#daertheandneya

Their stay in Splintertree Post was only for the night, and they were on  the road again with the light of dawn. Daerthe, alert and awake as always. Eleney’a yawning and wishing she could of had another hour of sleep. Their wolves, rested and fed walked along at a leisurely pace. Daerthe fished a couple of oranges out of a saddle bag and passed one along to Neya.

Eleney’a had leaned forward, resting her upper body on the wolf’s neck when Daerthe extended the makeshift breakfast toward her. “You know, when I pictured seeing the world...I did not expect it to be so tiring.” She mumbled, accepting the orange and beginning to peel it slowly. “Could it hurt to stay in one place for a full day? Have a real meal….enjoy some real rest?”

Daerthe peeled his own orange. “ Not much to see at Splintertree.” he remarked. “ And as beautiful Ashenvale is, it is still considered Kaldorei territory. I’d prefer not to linger longer than needed in case hostilities break out around here again.”

He popped and orange slice into his mouth and chewed. He spit the seeds out. “ Besides, this is a leisurely pace for me.”

She narrowed her eyes at him, carefully picking the seeds from the orange slices before taking them into her mouth. What a ‘lady’.  “Hn, for YOU? I feel like we have barely stopped at all. I feel like I have asked many times but I still do not know why we are going where we are.” She shrugged, leaning forward again to rest against her wolf with a huff.

The swordsman chewed for a few moments before answering. “ Well, I figured on seeing a friend in Bloodhoof Village, over in Mulgore. I think you’d like it there, it’s quite scenic and the Tauren or Shu’halo as they call themselves are good people.” He ate the last of his orange tossing the peel away. “ You wanted to tag along. Having second thoughts?” he teased her.

The young lady huffed yet again, beckoning her wolf to move closer alongside Daerthe’s as she reached out and plucked his arm. “No. Stop trying to get rid of me.” She said, finishing off the fruit he had given her as she settled comfortably atop Onyx.

He laughed. “ Not trying to get rid of you Neya.” he replied. “ Just giving you a hard time for being a city girl.” He stifled a yawn with the back of his hand. “ I’m just used to getting to where I need or want to go in the most direct way by my chosen means of travel. This is a relaxed pace for me, but it must be a bit rushed to you hmm?”

She tilted her head from side to side, stretching the muscles in her neck with a sigh. “Mm, a bit…” She began though as she continued, she straightened her posture, returning to that ever prideful demeanor he had grown to know. “Though I am fine. I will get used to it I suppose.”

“ We’ll stop for a decent rest around midday.” he promised. “ I’m not trying to kill you with travel I promise.”

“I’m not sure I believe that.” She replied through a smirk before the quiet and almost hidden giggle came. “Just...make it a believable story when you tell my siblings, hm?”

Dearthe smirked. “ One would probably try to kill me, not hard to guess which.” he remarked, scanning the trees. “ Besides, I was never good at fabricating stories.”

She clicked her tongue. “Well, I suppose you will have to think of something, otherwise it is likely both that will attempt at killing you. And, as I’m sure you’ve seen my sister, I’m sure you know that it is much less likely that you will get away from her than my brother.” At this, she fell silent, leaving his imagination open as she began to hum a tune softly.

Daerthe rode on in silence, content to leave the jest as is. After a while though he felt as if something wasn’t right.  He looked around, scanning the trees and glancing behind them. A frown crossed his face. A sense of unease coming over him.

Neya had closed her eyes, continuing to hum her tune. At first, she thought Daerthe might have fallen silent to enjoy her song though she quickly realized that was unlikely. With her lids opened, she looked to him curiously. “What’s wrong?”

He didn’t answer right away, continuing to observe their surroundings. “ Just a feeling.” he replied, his voice more subdued than usual. “ Could be just an animal, or it could be nothing.” he glanced behind them again. “ But someone may be following us.”

With widened eyes, she quickly turned around to look behind them, though immediately faced forward yet again in fear of what she might see. “Are you...typically right when it comes to these ‘feelings’”? She asked, her voice lowering almost instinctively as she scrunched her shoulders, posture concaving into herself.

The swordsman shrugged. “ I’ve developed a feel for these things over the years.” he replied, still scanning the trees. “ It’s saved my life more than once.” He rode on in silence again for a few minutes. He glanced over to her. “ Don’t hunch over, try to be more relaxed and natural. I would guess if it is someone, it’s kaldorei watching to make sure we’re not disturbing anything and just passing through. I doubt they’d provoke open hostility without cause.”

Her eyes only left him briefly to flick between the surrounding area quickly, returning back to him curiously each time. When he corrected her, she nodded once and resituated herself to seem slightly more normal but still quite obviously concerned. “Are you sure? What if they do, though? What if you have to kill them? Won’t that become a problem? Will we have to return to Orgrimmar? Daerthe?!” Her questions came one after another, giving him little time to respond as she battered him in a hush tone of inquiries.

He allowed himself a chuckle. “ Kill them? Unlikely, as I’d suspect we’d be outnumbered. Their not an inherently violent people. But given the former Warchief’s excursion into the forest following the Cataclysm, they have become more vigilant and protective. But again we‘re merely passing through, so I’d wager it’s merely observation.”

With a deep inhale, quite the long on at that, she seemed to steady herself slowly. The release of the breath was controlled and done with purpose. “If you say so though I get different vibes from your own observations.” Her hands griped the reins to Onyx tightly, eyes now moving about the area again with slower reasoning. “I swear if I die out here…” She mumbled under her breath.  

“ I’m just cautious is all.” he replied. “ There’s a small set of ruins up the road a few miles, we’ll stop there for some rest and get the wolves fed.”

“Well THAT doesn’t sound safe at all.” She replied with a sarcastic snort. “Though, if you think it best, then it must be. Let’s just...get there quickly?” She turned to him, looking almost pleadingly.