Children of the Stars

Hyjal, Year -10,050

(Art by the lovely pinxiedust on tumblr)

After hours of bickering, Allade finally had convinced her sister to let her braid her hair. Hikarie normally let her hair flow wild or she pulled it up into a pony tail. She also despised hair cuts, so her hair reached down to her calves. But today, young Allade had decided to try a fancy new braid she had learned out on her older sister's flowing white mane.

"You're gonna look so pretty!" Allade giggled and smiled.

"I'd rather be out with uncle." Hikarie had recently started learning archery from their uncle, but she still far favoured when he would let her use the wooden practice knives to attack hay dummies.

   "But this is so fun!" Allade parted her hair and got to work with her braid.

   The door opened and their mother walked in. Thyallas had grown into a good mother, and was now carrying her third daughter. Beside her walked Ianellor, a proud father who loved his daughters, even if Hikarie was not technically his.

   "Mommy! Daddy! Hikarie let me braid her hair!"

   "I see, it looks very pretty so far," Thyallas smiled at her daughter. Allade beamed back at her.

Hikarie gave a pained look to her father, who gave her a look of pity in return. They both giggled at their shared looks. From the branches above them, a black crow swooped down. Changing from crow form, Ianthil looked at Hikarie, "I thought we we going to have lessons today?"

"I think it is better the girls are playing together," Thyallas answered for her. Ianthil sighed deeply.

"Uncle! Uncle! Doesn't it look good!" Allade showed off the finished product, a delicate braid reaching down Hikarie's back. The adults all nodded and praised her, even Hikarie was a bit impressed. "I'm going to go get flowers to put in it!" She grabbed her mother's hand and the two went off to scour the underbrush for dashes of purple and pink rising up from the earth.

When they were out of sight, Hikarie turned to Ianthil, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "Let's go practice now! I wanna try the knives again!" She smiled. Ianthil nodded, but before they could get out the door Ianellor stopped them.

"No you don't- your sister and mother will be back any moment to play with you." He crossed his arms and looked sternly at her.

"But dad," Hikarie battes her eyelashes and tried to look as cute as she could. Ianellor's resolve weakened, and Hikarie jumped at the chance. She ran through the door, yelling a quick, "love ya!" to her dad.

She knew the way well as she ran through the forest, a crow flying above her. Their armory wasn't much more than a shed full of play weapons Ianthil had constructed for her, but to her it held the might of the entire army of Ashara. She went inside and looked for her favorite wooden knives. She held them close, her small form imitating that of a warrior.

Outside the shed, Ianthil sat on the ground holding a wooden box. Hikarie looked at it curiously. "For you," he said, holding it out to her. She snatched it out of his hand and cradled it in her arms. Slowly and carefully, she opened the small container and gasped. Inside, two delicate daggers sat framed in velvet. Black markings decorated them, and the handles framed two silver gems.

"Thank you so much!" She put the box down carefully before throwing her arms around her uncle. He hugged her back, but mumbled something that sounded like, "Your mother is going to kill me."

"I wanna practice with these today!" Hikarie's smile was as bright as the moon above them.

"Let's start with the wooden ones, and then move on to these." the large druid disappeared back into the shed before walking back out with a target dummy, "Let's begin."