Dedicated to AlexSuteu

Music: Woodland Tales composed by Adrian von Ziegler

https://youtu.be/2kHmb7ZVh6s

Another wonderful autumn day in Eversong Woods and Tiene Firefury had once again snuck away from doing chores. As usual, her fascination with the lynx' as they hunted had become the priority. She loved the way they moved, stealthing along, bellies close to the ground as they honed in on some hapless woodland creature; their next meal. It was part of her life's education as she saw it. She would mimic their movements as best she could, albeit on two legs instead of four. Their grace, their cunning, their focus; all of these traits she observed and tried to master.

Her azure eyes watched with unfathomable concentration as the lynx stalked its prey in the long, dancing grasses. Its haunches shuddered, ready to spring for the kill. Tiene held her breath, her patience matching that of the lynx. Any moment now...

A sharp, crackling sound came from a few feet behind. She snapped her head around and saw her brother Inaris, conjuring a firebolt, aiming it at the lynx. "No!! Don't you dare!" she hissed.

Inaris smirked but didn't diminish his spell. He did, however, change its direction and it hit the fawn which the lynx had set its sights on. The young deer made a strange little bark before hitting the ground, twitching, wispy trails of smoke rising from the fur on its flank. The lynx, spooked by the attack, ran off towards the hills.

"You are mean, Inaris!" Tiene stomped towards her brother who now stood, arms folded with a look of mock reprimand on his face.

"And you, young lady, are in trouble. Father is not pleased with you sloping off from your chores...again!" He grinned as she huffed past him.

Her buoyant golden hair bounced on her shoulders, cascading over her back as she stormed her way back to Silvermoon City. Her face was thunderous, she hated it when Inaris used his magic to spoil her day, and he did that quite often. It annoyed her, even more, when he kept whistling that annoying little tune he always liked as he followed her through Shepherd's Gate, the entrance to the city. She tried to pick up the pace and lose him as she rounded the corner and sprinted through the Bazaar into The Walk of Elders. Inaris was not to be outdone though, he always won the race thanks to his magic. As she rounded the gateway into the Royal Exchange, he was already standing leaning against the exit waiting for her.

"You know fine you will never beat me, Tiene," he said, smirking at his younger sister's rage. She really was the epitome of their family name.

Inaris and their older brother, Duthan, absolutely adored her, but they did like to tease her, much to the frustration of their father, Yathas. They always managed to get her so agitated that she would, albeit eventually, carry out her chores within the house, but normally at a cost, such as a heap of broken crockery, torn furnishings or worse, burnt food.

They were both inclined to be a little over-protective of her, perhaps due to the fact Lina, their mother, had died when Tiene was very young, so young in fact that the girl barely remembered her. She was her mother's image, and she had also inherited her temperament. But, the brothers' patience never wavered and much of the consequences of Tiene's tantrums were often forgiven, although never entirely over-looked.

Yathas wanted nothing more than to see his daughter eventually settle with a nice upstanding and hopefully well-to-do elf. He visualised himself a proud grandfather, many times over. Tiene rebelled against that idea, although her eyes had been distracted on occasion by a particular elf, much to her father's' disappointment. The only good thing, in Yathas' opinion, the elf in question, Dar'Khan Drathir, was seldom around. 

Unknown to Yathas however, Tiene really wanted to be like her brothers. Useful, as she called it. Inaris was a promising warlock, and Duthan an expert ranger. She had designs of her own.

The brothers, seeing Tiene's restless spirit, did their best to teach her methods of defence. Inaris, who was constantly being the one assigned to find her during her escapades, taught her how to blend in with her surroundings using low-level magic. It was in effect, stealthing, but not the expert kind which the likes of rogues, the hierarchy of assassins, mastered. It nonetheless kept her safe, to a degree, as she was prone to wandering off into the woods more frequently than she should. Of course, Inaris could always detect her, much to her great annoyance.

Duthan, a Ranger with the Farstriders, tried to educate her in archery but, she did not take to the hunter's ways. She loathed the bow as a weapon. Deadly though they were in the right hands, in the wrong ones, namely hers, they were just useless pieces of wood and elven steel. More often than not, arrows fell to the ground barely inches from where she had nocked them, much to the amusement of her Ranger brother and his good friend and fellow Farstrider, Lor'themar Theron.

Lor'themar had been welcomed into the Firefury home by Yathas, a number of years earlier, partially due to the fact the young man had no immediate family. Although he now had rooms of his own, Lor'themar had, over the years, been looked upon as an addition to the family, an adopted brother for the boys and Tiene. As a result, he too looked out for the spirited and adventurous young Firefury.

Both Rangers were amongst the best lieutenants within the Farstriders, with Lor'themar showing particular promise. Farstriders were not everyone's favourite army as they operated outwith the normal military. They were, in effect, mercenaries, usually working together in small groups under their Ranger General. But they were extremely effective.

Lor'themar's skills, it appeared had caught the eye of the Ranger General, Sylvannas Windrunner, and it had been announced the day before that he was to be promoted to Ranger Captain. It was a great honour, and all of the Firefurys, Tiene included, were delighted for Lor'themar.

Hence the fuss about Tiene's absence from the family home. She was supposed to be making sure it was all clean and tidy as Duthan had planned a celebratory dinner for Lor'themar at their home that evening. Fortunately, for all of them really, Lor'themar was also well aware of Tiene's lack of cooking skills and had been prudent enough to organise ample fayre to be brought in.

The two rangers soon spotted the furious Tiene as she continued her rampage past the Ranger's Lodge, towards the Firefury's modest but very comfortable home just off from Farstrider's Square. Inaris was strolling nonchalantly behind and waved to his brother and Lor'themar.

"I see she escaped again," Duthan said, shaking his head but smiling at the same time.

"Yes," Inaris sighed. "Other than tying her up, there is little we can do to stop her."

"May I make a suggestion?" Lor'themar intervened.

"Of course," Inaris replied, his long tapered eyebrows cocked in hope of a solution.

"Well, considering she is adept at sneaking around, and you have even taught her how to meld into her surroundings, why do you not encourage her to train as a rogue?"

The two brothers stared at each other. "Well, I'm not too sure father would approve of that idea, Lor'themar," Duthan offered.

"I doubt it too," Inaris said. The brothers shared a knowing look, "But, it is a thought worth pursuing. You should see her when she is observing the lynx. I have seen her mirroring their movements. She is really quite impressive to watch."

"Hmm," Duthan mused. "I can imagine Tiene jumping at the opportunity actually. Convincing father will be the problem."

"She can be a little...feisty at times," Lor'themar added with a playful smirk. "With their disciplines, it may help her to learn how to keep that in check. And, I dare say, if it were a choice between training as a rogue or her marrying Dar'Khan, your father would choose the former."

"Marrying Dar'Khan?" Inaris gasped.

"Oh, do not worry," Lor'themar laughed. "Dar'Khan is not planning on matrimony, but we know how Tiene lights up when he is so much as mentioned. As it so happens, to strengthen your argument about her training, I have invited Dar'Khan over tonight, as he has some business in the area for a couple of days."

"That's it settled then!" Duthan voiced, mirth evident in his voice. "We will talk father round fairly easily I think."

Inaris chortled and started to move away. "Well, see you two later. I better check she has not razed the house."

Laughing, the Rangers nodded and turned to go back into the lodge.

Inaris arrived at their front door to find Tiene furiously sweeping the floor. She was muttering under her breath with every brushstroke, oblivious that her brother was watching her.

It could sometimes take hours for the youngster to calm down, but now Inaris had some information about the evening which he knew would appease her. It was perhaps a little unfair, considering the ambitious and flamboyant Dar'Khan was unlikely to ever be interested in Tiene romantically. It was common knowledge the mage could be a bit of an insufferable snob. If he was to look for a mate, he no doubt, would choose someone of a higher status, possibly bordering noble. Such was Dar'Khan's standards, as it was with everything. He was affable enough but very self-opinionated. Still, a visit from the mage would lighten Tiene's mood. Inaris cleared his throat.

His sister's head snapped up at the intrusion. "I'm doing the chores!" she growled.

"So I see," Inaris responded calmly. "However, I thought perhaps you would prefer to go make yourself all pretty for tonight instead."

She continued sweeping. "It's only Lor'themar coming for a meal for goodness sake, he's kin. Huh! As if you two weren't enough!"

"Aww, Tiene! We all love you though."

"Pfft!"

"And there is another guest coming I believe," Inaris said slyly.

At that, the sweeping stopped abruptly. She leaned on the top of the broom, still a little huffily. "Oh just wonderful! I take it Lor'themar's lady love is coming too?"

"Now Tiene, you know there is nothing confirmed there and I would advise you do not bring up the subject of Lady Liadrin. Lor'themar is a very private man when it comes to things like that. But, no, it is not her who is coming over."

"Who then?"

"Oh, just a certain magister who is very friendly with your adopted brother."

The broom handle hit the floor and bounced a couple of times before it slowly rolled in an arc to a stop. Tiene was gone.

Thank you for reading!!!

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