Chapter 1 - The Beginning

"Hes an old kook who doesn't know the first thing about tradition!"

"I don't care, he's the best and thats who I want, the best"

Talks with my birth-father always ended in arguments in my younger stages of life, but I was committed to my goals, I would be a druid in service of Cenarius and I would prepare for the Emerald Dream by studying under Leraar Siltwalker. My logic was simple, he was a veteran Druid of the Wild, and revered for his power in Cenarion Circle and if I was going to be the best, I had to learn from the best. My father did not see it so clearly. To him Leraar was an outsider, a powerful druid yes, but jaded and an outspoken opposer to many of the passive methods employed by the Cenarion Circle. According to my father Leraar had even directly opposed Malfurion Stormrage and Remulos at times, something that forced many druids to keep their distance from him, regardless of his brilliance and talent.

One night after a long cleansing ritual in Silithus he returned to Nighthaven. I can't remember what I initially said but his first reaction was merely to brush me off. Only after making it clear I was not giving up did he finally stop to hear me out. He accepted me on one condition, I had to follow all his teachings, not just some, as they were all related to one and other. I accepted.

My early months of training were simple, Leraar would lecture me about the history of our people, the Emerald Dream, the Druids of the Wild, and of our great lord Cenarius. All the while peoples perceptions of me changed within the walls of Nighthaven. Other druids began to keep at a distance, and it only served as a lesson of what my mentor must be feeling, not being recognized for your accomplishments due to other's perceptions of you.

One day in particular always stand out among those early days of my training, it still to this day is one of the most bittersweet of my life. I was sent to retrieve water from the moonwell when I ran across a young priestess. She had to be no older than I, only what I could guess was pilgrimaging or something of the sort. What I did know is she was beautiful. Her face was a light lilac color and her hair was long, silky and and a exquisite shade of blue. Her soft red lips called to me, and when I saw them I could think of nothing more than what they would feel like against mine...

"Well hey there mr. druid!", those beautiful lips called to me. Instantly my eyes snapped back up (preventing them from travelling any lower) to her eyes. They were every bit as beautiful. They jumped out at me from behind the soft pink tribal markings that ran vertically down across her hauntingly vast blue eyes.

"Well... ok then!", she said as she began to turn and walk away, once again I found my attention torn from my fixation on her and felt a little embarrased.

"I'm sorry miss, I was... minding my studies", I lied.

"Uh huh, and these studies... are they somewhere between here and here?", she said as she gestured from the space between her chin and nose with a finger on each hand outlining the space I had been blatently staring at. I blushed and forced myself not to star once again at her coy smile.

"... about that," I tried my best to stop the flushing in my face but I might've had an easier time getting an ogre to fit in a gnome's house. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be so crude, I hope I have not offended you priestess"

"Offended? Try flattered... ", she said as she began walking away. Once again my eyes began to wander and I found myself in awe of the way the pale glow of the moonwell played upon the small of her back and emphasized her curves even through her priestly robes. Suddenly she turned and began to walk backwards, bending forward at the hip with one hand behind her back and the other outstretched towards me she made the "no-no" gesture with her waving finger and smiled knowingly at me. She gave me a wink before finally turning forward again and calling out, "Name's Anthra, mr. druid, and you better pray to Elune my sister doesn't find where your current "studies" lie!"

When I finally returned with the water from the moonwell my master was waiting, silently watching out the window.

"By Cenarius boy, what took you so long?" I could tell by the tone in his voice the question was completely rhetorical. He already knew of the exchange I had and wanted to hear about it from me. I handed him the vial as I contemplated how to best answer his question.

"I was held up by a priestess of Elune who was by the moonwell when I...", I was interrupted by the sound of the vial smashing against the wall, shards from the impact nearly missing us both. The water from the vial splattered across Leraar's face, his expression contorted in anger.

"What you WERE was ENAMORED!", he shouted. "Just how is it, do you suppose, your feelings of "love" and infatuation are supposed to help you in the Emerald Dream? How is distraction supposed to help your focus? Attachment is foolish, and only a FOOL greets Ysera without the respect of a devoted mind!"

I was in shock. Never before had my teacher screamed at me in such a way. After a few moments I wiped the slack-jaw expression from my face and tried to assuage him.

"Master, I..."

"I'm sorry Ueki, I let my feelings get the better of me. I assure you it is just as unbecoming as your fault, and for that I apologize.", he began, the anger now completely gone from his face. "What was important was you preformed your task, which I unceremoniously ruined. Thankfully the task did not require the water to begin with."

"It didn't?", I asked quizzically.

"No, it simply involves following directions, and later, exploration...", He began what was a long discussion about the existance of moonwells and our own involvement with the Norgdrassil, and its Well of Eternity. Even as he went on, I felt a guilty but my thoughts would turn to that girl now and then, although I would not see her for some time to come.