Chapter 1: Mission of Mercy

**Araatris:** The priestess’ soft song hangs in the air around her as she stands stock-still at the center of the small clearing, hands outstretched.

**Rhoelyn:** Nysse leans silently back against a tree; two wolves keep her company. Korran sits alert while Tsume takes a more casual… lying approach.

**Araatris:** Beneath the stunted light of the eclipsed moon, the pair of elves seem alone until clouds of misty blue energy lift from the ground, gathering.

**Rhoelyn:** Instinctively, Nysse steps forward into the edge of the clearing and kneels, wolves following. She raises her hands as if guiding the mist.

**Araatris:** “Feel the love that bleeds from blackened tears,” Rhoelyn sings, lifting her face to the sky, eyes closed. “Calling you home, setting you free.”

**Rhoelyn:** The huntress moves a quarter circle around her before repeating her kneeling guidance. Her silent support sends the mists to Rhoelyn.

**Araatris:** As the smaller night elf continues her soothing song, the mists that Nysse helps gather resolve into indistinct globes that float around her.

**Rhoelyn:** Reaching her original position, the huntress kneels once more. Korran’s pale form, reminiscent of the orbs, noses her until she hugs him.

**Araatris:** Elune’s cleric opens her gold-tinted eyes and looks around at the spirits, the wisps of the slain kal’dorei of Darkshore. “Brothers. Sisters.”

**Rhoelyn:** Nysse closes her eyes, almost feeling as if she could place a name to each wisp. The fallen’s turmoil only made her heart ache worse.

**Araatris:** “Shhh…” Rhoelyn’s calm tones accompany her lifted hands, her fingers gilded with power where they brush the circling spirits. “I am here.”

**Rhoelyn:** Ducking her head, Nysse breathes deeply and stands. “You are not abandoned. We are not done protecting our own. Please listen to Rhoelyn.”

**Araatris:** Her sister flashes her a small smile and a nod, but then her attention returns to the troubled spirits. “Elune calls you home. Do you hear?”

**Rhoelyn:** A few wisps swirl in agitation. Others cling to her and Rhoelyn as if expressing their reluctance to leave. Nysse bites her lip worriedly.

**Araatris:** From somewhere, the priestess knows them all, and she reaches out for one who stirs with anger, turmoil. “Oh, brother… I understand.”

**Rhoelyn:** It pulses rapidly as if speaking to her. Nysse tentatively asks, “Can you… understand them? I can’t hear them… just their feelings.”

**Araatris:** Rhoelyn turns tearful golden eyes on her sister and shakes her head. “Not words, Nysse. But I see their memories. Their wishes. Awareness.”

**Rhoelyn:** “What… what do they want? Can we do something to help them?” The huntress rests reassuring hands on a couple clinging to her armor.

**Araatris:** “Halien,” her sister answers softly, brushing tender hands against the one before her as others slide along her back, “seeks his mate, his wife.”

**Araatris:** Her fingers reach for another, bobbing mournfully, and her brow furrows. “Analess is weighed by the wish to have seen her unborn child.”

**Rhoelyn:** Nyssera droops with a gentle stammer. “W-we can’t fix that. I understand their wishes, but…” She clasps her hands in front of her chest.

**Araatris:** “Some things, my sister, we can,” the priestess murmurs, tilting her face toward the eclipsed moon. Soon, she lifts a hand, beckoning as she walks.

**Rhoelyn:** The younger woman hurries behind her, the wolves flanking them protectively. “Sister? What do you mean? What can we do?”

**Araatris:** Rhoe gives her a tender smile and leads the way into the trees, their entourage of ghostly wisps trailing after them. She pauses after only a bit.

**Rhoelyn:** The huntress stops before bumping into the priestess. There’s woods and… she narrows her eyes and steps forward. “What… is this place?”

**Araatris:** “It was a hiding place,” her sister says softly, gesturing to the damaged tree with the dark nook beneath its twisted roots. Her eyes are sad.

**Rhoelyn:** Clenching her hands, Nysse strides to the tree and kneels down. She forces herself to prepare for the worst as she looks into the hollow.

**Araatris:** The body within is blessedly already half-obscured by the blue-white most that roils around it, and Rhoelyn murmurs, “She was too wounded.”

**Rhoelyn:** “I’ll pull her out so we can send her to rest. It seems wrong to leave her here…” Nysse carefully reaches in and gathers the woman’s body.

**Araatris:** The priestess takes a deep, shaky breath. “Thank you, sister.” Beside Nysse, the mist coalesces into a globe that brushes Korran curiously.

**Rhoelyn:** Nysse answers the unspoken question as she works to lay the woman in the grass. “Korran is a spirit wolf. He’s chosen to be bound to me.”

**Araatris:** Rhoe reaches up, and one of her entourage alights in her palm. “Halien…” When she reaches up her other hand, the wisp by Nysse darts over.

**Rhoelyn:** “That’s his wife, isn’t it?” Nysse brushes the hair from the woman’s face. “Do we have time for a proper burial? I can dig a grave if so.”

**Araatris:** As the priestess reaches for the woman’s spirit, she nods. “Kalari fled here when Halien f-” Rhoe flinches at the new wisp’s touch. “… f-fell.”

**Rhoelyn:** The huntress hunts for a soft mossy spot under a tree. She pulls out a dagger to start digging a hole. “I’m glad we could reunite them.”

**Araatris:** “Fire.” Her sister takes a deep breath, steadying her voice. “Nysse, she wants her body burned s-so that it cannot be… turned. I-I can…”

**Rhoelyn:** The huntress nods. “I’ll still need a shallow pit to keep the fire from spreading.” Nysse commands the wolves to dig and hunts for rocks.

**Araatris:** “Thank you, sister,” Rhoe says softly. While Nysse and the wolves work, the priestess murmurs to the wisps flitting around her, gilded with magic.

**Rhoelyn:** A short while later, Nysse has the funeral fire started. “I’ll keep a lookout. It could draw attention, and it’ll likely last the night.”

**Araatris:** The busy priestess barely hears, still working with the slowly dwindling collection of restless dead as the wisps bob around her hooded head.

**Rhoelyn:** The huntress doesn’t bother getting a response, and she and wolves spread about about the priestess and fire, staring into the woods.

**Araatris:** When the court has dwindled down to five or so and the funeral pyre is starting to ebb, Rhoelyn brushes her trembling fingers along another.

**Rhoelyn:** Frowning, Nysse glances over her shoulder. “Sister, you should rest. We’ll have to move soon.” She pushes to her feet and joins Rhoelyn.

**Araatris:** The healer acknowledges her with a little nod, drawing yet another wisp to her to speak softly to it. “In Elune’s embrace, he waits for you.”

**Rhoelyn:** The young woman waits for the wisp to raise into the sky and fade before taking Rhoelyn’s elbow. “You’re asleep on your feet, Rhoelyn.”

**Araatris:** “But there are…” When her smaller sister wavers dizzily, her protest finishes more weakly. “… more. Only a few more.” She bites her lip.

**Rhoelyn:** Nysse settles the priestess down against a tree. “And they will understand that you need to rest.” She looks to the wisps. “Won’t you?”

**Araatris:** Rhoelyn relents as the few that remain bob away up into the treetops, an answer. The power she’s held around herself for hours fades away.

**Rhoelyn:** “Are you hungry? I can fix something to eat before preparing a bedroll for you.” Nysse hopes her sister doesn’t think to question her tiredness.

**Araatris:** “We both need food, my sister,” the priestess says gently. “And you said we need to move. Only give me a few minutes, and I will be ready.”

**Rhoelyn:** Nodding reluctantly, the huntress sighs. “As you wish, but you’re not in any shape to travel far.” She rubs her face with her gloved palm.

**Araatris:** Rhoelyn reaches for her sister, brushing dirt from her nose gently. “Tomorrow, we must find somewhere safe and rest. You are as worn as I.”

**Rhoelyn:** Nysse manages a sheepish smile. “It’s not that bad, but I agree with you. There’s plenty of caves and hollows that should work around here.”

**Araatris:** The little healer nods and then glances up into the trees, resting her covered head back against the bark. Tsume noses under her hand.

**Rhoelyn:** Korran joins them as well. He speaks into her mind. “She’s right, little one. You will not be able to sustain me without food and rest.”

**Araatris:** Letting her dim eyes close, Rhoelyn mutters in odd echo to the spirit wolf, “You will not be able to sustain Korran without food and rest.”

**Rhoelyn:** Thusly chastised from both, Nysse mutters a quiet affirmative. She settles across from her sister and conserves her own energy for Korran.