New Adventure With A New Friend.

[Drust]

Spoiler:

A collaborative IC post/thread with Ural's character Kalah and my character Tirius, hope you enjoy.

Feels like old times... Well, maybe a little different.

The campfire crackles as Tirius and Kalah sit by it in a small clearing in Ashenvale forest, the surrounding seeming quiet and peaceful as the glow from the moon pokes through the canopy of leaves above them, subtly illuminating the forest around them. Tirius finishes off his piece of cooked stag, placing it down beside him, he hums in delight as he wipes his mouth with his arm his hand giving his stomach a pat before looking to Kalah.

She rolls her eyes in amusement and asks, "You're easily entertained, with a full belly." Kalah's lips form a quick smirk before biting into her own meal again.

Tirius gives his head a scratch as he smirks. "Next best thing to the wilderness."

His gaze drifts down to the blade resting across his lap. "Well I believe it's my turn"

Tirius hovers a hand over the blade, the hand moving from one symbol to the next before stopping on the symbol of a turtle, he chuckles to himself. "This is a good one."

Kalah lifts her chin and rolls her head to look over at the sword. "But turtles are slow?" She then gives her meal's bone a very lazy flick of her wrist into the fire.

Tirius' gaze remains on the turtle as he speaks. "So are some Kaldorei..." He goes silent, his eyes seeming to narrow in concentration.

Hmm... How did An'da use to tell it... Ah, right!

"The two Kaldorei are walking back to their preferred spot in the wilderness after a full day of training, the two males tired and dirty. They seem to argue along the way, one saying there is a quicker way yet his friend believes that the way is dangerous and that it's best they walk the long way. After a while of arguing they both stopped and made a bet, one will take the long way and the other will take the short way, the first one to reach the spot gets dinner, the other one goes hungry. They both shook hands and parted separate ways. The Kaldorei begins his-"

Kalah interrupts, "Wait, which Kaldorei?"

Tirius blinks as his gaze breaks from the symbol, looking toward Kalah. "This is the way my father use to read it to me, the Kaldorei taking the shortcut would have been him, the other would be Talos, his training partner." He returns his gaze to the turtle once more, his eyes narrowing again as his brow furrows slightly, trying to find his place in the story once again.

"... The Ka-... Torose begins his journey through the shortcut, everything seems fine and safe as he moves through the wilderness, his stomach rumbling as he thinks about all the food he's going to consume.

Almost halfway through Torose is stopped dead in his tracks, there blocking the path forward is a few sleeping sabers, he could go around, but that's just stupid and a waste of time. So he begins to slowly and quietly make his way through. The sabers seem fine as he almost reaches the end, suddenly at the corner of his eye he watches as one head pokes up, then another... And another. The next thing he knows he's being chased in the opposite direction, stumbling over roots and his own feet, he runs through all the familiar parts of the shortcut that he has already passed, still running with the sabers close behind. After a bit of good manoeuvring he finally loses them. Yet he realizes something. He's back in the same spot they made the bet. Torose takes off into a sprint once more, still hoping to beat his friend as he takes the long way instead this time.

He finally reaches the fire, the last remnants of the sun peeking through the cracks of the leaves, the smell of cooked stag is delightful, and teasing. He sits down with a sigh as he watches his friend tear into a haunch, humming in gratification. "This is a good stag." He says. "So where have you been? You look like you took on a bear." Torose simply grunted tiredly in response as he dropped to his side, closing his eyes as his stomach rumbles. Trying to sleep off the humiliation and the hunger."

Tirius gazes at the symbol quietly for a moment before raising his head. "Your turn."

Kalah scoffs lightly with a chuckle as she rises, "You have a thing for food, don't you?" She makes her way over to the dwindling pile of branches tosses in an armful. Soon enough Kalah settles back in and comments, "Alright, I got a story that hits a bit closer to home."

Tirius shrugs lightly in response. "Well what else is there to bet with in the Wilderness?"

Kalah shrugs with a blank look, "I suppose you're right.. and that would open an opportunity to fast." She gazes up with a distant look into the treetops before continuing right into her story.

"A few months ago when Franziska and I were patrolling regularly, we got the notion to take the boat to Stormwind. There we met up with a human in their woodlands, Elwynn Forest. Soon, of course, we found another human. A Paladin, as I recall. As our walk continued, we headed for a place where they honor their dead, in the center of a lagoon." She glances from the fire to Tirius, "We spent some time there, before heading back to Goldshire."

"It was there the Paladin suggested we check out his 'airship'. A noisy contraption of engineering genius. Franziska was impressed and was going on and on about it." Kalah snickers after an exaggerated look of enthusiasm.

Tirius chuckles at the thought.

"And you see, that is when the drinking started. I hardly remember any of it, but apparently I straight-up slugged Fran' in the jaw after she tried to stop me from hugging on the Paladin."

Kalah shrugs, even as she lazily holds herself up with her arms behind her, "I guess after that we jumped in the frigid waters below with a parachute. Franziska told me I went into shock, and after being rescued from the waters a priest tended to me." Kalah frowns and comments afterwards, "I woke up feeling half-dead.."

Tirius shakes his head with a smirk. "You two always seem to get into some sort of trouble... And get drunk while doing so."

"Yeah exactly, so.. that's why I don't drink anymore. Got my fill of it that night." She side-glances to Tirius with a curious look, "Is there a reason you don't drink, Tirius?"

He shrugs lightly, his gaze moving to the fire in thought for a moment before responding. "I use to drink a bit when I was younger but I realized I need to be focused always. I can act stupid any time I want, I don't need a drink for that." He chuckles. "In the wilds it's best to remain sober, otherwise you'll end up prey."

[Ural]

Kalah stands proudly on an grassy knoll, hands stretched out in front of her holding a parchment. Even though the material is worn and faded the topographic map is fairly accurate. Silently she double-checks her work with a few glances around the area.

Tirius approaches Kalah as she inspects the area around herself. A brown Owl which is resting on his shoulder seems to stretch its wings out before fluttering away from Tirius and perching on a nearby tree. Tirius spares a quick glance to the owl releasing a quiet chuckle before looking to Kalah. He stands just short of the grassy knoll gazing at the back of her, he quirks his brow curiously as he leans to the side slightly to catch a glimpse of what's in her grasp. "Well that looks boring." He says with a chuckle as he straightens up, his arms cross over his chest as he smiles.

She rolls the map up as she turns around with a warm smile. "Cartography? It does have its moments, but it's important to know the lay of the land." Kalah slips the map into her satchel and lightly places her hands on her hips. A screech is heard as the owl decides to swap perches once again, moving to another nearby tree, it's gaze remains on the two from above. Kalah's ear twitches at the screech, but she pays it no mind. "Where have you been?" She sounds annoyed. "I was hoping to tell you- I'll be leaving for Silithus in a few days."

Tirius chuckles as his arms drop to his sides once more, his apparel would be quite worn and torn, doesn't look like the Beastmaster has been taking it easy. "Sorry I was gone for so long, Felwood is a horrible place to get stuck in." A slight frown crosses his features. "What's in Silithus?"

"Our people, for one. My Shan'do, Priestess Rija is taking Linevi and I to see them. Learn about their history and everything. She said they haven't had a visit from a Priestess for a while, so it'll be an encouragement to the soldiers there. And that's right up my alley." She smiles happily.

Tirius smiles once more as he shakes his head with a sigh. "I just get back and you want to run off on what doesn't even sound like an adventure... More like a history lesson." His gaze moves to the treetops for a moment, spotting the owl.

That is something I'd say... Has Rija really had that much of an affect on me? Kalah furrows her brow slightly. "If I'm going to be laying my life down for my people, I'd like to get to know them."

He looks back down to Kalah, his smile seeming to broaden. "Well if it gets too boring, you can always rely on your companion..."

Kalah turns her head slightly, slyly eyeing Tirius with a smirk. You're coming too?

With that he releases what sounds like a screech. What.. The owl leaves its perch, circling overhead before flying toward Tirius. The beastmaster takes a step away from the bird as it gets close, he holds his hand up shaking his head as the bird halts its approach he let's out a light whistle the tone seeming to change about as he nods toward Kalah. The owl does one more circle before flying toward Kalah instead as it lands on her shoulder. "You like to learn it has much it can teach you, and you have a lot to teach this little bastard as well, he doesn't have many humanoid friends."

Kalah cringes as the owl lands on her shoulder. She lets out a guffaw as he curses the bird, causing it to take off again to the branch above. Kalah looks up at the branch, shaking her head slightly. "Oh boy.. and here I thought I was going to have it easy." She cups the side of her mouth, calling out to it, "Hey! Get back here!" she grins with her joke of a call.

Tirius chuckles as he watches the bird land on the branch above. The owls gaze snaps toward Kalah as she calls out to him, yet the owl doesn't budge an inch. "That won't work." Tirius says with a playful grin before whistling toward the owl. He releases two short high pitched tones, then one slightly longer lower pitched tone. The Owls gaze snaps to Tirius as he whistles to it, the bird perches there quietly for a few more seconds before swooping down off the branch and landing on Tirius' shoulder. Tirius glances to the bird for a second before crossing his arms over his chest once again as he smiles toward Kalah. "The sound I made lets him know it's me, a friend."

"That's all there is to it? It can't be that easy?" Kalah peers at the owl curiously, and then attempts the same call. Two high pitched tones followed by a lower slow drawl. The owl's gaze never leaves Kalah, and leans forward taking off in a short-glide before flapping once to perch on Kalah's shoulder backwards. Kalah leans away from the commotion and grins warily. "I uh.. did it backwards." she jokes.

Tirius releases another amused chuckle as the bird perches on Kalah's shoulder. "That's pretty good, I'm surprised he responded to you. The call is quite easy to use, but it took a while for him to learn it. Keep the owl close by and let him warm up to you, he's a great companion to have around at night, when hunting or travelling."

Kalah looks over the bird on her shoulder with an amused smirk. You do pranks on big brothers right? The woman looks back to Tirius with a light grin, "Alright, I'll give it a shot.. Thanks Tirius."