If one were to happen upon where the Captain had stopped off by the old ruin, they'd have come upon a most perplexing sight.

On one side stood a group of Moonshadow Elves trying to look elsewhere as their leader berated a young child that was staring intently at the ground and shuffling her feet. Occasionally a cough or grunt would come from the opposite side as the human they had been sent to kill patted the air or made gestures to be less vocal.

It truly would have been a confusing sight had any of them happened upon it, but fortunately, the unit had planned everything out accordingly. So there was no reprieve for the young Elf until she had been well and truly scolded.

"Of all the insane plans and tasks I have done on behalf of their Majesties, this outdoes them all by far Rayla! What were you thinking coming here-"

-Cough-

Runaan glared daggers at the human man as he once again made a gesture that looked to him as if he was patting something down. The man stopped and held up his hands for him to continue.

"What were you thinking coming here? Did you want to get yourself killed or worse?"

The girl seemed to crumple in on herself even further. Runaan finally took pity on his daughter and sighed as he straightened and put his face in a hand. He looked up at a gentle tap on his elbow and blinked as the human handed him his 'Speech-book.'

He opened to where his thumb was and blinked again in surprise.

Despite what she did, it was rather impressive of her to travel this far undetected, all while trailing you. She must have a good teacher.

Runaan gave a dry smile as he handed back the book before he knelt and tipped up Rayla's chin so she could look him in the eye.

"We will continue this discussion later young lady, and there will be punishment."

He chuckled and ruffled her hair between her budding horns.

"But right now, I have every right to be proud of you."

The small smile she gave was as luminous as the moon above, speaking of which...

"It would seem that our time is drawing to a close. And since I seem to have another incentive to return home, we'll have to settle this before the moon sets."

The Cursed One quickly wrote out a brief sentence before handing his book off to Andromeda.

"Is there absolutely no other course we can take?"

Runaan sighed wearily as he again limbered his bow before gesturing again to the bands his team all wore.

"We cannot. These bands bind us to our mission if we do not complete the task they will tighten until the close."

The human stroked his chin in thought, before scribbling in the book again.

"If you please, I may have an alternative."

Without waiting for an answer, he turned and rifled through a saddlebag before turning around while seeming to adjust the gauntlets that they had been sent to secure.

They seemed strange but at the same time so simple looking. These were the things that had scarred the King?

He took the book from Andromeda's hands, being more careful to not touch her skin with the metal. As the Elves exchanged glances as to why that would be, he handed the book back.

"I wish to understand why what happened did, and your presence presents a great opportunity to do so. Please may I see your band?"

Runaan was at such a loss, but held up his bicep nonetheless, what did this human hope to learn? His gauntlets may have worked on the King but this was ancient Moonshadow magic, it couldn't possibly-

He stopped as in three soft strides, the human walked up unafraid, and simply undid the binding. The human was standing there studying the wilting fabric in his palm while the Elves around him were in open shock.

"WHA- EH- HOW?"

The human turned and made another gesture for silence at Ram, before writing again in his book. Andromeda blinked several times before shaking her head and focusing on the words. Something she could understand.

"Now comes the dangerous part, please touch my hand but DO NOT grab it."

The human held his hand out to Runaan who while still stupified at what he had just witnessed slowly reached out and lightly touched the offered hand.

Nothing.

There was no burning pain, no steam upon contact, there was just...nothing.

This seemed to satisfy the human who grinned and took the book back again for a moment.

"As I suspected. These gauntlets are made from a metal unique to my homeland, it is highly sought after for its durability. We do not have magic there as you would understand but we have something close to it. This metal is used in harnessing it. The reason why it affected the Dragon King and your bands the way it does must have to do with the energy being roughly the same. The reason it doesn't affect you must be that the power you wield is weaker by comparison."

Runaan was sure Andromeda was speaking plainly but he still could not understand her for the life of him. The human was happily making gestures and seemed to be thinking animatedly about what this meant. Shaking his head and giving a groan he spoke himself.

"Human, you are being dragged, remember?"

That seemed to snap the man out of his thoughts as he turned and gave a bow before taking and writing again.

"My apologies, may I propose this since we are so hard-pressed for time? A one-on-one match, you and I. You beat me I'll go along without resisting. When I win, I undo your bands and we can discuss further. Do we have a deal?"

Rayla was eagerly fidgeting where she sat as she watched one of her adoptive fathers get into his stance. It had been an exciting trip, there were several times she was worried she'd be caught, but she made it up until the Cursed One himself called her out. Now she was sitting amongst her father's team watching as he bared his strength on the human.

It was over embarrassingly fast. Runaan had shot an arrow before dashing forward, then feinting to the left while going to the right with a kick at his abdomen.

The Cursed One not only caught the arrow and broke off the tip, but he also caught Runaan's foot, spun him once in a circle, and then sent him sailing back into the thick trunk of a tree.

Rayla wasn't the only one dumbfounded at the brevity of the fight.

When it had been all said and done, the human had the bands of the team and had given them a map with a safe path back to Xadia avoided by human soldiers and the like.

Runaan had begrudgingly shaken hands with the human but gave a small smile in the end. After all, being raised and told of what humans had done and were, it was surprisingly refreshing to see a human with nobility in him. Perhaps there was hope for that peaceful world he claimed to stand for.

His last request though was a bit strange.

"I need you to shoot me in the shoulder."