Whoo~ Next chap. Getting back into the rhythm of things. I recall some of you saying that you missed the "kitty shenanigans"...no worries, I see plenty of those in the future :3
The hardest part of writing, for me personally, is concreting a character's personality. For some reason, Allacaya is harder to nail than Hummingmoon was. I want Al to be a bit more crude and playful, so I'm trying to use Caldur's natural impishness to give her a boost XD
Hope you enjoy~ Always feel free to review as well; I love getting feedback from all of you ^^
*Disclaimer is same
"I'm not really an expert on flying…but I think we may have strayed off course."
We had been flying for quite a while now, long enough that I had completely lost track of time. It could have been minutes or hours for all I knew. The only thing I was aware of was the uncomfortable chafing of a saddle against my thighs, the vast expanse of salty water below, and the constantly shifting muscles I could feel through the other Night Elf's thin shirt. The wind roared mockingly in my ears and teased with my hair. The lean muscles beneath my hands clenched as the Druid twisted slightly to look back at me.
"I don't wish to alarm you…but I'm not much of an expert myself. I have no doubt that you're right."
Well, I suppose it could be worse. I let out a weary sigh and pressed my forehead in between his shoulder blades, partly to hide my face from the harsh air and also to convey through the contact that I had heard him. A low chuckle reverberated throughout his body. It's one thing to be care-free, but it's a completely separate thing to be foolishly naïve. If we died because of his crazy antics…well, I guess I'll just have to be gracious enough to return to Lor'danel as a spirit in order to haunt Nar. He'd hate me for it, and I'd love that he hated it.
"Aren't these things trained to take you from one specific place to another?"
Caldur rolled his shoulders, probably to stretch, so I pulled back to suffer in the face of a raging breeze. I would be utterly surprised if I had any skin left on my cheeks by the time we landed. If we landed…
"Ah, perhaps since I didn't specify…"
"Where were you planning to go in the first place?"
He hummed, be it cheerfully or dismally I couldn't be sure.
"I wonder…" His voice took on a faraway tone.
Once he relaxed, I decidedly repositioned my face against his back in order to shield myself again. All that could be heard after that was the forceful, rhythmic flapping of large, feathered wings.
Flap…flap…flap-flap…
And before I knew it, the warmth of Caldur's body, along with the steady beating that rocked our bodies, lulled me into sweet, uneasy unconsciousness.
It would've been a wonderful, undisturbed sleep filled with pleasant dreams of adventure and simple peace…if not for the insistent ricocheting of something small and hard off of the back of my head every few seconds. Begrudgingly, I raised my head, reveling in the soft, pleasurable caress of thread-like blades of grass against my skin. My eyelids fluttered.
Thunk!
I grimaced as something once again struck me atop the head, just above my right ear. Gradually, I managed to force myself to move. That's when realization caught up with my bleary train of thought.
Grass… No, now that I think about it, hasn't the movement stopped?
I blinked again and allowed my eyes a few moments to adjust. Well, at least I wasn't losing my mind. Long strands of blue-tinged grass swayed gently in my line of vision, and, upon looking up, I could see narrow flashes of a dark-hued sky between the small breaks in the thick canopy of azure leaves above me. How strange…
Thunk!
I grit my teeth.
"Hey, could you lend me a hand? I seem to be…stuck."
Ah, so it wasn't a dream after all. Slightly annoyed, I lifted my head and turned to the direction of the humor-filled voice. What I saw would've made me laugh if I wasn't already trying so hard to act angry towards him. Caldur, in all his magnificent glory, was hanging upside down in one of the tall, nearby trees. Two of the thick branches had completely entrapped him, pinning his arms to his sides and forcing his legs to hang uselessly in a bowed position overhead. Yet, he still had the nerve to beam down at me as I gawked up at him. Then he chortled, thoroughly entertained by Elune knows what.
"All of the blood is rushing to my head."
I carefully urged myself into a kneeling position and then rose to my feet, habitually dusting myself off as I straightened to regard him through narrowed eyes. This guy…
"Are you an idiot?"
That got him reeling. He guffawed and kicked his feet back and forth, as if to further prove just how trapped he was.
"You sound like my brother," he scolded lightly.
"Your brother must be much smarter than you then."
Thunk!
"Ow!" I glared up to see that the Night Elf had managed to kick the low-hanging branch above him, causing a few grape-sized nuts to shake and drop from the ends of their stems.
So that's what it was. I scowled and reached up to rub at the now sore spot on my head.
"I don't appreciate your tone," he paused, eyes rolling back as he thought, "but I would appreciate it if you'd help me down."
"Why should I?"
Golden eyes blinked. Was he really so surprised? Technically, he was still a stranger to me. Just because I held a little bit more respect for him than I did most people doesn't mean he gets any kind of special treatment. No, in fact, he probably deserves to hang up there.
Thunk!
That's it! I'm done! I refuse to put up with this any further! Enraged, I glared daggers at him and opened my mouth, fully prepared to strike him with an onslaught of foul words…however, that's when I noticed that his face was beginning to turn a rather unappealing shade of indigo. I deflated almost instantly, and resentment quickly transpired into subtle worry.
"Hey…you're turning purple…"
Despite it all, he smiled.
"Silly girl…that's my natural skin tone."
"No, no, I mean like…purple."
He let out a long breath, trying to find the proper amount of oxygen to inflate and deflate his lungs.
"Now that you mention it…I'm feeling a little light-headed."
Naturally, I started to panic. I jogged over to the base of the tree and placed my palms against the smooth bark in preparation to climb. Nevertheless, I hesitated.
"You're a Druid, right? Can't you just shift or something?"
"What, and land on my head?"
"I thought cats always landed on their feet!"
"I'm an Elf!"
Ah hell…what a pain. Clicking my tongue in disapproval, I tensed, leapt up, and grabbed the nearest branch to haul myself up into a covering of leaves. I had been climbing trees for decades now, so it was only too easy to hop from one branch to the next. I edged closer and closer with practiced ease until I came to the fork that had the poor soul ensnared. As I crept nearer, the branches began to bend slightly beneath both of our weight. I swallowed. If they broke and we ended up plummeting to our deaths…well, I just hope nobody important ever learns that I died from falling out of a tree. For a Night Elf, that's probably one of the most disgraceful ways to go.
"Ah…I lost feeling in my toes."
"Alright, alright! I'm coming."
I lowered myself a little and continued forward until I was able to reach out and touch the flimsy cloth of his baggy pants. Good enough. My fingers found their way around his ankles. Slowly, ever so slowly, I began to pull. He wriggled as I managed to tug him upwards. I was pretty strong for a girl, so this honestly wasn't too hard. The tricky part was making sure I didn't exert too much strength. If I did, then I'd surely lose my foothold.
"Hold on a second, I think I can-"
Crack!
"Ah fu-"
In that single, life-flashing instant, I hauled him back with every fiber of my being. My feet scrambled backwards as his body collided with mine. The branches hit the ground below and shattered upon impact…much like our heads could have had I not allowed my adrenaline to kick in. I leaned back heavily against the trunk of the tree, trembling as fearful energy continued to pump through my blood stream. Well…that was close. After the initial alarm had begun to recede, though, I looked up to see a wide-eyed Caldur staring down at me. He was so uncomfortably close, in fact, that I could see the tiny flecks of gilt in his bright, startled orbs.
"That was certainly and interesting experience," his breath misted across my face as he spoke, causing the heated scent of dried sunflowers to invade my nose.
"Why don't we test that theory."
"Huh?"
I didn't even really think as I unceremoniously shoved him from my person. A shocked yowl escaped his lips as he fumbled for half a second and then tipped backwards. Just before he dropped, however, I got to see something rather captivating. His body shimmered. Then he changed. Coarse, lavender fur sprouted from his skin at the same time his facial features began to stretch and reset. A long tail flicked out and circled, twisting the feline-like body in the air so that it righted itself whilst falling. Then he disappeared from my line of vision. I simply ogled at the spot where I had last seen him. That's not something you see every day. A soft thud met my ears, and I figured he'd landed. It took me a while, but once I had gathered my bearings I decided to cautiously make my way back to the safety of the earth. Once my feet met with pleasurable stability, though, I was almost immediately swept off of the ground once more. My back crashed against hard soil, and the air in my legs was forced up and out my throat rather severely. Something sharp dug into my shoulders. I opened my eyes. A snarling muzzle greeted me.
"I should tear out your throat, elfling." The voice was guttural and dark, a sound that shook me to my core.
I shivered. Nonetheless, I still had my obstinate pride. Feeling bold, I tilted my head back to meet the Druid's gaze and stuck my tongue out at him. Time seemed to freeze then. We merely gazed at one another, both unmoving, both unfeeling. Then some odd noise began to beat against my eardrums. It started out low but soon grew into a throaty rumble. It wasn't until I started grinning as well that I realized he was laughing. What a fool…yet, I'm really no better. We released each other and curled into our own respective balls of poorly contained amusement as snorts and sniggers forced their way from our curved lips. What was funny? I haven't the slightest clue.
"You should have seen your face," Caldur purred.
"You should have seen your face!"
It took a while, but after a considerable amount of time passed we both calmed down. The other Elf shifted back into his original form and leaned against the tree that had previously been his captor. I, on the other hand, remained sitting, more than content to just relax and survey our new surroundings. Then it hit me.
"Where's the Hippogryph?"
His silence confirmed my suspicions. I narrowed my eyes.
"You-"
"That was my first time flying, so cut me some slack, okay?"
"Did it just…fly off?"
He raised a hand and rubbed at his neck abashedly.
"Sort of…"
"So, we're lost then."
He frowned. I sighed. Of course, what was I expecting? What should I expect from him anyway? I still don't know him well enough to construct a solid opinion, but, for now, I've reasoned with the notion that he isn't too reliable. First, he drags me into all of this; next, he crash-lands and loses our ride back to Lor'danel; and now we're lost.
Wonderful.
Perfect.
Bravo, my friend, you have managed to outclass even the most unintellectual beings. Considering the existence of Orcs…that's truly saying something.
"Well, I suppose it won't do us any benefit to laze around and wait for a miracle that's not very likely to come about," Caldur mumbled.
I nodded and hopped to my feet as he pushed away from the tree. As he came closer, though, he suddenly hesitated, his eyes catching sight of something on my shirt.
"Ah, you're bleeding."
Startled, I followed his gaze. Before I could inquire anything, his fingers had pinched the hem of my frayed, linen top. He lowered his head to better scrutinize a dark stain.
"No…this is," he sniffed at it; I had half a mind to whack him, "berry juice?"
I blanched. He glimpsed my change of expression, and a wicked smile crossed his face.
"Oh, I see. So, you're the 'pie thief' everyone back home had been in a squabble about."
My face grew warm. I averted my gaze so as not to kindle further humiliation.
"I don't see why it's such a big deal."
The Night Elf hummed merrily and let go of my shirt before proceeding to poke my nose humorously. I blushed harder and jerked back. Why does he have to be so weird?
"Oh, but it is. Pie isn't such an easy thing to come by nowadays, you know. So, what kind was it? Strawberry? Blueberry?"
I spun around on my heel and began to stomp off. No, I have no idea where I'm going. For all I know I could be waltzing straight into enemy territory. Then again, anywhere is better than here with this clown. Still, it came as no surprise when he skipped after me.
"Blackberry?"
I stiffened.
"Mulberry?"
Just ignore him.
"Boysenberry?"
All in good time…
"Apple."
"I swear to Elune…and that last one wasn't even a berry."
He laughed his heart-warming laugh.
"Careful, foul luck may befall you if you use Elune's name in vain."
"It already has," I grumbled.
I could already tell I was in over my head.