Rain poured down upon Stormwind. Thunder clapped after each flash of lightning. Very few people were out, both due to the weather and the late hour. One man staggered out into the street along the canal. To the casual observer or bored guard, this man would look like a soaked drunk on his long way home.

Arthas knew better. The man had been a little drunk, but not to the extent where he would be stumbling. His teetering gait was due to the stab wound in his abdomen. Arthas casually followed behind him, not expecting any kind of trouble. He could have easily killed the man before but that would have ended it all quickly and left Arthas with nothing to do.

"Help! Somone help-"

Arthas tightened his fist and dark magic squeezed the man's throat shut. It would not be a good thing to alert the guards. While Arthas would not be opposed to a bloodbath, he really did wish to alarm the city's population any more than he already had.

He only let the man try to get away because it amused him. It was a futile attempt. The man would only be able to get as far as Arthas allowed. The downpour only aided him in this regard. Visibility was low for anyone who would look outside.

Arthas came up to the man and took his arm. To anyone who might have seen them, it would look like he was offering help to the drunk.

"No, please!" The man wailed. Arthas pulled him into an adjoining street and proceeded to break the arm he had been holding. The man tried to scream but Arthas physically crushed his throat. Lightning flashed.

Sapphire woke to the sound of a particularly loud thunderclap. Sweat poured down her face like the rain had poured down on Arthas. Like the blood had poured out of that man's wound. Her head throbbed with dull pain. The girl glanced over at the corner of the room where Arthas slept. He wasn't there.

Shaken, she wrapped herself in her blanket and left the bedroom. The hallway was dark and empty. She peeked inside Lethumo's room but the only one inside was the elf himself, sprawled haphazardly across his own bed. His snores were evidence that he was still alive so she closed back his door. After entering the main living room and finding it too Arthasless, Sapphire curled up in an armchair and waited.

An hour passed. She had started to doze off but was roused when the main door opened. Water dripped off of whoever it was. There were a few heavy footsteps before immediately stopping.

"Sapphire?"

She looked over the back of the armchair and saw her father. He flipped back the drenched hood.

"What are you doing awake so late at night?" He whispered harshly.

Sapphire stared at him. "What were you doing out in the rain?"

"I asked first," He deflected.

Sapphire wrapped the blanket around herself tighter. She then looked away from him before biting her lip and answering. "I had a bad dream. You were killing a man in the rain."

The only noises to be heard were the rain outside, the dripping of water from Arthas's cloak, and Sapphire's beating heart. It was beating louder and quicker than she would have liked.

"I see. Bad dream indeed."

She heard him shrugging off his cloak and tossing it aside. Sapphire's heart nearly stopped when she felt a wet gloved hand rest on her shoulder.

"Clearly you already know my answer then. Are you mad at me then?"

She whipped her head up to stare at her father in astonishment, mouth agape. The room remained dark still so she could not see his face or his expression, but enough light poured in that she could see the rough outline of him.

"Mad? At you?" She asked, completely taken aback at the question.

"I somehow caused you to have a nightmare. Surely you are mad at me? Or outraged that I would murder a man in cold blood?"

Sapphire blinked, unsure how to respond. She did not feel mad at him. In fact, she thought he would have been enraged for her to know what he did.

"No! I was worried about you."

His hand slipped off of her shoulder.

"Worried about me?" He asked. Now he was the one who sounded surprised at the reaction. She nodded, forgetting that he could not see her.

"Yes, what if the guards had found you?"

Arthas laughed coldly. "I would have killed them."

"And then more would have come. Are you telling me you would be able to kill everyone in the city?"

"Perhaps." He sounded defensive.

The girl snorted in disbelief. "If you could you would have already."

"Maybe you are right," He admitted.

Sapphire reached out and took his hand. Arthas jerked back for a second, but he reluctantly let her hold his hand.

More booming thunder distracted Sapphire and she looked past her father to the closest window. Thunder and lightning did not scare her usually. They were not new concepts to her either. Icecrown frequently had dangerous blizzards and thunderstorms. These storms would often last days. This was not the issue. The major difference was that Stormwind and Icecrown Citadel were made up of vastly different materials. The Citadel's sturdy saronite walls could never be damaged by something as simple as lightning. Stormwind was a different story. While the stone walls were strong, most of the homes and building comprised of fragile, highly flammable wood.

"Can you carry back to the room? I think my ribs hurt again," She pleaded.

Arthas proceeded to press his hand against her side, where her ribs had been previously broken.

"Ow," She said unconvincingly.

"Ah yes, clearly you are in agony. Come here then," He relented.

Sapphire wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her into his arms. Arthas carried her to their room and planted her down on the bed. Sapphire immediately took up her teddy bear and doll and collapsed on her side.

"Good night," She yawned.

Silence, then he decided to reply. "Good night, Sapphire."

She tried her best to fall asleep. Even when the pounding of the rain died down, Sapphire's head still throbbed. She tossed and turned. After what seemed like hours, she sighed. What was wrong with her head?

Absentmindedly she reached up and ran her fingers through her white strands of hair. As she did so, she felt two very prominent bumps on the top of her head. She gasped and rose up in her bed.

"Arthas!" She hissed fearfully.

He woke with a groan. "What?"

"Something is really really wrong! My head...There are things on my head."

He lifted his head, partially curious. It was difficult for the girl to remain calm. She did not know what was happening and was scared.

"My head is throbbing. And there are bumps on the top of my head."

That got him extremely interested. He quickly stood up and lit a candle. She came over to him and let him look at her head. Upon seeing them, Arthas made it clear that he thought it was bad. He rushed out of the room.

"Lethumo, wake up!"

The elf quietly moaned. Arthas banged on the elf's door.

"What is it?"

"Sapphire's got an emergency. We might need a healer."

There was a thud and a cacophony of noises as the elf seemed to scramble out of bed. He flung the door open to reveal that he was only half clothed and his eyes were puffy form sleep.

He immediately demanded answers. "What's wrong? It's not a girl thing is it?"

Arthas pulled Sapphire forward and showed the abnormal bumps on her head.

"She has these...bone like growths coming out," Arthas answered. Sapphire could hear the confusion in his voice. Even he did not know what was wrong.

The elf sleepily glanced at her head and groaned. "All I see are antler nubs. Where are these growths?"

Silence. Before Lethumo could even grasp what he himself had said, Arthas grabbed the elf by the neck and pulled him closer. He was now fully awake and terrified.

"Did you say antlers?"

Lethumo immediately started to stumble over his words. "Well, yes! I mean that's what those look like! I should fucking know what antlers look like. I'm a night elf!"

Arthas immediately started to berate Lethumo over what an idiot he was but the elf asserted that what Sapphire had growing on her head were antlers. Antlers. Like deer have. The bony extensions of certain deer species that are often used as a means of defense as far as Sapphire knew. Deer are commonly hunted down, skinned, and eaten by humans. She immediately started to cry.

This got both men to stop fighting. Sapphire flung herself at Lethumo, full on sobbing.

"Little saber cub don't worry-"

"I'm not a saber cub! I'm a deer! Humans eat deer! Am I gonna be eaten?"

With that Lethumo snorted out a laugh but immediately regretted that outburst. "Sorry about that. No one is going to eat you!"

This did not reassure her, but the elf stroked her hair comfortingly. He glared at Arthas.

"Andrew, Tell her no one is going to eat her!" He snapped. Gone was any kind of theatrical speech that he often used.

Arthas suddenly smirked. "I mean, venison is good meat. She's scrawny but-"

"SIR!" Lethumo now yelled. Sapphire cowered at the elf's sudden ferocity. She tried to look for Arthas for guidance but even he had been taken off guard by the sudden change in tone.

Lethumo became full on hostile to Arthas, gesticulating and pointed very aggressively at the man.

"You are a harsh, detached champion of darkness. Your poor daughter deserves better than the definition of a demoralized derelict!"

Sapphire was sure that Arthas would murder the elf. She expected him to grab Lethumo and just rip his head clean off the shoulders. No such violence was enacted. Arthas merely turned his back on the elf and left the apartment for the second time that night. Sapphire watched him go, bewildered.

"What just happened?"

Lethumo stared at the door, equally lost. "I misspoke in anger at his attitude. He will return I'm sure. Probably just emotionally compromised. Your condition is certainly not usual for a human. Never seen one with antlers before."

Now Sapphire could refocus on her unfamiliar situation and she started to sniffle again. "I met a magical doe and she said she gave me a gift...Do you think this is it?"

The elf's eyes widened. "You spoke to a talking deer? A doe specifically? Not a pale giant stag?"

Sapphire shook her head. She never spoke to a stag, but remembered the doe did mention a husband. Perhaps the husband was the pale stag that Lethumo asked about.

"Well, I've never heard of a talking doe before. Tomorrow we can talk to a druid friend about your predicament."

With that, the elf went over to where he hung his cloaks. He pulled one on and went to the door. Lethumo turned and pointed at her sternly.

"I'll go get your lummox of a father. Uh...stay? Yeah, just stay there. No moving," He said and then he left her alone.