My sister-in-law is home from the hospital! No more babysitting, possibly! Which means more time for writing!
Syrise was sitting with her arms crossed and back against the stone wall. Her head tilted up towards the sky, she didn't see the harm in resting her eyes for a few minutes. Of course, she'd never feel safe to truly sleep around that crazy kaldorei. A little voice in the back of her mind always whispered how she was up to something. She had to be.
All druids had at least rudimentary healing abilities. Khail had told her that. Cracking her eyes open, she glanced down to the lower outcropping where Syrene was. She was seated with her legs crossed, apparently meditating. A blood-stained bandage wrapped about her forearm. Syrise narrowed her eyes at the suspicious wound.
Suddenly, from elsewhere within the enclosed valley of Moonglade, there came a scream. Not a scream of injury but one of terror. Syrise sat up straight, reaching for her bow on instinct. Could it have been another survivor? Were the fire druids returning?
Syrene sat up as well, her white eyes opening into a troubled expression.
"...Sister?" She whispered, barely audible to Syrise.
"Huh?" Syrise's eyebrows shot up, "Sister? You mean-"
"Mythene!" Syrene called out, her hands cupped around her mouth.
They waited a few moments for a response. But all that came was another scream.
"She sounds like she's in trouble!" Syrene gasped, hurrying to look over the edge of the rocky outcropping, "We have to get to her!"
"Why do you care?" Syrise asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously again, "You tried to kill her not long ago."
"Yes, but I'm the only one who can kill her!"
Syrise rolled her eyes before looking over the ledge of her own outcropping. It was quite a way down. She'd already figured it was too far to jump, or else she would've gladly left the kaldorei behind to her own fate. Not like she was even really stuck.
"It's too far to jump," Syrise said aloud, so they'd be on the same page, "We're sitting ducks. Unless you just wanna heal that arm already."
Syrene glanced aside at the comment, turning to look down again. A moment later, she gasped and looked up.
"That's it!" She beamed, scooting back from the ledge, "If falling is the problem…"
Syrise perked an eyebrow waiting for her to continue. But all Syrene did after that was roar, her body shifting into a panther. Her fur was a soft violet color, the red markings still lining her cheeks.
"What exactly is that supposed to do?" Syrise asked flatly.
In response, the panther leaned back on her haunches, leaping up to Syrise's outcropping. She faltered slightly on the landing, from her injured arm. But then the panther sunk her belly down to the ground, her whole body lowered. She looked at Syrise and gave an expectant nod of her furry head, towards her back. Syrise perked an eyebrow again.
"Wait, you want me to ride you?" She snorted, crossing her arms.
The panther turned to her, expression flat, and growled quietly. Then there came another scream from out in Moonglade, and Syrene's feline expression grew worried again. She roared impatiently in Syrise's face.
"Okay, okay, sheesh!" Syrise batted her mouth away.
She made a face and reluctantly crawled onto the panther's back. She barely had time to get a grip on the panther's back fur before it was leaping them over the edge of the outcropping. Syrise yelped in surprise, clinging close to Syrene's back. They landed roughly on an outcropping far below, one that was much too low to jump or climb to normally. Syrene let out a groan of pain from her arm, but quickly turned and jumped down to another lower level.
"Did you really just think of this?" Syrise managed to ask before they landed and the air was pushed from her lungs.
Syrene growled back in response and continued leading them down the mountain. When they finally landed in the grass, Syrise unclenched her handfuls of purple fur and moved to dismount. But Syrene clearly had other ideas. She began to run at full speed towards where the screams had come from, with Syrise sliding from the panther's back.
She grunted as she landed on her backside in the dirt, watching Syrene sprint off. Scowling, she stood up, rubbing herself where she had landed.
"Yeah, sure, don't worry about me," She muttered, "I'll find my own way."
She sighed, knowing she was only talking to the wind, and moved to begin towards the screams herself. After a few minutes, she found the main road. Syrise instantly knew where she was, having walked the length of this road several times in boredom in the past week. She turned and glanced back in the direction of Nighthaven, which was still smoking, and then towards the direction of the screams. They must've come from near the Grove of the Keeper, as Khail had called it previously.
Syrise had never actually visited the Keeper's Grove. She tried to go once, to see what Remulos looked like, but the guards didn't let her in. She then tried to stealth her way past, but they still saw her and ordered her away. As she began to walk in the direction of the Grove, she wondered if she would finally get to see what the Keeper looked like. Too bad it wasn't under better circumstances.
Keeper Remulos wasn't exactly what she expected, laying on the ground. Was that why she'd been ushered away? He was too busy napping? Druids sure did nap a lot, come to think. No wonder they liked turning into bears.
On the ground next to Remulos was, indeed, Mythene. With her arms wrapped around Zami. Quite affectionately, if she did say so herself. Syrise smirked and perked an eyebrow at the two of them, clearing her throat. They both jumped with a start and looked up in surprise. They looked even more surprised once they realized who it was.
"So, I must've really missed some trip, huh?" She quipped, grinning devilishly as the two of them began to blush.
