Of Fire and Mist

(( With the Fire Festival coming up, I thought I'd post this thing that I wrote last year during that time, when Shias and Larinath barely knew each other. It's really old, and sort of weird--more an RP log put to prose, if anything, but hey. ^_^;; This was almost a year ago exactly, remember! *sigh* Memories.

Also, I realize it's not the flowers that sets your breath on fire. I wrote this while on vacation and couldn't check, and now I'm too lazy to fix it. Oh well.))




Of Fire and Mist

"Shias! Have you ever wanted to breathe fire!"

That's where this had begun--at least, he thought it was. He was still in a bit of a daze over it: Shias was uncertain as to how Larinath had managed to drag him out of Silvermoon, through the Undercity, onto a zeppelin, to Orgrimmar, through the Barrens and finally up to Spirit Rise in Thunder Bluff. But somehow, Larinath had, and all for some strange Midsummer's Festival that Shias still did not fully understand, either.

They sat together near the edge of Spirit Rise, near the last great bonfire, the sky above them darkening gradually as the sun fell behind the distant mountains. Sparks and ash drifted above them, mimicking falling stars as the two stared up at the moon.

For a long while they were silent, leaning back on their hands, though every few moments Shias would steal a glance at the other elf. Larinath had his head tilted back gently, eyes half, closed, his form almost silhouetted by the great fire behind him. His dark hair caught the light and shone golden in the firelight, tousled by the night's chill breeze.

With every glance, Shias quickly looked away, until once Larinath gave a swift movement and met his eyes, grinning. Instinctively, Shias blurted an apology.

Larinath ignored it. "Remember what I asked you?"

"W-what…?"

The silhouetted elf gave a shadowed smirk and stood up, looking down at Shias. "Have you ever wanted to breathe fire!"

Before Shias could blurt out some awkward excuse for an answer, Larinath held up one finger and drug into his pocket with his other hand. He withdrew a handful of small white flowers--Shias had seen him receive something from one of the nearby revelers, but had paid it little mind at the time. Now, he assumed it had been these little flowers.

"What are those for?" Shias frowned.

Larinath lowered his finger. "I advise you stand up and stand back!"

Mouth slightly agape and brow furrowed in confusion, Shias nervously obeyed, knowing what was coming but uncertain as to how it would be accomplished. He could not help but say, "…be careful, Larinath, are you sure this…"

The finger rose again to silence him; Larinath turned away and strode to the edge of the Rise. Shias quieted, one hand straying to the other and tugging at his glove.

Larinath's form was bright, lit by the fire, against the now-black sky. Tilting his head back slightly, he drew in his breath and held it, brought his arms up above his head as if in reverence to the stars, and dropped a little flash of white into his mouth…

Shias threw his arms in front of his face at the first fiery flash, giving a slight yelp of surprise. Then he peered through his arms, wincing, and blinked. Larinath stood at the edge of the mesa, arms high above his head and fingers splayed, a stream of fire shooting from his mouth and into the sky. Shias lowered his arms to his sides and stared.

Larinath's spout of fire died away and he turned wildly, ponytail whirling around his back, arms still over his head. He grinned and his eyes glinted with the strange glow that caught and held Shias' gaze. They stared at each other, Larinath beaming triumphantly and Shias simply transfixed, until Larinath's grin twitched and he coughed, a thin wisp of smoke trailing from his mouth.

Shias felt himself smile.

"Alright!" Larinath spluttered a bit before licking his lips and raising his eyebrows, apparently bemused by the taste. He took a few strides up to Shias. "Your turn!"

The slightly taller elf blinked at him. "It's… entirely safe?"

"Of course!" Larinath seized his hand and opened it, dropping one of the little white blossoms onto his palm. "Go on--it is fun!"

"R-right," Shias nodded to him, staring down at the flower before closing his fingers over it and stepping to the edge of the Rise. He cast a glance back over his shoulder; Larinath was once again a silhouette before the bonfire, hands on his hips. "Stand back…"

"I am!"

"…right." And he turned, looking out over Mulgore, unable to see the ground far below in the retreating light of dusk. He took a very slight step back, raised his palm to his mouth, and slipped the flower between his lips.

The effect was instantaneous--he felt a sharp warmth on his tongue and instinctively opened his mouth to spit out the thing, but it was gone, and instead the stream of flame burst forth out of him. Shias felt the heat on his face and his eyes watered, but otherwise he felt nothing. The fire came out like a long, hot sigh, and then Shias raised his gaze to the sky and put his arms up, mimicking Larinath, exhilarated.

The flames died almost as quickly as they'd come, leaving naught but a bitter, smoky taste upon his tongue and lips. He relaxed his muscles, wiped his mouth on his sleeve, and turned to Larinath, who had already stepped up to him.

They grinned; Larinath's eyes flashed and Shias suddenly coughed, smoke trailing out his mouth and nostrils. When Shias' grin faded as he watched the smoke incredulously, Larinath burst into laughter.

Shias blinked, watching him: Larinath, with the fire's glow in his hair and the glint in his eyes. He began to laugh as well.

Sinking back to the ground beside each other, they laughed until Shias coughed more smoke, and then their sound faded to mere
sniggers, then silence. Their gazes locked, Larinath merely smiled, head tilted, and something soft, pensive, behind the mischievous shine in his eyes.

Shias felt a sudden heat upon his face again, as fierce as the stream of fire.

Eventually Larinath looked away. "We should go back, soon," he said softly, looking towards the mountains where the sun had set. Shias did not nod nor protest, though inside he felt a soft pang of disappointment.

Larinath stood, and Shias followed. He reached into his rucksack for his hearthstone, but Larinath made him pause: "But first, there is something else I would like to show you."

Surprised, Shias nodded. Larinath turned and strode down a small ramp just out of the firelight's glow. Shias hadn't noticed it.

As Larinath led him down the ramp and into the shadows, Shias made certain to follow him closely. They approached a cavern's entrance, illuminated from the inside with a soft, blue-white glow. Shias wanted to ask questions, but a sullen silence had fallen between them; they entered the cavern to the sound of only their echoing footsteps.

The air in the cave felt thick and wet around Shias. Around him, the walls came into focus as the light grew brighter from within. They emerged from the tunnel in a large, open cavern, and as Shias gazed around, Larinath stopped in front of him. Shias nearly ran into his back.

"H-hey…"

They stood at the edge of a crevice, blurred with rising mist. Peering over Larinath's shoulder, Shias looked down into the mist--he could barely see the ripples of water somewhere a distance beneath it.

Then, Larinath's voice, soft, yet somehow taking on an odd, distant echo, "The Pools of Vision."

"This place…?" Shias looked around, his eyes adjusting to the odd light and the blurring mist. The cavern was larger than he'd thought, and up a short, raised path to their left, a few Forsaken lingered on a higher platform of stone. Their forms were obscured, vanishing and reappearing.

Larinath answered his silent questions. "The mages and priests of Thunder Bluff make that area their residence. However, what I wish to show you is here." He turned without looking at Shias, making his way down another sloped ramp to the right, where the mist gathered heavily below.

Again Shias nearly lost sight of him.

Pausing a short distance down the rap, Larinath looked over into the crevice. Shias could see the ripples of the water below clearer then--it seemed to rest in several pools in the crevice, hidden beneath the mists.

"Here. Follow me." And with that, he lowered himself, and leapt down into the crevice.

"H-hey!" Shias exclaimed, kneeling to look down after him. From the ledge, at first, he could barely make out the top of Larinath's head. Then the other elf looked up at him, smiling. His eyes glowed.

"Come down!"

Shias slid down, biting his lip. He hit the ground and wobbled, tipping forward slightly towards the pool of water. Larinath grabbed his arm to steady him, his smile gone. Nodding, Larinath walked along the crevice wall, deeper into the mists.

"Look there." He pointed ahead. "Do you see it?"

Shias, behind him again, looked over his shoulder. Larinath was pointing to an area ahead where the mist seemed thickest, swirling and circling, bright with an unnatural, ethereal glow. He narrowed his eyes.

Larinath continued, the same strange, distant quality to his voice. "What do you see there? Is it a portal, leading to some distant place? Look closely, and you might see the tops of buildings, or trees, perhaps even mountains against a faraway sky."

In fact, Shias saw none of this--as he peered into the mist, at first, he saw nothing but the colorless glow from its center. Then, slowly, the glow faded, broke into two, each fragment a glowing orb. One a brilliant flash of pale gold, the other a weak, glinting green…

Larinath stepped towards the heavy mist. "Do not slip."

The mist thickened around them, again Shias struggled to keep up behind Larinath and to keep from slipping on the wet rocks. Larinath moved with quick surefootedness, not pausing until, for an instant, Shias lost him behind the glow of the lights in the mist.

"Larinath…!"

And then he himself plunged into the thickest of the mist. As soon as he had done so, it thinned, dissipating around him, and there was Larinath, smiling brightly before him. Shias nearly fell onto him.

The gold and green lights had vanished, and they stood in a miniature cavern that had apparently been hidden behind the heavy mist. But where were the lights, and where had the mist gone…?

In response to Shias' furrowed brow and wordless confusion, Larinath's smile faded, and he pointed over Shias' shoulder. "We now stand in the mouth of a great beast."

Shias whirled. The tunnel they'd come through in the thick mist was deeper than he'd imagined. Above them, long, pointed stalactites hung from the ceiling like terrible fangs, dripping wet. And there, at the very end of this great mouth--where they'd come from--was the thick, swirling mist again, and the lights.

He frowned, looking over his shoulder back at the dark-haired elf, who continued to gaze past him. "Were we not… moving towards that…?" Shias asked, indicating the heavy mist again with a motion of his shoulder.

Larinath again spoke quietly, though his voice echoed in the mouth of the great beast. "You can see it before you one moment, a vision within the mist. The closer you stride, the clearer it becomes, until you attempt to touch it, and then…" He smiled distantly, still looking past Shias, who turned to follow his gaze. Larinath's voice came from behind him as he watched the lights, "…you find yourself swallowed up by the great beast."

Shias' frown deepened. "It is merely an illusion, then."

"Or is it?"

Staring at the softly glowing orbs, Shias began to walk towards the heavy mist again, and he felt Larinath follow, his footsteps echoing. As Shias drew near, the lights brightened, the mist thickened around them both. Larinath's voice continued from behind him, hollow, far away. "And so you face a predicament."

The single green orb split into two, each expanding and glinting.

Like a pair of eyes…

"Do you simply stare into the mist, transfixed and mesmerized from afar…"

Shias reached the orbs, the eyes and the brilliant flash of gold behind them, and extended a hand to try and touch them. The moment his fingers appeared to reach them, the lights vanished, the mist dissipating again. Once more the air around him seemed to thin, the weight of the mist gone.

"…unable to touch, or…"

Larinath had turned to face the entrance to the cavernous mouth, his voice quieter and more distant than ever. Shias looked at him, and his eyes widened, his heart gave a start in his chest. Larinath's form had become almost completely obscured by the mist, leaving only the glow of his glinting green eyes.

"…or reach out a hand, and plunge into the waiting maw of the beast beyond…?"

His eyes closed, his lips curled into a sad smile, and the mist enveloped him.

"Larinath!"

Shias blinked, steadying himself against the slick crevice wall, and reached into the swirling mist where Larinath had vanished--

--his hand met nothing, the mist dissipated, and Larinath was gone. He withdrew his hand, gasping with panic, calling out his name again, then--

"Shias?"

He spun, and there stood Larinath, head tilted and smiling, in the exact spot the green and gold lights had been not a moment before. Shias nearly slipped with the surprise of it, pressing both palms and his back against the wet stone wall.

Shias looked behind him again, where he knew Larinath had stood, he'd been behind him, he knew it…

But there were the swirling mists again, hiding the great maw beyond. The lights were gone.

Larinath gripped his arm. Real, not an illusion. "We should return to Silvermoon, Shias."

He managed a nod.

They climbed out of the crevice, Shias first this time, and he made certain to offer Larinath a hand to help him out, more to assure himself than anything else. They left the cavern and the mist behind, and only when they had stepped onto the soft earth of the path outside did Shias feel the weight of the mist leave him, only then did he draw a deep, shaking breath and shut his eyes tight a moment.

Standing on the edge of the path, the cavern behind them, Shias and Larinath looked out into the darkness of Mulgore. The sky above them held no stars, it had clouded over. A breeze blew past them Shias held in a shudder and drew his cloak around his arms.

Larinath remained silent a moment, then finally said quietly, "Hearthstones, then?"

Their eyes met, Shias saw again that glinting green and the soft warmth behind it. His chest tightened, his face burned in the darkness, he fought the urge to seize his hand again, but there was no mist here, no illusion.

Shias nodded.

And they pulled their hearthstones from pocket and bag, held them aloft, and in the final flash of green, Shias saw Larinath's eyes close, saw his lips curve in a sad, distant smile.

They vanished.