There was a brief mask of agony on the druid's otherwise pleasant face, for as they landed, the druid actually having taken control of his lead griffin, which guided Aelena's, he was faced to bear witness once more to the destruction of Auberdine. Iylldrraen had many joyful memories bound to this once quaint port, and now it was reclaimed by the world. His hand had left Aelena's tail, guiding her gently, the same hand resting on her lower back, those ancient elven eyes replacing old memories with the current images of the port today. The druid did not choose to land here, but rather, chose to convenience the ship they were to board, for it was one directly from Hillsbrad, dropping off and receiving supplies from Lor'danel.<br/><br/>Though the druid's spirit mourned for Auberdine and the life that once thrived around the hub port, he was not overwhelmed by such grief. Instead, he chose to alter his perspective; while it was true that Auberdine was gone, Lor'danel now stood, and as he stood with Aelena overlooking the beach, he marveled at the intricacies of how the land had changed, and how much power was exerted to split the entire dock in two. He had to remind himself that he was a druid, sworn to uphold the natural occurrences of this world, despite the fact that the changes to the world were caused by a dragon, they were still natural, for dragons were the epitome of natural order and chaos.<br/><br/>The thoughts soon passed from the druid, the playful smile that Aelena had managed to elicit from his lips returning. He looked at her, eyes glinting as he leaned close and kissed her, ducking down suddenly and sweeping her up into his arms, holding her close as he gingerly carried her down the incline and to the smooth sandy beach. He could see the ship anchored in the distance, and the longboat steadily rowing in their direction. He stood on the shore, smiling, realizing that he had a chance to prevent Hillsbrad from becoming another Auberdine. Like Auberdine, Hillsbrad was a frontier town, small, quaint, and more of a hub than anything else, surrounded by untamed wilderness. He swore to himself on that sandy beach that he would not let it fall to the vile, unnatural ways of the Worgen.<br/><br/>The first mate stepped out of the boat and greeted Iylldrraen, then Aelena, offering her a slightly longer gaze than Iylldrraen, which the druid certainly could understand. He was a young elf, perhaps in his hundreds. He had dark hair with streaks of turquoise, and his skin was faint lavender. It wasn't his eyes that revealed his age, but the way he didn't even offer Auberdine a passing glance; he hadn't known this town.<br/><br/>“Greetings, Master Druid! Hmm, seems it's a good thing we're running a small crew on board! You and your lady will have your choice of quarters.” Though the elf boy was young, he had enough wisdom to let the sentence end, and if he hadn't, Iylldrraen's glare and dismissive wave certainly would have. “We'll be at sea for a few days, then we'll catch a swell and be in Hillsbrad before the week is up!” As the pair boarded the longboat, Iylldrraen hoped Aelena would understand why he misled the crew; not because he didn't want them to know they were lovers, but because they shouldn't know. Most people, when faced with dire circumstances and situations, did not ask for lovers' aid, simply because they feared that one would sacrifice the good of the objective to save their lover in peril, in which case they would enact certain measures that would guarantee success, namely at the cost of both. All they had to do was deceive the captain, and they would be safe.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>