Author's note: AH! An early update! I hope you enjoy it!

Lunarelle


Faith indeed had to rely on Sylvanas' love for her over the following week as she battled in Suramar.

They found hat Garia and the others who had escaped the razing of Starcaller Retreat being held by the Burning Legion on a remote beach crawling with demons. They all had a rough time of it and ended up losing two people in the ensuing battle, but when it was over, they returned to Shal'Aran to see that the arcan'dor had begun to produce fruit.

"I didn't think it was going to happen that fast!" cried Faith as they stepped into the room to see the flourishing tree, its longest hanging branch bearing a single ripe fruit.

"That can happen when the tree has been taken care of exceptionally well," said Thalyssra. "Your magic certainly had a lot to do with it."

"You mean our magic," emphasized Faith. "I didn't do this alone, you know."

"Still. We wouldn't have been able to do it without you." She stepped forward and picked the violet pear-shaped fruit, "This is like the arcwine: just one small bite of it will feed one's craving for at least three days."

"And the fruit is big enough to feed ten people," said Vanthir as he wrapped a bandage over a gash on his arm. "We are lucky."

Laima walked over and healed his arm with a shimmering green spell, "There are three more fruits that should be ripe enough by tomorrow, and several others by the end of next week. Do you think we can make juice out of them?"

Faith looked at the fruit and smiled, "No, but I think you could use the peel and candy it for the kids. And…" She held her hand over the fruit and closed her eyes. A minute later, a second fruit had appeared in her hand.

Thalyssra gave a sharp gasp. "You can duplicate the fruit?!" she asked, shocked. "I have been able to duplicate food, but never anything to do with mana wine or anything similar. I always end up destroying the original in the process."

"I'm not sure how good the duplicate will be. Maybe one of you should taste it and see. If it works, even for a little while, we'll be able to have enough until the tree bears more for everyone here." She glanced around, counting quickly. There were over a hundred refugees with them in Shal'Aran.

Vanthir quickly cut a tiny piece of the fruit and put it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. As he swallowed it, he closed his eyes and released a sigh, "Yes… I can feel the properties of the fruit rejuvenating me. I'm not sure how powerful it is compared to the original fruit, but to be honest, this is perfect. Even if it weren't, we would be able to use some mana dust on them to tide us over."

"Thank you, General," said Thalyssra. "I… I really don't know how to express my gratitude for everything you've done here."

"Thalyssra, I was glad to do it," Faith told her. "And I would do it again if I had to. But we're not out of the woods yet."

She got to work duplicating the fruit again, being very careful in her work. Soon, they had enough to feed everyone in Shal'Aran for that day, which seemed to lift their spirits.

"Who knew that a simple tree could do so much for a population?" mused Sylvanas as Faith reported back to her. The two of them had just made love and Emmigosa had climbed onto the bed, resting on their legs.

"Um… the night elves could tell you that," Faith told her, chuckling.

"You have a point." She slowly got out of bed, running her fingers over Faith's naked thigh as she did so. "How are things looking against Elisande's forces?"

"Well, the rebellion has been killing demons for the past month, and now that the arcan'dor is bearing fruit, it'll be able to feed the population without them having to rely on the Nightwell so much, which will make them stronger."

"Stronger is good," said Sylvanas, getting dressed again in a pair of black leggings with fine mithril chain mail crisscrossing around her legs. She pulled on a matching tunic and Faith watched her, turning on her side to get a better view. Sylvanas smiled, "You still like watching me get dressed? After all this time?"

"Sylvanas, I'm always going to love to watch you doing anything."

Sylvanas raised an eyebrow, "Anything?"

"Okay, maybe not anything," amended Faith. "But most things, definitely." She reached out and Sylvanas grasped her hand, putting a knee on the bed to lean over and kiss her.

"We've had some interesting developments at the Broken Shore," she said almost nonchalantly.

"Interesting good, or interesting bad?" Faith asked her.

"That depends entirely on how you feel about necromancers."

Faith groaned, "Not again. We saw so many of them in Felsoul Hold it wasn't even funny. I don't know what Kythira was playing at, but we had a hell of a time fighting undead felbats there, let me tell you."

"You fought them yourself?" wondered Sylvanas.

"I had to step in with the First Magi Corps the other day. I was hunting Kythira but she eluded me in the tunnels when she sent out about fifty undead bats after us. I'll admit that I hadn't expected her to do that. It was well-played."

"Undead felbats, that's a new one. Did your black fire do the trick?"

"Yes, but there were a lot of them and we were in a tight space, so it wasn't like I could cast indiscriminately unless I wanted to incinerate our spellcasters. As it was, we lost a few of them."

"I'm sure you did everything you could."

Faith shook her head, getting up as well and getting dressed, "I just wish we knew where Kythira was. We haven't seen her since that day, and I confess that I'm uneasy not knowing her whereabouts."

"She's on the Broken Shore."

Faith froze in the act of putting on her boot. "Pardon?"

"We saw her on the Broken Shore. More to the point, we know that she's at Wrynnfall."

"Where Varian… died," whispered Faith, still unable to believe the cataclysmic losses they had faced there.

"Yes. You're going to hate what I'm about to tell you, honey, and I'm so sorry, but…" she paused and pulled at Faith's arm until she was sitting down, "She's one of the Burning Legion's necromancers."

Lady Kythira was a necromancer.

No.

"What?" she asked. "How?"

"I don't know, baby, I really don't know. But you know that we had to leave a lot of people behind when we retreated from the Broken Shore. A lot of bodies."

"Are you telling me that she's raising our soldiers who fell during the first battle?" cried Faith. "Wait… Sylvanas, no. Please don't tell me that… No, please… don't."

Sylvanas nodded sadly, placing a hand on Faith's back, "Atalo's spirit has been seen walking around the ridge and killing everyone who comes near." She began to cry when Faith did, feeling so guilty about the situation that she couldn't even put it into words.

Atalo, risen into undeath. The thought was so unfathomable that Sylvanas hadn't reacted when she'd been told of this. She had only felt a deep sorrow for the tauren who had adopted Faith and loved her like his own child.

"Are you telling me that I'm going to have to put his spirit to rest?"

"I think so, yes," whispered Sylvanas. She wrapped her arms around her wife, holding her tightly. "I know, baby, I know… I'm so sorry."

Faith relaxed after a few minutes and pulled away from her wife, "So you're asking me to go to the Broken Shore," she said in a low voice.

"Not necessarily. But I did think you would have liked to be the one to put Atalo's spirit to rest. I can have someone else take care of it if you'd prefer."

"He was my father. There are only two people who should take care of this: myself and Hamu. Does he know?"

"I didn't tell him. To be frank, I don't want him out there: it's too dangerous, even if he has learned how to wield a spear like the bravest of the tauren. He still only has one arm, and I wouldn't want him to be fodder for the Legion."

"Someone has to tell him. I'll go to Thunder Bluff, then, if you'll allow me, I'll make my way back to the Broken Shore, but you're going to have to send someone to Suramar in my stead."

"We have already sent Aethas Sunreaver there," said Sylvanas. "I don't want you to worry about Suramar for now. Just worry about the task in front of you."

The task in front of her. Faith didn't quite know how she was going to tell Hamu about Atalo having been risen into undeath, but she couldn't let him find out from someone else.

She found herself in Thunder Bluff less than half an hour later, finding Baine in his hut, going over what appeared to be war plans.

"High Chieftain," she said.

He looked up from the parchment in his hands and nodded, "General Windrunner," he responded. "Faith. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I was reporting the events of Suramar to Warchief Sylvanas when she told me about something that had happened on the Broken Shore that made me alter my plans. I came here to speak to Hamu about it."

"What is it?"

Faith told him and he looked at her, unmoving for a moment. After a while, he sighed, "This is not the best news I've heard all year. Neither you or Hamu need this right now."

"None of us need any of it, Baine. But we have to deal with it, however unpleasant it is. And I was hoping that Hamu would want to join me."

At that moment, a one-armed tauren walked into Baine's hut, his muzzle pulled back over his teeth, "I will not join you," he snarled. "It's your fault he's dead, and I don't want you anywhere near him again."

"I was not the one who told him to go to the Broken Shore, Hamu. You know I had nothing to do with what happened there."

"She's right," Baine told Hamu, holding up a hand. "You weren't there, Hamu: you didn't see what it was like. Both she and Sylvanas screamed when your father fell."

Hamu shook his head, "I don't care. He only went there because of Faith."

"He went there because he wanted to protect Azeroth!" said Baine, getting to his feet and drawing himself up to his full height. "He asked me to go and I agreed because he was one of our best. You cannot blame Faith for his death, Hamu. I know it was a terrible shock to you, but blaming her isn't going to bring him back. Now, if his spirit has been raised, Faith, you need to go there and put him to rest as best you can. Hamu, if you want to go, I will not stop you, but if anything happens to Faith because of you, I don't have to tell you what Sylvanas' reaction will be. Not to mention mine."

Faith glanced between the two tauren, not knowing what to say. She was torn between being grateful for what Baine had said about her, to being devastated due to the fact that Hamu still blamed her for Atalo's death.

"When are you headed there, Faith?" Baine asked her.

She pointed to the leather bag that was strapped around her thigh, which contained all of the necessary supplies for a battle, including food for the living. "Right away," she replied. "Khadgar gave me the coordinates for their base on the Broken Shore, so I'm headed there now. I just wanted to let you know what I was doing, Chieftain, being as it pertains to your people."

He nodded, "Thank you, General. Be safe."

Faith thanked him in return and created a portal to the Broken Shore, giving Hamu the time to join her if he so wished.


The rocky outcrop that made up the island of the Broken Shore looked just as uninviting as it had the first time she'd been there. Its landscape had changed because of the fel magics that now accommodated thousands of demons, and although she'd never seen it without demonic influence, she guessed that it had never been a hospitable place to begin with.

Now, it was evil, the very air around it saturated with darkness.

The only bright point anywhere was Deliverance Point, which worked to counteract the Legion's influence on the land. All around the base, arcane and druidic magic was causing things to grow, including flowers and trees that were certainly a sight for sore eyes.

Nearly everyone was happy to see Faith, especially when she brought supplies for them all: three new tents that were meant as dormitories for two people, complete with cots, blankets, pillows, and a table with stools. She had also brought armor, weapons, and food, along with magical reagents for potions and enchantments.

"I keep forgetting how amazing it is when you come for a battle, General," said a Sin'dorei priest. "You always bring so many supplies it's incredible."

"Other people have taken to doing the same," added a Forsaken. "But it's not the same: they only think of their own needs and not the needs of everyone else in battle. General Windrunner always brings treats for the people she's going into battle with."

"I learned that from the best," she said. "Sylvanas used to do that all the time when she was alive, and my brothers did the same once they became leaders."

There was a snort from behind her and she turned around, her eyes going as wide as saucers.

She had heard about him her entire life, and knew that his soul had been taken prisoner by Gul'dan when the demon hunters had been freed.

But she hadn't expected to ever see Illidan Stormrage quite so close to her. She took a step back and nearly stumbled in surprise, although she managed to keep herself upright.

"You are telling me that this little girl here is a general?" he asked, looking at Faith up and down. "How badly did Azeroth fall since I was taken prisoner? Not to mention… she's dead."

"Damn," said Faith. "Is that what I am? And here I thought I just lacked sunlight and food."

Khadgar chuckled but ignored Illidan's comments, "General, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Did the warchief tell you to come?"

A nod, "Yes, Sylvanas mentioned that you had all seen my father's spirit roaming around Wrynnfall?"

"Yes, we did," he said, sounding sad. "I'm sorry, Faith, I didn't think they were going to raise him."

"It's not like the Legion is known for raising corpses," said the priest.

"No, not at all," Faith told him, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "You know, the Scourge was just a fluke, you know."

The priest swallowed and looked down, "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I forgot."

Faith just shook her head and addressed Khadgar, "I came here specifically to put Atalo's spirit to rest. I'll do the same for any other spirits I encounter there so that you don't have to deal with them in addition to the demons."

"Thank you, General," said Khadgar. "What about after that? Will you be going back to Suramar?"

"I really should. The Burning Legion is keeping a vice grip on it, I assume because of the Nightwell, not to mention that we still have to contend with Elisande's forces down there."

Khadgar looked at her, pursing his lips.

"I told you all that we were spread too thin. I can only do so much."

"And you're still recovering," he said. "I'm conscious of the fact that you're not fully at a hundred percent yet."

Faith let out a humorless laugh, "I haven't been at a hundred percent since Sylvanas was alive, Khadgar, so don't hold your breath on that one. Okay, why don't you tell me what you know about what's going on here?"

He did, spending a couple of hours detailing the way things were going on the Broken Shore. He even mentioned fel murlocs, which caused Faith to give an exclamation of disgust.

"That's just exactly what we need…" she muttered. "Do I even want to know what they're like?"

"No," said Illidan. "They're worse than normal murlocs, let's just keep it at that."

"Sounds delightful."

Illidan looked at her, "So, you've seen your fair share of battles, I assume."

She glanced back at him, "What makes you say that?"

"You speak with experience."

"Well, I didn't become general because of my looks," she told him. "Though it helped." She chuckled, "I haven't been battling as long as most of my people, and I know that many still consider me a child. But the world has been at war since the second invasion of the Burning Legion, and to be honest, we haven't stopped since, despite the very brief respites we've had."

She nodded to him and walked away, going to check on some preparations for her journey to Wrynnfall. As she did so, she heard Khadgar speaking quietly to Illidan.

"Faith's been to hell and back on more than one occasion. That she still manages to fight the way she does is an incredible testimony to her character. You would do well not to underestimate her: many did, and paid the ultimate price for it."

"And she's married to the Horde's female warchief?" asked Illidan. "That's a new one."

"It's a heartbreaking story if you'd like to hear it."

Faith moved out of earshot, wanting absolutely nothing to do with that conversation. Her thoughts turned to Atalo, and she wondered how she was possibly going to deal with the situation at hand.

She gave a rare sigh. "Maybe things will work themselves out somehow," she whispered to herself.