I'm not sure when the remorse set in. It was subtle at first, a nagging feeling that I tried batting away, but eventually I actually felt bad for Dathelor. This really didn't help my predator instincts, I'm sure HE wouldn't approve. I tried to ignore the feeling, to keep it from distracting me from hunting him down... but there it was: concern for his welfare.
My irritation at myself manifested in stomping and cursing, real mature, I know. I almost got arrested for disturbing the peace but managed to talk down the Astranaar Sentinel. I needed to spend time figuring out my plan without giving him too much of a headstart.
So of course... I got distracted. I found myself trying to recall how this hunt and be hunted game of ours began, probably wasted the better part of an hour reminiscing. Right back to when we were so young we were barely dressing ourselves. He would taunt me; claim that girls are all priests and know nothing of the forest, that Sentinels are just dressed up priests with glaives. I would let my anger get the better of me. I didn't want to be a priest, or a sentinel, I wanted to be a druid! It didn't bother me that he mocked the Sentinels, only that we both knew women becoming druids was simply out of the question (at that time at least).
While I was remembering I caught sight of a one of the druid stationed in Astranaar, reporting to her command. Yes, HER, and that just infuriated me more. Maybe if I wasn't so cursed stubborn I could have changed vocation, but my mother's nagging voice, a condescending and knowing "look", the mere thought that she might think she was RIGHT about my choice to become a scout. Oddly enough, getting riled about mother helped me forget (almost forget) about any sympathy for Dathelor. He was the one who started the game and he was the one that kept it going for the sake of "training".
The flight to Moonglade wouldn't take too long and I could always stop in Felwood and head through the tunnels in case he was watching the flight point. With my mind focused back on the hunt I spared myself a grin for the injuries he'd taken at Talondeep. If I knew Dathelor, (and I did), he'd be nursing his wounds on the shore of Elune'ara. There weren't too many strictly private places along it's banks, but the druids of both factions left most to their business, as long as that business didn't harm nature.
I struggled with what I would do... surely he'd expect me to know his usual haunts and avoid them. So I was unsure if I should go to the spot just east of Nighthaven, across the lake from the Alliance flight point, or prepare for him to be closer to the Barrow Dens where he could take cover after patching himself up. By the time I'd landed I had made up my mind to check the Stormrage Barrow Dens first.
Moonglade was, as always, a muted green jewel. Every piece of nature was tinged with a hint of the Dream, Ysera's realm, even the lake seemed more green than blue. The Barrow Dens were easy enough to get to, there was no point in keeping my presence quiet along the road. If the Warden's didn't spot me, the animals would. When I arrived there was no sign of Dathelor, a quick question to the Warden's guarding the entrance to the Barrow itself confirmed that Dathelor had not been by there.
So I was grumbling under my breath when I approached the next most likely place, a little outcrop of land backed by a small cliff, atop which stood Nighthaven. I couldn't get there without either dropping down off the cliff or swimming... but I could watch it from across the small inlet. A nearby waterfall would help to mask my approach, but would also aid Dathelor in hiding. That is... if he were even there.
I climbed one of the smaller trees, still centuries older than me, across the inlet and waited. I examined the lone tree on the shore where I expected him to be, watching for signs of a slumbering cat in it's branches. After a while I began to think he wasn't here, or wasn't going to arrive, I was about to climb down from my tree when the water near the shore rippled. I held my position, despite the growing cramp in my thigh.
Out of the water crawled a sleek, if sluggish, manatee which swiftly melted into Dathelor in his elven form. A large fish fell from his mouth as he shifted. He lay there a moment, glistening and naked in the soft green haze, and I was able to make out most of his wounds. I couldn't help myself, I winced. A hint of my earlier remorse rising within me, not just remorse either, I noted. I bit my lower lip, using the sharp pain to focus myself while watching his every move.
Dathelor finally sat up and rolled over, I bit my lip again and closed my eyes briefly. When I opened them he had moved back against the tree, the fish tossed aside for now, he was inspecting a slash on his shoulder. I watched the curve of his lip as he inhaled sharply and felt a mixture of glee that I'd "got him" so good and that nagging regret over causing him pain.
With a huge effort I tore my mind back to the hunt. Here he was, vulnerable for the first time in at least a decade of the game, I couldn't decide how to press my advantage. I scanned the area around him, water on three sides, a cliff on the fourth. The cliff was at least five times my height, and sheer. However there was a tree blocking his view of the water on the one side, with the noise of the nearby waterfall as potential cover for my approach. It would have to do.With small quiet movements I descended from the tree and made my way into Nighthaven, I'd have to get into the water from the far side and swim in as quietly as possible. It didn't take me long to find a place to get into the water or to divest myself of all but my underthings and my knife. I almost giggled as I placed the blade in my mouth, silently thanking Elune that I'd thought to bring a single edged weapon. By the time I slipped into the water my heart was already racing, finally... finally, I was going to have the upper hand.
(Artwork by TheJinxess)
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