Zami crouched at the water's edge, watching the orange and red leaves fall from the trees, and desperately wishing he had his collapsible fishing pole on him at the moment. Beside him, Jazax paced anxiously and muttered to himself, clearly off in his own head. Zami supposed could understand that. He'd never met Jazax's ex-wife, but he'd certainly heard some horror stories about the woman. And from what he'd heard, this wasn't even the first time she'd run off with his money.

Zami glanced up at the sky, noting the deep purple hue. It was a lot like Moonglade here in Darnassus, but then he supposed that was only natural. Evening had sunk in, and the dark purple sky was only getting darker. It only made the rising Pale Lady all the more visible. No wonder the night elves though the moon was a god. Then again, with what he'd seen, maybe they weren't all too off base…

"There you are," A familiar voice spoke up in Orcish, breaking him from his thoughts.

Zami turned to look over his shoulder, as Mythene approached. The first thing he noted was that she looked a bit weary. Zami frowned, suddenly feeling rather guilty. She must've been worried, he concluded. But then he noticed Mythene was alone, and perked an eyebrow curiously. Maybe it wasn't his fault after all?

"Where did you go?" Mythene asked, standing next to him and crossing her arms lightly, a casual gesture rather than a scolding one.

"Uhh, dat priestess lady wanted to talk," Zami gestured towards the Temple of the Moon across the other side of the pond, "She didn't seem like she'd let me wait for ya, so…"

"Ah, I see," Mythene said as she looked over towards the Temple with a subtle frown, "I suppose she wished to discuss your… encounter."

"Yeah," Zami nodded, "Uh, by da way, what happened to ya sista?"

Mythene remained silent, simply glancing down at her hand for a moment, before tucking it back under her arm. Zami perked an eyebrow. If he was left to decipher the meaning behind her gesture, then he'd never be getting an answer. Before he could say anything, Jazax paced right into Mythene's side, stumbling into her. As soon as he looked up to see what he'd run into, he groaned.

"Oh, great! Just what I need! More women..." He sighed, earning a scowl from Mythene.

"Remind me again why the Sentinels let you past Rut'theran Village?"

Jazax just waved a hand at her dismissively and went back to pacing, making sure to adjust his path to avoid colliding with her again. Mythene perked an eyebrow, looking over at Zami curiously.

"What's his problem?" She asked as Zami stood up.

"Uhh, he got robbed," Zami shrugged.

"Curse that woman!" Jazax spat, shaking a fist at the sky, "I'm gonna make that crazy broad wish she never met me!"

Mythene put her hands on her hips, giving Zami another glance.

"He got robbed by his ex-wife," He elaborated, earning a furrowed brow from Mythene.

"I see. That is… unfortunate."

Mythene shifted uncomfortably for a moment.

"Well then," She cleared her throat, "Shall we get going?"

"Goin' where?" Zami cocked his head to the side.

"Home."

After allowing Jazax to get the rest of the pacing out of his system, Mythene led them to the outskirts of the gate of Darnassus, and Zami couldn't help looking around curiously. Autumn trees of red and orange were as far as the eye could see, scattering their leaves in a brisk evening breeze. Even he, who wasn't really a fan of trees, had to admit it was all rather beautiful.

"Ah, yes, I nearly forgot," Mythene perked up, reaching into her vest pocket.

She lightly poked at the sleeping Zeni, who hissed tiredly at her.

"I have a surprise for you, Zeni," Mythene smiled.

Zeni sat up in her hand curiously, hissing excitedly. Mythene chuckled and began to stride away from the cobbled road. Zami and Jazax exchanged curious glances before following her. They crossed a little archway beside the road and entered into a little grove.

"Zeni, I'd like to introduce you…" Mythene began as she set Zeni on the ground, "...to your family."

The grove was full of lashers with big round pink petals and spiky stem bodies. They looked exactly like Zeni. Mythene smiled as Zeni tried to excitedly run off to greet the other lashers, but she caught it before it could get too far.

"Hold on a moment, little one," She chuckled, "Let me disenchant you."

After she returned Zeni back to its normal size, it was still a little smaller than the others because its body had been shortened due to that incident back in Stranglethorn, but they were all definitely the same species.

"Alright, little one," Mythene said as she let Zeni loose, "Go and meet your family."

Zeni hissed excitedly and flung itself into the throng of lashers, who all joined into a chorus of excited hissing. The other lashers rubbed their vine-arms over Zeni's body, curiously poking and prodding the newcomer. As eager as always, Zen did it right back to them, just as curiously.

"Huh," Jazax spoke up, "It's like a family reunion or something."

Mythene nodded, a warm smile on her lips.

"Let's give them some time to get to know each other," She said, still smiling, "We'll return for him tomorrow."

Mythene then led them all back out of the clearing, to the road. They continued for a few minutes, to a cabin just around the bend from the gate of Darnassus. Zami wasn't sure what he expected Mythene's home to be like. Honestly, he'd kind of expected she lived inside of a tree. That seemed to be awfully popular in Darnassus, from what he'd seen. But it was just a quaint little wooden cabin.

The cabin was overgrown with moss and ivy, and the red-orange leaves had scattered across the weathered purple-tiled roof. A warm light shone from the circular windows, and wisps of smoke billowed from the little chimney atop the roof. Zami perked an eyebrow curiously, wondering if someone else lived with her. Her sister, maybe? He assumed his question would be answered when Mythene opened the little wooden door, which creaked as it turned.

As soon as the door was open, the smell of something cooking washed over them. Sure enough, the cooking pot was bubbling away by the fire. As they stepped inside, Zami was hit in the face by hanging dried spices. Jazax snorted in amusement at the sight, quickly looking away when Zami scowled down at him.

"An'da?" Mythene called in the direction of the hallway, taking off her backpack and setting it on the floor next to the table, "Ana an'da?"

They all waited quietly for a moment, awaiting a response. But there wasn't a sound, aside from the bubbling cooking pot and the crackling fire. Shifting awkwardly, Mythene looked over at Zami and Jazax.

"I'm sure he's just-"

"Bandu thoribas, ashte'rodne!" A man suddenly cried, leaping out of the shadows and tackling Zami.

A moment later, a massive white bear was looming over him and roaring in his face. Zami cringed as the bear's hot spittle hit his cheek, but resisted his instinct to attack.

"An'da!" Mythene called, hurrying over, "Ash'ana thero'shan!"

Mythene set a hand on the shoulder of the white bear and he finally looked up at her. A moment later, the bear shifted back into a night elf. He had his long white hair in a braid, and his untrimmed beard was long. One look at the man's lavender face, which was marked with red leaves, and it was obvious. The resemblance was clear.

It was another family reunion.


An'da: Father/papa
Ana an'da: My father

Bandu thoribas, ashte'rodne: Prepare to fight, ugly

Ash'ana thero'shan: This is my student