World of Warcraft®

Hair, flowing like liquid gold, the colour of wheat ripening in the autumn sun. The creak of a chair rocking back and forth, the quiet humming of a misremembered song. Happy laughter echoing through the forest. Sparks rising like fireflies. Grass stained dark red with blood.

“I thought I would find you here.”

Nesh opened his eyeless sockets, sitting up from where he was lying. The smell of grass, sunshine, and metal flooded into his nostrils along with the dry, dusty scent of a kodo, “’tis.”

He could hear the smile in the Sunwalker’s voice, “This is familiar.”

”Why are you sleeping on the ground?”

“’tis comfy.”

Nesh chuckled at the memory as he stood, “Thank’ee for coming.”

Sunchaser laughed, a deep, soft sound. "Of course."

He nodded, taking out a small stone from his pocket. With a bit of concentration, aether swirled around him, forming into a skeletal horse. He climbed atop it, trotting up next to Sunchaser, “Shall we be going?”

"The road into Silverpine is long and winding. We'd best be on our way before the sun sinks too low in the sky."

The two followed the path out of Brill, heading past the entrance of Undercity and the zeppelin towers, towards Silverpine Forest. The sun had been hidden behind clouds for most of the day, but it came out as they walked, bathing the plains with warmth.

"Do you have any memory at all of who you were, Nesh?"

Nesh frowned as he attempted to remember. “… A woman. A sunny place. Trees. Wheat. A dog. Stones. Fire. Blood. Fear. Screams…” He turned to where Sunchaser rode beside him, shrugging, “... 'tis naught but pieces.”

Sunchaser turned her eyes to Nesh, staring at him thoughtfully. For a moment, the only sound he could hear of the tauren was the slow, heavy footsteps of her kodo as the travelers pressed onward. After a while, she returned her gaze to the road ahead. "Whatever the truth is, I will help you search for it as long as you seek answers."

Nesh bowed his head gratefully, “... Thank'ee.” As they continued, the air around them changed. The birds had gone quiet, replaced by the faint stirring of wind between tall branches. Here and there, the undergrowth rustled as something moved through it. The open, grassy smell of the plains changed to that of mulch and pine, with hints of something that he could not put a name to, “'tis... forest now, yess?” he asked tentatively.

"The Silverpine Forest." She hesitated for a moment, taking in her surroundings. "I have not wandered here before."

Nesh craned his head upwards, squinting without seeing at the sky. “What 'tis sky look like?”

"It is dark, and cloudless. There is a strange aura about this place."

Nesh nodded in agreement with Sunchaser’s words. “'tis very grey?”

"Dark grey. Ancient trees, with tough bark and branches."

“And green, green even though everything 'tis grey,” Nesh finished.

"It is surprisingly beautiful, despite the darkness," Sunchaser added thoughtfully.

Nesh noded slowly, turning as if to take it all in. “'tis. Even when 'tis day, still dark; quiet, secret. Close.”

Even though the sky seemed so close that it would crush you, and the undergrowth grew in vicious gnarls in attempt to reach even the slimmest glimmer of light, the forest had a haunting beauty to it. He had traveled through it often, hunting the wildlife there, before the war.

Nesh shook his head, attempting to chase the train of thought, but it was gone, leaving only the sounds of the forest.

Sunchaser's deep voice broke the silence. "Is this forest familiar to you?"

Nesh put a hand to his head, trying to focus. “… 'tis remembering the forest, in bits. The way the soil felt, the dew on the grass.”

"Even the simplest of memories may provide insight into your past."

Nesh shrugged, shifting in his saddle. “Per'aps.” He breathed in deeply through his nose, attempting to pick out the individual scents, trying to name that scent he could not place. “'tis changed, a bit, from memories, I think. Smells... darker.”

Sunchaser frowned, but said nothing. For some time, the two traveled in silence.

"We are getting closer to the border of Gilneas."

“Oh, 'tis?” Nesh nudged his horse forward, keeping pace with Sunchaser.

As they continued, a new smell invaded, covering the delicate scents of pine and dew. Nesh frowned as he recognized it, “Smells of plague.”

"The Forsaken fought for control of the land."

“'twas not smell like that before,” Nesh sighed, “'tis non-understand Sylvanas's actions.” He agreed that the Forsaken needed a place to live, and that Lordaeron seemed to be where they had settled to stay, but the recent expansionistic moves that Sylvanas had ordered… it seemed an awful lot like the mindless tactics of the Scourge.

The tauren responded with a great sigh. "I don't understand either. These actions stir up war with the Alliance; we have much greater threats to face." The heavy footsteps came to a stop and there was a sound of rustling paper as Sunchaser examined her map. "The path splits here; we go right. Be careful, it is a hill."

“'twill,” Nesh turned and carefully urged the horse onward. The hill was steep, but well paved, and the steed found its way without fault, “Horse 'tis smart for being only bones.”

Sunchaser let out a hearty chuckle. "A fine horse indeed."

Nesh felt the change in the air before he smelled it. “'tis smells... damper.”

"We are entering the battlefront."

“Ah.” The soldiers spared the two barely a glance, occupied with their own tasks. Not many passed on the road to Gilneas, but those that did were often under direct orders from Sylvanas and were not to be detained for formalities. Nesh smiled to himself at the irony of it, continuing on.

The sound of the kodo's shuffling feet paused abruptly. There was an eerie silence; even the sound of trees rustling in the wind had stopped. Sunchaser spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. Whatever she saw, she seemed shocked. "…A village…"

“ 'tis?” He turned slowly, attempting to get his bearings. Whatever smells of humans there had once been had been covered up by the pervasive scent of fire. The air was very damp, making it impossible to tell if the blaze had been recent or months ago, “Smells burnt...” he observed.

When she spoke, her voice was heavy with sadness. "It is."

By the time he had returned, the fire had long since gone out, but the smell of ash still clung to the air despite the pervasive mist. Even years later, the smell sent a shiver of fear down his spine.

The sound of splintering wood pierced the air as the kodo walked through the ruins of the village. "There are broken pieces of things strewn all over the ground," Sunchaser called to Nesh. "The homes…burnt beyond repair. Some have collapsed in on themselves."

Nesh drove his horse forward, letting it pick its way through the debris that Sunchaser had said was there. Even through the overwhelming scent of ash, he felt that he could almost detect something that he knew. “Smells... familiar.”

"Oh?"

He nodded slowly, “Not quite, but more than the forest.” More like humans, less like wilderness.

He had spent so much time away from home that he had started to smell more like the wet ground he slept on than the bread she baked every morning. But she didn’t seem to mind, even though the smell never really went away.

Sunchaser's hooves clicked against the ground as she climbed down from the kodo's back and walked it to a nearby post. She called over her shoulder to Nesh. "I want to look around."

Nesh carefully dismounted from his horse, following Sunchaser to the post and wrapping its reins around it. The sound of the Tauren’s hooves moved further away as she examined the surroundings. He turned, attempting to get his bearings. Finally, he slowly felt his way to the edge of the path, his fingers brushing against a tree.

The most recent claw marks weren’t more than a day old. Apparently, this was an area it frequented. A twig snapped nearby, and he realized his mistake.

He followed the trunk to its roots, picking up some dirt and smelling it.

The soil was too wet this year; the wheat would rot before they could get it out of the ground. He would have to take his bow down once more if they were to have anything to eat. She wasn’t happy about that; he could tell, even if she didn’t say anything.

Nesh dropped the dirt, wiping his hands on his breeches. The path split, the stones leading off of it smaller and less orderly than those on the main road. He followed it until his foot bumped against a step, then another, leading up to a house. He ran his fingers along the doorframe, feeling the rough grain of the wood.

Every year at harvest time, they would line up next to the door and he would make another notch. At first, they were all clustered close together, but soon they reached further and further, as though soon they would scra.pe the sky.

“'tis had a house,” he murmured, finding it to be true, “It... burned.”

He ran through the forests, shouting their names even though he knew the troops could still be nearby, probably were. But he had to know: were they okay? Had they made it out? Even as the night fell, he continued searching, until he couldn’t see where he stepped.

“'twas long ago, though.” He heard her behind him, her hooves clicking as they traveled up the steps and into the house.

Nesh cocked his head at the sound of groaning wood and rustling paper. He turned to where Sunchaser crouched, walking closer, “Find something?”

"Yes. There are books on the ground. Most of them are destroyed…" She fell silent, absorbed in examining the books.

Nesh squatted next to her, groping along the floor. Indeed, many of the books felt burnt. Those that weren’t were hopelessly soaked, nearly ruined from exposure to the mist. He picked one up and opened it.

She kept her prayer book at her bedside. Every night she would read to them. He had never been religious, but she was. It was happiness to watch her face light up as she read the words in her soft voice.

Pages turned as Sunchaser flipped through a book. "I don't understand these symbols."

Nesh looked up from his book, “Eh? … Oh,” he shrugged, “Per'aps 'tis human language.” He stared at the pages before him, frowning, “Per'aps... I could...” he trailed off, squinting his eyeless sockets.

”You can’t read?” she hadn’t spoken condescendingly, but with only kindness. “Here, I will teach you: this symbol makes the sound “ah”…”

The book fell from his hands with a thud, jarring him out of his reverie. He pushed himself to his feet, “'tis no use staying, then.”

Sunchaser watched the abrupt change in Nesh's demeanor with a concerned frown. She rose and tucked one of the books away in her bag, pausing where she stood as he walked away.

“Moving on?”

"If that is what you wish."

Nesh followed Sunchaser back to the post, finding that his horse had not moved at all. It would probably have stayed motionless even if he had not tied it; it seemed to have little will of its own, even if it was mildly intelligent.

The dog was the smartest he had ever known. In a month, it had learned fourteen commands. She seemed more at ease with it sleeping on the hearth, and it was an invaluable companion when he went hunting in the woods. It was the best dog he had ever had.

He mounted up, wrenching his horse around in an attempt to get his bearings. “'tis this way, yess?”

Sunchaser removed the rope tying the kodo to the post and climbed onto its back. "Yes."

Nesh turned to Sunchaser’s voice, slightly off to his right, “Oh.” He turned his horse, following after her.

The travelers moved past numerous destroyed buildings, nearing the center of the town. There was no indication that anything had passed through the deserted ruins in a long time. Sunchaser pulled on her kodo's reigns as she and Nesh entered a circular clearing. "This must be the village commons, but no one has lived here in a while." She paused at a building with a tall spire. "I think this is what the humans call a 'chapel.'"

“ Oh, 'tis remembering a chapel.”

Every sevenday, she made them all dress in their best clothes to go to the chapel. He hated that shirt: it was terribly itchy and didn’t breathe at all. And the benches in the church squeaked at every move he made, so he had to sit perfectly still for an hour while the old man went on and on and on…

He heard Sunchaser climb down from the kodo's back and walk towards the doorway of the chapel. "I have never seen one for myself."

He jumped off his horse, shrugging, “'tis big buildings for non-much. Sometimes people gather inside.”

"I understand that humans worship the light of An'she here." Her voice traveled inside, the sound of her hooves muffled on the dust-covered floor.

“Per'aps under another name,” he said, following her.

"They call it the Light, I think."

“'tis remembering some light-thing.”

Why worship the sun? Even if you didn’t, it still rose and set every day. No, she told him, it is not the sun, it is the Light. He didn’t understand, but she would only smile gently and reassure him that he would, someday. He never did.

Sunchaser walked to the doorway, pausing to notice claw marks on the frame of the chapel door. Tracing the gashes with a finger, she called out to Nesh, "We should be cautious; stay together."

“Why?”

"There are signs of Worgen presence."

”At first, the wound will seem healthy. In the next stage, the flesh will begin to blacken as if infected. The patient will experience fever, tremors, and chills. In the final stage, black, wiry hairy will sprout from the site of the wound. The patient may become agitated, aggressive, or confused. The hair will continue to spread until it covers the entire body. Then, the bone structure will start to elongate. By this stage, the mind is completely gone; only a monster remains. There is no cure for the Worgen curse; like a rabid animal, they must be put down at the first sign of infection.”

"…Nesh?"

“Eh?” Nesh blinked, turning to Sunchaser. He could hear the concern in her voice; how long had he been standing there?

"Are you all right?"

“Oh, 'tis.” ”There is no cure, only death.” “Continue?”

"Yes."

Nesh walked out of the chapel, calling for his horse. It clopped up, nuzzling at him almost affectionately. He patted its snout absent-mindedly and mounted up.

The bite wouldn’t heal, no matter how hard he tried, and the dog wasn’t acting the same. He hated to do it, but there was nothing else he could do. He put sleeping herbs in its food that night. It looked so peaceful curled up on the hearth; didn’t even stir as he carried it outside. He brought it out back, as far as he could carry it, in hopes that they wouldn’t see the bloodstain in the morning.

The village faded into the mists as the travelers pressed on, and a massive wall appeared before them. "We approach the Greymane Wall. It has been destroyed."

“Completely?” Nesh asked in disbelief.

"Mostly. The door is completely shattered and the walls are in shambles."

“... 'tis shame. Greymane made such a big deal about it.” He sighed, “Still did not protect Gilneas.” Not in the end.

Sunchaser pulled on the kodo's reigns, stopping it abruptly. She stared at Nesh with an intensely curious gaze, noting the shift in his words. "…you remember this?"

“Yess.” On particularly foggy days, you couldn’t even see the top, so it felt like it reached up forever. Some days, he felt that the world on the other side didn’t even exist anymore. How could it, with that huge wall cutting it off from him? It must’ve withered and died away: the forests, Crowley’s lands, Lordaeron; the whole lot of it, just gone.

“…You were Gilnean, then?"

Nesh blinked, turning to the sound of his friend’s voice, “Oh.” How else would he know this? He had never spoken with anyone about the Gilnean Civil War before, “Probably,” he muttered, “'twould explain things.”

Sunchaser waited, watching him with careful patience. The silence stretched on, and Nesh shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. “Gilneas 'tis inside the wall, yess?” he nudged his horse forward, guiding it into the crack in the wall. As they exited from the chasm, a susurrus greeted them with a faint drizzle. He squinted up at the sky, feeling the icy mist begin to soak his hair and clothes, “... rain?”

She always complained that the laundry wouldn’t even dry most days, that she would have to hang it all next to the hearth, and when she did that, it didn’t smell fresh like it did when it could dry in the sun. He could never really tell the difference, honestly.

“Hrm. 'tis always seem to rain over-much.” He muttered, continuing onward. As they traveled, the distant sounds of clashing metal came to his ears. “… 'tis a battle.”

"We are in hostile territory now. Be on your guard."

Nesh frowned, “If the wall has fallen, then why do they still fight? 'twasn't that the point of it all?”

He wanted nothing more than to throw the gun away and be done with it, but this was a battle worth fighting. The wall would end up killing them all, sooner or later, and if it took guns to convince Greymane that what he was doing was folly, then so be it.

Sunchaser shook her head and released a deep, heavy sigh. "I don't know."

Nesh breathed in deeply through his nose, but the scents were all muddled, “'tis hard to smell anything with the rain and plague.”

"Do you want to continue?"

“Yess.” If he stopped now, then he would never know. He had to know. “... Per'aps we could run through.”

"If we move now, we can make it through the passage while they are still occupied. Stay close to me."

They charged forward. Nesh kept the horse close to the thunderous footfalls of the kodo. Against the sounds of fighting, the pounding of the horse’s hooves sounded like a hundred men charging into battle, a hundred against seven hundred. It was doomed from the beginning, but if they didn’t make a stand here, they were all doomed. His comrades, men he had spent the last six months talking, laughing, fighting, living with, fell all around him. Crowley was screaming for them to “hold dammit, just a bit longer!” but he could see that it was lost. They were all going to die, and if he didn’t, then he would be treated like a traitor. He would never see his family again. What would they do without him? Who would reap the fields? Who would tuck her in at night? Who would teach him how to shoot a bow? Without him…

So he dropped his gun and ran. It was a cause worth fighting for, but it wasn’t a cause worth dying for, at least not for him. He ran and ran until the very ground beneath his feet gave way-

-and suddenly he was pitching forward, his horse screaming in protest as it scrambled for purchase and found none. The water was freezing as it poured into his mouth and nose. For a moment, he panicked before he remembered that he did not need to breathe. Finally, the horse’s hooves found the bottom of the river, and pushed upward until he felt air surround him.

"Nesh!" Sunchaser called out from the edge of the broken bridge, her voice desperate with worry.

“'tis fine!” Nesh yelled, hoping to be heard over the roar of the water. He untangled himself from the stirrups, pulling the horse to where the current was not as strong. After a bit of searching, he found a spot where they could climb out of the water. With some encouraging and a few tries, the horse climbed up the bank and they managed to get onto dry land.

Sunchaser ran up to Nesh, placing her massive hands firmly on his shoulders and looking him over to see if he was harmed. "I told you to stay with me! I thought for sure..." Her voice trailed off into an exasperated sigh.

He waved off her hands, shaking his head, “’tis fine, ‘tis fine, really; ‘twill dry out soon enough.” It took several checks before Sunchaser was assured of his relative health and he was allowed to remount once more.
Nesh walked to the road and turned to the bridge, careful not to approach the edge, “'tis near the city, yess?”

"We are, but the bridge is broken."

“Yes, ‘tis knowing this,” Nesh muttered.

"There should be another way…"

“ Eh?”

Sunchaser turned in place, looking for another way to cross. "This way."

The path split, leading to a bridge that crossed another branch of the river. Luckily, this seemed to have survived whatever catastrophe that had broken the other one. The light clops of the horse and the heavy thuds of the kodo echoed as they walked between the arches of the bridge. The noise when the thoroughfare was packed with people was near unbearable; you had to shout just to be heard by the person next to you.

“What is it?”

Nesh turned to Sunchaser, shaking his head, “'tis familiar, somehow.”

"This must be the entrance into Gilneas."

”It’s worth the pain if we get to live in a big city like this; just imagine how much easier things’ll be! I can go to market every day, and the kids’ll finally have others to play with. Don’t worry, it’ll be a great change.”

He sniffed the air, hoping maybe to catch a scent of her, but the rain obscured everything, just as it always did. As they exited the bridge, he noticed a new smell, one he had become very used to living in the city, “Smells of... humans.”

"Humans, yes. Soldiers." Sunchaser sounded alarmed by their presence.

Nesh could hear the clank of chainmail and swords. Where was the bustle of the crowd? The merchants hawking their wares? The sound of coin and goods changing hands? “'twill not let us pass,” he sighed.

"Look, there's a canal. Maybe if we're quiet, we can go around them."

Nesh looked at her, uncertain, “'twill lead?”

Sunchaser climbed off of her kodo and commanded it to stay near the gate, hidden behind the cover of tall bushes. "Stay close to me, Nesh." He followed her lead, dismounting. He removed the stone from the horse’s brow, and it collapsed into aether.

The two hugged the wall of the canal, staying low to the ground. A single guard stood watch, looking out over water, but he was easily knocked unconscious with a blow from Sunchaser’s mace. After stowing the body where it would not be easily found, the two continued, circling around the edge of the camp under the cover of the wall. The smells of campfires and roasting meat floated on the air, along with scattered conversation.

He hated salted fish. It seemed to be all Crowley could feed them, though. So, every night, it was salted fish and whatever poor substitute for tea they could make. Maybe if they were lucky, one of the soldiers would catch a hare in one of the traps, but that was rare. So, every night, every morning, salted fish.

Sunchaser and Nesh met the end of the canal and faced a high wall, separating them from the street behind a large building with a tall spire. Taking hold of a cast iron fence, Sunchaser pulled her huge form over the wall and reached down, extending a hand to Nesh. He grasped her hand and she braced him as he clambered up the wall and over the fence. They ducked into the side entrance of the building, stepping quietly until they were far enough inside not to be heard.

Sunchaser turned to Nesh, speaking in a low whisper. "It is...a cathedral, I think."

"'tis fine to be talking, now?" he hissed back.

"Yes."

The two walked further inside. From the sound of the echoes, the hallway opened up into a large, empty area. Nesh heard no one inside. The sound of Sunchaser's hooves on the wooden floor stopped abruptly, "It is beautiful…"

Nesh turned around slowly, as though attempting to see what had inspired such a reaction in Sunchaser. “'tis?” He stepped forward, surprised to find the floor covered by a thick carpet. He kneeled down, running his hands over the lush red rug, “I... remember this.”

"You do?"

“I do…” The red carpet had made for poor bandages, but at least it hid the blood so that they would not see that their life was seeping away.

Nesh stood suddenly, beginning to run. He stumbled as he came onto the stairs, losing his balance. He had lain here, hadn’t he? As the blood ran out of his body and the world went dark. He had been here. He climbed unsteadily to his feet, reaching forward until his hands touched the table. They had cleared it off, placing the wounded there as a makeshift operating table. Blood had been everywhere, coating everything until the entire room was red, red, red like the fire that burnt through the city, his house when he ran through the woods, dark shapes chasing everywhere, so many of them, too many of them, too few, only one hundred men versus sevenfold, they only had to hold until the others escaped, they couldn’t hold but they had to, they were all going to die, die, die.

Nesh clutched his head, shaking. As though from far away, he heard Sunchaser’s steps behind him. He swallowed, attempting to force his throat to work, to put words to the images that flooded him, “'twas blood, and smoke. Snarls, screams, death, all under the rain. 'twas night, a full moon,” his voice was barely a rasp, less than a whisper, but it sounded terribly loud in the cathedral, “We knew we would not leave this place alive. But we stood here, so that others could. For Greymane, even if he was a selfish bastard. For... for...” Her hair, the way she smelled, her voice as she read, her laugh, and her smile, oh, god, her smile… He closed his eyelids, attempting to shut everything out but failing. “We stood here. And they came, again and again and again. Until we died… The Worgen,” he spat the word like the curse it was, and it resounded in that place with all the fury he could muster in a whisper.

"...I am sorry, friend." Nesh flinched as a hand touched his shoulder,looking up at her Sunchaser with bewilderment.

“No, 'tis...” Nesh shook his head, taking a deep breath, “'twas past.” The hand moved away, and he heard her step back. He swallowed again, attempting to get a rein on his emotions, “But... did she?” he asked, his voice faint, “'twas in vain?”

"She? You speak of the woman?"

Nesh nodded, “'twas for her,” he gestured around at his slain companions, piled up with the bodies of the beasts, “This. But... I can't remember. Her face, her name, her fate... If dying 'twas in vain... I... can't remember.”

She would make it. She had promised that she would, and that they would meet again. He had made that promise even though he knew he would break it. He watched them go, tears in her eyes, and he told her the last thing he ever said to her: “I love you.”

“… Perhaps we should move on."

Nesh pulled himself painfully to his feet, nodding, “Please.” The thought of that broken promise haunted him, and the sounds, the smells of the cathedral only made it worse. As he descended the steps, he carefully circumvented the place where he had drawn his last breath. The walk out of the cathedral passed in silence. The memories swirled in a frenzied dance, blending agony with happiness without regard. It all hurt, even the happy ones, especially the happy ones. They were memories, and they would never come back.

Outside, the rain continued to fall. Nesh stared up at the sky, feeling the drops streak down his face like tears. It hurt, but he felt like he was more himself now, whomever that might be. It would take time for him to sort through it all, and even longer for him to come to terms with it, but he would be glad, in the end, to have come to this land, to finally remember. He did not believe that just yet, but the thought that it might one day be true gave him some small comfort.

Sunchaser reassuringly placed a hand on his back. "Let us return to 'comfier' ground, shall we?"

Nesh looked over at Sunchaser, hearing the smile in her voice. That’s right; he wasn’t alone in this. He had his friends, his dear friends, to help him through. He managed a weak smile.

“'tis.”

This was a lot of fun to roleplay and then write up as a story. Nesh and I worked together throughout the entire process to create this.

We both hope that anyone who reads it enjoys it.