![](http://cobalt-company.wdfiles.com/local--resized-images/writing:2022-08-09-taking-a-boy-home/style="margin:/medium.jpg) |
| Details |
| Author: | Disknight |
| Summary: | Celaven asks Velrin to accompany him on an adventure in her homeland of Felwood. |
| Rating: | T for Teen |
Celaven is in Felwood fighting the corrupted Deadwood furbolg tribe.
Celaven looks up in surprise as Velrin swoops in to kill the Deadwood furbolg.
[Celaven]: Greetings! I was not entirely sure you would join me.
[Velrin]: You asked, so of course I would come.
[Velrin]: It's a pity what became of the furbolgs though…
Celaven nods. "Though these are not the only tribe. The Timbermaw, they seem friendly."
[Celaven]: Well, to us, at least. I have been killing these at their behest.
Velrin nods, "I used to play with them sometimes as a girl…"
[Celaven]: I remember you mentioned that.
[Celaven]: Do you recall the tribe?
[Velrin]: It was these ones. The Deadwood.
[Velrin]: Though usually I went north to see them.
[Celaven]: Oh. *Celaven looks around sadly.* I am sorry.
[Velrin]: It's alright. *she sighs* I've had to do this before…
[Celaven]: This was not the main focus of my work here, at least. I was merely assisting as I waited to see if you would arrive.
[Velrin]: There's no need to feel sorry. It needs to be done even if it is painful for me.
Celaven nods. "But still, I had hoped to invite you here for, well… " he considers his choice of words, "… more enjoyable combat?"
[Celaven]: There is the continuing problem of satyrs and cultists, to the north. That was where I was intending to focus.
Velrin nods, "Lead the way then."
The two leave the furbolg village and make their way north.
[Celaven]: I did not mean to assume you would not join me. It is simply that I was not sure… if you considered our last meeting a mistake.
[Velrin]: N-no! Never!
[Velrin]: I-I-I… had a wonderful time…
Celaven looks sidelong at her, and gives a smile of relief. "As did I, so I am glad to hear it."
[Velrin]: In fact… I was… hoping you would contact me again soon…
Velrin wiggles her ears
The two happen upon a satyr camp.
Celaven grins at her. "I recall you were restless in Darnassus, so I thought… maybe I could offer a distraction?"
Velrin hums, "You can distract me as much as you like once we're done here."
Celaven chuckles, watching her kill a satyr.
[Celaven]: That and… I simply hoped to see you again.
Velrin smiles shyly.
[Velrin]: Well… The intrepid Moonshadow is here at your service!
Velrin shows off her high elf made armor
Celaven laughs. "We'll see if we can find you a princess to save."
Velrin giggles
[Celaven]: How are things going with the Sentinels, by the way? Were you able to get an assignment more to your liking?
[Velrin]: A little. I've mostly been near Azshara lately making sure the ghosts and naga there stay out of Ashenvale.
[Celaven]: I'm sure the people of Ashenvale appreciate that. My sister is stationed in Ashenvale, I can't recall if she told you.
[Velrin]: She did.
[Celaven]: As it happens, I have been spending some time recently fighting the naga down in Feralas. Different ruin, same enemy.
[Velrin]: Indeed.
[Velrin]: Though it is much more satisfying to kill demons… *she swiftly dispatches two satyrs*
[Celaven]: There is a part of me that wishes we could travel in time, to see such places before their destruction. Even the ruins sometimes can be beautiful.
Celaven nods, casting holy fire at a nearby satyr.
Velrin gives him a rueful smile, "Indeed."
[Celaven]: There are so few left who remember those days.
Velrin nods, "Even my parents weren't around before the Sundering.
[Celaven]: My mother was, but not my father. I wish it were easier to get her to speak of it.
[Velrin]: Do you get curious about before?
[Celaven]: Do you not? *Celaven smiles* I know there was decadence, and terrible mistakes, but still…
They finally arrive at the cultists’ lair.
[Celaven]: I believe the cultists are here, they have taken over a barrow.
[Velrin]: I never really did. I guess I felt perfectly happy living in the forest. I never wanted to go back to some old age of cities and grandeur.
[Velrin]: Let's go then. *she takes out her daggers*
Celaven shrugs. "Perhaps I was less satisfied, as a child. I suppose the Sin'dorei are distant reflection of what it must have been like."
[Velrin]: I wish I knew more about the days of old so I could tell you.
Celaven considers. "It may be that knowing I was not following a path our people approved, it made me more curious about others that were not looked well upon."
Velrin looks about her, "Well this is what that path led to."
[Celaven]: I suppose you're right. But there are those who still study the arcane arts, and who have not fallen to demon influences.
Velrin sighs, "I know. I was impressed by the Quel'dorei. I just… this place puts me ill at ease."
[Velrin]: I am happy to have better company this time around…
[Celaven]: Oh, you were here before? This barrow?
[Velrin]: Well… just this place in general, but… sort of…
[Velrin]: Those demon hunters I told you of.
[Velrin]: They kept their lair in one of these barrows.
[Celaven]: Ah. That seems… blasphemous.
[Velrin]: I should say so.
[Velrin]: And they made deals with demons and warlocks to fuel their powers and train more of their ilk.
The pair dispatch a number of cultists and make their way out of the barrow.
[Celaven]: I think that is enough for now.
[Celaven]: So the demon hunters… you said you prevented them from reaching Stormrage. Are they still alive?
[Velrin]: One of them, yes.
[Celaven]: Only one? Well, less risk, I suppose. What does he look like, in case I should run into him?
[Velrin]: Her name is Nylarria Felkiss. She has long light green hair she wears in a braid. She has a blindfold over her eyes and has black tattoos marking her arms.
[Velrin]: Her skin is pocked with scars, but the most noticeable one is a large red brand on her right thigh.
Celaven blinks at the description. "I do not think I will mistake her for someone else - that sounds very distinctive. A blindfold?"
[Velrin]: Yes. The demon hunters eschew their sight in favor of learning to sense magical energy. It aids them in tracking their prey.
[Velrin]: I learned quite a bit about them during my hunt here.
Celaven makes a hmm sound. "I think I would prefer sight, myself. But then, I do not hunt demons full time."
[Velrin]: I agree.
[Celaven]: Is the brand in some way related to the practice?
[Velrin]: N-no…
Velrin doesn't elaborate
Celaven notes the reticence and doesn't press for more details.
[Celaven]: In any case, I suppose I should keep an eye out while I'm here.
[Velrin]: You may. I doubt she will trouble us, though.
[Celaven]: Do you think she would attack on sight?
[Velrin]: It's unlikely. She's a demon hunter not an elf hunter.
[Velrin]: And in any case she would likely only target me.
[Celaven]: But you were fighting her sect. Because they make… deals with demons, in addition to hunting them?
[Velrin]: I wished to deny the Betrayer additional allies.
[Celaven]: So it was not an objection to the practice.
[Celaven]: Only to their chosen allies.
[Velrin]: Well it's not like I can condone becoming a demon!
[Celaven]: I'm sorry, I have had little contact with this sort of thing. *Celaven blinks* Do they, literally, become demons themselves?
[Velrin]: It's not far from the truth. *Velrin scoffs* Each demon hunter's transformation is a little different. They aren't an established order like the Cenarion Circle, but all of them take the souls of demons into themselves.
[Velrin]: They are in a very real sense, part demon.
Celaven looks horrified.
[Celaven]: I suppose I didn't fully realize. But then they become the very thing they purport to hunt!
[Velrin]: They would argue they are turning the Burning Legion's weapons against them.
[Celaven]: But will they not simply end up serving the Legion in the end?
The two start to cross the Bloodvenom Falls.
Velrin starts to tear up
[Velrin]: Most die before it comes to that.
Celaven notes the tears with concern. "I apologize. Did you know them personally?"
Velrin wipes her eyes, "No, it's not that… Just… this is where I grew up…"
[Celaven]: Oh… *Celaven looks around at the poison falls.*
[Velrin]: It's… hard to look at the river now…
[Celaven]: I can imagine.
[Celaven]: There are so many in Azeroth, who grieve for corrupted homes. *He reaches to put a comforting hand on her shoulder*
Velrin changes the subject back, "And I agree that the demon hunters are misguided, but they also seem to attract very strong wills. The leader of the sect I stopped had been a demon hunter for nearly 10000 years."
Velrin hugs Celaven.
Celaven hugs Velrin back.
[Celaven]: If we can get through here, there's another satyr camp further north.
Velrin grips her daggers tight, "Let's go."
[Celaven]: Ten thousand years! You would think he would grow wiser.
[Celaven]: Then again, my mother… sometimes I think immortality simply gave our people a reason not to change.
[Velrin]: He was quite convinced he was in the right of it…
[Celaven]: I suppose it is impressive in a way, to house a demon in your soul and not fall to it for so long.
[Velrin]: I suppose that is one thing I do not feel as strongly anymore. I am quite used to mortality.
[Velrin]: In a way, I suppose…
[Velrin]: Still foolish.
[Celaven]: Yes, it feels much the same to me? But I was only a few hundred years old when we lost Nordrassil.
[Celaven]: We still have thousands of years remaining to us. Many times our current lives.
Velrin nods to him and shifts her weight
[Celaven]: There were supposed to be satyrs here. *He looks around* I see signs of satyrs, but no satyrs…
Velrin chuckles, "Maybe she was just here."
[Celaven]: Satyr!
They kill the satyr.
Celaven chuckles. "That would be something, if we just missed your… sometimes quarry?"
[Celaven]: In any case, the reinforcements seem to be arriving.
[Velrin]: I assure you there is nothing funny about her.
[Celaven]: What, demon hunters have no sense of humor?
Velrin smirks, "If you met her you'd know what I mean."
[Celaven]: Now I almost want to.
[Celaven]: Almost.
Velrin winks at him, "As long as you come back to me in one piece after."
[Celaven]: I am sturdier than I look, *he winks back at her. Then he considers and adds,* At least, I think I am. Do I look sturdy?
Velrin smiles at him, "You look handsome." she leans up to kiss him.
Celaven pauses next to her, before the next fight. "And you look beautiful. More in your element than when you dressed up, for the temple."
Velrin beams at him
Celaven leans in to slide an arm around Velrin and give her a kiss.
[Celaven]: Enough satyrs dead for today?
Velrin 's eyes go wide in surprise and she melts in his arms, kissing him back. She nods in affirmation.
Celaven holds her close for a long moment, then pulls back with a smile. "We should probably ride before the reinforcements arrive. I think there's a camp up north? A friendly one, I mean."
Velrin nods, "There is."
They make their way to the camp.
[Celaven]: I should fly south to report.
[Velrin]: So… what will you do now? *Velrin glances between Celaven and the ground a few times*
[Celaven]: In a general sense? Or literally right now?
Velrin blushes and turns away, "N-nevermind…"
[Celaven]: Would you like to… perhaps head back somewhere safer, like Astranaar? Where we're less likely to be interrupted by satyrs or demon hunters. *He smiles at her hopefully*
Velrin blushes and nods, "I-I'm still not sure if I'm ready just yet, but… I-I would like to go there with you."
[Celaven]: Let's go there together, then. *He offers her a hand, to walk over to the hippogryph master*
Velrin takes his hand
The couple flies off to Astranaar.
[Celaven]: I do love it here. I hope that we're able to keep this forest safe.
Celaven walks into the beam of moonlight with Velrin.
Velrin squeezes Celaven's hand, "I'm sure we will."
Celaven moves next to her, so that he can try to wrap an arm around her shoulders, and pull her closer.
Velrin happily complies and wraps her arms around his waist.
[Celaven]: Maybe I could invite you along more often? At least, when I'm dealing with satyrs…
[Velrin]: It doesn't have to always be for fighting you know… *she cranes her head up to kiss his cheek*
Celaven smiles softly and touches his cheek where her lips touched. "Perhaps for more wandering and talking, like we did along the Loch? It is always better to see beautiful things with… someone beautiful."
Velrin nods and rest her head on his chest. She stands silent for a moment before speaking up, "I should wash up, shouldn't I?"
Celaven chuckles. "Probably me as well. Satyr blood. Shall we head to the inn?"
Velrin slips her hand into his and lets him lead the way.