The three arrived in Astranaar to a bustle that Colin had never seen in a night elf settlement. They had always seemed so serene, yet here, people were running left and right from building to building, carrying crates, armor, etc. Colin watched, surprised, as Kyra brought up the topic.

"Why is it so busy?"

Vylira nodded, "Partly it's the effort back at Maestra's Post. Aside from that, there are some fire elementals causing some havoc to the east. Nothing dangerous, but it has everybody worried; Astranaar hasn't been attacked in thousands of years."

Kyra watched the various elves running back and forth, noticing one who actually had on armor, stopping them and pulling out her missive from Maestra, "Who's organizing this all?"

The soldier replied and Kyra handed her the letter, "Make sure you pass this on to them."

Nodding, they ran off once more, leaving Kyra turning back toward her sister, "And who's keeping an eye on the elementals?"

Vylira sighed, "I don't know. Look, you just got here- you haven't even been here before! Can't I at least show you around before you run off back to work?"

Kyra reluctantly nodded as she groaned herself, leaving Vylira to continue, "By the goddess, you'd think you were Tyrande herself. Aren't you on a sabbatical? Why are you so quick to play soldier?"

Colin admired Vylira's ability to ask questions he had no place to ask himself, though Kyra's reply scorched the two of them, "Should I apologize for wanting to fight for my people?!"

Drolly, Vylira replied, "Falore, you need to-"

"And you're a Silverwing!" Kyra interrupted, accusingly.

Vylira scoffed, "Is that what this is about? You want to run off and be a Silverwing? There's more, even to that, than being in endless combat, I'm afraid. But go on, play soldier all you want. I won't stop you."

Kyra stared at her sister, thinking about her dare, before turning and stomping off toward the other end of the small village. Colin stood there, a tightness in his stomach due to how uncomfortable he had been during all of this. In an instant, however, Vylira turned around toward him, raising her arms in a questioning manner.

"Well, I guess I can still show you around. You weren't properly introduced to my love, Astranaar, last time, correct?"

Colin peered off beyond her shoulder, "Shouldn't we-"

"Look," she spoke up, gravely, "Why did Kyra come with you?"

Colin stared at her deep eyes, confused, though he knew the answer; it had rolled around in his mind since day one, "To find her place in this world, I suppose."

"What if her place is just fifteen feet down the road?" Vylira questioned, quietly, "What if her place doesn't involve you?"

At this, Colin heated up in embarrassment, though as she went on, he managed to remain calm, "What if her place wouldn't involve me?"

Colin lowered his head, causing Vylira to sigh in compassion, "Look, let's just give her her time in whatever it is she wants. In the meantime, we have some spidersilk stew in the common room. Care to try some?"

Feeling guilty, Colin stared off again, though he returned to reality sooner this time. He didn't want to leave Kyra, but at the same time, she had been the one to run off anyway. Dismayed, he relinquished, following Vylira into the large building.

Colin stared at the swirling bowl of soup he held in his hand, noticing bits of, what appeared to be, meat, though it honestly could have been anything. He took the spoon and poked on it as much as he could, given the consistency, and only looked up once Vylira took her seat.

"There aren't any illnesses a human could end up with saying this, right?" he asked, skeptically, returning his attention to what been served to him.

Vylira shrugged, "Not that I know of. It's said that Khadgar himself ate gallons of this every day, though that was mostly just an advert. The same caller claimed Valerian ate it and cried with happiness."

Colin dipped his spoon into the liquid and pulled it out, examining its viscosity as Vylira questioned, "So, why didn't you go with my sister?"

"Well," Colin started, thankful for the lack of ability to eat and talk, "I have a sort of aversion to violence. at least when it comes to myself. I know it's a part of life, but it's a part I don't care to partake in. I'd think Kyra would have known that when she ran off earlier."

Vylira grinned, "And you two couldn't be more different, huh?"

Colin sighed, peering away as he noticed this, "I suppose, though it's more to do with our goals than personalities. I don't particularly mind though; like I said, I accept violence as a reality."

His host finished chewing a bite of stew and rested her head on her propped-up hands, "And why are you so…adverse to it?"

Colin shrugged, "When I was a kid, I lived on Theramore, so violence was more or less a daily thing. One day the Horde assaulted the fort and killed most everybody before being repelled; I had to watch a lot of people I loved die."

"And yet you became an adventurer," Vylira noted, ironically, "Going on to break bread with that same faction."

As though noticing this for the first time, Colin lowered his head, "I've…thought a lot about that. At first, sure, I was upset, but…"

He sighed, "There's a lot I've had to come to terms with. Sure, it was the Alliance who were encroaching upon their land, but what would have been a more constructive response? That's why I became, more or less, a neutral faction myself; there can be no winners in this war."

"I would rather die myself than live with the guilt of having killed another," Colin concluded, taking a bite of the stew, which was about as bitter as his words.

Vylira grinned, "You certainly are unique. Do you usually see things as so black and white?"

Grinning again, Colin stared back at her, "If you ask anybody who has known me, I'm either a saint or a sinner. There's no real middle ground that I'm concerned with, and I'd like to be known more for that first one than the second."

He returned back to dissecting his bowl, missing Vylira's longing glance at him, before he asked, "What about you? What's your life story?"

"In fifty words or less?" she questioned quickly, before continuing, "Well, I'm bound by duty to my people, and, after so many hundreds of years, I've become more disillusioned with the life of a soldier."

She stared up at the sky, before smirking and returning to the conversation, "You have to kill a hell of a lot of people to be known after death as a great soldier."

"So you want to be known?" Colin asked, sincerely.

Vylira shrugged, "I mean, more like remembered, I guess. I want to make my mark on this world. That's why I became a Silverwing; it was so volatile here before, it seemed a fast track to glory. After so many years of rigor, you miss the more tender things in life, I guess."

She shot a glance at her human companion, "We can't all have slept beside taurens and trolls."

Catching what she was getting at, Colin only grinned as he finally pushed his bowl of soup to the side, "Touché."

Night fell quickly while Colin was in Vylira's presence. She had a much faster pace in life than Kyra had, and while it was exhausting, it certainly reminded him more of the bustle of home than the tranquil hours upon Teldrassil than Kyra seemed to evoke. Vylira left him in the guest room, and without asking, told him she'd direct Kyra to the same place. Had there been one less bed, Colin would have thought it a horrible joke.

As was his nightly ritual, Colin took inventory, which was a heftier task on this night, given all the trinkets he had received. Vylira spared little expense, giving his various items, like a wood carving of Ursoc and a vial of moonwell water, a popular tourist draw. They had even come across some night elf children who offered him their toy, a small hacky-sack-like ball that had been made by Darnassisn tailors.

He carefully penned names of who'd given what, finishing up about ten minutes later. As he finished, he heard voices rising outside the door, and he curiously made his way over toward it, listening against the wood. It was clearly Kyra and Vylira, and besides being able to tell that the general conversation was more confrontational than usual, he couldn't tell what exactly being said. As the speaking hakted, he knew to return to his bedside, and sure enough, immediately afterwards, Kyra walked in, angrily pushing the door shut behind her.

"HMMGH!" she groaned angrily, clenching her head with both hands, "Why can't she just- Argh!"

Colin turned to her, "I think she's just looking out for you."

"I know, I know," she replied, still heatedly, "She's been looking out for me since I was an infant. They all have. Now they all think they can tell me what to do, where to be, blah, blah, blah."

Colin grinned, "Is Kyra Shadowmoon defying a superior officer?"

She drolly shot a stare at him, which elicited a short chuckle from him as she went on, "It's different with family. Tyriel judges me on my merit; on what she knows I'm capable of. Vylira judges me on that sickly baby that is dead to me now. I'm capable of so much more now; why can't they see that?"

She sat on her bed and buried her face in her hands, turning quiet. Colin watched her, suddenly recalling every awkward and stupid thing he'd done in front of her, clenching his teeth at the thoughts. He slowly walked toward her, sitting beside her and wrapping and arm around her shoulder.

"Hey," he spoke up, "If you make a mistake, you have thousands of years to correct it. I'm guessing Vylira doesn't want you to be a Silverwing, right? I mean, if it's night the right path, you'll only spend so many hundreds of years finding that out for yourself."

His heart ached for a brief moment, his chest tightening at the thought, "If you want to do that, I mean…you should go for it."

She looked up at him, revealing a few tracks of tears, sighing, "It's always somebody disconnected from all the Shadowmoon mayhem that sees everything.

Colin grinned, gloomy, "Had I said something to Vylira's liking, I'm sure your response would be much different."

Kyra chuckled a bit as he continued, "It's just a human's perspective, though. If we spend a hundred years learning something's wrong, we're talking about wasting a life. Your lives are much more lenient."

Kyra lowered her head in thought as Colin stood back up, his hand leaving her shoulder last. He returned to his bed, packing up everything sprawled out amongst his bed. Kyra remained staring at the floor, wrapped up in thought, though listening to the rummaging being done by Colin. As time went on, however, the noise slowed until it completely stopped.

Kyra opened her eyes to see a distinct blue glow at her feet. She looked up to see that it had encompassed the entire room, and that Colin was standing there, holding his cheek, where the source of the light sat. It was as if the moon had entered through the cracks in the walls, but instead of a small line, it simply engulfed the entire room.

She sat there, still, curious as to what was going to happen, and perhaps, a bit fearful. Colin remained there, turned away so that she couldn't see his face, though he suddenly turned toward the door, slowly making his way out. Kyra quietly stood up and followed behind him, his steps remaining slow, but becoming more and more deliberate. She remained at the front of the inn as Colin walked across the road, carefully making his way down the riverbank, pulling some of the water there up to his face.

As though expecting something to have happen, he stood there for a moment, though his cheek remained bright. He repeated the process, pulling another handful of water to his cheek, now rubbing his hand against his skin. Still, it remained. Now he become more upset, pulling handful after handful of water to his cheek, quickly, before kneeling down into the water and splashing it into his face, dipping his head into the river and vigorously rubbing at his cheek.

Kyra watched, sadly, as Colin continued to assault his cheek, rubbing his cheek so hard and angrily that he had starting catching it with his fingernails, causing blood to begin pouring from his cheek. As this went on, he had begun to cry furiously, his tears mixing with blood and river water, his cries being silenced by the vigorous splashing of water around him until he stopped thrashing, simply kneeling in the river, crying alone to himself.

His eyes shut, he was alone, but for the arms that wrapped around him, suddenly. Kyra had knelt down behind him, resting her head against the back of his shoulder. Colin could only bring his hand up to his cheek, wiping away the blood from it, only now surveying the damage.

"Why does she want me?" he muttered, near silently, "Why will she tell people we're coming, but not tell that a military force is as well?"

Kyra was surprised to hear that, though she didn't express it, leaving Colin to go on, "Why will she free me from a prison, but she won't protect the damn people that actually worship her?"

To this, Kyra stood up and helped Colin to his feet, walking around to face him, holding her hands on his shoulders, "Because she sees something important in you. And whether or not you want to accept it, she will continue to peg you for whatever you have in store."

Colin stood there, still disillusioned. Kyra watched him for a moment before releasing a sigh, pulling a rag from within her armor, patting down his cheek, still raw from his clawing himself. In doing so, her totem had fallen from her pocket, catching onto her armor and dangling at her side. Colin's eyes trailed down and his eyes locked there, stunned.

"I'm a priestess of Elune," Kyra spoke up, calmly, "So I have just a bit of duty when it comes to her will. I understand how you feel, Colin; about me, anyway. If you just put that aside, just a little, allow me to be Elune's representative here, for you. To protect you when your good will prevents you from doing so. To be everything to you that Elune is to me."

Colin looked back up to Kyra, their eyes meeting. He could have sworn that he saw the stars within them. Slowly, he lowered his head again, nodding.

"If that is your will," he spoke up, "I won't stop you."

Kyra smiled, "It is."

She pulled him closer and hugged him, though Colin was too drained to reciprocate. She patted his back and pulled away, returning her rag to his cheek and allowing him to hold it against it himself. She then helped him back to the inn, the two having had enough of a night.

Colin slept soundly after that, having worn out every bit of his emotions. Though Kyra stayed awake, staring across the room, at Colin's cheek, once again faintly glowing in that handprint that she had now memorized. She now realized that her pledge to him was in opposition to her personal goals. Though she didn't worry. Either future would be nice, she thought.