Return Home

The reception had been quiet and without fanfare as Sylvanas Windrunner returned from the maw. She had finished her seemingly impossible task of ferrying souls to the arbiter and had been given the right to return. There were, however, conditions she had to follow as part of her atonement.

One of those conditions was that she could not set foot on night elf soil unless summoned by Tyrande or Malfurion, another was that she could not join either faction for the time being until she made efforts to regain their trust. A third condition was that she was to stay in her homeland and the surrounding areas and could not leave without an escort. There were many others set in place by the leaders of both the horde and alliance, though a few wanted her head. Others felt death would be pointless and felt that as she saw the punishment in the maw through she deserved a chance to make things right on Azeroth.

Sylvanas was warned there would be assassination attempts, many still hated her, and she only had one more chance. The val'kyr were no more so they could not bring her back if she died.

The banshee stood before the two elves that had once been her friends in life, the trio, they had been called. Sylvanas was quiet and still but held her head high and met both gazes unflinchingly. She waited to hear where she could go and what duties she needed to perform if any.

"Sylvanas, I welcome you back home, it's not the warmest of welcomes but it will have to do." Regent Lord Lor'themar Theron said calmly.

"I do not expect a warm welcome, Lor'themar." Sylvanas answered resignedly, "just tell me what I must do."

Lor'themar nodded, he appreciated the willingness to move forward. "All of Quel'Thalas, the plaguelands, and... tentatively... Tirisfal Glades and Silverpine are available to you."

"Don't forget Quel'danil lodge, Ranger General Vereesa has said her sister will be allowed but will be monitored." Halduron Brightwing added.

The Regent Lord nodded again and gave a small smile for the reminder, "anywhere else is barred unless invited and even then, there must be an escort."

Sylvanas listened and did not give away her slight annoyance, but it was better than one of the suggestions she heard.

"You may aid the farstriders in their missions and help with the rebuilding of Quel'Lithian Lodge. If they want you too that is, I will be blunt, it is their respect for the ranger general you were that keeps them from outright shunning you. You have a long way to go if you want to rebuild bridges here and even longer should you desire to reconnect with your dark rangers or Forsaken. You are not part of the horde but you are allowed within horde lands under our protection." Lor'themar explained further and kept his steady gaze on his old friend.

"You still have loyalists, and your sisters are allowed to contact you. So you are not alone, even if it seems that way." The Ranger General added plainly.

"Being that the majority of the scourge is dealt with, it is not something you need to worry about." Lor'themar informed her as if reading her mind.

Sylvanas nodded and kept her hands behind her back as though she was being briefed on a farstrider mission. Right now, she longed for the quiet forests, to think, to be alone with her thoughts, and to visit her brother's grave.

Lor'themar's words were drowned out by Sylvanas's thoughts, she would have looked to her side but no one was beside her for support.

'I just want to go home,' she had thought, she wanted to disappear into her exile.

"....if you see any night elves, do not be alarmed, they are allowed here to ensure you do not revert back to your "murderous" ways." Halduron said with a tad of annoyance in his voice.

The banshee smirked, "I hope they like watching me hunt or walk the beach by myself then." She did not like the idea of them watching either but understood that these were consequences of her actions.

Both men chuckled and briefed her further on her restrictions before sending her home to Windrunner Spire.

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Sometime later Sylvanas had reached the Ghostlands and then her old home. She noted the quiet now more than ever, the scar was devoid of even the scourge, Tranqullien was almost a ghost town with only a few blood elves and Forsaken stationed there. The trees still looked diseased and the sky still a gloomy blue, animals looked sickly and hungry, and ghosts still haunted the villages. Any Forsaken that spotted her either glared, looked at her with heartbroken faces, or looked away and she could not blame them.

"Give us our space," had been the wordless message they conveyed. Forgiveness was indeed far off if she received it at all.

Sylvanas had spotted dark rangers in the trees following, they looked angry and hurt too, but some looked concerned. Farstriders in the villages looked relieved to see her or atleast she thought it was. She had still been given orders to assist them whenever she could or was asked.

The ride continued quiet and slow, birds rarely chirped and clang to life in a forest still trying to recover from the advance of death. The ground echoed with the steady sound of hoofbeats and the wind barely had the will to blow the pale strands of hair from the former queen's face. She was in the place where memories good and bad collided and would not let up from her distraught psyche, she kept her head up despite the feelings of regret and sorrow.

Sylvanas sighed and looked to the old village of her family's namesake, in years past it had been filled with spirits and gargoyles; now it wasn't. She got off her horse and walked around the empty village, her footsteps were silent and barely disturbed even the leaves on the ground. She arrived at a spot she wished she could forget, 'Lirath.' Sylvanas felt her unbeating heart lurch as an unbidden memory hit her, she could see his body laying face down with an axe in his back, she could almost feel how lifeless he was. 'I am so sorry brother.'

Sylvanas left the village that once had the sounds of life and happy memories and walked to the graveside of her parents and brother.

"I could not find you, even after I finished my impossible task...well I was actually not permitted to look. I hope you'll be waiting somewhere, my little lord sun. The arbiter now will listen to souls before sending to the afterlives they will stay in. I wonder if I can see you when I finally get to rest, it was hinted to me that you were in Ardenweald? It would make sense, you would thrive on their stage where you can share your gift of music." Sylvanas said almost mournfully to the grass covered gravestone. She rested her head on the ground and continued, "I had help you know; finding souls. It was my duty for the most part but occasionally I would see someone else gathering souls, eventually I did find him. Nathanos barely recognised me but helped and stayed by my side until he stood before the arbiter. He said he would wait for me and that he knew I would find him, I guess I can take comfort in knowing where he is now. I guess I can move on?" She asked and rolled onto her stomach to face the old stone.

"I am taking a long road now, one of my own making, but I will face it. I have ever been strong and determined, and perhaps single minded." Sylvanas almost chuckled ruefully.

"I know this will be just as daunting, I expect many hope for my demise or are waiting for me to mess up, I am used to both sentiments. It only makes me want to fight harder, to persevere. I only hope I do not disappoint you further, I failed to save and protect you, I failed my people too, maybe now I can make up for that." She said with conviction in her voice.

Sylvanas stood up and looked down at her brother's grave, "if you are watching from Ardenweald or... wherever...know that I have never forgotten you, I still love you, and not a day has gone by that I haven't thought of you my little lord sun."

After a moment of quiet reflection she made her way to the spire and watched the dim sunset into the slate coloured sea. Her exile had begun or as Halduron said, "think of it as a new adventure!... well with limited travel."

'Yes, a new adventure. Maybe the trio can reform?' She wondered, it would take time and she was willing to go the distance.