~~Entry #23~~

I've always been fascinated with the darkness, or at least, curious. I'm not sure why I'm not fearful or apprehensive about entering dark nooks or deep caverns. Perhaps I enjoy the darkness in the same way I enjoy the bustle of Stormwind: It allows me to hide myself, be it within the darkness or the crowds. I'm forever comforted by these things.

Though, I can say I've never been robbed in a crowd. nor have I encountered a feral beast in the darkness.

-Colin Dumerval

Colin closed his book as the waves grew choppier, slowly lowering the leather-bound collection of pages on a nearby table. He looked over toward Kyra, who was sleeping soundly for somebody who's never been on the high dead before. He stood up and walked to the entryway, peeking out onto the deck, watching the pouring rain bouncing around the wooden planks.

Looking around further, his eyes met with a sailor's, a younger-looking night elf who must have been on lookout duty. Colin raised a hand in greeting, though the lookout simply peered off into the distance, signaling to Colin that he should return to the humid cabin.

Kyra had chosen to sleep on a bed attached to the furthest wall, but there were still two others sitting at a table, speaking quietly. Colin had surmised that the two were married, having met while on duty on this very ship. It seemed to be their life's duty to remain apart of the crew, however, so the two simply remained.

"Ishnu alla," the woman spoke to Colin as he returned to his chair.

He turned to see a smiling face upon her, though her husband had a face that could only be described as a scowl, "Ishnu alla."

Although it was one thing of very few that he could actually speak, the woman began speaking to Colin in a light Darnassian accent, though it ended soon enough with her eyes widening in shock.

"Oh my, I apologize," she muttered, "I just assumed you were familiar with the language; I'm quite sorry."

Colin chuckled, picking up his tome, "Don't worry about it. I'm not sure what else you could have taken from it, given we're between Telsrassil and Darkshore."

She waved him over and Colin obliged, pulling out a chair and joining the two, "I should be the one apologizing. I saw your cheek and just had something of a flashback of home. Perhaps nostalgia."

Colin didn't reply or motion in any way, though he now knew that his cheek was still bright from whatever trace of moonlight had, apparently, been placed upon him. He had checking in a mirror aboard the ship, but couldn't see anything, himself, that was anything out of the ordinary.

"Take some water from the ocean; that should get it off," the man spoke, as though reading Colin's silence as a negative reaction.

"Sarith!" her partner spoke up, as if offended, though he only shrugged.

"I'm sure the poor boy is tired of the stares by now. It's not upon the bruise where their gaze is laying, you know."

Colin sunk slightly into his seat with a sigh, which seemed to get the point across to his visitors, "Where are you headed?"

"Lor'danel, for now. My work actually takes me all over, but Kyra, there, was hoping to see the elven towns, if possible. I figured it would be a nice chance to catch up, myself."

The woman nodded, "Kyra Shadowmoon? I cannot speak for those farther away, but she has become something of a legend upon Teldrassil. May I ask why she's left her post?"

Not knowing whether or not Kyra was wanting this information exposed, Colin held back his tongue until her partner took his turn to speak up," It is not his place to discuss Elven politics, Ney'ira."

While she reproached him, Colin only released a sigh of relief at the unintentional save. The three made a bit more conversation, though mostly about life on the scooner they were on. The two had met hundreds of years earlier on this very ship. Sarith was older, and was born into a family of sailors, just so happening to come up through the ranks as the Cataclysim hit, requiring more aid back home in terms of sailing from back and forth.

Ney'ira, on the other hand, had been born in the Eastern Kingdoms and had made a pilgrimage of sorts back to Teldrassil. She had met Sarith on the way across the strait, and it was there upon the boughs that she had heard of Kyra. On the way back, however, Sarith seemed to have won her heart with a soliloquy or two, though some alcohol may had helped.

"I can't speak for everyone, again," Ney'ira sontinued with a hint of a smile, "But I love the life of a sailor. I meet many exciting people, though this is the first time in a long time I've come across a human. Much less a human with the mark of Elune."

Colin lowered his head, and even though her voice carried little inflection, he could tell that she was rather filled with a sort of excitement. Sarith reached over to another table and grabbed a towel, wrapping it tightly around his forearm.

"Time to clean the crossbeam, by the way," he spoke, unwavering.

Ney'ira sighed, clearly wanting to talk more, but she reluctantly grabbed the towel handed to her, "Well, it's not all good."

The two began to leave, but Ney'ira quickly turned around as she made it to the door, "Oh, will you be traveling to the Eastern Kingdoms at any point?"

Colin nodded.

"My parents live down south, near the Swamp of Sorrows. Tell them I said hi if you end up down there!"

With a nod, Colin replied, "It won't pass me by."

And so Ney'ira run out of the cabin, leaving the two alone. Colin remained at the table, whipping his hand around as he noticed it reaching up to his cheek once again. He stood up and turned toward where Kyra was sleeping, noticing just how different she looked without the moon shooting from her eyes. He quickly noticed his impoliteness and slowly made his own way out of the cabin.

Making his way to the railing, he leaned over and stared off into the vastness of the sea, amidst the jolting shouts from above him. The moon was peeking out from beside the gigantic tree that shot up from the ocean. He looked down at the soft waters, tracing the line of the waves as they passed over its reflection. In this revelry, he failed to notice Kyra approaching him, leaning over the railing herself.

"I haven't woken up outside of my duty in, oh…four hundred years," she spoke softly as Colin quickly peered up toward her.

She sighed, "And, yes, I do realize how old that makes me sound to somebody like you."

Grinning, Colin replied, "We humans have a saying; you're only as old as you feel."

"Well I feel two hundred and sixty," Kyra spoke, rather joyously as she stood up and stretched her arms up, "I haven't felt so…free in so long. I can't wait to get out of this mailed armour. I know Auberdine was famous for its linens; hopefully that tradition has carried over to Lor'danel."

Colin smiled as he heard her excited speech, which he hadn't heard too often. Just the other day, she was the hardened soldier whose emotions were as plated as her armor. He had found glimpses into her depths, but never to see her in this happiness.

"If anything, you can get something as a carryover until we get to Astranaar," he spoke up, turning back to the sea.

She looked over to him, "You seem tired. Do you need a turn to sleep?"

"Yeah, I guess," he spoke, standing up himself, though as he turned, he noticed Kyra staring down at the sketchbook he had left him.

Suddenly, a rush of guilt and embarrassment fell over him, totally expecting never to see it again, much less alongside the woman he had left it with. He thought, for sure, that she had noticed his sudden pause, though she only continued staring at the thick paper of the book.

"It's amazing how I already miss home and it's only been a few hours," she spoke lightly, staring deeply into the colorful pages, "I mean, I have no intention of turning back, but still."

Colin nodded slowly, peering up into space, "I think I was feeling homesick even a month or so after I left home. Granted, I wasn't exactly offered much in the way of comforts, but still, it was all I had known. If you stick with it, you'll appreciate it more, especially when we start seeing some of your elven outposts down south."

Now more excited, Kyra grinned, "Exactly. I can't wait."

The two returned to quiet, each of them staring off into distant worlds. It was Colin who first spoke as he shoved his hands into a pair of pockets, ready to get some sleep himself. He paused, however, noticing the page on which Kyra was now staring at, and he began to blush as he, now quietly, began to slink off.

"Did you –" she halted upon realizing her companion had left.

She couldn't understand why she had been so captivated by the picture that had consumed her entire mind whenever she peered at it. She hadn't seen herself in mirrors much, though that wasn't exactly intentional, and she chalked it up to just the idea of not realizing how her body looked. She remembered how odd her voice was when she'd heard it magically repeated during a debriefing one time.

On the other hand, she was intrigued by the eyes which had seemingly memorized that scene. She felt a twinge of flattery, but mostly wanted to know and understand what it was about the whole thing that was so memorable; enough to be drawn with such detail. Despite not exactly having an eye for artwork, she still found something within her for this paper she looked upon; it wasn't merely lines and colors, but the eyes of another, staring upon her.

Colin jolted awake at the sound of an explosion above him on deck. He nearly fell off of the bunk, but managed to recover himself before quickly getting to his feet. He knew it couldn't have been a cannon, as this ship was, for the most part, just a schooner, and he had heard similar sounds enough to know it was more likely to be magical in nature.

Hurriedly, he made his way onto the deck, first noticing Sarith on the ground, nursing his forearm as Ney'ira held out a glowing hand to it. Kyra was standing beside them, staring off at another ship that seemed to be aimed toward them.

"Naga," she spoke, emotionless, "We must have drifted too far north."

Sarith seethed as he surrendered his arm to his wife's care, "I tried sending off a warning shot, but it seems to have backfired."

He grimaced as he turned away from the human traveler, almost embarrassed, "We haven't exactly had much time to perfect such things."

Colin made his way over toward Kyra, whose hand was held upon the hilt of her sword, although it was still sheathed, her voice escaping with a fire to it, "They'll have a much different destination if they're thinking of attempting to board us."

Sure enough, while the opposing ship had stopped its approach, a squadron of naga jumped from its decks and into the sea, quickly approaching the elven ship. Ney'ira turned to see what was happening just as Kyra drew her sword, waving the others back toward the interior of the ship.

"I'll hold them off!" she spoke confidently, though Colin was sure he'd heard a certain thread of worry in her voice.

While the couple seemed to be figuring how to navigate following her order, Colin walked up to her, holding his hand against her sword, "Hold on, I don't think we'll need this."

Kyra turned to him, confused, before Colin hopped up onto the railing, sitting down and waving at the naga, who were now close enough to pause their swimming.

"Hello!" he shouted, "How may I help you?"

The serpents peered up at him, rather confused by such a cordial introduction, though they quickly returned to trying to make their way up onto the ship.

Colin frowned, "Full disclosure; we're transporting artifacts to the mainland. It's rather important; I believe most of it was excavated from the Tidehunter's domain itself. Very important we get it to shore."

As soon as the name "Tidehunter" had been muttered, the naga quickly stopped and stared up at Colin, who was innocently holding himself up on the railing, slowly dangling his legs back and forth.

"I mean, if you're just curious about what's on here, I could show you if you'd like."

Colin began to spin around as thought to rise to his feet, however, as quickly as they had come, the naga made a furious dash back toward their ship, leaving Colin with a quick grin as he turned to watch them. Kyra could only look on in surprise, though Colin had already given her a nod.

"Everybody's afraid of something. You just need to figure out what ten of them would be afraid of. and pray that you don't run into something that will advance regardless."

With that, Colin hurried off to explain the situation to the others, leaving Kyra to stare down at her hand, still clasping her sword. She knew, very well, that she hadn't grasped it because she had been confident. but because she'd been scared.

The schooner advanced toward the mainland, now only a few hours away. Colin had taken to the bow of the ship with a sketchbook, doing his best to replicate the elven ship in all its detail despite the rocking of the boat. Sarith had taken to practicing his pyromancy, probably in response to the earlier debacle, and Colin did his best to incorporate him into the sketch. The more intimate moments of his sketches were usually reserved for his eyes alone.

He immediately noticed Kyra when she had emerged, though she hadn't looked in his direction. Her sword had been removed from her person, as had most of her armor, leaving her body to appear much more rounded, like a poem that rolls of the tongue. Colin quickly returned his attention to his drawing, but couldn't help the occasional glance, and once he'd finally continued drawing, he found himself including her as well.

While Sarith had taken a few quick strokes of his pencil, Kyra's form required so much more of an eye for detail, though it may have only been an excuse to study her shape further. She peered off into the distance, seemingly in thought, probably reflecting on her journey this far, and Colin was rather determined to capture her in graphite.

As quickly as Kyra had appeared, Ney'ira exited the cabin as well, stepping toward Sarith and examining his movements. He became visibly more unsteady in the presence of his wife, and he nervously attempted to maintain some sense of composure, but it was for naught, as he lost his concentration, stumbling toward the deck, frantically trying to avoid being hit by whatever magic he had been wielding in his hands. His wife released a soft laugh as she bent down to tend to him, once again; a scene that even forced a grin onto Kyra's face.

In turn, Colin looked back at his notepad, smiling to himself as he recounted this crew onto paper, quietly noticing that he had left his sketch of Kyra incomplete, to be completed later with more detail than he was affording the others.

"He started learning pyromancy a few years ago," Ney'ira explained as Kyra approached the two to check on him, "Just in case we needed protecting on the high seas."

"Assuredly, the next generation will be better at it. We're much too old to be learning this near-forbidden craft," Sarith grimaced as he took to his feet.

Ney'ira smiled, "That won't stop him from protecting his wife though."

Sarith blushed, at least as much as a night elf could, and turned away as though pretending to ignore her, practicing various exercises on his hands and fingers, leaving Ney'ira to pull out her sea chart.

"Give it another, oh, hour or so. We'll be in Lor'danel faster than you know it."

Kyra nodded politely as Colin approached the two from behind, "Great. Thank you very much for your help."

"Not a problem," Ney'ira confirmed, "We're happy to help. Other than that naga adventure, anyway, but I highly doubt that can be avoided on some occasion. Something tells me you two may run into more events like that."

Colin peered at her as she grinned, "At least, it's evidenced by your cheek there. Elune must have something special planned for you two."

While Colin shifted into himself, Kyra stood proudly at her words, though it was less of a prophecy; her very mantra she woke up to included a similar phrase.

Ney'ira walked off toward her husband, leaving the two passengers standing there. The earlier comment had left Colin in a bad mood, so he began to trudge off, hoping to avoid any conversation from Kyra. While she did watch him go, she knew the whole topic was one he preferred not to discuss at any length.

As the sun began to fall into the horizon, Kyra leaned against the railing of the ship, much the same way she had when her journey had begun. You could now see the vague outline of Kalimdor, which she studied even this far out at sea, occasionally peering over her shoulder to view Teldrassil's majesty, even this far away.

Even hearing footsteps behind her, she continued staring onward, noticing Colin there only after he'd leaned over himself.

"You washed it off," she spoke, neutrally.

Colin sighed, only giving a nod, as his words would have most definitely offended her. She didn't continue with her lime of questioning, which told him that she was simply acknowledging what he had done and, possibly, letting him know that she wouldn't go on. Instead, she continued staring off into the distance, an action that she realized she'd been doing a lot of.

"I slept through dawn," she muttered, low, as if to herself, "The sunset is something else. I've only ever seen purples and blue; never orange, at least not like this."

Colin had already surmised that he'd be learning to appreciate things all over again that he'd known well, but he hadn't expected it this early. He joined her stare toward the dusky horizon, peeking through narrowed eyes.

"It certainly is something else compared to what you're used to. From what I've gathered, more than anything, it's the cyclical movements of the sun and moon that truly define a night elf on the mainland from one of Teldrassil. Then it's the phases of the moon. I know of some druids who meditate or hibernate completely in between specific phases; I'd imagine that'd be difficult back there where you cant see the moon."

"It certainly is comforting," Kyra spoke, nostalgically, "Not knowing any different, so you just assume the moon is always there. That's just childish, though."

"Childish or not, there's still something to that," Colin admitted.