((This part I’ve written as straight fiction as opposed to a journal entry. I just thought a journal entry would lose the emotion I was trying to convey. As always Ruby’s hissing/lisp is intentional.))
Rublestrasza felt her heart grow heavy as she neared the usually tranquil Darnassus graveyard. In the distance she could hear the low hum of the elven city, and all around her were the happy, yet still strangely sorrowful chiming of the wisps. She had come to say goodbye to Sylerrinn… and… to make her amends to the fallen priestess of Elune.
Was Sylerrinn here now? Was she one of the wisps floating about the city? If so… perhaps Rin would hear her words and understand.
Perhaps.
Ruby halted as a new sound drifted down the path toward her… the sound of a man crying. Her heart tightened as she recognized him… it was Rhune Astherion… Sylerrinn’s husband and the man that Ruby had failed utterly.
For a brief moment she thought of turning around before she was noticed. But she knew that would not be worthy of one of the brood of Alexstrasza… Life-Binder and mother to all.
No, her role was clear… as it always was for her. Despite the shame of her failures… her role as ever was to protect and comfort.
Continuing down the path she could soon see Sylerrinn’s grave and the form of her widow kneeling beside it, finally giving in to his sorrow now that Rin’s killer had been put down like the rabid animal that he had been.
Coming to a halt beside the mage Ruby faced Sylerrinn’s grave and gave a crisp salute with her right hand. Her left hand clenched tightly down near her hips, and her lips trembled as her monocle began to mist up.
This was so hard… her human was in pain…Rin was dead… and it was all her fault… it was too much… too much…
Ruby maintained the salute a moment more, closing her eyes, trying to force down her emotions that threatened to overpower her. Then she felt a presence… someone caring… someone forgiving… someone who gave her strength. Was it the Life-Binder? Elune? Was it the spirit of Sylerrinn herself? Ruby could not tell… but when her right hand fell once again she felt herself begin to calm. She would be strong… for Rhune’s sake.
Turning to her human she pulled his head against her chest, letting him cry into her tabard, hugging him close to her as he cried. She whispered: “I’m here Rhune… I’m here…”
Time passed, Ruby was never sure after how long, only that the sun had sunk much lower into the sky. She too cried at times, during other moments she would coo at him gently, trying to comfort them both, a strangely motherly presence for one who usually considered herself his adopted daughter.
Finally the crying slowly stopped, both of them being too emotionally drained to continue. Ruby began to push him away as she sadly and guiltily whispered to him: “I’m sso ssorry Rhune… sso ssorry…”
“No!” Rhune shouted, hugging onto her tighter. “I promised Vissic he wouldn’t break us… and he won’t. Ruby… you made mistakes… terrible mistakes…we both did…”
Rhune sighed sadly before continuing: “So often in life we try to excuse evil… blame ourselves instead… so that we feel we have some control over events. We can control our own actions and so we feel if it’s our fault… maybe it won’t happen again. Maybe we can do better next time.”
“Yes, you shouldn’t have made Vissic an ally… shouldn’t have given his darkness a chance to take root in our lives… and yes I should have killed him in the Storm Peaks… but in the end we are not responsible for Vissic’s actions.”
Ruby hugged him back and then looked up into her adoptive father’s eyes as her own began to mist up and she asked: “That’ss what thiss wass really all about… wassn’t it? I thought I could control thingss… make them the way I thought they sshould be… change you all sso I wouldn’t lose you…”
She began to cry even as she pressed on: “But I can’t… can I? Sheer willpower issn’t enough… and red sscales don’t give me the right to do sso even if I could.”
"No… you can’t Ruby. But you can gently guide… you can nurture when needed… shield them against the darkness. You can do all those things. You can set an example that shines so bright that it forces the darkness in our hearts back.” Rhune said, as he gently brushed her hair away from her tear-filled eyes.
Rhune smiled at her, sad, but proud of how she seemed to understand the lesson on her own: “I think that is the most anyone can aspire to Ruby. Vissic never understood how weak he was… he took the easiest path… the most primal… only caring for himself. It takes true strength to shine brightly Ruby… a lesson we have both been slow to learn. And because we were stubborn… the cost of learning it has been high.”
“Almost too high to bear…” Rhune trailed off.
Ruby looked to Rhune with sudden concern: “But we don’t have to let it all have been in vain… we can honor her by replacing her light with our own. We can sshine brightly for her.”
Rhune nodded. “And we will.”
Ruby hugged him close and whispered into his ear: “And we will.”
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