102Chapter 10: Azeroth's Got Talent
The bad weather finally started to dissipate, giving way to more and more sunny days. The week following Sylvanas' birthday gave them the first few days of true spring weather, which included one afternoon of gloriously warm sunshine.
"I know people like the sun," said Sylvanas that day, "but I have to admit that it's not really my thing."
Faith smiled, brushing a lock of hair away from her face, "That's okay. You and I can stick to the dark corners of the school. That way, nobody will see us."
The two of them were in the cafeteria, having an early dinner. Both of them had books spread across their table, trying to study. The teachers had once again spoken of their finals, and had warned them to expect more pop quizzes to prepare them for the difficult final week of classes.
"When are finals anyway?" asked Minnah, who was with them, trying to get through a complicated book on demonology.
"The first week of June," Faith told her. "We have plenty of time to get ready, but still."
"But still. We have extra work in all our classes, how are we supposed to get through it all?"
"One assignment at a time," said Sylvanas. Under the table, her leg was pressed against Faith's. It was something she'd taken to doing – keeping constant contact with her girlfriend. They hadn't been together long, but she'd already noticed that she absolutely hated to leave her at the end of each day to go back to her dorm room alone.
She turned a page in the book she was reading, and just as she got ready to highlight a sentence, a magically enhanced voice reached their ears.
"Attention everyone. This is the official announcement of Azeroth's annual Talent Show."
"The what?" asked Faith, staring at Sylvanas.
"Aw man… I've heard about this," said Minnah.
"Oh, I know, a lot of you are groaning!" said the voice, which belonged to Master Wrynn. "But we promise, it's supposed to be fun. You can do anything you want: a play, music, a magic show, anything that will showcase your talents to everyone who will be watching. And just as a reminder, this is mandatory for all first-year students."
"Mandatory?" cried Sylvanas. "What does he mean it's mandatory?"
"It means we have no choice but to participate… oh, this is gonna be a nightmare! We don't have time!"
Sylvanas was staring ahead, her jaw set, "I hate this kind of thing. Why do they have to make it mandatory? And what in the world are we supposed to do at this kind of thing?"
As it turned out, she wasn't the only person to wonder. Most freshmen were stumped, not having a clue about what to do. Some of them spoke shyly about being able to play some musical instruments, which drew a lot of attention. In one afternoon, a large group was formed with the idea to have some kind of concert performance.
"Music would have been good," said Sylvanas to Faith. "I'm actually pretty good at singing."
Faith smiled, "That doesn't surprise me," she said.. "You sound amazing when you speak."
That remark caused Sylvanas' cheeks to darken, "You're only saying that because you're my…" she nearly stuttered on the word, "girlfriend."
"No, I loved your voice even before I became your girlfriend."
"Stop it, both of you," Malfurion told them. "What are we going to do about the talent show? With only three weeks, it's not like we have a huge amount of time to prepare."
Izzy, who was sitting with them, shuddered, "I heard from some seniors that whichever students are left without an act are sucked into a large play the teachers have going on. It's the same one every year. You know, Romeo and Juliet, but with magic."
Tyrande walked over to them, her eyes alight, "I just heard that part of the junior class is going to have a baking competition right onstage! They'll have the judges taste their food and everything!"
"Now that's inventive!" Malfurion told her. "Okay so… cooking, plays, music… what else? I wanna know what others are coming up with before I make up my mind as to what I'd like to do."
"Some people are coming up with dance routines," said Faith, nodding towards a girl who was performing some ballet moves.
"Oh, dancing would be great too! Maybe Sylvanas could sing, and we could dance to her song!"
"Not gonna happen," said Sylvanas, shaking her head.
Malfurion grumbled, "All right, well, do we want to try to do something together, or alone?"
"I'd rather not try to do anything alone," said Faith. "I'll be terrified onstage by myself."
Malfurion nodded, "Okay, well, that's something we can do then: find people to join us for the talent show.. Izzy, are you with us?"
"I guess, yeah," said the goblin, shrugging. "Minnah will probably do something with us too."
"And maybe Anduin," said Sylvanas. "Ji and Aysa too."
"We could ask Dane too, what do you think?" asked Faith.
"That's quite a collection of people," said Izzy. "Let's go ask them!"
An hour later, they all found themselves sitting together just outside the Ghostlands, trying to come up with ideas. Anduin and Malfurion were discussing possible musical ideas, while Izzy and Minnah debated on whether they should try to perform some magic. Sylvanas, for her part, was sitting with Faith against the wall of the school, their fingers loosely intertwined.
"I think that a play would be the easiest thing to do," Tyrande was saying to Dane. "We could come up with our own."
"Come up with our own play? That would take forever! And what would we possibly make it about?"
"Something scary," said Sylvanas suddenly. "People are doing a lot of drama and comedy, but I haven't heard anything about a scary number yet."
Malfurion looked over at them, "That's actually not a bad idea."
"Yeah," said Anduin. "We wouldn't have to do anything huge. Even five minutes would be okay."
"A five-minute scary skit? How would we get that done? And who would write it?"
At those words, Faith blushed crimson and hid her face against her knees. "I used to write stories when I was little," she said in such a low voice that even Sylvanas, who was closest to her, had a difficult time understanding her.
"Come out of there!" she exclaimed, gently pulling at her hair. "What did you say?"
Faith repeated her statement. "It wasn't much, but I had a whole notebook full of them."
"What did you write about?"
She blushed again, "There was a story about magic mushrooms that lived in a castle in the forest."
Sylvanas looked at her, trying desperately not to laugh, "Pardon?"
"You can laugh, it's okay."
"Nope, I'm being supportive." But she clapped a hand against her mouth, bursting into laughter. "Oh, I'm sorry, Faith, but that's just adorable."
"I was seven when I wrote that."
"We'll be laughed out of school if we perform something about magic mushrooms," giggled Izzy.
"Well, obviously we won't use that," said Tyrande. "But what could we write that would be scary?"
They looked at each other, at a loss.
"Maybe we could check the libraries and see what kinds of stories are there. That way, we wouldn't have to come up with anything on our own."
"I like the idea of our own story, though," said Sylvanas. "It shows more effort."
"What are you guys afraid of?" wondered Minnah.
"Spiders," said Faith immediately. "I hate them."
"Clowns," added Anduin, looking uneasy. "They creep me out."
"Snakes," said Dane with a shudder. "Stuff with no legs is just… no."
Sylvanas stared at him, "You're a huge wolf, and you're afraid of snakes? How's that possible?"
"Everyone's afraid of something," he muttered.
"Hmm. What about death?" asked Sylvanas after a while. "I bet that if you ask anybody, they'll all tell you that they're afraid to die."
"That's a great idea!" Malfurion was suddenly on his feet, "We could turn death into a physical character, one coming for someone."
"And Death came for her, stalking her across the forest, ready to claim her as his own," said Faith in an eerie imitation of Sylvanas.
Minnah jumped, "Perfect!"
"Really?" asked Faith. "I was just kidding around."
"No, no, that's perfect! It could be like one of those… what do non-magic humans call it… urban legends. Death, in the form of a monstrous wolf, stalking a girl who got lost in the woods!" She stopped talking and looked at Dane.
Faith looked at Dane.
Sylvanas looked at Dane.
"You want me to play Death?"
"Oh, you'd be awesome as Death," said Ji. "I can see it now. You could stalk Tyrande as she walks through the forest."
"Me? Why me?"
"Because Faith and Sylvanas will tell the story," said Aysa simply.
"We need to write the story first before we can assign roles to it," said Faith, taking a notebook out of her bag and beginning to write. "Okay, so… urban legend about Death disguised as a wolf, and stalking a girl who got lost in the woods."
"Maybe a girl who's trying to get back to her camp site," said Anduin. "People would believe that, right?"
"Sure," said Faith. "I went camping a couple of times with my parents." She wrote that down.
"Maybe the two narrators could sit around their own fire, talking to the audience," said Dane.
"Why two narrators?" asked Sylvanas. "And why do I have to be one of the narrators?"
"Because your voice is perfect for a scary story," said Izzy. "And Faith has to narrate because she'll be the one writing it."
"So what you want us to do is tell the scary story while the rest of you are in the background, acting it out?"
"Yes!" cried Anduin. "Yes, exactly!"
"This could actually be fun," giggled Minnah. "We'll have to come up with backdrops and everything."
"I think that if we ask Master Rhonin, he'll provide us with an illusionary backdrop for our scene," said Tyrande.
"Or we could build it ourselves with twigs and stuff," said Izzy, picking a few of them off the floor. "We could create large bushes and a carpet of leaves with things from this part of the forest."
"Do you have time to write a whole story?" Sylvanas asked Faith, looking over at her notes.
Faith gave a nod, "I think so, as long as you guys don't want anything too extravagant. If it only has to last five minutes, I think I'll manage it." She tapped her quill against the page, "Okay, so… is that what we want it to be? Death stalking a girl through the woods?"
"Yes," said Anduin. "But it wouldn't get her. She would get to safety at the last possible moment, and Dane could howl in frustration."
Sylvanas bit her lip, "Or maybe we could leave it as a cliffhanger, with nobody knowing whether the girl lived or died. Wouldn't that make a bigger statement?"
"By Elune, that actually sounds amazing, Sylvanas," breathed Tyrande.
"It does," said Faith, placing a kiss on Sylvanas' cheek. "I love it."
Sylvanas blushed lightly, "Want help writing it?" she asked Faith., glancing sideways at her. She grinned when Faith just hugged her.
The two of them wrote the story in two days. It was a thrilling little piece of fiction, about a girl who got lost while trying to make it back to her campsite after going to the river to fetch some water.. As she attempted to make her way back to her family, she took several wrong turns, and ended up being stalked by a predator of the full moon, what non-magical humans called a werewolf.
"Oh, this is great, you guys!" said Tyrande, reading it over. "I'd be terrified if I came across this during Hallow's End!"
Malfurion held up his hand for a high five, which Faith and Sylvanas gave him, "Good job. How should we divide up the roles? I mean, you two will be the narrators, Tyrande will be the girl going through the woods, and Dane will be the wolf. What will the rest of us do?"
Sylvanas smiled, "We were thinking about adding some scary music during the narration."
"Music? But we don't know how to play music."
"It's easy," said Faith. She was holding a piano keyboard under her arm, on which she had added numbers. "See? All you have to do is play these in sequence."
"You'll have the story in front of you the whole time, like sheet music," said Sylvanas. "It'll help you pace yourself, and give you directions on how you need to play."
"We actually requested three keyboards. Two of them will play music, while the third one will have sound effects, depending on which keys you press. Owl hoots, footsteps, wind blowing through the leaves, things like that."
Anduin whistled, "You really thought of everything," he said, impressed. "Except, that's only seven people, right? What about the other three?"
"We're going to need visual effects," Sylvanas told him. "What kinds of spells have you learned this year?"
"Your basic healing spells, really," he told her.
"Do they glow?" wondered Faith.
"Oh, sure. Two of them glow yellow. One of them makes my hands glow yellow when I cast it, and the other one makes my target glow, but it's softer."
"He could cast that on Dane when we want him to be showcased," said Sylvanas to Faith. "I think that would work well, and it would highlight Anduin's talents as well."
Faith nodded, "That's perfect, actually. We'll have to get you a disguise, Anduin."
"What kind of disguise?" he asked, curious. "Maybe a tree, so that I could blend in with the backdrop?"
"Yes!" said Minnah.. "A gnarled one, like the ones in the Ghostlands!"
Sylvanas took the notebook Faith was carrying, and scribbled something on a blank page, "So now all we need are roles for Ji and Aysa."
"I have an idea about that," said Izzy. "What if we put them in the audience, dressed up as wolves? They could slowly walk down the aisles of the auditorium, and jump onstage to scare the narrators just at the end of the story."
Faith and Sylvanas stared at her.
"Brilliant," they said together.
"Let's go sign up! Quickly!" Dane took Faith's hand and began to drag her towards the faculty offices on the first floor, where students had been told to go in order to sign up for the talent show. Everyone followed them, Sylvanas going as far as to smack Dane's hand away and taking Faith's hand into hers.
The corridor was deserted, but they heard noise coming from one of the offices.
Sylvanas' sister Alleria was sitting at a desk, a magazine discarded in front of her as she spoke to Master Turalyon, who worked in Light's Hope Chapel. The two of them looked over as Sylvanas and the others entered.
"Here to sign up for the talent show?" she asked. "That's quite a large group you have."
"Yeah," said Dane. "Faith and Sylvanas actually wrote a really good story, and we're all going to act in it."
"Give it here," said Master Turalyon, holding out his hand. "We need to approve original material to make sure it's appropriate. You can go ahead and sign up while I do that."
Sylvanas looked at the sign-up sheet that had been nailed to the wall of the room. Dozens of names and several groups had already been written on it, but it didn't seem like all the freshmen had come up with ideas yet.
"What should we call ourselves?" she asked. "Some groups here have names."
"I…" Anduin cleared his throat. "I heard about groups coming up with names, and played around with all of our initials.. Came up with this." He took a quill from one of the ink pots hanging by the sheet, and carefully wrote MIDFAST JAM on it. "See? Minnah, Izzy, Dane, Faith, Anduin, Sylvanas, Tyrande, Ji, Aysa, and Malfurion."
Dane started laughing, "Clever," he said. "I like it."
"It's definitely original," agreed Izzy, grinning. "Let's sign up in order! Go on, Minnah!"
Minnah did so, clambering up on a chair in order to reach the sheet and sign her name to it. When she was done, she looked back at Master Turalyon, who was reading the story with Alleria reading over his shoulder.
"This is actually pretty good," she said. "You and Sylvanas wrote it?" she asked Faith.
Faith nodded.
"Mostly, it was Faith," said Sylvanas. "I just contributed a few ideas here and there."
"You did more than that," Faith told her.
"Well, however you did it, it's good. I think people will really like it." She put the pages of the story inside a contraption the school engineers had worked on, which Faith knew made carbon copies of bits of parchment. Minutes later, several copies zoomed out of it, landing neatly on the desk. "There you go. I can't wait to see you perform this."
"Thanks, Alleria," said Sylvanas, picking up the story and distributing it to everyone.
Turalyon waved them out of the office, "Have fun, kids."
Faith found it amazing just how quickly time flew by once they started rehearsing their skit and figuring out all of the costumes and props. There were outfits to sew, trees to make, and the sound effects to figure out. All of them spent a hilarious day in the Ghostlands, gathering up materials and playing with glue to see how they could get everything to stick to their outfits, which led to Dane getting leaves stuck in his fur.
"That actually works for the skit," Sylvanas told him. "If we add a bit of fake blood and stuff to your mouth and claws, you'll look terrifying, especially when Anduin puts that spell on you to make you glow."
The dress rehearsals were a nightmare because so many people were trying to do everything at once, so Anduin got permission from Master Wrynn to rehearse after everyone had left, which allowed them to just watch the other students as they went through their acts.
Minnah had a hard time hiding her laughter when she saw Arthas walking onto the stage in old-fashioned white tights and what appeared to be wide balloon shorts.
"What in the fel is he wearing?" she asked, stifling a giggle behind her hand.
"It suits him," said Sylvanas, only just managing not to burst into laughter at his getup. "He looks like a clown… a bad clown."
"Be nice," whispered Faith to her, although her cheeks were red as she also tried to contain her laughter.
"Why should I be? He's been a jerk one too many times."
She chuckled on more than one occasion as Arthas blundered through his lines – it was clear that he wasn't an actor, despite his good looks. Jaina, for her part, only slightly redeemed the play, looking ravishing in her old-fashioned dresses.
"There's no denying the fact that they make a beautiful couple," said Izzy as she watched the two of them kiss for one of the scenes.
"And there's no denying the fact that watching the two of them kissing turns my stomach," replied Sylvanas.
Faith suddenly got up and sat on her lap, looking at her. "Better?" she asked.
Sylvanas blinked, "Much… but you know they're going to order you back into your seat in three, two… one."
With a nod and a kiss to her girlfriend's lips, Faith got to her feet again, just as Master Wrynn walked over, a frown on his face. "I was just making a point," she said to him, smiling. She sat down again, her appearance studious as she opened her demonology book at random and began to read. Her leg inched closer to Sylvanas' until they touched.
For the next two hours, they watched as kids performed onstage. Some of them were mediocre at best, forced to be in the talent show because of grades or some nonsense, while others were actually enjoying what they were doing.
"This is going to be interesting," said Sylvanas later that evening while putting their costumes away. "More so because family is supposed to come to this." She watched Faith carefully for a reaction.
"Family?" she asked.
"You didn't know?"
Faith shook her head, "I didn't. I mean, my parents won't come, I think it's obvious. Why would they? They haven't shown an interest in me since I started school."
Sylvanas put a hand on her back, kissing her forehead gently. She had to lean down to do it now, due to a growth spurt that had recently started to make her bones ache. "It's okay if they don't come. We're all here with you."
Leaning into her, Faith closed her eyes.
"You two aren't about to make out, are you?" asked Minnah.
"There's an idea," said Sylvanas, tipping Faith's chin up. "You want to?"
"I do, but not here," Faith told her in a low voice, her cheeks reddening.
A smile, "Later then. After dinner." She leaned closer to Faith, whispering in her ear, "You'll come to my room."
Suddenly, Faith couldn't breathe. "I…. you w-want me to have dinner w-while I think about…" she stopped talking, stunned.
Sylvanas began to laugh, tightening her arm around her, "I do love it when I render you speechless."
"Why, because I talk too much?"
"No, because you're cute as hell when you blush."
They left the auditorium together, the others following and chatting about their skit.
Faith found she could hardly walk, her mind full of what was likely to transpire between her and Sylvanas later that night. Sensing she was nervous, Sylvanas slowed down, letting the others pass by before she faced her.
"What are you thinking?"
"Nothing, I'm not thinking anything."
"Of course you are. You're thinking that something is going to happen between us tonight, something big. What if I told you that I'd only said that to get a rise out of you?"
"I'd be sorely disappointed," murmured Faith, only barely managing to look into her eyes.
"Good. So would I."
Faith kissed her, nearly knocking them both off-balance. It was good, and deep, and Sylvanas wrapped both her arms around her, inhaling the smell of her.
"A little restraint, if you please, girls!" called a voice from the stairs.
Sylvanas moved away from Faith, glancing at the teacher who had spoken and murmuring an apology before she took Faith's hand and led her into the dining hall.
"I'm not hungry," said Faith quietly.
"Yes you are."
"Fine, but not for food."
"That may be, but you need to eat something. Come on."
Faith let Sylvanas guide her through the line at the counter, and staring as she piled meatballs, mashed potatoes, and broccoli on both their plates.
They were the last ones to sit at their table, unsurprised to see that their friends had kept seats for them. Anduin and Minnah sat up, and Faith slid into their booth, but before Sylvanas could sit next to her, they sat back down.
"What's this?" she asked, raising her eyebrows.
"You get the end chair tonight," said Anduin, grinning. "It won't kill you two not to be glued to each other for the duration of one meal."
"What are you talking about?"
"Oh, come on, we saw that lip lock you had going on a few minutes ago."
Malfurion smiled, "We just want to see how you react if you're not touching for an hour straight."
"We don't touch all the time," said Faith, staring at her plate.
"Oh, when you're together, you touch all the time. It's cute, actually," said Izzy.
"Or sickening, depending on which was you look at it," added Malfurion, stabbing a piece of carrot and bringing it to his mouth.
"No, it's cute," said Tyrande. "I like to watch the two of you together."
"You like to watch us?" asked Sylvanas, looking nonplussed.
"Like I said, it's cute. You're so sweet with each other when you're alone. Always brushing hair off each other's faces, and kissing."
"And when you eat together, you always give each other the best part of whatever you're having.," said Anduin. "I don't even think you do it on purpose."
"No," said Ji. "It's just something you do. You're in love."
"We know how we feel about each other," whispered Faith, her cheeks crimson.
A small smile was playing on the corner of Sylvanas' lips. The look she bestowed upon Faith was one none of them had seen before. Everyone looked away, feeling like intruders in that moment. Faith looked up, catching Sylvanas' gaze. Her blush deepened, but she didn't look away.
Love. Is that what they felt? Faith didn't know what to say as she and Sylvanas slowly walked through the halls after dinner, holding hands.
"Your room or mine?"
Faith glanced around. There was hardly anybody there. "We're already walking towards your room."
"Yes, but if you'd prefer to go back to Undercity, we could do that too."
"I just want to be alone with you for a while. I don't much care where we do that."
"I'm afraid I can't permit that, Miss Everstone."
Faith turned around, her hold on Sylvanas' hand turning into a vicelike grip. "Master Medivh," she said.
"Miss Everstone, Miss Windrunner. Where exactly do you think you're going together at this time of night?"
"My room," said Sylvanas, seeing no reason to lie to him.
"And what precisely were you planning on doing alone in your room just before curfew?"
"We weren't going to have sex, if that's what you're thinking," said Faith. She looked at Sylvanas, "Were we?" Her eyes were so wide it would have been comical in any other situation.
Sylvanas shook her head briefly, "No, of course not. We're fifteen."
"Girls younger than you have gotten pregnant before."
At this statement, Sylvanas started laughing. "Um. We kind of lack the equipment to get each other pregnant, Master Medivh," she said.
"Not the point, Miss Windrunner. Say good night and go to your separate rooms."
Feeling like she was about to cry for some reason, Faith gave Sylvanas a hug and a kiss. She wanted to linger – didn't want to let her go in the slightest, but neither of them had a choice with Master Medivh watching.
"Good night, Faith," said Sylvanas softly, releasing her. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Sylvanas." Faith swallowed the lump in her throat, "Sleep well."
They separated, each of them dragging their feet as they walked in opposite directions.
"I didn't realize the two of you were so close," said Master Medivh to Faith as he walked her back to Undercity. "You haven't been together that long, have you?"
Faith shook her head. "Do you remember how I told you a few weeks ago that I didn't really want to leave her? It's worse now. Leaving her hurts."
He nodded, "You're afraid you're never going to see her again?"
"Stupid, right?"
"No. It's normal. That pain you feel when she leaves you may never go away. Or maybe it'll fade enough so that you're not both clinging to each other before separating for the evening. Or, you know, maybe you'll just get used to it. My parents never wanted to leave each other if they could help it."
A smile, "That sounds sweet."
"It was."
Faith didn't miss the past tense of that statement, and looked at him, her chin trembling.
"No, don't think about that. Look, I know that every new relationship is intense, and it's the most important thing in the world to you right now, and maybe you're right about that. But it's okay for the two of you to take it slow."
"Are you telling Arthas and Jaina to take it slow?" she asked quietly as they rounded a corner and came across the pair of them, kissing so fiercely that it seemed as though they'd never come apart again.
"Oh, for fel's sake," he muttered before calling their names loudly.
The two of them broke apart, Jaina blushing, while Arthas looked proud of himself.
"We're rehearsing our scenes, Master Medivh."
"I don't recall Romeo ever needing to massage Juliet's tonsils with his tongue."
Faith couldn't help it, she started laughing. Medivh looked at her, his eyebrow raised, and she bid him good night, going back to her room, her fingers touching the ring Sylvanas had given her.
It was the day of the talent show. Classes were ending early to allow everyone to get ready for the performances. There were lines to remember, costumes and props to check one final time, and overexcited students to wrangle. Only Master Gul'dan insisted on giving his students a Fel Studies quiz to prepare them for their exams.
"That was just vicious," grumbled Rega, not eating her lunch. She was already feeling disgruntled about the fact that the group of sophomore warlocks she was hanging out with had given up on the talent show the week before, forcing her to join the play Arthas was in at the last second.
"I'm sure you did great," Minnah told her.
"Yeah, great at failing."
Ji and Aysa walked in, holding paws in the cutest way possible. "Families are starting to arrive," said Aysa. "I saw Arthas' parents just now. They're actually really nice."
"Too bad that they raised such an asshole of a son," said Sylvanas.
Faith turned Sylvanas' face towards her and kissed her lips briefly, but firmly. "Stop saying things like that. Tonight, when you see him with his father, go up to him and wish him luck."
"Never. You could kiss me a hundred times, and I wouldn't do -."
Faith kissed her again, using her tongue this time.
Sylvanas stared at her for a moment, licking her lips, "You make a convincing argument."
"Good. We'll be polite and show them that we're better people than they are."
The rest of the day sped by so quickly that in a blink of an eye, classes were done and everyone was gathering with their groups and their parents, talking about the talent show.
Izzy's parents were there, enthusiastically talking to Sylvanas and Faith about the skit. They didn't even blink at the fact that the two of them were holding hands.
"I told them about you two in my last letter so that they wouldn't be shocked," said Izzy to Faith in an undertone.
Faith nodded, "I appreciate that," she replied.
But there were others who were clearly surprised to see the two of them together. Faith didn't know whether this was because of the fact that they were two girls or just because Sylvanas was a Tal'dorei.
"I think we'll have to be more discreet than we normally are," said Sylvanas quietly, letting go of her hand and hating it. "The families aren't leaving until Sunday."
This was true. The teachers had converted an area of the school into a large tent city for the families who had traveled to see their children. They would remain there the entire weekend, should they wish to do so.
"We're perfectly discreet," said Faith quietly.
Sylvanas smiled, "Don't worry, I'll still come kiss you good night."
"You'd better. I'd…" Faith's voice trailed off and her eyes widened so much that Sylvanas suddenly thought they were going to pop out of her head, "Ravenna?!"
She was staring at a point behind Izzy, completely shocked.
It was her sister, her long black hair and sky-blue eyes unmistakable even from a distance.
Faith sprinted towards her. Ravenna saw her and grinned, opening her arms wide to catch her in a tight hug.
"Oh, Ravenna!" she cried, bursting into tears. "You're here! I didn't expect… what are you doing here?"
"I got a letter stating that the talent show was tonight and decided to come see it. I had a feeling Mom and Dad wouldn't come." She kissed Faith's cheek. "You look good, little sister. Grown."
"I had a birthday since the last time you saw me."
Ravenna had the grace to look guilty, "I know. I'm sorry, Faith. Mom and Dad were so stunned by your track that they almost completely shut down. I mean, warlocks… nobody trusts them."
"I haven't killed anyone yet, nor do I plan to."
"It's not in your nature, I know." She hugged her again, "I'll talk to them."
"Don't bother. If they can't accept me for who I am, it's their deal."
Besides, they'd hate the fact that I have a girlfriend too."
"A… what?"
Faith swallowed, looking back at Sylvanas, who was watching them intently. "A girlfriend."
"Girlfriend," repeated Ravenna. "This is a surprise. You always had a crush on Eidan, remember? The model?"
"I was ten!"
Ravenna nodded, "You were, yes." She looked over, seeing Sylvanas, then looking back at Faith, "You have a Tal'dorei in your class?"
"Yes." She beckoned her closer, extending her hand to her.
Sylvanas came over, taking her hand and automatically lacing their fingers together.
"Sylvanas, this is my sister Ravenna. Ravenna, this is Sylvanas Windrunner, Alleria's sister. And my –."
"Friend," said Sylvanas quickly.
"Girlfriend," corrected Faith.
Ravenna closed her eyes, "Faith…" She took a deep breath, closing her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, she smiled at Sylvanas, "It's nice to meet you." She extended her hand, and Sylvanas waited a heartbeat before shaking it.
"Likewise," she said.
"You're … okay with this?" asked Faith.
"You're a warlock, and you're dating a female Tal'dorei. That's a lot to get used to in the span of a few minutes, sis." She chuckled, "Mom and Dad will die, you realize."
Faith squeezed Sylvanas' hand, "They already hate me for being a warlock. I might as well make it a threesome."
"I hope that's not why you're dating me," said Sylvanas, her voice quiet.
"Sylvanas, look at me. Am I that kind of person? Would I do that to you?"
Sylvanas shook her head, "You wouldn't, no." She leaned over and pressed her lips to Faith's temple. "We should get ready for the show. We have to get dressed."
A nod, "We should." She turned towards Ravenna, "I'll see you later?"
"Yes you will. I'm leaving tomorrow afternoon." She hugged her, "Break a leg, you two."
Faith smiled, and, together with Sylvanas, walked towards the auditorium, following the throng of students making their way there.
They met Tyrande there, finding her in a state of panic because she couldn't get her hair to cooperate with what she wanted it to be doing.
"It's supposed to be long and flowing, not a frizzy mess!" she cried.
"Calm down! I have something for that." Sylvanas opened the bag she was carrying and pulled out a hairspray can. "I used this for the Winter's Veil formal."
"Oh, is that how you got your hair to be so smooth?" Faith asked her. "I wanted to touch it…"
Sylvanas winked, "You can touch my hair anytime. But yes, that's what I used. It works really well during any kind of hair emergency." She walked behind Tyrande and began spraying the elf's teal-colored locks. Five minutes later, with the help of a comb, Tyrande's hair was soft and falling gracefully down her back.
"Oh! Thank you, Sylvanas!" she cried, hugging her tightly and kissing her cheek.
"Hey!" exclaimed Faith.
"Jealous?" asked Sylvanas. She looked surprised by Tyrande's sudden affection, but not unhappy about it.
"Yes!"
"Don't worry," Tyrande told her. "She's all yours." She playfully pushed Sylvanas towards Faith, who caught her.
"Mine?" Faith asked Sylvanas, eyes wide.
"Yours." Sylvanas brushed her lips against hers – the ghost of a kiss that felt unbearably sweet.
The exaggerated sound of vomiting reached their ears as Minnah, Izzy, and Anduin pretended to get sick at the sight of them. Sylvanas laughed and pretended to throw a costume sock at them. Minnah ran away screeching and holding her nose, and Faith burst into laughter, hiding her face in Sylvanas' shoulder.
Half an hour later, all of them were dressed. Faith and Sylvanas were wearing complementary rangers outfits, complete with bows and quivers of arrows, as though they were going on a hunting trip. Sylvanas' outfit was made of black leather with green accents at the collar , cuffs, boots, and belt, while Faith's was the opposite, green with black accents.
Dane, Ji, and Aysa looked terrifying in their wolf costumes while Tyrande looked like the perfect maiden in distress in her long white nightgown that only just showed her shoulders. Anduin came up in a skintight grey leotard that covered him from neck to ankle and that had been covered in pieces of bark and dirt to match the headpiece he and Malfurion had worked on.
Minnah, Malfurion, and Izzy all wore robes of the same colors as the backdrop, which had taken all of them several days to paint and enchant with the teachers' help. They had even turned the keyboards into bushes so as to blend them in better with their surroundings.
"You guys really did something great," said Rega, coming over to them. She was wearing a guard's outfit, and luckily had no lines, but she hated the fact that she was going to be stuck being in several of Arthas' scenes.
"It'll be over fast," said Anduin soothingly.
"Not soon enough, trust me."
The show began. There were so many people in the audience that Faith found herself shaking with anticipation. Sylvanas took her hand, "No, don't be scared," she said. "Pretend you're just talking to me."
"That's not gonna help," she said, shaking her head. "I shake when I talk to you too."
Sylvanas laughed, "Yeah, okay, you do. Sometimes." She put an arm around her, keeping her close as they watched number after number. Kids played various instruments, a junior girl performed a stunning ballet routine to thundering applause, and the pandaren all made them hungry with their baking competition.
"My turn," said Rega., putting a helmet on her head "Wish the audience luck, because ugh… this is bad."
Evidently, the audience thought the same thing Rega did. Arthas had obviously made no effort to learn his lines properly, which made it difficult for the others to follow the dialogue. There were only two things he excelled at: kissing Jaina and the sword fighting scene.
"We're next," whispered Tyrande. "In about four minutes."
Gathering together, they all took a deep breath and whispering words of encouragement while listening to the audience's forced applause. There was a cheer when the boy who played Mercutio was introduced. His name was Halduron Brightwing, and more than one girl had shrieked during his final scene onstage.
"He was good, at least," said Faith fairly.
"Okay, so he was the best one of the whole group. I guess he should have played Romeo, it would have been the better role for him. Why didn't the teacher switch them around?"
They had no time to discuss it as Ji and Aysa disappeared, taking their place outside the large front doors and the décor changed, showing the audience the Ghostlands backdrop and the bushes strategically placed around the stage.
"And now, please allow us to introduce you to the team that calls itself MIDFAST JAM!"
The lights went out, and all of them stepped out in front of the audience.
There was applause. A lot of applause. People were standing.
The skit had only lasted six and a half minutes, but it had been good. Fun, even. Faith didn't want to believe it. Her voice had shaken for the first minute, and both Minnah and Izzy had played a few wrong notes, but nobody had noticed that.
Tyrande had been beautiful, playing her part wonderfully, and more than one person had gasped when Anduin's spell had shown Dane looking absolutely terrifying as he'd stalked her.
And when Ji and Aysa had jumped onstage, falling on Faith and Sylvanas just as the lights had gone out, several people had screamed in fear.
The applause seemed to increase as they were all introduced. Sylvanas was actually blushing.
"That was great, you guys!" cried Wilfred Fizzlebang, who was going onstage next with a few other gnomes for a juggling act.
"Amazing," agreed Rega. "You wrote this yourself?"
"All of us contributed on every aspect of the skit," said Faith. "And Master Rhonin helped us with some of the spells we needed."
"I'm very glad I did," he said, stepping from the shadows. "That was impressive, everyone. Good job."
"It really shows a lot of work," said Alleria, who was standing next to him. "You should all be proud of yourselves."
"We are!" said Minnah. "Sorry I messed up my part, though."
"No one noticed," said Faith, grinning at her. "You were great. All of you were."
"Jaina and Arthas don't think so," growled Dane softly. "Look at them!"
Sylvanas shrugged, "They're jealous. They'll get over it in a few years." She hugged Faith, who gasped in surprise at the full body contact. "You. Were. Amazing.." She kissed her, using her tongue to part her lips.
Faith's mind went blank when their tongues touched. She vaguely heard people murmuring quietly around her, but couldn't pay attention to them when Sylvanas was kissing her like that and holding her so tightly.
She was unaware of how much time was passing by. All she knew was Sylvanas, right there. Mouths melded together, her scent in her nose, their arms about each other. Little sounds escaped them, sounds that only they heard, that they craved.
"All right, ladies, honestly, come up for air," said a quiet voice to them. "Come on, or you'll miss the rest of the talent show." Someone very gently pulled at Faith's arm until she was forced to separate from Sylvanas. Not easily deterred, the Tal'dorei took a step towards Faith and wrapped her arms around her again, although she stopped kissing her, looking at Master Rhonin.
"I'd apologize," she said slowly, carefully, her mind still processing. "But that was probably the best kiss she and I have ever shared."
Faith nodded, unable to speak, her eyes fixed on Sylvanas' lips.
"I'll admit, it looked like a good kiss. But please don't make it a habit to kiss quite so passionately in public if you can help it."
Sylvanas smiled, "We'll try." She released Faith for the most part, keeping their hands linked. Her heart was pounding in her chest, and as she watched some senior acrobats going through their routine while others performed a multitude of colored spells to light the stage, she felt that everything was perfect the way it was.
Author's Note:
I've been working on this part for two weeks! Sudden inspiration after MONTHS of inactivity! I'm so sorry for the extraordinarily long delay here! I hope that you've enjoyed this part!
I've decided that this is going to be a four-part fic, going by year, which means that this first one will be ending soon. Let's see how long it takes me to write the next chapter, though. Hopefully it won't take another 10 months!
Love,
Lunarelle
