The wind whipped past them as they rode, their mounts surging beneath them. The road from Orgimmar had been long, but the great ravasaur and the strong willed stallion had carried their masters without complaint. The sun was rising as the pair of companions came over the hill. Himni grinned broadly as the sun sparkled across the walls of the city at the base of the hill.
"There it is," he said exultantly, sweeping his arms grandly and turning to face his friend, "Silvermoon."
The big orc to his side cast a glance at him from the corner of his eye and grunted.
Himni grinned at his friend and loosed a peal of his infectious laughter. His companion shook his head and clapped his heels to the flanks of his ravasaur, the beast charging down the hill. Himni rolled his eyes at his stoic friend and followed after him. The pair reined in just before the walls of the city and a pretty young sin'dorei smiles impishly as Himni, and Himni gave her a wink. It would seem, Zuljynn noted, that the pair knew one another, and knowing Himni, the relationship was probably more than just professional.
The young woman snapped her fingers and a pair of retainer hurried forward to take the reins of the mounts, as the two companions dismounted.
Zuljynn turned to the sin'dorei that reached for the reins of the big ravasaur and held up a cautionary hand, "Be careful, he bites, and you'd better find a priest quickly if he does."
The retainer took a slow swallow, and cautiously took the reins. Zuljynn stepped around in front of the beast and took its head firmly in its gauntleted hands. The tone of his voice as he spoke to his mount was one that would force even the most drunken dwarf to pay him heed.
"Go with this man Venificus," he said firmly, "don't bite him, don't gore him, and do not try and trip him with your tail. Do we understand each other?"
The ravasaur clacked its teeth together and hissed at him, and underneath his helmet Zuljynn grinned, patting the scaly face and releasing him to the retainer's care. Himni chuckled under his breath as the pair followed the skymistress towards her stable of dragonhawks.
"Why do you put up with that brute Zul?" The blonde paladin asked, "I'm sure we can speak with Gloaming here and she could get you a nice hawkstrider to ride."
Zuljynn stopped walking, staring hard at his friend. The look on Himni's face was innocent, and after a moment Zuljynn just shook his head in disgust.
"If you think for a moment that I'm going to prance around on one of those overgrown chickens, elf, you've got another thing coming. Besides, do you really think I spent those weeks in Un'goro for the pleasure of it all? Venificus and I are perfectly matched," the burly orc growled.
"That's the Light's own truth," Himni replied piously.
It wasn't much long thereafter that Skymistress Gloaming lead two large dragonhawks out of the pen. Zuljynn clambered aboard, and turned to watch Himni and the young Skymistress. Their voices were quiet and the warrior couldn't hear what they were saying, but he was sure that Himni was making promises again. He made promises to half a dozen women on a weekly basis, and sometimes he even kept them. Despite the his friend's devotion to the Light, there were some tenants of the faith that he didn't hold to as firmly. Zuljynn didn't mind however, in spite of the guff he gave the lanky paladin on a consistent basis, the orc couldn't have asked for a better traveling companion. Like Zuljynn, Himni had been raised outside of his homeland, however, the sin'dorei had returned home and had made a great effort to learn the history and traditions of his fathers, the culmination of that scholarly pursuit leading them to their present journey to the Isle of Quel'danas. Zuljynn didn't begrudge his friend his desire to learn more, and gladly accompanied him, though he longed to return to the roaming life. With Arthas defeated there had been quiet for a while, and the pair had explored much of the three continents, and even Zuljynn's distantly displaced home of Outland. Duty and adventure had called, however, when the Elemental Invasion began. Zuljynn hoped their trip to Quel'danas would be a quick one, but he would give his friend all the time he needed.
Zuljynn waited for a few moments more, then cleared his throat loudly, rousing the two sin'dorei from their interactions. Zuljynn noted that Gloaming was blushing slightly, and Himni gave his orcan friend a sly wink as he vaulted into the saddle of the dragonhawk. Zuljynn couldn't help but laugh, one of the few times that sound escaped his lips, as the two jerked on the reins and the pair of dragonhawks carried their riders into the air. The flight was leisurely and as the bird's banked to the north Himni shouted to his friend.
"Be sure and remind me that we should hearth back to Dalaran following my meetings. I don't think we should come back this way."
"I take it the Skymistress has some ideas that you're not quite fond of right now?"
"She's looking for committment," Himni shouted back to him, "and I'm just not there yet. I told her that my mind was so enraptured with my studies right now that I couldn't make a sure decision, but that I'd answer her as soon as I returned. So the key is, we don't return until she's forgotten about it."
"Don't you sin'dorei have very long memories Himni?" Zuljynn asked.
"Very. So I don't think I'll be seeing Silvermoon for quite a while," the paladin replied with a perfectly straight face.
Zuljynn rolled his eyes, and took a firmer grip on the reins, it wasn't much longer before the Isle of Quel'danas came into view, the recognizable Dead Scar marring the otherwise beautiful landscape. The dragonhawks circled for approach, and Zuljynn mentally began to prepare himself for a few days of dealing with the Shattered Sun Offensive, and by extension hundreds of laughing sin'dorei.
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