This story takes place in an awkward time in elven history. A time after the Well of Eternity had separated the world but before the Highborne were exiled from Night Elf society. We center around two Highborne children, twin girls named Azia and Eure Shadowmoon. Both girls had ebony hair and azure blue eyes, on the surface level they would look identical. The difference is how they carried themselves. Azia kept her hair long, she would flip it often. She enjoyed attention, and being the center of it. Eure was quite different, she kept her hair short just above her shoulders and wore a pair of glasses. She kept to herself mostly and was very shy.
Part 1: Grell In The Gardens
It was an average morning in Darkmist Village. Eure had already woken up and started her morning reading through a book of simple spells. She enjoyed quiet mornings, they were a good chance to get her thoughts together and catch up on her reading. Well, they would be if she actually got quiet mornings. Her sister, whom she shared her room with made that a tad difficult. Azia was never in a hurry to wake up, and she had a bit of a snoring problem. It was not all bad, Azia seemed to sleep rather peacefully at least. Often she would rest with a very content smile on her face. At any rate it was about time for Eure to attempt to wake up her sister.
“Azia?” Eure said quietly, shaking her sister’s shoulder gently with one hand while setting her book aside with the other. “Azia?” Eure would repeat, hoping the gentle nudges would soon wake up her dear sister. Azia would moan in an annoyed fashion as she sat up in her bed. Her hair was out of sorts, very messy as anyone would be first thing in the morning. Azia let out a big yawn stretching out her arms.
“Ahhhh” Azia would yawn again. “Morning sis, you sleep well?”
“I did” Eure smiled “How about yourself?”
“Eh, I’ve had worse nights” Azia smirked as she stood up and walked over to the vanity mirror in their room picking up a hair brush and beginning to tend to her wild bed head.
“Do you remember where we have planned today Azia?”
“Yeah, Yeah, We are supposed to be heading into the big city today right? Should be a good chance to make a good impression.” Azia said as she continued to brush her hair.
“Correct,” Eure replied “Mother and Father said they would like to show us the gardens today. Though I was hoping we would have time to visit the library as well.”
“You would” Azia chuckled. “You are such a nerd.”
Once Azia finished getting ready the two sisters joined their parents in the dining room of their home. The pair sat down at the table and had their breakfast brought to them by the house’s servants. Their father Sylgorn Shadowmoon started the morning’s conversation.
“Well girls, I trust you are prepared for your first trip to Eldre’thalas proper? It is very important that you two make a good impression with the house of the Shen’dralar while you are young. Important for both your future and our house’s standing within the greater hierarchy of houses.” The girl’s mother Mazurna would continue where her husband left off.
“It also might help you two find a future husband” she snickered.
Eure blushed “D-Do you not think we are a little young for that mother?” Eure replied.
“You are never too young to make a good impression. Right daddy?” Azia said, flipping her hair with a smile.
“Of course, Azia that is the type of attitude I like to hear. Now finish your breakfast girls, we will be heading out soon.” Sylgorn smiled.
As the family finished their breakfast the servants would take each of their plates. Afterward, they would head outside and prepare for their short trip to the city of Eldre’thalas. The city was amazing. The marble walls stood high and beautiful purple tapestries decorated them with a sense of royal elegance. The Shadowmoon family headed through the gate, the guards greeting them with a bow. Azia could barely contain her excitement. It took all the focus she could muster to not excitedly run into the garden with her hands outstretched. Eure on the other hand kept herself quiet and observant. It was not because she wanted to make a good impression per-say, it was more that it was just her natural state of being. Maybe it was because she learned by imitating how her parents carried themselves, maybe it was because she was just naturally shy. It was hard to say. At any rate the family approached the garden. Several Highborne had already arrived, generally socializing as one would expect. Sylgorn and Mazurna would set Azia and Eure loose in the gardens to explore while they stayed with the other adults to socialize. Azia and Eure were given simple instructions from their father “Stay within view and do not embarrass yourselves.” The sisters nodded to their father and headed into the gardens.
“So what do you think of the gardens?” Eure would question her sister.
“It’s nice I guess, the display on the way in was nicer than the gardens itself. Really would not have minded if we where put on display in the commons, or even at the gates. For as nice as this place is, really more impressed with the city part than the garden part.” Azia retorted.
“Put on display? Eure questioned. “What do you mean put on display?”
“Isn’t it obvious? We are only here to make our parents look good, it is not like we could have any REAL fun here… unless.” Azia pondered.
“Unless what?” Eure said curiously.
Azia smirked, wrapping an arm around her sister. “Say, why don’t you go meet mom and dad’s friends for us? You’re smart, could impress them enough for the both of us.”
Eure tilted her head to the side. “And… what are you going to do?”
Azia pulled her sister closer. “Simple, I have actual fun. Then we switch. Come on, it is the only way we can both have fun and keep our reputation. Don’t you want me to have fun? Don’t you want to make a good impression?”
Eure looked down unsure how to respond. “I suppose so?” She said quietly.
“Great!” Azia said pushing her sister toward the crowd of adults gently until she eventually started to talk over on her own. Azia watched her sister walk over to their parents. She waited until she was sure her parents were distracted and then proceeded to run as fast as she could in the opposite direction… then she fell in front of a bush face first.
“Uuuurgh,” Azia moaned, rubbing her forehead. “Not by best moment” she muttered to herself. She then looked forward into the bush, she could have sworn she saw something move inside of it. Azia’s curiosity peaked as she climbed inside the bush she saw something she never had before. It was a small green creature. It was really small, fairly skinny with really hairy legs and a tail. Its ears were also fairly large… well, no larger than an elves, it was more of a proportion thing. Azia reached forward to the creature. It shuttered and tried to crawl away but couldn’t. It was trapped against the edge of the garden.
“Don’t be afraid little… whatever you are.” Azia said crawling the rest of the way in the bush sitting next to the creature. She patted it on the head. Trying to calm it down. She couldn’t explain why but this creature, it interested her. It may have looked frankly terrifying, but it was terrifying in a cute way. She wanted to keep it.
“Azia! Azia Shadowmoon, you come here right now!” Azia could hear her mother scream in the distance. It was going to be hard to live this one down. She looked back to the creature and spoke to it.
“Okay look, I’m gonna try and figure out what you are. Maybe I keep you as a pet or something… You are quite the interesting creature.” Azia looked outside the bush to see her mother frantically searching for her, then back to the creature. She knew there was no guarantee she would be able to find this thing again. So she did what she thought was reasonable. She grabbed the creature and stuffed it into her robes.
“Maybe no one will notice if you just stay under my dress. Just relax and I’ll give you half my dinner” She did not know if the creature could understand her or not, but it seemed to calm down a little as she crawled out of the bush. Mazurna rushed over to her daughter upon seeing her.
“Azia! What were you thinking? You had me scared out of my mind!” Mazurna took a moment to look over her daughter.
“And look at you! You are a mess!” Azia looked at herself, she didn’t realize how dirty she had gotten. The sharp parts of the bush had left small cuts all over her skin and dress. She also had a fair amount of dirty on her body from where she tripped.
“We are getting you home right now young lady” Mazurna declared as she pulled her daughter from the gardens. All the way Azia could feel the small creature she had plucked from the bush holding onto her leg as her mother dragged her. This is not how she expected today to go. Azia truly wanted to make a good impression, but she also was so very bored. Clearly she had not thought any of this through.
Once the family returned home Azia was sent to her and Eure’s room to clean up, but she had something else she had something else on her mind. She wanted to figure out exactly what she had brought home. After prying the scared little thing from her leg, Azia set it gently on her bed. She changed her robes, quickly wanting to get to her next task as soon as she could. There was no guarantee one of Eure’s books held the answer she was looking for, but it was her best shot. Azia walked over to her sister’s half of the room grabbing a few bestiaries from a bookshelf, walked back over to the creature and sat on her own bed next to it. She began flipping through the books. Nothing under A, or B, or C… she was becoming impatient. If Azia wasn’t positive her sister would tell their parents she had brought something in the house she would just have her check. Still nothing under D, or E, or F… She felt like throwing the book she held against the wall. It was not like these books were very long, but man where they dry. Now she was just hungry and looking at the little creature she brought home, it was hungry too, or tired. She wasn’t some kind of animal scientist! How was she supposed to know what it wanted! She was going with hungry… Azia set the book down on the page she had last checked and headed out of the room to find something to eat.
Leaving the creature on her bed she headed out into the main room of the house. She must have lost track of time while searching for answers on the creatures. It looked like the servants were already setting the table for dinner. That worked for her, she just needed to sneak something out of the kitchen… Which proved very difficult with the kitchen staff rushing around the place. This seemed impossible for Azia. Just then, Azia heard a scream coming from her room. She rushed back to her room to find Eure terrified at the creature on the bed. The creature looked just as terrified at Eure as it quickly scurried out of their bedroom window. Azia looked out the window to see the creature run into a moon berry bush outside. She turned around to head outside in order to check on it… but she ran into her parents standing outside the door.
“What is going on in here?”Sylgorn said, staring down at Azia, then to Eure. Shaking, Eure responded.
“There… there was a grell in our room.”
“Grell? Azia questioned. “Is that what it was called?” Azia picked up the book she had previously set down turning to the Gs, she found it.
“Your behavior today has been extremely poor, young lady.” Sylgorn chastised. “You will apologize to your sister and go to bed.”
Azia looked down, she was more upset that the grell had been so scared than actually getting punished, but there was not much she could do about it now… unless.
Azia waited until night, she snuck out of her house and began searching for the creature. It was still in the moon berry bush it had run into hours ago. It had juice from the berries all over its face. The grell looked up to Azia.
“I’m sorry I didn’t bring you any dinner little guy, I didn’t exactly get any myself either.” Azia looked around, making sure no one would catch her outside. “Maybe we could make this work, You stay around the house… and I’ll keep checking on you. Would you like that? I would like that. The grell looked up to her, Azia wasn’t exactly sure what it was thinking, but she thought that maybe it was fine with the idea. It must have been, Azia would continuously check on the grell taking care of it year after year.
(Tell me what you guys think!)
Link to Part 2 : The Shadowmoon Sisters: Part 2 The Archmage’s Arrival
Link to Part 3 : The Shadowmoon Sisters: Part 3 Education in Eldre’thalas
Link to Part 4 : The Shadowmoon Sisters Part 4: The Final Exam
Link to Part 5 : The Shadowmoon Sisters Part 5: Farewell [Finale]