potatoes.
It didn't just smell delicious. Sylvanas' mother had always been a very good cook, and all of them thoroughly enjoyed their first Winter's Veil meal of the season.
An hour later, they got up from the table and moved to the living room, where presents had been assembled beneath a glittering tree.
Sylvanas sat on one of the loveseats in front of the fire, quickly pulling Faith to sit by her under the guise of showing her a letter. Immediately, Velariel came over to them.
"Why don't you go sit next to your father, Faith?" she asked.
Faith just looked at her, but Sylvanas smiled.
"Faith isn't bothering me," she said. "And I think the first present is for you, look."
Velariel chuckled and glanced at Sylvanas' father, who was handing out brightly colored parcels. She took her present, and opened it, revealing a beautiful green apron and kitchen set, which included oven mitts and even a gilded tablecloth.
"It's all self-cleaning," said Taegan, "so you won't need to wash it or anything."
Velariel hugged her son tightly. "Thank you, sweetheart," she told him.
Estelien had his head stuck underneath the tree, pulling out presents, "Faith, this one's for you, I think!" he called gleefully.
Already knowing that someone was going to take her seat next to Sylvanas, Faith got up and took the present from her brother, kissing his cheek in the process. Sure enough, when she made her way back, her mother was sitting there, making a show of looking at her apron from every angle.
She sat down on a stool next to the fire, and opened her present, aware that Sylvanas was watching her.
She hitched in a breath.
It was a bag. It had been exquisitely made of what she recognized to be dragonhawk hide, and had been treated to be as soft as possible. It was large, with a wide comfortable handle that she could slip over her shoulder.
"Oh, that's from all of us, Faith," said Sanalla, waving her hand around.
Faith smiled and went to hug the Windrunner matriarch. "Thank you," she said. "It's gorgeous, and exactly what I needed."
"I'm pleased that you like it."
"I really do, it's perfect." She went to sit down again, hugging Lirath on the way.
A moment later, Sylvanas received her gift, which was in a large box with her name etched on it in Faith's handwriting.
"Is that from you, Faith?" asked her father, glancing at her.
Faith nodded, "Yes."
It was a bow. She had spent an entire month at the bowyer's to help him make it, and she thought that it had turned out really well. Made of polished dark wood, it had Thalassian engravings on it, and had been imbued with a protective spell. Its grip was of black leather, the softest Faith had been able to buy.
"It's magnificent," breathed Sylvanas. "Thank you, Faith. Where in the world did you get it?"
"I made it," she said.
Everyone froze.
"You made it?" exclaimed Estelien. "How?"
"Well, obviously I had help. I went to the bowyer who's set up behind my shop."
"How come you didn't make us anything?" asked Taegan. "We need bows too!"
Faith grinned, "You just got new bows, I believe, Besides," she nodded at their presents, "you don't know that I didn't make you anything."
"Did you?" asked Estelien, opening a present wrapped in shimmering blue paper. He took out a hunting knife with an intricately carved handle and a lightly curved blade. Taegan, also got a weapon, although his was more of a dagger with a serrated edge. On the white wooden handle, Faith had carved minute paw prints, to remind her brother of his lost hunting companion, a lynx he had raised himself.
"Wow, Faith. I didn't know you could do stuff like this Why didn't you tell us?"
"Surprise!" she laughed. "I'm out in the woods every day, gathering herbs and leaves. One day, I was just playing with a piece of wood, and ended up carving it. Your weapons all have spells on them, by the way."
Ravenna was unwrapping her own present, a wooden pendant depicting a blazing sun. "Oh, Faith, it's beautiful. Thank you." She hugged her, kissing her cheek.
They spent another ten minutes unwrapping presents, and Faith found herself with a brand-new hooded cloak made out of beautiful dark blue mageweave cloth and embroidered with silver. It was a gift from her siblings, who stared at her when she put it on.
"Hey! We match!" exclaimed Sylvanas, getting up and putting an arm around Faith. "See?"
Faith giggled, putting a hand over her mouth, "I see that!" The cloak was surprisingly warm, and she found that it had been lined with a layer of sleek blue fur. "I love it, you guys, thanks."
Sylvanas ran her hand along the inside of Faith's cloak, very nearly touching her, "It's really soft."
"Yeah, it's fox fur that was dyed blue," said Ravenna. "I wanted to get it for myself, but we figured it would go better with your blonde hair."
"Well, it's great," Faith told her. "Thank you!"
Sanalla got up, "Let me go and start the dishes, then we'll be able to go into town. They have many things out there for people to enjoy."
"It'll go faster if we help you with the dishes," said Faith, not wanting to move away from Sylvanas, but aware of what her mother would say if she didn't offer.
"That's okay, I'll be done in a short while."
But nobody would let her work alone. By the time they were done, the dining room was spotlessly clean and the table already set for the following morning.
They left Windrunner Spire, Faith wearing her new cloak and purposefully lagging behind so she could talk to Sylvanas.
"Thank you for the bag," she said in a low voice.
Sylvanas glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.
"I know it was from you. What I don't understand is why our parents have such an adversity to us only being friends."
"They're afraid we'll corrupt each other or something," said Sylvanas ruefully. Her gloved hand gently brushed against Faith's.
"Why would they be? I mean, we don't… we're just friends. There's nothing else between us."
"Exactly," said Sylvanas, wanting to kiss Faith so badly that she nearly did just that.
Faith looked at her, "I mean… you don't… we are just friends, right?"
A smile. Sylvanas didn't answer as they caught up to their families who were waiting for them at the bottom of the hill.
"What's taking you so long?" asked Taegan.
"Nothing," answered Faith. "We're just talking."
"About what?"
"It's not important," said Sylvanas.
They got to Windrunner Village in time to see that the ice-skating rink was now open. Delighted, Ravenna took Lirath by the arm and went to get some skates for all of them.
"I don't know if I should skate," said Estelien. "Remember two years ago how I sprained my wrist when I fell?"
"That's just because you're uncoordinated," Vereesa told him.
"I'm not! I just can't keep my balance on the ice, that's all."
Vereesa pushed him to the edge of the rink, "But look how much fun it is! Come on, or you'll be the only one who doesn't skate with us!"
"I'll sit this one out too," said Faith.
"Why? You love to skate!"
Faith smiled but said nothing, instead sitting down with Estelien to watch everyone else. She kept her gaze on Sylvanas, biting her lip unconsciously.
She was so beautiful…
"You're playing a dangerous game, you know," said Estelien to her. "You know Mom and Dad don't like that."
"We're just friends."
"Yeah, and you should keep it that way. She's my boss, Faith."
"Is that why you guys are all trying to stop us from even being in the same room alone together?"
"Mom and Dad know how you feel about her. Hell, we all do. Even Sylvanas knows. If Taegan hadn't thrown that snowball at you earlier, what would you have done?"
"I don't know, what do you think we would have done?"
"Faith, I mean it. You have to end whatever this is."
"For the Sunwell's sake, why is it so difficult for you guys to understand that we're friends?"
"Because you're not. You can both pretend whatever you want, but you're not friends. Even if you've never kissed before, you two are clearly attracted to each other, and our parents don't like it."
Shaking her head, Faith got off the bench and walked away from the rink, following a small path that led her towards music.
A band was playing Winter's Veil melodies that sounded magical with the falling snow. The sun was slowly beginning to set, and hundreds of tiny enchanted torches were suddenly lit, bathing everything in an ethereal glow.
Someone placed a hand on her shoulder. Without needing to look, Faith knew it was Sylvanas.
"Done skating already?"
Sylvanas nodded, "I saw you walk away on your own. What's going on?"
Faith shook her head briefly, "Nothing." She listened as the musicians started a new song, one that symbolized the love people were supposed to feel for one another during the season. It was beautiful, and she closed her eyes for a minute.
"Dance with me," said Sylvanas. She took her hand, and Faith jumped.
"What?"
"Come on." She walked towards where about two dozen couples were slowly dancing, only touching hands. They didn't have long, she knew. Any moment now, their parents would see them and put a stop to it.
Faith looked up at Sylvanas as they began to dance. They were both wearing gloves, but she could feel the warmth of Sylvanas' fingers. She could smell the spices of her perfume, mixed with the scent of roasting chestnuts.
Palm to palm, they danced. It was only for a minute, but could have been hours. Their eyes locked together, and worlds opened up before them. Possibilities that had seemed out of reach now beckoned to them with tantalizing morsels.
Sylvanas.
Faith.
For a moment, they were one as the world fell away around them and the music in their ears peaked with the beat of their hearts. And even as their families came over, stealing the dance from them, they knew that this moment had been theirs. Eternally.
The End
Author's Note, part 2
This was meant to be a direct prequel short to Fall and Rebirth. But I realize that there are some elements here that don't fully mesh with the beginning of it. Hence why I'm saying that it's based on Fall. What did you think of it?