#* dynamics: alleria windrunner & sylvanas windrunner / A SISTER IS BOTH YOUR MIRROR AND YOUR OPPOSITE.

[warwaged-archive]

lireesa is the more stern parent. 

because she was the ranger-general, she was usually busy; she always did try to make time for her family, but I think this may have ended up with things like ‘come, we’re going on a mission’ ‘you know this doesn’t count as family time right’

lireesa taught alleria how to shoot

lireesa probably had a hand in teaching all of them to shoot tbh, but after alleria, siblings would always be involved too like – alleria helped sylvanas, the two of them helped vereesa, and lirath was learning more with his sisters than with his mom.

they were also probably considerably baby when learning to shoot so. tiny windrunners with bows. Someone probably says it’s a bad idea bc they’re still small, to which lireesa is probably like ‘I’m sorry are you trying to tell ME how to raise MY children who I gave birth to’

she was rather conservative and in favor of following tradition, and never expected it would be broken; so when alleria refuses the mantle of ranger-general when she offers to step down, it was, uh, not fun times in windrunner spire

I feel like lireesa would have gotten along better with sylvanas and vereesa; sylvanas because I see them as being more similar in temperament/personality, and vereesa because vereesa was the youngest, and the baby of the family for a long time until lirath was born. that’s not to say she had favorites (if she did, I think she’d never have shown it and each person would probably guess someone different, bc she was good at acting like she had no favorites).

in regard to looks, alleria is the one that looks more like her mom. they’re not incredibly alike, but there is enough resemblance someone who met lireesa would look at alleria and be able to tell she’s her daughter. lirath, considering he’s said to look like alleria, probably looks a lot like their mom too. 

their father’s name was helios, and he was a warrior rather than a ranger

he was also a noble, although from a family of minor importance (his last name was dawnstriker, and he set it aside in favor of windrunner when marrying lireesa; part of it was because the windrunners are one of the families of most prestige in quel’thalas, part was because he just wanted to take her last name instead of it being the other way around).

helios would step in to prevent bad fights when lireesa and alleria clashed. probably worked on trying to make both of them more willing to compromise, and tried to get them to make amends when they fought

they? probably? didn’t teach? their children? it’s okay to feel things and demonstrate feelings and talk about them. or how to deal with the bad feelings, specially grief and anger. considering how their children turned out aksdjnakdf

alleria, sylvanas and vereesa are close in age because lireesa and helios decided it was better like that; easier to take time to take care of their children one time than do it three very separate times. it probably also means they had to deal with teen alleria, preteen sylvanas and child vereesa all at once and I pity them.

lirath came much later because he was an opsie baby aksdjnfkj

lireesa always tried very hard to separate family from her job, so she wasn’t partial to any of her children when they became rangers. in fact, she was even more strict when it came to them than she’d be towards the other farstriders.

alleria most of all was subject to this, because of her status as next in line to become ranger-general, but sylvanas also dealt with more of that strictness than vereesa

alleria and lireesa probably clashed a lot due to that — because lireesa would be even more strict with her, but alleria does not submit to orders she doesn’t agree with, not even those of her mother and ranger-general, to which lireesa wouldn’t take well at all in turn.

they did love each other, but lireesa intended to raise her and prepare her to be a great ranger-general one day and alleria had no desire to be ranger-general at all. they had that good old conflict regarding tradition too, because lireesa was very much in favor of upholding it while alleria didn’t care to do things in a certain way just because it’s how it was done.

which is why alleria feels guilty for not having taken the mantle when her mother died — and why she wouldn’t have passed it on to anyone other than sylvanas, who is the one she feels would honor the mantle and make their mother proud in a way alleria herself never would

this on top of sylvanas already being next in line for it ofc

their conflicts aren’t always open fighting. alleria did try her best to carry the weight of her family’s name and her position but she struggled with the more diplomatic aspects of it and she certainly didn’t see herself as a good enough leader. so even though she tried (mostly, for a while), it would take a toll on her to even have to try because it is a burden she doesn’t want to carry and it makes her feel trapped

and that damages their relationship, even if it was otherwise mostly good. she ends up being much closer to her father as a result — because she wouldn’t trust to be vulnerable in front of her mother, and she’d constantly feel pressured to meet her standards, that when they wouldn’t outright clash.

with her father, there are no such concerns.

part of the reason I think she’d try to shoulder the burden of carrying on their family legacy would be to spare her siblings. she knows they will suffer it to some extent (comes with being a windrunner), but because it is so heavy on her, alleria would want to spare the other three as much as she could.

which means she takes on more than she can deal with, and tries to deal with everything alone all the time, and just buries things within herself ——- which also means when she breaks she’s a mess because she doesn’t know how to deal with anything and at the same time can’t ask for help because she has the mindset that she has to do things on her own

lirath is considerably younger than his sisters. alleria is very protective of him, and spoiled him the most she could. he’d be the one amidst his siblings capable of reading her the best in spite of being the youngest, but alleria wouldn’t trust even him with most things because if she wants to spare all of her siblings the most she can, that’s thrice true when it comes to lirath

sylvanas is the one she’d trust the most tbh. they’re closer in age and while alleria feels protective of all her siblings to some extent, this is less true when it comes to sylvanas. they are more the kind to have each other’s backs, I think — pretty much the kind of siblings that poke at each other all the time and end up turning provocation into actual fights, but also the kind that can share secrets and vulnerabilities and would fight together and die together if it came to it.

vereesa is the least close to her. they are still close (the four of them always were), but in comparison to lirath and sylvanas, vereesa isn’t as close to alleria. alleria is also very protective of her, and I’m not sure how vereesa would see that tbh

all of this ofc before lirath and lireesa die

because her siblings meant so much to her and how close they were, she’d definitely want her children to have siblings too, if she hadn’t had arator at the worst time and also with someone she didn’t want to be with lol with a partner she intends to be for life, and in a situation where it would be suitable to have a family, she’d definitely want more than one child. when she comes back to azeroth, if her relationship with turalyon wasn’t, uh, terrible, she’d probably have wanted to have more children with him 

[diguerra-moved]

Holding the box, she returned to the bed. With unwonted gentleness, Sylvanas lifted the lid and gazed at what was inside. An adventurer had found this, several years ago, lying among the ruins of the spire where she had fallen. It had been returned to her. The memories it unleashed had nearly broken her then, and threatened to do so now. 

Such a small thing, to have such power over the Banshee Queen: a simple piece of jewelry. Sylvanas picked up the necklace, letting the cool metal rest in her hand and gazing at the blue, winking gem that adorned it. Gently she placed it down next to the one she had just received. 

They were a perfect match, save for the gemstones. Hers was a sapphire; this was a ruby. Different, too, Sylvanas knew, were the inscriptions. 

She opened hers and read: To Sylvanas. Love always, Alleria. 

Alleria . . . the second of the Windrunners to have left them. First had been their brother, Lirath, the youngest of them all, and perhaps the brightest. Then Alleria, lost beyond the Dark Portal in Outland. 

it’s crying about windrunners hours everyone

[warwaged-moved]

* tag drop: alleria windrunner

‣ muse { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ VOIDFORGED. ❞ ‣ character study { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ WILD AND WARM LIKE SUMMER. ❞ ‣ isms { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ A CERTAIN DARKNESS IS NEEDED TO SEE THE LIGHT. ❞ ‣ in character { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ A SUN NO LONGER. ❞ ‣ aesthetic { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ THE HEART IS AN ARROW. ❞ ‣ physique { alleria windrunner } —  ❝ LADY SUN. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & arator windrunner } —  ❝ SUNSHINE ON HER DARKEST DAYS. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & turalyon } —  ❝ DEEP BLUE BUT YOU PAINTED ME GOLDEN. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & sylvanas windrunner } —  ❝ A SISTER IS BOTH MIRROR AND OPPOSITE. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & vereesa windrunner } —  ❝ COME WHAT MAY SHE IS YOUR SISTER. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & sisters } —  ❝ A TALE OF THREE SISTERS. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & lirath windrunner } —  ❝ YOU ALWAYS SEEM TO BRING THE LIGHT. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & the locus walker } —  ❝ HER GUIDE INTO THE SHADOWS. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & willa lightwood – sunnrunners } —  ❝ I LOOK AT MY LOVER AND I SEE WILDERNESS. ❞ ‣ dynamics { alleria windrunner & halduron brightwing } —  ❝ OUR ROOTS WILL ALWAYS BE TANGLED. ❞

[diguerra-moved]

Stormwind. It had to be Stormwind. The humans had begun to rebuild it. It was a bright, sunny day, and the path to the city walls was filled with throngs of people, soldiers and civilians and nobility. Standing before them was a number of dignitaries. She saw banners from Stormwind, Lordaeron… and Quel'Thalas. In front of that banner was her sister Sylvanas. 

Alleria's heart soared. Most of the Windrunner lineage had died when the Horde invaded. Sylvanas was one of the few who hadn't. She still bore the insignia of a leader. Ranger-General of Silvermoon. Pride beat in Alleria's soul like a drum.

this bit is very important to me c’: I cry she loves her sister so much, she’s so proud of her ahhhh

[diguerra-moved]

What are Alleria's thoughts upon discovering the plaque on her statue on Stormwind was written by Sylvanas?

SEND ME A TOPIC TO WRITE A META ABOUT MY MUSE ON // accepting!

oh boy it’s feels time

Ranger Captain Alleria WindrunnerRenowned Troll Hunter of Quel'Thalas. Lead Scout and Intelligence Agent for the Alliance Expedition that marched into the orc homeworld of Draenor. Presumed deceased.Your heart flew straight as any arrow upon the wind, sister. You were the brightest of our Order. You were the most beloved of our kin.- Sylvanas Windrunner - Ranger General of Quel'Thalas

Alleria hates being regarded as the legendary heroic figure she has come to be. When she left to Draenor, of course part of her reasoning was to protect those she loved and keep her world safe, but it was also not to return. When she went through the portal, Alleria did so believing it (wanting it) to be a one way trip, in which she would, yes, protect things she loved, but also take down as many orcs as possible before she herself found her end in battle. She went there for revenge. She went there meaning to die. That changed when she was there, of course, but the people who hail her as a hero don’t even know that. They idolize her for actions and decisions from the darkest part of her life, the moment she was literally hopeless, the moment when she was completely volatile and purposefully endangered herself all the time because she didn’t know how to live with her grief and guilt. Her statue in the Valley of Heroes is the epitome of people putting her (and more specifically that version of her) in a pedestal she is certain she did nothing to earn. And when she goes past the initial aversion she feels towards that statue, the most Alleria can see in it is a monument to her death — to a version of herself that indeed died, for who she is now isn’t by any means the same Alleria the Alliance saw fit to carve in stone. 

Regardless, she hates the statue. I’m only talking about it to point out the contrast between what would be her initial feelings towards the monument as a whole and how different it is in regards to the plaque. It begins ordinarily enough, identifying her and her deeds — but the last line is different. The last line is not simply empty flattery of people who didn’t know her and had no idea of the state of devastation she was in when she was presumed dead. It isn’t just pretty words written by someone she doesn’t know, or even someone that knew her only as a warrior. It isn’t merely honoring a deceased hero. Sure, that last line accomplishes that. It honors her as a hero, as a warrior, it mourns her death. But it is personal. And the first phrase speaks much of it. 

“Your heart flew straight as any arrow upon the wind, sister.“ Even if the ‘sister’ wasn’t there, this is someone speaking of her heart; of who she was. It is someone who knew Alleria, who knew she did what she wanted with the certainty of a well aimed arrow, who knew her to be determined and deadly and not held back by anyone or anything. 

Reading it the first time, this would be the line that would make her armor fall, that would affect her in a way nothing about the statue did because it would actually reach her feelings. This is her sister speaking of her… and Alleria would know immediately which sister it was, too, which in itself would make her heart ache immensely. 

"You were the brightest of our Order. You were the most beloved of our kin.” From anyone else, Alleria might have deemed it empty praise. But those two sentences combined with the previous one, there is no way she feels it is untrue — what she would feel is that this was, in a polished way that befit both the honoring of a hero and the station of the one who wrote the words, the honest speech of a sister who truly mourned her when she wrote that. It would fill Alleria with sorrow and regret, to imagine what her supposed death meant to Sylvanas, with all the losses their family had already suffered and everything she had to carry upon her shoulders. It would make her guilty for her choice to leave (for her inability to deal with her own feelings) all over again. 

And it would be a knife being further twisted because she was in Stormwind before she actually met Sylvanas again. All Alleria has of her at this point is memories and the warning of what she’s become (and what she became and what led her to become this are both sensitive topics as well, because Alleria will always wonder if her staying could have made a difference in saving Sylvanas). So at once she’s left to deal with the sorrow and guilt and regret from what she caused her sister to go through and the knowledge the Sylvanas who wrote those words is no longer the Sylvanas she will meet when they finally see each other again. If the statue is a monument to an Alleria that no longer is, the words on the plaque were written by a Sylvanas who is just as much gone. Later, she would think it suitable.

[diguerra-moved]

If Sylvanas were to kill Arator, would Alleria want him to be brought back as an undead?

ASKS ABOUT ALLERIA AND ARATOR!!! // always accepting.  

If Sylvanas killed Arator, she would be dead. I’ve mentioned this briefly here but I don’t think she’d be allowed to live long enough for Alleria to ask her to bring him back, or for long enough that Alleria would even consider it. The moment Sylvanas harms him, Alleria is going after her. Honestly, it is the one thing Sylvanas can do that would really kill whichever compassion or love Alleria holds for her (and I do think that in spite of the state of their relationship and of everything Sylvanas has done, Alleria holds on to her love for her sister to some extent, even after Teldrassil and Lordaeron; not in any way that would make her excuse Sylvanas for what she’s been doing, but in a way that causes her to suffer for what her sister has become — if she didn’t care, or if she hated her and wanted Sylvanas dead, it wouldn’t hurt her like it does).

So yeah, Sylvanas wouldn’t live long enough for this to be a possibility, or Alleria herself wouldn’t in case Sylvanas won. But to answer your question as in “would Alleria have him brought back as undead if he died” I don’t think she would. I think she’d want to die, too, not bring him back, because she’d think it selfish of her to condemn him to it just because she can’t deal with his death, even if she damned herself along him. This isn’t something she’d do to him except if there was explicit consent on his part that he’d be okay with that and she wouldn’t even ask in the first place so it wouldn’t happen. It’s not that she would love him less if he died and was brought back as undead, it is that as much as she loves him and that his death hurts her, Alleria wouldn’t do anything that would harm him in any way, and if his being brought back wouldn’t harm him per say, if it would make him unhappy (and it likely would, he being a paladin and all on top of the general views people have on undeath) she wouldn’t do it.

tldr: Sylvanas would be dead before she had the chance, but no, Alleria wouldn’t want him to be brought back. She’d want to die.

[diguerra-moved]

tag drop: alleria windrunner

[diguerra-moved]

🌀

Send me a number 1 thru 50 for a word that I’ll use to write either a headcanon, drabble, or starter. Send 🌀 for a random number instead.

37 - Gone

She had been told before she had seen it. Amidst dragons setting the woods aflame and chaotic bloodshed of battle, there was no doubt Quel’thalas had suffered plenty of losses. No one had had the full dimension of it until after the battle, however; but as rain reduced the fire to ashes and washed the blood of attackers and defenders into the earth, the landscape spoke only of ruin and loss. Bodies of all sorts littered the ground: grotesque green skinned orc warriors, the tall figures of trolls, humans who had lived but a fraction of her own life, elves who still sported the determined gaze of those intent on defending their land. Occasionally, one of those may be found clinging to life, breathing difficultly, bleeding too much for their survival to be likely; most were already dead, heart and lungs long ceased to work. For the fallen elves, her people, her heart was heavy with sorrow. For the humans, she held both gratitude and respect, unlikely defenders of Quel’thalas as they were. Yet each time her gaze touched the loathsome forms or Horde warriors, less positive feelings filled her; a dark satisfaction at seeing the corpses of their enemies in such great number — a satisfaction that would not compare to that of bloody revenge, after she had been made to see the entire aftermath of the attack.

She had been told before she had seen it. Alleria had shed tears for her land, beloved and beautiful, not ever before in her life destroyed so atrociously. Such tears paled in comparison to those that followed the news, shed before she even laid eyes on Windrunner Spire. Yes, they had come to her to bring the grim news, even tried to prevent her of running straight to the village, yet she had been unconcerned with who was in the way or what she was to find there. Yet even having been told before, even having had shed tears for the state of her land and fallen comrades, no words in this world could have prepared her to witness the utter ruin of her home. 

Quel’thalas was her home. Eversong Forest was one of the places she felt most at home in. Nevertheless, the Spire was truly home: where she had been born and raised, where she had grown up and played with her sisters, where she had danced to her little brother’s music, where she had practiced archery until her fingers hurt so she would honor the expectations placed upon the eldest Windrunner daughter. Although the buildings themselves were not as damaged, blood stained stone walls that had never before been touched by crimson red. Much before her steps carried her to the center of it, her gaze found the first bodies, victims of the carnage caused by the orcs. People she had known her entire life. Her stomach churned, skin turning deathly pale; Alleria was no stranger to death, but to see it so close, to see so much of it, to see it in familiar faces, it filled her with a sense of dread greater than any she had experienced before. Even as pale blue eyes scoured the scene in spite of her recoiling in face of it, she was overwhelmed with terror; seeking for what she knew she was bound to find, terrified of finding that which she sought.

Please — let it be a mistake. Let them be wrong. He couldn’t have been there, shouldn’t have there. Lirath had to be safe, it had to be a mistake. Her little brother was a young one; not even of age to be a ranger yet, though he already claimed his intent to follow the path of his sisters, a casual cheerful confidence always coloring his words whenever he spoke of it. There was always an inherent warmth to her brother’s demeanor, capable of illuminating everything around him. He was special like few people in all of the world would ever be; special to her more than he was to anyone else. 

Little sun… you have to be well. Wishful thinking did not make her heart lighter, nor did it dissolve the lump on her throat, neither did it dry her tears. He hadn’t been mentioned by name, the most hopeful parts of her whispered; the Spire had been attacked and many had fallen, but her brother had not been named as one of the casualties. But as her footsteps echoed, loud as only the sole sound amidst deafening silence can be, part of her knew there was no way he could have survived when everything else surrounding their home was dead or dying, the landscape eerily grim. 

Moonlight provided more than enough illumination for her elven eyes to see everything clearly; it gave the scene a ghostly tone, pale light reflecting on it and leaving all bathed in silver-blue shades. Even his hair, pure sunlit gold as her own, shone more akin to Sylvanas’ pale blond, night robbing it of its sunshine — night or death, she thought, even as a sob escaped her lips, grief and sorrow and despair felt tenfold. The turmoil raged within her chest, overflowing in tears as she ran towards his body; lying in a pool of blood, blood that could only be his own, blood that drenched her clothes and stained her shaky hands as they touched his face. Her little brother still wore the terrified expression he had died with, making it impossible that she even pretended he was merely asleep, that unconsciousness wasn’t now a permanent state. His chest, torn open by an orcish axe, was a gruesome sight, exposing parts of the body that should never have been on display; against one like her brother, not yet a warrior, this wasn’t even consequence of battle, simply plain butchery the monsters had delighted in doing. 

Oh Lirath — I am so sorry, so sorry, I should have been here, if I had been here they would never have gotten to you, I should have protected you, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Even the grizzly wound and protruding bones were not enough to tear her away from him, copious crying shaking her body for minutes or hours or days before any would find her there, still kneeling close to his mutilated corpse; time no longer made sense to her. It could have been one second or one century, and it would have felt just the same.

She carries the ruin of his body herself, careful as if he were made of glass, gentle as if merely a brusque movement might disturb his rest; set him carefully where he would be prepared for a funeral alongside the others (she understood the words, acknowledged what was being said to her, made decisions when so requested, and yet the very concept of it made no sense within her mind, as if in spite of her sorrow and what had been made of her brother, she still did not understand the concept of death). 

He was gone, forever, well beyond this world; and yet how could he be, when his absence would make the world dark and grim and bleak and senseless? Gone; as if someone like him could ever truly be gone, him who gave the world light and meaning and joy. She had seen what happened to him with her own eyes, his blood still staining her attire and her skin, yet it didn’t matter. He could not be gone, not truly. A world devoid of the Little Sun wasn’t a world worthy of surviving in; and the world seemed much the same. How could the moon glow in the sky above, to bring light to a world her brother no longer lived in? How could rivers run and plants grow and animals live, unaffected, if he truly lived no longer? The world did not share of her sorrow; surely, then, she could only have been mistaken. Surely it was not forever, not permanent. Surely he could not be gone.

Though their bodies had not been too far apart, she only sees her lady mother when her corpse if placed besides her brother’s, her father on the other side. She knows it must be her father, both because he has the right build and because he’s so carefully laid beside her mother — but she cannot recognize his face, crushed with such strength there was nothing left of his strong jaw or high cheekbones, of his gentle smile. Her mother has multiple wounds, none as gruesome as her husband and son. The Ranger General still has about her that familiar air of strength and determination, and it is as if she will rise any minute to scold her firstborn for such blatant disregard in how she presented herself, before stern tone was laced in something gentler. Gone. Alleria had never had the chance of saying goodbye to her, departing to heed the Alliance’s call for help against the Ranger General’s wishes. Father and Lirath had received goodbyes, had been ensured of her love for them just before she went to war; but she could not have done so without the Ranger General stopping her of leaving, and so she had not done it at all. Now she would never have the chance again, her lady mother well beyond her reach in any meaningful manner; all of her family gone, in the blink of an eye, except for herself and her sisters.

“She wanted you to have it, I’m certain you know.” Alleria had known Lorveth practically her entire life, yet even her mother’s second-in-command felt like an otherworldly presence to her then. Grief should have been enough to bridge that gap, perhaps, but her grief was not of the gentle sort, did not seek kinship in one who would mourn the same losses she did. Her gaze fell to the bow offered to her, face blank; she did not reach out to it even though it was offered to her so. Thas’dorah was always meant to fall to her, eventually — everyone, even beyond her family, was well aware of that. 

The Legacy of the Windrunners had been passed down through generations ever since its creation, the legendary weapon of the very first Ranger General of Quel’thalas. Perhaps, to others, it seemed merely a bow — it was not. It didn’t have any inherent magical qualities, except for those pertaining the materials it was made of, invulnerable to time and weather, as well as a particular affinity to the enchanted woods of Eversong. A finely crafted weapon, still, near unmatched. 

Alleria had seen her mother wield it many times before, was already familiar with the bow’s curves. When she had been but a little girl, already gifted in archery but far from mastering it, Lireesa had taken the time to sit with her and tell her the story of Thas’Dorah, what it meant, what it was beyond a simple bow. Alleria had listened intently, held the bow in awe when her mother allowed so, infinitely careful in her reverence for it. Eventually, when she had proven herself both skilled and cautious enough, mother had rewarded her with letting her shoot with it. Thas’Dorah had always filled her with intense adoration and equally measured dread. It was the legacy of her family taken physical shape; and that she was to be its bearer weighted heavily on her shoulders from the moment she first learned it was to be so.

Alleria didn’t want it. She would have traded all legendary bows in the world, all history and all family’s renown, her very skills as a ranger, if only it would bring those she had lost back.

But they were gone, and there was no undoing it. 

There is nothing shaky about her hands as her grip finally closes around the bow, only the certain determination to do well by what is being offered to her now. Her gaze does not look back at Lorveth, and she cannot bring herself to even remember thanking him, then. He does not press; once the Windrunner heir secures the bow firmly, he steps back, allowing her room to dwell in her thoughts. I will wield it proudly, mother. It is a promise she intends to fulfill; and Alleria vowed to herself to put it to the best use possible: by ridding this world of the beasts who even caused her mother not to be here to wield it herself any longer. Her family would have justice, no matter what; and it seemed only fitting that she would bring it by wielding the legacy of the Windrunners. 

In the back of her mind, Alleria knew there other worries to deal with. Her sisters would not see the Spire in the state she had seen it, but neither did she want them to see what had been made of their brother and father (Sylvanas would have been strong enough to deal with it, perhaps, but Vereesa, sensitive as she was, would be devastated by the grisly sight). Moreover, her mother’s bow was not all Lireesa had meant for her to inherit. Lorveth’s words may well have been about the mantle of Ranger General itself; mother had raised her for it, always intended for her to become the General after herself, as tradition would have it. Alleria flinched at the thought, unable to guard her reactions in the state she was in. She never wanted to be Ranger General. Her skills were best employed as they were, in the field, than commanding the Farstriders. 

And beholden by leadership, she would not be able to fulfill the promise of vengeance she had just made to herself. 

There were others who would want the position, though — one other, more specifically, came to mind immediately, in spite of all that felt odd and distant and wrong in her current state. She had sought it as nothing else in the world; and Alleria knew her to have the skill for it, if temper and willfulness got the best of her at times. Willa wanted nothing more than that mantle Alleria was so unwilling to carry. She would have been a good option, if she had the wrong last name; yet that she had the wrong last name made all difference in the world then and there. Lireesa had intended for Alleria to become General, even though, skilled as the eldest was, Sylvanas was the one best suited to commanding. She had valued tradition greatly, had tried to teach her eldest daughter to do the same, if Alleria’s wildness had often clashed with even her own attempts to comply. 

She owed it to her mother to pass it on to who would surely have been next in line in her eyes. She owed it to her sister not to deny her of it, when not only was she more than skilled enough, she would thrive in the position. Sylvanas would carry that burden with more ease than Alleria could have ever done. She would not deny it if it was offered to her — she would make their mother proud in a way the eldest knew she would not. She was meant to have it, regardless of Willa’s ambitions; and it wouldn’t be right to take that away from her before Sylvanas had the chance to decide what she wanted to do with it. 

Alleria didn’t think her heart could break more, yet she felt even its pieces further shattering, knowing precisely what it would mean to pass the title on to Sylvanas. Willa would hate her. What they had, whatever it was, could not weather this. Swallowing back her tears before they begun falling once again, she braced herself for what she had to do. Even if Willa hated her, she couldn’t do it to Sylvanas — she couldn’t do it to her mother, when she already robbed Lireesa of the outcome she would have wanted. It was the least there was to be done, to give her mother peace, to let her know, wherever she was, that the Windrunner legacy was carried on as she would have wanted it to; the only compromise she could find with her mother’s spirit that would allow them both what they would have preferred, or at least the closest thing to it. 

—————————————————————————————-

Her ashen haired counterpart had been there when the Ranger Lords approached her, still lost in sorrow unprocessed, to officially give her the position. She had been there to see Alleria lower her gaze and brace herself before meeting their gaze and refusing to uphold tradition, she had been there to stare intently at the blonde, enough so that Alleria could feel the eyes upon her as if their touch had been of the physical sort. She wondered if Willa had been able to see the apology evident in the her eyes, when the Windrunner glanced at her; if she would have understood it. If Willa had understood her demeanor to be apologetic, she had given no such acknowledgement. Throughout the war they had only pushed each other away, grown more distant than ever before. Perhaps it was for the best; perhaps it would make it simpler to live with her absence, having been offered distancing in smaller dose. 

“While it would have been the Ranger General’s wishes, I do not intend to accept it.” Silent shock had been the prevalent reaction, but even without looking at her, Alleria could see the glimpse of hope in Willa’s blue eyes only through imagining it. It did not make it simpler to finish speaking her part. The blonde breathed, deep, swallowing hard, hands closed in fists, strongly enough that nails digging her palms caused discomfort. “My skills are best employed elsewhere… and my sister Sylvanas is better suited to oversee Quel’thalas’ defenses than I am.”

“Sylvanas is the next Ranger General, not me.” Before she had even properly finished speaking, furious footsteps walked away from the scene. Alleria forced herself to stare firmly towards the Ranger Lord in front of her, though she wouldn’t have been able to even name who this one was, looking without seeing; she needn’t turn to know who had departed so enraged. Voicing a decision she so entirely believed in should not have been so hard; should not feel so wrong, make her want to apologize for it even if she would not take it back. It was the right choice. The only choice. Even if Willa hated her. 

It still made her feel in the wrong; and refuse to face it as she did, deep down Alleria knew exactly the why. There was more than friendly affection in her where Willa was concerned, more than even physical desire they often had indulged in, only to push away afterwards. She didn’t want to hurt her; she didn’t want to lose her, in spite of Willa not being hers to lose. She knew what this meant to Willa; becoming Ranger General was everything she truly wanted, and robbing her of it, regardless of reasoning, would not be forgiven. If her walking away enraged had led her only meters away or to the other side of the world, it didn’t matter. Even should they stand face to face, Willa would have acknowledged her presence no more than as a nuisance. Apologies would fall in deaf ears. Living and breathing she would be, but just as out of her reach as all those Alleria had lost to death.

Gone, like everyone else. 

It would be the last memory Alleria would have of her for a thousand years.

[warwaged-archive]

why didn't alleria want to become ranger-general? does she wish that she had changed her mind considering all that happened, especially with sylvanas?

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE MUSES // I live for those literally always accepting!

She never wanted to become ranger-general, even though that was pretty much what everyone expected would happen. She is more comfortable in the middle of action than she ever is with planning and commanding; and it’s not even that she can’t do that, because she is a capable leader when she has to be, yet leading is not really what she’s interested in doing or in her comfort zone for the most part. Not only that, Ranger-General is a position of power in Quel’thalas, not only related to rangers; the Ranger-General is responsible for their defenses and military forces at large. 

Alleria wouldn’t have the patience to deal with ceremonies, she is terrible with diplomacy and politics, she did not treat the king with due respect, and then as well as now, she does what she thinks is necessary, even if it’s dangerous or against the rules. And those are all shortcomings she’s always been aware of --- in no small part, the way I see it, precisely because she was supposed to inherit her mother’s position, and so I can’t see Lireesa not having done her best to train her for that (I was pretty sure that was an actual thing that happened but it might be a headcanon since I can’t find it anywhere, I no longer know, it is regardless relevant to my portrayal of Alleria, so: Lireesa offers to step down at some point before she dies, and Alleria refuses to assume the mantle, so I do think her mother meant for her to be Ranger-General and would have tried to make sure she was ready for it). 

So sure, Alleria can deal with battle plans and how to best employ her forces and where, and as far as defending Quel’thalas went I’m certain she’d do well; but anything else that came with the job she didn’t think she was the best person to deal with it, and Alleria was never really an ambitious person, so she is 100% okay with not taking a position she doesn’t think it’s what suits her best. She can defend Quel’thalas better as a Ranger-Captain, a position in which she can employ all the skills that she has and would be well suited for a General but at the same time a position where those shortcomings that may be actual problems don’t matter as much.

And she’s a lot freer which is always important to her. At the heart of the issue this is it: she’s wild and she likes her freedom and she wouldn’t have it as Ranger-General, not in the ways that are important to her. 

Still, while those are all relevant as to why her decision would have been made even before her mother’s death, when she actually refuses it and Sylvanas assumes the position instead there’s even more. Alleria blames herself for her family’s death nearly as much (in fact more, I’d say) than she blames the Horde. She made the decision to leave Quel’thalas with those rangers that would follow her and go help the Alliance; she made the decision to listen to Turalyon and not go out on her own to try to reach Quel’thalas and give them a chance to prepare for the Horde (which, yes, he had good reasons to tell her not to, it was stupid and she’d probably die, but even if you tell her that right after her family died it’ll be like talking to a wall because she just won’t listen. can’t hear you, too deeply buried in guilt). Quel’thalas was supposed to send only a token force but she disobeyed the king (and presumably her mother too, given she states she’s there on her own when first meeting Lothar), and maybe it wouldn’t have made a difference if they were there, but what if it would? What if she had at the very least tried to reach them and they had known? But she didn’t and they are dead and surely if she had been better or tried harder or at least listened, surely they wouldn’t be all dead.

 In no small part, her impulsiveness and unwillingness to compromise, her willful nature and just doing what she thinks is right, is to blame for her family’s death, or so she thinks back then; she feels utterly unworthy of assuming her mother’s mantle, well beyond just understanding her shortcomings. She keeps failing people; she absolutely can’t be the Ranger-General and fail again. 

Funnily enough, she’s ten times more impulsive and unwilling to compromise and stubborn and just doing her own thing afterwards, but anyways

On top of that, she knows Sylvanas would do better as Ranger-General than she would, because her sister, while not a better archer, is certainly the superior tactician and commander the way Alleria sees it. And Sylvanas might actually want the position, while Alleria absolutely doesn’t. She believes in her sister in a way she doesn’t believe in herself in that regard; it is Sylvanas that would make a good Ranger-General, and Sylvanas that would make their mother proud.

All of that said, this is about her mindset when she made that decision. When she returns to Azeroth and learns of what happened to Quel’thalas and to Sylvanas specifically, I do think she would regret not having taken the position, or at least stayed on Azeroth. Whatever canon says, I think it’d be Lirath all over again in regards to how Alleria would feel -- she wasn’t there when her sibling needed her, and they died because of it. She could have been there, she could have made a difference, she could not save everyone maybe but she could have saved them, except she wasn’t there and when she returns it’s much too late. But Alleria is a lot more mature and less likely to break down and go on a murder spree in attempted genocide out of grief these days, so that guilt she just keeps to herself even if she doesn’t know how to let go of it (and doesn’t even try, because there is a degree of self-inflicted pain as punishment in that as well). She’s capable of understanding now that logically it may not have made any difference at all, that it may only have ended up with them both dead instead, but the what ifs never stop gnawing at her completely, and knowing what happens to her sister she surely would have made a different choice.

[warwaged-archive]

Does Alleria have any thoughts & opinions™ on Nathanos or more specifically his relationship with Sylvanas

TALK HEADCANONS TO ME // pls I wanna talk about my muses!

Her thoughts and opinions are that he’s a smelly zombie man and she’d have enjoyed fighting him in Lordaeron more if she actually did get a chance to kick his ass

andfkjadsnfakjdfn

In truth it’s? Complicated? Alleria and Nathanos likely did meet before she disappeared, in the brief time between the end of the Second War and her departure for the Dark Portal, but Alleria? Wasn’t in the headspace to care for anyone she didn’t already care for, or to hate anything that wasn’t orcs. Usually, she’d probably have been very invested in learning about him and What Were His Intentions With Her Sister but it was unusual times for her, and on top of that she had a baby to care about and orcs to kill. Lots of things that kept her from really caring to properly know Nathanos I think. Also she was actively avoiding remembering Turalyon existed and having her sister date a human from Lordaeron wasn’t helping. She’d probably have leaned more towards antagonistic when/if they interacted, but unlike the rest of the Farstriders that were just being petty and prejudiced, it’s because of his relationship with Sylvanas --- at first, when he became a Farstrider, she’d be pretty neutral about him I’d think. It really is just when he and Sylvanas are involved that Alleria grows antagonistic towards him.

Precisely because his relationship with Sylvanas reminds her of things she’d rather forget. Much of her initial resistance against getting involved with Turalyon isn’t that she’s not interested --- it’s that he’s human. And even if she doesn’t think him lesser for it, she just thinks there are too many incompatibilities; she’s lived more than he ever will, and that to Alleria means there’s already a huge gap that can’t really be bridged, because he’ll never know things and love things and understand things like someone who’s lived like, three hundred years. And, beyond that, the short life means she’d get left behind; he’d wither and die in less than a century, and she’d stay and have to deal with the pain and the loss. And if Alleria fears for herself in that sense, she also fears for Sylvanas, because this is all true for her too. Even if Nathanos and her don’t have any problems with possible incompatibilities otherwise, he’s still bound to die before Sylvanas, and hurt her sister’s feelings in the process. 

That’s just very selfish of him. 

So she never really gave him a chance, and never really got to see the best aspects of him or his relationship with Sylvanas. When she comes back, two things about all of that would come to mind: 1. isn’t it funny how she dreaded the possibility of loving someone that’d inevitably be taken from her, and feared the same for Sylvanas, but now here they are, living forever? (at prices c: that probably c: they’d all be better c: not having paid c:) 2. wow he stuck with her even now. Even death didn’t drive them apart. He’s still loyal and dedicated to Sylvanas. And specially before she met her sister again, when she still held on to the tiny bit of hope her sister would still be herself, that’d actually have meant a lot for Alleria. Sylvanas wasn’t entirely alone; she had someone who loved her no matter what.

Kinda makes you wonder how it feels :///

ANYWAYS! That quickly comes to not be that relevant anymore when she meets Sylvanas and is convinced her sister is gone, though, and then Alleria is half convinced the undead are bound to be twisted mockeries of their former selves, so she wouldn’t expect Nathanos to be an exception --- and when they actually meet again, that seems to her like the correct assumption, with how he’s taunting the Alliance, and then specifically her, when they’re in Lordaeron to fight because Sylvanas burned the fucking World Tree. And by then, I think his relationship with Sylvanas doesn’t really matter the way she sees it, because she’d just think it is also a twisted mockery of whatever it was in life, just like they themselves are.

[warwaged-archive]

TAG DROP: ALLERIA MISC.