Natalyia: Two Lives to Live

[natalyia]

Okay, so this is new to me but I really wanted to write out Nat's story, it's been in my head for a while. Anyway don't make fun of me for my sucky writing. This I think will be a three parter. Soooo yeah! Enjoy!




It all started on a clear spring day in terren Mill. The chirps of hatchlings filled the branches of the maple trees outside of Natalyia's window. She woke with a smile that morning, it was her birthday. She was now seventeen, the same age her sister Meirelle was when she married. Would Mikhail help to continue the tradition?

They were not exactly well off as far as families in the area went; the mother Robena had been left to raise her three daughters alone when her husband Aligary Zbrezniak passed after the shortly after the birth of the youngest daughter, Timoe. The eldest daughter, Meirelle, did all she could to help her mother up until she married and moved away to Lordaeron, where her new husband had been stationed during the Second War. After that Robena struggled to keep hold over her daughter Natalyia, the rebel of the family.

"Good morning mother," Natalyia smiled at her mother once she exited her room, "have the eggs been brought in yet?"

"No, they have not." Her mother said without looking up at her daughter. "Why don't you go out and get them then, so we may have breakfast, lest we wait for your sister Timoe to finally wake and complete her chores..." The mother said the last statement in a loud voice with a smile aimed at Timoe's room.

That was all the permission Natalyia needed, she smiled and ran out of the house towards a small shack behind their garden. She looked around before entering, she was expecting a visitor but he was no where to be seen. Sighing she went ahead with the chore, checking each hen for their eggs, soon after exiting with a full basket.

"Oh and where do you think you are going?" The speaker was behind her, covering her eyes with a scarlet colored piece of cloth. "Why don't you drop that basket and turn around slowly m'lady." There is a hint of laughter in the speaker's voice.

"Why? So I may take part in your foolish games... Mikhail!" Natalyia sets down her basket and jumps out of Mikhail's grasp, giggling "Not very good for a member of the Scarlet Crusade are you? Not even able to catch a defenseless country girl?"

Mikhail walks slowly up to Natalyia, smiling through her taunts and jokes. "No m'lady, not good, not good. I simply though you should have a laugh to start your day. Happy birthday my sweet Natalyia." He pulls her in close and kisses her forehead lightly.

"A laugh? Is that all I get?" She smiles wide as she pulls away, "please tell me we are going to the shore also, you promised to take me on your boat, to teach me how to fish!" Natalyia picks up her basket and turns back towards the house, "We are going, right?"

"Yes m'lady, of course." Mikhail waves to her before running off, back to his father's home in Southshore.

When Natalyia makes it back into the house her sister Timoe is sitting at the table, speaking with their mother. The two look up to Natalyia and smile before Robena gets up and walks to her room, calling out; "I have something for you Natalyia, sit down." She does so, looking to her sister for some clue as to what's going on.

"Don't ask me! I'm not supposed to tell!" Her fourteen year old sister burts into laughter, covering her mouth as if to show she won't speak. Robena walks in with a small wooden box, one Natalyia has seen her whole life.

"Mother, is that... you can't."

"Yes I can, my sweet little Nat, I want you to have it." Her mother walks over and strokes her daughter's hair. "Your father always seemed to favor you, calling you his little 'Kirin mage to be,'
he would have wanted you to have this."

Robena opens the small box slowly, pulling out an ornate pendant. It has inscriptions all around it and a large purple gem in the center, gleaming in the light of the room. Natalyia bites her lip, looking up at her mother. "Thank you, I will never take it off... I will carry him with me always." A small tear wells up in Natalyia's eye, but she wills it away, trying hard to keep her composure.

"Mother?" Natalyia coughs slightly, clearing her throat. "How do you think Papa knew about my arcane abilities when I was so young?"

Robena smiles, "I don't know Natalyia, he just had this...feeling about you, that you would be the one to rise from this family, from this place." Robena smiles slightly and then leaves the room.

"Hey...Nat!" Timoe tries hard to break the sadness in the room. "Did he show?"

"Hmm?" Natalyia seems puzzled for a momet before figuring it out: "You planned that with him didn't you! That's why you didn't wake up this morning." She begins laughing before pulling at her younger sister and hugging her. "I really think he's the one Tim Tim, but do you think he will ask today?" Natalyia bites her lip again, excited at the thought of Mikhail and a possible proposal.

Timoe bursts into laughter before teasing her sister; "I'll never te-ell! I'll never te-ell!"

"He is isn't he! Ohh! Mother doesn't know, does she?" Natalyia becomes slightly panicked and begins to whisper, "You can't tell her ever! It will be our little secret Tim Tim, okay?"

"Okay... but only if I get to go to the wedding!" Timoe giggles loudly."

Natalyia sighs at her sister before smiling, "Of course you will be there, that is if he even asks!"

The two giggle some more before splitting off to do their own separate tasks for the day.

[Raineigh Dravenholdt]

Awesome story Nat! You can really tell that you did your research!

[natalyia]

In the Hillsbrad foothills there is much game to hunt. A typical spring day can see many pairs of fathers and their sons off hunting wild bears and other creatures. However today, on Natalyia's birthday, Mikhail has decided to catch a more exotic game: a swan. He set out after leaving her house that morning to find such a bird around Hillsbrad, hoping to find it before she was done with her chores.

The heat and humidity of mid-day in Terren Mill can be over bearing. Natalyia wipes her forehead of the sweat that has built up while she worked on her chores outside. She sighs while looking out in the direction of Southshore, of the water, of Mikhail. She is almost finished here, almost ready to meet him the surprise he promised.

Once back inside the house she panics slightly, little wisps of arcane energy occasionally crackling from her fingertips. Her thoughts are running wild and the single idea she can't get out of her head is that something is not right.

"No- everything is as it should be..." she continually tells her self, but she just can't slip a feeling of forbearance from her mind. "Ohh... why am I doing this!?" she yells at herself, deciding it is just cold feet and the lingering grasp of childhood that are making her doubt Mikhail, doubt the proposal she has longed for for so long. At that she slips on a thin white linen dress along with a small apron. She starts to leave but remembers the box, her father's pendant. She smiles to herself as she slips it over her head and lets it rest at the center of her chest. Now that she is ready she runs out of the house and toward Southshore, toward Mikhail. Only, once she is outside she notices a large group of dark clouds starting to sprawl out over Hillsbrad. She frowns as she knows rain will end her planned fishing trip early and make her journey to Southshore inconvenient.

Mikhail had been searching through the woods for hours now and came upon the stream that runs through Hillsbrad. Here he sat, waiting for the Gods to help him. He thought that to present Natalyia with a beautiful swan for supper would be the perfect way to set up his question, to win her heart forever. It wasn't long however before he saw fat drops of rain start to hit the water in sporadic places. He found a spot near a tree to shield his rifle from the rain and to continue his hunt.

Natalyia did not make it very far before the rain started to come down, quite heavily in fact. She took her apron and wrapped it around herself and made for the tree lined stream that lead straight to the shore. The path might take her longer than she wishes, but at least she'll be shielded from the brunt of the storm. And so she continues south, her apron covering her shoulders and head.

Just as he is ready to give up his hunt Mikhail hears cracking twigs across the water. His vision is not best with the pouring rain between himself and his prey, but he is known for his accuracy and so he steadies his rifle, waiting for a clear shot.

Mikhail's heart starts to beat a bit faster, his shot is lined up, he can see the white swan across from him, and he has a clear shot for its heart. He bites his lip, thinking about how happy he will make Natalyia. Without a single hesitation his finger meets the trigger and together they pull back, releasing a single bullet toward the swans heart.

As Natalyia walks near the shoreline of the stream she notices a small blackberry bush. She smiles thinking they are a present from the Gods on her birthday, as she loves the sweet flavor of a blackberry. She bends down to pick a few and slip in a pocket of her dress so that she may share them with Mikhail later. As she moves, the underbrush snaps and crunches under her weight. She plucks a single berry for taste and smiles, just as she hears a strange sound from across the stream.

[cyph]

Awsome I love it ^-^

[natalyia]

A wide smile spreads across Mikhail's face as the bullet reaches it's target. As he starts to cross the stream however he hears a sigh followed by a loud crack of underbrush. He rushes across the water to the spot where his prey was laying, motionless. What he saw absolutely horrified him.

It wasn't painful, in fact, she couldn't feel anything but the warm trickle of blood that was slipping down her breast as she fell to the forest floor. Through blurred vision Natalyia could see a figure rushing toward her, but it was not until his face was pressed against her chest that she knew who it was, who had just shot her. Mikhail was stroking her face, small tears flowing from his blue eyes.

Natalyia coughed before trying her best to smile up at him, moving her hand slowly to the spot on her chest where her father's pendant rested. She managed to say "I love you Mikhail, always..." before the light in her emerald eyes faded and her hand slipped from the pendant, falling to the forest floor.

Mikhail lifted her into his arms and began walking to his father's house. He handled her as a delicately as he could, making sure no branch or vine touched her limp frame. When he finally made it to Southshore, the storm had cleared and the sun was shining through the clouds. He looked off to the water, the beach of Southshore; there he saw a swan glide down and across the water before flying out toward the sun.

One week later...

Everything was cold, as if all of Azeroth had frozen over. Natalyia felt light, as if she were missing half her self, her life... She opened her eyes to a room of darkness and the smell of wet stone. At that moment a voice filled her mind, it was a chilling and yet soothing presence. "Get up." It was forceful but tender, and so Natalyia did as she was told. She followed all directions that this lovely voice gave to her until she found herself outside. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness of night instantly, something they had never done before. She looked around to see where she was, and had to cover her mouth so as not to scream.

The headstones around where she was standing all read the names of people she had known: uncles and cousins, friends and neighbors. She looked at the structure she had just walked out of, the mortuary where her father was laid to rest...where she had been laid to rest. The voice then returned, as if it had forgotten something and returned to retrieve it. "You are dead Natalyia...you are undead. You have risen as many others have from their final slumber."

The voice lost it's cold feeling but felt weak and far away. "You may serve me, join my forces. You will be part of an army of your brethren, others that roam Azeroth as the abominations they are: the Scourge." The voice paused, allowing Natalyia a small moment before going on. "On the other hand, you could roam the lands alone until you are discovered and struck down as the monster that the residents of Azeroth see you as. Which shall it be?"

As soothing as the voice was, something in Natalyia's mind was at unease. It reminded her of that day, when something felt wrong as she was leaving her home to meet her Mikhail... She felt a strange sensation in her fingertips and as she looked down she saw cracks of energy swirling around her them. Unlike the familiar blue of the arcane energy she used to hold, she saw swirls of blacks and purple. It was as if shadows were seeping from her hands. She knew what this meant and with a sly smile she answered the voice's question. Although she spoke aloud, she was sure the voice would hear her. "I shall remain alone."

Natalyia did not know what she would do now, but she had heard rumors of an uprising near Lordaeron just before she died: there were apparently special members of the scourge, those that were rebelling against each other. Perhaps this group would accept her also? The answer must lay in Tirisfal Glades, and so that is where she must go.

She took one final look around her, at the way the moonlight bathed the hills of Hillsbrad, and at the mortuary where her father slept. For that single moment she just wished to be wherever he was, to hug her father and to rest. She went to hold his pendant, only she found it missing. A darkness began to creep within her as the pain of the stolen object sunk in. She turned quickly and walked away, out in to the night where she would wander until she found her new place in the world.

[Raineigh Dravenholdt]

I love the story! It's so cool!!!!