Hey everybody! So just to address a few things, I made the story move a bit faster in the last couple of chapters, because I kind of wanted the Vanilla arc to be over with. Its main purpose was to introduce Silas, Serg, Tengiu, and Jaqle, and since that was done, there wasn't a lot of story left for vanilla WoW that I could really address. Now that we're beginning the Burning Crusade arc, the story is going to be moving at a more regular pace and chapters will be getting longer from here on out. I wanted to introduce some new (and old!) characters again and see what's going on with them!

So here we go, let's jump right into the Burning Crusade.

Chapter 36: Return

Realizing I was returning to Quel'thalas was difficult at first. I had never seen Quel'thalas after the march of the Scourge through the sacred land of the elves. I was not prepared for what I saw when I arrived in what was called the Ghostlands. I looked around at what was once the beautiful land of Eversong. I sat upon my skeletal horse and just looked at the land for a while. Serg and Tengiu offered me the time to take the sights in. The lynxes and the bats were infected and sickly, and would flee at the very sight of me and my horse. Deathholme was a silent, foreboding reminder of the Scourge's decimation of the elven homeland. We rode in silence, the others silent and respectful in our trip through the Ghostlands. The Dead Scar was another reminder that this once majestic land wouldn't be the same for many years.

"Matthew." Serg finally broke the silence. "Are you alright?"

I nodded in silence. "I would prefer to remember this land as it once was, not as it is now."

We continued to travel north along the road. Some of the ziggurats still jutted up from the land, and many of the prominent villages and towns of southern Eversong were haunted by the trapped souls of the elves, others were infested with agents of the Scourge that were lost since the Lich King had gone silent in his crusade to snuff out life on Azeroth.

"I've a favor to ask of you, Serg." I said as we stopped to rest.

"Anything." Serg replied, pulling Razor up next to my horse.

"I want you to act as the true ambassador here."

"Why?" He asked, clearly confused. "It is the Forsaken who have arranged this meeting."

"Because many of the elves may remember me or know me from my living years. I want the elves to serve the horde because they want to, because it is the right thing to do, not because of who I was."

"Am." Serg correct, but I said nothing.

"They would be inclined to do as I say, but I know the orcs are the true leaders of our horde. The Forsaken may have arranged this meeting, but I'd rather the elves follow the orcs because they want to, not because I swayed them to do so."

"You want their motives to be pure." Serg pointed out, and I nodded. "Matthew, has anyone ever told you that you have a habit of waxing verbose?"

I nodded. "A time or two." I said, looking up the road towards Tranquillien.

"We are to meet our escort there, are we not?" Serg asked, and I nodded.

"We should go." Tengiu said. "Bad vibes 'ere, guys."

"I am inclined to agree. I've heard there are abominations that still wander the Ghostlands." I said. "Dangerous sort to be mixing in with."

We continued our trip up the road, and even in Tranquillien, I was not prepared for what I saw. Most of the silver and blue had been replaced by red and gold, and the statues had been changed to much more flamboyant things, instead of the honorable visages of the elves they once were. We saw a trio of what I assumed was Farstriders mounted on Hawkstriders in the middle of the town, waiting for us. I pulled my horse back to allow Serg to take the lead. I was content to observe for now. One was a woman dressed in rather revealing armor, with a lynx standing watch at her side. She had a bow in her hand. Then there were two men, one had his arm in a sling with a crossbow, and he had a lynx as well.

Now, the third, I still find rather amusing that we would meet here, again, like this. The man was scruffy and rugged, with a gun strapped to his back. He had a scar down one cheek and dark, midnight colored hair. He had a coyote at his side, with fur as white as snow. He was puffing on a joint between his lips. So far, I was not impressed.

Then I saw their eyes. Instead of the gentle, glowing blue, it was a sickly, fel green color and they all gave off the stink of tainted magic. They stared at us as if we were to attack at any point. We stared at each other for several moments, and then the scarred one looked at me.

"You the one we're supposed to have words with?" He asked, but I shook my head.

"The ambassador Sylvanas sent had been wounded on the road here." I lied. "I took his place, but this isn't my field." I gestured to Serg. "This orc will be taking his place."

"That wasn't the deal." Hissed the woman. "We're dealing with Sylvanas and the Forsaken for a reason."

"And you're dealing with the horde. All of it. We all have a say in the events of this meeting." Serg said.

The scarred one narrowed his eyes at the orc. "Perhaps we should suspend this treat then and send letters to Sylvanas." He puffed on his joint and released a cloud of foul air.

"Be my guest." Serg said. "How long do you think that your people will last while we wait for the Forsaken ambassador recovers? I wonder how long your people will last. Come, my friends."

I wanted to protest, but I hoped Serg knew what he was doing. Tengiu and I bowed our heads respectfully and turned away from the trio, but they looked at each other, but the scarred one pulled his hawkstrider forward.

"Wait." He said. "I think we can make an exception." He gave a shaky sigh and I could tell they were all very on edge.

Serg smiled. "Very good."

"My name is Katarai Felbreeze. This is…"

I froze. I remembered that name and I searched my memory, then it came to me. He was the Ranger that had delivered the dire news to Lothar's army during the Second War. Some of those memories were foggy, but I knew that name.

"My name is Serg." The orc said. "The troll is Tengiu, and the Forsaken is…"

"Arthur." I blurted out. "Just Arthur."

The Ranger quirked an eyebrow at me. "Very well…Arthur. Shall we?" He clicked his tongue at the hawkstrider and we started north towards Silvermoon.

"Our food is dangerously low, since the alliance cut ties with us. Supplies as well, things like medicine." Katarai flicked his joint off to the side. "Buildings supplies and laborers, too. Basically anything that makes life not suck." He chuckled to himself and lit another joint.

I sniffed the air around us. "Bloodthistle? Is that what that is?"

He let off another foul puff. "Yeah, so? Got a problem?" The woman shot a disapproving glance at the man.

"Not at all. I just want to know why." I asked. "Bloodthistle has proved to be rather…addictive."

He nodded. "Sure is. It takes the edge off, Arthur." He smirked at me and offered me the joint, but I waved a hand at it. "Why the troll? Didn't think about that one, did you? Amani have been thinkin' we're ripe for the pickin'."

"As I said, we all have a say. Tengiu is Darkspear, just as Vol'jin is. Point your animosity elsewhere."

"That's a nice way to say racial hatred." Katarai said and let out a loud laugh.

"Kata, that's enough." Said the woman quietly, but his smile faded, as he looked at Tengiu and gave him a fake, apologetic nod. Tengiu just scrunched his nose at him.

The longer we travelled, the more I wondered if this new agreement was a good idea for the horde, but I would reserve my judgment for when we met with the Regent. We travelled in silence for the most part up to the gates of Silvermoon.

"You two are dismissed." Katarai said, but the woman looked at him for a moment, but Katarai gestured and pointed, trying to get her to leave. She sighed and turned to leave, while the wounded man was all too eager to leave and go rest. Or suck up more tainted mana, who knew.

"Don't expect too warm of a welcome, Arthur." Katarai said with a smirk. "Most of the populace is pretty against this arrangement, and I'm on that side of the fence, but orders are orders. Keep your head down and don't do anything stupid."

I nodded, but I wanted to slap that smug smirk from his face. What happened to honor and respect among the elves? Was it because I was Forsaken, Serg was orc, and Tengiu was troll? I wondered if it was simply racism or if it was something deeper and darker than that. I looked at Serg who shook his head, and Tengiu looked ready to turn Katarai into a pile of ribbons. It seemed this meeting was going to be over before it began, but I was determined to make this work.

We entered the city and quickly, that hope was fading. We saw banners at the entrance of the city that said things like 'get out, horde' and 'no place for deaders' and other cruel things. They were written in Thalassian so thankfully, they were lost on Serg and Tengiu.

"Hey!" Katarai shouted at some nearby Spell breakers that were drinking and smoking. "Get these signs down! We have guests!"

The spell breakers scrambled to stand and quickly remove the offensive signs. Katarai looked at us to see if we had realized, but he frowned when he looked at me. Even through my mask, he could tell I knew what they said. He scoffed and shook his head. The state of Silvermoon was rather disheartening. Much of the city had been destroyed, and it was true that a lot of the residential parts of the city, what would be the western end of the city had been destroyed and taken over by the wretched, elves twisted and turned into abominations by the twisted magic they siphoned from, and even the half of the city that was left was in bad sorts, buildings caved in, much of the masonry cracked and breaking, but they still worked, it seemed, the replace the silver and blue of the city with red and gold.

"Welcome to Silvermoon, home of the Blood Elves." Katarai said and gave us a mocking bow from his hawkstrider. Serg glared at him, but Katarai only laughed.

"Have you no shame?" I said, no longer able to contain myself. Everyone around us stopped and stared at me and Katarai especially.

"Nope." Katarai shrugged. "Your shame tends to go down the tube when you're in my line of work."

"And what exactly is your line of work, Katarai?" I asked, but he licked his lips and laughed.

"None of your damn business, deader," He said, his smile fading. "You really wanna do this? Oh, poor Forsaken turned into undead freaks boo hoo." He said, mocking sadness and distraught facial expressions. "Trust me, deader, undeath would have been preferable to some of the things some of us have had to do to survive"

"You know nothing." I said, but Serg barked at the both of us before the argument escalated.

"That's enough. This is solving nothing." Serg glared at me and then at Katarai. "Forgive my companion. Where will we be lodged?"

Katarai jerked his thumb towards the Wayfarer's Rest, which had a scantily clad elven woman at the front, waving her very thin dress about and trying to seduce just about anyone that came by. She was sickly and emaciated, and I knew what she was doing, and it made my stomach turn.

"You can stay there. The deader can stay in the gutter. The troll can stay in the sewer." Katarai said as he lit another joint with his silver lighter. "You are officially no longer my problem."

With that, Katarai turned and began to walk away, nodding at the dancing, sickly woman. I followed his gaze, but I could have sworn I saw another figure watching us from inside the Wayfarer's, but the figure was gone before I could get a good look.

"What a prick." Tengiu said, shaking his head.

"Watch your language." Barked Serg, dropping his voice to a whisper. "Matthew, what was that?"

"My apologies, Serg." I sighed. "I know that man from the Second War. I wonder if he was always like this, or if this is a more recent. It bothers me."

"Put it aside for now. We've a job to do here." Serg said. "Your fake name will offer you no reprieve from Sylvanas if this gets mucked up."

I nodded. "I will join you shortly. I wish to look around for a while."

Serg and Tengiu went to their room at the Rest and I looked around. Once, I was welcome in this city. Now, I was barely welcome at the doorstep. I tried to think where I could go that would give me an idea of what was happening in this city, but I feared for my safety, to be perfectly honest. I started to head towards the Row, shuffling that direction. One of the guards stopped me to warn me that Murder Row was now place for a Forsaken, but I simply nodded and continued on my way. Murder Row. What a creative name. I remember when it was just called The Row! But Murder Row? I sighed heavily and stepped through the gate into the Row. The statues of Anasterian had been changed to statues of Kael'thas, and more of the aesthetic elements had been changed here. I thought that Murder Row maybe wasn't the best place for me to be, so I started to head back the way I had come, when I ran into someone. The woman put her hands on me and squeaked.

"Whoops!" The elven woman said. "Sorry." She smirked at me and then hustled down the Row.

I tried to call after her, and I took a step towards the direction she had ran and then realized something was missing. I slipped my hand inside of my robe and felt around, then pulled out the cut strings of my coin purse.

"Son of a…" I swore. "I've been mugged! You there, thief, stop!" I looked around to see if anybody was going to do anything, but most of the denizens of the Row just smiled and laughed, even parting to let the woman through. I knew I couldn't catch her on foot, so I pulled out the control collar of my warhorse and mounted quickly, giving chase. The people let me through as well, but they let me through out of fear of being trampled, I think, more than anything else.

I gave chase through the Court of the Sun, people shouting at me as I chased one of their own through the city. The woman was spry, and darted through the people and the crowds. I lost sight of her a few times, but her tank top and short shorts were hard to miss for very long. I chased her through Farstriders square, and I think one of the rangers there took a shot at me as I passed, but I can't be sure. My respect for these new Blood Elves was waning fast, especially as I chased her through The Royal Exchange, many of the civilians shouting at me to stop chasing the woman, some even trying to trip my horse. She darted through the crowds, holding my coin purse in the air and laughing, waving it at me as she taunted me. I growled in frustration and gave chase once more, my horse leaping over a crowd of people. I pushed my horse through to the Walk of Elders, finally gaining on her as the crowds thinned out. I got closer and closer to her, and she even turned to spit at me, but I leapt from my horse finally and tackled the woman to the ground. Since I no longer held the control collar, the horse fell apart and the bones scattered along the ground. The woman, to her credit, kept hold of the purse, as we tumbled to the ground, and I heard her grunt and wheeze as the air was knocked from her lungs.

She was up quicker than I had anticipated, but she got to her feet, clutching my stolen coins, stumbled a bit. By then, I was on my feet just as she held out her hand and summoned a globe of holy light in her hands. I hissed in pain and backed away, quickly covering myself in a shield of ice.

She woman was covered in tattoos, and she wore a ratty old tank top and frayed short shorts. She looked the part of a bar wench, and her golden hair was long, almost down to her backside, and she had metal in some places in her face, her eyebrow, lip, and tongue to be specific.

It was then that I realized who it was.

Circi stared at me, holding out the holy energy, and clutching my stolen coins. She was panting heavily and sweat was teeming off of her brow. There was no doubt about it. This was Circi Dawnshatter. At first, I thought it was Ti'tanya, but there was no way Ti'tanya would put those things on or in her body, as it were.

"Back!" She shouted, which brought me back to the present. I lowered my hands and stared at her, and she stared back. Slowly her hand began to lower, but she grunted and put it back up.

I didn't know what to say! I just stared at her! I wondered if she had survived, maybe the others had too?

"Get away from her!" Came a shout from down the Walk, and I saw a man in badly damaged plate armor holding a large sword. Both of them had sickly, fel colored eyes. Both were badly malnourished, and I had an inkling what the coin would be used for, but I had another idea as well.

The man skidded to a stop and brandished his zweihander. "I said get away!"

He was thinner, and his face was gaunt, but I knew that to be Andris, and I did the same as with Circi, I just stared. I realized they probably wouldn't recognize me in my state of undeath and the mask as well.

"Stop!" Circi shouted. "I stole from him; he was just getting his coin back."

"Reparations!" Andris yelled. "Blood money for our kin."

I just stared at the pair of elves and…that was just about it. I stared. Andris slowly lowered his sword.

"She took it, fair and square. Get lost, deader. We don't need you or your horde." Andris spat on the ground and I saw a bit of blood mixed in with the saliva.

Circi scoffed and shoved Andris aside. "And he was gonna take it back, fair and square." Circi begrudgingly held the coin purse out to me.

"We need that!" Andris said but Circi shut him down with a glare.

"Take it." Circi said. "We don't need your dirty gold."

I stared at the coin purse and then took it from her grasp, then untied it. I removed two gold coins from the purse and rubbed them together. Grabbing the string, I bounced it once in my hand to loosely tie it, and then handed it back to Circi.

"It's a trick." Andris said. "Some Scourge spell."

Circi looked at the purse and snatched it from the air. "I'll try my luck."

Andris glared at me and sheathed Destiny and turned to walk away. "I'll be home after work." Circi said as she walked back to Wayfarer's Rest.

"Get near my sister again," Andris said when Circi was out of ear shot. "And I'll put you in the ground again, deader."

I stared at him for a moment, and then nodded. "Understood." I said softly, and the elf licked his lips and turned to leave.

I stood in the middle of the street for a few minutes and debated what I should do. Should I keep up my ruse and wait till tomorrow, speak with the Regent and then make my decision without them ever knowing? I wondered if I could really do it without feeling the guilt. I thought of what they would think of me like this, as a Forsaken, if they knew. I thought all of this while approaching the entrance of the Wayfarer's Rest, pushing aside the curtain to enter the bar. I walked down the short hallway and looked around, seeing a lot of people smoking Bloodthistle and drinking wine and other alcoholic beverages. I spied an open spot and the bar and quickly took it. I saw Circi serving drinks and showing off her…assets to the patrons. Hoping for better tips, I assumed. I tapped on the bar to signal her over, and she was grinning the entire time until she saw me. She sighed and looked up at the second floor, talking to a manager, I assumed.

"We serve them, here?" She asked.

"He payin'?" I heard a voice say, and I took the two gold coins out of my robes and put it on the bar.

"Whaddya want?" She said, sizing me up.

"How much for a conversation and a bottle of wine?" I asked.

She looked at my hand, my two talons over the coins. "Two gold for the wine, one gold for the conversation. Looks like you're short."

I nodded. "Then I will take two conversations."

"Sorry, wine and conversation discount. Conversation is three gold pieces without the wine."

"A shrewd business woman." I said. "Do you treat all of your customer's this way?"

"That'll be three gold." She said, holding out her hand with a smirk.

I chuckled softly. "Two gold for a conversation now and three gold in the mail once I return home."

She looked at the gold on the bar and nodded. "Deal." I pushed the two golden coins towards her. "So, what should we talk about? Boys? If Bobby is gonna take Suzy to the prom? What could you and I possibly have to talk about?"

I reached up and removed my mask and set it on the bar and looked at her. She blinked, but she still didn't quite recognize me. "That supposed to impress me?"

I shook my head. "No, but it is supposed to jog your memory."

She scoffed. "My memory is fine. Get to the point, old man."

Honestly, she really hadn't changed much. If anything, she had cut loose and gotten more…work done, as far as her body was concerned and I honestly couldn't really blame her for her attitude towards me. I thought best how to proceed and chose my words carefully.

"Where were you when the Scourge came?" I asked.

She stiffened and stood up straight and smoothed out her tank top. "I was at home."

I sighed. "I paid good money for this conversation."

She glared at me. "I was at home with my family. We were sitting down for dinner one evening, my sister, brother, mother and father. A courier came through and told us that the Scourge of Lordaeron was now the Scourge of Quel'thalas as well."

"And what did you and your family do?"

"We fought." She shrugged and laughed bitterly. "What else were we to do?"

"Did all of you survive?" I asked, and she turned and grabbed a bottle of wine from the shelf and two glasses, pouring both of them full and pushed one towards me.

"My mother didn't. She was overrun by a pack of geists when we were defending the front gates. The rest of us did, but I think pops was never really the same after that."

I took the glass of wine and sipped from it. "Where is your sister?"

"She went across the portal." She said, finishing almost half of glass in just a few gulps. "Went with Kael'thas to serve Illidan."

I stared at the woman for several moments and then looked towards the door. "Leaving already?" She asked.

I shook my head. "No, just wondering when the next caravan to Dalaran is arriving."

She laughed. "You lost it, old man? Dalaran was destroyed same time Silvermoon was."

"I know. I was there."

She froze and stared at me. "Who are you?"

I chuckled and tapped the bar. "Two gold for my name."

She looked at the two gold she had left on the bar. "I'm not that curious."

"Fine." I said. "Then a trade. A name for a name."

She took a deep breath. "My name is Azalia Sunwhisper."

I laughed loudly and thumped my fist against the bar. "What the fel's so funny?"

"Your name isn't Azalia Sunwhisper anymore than my name is Joe Pottenheimer." I said, still laughing.

She narrowed her eyes at me. "Says who? How do you know? What's my name then?"

"Your name is Circi Dawnshatter." I said. "The armored fellow who threatened my life outside is Andris Dawnshatter, and your sister who is off to Outland is Ti'tanya Dawnshatter."

She took another deep breath. "Yeah? All wrong."

"Am I?" I said. I tapped on the bar. "Your father's name is Reseius Dawnshatter your mother's name was Dahlia Dawnshatter. Should I go on?"

Her hands balled into fists and I could tell she was getting anxious. I stared at her and she pushed the two gold towards me finally and I grinned as I picked them up and gripped them in my palm.

"My name is Matthew."

Her jaw fell open.

"Matthew De'tylmarande."

Honestly and truly I did not expect her to hit me. She balled up her fist and, like a python striking, hit me in the jaw. Thankfully, she was weak and I wasn't sent to the floor, but goodness is smarted. I cleared my throat and help my jaw. When I looked at her, I could tell she was crying and covering her mouth.

"Don't you dare use that name!" She shouted.

"Circi, I…" She screeched at me and I shook my head of the noise. By now, the entire bar was staring at us, and she bolted from behind the bar and ran outside the exit towards the Bazaar. I cleared my throat and picked up my max, putting it on to follow her. I found her not long after, sitting on the edge of the fountain, sobbing loudly with her feet in the war, her shoes discarded nearby. When I approached she turned and just made some kind of guttural, angry noise at me.

"Circi." I said. "I am sorry; I did not know that you would have such a reaction to this."

"You're lying!" She shouted, standing up in the fountain. "Matthew was killed in Dalaran! We heard it from Modera! We…we mourned him!"

I nodded. "It is true. I was murdered in Dalaran." I approached and pulled up my robes to stop into the fountain with her. "But I was raised as…well, as this."

She stared at me. "Take off your mask." I did so.

She just stared at me for several moments, occasionally shaking from her emotions, but she just looked into my eyes and I stared back. "I just…" She said. "I mourned him. We all did. He's gone."

I reached into my robes and pulled out the old, worn photograph of all of us, many, many years ago at the shores of Quel'thalas, jovial and happy, enjoying our time on the beach.

She took it in her hand and covered her mouth. She stared at the photo for a while before looking back at me. "Matty…"

"Hello, Circi."

She set the photo on the lip of the fountain, and then took a single step forward. Her hand reached up to touch my hair, my face.

"What are you…?" I tried to protest, but she pulled my cheek aside to inspect the spot where I had the tooth knocked out as a child. She touched my chest and each time she touched me her smile grew.

"It is you." She breathed.

"Yes, it is, now can we…?"

Before I could continue she grabbed me and…it was wet at first. Forceful and needy, and intense, like it was an itch that needed scratching for years. It's so difficult to describe and it's so embarrassing. I didn't know how to react at first. I just stood there, eyes wide and staring at her. The tough Circi, the Circi who hated my kind, that all seemed to melt away when she learned of who I was. It all faded away and memories came rushing back.

Decades of unrequited feelings were poured into just a few minutes, and so many things that once made so much sense, made almost no sense at all.

What? I don't know what else to tell you. She kissed me. She grabbed hold of the front of my robes and held me there until she seemed down and slowly broke away to end the kiss.

"Cold." She whispered as she opened her eyes to look at me.

"Indeed." I said with a nervous chuckle. "Cold."