02-13-2013, 02:55 PM
Spoiler:
Oh look, mood music.
Many young Walkers try to stop communing, but they always accept. There is no "cure" to this, no deviating off a path… For my people and tauren...Walkers live away from the community. Hermits. They don’t have families. They don’t have businesses.
-- Orvisha
You have no future with a Draenei, you must reconsider… If you marry him you can no longer be a part of the family.
-- Jidaeo
The guests were beginning to filter in to the secluded Zangarmarsh mushroom cap, the refreshments were paid for and at the ready, and the wedding arch was waiting at the top of the cap. It was simultaneously too soon and not soon enough, and the little elf wrung her hands as she stood next to Andra. She murmured a soft, "I think I am going to faint."
"Hmm?"
"Faint, Andr---" She was abruptly cut off by the sudden closeness of an elf and his arms wrapping around her. "Uncle!!" Xanthe snuggled into the warm hug of a grinning Riael. He still smelled of Northrend.
"Whatever did you do to end up marrying ontop a mushroom on this.... world?" He glanced around at the gathering wedding party and its assortment of elves, humans, orcs, draenei and others, friends, families and acquaintances. "What about the rest of our sparkling bloodline?"
"I should think I did a lot of beautiful accidents." Her ears drooped slightly at the question and she shook her head. After a long moment, she finally offered, "Exiled."
"Hmm. For today, they are the exiles now that the two of us are here."
Do you know what happened to Zariel when he was courting that human? He was put on trial. Is that what you want, Xanthe? Do you want to be considered a traitor-- do you want your family to be known as Alliance-loving traitors?
-- Thalion
At Andra's prompting, Xanthe made her way to the arch and the little stool waiting to give her a foot or so of height. Her bare toes curled around the edges as she studied its rather bland coloring and pattern - it was an uninspired but honest piece of furniture and it did its job. She wished her dress had pockets and she imagined her faithful bauble sitting alone in her room. Instead, she settled for one of the jewels dangling at her hip, running her thumb along its grooved edges anxiously. A year ago -- hell, all two hundred and eighty-five years ago -- she never thought she would get married. She never thought that she'd want to.
Could she really do this? There was so much at stake, so much to sacrifice, so much to risk.
Andra corraled the party around the arch and Kapre took his place before Xanthe, tucking notecards into his pocket. The older woman looked between them, unable to hide the broad smile on her lips, and murmured "Are you two ready?" Xanthe glanced quickly at the faces of her friends and acquaintances. Thalion and Jidaeo were missing from the circle and a little pain pricked at her heart as the word 'exile' weighed upon her with its tone of finality.
Kapre, however, didn't hesitate. "I am ready," he said, and smiled warmly at the little elf.
With a quick nod, she chirped, "Yes, okay, I am ready, Minn'da."
"A warm welcome to one and all! It makes my heart swell to see friends and family gather upon this joyous day. On this day we gather to bear witness to the binding of two individuals based not upon tradition or necessity, but because of love." Andra had run the ceremony by Xanthe a dozen times. There would be an introduction to the wedding, a brief comment about the couple, the vows or oaths, and then rings and a kiss. As the draenei began the wedding, Xanthe rocked back and forth slightly on her stool. The older woman's voice surprisingly lacked her thick accent, and she gestured to the elf, "Over the length of this courting I have met many friendly faces, though none bear as bright as smile as our dearest Xanthe. She is of Sin'dorei birth, but by the will of love has found a family amongst our kind." Andra gestured to Kapre, "It has been a pleasure to watch Kapre grow as he has. When I first met the boy he was so very plagued with doubts and worries but… well, now look at him. Tall and strong he is a fine man by his own right."
Andra set her attention back upon the couple before her, sparing a smile to each as she let her words settle upon the wedding party. She continued, "At this time I will ask Xanthe and Kapre to profess their hearts to one another. Kapre, if you would do the honors of speaking first?"
Kapre reached for her hands and held them both in his own. It was strange the way he made her feel so small and delicate...but precious. He looked into her eyes and cleared his throat gently to speak, "I never thought I would have a moment like this. The chances at happiness have eluded me so many times; this very moment seems like a dream. But in seeing us together like this, I can only say this, Xanthe: you have warmed my spirits and have made my heart smile for what feels like an eternity. Our pains are shared, but so have our smiles. I wish only that through this union, we may not only remain together, but to give each other strength despite the world being against us. As you have stood by me, especially when I was recovering from death, I wish to stay by you. Through wars and bloodshed, illness and hardships. My love for you knows no bounds. As our planets are viewable on our skies, I will continue to think of us as stars bound together despite the vast space between us. I love you, forevermore, and beyond."
I am not angry at you, I have fought along with the elves in the Shattered Sun. I just did not think we'd... mingle like this. But… I will not doom you.
--Polore
She had to do this.
She didn't just see Kapre standing before her in Zangarmarsh. There was the night in Moonglade when he patiently talked her down from her fear and her nightmares. There was the sea-walking, the laying on the stars' reflections, breathing under water, the poetry. The panic of his death, the nail-biting week of waiting to see if he would wake up, the long months of recovery. Aria. The confession of love on Hallow's End, when it wasn't just a dream or delusion but a shared heartlink. Their first kiss. Northwind. The spirit walking -- his pleading for her to never leave him. The warmth of his hand on her cheek, the sound of his breathing when he slept, the little crease of his brow when he focused on paperwork, his laughter. She had said it before to Zariel before he banished her, but it was true and she knew it now: There was no other option. There could never be anyone else.
Xanthe gently removed one of her hands from his and dabbed the heel of her hand against her eyes. "...I'm sorry!" She half-laughed at herself before taking his hand again, and noticed that Kapre was trying (and succeeding) to not do the same. Andra tipped her head in a silent cue for the little elf to take her turn in the ceremony.
"Last year, I was very much happy to be alone. I did not think I would be a mother, that I would fall in love, that I would-... that I would disobey my family." She shook her head gently as she squeezed his hands. She wished she could have told him how he made her feel, in Thalassian. She settled for Orcish, "I lost you once, Kapre. It was unthinkable to lose you again. Our life will not be easy, sometimes our paths will be hard to follow, but I should very much like to be the light that guides you home and the anchor that keeps you steady through the storm. I love you for all of our long years and our happy days." She paused before she squeaked, in her Thalassian-accented Draenic, "<I love you!>"
Andra nodded her satisfaction as she turned to Kapre, "If you will take Xanthe in with all your heart, then now I ask you Kapre. Please switch her ring to her right hand." Xanthe bounced slightly on her stool, the poor thing wobbling a little against the uneven mushroom. Kapre nodded as he resisted a soft choke in his throat. His large finger reached for Xanthe's ring on her left to take off and carefully place onto the right.
Andra then turned her attention to Xanthe, "If you will take Kapre with all your heart, then now I ask you Xanthe. Please switch his ring to his right hand." She carefully worked the ring off of his finger and slipped it onto his right finger. Once completed, Xanthe raised Kapre's hand to her lips and kissed it gently. With a smile, he leaned forward to press his forehead against hers.
"It does me a great pleasure, my friends, to introduce to you and the world Xanthe and Kapre as they are now, married under the Light. Now and to never part." Amidst the cheers, the woman whispered, "To take a bit from elven ceremonies, you make now kiss your mate." Without hesitation, Xanthe cupped a much-surprised Kapre's cheeks in her hands and pressed her lips to his!
My children marry the natives of Azeroth, yes! Stars across space come together and make one world. This makes me happy.
-- Melodi