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// Enclave: The War Begins 
// Story: Sunset Shimmer: Path of the Damned 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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Sunset found that her days were spent training with the various trainers and death knights, allowing her to improve all of her abilities, though from what she could tell no one knew that her master had blessed her with the power she needed to fulfill her mission. She learned how to control the powers of a death knight, drawing upon the powers of blood, frost, and the unholy to hurt her enemies, heal herself, and ensure that the flow of battle followed her desires, especially with some skills to stop runners in their tracks and even yank them back to her. Part of her had to admit that the power she wielded now, combined with her original power, made her far stronger than a normal death knight and allowed her to tackle far more foes than her fellow trainees could face, and it would have excited her, had she any emotions. Rather it meant that she could fulfill her duty, because the stronger she was the more doom and death she could spread in her master's name, all while part of her remembered what happiness felt like, even if her body didn't experience it.

She also learned as much as she could about Azeroth, finding that the world she had been sent to to be interesting, and the races that called it home, allowing her to learn more about the humans, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, trolls, tauren, and all sorts of races, including the other strangers, the draenei, some who died to save this world as well. From what she gathered each race had their own core ideals and beliefs that caused them to ally themselves with either the Alliance or the Horde, the two main factions in this world, three counting the Scourge, and in death all hatred was erased. She knew it was so they could serve the Lich King better, so they weren't tied down by their convictions and beliefs from when they were alive, hence why he make sure she shared the same fate, so she would see the others as her brothers and sisters in arms. They were soldiers of the Scourge and some of her fellows had fallen to the very order they now served, having failed to stop the tide of undeath while they were alive, and now they had turned their devotion to life into a dark devotion to bring about the death of all living things.

Sunset spent some time learning about their mission, as Acherus was on it's way to the Eastern Kingdoms, to the Eastern Plaguelands to be exact, where they would be dealing with some of their master's more annoying foes, though she knew it was so he could focus on the Alliance and the Horde later. Their current foes were the Scarlet Crusade, an order that was dedicated to the eradication of undead, where at times they were seen as fanatical and insane, and Light's Hope Chapel, a location that served as a blemish on the Eastern Plaguelands, so they had to be crushed. Darion Mograine, who was her direct mentor, taught her everything he could about the Scarlet Crusade and the orders that branched off from it, just so she could have an idea of what to expect, as well as allowing her to learn about his weapon, the Ashbringer. It had been a weapon of the Light, an instrument used to destroy the Scourge and leave nothing but ash in it's wake, hence the name it had been given, but now it was corrupted into a tool of Death, the opposite of it's purpose.

In the end Sunset understood that both forces existed to undo the work of the Lich King, undo their master's hard work, to which she dedicated herself to mastering her new powers so when the time came she could be of use to their master and not perish in the battles to come.

Eventually, however, her training came to an end as they reached their destination, a death and plague infested area of the Eastern Kingdoms known as the Plaguelands, an area that was ruled by the Scourge, not to mention members of the Lich King's Cult of the Damned. There were ziggurats all over the northern part of the Eastern Plaguelands, which were ancient structures from their allies in Northrend, the land that the Lich King's citadel rested in, and provided a source of raw energy for the undead forces that their master commanded. Sure enough she found a chapel resting near a mountain on the right side of this province, one that clearly radiated Light energy, because after seeing and experiencing the energy of Death for the entire journey she recognized the other power without having to be near it, where a powerful figure had to be leading it's people against her master. On the other side of the mountain they found their first target, an area known as the Scarlet Enclave, where the Scarlet Crusade thought themselves to be safe from danger so they could get ready for the trip to Northrend and join the offensive, where they built a number of structures and walls, making themselves at home in an area her master commanded.

Sunset felt nothing as Acherus came to a stop above the area her master's first wave of forces had prepared for the war against the Scarlet Crusade, rather all she felt was her constant desire to bring death and destruction to the world of the living, hence why she knelt before the Lich King as he stared out over the entire enclave.

"Sunset, gaze upon the lands of the Scarlet Crusade, who scurry to undo my work, while Light's Hope stands defiantly on the other side," the Lich King commented, mostly referring to the targets that they had come to destroy and wipe out, to make his plans that much easier for when the Alliance and the Horde reached Northrend, in fact he was sure that both of them would be coming once they learned of his existence, "I have bestowed upon you the tools to become my force of retribution... my anger, cruelty, vengeance... I have even granted you immortality... so that where you tread, death and doom will follow in due time. Acherus is a great citadel of death, far stronger than Naxxramas, and with it's all seeing eye we can see anything that our enemies hold, so let this be your first instance of using it's eye to study the Scarlet Crusade's fortifications in the town of New Avalon."

"As you command, my master." Sunset replied, where she stood up and walked over to one of the two pedestals that were up on the level that the Lich King stood on, which was usually where those who controlled the Eye would gaze out at the surrounding area and gather all the information that their master desired, no matter how long it took.

A few moments later her power interacted with the blue orb and her sight shifted to a phantom eye that was looming over the decent sized town of New Avalon, where she found people gathering near the town hall or the local garrison, likely to complain about the looming Scourge threat they were now facing. Sunset studied the walls that protected the town, or at least they should since they were massive and their gates seemed to be open all the time, before turning to what looked like the smithy, where the blacksmiths were hard at work crafting more weapons and armor. She already knew that most, if not all, of the gear would be used to fuel the Scarlet Crusade's efforts, either here to protect them from the Scourge, the more logical idea, or they would be shipped off to Northrend, to be used against her master's forces up there. In addition to that she studied several other buildings, such as the town hall, where two figures of the Scarlet Crusade were speaking to the scared residents of the town, the garrison that seemed like a worthwhile place to wipe out, a chapel, the inn, and a few other places to get an idea of what was in New Avalon.

Another thing about being risen in undeath was that she didn't need to eat, in fact she could if she wanted, but it wouldn't do anything for her, rather her 'hunger' could be satisfied by hurting others in some manner, or at least that was what the other death knights said, before Sunset focused on her mission and pulled herself back to Acherus, so she could report to her master.

"I see that they are preparing for battle, as we expected, and yet there is something else... an old enemy I destroyed long ago." the Lich King commented, informing Sunset that he must have seen through her eyes, or he used the other pedestal to observe her actions without actually moving from where he was currently standing, before he focused on the area that was in front of them, meaning the rest of his comment wasn't important, "It matters not, for we will send the full force of the Scourge at our enemies before they are able to evacuate. Listen well Sunset Shimmer, my chosen death knight, for I am going to give you the words that will start a war, as my final judgement has been passed: Death. To. ALL. None shall stand before the might of the Scourge... now go, speak to Highlord Mograine and tell him to begin the assault, where you shall be instrumental in destroying the members of the Scarlet Crusade... and once they're dead we will crush the Argent Dawn and return to Northrend."

Sunset bowed her head before using the teleport pad to reach the level that the Highlord was resting on, who knew that the time had come, due to Acherus coming to a stop, and nodded his head once as she relayed the information to him, all while the val'kyr blew the horns of war. While she found that her speed was increased, possibly because she was inside Acherus and had to be due to whatever spell the undead battlemaidens had cast with the war horns, Mograine informed her that she would be heading down to Death's Breach and would report to Prince Valanar. The figure in question was one of the san'layn, vamperic elves who once served Prince Kael'thas in life, meaning in death they had been altered into their new forms, who she had met briefly during the flight here. With her orders received Sunset made her way to the one who commanded the undead gryphons, who claimed that she would bring about death, chaos, and destruction before sending her down to where the first wave of the Scourge's forces were declaring war on the living.

Valanar, as she discovered, was standing in his command tent as he gazed out over the area that they were attacking, as all sorts of humans were working to collect wood and raise horses, a lumber mill, one that would soon be overrun by the Scourge and turned into a place of death.

"Do you smell it, Sunset Shimmer? Fresh meat... the scent of the Scarlet Crusade fills the air." Valanar said, where it was all too easy for one to tell that he was excited to sink his teeth or magic into the living, so he could drain them and fulfill his own duties at the same time, before he focused on her, "My apologies, for I'm sure you don't share my taste in cuisine. No, you are here to work, to bring death and destruction to our master's enemies, and we already have a list of things to do to ensure our victory over the Scarlet Crusade: I require you to strike fear into their hearts by killing their soldiers and ending the fleeing villagers, Orithos asks that you recover his saronite arrows, and Salanar wishes for you to break into the nearby stables and acquire one of their horses, as its time for you to earn your deathcharger."

A deathcharger was a horse that had been twisted by darkness and death to serve death knights like her, though to make sure they earned the right one had to find a proper horse, deliver it to Salanar, and then delve into the realm of shadow to find the darkened form of the steed, often killing the shadowy ride to claim it. Sunset also knew that saronite was a metal only found in Northrend, so while they had come prepared with all sorts of arrows and other gear, to ensure they had all they needed, it was also something the Scourge had limited resources of and it made sure to claim whatever was used, to continue the war without stopping. She had also proven herself to the other death knights, hence why someone wasn't asking her to challenge the others to duels to show them that she was prepared for what was to come, but even then she walked over to the edge of their staging ground and found one of the red armored Scarlet warriors coming up to do some harm, or attempt to. Someone had let him slip through the defenses, one of the death knights that didn't have the skills to do what needed to be done, where Sunset drew her sword and summoned her power as she used a lasso of darkness to yank him over to her, allowing her to stab him in the heart, killing him instantly.

As she dropped the warrior to the ground, however, Sunset found herself grinning as she enjoyed the feeling of ending a life with her own hands, likely something that had been changed in her due to her death or because her master willed it to be so, but she had a feeling she was going to enjoy causing havoc as she tore the rest of the Scarlet Crusade apart and was looking forward to it.