Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Riannoc felt Trahearne before he saw him. Through the sudden rush of terror and horror, sickness and pain, Riannoc sensed him. It was different from the other times, the small pangs of sorrow, fear, and loneliness that echoed through him on a regular basis. No, this was most definitely different.

It was sharp, a constant pain resonating across the Dream. It could have been, perhaps, that Trahearne’s emotions were simply stronger, but something inside Riannoc knew that wasn’t the case.

Trahearne was close.

And he was terrified.

For a brief moment, Riannoc looked over at Niamh. She still stood in her fighting stance, as she had for much of their practise, and her sword was still poised to strike. But her eyes were wide and in them, Riannoc could see the pain he felt inside himself.

Then they were both running. Riannoc was faster, his fear for his beloved driving him to almost unnatural speeds. His heart hammered in his chest as he charged through the trees, ignoring the slight cuts and wounds he received from the branches. Such pains were nothing compared to the sensations that Trahearne was feeling.

"Riannoc!"

Riannoc felt a different sort of terror shoot through him at the sound of that pained cry, and he ran even faster. Ahead he heard the sound of someone falling, pushing through the last of the trees to see Trahearne’s form lying limp upon the ground.

"Trahearne!" He shouted as he skidded to the ground beside him, turning over his beloved’s unconscious form and holding it close. His forehead creased with worry and he felt tears well in his eyes. "Trahearne please…"

"By the Pale Tree…" Niamh whispered. The fear in her was easily heard, voice breaking as her hands clenched into trembling fists. Riannoc choked, unable to bring himself to speak again as he felt sobs of terror rising in his throat.

Trahearne was not still in Riannoc’s arms, throes of fear sending his body into tremors, Riannoc tightened his arms around him, pulling him closer to his chest before forcing his own shuddering form to stand. He turned to Niamh.
"Mother," she said, swallowing thickly. "We must take him to Mother."

Riannoc managed to give her a nod before setting off once more, charging back the way he had come. Niamh’s footfalls indicated she was close behind, and the two and their unconscious brother ran back through the trees.

"My children…"

Riannoc did not pause even as the Pale Tree’s voice spoke in his mind, her warm voice only increasing his speed, fueling him toward his purpose.

"I must save him, I must save him, I must I must I must!"

Bursting out of the trees, Riannoc sped along the still new paths within the Grove, leaping over roots and smaller plants towards the base of the towering white tree before him. The tree itself glowed, the light itself reaching out to embrace him, his sister, and his beloved.

"Mother, Trahearne is-"

Niamh broke off as the light became overwhelming, bursting out before turning inward and taking form. Light turned to leaves and petals, and then the avatar of the Mother Tree stood before them, arms outstretched.

"Bring him to me, my children," she said, and Riannoc obeyed her. Face lined with his own fear as well as that which stemmed from Trahearne, he laid his trembling beloved at the Pale Tree’s feet. She knelt beside them both, a gentle hand resting itself on Trahearne’s face.

"Mother, what has happened to him?" Niamh asked, knuckles pale as she still clenched her practise sword in hand. The Pale Tree did not turn from Trahearne, closing her eyes as she stroked his cheek.

"His Wyld Hunt leads him to dark places, my daughter," she sighed, sorrow welling inside her. "He is still young, still new to the world and the shadows it contains. Yet he has ventured into one of the foulest all, and it holds onto his mind even as his body returns to us."

Riannoc remained silent, eyes locked on Trahearne’s closed ones. His hand gripped the other’s shivering one, heart hammering within his chest. Even in the presence of the Mother Tree he could not shake the fear that held him. Whether it was his own or Trahearne’s, it no longer mattered. All he knew was that it consumed them both.

"Is this what Orr has done to him?" he managed to choke out, tears falling unheeded down his cheeks. His eyes still focused on Trahearne, he saw the marks he had missed before. Cuts and bruises, dried sap clinging to his body. The leaf and bark of his body worn and pale, wilting in parts as he trembled. "If this is what the first journey has done, then what will the next do? And the one after that? What will become of-"

He fell silent once more as the Pale Tree reached out a hand and touched his own cheek. Her fingers softly wiped his tears away, her own eyes sparkling with sadness. Yet within them he saw her hope and her warmth, and above all her faith in Trahearne.

"It is his Wyld Hunt, Riannoc," she whispered. "One which I do not doubt he has the strength to complete." She paused for but a moment, before dropping her hand to hold his own, gently removing it from Trahearne’s fingers. "The Dream has placed its burdens upon both of you, because it knows you have the power within you to complete them."

"I know, Mother, but I cannot bear to see him like this."

The Pale Tree looked upon him, before she let his hand fall back to Trahearne’s and smiled at him. It did not hold any joy, but rather a sorrow Riannoc was not sure he truly understood, even as his beloved’s fear still grew within his soul.

"Then we must stand by him so that he has the strength to overcome this darkness. For with love, honour, and loyalty, there is nothing that cannot be defeated. No servants of evil that cannot be defeated. No plague or corruption that cannot be cleansed."

"Ai, Mother, we must stand strong," Niamh said, finding both her voice and her strength once more. Riannoc turned to look at her for a moment, his sister of Noon. She radiated with fiery strength, her grip on her sword loosened to what was appropriate for a warrior.

"You are right," he murmured, his gaze turning back to Trahearne. "This is his duty, as I have my own." Leaving a chaste kiss on his beloved’s lips, he stood once more. "I shall not allow any evil, servant or master, lone beast or army, to go unchecked or unchallenged."

"This is what the Dream asks of me, and I will see it fulfiled. For the Pale Tree and Tyria…"

Looking back down upon Trahearne, he still felt the faint pangs of fear within himself.

"And in the name of love itself, I will see it fulfiled for you. So that you may not have to feel such fear ever again."

Both he and Niamh stood silent before the Pale Tree as she held Trahearne in her arms. Then she looked up and spoke once more.

"Niamh, please tell the others that Trahearne has returned and his safe in my arms. All would have felt his fear, and I would see their own allayed. Riannoc, I would ask that you remain."

Both nodded, before Niamh spun on her hell and walked off in search of her other siblings. Riannoc stayed standing before the Mother Tree. He watched as her avatar slowly began to fade, diminishing back into the light of the white tree behind her.

"Take Trahearne in your arms and rest, my dear. For it is as I said. In the face of love, the shadows of any place, even Orr, shall falter and fail.

Riannoc did as he was bid, for it was nothing more than what he desired as well. Amidst the Mother Tree’s roots, his arms holding Trahearne to his chest, he let himself fall into a warm reverie.

And as the other’s trembling finally ceased, Riannoc knew Trahearne had fallen into the same warmth as he.

Chapter Text

Trahearne couldn’t sleep. No matter how he shifted and turned, how he pulled the soft petals of his blanket around his form, he found neither his body nor his mind would find any peace.

Instead images of darker places surfaced in his mind, fresh memories of lumbering, rotted forms and a land ancient and dead. The moaning drones of its inhabitants echoed in his mind, and his toes curled as the sensation of walking on the harsh, corrupted earth shot through him once more.

His fingers dug into his bed as he recalled hiding amongst ruins, as foul monsters walked by. His chest burning as the sickness in the air entered his body with each terrified breath, and his form wilting from the overwhelming decay that flowed through the very core of the land itself.

Trahearne shifted once again, pulling his knees up to his chest. He closed his eyes only to open them again, shivering with fear. More images of Orr came to his mind, of gnarled trees, filthy water, and sky the colour of sickness. His heart ached at the impossible thought of it green, of flowers blooming and fresh springs of water sparkling in the sun. Of the corpses that traveled its surface replaced with smiling, living beings full of life and joy, and hope.

A broken sob escaped Trahearne’s lips and he curled up even tighter. The Mother Tree’s words upon his return from Orr had encouraged him, soothed him, but alone in his bed with only his mind for company her warmth seemed like a small fire surrounded by cold emptiness, and Trahearne was trapped in that cold.

Sobbing, he sat up. There was no sense in attempting to sleep when all he could feel was fear and despair. He felt alone, tired but unable to find any rest, and terrified. His terror only increased as the sound of footsteps reached his ears, the image of rotting risen accompanying them.

'I can't escape them.' He thought, and with that thought he curled into ball and shivered, tears slipping from his eyes unbidden. He knew he should have stood, taken up a weapon, but fear froze him in his place. He couldn’t move, he couldn’t breathe, he couldn’t-

"Trahearne?"

At the sound of that voice Trahearne looked up, blinking away his tears and looking across the room. He could feel waves of love and concern echoing through him, a loving flame burning away all the sickness that had grown inside his mind.

"Riannoc." The other sylvari had his arms around Trahearne in an instant, holding him tightly as Trahearne buried his face against his neck. The scent of oak and spice tugged at Trahearne’s senses, tearing his mind out of the shadowy grip of Orr and its corruption.

No words passed between the two as Riannoc held Trahearne, strong arms wrapped around his back and cradling his head. Trahearne’s own hands clung tightly to the other’s form, his shivering abating as he felt a sense of reassurance resonating through the Dream, comforting him, washing away all that plagued him.

"For a moment I thought the Orrians had come here," Trahearne murmured after a while. The two had not moved, Trahearne too tired and Riannoc unwilling to be parted from his beloved for even a moment while he was in such a vulnerable state. "That they’d come for me, for us, for everyone. To spread their corruption and see the entire world fall to undeath."

Riannoc was quiet for a moment, before he pulled away from Trahearne. He let one had rest on the other’s cheek as he looked into his eyes. “They will not come here.” He said, full of conviction. “And if they were to try my sword would cut them down. They will not spread their foul sickness, and above all, they will not harm you Trahearne. For even without me you are stronger than any mindless, heartless thrall of the dragon could ever be.”

"If you believe it Riannoc, then perhaps I am," Trahearne smiled wearily, leaning against the other’s palm. "But that place is…I do not know if I could truly cleanse it, not when such blight runs through the land’s veins."

"You can, beloved," Riannoc whispered. "The Dream itself believes you can, the Mother Tree, our brothers and sisters…we all believe you can. And if ever you feel your Hunt becomes too much to bear, then know I am with you. Just as I know every time I must face some evil in battle, that you are with me. That when darkness haunts me, you will see it gone, and that when I am hurt, you will see me healed."

Silence hung in the air between them, and Riannoc could not stop the loving smile that appeared on his face.

"The mere knowledge you exist and that you love me heals any wounds that I could ever receive." Trahearne’s face grew hot, and he took Riannoc’s face in his hands and kissed him. His trembling had subsided, the thought of Orr and all its shadows thrown back into the cold as he dwelled in the warmth of Riannoc, in the love they had.

"I could say the same of you, my dear." He said as they pulled apart, foreheads touching as they relished the simple feeling of being together. "For all my fear and terror is washed away when I am with you."

Their lips touched once more, chaste and sweet, fingers trailing along one another’s faces.

"I could not imagine a life without you, Riannoc."

"Then it is good there is nothing that could ever take me from your side, my love."