//------------------------------//
// Chapter 34 - Nights Into Dreams 
// Story: My Little Warcraft - New Friends 
// by Shin Guyviroth 
//------------------------------//

"Back here again, huh?"

The hard knocks of metal on stone rung in the air as Gai'vahros strolled along the sidewalk. His footsteps were heavy yet with no real rush, casually strolling along the path of the Bazaar to no particular destination. 

"How many times do I have to keep seeing this?" he mumbled to himself, shaking his head slowly as the scenery assaulted his vision. From the pale stone, blue slate, and the gold livery of the structures to the oranges, yellows and greens of the falling leaves, the sight of Silvermoon would never fade from his mind. 'But what am I doing here?' he thought to himself. 

It was some form of Silvermoon, yes, but it was not the Silvermoon he knew nor was it the Silvermoon he craved for. The streets were filled with folk, sure, but they all seemed… lifeless. They all stood around, some with their packs against the wall or squat down close to the floor, all with their heads hung low. It was like they were waiting for something.

"H-hey! You!" the voice of a young lady called out towards Gai'vahros. As the knight turned to face her, he saw only a reflection of his own heartache in the form of a young, living Liliandra. Her pale-white skin contrasted with her sapphire-like eyes and gold hair that only shined in the light of the sun. She strode quickly towards him with a gentle smile on her face.

"L-Liliandra?" spoke Gai'vahros softly in surprise. He took a step forward as his sister drew ever closer to him, his hand outstretched ready to grasp her, to embrace her. "I thought I would never --" but as soon as his hand touched her shoulder, he felt nothing. In a blink of an eye his hand passed right through her, and then she through him in her entirety. "W-what?" Gai'vahros turned around as Liliandra walked further away, but saw her stop in front of another elf.

Liliandra scowled at the elf, pointing her finger at his face. "What do you think you're doing spreading lies and falsehood about the city guards, huh?" Even her voice felt as intimidating as her expression despite how fair she looked. 

"It's true, isn't it?" the male spoke back with a smirk on his face. His eyes were far from caring, either. "Who'd have thought that King Anasterian would bother joining up with the humans and those little, scrawny dwarves against this "Horde"? It's bad enough that they would send your brother to his death with the rest of his "token" army, but now they've agreed to share arcane secrets with them as well?"

"Don't you talk down about my brother like that!" snapped Liliandra, her voice screeching momentarily.

"Come on, Lily. Get real and look at it realistically. About a hundred elves against an entire invasion, not knowing even how much of the humans survived the First War? It wouldn't surprise me if your brother was laying blood-soaked and barely alive in the forests right now."

Gritting her teeth and impaling the man with vicious eyes, Liliandra balled her right hand into a fist and reared it back, swinging for the elf with a tremendous hook, clobbering him in the jaw and knocking him down to the ground. "Bastard! You'd dare mock us Dawnbreakers? Let's see you try that again!"

Gai'vahros merely winced at watching his sister deliver such a blow to someone who was about a foot taller than her like he was just a ragdoll.

"That was one heck of a right hook, won't you agree, Gai'vahros?"

"Hah, yeah, that looked like it had to have hurt. Wait, what?" Gai'vahros turned to look behind him, seeing another young female elf about the same age as his sister. She was dressed in a long, flowing, violet robe with strands of silver livery trimmed along the pleats and around the waist, and again along the chest and abdominal sections. Her hair hung low and past her shoulders, coloured of a light indigo hue, while her skin was darker. A lot darker. Her eyes shone an icy-blue colour not unlike a death knight's.

"This is quite the dream. I didn't think you elves were this violent."

"Wait… Luna? Is that you?"

"Took you long enough to recognize me." She smiled softly and held her arms out to the side, letting the sleeves of her robe hang freely. "What do you think?  I thought I'd try to blend in. I thought I did --"

"You failed pretty hard," blurted Gai'vahros as he shook his head. "As a night elf, probably, but hardly as a blood elf."

"What's the difference?"

"About forty-five shades of blue different, that's what. Look around you. How many dark-skinned elves do you see? And how many with blue eyes?"

"… You're such a nitpick, you know that? Anyway, no one else can notice you except me. Seems like you're having some sort of dream created by your subconscious."

"I thought that, too." With a soft sigh Gai'vahros turned back to face his sister and the elf who was probably now missing a tooth. He watched as Liliandra pinned him down with her foot on his back, pressing pretty hard. "But I don't remember any of this. I don't recall seeing, hearing, or otherwise being told about what happened. Is this… even real?"

Luna approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The mind does a lot of strange things, Gai'vahros. Have you ever had a dream, a really weird dream, about something you never knew and then woke up realizing that what you learned was true? Or having a dream about something you'd never done before, then the next morning finding out you could?"

"I… Yeah, I think so. I remember having this weird dream where I was sneaking around in Lily's room and I ended up finding her lingerie in the middle drawer of her cabinet. Sure enough, the next morning I looked and they were there."

Luna narrowed her eyes at him. "… Okay, that was probably a bit too much for me. But you understand what I mean, right? Perhaps this is just something that happened that you never knew about, but it's showing you now."

"Kind of like some form of clairvoyance?"

"Exactly. Oh, by the way, who is that person? He doesn't seem to have a lot of faith in your ruler nor their decisions."

Gai'vahros smirked before turning away, heading through the archway towards the main street. "Him? That's Jaycen -- my sister's future fiancée."

"W-what!? But she just clobbered him like a piñata!"





The sun began to set behind the main gates of Silvermoon, casting a long shadow through the Walk of Elders, and yet still creating an eminent casting of light on the city alongside the reflection from the marble and gold decorations. Various large yet faint blue swathes of light bathed the surroundings from the large, floating, arcane crystals that could be found around the entirety of the kingdom. But there was one thing that didn't sit right with the city. One thing that made Gai'vahros resent coming back here time and time again.

"I adore the architecture here," praised Luna with a smile as she looked up and around at the scenery before her. "It reminds me a lot of Canterlot, but just with a lot more red everywhere." She paused for a moment, but turned to face Gai'vahros. "Are you okay, Gai'vahros? You seem preoccupied with something."

"Not exactly." His fel-filled eyes stared sternly at a large statue that stood erect against the large and wide column that supported the ring-shaped walkway between the main gate and the entrance to the district -- a statue of a regal and handsome blood elf male dressed in a highly stylized and decorative robe with a large mantle and shoulder cape, complimented with a wide, curved collar that stood up at the back. "Every time I see that, it makes me feel sick."

"See what?" Luna shifted closer to him, leaning her head over his shoulder. "The statue? What's wrong with it? It looks incredibly well crafted."

"Not the statue," he responded, "but the man it depicts. That is Kael'thas Sunstrider, our "Prince". He is possibly one of the greatest reasons why Silvermoon still lays in ruin alongside Arthas."

"The man whom took away your people's source of energy, correct?"

"Right. But after his allegiance to the Burning Legion was revealed, it became more than just a case of removing our source of subduing our magical addiction. He allowed the Burning Legion to invade our homeland, and even attempted to corrupt the Sunwell to allow one of the Legion's demonic lords entry onto Azeroth. If he had succeeded…" His voice trailed off as he head hung low. No more did he wish to see such a man -- in person or personification -- before him.

It was hard for Luna to see such a man feel so low. Gently she placed her hand upon his, threading her fingers between his and holding the back of his hand with a gentle grip. "The past is a terrible thing to remember for some of us," responded Luna softly, "but we cannot change what has happened, so there is no reason to regret it. If we have to regret our past, then we should know to lead our future in the right direction, and not think of the wrong one we took."

Gai'vahros' eyes shifted as he looked up to Luna. "You sound like you know of it. Whatever happened between you and your sister all those years ago?"

"It was… terrible. I'm surprised young Twilight hadn't told you."

"It's not something you casually bring up after a few days introduction," he responded with a smirk. "But I think Twilight understood that it was not something she should bring up -- especially before knowing you first. Judging a book by its cover, so to say."

Luna sighed before taking her hand from his. "I guess you are right." Slowly she shifted slightly towards Gai'vahros, facing him, and he too did the same. "You see, over a thousand years ago, after the Chaos War, we were without a ruler. With no ruler to govern over Equestria we were forced to seek out the Tree of Harmony -- a magical force of nature that is the personification of the Light."

"The "Tree of Harmony"? Is that where the Elements of Harmony come from?"

"That's right. We beseeched the Tree to help us, to guide us, into the right direction. We felt lost. We all did. It was then that the Tree of Harmony opened to us and gave both of us the power and the strength to lead. Sister was given the domain of the sun and the day, and I was given the domain of the moon and the night. Through our combined powers we were able to continue ruling over Equestria."

"It sounds like you've been through a lot -- both of you." 

"It's more than that. When I --" Luna looked down for a moment "-- I was overcome with so much.. anxiety. No, it was more jealousy than anything else. And it turned to anger. Then into nothing but the fetid, indistinguishable salve of darkness."

"… What for, Luna?"

"I was jealous of my sister. I envied how she walked in the light of how everyone loved and worshipped her, hailed her, gave her all the respect and attention one would expect. I had none of that. I had nothing. I had no presence at all with anyone. All I ever did was raise the moon and the stars, and not once was I ever thanked for it." Her fingers curled, gripping her robe tightly. "Even when I talk about it now I feel all of those emotions burning inside me…"

As she had done earlier, Gai'vahros gently placed his hand on hers, gently holding the back of her hand as he curled his fingers around her fist. "It's okay, Luna," he cooed. "It's like you said before: no point in regretting the past when we can use the future to better ourselves. What happened after?"

"I.. I stood against her. Overcome with so much hatred in my heart, I fought my sister. But I lost. With the Elements of Harmony she struck me down, banishing me into the moon. For a thousand years that's all I chose to cling onto -- the memory that my own sister had beaten me. I wanted only vengeance against her and the whole of Equestria.

"But Twilight… Twilight and her friends saved me. With the Elements of Harmony, they all released me from the darkness that I clung onto so much. And it made me see. It made me see that being a Princess was important to me, but it wasn't as important as being with my sister. Since then I've tried to forget everything. I didn't care if our subjects slept through my domain. I didn't care if all I did was raise the moon and the night. I didn't even care if I received no appreciation for my duties. What I cared about was not forsaking everything that I had loved -- even if it meant I'm just a silhouette in the background."

Gai'vahros clenched her hand tighter and lifted it off of her lap. "You're nothing like a background character, Luna," he spoke softly, shifting his head to try and look into her eyes. "You do a lot for your people whether you realize it or not. You even have a night dedicated to you, even if it's not after your best of times. Everyone cares about you whether or not they openly say it or show it."

"I just wished that somepony would say or show it, though. That's all I need. Maybe if I--" Luna's eyes widened as she sat frozen, watching as Gai'vahros' face became increasingly close to her. Without a second to react, she felt his soft, warm lips upon her cheek as he gave her a small kiss. She felt her cheeks heat up, blushing heavily as his gentle portrait pulled back. "G-G-Gai'vahros! W-what was that for?" she stammered, her voice shaking uncontrollably.

Gai'vahros smiled as his took his hand from hers. "Showing you that I care about you," he spoke with a gentle voice. "I care about all of you. I care about everyone on your world. That is why I came back to apologize to you. It's also why I've decided I'm going to stay here until this business with Liliandra is finished." Placing his hands on his knees, Gai'vahros pushed himself from the bench. "Oh, and you look very beautiful as an elf."

"S-shush!"





The gentle sound of falling water echoed through the square with only the chirping of woodland birds to accompany it. Lavished with pale orange paving,  the deep green of the growing hedges, and the bright orange of the autumn trees, the Court of the Sun was possibly the most beautiful of places to be within Silvermoon. Sure enough, the place was a lot more lively than the Bazaar and the Walk of Elders; couples and groups of elves stood around or sat on benches talking idly of gossip and news, the guards maintained their posts and patrols with nothing but devotion and focus, and children were running around, playing with their toys and trinkets -- a couple were even playing hide and seek behind bushes, in trees, and even in the buildings. 

How much everything was so different back then. 

Gai'vahros sat upon the edge of the fountain, watching everything go by. His arms rested on his lap while his fingers tapped in rhythm upon the armor. "I'm glad I got to see all of this again," he spoke up. "With everything that's happened, I never once thought I would take all of this for granted. I don't think anyone could have guessed what would come."

Luna sat close to him, she too watched everything unfold around her. "I don't know what we would ever do should Canterlot ever become your future of Silvermoon." She sighed heavily, watching two of the children -- one girl, one boy -- hold hands and share a slice of cake with one-another, giggling and all smiles. "I don't think I would be able to cope with it…"

"You do, in time. With the remaining undead contained, Silvermoon has become a lot more prominent than it had been years ago. The Sunwell has been restored, our numbers have grown, and we've begun restoration of our lands thanks to the efforts of the Cenarion Circle. Not before long we will see this again."

"I wish that we could do something to help you and your people, Gai'vahros."

"Only time can help now." Gai'vahros chuckled softly. "That, and more construction workers."

Luna giggled a little. However, her eyes turned from the children to many of the guards walking around. "I've noticed that there are different guards in different uniforms," she said. "Are there different types of guards and duties here?"

"Hm?" Gai'vahros looked up towards where Luna was referring to. "Oh, yes. That one over there--" he pointed to a guard adorned in shining, pearlescent silver-blue armor and gold livery "--is a royal guard. They are mostly positioned here in the Court of the Sun to protect the royal family, but they're all over Silvermoon as the first line of defence. And that one--" he shifted to a warrior donned is long, flowing black, blue, and gold robes with phoenix-like shoulders, carrying a huge tower shield and a black war glaive "--is a spell breaker guard."

"A "spell breaker"?" repeated Luna, confused yet not faltering her admiration for the man's attire. "Do they destroy magic? But I thought elves relied on magic?"

"We do. But these spell breakers were created to combat it should it be used against us. You see, during the Troll Wars we taught one-hundred humans how to wield the arcane. However, Anasterian Sunstrider wasn't one to make back-up plans in case things went awry. Fearing that the humans may turn against us directly after the war, or even at some point in the future, he created the first group of spell breakers.

Spell breakers are powerful martial units who are immune to arcane spells, and could even drain the powers of arcane from their enemies. I'm told that a single swipe from their glaive could cripple even an advanced spellcaster. Not only that, but they could even steal magical empowerments from their opponent and give them to their own allies. They were considerably feared during the Third War where they were actively used."

"So they weren't ever used beforehand?"

"The only time they saw combat was when Arthas attacked Silvermoon. They were only ever positioned to protect Silvermoon as the last line of defence should the royal guards somehow be defeated."

"I understand." Luna watched as the royal guard maintained his position, and followed the spell breaker with her eyes as he walked past them. "So what were you, then?"

"Hm?"

"What position did you have all those years ago." Luna turned back to Gai'vahros, her eyes scanning his body. "Your armor doesn't match them two. They're wearing blue armor, and yours is red. Did you have some sort of special position?"

"No. I was a royal guard, too."

"So what's with the different armor?"

"It's a long story."

"So what else is new? We have time."

"Alright, alright. Look around you Luna. A lot of the structures here are primarily blue in colour, from the roofs to the fine details. Blue and gold. This was what everything was like before the Third War. However, since then we rebuilt Silvermoon not as "high elves" but as "blood elves", to honour our fallen kin. As such, everything changed from blue to red. Imagine all of the royal blue here turning to a bright, rose red -- just like my armor."

"It matches the name of "blood elves", I guess. It's a bit creepy."

"It's more than that. It helped us distance ourselves from the Alliance whom had failed us. It showed that we no longer cared for our past as far as alliances were concerned. We only looked to forward our people and nothing more -- going as far as siphoning demonic magics to do it."

"So you got that armor after the war? That explains the colour, but not the design. Was it made for you?" 

Gai'vahros didn't answer. He only held his hands in front of his face as he looked down upon them, turning them occasionally, gazing into the palms and then the back of them.

"Gai'vahros? Are you okay?"

"… This armor wasn't mine," he responded slowly, quietly. "After the Second War, King Terenas Menethil sent a request to Anasterian that he wished to see my father. I was told that it was the king himself -- with Anasterian's approval -- who recommended him into the Order of the Silver Hand, the first order of paladins. I was told that he was given the opportunity due to his skills as a warrior, for his role in the Troll Wars, and for his assistance in the Second War. He was commemorated with this armor, forged specifically for him."

"… Did you… change it?"

The elf nodded slowly as he close his hands. "The armor was originally blue. Just like the Alliance of Lordaeron. Just like Silvermoon. But when we distanced ourselves I, in my own anger, changed it. Desecrated it. I dyed all of the blue parts red, galvanized all of the dull gold parts to a more brighter hue, and I tore all the cloth from the armor and had a tailor sew on some silk. But I still kept this" -- he placed his hand on his chest, his fingers caressing a lion emblem -- "as a reminder to who we once were. What we once became. How prosperous we were."

"… I'm so sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel horrible…"

"But I don't. Ever since I spoke to your sister yesterday, I had felt… renewed. Like a load had been shifted from my shoulders. For years, oh so many years, I carried the burden of guilt for what I had failed to do, and the wrongs I had done because of it. But now I know that I haven't anything to regret or to be guilty for, because I had already been forgiven. I was just too caught up in my own doubt to see it."

"I guess we're a lot alike. We've both done things horrible in the name of anger and hatred. But we've been forgiven for our sins, and given a second chance to make a new start, to do the right things."

Gai'vahros turned with a smile. "Yeah. You're right."

Luna smiled back. "So, what was it like being a royal guard?"

"Boring," the elf replied as he leaned back on his hands. "It was mostly just handling internal conflicts -- troublemakers, that sort of thing. The only time I saw real combat was when me others were sent to aid the Alliance during the First War in the surrounding forests. That was the first and only time I ever fought alongside my father. It was like a rite of passage."

"You sound very close to your family."

"More than anything else. I never really knew much aside from fighting and defending my people, especially my family. Perhaps -- no, I know that that was my biggest failure. I wasn't able to save them. I did what I could but, out of everything I did to save my people, I wasn't able to save my own family."

"You did all that you could, Gai'vahros. Under the circumstances, and from what it all amounted to, you and everyone else did what they could. But you and those who helped in protecting your people made sure that there were survivors. You helped keep your people alive so that they would not go extinct. You've helped given your people another chance at a future."

"Luna… I…" Gai'vahros sighed heavily. "I'm sorry. It seems like every time we talk about something it just ends up turning into something depressing."

"But that's okay. They say that confession cleanses the soul -- and they're right. When you told Twilight of your past, when you told Celestia of your problems, and when you tell me of all your burdens, don't you feel "renewed"? What was it you said earlier? "Like a load had been shifted from your shoulders"?"

"I know. But I don't want people to worry about me or feel like they have to watch what they say just because of my own problems."

"Everyone has problems to face, Gai'vahros. But the bravest ones are the ones who can tell them to others. Don't bottle everything inside you, else they will slowly eat away at you from the inside until that's all that remains. Your friends will be there beside you to help you see them through."

Gai'vahros chuckled. "You seem to have learned a lot about friendship, Luna."

"There's always something to learn. Twilight and her friends have shown me that the magic of friendship is something truly powerful -- perhaps even more power than both me and my sister."

Gai'vahros smiled as he looked up to the crawling clouds in the sky. "I wonder just how powerful it really is," he wondered out loud.

"It must be a new concept for you, Gai'vahros."

"It is neither arcane nor divine nor shadow nor nature. The concept that friendship and harmony is some sort of magical, sentient force outside of the will of humanity is just… I don't know. Absurd."

"Absurd? You do not believe in friendship?"

"As a philosophy, yes, but not as some sort of magical power. Or perhaps… perhaps it is some form of power on Azeroth and we just don't know about it yet. It is as you said, Luna: there's always something to learn."

"Not everything is lay bare before us. There are times when we must discover it ourselves, and only then might we truly understand it."

The area around them began to shine and glow in a soft, shimmering, silver light. Structures began to fade away or scatter into sparks of shining silver and the foliage dispersed into gold fragments. The clouds spiralled into the middle of the sky as the colour shifted from its subtle blue to a pale golden hue. 

Gai'vahros bolted to his feet, shocked at the city disintegrating around him. "L-Luna!" he exclaimed. "What's going on? What is happening?"

Casually the Princess rose to her feet. "It's nearly time to go, Gai'vahros?"

"Go? Go where?"

"Why, to go wake up, of course." Luna's body began to slowly scatter into the winds, her feet breaking up into golden, glittering strands. "You don't plan on staying asleep forever, do you?"

"I don't know," he responded with a smirk. "I quite like it here."

"Well, you're needed in the waking world. We both are."

"Yeah, you're right." Gai'vahros looked on reluctantly as her body had disappeared up to the waist. It was hard for him to see everything crumble away like he was losing everything again. "Luna?"

"Yes, Gai'vahros?"

"Thank you for visiting me tonight. I'm glad I got to talk to you a bit more… and I appreciate you listening to me."

"I feel the exact same way. It's not often that I have someone to talk to. Tonight was very… beautiful."

Gai'vahros smiled. "I'll see you soon, then."

"Sure. Breakfast at eight, by the way."

"Will there be cake?"

Luna giggled. "Sure," she responded before the last of her visage disappeared in a small fount of shining gold.

Gai'vahros turned and sat back on the now disappearing edge of the fountain as the rest of the world slowly vanished. "Yeah… she was totally lying…"