The journey home was uneventful, for the most part, as the small cluster of elves and human made their way down the remainder of Hyjal and through Ashenvale. With the exemption of stopping in Astranaar, so that Vylira could boastfully show off her connections and her own share of good stories from the locals of her deeds, they pressed on toward Maestra's Post, where it was Kyra's turn to share in her own stories, even if they held a decent dose of Vylira's actions as well. It wasn't often that the Horde came so far west, and even the two parents were surprised to hear of the news.

"I returned there after we left you last," Kyra explained, finishing up her story as the small troupe began walking into the shadowed landscape of Darkshore, "Maestra was very appreciative of my help! She said she hadn't met many Sentinels from Teldrassil who could hold their own the way I did."

Eldris grinned as his hand rubbed atop Kyra's head, shoveling her hair into a myriad of directions, "I knew I'd raised my daughters to raise to every occasion. I was afraid that, with the usual gender roles somewhat displaced, your mother and my's history might have forced you all into some Druidic order!"

"Pfft," Vylira scoffed, "Sounds like a bore fest. Not to say I was inspired by your stories growing up- they were certainly more akin to nightmares than anything else, but I was always excited to be as cool as my mother."

Cayssarin's face dropped, dryly, "You do understand how much I hate to hear that."

Kyra grinned, speaking in her sister's place, "Why? It was all you and Tyriel would talk about whenever she'd come by. The way you two carried on, talking about the good ol' days; I would have thought you'd expected us to hear your exciting stories."

"You do realize," the matriarch muttered, dryly, "Some of those tales involve your father."

The two daughters quickly turned to Eldris, whose eyes caught theirs, though his face was far more blank, as if he hadn't been listening, until Vylira spoke up, "Well, I mean, you didn't kill him."

Eldris turned to his wife, whose lips only pursed at him in secrecy, causing the man a worried expression. Sitting around the back of the cart, Kelaeth laid, sleeping, in the front compartment, where a humanoid would sit and direct the horses in front. Though, without a hitch, Colin's trick had worked like a charm, leaving everybody to relax, lulled in by the gentle motions of the wheels popping down into the cracks of the cobblestone underneath.

"I know you've got more stories," Kyra mused, "I think I'm old enough, now; I have a mate after all."

Eldris and Cayssarin shared a look with one another before the former sighed, leaning his back against the wall of the cart, "Uh, well… I told you how I stole your mother's heart away, right?"

"NO!"

"NO!" the two sisters replied, excitedly, though Cayssarin eyed her husband disdainfully.

"That's not exactly a story we can share, my husband…"

Eldris grinned, shrugging, "I suppose so. Your choice then; I've told so many, I don't know which stories have been told and which ones haven't."

The two sisters excitedly turned to their mother, whose lips twisted in thought, her head falling backward, hanging out of the cart, eyes closed, "Okay… Oh, one day, after we'd first settled upon Teldrassil, I was teaching your father how to cook- one of the things they didn't ever teach him in Illidari school."

Eldris groaned, covering his face with both hands, "Oh, Elune help us…"

Cayssarin grinned as she lifted her head up further, "One of your favorites, both of you, is ichor soup. Well, it was my favorite as well. Back then, the cull was still going on, so I had him go off to Andrassil and come back with some dead spiders to be used in the soup."

"Well!" Cayssarin continued, "There I was, standing for hours in our home, waiting for him to return. Of course, there I was, wondering just how horrendous of a hunter my husband was; how was I to tell our children that he could only catch night elves, right? But in he came, in the dark of the night, with a jar of ichor- the fool had taken it upon himself to kill the spiders and try whatever he could to extract their ichor without my help. Though, he was terrible at it, he admitted, and ended up killing enough spiders to end the damn cull trying to get enough for the stew."

Cayssarin had begun laughing as if she were still a young adult, and even Eldris had pulled his hands down, simply smiling as he watched his wife recount her story, "It was all he could do to find his way to the table and sit down, he was so exhausted. I examined the ichor- not an imperfection in sight."

She smiled, turning to meet her husband's eyes, "I went over to him, lifted that weary head of his, and watched those green eyes of his, almost the same color as that ichor. Even now, I look at him, no matter how far away, and see those eyes; the eyes of a man willing to spend hours on a chore, simply to impress me. even though he'd already had me."

Vylira sighed, "I guess that's a good one. I'd have preferred a good Shadowleaf story, myself."

"Some things aren't meant to be uncovered, dear," Cayssarin corrected, "And if you're being sincere, then it is, truly, too soon for you to settle, yourself."

Kyra grinned at her sister, playfully, "You only want what I have, you know."

Smirking back, Vylira replied, "Been that way our whole lives, ever since you were the spoiled one."

"Okay, okay," Eldris spoke up, "No sibling rivalry in the cart. Soon enough, we'll have a third one awake and there'll be hell to pay."

Vylira suddenly perked her head up toward the front of the wooden cart, as if just remembering that Kelaeth was there, her expression dropping as she sunk back into the back corner of her spot. Beside her, Kyra reached over toward Colin, who'd been sitting there, quietly, quite distant from the others, wrapping her arm around his shoulders.

"Feeling better?" she asked, lightly, though it only elicited a silent nod from him.

Eldris turned toward him, sadly, "Just a bit under the weather, huh? Shame we have no priests here, but I'm sure there'll be a few up in Lor'danel if you can manage that long."

Colin nodded, again in silence, closing his eyes as his head sunk forward against his chest. Kyra leaned in closer to hold him, though he was too far-gone to feel any embarrassment. Despite learning that such closeness was rather common in front of others in night elf culture, Colin never really could shake the small sense of embarrassment creeping up within him.

"See?" Vylira muttered aloud, "That's what I want. But it's as mother says; it's only because I see it here."

Kyra turned her head toward her sister, though keeping her cheek against Colin's head as her father chuckled, "Now I don't need my children starting trends for one another."

"It's not just Kyra," Vylira sighed, hopelessly, "It's Nyl, too. Even though his wife is about as boring as a murloc's speech patter, you know, it just…"

She groaned, knowing full-well that she couldn't stop now, lest she face questions for the rest of the trip, "I've spent so many hundreds of years fighting for my people. Fighting for nature, for our lands. I don't know; it'd be nice to fight for a person for once; someone who fights for me, too."

For the first time probably any of them had seen, she turned away to hide a blush, "Sh-Shut up!"

Her mother smiled lightly, "I think that's only natural. You know, you're maturing into that matriarchal stage whether you like it or not; it's always a confusing time. Unless, of course, something traumatic happens and you just decide to wash your hands of the whole fighting thing."

Cayssarin sighed, "You need to think about all your comrades who didn't get a chance to mature as far as you have. Look into their faces. Those were the people you were fighting for; the people who were fighting for you."

Nodding, Eldris reinforcing the sentiment, though he went on to add, "Unless, you know, you're just getting to that point where you're just wanting to mate, of course."

"DAD!" Vylira blared out, leaving her parents no chance to notice Kyra's turn at blushing, thankfully, as she turned her face back into Colin's hair.

Eldris shrugged, "What?!"

"Dear," Cayssarin began to explain, as though attempting to be subtle, "You know Vy has always been embarrassed by body stuff. I mean, we had that talk with the lieutenant after she refused to remove her armor for inspection on her first day."

"Oh, that's right," Eldris nodded, though their conversation did little to keep Vylira from quaking in the corner of the cart, her face flushed a shade of red neither of them had ever seen.

Suddenly, the head of Kelaeth rose from the opposite end of the cart, her eyes just barely open as he spoke up, "Man, does the racket bring back memories of home…"

Vylira turned her head away quickly, though the two parents readily spun around toward their eldest, Cayssarin reaching over to hold his cheek, "How are you feeling?"

He shrugged as best he could, "Better. The fresh air certainly helps, as well as the moon water. Thanks again for that, by the way."

Kyra quickly spun her head around, stammering in reply, "Oh, n-n-no problem! It was Nyl and his wife's doing anyway; we just brought it for you guys."

Kelaeth nodded in understanding, though while looking at his sister, he noticed the man she'd had wrapped in her arms, Colin having fallen asleep in her embrace, "Is he okay?"

Eldris nodded with a grin, "Just a bit sick. When one recovers, another finds some other ailment. I'd say it was just this family's penance, but I'd have to assume Elune has more patience and mercy than that."

He looked at Cayssarin, who stared back at him, unsurely, as he spoke back up, "What? He's a part of the family, isn't he?"

"Of course," Cayssarin replied as she turned to him, "I'm just concerned is all."

"Tyrande will reassure you," Eldris went on, relaxing his head down against his chest, "He'll be fine, especially in our care."

His wife nodded gingerly, though it only left Kelaeth with more questions, which he began to ask, but his eyes met with Vylira before his lips became crooked in a grin, "Ah, there's the girl who could fell an Ancient."

Vylira remained still, Eldris coming to her defense as he held a hand against Kelaeth's shoulder, gently, "Let her be."

Kelaeth held his tongue, simply shifting back and trying to get comfortable, "Well, we won't mend anything by being silent. I suppose we could do it by letter, like Kyra and the others, but judging by her lack of replies, I'd say it will take a bit more."

Her eyes staring at him from the corners of her eyes, Vylira expertly held her tongue, not allowing her body to show a sigh of the anger from within her. Thankfully, Eldris spoke up again, diffusing the situation further.

"Let's just get home first," he mumbled, "It's been a long trip and we have another who needs help."

Kelaeth silently ducked back into his seat, "I wasn't about to complain."

Suddenly, his body jumped up as he realized where he was, his body whipping to the front of the cart, seeing the world before him moving, but there were no beasts pulling the cart along. Slowly pulling himself over the edge, he peered down toward the ground, seeing the contraption the Colin had rigged up, his head almost bobbing in time with the weight that was magically pulling the wheels along.

Slowly, he turned back toward the others who, in his sudden outburst, had all been staring his way already, his voice full of confusion, "Who…did this?"

Kyra's head gently motioned toward the sleeping body of Colin, allowing Kelaeth's eyes to shine gently with curiosity before he turned back, falling into the front seat, muttering to himself, "Huh. Fascinating."

Leaving it at that, he lowered his eyelids as he took to rest once again, leaving Kyra to look up at her father, almost worriedly, but he shook his head, quelling her fears. She then buried her face, again, in Colin's hair, holding her arms around him tighter, allowing the small, short bursts of the wheels dipping past cobblestone lull her into her own sleep.

If she couldn't have Colin's voice to help her sleep, she would take his warmth and gently rocking of the cart, made by his hand, and find it.