Redemption

[Kurohane]

Kurohane closed the journal and stared down at her rotted hand. She didn't know what Sanrin had planned... or if he even had anything for them. If not, she had sent word through various sources to try and get a hold of Mayday. He had been able to turn Antigone from a decrepit undead into a Night Elf. There was that hope.

Either way, she wasn't returning. If she had to get Sanrin to hide her and Xelthan way until Mayday could be found, so be it. She wasn't going to do this anymore. No more smiling to vile faces, no more pretending to care about enemies... No more finding no choice but to help that disgusting Apothecary Society to try and keep her head.

Xelthan sat in silence on the bed behind her, watching her with unexpected patience. He smiled as she turned to him and her heart broke. His face looked as if it might literally split in half from just that small smile, but still, he was the most handsome thing she'd ever beheld. They didn't bring anything with them but the clothes on their backs and the coins in their pouches. They wouldn't be needing any of this anymore. She smiled faintly as he took her hand and they departed the Inn in Brill without a word.

The paladin was waiting where he had instructed by that odd messenger – it seemed he had many friends amongst the horde. For the first time since she awoke, she found the surrounding night to be peaceful. Was that even a bird she heard in the distance?

Sanrin stood at their approach, a pained look in his eyes at the sight of them. Xelthan lingered back as she stepped forward into the moon's tainted light. The human smiled faintly at her, a twinkle entering his eyes as he pulled a book from under his armor. What was he up to? Wait, was that the book that Infection had failed to retrieve from him? She didn't have time to so much as look surprised. Sanrin stomped a rat under his boot with an odd look of satisfaction, it began.

Light engulfed her. The Light. It poured through her veins, where her veins should be in some cases, filtered in through her very pores. It seared her, but at the same time, she felt no pain, only knew that there should be searing heat. As it grew brighter and brighter in her vision, she saw Xelthan rush to her side. The light leaped from her and engulfed him as well... and then there was only the beautiful, blinding white.

[Kurohane]

Everything was white. More so than the snows of Dun Morogh, Winterfall. It was pure and it filled her with warmth. She smiled, letting her gaze move across the beautiful white the surrounded her. Prestine and perfect. A breeze stirred the dead hair around her chopped-off ears and a pair of hands gently lifted her under the arms.

There were no words, but there was understanding. The Spirit Healer smiled down at her as they soared, the wind rushing past tattered skin and bare bones. The white began to fade as they flew. Below her, she saw Sanrin lifting her and Xelthan's bodies onto his steed. He took its reigns and began leading it towards South Shore. She smiled to herself. He looked pleased. It was always good to see her old friend smiling.

The flew past him, so high above he would never notice. They flew on towards that vile Undercity, the hole that had been her living nightmare for the past two weeks. Daala was seated in the ruins there. Oh Daala... she looked so sad, sitting where they had taken to talking, alone. She opened her mouth to call out to the person who had become her unexpected and close friend, but no sound would emerge. She wanted Daala to see her flying, she wanted Daala to come fly with her.

The plunged then, just past Daala. The Forsaken Warlock never so much as glanced at them. They flew through the ground and without warning emerged in the depths of Undercity. Kurohane grimaced inspite of herself. She didn't want to return here.

But there. On the ground... The stains still from Sanrin's attack upon the Apothecary the previous evening. She gasped faintly - or moreso felt herself gasp, there was no sound – as the blood began to rise off the ground and float up to her own body. Slowly, pieces of her flesh that had gone missing began to fill themselves in.

They flew faster. Nadea was showing a book to Keraph. He sneered at it and Kurohane smiled. They'd found her journal. It was alright. She didn't really care. She was flying and she was leaving this place. The line of blood trailed behind them, extending from her body to so many parts of Undercity she began to wonder just how thorough Sanrin had been.

Up they went, back into the still night outside. Higher and higher, towards the stars, towards the moon. They flew and flew, faster and faster, higher and higher. Kurohane laughed and there was sound. She took a deep breath and felt the cool night air fill her lungs. As the moon began to feel her vision, she felt the beat of her heart start. The moon filled everything until it was all she could see.

And then she was in the peaceful white again, curled up and smiling as she slept.

[Kurohane]

The fresh afternoon breeze stirred the curtains on the window, allowing the warmth of the sun to shine on her face. Slowly her eyes opened. Where was she..? The strange dream was fading quickly... she remembered flying, but nothing more. She turned her head, looking around the small room. Wasn't this the Cathedral..? Kurohane sat up straight, eyes wide and she clutched the blanket to her chest. What was she doing here?! They'd kill her!

Slowly the fear faded from her face as awe overtook her features. Her heart was pounding with adrenaline. Her head turned warily to look down at her body... her whole, living, restored body. A shaking hand, beautiful covered in soft pink skin, reached up and touched her face. Her own hand, her living face. She could feel the warmth of her own cheeks.

The door creaked open and she turned her gaze to find Calpurnia's beaming smile greeting her from above a tray of food.

“Oh! You're awake!” the Priestess exclaimed as she entered and placed the plate on the bedside table. “I was beginning to think you'd sleep all day, silly-head!”

“Xelthan...” Kurohane couldn't finish the thought. Her voice... the rasping of dead vocal cords was gone. Her soft voice was itself again.

Calpurnia smiled and gestured to a bed on the other side of the room. The Night Elf rogue raised his gaze from his own hands to stare across the small room at her. “He's been as much of a sleepy-head as you, Kuro.”

She started laughing, almost in unison with her husband. He was at her side in almost blinding speed, in nothing but his undergarments and clearly not caring. They caught each other in a tight embrace, laughing even as tears started to stream down their cheeks. They were alive again, they were whole.

“Tsch, see what I get?”

Calpurnia grinned over her shoulder at Sanrin as he entered. “I told you we should have just put them in one bed.”

The two Night Elves paid no mind to the jesting of their friends. They laughed and cried, clinging to each other in a near desperate embrace. After what seemed both an eternity and a split second, a hand rested on each of their shoulders.

“Rest,” Sanrin smiled at them. “We've a lot yet to do.”

[Kurohane]

OOC Notes -

As some people have been getting confused about the storylines that have been crossing over various threads, here are the related stories to this one:

Kurohane and Xelthan's Initial Deaths (http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3169)
Infection's Defeat Against Empyrean Dawn & Friends (http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3293)
Kurohane's Journal as an Undead (http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3264)
Empyrean Dawn's Attack on Undercity (http://tn.yzeens.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=3307)

[Zasein]

((What? You switched back? You were planning this all along ALL ALONG I TELL YOU! :D))

[Vilmah]

((Switched back?? Beh... =( ))

[Redburn]

((hehe, I love it Kuro.))

[Kurohane]

(( Thanks Burnie-poo. <3 This is open now, btw. ))

[Noury]

" It IS you!" Nouri exclaimed. He could scarce believe his eyes. There she was, sitting on a bench in Stormwind Cathedral Square, looking no worse the wear for the incredible experience she had just undergone.

Kurohane smiled and hugged him. She proceeded to explain how Sanrin had restored her and Xelthan using that book. The one he saved from the hands of Infection.

Nouri recounted the tale of the book. He was there after all, helping with its preservation. Again with that book! Nouri didn't want to admit it but that book was starting to occupy his thoughts more and more. "What secrets does it hold, that it can restore the dead from undeath?" thought Nouri.

When Kurohane had contacted him using his communictor Nouri half suspected it for being a cruel joke. Yet, the voice.. undeniably hers.

Beyond all hope the miracle proved true! His friends were back.

At least 2 of them were. Of Barke there was no word..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

" I dunno Tee. I would dearly love to see that book! But to try to steal it? That might prove difficult and foolhardy. Maybe I should just ask for it first. Who knows? Maybe Sanrin will let me look at it."

Teelia shrugged. " Your call. If you ask me to I will try to get it."

Nouri had to admit the thought intrigued him. Still he couldn't ask his friend to do that. It was too risky.

" I do fear that in his hands it will be dangerous though." said Nouri. " He is a Paladin, they are trained in different disciplines than we priests. Even mages are more attuned to the scholarly pursuits then they. In his hands I fear a book of that nature might be more than he is able to cope with."

" It might be safest in another's hands. "

Nouri didnt say it out loud, but he did hope those hands could be his.

[Kittsu]

"She switched back," I said to Clys, for the second time. If she could have blinked, she would have been.

"What exactly happened, Kittsu?" she asked me.

I shrugged.

"I dunno. But she's been seen in Stormwind, alive, not undead. Scuttlebutt says that Sanrin had something to do with it, and some old book."

Clys stood there with a rather vacant look on her face, scratching her butt absently. She's so cute when she does that. After a few minutes she nodded and patted me on the head.

"Good work, my dear. Thanks for letting me know. If you see her, tell her I said hello. And tell her I'm sorry we didn't get to talk."

After that I went Murloc hunting. But now I'm bored. Maybe I'll try to find Kurohane. I wonder if she has any picture books?

I love naughty picture books.

[Sinthe]

Skyze shook his head slightly. "She'll be missed," he simply stated.

[Nadea]

Nadea growled. "The fool! What would she want to go back to that life for? She had it all going for her- protection and dedication. And the wench went back to THIER side!? Oh...her and Xelthan will pay..."

Biztik bounced and nodded at his master. "Perhaps she missed her friends and family...maybe Infection wasn't where she truly belonged," he said in reply.

"Silence!" Nadea hissed back. "That fool of a night elf doesn't know whats coming for her...she better watch her step. NOBODY turns away from my protection and gets away with it."

Nadea cackled manically before summoning her dreadsteed, and rode out of the Undercity. She had some hunting to do.

[Redburn]

Shaking his head Redburn chuckles. "So Kurohane and Xelthan have managed the impossible and returned to their former lives". "I must speak with Gornin about having those two made honorary members of TCW. They spread more Chaos just by existing than any 3 members of The Crimson Watch"

As Redburn leaves the tavern in Ogrimmar, the barkeep notices that the undead mage seems to be laughing about something.

[Jacan]

Invisibility had proven useful. Vilaith was able to listen in on the conversations going on in Undercity without anyone questioning why a succubus was wandering about with no master. It'd take too long to explain, and she didn't feel the desire.

One topic troubled her greatly, and sent her almost in a run back to her master's chambers. Kurohane and Xelthan, the two her master had sacrificed so much of himself to raise to Forsaken, had somehow regained their living bodies and returned to the corrupted embrace of the Alliance.

Quietly, she tapped on his inner chamber door, then opened it slowly. "Master?"

Jacan opened his eyes slowly to look at her from across the room. Since the day they were raised, he had barely moved from the spot he now occupied, resting in his coffin and regaining strength. It sent a shock of pain through Vilaith to just look at him like this. His skin was even more translucent, pulled gaunt over his increasingly more boney features. His eyes, which used to glow a brilliant gold, shone dully as he focused on his succubus still standing in the doorway.

"What is it?" His lips barely moved, and Vilaith had trouble understanding his raspy whisper.

"It's Kurohane and Xelthan, Master...they've apparently returned to the living."

Jacan raised an eyebrow, then chuckled softly, the sound hollow. "I suppose Keraph will be coming for my head soon to atone for my failure then..." He turned his head to the side, his tousled hair falling over his face as he closed his eyes again. "Nothing I can do about it."

Vilaith bit her lip in worry as her master fell asleep again. What he said could happen, but it might not...still, she couldn't take the chance. A plan quickly came together in her mind as she sat at her master's writing table, her hand picking up the quill. She dipped the end into the ink and began the letter in a flowing hand that almost made Gutterspeak look beautiful.

"Most Honored Warlord..."

[Sanrin]

Sanrin moved silently through the forest of Silverpine, an area that he was only vaguely familiar with at best. He had left Bobby behind (his ram had no liking of werewolves) to trek on foot. Though, the travel was by no means difficult. The Horde made good use of the roads here, as well as the few Dalaran refugees…attempting to salvage the bits and portions of their magical world. A few directions and the paladin was on his way, Tome close in hand, illuminating his path with an eerie dark glow. The more he used the book the more and more he found its flaws and strengths.

Kill to see the passages, kill to use their power…each page a literal sacrifice upon sacrifice. And while it took dozens of deaths to reverse the process of undead, there were many other skills the pages contained that remained yet untapped. Just a matter of testing…

And what’re todays plans?

“You’re friendly today I see.” Sanrin spat with a grin.

You know…Sanrin turned his head to see his mother, smiling playfully as they walked together, You’re not exactly like the others of our family…why not use the book for His words? It seems to clear to me...

“Father was a clear fool.” Sanrin looks ahead, beams of moonlight warming his occasional step. “I’m not here in the name of any being nor ideal. Don’t mistake me for a Light worshiper. Quite frankly, I’m still here to find that wench and ruin her world.”

Now who’s being stupid? You’ve gotten your stupid fucking elves back, why bother using that book any longer? she questioned frankly, picking up her steps to catch up to his quick pace.

“Ultimately, Forsaken do not feel pain. Did you know that?”

This is fact?

“They do not feel pain because quite simply mother, they try to inflict it. They were given a second chance…a life, though twisted, they could live with piece of mind. Something their Scourge kin were not granted.” Sanrin broke into a soft jog, kicking up a small hill to reach higher grounds. He was only slightly aware of his mother gliding softly ahead through tree and bush.

“A second chance they use horridly. Performing experiments on the living, looking for new diseases…new ways of harming others…doesn’t that make you sick?” he looked to her now transparent figure, shaking his head. “Of course not. You’re no better.”

And what makes any Zenafova better? Particularly you…your obsession over the Watch distracts…

“FOCUSES!” Screamed Sanrin, glaring wildly at his source of madness. He looked down at the Sepulcher with a wild smile, eyes beaming with a mixture of joy and cruelty. He stopped his conversation, dropping low into the undead controlled crypt, unable to feel anything but the outbreak of battle, the first swing of his weapon taking the crypts guards off balance. A quick swing, parry and block, he felt the surge of adrenaline and strength move through his body as his assault continued.

The Tome flashed violently, taking in the violence with a deep breath, and exhaling forcefully, a streak of white glow searing the battleground before Sanrin. He watched with excitement as his spell was unleashed, an approaching Undercity guard becoming fully engulfed in its purty. It was blinding, but Sanrin still watched it. It burned every fiber of his body to focus on it, the anxiety to look away mixed deeply with his focus to watch. He was skin grow pale, then flush with warmth, even grow back in some places. He saw the ripped muscle and torn bones almost reconstruct, his sick science project coming to full fruition as the Forsaken guard screamed in agony. Nerves were reconnected, structure rebuilt, and by the time the blinding white glow had subsided the full nature of Sanrins intent was clearly revealed.

“Don’t you see!?” Sanrin screamed aloud, laughing brightly as his defenders stared in shock. “This is the result of your poor decisions! Taste it, one more time, the life you left behind!”

It didn’t seem like he’d ever stop laughing. He had finally found what he had wanted, the ability to show his opponents the definition of fear, manifested in the very lives they had in fact…forsaken. The former guard stared as his reconstructed body, warm flesh greeting him as he felt his face, hands, arms…once more intact. He began to cry softly, from joy or fear no one could tell, but all gave him time to weep. To sink to his knees in disbelief, clutching what he thought he had lost forever.

All but one, who dashed forward madly, the red flash and searing glow of Sulfuras bringing its warm welcome to the newly reborn human. His arms, clutching his face in warm reaffirmation, were torn apart from the force of the strike, his chest collapsed from the brutal weight of Sanrins swing. He fell backwards, gasping for air as his body spasmed in attempt to cling to the gift he was given for only a few moments. Sanrin swung down for a final time, his laughter the only noise louder then the hard thud of his weapon crushing the mans skull. There would be nothing left to resurrect, no body for him to rise back from the dead from.

“Your sins aren’t forgiven.” Sanrin grinned, turning his attention to the remaining guards, standing in shock.

The tome needs more blood.

Flashes of white light were seen far from the Sepulcher.

[clys]

((dang, that's cool Sanrin))

[Tillna]

((o.0 HE GONE CRAZZA! Nice Sanrin. Let the beast out all over them. Wait...I'm horde..*rolls up newspaper* Bad sanrin! Still, good writing))