The sun dawned over the rugged Barrens terrain. Three days spent in the company of the Shu'halo had forever shaped Maiev's perception of the legendary race. Guided by two tauren hunters and the same druid eager to learn from the Warden, they had traversed through much of Shu'halo territory, passed hunting grounds that, to Maiev's surprise, were well preserved.
Wild kodos and thunder lizards roamed freely amid the dry hills, gathering around patches of grass and resting under far distant shades provided by towering canopies. Tiny oases dotted the landscape, some occupied by grazing wildlife complimented by flights of birds. It was a refreshing experience to finally see nature's most fragile so cared for since the corruption of Ashenvale by the Legion's taint. She began to think of how much of the legends of the tauren were true given that she had scarcely heard of the more grounded facts during her tenure in the Barrow Deeps.
The journey had been mostly uneventful save for a few skirmishes with some lone quillboars and an ambush by a pack of centaur. It was not until they had reached the watering hole that the tauren began to denote the boundaries upon which they would no longer cross.
The Traveler diligently filled out the pair of wineskins that had been generously gifted to them. He handed one to Maiev and strapped the other to his belt, beside his canteen. Bidding his final goodbyes to their laconic guides, he tugged at the Warden's armored glove and flicked his head to the distant horizon, bathed under hopeful patches of vibrant green amid the expansive dry earth.
"We should be able to make it to the goblins before sundown," he said, running his finger along the map provided by the shaman. The Shu'halo, though bound with the Horde, were gracious enough to offer them aid seeing as they were neither under the banner of the Alliance nor aiming to cause trouble. "You ready for another long walk, eh, Warden? The goblins can always wait; they never close down their observatories."
Maiev nodded.
The Traveler raised his head. "Warden?"
"Pardon?"
He stared at her. She gawked back, confused. "Err, right. You're not going to fall down on the road again, are you?"
"No, I'm not. Just...carry along."
He opened his mouth. Then closed it again. It was just the desert, he thought. The sooner they left the Barrens, the better it was for them. There was no telling how many more hostile tribals lurked behind every rock and crevasse.
"The quillboars do not often send their scouts this far off. The centaurs, though, mark their territory as far as the southern hills of Ashenvale," he continued, sharing what the tauren had told him and glancing back at the map.
"Understood."
"Now that we are refreshed, we should be able to make a fair distance by the end of the day." He heaved his pack over his shoulder which was two ration packs lighter. "If we are careful, we would make it out of here unscathed."
"Don't forget your peace pipe," Maiev blurted acidly.
The Traveler walked up to her. "I thought we forgot about that. But I guess some things are...hard to forget. It was stupid, it was foolish of me... I'm sorry." Then he shuffled passed her down the bumpy road.
Without another word, Maiev followed him, deeply disturbed by how she was completely unable to express herself more assertively than before. And she was damn sure it was not because she experienced getting groped for the first time. After all, being a cruelly feisty and humorless judiciary of her race, no one dared to give her a leer. Even those who did ended up with fresh open cuts above their loins.
"So, Warden," the Traveler chirped. "You eager to finally get home?"
Maiev did not reply. She trudged beside him, glimpsing his face once, before casting her eyes down to the ground. Her mouth was now devoid of words.
"Alright, then," he continued, slightly disappointment mingled in his cheer. "Another hot day, another long march. Lovely."
And it sure was to neither of them.
The return to Azeroth was a welcoming experience for Jarod and his men. Under their request, he allowed for rest before proceeding onward. As they lay their heads in the tavern, Jarod strolled under the moonless night sky. He mouthed a short prayer to Elune to guide Maiev back home. Because as far as he knew, Darnassus was the only home he knew she could ever go back to.
And he smiled a confident smile, a feature that had not graced his face since the day he met Shalasyr. He looked forward to seeing Maiev again. For in the end, when all was lost, there was nowhere else to run to but the arms of his family.
The trees grew taller and taller the more they traversed into Kaldorei territory. Maiev's mere presence was enough to draw the eyes of the night elves passing by and consequently drive most of them away. And the Traveler made sure to keep his hand by his sword's hilt in anticipation of an ugly encounter which to his relief never came to pass.
Before long, the valley gave way and the gargantuan island monument Teldrassil emerged out of the horizon, reaching up to the sky, its canopy forever sown into the clouds. It was breathtaking, all the more so for both the Traveler and the Warden. It had been, in both their respective perspectives, quite some time since the last visit.
The boat finally docked and the pair ebbed up the stone steps. The Traveler heaved himself over another massively carved block before finally setting foot onto Rut'theran Village.
"Not much has changed," he mused, passing by the same houses. "Either you Kaldorei don't do much or you just like to keep things simple."
"Behave yourself," Maiev sternly ordered.
The guards immediately stepped aside. The Traveler could hear them whisper under their helms just short of breath. In contrast to the grand reception for her brother when he stepped through the portal to Darnassus, the Traveler noted the wide berth between them and everyone else. When he approached Warden Shadowsong, he saw her pausing in the middle of the street, eying the elaborate houses standing around the riverine pools carved under neat stone bridges.
Like her brother, the Traveler saw, she made the whole city stand still. He heard her heave a long sigh, which worried him. The dead air was killing him.
He cleared his throat. "Um, hello?" At least some of the non-elven folk—tourists and adventurers, he snidely discerned—bothered to keep moving.
"Darnassus," Maiev said in a voice that started to crack, unbuckling the latches to her helmet.
"And to think I would never see the day when you'll feel homesick," the Traveler grunted. Out of everything that surrounded them, he could easily tell that the Warden was the dirtiest of them all. The bends in the metal, the rips in her cloak, the bright smears of crimson and red dust all over her were more than enough to mark her as a walking attraction, standing out the most out of all the foreigners who had bothered to come here.
He just hoped he would not end up in the same basket of trouble as his companions had when they accompanied Jarod through these same streets shortly after Shalasyr's passing. He blamed that dwarven bastard who insisted on bringing along some pandaren ale.
So far, the Kaldorei had been very docile and it appeared as though they had forgotten his old antics when he last visited. Then he followed his charge to the Temple of Elune where the High Priestess stood down the steps to meet them.
"Tyrande."
"Maiev."
"Well, this is awkward," he muttered.
"Is it done?" the Priestess suddenly asked.
The Warden stared. "Yes," she replied after a long while.
The Traveler waited. And waited. And he began looking at the sights that decorated the Kaldorei capital. Before he realized it, Maiev and Tyrande had engaged in short conversation. When he finally gave attention, the Warden shuffled past him down the steps.
"Warden?" he called. She ignored him, instead disappearing behind the statues and greeneries surrounding the Temple facade. "Great. What was that all about?"
"All is forgiven," Tyrande replied, her voice sounding too close to his ear.
He eased himself slightly away. "Good for her."
"That includes you, human."
"Pardon, Priestess?"
Tyrande pointed to the fountain surrounding the intricately carved marble statue of the High Priestesses of Elune. "We have not forgotten your desecration of the Goddess' monument."
The Traveler cleared his throat. He dreaded this. "I was contributing to nature."
"Your pathetic excuses are worthless now." For some reason, the Priestess was not as displeased as he thought she would be.
He shrugged. "Alright, so I was a tad bit inebriated. We all were. But what's done is done. So where does that leave me?"
"Are you her charge?"
"What? No."
"Then why are you with her?"
He sighed. "I can't lie now, can I?" There was silence before he sighed again. "I found her sleeping by the side of the road. It was clear that she had just come out of Outland." Tyrande stared at him silently waiting for him to go on. Her silence was unnerving and he bemoaned her inquiry. "Agh! I couldn't stand her being a vagrant, alright?"
"I see. How noble of you."
"Thank you, Priestess," the Traveler said with a frown. "Pity is a virtue that I, unfortunately, cannot kill."
"Pity is a gift that many do not receive," she answered meekly. "No harm has been done. But your behavior has the potential to defile those that are pure."
"And since when did purity become..." He studied her features. "Ah, forget it. I guess I better take my leave then."
"You are free to reside here in Darnassus," Tyrande continued. "Do not abuse this privilege."
"Why would I?" he muttered, descending down the steps to find Maiev. "It's not like I would be staying long, anyway."
LAST EDITED: July 19, 2015
UPLOADED: August 6, 2015