May the Light Embrace You [Open]

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista had enjoyed herself on the latest leave, but once back on the ship, she returned to reading documents and trying to figure out just what it was They-the-Council needed to focus on. But, eventually, even she was tired of statecraft (such as it could be called, anyway) and retreated to Hydroponics. She sat herself down heavily under a tree with brilliantly orange leaves and let the line of tension in her shoulders ease out.

With a little, noiseless sigh, Nehaalista reached out to the Light until it coiled around her like an old friend. At first tiny, then thickening lines of gold spread out along the ground around her, slowly pulsing and forming a ring of complex symbols. Her expression settled into a drowsy, peaceful one, and she did not mouth or sign her prayers.

She let the Light speak through her, until the very air around her was palpable with a feeling of rightness. Holding it for several minutes, she finally released her hold on the Light until it ebbed back into a gentle hum in the back of her mind. She took off her translating necklace and tugged idly at a long, blue curl in thought, one hoof bouncing in the air. Hiding out like this felt a little bit like playing truant from her training decades and centuries ago.

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[alastirra.livejournal.com]

A quiet, peaceful sigh sounded from behind, as the shaman stepped around the tree that the paladin had seated herself under.

[Greetings, Vindicator,], she sighed, giving a little bow. [It has been a while, I trust you have been well? It is good to see you again.]

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista jumped, feeling a little guilty, but smiled at Alastirra. [Light be with you, Farseer. I have been...] she trailed off for a moment, thinking. [I've been well. Very busy, however. It is most irritating. I thought it best to do my prayers in a peaceful place. How are you?]

[alastirra.livejournal.com]

[Well enough. Trying to keep myself busy. This is a very good place for peace, usually, but I could not feel the Light so present and not come and greet it, and its bearer.] Alastirra gave the low, throaty chuckle usually common to their people.

[The garden grows well, and Snowspot is as lazy a lump as is usual. Sometimes I almost wish he would chase your elekk, even if he is well aware of how much trouble it would be!]

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista smiled widely, [Poor elekk. It just wants to graze and be fat.] She paused, [You know, you don't have to sign. I don't mind hearing people talk.] She knew it was a matter of respect with some people, though.

She patted the ground next to her, [I've finished my prayers, so please, sit with me a while if you're not so busy.]

[seesbosscrotch.livejournal.com]

From some distance away, where he had been gamely trying to swat down some sort of fruit from some sort of tree by standing on his tiptoes and waving Zin'rokh at it (just inches too short!), the paladin sensed a familiar energy nearby!

Curious, he slid the sword away, then wandered over to investigate.

[alastirra.livejournal.com]

"Plants grow here without my help, for the most part," Alastirra said, chuckling again. "Well, almost. I am still not certain about the tea plants, but Lupin and the media library both tell me that they are difficult plants to grow. These seem to be doing well enough."

She lowered herself down next to the Vindicator, crossing her hooves.

"You have been very busy, I hear. I am glad to see you taking time for yourself, even if it is just a little time. It is needed."

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

[It is,] Nehaalista agreed with a little bob of her head. [I prefer working to sitting around, but I have a feeling that Kinase would not have approved of constantly working.] She tried to have her free time, carving little animals of gems, but her head always turned to work shortly after she began. It was a terribly vicious cycle, when she thought about it. [Nor do many of the people I know.]

She stretched her legs out before her as best as she could, and rested her elbows on her knees. [One might think I ought to be as vivacious as you.]

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista looked up. Unarmed as she was, it didn't stop her bright gaze from shifting (so much as one could tell a draenei's eyes were moving, anyway) to the sword. She tilted her head in question at Maridian.

She'd been told once that the Blood Elves had followed the Light properly before kidnapping a Naaru. And while their abilities were functionally the same, she always held a certain trepidation for them. So, she waved.

[governorkang]

Kang waited until the golden lines disappeared before moving closer and lying down next to Nehaa on his stomach, resting his chin on his hands. He stayed silent, just enjoying the peaceful moment with a friend; he'd had far too much to think about lately, and he just wanted to forget about it for the time being.

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista opened one bright eye as that warm feeling ebbed from her, and smiled. [Tired, too?]

[governorkang]

"Taking a well-deserved break," Kang smiled back up at Nehaa.

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista sighed, and mouthed, I see.

[I needed a bit of a breather, myself.] She pushed her curls off her shoulders and and blew her short bangs from her eyes. [And to commune with the Light.]

[governorkang]

"I wondered what those golden lines were." Kang resettled his wings against his back, stretching one briefly. "You looked very happy."

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

She seemed to think about this for a moment. [It is... hard to explain. If I call to it, it comes. It is the only thing that does it of its own volition. So I find comfort in it and the abilities it has chosen to bestow on me.]

She paused, [I sound a little zealous, but the idea is to better the universe by bettering oneself, and those around them.] And, naturally, to destroy the demons and the undead abominations that sought to destroy life. [That, and my husband and I used to pray together. It makes me feel like he is still with me, a bit.]

[governorkang]

Kang closed his eyes for a moment, "No, I can understand. Before the Chaos War, I believed that my magic came from Takhisis, and I would pray to her every night for my spells. It always left me feeling at peace."

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista nodded, the feeling one she understood very well. [But where does your magic come from?]

[governorkang]

"Inside me," Kang said simply. "We were born from dragons, creatures very powerful in magic."

[seesbosscrotch.livejournal.com]

Oh come on! This was old Zin'rokh, it couldn't give more than a love tap. It wasn't even enchanted properly for damage! It clearly screamed 'around-town set'.

"Hey there!" he said, with a cheery wave, but he was looking around curiously. "Uh, is something going on? I though I sensed... something."

Of course it was in his nature to associate calling on the Light so directly with combat. He was, after all, a Blood Knight.

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista signed at him quickly, but without the help of her necklace, it just looked as if she was wiggling her fingers at him. When the voice from her necklace didn't translate it, she reached over and put it on.

[Nothing is wrong, I was simply praying. Do you not do the same?]

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista smiled, though it seemed a bit secretive. Her own people were quite adept and powerful with magic, but one simply needed to look at the Legion to see how well that turned out for them.

[I see,] she nodded. [Do the people on your world often have to pray for their spells?]

[governorkang]

Kang shook his head, "Only the clerics. And with the gods gone, that doesn't exactly work anymore. At least, in my point of the timeline; they come back in thirty-six years or so."

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

She looked upward at the artificial sky. Considering how many horrible things Azeroth had been through, she couldn't imagine what would happen if the Old Gods decided to just... come back. Or if the Titans decided to show up and "fix" everything.

Nehaalista decided very quickly that she did not like that answer in the least. The tip of her tail slapped the ground in thought. [Do you think about the future very often, Kang?] Thirty-six years was practically an eyeblink to most draenei. She wondered what it was like for people who weren't practically immortal.

[governorkang]

"All the time. It's difficult not to when my own daughter is older than I know her, and almost every other person from my world that's woken up is from a later point as well," Kang said quietly. "I wonder if the rest of my family will wake up and stay awake this time, and if any others from Krynn will show up. I wonder if we will manage to defeat the Ohm, learn the truth, and go home. I wonder how it'll work if we do go home, if I'll ever get to see some of the people from Stacy again and if it'll change the timelines of our worlds. For all I know, once this is over, Teyr as I know it may not have ever existed."

That was just the tip of the iceberg, too. He'd never seen the point in worrying about the past, instead focusing his worries on the future.

"What about you?"

[dearest-nehaa.livejournal.com]

Nehaalista listened to him quietly, idly brushing her fingers through the grass. [I do. Though, I do not believe my worries are quite the same as yours, my friend. I concern myself with the idea Azeroth may not return, and though I have dear friends, I wonder if they were saved at all. If we do get our worlds back, I doubt that they will be as we were taken from them.]

And if they weren't, what could they do, then? [And I do not trust the Daligig not to enforce their will upon us for "helping" us restore our worlds.]

[governorkang]

"You're not the only one there," Kang snorted. "I don't trust the Daligig either. There's still too many unanswered questions, and they've been dodging answers."