The swamps, formerly the most beautiful place the young dragon could think of. The place where she had been hatched from her eggs, the place where she had been taught about her place in the world and how to survive. The most friendly and giving area in all of Azeroth, her birthplace... Now it was nothing more but another area, like any other she'd encountered. It didn't matter where Terin went to find peace, there was no peace to be found. The prison the youngling had been put inside was created by her own mind, entangleing her in deep depression. Constantly reminding her of what had transpired, constantly reminding her how she had been let down. Even so, Terin had matured as a dragon, and her guise had become perfect. Save the fact that she looked like a Blood elf instead of a high elf. The eyes were green, and Terin had a nasty stench of Fel. Furthermore, the youngling never entered her Dragonform anymore. The beautiful majestic wings of hers had been scarred and now reminded her more of an undead than a living. The scars were also apparent on her back in her elven form.
The armor that had been crafted for Terin by the other dragons, resembling that she had become grown up, had at first been lush and living, plants growing across the armor and shoulderpads, reminding of the dream itself. However, after having been with Terin for about a week, the plants had gone halfway dead, leaving the armor now brown and earthly, yet still living. The leaves were at the stage where they'd almost fall off the branches that made her shoulderpads, yet they were still alive, still fighting. As if the balance found inside Terin herself was just on the edge. Corrupted, yet still alive, still able to fulfill her destiny, still wanting to fight.
Terin was sitting atop a peak close to Deadwind pass, staring over what had once been her home. The younglings heart was filled with nothing but anger, and as she let out a huge roar that echoed through the swamps, nothing but pain and anguish could be heard within her cry... Terin was.. broken. That is when she turned her back to the swamps, and sook for a place to stay in Deadwind...
The life of a wanderer was one that old Varia had been forced to adopt after her death and reanimation.
She flew with no purpose, no goal, and no real destination in mind. The air currents and drafts carried her wherever they willed, and she allowed herself to glide most of the way from one end of the world to the other - those expansive, tattered wings of hers' beat only when necessary and no more than that. Most times she flew at such a high altitude as to appear hardly more than a bird to those on the ground. At such a distance, most mortals' eyes would fool them into disguising her true form; while Variastrasza was not worried about them becoming hostile toward her, she did not feel any need to cause undue panic among mortals who might mistake her for a hostile monster.
And she was certainly not that.
Passing the sparsely populated eastern coastline of the Eastern Kingdoms, the emberwyrm allowed herself to drift lower and lower to the water until she was cruising over the surface of it, close enough for her talons to drag along the rolling waves if she felt so inclined. Far off inland, she could feel the throes of battle at the edge of her consciousness - the Alliance and the Horde in the Swamp of Sorrows, no doubt, fighting for control of the swampy bog. If she had functioning lungs, the great wyrm might've sighed in exasperation - no matter where she went, combat was always close by. The mortal races were addicted to it.. They always had been.
It was more out of curiosity than sense of duty that made her climb in altitude again, sharply pulling up into the clouds hanging above the marsh. Hidden by the thick cloud cover, Varia flew westward, keeping an ear and an eye - a mental one, at least, because the clouds also obscured her vision - for the battlefield. It was not hard to locate. It only took a few minutes before the faint sounds of siege vehicles and explosives and all-around battle drifted up to her. It was a relatively minor scuffle, she could tell as she had witnessed far greater battles recently. Feeling very little obligation to the battlefield at this moment, she continued on westward toward Deadwind Pass, shrouded by rolling stratus clouds that threatened rain.
She hadn't yet arrived at the pass when the clouds cleared up rather abruptly, leaving her quite exposed, but also granting her vision of the land below. Losing her cover was moderately annoying but not so much so that she felt compelled to rise in altitude again - after all, this part of the world was rather sparsely populated, particularly the Pass itself, a place where she had rarely visited in her nearly endless travels. The resident ogre tribes presented very little threat to her - if they became hostile she felt fairly certain she could ignore them. With this in mind, she went ahead and drifted closer to the jutting crags of the pass, allowing herself to touch down among them. With a thoughtful huff, the wyrm twisted, tucking her tail as close to her expansive body as she could to keep from damaging her surroundings while she observed them. Among the dull rock, not far from where the road from the Pass led into the swamp, she noted a lone figure atop a peak looking into Deadwind. It was distinctly female, elven in shape, and - she could feel it from such a distance! - full of boiling rage. The anguished roar confirmed the rage Varia supposed the stranger was full of, and she was immediately filled with the motherly impulsion of finding out why - something about this young 'un was intriguing in the way mortals generally are not.
Quickly making up her mind and drawing closer, the emberwyrm laid herself down on the clifftop, looking down at where Terin would be walking by momentarily. Aye, to a dragon as old and experienced as Variastrasza, it did not take terribly much to identify one of her specie - mortals may not know the difference, but the souls of dragons feel far different than the souls of the lesser races.. And Variastrasza could feel Terin's battered soul at the edge of her mind, injured in such a way as to manifest itself physically. The wyrm could tell from a distance that Terin was hurting, though she did not know why or how - she did not know such fine details. What remained of her fleshy scarlet nostrils flared and she scooted closer to the edge, her massive, sleek head peeking over into the canyon. In that moment, she made up her mind - and within the span of thirty seconds she had both shifted out of her dragon form and made it to Terin's level.
Average height for a high elf, dark crimson hair, soft amber eyes, and apparently battle-worn plate armor - Variastrasza's guise on this occasion appeared that of a weary warrior. When near enough to Terin, she invited herself to conversation without warning or pretense: "You look troubled."
The fury was building as a powerful torrent inside her very soul, quickly drawing in everything that Terin was, consuming her every thought. The worst part was feeling the corruption inside oneself. Feeling how it was constantly trying to venture deeper inside her being. It was a constant fight. Even so, the fight had been calming down as Terin had gained more and more of the upper hand. Even so, the corruption would forever remain the same. Terin would never gain the blue eyes she had found so beautiful. Terin would never again spread her wings to fly outside the dream. For a mere second the rage within her heart subsided, as Terin's thoughts found peace in a somewhat gruesome subject. The fel green eyes of the youngling was scouting down the mountainside she was standing at the edge of, visibly pondering.. "I could just lean forwards. My wings won't carry me anymore, I won't spread them and fly.. It would let my pain find an end, it would let my soul find peace. I could just let it all go. The thought quickly died out though, as the so well known fear of death struck Terin like an oversized sledgehammer. Fighting with herself, she ended up sitting herself backwards, clawing angrily into the rocky earth with her long elven nails, kicking dust up with her feet. Tears became apparent in her eyes, as they ran down her soft skinned cheeks, dropping from her chin and onto the ground, as another lower scream of anger left her lips. The short time period that followed was silent, save Terin's heavy panting from having yelled so loud, untill someone else broke the silence for her. "You look troubled."
Terin immediately flinched, panic becoming apparent in her eyes. Turning around, Terin's eyes met the strange eyes of the other traveller in less than a split second, arms raised in front of her body as a guard. It was clear that Terin couldn't read the eyes of Variastrasza. They seemed to lack the glimpse that would let one feel easy in their company. As such, Terin took a step backwards, trying to make herself a statement of Variastrasza. A high elven undead, on these reaches of the peaks.. Even though the only thing Terin could feel and sense was the flowing corruption within herself, it didn't take much trail of thought to conclude that the stranger would be of her own species. That Variastrasza would indeed be a dragon. Even a dead dragon at that. A misfitted creature that didn't belong anywhere. Almost a bit like herself.. Even so, Terin wasn't about to accept this kind of intrusion. Terin snarled, as the anger now suddenly had gained a target. Gained an aim, rather than being constantly flowing everywhere. The strenght of the anger seemed to drop rapidly, as it would be impossible to focus it all into one entity - Being Varia. "That would be none of your business at all! Now scram you freak!" Terin nearly spat at the elder emberwyrm.. The voice of the youngling clearly depicted how tired and young she actually was. Figureing out that she had matured to the state of dragon inside the past week wouldn't be hard to put a finger on. Being so furious at everyone and everything demanded immense amounts of strenght. Strenght the youngling didn't posses at all. It was a saddening sight to behold indeed, as she in exhaustion panted to even keep her breath..
Variastrasza was not in the least surprised that her observation was met with hostility. She, the mender of souls, could tell Terin was in a state of distress - a very deep-rooted state of distress. Such states are not easily shaken.. They are not easily dispelled. It became clear to the disguised emberwyrm that Terin was very young and so she certainly didn't expect her to be reasonable about expressing herself. Such traumatized states are harder for the young to deal with; they aren't yet mature enough to handle it, mentally, and it can destroy them from the inside if not treated properly. Having been around a very long time, Varia knew there was only one way to get through to the young dragon - and that would first be to let her just let it out. The undead wyrm suspected that perhaps Terin's rage came in part due to the fact that she could not express what was causing her so much grief to anyone she knew; she had no outlet on which to express her barely withheld rage.. And as a mender of souls, it was Varia's duty to assist one of her own specie regain the natural clarity dragons are born with - especially one so clearly young. To be so damaged at such a young age was nearly a sin against nature itself..
"A freak? I am not the one sitting on mountaintops, screaming blind rage into the sky above," she observed in a tone of maddening calm and coolness. A casual observer might realize that Varia's tactic here was to bait poor Terin - to get her even more pissed off, to get her to just uncork the bottle that was holding all of her negativity, all of her rage, all of her insecurities in - let it all out. "Clearly there is something weighing very heavily on your mind, young dreamer, but what? There is no sense trying to hide it."
Though the mother in Varia wanted to grab Terin and force her into a bear hug, that was not what the youngling needed: what she needed right now was a mental release, and such an intimate gesture would not help with that. She did stand her ground, arms casually folding across her chest, her casual gaze fixed on Terin. It was not unfriendly, but at the same time, she expressed no pity for poor Terin, regardless of whether or not she may have felt a pang of it deep in side. For all intents and purposes, she looked like she didn't genuinely give a damn - save for the fact that she was still there, and had approached in the first place. That she hadn't just left Terin to stew said something for Varia's motherly nature. With a shift of her weight onto one hip and a firm stare, the emberwyrm awaited Terin's response - and she was very ready should the young green become physically aggressive.
The tears were bitter and painful like acid as they streamed down the youngling's cheeks. It was so strange. Pain, rage, despair and fear, mixed into a strange convocation that didn't allow Terin to do anything fully. They were constantly pulling the youngling in different directions, leaving her entirely helpless. Terin wasn't able to hate properly, else she had attacked Variastrasza already. Terin wasn't able to fear Variastrasza properly, as her despair and anger made it all pointless. Even so, the anger did not allow Terin to fully fall into despair either. All the feelings kept Terin in a strange kind of checkmate, where any action had a counter arguement. Therefore, she didn't seem to move at all, after having spoken. Terin was shaking her head slightly, as small pearls of sweat ran down her cheek. It seemed she was suffering from the tenseness. The youngling was standing uneasily on her legs, swaying slightly from side to side as she was pictureing the world in front of her ablaze in flame. It was so strange to have Variastrasza standing there as if she owned everything. Yet it wasn't Variastrasza's fault, it could never be Variastrasza's fault. Variastrasza had nothing to do with what had happened in the dream. It was the demon and the demon alone that was to blame for the corruption. The nightmare, Rakaenormi and the flight, they were all responsible for allowing the demon to corrupt her. Or were they truely..? Could they have changed anything if it came down to it..?
Terin didn't know what to feel. One moment her rage was a burning fire, apparent in the felgreen eyes, and her fists clenched ready to land a punch. The next her shoulders would drop down and all emotion die from her entire being, as despair ate into her soul. After that, fear had taken its place in the seat, as Terin would clearly watch every single movement from Variastrasza, as if she expected the dragon was going to attack and killer her any second. As Variastrasza taunted and followed it up with an arrogant stance and a strange stare, the response was anything but hate. Terin cowered and took a few steps backwards, holding her hands in front of her, moving them from side to side while shaking her head from side to side, reassuring Variastrasza that she wanted no trouble. "I-i-i'm.. s-s-sor-r-ry m-m-m-is-s.." Terin managed to studder, as she started shaking more heavily. It was clear that the words Variastrasza said hadn't reached Terin. It was merely a reaction to the tone and stance.
Even though her head and mouth was screaming in fear, Terin's body was getting tense and her hands were shaking slightly, clearly indicating how badly she wanted to run forward and punch Variastrasza into oblivion. It was obvious that Variastrasza taking a stand and taunting openly scared Terin more than it made her hate. The tears had stopped, the feeling of despair had been bottled up below the anger and fear, that had clearly taken a dominating role. Terin slowly backed off, clearly looking for a way to escape Variastrasza. Looking for a way to avoid the confrontation. Even then, Terin seemed frightened that running would cause Variastrasza's snap.. It became clear that Terin was on the edge of just kneeling down and giving up entirely...
Varia watched Terin intently, though she hid her interest behind an arrogantly blank, borderline uncaring expression. She was making note of every minuscule contraction of facial muscles, every tear, every bead of sweat, every sway to and fro - all of it, Varia observed and noted. The young green was a mess for sure, she looked torn between a handful of emotions, unable to tap into any single one of them and focus on it. Thoughtfully, Varia shifted her weight again to the other hip, her brilliant amber eyes still locked on Terin's, regardless of whether or not the gaze was returned.
The stuttered apology made her squint and uncross her arms. Terin seemed to be breaking down to a point. There was definite fear in the youngling's bearing and words, something Varia seized onto aggressively and exploited. She took several steps forward and said roughly, "Sorry for what? Why are you apologizing to me? Are you scared of me? Why are you afraid? I thought I was a freak." And she took a couple more steps forward, getting dangerously close to Terin. She had absolutely no intention of hurting the young dragon - none whatsoever, she was only bluffing. Without giving much of a chance for Terin to actually reply, Varia made a grab for Terin's shoulders, now very close. "What are you afraid of? Talk to me! What has happened to you, dreamer? What is it that pains you so much? Why do you let it consume you? Are you so weak that you cannot fight your own fears, your own rage, your own.. self? Answer me!"
Varia released Terin and took a few steps back still staring at her. There were still no signs of an impending attack, because there wasn't one - Varia still had no intention of hurting Terin. She'd pretended to grow frustrated, even angry with the youngling, but inside she was still cool as ice.
Terin seemed to turn entirely pale, merely a moment from just closing her eyes and giving up. A low sigh only just managed to leave her lips, clearly indicating that she was about to just let everything slide, before things drastically changed. That was when Varia sparked the younglings fear by quickly moving forwards in an almost brutal manner, in a threathening manner. Clearly shocked, Terin immediately forgot everything about giving up and surrendering to despair. The younglings eyes were wide with fear, as she backed off further in quick movent, breathing in panic. Once again it was obvious that Terin wasn't hearing a single word of what Varia said. It was all down to body language and tones. There was nowhere for Terin to run anymore. Terin had her back against the rocky cliff. The youngling had been entirely cornered, and the only way out would be through Variastrasza. Terin almost seemed to gather up on herself, surpressing her figure into that of a tight ball. As Varia kept moving closer it just got worse. Terin was trying to pressure herself into the stone wall, without having any success doing so. The younglings pulse could nearly be seen on the arterie apparent on her neck. Adrenaline was pumping as the world seemed to slow down.
Terin could feel every heartbeat. Feel how everything went distant in a strange sensation. The felgreen eyes were staring at Varia as she lifted her arm, nearing Terin's shoulder dramatically fast. Thats when it ticked, when the probably most hurtful thing for a mother to see transpired in the eyes of Terin. It seemed entirely as if Terin had just died. Sense, anger, fury, despair, fear, everything went down the drain as Terin's will to live took over, as her instincts kicked in. The sharpened look was hard to miscalculate, the youngling was going to kill Varia, there would be no mercy. Even Terin's breathing had changed to that of calmness. As a snake waiting to strike, Terin's muscles worked on their own accord. With a furious scream the youngling leapt forwards at Varia, transforming into her dragonform mid-leap. Hoping to close her fangs around Varia, Terin would seek to crush the stranger in one fatal blow.
It was always most dangerous when they went silent.. No matter what they were. It never changed. Dragon, dog, snake, bull, didn't matter - when cornered, they all react the same. It's the silence that gives away the impending attack. It's that moment of calm, that moment where all sound just stops - when the breathing suddenly levels out and all the raging, all the fearful scrambling, all the motion just ceases. Variastrasza knew it was coming, she knew she'd pushed Terin over the edge, beyond the boundaries of her fear. She had cornered the youngling and advanced on her, leaving her nowhere to flee. The reaction was so plainly obvious that it was a matter of when rather than if. For the sake of seeming unsuspecting, Varia allowed herself to continue acting casual, not tense at all, not waiting for the inevitable attack, but she knew it was coming.
And it did.
Terin almost succeeded in killing Varia. If the old wyrm's reaction speed was just a fraction of a second slower, she would have been crushed by Terin's jaws - instead, the green dragon's teeth clamped firmly around one of Varia's massive 'arm' bones - for the emberwyrm had shifted at the exact moment that would spare her from a painful death. If being bitten so tightly hurt, the ancient wyrm did not express the pain, and she did not retaliate. She did not strike back, she did not even threaten it. In fact, if anything, Variastrasza twisted in such a way as to almost offer Terin one of her sides, which was only barely covered in a thin layer of dark crimson sinew. Here and there, a faded scarlet scale remained embedded in that skin, but for the most part it was gone. If Terin felt like a monster at all, it was surely nothing compared to the way others saw Varia.
But something changed. Satisfied that she had gotten such a reaction, the taunts stopped immediately. She was now free to observe the young dragon's form - the scarred and wrecked wings especially, wings that would likely not support natural flight.. And it was very clear to Varia that such injuries were not natural. Somebody had deliberately injured Terin; somebody had likely tortured her to some degree or another, and this was all a response to it. The emberwyrm could not make out the details on her own, but she felt she knew enough now to satisfy her at least partially. "Yes, let it out," she said, but this time.. different. The coolness was gone. She used a more obliging tone, a far more motherly tone, one that sounded damn near incapable of aggression. "Let it out, young dreamer. You have been terribly wronged. Let it out.. All your rage, all your hate, all your fear.. Let it go. It is time for you to move on from this."
Having immediately twisted her head in a turning motion with her jaw closed around Varia's bone, it was in this almost pinned position Terin just refused to let go. Even so, the strenght of the youngling was not enough to break the bone. It was at that moment, where killing Varia became an impossibility, that Terin's surface cracked entirely. It was easy to see how her entire figure was shattering, as the grip her jaw had around Varia quickly loosened. Terin's entire expression was shouting it.. Then the agony and hopelessness left her as a painful scream, echoing across the swamps. The yell at Variastrasza was powerful, yet it didn't truely sound as if Terin meant it. It was as if there was.. understanding behind it. "I HATE YOU!" Terin screamed from atop her lungs. The transformation back to her guise happened almost immediately that she became aware of the world around her. Became aware that she was freely showing off the torment comitted towards her once beautiful wings. The screams of anger and frustration were clear as she was digging her nails into anything she could come close to, including Variastrasza. Though it wasn't only anger and frustration that got vented, it was also pain. A pain so deep that it could be felt in the air around Terin. A pain so deep that Variastrasza herself might feel just a fragment of it. The pain of broken dreams, broken hope, broken future and broken trust. Underneath her furious screams in rage, there were screams of pain. Screams crying out so innerly to recieve the help she desperately needed...
As the furious rage slowly seemed to die down, Terin was just sitting on all four, crying her heart out. The tears were dropping from her eyes in a continual stream, as she kept hulking, barely able to catch her breath. The question.. the so simple question yet holding the meaning of everything was just leaving Terin in low tones between her crying hulks. "W-w-w-hy?... W...W-h-hhy me?! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?!"
Varia took it. She did not pry her leg from Terin's grasp - she let the young dragon let go on her own when she realized she wasn't going to break the bone. She never once offered to strike Terin, never offered to tell her off for her dramatic display of anguish, she simply remained there, unmoving, allowing Terin to release at least part of what had built up inside her. The clawing from Terin in her mortal form didn't even register to her at all, it certainly didn't hurt, so she let her do it. Terin was venting, and though it was hard to watch, Variastrasza knew the youngling needed it - she needed to let it go. She needed to get past the hurt, past the pain of whatever memory, she needed to move on from her anguished state and move on with her life - she had so much of it left to live.
The emberwyrm only moved when Terin began to calm and succumbed to tears instead of screams of rage. Twisting her massive body, Varia carefully navigated the canyon in such a way that she could turn to the young green and give her a soft nudge with the tip of her massive snout - her teeth are just so big omg. A moment later, she too had adopted her mortal guise again and had descended upon Terin, crouching to her right side with both hands softly resting on her shoulders. "Life sometimes deals us cards that seem too much to bear," she murmured, leaning close to Terin. There was no mistaking it - Varia spoke to Terin as a mother would to a child; a comforting croon accompanied by a soft, understanding pat. There was no pity, there was no coddling or babying - just understanding. "Sometimes it just isn't fair the twists life throws at us, and we suffer, and then life goes on. You are young yet, dreamer, with plenty of life ahead of you - and you are very much alive. I know not what has happened to you but I know that you can move on from it. You must move on from it. To wallow in self-pity or the injustice of it all would be to admit defeat to those who wronged you. You mustn't give them the satisfaction. Your life isn't over - you mustn't give up yet."
Trembling, as she sat there screaming her questions at the world, Terin's strenght suddenly gave in, and the arms she used to keep herself up went numb, causing the youngling to almost faceplant onto the rocky mountainside. The blonde hair gently followed, as if it had been snowflakes slowly spreading across Terin's head, covering almost everything behind the golden display. The dirt of the ground quickly attached itself to the sticky moisture that remained from the tears on her cheek, making Terin seem even more ragged than she might've actually been. Terin wasn't moving a muscle anymore, she was merely listening - or attempting to listen - to Variastrasza's oppinion on how the world could be described. Terin understood most of what Variastrasza was trying to say, yet she was too broken to accept it into her heart. Terin was too hurt to just rise and decide that those that wronged her should suffer defeat in the strenght Terin would find to live on...
As Terin spoke, the hair in front of her face stuck to her lips, and she didn't even attempt to move it. Terin's voice was low and broken, barely hearable. Even so, she wanted to let Variastrasza know at least something. The fingertips of the youngling "I've been lost the nightmare.. The dream is no longer my home, old one. Having me there is more risk than reward to my brethren. I've lost my usefulness. I've lost my purpose within my flight. What life is left for me to live..?" The youngling then closed her eyes, letting out a low sigh. Terin didn't have anyone to lean against. Didn't have any safety net to catch her. Suddenly she felt all alone.
"For as long as you exist, you serve a purpose in this world," Varia murmured, allowing herself to settle down on the rocky ground, sitting now rather than crouching. She gently patted the youngling again, then looked off into the distance, down the road, but at nothing in particular. "You are not the first of your kind to have been touched by the Nightmare in such a way, nor will you be the last. Just because it would be dangerous to your flight and the Dream itself for you to be there does not mean you are not useful in some way. It's a matter of finding that purpose you are meant to serve.. You just need to search for it."
For a long moment, Varia just sat there, watching Terin. After the moment passed, the elder emberwyrm gently grabbed Terin's shoulders and made to pull her up off the ground - if the young dragon needed to lean against her for support, she was free to do so. "I can no longer serve the Dragonqueen alongside my flight, for what I have been made. Friends, brothers, sisters, my own children.. It is unlikely I will see most of them on peaceful terms again. I have become a threat, and while I mean them no harm and cannot blame them for the way they would see me, I cannot rejoin them. Not now, at least. But I have not given up, have I? I have not allowed my condition to get in the way of my continued existence. I cannot perform the simplest of tasks that I could while I lived.. where I once could entice a bed of beautiful wildflowers into growth by my mere presence, I can no longer prevent even the grass below my feet from withering and dying around me. Where once I could pull somebody off of death's doorstep and restore them to health, I now can only watch them cross the threshold and comfort their dying soul as they pass on.. But I have not given up."
"I have been around a very long time, dreamer. I have seen the rise and fall of empires, the evolution and extinction of species, the changing of landmasses and natural catastrophes. I have seen many who have suffered greatly in their time, child. Many of them gave up. Many of them let themselves fade away.. But it is the will to live on that separates the weak from the strong, and you must be strong, no matter how grim the outlook," she finished softly, though with a firm undertone to her otherwise motherly voice - masked deep in those words of comfort from a stranger was the sort of encouragement only a mother could give to a child who'd gone astray and needed guidance.
The youngling didn't even seem to have the strenght to cry anymore, let alone get back onto her feet. Wheter Terin was even awake below the blonde hair as Variastrasza spoke to her would forever remain a mystery. However, when Varia gently grabbed Terin's shoulders and the youngling shivered from the touch, it became clear that Terin had a childish flame that wanted to burn. That she had the craving instinct that wanted her to live on, regardless of whichever pain she was put through. Death was scaring her more than living with pain. Terin did need to support herself against Variastrasza, yet she was forcing herself to get up. That which Variastrasza had said up until this point didn't seem to interest the youngling. Terin didn't want Variastrasza's help, yet she could not stand or get up on her own. Terin was exhausted..
After what seemed to have been a terrible struggle lasting lifetimes more than the handful of seconds it actually took, Terin was standing up next to Varia, leaning slightly against the undead as not to trip and fall again. The body language of the youngling clearly spoke of her wanting to be left alone though.. Standing there allowed Varia to almost whisper every word of her own story to the green youngling however. A tone Terin much preferred listening to. The tone alone made Terin relax and feel welcome, as if she entered a trance, that kept her standing in place..
During the storytelling, the young green dragon wasn't moving an inch. The ears were peaking, taking in every word as if they were telling her how to get back to life. Even after Variastrasza stopped speaking, Terin was just standing there. So many thoughts raced through her head. There were others that were much alike herself out there. In fact, the undead that was spending her time standing around on top of a peak in the middle of nowhere, merely speaking to the youngling, had been through quite her share of pain and suffering. Varia too had more or less been alienated from her flight. Terin didn't understand her thoughts or feelings, yet it didn't matter. Terin needed...
In a gentle movement, that seemed painful for the youngling, she merely turned around and let her hands slide around Varia. To Terin the action made no sense. Varia was a complete stranger, carrying the looks of a terrible scourge dragon. Even so, Terin was drawn close by a caring nature that made the youngling feel like she could trust Varia. Perhaps it was her immediate lonelyness, perhaps it was stupidity, yet the youngling pressed herself close to Varia's figure. Standing there, strenght returned.. The strenght to cry through the pain, the strenght to hope for miracles.. As the tears dripped down, Terin muttered lowly, in a tone that could cut through your heart if you had any. "..please don't leave me.."
The hug did surprise Varia to a point, as she hadn't been expecting Terin to open up so much in such a short amount of time. It became very clear to the emberwyrm that Terin really was very young - not only in comparison to herself, but young for a dragon in general. The young emerald dragon's behavior was borderline childlike, which evoked a strong nurturing instinct in Variastrasza herself - it had been years since her last clutch of eggs, and she had had to leave those in the care of another while she went off to the frozen north in Alexstrasza's service. It was there in the north that she had met her own demise in the ancestral graveyard of the dragons, among the bones of her fallen kin - and it was there that she was risen from her snowy grave again. She knew not what became of that last batch of eggs, where the whelps were now or how they were doing, and while she did not linger on them, Terin's behavior forcibly reminded her of her times as a mother.
Without a second thought, Varia accepted the hug and returned it, firmly wrapping her arms around Terin and holding her close to her armored chest. Varia did not comment on the renewed tears - this was release. With a long sigh, the emberwyrm allowed a subtle bit of magic to exude from her form. It was warm, comforting, like a soft flame - it was only a feeling, a presence that could penetrate the skin and warm one from within, through the body to the very soul. It was a comforting bit of magic, invisible but definitely palpable and in no way threatening. The soft ebb and flow of this warming energy moved through Terin, seeking out the depths of her soul, looking for the cracks, the blemishes, and the wounds that it had been dealt by her ordeal, and it wiggled its way into them to fill them, to try to sort of heal them from the inside - slowly, carefully.
"I am not going anywhere, young one," Varia murmured, comfortingly rubbing the youngling's back.
Ronacus stepped through the portal from the Dream back to the mortal realm and felt just a bit emptier as he always did when not completely connected with the Dream. His recent journey had left him wary of the world and the destruction others sought to reap into it. He laid in the grove giving some of his own energy to flowers that had suffer from lack of light in the season to bloom fully and gave them new life, if only these mortals could be more like the plants.
Then he heard it, a deep roar of a youngling, lost and hurt. Anger he felt once before in the Dream flooded him. This time he wouldn't be shackled to mortals, this time he could help this youngling, and perhaps make atonement for not being able to help the last. He ran fast down the path leading towards the exit of the grove and burst forth from his kal'dorei form and into his true one. He spread his mighty wings and heaved his bulk into the air and flew off with astounding speed. Twisting and turning he navigated to an opening in the trees and flew towards the sound he had heard. Unsure of exact location his whispered into the wind asking the trees for their help. Never the clearest of help, still they bent and swayed to the mountains shadowing the human town. He sped towards them on their heeding.
It wasn't long and he saw their forms, fighting and comforting. An ember.... but he didn't feel like the youngling was in danger. Then he saw it....the corruption...it was on her like it was in him. Her presence was strange like he had felt it before. Then he realized! But it couldn't be her. He was so sure she had died. I failed her even more than I thought....I let this happen...
He landed quietly and spoke softly, "Youngling of the Dream...I'm so sorry." A tear rolled down his face and unknowingly he made several flowers start to bloom from the mountain peak as he approached. "Please allow me to help."
The emberwyrm's sharp hearing picked up the sound of heavily beating wings approaching quick, and it took only a short glance around the skies for her to find the emerald dragon drawing nearer. Variastrasza did not feel even the most vague hints of fear about his being so close; she did not fear he would turn protective and try to chase her off, but she did feel it would probably be better for Terin to acknowledge him as she was sure he was here for the young female. "Dreamer, one of your own approaches," she pointed out, releasing Terin from her hold to gently nudge her in the direction of Ronacus. She herself turned toward the dragon and attempted to take a step back, get out of the way, to let him and Terin speak without her hovering - if Terin allowed her to without trying to cling or follow, the disguised emberwyrm would simply turn and wander away a short distance, just far enough to not be intruding upon whatever was about to happen. If Terin decided to cling or follow, then Varia would simply stay.
She did not say a word, but she did give Ronacus a rather heavy look, almost like she was trying to communicate without words how badly Terin's spirit had been damaged by whatever had happened to her in the Dream - turning away again, she crouched down to address a small purple flower sticking between the cracks of the rocks. Plucking it from where it had been sitting, she watched with a frown as it simply withered and died in her hand - quite the disheartening sight, really.
It seemed that the youngling herself was still quite on an edge, as her ears sharpened at the sound of something in the distance. Turning her head around, at first she couldn't see anything. The sense of the youngling were still corrupt, so she wouldn't be able to tell if it was friend or foe. Snarling lowly, Terin backed in towards the emberwyrm, clearly uneasy as to what was going on. Terin's eyes were sharpened in his direction, as she noticed the dragon approaching in the distance.. "Dreamer, one of your own approaches"Terin got nudged slightly ahead, and ended up taking a staggering step forwards. It was obvious to even the blind that Terin was nervous and uneasy about Ronacus. The eyes that met Ron were burning with Fel. The aura of the youngling was constantly twisting, giving away the constant inner battle that she was fighting through. The subtle yet pressed breathing gave away her exhaustion. Terin's stance was that of alert. It had been a few days since she had last had contact with the green flight. Since she had decided to take some time off to think. Terin had been in intensive care at first, yet there were only so much her flight could do for her. The entropic flames had left unhealable wounds, unhealable scars. The planted nightmare seed had sewn root in her essence. As Ron started speaking, Terin snarled lowly, clearly frustrated with his talk. "..You're.. sorry?.. I'm the one who's sorry, brother. I'm the one who's been bleeding.. The rest of our 'beloved' flight couldn't or wouldn't help me cause of the danger within me. What makes you think I'd listen to you?... If you want to help me, leave me in peace, please."
Terin spat at Ron, before nearly tripping forwards. The younglings body was shaking. It was clear she hadn't been sleeping much, if at all. The nightmares, the terrible everlasting nightmares. Terin would wake up screaming after only an hours sleep, once more roaming the world of the wake. With those words, Terin turned her back to Ron. There was no way she'd trust him. They had lost her, abandoned her, and now that she had returned suddenly they had mercy?! The rage was bobbling inside, though she could find no way of expressing it. The worst pain had already been let go, and now she just felt.. hollow?
Ronacus stood still and let her spit land on him. He felt he deserved it and so much more. "No I am the one. I was blinded in the Dream. I felt them take you and couldn't save you." There was no way he felt he could convey his sorrow and regret but he was going to try. "I stand apart from our flight. I know of the corruption within you. I too was touched by the Nightmare." He stepped forward slightly and adopted his kal''dorei self. "I can never truly fix what was done to you, but I promise I can help you and bring you back to the Dream if you so wish." He knelt down and dropped his staff to the ground. "Please," he whispered. He pressed his hand to the ground and brought forth a flowers of his own making in front of her to try and express his sorrow and wish to help her.
Terin stopped walking away from him, merely staring into the ground below herself. The youngling closed her eyes, clearly in pain from his words. The wind was gently playing with her long blonde hair, dragging it around her elven ears in an almost playful dance. Tears were building in her eyes, yet they didn't drop down. They were merely there as a token of suffering, a token of pain. "..They staked my wings and they burnt my pride. They corrupted me with their demonic blood and foul rituals.." Terin was watching as the flowers bloomed in front of her, and she knelt down, looking at the life with a smile on her face.. "If I had merely been touched by nightmare.." Terin started, but almost immediately ate her words in a minor hiccup. "..Maybe I too could grow flowers..?"
Terin held her hand over the flowers, as a gentle spark of draconic magic was used. As the armor she was wearing, the plants seemed to be dying. Their petals turned dark, the flowers themselves brown as the earth. Even so, Terin didn't kill the plants as Variastrasza. The little flowers were fighting for their lives, constantly on the edge of withering away completely. Yet they still remained that strange little spark that just wouldn't burn out. "..The nightmare was planted in me. The fact that I am sane now is only thanks to Ysera. Its roots are digged into my essence. If I get close to the Nightmare, I'd lose myself without a fight. The flower would bloom anew, and I would become a threat.. That is what they told me."
Terin slowly got up, turned around and looked at Ron. "..Don't even attempt to give me false hope"
More and more tears fell down Ronacus' face as he listened to what happened to her. How could they do something so terrible to a youngling. He moved and knelt beside her and held his hand out, energy flowed his palm floating to the flowers and they rejuvenated halfway to their former selves. "Flowers like everything only grow by what you feed them. I have no doubt you will be able to again." He turned and looked her in the eye, "I promise you youngling you can come back to the Dream. The older dragons focus more on the world of these mortals. The Dream is not so flat as they think." He stood up and offered his hand to her. "Even the Nightmare doesn't think it just destroys. It too is ignorant to these layers. You can be safe."
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