Colors added by Vy'thanis.

(Slightest hint of torture. Not super descriptive, but you’ve been warned.)

There was something about moonless nights…something about the way the forest stilled, it’s inhabitants seeking safety from the inky blackness that covered the landscape. Eerie, perhaps…maybe unusual, but not as unusual as the fire burning in the lone, barely standing structure. Beside the fire sat a cloaked figure, idly turning a glass bottle between his hands, its contents almost as dark as the night sky. It was only when the door to the structure cracked open that the hands stopped, setting the bottle off to the side. “You’re late.”

Lugon paused, brushing his hands together, not bothering to close the door behind him. Not like the rickety...

“You can’t just show up like this…what if he had been home?”

“What of it?” A deep chuckle. “He wouldn’t approach me. Bluster and shout, maybe, but actually do anything? No.”

A tired sigh. “Dymere, it’s not funny! You may be able to come and go as you please, but I’m left here. And so are our bo-,” 

The voice trailed off as a little dark-haired boy, no older than one or two, toddled in, clutching a small stuffed tiger. The boy stared up at the stranger before moving to his mother and tightly clinging to her leg. Corviya reached down and scooped the boy up, settling him on her hip. The boy turned to shield his stuffed tiger from the unknown man’s view, his head resting against his mother’s shoulder....

“Out here again?” The voice had seemed to come from nowhere and startled the young elf, though he managed to catch himself before falling face first off the fence he’d been perched on. 

“Lu-lugon! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” Ruidor huffed, settling himself on the fence once again. “You sound too much like An-, I mean, like father when you do that…”

The older man shrugged as he leaned forward against the fence. “Sorry kid, can’t help it that you were distracted.”

Another huff, unconvinced that he was anything close to ‘sorry’. “Right, like you didn’t wait for the foal to wander back this way before come in.” 

“I’d never even dr-” 

“You did the same thing to me last week,...

The waves lapping gently against the shore, the sound of a gentle breeze moving through the trees, and the sounds of his two companions playing in the sand just a short distance away, all things that allowed the ranger to relax as he settled back against one of the few trees found along the coast of Eversong. There were no echoes here. No nightmares, no reminders- but it also wasn’t somewhere he could stay forever. The order would come, as it always did, and while he had potions he could utilize to sleep while on Argus, he didn’t want to depend on them. He wanted to move past this…whatever this was. And how could he possibly move forward when there were so many questions that continued to plague him about his past.

He’d...

(Below is the first of what will be several glimpses into Amorthon’s past. He has no memory - currently - of these events.)

It could’ve passed for a picture perfect scene. Two high back chairs a comfortable distance from a cozy fire, the two adults lounging comfortably, one in each chair, skimming through their choice of reading material, oblivious to the nine-year-old and his companion - a small lynx- huddled conspiratorially by the foot of the stairs. Quiet footsteps, a motion for his four-legged friend to follow just like they’d done hundreds of times before. Just a little farther…the boy’s tongue was stuck out in concentration, that floorboard creaks aaand that one doesn’t. Okay, just a liiittle more. Almost...

He hated this assignment. Less than a week and he could easily say that he absolutely, unequivocally hated this assignment. Send him scouting in Suramar and almost get Savage killed…not pleased with it, but he’d manage. Having him wandering out on the Broken Shore, and almost end up minus one shoulder…Again, not happy with the arrangement, but he’d make due. But this? The ranger shuddered as yet another echo ran by. This was easily one of the worst assignments he’d been given in a long…LONG time.

Amorthon shuddered again as he found a small isolated corner, quickly removing his chest plate, pauldrons, and gauntlets before setting his head in his hands and taking several deep breaths. “…What the hell…” These...

“I said I was sorry…you could stop glaring at me.” He sighed as Savage flopped down in front of him, the glare continuing despite Cibor taking the opportunity to climb all over the larger tiger. “…Or not, that’s fine too…”

The return to Silvermoon hadn’t been as awful as he’d originally thought it was going to be. There hadn’t been quite as many jarring motions, though he could honestly say that it wouldn’t hurt people to maybe look up every once in a while. The number of side-steps he’d made to avoid having someone plow into his shoulder had been a bit frustrating…to say the least. Unfortunately, it was just as he’d made the final turn towards Andivia’s apartment complex that he’d missed another...

There were a few things the ranger had been forced to learn early on in his life…one of which was to get used to sleeping on uncomfortable surfaces. Cold ground? Not a problem. A few branches up in a tree? Sure, why not? A ‘comfortable spot’ between a few jagged rocks? If there were no other options, then okay. So waking up on a cot and feeling like he’d just been sat on by a kodo was not something he’d been expecting. 

Amorthon groaned as he cracked his eyes open, his whole form aching, but a majority of the pain focused in his left shoulder. ‘…What the hell did I do…? And why is it ALWAYS that shoulder?’ He closed his eyes for a moment, taking a breath before attempting to sit up…immediately freezing and...

Three Days Prior

‘I wish I had half of that energy….’ Amorthon glanced up from the sketch he’d been working on with a chuckle as he caught sight of Savage’s irritated huff. The tiger cub, Cibor, had been fairly well behaved for a majority of the return trip from Pandaria…though that might’ve been because he’d been asleep. Once he’d managed to fully wake up the adorable little cub turned into a rambunctious blur of white and black that the ranger had spent the rest of the trip attempting to corral, much to Savage’s amusement. As a result, the ranger had no remorse for sitting back and watching as the blur of fur climbed all over the larger tiger. “You know what they say…turnabout and all that…” He grinned at...

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

Weeks inside the city walls had done nothing for his nerves and it was here, among the waterfalls, the thick canopy, and ever present wildlife that he felt he could breathe again. The vice, that had been in place since he set foot back inside those walls, finally loosened and he could focus once again.

Breathe in. Hold. Breathe out.

He’d hoped that going back would keep him distracted. That daily hunts with Savage, chasing after the twins while Andivia worked, and doing what he could to help her relax after work would keep him busy enough that his mind wouldn’t drift back to all the little -reminders- this time of year brought with it. The fire festival had many memories attached to it, and as...

Everything will change 

He’d tried not to have expectations…he really had. Tried not to think about what it would be like when the man woke up, or what questions he might finally get answers to when both his ‘father’ and 'brother’ were there to produce those answers. But he had…he’d spent the entire week going through and picking which questions he wanted answers to, and thinking about what he’d actually SAY when faced with both of them. All that time? Wasted, as the moment the two were both conscious and near one another it turned into absolute chaos.

Fistfights, yelling, magic used to separate the two. One now sat in a cell while the other was being patched up (again) in the infirmary of his employer. And where...

Flashes of blonde hair, kind eyes, a gentle voice, and a genuine feeling of being cared for. His head was throbbing and had been since he left his meeting with Dr. Selatiir. He’d slept when he’d gotten back to the Jade Forest…well, he’s slept for a few hours before spending the rest of the night staring up at the ceiling as the headache renewed and vision after vision assaulted him. He groaned, setting his elbows on the table in front of him as he set his head into his hands, closing his eyes as he tried to will the pain back.

A soft tiger plushie, well-worn and covered in a familiar scent. The small stuffed animal was pulled tight against his chest as he fought to ignore the raised voices outside his door. His grip...

Amorthon generally considered himself to be a calm elf…a reasonable elf. Under normal circumstances, he rarely saw the need or value in unrestrained anger or rage. But ‘normal’ circumstances didn’t include threats to his family…or what he considered to be his family.

The ranger snarled as he loosed yet another arrow into the trapper’s corpse before kicking the body aside and moving to check on Savage. For days the two had been moving through the Crimson Thicket, covering the Shal'dorei refugees as they escaped and picking off hunters when they could. They had been well hidden, with Savage only moving in to attack when absolutely necessary. Most of the time the ranger was focused on his shooting, while the tiger kept watch...

Dark. Unfamiliar. That was the sight that greeted the young elf. The boy groaned as he sat up slowly, his head pounding. Slowly, he turned glancing around trying to remember…anything. He wasn’t supposed to be here, or that’s what it felt like. It was…there were…others. Family? No…did he have a family? Why was he here? Alone. 

The boy’s breaths started to come in short rapid bursts as he backed up against a nearby tree pulling his knees to his chest, and wrapping his arms around his legs tight as he continued to look around, wide-eyed and panicked. Every noise startled him, every cracked branch, every low crackle. He leaned his head down, trying to stifle his small cries before voices in the distance drew his attention....

The first rays of sunshine filtering through the trees of Eversong Woods found the ranger slowly making his way down one of the many rarely used paths only those familiar with the area bothered to use. He’d been up before sunrise, as usual, to take Savage hunting. The hunt had been good exercise, and it had been good to start to get back into a routine, something he had been avoiding for weeks. 

Amorthon adjusted his bag on his shoulder, and his grip on his bow before motioning for Savage to follow. Had anyone been following it would have appeared that the ranger was simply wandering, with no destination in mind. The reality was that he very much had a destination in mind. Somewhere he hadn’t visited in over a year…somewhere...

Created by Tziska.

Colors added by Tziska.