By the time Colin woke up the next day, Kyra had already gone off. He had lifted his head and peered across the room, finding her bed made up and empty. He dropped his head back down onto his pillow, squinting his eyes to avoid the sunlight that beamed in through the open window. He could see the rays of light as they stretched a ross the room, though he was surprised to see them met against the face of Vylira, who approached his bedside, silently walking into view.
"Ishnu dal'dieb," she spoke, softly, "Sleep well?"
Colin raised his hands out from his blanket and rubbed his eyes, still a bit taken aback, "Yeah, I suppose. Am I needed or something?"
She nodded, "Well, it's sort of up to you. Kyra already left to help with those elementals, so I figured you'd be left here alone by yourself. If you wanted, I know Raynewood Retreat is often enclosed from outsiders; I figured you might want to tag along. I have to go check on it anyway. You seem to be interested in night elf areas that are near impassable to you."
Colin grinned, "I think that's more circumstantial than not, but yes, that sounds like a good idea. Isn't that even farther than Maestra's Post, though?"
Vylira cocked a grin, "Well, have you ever ridden atop a nightsaber?"
It turned out to be a moot point, as it was going to happen regardless of what he'd said. Vylira brought her own nightsaber, Emawreth, and hopped on herself, helping Colin along behind her. They started out slow enough, to get the human acclimated, but as they sped up greater and greater, Vylira had pulled Colin's arms around her waist for balance, the latter particularly seeking stability now that Emawreth was nearly going full speed.
In this fashion, it only took a half hour or so to get to the Retreat, and Colin immediately fell down to the ground as soon as he'd been given the chance, giving Vylira the change to laugh politely at the sight.
"There's always a first time," she grinned, "The return trip won't be as bad."
Colin nodded, still on the ground, "I can see where you all get your kicks."
While Colin recovered there, Vylira went off to check up on the place. Sure enough, everywhere Colin looked, there were elven faces that stared at him, quick to turn away when his eyes drew near. He smiled at their reactions, which he had been well acquainted with by now, though he had long known a remedy for such things.
He stared up at the gigantic tree that looked above him, examining it's many boughs as he pulled out his sketchbook. He began drawing, making sure to gather each detail, and even including some of the faces that slowly peeked out from behind windows. He went on like this, his head rising rhythmically to reclaim the image in his head of the place.
As expected, some of the faces that had poked out began to appear more and more curious at what he was doing, and once it was known that he was drawing, the inhabitants became rather enamored at what it was, exactly, he was drawing. Eventually, one or two of them approached Colin cautiously, stopping behind him and peering over his shoulder to examine his work.
Colin grinned as more of them gathered around, obviously impressed by his work, and eventually, one of them quickly spoke up, "Zin Ashenvale…"
Judging by the voice, it was an awestruck sort of phrase, so Colin continued along until he was finished. He turned around to the group of night elves behind him, looking at a older pair of them that he had noticed when they had first come over.
"You two," he began, respectfully, "Together?"
The man stood, shocked at being addressed, though the woman nodded her head, "Bound together, through many, many moons."
Colin smiled, holding up his pad and quill, "May I?"
The woman nodded again, sitting down on a nearby concrete bench, pulling her still mystified husband down beside her, giving Colin a pair of models to finish up his drawing. The two sat lovingly while he drew, the man becoming a lot more relaxed once the shock wore off, and Colin happily spun around the sketchpad once he finished, showing off the two. Nearly brought to tears, the wife held her mouth and nodded enthusiastically with approval, while the husband only smiled. Colin shook their hands and, after a quick and unexpected hug from the woman, left the group, returning his sketch pad to his knapsack.
"Smooth," Vylira grinned, leaning against a nearby column with her arms crossed.
Colin smiled, still looking into his bag, "You pick up a few things when you roam around for long enough."
He finished organizing his bag, but when he looked back up, Vylira had covered quite a distance in that time, and she now stood right next to him, smiling herself, "Everything here is tip-top, I believe you say. If you'd like, we can stay around here for a while. You could draw some more, or whatever; it's always peaceful here."
Colin thought over it for a second, though not about staying, but rather Vylira. She seemed to be rather friendly, too friendly, actually, though Colin couldn't say that he disliked it. She was very bright and cheery, quite different from Kyra's stoic shell. He did find it odd, this sort of role-reversal of the two; Vylira easily could have seemed like the younger of the sisters
"Sure," he answered, finally.
Vylira happily nodded, walking on ahead and waving Colin to follow here, "Here; there's a clearing up ahead you'd love. Every time I come by here I spend some time over there. Once, there was a baby furbolg that nearly came up to shake my hand."
She paused for a second, "Maybe rip my arm off. Either way, it was a cute little thing."
Grinning, Colin pondered it himself, finally asking, "For a Silverwing, you certainly seem pretty lax. I mean, besides your awesome entrances, that is."
Vylira smiled dimly, "To be honest, seeing Kyra dive head first in her military goals has reminded me a lot of me when I started. From day one, it was always about my service; to Elune, to my officers, to Malfurion, whomever it may be. You give up on a lot when you dedicate your life to such things, you know?"
Colin nodded in agreement as she went on, "It makes me miss the little things I couldn't do before. You know, I've never just went on a walk with a friend before. I've been on more patrols than a Orgrimmar grunt, but it's not quite the same. I've found it to be quite nice to just unhook from everything. Not that I stop being a soldier; just for a moment, I enjoy things a bit more than I used to."
As they neared the clearing, Colin couldn't help but notice Vylira's arm slithering between his arm and torso, grasping at his hand. He looked down at their hands, noticing her turning away with a blush.
"Night elves hold hands like this as friends; don't worry," she confirmed, lowly.
Colin nervously pressed on, doing his best not to question it. He wasn't entirely sure how to feel about Vylira, who could definitely be making a pass at him. As before, he didn't dislike it, though whenever he thought of this sister, the face of Kyra immediately flashed in his mind. It was rather odd, he thought, or, at least, very new to him.
When they finally reached the clearing, which was, indeed, gorgeous, Vylira pulled her guest over to a spot and sat down, pulling him to the ground beside her, as though seeking a prime spot for which to watch him draw.
"Here, you can draw this," she pointed out, slowly, pointing out all the colorful flora that surrounded them.
Colin nodded as he looked around, pulling around his sketchbook, "Alright, if you say so. It definitely looks nice."
He flipped through to find an empty page, Vylira marveling beside him at every page she was able to make out. Colin paused at the page he had just drawn, almost as if double checking it, now that it was out from his eyesight. As he began to flip the page, Vylira rested a hand on the page in question.
Colin turned to see her eyes glued to the sketch, her blue eyes staring deep into the parchment. He looked back at the drawing to see what might have caught her attention, though he couldn't really tell. He smiled to himself, pleased with what he'd done. Eventually, Vylira's hand pulled away and Colin silently continued, not bringing up what had happened.
As he began to draw, Vylira stared intently at the page, almost mesmerized by each stroke that ran across the paper. The two weren't touching when he began, but as Colin went on, he could gradually feel Vylira's leaning onto his side more and more, which mostly only bothered him because he couldn't move his arm as much.
This went on for a time, until Colin had finished quite a bit of the background. Eventually, Vylira pulled away and stood up, walking over into the clearing a few paces in front of him, sitting down with her legs pulled up behind her as she posed.
"Could you do like you did earlier?" she asked, sincerely, "You know, making those two a part of the drawing."
Colin nodded, only his eyes moving from the paper up toward her, "Not a problem."
He continued, finishing up the background and beginning to draw the model in front of him. He had drawn Kyra twice before now, and as he began to sketch out Vylira, he began to notice the slight differences between the two. Vylira's face was brighter in color and in personality; her eyes seemed to bounce at you, playfully, while Kyra's were more akin to wells of moonlight that you could fall into. Vylira's body was slightly different as well, as were her hands.
Colin stared at her a long while as he was lost in these comparisons, rather intrigued by them, and he returned to his paper, having had enough of an eyeful to draw from memory for just a bit longer. His quill ran around the paper excitedly, almost dancing to the shape of the Silverwing's body in praise.
When he finally looked up again, he paused. Vylira had crawled on all fours up to him, her face only a foot or so away from his. He wasn't entirely sure what was going on, but he was certain that she was far more nervous than she might be trying to let on.
She gently pulled his sketch pad down with her hand before it rose up again to hold his shoulder, "I told you I'd had my eyes on you since you first entered here."
With that, Colin immediately knew what she was getting at, though she continued whispering, so he let her be, "Had I any idea you would end up meeting my sister… I might have snatched you up then and there."
Still shocked, Colin couldn't exactly move when she inched closer toward him, her knee meeting his leg as she reached up, her lips meeting with his cheek. She pulled away, trying to gauge his reaction, and though while it was full of surprise, she couldn't say there was much in the way of denial. She leaned in again, though this time, kissing nearer to his lips.
"You seem like the kind of man whose never had a woman stare at them the way I am right now," she muttered, near silently, before finally reaching over and allowing her lips to come to his in a kiss.
Suddenly, a flashback suddenly crashed into Colin's mind. These were Kyra's lips. or were they? But the person to whom these belonged was definitely not Kyra. He raised his hand, placing it against her chest and gently pushing her away, very much to her surprise. He lowered his head, more so in sadness that he was having to put her through this.
"I'm sorry," he muttered, "I think you're an amazing person, but…"
"But I'm not Kyra," Vylira finished, sadly.
Colin sighed, "I've been hurt so many times by people who I thought I loved. I couldn't bear to do the same to somebody else, especially…Kyra."
"I know she refuses to feel the same as me," he went on, almost grinning at the thought, "But I've done far more in my life for far, far lesser women."
Vylira leaned back, sitting down across from him, lowering her head, "I'm sorry. I knew you had a thing for her, but… I'm sorry; I just got caught up in all this stuff, and you being so kind and-"
She was halted by Colin, who had laid his hand against her shoulder, "Don't apologize. We're both just hopelessly searching for the same thing. There's no shame in that, much less to a guy like me who has never been with anybody who hadn't eventually left me broke on the curbs of Old Town, or had me take them for a weekend in Redridge only to run off with the first lumberjack that had traveled ten thousand miles to plant Draenor seeds. You stand, head and shoulders, above most of them."
"And my sister's a giant," she smirked.
"She's the moon," Colin spoke, coolly, remembering the night before.