Chapter Text
Sylvanas was staring at the bane of her existence, paperwork, why had she decided to become Queen of the Forsaken again? What had possessed her to do that? She scowled at the paper in front of her and did her best to ignore the two Dark Rangers in the room Selin Monksroot, and Leena Frostweaver, well one Ranger and the other a Ranger initiate. Currently Monksroot was supposed to be teaching Frostweaver about all the intricacies of being a Dark Ranger. Specifically weapon maintenance today. It was tradition that in the early months of training they would have the initiate shadow the newest ranger as a way to test the Rangers knowledge and teaching ability. However the big problem was that Selin was an incorrigible flirt and kept making innuendoes. Which kept causing Sylvanas to fluster lightly because of what was being implied, which in turn made it harder to focus on the paperwork she was supposed to be doing.
Why oh why had she assigned Monksroot to guard duty today?
Oh, yeah she had the world's most adorable niece, and she couldn’t say no to her. Astra wanted to have her mom close by because after her shift they were going to the Darkmoon faire. She pinched the bridge of her nose, as she read through another report on finances, she missed the day when the only reports she had to deal with were ones that dealt with Military matters. As it was, she was beginning to think she should make Selin work on this damn paperwork and teach Frostweaver instead, then more work would be getting done by both parties.
“Remember to slowly and sensually wipe off all dirt, oil, and grime after each use, you must also relieve the tension otherwise you could ruin it. You need to make sure to have proper care and alone time with your shaft…”
“Monksroot, shut up.” Sylvanas growled out trying to not blush too much.
“But I am teaching her everything she needs to know about proper shaft maintenance,” Selin said with faux confusion and innocence.
“It’s not a shaft, it's a stave, which I happen to know that you know the difference and just wish to make this some sort of game, now do your job properly or I-” Sylvanas froze mid sentence her eyes widening as she felt something unusual, it was the feeling of goose bumps, dread, and the intimate knowledge that there was an invader in her lands.
It almost felt as though someone or something was metaphorically, or maybe quite literally walking over her grave. She didn’t know where this came from, or what was going on, all she knew was that there was an intruder close by and she couldn’t have that. She snapped to attention, her gaze locking onto the direction that the feeling was coming from. Both Rangers noticed her sudden shift and tensed, looking around for threats, not that she was paying them any mind. Not all her focus was on the sensation that had lodged itself into her spine, whatever this was, it was coming from the forest’s outskirts around the old kingdom.
“Frostweaver, Monksroot, get ready for action. We need to check out a disturbance in the forest.” At that Selin and Jaina nodded and drew weapons. Sylvanas hesitated a moment frowning, I must remember to refer to her as her Forsaken identity, lest I slip up. Remember she is Leena right now. She was pleased with both of their response times in arming themselves and preparing for a potentially dire situation, Monksroot for all her sass, snark, and flirting, was surprisingly serious and deadly when push came to shove. And Leena was no less ready to unleash a torrent of violence at a moment's notice. In fact, the arcane ranger had summoned herself some supplies, quickly handing some to Selin while stowing the rest within her wheel chair.
“Which sector? I can teleport us above and close enough, though it may be leading us into a trap if you aren’t aware of what’s causing the disturbance.” Leena was clearly in her tactical mind set, and it was a delight to witness.
“It originates from the south east part of the forest, and is moving.” She said frowning and hesitating for a moment before deciding it was best to be honest right now. “I do not know what is going on, really all I know is that there is something wrong. It’s like I have a very deep feeling that there’s something there, or someone, and I don’t know why.” Sylvanas said with a shake of her head. Something wasn’t right, both with this feeling and with the fact she was feeling it at all. She would follow this through though, and figure out what was going on.
The look on Leena-Jaina? The mage’s brows curled confusedly for a moment as the mask of Leena fell and Jaina returned. She then raised her hands which were glowing with a dark necrotic energy. She hesitated before looking to her for permission, and with no hesitation on her end she nodded. She trusted Jaina with her unlife, and would allow the use of necromancy on her. With a slight whisper of cold and death she pointed her hand in Sylvanas’s direction as arcane sigils glowed along the small war scepter she always brought along with her.
“I can’t sense any outside sources of influence, so I think we should investigate.” Jaina said with a nod as she turned back to Selin who gently smiled. Then with a moment’s notice the mask of Leena returned to her face.
“Alright Leena.” Selin said with a nod as she turned back to face Sylvanas. “General, if you say this is to the south east from here, that’s likely along the old pilgrims pathways that led to Alterac, rather than any main road. It’s mainly used infrequently by smugglers, as we don’t have enough forces to control all the routes around Lordaron. Though the left over scourge presence has made traversing that pathway difficult, but that is my best guess as to where they are. If Ranger initiate Frostweaver can get us to a dry creek bed known as the burly monk’s respite, that is where we can set an ambush and prevent them from getting to the city outskirts.” This was why Selin had made Dark Ranger, for all her bluster she really was good at what she did and she knew her lands like the back of her hand.
Sylvanas nodded her approval, Selin quickly whipped out a map and began a rapid conversation with Leena over the exact location, providing a large amount of references. Then the sensation prickled at Sylvanas again and she realized that Selin was indeed correct about the Scourge being a problem, it seemed that whoever or whatever was causing this unease was capable of dealing with a few feral Scourge. Whoever was coming was making their way through the forest with the grace of a deadly predator,and they were headed towards her home, her people. Sylvanas felt her blood boil, and she grit her teeth. Whatever this was, it was extremely disconcerting, especially since she could not feel the source, unlike what she experienced with the demands of the Lich King. Still the need to investigate was too great, the pull was too much.
All too quickly though, her Ranger’s conversation had wrapped up and they flanked her sides and in the next moment they’d all been teleported to a small creek. She took to the shadows, not using magic or her ability to interact with shadows, but her vast experience she then began to move quickly through the forest. Heading directly towards whatever she was sensing, as a unit they moved rapidly along the dried up river bed. Even Leena was able to match the pace, and remain hidden in her wheelchair. Quite a feat in a forest such as this.
It just went to show that she had not been lax in her studies, and was soaking up new techniques very quickly. Sylvans did note that she was using conjured ice and skates below her wheelchair to move quickly over the uneven terrain below, as she passed the ice melted leaving no sign of her passing. Soon enough they found tracks. Whoever they were, they were good at hiding their tracks, but not good enough to hide from Sylvanas’s or her Rangers’ eyes. At the very least the breaks in the twigs and branches suggested that they were a humanoid the size of a human or elf, which eliminated a lot of suspects. A flash of handsigns from Leena relayed her own findings, that there were no magic traces, which suggested that whoever they were, they were likely a nonmagical spy or smuggler.
The source of her discomfort eventually turned off the trail and into the woods and Leena sighed as her wheelchair slowed down their pace while navigating the thicker part of the dead forest. As useful as it was for making the arcane ranger to be mobile, it did not work well within the deeper parts of forests. Leena switched to making use of a lot of short blinks just to keep up the pace as dead brambles got in the way. Sylvanas sighed deeply, it seemed they would need to figure things out for future incursions into areas such as this. With Leena’s condition she likely never would be suited for some aspects of being a Dark Ranger, though her ability to navigate Undercity undetected left even Velonara surprised, especially since the Ranger to be had promised she hadn’t used any of her arcane magic, just that which was aligned with death and shadows. Not that she’d taken to shadow magic, as she approached it with extreme caution that even Sylvanas would call paranoia if Jaina hadn’t stressed seriously enough that she was cautious because she did not intend to attract the attention of any of the beings that lived within the void. That was reasonable enough for Sylvanas to excuse such unique behaviours.
Eventually though they caught up with their target, who contrary to Sylvanas's expectations was dressed in the most eye watering red outfits imaginable. One that did little to hide the fact she was either a blood elf or high elf. Sylvanas’s dreaded finding out what kind of idiot spy wore red. Unless they were on the Burning Steeps or Redridge mountains, no spy worth their salt should ever wear such an eye-catching red. She watched as the woman tensed suddenly sensing the gaze of the three of them upon her. Sylvanas gave a nod and a few hand signs to her rangers, and as one they stepped out to confront the spy.
She seemed surprised at the very least that she’d been found, though not too concerned. Sylvanas turned to her side where Selin and Leena were sighing heavily, it seemed they both knew who this perpetrator was. Sylvanas raised an eyebrow at Selin, who nodded and turned towards the figure.
“Valeera Sanguinar, King Varian Wrynn's spy and bodyguard I presume? I believe you’re the only fool who’s talented enough to wear red in a stealth scenario.” Selin said with a distasteful sigh as she beheld the abomination against all rogues and rangers the universe over.
“Backhanded compliments like that are no way to get into my breeches Ranger… Monskroot isn’t it? Anya told me a little bit about you the last time we did it dirty. She said you were quite impressive, though your companions may be far more impressive. The Forsaken Queen and the newest ranger, one Leena Frostweaver, who according to the grapevine is both an extraordinary mage and archer. Though I would mention that the most impressive thing is your information security considering I know next to nothing about you. Which is surprising since I wouldn’t peg someone in a wheel chair as being stealthy. Why I laughed my ass off and thought they were having a joke on me but… ” Valeera looked relaxed, but Sylvanas could see the signs of tension in her body, she was ready to unleash violence at a moment's notice.
Valeera’s rant was soon interrupted by a loud Kathunk in the tree right above her ears. Lodged deep inside the dead trunk was a large shard of ice the size of a person’s head, Valeera was frozen, and not from any spell because despite being weary and on guard had missed the casting. To be fair, Sylvanas had only noticed because she had worked with Jaina enough to expect a silent, quick casted Ice bolt. Leena slowly waved her index finger back and forth, almost asking her to keep trying. Sylvanas almost laughed, Jaina’s disguise was both so her and so different at the same time.
Though she reluctantly dragged her mind off her paramour as she needed to concentrate.
“And what is Wrynn’s little pet spy doing on Forsaken land? Though we may not be at war, we still don’t have free entry agreements. Especially for those who want to gain actionable intelligence for potentially hostile parties.” Sylvanas asked, keeping her face impassive, and making sure to keep her posture as casual as she could.
Valeera’s face fell for a moment before she returned to smiling. “Well, you did catch me in the act, so this is a little freebie if you will. King Wrynn is concerned that your people may still be developing the Blight, as despite Horde aggressions in Kalimdor, your people have been quiet outside of the occasional scuffle with the Scarlet Crusade. Besides we are neighbors, spying is what we do.” She said with a salacious wink.
Sylvanas stifled a groan, some days she regretted ever giving that technology the go ahead. She should never have trusted Purtriss, especially as he had chosen to give the blight to the Scarlet Crusade well before the Dark Portal had opened again. He told her that he’d been captured and had no choice but she was very certain all he cared about was his research and power. As is, the Blight was useful, as it allowed her to avoid needless deaths of her own people and acted as a deterrent. Jaina had still managed to talk her out of producing more of it however. Though time had begun to prove Jaina right as Undercity’s river had started to improve since then as alchemical byproducts had stopped being dumped there.
“I can assure you that the blight production has completely been halted, though I know you won't take my word for it. Its use destroyed the land, as did its production. It has led to scars across our homes and I cannot abide by it anymore." She sighed, "you know I have every right to capture you and lock you away... But I wont, I think much more damning would be to let you off with a warning, to let everyone know that the great Valeera Sanguinar was caught red handed, and red clothed." She said with a wide inhuman smile, enjoying the way the elf bristled at her words.
"So you can kindly leave my lands with a warning to not return, though I will give you one more piece of free information for our good neighbour, let your king know that the attacks in Kalimdor are not the Horde’s doing as far as my own sources can confirm. We are currently looking into it and have some leads. When we find the perpetrators, would you like us to send you their heads after we deal with them? Will that settle your heart Sanguinar?” Sylvanas said, this was much more familiar ground than sitting doing paperwork to run a city. Bantering with your enemy was much more in her wheel house. Even if she still felt off about the fact she had known this woman was in her forests.
A part of her wanted to lock her up and throw away the key, to deny the Alliance such a powerful tool, but she and Jaina were trying to stop war and that might just hasten it. Especially since the constant attacks within ashenvale was causing all sorts of trouble that they would need to fix, and soon.
“Aye I’ll let him know what you said, and while it is super kind of you to let me go, you never really had an option you know? You’re strong, but trust me when I say I’m faster.” True to her word the rogue bolted in such a manner that Sylvanas had trouble keeping track of her. However the fleeing rogue soon was halted as she came face to face with Monksroot smirking next to her pet eagle, bow drawn and ready to fire.
"Looks like someone forgot that it wasn't just the Dark Lady they had to think about, and after Anya talked you up so much... Gotta say cutie I am disappointed." Selin winked and then lowered her bow, and tilted her head. "Just remember you are leaving because our Dark Lady wills it, which is honestly a shame I was really looking forward to getting to know you."
Vareesa studied Selin for a moment and then was gone the next moment, the three of them watched as she soared through the trees with little fanfare. Sylvanas could only sigh when she considered the paperwork she would have to file because of this incident. More paperwork on top of the pile she already had? With Selin’s flirting and innuendos continuing? She cursed Arthus for raising her from the dead, and the past her, who thought being Queen would be easy.
"So are we going to talk about how ya knew she was here?" Selin asked after making sure the spy was long gone.
"Later, for now we are heading back, and switching jobs. I am going to teach Frostweaver and you can do the paperwork." She grumbled under her breath, Selin’s sputtering and denials were at least a balm upon her soul.
“Hey honey?” Rhonin paused reading through the latest council meeting’s minutes to look up and see Vereesa moving towards his desk with some sort of silver case that she placed down on the table. Her movements were careful and controlled, like whatever that was inside could be dangerous or perhaps fragile. Whatever this conversation was, Rhonin had the feeling he was about to be given highly unofficial work. Especially considering she had opened up with pet names and looked slightly guilty. Still he loved his wife and couldn’t deny her anything, he set down the paperwork and smiled softly.
“Yes, dear? What’s in the case?” He replied as she only smirked before unlocking it revealing a needle. “A Needle… what?”
Vereesa shook her head. “Not just any needle, an enchanted bone needle used for sewing that one can manipulate using only their mind and magic. One made by the Forsaken on mass and is kept under lock and key because its arcane construction is a state secret. The problem is we can’t seem to get it working. The Sunreavers managed to get a hold of two of them and they’ve been struggling to try and understand it. They were struggling so much they even reached out to the Silver Covenant, because it’s a mystery in how it works, the only current thing they know is that it's vaguely necromantic and heavily obfuscated to a degree not seen outside of preshattering High elf artifacts.”
Damn it, his wife knew him so well. Rhonin loved a good puzzle, and his wife was going to use his natural curiosity to get him to crack the code. He loved her so much he didn’t even really mind, so he slipped on some silk gloves designed to block magic, pulled out his magnifying glass, and took the box from her. He started to study the needle, and the first thing he noted was that whoever had designed this needle was a genius. The runes were perfect, as if they’d been copied with a machine rather than being hand carved. If this was as Vereesa said it was, then that meant they likely made some kind of controllable scalpel specifically for copying out the rune sequence exactly, which was impressive, though more impressive was the layers of redundant and perhaps at some points meaningless runes designed to make it more difficult to reverse engineer. Finally after 30 or so minutes he put the needle back to see his wife sipping on a cup of tea.
“Any findings?” She asked with a small smile.
“The first is that whatever mage your sister found is a genius who is clearly skilled in both necromancy and normal arcane magics. So much, that they weaved together the distinct magics in a harmonious way that I have never seen before.” Vereesa tilted her head but allowed him to continue. “Not only that but I’ve figured out the reason the Sunreavers and Silver Covenant haven’t managed to get it working yet. It requires a tiny amount of death Anima to become attuned, which means you either must be undead or perhaps very sick to use it. With all that and the fact it’s likely being mass produced by an arcane contraption, it will likely take a Dalaran mage many decades to make something similar given their relative lack of necromantic material. The next big thing is that without a proper understanding of Necromancy, mages would not be able to really unravel the secrets of said needle. The third thing, it would take almost no mana to use this for hours, it's no wonder the Forsaken are making a name for themselves in the embroidery industry. Like I said, whoever made this is a genius.” It was such a shame too, because damn it he really wanted to figure out how this thing ticked, but he wouldn’t touch Necromancy with a 10 foot pole.
Vareesa sighed. “Damn, that’s impressive. Especially since most of the elves vaguely recognise the original concept. It was more of a passing oddity, but enchanted silver and gold needles used to be common in Silvermoon, though I am told they were difficult to use due to the lack of fine control and their high mana usage. Even then some embroiderers got so good at using them over hundreds of years that they could work on five pieces at a time for a whole day.” Vereesa said with a smile as she remembered her home.
“Oh? Would I ever be able to meet any? They sound like great people to meet.” Rhonin said with a merry tone since he loved it ever so much when his wife got to remember Silvermoon’s better days.
“Probably not since I’m still exiled, though you should hear the rumours about the weavers during the third war. They were held up in the merchants quarter, and caused total chaos amongst the Scourge as thousands of tiny needles flew about and ripped out the eyes of many of the ghouls, and cult members, effectively blinding many of them.” She had a sadistic smile on her face that caused a small chill to pass down his spine.
Still Rhonin let out a hearty chuckle as he imagined the chaos that a legion of trained weavers could accomplish on a battlefield against less dead opponents. Their conversation continued late into the afternoon as they reminisced over the past, made some horrible attempts at flirting, and enjoyed each other’s presence. Honestly he would never understand how he got so lucky as to get with the best woman in all of the universe. Eventually though it came to an end as Vereesa closed the box, and pocketed it once more.
“I need to return this, but is there anything else I can report that you have figured out about the needle, or the mage that created it?” She asked with a soft smile, and he felt his heart melt at the sight.
Rhonin thought for a moment, tapping a finger to his chin. “Only that the work feels vaguely familiar, which since it is of Forsaken in origins could mean one of two things. First it could be from some ancient long dead high elf, whose work I’ve read in the past. Second, it could be that they were originally from Lordaron and studied in Dalaran at some point before the third war.” Vereesa nodded along before kissing him on the cheek.
“Thanks love.”
“Anytime.”
Rhonin smiled as he watched his wife leave, he was the luckiest man ever. Still it bugged him, the work had seemed very familiar, he would have to look into it more. Later when he wasn’t drowning in the aftermath of the Nexus war and the copious amounts of paperwork that came with it. He cracked his neck and got back to work, he had a beautiful wife and kids to get back to, which meant he needed to finish up.
Jaina smirked as she got her mission for today. Apparently the Ranger General now thought that Leena had proven herself enough to be able to go on small missions herself. Which was the next step in her Dark Ranger initiation, she has to prove she could complete missions alone. Today’s mission was one that would allow her to display her capabilities while also being reasonably simple.
An Orc captain sent by Thrall was imposing travel restrictions on the local Forsaken in Undercity that were unconstitutional. He was also accepting bribes from many smugglers to allow others in without checking their identities or cargo. All Jaina needed to do was to record these interactions so it could be used to dismiss the captain with prejudice. She’d been given a goblin recording device so that would be no problem, especially as they’d heard reports of a band of smugglers that used the back routes of Lordaron that were about to appear. Which meant it was the perfect chance to showcase her talents.
There was a single condition though. Jaina or rather Leena was not allowed to use a single bit of arcane magic, only that tied to death and the shadows. Not that she had any plan to touch shadow magic anymore than what was necessary. That did however leave a lot of opportunities for Jaina as she smiled and slipped both herself and her body beyond the veil of life into death.
The world around her gained an ethereal quality as she looked around and noticed the souls of Undercity. While the world around them seemed to be covered in a haze of blue mist, Jaina could see the results of the scourge’s necromancy evident in all the souls around her which shone red. Many had chunks taken out of them, and some souls were even bleeding, which she needed to check on later. In the world between death and life the pain inflicted on so many became obvious.
Her own wounds weren’t exempt from that, as she could see the dark purple necrosis that radiated around her abdomen. At the very least the damage wasn’t getting worse thanks to the arcane words she had bound her soul with. Though she desperately needed to figure out both how to remove the necrotised soul fragments and make new ones. The problem was that so far she had only been able to use the soul’s natural ability to grow, which simply wasn’t fast enough. This was so far outside of the scope of the Cult of the Damned’s work she was in uncharted territory, but that was okay.
For now she had a theory that by harnessing the latent anima in both the world and produced by herself, she could fashion it into a form of fake soul flesh. Those experiments while ongoing were proving useful, especially as Derick had taken to the soul flesh with great gusto. Already the little sea wisp that so reminded her of her brother was growing stronger, which meant she may be in luck. It had also served as an appropriate bridge between the Light and Necrotic energies that were unbalanced within Astra. The Light and Necromancy had both sought to do the same task but through rapidly different means, so by creating a soul like conduit allowed the two fundamental forces to cooperate for now. Now for herself all she’d have to do would be to make enough of the soul replacement material, remove the rot, then bind everything together using her arcane wards.
At the very least if everything worked, she would be certain that even in the event of her body being completely destroyed she’d still remain in the world. Though what that would mean for her would be another story, seeing as she’d have to figure out how to interact with the world in a way that didn’t mean possessing some innocent person’s body.
She shook her head with a grimace as she finished moving into position. The Orc captain was a guard for one of the minor sewer entrances that dotted Undercity. It was out of the way which meant Jaina was able to find a silent corner with full view of the proceedings to place down the camera. There was no sign of the smuggling party however, which gave Jaina plenty of time to try out some light soul manipulation. This led to her gathering the anima up she produced naturally within a small soul vessel she had crafted for this very purpose.
It was while she was in the middle of collecting the Anima that a rag tag group of a few goblins and trolls appeared at the gates with a series of covered trolleys.They had no warnings for materials inside, but Jaina could already feel the concentrated miasma that came from Old God Blood. It seemed the Venture Co had taken to mining Saronite and were trying to sell it to the Forsaken.
Leena watched with a wide smile as the orc captain grunted and held out his hand for payment in full view of the camera. Leena’s spectral form slowly moved itself to behind the captain's back as she read what was supposedly on the shipment list. He had apparently written this down as a purified water shipment, which was only subject to low tariffs due to the need for such resources within the city. Saronite meanwhile if imported legally would be taxed far more heavily, in addition to being put on the restricted materials list, requiring additional scrutiny around its uses. With a quick spell Leena sent a message to the chief guard to bring his soldiers around to pick up the prisoners.
Leena quickly summoned her reserves of death-aligned mana to temporarily bind all them in layers upon layers of necrotic ice. Their shouts of surprise was music to her ears as she reappeared in front of them with the arrow in her bow drawn tight.
“Good Afternoon Gentleman, It appears as though some smuggling of restricted materials is being conducted, so I’ve had to restrain you all until the rest of the guards arrive. If you move then under my authority as a Dark Ranger I will shoot first and ask questions of your corpses later…. Or well your reanimated corpses.” She ended with a vicious smile, sure Jaina Proudmoore wouldn’t actually reanimate someone without their permission but Leena Frostweaver had no such scruples if only for a limited time.
The entourage looked concerned as they clearly tried and failed to move their bodies, only for some to wind up falling on the ground instead. The orc captain and the rest of those directly under him seemed to have looks of utter hatred.
“Let me go foul abomination or Clan Warsong will have your head! This gate was given to us to guard, monitor and gather taxes from under treaty.” The captain said with a gruff tone that Leena didn’t exactly like very much, so she purposefully used her control over decay to weaken the bones in his right leg making it more likely for a break if he did strenuous activity in the next two years. If the orc didn’t wind up serving time in a prison then this would be a good punishment as he’d likely break his leg permanently during drills.
Finally one of the Goblin’s still on their feet seemed to recover from their confusion. “My apologies madam Ranger. I had no clue these dunderheads weren’t following the proper procedures, if you’d unbind me I’d be willing to go and get the manifest so the right and proper officials can get their dues.”
Jaina chuckled for a moment. “No need Mr…”
“Geram Fitzprick of the Venture Company, my lady.” He quickly added with what she was sure he thought was a charming smile.
“Well there is no need Mr Fitzprick, because I’m sure you can explain the situation to the guards who I see are just about to arrive. I am after all not a judge of what is and isn’t legal. I personally leave that to the lawyers.” Jaina continued to smile as she looked at the Goblin who no longer seemed quite so charming as he swore many curses at the profession of law.
“I’ll rip you to shreds, you invalid abomination. I would tell you to get on your legs and fight me, but clearly you can’t do that!.” The captain screamed. Leena sighed as the captain now had a weaker left leg. They never learnt, did they? She had a feeling that today was going to be a long day if this is what she had in store for herself for the next two hours.
The Forest Spirit purred as it watched its partner/champion/host retreat to her home under the ground. She reached out with her senses as she touched the forest and was pleased to feel the healing and changes, yes life would never flourish within its bounds in the traditional sense, but rot, mushrooms, things that thrived in death would. Within its bounds a new type of forest was being born and at the center of it all was her bond with her host/companion/partner.
They were both changing, and she was not sure she would exist much longer, which she found really sad as she wanted nothing more than to stay and watch her other half as she continued to evolve and step into her new role.
A role she had forgotten about as she withered away, for she was more than a simple forest spirit or had been. Perhaps she would be once again after everything was said and done. She just wished she could continue to be with her Companion/host/partner… When a thought struck her. Perhaps she could. Perhaps she didn’t have to give up just yet… After all, death was just another beginning.