Elliey's cloak billowed about her legs as she stepped through the trees into a spacey clearing. The moon was reflected in the bright snow just short of her looming cottage and the wind chimes hanging from the dark porch sang a mournful tune in the night. The crisp breeze was whistling through the trees and lifting Elliey's hood from her head, much like a child pulling at a parent's pant leg, begging for attention. The silver-haired druidess smiled fondly, silently thanking Elune for the warning.

She had already known she was being followed. Her trusted friend, the wind, would pick up sounds soon enough, telling her where her follower was.

SNAP!

Elliey grinned wickedly. Her friends never disappoint.

Erion stalked his fellow druid through the forest in Winterspring, only letting her catch glimpses of him when he wanted her to. He'd searched for her for far too long and he wasn't going to let her get away this time.

He watched his former student lift her head and smile. At that moment he knew that she knew, so he purposely stepped on a twig to snap it and lounged against the nearest tree to wait for her. He didn't have to wait long.

The cigar dropped from between his teeth at his first up-close sight of Elliey in several years. He was stunned to see how mature she looked. This wasn't the breezy, smiling, and balanced druidess he had known for so many years. This woman was a stranger, her stance that of a feline ready to pounce, any previous sparkle in her eyes having fled long before. This woman was feral through and through, and as her eyes caught his, he knew that she had grown up, and that her blood had run cold like his.

Elliey lifted her nose to the breeze as she stalked through the forest, catching the scent of her follower. All at once, he came into view, his cigar dropping like a stone weight to the snow beneath his feet. She froze and stared at the man that had taught her everything she knew. His midnight blue hair was still a tangled mess that hung against his back, and his posture was still that of a coiled snake, ready to strike.

He had an air of confidence about him, like he knew what he was capable of and that everybody around him should know too. Oh Elliey knew alright. She knew from countless hours beside him on the training field and battle field alike. She knew because she had spent countless hours staring with a school girl's wonder at those corded muscles and broad shoulders.

And he still wore that damned hat that covered his features.

She knew that she had changed since they had last seen eachother, but he looked virtually identical to the old Erion. If it wasn't for the subtle but new scar traveling across his jaw line and the obvious fact that he was taller, she'd have thought that she had stepped through a time portal. Elliey's fingers twitched out of habit, itching to snatch his hat from his head like she used to do. It had happened so often that it came to a point where he wouldn't wear it anymore. She shouldn't be surprised that the brim is lowered more than ever over his features. The evidence was subtle but it was there. Erion had changed too.

Suddenly a thought came to her and her hand slowly slipped from the hilt of her blade, her shoulders slumping. He found me. Which means it won't be long before everybody else does too. She lifted sad eyes to Erion's face. "So the Cowardly Lion has found his cub."

Awed by the sound of defeat in her voice, Erion peered at her searchingly. "You are a stranger to me now, cub. Yet there is immense familiarity in your words. Cowardly Lion." His lips twitched into a ghost of a smile. "Do you remember why you started calling me that?" Elliey shot him a bland look. "How could I forget? You wouldn't talk to me for days because of it."

"You were wrong."

"I was right."

Erion shook his head slowly, his features set into hard lines. "You're still as stubborn as ever."

"You're still in-denial."

"Don't test me, you little lynx," Erion replied. "I don't have the patience for you anymore."

"You never had any patience when it came to me," Elliey shot back. "Why'd you find me?"

"Why'd you leave?"

"I asked you firs-" "Why'd you leave," Erion cut her off, his voice curt and angry. She stepped closer to him and jabbed him in the chest with her finger, a spew of angry words leaving her mouth. He couldn't concentrate on what she was saying because the move was so utterly... Elliey. Nobody dared step into Eion's space, let alone touch him and yell at him. Except his cub. It was almost enough to bowl him over and rid him of his anger. Almost.

Instead of trying to figure out what the hell she was saying, he casually hooked a leg behind both of hers and toppled her to the snow, straddling her in an instant. He pinned her hands beside her head and leaned down so that his face was inches away from her shocked one. ".?" he all but roared. Elliey laid there speechless for a full minute. He counted.

Finally, her bright amethyst eyes sparked dangerously and her lips parted in precedence to her expected outburst, but Erion was quicker. He took a chance and lifted a hand from over hers, covering her mouth in one swift movement. "Can it, kitten, we've got company." Elliey stilled while Erion's gaze swept the area before lowering to hers again. His voice was a coarse whisper, filled with wonder, when he spoke. "Goddess, how much trouble can one little chit get into?"

((Alright so it's pretty short but I lost my files so all my stories were deleted and I had to rewrite this. I'll beef it up a little later but here's the skeleton of the first chapter=] ))