Sokka watched the elves converse. Although they remained in the 'Common tongue' (whatever that meant), he barely understood what they said.
"What do you mean it's closed? How?" Tyrande asked the man who had just been a cat. Nobody in the room seemed to find someone being a cat strange, so Sokka pretended he didn't either.
"I was studying the fel boars in Hellfire when I noticed the Dark Portal wasn't glowing, like it should," said the man. "There was nothing in the portal at all. You could see straight through to the rocks behind it."
"Did you test it?" Tyrande's face grew more troubled.
"Yes. I could fly straight through it, as well. So I transported myself to Moonglade and flew directly here."
"Have you told anyone else of this?"
"The other druids."
"Then it won't be long before the tauren and trolls know... and the rest of the Horde, as well," Tyrande murmured. "It could be that the magic has worn off, or that concerted forces have closed it intentionally again. But until we know for certain how and why this happened, please refrain from telling anyone else."
"I understand, High Priestess." The man bowed. "What should I do?"
She mused for a moment. "Take the ship to Stormwind. Alert King Varian, but only him."
Sokka spoke up. "Excuse me - I know I'm not from here, so I may be way off base, but - I keep hearing the word 'portal', and if I'm guessing correctly, it means something to do with transportation?"
The cat-man regarded him as if noticing him for the first time, and found him highly peculiar.
Tyrande merely nodded. "Yes. It's a magical opening through the Nether that allows you to move instantly from one place -"
"- to another," Sokka finished thoughtfully. "If some portal-thing is going wacky, do you think it has something to do with why I'm here?"
"It seems possible. Our people do not generally dabble in the arcane," she said with mild, vague disdain (although he had no idea what an 'arcane' was), "so I couldn't tell you the specifics of how it works. But a mage might enlighten you."
"A what?"
The cat-man eyed him incredulously. Sokka was getting used to that by now, every time an elf said a word he didn't know. Tyrande didn't stop to explain this time, instead moving swiftly for the exit. Sokka followed; the cat-man exited after them, but this time changed into a bird and flew away.
Tyrande circled the white marble temple to a grassy patch in the gardens outside, where three more elves stood chatting. They wore intensely gaudy robes of bright red, blue and yellow, with collars whose backs were taller than their heads.
The trio bowed stiffly to Tyrande. "What can we do for you, High Priestess?" asked the male in front, whose robes were the most flashy and silly-looking. Sokka tried not to laugh at the sheer amount of swirly, shiny embroidery.
"Theoretically, if one of the stable mage portals were to close, could that cause another, elsewhere, to open?" she asked.
"Ah, a most intriguing question! It's important, of course, to understand the nature of portals, which in fact access the Nether itself - with the exception to Dream portals - and that portal magic is one of the most powerful yet most unstable of all magicks (the most stable being runic magic, as it relies on mimicking the shape of leylines which is about as close to the source as one gets) and so form a door, or more aptly a bridge -"
"Tarelvir," Tyrande interrupted.
The mage looked disappointed. "Simply put, it is possible, but not likely. Portals do not open themselves. It is a willful act of a mage - or what-have-you - to open it at all, since they are so precise, and holding them open requires a lot of energy. This is what makes the Dark Portal so extraordinary, of course, because it has no attending mages to focus on it. Unsurprising, considering who originally -"
"Tarelvir."
"Pardon. Why do you ask? If a portal's opened up somewhere, you can be sure a mage is responsible."
"Or a warlock," muttered one of the candy-robe trio.
"Ehck. Warlocks!" Tarelvir spat the word like poison.
Tyrande narrowed her eyes in consideration. "If someone were teleported, could you learn whose magic was responsible?"
"Why yes, of course. See, whenever a spell is cast or an object or person is handled, the - sorry. In short, yes. Do you have a someone recently subjected to teleportations of unknown caster?"
The High Priestess gestured at Sokka, who gave a little nod and wave of greeting. He thought Tarelvir's hocus-pocus talk sounded a lot like Aang's when the kid went off on his spiritual speech tangents.
The mage came over to Sokka, muttering and stroking his beard in thought. He then began to chant something in a strange language and continued doing so for a full minute.
"Ah!" the mage exclaimed so suddenly and loudly it made them all jump.
"What?" Sokka and Tyrande asked simultaneously.
"The magic is very strong! Hard not to identify. Why, he came through the Dark Portal just recently."
"I don't remember how I got here at all," Sokka said.
"Truly? Interesting, I've never heard of portal-amnesia before... What were you doing on Outland?"
"Uh... nothing? I wasn't there."
"But -"
"Thank you for answering our questions, Tarelvir," Tyrande said. She led Sokka back inside once more.
"What did all of that mean?" he asked.
"I'm not certain," she sighed. "I wish I knew more, but it seems the only way to know what's going on is to investigate the Dark Portal in person, from this side."
Tyrande hailed over one of the female warriors (although it occurred to him that all the warriors he'd seen so far were female). "Sentinel Sunblade, take a small contingent through the portal to the Blasted Lands." The High Priestess lowered her voice. "Report back to me if you find anything amiss concerning the Dark Portal."
"We are not mages," the Sentinel replied, "how would we know?"
"If what I hear is true, you won't need to be a mage to notice."
"Is there anything I should do?" Sokka offered hopefully.
"No," Tyrande said. Sokka's shoulders fell in disappointment. She went on, "We can't ascertain what connection you may or may not have to all this, and I'd prefer to keep you here in the city, where it's safe."
Or where I won't run away and cause any trouble, he thought.
"You are free, of course, to study with the Priestesses here. There are people I must speak with, so I cannot personally tutor you." She began to turn away.
"Wait," he said. "If you hear about any of my friends, will you let me know? They're going to be just as confused as I am."
"I will. Elune be with you."
"You, too."
She smiled faintly, before gracefully striding out of the temple.