Disclaimer: I do now own World of Warcraft. All fictional names used in this fanfic are made up and do not represent any real characters. If you have a character with that name, it is purely coincidental.

Chapter 2

Perspective

Haiden sighed again. It was well past his scheduled hour of departure and the girl still wasn't here.

"Hey elf boy," said the windmaster, "you sure this friend of yours is coming? My wyverns need sleep too you know."

"Yes, I'm sure." It was a lie, but he refused to believe she wasn't coming. He needed to show this girl to his superiors. If she was indeed not addicted to magic, his people could learn a lot from her. He'd even go after her and beg her on his knees if he had to. The girl was definitely coming to Silvermoon.

He continued pacing in front of the wyvern nests, contemplating different types of begging in his head. He wondered if she had a soft spot for crying.

After another half an hour, the girl finally came. Haiden was torn between hugging her and complaining that she was five hours late. He opted for a neutral expression instead.

"Thanks for waiting. It was hard making a decision, and I had to say goodbye to everyone."

"No problem," he lied. Oh, his superior was going to kill him. Then again, it was the first time in his entire career that he was late. That ought to count for something. "Are you sure you want to come?" He then mentally slapped himself for saying that. 'What am I doing? I'm supposed to convince her to come not seed more doubts.'

She contemplated for a moment, but it seemed like an eternity for him. "Yes. I'm sure."

He nodded and turned to the windmaster, who grumbled something about his poor wyverns needing rest.

Naidi stared at the sea under the dim light of the setting sun. She closed her eyes, wanting to feel the salted breeze one more time. She was going to miss the sea. It had been her home for… as long as she could remember. But the elder was right. It was not her destiny to live here. It was time to grow up, and do the right thing.

She turned toward Haiden with a determined expression on her face. She didn't shed any tears.

It was not the first time Naidi had been in contact with wyverns. She sometimes helped the windmaster take care of them. Most of them even remembered her scent. But it was the first time she actually got to ride them. She wasn't scared per se, just slightly concerned. She wished she wouldn't have to ride one alone, but there was hardly room for one more on Haiden's animal, and the poor thing would have a hard time carrying them both anyway.

Her traveling partner said they would reach Silvermoon in a couple of hours if they didn't have to wait too much at the stop along the way. He explained that they couldn't fly directly to Silvermoon, as the wyverns weren't trained to fly there yet, so they had to stop at the closest place the wyverns were trained to fly and take another ride to Silvermoon from there. Which was Light's Hope Chapel in Eastern Kingdoms. Haiden said something about the people living there being friendly towards both Alliance and Horde, but she was too preoccupied with keeping herself on the wyvern that she wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings.

She later learned that had been his mission in the first place – travel by foot to Revantusk Village to tell the windmaster to begin training his wyverns to fly directly to Silvermoon. That and strengthening the diplomatical bonds between the trolls and blood elves. They had promised aid in the form of men and supplies if they ever requested it. She wondered if the elves would actually bother with helping that little fishing village. Well it didn't matter. She herself would return in a heartbeat if they ever needed her help.

At the Light's Hope Chapel they traded in their wyverns for some sort of huge bats that lived in the area. Sadly the bats weren't much more comfortable than the wyverns, and they also smelled funny. They probably didn't like being washed. She made a mental note to take a bath as soon as possible after landing.

It was already dark when they arrived at the Silvermoon gates, so Naidi didn't see much of the "astounding architecture" Haiden was bragging about. The gates seemed big and fancy. She was too tired to notice much else.

Haiden offered her a place to stay at his house, and she accepted. She didn't have any money to pay for an inn and she felt a bit uncomfortable asking him to pay for her. She'd have to get some sort of job soon so she wouldn't be a bother for too long, though he insisted she was more than welcomed to stay for as long as she wanted.

His house turned out to be this two-storey apartment with two bedrooms (thankfully), situated in a place called Walk of Elders. She briefly wondered if she should ask Haiden for a map of the city so she wouldn't get lost in the future. It was probably a good idea.

His apartment had two bathrooms, each of them on a different storey and next to a bedroom. She would be taking the one upstairs. She had to admit it was a nice change from her modest hut back in the village. She couldn't remember if she actually slept in a real bed before. She probably did, during the time she lived with her family. That reminded her of the task she came here to do. But she would not worry about that now. She was too tired.

At least the bath would be an easy task. The elves apparently procured fresh water from the underground through a complicated system that involved both pipes and magic. All you had to do was rotate a small cog and water would flow from the pipe directly in the washing bowl or bathtub. She had to give the elves credit for being inventive, though they probably did it out of laziness. In her village they would use the old-fashion wells.

The water was also heated from a stove that connected with the bathtub, where Haiden had kindly started a fire when he led her to the room. The water would be nice and hot in about an hour, perfect for a bath. She used this time to take note of her surroundings.

She didn't bring any clothes with her, partly because they would be difficult to transport on a wyvern and partly because most of them were only good for hunting. So she settled for sleeping with a towel on and washing the clothes she was already wearing in the morning. She would worry about buying new clothes later.

She didn't actually bring anything with her besides the clothes she was wearing. She had lived in that village for years, yet she didn't have anything she wanted to bring with her. It probably meant she wasn't meant to stay there for the rest of her life. Well, she refused to forget the people who had accepted her as their own in her time of need. She would visit them someday. She promised.

After a hot bath (she had to admit the colored soaps Haiden had brought her smelled very nice) and drying her long hair, she cleaned the bathroom. It seemed all she had to do was pull the little cap at the bottom of the tub for the water to evacuate through there who-knows-where. She was definitely starting to like this place.

She climbed into the queen-sized bed in the room and pulled the thin sheets over her. It was warmer in Silvermoon it seems, as the bedding was thinner than the blankets she used in her old home. Then again, she supposed a hut with thin walls and no windows was not exactly well isolated from the cold.

She thought she wouldn't be able to sleep in a new place and was already steeling herself for a long night of rolling in the bed sheets, but as soon as she extinguished the candles on the nightstand and closed her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.

"Rise and shine sleepy head! Why would you be in bed sleeping when there's such a beautiful day outside? Then again, it's always a beautiful day in our lovely Silvermoon. I guess you could say we're kind of blessed, whomever the person doing the blessing is. I've never really believed in any gods. When I was little…"

Naidi cracked open her eyes to the figure that had awaken her and was now babbling incessantly while pulling the curtains and opening the windows, letting sunlight and the cool morning air in.

"But then again, you could say that people have always been superstitious about something. My mom used to say…"

"Sorry, have we met before?"

The figure (Naidi could now see that she was a girl) turned around with a surprised expression on her face, before she realized something and grinned.

"Oh, sorry, I forgot we haven't been introduced. I'm Haiden's sister, Elania. You're Naidi, right? Haiden told me all about you this morning over breakfast. I live a few blocks away and I always come and cook breakfast for him. His cooking is downright awful, I tell you! If it weren't for me he'd go to training starved to death. He can't even…"

Naidi blinked while staring at the girl. Now that she looked at her, she did indeed resemble Haiden a bit. Her long and curly hair was the exact same shade of blonde as Haiden's and their eyes were of the same shape. She was probably the same age as her, judging from her stature. That gave her an idea.

"Um, Elania. Could I ask for a favor?"

The girl paused her ranting and looked at her.

"Can I borrow some clothes?"

Elania had been right. It really was a beautiful day outside, warm and sunny, not a cloud in the sky. The wind was blowing a relaxed breeze, just enough so the heat wouldn't be unbearable.

Haiden's sister had kindly gone back to her house after asking her what kind of clothes she preferred. Not being too picky with her outfits, Naidi had just shrugged and said she would wear anything the other girl wasn't very fond of. She didn't want to wear her best piece of clothing. She had an odd tendency to get careless with her clothes. Needless to say, most of her old clothes were full of cuts and patches.

She did have one requirement, though, and that was pants. Nothing personal, but she wasn't exactly comfortable with wearing one of the long robes the women around here seemed so fond of wearing. She preferred practical over fashionable.

Back in her village, she used to make her clothes from leather she herself had skinned while hunting, and it was safe to say they would pale in comparison to what she was wearing now. She could never hope to achieve such intricate details and pleasant assortment of colors with her rather rudimentary leatherworking. The shirt and shoes Elaine had brought along complemented the pants perfectly. And she couldn't help but inwardly smirk at the choice of color. Green had always been her favorite.

So it surprised her a bit when Elaine had mentioned (after apologizing several times beforehand) that it was her least favorite piece of clothing. But she realized why when she looked at what the other girl was wearing. To say the velvet robe she had on looked insanely well decorated was an understatement. Was she going to a ball later on? She would have thought a dress like that would be reserved for a special occasion. Even her own clothes, which she had considered to be extremely elegant, looked ridiculously plain in comparison to the other girl. Not that she was jealous or anything. She didn't concern herself with petty things like that.

One glance around her told her that Elania was clearly not the only one to dress in extravagant clothes. Everywhere you looked you could see blood elves wearing elegant and beautifully decorated outfits. Intricate hairstyles. Extravagant jewelry. And perfume. Definitely too much perfume. Elves were clearly more focused on their image than anything else.

Because last night she had arrived late and was too tired to notice much, she didn't have a chance to actually see the city. But now, in broad daylight, she could clearly distinguish the beautiful architecture of Silvermoon. Red was the dominant color, but also white and golden. Houses and apartments were built close to each other, and the way the facades were decorated was simply breathtaking. Intricate columns and archways, floating platforms and flower pots, ornaments that were undoubtedly made of pure gold, everything gave the impression of wealth and prosperity.

And the mana crystals! How could one possibly miss the huge, green crystals floating next to the roads? The strange halo of light that surrounded them made it impossible to not stop and stare. And the more she stared, the more she could have sworn she saw a pair of eyes in them, staring back at her with the same intensity. 'Creepy.'

There was an odd smell in the air, the same smell as the one she felt when Haiden showed her a mana crystal. It was a smell she now associated with magic. But it didn't feel so strong here, probably being mixed with the smell of the flowers decorating every green corner of the city. It was probably a way of masking the scent so the blood elves wouldn't go crazy with their hunger.

The elves were clearly more obsessed with magic than what she originally thought. People were tapping mana crystals on benches, on the sidewalk and even while walking. She saw one man tie his shoelaces with magic. A woman had a floating mirror in front of her while a make-up pad was puffing some powder on her face, without her even needing to lift a finger! Brooms were sweeping the road by themselves. Gardening tools worked on flowers. Heck, even the guards were some sort of robots run by magic.

They were so completely dependant on magic it wasn't even funny. Naidi didn't know whether she should feel jealousy or pity for them. Jealousy because they were obviously living in the lap of luxury, or pity because their dependency on magic was a weakness.

At one point, Elania pulled her into a tavern, babbling something about it having the best wine in the city. Upon entering, she had to work not to trip over something because of the temporary blindness. If the exterior of the city was bright and colorful, the interior was the exact opposite. The room was small, with a low ceiling, and tables were cramped together in one area, with a small bar to her left and a door covered by a curtain behind it where she assumed was the kitchen. The staff consisted of a barmaid and bartender, and probably a cook she guessed.

The silk tablecloths were dark blue and the chair cushions were purple, and she couldn't be sure about the walls because of the scarce lighting. The only source of light in the table area was a big chandelier in the middle of the ceiling, which she guessed must be made of gold, and it seemed to contain more decorations than actual candles. Dark blue gossamer-like curtains hung from the ceiling in several places, and the stair railing was of course made of gold. She couldn't see any windows.

It all seemed so… gloomy. Rich and extravagant, yes, but gloomy nonetheless. It was the exact opposite of what she would have expected. She wondered why the elves preferred dark interiors.

Her musings were interrupted when they were approached by the barmaid and seated at a two-person table in the middle of the room. Around them, more elves were obviously enjoying the wine, some only slightly tipsy but most of them drunk. Elania ordered some wine she couldn't understand the name of, then resumed her rambling. How the girl could talk so much about anything, Naidi had no idea.

"And then he asked me why I preferred fire over arcane. You know, arcane seems to be what everyone around here uses, but it's more of a utility rather than actually helpful in a fight. Fire is more offensive, while ice is definitely defensive, though that can be deadly too. I've seen a good number of mages…"

Somewhere throughout her ranting, the girl confessed she was training as a mage, while her brother was a high ranking blood knight. Naidi didn't know what a blood knight was, and Elania explained they were the blood elf equivalent of a paladin, using weapons and heavy armor to fight in addition to the Light, which was some sort of magic.

This reminded her that she hadn't seen Haiden all morning. She asked Elania if she had any idea where her brother was.

The girl snorted, a strange sound coming from a person like her. "Like he ever tells me where he goes. He's so secretive all the time! He just ate breakfast in a hurry and went out, telling me to watch over you. He's probably training or being debriefed about his mission or who knows what else he does with his time."

They were interrupted when the barmaid brought them their wine. The cup was made of crystal, with golden ornaments, the same as the mug that contained the beverage. She briefly wondered why would they use such expensive cups when wooden ones would do the job just as well.

Her mind wondered to her village back in the Hinterlands. How different the life she had was from the lives of those living here! Everything was so plentiful, so easy to get. No one had to hunt or fish their meals. Or build their own huts. Or defend themselves against raids.

They knew how to have fun, on the other hand. The amount of food and drink they had on the tables was enough to feed her entire village for a week. She remembered when they were raided by some forest trolls and all their food supplies were stolen. She didn't eat for days, choosing to give everything she hunted to the sick and wounded instead. She wondered if the elves would have done the same.

How selfish their life seemed! They were living here in their little crystal globe, with everything they could possibly want at the tip of their fingers. They probably never knew any hardships. Hell, did they even know anything else existed beyond their safe little city?!

This was not her. She could never live like this. Why did she come here in the first place?

Oh, right. Her family.

She was starting to have doubts. If her family was still alive, was this the way they lived too? Could they ever accept someone like her? Could she accept them as her parents? Would she be happy to see them, or disgusted that this is how they lived? If she were to stay here, would she end up like this as well?

Now she was angry, at no one in particular and at everything at the same time. She felt like she needed to escape, to get out of this city before she started to become like them.

"Hey, Naidi, you okay? You've been brooding into your drink since we got here. Is there something wrong?"

'Yes,' she wanted to say. 'Everything is wrong.'

"I need to go out."

"But-"

She didn't say anything else and rose from her seat. Making her way through the tables, she went outside and had to wait for her eyes to get adjusted to the light. Thankfully, Elania chose not to follow her. She wanted to be alone.

The tavern where they had stopped was close to the city gates. She didn't look at the guards while she practically stomped out of Silvermoon and had to work on not hitting the drunk blood elf that greeted her as she made her way to the road.

Turning right and walking away from the gates, she let herself take a few deep breaths. The air was finally free of the poorly masked stench of magic, and she wanted to enjoy it. It seemed to help her clear her head.

The forest was beautiful, with tall, strangely grown trees. Each of the leaves seemed to have a unique color, from light green to dark red. She spotted some sort of big, red bird through the branches of one tree. It was a dragonhawk, she remembered. Haiden had showed her one when they first arrived.

She turned her head away from the trees and back on the road, when she suddenly stopped. Her eyes went so wide she thought they were going to pop out of their sockets. She was frozen in place.

Because in front of her, a few yards away, the land was dead. Literally. The beautiful grass was replaced by black soot. The pavement that made the road was dug up and scrambled. Only dark brown stumps remained of what were once trees. And the smell of death hung in the air.

The dead area seemed to be only a few yards wide, but it stretched southwards as far as her eyes could see. It was like a huge path of death that stopped at the city walls. What was this place?

Some sounds could be heard from the part that stretched southwards. She jerked her head in that direction and felt something akin to fear take hold of her. Someone was coming, or more like something. She couldn't tell if they were blood elves, because their skin was some sort of green color. Their bones were twisted in weird ways. Some didn't even have eyes, or were missing limbs. Their faces wore terrifying expressions. Part of their flesh was rotten. They looked like corpses. Moving, walking corpses.

She had enough presence of mind to jump into a bush and stay hidden. She watched as the corpses (she couldn't think of any other way to call them) made their way towards the city. She now looked at the wall, and saw that it wasn't, in fact, a wall at all. There was a huge gap in the real wall, barricaded by wood and other debris. She saw some blood elves there, undoubtedly guarding the place. Their uniforms were different that what she saw the guards in the city wear, green instead of red. They didn't carry shields and seemed to wear leather armor. They were armed with swords, and were standing in a fighting position.

The woman in the middle of them yelled an attack order, and they charged the walking dead. They made quick work of them, as the dead didn't seem to carry any weapons. They fell after a few quick sword swipes. The group of guards retreated back to the barricade after finishing their jobs.

"Hey you!"

Naidi froze as she felt something sharp at her throat. Someone was behind her. She was so focused on the battle she didn't notice someone sneaking up on her.

"Who are you? Why were you hiding in a bush?"

She gulped.

"I…I was just watching the fight. I didn't mean any harm."

The person behind her relaxed and sheathed their sword. She turned around, only to come to face with a male blood elf wearing the same uniform as the guards she just watched fighting.

"Sorry, for a moment I thought you were an undead or something," he said while he rose to his feet. "Some of them are smart enough to sneak up on us." He extended a hand to her.

"Undead?" She accepted his hand and rose to her feet. He was slightly taller than her.

"I know, stupid, right? You don't look like an undead. I must be getting paranoid…"

She realized he was talking about the walking corpses. 'Undead… Well the name certainly fits well.'

"It's okay. I shouldn't sneak up on people like that, but I've never actually seen undead before."

He seemed surprised. "Really? I take it you're not from around these parts, are you?"

"No. I've lived somewhere else for the past few years. I just arrived yesterday night."

"Hmm…now that I look at you, you don't seem like a blood elf either. Are you a high elf?"

She blushed a little when he stared into her eyes.

"Not…exactly, but I guess you could say that."

He smiled. "You don't see many high elves around these parts. Well, be careful next time you walk around. The undead aren't that strong, but if they catch you off-guard you could be hurt. You shouldn't travel alone."

"I see."

"Are you lost? Do you want me to accompany you?"

"That won't be necessary, farstrider. I'll take it from here."

They both turned their heads surprised at the man who spoke. He was wearing heavy armor and a red and black tabard. He carried a heavy-looking mace on his back, and his long blond hair was hung in a ponytail.

"Haiden," she acknowledged him. "I…I was just-"

"You shouldn't have left the city alone. The forest is dangerous."

She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at him. Who did he think he is?

"I can take care of myself."

"I can see that." He looked pointedly at the other man present. "Don't talk to strangers either."

Naidi couldn't believe how rude he was. Was he the same Haiden she met yesterday? "He was only trying to help."

"I'm sure he was. Come, we have to return. There is someone you must meet." He turned around and started walking back to the city gates.

"I don't think so!" she yelled at his retreating back.

The blood elf she met earlier, who had been quiet throughout the entire exchange, put one hand on Naidi's shoulder and gave her a small smile.

"He's right. You should go."

She looked at him. "But-"

"I need to go back to my team anyway. See you around."

"Wait," she blurted out as he was turning around to leave. "My…my name's Naidi."

He smiled and shook her hand. "Nice to meet you, Naidi. I'm Keldan."

She watched him leave with a blush on her cheeks. Then she remembered Haiden who was still waiting for her to follow him, and her mood changed from content to angry in a matter of seconds. She jogged a little to catch up with him, then proceeded to scowl to his back.

"That was very rude, you know."

"I know," he said, not even bothering to look at her. Her anger only increased.

"I can't believe you! He was really trying to help."

"By putting a sword to your neck?"

She paused. So he did see that.

"It…it was only an accident."

"And if he had killed you on the spot, would that have been an accident as well?"

She didn't have a comeback for that. But she was still angry with him.

"Why did you leave the city?"

She remembered exactly why. Vibrant colors, gloomy interiors, abundance and extravagance. It was too much for her. She couldn't understand why the elves lived like that. She thought they were living in a crystal globe, away from the hardships of life. That they weren't capable of making sacrifices for the ones they loved.

She was wrong. They could and have made sacrifices. They fight the undead daily so their fellow brethren can have even an illusion of peace. They drown themselves in pleasure so they can forget what real life is like. So they can forget how much they lost in their fight against the undead.

Magic. Power. Immortality. She never had any of that, and she could only imagine how losing them could make you feel.

"I needed to readjust my perspective on life."

He raised an eyebrow at her, but didn't comment.