Windrunners

"Alleria, wait up! I'm tired!"

"That's your problem. Not mine."

Alleria Windrunner knew that technically, it was her problem. Or at least, her parents would make it her problem if she returned to the fair with her sister in an exhausted state. They were Windrunners. A prominent dynasty, currently in the act of showing everyone how prominent they were, everyone ranging from the Brightwings to even the Sunstriders. And unfortunately for Alleria, it wasn't the type of prominence that included skill with a bow.

"Alleria, wait!"

Nor was it the type of prominence that her younger sister was making any easier.

"Alleria!"

Gritting her teeth, the elf quickened her pace. And she grit her teeth even harder as she heard Sylvanas trip and fall.

Alleria had never wanted a sister, or a brother, but her parents had seen fit to provide her with both. Luckily, Lirath was still in the cradle, tended to by servants back in Windrunner Spire. Sylvanas however, was a different story. Only two decades separated them, and yet, Alleria couldn't believe the mewling infant was her sister. They talked similarly, they looked similar, and Sylvanas seemed to have her heart set on following her sibling wherever she went, and tried to imitate everything she did. Which meant failing to use a bow, and as Alleria saw, failing to even walk properly.

Sun take me, Alleria thought, watching as her sibling got to her feet, brushing the leaves off her dress. Sun bloody take me.

There'd be no escaping this, the elder Windrunner reflected. Sooner or later she'd have to return to the Summer Solstice Fair, and when that time came, she'd have to admit she'd slipped off into Eversong Woods, and let her sister come along for the ride. Alleria grimaced as Sylvanas smiled at her, as if falling was the biggest joke in the world. And the grimace became a scowl as she took her bow, fitted an arrow, and separated a branch from a tree.

"Amazing!" Sylvanas exclaimed. "Do it again!"

Alleria did so, but not because her sister asked. She did it because she wanted to shoot something. Being an elf, she held herself to a standard that didn't involve shooting at living things. If that standard didn't exist…

"Cool!"

Well, Alleria reflected as another branch hit the ground, then she might have been firing at an entirely different target.

"Can I try?"

Alleria handed her sister her bow, and dropped her quiver. She supposed that since she'd be berated for wandering into the forest with an infant, she could at least claim she'd let her sister have some of the fun.

"Um…"

Then again, Sylvanas didn't appear to be having anything of the sort. Not unless her mind somehow found fumbling the arrow, failing to even nook it.

"Ah…"

Alleria glanced at the sun. It was already making its decent to the west. Had they really been walking this long, she wondered, or had her sister's fumbling taken that much time.

"Ah, I did it!"

Alleria glanced at her sister. Yes, she'd done 'it.' As in, nooking the arrow, and letting it fly into the forest without hitting anything bar the undergrowth and the air.

"Did you see?" Sylvanas exclaimed, looking at her sister with glee. "Did you see me?!"

Alleria kicked the quiver, letting her sister have another shot.

"Whee!"

And a second shot rang out. Quicker than before, Alleria had to give her that much. But it was just as inaccurate as the last shot. And so was the third for that matter.

"Come on," Alleria said, picking up the quiver and defying her sister's expectations for a fourth shot. "We're leaving."

"But…but…"

"Now."

Alleria ignored her sister's protests as she went to retrieve the arrows, or that her sister had tumbled into the forest floor again. The bow and arrows weren't even hers – she'd nicked both from the fear before she'd headed off into the woods to vent her frustrations.

"But Alleria, I was getting better!"

The elder Windrunner scowled. It was…insulting, she reflected. It was insulting that after all her marksmanship, after being praised by even those outside her family she was the best marksman they'd ever seen, she was expected to do nothing more than stand straight and look better at the Solstice Fair. It was insulting that she was expected to babysit her sister, who had the gall to think her skills were even near the realm of what might be considered 'good.' It was insulting to think that she'd be berated for wandering off while at the most, Sylvanas would be gently chided before getting a cloud cake.

"Alleria?"

No, she reflected. It wasn't fair. At this rate she'd have a second sister to deal with a few decades from now.

"Alleria?"

She'd be acting as a housemaid, denied her chance to join the Ranger Corps.

"Alleria?"

"What?!"

Alleria glared at her sister. She recoiled slightly before she pointed a finger out into the forest.

"There's something out there…"

It was Alleria's first instinct to tell Sylvanas to not be so stupid. Her second instinct prompted her to bite her tongue.

Something was…different. She could tell that much. The birds were quieter. Some foreign smell was on the breeze. And…

"Sister?"

And she nooked an arrow, also fingering the remaining arrows in her quiver to see how many she had left. She looked down at her sister, staring at her in puzzlement.

"Move," Alleria whispered.

"But Alleria, I-"

"Move!"

Sylvanas began to stumble backwards. Alleria began to walk backwards. And both Windrunners fell down to the ground as the elder sister dropped down, ducking a throwing axe.

"Aieee!"

An axe that was thrown by a forest troll. One of five that were charging at them from the forest.

Sun preserve me.

Alleria got to her feet. Sylvanas screamed.

Sun preserve us.

What forest trolls were doing here, Alleria didn't know. They should have known better than to be out during the Solstice Festival. Or maybe that was why they were out in the first place, she reflected. To avoid the wolves and instead go for the lambs that strayed too far from the flock. Either way, Alleria resolved to show them that lambs could still bite.

"Sister, I-"

"Get down and stay down!" Alleria yelled. She fired her first arrow which hit one of the trolls in its shoulder. It barely slowed it down.

Shit.

Alleria went to fire again, but had to adjust her stance to dodge a throwing axe…only for a second axe to cleave through her right shoulder blade. It only nicked the upper portion, but it was enough to get her to scream in pain and drop her bow. And provide enough time for one of the trolls to run up, kick her in the gut, and grab her hair, shoving her face first into the ground.

"Alleria!"

Sylvanas…

Alleria's vision spun. As the troll lifted up her head and pressed a knife to her neck, she could see one of the trolls dragging her sister along the ground.

"Alleriaaaa!"

Let her go. Let her go, or I swear by the sun I'll-

The troll slammed her face against the ground again, only to bring her head back up and return the knife to her neck. And to let her see that Sylvanas had been put in the same position.

I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…

Alleria closed her eyes, unable to bring herself to meet her sister's gaze, to see the tears streaming down them. It was obvious what the trolls wanted – they wanted them dead. And they were going to do so in a way where one of the two elves was forced to watch the other die.

The troll yelled something, and on instinct, Alleria's eyes popped open. Her sister was still alive. But seeing the troll bring an axe down, she could see that was going to change in a few moments. Alleria tried to move, to scream, but couldn't. The troll's grip was too strong. And the shock and loss of blood from her wound was starting to take its toll.

Sylvanas…

…was still alive as the troll fell. An arrow in the back of its head.

What in the-?

As was the troll that had been holding her. Both elf and forest troll fell to the ground. But while the other three trolls roared and brandished their axes, Alleria crawled forward.

"Sister!"

As did Sylvanas. Both sisters hugged each other, and Alleria couldn't tell who was holding the other more tightly. It was a question that she didn't have time to answer as a third troll fell to the ground, an arrow lodged in its eye.

And Alleria saw who from.

"What's that?"

And so did Sylvanas. Through Alleria couldn't answer the question.

The archer was dressed in a green robe, though her other features were human. Her face, her hair, her build…though it betrayed the speed at which she moved. Weaving in and out of the trolls' blows. Grabbing an arrow from her quiver and shoving it into one of their necks. Flipping backward as the last troll swung its axe at her.

"Sister, what is-"

"A human. It's a human."

Sylvanas stared, and Alleria couldn't blame her. But as she reflected, maybe that wasn't necessary. Here was a human, showing agility and accuracy that rivalled her own. Perhaps even surpassed her own, the elf reflected. This human had actually managed to slay her enemies, which was more than she could say, the last troll falling to the ground dead as if to prove that point. The elf guiltily glanced at her sister. She'd judged her, found her wanting. Yet here was a human, doing all this. If that was possible, who was she to say that Sylvanas couldn't equal, if not surpass her as well?

Both Windrunners met the archer's gaze. For a moment, she met theirs. And a moment later, she was gone. Running through the trees, the wind at her back. Almost as if she were…windrunning…

"Alleria?"

The elder elf hugged her sister.

The archer had saved more than just her life. Or her sister's. She'd saved the ties between them.

They were Windrunners. Family.

And from this day to her last days, Alleria swore she would never forget that.