AN: Short thoughts on the Sha of Despair and it's possible redemption. This is Despair's Hope. Lorewalker Cho and of course Chi-Ji, Element/Celestial of Hope, make appearances. Different take on what happens AFTER the raiders defeat Immerseus.
Desperatio Est Spes
Never ending sadness. Loss. Darkness. Pain, anguish...the Sha of Despair couldn't find anything to rejoice about after his release by the newcomers to Pandaria. Pride told him that he should be proud! Proud of his new freedom! Of course Pride would say that. He thought he was better than their great father, Y'shaarj himself.
His ability to spread anguish where ever his presence took him! Pride loved that ability. Despair knew that he was the least of the Sha, however. What type of evil could pure sadness and loss bring people?
It could only bring hopelessness. That was what hurt Despair the most. What lingered in his mind second by second every hour of every day. His brothers couldn't feel true emotion. Couldn't even imagine that such a thing as hope existed.
Wrath, Doubt, Pride, Hatred, Violence and...Fear. Perhaps, in a way, fear could understand. It spread fear, fed on fear, but Despair wondered if, perhaps, deep within, Fear himself was afraid.
Despair felt fear, even though that wasn't what he embodied. Maybe some day, they would manage to be freed of the emotions that bound them.
Despair knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that hope was out there, but no matter how hard he tried, all he felt was anguish and deep, deep sadness. For the things his presence made people do.
He saw their faces, their calm, innocent pandaren eyes, when despair overwhelmed them and they gutted themselves with farming tools or hung themselves from the top of their holy temples. Their bulging eyes and twisted necks, the blood pooling from their wrists, hastened by the heated Kun-Lai pools...it only increased his already impossibly overwhelming sadness.
At the moment, Despair was in the Vale of Eternal Sorrows. It had been called something else once, but Despair only knew it as it was with his presence spread across the land. The great pink trees were blackened and dead, no new leaves grew. Even the trees knew there was no hope.
Despair had been twisted into some type of water spirit from the Pools of Power, but he didn't really care. He did as Pride bid, as always, since Pride was their leader, and hopefully, if he spread enough destruction, people would kill Despair. End his pain.
The black entrance to the palace or temple which Pride had took as his headquarters shone momentarily with light. Despair sighed, or at least expelled water and black smoke. That's all he really was, in the end. Nothing but black smoke that possessed the serene pandaren and made them gut themselves.
The shining light at the tunnel got closer and began to take shape. It appeared to be a type of bird native to Pandaria. A crane, he thought. A brilliantly glowing crane. Seeing it's light, spreading through him, over him, was impossible to put into thoughts at first.
"What are you?" Despair managed, his voice that of a water elemental rather than the dark voice of a Sha, his true form.
The bird inclined it's head. "You know me. Truly you do. You just can't name me yet. I am Chi-Ji." The bird bowed again.
"Who is Chi-Ji? Are you another one of those annoying humans or whatever they are sent to dispatch me? Perhaps shapeshifted into a bird, as some can? They have already defeated me. Their...whatever feelings they have...overwhelmed me and I sank back into despair."
The bird seemed to smile, which appeared impossible with a beak. Somehow, Despair sensed something...something...there. Another thing he couldn't name. Another feeling. It wasn't a bad one either.
"My true title is August Celestial Chi-Ji, the Red Crane Of Hope. I come for you."
Hope...Despair writhed inside. This was Despair's complete opposite. Hope. Light. Believing in things that are possible, and even some things that are not.
"Yes," Chi-Ji said, "That is hope. Even if you believe something to be impossible, such as the redemption and freedom of one of the Sha, it can happen. There is nothing that you cannot believe when you have Hope."
The light around the bird was increasing. He spread his wings wide, the light engulfing the room, the Sha of Despair, filling it with that same overwhelming feeling Despair hadn't been able to name, but now knew, without a doubt. Hope. Unlimited, never ending hope.
Whatever heart he still had soared. He felt the water in his body spilling from what were considered eyes. The pool of tears his hope had produced began glowing. A wave of light spread from them, covering the water within the Vale of Eternal Sorrows. No, not Eternal Sorrows. Nor was it Eternal Blossoms.
The Vale of Eternal Hope. He knew, without knowing how, that others, Pandaren, humans, elves, orcs...all of them, felt this hope and lifted their heads to the sky. Smiling in amazement at this unexpected cleansing rain. Rain from the body of the elemental once known as Despair, now known as Immerseus, protector of the Pools of Power, eternal servant of all that was Hope.
The rain began to wash away the damaging machines, the darkness engulfing the trees and animals, all the evil that Pride and his servant, Garrosh, had unleashed. Impossibly, a smile spread across the face of Immerseus, more tears of happiness, freedom, and hope spreading through the great pools.
"The only Sha capable of being redeemed. Of earning redemption. You have suffered long enough, my friend. Guard these Pools. Guard the Pools of Power so that Pride cannot rise again and fill this sacred Vale with sorrow once more. Immerseus."
Chi-Ji folded his wings back and nodded to Immerseus, which the Crane had indeed confirmed was Despair's new name. Chi-Ji nodded to him as an equal. They were now both guardians of something powerful, something essential to life.
"Great Crane, thank you. For all that you have done. I will protect the waters of the Vale with all that I am. I will spread your message of Hope to all that I can." Immerseus laughed. True laughter.
"I look forward to your next visit. To feel all that is Hope once again in my presence. Perhaps...my other brother, Fear...if you cannot redeem him, perhaps Yu-lon, in her great wisdom, can. Farewell."
Chi-Ji spread his wings and vanished in a brilliant spark of gold light. Immerseus, no longer Despair, felt out his new body. He was connected to all of the Vale.
His protection and aid would keep the pools safe, sacred, and healthy so long as he lived. Immerseus sank slowly into the waters of the Vale and sighed. It was like having a long nightmare and finally, finally waking up into warmth and comfort.
"Another happy ending for Pandaria's story..." A soft voice muttered, followed by the sound of a quill scratching parchment.
Immerseus assumed physical form and looked at the new visitor. Ah. A pandaren with one of the odd tabards. The one with twin dragons on it. A lorewalker. THE Lorewalker.
"Revered Lorewalker, may I ask to what pleasure I owe this honored visit?" Immerseus attempted an elemental bow.
The pandaren raised his gold eyes to the Vale's protector and bowed back. "I merely keep records of Pandaria's history. Full of surprises, it is. Always surprising me, never disappointing. I always was a sucker for a happy ending, at least." The pandaren smiled, his gold-bronze tabard sweeping the floor.
For the first time, Immerseus noticed something different about this pandaren. His...spirit...for lack of better words, didn't feel like the pandaren from before. Perhaps it was because he was no longer a Sha that pandaren felt different. Or there truly was something different about the Lorewalker.
"Lorewalker...why do chronicle the history of this world? What meaning does it have for you?" The water guardian asked.
Cho smiled. "My father needed someone to chronicle the history here. He knew that this place would, in the future, be cut off and isolated due to an attempt to subvert the the Sundering of the world. No one wanted to go, not even me. I thought it was as if father was simply wanting to get rid of one of his children."
The pandaren leaned against a delicately carved, amazingly beautiful statue of the Last Emperor. "I was sent against my will. Father told me it would be an honor and that I would come to love this great land. I was so angry for so many years. Then I met a man named Shaohao, and everything changed."
"The Last Emperor? Didn't he die over ten thousand years ago?" Immerseus remembered how Shaohao had cast him-as-Despair from his body, giving Despair his full, true form at last, and starting the cycle that would lead to his transformation into Immerseus, Guardian of the Vale of Eternal Hope.
Cho smiled mischievously, "Yes. Surely you know I am no true pandaren, though not for lack of desire. I fell in love with this race, this land. Shaohao taught me Hope, Wisdom, Fortitude, and Strength. As well as Pride. True, good pride. Pride of being who you are and not hating someone else for your situation in life. Shaohao is the best being I have ever known."
Cho closed his eyes, a large smile across his face. Immerseus thought for a moment that he saw a tear trickle down Cho's fur.
"Known? Has not the Emperor returned? I heard rumors from my...Sha brothers." Immerseus was confused. Was Shaohao dead or was he not? Who, or what, was this pandaren that he was able to live for thousands of years?
"His spirit returned to bless this land, to help us ready ourselves for the future. He will again take the bridge to beyond when his work is done. Pandaria has never needed an emperor, and it still doesn't." Cho sighed and looked up at the massive, lovingly carved statue of Shaohao.
"Who are you that you live forever, like a Sha? Are you one of the Celestials as well? Perhaps the Celestial of Knowledge?"
Cho laughed. "Far from it. The Celestials are beyond my race and I. We lost what made us special after the defeat of a monster. A monster who shattered the world a second time. Without my abilities, I didn't think I could be as capable a Lorewalker as before, but I was wrong. Those that my kind used to call lesser races are the greatest sources of lore and tales in all of Azeroth."
"You still didn't answer my question. What are you and why was my transformation into Immerseus so important?" The elemental was getting annoyed and splashed the pandaren with a small wave.
Cho wiped his face and smiled. "I'm sorry, Guardian. I keep records of great things as well as small things. This was a great thing. The redemption of a Sha could lead to redemption of other evils. I had to see it to believe it. As for who I really am...my true name is Chorodormu. I am what the newcomers call a Bronze Dragon."
Cho spread his arms. A great golden light flashed for a moment. A being Immerseus had never seen stood in the room with him. A massive being. A dragon. Golden scales rippling and sparkling in the reflection of the pool and the glowing orbs of light in sconces on the wall. This being was beautiful.
Immerseus bowed his head as much as was possible. "I am honored, Lord Dragon."
Cho laughed, a bell-like dragon laugh, "I am no Lord Dragon, I am simply a Lorewalker. I will stay on Pandaria until the end of my days. This land is special. Only here does the impossible become possible."
Immerseus and the dragon lorewalker laughed. Yes, the impossible was possible in Pandaria, Shaohao's sacred land of peace, prosperity, and balance.