The Woods of Teldrassil

By the time Kelebek passed the gates of Darnassus she had only a sliver of moonlight to navigate by. The night air was brisk and just cold enough that each time the druid exhaled she left a little frosty cloud of mist behind. She broke out into a full sprint, paws crunching down on the frost-kissed grass, feeling the knot in her stomach loosen as the pressures of society melt away. The druid smiled her kitty smile as she bounded through the dying under brush of the woods. On a whim she sprang up into a tree, only to have the branch she landed upon break with a loud crack, sending the druid tumbling to the ground. She landed with a thud and had to laugh at herself. Away she bounded again, pouncing on little mounds of dirt as she came across them. Kelebek felt silly and giddy, punch drunk as she ran through the purple forests of Teldrassil, tears streaming down her face.

Eventually she came to a little inland lake. Feeling emotionally drained now and physically exhausted, she crouched down and began to lap up the cool, clear water. When she had her fill she sat back on her haunches to contemplate. The giddy feeling had subsided, leaving behind all of the pain and emotion that she had been holding back since the night with Dax Grey. The panic, sadness and rage, along with a slew of other unexplainable emotions, coursed through the druid as she watched the ripples on the lake's surface. The tears she had shed moments before had left little frozen trails down her face. She wanted nothing more than to let out a low pitched cry to express and relieve the remainder of her unexpressed feelings but she instead shook her head and padded away from the lake. If she was to be in the woods for a period of time, she'd need a place to den. First rule of the wilds: Survival takes priority over emotions. That was that.

The sky was beginning to get a pink hue by the time Kelebek found what she was looking for. Amongst one of the many little mountains she discovered a little dirt cave. The ceiling had roots dangling from it, but it seemed dry. The den was mostly devoid of the scents of other animals, which was a great indication that it hadn't been occupied for some time. With an efficient haste she began to mark the cave as her own. She tore at the soil with her claws, then padded it back down to make it seem as if she had bedded there before. She then rolled around in the cave a bit, making sure that it bore her scent so that if another curious animal came strolling by they'd know that the little dirt mount they had just stuck their heads into had been claimed.

Pleased with having found herself shelter, the little druid took off into the woods with her next mission: breakfast. While she wasn't terribly familiar with the wild life of the island, though she had heard a few owls while she pranced about in the night and caught the scent of a boar. The claw marks on the trees made by the local nightsabers hadn't gone unnoticed either. Kelebek wasn't feeling up to the acrobatic task of trying to catch an owl, nor was she keen on taking down a fellow feline, so she set out on the faint scent trails of a boar.

The bright pink skies faded to a cool blue. The temperature had come up some, but in the early part of the day the frost still clung to many of the leaves and grasses yet hidden in the shade. It was because of the frost that Kelebek managed to stumble upon a small trail in the woods. The foot path was cut deep into what would have been mud had there been any rain recently, made by many tiny boar hooves. A few boars had used the path that very night; the lack of frost gave that fact away clearly.

Quietly Kelebek followed the path in a parallel fashion, not wanting to mar the trail for if she traveled on it herself she may startle the boars away from using it in the future. She continued to follow the trail for quite some time, using the underbrush and shadows of the forest to help hide her white fur. Finally she heard them off in the distance, three of them, squealing and grunting as they fought over whatever root they had just dug up. Kelebek slunk through the brush, closing the gap between her and her meal with quiet urgency. Within no time her prey were all within in the druid's sight, and when she was sure of the situation she crouched down behind a rather thick bush, waiting for the right time to strike.

Muscles taut, ears forward and barely breathing, Kelebek waited. Two of the boars were rather large and had prominent tusks, not something a lone (not to mention undersized) cat would want to take on herself. The third boar however was the one that Kebelek had set her eyes on. It was a young boar, its tusks were still tiny and fur yet soft, unlike the bristly hides of his companions. She was waiting for that perfect moment when the little boar would wander by, separated just enough from the other two that when she'd strike the rest would scatter in a panic instead of turning on her. Time ticked by slowly, but eventually the little boar did just just as the druid had hoped. He wandered over into the druid's range, and as he did so she readjusted her paws in a quiet, antsy fashion, tail silently twitching. Waiting...waiting...

Just as she was about to spring into action, a large crash was heard and a ball of white fur came barreling out of the woods to the right of the clearing. The creature was large, but not too much larger than Kelebek herself; a bear. He charged at one of the boars without much premeditation, for he struck out only to miss as his would-be victim squealed and high tailed it well outside of the bears range. The other two followed suit, high tailing it into the thick and frosty under brush. 

The bear stood in the middle of the clearing, panting. His sides heaved heavily as Kelebek observed him. He bore the markings of a fellow Night Elf druid. Infuriated, Kelebek charged at the bear, head-butting hard him on the shoulder.

"You idiot!" she growled.

The bear was taken completely surprised by the attack. He stood there stunned for a moment before looking at the cat, then looking down the trail of broken bushes left behind by the boars, then back at the cat.

"Apologies milady, I didn't know that someone else was in the area. I was just having a bit of fun, I swear it!"

"Your 'bit of fun' just caused me my meal." At her harsh words the bear hung his head. Kelebek exhaled heavily. 

The bear's panting slowed and he sat his druid bear butt down right in the middle of the clearing. He regarded the cat again with his head tilted; he smiled. "What would you eat a boar for, miss? Haven't you brought any rations? What kind of Kaldorei goes off into the woods this close to Darnassus without rations?"

"The kind that'd prefer to fend for herself..." Muttered Kelebek in reply as she turned to leave the clearing.

Kelebek managed to make it partially through the ticket bordering the clearing before the bear lurched himself back into a standing position. He lumbered quickly after the other druid. 

"Wait miss, wait!"

Tired, hungry, and now rather sore from a day's worth of activity after having spent months in captivity, Kelebek debated on simply pretending that she hadn't heard the other druid. At this point she wanted nothing more than to curl up in her new found home and sleep for an eternity. She had a feeling that she wouldn't be getting that sort of rest quite yet.

"Please miss, wait!" The bear was panting again as he trotted up next to the little cat. "I'm sorry if I offended you milady. Let me make it up to you somehow."

She stopped in her tracks and looked wearily at the other druid. "Alright, whatever you'd like." She said quietly, then continued on with her slow trek back to her awaiting cave.

They traveled together for a good while in silence before the bear once again spoke. "If I may be so bold miss, may I ask you your name?"

The smaller of the two druids remained silent for a bit longer before she replied. "Kelebek."

"Wonderful name! Mine is Cubical, though most just call me Cubi." The bear all but bounced in happiness as he stated this fact.

"Cubical? That's a peculiar name."

"It is Miss Kelebek, but I like it. Does yours have a story behind it?"

"Yes," she said upon finally arriving to her cave "however, we have arrived at my den and I'm exhausted. Perhaps I can tell you the story some other time."

"Of course milady. Sleep well!" exclaimed Cubi in his cheerful manner. 

Left without much else to say, Kelebek turned into her little cave after a quick look around inside to be sure that nothing had snuck in while she was away.

-------

The smell of cooking fish woke her up.

Kelebek slid out of her little cave and stretched her limbs under a sky that was just beginning to show its stars. Not far from the entrance to her cave sat a silver haired male Night Elf, who was busing himself with tending to the fish and fire. He turned his pink, bearded face towards her as she approached.

"Good evening milady, sleep well?"

She regarded him for a moment with her cat-like suspicion, then replied "It wasn't bad." The druid padded up next to the Night Elf and sat down. She eyed up what was in the pan that he was holding over the little fire. "What smells delicious?"

Cubical smiled as he tended to the meal. "Why, it's fish from the lake just over yonder. I mixed in some berry juice and a bit of root. I hope you will like it."

For a moment Kelebek's guard dropped and she smiled, at least as much as a cat could smile. Catching herself, she changed her expression to a more sober one, agreed that it would be a wonderful meal, and excused herself with the reason that she felt the need to wash up.

The druid took her time walking over to the lake. She lapped up the sounds of the wilds, relished in the feel of the crisp grass beneath her paws, and felt oddly comforted that there was a fellow druid not far away. While she was quite certain that her soul was still troubled, she felt more peaceful than she had in months. As Kelebek reached the edge of the lake, she exhaled, smiled, and felt gratitude towards the other druid that had so haphazardly bashed into her little episode, for lack of a better term. She allowed herself another little smile then bent her head so that she could lap up the chilling water of the lake.

"Little ghost..." The name had been uttered with a quiet rattle of a sigh.

Kelebek jumped at the sound, muscles instantly tense once more. It took her a moment to see the green stone drake standing silently on the other side of the clearing, staring at her.

The druid's fur was standing straight up in surprise and fright. "Aer...Aeornoss?"

The stone drake smiled at the little druid and gave a quiet, rocky chuckle.