HOME | DD

Description
World of Warcraft - Blizzard Entertainment
Art / Aloevi (Left) - Me
Velelanstor (Right) - Jayfeather20002
Stop! You are not allowed to reuse my art or the characters shown in anyway!!
Aloevi Reference - render-us.worldofwarcraft.com/…
Velelanstor Reference - render-us.worldofwarcraft.com/…

The wind howled outside his bedroom window, the nights had become something similar to that an old friend in recent years, the sounds of the twilight were familiar but unlike in the past, the noise of the woods beyond the walls was not calming. Recent events had changed things. A distant cry of an owl nearly caused the man to jump out of his chair. Fingers worn with time, marred with the decorations of war, pushed a lock of unruly chestnut brown hair away from his eyes. How many years had it been? This question kept worming it's way inside his skull over the past months, since the failed assault on the Broken Shore, since he witnessed the fall of great dragons, the rise and eventual fall of the walking dead, since..

Velelanstor shook his head with force, the memories kept crawling back into his head no matter how hard he tried to forget the past. But it was inevitable, he saw it as clear as the day he first laid eyes on the demonic stronghold, The Black Temple. It was not the temple that brought such pain, not the lives lost to capture it from the legions of demons, no it was the letter he held clutched to his heart as he stormed forward, battle cry on his lips. The words, penned so elegantly it was almost hard to believe it held such sorrow and pain in the words, a piece or paper to hold such power over a man.

"Dear Velelanstor,
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that many months prior during our expedition of Outland, we were ambushed by minions of the Betrayer Illidan Stormrage, shortly thereafter Aloevi was noted to be missing and searches have found nothing. It is uncommon for the Illidari to take prisoners, much less so that those they do capture live long. With this we have right to believe he is dead. We are sorry for your loss.
~Blood Champion Aurea Skyfire"

He would never remember what was worse, the thought of losing someone so close, or the knowledge that death was merciful compared to the reports of what the Illidari did to their prisoners. Unable to accept fate he charged with the army to take down the betrayer, hoping beyond hope that Aloevi lived, that if he were quick, he could save him. But of course, even as the betrayer fell with the rest of the temple's forces...he knew it was too late.

Sitting up he heard the voice as clear as glass in his mind.

"I do not like fighting," the voice was that of a grown man but still boyish with it's innocence, "But I know it is the way of the world, I wouldn't know what I would do if I couldn't protect those I care for."

Vele could see him, the man was tall for even an elf even sitting Vele barely matched his height, his long red hair ending with faint golden tips curled around his face and was only held back by a piece of cloth that seemed to barely be able to contain the mass of hair.

In the memory Vele straightened his back with a groan, they had practiced with the blade most the day, although sore, he knew Aloevi would have a great collection of bruises and cuts, "I have been teaching you for awhile, you learn so quickly, but you can barely hold a blade." he frowned when Aloevi looked at his hands folded neatly in his lap, "I worry about you."

"I know, I don't want anyone to worry about me."

Vele reached over and messed up the younger man's hair, "You've said as much before. Have you talked to your mother about archery?" by the look on his face that didn't seem like the right choice of words, "Listen I'm sorry, so, you were telling me before this about your training with the High Priest?"

Aloevi beamed, the memory faded. If he had known much of what the future would hold he would have paid more attention to every word, but...

"VELELANSTOR!"

He bolted up straight at the mention of his name, aggressively brushing away tears out of his eyes he got up and dressed quickly as the hammering of feet echoed down the long hallway, it was not too long ago he had packed his things and taken residence with those he might be tempted to call family in Dalaran. The door opened, Vele was halfway through buttoning a shirt and was shocked at the force the woman threw open the door with.

Typically words he would use to describe her would be, "beautiful" or "gorgeous" but right now Zarlyna looked like a mess, her rose red hair was messy and cluttered with debris from the nearby forests and woodlands, her clothing looked thrown on in a haste, some armor present explaining the forest clutter, she must have only just returned from scouting the Broken Isles with her rangers. Her warm brown eyes were wild as if she had not slept in a long time and she clutched the door frame to get a few moments rest.

Quick to react Vele went to her offering a hand in case she might collapse from exhaustion. "Zarlyna, it must be important if you are this worked up to come seek me out."

It took her a minute of calming herself before she could speak, "It is, so much so I wont waste time trying to come up with a witty response." she reached for a waterskin at her belt and took a deep swallow of the contents before continuing, "You need to come with me quickly, no questions. Please I don't even understand it all. Just--" Zarlyna pulled on his sleeve.

Not much worked up the elder elf she knew briefly as a caring and kind mother, "Alright, just, don't kill yourself over whatever this is." he barely had the chance to get the words out of his mouth before she started to take off down the hall and out the front door of the small house.

Vele followed Zarlyna for most of the walk without a word, the ranger seeming consumed by whatever her mind was so desperately set on, things like this were normal before the seemingly endless onslaught of war that followed the destruction of their beloved Sunwell. But since then the high elf remained reserved, quiet, never quick to rush a task for fear of risking the lives of not only herself but those of her family and fellow soldiers. She would have once made a great commander, but such thoughts were well behind any of them.

"Zarlyna, please, I know I promised not to ask questions, but atleast this, where are we going? Especially at this hour of night!"

She sighed heavily and slowed her pace, "Only a few hours ago, Khadgar arrived in the city with several elves, many of them Wardens, others not. I was there for a few minutes and I saw something and knew I had to get you." she shakes her head, "I am not certain but...I would rather you be there if it's true.."

He wanted to ask more, every fiber of his being screamed to push for answers, but knowing he would get none, atleast nothing as clear as he would hope, Vele shut his mouth and followed her to the open platform known as Krasus' Landing where beasts of flight were held when their owners visited the floating city. Zarlyna had not lied, he did see many warden's, in recent years they were no friends to the horde, but Zarlyna's loyalties did not lie entirely with the horde, hopefully that would allow him to make it through in one piece.

However now that he thought about it, they weren't exactly allies of the Kirin Tor or the Alliance right now either...

An outstretched arm from Zarlyna stopped him straight in his tracks, she pointed toward the very edge of the broken platform, there were both night elves and blood elves standing and sitting as if awaiting orders, some spoke to one another quietly, others would be staring around in what might be skepticism, if not for each and every one of them, were blind or blindfolded.

His eyes weren't tricking them, they were blind, atleast they appeared to be, at a closer look that wasn't the only thing off, some of them had skin that was scaled, some had tattoos, others horns, many a combination of the three.

"Demon hunters.." his voice was hollow, he remembered fighting many of their kind years ago..

"That is not what I wanted you to see, look. There." she pointed as a specific thing and he followed her gaze and felt something strange stir in his heart, something he had no felt in many years.

Zarlyna was directing him to look at a blood elven male, he sat on the broken wall sharpening a strange curved blade while talking to an intimidating night elf who seemed to be of a higher rank than those around her. He had long black hair, the majority of which was tied in a topknot. If not for the horns that curled back from his temple he might seem relatively normal, nothing seemed strange about this man to Velelanstor, he seemed familiar actually.

Shock forced the words out of his mouth, "Do you think...Zarlyna do you think that's Aloevi?"

At the mention of the name the man looked up ears alert and looked toward them, there was a pause as if time had stopped. He didn't remember seeing him get up, let alone move, in fact he didn't remember doing the same, but he found himself face to face -or more accurately face to chest- with the demon hunter. Up close he saw the many fel scars marring his face, covered up barely by patchy facial hair. Under his leather tunic he saw the faint swirl of tattoos similar to that of the night elven woman who stood slightly behind him.

But it was the face...his face..

The voice was unnatural, but it had undertones of the same man he once knew. "Vele?"

Vele couldn't hold the tears back, he openly wept as he searched a face he once knew so well, it had changed so much, but it was the same..."Aloevi..please tell me it's you, please tell me this is real."

Aloevi's hand reached up to wipe away the tears, "I...no you're not dreaming Vele, it's me." the voice was hesitant, as if afraid of what those words might mean.

He didn't care, he pulled Aloevi close and buried his face in his hair, breathing him in letting himself enjoy this moment, "I missed you so much Aloevi, I've missed you so much..."

The demon hunter was stiff under the hug, it took him a moment to respond with the same affection in kind, he was still the same and it filled Vele's heart with hope, no matter how much he had changed, that could be explained later, it didn't matter, Aloevi was alive.

"I missed you too Vele, more than you know.."

Vele held him tight, "I thought you were dead."

Aloevi's grip tightened, "I know, and I'm sorry...but it's not going to happen again." he pulled back, despite being a different man, one he no longer knew like before, Vele felt the same love for him after all these years that he had when Aloevi was training under him to learn to be a proper warrior. "I promise Vele, I wont leave you again."

"Good, I don't think I could take losing you a second time."

Aloevi pulled him in again, "I couldn't take leaving you the first time.."

They stood like that, Vele didn't want to let go, afraid that this wasn't real, that he might disappear at a moment's notice...

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Description
World of Warcraft - Blizzard Entertainment
Art / Aloevi (Left) - Me
Velelanstor (Right) - Jayfeather20002
Stop! You are not allowed to reuse my art or the characters shown in anyway!!
Aloevi Reference - render-us.worldofwarcraft.com/…
Velelanstor Reference - render-us.worldofwarcraft.com/…

The wind howled outside his bedroom window, the nights had become something similar to that an old friend in recent years, the sounds of the twilight were familiar but unlike in the past, the noise of the woods beyond the walls was not calming. Recent events had changed things. A distant cry of an owl nearly caused the man to jump out of his chair. Fingers worn with time, marred with the decorations of war, pushed a lock of unruly chestnut brown hair away from his eyes. How many years had it been? This question kept worming it's way inside his skull over the past months, since the failed assault on the Broken Shore, since he witnessed the fall of great dragons, the rise and eventual fall of the walking dead, since..

Velelanstor shook his head with force, the memories kept crawling back into his head no matter how hard he tried to forget the past. But it was inevitable, he saw it as clear as the day he first laid eyes on the demonic stronghold, The Black Temple. It was not the temple that brought such pain, not the lives lost to capture it from the legions of demons, no it was the letter he held clutched to his heart as he stormed forward, battle cry on his lips. The words, penned so elegantly it was almost hard to believe it held such sorrow and pain in the words, a piece or paper to hold such power over a man.

"Dear Velelanstor,
It is with a heavy heart that I inform you that many months prior during our expedition of Outland, we were ambushed by minions of the Betrayer Illidan Stormrage, shortly thereafter Aloevi was noted to be missing and searches have found nothing. It is uncommon for the Illidari to take prisoners, much less so that those they do capture live long. With this we have right to believe he is dead. We are sorry for your loss.
~Blood Champion Aurea Skyfire"

He would never remember what was worse, the thought of losing someone so close, or the knowledge that death was merciful compared to the reports of what the Illidari did to their prisoners. Unable to accept fate he charged with the army to take down the betrayer, hoping beyond hope that Aloevi lived, that if he were quick, he could save him. But of course, even as the betrayer fell with the rest of the temple's forces...he knew it was too late.

Sitting up he heard the voice as clear as glass in his mind.

"I do not like fighting," the voice was that of a grown man but still boyish with it's innocence, "But I know it is the way of the world, I wouldn't know what I would do if I couldn't protect those I care for."

Vele could see him, the man was tall for even an elf even sitting Vele barely matched his height, his long red hair ending with faint golden tips curled around his face and was only held back by a piece of cloth that seemed to barely be able to contain the mass of hair.

In the memory Vele straightened his back with a groan, they had practiced with the blade most the day, although sore, he knew Aloevi would have a great collection of bruises and cuts, "I have been teaching you for awhile, you learn so quickly, but you can barely hold a blade." he frowned when Aloevi looked at his hands folded neatly in his lap, "I worry about you."

"I know, I don't want anyone to worry about me."

Vele reached over and messed up the younger man's hair, "You've said as much before. Have you talked to your mother about archery?" by the look on his face that didn't seem like the right choice of words, "Listen I'm sorry, so, you were telling me before this about your training with the High Priest?"

Aloevi beamed, the memory faded. If he had known much of what the future would hold he would have paid more attention to every word, but...

"VELELANSTOR!"

He bolted up straight at the mention of his name, aggressively brushing away tears out of his eyes he got up and dressed quickly as the hammering of feet echoed down the long hallway, it was not too long ago he had packed his things and taken residence with those he might be tempted to call family in Dalaran. The door opened, Vele was halfway through buttoning a shirt and was shocked at the force the woman threw open the door with.

Typically words he would use to describe her would be, "beautiful" or "gorgeous" but right now Zarlyna looked like a mess, her rose red hair was messy and cluttered with debris from the nearby forests and woodlands, her clothing looked thrown on in a haste, some armor present explaining the forest clutter, she must have only just returned from scouting the Broken Isles with her rangers. Her warm brown eyes were wild as if she had not slept in a long time and she clutched the door frame to get a few moments rest.

Quick to react Vele went to her offering a hand in case she might collapse from exhaustion. "Zarlyna, it must be important if you are this worked up to come seek me out."

It took her a minute of calming herself before she could speak, "It is, so much so I wont waste time trying to come up with a witty response." she reached for a waterskin at her belt and took a deep swallow of the contents before continuing, "You need to come with me quickly, no questions. Please I don't even understand it all. Just--" Zarlyna pulled on his sleeve.

Not much worked up the elder elf she knew briefly as a caring and kind mother, "Alright, just, don't kill yourself over whatever this is." he barely had the chance to get the words out of his mouth before she started to take off down the hall and out the front door of the small house.

Vele followed Zarlyna for most of the walk without a word, the ranger seeming consumed by whatever her mind was so desperately set on, things like this were normal before the seemingly endless onslaught of war that followed the destruction of their beloved Sunwell. But since then the high elf remained reserved, quiet, never quick to rush a task for fear of risking the lives of not only herself but those of her family and fellow soldiers. She would have once made a great commander, but such thoughts were well behind any of them.

"Zarlyna, please, I know I promised not to ask questions, but atleast this, where are we going? Especially at this hour of night!"

She sighed heavily and slowed her pace, "Only a few hours ago, Khadgar arrived in the city with several elves, many of them Wardens, others not. I was there for a few minutes and I saw something and knew I had to get you." she shakes her head, "I am not certain but...I would rather you be there if it's true.."

He wanted to ask more, every fiber of his being screamed to push for answers, but knowing he would get none, atleast nothing as clear as he would hope, Vele shut his mouth and followed her to the open platform known as Krasus' Landing where beasts of flight were held when their owners visited the floating city. Zarlyna had not lied, he did see many warden's, in recent years they were no friends to the horde, but Zarlyna's loyalties did not lie entirely with the horde, hopefully that would allow him to make it through in one piece.

However now that he thought about it, they weren't exactly allies of the Kirin Tor or the Alliance right now either...

An outstretched arm from Zarlyna stopped him straight in his tracks, she pointed toward the very edge of the broken platform, there were both night elves and blood elves standing and sitting as if awaiting orders, some spoke to one another quietly, others would be staring around in what might be skepticism, if not for each and every one of them, were blind or blindfolded.

His eyes weren't tricking them, they were blind, atleast they appeared to be, at a closer look that wasn't the only thing off, some of them had skin that was scaled, some had tattoos, others horns, many a combination of the three.

"Demon hunters.." his voice was hollow, he remembered fighting many of their kind years ago..

"That is not what I wanted you to see, look. There." she pointed as a specific thing and he followed her gaze and felt something strange stir in his heart, something he had no felt in many years.

Zarlyna was directing him to look at a blood elven male, he sat on the broken wall sharpening a strange curved blade while talking to an intimidating night elf who seemed to be of a higher rank than those around her. He had long black hair, the majority of which was tied in a topknot. If not for the horns that curled back from his temple he might seem relatively normal, nothing seemed strange about this man to Velelanstor, he seemed familiar actually.

Shock forced the words out of his mouth, "Do you think...Zarlyna do you think that's Aloevi?"

At the mention of the name the man looked up ears alert and looked toward them, there was a pause as if time had stopped. He didn't remember seeing him get up, let alone move, in fact he didn't remember doing the same, but he found himself face to face -or more accurately face to chest- with the demon hunter. Up close he saw the many fel scars marring his face, covered up barely by patchy facial hair. Under his leather tunic he saw the faint swirl of tattoos similar to that of the night elven woman who stood slightly behind him.

But it was the face...his face..

The voice was unnatural, but it had undertones of the same man he once knew. "Vele?"

Vele couldn't hold the tears back, he openly wept as he searched a face he once knew so well, it had changed so much, but it was the same..."Aloevi..please tell me it's you, please tell me this is real."

Aloevi's hand reached up to wipe away the tears, "I...no you're not dreaming Vele, it's me." the voice was hesitant, as if afraid of what those words might mean.

He didn't care, he pulled Aloevi close and buried his face in his hair, breathing him in letting himself enjoy this moment, "I missed you so much Aloevi, I've missed you so much..."

The demon hunter was stiff under the hug, it took him a moment to respond with the same affection in kind, he was still the same and it filled Vele's heart with hope, no matter how much he had changed, that could be explained later, it didn't matter, Aloevi was alive.

"I missed you too Vele, more than you know.."

Vele held him tight, "I thought you were dead."

Aloevi's grip tightened, "I know, and I'm sorry...but it's not going to happen again." he pulled back, despite being a different man, one he no longer knew like before, Vele felt the same love for him after all these years that he had when Aloevi was training under him to learn to be a proper warrior. "I promise Vele, I wont leave you again."

"Good, I don't think I could take losing you a second time."

Aloevi pulled him in again, "I couldn't take leaving you the first time.."

They stood like that, Vele didn't want to let go, afraid that this wasn't real, that he might disappear at a moment's notice...

"I love you."

"I love you too."