Chapter Text
There is a valley where dreamers sleep.
Anduin had stopped at the top of the valley the previous night to give his weary bones a few precious hours to rest, but as the bright sun rose slowly into the pinkish morning sky, did he rose alongside it. The few hours of rest had not done much for him, the King having spent the time lying awake on his bedroll, his eyes gazing up at the twinkling stars far above him as hopes and fears about what was to come to following day chased each other around his mind. As he rubbed his tired eyes and stretched his sore muscles and aching leg, Anduin quickly and efficiently moved around his small camp, gathering up his bedroll and packing it into the bottom of his pack. Anduin quickly pulled the pack onto his back and threw the hood of his cloak - which had helped to protect the kings’ identity during his journey to this sacred place - up to cover his blond hair and cast a shadow his features, before using his hands and cupping them together to gather water from the softly flowing creek that lay only a little ways away from where he had spent the night, turning to toss the cool and clear water onto the still smoldering coals of the fire that he had started for warmth the previous day.
As the coals hissed and dimmed, Anduin was confident that the fire wouldn’t start up again. He adjusted the straps of his pack on his shoulders and set off again, pulling a handful of nuts and berries that he had gathered throughout his trip to have as a morning meal while he walked to his final destination.
As Anduin began slowly and carefully making his way down the slight slope of the valley’s edge, the king took the time to look around and truly take in the beauty and serenity of the sacred place that he had spent the last few days traveling to reach.
The grass was lush and a beautiful shade of green, the tall strands glistening with scattered droplets of the morning dew, moving in unison as the gentle breezes softly moved through them. Trees were scattered across the valley, offering locations perfect for a few moments of rest in the shade to escape the warm sun that beamed down from far above, the bright beams shining through the light and fluffy clouds that lazily drifted across the early morning sky.
Animals were abundant here, Anduin had seen brief glimpses of fluffy rabbits as they hopped through the tall grasses by him. In addition to the animals he could recognize and identify, there was a multitude of creatures that he had never seen outside of the beautiful lands of Pandaria. There were large furred creatures that reminded him of tigers that lazily lounged in the branches of the trees, barely sparing Anduin a curious glance before lowering their large heads back down to continue their naps or moving to jump heavily to the ground, bounding off after some small animal or insect that had caught their attention.
Where flowers bloom and willows weep.
As Anduin roamed further into the valley, he stretched out his hands and let his calloused and rough palms brush against the soft and beautiful flowers than bloomed all around him, the king taking great amounts of care to avoid stepping on the small plants that grew in his path. The leaves of the willows above him brushed against his long blond hair as he made his way past. A few of the small leaves would fall from the tree as he passed, getting entangled with his hair or gently spiraling through the air in a slow descent to rest upon the grass of the valley.
Where loamy earth springs life anew.
Anduin was almost breathless as he took in the abundance of life and beauty that was present all around him, everywhere he looked. The king was amazed at the number of animals and plants that breathed and bloomed everywhere he looked. It was absolutely wonderful.
Anduin felt at peace for the first time in a long, long time. A smile graced his wind-chapped lips. The young king had not found a reason to smile since the death of his father, but this place had had a positive effect on him. All of Pandaria, in general, had. It provided him an escape, a reprieve from the stresses of the current happenings back in Stormwind.
But Anduin hadn’t made this journey to escape his duties as a king, no. He made this journey to bring back a king.
And waters sparkle, clear and blue.
Anduin ended up walking along a small creek, the clear waters sparkling in the bright sunlight as it ran over small rocks and twists in its path down the slope of the valley. Colorful fish leapt over the surface of the creek’s blue waters before diving back under the waters once again, their shapes distorted by the moving waters as Anduin leisurely watched them.
When the king stopped to rest for a brief moment, he crouched beside the creek and reached out to trail his hand in the cold water, watching curiously as brightly colored fish of all sizes easily swam around the obstacle in their path. A small twitch of their bodies would send them gracefully sweeping around Anduin's hand, barely even brushing against the appendage as the waters carried them past. Cupping his hands, Anduin lifted his hands from the water and brought them to his lips, the cool and refreshing waters brought relief to the tired king as he drank his fill.
After he had drunk his fill of the cool waters, Anduin snacked on a few of the plump and fresh berries from his pack to refuel him, before setting off once again for the bottom of the valley, having already made it around halfway.
Where every hearth brings peaceful ease.
Outside of Pandaria, Anduin had been barely able to have a moment to take a breath or take everything in since his father's death upon the Broken Shore in the battle against the Burning Legion. The urgency of the war campaign and the rush to have Sylvanas and her Horde answer for her crimes had taken all of his attention and time. He had barely had time to breathe, much less take a moment of peace and silence to do anything other than focus on his duties as king.
But here, in this sacred place... Anduin could feel the stress that had found a tight grip upon him over the last few months drifting away by the minute as he calmly breathed in the clean and pure air that surrounded him. The quiet valley was populated only by the gentle sounds of the soft breezes and the rustling of animals that scampered through the grasses all around him, calming the young king as he made his way further down into the valley.
And beauty sings on every breeze.
A light breeze swept past the young king as he walked, carrying small leaves and flower petals with it as it swept through his ponytail, the blond strands waving in the wind before settling against his back once again.
With the gentle breeze came the bright song of the many colorful birds of the valley, the creatures happily chirping and twittering as they dipped and whirled through the air above, worrying about nothing as they sang their songs and gracefully looped around one another.
As a bird swooped downward to flutter around his head with a curious chirp, Anduin paused and rose a hand, extending a finger to perch upon, which the bird did. With its little feet curled around his upheld appendage, the brightly colored bird tweeting happily as it fluttered its red wings, the soft feathers tickling Anduin’s finger, prompting him to let out a short laugh as he smiled kindly at the small animal, which tilted its fluffy head at him in return.
The bird flapped its wings as it released its grip upon Anduin's finger, rising onto the air and circling his head for a short time before chirping a goodbye and flying away, joining a collection of its own species that were gathered in the top of a tree a few paces away as Anduin watched, a soft smile upon his face.
Here the Sacred Pools spring pure.
As he turned to continue walking, Anduin could see his destination ahead. The Sacred Pools, their softly glowing waters were rippling softly as the breeze swept across them, disturbing the previously smooth surface of the water.
Surrounding the pools were the most vibrant flowers Anduin had seen so far on his travels across the lands, the small plants seemingly glowing with life as they softly swayed in the wind.
Here, seek any who desire cure.
Anduin was tired, his legs burning from the journey he had taken to get to the valley, but he ignored the aching pains and pressed on, determined to reach the softly glowing waters of the Sacred Pools, the place that could possibly offer a cure to the aching hole in his heart.
Holy. Nature. Powers Divine.
As Anduin neared the Sacred Pools that were settled in the center of the valley, he could feel the very power of these waters, the power which moved through the air, sang beneath the ground, its very presence filling the young king's heart with peace and serenity as he neared the source.
Turn death to life, death to life.
Varian Wrynn, his father and the previous king of the Alliance, had died upon the Broken Shore, slain by Gul'dan's hand at the gates of the Tomb of Sargeras, Anduin knew of this and accepted it as the unchangeable truth
But would Varian Wrynn stay in the land of the unliving forever... or was there truly a power strong enough to be able to put the broken and scattered pieces of the once-king of the Alliance back together? To bring him back to life?
To bring him back to Anduin?
Anduin wouldn't rest until he knew for sure.
And he was about to find out.