Amani on the Move

"It's been quiet for a couple days now." Aerinan whispered, placing his hand on the hilt of his sword and watching the gates of Zul'Aman closely. "They're up to something, I know they are."

"We'll have to wait and see." Dael'Thaelas said, overhearing his son. "Should they attack, we are prepared." He told him, looking back to their two companies waiting behind them. "Unless they attack with their entire army, we can hold back whatever skirmish they decide to launch next."

"And if they do attack us with their whole army?" Aerinan asked him.

"We pull back to Tranquillien and hope they're stupid enough to follow us." Dael'Thaelas told him.

"I hope they are." Aerinan muttered to himself.

They stood outside Zul'Aman for hours after their brief conversation, waiting for something to happen and sending the occasional scout parties in and around the outskirts of the Amani city just to make sure they were still there and having confirmation of their presence. "There are a few of them walking the streets on patrol, but most of the Amani are in their huts."

"Good, then that means -"

Boom, boom, boom.

Three sounds of a drum echoed throughout the Amani Capital and the surrounding areas, interrupting Dael'Thaelas who's attention snapped back to Zul'Aman.

Boom, boom, boom.

"That's not good." Aerinan said, pulling out his bow and nocking an arrow in place.

"They're coming." Dael'Thaelas told him, looking back to his second. "Tell everyone to prepare for a fight."

Whilst the elves were getting into position, several spears were thrown at them from the walls of Zul'Aman, hitting and killing several elves before they were even prepared for a fight. "Where are they!?" Aerinan yelled, trying to find the Amani before they kill anyone else.

"They're in the trees." Dael'Thaelas told them, letting loose an arrow and watching the projectile sail through the air and hit one of the Amani in the chest, forcing them out of the tree and onto the ground below. "Aim at the trees!" He commanded.

A volley of arrows were let loose into the Amani in the trees, taking out a good portion of them though it would only be a tiny fraction of what was to come. The moment the trolls hit the ground, several more began to pour out from the gates of the city, charging towards the elves much quicker than they were anticipating.

"There's too many." Aerinan said, letting loose a couple of arrows into the Amani and dropping his bow so he could use his swords. "We won't hold them off for long!" He yelled, looking glancing over to his father who joined the melee.

"We will hold them for as long as we need to." Dael'Thaelas told him, moving out the way of an axe coming his way and slicing through the troll that dared to take his life. "Keep firing!" He commanded the rangers who weren't fighting in melee.

Whilst they were holding off the trolls, the sound of war drums were being heard all over Zul'Aman now, getting louder and louder as well as more of the trolls began to pour out of the city and join in on the fighting.

Seeing the unending tide of the Amani, Aerinan began to lose confidence in their ability to hold them at bay, pushing back the troll attacking him and forcing his blade through another. "Fall back!" He commanded, watching Dael'Thaelas look over to him and ignoring the look of disappointment he just gave him. "Fall back to Tranquillien!"

"Damn it..." Dael'Thaelas muttered, pulling out his war horn and blowing into it with three sharp breaths. "Fall back!" He yelled, falling back to Tranquillien with his company and pulling his son to the side when he was certain the trolls weren't following them. "Do that again and I'll make sure you get the public relations missions for an entire year."

"We were about to be overrun." Aerinan told him, watching his father glare at him. "B-but you're right. I shouldn't have called retreat." He watched Dael'Thaelas continue his retreat back to Tranquillien, letting out a sigh and following him back but at a distance. "Father, you're too blinded by your hatred for the trolls to think clearly against them." He whispered to himself, moving quicker to rejoin his company.

"You've been quiet today." Sylvanas whispered, standing beside Athrodar who sat at the front of the ship on a couple of crates. "Something on your mind?"

"Actually, yes there is." He said, glancing over to Sylvanas who tilted her head a little. "Did you know that I still know nothing about you? I got your name, rank and members of your family down, but not any hobbies, likes, dislikes, favourite colour or even favourite food." He saw her look away and went back to looking out at the ocean in front of him. "You know a lot about me and we have spoken about a lot of things, but nothing has ever really been about you."

"You never asked." Sylvanas muttered, hearing him let out a small laugh and frowning at him now. "What's so funny?"

"I didn't think I had to ask. I was hoping you would share something about you whenever you had the opportunity to, just to even things out." He sighed and looked at the arrows beside him that he was counting just to pass the time. "I think we need to slow down our relationship. We were only talking about having kids and getting married two days ago and I don't even know if you've ever had a pet. Or even like them!"

"Y-you want to slow things down?" Sylvanas asked, a little scared that he had some hidden meaning behind it or if he actually wanted to slow things down. "A-as in?"

"As in we can still talk, kiss and be around each other, even sleep in the same bed if it bothers you that much, but that's it until we get to... Sorry, until I get to know you some more." He saw her look down to think and smiled a little, looking back out towards the ocean again. "Take as much time as you need, we're not exactly going to arrive on Kalimdor in the next couple of hours."

"Does this mean no sex?" She asked to clarify his meaning behind it and placing a hand over her mouth when she realised she didn't ask that in her mind. "I..."

Relax." Athrodar said softly, finding it amusing that she became flustered again. "And yes, it means no sex. Not until I know more about you and I am certain that you're the one for me."

Sylvanas sighed and sat on the edge of the box, watching Athrodar move over a little to give her more room and shifting over so she was on it properly, resting her head on his shoulder. "Can't say I'm not a little disappointed, but I do get it." She looked down at her hand when Athrodar took hold of it, smiling and raising it to her lips so she could kiss the back of his hand. "What do you want to know?"

Athrodar smiled and kissed Sylvanas on the temple. "First of all, I'd like to know the story about that necklace you like to wear."

Sylvanas looked down at the necklace she was currently wearing, smiling a little and placing her hand over it before looking back to Athrodar. "As long as you explain that ring on your finger. I've seen all of you wear them and I've been curious about it since you like to look down and fiddle with it."

Athrodar looked down at the ring on his finger and nodded his head slowly. "It's a family ring, as I'm sure you've noticed. We are handed them when we graduate the Farstrider Academy and become fully fledged rangers." He began to spin the ring around on his finger, frowning at it a little. "My father doesn't like to wear his, but my grandfather and Lord Sunblade wear theirs." He looked over to Sylvanas who was looking down at the ring. "It was forged using the magic at the Sunwell and gives us all long life, just like the mages who spend most of their time around the Sunwell."

"I've always wondered how Dael'Thaelas has lived this long, now it makes sense." Sylvanas looked up and into Athrodar's eyes, taking hold of his hand again and placing it over her necklace. "This was given to me by one of my sister Alleria's rangers, shortly before she went through the portal and into Outland." She closed her eyes and swallowed hard, not liking this topic but she wanted Athrodar to get to know her at the same time. "I wear it to feel close to her. It doesn't have any special abilities like longer life, but knowing that she had this sent to me before she went through that portal is all I need to know she loved us until the end."

"Us?" Athrodar asked, tilting his head a little.

"Vereesa has one too. Mine's a sapphire and hers is a ruby." Sylvanas felt Athrodar's arm go around her, smiling and cuddling up to him. "There, now you know why I wear it."

"It's a start." Athrodar said, kissing the top of her head. "Thank you for sharing that."

Sylvanas kept the smile on her face, listening to his heart beat in his chest and matching her own with his. "Do you think I could get a ring like that?"

"I would give you a thousands rings like this." Athrodar told her, hearing her giggle. "What, I'm serious! The one good thing about being a Sunblade is the limitless resources. Of course, if Dael'Thaelas found out what I was doing, he'd try his best to intercept, but I'm sure we can find a way to avoid that."

"You know I want one so I can live a longer life with you, right?" Sylvanas asked, just to make sure he understood her.

"Oh I know. I was thinking of giving you a thousand rings and then you can give me back as many as you want, depending on how long you want to live beside me."

Sylvanas began to laugh. "I'll have you know, you're the one living beside me." She felt him kiss her on the temple again, moving her head to face him and kissing him fully on the lips now. "And I will tell you everything you want to know." She whispered to him once they broke apart their kiss, pressing her head against his. "Because I want to make this work between us and if you feel you have to know me more first, then I will tell you anything."

"I don't know if you have the time for how many questions I have." Athrodar told her, hearing her chuckle. "For instance, what are your hobbies?"

"Hobbies?" Sylvanas asked, pulling back and tilting her head at him. "I don't really have any hobbies. I wake up, do my duties as Ranger-General and sleep." She looked down at her hand when he took hold of it. "What?"

"I have to fix that." He told her. "When we return from Kalimdor, we need to do something together outside of being rangers."

"B-but... I like being a ranger." Sylvanas muttered. "I don't want to do anything else."

Athrodar laughed and hugged her against him. "I'm not telling you to change profession. Just spend a day or two doing a different activity, see if you enjoy it and then it can be something we do together."

"For instance?" Sylvanas asked.

"For instance... We could spend a day fishing, or a day at the beach." He saw her face lighten up the moment he mentioned the beach. "Okay, I think we've found our activity for when we return."

"I haven't relaxed at the beach in so long I have almost forgotten what the sand felt like between my toes." She muttered, looking Athrodar in the eyes when she saw him looking at her. "Okay, now what?"

"Nothing." He said, smiling at her. "I love you." He then told her, watching her eyes sparkle at those three words. "Even more so when I see your reaction to me saying that."

"I love you too." Sylvanas whispered back to him, placing her hands on his face and kissing him hard. "I hope this isn't against your 'slowing things down' plan?"

Athrodar shook his head a little. "Not at all."

"They didn't follow us north." Aerinan said, looking south towards the forests and in the direction of Zul'Aman. "They moved south and out of Quel'Thalas."

"They're heading towards the Hinterlands." Dael'Thaelas told him. "They have another city there, next to the coast. With the fall of Lordaeron, they can finally rejoin their sister clan. The only thing standing in their way is the undead and since our scouts have reported nothing in terms of major activity in the area, they will have an easy time reconnecting with them."

"Will this be a problem?" Aerinan asked his father.

"At the moment, no. But if they get any ideas in the future and decide to return here and take Silvermoon from us, we will need to be ready." Lord Sunblade looked over to the two companies in Tranquillien. "And we don't have the numbers here if that happens."

"And with the General and Lord Theron off to Kalimdor, we are running low on high ranking officers." Aerinan muttered, hearing Dael'Thaelas laugh.

"That would make me in charge unless the King decides to lead the defense." He said, looking over to his son. "And you my second."

"I.. How do we know when to prepare for them?" Aerinan asked him.

"We'll keep scouts in and around Lordaeron." Dael'Thaelas told him, looking south and towards Zul'Aman. "I'll report to the King and the Convocation on what happened here and assess our defenses before we decide if we need more."

"What will I do?" Aerinan now asked, watching his father get ready to leave.

"Stay here, keep an eye out on the Amani and talk some sense into your son. We will need him and his company here if the Amani were to attack." He climbed onto his horse and looked over to his son. "Maybe he will see that this whole thing with the Amani and the undead are bigger than his vendetta against this family."

"I'll talk to him." Aerinan told him, watching Dael'Thaelas ride off towards Silvermoon shortly after.

"What are you doing today?" Clea asked, standing behind Athrodar and poking him on the arm. "Looking out at the ocean? Spending time with the General?"

Athrodar moved his arm away from her. "Stop poking me." He said, being poked on the other arm by Anya. "Oh come on, you too?"

"Where there's one, there's the other." Anya said, smiling brightly at him. "So what are you doing today?"

Before Athrodar could speak, he was being poked on the back too, looking over to the third member. "Really, Melonara?" He asked, letting out a long sigh. "I should have known you'd join in."

"Of course!" Melonara said, poking her tongue out at him. "I overheard their plan to annoy you and I wanted to join in."

Athrodar slumped his shoulders and sighed again, being poked, prodded and occasionally hugged tightly by the three rangers surrounding him. "Where's Sylvanas?"

"Discussing what we're going to do with Kael'Thas, Lor'themar and Jaina." Clea told him, holding onto his arm tightly. "We're here to keep you company."

"Think of us as your little sisters." Anya said, hugging him tightly.

"That will be difficult, since I've slept with one of you." Athrodar said, watching Melonara glare at him. "But we won't speak about it ever again." He then said, looking away from the fiery glare he was getting. "Why sisters?" He asked, turning his attention to Anya who kept her eyes closed whilst she hugged him tightly. "Hello?"

"Huh, what?" Anya looked up at him and smiled. "Sorry. I've never had a brother and I got carried away."

"Don't say it." Clea whispered to Athrodar. "Say it and she will never leave you alone." She said.

"I.." Athrodar wanted to listen to Clea's warning, but he saw how innocent Anya looked right now and believed her wholeheartedly that she has never had a brother. "I..."

"Don't. Say. It." Clea told him now, making her warning loud and clear.

"But I feel so bad for her!" He cried, being knocked over by Anya who pounced at him and laid on top of him, hugging him tightly.

Clea sighed whilst Melonara began to laugh. "See, I told you." She said, looking over Melonara who was laughing at Athrodar. "Rule one if you want to thrive in this company, don't ever humor Anya unless you know what you're doing." She pointed at Anya and Athrodar. "This will be you unless you know how to handle her."

Melonara nodded her head. "Understood. I'll never humor her."

Clea let out a quick laugh. "That's the right mindset."

"Please get her off me." Athrodar said, trying to pry the ranger off him and giving up when Anya tightened her grip on him even more. "Please."

"I say we leave her there a little longer." Melonara said, hearing Clea laugh.

"Deal." She said, patting Melonara on her back. "Enjoy your time with your new sister, Athrodar."

Athrodar laid in the middle of the ship with Anya holding onto him as if her life depended on it, not noticing that almost half an hour had passed since this all started and catching a glimpse of Sylvanas who crouched down above his head. "Hi." He said, looking down at Anya who wasn't paying attention to him. "A little help?" He asked, watching the General smile.

"But it's cute." Sylvanas said, patting the top of Anya's head and watching her grip tighten around Athrodar, laughing when he groaned at the feeling of his body being crushed. "Aww, she loves you." She said teasingly.

"I beg, please get her off me. It's been so long since I felt my hands. I think she has cut off the blood supply." He looked up at Sylvanas who rolled her eyes at him. "I'm serious! They're really numb."

"Fine, fine..." Sylvanas stood up and walked around him, bending down to take hold of the back of Anya's tunic and pulling her up onto her feet, raising an eyebrow when she saw her lift Athrodar up with her. "Let go of him, Anya." She said, growing tired of this now. "Let go of him and I promise you can jump all over him when we reach land for an hour or two."

"What!?" Athrodar yelled, feeling Anya let go of him.

"Promise?" Anya asked, looking at the General with excitement.

Sylvanas began to grin at her excitement, convincing herself that if Anya had a tail it would be wagging right now. "Sure. But not a minute longer." She looked over to Athrodar who pinched the bridge of his nose. "Two hours with him when we reach land and find a place to set up camp then not again until I tell you, deal?"

"Deal!" Anya said, hugging the General. "Thank you!"

"I hate you." Athrodar muttered, glaring at the grinning Sylvanas the moment Anya left. "You sold me out."

"You didn't listen to Clea." Sylvanas said, placing a hand on his cheek. "If you listened to her, you wouldn't be in this mess." She stepped forward and tried to kiss him, watching him turn his head away. "Aw, don't be like that." She said, pouting at him. "I've been looking forward to kissing and being you since I left an hour ago. Don't punish me too."

"Convince me to change my mind." Athrodar said, keeping his head turned away from her.

Sylvanas giggled and placed her hands on his face. "Fine." She whispered, turning his head towards her again and planting a long kiss on his lips, feeling him melt in her hands and feeling him place his hands on her waist, moaning into his mouth when she felt his tongue against hers. The next thing she knew, she was up against the door to the cabin and began to giggle against his mouth, pulling back and closing her eyes when she felt him kiss her neck. "This isn't taking things slow." She purred, wrapping one leg around him and letting out another moan when he continued to kiss her neck. "A-Athrodar... We... We're not a-alone."

"Sounds like a problem, but feeling you grip onto me tightly more I do this says you actually enjoy this." He told her, moving to kiss her on the lips again but stopping a couple of inches away. "Although.. I do want to take things slowly..." He muttered, pulling back a few inches and watching the pain and desperation in her eyes for him to kiss her again. "Tell Anya that the deal is off."

"I.. I can't." Sylvanas told him, trying to move closer to him but groaning when he moved back the moment she moved forward. "If I do, she will be more annoying in the future. Trust me, I know from experience."

"I know you want this to happen." Athrodar said, slowly grinning at her. "But I do want to take this slow, so if we go any further than kissing, I will leave."

"You don't mean that..." Sylvanas muttered, watching Athrodar's grin widen.

"I do. But if you share more things about you, what you like and dislike for instance, I would be willing to go that little bit further."

Sylvanas narrowed her eyes at him. "I dislike games that end with me being left wanting more."

"And I like teasing you because you look really cute when you're annoyed." Athrodar said, laughing when she began to glare at him. "Like that. If I didn't know that loved me, I would be scared."

"I don't love you." Sylvanas told him, keeping the glare on her face.

"I'd believe that if you didn't keep you hands behind my head and trying your hardest to pull me in for another kiss." Athrodar said, laughing when she let go of him. "I love you too." He told her, kissing her on the forehead. "I'd say I'll see you later, but I have nowhere else to go."

"You're not sleeping in here." She told him, placing a hand on the door handle beside her. "Your punishment for teasing me."

Athrodar smiled and bowed his head. "As you wish, General." He said taking a couple steps backwards. "I'll leave you to it."

Spending the rest of the day and some of the night on his own, Athrodar trained his sword skills, watched the sunset and counted then recounted his arrows. These were activities he had been doing since they set sail four days ago and although he was bored of doing them, he had nothing else to do whilst he was stuck on the ship with everyone else.

He was waiting for one elf though and knew that the longer he didn't enter the cabin, the higher the chance of her bursting through its doors just to drag him back inside. He wasn't confident in this plan, but he knew it would give him some more information about her no matter what her reaction to him spending the night outside of the cabin without her.

He began to smile when he heard the doors to the cabin open slowly, knowing she was poking her head out to find him and stopping himself from laughing when she tried to get his attention.

"Psst!" Sylvanas whispered, looking around the deck to make sure nobody was watching her. "Are you going to leave me alone in here all night or something?" She asked him when he looked over to her, watching Athrodar walk over to the cabin and sighing when she saw his grin. "You planned for this to happen, didn't you?" She asked, exasperated. "These games of yours are getting annoying, you know that?"

"I'd believe you if you didn't forgive me the moment I stand near you." He whispered to her, leaning up against the second door that had remained closed. "And if I remember rightly, you told me I'm not sleeping here tonight."

"Yeah, well..." Sylvanas grabbed hold of his tunic and dragged him inside the cabin, shutting the door behind her. "I was kidding. Now get in that bed and cuddle me."

"So demanding." Athrodar teased, watching her glare intensely at him. "Okay, that glare I'm scared of."

"Good." Sylvanas said, climbing onto the bed and sitting on his lap. "Now I'm going to stay here until you sleep, just to make sure you don't try any funny business."

"I can live with that." Athrodar told her, closing his eyes and getting comfortable.

Noticing him fall asleep, Sylvanas pouted and folded her arms. "Damn it... I wanted him to protest." She sighed and looked at the empty space beside him and then back to Athrodar, slowly grinning when an idea popped into her mind. "Oh no... I've suddenly lost all my energy and I can't move." She said to herself, laying down on top of Athrodar and closing her eyes. "I'll have to just lay here and recover."

Athrodar began to chuckle a little, feeling Sylvanas' ear twitch against his chest. "That was really adorable." He whispered to her, feeling her bite his chest. "Ow. What are you, a Lynx?"

"Yes, now listen to the Lynx laying on top of you and shh. We're sleeping now." She closed her eyes and pressed her ear to his chest. "Love you." She whispered to him.

"Love you too." He whispered back, feeling her bite his chest again. "Ow! Okay, I'll stop talking!"