A Momentary Truce

"What do you think?" Kael'thas asked, standing beside Sylvanas and Lor'themar who had yet to speak out loud, even after the prophet had left them to make up their minds. "Can we trust them?"

"If they believe the prophet like Lady Proudmoore does, I think we can trust them." Sylvanas said, looking over to the Orcs and Tauren who looked to be having the same discussion. "Of course, I'll stay alert the whole time we are with them, just in case they try to turn on us."

Lor'themar nodded his head, looking over to the General and then the Prince. "If working with them means we will defeat the Burning Legion, then I will look the other way for now." He looked over to the Orcs and then back to the Prince. "If the Burning Legion threat is real, of course."

Kael'thas nodded his head slowly, noticing an officer was missing within their ranks and only just realising it now. "I have been busy with finding this place, so I have only just noticed, but where is Lieutenant Sunblade?"

"Scouting the forests north of the Barrens." Sylvanas told the Prince. "He should be back within a few days at most."

"North?" Kael'thas asked just to make sure he heard her correctly, watching the General nod in response to his question. "The Kaldorei are up north, along with their forests. I don't know if they've forgiven us as a people, but you should have discussed sending him up there with me first." He told her, watching Sylvanas frown.

"Why? They'll see he is an elf and leave him be, no?"

"Have we ever done that to an outsider?" Kael'thas asked her now.

"He's got a point." Lor'themar whispered to her, hearing the General sigh.

"Athrodar knows what he's doing. He'll remained safe and not get into trouble whilst he's out there, I know it." Sylvanas looked over to the orcs and tauren on the opposite side of the chamber they were in. "We just need to make sure we are safe and out of trouble here."

"You're a Lieutenant too?" Sera'thea asked, walked beside Athrodar and looking back to Melonara who looked less than happy with escort around Astranaar.

"I am." Athrodar told her, looking back to Melonara too. "Chin up, Mel. It could be worse."

"I don't want to be here!" She cried, folding her arms and looking away from them. "I should be in Stonetalon, getting closer to Anya and Clea and you should be with the General, trying your hardest to keep your hands off each other."

Sera'thea raised an eyebrow and looked over to Athrodar when he let out a long sigh. "Your General, huh?"

"It's a long story." Athrodar told her, looking back to Melonara and glaring at her. "One that I wasn't going to bring up here."

Melonara held up her hands. "I'm sorry, I forgot that you and the General are weird about this whole thing and will tell everyone one day and keep it a secret the next."

"That's not what's happening and you know it." Athrodar told her. "We're fine with everyone knowing, but we would prefer it if it wasn't spread around to the people holding us prisoner."

Sera'thea smiled a little and looked over to Athrodar then back to Melonara. "Does this General of yours know that you two have slept with each other?"

Both Melonara and Athrodar looked to over to Sera'thea with widened eyes, though Melonara went bright red with embarrassment. "H-how do you know that?" She asked, hearing the night elf laugh.

"It's so obvious looking at you two. You both care a lot for each other, but tease and annoy each other whenever possible. I would have thought you were related in some way, yet you try your hardest not to touch one another or even be closer than an arms length away." She began to smirk when she saw them look at each other than look away. "You High Elves are cute. Just move on from it and forget it ever happened, or remember it and hold onto the memory fondly." She shrugged her shoulders and began to escort them around Astranaar again. "Just a word of advice, don't get hung up on it otherwise it could ruin your professional relationship and make it harder to work with each other."

Melonara pouted and glanced over to Athrodar, looking down at the floor when she saw her was looking at her. "I hate to admit it... But she's right."

Athrodar smiled and looked over to one of the many trees surrounding this small town they were in. "She is. I don't want there to be any awkwardness between us, Mel. Even though she keeps wanting it to happen, I do see you as some sort of little sister to me and... I wouldn't say I regret doing what we did, but I think we would have been a lot closer if we didn't.. Well.. Do that."

Melonara laughed lightly, rubbing the back of her neck when she felt the awkwardness he was talking about. "I didn't regret it either." She said quietly, looking over to Athrodar. "Besides, now I know how bad you are, I won't want to have another go."

Athrodar laughed loudly now. "Fair enough. You weren't that good either." He joked, watching Melonara glare at him and then noticing Sera'thea had pinched the bridge of her nose. "What? Oh, so she can say it and it's funny, but if I say it, I'm in the wrong?"

"Precisely." Melonara told him, punching him on the arm. "I hope you've learnt from your mistake."

"When is your General meant to arrive?" Athrodar asked, wanting to move the conversation onto a different topic. "I want to leave here as soon as possible and report back to our people so they know not to come north."

Sera'thea looked over to Melonara who had a smirk on her face, grinning and looking back to Athrodar. "No doubt to return to your General." The Lieutenant Sentinel said, making Melonara laugh and Athrodar sigh.

"I think I might like this Lieutenant." Melonara said, nudging Athrodar with her elbow. "Like Sera'thea said, we just have to answer this General's questions, tell her why we're here and then we can leave. It's not like we are a threat to these people, we're just finding a place for the humans we saved to call home, then we can return home too."

"If we don't find any signs of a Burning Legion here." Athrodar reminded her, watching Melonara's smile slowly fade. "Forgot about that, didn't you?"

"I was hoping it wasn't going to be true." She muttered.

"It still might not be." Athrodar told her. "We could just be here to find the humans a home, find no demons and return to our home safe and sound."

"I hope that's true." Melonara told him. "I'm not in the mood to fight demons and undead in the same year."

Athrodar smiled and nodded his head a little. "Neither am I to be honest."

"Jintha'Alor..." Tahnir muttered, looking at the troll city in the distance. "This place is bigger than I thought it would be." He said, looking over to his new second now that Athrodar had changed Ranger Company. "Let's get going, we can't see anything happening from here."

Tahnir and his company moved forward, making their way towards Jintha'Alor and noticing how big the city actually was when they got close to it. The amount of levels to the city is what made the whole thing daunting as it seemed to go on forever. "Chances all the trolls are at the top?" Tahnir's second asked, watching the Captain smile.

"Most likely not, but the important members are there without a doubt." Tahnir told them, looking around the nearby surroundings for a place to climb and look into the city. "We need to find a way in, or at least a way to look inside their city." He looked back to his second and saw them waiting for his orders. "Split everyone into four groups, we'll search the outskirts of the city and find a way in, or at least find a way to look inside and see what is happening."

Once the company was split into four groups, Tahnir brought his group to the right of Jintha'Alor, climbing up a steep hill and slowly noticing the first couple of layers were viewable from their position. "There's more than I thought." Tahnir muttered, looking into the first two levels of Jintha'Alor. "That's at least a quarter of Zul'Aman right there." He looked at the rest of the levels to the troll city. "There's still five more levels to this place."

Tahnir continued to watch the first two levels of the Amani city, finding it hard to believe that they had so many trolls in one area and they weren't even halfway up the city. "We need to get further up." He said, looking over to his company and deciding to split them in half, leaving them with two groups of fifteen.

"Group two will stay here whilst I take group one further up. Send a runner up to us if anything changes whilst we're gone, got it?"

"Got it." The Ranger Tahnir was talking to said, bowing his head to the Captain.

"Let's go." Tahnir told his group, moving further up the steep hills.

Elaria made her way towards Athrodar and Melonara, smiling at her sister the moment they saw each other and placed a hand on her back. "I need the Lieutenant. The General has arrived and wants to speak to him."

"What about me?" Melonara asked, watching Athrodar stand up. "Surely I am needed too, right?"

Elaria shook her head. "Just the Lieutenant. You're to stay here with my sister until the General is finished talking to him." She looked over to Sera'thea who smiled at her. "I trust you to keep her company?"

"Of course, Baby Starlight." Sera'thea said, smiling up at her when she saw the Captain glare at her.

"I told you not to call me that when we're out here!" Elaria spat, glaring at her grinning sister.

"But it's so cuuuute. I love when your eyes sparkle like that when you're angry, it reminds me of mother when father doesn't think before he speaks." She stood up and hugged her sister tightly. "My Baby Starlight." She whispered, kissing her on the cheek.

"I've given up reminding you that I'm your superior and you can't keep talking to me like this, even if you are older than me." Elaria smiled and hugged her sister back. "But I do like being hugged."

"Are we going?" Athrodar asked, watching Elaria let go of her sister and straighten out her uniform.

"Right yes, sorry." She said, escorting the Lieutenant towards the General.

"Baby Starlight?" Melonara asked once they had walked off, looking at Sera'thea who smiled at the nickname. "Can I ask why that name?"

"Her eyes." Sera'thea told her, sitting down beside the High Elf ranger. "Very few of my kind are blessed with it, but Elune bestows upon those lucky few her gifts and blessings of the moon. Majority of the time they're given to Priestesses of Elune, but there are a few who don't have the magical powers of a priestess and still have her physical gifts." Sera'thea looked over to Melonara who still looked confused. "Their eyes sparkle like the night sky. If you look into them, you can see what look like little stars, shining in the night. And her hair, you'll notice not a lot of us have pure white hair except from the Priestesses and her, that's another gift from Elune. Hair as white as the White Lady in the night sky."

"Wow..." Melonara muttered, looking over to Athrodar and Elaria who stood outside of a building on the other side of Astranaar, noticing the bright, white hair. "We don't have anything like that back in Silvermoon. Most of our characteristics are passed down by our parents or if you're a magic user, the Sunwell grant you some properties like longer life, smoother skin or a brighter glow in your eyes."

"Does your Goddess not grant you any of her gifts?" Sera'thea asked, surprised the difference in culture they get have compared to her people.

"We don't actually worship anyone. At least, not as a society. There are a few who worship the sun, though they are very few and far in between. Most of us just focus on our professions and nothing else." Melonara smiled a little at the shocked look on Sera'thea's face. "We have mages and priests who I see once, maybe twice in my lifetime because they are called to the front to help defend our lands when we're being attacked. Outside of that, if you're a ranger you almost never see a magical user unless they're family, or you're an officer."

"That's interesting..." Sera'thea muttered, looking down at the ground in thought. "I know a lot of priestesses and a few druids, yet none of them are my family."

"We spend most of our time in our forests. Athrodar and I have spent the last three or four decades in the forests and rarely visit our family or friends." Melonara smiled a little, though it had hints of sadness about it. "Well... His family, I lost mine during the Second War against the orcs and the Amani Trolls." She saw Sera'thea give her a sympathetic smile, waving the gesture away. "Don't feel sorry for me. It's been so long since they died that it doesn't hurt to talk about them. I pretty much tell anyone who will listen anyway since it gives me a good understanding of their character. Most of the time rangers just nod their head, say they're sorry for my loss and then tell me who they have lost in return. It's a great way to get to know who you're fighting alongside."

"Sounds a little depressing." Sera'thea told her honestly, getting a laugh from Melonara.

"It is, but then again we spend most of our time on the front lines, fighting back the Amani Trolls who go on raiding parties at least twice a month. Most of the time they're not successful, but they keep trying and keep dying." Melonara shrugged her shoulders, looking over to Athrodar and Elaria in the distance and watching them walked into the building they were waiting outside. "He tries to make sure nobody notices, but I see him letting his emotions dictate the fight sometimes."

"Who, your Lieutenant?" Sera'thea asked, watching Melonara nod her head.

"The Amani killed his great grandmother. They were really close near the end and I know a part of him died when she did." Melonara looked back to the Lieutenant Sentinel who smiled sadly. "He hates the Amani and the Orcs with a passion. Sometimes that passion takes over his judgement and he gets us into some questionable situations sometimes, but he's a fantastic leader." She smiled brightly and looked down at her bow that was placed beside her. "I have followed him into many battles and I trust him with my life and will willingly give mine to make sure he survives if ever the opportunity came up."

Sera'thea saw she was serious and smiled at the loyalty she had for him. "You must really care for him to lay your life on the line."

"He's my brother. Not by blood like you and your sister, but he's as close to one as I will ever get." She looked back to Sera'thea who smiled at her, smiling back at the Lieutenant Sentinel. "Which is why I hit him every time he brings up the one time we slept with each other. It makes me feel icky because I see him as my brother."

"Then I will hit him too if he brings it up around me." Sera'thea told her, getting a laugh from Melonara as a response.

"Thank you."

"So my Captain has told me you're here to find a home for a group of humans and to see if the Burning Legion are back." General Feathermoon kept her back to him whilst she read through a couple of reports that were handed to her on arrival. "Is that correct?"

"It is." Athrodar said, looking over to Elaria who was waiting by the door as both a guard and his escort once the meeting was finished. "I have told your Captain, the Lieutenant outside and everyone else who has asked us why we're here, that there is no other reason to our arrival in your forests other than finding a home for those humans, getting out the glaring sun of the Barrens and hopefully to refill out water pouches." He looked back to the General who placed down the report in her hands. "When we were ambushed by those orcs, it was just another thing to tell our General about why we shouldn't come up here."

"These 'Orcs' you mentioned, tell me about them." General Feathermoon said, looking over to Athrodar. "Their weaknesses preferably and how to drive them out of our lands. So far, we've been met with heavy resistance and are finding it hard to thin their numbers."

"They're tough." Athrodar told her. "It takes about half a dozen arrows just to fell them, or at the very least, slow them down enough to get a clean blow in with your swords, glaives or whatever it is you're carrying in the form of a weapon. Knowing that they're here to cut down your trees, I'd say they're either trying to setup an outpost or they're trying to relight the fires of their once great war machine."

"This isn't telling me any of their weaknesses, only things I should look out for." The General told him.

"I don't really know of any except that they're slow and they let anger dictate their actions." Athrodar looked over to Elaria then back to the General. "And their numbers are just a fraction of what they used to be after the wars they've had against us."

"Where would they set up camp?" The General now asked him.

Athrodar shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. "I couldn't say. The humans have a better understanding than we do of the orcs. The only information I know is what I've told you, they cut and burn trees to fuel fires and craft weapons, or to build an outpost. Their weaknesses are what we have observed in our fight against them, but the humans have fought them longer than we have."

"So they're hard to kill, but they're slow and they let their anger take over during a fight." The General looked over to Elaria who stood to attention. "Did you say there were two of them?"

"I did, General. The other is with my sister." Elaria told her.

"Go get them. I want to see if their stories match up."

Elaria saluted. "Right away, General." She said, leaving the building.

"She'll just tell you what I've told you. We didn't know these were your forests, we were looking for a place to rest and refill our water pouches whilst keeping an eye out for a perfect spot the humans we are escorting can make a new home." Athrodar watched the General sit down and pick up a different report. "The Burning Legion threat is just a guess. We don't know if they're here, we were told to keep an eye out for any demons and report back the moment we do. We didn't expect orcs to be here either."

"I was told you came here with two companies of rangers and around three hundred humans." The General said, not ignoring what Athrodar was saying but wanting to move on from the repeated answer. "Where are they?"

Athrodar watched the General who didn't look up at him. "By now, Stonetalon. That's where they were heading before we left to scout up north."

"Why Stonetalon?" The General asked him, flicking through a couple more reports.

"The leader of the humans, Lady Proudmoore, sensed a strong magical presence in the area. Along with our Prince who is accompanying us and the humans, they all decided to find out what it was and hoping it was the prophet that told the humans to come to Kalimdor and build a new home."

"Prophet?" The General asked, glancing up at him before looking back down at the reports in hand. "You never mentioned a prophet."

"That's because I don't even know if he exists." Athrodar told her. "Only Lady Proudmoore has seen him."

"And I'm to believe your Prince as well as your General and the three hundred or so humans following her all believe what she saw and heard?" The General now asked, finding the story a little amusing.

"I couldn't say. I'm just following my General's orders, I don't have the authority to question the mission." Athrodar said.

"Right, but you must have some doubts about your 'mission', right?" The General now asked him, curious on his response.

"I think if we've come here to find a home for the humans and come across nothing else but the occasional orc who have made it onto the continent, then I will have some serious doubts about any future mission involving the humans." Athrodar told her. "So far I have almost burnt from the sun, get killed by a pack of orcs and wolves and now been held prisoner by you lot. Unless there's a serious threat here, I'd say this has been a waste of time."

The moment Athrodar stopped talking, Melonara and Elaria had walked into the building, both High Elves looking at each other before looking over to the General who stood up from the chair she sat in. "He's told me why you're here, I'd just like to hear your side of the story."

Melonara frowned and looked over to Athrodar, watching him nod and turning her attention back to the General. She spoke for close to five minutes about why they were here, what they were doing and why they were scouting out the forests they were currently in, giving almost the exact same response as Athrodar though a few things were said differently or not as accurate to what had happened. "Tell me that's what he said." Melonara added at the end, folding her arms across her chest. "I'm sick of being stuck here and I want to return to our people. Just tell me that's what he said so we can leave and forget this ever happened."

General Feathermoon grinned and looked over to Elaria who raised an eyebrow at her outburst. "Captain. I want you to gather a small group and escort them back to their people. If they're really in Stonetalon, it shouldn't be too difficult to find them, there's not a lot of places they can call home or even set up camp." She looked over to Athrodar and Melonara. "If I see you two in my forests again, you won't be so lucky."

Athrodar bowed his head to the General. "Thank you." He said, being waved away and then escorted out of the building shortly after.

"So we can go now?" Melonara asked, looking over to Athrodar whilst they waited for their escort.

"Yes. I just don't know how everyone is going to react when we return to them with a group of Kaldorei when we were only sent here to scout the forests and return if we saw anything." Athrodar watched as Elaria made her way back to him with a group of seven other Night Elves. "Are we leaving now?"

"We are." Elaria said, ordering four of her Sentinels to take the lead and holding a hand up to them when the General whispered something to her, nodding slowly and bowing her head to her superior officer when she began to leave. "I've also just been instructed to talk to your General and Prince when we arrive at your camp."

"What for?" Athrodar asked, being pushed forward lightly by Elaria.

"That's for me to know and for your Prince and General to find out." She said, pocketing a folded up piece of parchment that was handed to her as well.

"We've called for a truce, just until this Burning Legion threat has been dealt with." A Tauren said, standing beside an Orc and facing the elves and humans. "I don't know much about this Prophet, or this threat to our lives, but Thrall here has seen visions of our future and recognises the prophet as the one talking to him in these visions."

"We don't want to fight." Thrall said, looking to the Tauren on his right. "Cairne and I just want peace for our people and will work with you to achieve that peace."

"How do we know we can trust you?" Lor'themar asked them. "We saw evidence of orc hunting parties in the Barrens to our east and recent tracks too. For all I know, you followed us from the Barrens to here and are now trying to plot your ambush on us when we least expect it."

"Followed you?" Thrall asked. "We have been here for days, waiting in this cave for this prophet."

"Then who is in the Barrens?" Sylvanas asked them. "Our scouts spotted the tracks and warned us ahead of time and they are very good at their job. The blood was still wet and the tracks recent, so if it weren't you, there are more orcs out there."

Thrall exhaled through his nose and looked over to Cairne. "Hellscream." He said, watching the old bull nod his head.

"Who?" Prince Kael'thas asked.

"He's one of their chieftains." Jaina said, having everyone there look over to her. "I read about him and the orc clans during my stay at Dalaran. He's a mighty warrior among their people and someone we shouldn't underestimate." She frowned and looked over to Thrall. "Why isn't he here with you if you all want peace?"

"I sent him to find somewhere to settle and make camp for our people. He hasn't reported back and I feared the worst, but knowing there were signs of hunting on your trip over here tells me he has found somewhere." Thrall looked over to the elves and humans, placing down his hammer beside him. "This Burning Legion, they enslaved my people years ago, before we came to this planet, by making us drink demon blood. I want to see them pushed off this world so history doesn't repeat itself and destroy this planet too."

Kael'thas looked over to Sylvanas and Lor'themar, watching them nod their heads slowly and then looking over to Jaina who nodded her head slowly too. "Okay then." He said, looking back to Thrall and Cairne. "For now, we will have a truce. But we won't be camping together and we will keep a distance between our parties until we find the Burning Legion."

Thrall nodded his head in agreement. "I can understand that. We won't bother you unless it comes to a fight, then we won't hesitate to join in, I can promise you that."

Whilst the discussions continued between the leaders of both parties, Sylvanas was pulled aside by a messenger who handed her a folded sheet of parchment, waiting for her to read through it. "I left a day ago." They told the General when they reached the bottom. "An hour after we found out."

Sylvanas closed her eyes and folded the piece of parchment. "Thank you for coming to us as soon as you could." She said.

"Are you going to tell them?" The messenger asked, watching Sylvanas think about it. "I only ask because I was told it was important."

Sylvanas shook her head slowly. "No, I won't say anything yet. Not until things calm down here and we are certain of our next mission in this place." She looked at the messenger who bowed to them and began to conjure a portal. "If they ask, tell them I'll inform the rest of them when the time is right."

"Will do, General." The messenger said, teleporting back to Silvermoon.

"Problem?" Lor'themar asked, watching Sylvanas pocket the piece of parchment.

"No." She said, smiling at him. "Just an update from Silvermoon."

Lor'themar nodded his head slowly. "Okay. We are camping here tonight and leaving to return to the Barrens tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you." The General said, watching Lor'themar leave and placing a hand on her necklace. "Shit..."