A/N: Over the last few months, I've had no drive to continue this (Or my other) story, but that is changing with two uploads in such a short amount of time compared to the chapters before this and the last one. The main reason for the lack of chapters was mostly down to the Burning Crusade not really having a fixed story throughout the expansion and instead having many stories dotted throughout each zone (Or patch).

So I have decided to focus mainly on the two zones the story is currently taking place in. Zangarmarsh and Terokkar Forest. This doesn't include the stuff happening back home, as that will also have parts of the story dedicated to it, namely the Amani (As Zul'Aman was/is a raid from TBC and there will be some development there) and the undead/Forsaken. I have yet to 100% decide on what to do with them just yet, but I will have an idea in the next few chapters when I write about them some more.

So with that being said, the chapter notes are done and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Magical In Nature

Sylvanas walked through Allerian Stronghold, closing her eyes at the amount of fallen elves from the night before. "About half of our rangers are dead." She said, sighing and slumping her shoulders. "This isn't what I wanted when we came here."

Athrodar hugged the General from behind, feeling her lean back against him. "But we are still here and they helped defend and save the rest of us." He kissed her on the cheek, knowing it wouldn't make things better, but he was still trying to cheer her up. "If it weren't for their sacrifice, we may have all died."

Nodding her head slowly, Sylvanas pulled away from her husband and span on her heel to face him. "I know." She said softly, having her ear twitch when she heard the sound of coughing in the distance. "Well, someone is coming down with something."

Athrodar smiled and pressed his forehead against her temple. "Suppose it gives our priests more to do, including the wounded."

"I'm happy you survived though." Sylvanas said, looking back to him and cupping his face in her hands. "I was worried when you were on the wall with those rangers. A lot of them died, but you managed to survive with a handful of them."

"I got lucky." Athrodar told her. "Maybe you were looking out for me and killing the demons who were trying to kill me."

Sylvanas smiled at him. "Maybe." She said, hearing a few more elves begin to cough and looking over to them. "Why do I have a bad feeling about that?"

"General!" Anya cried, running over to her and Athrodar. "It's Clea, she's sick."

"What?" Sylvanas asked, frowning at her. "Show me."

The three of them all made their way over to Clea, finding her laying down on a bed and looking worse for wear. "Hey General." She said, coughing and covering her mouth. "Don't worry about me. It's just a little sickness, nothing I can't fight."

"What happened?" Sylvanas asked her. "You were fine before and during the fight. That was only a few hours ago." She looked around the room she was in, seeing many other rangers in the same state as Clea. "All of you were."

"They think it's the demons." Clea said, coughing again. "Everyone who is sick right now was in our company. None of the elves who were with Alleria are sick."

Sylvanas looked over to the other rangers who were all coughing, noticing they were all in fact from her company. "I don't understand?"

"It's the sickness of this world." Tamaria said, standing at the entrance of the room. "We had it shortly after this world died, we think it's from the twisting nether above us. A fel sickness of some sort that killed about a tenth of our company." She looked over to Clea who was shivering, pulling up the blanket that was sitting around her legs. "Our priests can help slow down the sickness and help your rangers fight it, but I'm afraid that's all they can do."

"So, what? More of my rangers are going to die, even after the fighting we had just endured?" Sylvanas asked, feeling Athrodar take hold of her hand.

"I'm afraid so, General. There's not much we can do about it." Tamaria told her, looking over to Athrodar when he began to cough too.

Something that caught the attention of both Anya and Sylvanas the second he did cough. "No.. Not you too." Sylvanas said, watching him cover his mouth as he coughed again. "Take him to my tent." She told both mother and daughter beside her. "I'm going to talk to the Captain and the priests here."

"They'll tell you the same thing, General." Tamaria told her, helping Athrodar towards the door. "We can help slow down this sickness, but it's up to him and the rest of your rangers affected by it, to fight through and beat it. Otherwise the only other outcome is death."

"Then I will go to Shattrath and I'll talk to Khadgar!" Sylvanas snapped at her, letting her anger, frustration and worry seep through her words as she was going to lose more rangers and most of all, she might lose her husband.

Knowing it was better to keep quiet than to argue with her at this point, Anya looked over to her mother whilst she also helped Athrodar. "Come on, let's take him to the General's tent, mom."

Clea watched both Tamaria and Anya take Athrodar out of the building and towards the General's tent, coughing into her hand again and getting the General's attention from just the action. "He will make it, General." She told her. "He is strong, he has you and your children to fight for as well as his mother and Mel. He will beat this thing."

Sylvanas closed her eyes and let a couple tears drop from them, crouching down in front of Clea and placing a hand on her arm. "So will you. All of you will beat this. You're hand picked by me, for Light's sake. You're the best of the best our people have to offer. I know you can all beat this."

Standing up and making her way out of the building, Sylvanas quickly made her way towards her tent just as she saw Anya and Tamaria leave it, looking over to Athrodar who began to shiver under the blanket they draped over him and sitting on the bed beside him. "Why did you get this sickness too?" She asked rhetorically, placing a hand on his arm and feeling him shake under the blanket. "I'll leave for Shattrath in a few hours, okay? I'll talk to Khadgar and that Naaru in there, see if they have anything that can help."

Athrodar nodded his head, coughing into his hand and closing his eyes when his head began to ring. "Whatever this is... It's quick." He told her, shivering some more. "I have only been showing symptoms for a few minutes and already I feel like shit."

Sylvanas gave him a sympathetic smile, placing a hand on his face and noticing how hot he felt. "I need you to fight this." She told him. "Harder than you've fought before." She whispered to him, letting a tear drop from her eyes. "I need you with me, Athrodar. I can't have you die to this sickness."

"I won't die, General." Athrodar said, smiling a little at her. "Not when I have such a beautiful wife wanting me to get better. I'd be a fool to let her down."

"Always so charming." Sylvanas muttered, letting out a small laugh when he placed a hand on her face. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? I will stay here for a few hours to watch over you. Then I will head to Shattrath to see if they can help."

"Make sure to check in on our kids when you go there." Athrodar told her. "Tell them I am busy, just don't tell them I am sick."

Sylvanas shook her head. "No, I won't tell them you're sick." She told him, taking hold of his hand and kissing the palm of it. "I'll tell them that you love them and you're busy helping out here."

"Good. Thank you." Athrodar said, coughing and covering his mouth with his other arm. "I really want to hold you. I can see you're upset seeing me like this and I want to comfort you, but I don't want to risk making you sick. At least not as much as I am now."

Sylvanas closed her eyes when his hand moved to her cheek, stroking her face lightly in an attempt to comfort her. "I hate this already." She told him. "Because I really could use a nice, tight hug. But we can't both be sick."

"I know." Athrodar said, dropping his hand from her face. "At least we made it through the attack together."

"We did." Sylvanas agreed, nodding her head. "Just rest now, my love. Rest and focus all of your energy on fighting off this sickness." She now told him, placing a hand on the top of his head and stroking his hair lightly. "Whilst you're resting, I'll leave for Shattrath and find someone to help you and our rangers, then you can get back on your feet and we will visit our little ones."

"Okay, deal." Athrodar muttered, closing his eyes and focusing on getting as much rest as possible.

"So you have told her that you want to meet her today?" Belo'vir asked, standing beside the King who was wearing his best robes.

"I did." Kael'thas confirmed, nodding his head a little. "The Lady Jaina should be here soon and I will discuss a future with her, or something along those lines, in the privacy of this spire. Without anyone, including yourself Belo'vir, interrupting us unless it's very important." He told the Grand Magister. "And i mean it. It has to be extremely important, like the Amani is attacking, the undead are back or the General and her company are missing or dead."

Belo'vir nodded his head in agreement to his requests. "I will make sure nobody interrupts you, my King." He said, slowly smiling when a thought crossed his mind. "Do you think she will like the robe you're wearing? You took a long time to pick it out."

"I hope so." Kael'thas said, looking down at the robe he was wearing and trying to flatten it down a bit. "Thalina Dawnstrider helped me pick it out, she said it complimented my eyes. I take it that's a good thing?"

Belo'vir laughed and nodded his head. "It is, my King."

"I spent all my years studying the arcane arts, delving deep into fire magic and the nature of magic in general. I don't think I cared much about how clothes matched my hair or complimented my eyes or whatever it is you're supposed to look out for." Kael'thas told him, looking over to the Grand Magister who just smiled at him. "I take it I'm alone in this?"

"I'm afraid so. At least when it comes to your people, my King. Your Ranger-General and one of your heads of the Convocation took care of their appearances, even if they were about to go into a fight." Belo'vir told him. "But I'm sure the Lady Proudmoore won't care as much as one of our kin."

"I hope so." Kael'thas muttered, taking in a deep breath and looking towards the twin doors to the throne room. "I don't normally get nervous, but I have to admit, I am shaking a little."

"You'll be fine, my King." Belo'vir reassured him. "You know the Lady Jaina. Just treat this as any other conversation with her, except with a certain end goal in mind."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly. "You're right." He said, smiling a little. "Thank you, Belo'vir."

"Any time, my King." He said, looking over to the twin doors when Lady Jaina walked through them. "I'll leave you to it now." He whispered to his King, walking past Jaina and bowing his head to her. "Lady Proudmoore." He said to her, getting a similar comment back from the human mage before leaving the room.

Once they were alone, there was a short, awkward silence between the two of them for a few seconds, making both of them laugh nervously. "I'm happy you're here." Kael'thas said, smiling at the human mage. "It's been a while since we had the opportunity to talk."

"It has." Jaina agreed, smiling at the King. "I think the last time was when we were fighting the demons with the Kaldorei, the Orcs and Tauren."

"Too long then." Kael'thas said with a small laugh, getting a laugh from her too. "I don't know if you've eaten lunch yet, but if you want, we can go eat something to eat?"

Jaina smiled a little wider and nodded her head. "Sure. I could go for something to eat."

"Brilliant." Kael'thas said, standing beside her. "Let's get going."

"After you." Jaina said, looking him up and down. "I like your robe, by the way."

Kael'thas just smiled, making a mental note to thank Thalina when he next sees her for picking it out.

Sylvanas had returned to Shattrath a few hours after watching Athrodar fall asleep in front of her, keeping an eye on him the entire time to make sure he fine before leaving to find some help. She quickly made her way into the middle of the city and letting out a small sigh of relief when she saw both Khadgar and Liadrin who she didn't know was going to be here. "Khadgar." She said, making her way towards them. "I need your help."

Liadrin looked over to Sylvanas and frowned when she realised she was breathing heavy and alone. "Where's Athrodar?" She asked her, noticing the General's face drop a little. "Sylvanas?"

"He's come down with a sickness. As well as most of my company." She told the paladin, looking over to Khadgar shortly after. "We repelled a massive demon attack and took some losses, but a few hours later, most of my rangers became sick. Something my sister's company had already experienced and were immune to, but not without telling me that it would wipe out a tenth of my company."

"Wait, your sister's company? Is Alleria here?" Liadrin asked, watching both Sylvanas and Khadgar shake their heads.

"No, but her company is." Khadgar told her, looking over to the Ranger-General. "I think I know what this sickness is."

"Tamaria believed it was from the Twisting Nether above us." Sylvanas told him, making Khadgar frown as he began to think about it.

"Maybe... The Draenei believe it was from the fel blood in the demons, having come across this sickness many times before. It could be either one, or even just a combination of both." Khadgar looked over to A'dal in the distance and began to stroke his chin. "Let me speak to A'dal. Wait here." He told her, making his way to the Naaru whilst Liadrin made her way towards Sylvanas, placing a hand on her back.

"He'll be fine." She told the General reassuringly. "He's a Sunblade. They're notoriously hard to kill, so a little sickness won't affect him. Even his father died after being poisoned and fighting off a city of Amani." She engulfed her hand in holy magic, trying to soothe the General who didn't look too convinced. "He will be fine, General. I promise. I will even come with you to check on him and try to heal him."

Sylvanas smiled a little and looked over to the paladin. "What brings you here anyway? We didn't receive any word of you all coming to the city."

Liadrin smiled at her. "It's just me and my paladins. The King thought we needed a change of scenery after I complained for almost a week of doing nothing." She told her, making the General laugh lightly. "I suppose we'll attach ourselves to your company for the rest of this campaign if that's okay? We have nothing to do right now except heal the local of this city, which is where my paladins are at the moment."

"We could use you actually." Sylvanas said. "Warriors of the Light on a world full of demons isn't the worst thing in the world to have." She told her, getting a smile and a nod from the paladin.

"We are dying to fight more demons." Liadrin told her. "That's what we're here for anyway, so if you find anything, send us in."

"I'll definitely do that." Sylvanas said, looking over to Khadgar who was making his way back to them. "And?" She asked him when he stood in front of them both.

"I will come with you to check on your rangers, along with some of the Draenei here." Khadgar looked over to one Draenei in particular who was making his way over to the three of them. "This is Velen, he is the leader of the Draenei and a great prophet of his people."

Velen bowed his head to both the elves in front of him, looking over to Liadrin who bowed her head to him in return and then over to Sylvanas. "As Khadgar has said, my name is Velen. I know very well what this sickness is, as it has affected many of the races in this city already, as well as my people."

"Good, let's get going then." Sylvanas said, turning around to face the exit of the room they were in.

The three of them all noted Sylvanas' urgency to get everyone back to Allerian Stronghold so they can heal both her husband and the rest of her company who were affected by the sickness. "Slow down, Sylvanas." Khadgar told her, holding up his hand to stop her from speaking. "We need to wait for the rest of them to gather as well as informing you that this isn't a definite cure. Athrodar and the rest of your company who are affected by this sickness might not be healed, or they will be. We won't know until Velen and his Draenei have tried to heal them."

Sylvanas looked at Khadgar with desperation in her eyes, knowing the old mage could see the emotion on her face and hoping he would listen to her. "You know the way, right? To Allerian Stronghold?"

Knowing what she was about to suggest, Khadgar nodded his head slowly. "We do."

"Then meet me there. I have to return to him to make sure he is still alive." Sylvanas told him, turning back around again.

"I'll go with her." Liadrin said, getting a nod from Khadgar and Velen. "We'll meet you both there."

Leaving Shattrath, both Liadrin and Sylvanas made their way towards Allerian Stronghold with haste, the Ranger-General practically running into her tent to talk to Athrodar and finding both the bed and the tent to be empty. "Please be nearby..." She muttered, walking out the tent and past Liadrin who frowned at her.

"Isn't he meant to be in there?" Liadrin asked, poking her head into the tent and also noticing it was empty. "You should really put a bell on him."

Sylvanas sighed and clenched her fists. "I might have to." She said, looking around the Stronghold and noticing Athrodar in the distance, taking care of a couple of rangers who also contracted the sickness. "There he is." She said, having Liadrin follow her over to Athrodar, watching the General move to stand in front of him and glare at him. "What are you doing?" She asked him. "You're supposed to be resting."

Liadrin watched Athrodar take a step forward, but then had his legs buckle underneath him and stepping forward to catch him before he fell to the ground. "You definitely should be resting." She told him, pulling up a piece of cloth to cover her mouth and nose when he began to cough. "Come on."

"See?" Sylvanas sighed and helped Athrodar back to her tent with Liadrin. "You need to be resting."

"They needed help." Athrodar told her, covering her mouth with a piece of cloth he had picked up around the camp to cough into. "Some of the healers were also sick and they were busy with healing, but they didn't have anyone helping them."

Helping Athrodar down onto the bed, Sylvanas crouched down in front of him and shook his head, but she had a smile on her face "What am I going to do with you? Always trying to help others, even if you're weak and sick."

Liadrin began to examine Athrodar, engulfing her hands in holy magic and almost instantly noticing the sickness and what it was doing to him. "This is definitely a magical sickness. It's sapping his energy, even whilst I'm healing him. I think Khadgar and the Draenei he is bringing here will have a much better time than I'm having with healing them all. If it was an actual disease or sickness, maybe I could cure them all. But something this magical in nature would be better for much more experienced healers or even great mages."

Athrodar tried to look towards Liadrin who remained sat behind him. "When did you get here?" He asked her.

"Yesterday." Liadrin told him, taking her hands off his back after she had finished examining him. "Me and my paladins were bored in Hellfire, so the King allowed us to go to Shattrath and meet up with you two. So I am now here, with my paladins in Shattrath, under your command."

"How is he?" Sylvanas asked the paladin, both of them walking away from Athrodar to talk about this privately.

"He's not good." Liadrin whispered to her, instantly noticing the worry in the General's eyes. "Now hold on, I didn't say it was dire. Him getting out of bed and trying to help out didn't help, ironically enough. Once Khadgar and Velen get here, I'm fairly certain they can help him and anyone else in this camp. It's just if they can get here in time or not."

"What do you mean?" Sylvanas asked her, also keeping her voice low.

Liadrin frowned and looked back to Athrodar when he coughed. "Magical diseases and sicknesses work fast. Usually the creator of these sicknesses can force their sickness to kill everyone affected at once. Seeing as everyone is still alive at the moment, I would say the creator of this sickness is dead or coming back later when everyone here is infected with it."

Sylvanas sighed and looked over to Athrodar. "I hope it's the former. Otherwise we're on a ticking clock that will wipe us all out."

"Hopefully Velen and Khadgar should be here within the hour and if the demon who created this sickness is still around and waiting, we would have some sort of sign I think." Liadrin told her, watching Athrodar cough some more and taking a step towards him. "Now I need to tend to him. I might not be able to cure him, but I can ease any pain he is in. And with all this coughing, I am almost certain his chest, throat and stomach is killing him."

Sylvanas watched Liadrin begin to heal Athrodar's pain, biting the nail on her thumb and finding this situation a painful one for both her mentally and for Athrodar physically. She, as well as most of Quel'Thalas, have next to no experience in dealing with sicknesses. Their near immortality usually led to people dying in battle or old age. But sicknesses before they had even got close to a millennia old was very rare.

"How does that feel?" Liadrin asked, watching Athrodar smile a little and nod his head. "Good." She muttered, reaching for a nearby cloth rag and wiping his forehead. "Help is coming, okay? Khadgar is on his way with help and you will feel as good as new, okay?"

Athrodar nodded his head, his eyelids getting heavy as fatigue was taking over. "Thank you for this." He said, looking over to Sylvanas who continued to look worried. "I'll be fine, okay?" He told her, coughing and covering his mouth with his arm. "I'll get better once Khadgar arrives and then you can be happy again."

Sylvanas smiled a little and stepped forward, making her way towards him and sitting down on the bed beside him. "I know you'll get better." She said, placing a hand on his leg. "It's just making me realise how much I hate demons. Nothing good comes from our dealings with them, even when we beat them."

"We learnt we can do the Dance of Death from fighting the demons." Athrodar told her, smiling a little wider at the General. "Now that's something to be happy about."

Sylvanas shook her head and rolled her eyes. "Fair enough. You have got me there." She said, moving her hand to his face and placing it on his cheek. "You are still really hot."

"Thank you. You also look really hot." Athrodar said, making Liadrin laugh and Sylvanas sigh and roll her eyes.

"Not like that, you idiot." Liadrin told him. "She means you're hot when she touches your head. You're burning up, you're sick."

"I know." Athrodar said, grinning at them both. "But I meant what I said."

"Look at you, still trying to seduce me even when you're sick." Sylvanas giggled and stroked her thumb across his cheek. "I love you."

"I love you too." Athrodar whispered back to her.

Whilst the three of them remained in the tent, Tamaria made her way into the tent too and looking over to the General when both Liadrin and Sylvanas turned their attention to her. "Khadgar is here with a handful of Draenei."

Sylvanas smiled and made her way towards Tamaria. "Good. Show them where all of our sick are and inform Khadgar of where we're held up. The sooner everyone is healed, the sooner we can move on, work on repairs and scout for a new enemy."

Tamaria bowed her head to the General. "Right away."

Liadrin watched the elf leave, frowning and tilting her head a little when something crossed her mind. "She looks familiar." She said, making Sylvanas smile and look over to her. "Who is she?"

"Anya's mother." Sylvanas told her, making Liadrin widen her eyes at the fact.

"Really? I didn't think her mother was still alive." Liadrin muttered, smiling a little. "Huh... Learn something new every day."

Sylvanas nodded her head and looked over to Athrodar, placing her hands on his face just as Khadgar and Velen entered their tent. "They're here." She whispered to him. "I hope they can heal you."

"Me too." Athrodar whispered back, closing his eyes at her touch and looking over to Velen and Khadgar just as they made their way into his line of sight. "Good to see you again, Khadgar." He said, moving his arm to his mouth and coughing into it. "As you can see, I am as healthy as always."

Sylvanas sat down beside Athrodar whilst Liadrin began to inform both Velen and Khadgar of her examination. "Still making jokes, even though you're this sick." She said, smiling and resting her head on his shoulder. "I am risking getting sick now, but I don't care. They will find a cure and give it to all of us so we can combat this thing."

"It doesn't surprise me that it's magical in nature." Khadgar said the moment Liadrin told both him and Velen of her findings. "I think I will examine him too, see if I can fight this sickness, then I will leave it to you if I can't find anything." The human mage said, looking over to Velen.

"I am sure we will find a cure for this sickness." Velen told him.

Khadgar nodded his head and made his way over to Athrodar and Sylvanas, engulfing his hands in arcane magic and placing one on Athrodar's chest and the other on his back. "It definitely feels like it's magical in nature." He said, looking over to Sylvanas who remained sat beside Athrodar with her head rested on his shoulder. "Just give me... Here we go." He said pulling his hand back slowly on his chest and pulling out what looked to be a green spell from his chest. "It's made of fel magic and thankfully we have studied it a lot to know how to contain it."

Sylvanas sat back and watched Athrodar as he clenched his teeth and closed his eyes whilst the fel magic was extracted from him. "Stay strong, baby." She whispered to him, kissing him on the temple and pressing her forehead against the same spot shortly after. "It will hurt for now, but you'll feel better. I promise."

"Almost there." Khadgar said, pulling his hand back just a little further and feeling the magic pull back against him to stay inside Athrodar. "Now this might hurt a lot, but I will be quick." He said, closing his fist and pulling back his hand in one, quick motion, extracting the fel magic from Athrodar's chest and using his other hand to conjure a small arcane prison around the spell. "There. Got it."

Liadrin made her way over to Athrodar and began to conjure holy magic on her hands and placed them on his chest. "His body is rapidly healing with my help. Give it a few minutes and he will be back to normal." She told the General, looking over to Khadgar and Velen. "Do you think you can do this with the rest of them?"

"I can't see why not." Khadgar said, hardening the magical prison around the fel magic and encasing it in a solid sphere. "The Prophet has brought many of his mages with him and they have just as much, if not more experience than me, so it shouldn't be too difficult." He looked over to Velen who nodded his head once at the human mage, turning and leaving the tent to inform his mages and priests of the plan to heal the affected rangers.

"That hurt so much." Athrodar muttered, looking over to Khadgar who was inspecting the sphere in his hand. "That's it, right? Inside that sphere?"

"It is." Khadgar said, watching Sylvanas hug Athrodar tightly. "I'll leave you alone for now and get to work on the rest of your rangers who are affected by this sickness."

"I'll leave too." Liadrin said, bowing her head to both the General and Lieutenant. "No doubt you want to be alone right now."

"Thank you." Sylvanas said to them both, getting a smile from Liadrin and Khadgar, turning her attention to Athrodar when they were alone and moving over to sit on his lap, facing him and placing her hands on his face. "Don't scare me like that again." She told him, her worry showing in her eyes.

"I didn't exactly want to have that sickness." Athrodar told her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her in for a hug. "But I knew you wouldn't rest until I was healed, so I wasn't worried."

"I was." Sylvanas whispered, kissing him on the cheek and then resting her head on his shoulder and against his head. "As soon as our company is healed and rested, we're going back to Shattrath, leaving Clea and her squad here as extra protection and to give us updates." She told him, pulling back to look him in the eyes. "Then we will spend time with our little ones, wait for updates from Viraleth and Clea as well as working on finding a new target, for either finding my sister, or killing demons."

Athrodar nodded his head and closed his eyes, leaning forward and pressing his head against his General's. "Deal. For now though, I just want to rest. I am so tired after having to deal with that sickness and then have it pulled out from me."

"I could go for some sleep if I'm being honest. We've not really slept since before the attack and I am exhausted." Sylvanas told him, climbing off his lap and moving over to lay on their bed. She was quickly joined by the Lieutenant and her husband who wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her on the shoulder. "Think you can take my tunic off from there?"

"Easily." Athrodar said, taking off her ranger tunic first and then his, just so they were a bit more comfortable and would have more skin contact. "This is much better." He whispered to her, kissing the General on the shoulder and hugging her tightly.

"Mmm... I love you." She whispered back to him, smiling when he held onto her a little tighter.

"I love you too." Athrodar whispered back, the pair of them closing their eyes and willing themselves to sleep after an eventful and at times, scary day.