Today was the day. Sapphire stood before the barrow dens in her full vestments of an novice druid, ready to enter the Emerald Dream. Rot lay curled up in her pocket and Tanomoan sat on her shoulder. She had wanted her father to take her to the barrow dens, but he still had not shown up. Lethumo offered to take her, but one dark look from Cerelial squashed that idea. And when Sapphire had glanced at Kiefer, he immediately replied that he was busy. But Rot could not verbally protest and Tanomoan seemed interested so they were her escort.
Cerelial stood at the entrance in his bear form as usual. As she came over to him, he gave her a rather stern expression.
"Do you have your dreamcatcher?"
"Yes, sir!" Sapphire replied, holding it up proudly.
"Do I need to refresh you on how to empty your mind and reach out to nature?"
Sapphire immediately shook her head. She knew what she had to do. He had given her books and scrolls to study about the Emerald Dream before. She had ready all she could and knew how to meditate.
"This is no fun frolic in the woods. The Emerald dream is a serious matter."
To that, Tanomoan stuck her tongue out at him. Cerelial snarled back in response. Tanomoan yipped and hid herself in the hood of Sapphire's new robe.
"To druids, The Emerald Dream is a serious matter. You are leaving your body behind and traversing the ethereal Dream of Creation. It greatly can enhance one's own connection to life and nature, but it is not without its dangers! Furthermore...Yes, Sapphire?"
Cerelial had been about to go into a long lecture so before he could really get into the spirit of it all, Sapphire had to raise her hand.
"Since I am leaving my body...Should I pee before entering the Dream?" She asked, with all the seriousness that she could muster.
Cerelial stared at her in disbelief. "Do you need to?"
Sapphire hesitated, then shook her head. Her teacher raised one paw to cover his face in frustration, then let it slide down his face.
"Yes, you should always relieve yourself before entering the Dream for extended periods of time. But we are only going in to give you a brief experience. Any pertinent questions?"
After she replied that she did not have any more questions, Cerelial lead her into the barrow dens. They were deep tunnels that dug into the earth. Roots of trees curled around walls and sometimes spilled over the pathway. Sapphire gingerly stepped over each root, not wanting to hurt the tree's feelings. Since they were not going into the deep, practically comatose state that some druids do when entering the Dream, they were only going to sleep in the more open alcoves of the den. One of the den watchers came up to Cerelial, clearly too friendly to be couped up underground.
"Hello, Druid Cerelial! And Novice Sapphire! I am Tesli, your resident den watcher!" The woman exclaimed cheerfully. In Sapphire's hood, Tanomoan hissed in disgust at the high pitched voice.
Cerelial had to restrain himself, clearly. "I sent word of our coming."
"Oh yes and I prepared two mats for you! Is this your first time entering the Dream?" Tesli asked Sapphire, leaning in far too close in the girl's personal space.
Sapphire only nodded, clearly uncomfortable. Tesli immediately grabbed Sapphire's hand and pulled her to the alcove.
"Oh you are going to find it so much fun! There are butterflies and deer, and is that a little darter?" Tesli squealed and yanked Tanomoan out of Sapphire's hood. The faerie dragon yowled in outrage. Even worse, Tesli proceeded to hug Tanomoan, almost causing the poor thing's eyes to bulge out from the sheer force of the hug.
"You have your own darter! You are so lucky!"
"Thank you...Can you let her breathe a little now?" Sapphire asked cautiously. Tesli stopped hugging Tanomoan. The dragon blinked out of the woman's arms and appeared back over Sapphire's shoulder, clearly affronted by the night elf's audacity.
Not at all offended herself, Tesli proceeded to review to Sapphire how the whole process worked. More experienced druids needed no help in entering the Dream and could do it easily. But since it was Sapphire's first time, she would be drinking a potion that would help broaden her senses. It would also help her go to sleep easier.
Tesli handed Sapphire the cup that had the potion in it.
"I hope you like it. I put some honey in it to sweeten it."
Sapphire wondering how much of the potion Tesli drank on a regular basis and worried about its side effects. But Cerelial did not say anything, so she took it over to the soft mat provided to her and sat down with the cup. As soon as Sapphire drank some, she appreciated the honey. It was not very pleasant. Like a liquid version of a salad.
Cerelial came over to her. "I will be right over there. Telsi can help you if you are having trouble entering."
With that, he went over to his own mat and laid down with an audible thump. Sapphire would have preferred to sleep next to him. She could have used his paw as a pillow or something. But she just laid down on the mat and looked up at the earthen ceiling. Telsi sat cross legged between them. Tanomoan crawled onto Sapphire's chest and sat on her haunches, staring right at Sapphire with her dark eyes.
Sapphire scowled, then closed her eyes. She breathed steadily like she had been taught. She could feel life around her, despite being underground. The roots slowly and imperceivably growing. Worms squirming through holes. Even mammals like moles dug their way through the earth, searching for bugs to eat. Despite all this connection, she did not feel the pull of the Dream. In fact, she did not even any kind of drowsiness. But she lay there for a long while, willing herself to enter the Dream just as Cerelial had taught her. The feel of life around her slowly faded away. Even the feeling of the mat beneath her disingrated.
All of a sudden, Tanomoan squealed out in fear. She leaped off of Sapphire's chest, which annoyed her extremely. Tanomoan had broken her concentration. Rot started to rustle in her pocket. She felt his head poke out and he started to bark. Bringing the two of them had been a mistake.
"Tesli, I think I need some help."
The woman did not respond to her. Sapphire opened her eyes, confused. The confusion worsened when she was met with the view of not earthen roof, but of blackened tree limbs and a dark grey sky. Sapphire immediately sat up, excited. She was in the Dream!
Only there was no green tint like she expected. No Cerelial to greet her. She was not transparent either. The tree limbs she had seen belong to trees, equally as dark as their limbs. The ground was a sickly brown color. There were no flowers or cute little rabbits. No green dragons. Sapphire slowly got to her feet, feeling light headed. Tanomoan was circling around her. Panic shown in her eyes. Rot's hackles were raised as he looked around the dark forest in fear. That made no sense. Tanomoan could enter the Dream, but Rot definitely would not have been able to.
Sapphire was not sleeping and she was definitely not in Moonglade anymore. Wherever they were, it was not the Emerald Dream.
Cooling his heels just outside Stormwind had not been on Arthas's mind when he agreed to follow Jaina. Unfortunately for him, her logic had been sound. Bad enough that Varian thought her as dead as everyone else did. Now here she shows up with glowing eyes, white hair, and blood covering her. Their old friend would be shocked enough by her own appearance. If Arthas were to show up, that would just add fuel to the fire. Arthas did not fancy a sword in his gut, so he stayed outside to wait.
It was morning so the city was just starting to stir to life. All the guards were alert despite the early hour. Every guard Arthas saw walk past him was walking straight with bright eyes. They all knew what had happened to Theramore and were being extra cautious. Very few citizens were out and about, but those that were looked concerned. The smell of bread baking wafted through the air.
It was only then did Arthas realize that Jaina had probably not eaten since Theramore had been bombed. Whatever outcome meeting with Varian might acheive, she would still need something to eat. He went off to the closest bakery and bought her half a dozen muffins and a hot cup of tea.
As he left the bakery, a mother and young daughter entered the bakery. The little girl looked briefly at Arthas with bright blue eyes. That was when it hit him. Sapphire's birthday had been yesterday. He had forgotten about Sapphire completely as soon as he had seen Jaina. For a year he had been trying to keep her safe, but as soon as he had thought of Jaina, it was like Sapphire did not even exist anymore. Some father he turned out to be.
He ought to go and tell Jaina immediately about their daughter. But for a purely selfish reason, he did not want to. If he told Jaina about Sapphire now, it might snap her out of her grief and anger. No, he needed Jaina to cripple the Horde and fulfill her revenge. So when Jaina stomped out of the Keep a few minutes later, Arthas said nothing about Sapphire.
"Varian has become weak. He is a coward. Said he wanted to fight the Horde on his 'own terms.'" Jaina snapped angrily. Arthas took out a muffin from the box and held it out to her as well as her tea.
Jaina looked down at the cup and muffin, then back at him. Without even a thanks, she took the offered breakfast. While Jaina ignored the tea to let it cool down, she voraciously ate the muffin.
"What will you do now?" Arthas asked, taking out a muffin himself. He did not need to eat but sometimes it was nice and the muffins were blueberry.
"I...I don't know why, but Rhonin sacrificed himself for me. Called me the future of the Kirin Tor. I suppose the next step is to go to Dalaran. Perhaps the Kirin Tor will listen to reason."
It was a farfetched idea, but Arthas would not say a word against it. If Varian would not help her, if the Kirin Tor did not help her...Who else could she turn to but Arthas? He would be more than happy to raze a few cities for her. But he needed her to be desperate before she would turn to him. And there was the broken promise he needed to atone for.
Arthas approached Jaina and took her hand in his own. "Of course you should go to Dalaran. However, I need to go do something important. Important for the both of us."
"And what would be so important then? A plague or army of corpse?" Each word was sharp like a knife. Jaina was naturally suspicious of him.
"No plague, no army, nothing of that nature. I'm not the Lich King anymore. It's...just me, Jaina."
At least for the moment. Still, she did not seem very convinced. She had not revealed his survival to Varian however and there were no guards at the moment rushing to arrest or kill him, so her feelings for him were strong enough that she probably felt he was redeemable to some fashion.
"Where will you be going?" She asked.
"Moonglade," He responded, and immediately continued after seeing her raise her eyebrows at such an unlikely location, "Yes, I know. Probably the last place you would ever find me going to. After you are done, will you come to me in Moonglade?"
He saw Jaina gently bite her own lip as she always did when she was hesitating to answer something. It took her a moment to respond.
"Fine. I will come see you. Do you need a portal?"
That was easier than he had thought. It would definitely save him plenty of time. Arthas nodded. "That would be helpful."
Jaina took him to a clear area in the Keep and proceeded to raise her arms. He saw her hands shaking. She was more exhausted than he thought. He wished he had not agreed, but it was too late for him to protest. She was already bringing up the portal. The air before them shimmered and a blurry vision of Moonglade's lakeshore appeared in front of him.
The two of them looked at each other briefly. Then Arthas could not help himself. He reached out to wrap his arm around Jaina's waist. He pulled her toward him. She already knew what was happening and both of them leaned forward, pressing their lips together. They kissed passionately. That moment could have lasted forever if Arthas had his way. Despite that, it was him who pulled away first.
"Come see me. Please," He said huskily.
Already Jaina was backing away from him, and he could see her sudden regret. Rather than wait for an answer, Arthas forced himself to enter the portal. He dreaded what the answer would have been if he had stayed any longer.
Now he stood in Moonglade and it seemed like he had not even left. He looked up at Nighthaven. Now he regretted not asking for Jaina to put him in the town itself. It would have saved him a long hike, but he supposed it was a mild retribution. Arthas walked all the way up to Nighthaven. He then stopped at the small market in the center. He bought the largest jar of honey he could find as well as some oranges.
He carried his apologetic gifts to their home. He half expected Sapphire to come running out of the home and yelling furiously at him. Or just forgetting her irritation and hugging him. Neither happened. A druid, a stranger to Arthas, came out of the house with a concerned expression on his face. He quickly turned into a saber and sprinted off. That did not bode well.
Arthas entered the home, finding the main hallway empty. Even more concerned now, he went into the main living room. Kiefer was pacing in the corner of the room and did not notice Arthas's entrance. Lethumo sat curled up on the sofa, face covered up by his hands. His body shook slightly, and it was only when he looked up did Arthas realize he had been sobbing. Tears streamed down the elf's face.
"Arthas!"
Kiefer stopped pacing immediately. He looked at Arthas with a look of terror. Arthas's arms, full of gifts, slowly lowered. The oranges slipped from his grasp and fell to the floor, rolling away. The jar cracked as soon as it hit the floor. Honey oozed onto the wood.
"Where is she?"