Notes1: Inspired by the in-game cutscene in Battle for Azeroth from the most recent beta build at the time of this post, where Sylvanas is standing by Captain Delaryn Summermoon's corpse and watching Teldrassil go down in a blaze that she more or less did not cause but will get all the blame for just by simply being there at the wrong place at the wrong time (but primarily because of conducting the assault on Darkshore and pushing into Teldrassil itself to conquer it for the Horde and, most likely, keep a monopoly on the azurite that crops up all over Kalimdor as much as it does the rest of Azeroth).

Notes2: Also because this was the first thing that popped into my mind when I saw the thumbnail for the YouTube video and thought Yeah, that's exactly how Impressions!verse Sylvanas would react to the Burning.

Which brings up an interesting point: In First Impressions canon, it is outright stated multiple times that when the Nexus has no more need of its Heroes, everyone will be drawn back into the universe from the time period they were pulled from; at the end of the day, as bittersweet as it is (and probably esoterically happy, dependent on one's interpretation), it is the canon ending to First Impressions. However, it is also mentioned by certain characters - uncertainly, but with varying, mixed reactions - that it may be possible for a Hero to regain all the memories of the time he/she/it/they made in the Nexus. In short, the Nexus follows the law of returning the Status Quo to Zero (or, at the very least, as mathematically close to zero as humanly possible). Since that particular fanfic deals heavily in the Many-Worlds Interpretation theory, quantum mechanics, and treating Out-Of-Character personalities seriously, the idea of WoD!Sylvanas (which is the time period Impressions!verse Sylvanas was drawn from) remembering everything from her time in the Nexus and the personality that was developed environmentally (via the transition) and psychologically (as a result of dealing with folk in a transitioned universe) is very possible...but also very unlikely, depending on certain factors that may be able to trigger the sensation of recall.

I debated as to whether or not this should have a distant correlation to the series. Unfortunately I could not come up with an actual answer other than "It's dubious at best, disputed at worst", so the last few lines are left intentionally vague and open to interpretation. (Although if I did have to reach a conclusion to this question, it would probably be a shrug and a "Maybe...Maybe not.")

"Aw fuck me," Sylvanas says, nearly groans it. Her neck is starting to be a bother but she can't look away.

Even though it's so very, very close, Teldrassil is very far away.

It's also on fire. The whole shebang, crinkling a nasty purple-black with runnels of red seeping out of the bark where the flames are devouring it from the inside out. All the leaves at the top are gone, too, and she can't decide between it looking like it came out of a trashcan fire or a Midsummer Fire Festival's display.

Either way, it doesn't matter. That thing is on fire, and she can tell right away it's going to be burning for a long, long, long time.

"Oh fuck," Sylvanas says again, backing up further along the shore. Past the dead night elf lying on her side. "Oh fucking...Goddammit it all to hell!" She clenches her fists at the sight of the Undercity galleons and Orgrimmar warships retreating toward the Veiled Sea, at all the fucking flames falling in the sky. "Motherfucker-"

"What a beautiful sight!" growls a man with dark triumph. "That's what I'm talking about!"

Sylvanas freezes, whirls around at the footsteps crunching behind her. It's Nathanos, and he's sporting a grin that'd put all the beefcakes like Garrosh and great whale sharks to shame. It scares her, but even then she'd never admit to anyone alive, dead, or undead under pain of death and the darkness waiting for her. "This isn't what I had in mind," she says through clenched teeth. "I wanted to take it. I did not burn it."

"Oh, what does it matter? The more dead Alliance, the better! There are plenty of trees for us to take, anyway."

"Nathanos-"

"The only good elf is a dead elf. And what's better than a dead elf? A dead night elf." That grin doesn't just get dark. It gets downright sinister. It also makes his crimson eyes squint into slits, which causes the skin underneath to crinkle and fall off in a teeny-tiny plaster dusting.

Sylvanas just can't be assed to be appalled right now. "Nathanos, listen to me-"

"SCORE ONE FOR THE HORDE TEAM!" he shouts at the tree. "TOUCHDOWN, MOTHERFUCKERS! Where's your Mother Moon now?! HUH?! Where is she? Not with you punching bags, that's for sure! I hope you all fucking roasted! And if you haven't, I hope you all found your way to your god-king! If it ain't one bitch you grovel to, it's gotta be another!"

Sylvanas stares at him, stunned. "Dude. The fuck."

"So go ahead and suck his underaged dick! Go suck on that human potential for all it's worth! We'll see where it gets ya when we come! When the Dark Lady comes!"

"What."

"Gonna make ya feel real good when daddy comes for ya!" Nathanos roars laughter, slips his hand between his legs and….

Sylvanas shakes her head and looks away just as he begins to thrust his pelvis and mimic the motions, making grunting sounds and grumbling "Come to papa!" under his breath.

Never before has she felt more dead inside. She didn't think it was possible. But the day has finally come, and today couldn't possibly get any worse.

If they stand around looking—and acting—stupid any longer for the Alliance to take advantage of, it will.

So while Nathanos is lost in his own world and repeating asinine bullshit (it sounds like he's saying "I'll show you somethin' morally grey!" and she tunes it out immediately when she distinctly hears him say "It's gonna shoot straight outta my-!"), Sylvanas goes to put her hand on his shoulder and shakes him. "Nathanos," she says. "Nathanos!"

"Bend over, ya knife-eared slut-!"

"Nathanos!" she yells in his ear. Yanks that offending hand away and up behind his back while pushing him upright with the other. It gets him to stop and wipes the dreadful, primal look on his face, and Sylvanas has never thought she'd be so inwardly glad to see it gone. "We have to go. Now!"

"What? But my Lady-"

"We are not going to stand here, jacking off to a burning tree!" She cries, and points at Teldrassil for emphasis. Mimicking a dramatic sigh, she drops her arm and looks around. "Where's Saurfang?"

Nathanos scoffs. "That old buzzard took off somewhere."

She turns him around and shoves him forward. "Go find him and tell him to pull out! We're done here!"

"What about the Alliance-"

"We'll worry about that later! Just go!" She moves to get him going again, but Nathanos is out of her reach and sprinting up the bank and onto higher ground. She watches him disappear into the treeline, and then there's only her, the coast of Darkshore, a dead night elf woman, and Teldrassil's hulking, blazing corpse in the distance.

There is only the sound of the waves lapping against the shore. The birds, if there are any, have long since fled.

This doesn't feel real.

Hell, none of this feels real.

If anything, the past few months have felt like a dream.

But the tree's been blazing for...three minutes, she thinks? The night elf woman with the arrows sticking out of her hasn't woken up, and there is literally no one around who can come up to her detractors and say she didn't decide to stick a match at the base of Teldrassil and watch the whole thing go up in smoke just for shits and giggles.

Somehow, that last part evokes a very small, very quiet pang of sadness. She knows why, but at the same time she doesn't, and the thought makes her fidget uncomfortably.

All of that's wiped away the longer she looks at the tree. "Fuck me!" Sylvanas snarls, and kicks a gout of sand and sediment into the sea. "Fucking...fuckity…fuck!" She sags forward, almost doubled over, putting her head between her hands. Sighs, shakes, and with another, more explosive imitation of breath straightens all the way up, arms falling lifelessly to her sides.

Her ears droop against her skull. "Fuck me!"