The next night, though time itself was rather muddled upon Teldrassil, especially for Colin, who had been asleep for so long that his biological clock was ten ways out of whack, the human took a steady step out of the small home of Starbreeze, finally taking in a breath of fresh air- a welcome substitute from the elven herbs he'd been ingesting for almost two days now. He remained in the doorway for a moment, clutching the doorframe for a moment to make sure of his condition, eying Kelaeth, who was tending a small fire just a bit away from the house, his back turned.

As Colin took a careful step out of the house, Kelaeth's ears perked up, and he slowly spun his head around, noticing Colin with an uncertain look, waving him over.

"C'mon," the druid muttered aloud, "You could use a fire."

Colin watched him, but didn't mind accepting his invitation, taking a few wobbly steps, his muscles still maintaining a slight ache. Arriving at the fire, he slowly made his way to the ground across from Kelaeth, leaning back as he supported himself with his hands behind him.

"At least I'm not the only one whose main use within the family is keeping warm beds," Kelaeth joked aloud, smirking, "Though, I'd say you have me wholly beat in the usefulness department."

Colin watched him, unsure of how to respond, though Kelaeth went on, "That trick you pulled off with the cart was impressive. I spent so much time surrounded by druidic magic, I almost forgot about the arcane. I don't usually hear about humans your age pulling off stuff like that."

Shrugging, Colin replied, "I guess it's always been sort of a knack. I was always more on the burly side, but I never really enjoyed physical violence. If you're not willing to bring up a sword to defend yourself, you pretty much only have your magical skills, or you hire a bodyguard, and I never had much money either."

Kelaeth grinned, nodding, "Very true. I was always the opposite; I was always ready to raise my fists, or a sword. Magic bored me, and I despised -back then, we had very rigid gender roles- being forced into the druidic circles. Even when I was with Staghelm, I wasn't ever much more than a novice- most of what fueled my abilities were hatred and whatever corruption had overpowered me."

Thinking back to Mount Hyjal, remembering those hellishly green eyes, Colin lowered his head, respectfully, unable to find anything to say, though Kaelaeth also switched his attention to the fire, himself, as if disarming his attention from Colin in his own respect. The two simply sat there, watching the flames lap up at the atmosphere above it, radiating tiny bursts of heat toward the two.

"Your cheek," Kelaeth spoke up, suddenly, "I can only remember bits and pieces, but… that was Elune, correct?"

Colin blushed, suddenly embarrassed by a question, and a phenomenon, that he hadn't thought about in a while, though he relinquished a steady nod, "I mean, I don't know how else to pour starlight from my skin. Nothing arcane can do that."

"Could have been something else," Kelaeth reminded, deftly, "My sister hasn't done a good enough of a job teaching you of our deities, I see."

Colin's head rose up slightly, his eyes just barely peeking up at Kelaeth from the flames, "I've heard her."

Now it was Kelaeth's turn for his eyes to look through the flames, this time in surprise, though his face quickly melted into a grin, "I guess that settles it then."

The night elf reached over for the metal poker, stabbing one of the now-hollowed logs until it incinerated into the ashes below, "Just curious. I do remember, when you grasped my face, I didn't see Elune for but a moment. Most of it was Ysera."

Curiously, Colin eyed him further, "But…she-"

"Died?" Kelaeth completed, chuckled, "My, my; what has my sister been teaching you? Although, maybe she isn't aware- most of our women still don't bother much with druidism, and the ones that do are still in their initial slumbers."

As if revealing a highly prized secret, Kelaeth leaned forward toward Colin, "True, Tyrande released Ysera from her Xavius' grasp, but that was simply her physical body. Her spiritual essence still remains, mostly prowling around the Emerald Dream."

He began to chuckle again, "Even within the Dream, I seem to be ostracized somewhat, though Ysera still peers at me like any other."

Colin quickly leaned forward, speaking matter-of-factly, "Hang on, you can still travel to the Emerald Dream."

Kaelaeth smiled, "Well, yeah; after a few thousand years, it isn't exactly a habit you can kick, at least not easily."

"No, no; I mean…" Colin stopped himself, pondering for a moment, "There's a druid, Ascal; do you know him?"

Kelaeth sighed, screwing his eyes upward in thought, "Not off the top of my head. Why?"

Colin looked around, now he appeared to be keeping a secret, "You can, uh, keep secrets from other druids, right?"

Curiously, Kelaeth returned his stare, "I doubt there's anything the others would like to steal from me, but no, we can't read minds or anything."

"And from the Aspects?"

Now Kelaeth's eyes narrowed, suspiciously, "To answer your question, Ysera can peer into any of our hearts and souls."

"What about the others?"

Kelaeth paused, "What are you wanting, human?"

Colin groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, "Can I ask you to do something? I mean, without you asking why?"

"I'm trying to rebuild my reputation, human, not tarnish it all over again with secret and deplorable missions," Kelaeth answered drolly.

"I just…" Colin paused, "Look, just… Can you ask Ysera, next time you see her, if she can let me know how Ascal is doing? She'll know who he is- he's a good friend."

Kelaeth lowered his head as he grinned, his body soon bouncing up and down as he laughed quietly, only looking back at Colin as he spoke up, "Mother and father were right. You two are in some pretty deep stuff. They wouldn't ever explain what it was, but I'm starting to get an idea."

Colin watched Kelaeth as he sighed, turning to look off into the distance, "Look, I have some tomes that Staghelm gave me before he defected. I kept 'em hidden, but couldn't get them before he took me away, so they're still here."

His eyes ran to the corners of his sockets, eying Colin's confused face, "I did… Let's just admit it here and now; I was a shit brother to the woman you love. I was so…dedicated to protecting the family from the very flames I ran to whenever I grew frightened, and I hurt her. in ways I dare not speak of. Yet, she forgave me."

He sighed, "I have no right to offer anything to her. But you- You still have a chance to protect her. If I can do anything to make it up to her, I'd like to offer the man she loves those tomes- you obviously have a strong enough grasp of magic, and…"

Kelaeth paused, thinking, "Man, here's the Shadowmoon in me coming out. It's, uh, 'dangerous' stuff; but only if the wielder of this magic is strong enough…'good' enough to properly practice it. Evil people will, just…well, you know."

"And what makes you think I'm 'good' enough?" Colin questioned, sincerely.

"I don't," Kelaeth answered, quickly, "Elune does. Ysera does. My sister does. I don't need to know anything about you; even one of those three are enough of a witness to that fact."

As Colin stared curiously, still, at Kelaeth, the druid grinned lightly, "You know, I have yet to witness Elune myself. You were the arbiter of the first time I'd seen her, and even that was just the briefest of seconds."

He chuckled, shaking his head, "I truly wasn't that good of a druid. Not good as a brother, or a druid… Certainly not a son."

Sighing loudly, Kelaeth pulled his legs out, rising to his feet, looking off into the distance as he stood there, still. Colin tried to see what he was peering at, but it was a moot point. Looking back at the druid, he saw those distant eyes, though with a twinge of peridot starlight.

"Yeah, I'll try and speak to Ysera for you," Kelaeth finished, turning to walk away, "And if you want those tome, let me know. It's the least I could do."

He took a few steps before stopping, grasping a handful of his shirt in his hand, his arm shaking as he spoke up, again, this time in a choked up voice, "For somebody…without a family. You deserved one so much more than I did."

Shaking his head, presumably to clear the tears from his eyes, Kelaeth quickly strode toward the house, disappearing into the darkness beyond the frame of the door, leaving Colin sitting there, alone.

It wasn't long that Colin had to wait until another Shadowmoon came sauntering around, though this time, it happened to Vylira, whose head was rocking back and forth as if running some musical tune through her mind. Her eyes closed, she didn't notice Colin watching her as she walked toward the house, though she nearly tripped on a ill-placed stone, quickly opening her eyes to avoid falling to the ground, though her recovery was far from graceful.

She hurriedly looked around as if to see who had witnessed her failure, though as she only noticed Colin, she frowned, mumbling loud enough for him, "Ah, shit…"

Colin grinned, "Are you expecting me to tease you?"

Vylira shot him a stare, "You might be hunting for payback, and there's nothing more bruising to a Silverwing's pride than being called out on poor balance and grace, as seen just then."

"I wouldn't ever tease a Silverwing," Colin replied with a sarcastic smirk as he poked at the fire, "I have a very general rule that has mostly served me well- don't annoy people who can kick your ass."

Vylira openly scoffed before replying, "Ha! That's bullshit and you know it."

"Hey now," Colin lifted his hands in innocence, wearing a goofy smile, "Far be it from me to insult somebody so swift and lithe!"

Grinning, Vylira fell to the ground opposite Colin, where Kelaeth had just been sitting a while ago, "I call it my lithe-lihood, if you must know."

Colin couldn't retain a rather hearty laugh, "Eh, I didn't "must know" that, no; that's the sort of thing I would happily tease you for."

"Alright, alright," Vylira nodded, coyly, "I'm just trying to get a bearing on your health is all. You must be getting better if you're able to laugh like that."

Shrugging, Colin went ahead and nodded, "I'm getting there. I've already put your parents in the wringer taking care of me once before; I wasn't about to forces them into that again. The last thing I want is to be a hindrance."

"Bah, you're nothing of the sort," Vylira assured, easily, "Mom and dad didn't even have to take care of you; as soon as the others left, Kyra didn't leave your side. It wasn't until Kel told her to go take a break, that he'd watch you, that she finally went for some alone time."

Eying her curiously, Colin noted, bluntly, "Good to hear you're using his pet name."

Vylira rolled her eyes, " Oh, shut up. Old habits are hard to break, even if somebody's done a good few centuries of crap to your family. I spent five times that much time calling him that."

She growled as she hit her fist into her other hand, twisting it angrily in her palm, "He had the audacity to ask if he could prepare tea for me."

Colin shrugged, "He just wants to make amends."

"Well," Vylira's eyes shifted angrily, "He's gonna have to do a lot more to prove himself, at least to me. And what are you smiling at?!"

Quickly avoiding her constricting eyes, Colin held a hand over his crooked mouth, "I don't know; it's just a bit humorous that Kyra held the brunt of his evil; that is, if you subtract your parents, of course. But she's forgiven him, they've forgiven him; far as I can tell, the only one who hasn't is also the one who constantly brags about having kicked his ass so many times growing up."

Vylira went on staring at him, though she suddenly shot her glare away into the distance, her voice grumbling, "I don't like talking to you anymore."

Colin chuckled in reply, "I may not be able to defeat a Silverwing in combat, but in conversation, juuust maybe…"

She didn't reply further, only continuing to pout as she sat there, possibly not wanting to return the home, having figured Kelaeth was still there. Colin continued tending the fire for a bit before standing and walking over toward a table that sat by the home, grabbing his small satchel that housed his drawing supplies, returning to his spot by the fire, though Vylira's eyes had begun to watch him.

"You still draw?" she asked, innocently.

Nodding, Colin replied as he opened up his sketch pad, "Well, for me, anyway, it's better than most therapists. I haven't had much reason to draw, though, for the last bit."

"Why's that?"

"I don't know," Colin shrugged, "I really only draw for three reasons: to remember places I've seen, to get thoughts out of my head, and to dream of things I wish I could see. I haven't much needed to draw, in that case."

Vylira's eyes caught his hand flipping through different pages, her lips crooking up into a devilish grin, "Ahh, you're trying to get another candid screenshot of the ever-lovely Vylira Shadowmoon, eh? Many men have tried for just a glimpse, and you've gotten more than that."

She waved her hand at him, dismissively, "You're not allowed another one, dear Dumerval. Put that thing away."

His eyes escaping atop the sketch pad to glare at her, Colin only laughed at her words, still continuing to pull out his quill, "Actually, believe it or not, I'm not interested in capturing the uncapturable. I'm seeing if I can't draw Teldrassil, here. It just seems so different since last time."

"Really?" Vylira asked, slowly allowing herself to fall backwards onto the ground, rolling onto her back as she stared up into those boughs she'd grown up beneath.

Colin smiled, his quill pausing against the light paper, "I don't know. Maybe I've just grown enough since last time. Just learning to take life a bit differently."

Vylira's eyes closed, mulling over his words. There was one thing that nagged at her, ever since hearing Kyra's words. She hated to think of that consequence, but she also knew it couldn't be avoided; though she refused to be the one to have to tell this man.

"Placebo, perhaps," Vylira spoke up, as if simply thinking aloud.

"Huh?" Colin responded.

He answered so innocently, it broke a part of Vylira's heart to think of Kyra returning, forced to tell the man that she loves the truth. A truth that would easily dismantle all that these two lovers had built until now.

The fact that, perhaps, this man wasn't truly immortal at all.