The kal'dorei simply stared at her with an infuriating smile on his face.
"Never heard of you, are you suurre you're not just an initiate?" He drawled. "Wouldn't a real ranger have killed me by now? I've heard they can be quite merciless when it comes to trespassers."
Slyvanas was was struck mute by his stupidity in the face of danger, and for a moment all she could do was stand there and blush angrily. She quickly gathered herself and with great venom in her tone said, "I assure you, you fool, that I am a ranger. I chose to approach you with caution however as I was not aware how big of a threat you may or may not have been."
Her voice shook with barely contained anger. She absolutely hated when anyone questioned her ability to perform her duty. She had worked much too hard to just be accepted into the prestigious ranks of the rangers, and for some grungy looking night elf to taunt her so petulantly, she was infuriated! The Kal'dorei, Lunarious, she remembered, had shifted so he rested his head on his bound arm with one knee drawn up and the other ankle resting in on it. How could he be so relaxed? It seemed everything he'd done up to this point was just so maddeningly mellow. He tilted his head towards her as he replied. "Well Sylviana Winkstalker, fool I may be, but threat I am not. If you'd just set me free, I assure you I'll be on my merry way back to the hovel from whence I came." He finished with another lazy smile.
Sylvanas could feel her eye begin to twitch involuntarily from her suppressed rage. She was representing the rangers finally, and she wasn't about to lose her calm to some idiot with leaves stuck in his armour. His comment did remind her however, of why she hadn't just released him. Alleria desperately needed a proper healer and none of the priests or paladins that her father had found could figure out what was ailing her. This moron didn't know it, but his innocuous comment about healing himself had saved him from a lonely death by Sylvanas' hunting knife. With practiced calm she stated, "It is Sylvanas Windrunner, you cretin, and as for setting you free, I will not do that...yet." She watched his eyes flicker in annoyance then pique in interest. "I will make you a one time offer, one that if you refuse, I'll just kill you and be done with it." She saw him wince. "My elder sister, Alleria, requires a healer. If you are able to restore her back to full health, I will forget you ever trespassed and you'll be free to go."
The druid seemed shocked, if his widened eyes and slack jaw were any indication. It took him a moment to snap out of his astoundment, "So if I heal your sister, you'll let me walk away free? No surprise knives in the back?" He continued to gaze at her suspiciously.
She rolled her eyes, "No surprise knives, I swear it upon the Sunwell." She tried to hide her anxiety at the thought of his rejecting her offer, but was sure he saw her squirming slightly. Luna for his part simply regard her with no hint of emotion on his face. Sylvanas was not one for patience when the situation didn't demand it and she quickly grew irritated, "Well nightelf? What say you?"
A slow, mischievous grin snuck its way onto his face, "I agree to your terms, Sylvie." With that he shifted quickly into a small purple owl and then back into his regular elven form, the rope she had so tightly tied around his left arm conspicuously absent from it. Sylvanas had not been expecting that reaction at all and she sputtered slightly in alarm, though her finely trained instincts already had her crouched behind the log she'd been sitting on, her bow snatched up and an arrow already notched in the time it took for him to dust off his leathers. "See." He paused. "That's why I didn't do that earlier," He winked. "I figured you'd be no slouch with that nice bow of yours. Maybe you're not just an initiate." He chuckled a little nervously this time. "You can put the bow down now, I swear by Elune's light, I'll abide by our terms." Luna's voice had begun to crack from unease as Sylvanas still said nothing.
For her part, she had a rush of adrenaline pumping through her veins and it was taking her some time to properly ease herself down. She took a few heavy breaths then edged the arrow slowly off her fine bow, placing it back in the matching quiver which still leaned against the log. Placing her bow alongside it and her free hand firmly on her knife's hilt she hopped back over the log, intently focusing into the Kal'dorei's now sweating visage. She motioned for him to sit and he did, leaning against the tree behind him. "Understand, Lunarious-whatever your name is" He looked ready to interject but a harsh look from her shut him up. "If you surprise me like that again, you'll likely end up with another arrow in you, though this time I will not miss." She cursed inwardly at her slip up, hoping he hadn't caught it. It would ruin the effect she'd be trying produce with her threat. She wince in annoyance as she saw his easy smile creep back onto his face.
"You mean to tell me, the great Syltana Ricecracker, actually missed when she shot me? I'm now wondering if perhaps you thought I was just a normal stag." He winked at her. "A magnificent one, but normal."
He looked up at her mockingly from his reclined position, arms crossed behind his head. Sylvanas flushed in silent fury, so what if she had thought him a normal deer, deer were not common to Quel'thelas. Sylvanas could not even recall if she had ever seen a druid not in humanoid form. Who was this insolent elf to taunt her so?! She was now livid, and in the space it took for Luna to draw a breath, she had her elbow barred against his throat, their faces inches apart. "If I have to correct my name, one. More. Time. I will make you regret ever setting foot in these woods, do you understand?"
The silvery elf weakly nodded. Satisfied, Sylvanas rose and crossed back to what she dubbed her side of the camp. Rubbing his neck ruefully, it seemed the imbecile could not resist one last quip. "You got it...Stilhantus broommocker." He had only the time to smirk before she had crossed the small distance between them and delivered a rage-packed right hook to his jaw. He slumped mercifully into unconsciousness, an ugly bruise already beginning to mar his face. Sylvanas straightened and brushed off her hands, satisfied. 'Jackass' She thought to herself.
Sylvanas chose to use this time to herself to do some snooping on her new "prisoner". 'He must have a bag or staff of some kind, as foolish as this night elf seemed there was no way even he would be dumb enough to travel with no belongings.' The clearing in which she had stumbled across him was actually quite close to her impromptu campsite, so she took piece of burning would from the fire as a makeshift torch and headed in that direction. Realizing she hadn't eaten since capturing the Kal'dorei she absentmindedly chewed on a piece of smoked venison as she walked. The clearing was just as she'd left it, the drag marks from her rather strenuous trial of dragging the nightelf to her camp were the only things that showed there'd been any hominid disturbance in the area. Casting her eyes around for anything that might belong to the druid she found herself becoming increasingly frustrated. There was no sign of anything belonging to him, dark as it was there was still a full moon shining softly above her so it should not have been difficult for her keen eyes to miss something. Giving up her search until the morning, Sylvanas headed back to her camp only to be faced with a problem of a different sort. How could she be sure the eld would not kill her in her sleep, this could all have been a ruse to get her to let her guard down and she was not taking any chances. She'd already watched him slip his bonds once so she was not in a very merciful mood. Claiming the forgotten rope that laid at Luna's feet she bound him hog style with his hands and feet tied together behind his back. 'There, that should keep him from making a fool of me twice.' She smirked to herself. Walking back to her small tent she resigned herself to a few hours of fitful, watchful sleep as the stars twinkled overhead.
She felt so warm, which was odd, since it was the middle of fall. 'The fire must still be going' She thought. Another oddity as she hadn't put an abundance of wood to stoke before she'd retired. She could hardly remember ever being so comfortable however so she was in no kind of rush to really wake from her slumber. Her hunting trip had been rather uneventful so far. In fact the only "game" she'd seen was the great white stag, but that had turned out to be that irritating druid. What an annoying elf, she was not looking forward to the long way home while in his company. She tensed. 'The druid! Has that idiot escaped?!' Her eyes snapped open and she was on her feet, knife in hand in seconds. His bonds were strewn all over the ground, they looked chewed through. Luna was nowhere in sight. Sylvanas growled in frustration, she should have known better than to let her guard down with that slippery kal'dorei! She froze as she heard the sound of soft snoring from behind her. Leaping forward and spinning midair she landed ready for a fight only to be greeted by the sight of a...slumbering bear? It was positively massive, it's purple fur shining. Belatedly, Sylvanas realized it was the druid. She could feel her fury welling up in her chest. Grabbing one of the now cool branches from the fire pit, she threw it at the bear's head. He reared up in surprise, with a confused grunt. He bleary, dopey face looked around the camp contemplatively until his eyes settled on hers. "Good morning ranger, what's got you in such a fuss this morning?" He shifted back into his elven form, shivering slightly from the early morning breeze. He eyed his cut bonds. "Oh yea, I woke up a few hours ago and I wasn't very comfortable." He grinned sheepishly. "So i had a few little forest friends help me out."
Sylvanas wasn't sure if she wanted to laugh or scream at his nonchalant tone. "Kal'dorei-"She began.
"Luna" He interjected happily.
"Kal'dorei," She began again, ignoring his pouting face. "What did I tell you I'd do to you if you surprised me again?" Her voice was strained from her holding in her ire.
"Well," He scratched his chin. "I suppose that you'd shoot me again, right?"
"Thats right, you moron. So why," At this she paused, taking a slow breath. "Why, if you knew what I'd do, would you not only break your bonds while I was sleeping, but also, sleep beside me?" She was just about ready to kill him and simply be done with this whole idiotic ordeal.
"I told you, I wasn't very comfortable, and while I was up, I noticed you shivering. Since you did not seem to have an extra blanket, I figured you wouldn't mind if I stood in as a substitute, bears generate alot of heat you know." He smiled at her stupidly.
Sylvanas could not believe the situation she was in. Why of every elf, did the biggest buffoon in all end up her best new hope to save her sister. If he was not a healer she would've killed him just for touching her. She sighed. It was too early for this, this was going to be a very, very long trip.