Zami winced and looked down at his bleeding leg. Zeni cooed sadly, hugging its thorny vine-arms into his flesh tighter. He winced again.
"Don'tcha worry, Zeni, we gonna be back-"
"Zeni?" Zalu leaned on his staff, "Ya named dis thing after our brudda?"
Zami glanced over his shoulder and shrugged.
"What? It liked da name, okay?"
Zeni nodded its flowerhead vigorously in agreement. Zalu blinked at it for a moment before shaking his head in disbelief. Meanwhile, Mythene crouched down next to Zeni.
"Now now," She said in a soothing tone, "You must let Zami go. He has something very important to do in Stranglethorn, but he'll come back after, okay?"
Zeni released one, only one, of its vine-arms in order to point at Mythene. It made a quizzical coo, and it was strangely clear what the lasher meant. It was asking if Mythene would be there while Zami was gone. In response to its question, she frowned.
"Well, no, but-"
Zeni hissed angrily and latched both vine-arms deeply into Zami's leg again while defiantly curling its roots deep into the ground. Zami winced once more in response to the thorns piercing deeper into his skin. Mythene gave a short sigh and exchanged tired glances with Zami.
"By da Loa," Zalu grumbled as he rested his chin against his staff, "It just be easier if ya take da dang plant wit us."
Mythene went to say something but paused, before giving a light shrug in Zami's direction.
"Well, why not?" She looked at Zeni, "Perhaps your brother is correct. Since I don't think we'd be able to leave it behind very easily, so why not just bring it with us?"
Before Zami could respond, Zeni hissed happily and nodded its flowerhead. It unrooted from the ground and slowly released Zami's leg. He sighed in relief as soon as his wounds regenerated, making the pain subside.
"Y'know I were jokin' right?" Zalu creased his brow, "Bunthen ain't gonna like dat."
"Bunthen?" Zami quirked an eyebrow, "Who dat be?"
"Bunthen Plainswind," Mythene answered first, "A tauren. He is a flight master, and often ferries the tauren to Thunder Bluff."
"Flight master?" Zami mumbled, going pale.
"Yeah but he agreed to take us to Rachet," Zalu said to Mythene, ignoring Zami.
"Wait, we gotta fly?" He looked between Mythene and Zalu, "Nobody told me we had to fly."
"How else did you plan to get to Stranglethorn, pray tell?" Mythene rose an eyebrow.
"Boat," Zami said firmly.
"Yeah, we gonna," Zalu nodded, "Once we get to Rachet, we gon take da boat to Booty Bay."
Zami firmly shook his head.
"Nope. No. I ain't flyin' again," He said firmly as he crossed his arms, his hands gripping to his elbows tightly.
A few moments later, they were gripping tightly to the wind rider's fur as he gave an anxious groan. The wind rider growled a little at its hair being pulled and jostled Zami a little, which only made his hands grip tighter.
"Ease up on him, friend," Bunthen said as he looked up at Zami on the back of the wind rider, "He is well trained, I assure you. He will get you to your destination safely and swiftly."
Zami made another groaning noise and slouched down close to the wind rider. He fixed his eyes on the first thing he saw nearby. It was Mythene. She was crouched on the ground next to Zeni, mumbling something with her hands outstretched and her eyes closed. A moment later, Zeni shrunk down to the size of a normal flower. It hissed happily as she picked it up and put it in her vest pocket, with its flowerhead sticking out so it could watch. Zami couldn't help but crack a slight smile.
"Ease up, please," Bunthen continued from next to Zami, "If you continue to pull on him, he will believe you are asking him to change course, and he will not take you to your destination. Then you would be-"
The wind rider shook again, knocking Zami off and down to the ground.
"Lost," Bunthen finished, reaching to help Zami up, "I told you to ease off."
"Could I just get some kinda harness or somethin' so I don't fall off again?" Zami asked.
"Sorry, no. You see, the only harnesses we have are for the hippogryphs, and they will not listen to a troll at the reins. They can be picky creatures."
Mythene glanced over at Bunthen.
"What about a night elf?" She asked, approaching him, "Would they listen to a night elf at the reins?"
"Of course," Bunthen nodded, his long white horns whipping up and down, "But how does that-"
"Zami can ride with me then," Mythene said with a nod of her head, "Bring me one of the harnessed hippogryphs, please."
"Well, okay. I suppose Silva will not mind…" Bunthen mumbled before going off.
A few moments later, he returned with hippogryph in tow. It had bright green plumage with vibrant purple tips. Around its beak was a bridle of thick hempen cord, woven down into reins. Mythene approached it, stroking its face gently and mumbling something soothing in Darnassian, before mounting the beast and sitting in the leather saddle. She then looked over at Zami and gestured towards the hippogryph.
Zami had never ridden on a hippogryph before, although he hadn't exactly ridden too many wind riders either. He had always tended to avoid flying whenever possible, although it was unfortunately starting to become alarmingly common. He supposed he didn't hate it. It wasn't terrible. The stiff feathers felt strange compared to the soft, shaggy fur of a wind rider, but it also felt sturdier. He felt like he wasn't going to fall off too easily. Well, you know, kind of. When the hippogryph moved forward to peck at a spot on the ground, Zami jolted forward and gripped tightly onto the sides of Mythene's leather jerkin, earning him a quizzical look. In response, he just gave her a sheepish smile and released his deathgrip.
"The flight to the Northern Barrens shouldn't take too long, probably only two hours or so," Bunthen said as he looked between the Zalu's wind rider and the harnessed hippogryph.
"How's two hours in da air not long..." Zami muttered under his breath.
"Northern Barrens?" Zalu leaned forward against his wind rider's head, "What'cha talkin' bout, mon?"
"What, you have not heard about the Great Divide?" Bunthen rose a thick brown eyebrow.
"Da what?" Zami cocked his head to the side.
"After the Shattering, the land was split in twain," Bunthen explained, "A deep chasm was formed. You will surely see it when you fly over the Barrens."
Zami frowned. Looking down to the ground was definitely the last thing he wanted to do once he was in the air.
When the hippogryph flapped its wings and began to lift off, Zami groaned and shut his eyes tightly. After a moment, he realized he was also gripping tightly onto Mythene's vest. Again. He wanted to let go, but the sound of the wind in his ears made him unable to.
"Are you okay, thero'shan?" Mythene called back to him over the whip of the wind.
"N-No," Zami said as he tucked himself in closer to the hippogryph, "I h-hate flying!"
"It looks like you're not the only one."
Hesitantly, Zami opened his eyes. Mythene was patting the quivering Zeni in her vest pocket, trying to speak to him in a soothing voice. Judging by the way its vines were wrapped tightly onto her, Zami had a feeling her peptalk wasn't working. With a soft sight, she closed her pocket and buttoned it.
"I've never been afraid of heights," Mythene continued, glancing back at Zami, "I told you before how I grew up climbing trees, yes?"
Zami nodded stiffly, careful not to move his body too much.
"I think dis be a little different from a tree," He said with a nervous laugh.
"True, but the results of falling would be the same as if I were to fall from Teldrassil's branches."
"Dis ain't helpin' much, Mi'ten."
"Ah, sorry."
Mythene was quiet for a moment, and there was nothing but the sound of the wind. It stung a bit against Zami's face, and he shook his head to shake away the growing numbness.
"Spiders," Mythene said suddenly.
"Huh?" Zami glanced at her, "What?"
"Spiders," She repeated, "I'm like you are with flying when it comes to spiders."
"Spiders?" Zami rose an eyebrow, "What's so scary bout spiders?"
"How about the venomous fangs? All those eyes?"
"So? Just squish it, yeah?"
"Ah, you haven't seen the spiders that grow in Teldrassil," Mythene shook her head, "They're huge. They are the size of a hippogryph, but with twice as many legs. And they're even larger when you're a child."
"Yeah? Well, while you growin' up wit ya big spiders, I be growin' up wit big raptors, okay? Now dat's scary. You never know if dey just gonna turn around and eat you when ya ma'da ain't lookin' for a second."
"Oh please, growing up around nightsabers is no different," Mythene said as she lifted a hand from the reins to wave it dismissively.
Zami leaned forward towards her with a perked eyebrow.
"Are ya really gonna say dat a cat be as dangerous as a raptor?"
"Of course," Mythene smiled, "If not moreso."
"Oh no no no," Zami shook his head, chuckling, "Ya got dat way wrong. Trust me, I were in Stranglethorn for years, okay? Da raptors were always worse dan both da tigers and da panthers."
"Yet," Mythene looked over her shoulder towards him, "What was it again?"
"Huh?" Zami cocked his head to the side, "What was what?"
Mythene lifted her hand from the reins again, lifting it over her shoulder. Zami perked an eyebrow, flinching as she brought her hand to his cheek. She drifted it up to his eyepatch.
"What was it again?" She repeated.
Zami stared at her wordlessly and felt himself blush, though he couldn't exactly explain why. In response, Mythene gave him a wry smile and brought her hand back to the reins.
"It wasn't a raptor, now was it?" She said with a triumphant chuckle.
"N-No," He stammered, "How did you-"
"Guess?" Mythene flicked her eyes over to him, "Who said it was a guess?"
Zami furrowed his brow in confusion as Mythene faced forward again, a knowing smile playing on her lips.