Over A Decade Ago
"Wow... When I left you to have my baby, you were a Lieutenant and on your way into the General's company. Now that I am back to being a ranger, you are no longer a Lieutenant and instead you're a teacher for new rangers." Viraleth smiled at Athrodar when she heard him sigh. "I knew I should have left a babysitter with you instead of my daughter."
"What can I do for you Viraleth?" Athrodar asked, watching the Ranger make her way over to him and sit down on one of the chairs in the classroom he was currently in.
"You and that Magistrix have your own personal spies who work for you. It should be no surprise that I am the General's spy and closest friend." She began to smirk at him. "And seeing as I'm in her company, it should come as no surprise that we're stationed in Silvermoon at the moment and you know what that means."
"No, what?" Athrodar asked, having his question answered the moment he heard two sets of voices yelling in the distance. "Oh no... Please don't tell me..."
As he looked over to the entrance of the room he was currently in, he saw Anya and Clea burst through the door and rush towards him. "Big brother!" Anya cried, hugging him tightly and giggling at the same time. "I have missed being alone with you!"
"You set me up." Athrodar said, glaring at a laughing Viraleth.
"I did not." She told him, standing up and walking towards his desk. "I came here to warn you. And to get you to see sense and to make you return to the General's side."
"I can't, I'm engaged now." Athrodar said, trying to look at the General's Chief Scout and failing to do so as both Anya and Clea were blocking his vision with their hugs. "You know what that means."
"It means nothing." Viraleth told him. "Engaged doesn't mean married. It means you're planning to marry, there's no rules that say you have to stay loyal during that time. Or that your decision is final." She moved to stand in what little line of sight he had. "Since the Ranger-General is too preoccupied with the news of your engagement to think clearly, I have had to step forward." She gestured to the two rangers clinging onto him. "And they're here to help."
"We're not only here to help her." Clea told him.
"We're also here to make you love us like the little sisters we are." Anya then told him, squeezing her cheek against his and squealing in excitement. "We're going to have so much fun!"
Before Athrodar could protest to this plan, there was a light knock on the door to his classroom, making all four of them look over to the intruder who looked a little confused. "Uhm... Is this a bad time?" They asked, flinching when Anya screamed.
"She's so cute!" The Ranger cried, letting go of Athrodar and squeezing the poor, young recruit tightly.
"She also looks a little familiar..." Viraleth muttered, noticing she had the same colour hair as Athrodar, even a somewhat similar nose a cheek structure. Looking for a little longer, she glanced over to Athrodar who began to frown at her.
"Why are you looking at me?" He asked, looking over to the recruit who was having her life squeezed from her. "Anya, let go of her." He said, having the over excited ranger let go of the recruit and thanking her. "What do you need, Victoria?" He asked when he saw her get her breath back.
"I need help with something." She said, holding up her bow. "I think my bowstring is a little loose and I don't know how to tighten it."
Viraleth watched Athrodar help the young recruit with her bow, frowning at them for a few seconds before widening her eyes when something clicked in her brain. "Oh! Oh! Oh!" She said when she figured out why the recruit looked familiar.
"What are you doing?" Athrodar asked when he saw Anya, Clea and Viraleth huddle around each other and spoke in whispered tones. "If you're going to whisper, at least share it with the whole class."
"Shh!" Viraleth said, waving him away and going back to whispering to both rangers in front of her, the three of the occasionally looking over to both Athrodar and Victoria.
"Is it always like this in ranger companies?" Victoria asked, a little scared at what she was seeing.
"No. Only the Ranger-General's company apparently." Athrodar told her.
"I need to leave." Viraleth said, walking passed Athrodar and Victoria. "Have fun with those two, I have an important mission to attend to."
"You can't be serious!" Athrodar yelled when he watched her start to jog away. "Viraleth!" He yelled again when she changed the jog into a sprint. "I can't babysit these two whilst I have a class to teach!"
"Relax, we'll behave." Clea said, patting him on the back and glancing over to Anya who hugged Victoria from behind tightly. "Well.. I'll behave."
"Great..." Athrodar muttered, watching Clea smile brightly at him whilst Anya continued to attach herself to the poor recruit who was now stuck with the ranger.
"Still no news about the Orcs at Jintha'Alor?" Kael'thas asked, looking at the Ranger-General who stood opposite him, Dael'Thaelas and a handful of Convocation members present at the time.
"None that Captain Aerinan or his scouts have reported, no." Sylvanas said, taking out a report she was handed a few minutes before she entered the Convocation Hall. "I did get a report from Alina and her company. They are currently in Eastern Lordaeron at the moment, keeping an eye on the undead gathering near our borders." She read through the report quickly before handing to the King. "We found out what the floating fortress is and what they call it."
"Naxxramas?" Kael'thas asked, getting a nod from the General. "And Alina believes they are experimenting in that fortress?"
"She does, your majesty." Sylvanas confirmed.
"And what is it exactly you want us to do with this information?" Lord Sunblade asked whilst Kael'thas continued to read through the report.
"We keep an eye on the undead a little longer. See what they plan to do, where they will take this fortress and how many more undead gather in and around it." Sylvanas suggested, looking at the King more than anyone else. "I know we're spread thin as it is. Aerinan in the Hinterlands, Lord Theron still in Ashenvale and Alina now in Eastern Lordaeron, but we need to keep vigilant now more than ever with so many moving pieces on the board."
"Normally I would agree with you, General." Kael'thas said, placing down the report. "But it's like you said. We are spread thin. We barely have enough companies in Quel'Thalas to protect our people. Halduron and his company are doing the job of two companies trying to keep watch over both Eversong and Southern Quel'Thalas. Lord Sunblade's company is protecting the city as well as yours." He saw Sylvanas could already guess what he was going to say next, so he decided to tell her straight. "I need you to pull back one of the ranger companies and have them return home. I'll leave it up to you to decide who has to return, but we will only have two outside of our forests and keeping an eye on our enemies, got that?"
Sylvanas bowed her head to the King, knowing it was a losing battle the moment she entered the Convocation Hall, but was willing to suggest keeping all three companies where they were anyway. "I'll bring back Lord Theron. If the Orcs do plan to invade Ashenvale in a full-scale attack, we have a chance at knowing beforehand with Aerinan and his company in the Hinterlands." She bowed again to the Convocation and Kael'thas. "I'll send out a runner now."
Leaving the Convocation Hall, Sylvanas ran into her Chief Scout who quickly grabbed her arm. "Good, you're here. Come with me."
Sylvanas frowned at Viraleth who began to drag her away from Sunfury Spire. "Where are we going?" She asked, knowing Viraleth had a plan with how eager she was to drag her away.
"I need your rank for something." Viraleth told her, dragging her through Silvermoon and out of the city without much resistance from the General. "Trust me, this will change your mindset about this whole Athrodar situation."
Sylvanas sighed and pulled her arm free from the Chief Scout. "Viraleth, why are you doing this? He's already gone, Lana'thel has won and I have no chance of getting him back."
Viraleth sighed and looked back at her. "Permission to speak freely, General?"
"You know you don't have to ask." Sylvanas told her. "You're my best friend, you can speak freely around me all the time when we're not in a professional environment."
"Okay, good." Viraleth said with a smile, taking hold of her arm again. "You can be so stupid sometimes, Sylvanas that you don't think things through when it's got nothing to do with being the General." She saw Sylvanas began to glare at her, standing her ground and facing her fully. "He is engaged, not married. The rules say nothing about trying to win him back whilst he's engaged. And because of that, I have a plan and it involves your rank."
Sylvanas saw Viraleth was serious and softening her features. "Okay... Fine. Take me to wherever it is you're taking me."
"Good, you've made this easy on me." Viraleth said, pulling on Sylvanas' arm again and leading her towards the Farstrider Academy. "I need you to pull a file out on a recruit and I don't have permission to do that because, well, I'm not the Ranger-General."
"What recruit?" Sylvanas asked, watching the Farstrider Academy get closer.
"You'll know when we get there. But trust me, when you see her, you'll be thinking the exact same thing that I thought when I saw her." Viraleth told her, leading the General into the Farstrider Academy and towards the office where they kept the records of all the current and past recruits for the last century. "Just tell them you need to get a file out on Victoria Sunleaf."
Viraleth watched the General ask for Victoria's file, being taken into the room that contained thousands of individual files on every ranger past and present, slowly pacing back and forth when she thought the General was taking a little too long to find one file.
"That took longer than I expected." Sylvanas said when she returned with the file, handing it over to Viraleth. "Care to fill me in with the many missing details of your new, personal mission?"
"Hmm..." Viraleth looked out a nearby window and looked into the courtyard of the academy, noticing Athrodar's class was still in session. "Come with me." She said, pulling on the General's arm again and taking her to a nearby balcony so they could observe the class without being seen.
By the time they reached the balcony, Sylvanas looked down at the many recruits sparring with each other with their swords or undergoing target practice with their bows and arrows. "Which one am I looking out for?" Sylvanas asked, glancing over to her Chief Scout who pointed at a blonde elf taking aim with her bow.
"That one there. You tell me if she looks a little like Athrodar." Viraleth said, reading through the file on Victoria whilst Sylvanas was watching the young elf.
"I see some similarities. Are they cousins or something?" Sylvanas now asked her.
"I don't think so. I've not heard of this Sunleaf family having any ties to the Sunblade family. The only thing I found was a great ancestor of theirs was a guard captain for Silvermoon. That was as close to a ranger as they could get until her." Viraleth handed Sylvanas the file and pointed at a name. "That's her father. Some lowborn fisherman and hunter. Not good enough to be a ranger, but good enough to, well, hunt." She pointed to the next name on the file. "That's her mother. I recognise the name immediately because I had to drag Athrodar away from her home one night, over a decade ago, when Melonara and I found out he was sleeping with an engaged woman and her husband, the hunter, was on his way back from a hunt."
"You don't think...?" Sylvanas looked over to Viraleth who nodded her head slowly. "I take it he doesn't know?"
"I'd be surprised if he did. Before you made your intentions known, we both knew how promiscuous he was and how many women he slept with on a weekly basis. I'm just surprised there's not more of them running around." Viraleth handed the General the file and smiled a little at her. "All of this was to prove something to you. He is not a good little ranger when it comes to sleeping with engaged women. I think it's unfair that this Magistrix has seemingly come out of nowhere and taken him from you, but you need to pull yourself together and keep fighting for him until the day he is married."
Sylvanas sighed and looked down at the file in her hands. "But he told me himself that if I do anything to break him and Lana'thel apart, he would never forgive me."
"He also said that when you didn't tell him about his father and you two have slept with each other since." Viraleth tapped the file in Sylvanas' hands lightly. "We need to tell him about this and you need to make your intentions clear. You will not stop fighting for him until the day of his wedding, or if you're lucky, when he finally gets his head out of his ass and realises you're meant to be together."
"Are you coming with me to tell him?" Sylvanas now asked, looking down at the file in her hand again.
"Do you want me to come with you?" Viraleth asked her in return.
"Yes please." Sylvanas muttered, getting a chuckle and a half hug from Viraleth.
"Alright then, let's go." She said, leading the General down to the courtyard and whistling over to Athrodar to get his attention.
When he saw the Chief Scout wave him over, Athrodar sighed a little and looked back to the recruits around him trying to hit the bullseye. "Keep practicing. I'll be five minutes." He told them, making his way to both Viraleth and Sylvanas. "What is it? I'm in the middle of a class."
"Read this." Viraleth said, taking the file off Sylvanas and pressing it against Athrodar's chest. "Tell me you recognise the name of her mother. And if you don't, I will hit you on the back of the head and make you remember."
Athrodar opened up the report, noticing the name of the recruit at first but then reading the name of her mother, frowning at it and looking back up to Viraleth. "Okay, I recognise her. So what?"
"So... She was that herbalist who you slept with over a decade ago and Melonara and I have to rescue you from certain death when her fiance was on his way home early and would catch you in bed with her." Viraleth saw Athrodar begin to think, glancing over to Sylvanas who rubbed her temple and shook her head a little. "Basically what we're saying is, you have a daughter. At least, we're pretty sure about it."
Athrodar looked completely lost, looking over to Sylvanas and then back to Viraleth. "No, you're mistaken." He said, handing them back the file. "She is not my daughter. I have a son." He looked back to Sylvanas who smiled a little at him. "We have a son. That's it."
"I'm afraid that might not be entirely accurate, Athrodar." Sylvanas told him. "Look, I have to send a runner to Ashenvale, but I will ask Vandellor or Liadrin to look into this, run a few tests or something... I'm sure they have a way of knowing for certain if she's yours." Sylvanas looked over to Viraleth who nodded at her. "What I will say is, I have thought about what you have asked of me when it comes to the two of us and I have decided to decline your offer of being professional." She saw Athrodar close his eyes, knowing this was the last thing he wanted to hear. "I'm sorry, but until you're married, I still have a good chance at making you see I am the one you're meant to be with." She placed a hand on his arm and smiled a little wider when he didn't try to remove it. "Again, I need to get going and you clearly need some time to think. Viraleth will be here for the rest of the day if you have any questions, okay?"
"I am?" Viraleth asked, watching Sylvanas narrow her eyes at her. "Apparently I am." She said, looking back to Athrodar and smiling at him.
"Is that why you were acting weird this morning?" Athrodar asked, focusing on Viraleth who looked away from him. "How do I know this isn't some sort of trick to get me to consider fooling around with the General whilst I'm engaged to Lana'thel, in the hopes of her finding out again and calling everything off and leaving me for good?"
"It's not." Sylvanas said, standing between him and Viraleth. "And if it were, it's her doing and not mine. I only found out about this half an hour ago, if that."
"'Lana'thel has spies, so it should be no surprise that Sylvanas has some too.' That's what you said, wasn't it?" Athrodar watched Viraleth close her eyes and keep her attention away from him. "Yeah, I thought so." Athrodar looked back to Sylvanas and shook his head at her. "Please leave my courtyard. I have a class to teach and you're disrupting their practice."
"Very well." Sylvanas said, bowing to him and leaving with Viraleth shortly after. "Do you think it worked?" She asked once they left the Farstrider Academy, getting a nod from a grinning Viraleth.
"Oh yeah. He is definitely going to be overthinking this now. Like I said, I know him and how to get him to overthink things." She hugged Sylvanas who laughed a little at her joy. "And I learnt that because you put me in his company so you can spy on him. Who knew it would come full circle like this?"
"Definitely not me." Sylvanas told her, handing Viraleth the file. "Is this even a real file?"
"Oh no, it is real alright. I think she really is Athrodar's bastard daughter." Viraleth told her seriously, noticing Sylvanas wasn't believing her and keeping a straight face in return. "I'm serious. I legitimately think she is his daughter and I advise you get Liadrin or Vandellor to look into it to confirm my suspicions."
"O-okay. I'll do that as soon as I can." Sylvanas said, rubbing the back of her neck. "I take it nobody else knows?"
"Unless they were with Melonara and I when we pulled his drunk ass out of bed, then no. Nobody else knows." Viraleth told her.
"Okay, good." Sylvanas muttered. "Best keep that between the two of us and now I suppose Athrodar when he realises you were telling the truth."
"A few months away from the city and our forests." Halduron said, hugging his brother in arms. "Tell me, Lord Theron. Did you manage to woo any of those Kaldorei? Or is being the shorter one in the relationship for once a major turn off for you?"
Lor'themar punched Halduron on the arm lightly, hearing him chuckle at the action. "As a matter of fact, I didn't woo anyone. At least, it wasn't my intention to."
"Oh... That sounds like someone fell for you and you weren't even trying." Halduron teased, looking over to Sylvanas who was pinching the bridge of her nose. "The General is jealous."
"I am not jealous." Sylvanas told him, looking over to Lor'themar who began to chuckle with Halduron. "I knew I should have called a different company back. Having you two here is the worst outcome of anything, ever."
"That's because you know we know all of your secrets, General." Lor'themar told her, sitting on the opposite side of her desk. "I'm sorry to hear about Athrodar and this Lana'thel person."
"It's fine." Sylvanas told him, waving away his concern. "I actually have a plan and a friend working on something for me."
"There's the Ranger-General we know." Halduron said, sitting beside Lor'themar. "Glad you finally figured it out that you can still win him over if he's engaged. It's only when they're married that forces you to back down and concede."
"And our General never concedes." Lor'themar added, smiling when he saw Sylvanas smile. "Who is this Lana'thel anyway? I've never heard of her until recently and all I know is she is a friend of the Prince, engaged to a Sunblade and a member of the Convocation. Two of those things happening very quickly and suddenly."
Sylvanas frowned at the Ranger Lord. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, isn't anyone else concerned that this nobody Magistrix has just appeared out of thin air, going from a possible lowborn to potentially marrying into the wealthiest family in the Kingdom and all done within a month of being back in the city?" He let out a small laugh and looked over to Halduron. "I mean... I can't imagine Lord Sunblade is entirely pleased with how quickly she has pushed her way into his family."
"I don't think either Athrodar or Lana'thel care what he thinks to be honest." Sylvanas told him. "No doubt there's some sort of spite thing going on with their engagement. He is probably doing it to annoy Lord Sunblade and Lana'thel is probably going along with him."
"Or she's doing it to keep you away from him." Halduron muttered, looking up at the General who looked over to him and waving away his comment. "Ignore that, I was thinking out loud."
"Though it's not too much of a stretch to think that." Sylvanas said, looking over to Lor'themar who nodded his head in agreement and sighing. "But... There's so much going on anyway that I can't think about that right now. The Orcs and Amani in the Hinterlands are up to something and the undead at our borders are still growing in size." She placed her head in her hands and rubbed her eyes. "I think we have to launch an attack on the undead soon otherwise they might grow too big in number. But then if we do that and lose too much, the Amani and Orcs might attack us and overwhelm our defences."
"You have Alina and her company in Eastern Lordaeron checking out the undead, right?" Lor'themar asked, getting a nod from the General. "And Aerinan in the Hinterlands?" He got another nod, the General keeping her head buried in her hands. "Then I have nothing more to add."
"Ugh." Sylvanas groaned, sitting up and glaring at the Ranger Lord. "Why do you do this to me all the time I'm stressed out?"
"Because it's fun." Lor'themar told her, getting an approving laugh from Halduron. "Look, we'll know what to do when the opportunities present themselves. There's no way the Amani will be able to launch an attack on us if we fight off the undead. At least, not one that will be quick enough to catch us by surprise. So I say we focus our attention on the undead for now, keep Aerinan in the Hinterlands and have him update us regularly."
"I'm already doing that last part, but I suppose that could work." Sylvanas said, pressing her forehead against her desk. "If Athrodar was here right now, by my side, he would know how to keep me calm and level headed."
Lor'themar smirked and leaned forward. "Anything I can do to help? Preferably not the intimate stuff he did, but maybe a pat on the back and a few good, rousing words of inspiration?"
"You can find a way to deal with the undead." Sylvanas suggested, getting a laugh from Halduron. "I'm serious. If we can deal with them, we won't have much more to worry about until the Amani decide they're ready to lose a lot of their warriors again."
"We do have those new paladins." Halduron said, tapping a finger on the desk. "They might be a key part of our attack if we do attack the undead."
"That's... A good point actually." Sylvanas said, reaching for a fresh sheet of parchment and writing something down. "I plan to talk to Vandellor in the next couple of days, I will bring this up with him then. Seeing as he is the head of their group, even if he's not a paladin himself."
"Brilliant." Lor'themar said, slapping the table a couple of times and standing up. "Well, I need to get settled back in to the city life and you have... General stuff."
"It's always so nice talking to you." Sylvanas said sarcastically, getting a hug from Lor'themar when he made his way over to her and laughing when he kissed her on the cheek. "Damn it Theron!" She yelled, laughing when he didn't let go of her. "I am your General!"
"You're also a very good friend who looks like she needs a hug from two of her top rangers." Lor'themar told her, chuckling when Halduron hugged her from the other side and hearing Sylvanas sigh. "Chin up. You'll win that Sunblade of yours back."
"I hope so." She told them, patting Lor'themar's hand when it stayed on her shoulder. "Thank you for coming back without a fuss."
"No worries." He said with a smile. "Always glad to be back around friends."