Author's Notes: Comments make me happy! :D Poor Elforen is not really misogynist, just a bit old-fashioned and overprotective. I am nearing the point where I have advanced material written, so hopefully that will mean faster updates. Thanks for reading!
"These instructions are ridiculous."
Zarabethe looked up from the map of the Swamp of Sorrows she was studying and saw Elforen shake his head as he shuffled through a pile of letters. The two night elves were sprawled under a gigantic oak tree near the Temple Gardens. The contents of the satchel were spread out between them on the grass. A cool wind ruffled through the loose strands of her dark violet hair, the only indication that the rest of the continent was in full winter. Darnassus was its usual temperate paradise, sustained artificially by the dragons' blessings that grew the world tree of Teldrassil. She made a mental note to pack a warm coat when they started the journey south.
"Anachronos could not have picked worse guardians for the scepter shards," Elforen continued his rant. He scooted closer to where she was sitting and she leaned forward as he pointed to the first paper, outlined in green scrollwork. "The green guardian, Eranikus, is corrupted and trapped in the Emerald Dream. We have to talk to his shade at the bottom of this ancient troll temple, which I might add, is completely underwater now."
He slid that paper to the bottom, revealing one with red edging. "Vaelastrasz disappeared several hundred years ago while in pursuit of Nefarian, one of Deathwing's evil offspring. No has heard from him since he infiltrated Blackrock Mountain." He pulled the last letter into view, decorated in blue. "And Azuregos hides out in the most remote corner of Azshara and likes to taunt adventurers to their deaths. He's completely insane." He dropped the letters of introduction given to them by Anachronos in his lap in disgust. "Where do we even start?"
"Well, Azshara is not that far from here, technically. We'd have to take a hippogryph over the mountains of Moonglade," Elforen's face showed how much he liked that statement, "but that would reduce our travel time exponentially." She took a different map out of the pile she had been looking at, this one of the upper half of Kalimdor. She smoothed it in her lap and inspected the hooked wilderness of Azshara to the far east. She had never been there before, she'd heard that it had some interesting pre-Sundering Night Elf architecture though.
It had been several days since they had arrived exhausted, hearts aching, and in the case of Elforen, slightly burned around the edges in the idyllic Night Elf capital. She had gone right to Callipsus, the Head of the Darnassian Animal Sanctuary, an old friend that she had collected many animals for in the past. He had arranged a place for Zar to be buried. His old eyes had crinkled sadly when she told him the circumstances of his passing, and they had reminisced briefly as the three of them dug a small grave near the back of the sanctuary.
Laying Zar to rest had been hard, but Zarabethe had shed her tears in Tanaris, and she was stoic and quiet as they arranged the earth over him. Callipsus had leaned against his shovel like a walking stick when they were done, praising Zar's length of life and courageous spirit. When Elforen had joined in with him, she had felt the smile return to her face and a little of her sadness lessen. During the trek back to Darnassus afterwards, she listened to the two men talking and took a small amount of pleasure in quiet companionship. Used to her solitude, it was a rare admission that she did enjoy the company of others, as long as it was on her terms, and she felt safe in their presence. She had gotten a larger than usual dose of that so far on this quest, and it made her feel happy, in a shaky, uncertain sort of way.
She snuck a glance under her eyelashes at Elforen sitting across from her, puzzling through a thin leaf of parchment covered in symbols and markings in Draconic. Underneath the words, the translation had been written in tiny letters and he squinted at them as he stretched the arm not holding the paper and rolled his shoulder. The fabric of the new shirt he had bought to replace the burned one was bright and at odds with well-worn state of his other clothes. She knew he was not that skilled at languages, but appreciated that he was diving into the details with almost as much enthusiasm as she was. Her mind wandered for a moment, and he caught her looking at him when he reached for another paper.
"What?" he asked with a slight smirk. She refused to allow herself to blush. Instead she nodded to the sleeve of his shirt.
"You keep messing with your shoulder. Did it not heal correctly?" He had waited to see a healer for his burn until after they had settled Zar in at the sanctuary, which she had berated him for. He stretched his arm again as he answered.
"It's fine, it's just the skin feels weird there, like it's too sensitive. My shirt keeps rubbing against it and driving me crazy."
"I know how that feels," Zarabethe muttered to herself. When she saw Elforen look at her, she realized she had spoken out loud.
"That's how it feels when someone tries to touch me," she explained quickly into the maps in her lap. Her touch-aversion was not a topic she wanted to bring up right now. He looked at her thoughtfully, but did not pursue the subject.
They were both interrupted by a commotion behind them at the Temple Gates. A small group of High Priests had assembled at the entrance to the Temple of the Moon. By the look of their robes, it looked like they had gathered to do a blessing on someone. It was not a common practice, but Zarabethe remembered the ritual from when she lived in her mother's house. She and Elforen were by far not the only two enjoying the serenity of the beautiful stretch of grass that lay to the south of the biggest Temple in Teldrassil, and a small crowd gathered near the edge of the walkway to see what was going on. The gasps and mutters were distracting her, so she sighed and started packing papers back into the satchel.
"What's going on?" asked Elforen as he helped her clean up the scattered mess they had made. She shrugged as she shouldered the satchel.
"No idea, some sort of blessing ceremony." They joined the whispering crowd to get a better look. Near the steps of the Temple a small extended family was gathered. An older couple and what appeared to be many grown children were approaching the dais of the Temple. As the procession passed the crowd, Zarabethe could see a younger couple walking behind the older one. The husband had a protective arm around his wife. She had just registered the swell of her belly when she heard Elforen speak behind her.
"They are asking Elune to bless their child." His voice was strangely flat. "I remember my parents doing that with Lorel."
Zarabethe studied the faces of the couple curiously. The woman's face was radiant with her happiness, even though she must have been very uncomfortable. She was obviously very close to her time and she gripped her husband's arm tightly as he helped her up the steps. The adoration he felt for her was inscribed in the lines of the husband's face as he leaned down to whisper in her ear. Whatever he said made her smile in a reserved way, as if he had shared a secret that was known only to them. Witnessing this private exchange of their love made Zarabethe uncomfortable, and she averted her eyes to the grass growing at her feet. Beside her, Elforen crossed his arms over his chest.
"If that were my wife, there's no way I'd let her out of the house just for a ceremony," he said gruffly. Zarabethe looked up at him sharply. His mouth was set in a line as he watched procession up the steps. She felt a flicker of irritation ignite in her and she echoed his stance, crossing her arms.
"Don't you think that's a bit misogynist?" Elforen glanced down at her as if he had forgotten she was there. He gestured to the couple, who were nearly at the top of the steps.
"It's dangerous to travel when pregnant, especially that pregnant. Especially now, when that sort of thing isn't exactly common anymore. That's why everyone is whispering: this is the first baby blessing that's happened here in several hundred years."
"Just because she's pregnant, doesn't mean she's going to break." Zarabethe grumbled back at him. The family had disappeared into the temple, followed by the priests. The crowd around them was starting to break up.
"It also doesn't mean she should be gallivanting across the continent either," he retorted as they started to depart the Temple Gardens.
"So she should be stuck in their home, barefoot, cooking and doing laundry all day?" Zarabethe replied hotly. Somewhere in the back of her head she felt it would be wise to talk about something else, but she did not listen to it.
"All I'm saying is a little caution would not be lacking here." Elforen obviously heeded the voices in his head better than she did, because he changed the subject.
"So Azuregos first, by way of hippogryph flight. When do you want to get started?"
"I have to go by the stables first." Zarabethe's temper deflated as she remembered the task she still had to get through. She had already decided on the spotted sabre she had found abandoned in Northrend, but it felt awkward to replace Zar so soon.
"I'll meet you back at the inn tonight then?" Elforen's voice sounded strained, and then she remembered the stables were located at the edge of the Cenarian Enclave. The buildings surrounding the towering druid training center were where all the druids resided, including Elforen's family.
"Tonight's fine. That's the last thing I have to do, so we can leave tomorrow for Azshara."
Elforen nodded at her as he turned towards the shops in the opposite direction. "Good luck picking a pet."
Zarabethe watched his tall form for a moment before he disappeared in the crowd. She sighed and fiddled with the strap on the satchel as she made her way to the stables. Best to get it over with as soon as possible.
