Warcraft The Two Princes

"You would be wise not to..."  
The words rung in Anduin's ears and mind like the ringing of a faint bell, a noise he had grown to fear. There was nothing malevolent about a bell itself, but there was certainly an evil in the Divine Bell, and in Garrosh. The object could be reclaimed, but the actions of that day never could. Healing can take a very long time.

Anduin sometimes wondered if his injuries would ever heal. He was very lucky to be alive. Very lucky to be a prince mentored by The Prophet himself. Even with the miraculous recovery he had made, Anduin still hurt. His body still broken, and his soul scarred by the evil he had seen, and hardly lived through.

It was becoming clearer to Anduin now that trust is something earned. It is not to be given lightly, and it is to be questioned. Without questions, how can one find answers? This time spent with Wrathion, The Black Prince, had Anduin asking a lot of questions.

Wrathion was a black dragon, and Anduin had some very unpleasant memories about black dragons. Onyxia, the black, had deceived his kingdom, plotted his father's disappearance, caused the formation of the Defias Brotherhood, and kidnapped Anduin to her lair. So much devastation caused by one individual. An individual that can also fly, breathe fire, demolish buildings with a sweep of her tail, and was corrupted by the tainted blood of Neltharion the Earth Warder.

But something was so strangely different about this new individual. This new black dragon was almost...just. Almost...understanding.

"You would be wise not to..."

Anduin didn't trust Wrathion. He refused to. No matter the excitement of an uncorrected black dragon. No matter the intriguing conversations they had been having about the war, values, principals...

He was learning more about this black dragon, and had the faint feeling be was making an impression on Wrathion. Some of the Light in Anduin was sinking into Wrathion, and he supposed Wrathion was slowly teaching Anduin to be less soft.

To redeem is to teach someone to do better in the future, he supposed. Perhaps Wrathion would redeem the entire black dragonflight that Deathwing had damned. Perhaps help redeem all of Azeroth.

He remembered a conversation he had witnessed between Wrathion and a young hero of the Alliance. Anduin was suspicious of their intentions but Wrathion had stated his goal was world peace. Anduin couldn't tell if Wrathion was serious or sarcastic, and suspected the champion couldn't tell either. Wrathion often talked about his love for the planet, and seemed very protective. He seemed haunted by the idea that the Burning Legion might, and probably would, return. The Dark Titan, Sargeras, had a personal score to settle with the races of Azeroth. His remaining general, Kil'Jaeden, undoubtedly wanted vengeance for his defeat.

And now the aspects were mortal. What did that mean for someone like Wrathion? Born free of the corruption his kind had been damned to, but some day, Wrathion would die. There was no comparisons for Anduin. Human lives were short, and he couldn't begin to understand how terrified Wrathion must be, knowing that his world would not have his protection some day.

His world. Almost as if Azeroth were Wrathion's child. In a strange way it wasn't far from the truth. Wrathion was born pure because of titan magic. The titans were a part of him.

The Thunder King had been slain, and Wrathion had devoured the black heart. Watching the Black Prince eat, raw, the heart of the mogu tyrant had sickened Anduin, but the vision Wrathion had encountered intrigued him. And now, Wrathion was infused with more titan power.

"I don't trust you," Anduin had stated bluntly, perhaps too many times to count.  
"You would be wise not to..."

Anduin was not about to believe Wrathion would betray the world for his own agendas, as his father, Deathwing, had. Wrathion was not corrupted. But he certainly wasn't sharing everything he knew. It was likely, in Anduin mind, that a black dragon might see the lives of mortals as a just sacrifice if it meant the continuation of the planet Azeroth. In a black dragons mind, more mortals can be made. Anduin understood, but disagreed. And thus would not place trust in Wrathion.

Candle light flickered across the dark wooden ceiling. Wrathion was awake, perhaps reading, on the other side of a divider placed in the middle of the room. Wrathion was silent. Cricket chirping echoed softly off the mountain side and in through the window. Soothing as it was, Anduin was awake. He struggled to sit up in bed. His injuries were flailing in pain tonight, probably from the mental stress. He ended up making a lot of noise. A pandaren appeared at the top of the stairs seeming worried and hastily came to Anduin's aid. "Thank you, I am all right," Anduin assured him, "I just want to go to the window for fresh air." Anduin made a nod with his head and the pandaren understood he was not needed. Anduin picked up a small walking stick near his bed and leaned on it as he made his way to the window and rested heavily against the sill. The air was cool. The moon shone brightly on the mist blanketed grass of the mountain passage. The soft rustling of the trees glittereed in the pale blue light.

"Both the night elves and the tauren believe the moon is a greater entity of some sort," came Wrathion's voice behind Anduin. The dragon prince had not moved from his seat at a small table near his bed. Papers were stacked messily around a low burned candle.

Anduin did his best to face Wrathion. "I was still very young when the blue moon disappeared," he leaned heavily on the walking stick, trying his best to uphold a royal posture.

"Anduin, please, don't strain yourself," Wrathion insisted. He rose and offered a hand to Anduin for support. He led Anduin to the table and helped him sit on a cushioned chair. "It is interesting what myths and legends still exist in our world. Even the Holy Light is disregarded by some. We know so little about our world...about ourselves."

"Perhaps the world is still young," Anduin implied, "We may know so little because we had only been learning a short time. Look around. We did not even know Pandaria existed until now. What else have we to learn?"

"And how quickly we must learn it!" The Black Prince seemed to despair. No doubt dreading the return of the Burning Legion again.

"We should use the time we have to learn as much as we can. Dreading the future does not prevent it from happening." Anduin words rung true. Wrathion could not help the anxiety he felt, but he knew it would do nothing useful to worry.

"It might be best for your injuries to use what time you have to heal, Prince of Stoemwind." Wrathion tried to change the subject to deny his weakness. Anduin had not seen weakness, but he knew this was not about his health.

"If you prefer to be alone, I will return to bed, but I'm not having a very easy time sleeping tonight."

"You misunderstand, Prince Anduin, I apologize. Please sit with me." Anduin stayed. "I enjoy discussing my thoughts with someone...intelligent, if young." Anduin disregarded the backhanded compliment. He understood that his years were no match for a dragon. Math was nearly irrelevant. He would not be lectured, but he would accept the reality that his new companion was a dragon.

"It is said that the blue moon left Azeroth with the invasion of the Burning Legion. The legend says that it was sent by 'the earth mother' to explore the universe."

"That is the legend." Anduin eyed Wrathion suspiciously.

"The blue moon was intended to return. Why hasn't it?" Wrathion's eyes glowed a first red in the shadows of his hair. "Assuming the legend is a myth, what happened to the moon? And will it return at all?"

"I like to believe it. The stories of the earth mother, the priestesses of elune in Darnassus, they all have a feeling of truth to them. They represent hope for all the races on Azeroth."

"Blindly, you believe without proof?!"

"I do. That is why it is called faith."

That statement made Wrathion think. "All I have are legends to utilize for now. I don't know what to believe except that I must do what is right."

"I think that's something we all believe in."

Wrathion told himself he did not want anyones' trust. He had no use for it. He had use of many things, and he took advantage of them all, but trust could not be one of them. The power he controlled was more than enough to ensure loyalties of many.

But he was lying to himself, and as much as he tried to deny it, he longed for friendship. Anduin was becoming the closest thing he might ever have to a friend. Anduin did not trust him, and that was a good thing for Anduin. A black dragon's support is placed in whomever he chooses. A black dragon's loyalties are to himself. There might come a day when he and Anduin were enemies.

Wrathion couldn't help but enjoy talking to Anduin. Who else was there to talk to? His mercenary guards? No, he would insert himself gracefully into the politics of this world. He would smooth over the war between the races and combine them to stand against a greater evil. But he had not counted on having so much fun.

"You would be wise not to..." He had warned Anduin. He hated saying it. He wanted that trust. But it was his respect and friendship that made him want to not mislead Anduin. He had to for a time. He was a black dragon, and black dragons dont just go around telling their plans to the prince of Stormwind! He would be a fool to tell anyone at all. For now, he had to go on trust... something Anduin wouldnt give him. Shouldnt give him.

The conflict inside himself angered Wrathion. How could he be so weak? He told himself he did not need trust again. He did not need friends. But he did need allies. He hoped Anduin would be one. He still might, given time.

Free of Deathwing's, and the Old God's, corruption, Wrathion had been conscious of his imprisonment as an egg. He had to conceive a plot to kidnap himself in order to be hatched as a free dragon. As nice as Alexstrasza and her brood were to the other races, Wrathion had no intention of being their prisoner, experiment, and puppet. He would never let himself be brainwashed by another Dragonflight.

He had been born pure, but that had not stopped him from the natural feelings of hatred and vengeance. Wrathion had been brought into the world knowing only anger. He gave himself his name accordingly. He had lived the last two years without company. He refused to show how lonely he was.

Anduin was changing that. He was begining to feel compassion and love, something Wrathion had never thought he would experience. And yet, he was afraid he would lose this friendship. Wrathion did not know the future, but if he and Anduin were to be friends, there might be a day when Anduin would either turn on Wrathion, or his own kingdom.

That was asking too much of Anduin. Wrathion cared for the safety and preservation of the world itself more than anything, and he would not turn from it if Anduin ever had to ask it of him. It was unfair to do in a friendship. It would be best not to start one.

Wrathion's heart tore. Doing what is best, what is right, hurt. He had never experienced these emotions. This pain was not in anger. It confused Wrathion, and he blamed it on inexperience. He was only two years old.

Two in dragon years. That was levels of wisdom the mortal races of the world could compare to only with their oldest and wisest members and races. Wrathion still had much to learn, but that would be infinite and uncompromisable to someone like Anduin.

Wrathion had eliminated all his brothers and sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins... He had killed them all. They were a threat to him, and he was a threat to them. They were all tainted with the old gods through the blood of the Earthwarder, Neltharion, passed down to all his descendants. All but one. And that made Wrathion dangerous to them. If Wrathion had left them alive, they would have hunted him down and eliminated him. He was supposed to be the last black dragon left.

He longed for the companionship he would have in a brood of his own. Other dragonflights had many members, and all very closely connected. Even the Black Dragonflights former members were never lonely.

The candle light flickered across Anduins golden hair. He seemed to be waiting for a response. We all believe in doing what we think is right, but how does one decide what the right thing to do is?

"Deciding what is right, can be a challenge sometimes," Wrathion said finally. He lowered his head slightly. Shamed to admit he did not know everything.

Anduin's lips pressed in a small smile and his head nodded. "That is very true." He placed his hand on Wrathion's arm. "All you can do is your best, and think long before you act."

Wrathion certainly had planned and plotted very carefully. He hoped it was for the best. He believed it was...

"Do you ever question yourself, Anduin?" The Black Prince asked, "For all my power, my wisdom, I still wonder if there is something more I could do."

"More you could do? For what goal?" Anduin considered aloud. He knew he would not get answers to this. He would seek Wrathion's intentions daily, but Wrathion had never given them up. "World Peace" was the closest answer Anduin had for now, and he didnt even know if it was a serious one.

He let the questions go unanswered. "Yes I do question myself. It leads me to answers" He replied. He had no idea if this answer would be useful to Wrathion. He did not have context to respond to.

Wrathion's firey eyes darted to the side in consideration. "That is certainly a legitimate way of looking at it."

"You're acting strange tonight, Wrathion. Is it something I should concern myself with?" Concern would only put stress on Anduin, and might slow his healing, but it seemed like the polite thing to say. Anduin wanted to help. He supposed it was his nature, but knew it was that nature to help that got him hurt in the first place.

"I will be fine, Your Highness. Thank you." Wrathion did not have the same hot anger in his voice as usual. He seemed distracted, and that worried Anduin. Not only did that intrigue him further into Wrathion's intentions and schemes, but it concerned him as a person. His compassionate nature compelled him to want to help.

"Sometimes," he said quietly, more to the fire of the candle than to anyone in particular, "You have to put faith, blindly, in yourself." Anduin could see the dragon's shoulders lose tension. Wrathion's breathing became slower and more eased. He was relaxing.

"You are right, young prince. You continue to impress me."

Impress. Anduin took pride in this. He had impressed The Black Prince! And apparently this wasnt the first time. He smiled back in response to the compliment. A real compliment from Wrathion for once.

"I should thank you, Anduin." Wrathion was sudden. The words came as a surprise to Anduin. Thank him? for what? "Your companionship is teaching me more about the races of Azeroth. I am learning things I never would have, had it not been for your company."

Anduin did not know what to say. He was honored. His heart almost ached that he had made such a difference. "I..." he started, but hesitated, chose his words carefully, "I am glad this has been a positive experience for you." He was afraid he had sounded like an idiot.

"Quite positive, young prince. I can not ask you for friendship, but I am grateful for the companionship you have given." Wrathion began stacking the papers on the table more neatly. He made one pile and placed them in a chest by the bed.

"And if I give friendship without your asking?" Anduin asked.

Wrathion's back was still turned to Anduin. He was still facing the chest with the papers inside. He wanted to say it again: "You would be wise not to..." He wanted to tell Anduin that he had not asked for a reason and to not give friendship to those he did not trust.

He closed his eyes and breathed as normally as he could bear. He should be telling Anduin to stop. But he couldnt. He turned to face anduin and smiled, a sharp, toothy grin. "I will return it" he said, taking hold of Anduin's hand and shaking in in agreement.


End file.

Warcraft, Fantasy, Romance