Kal and James watched the interaction with interest. It had been two days since they had all been brought together on this dire mission. So far the days had been unremarkably quiet. The interaction they just witnessed was the first thing spoken since James had asked to stop for water five hours ago. Kal sighed. "What a team this one is." He looked around at each member. James was still in a dressed in pink, clutching his bag firmly to his side. He fought a smirk as he decided the pink set off the color of his hair. His eyes then wandered over to their shape-shifting captive. The thief had already attempted several getaways, but every time had failed miserably. Kal was not sure what Patrick had to do with their mission, but he had to trust that the elves had foreseen his role in this. Kal did not much care for the rogue. O'Brien's left hand was now secured with an elven rope to the saddle of the rope's owner. His eyes followed the length of the golden strand to settle on their current leader.
The She-Elf, he corrected himself, *Diana*, was atop her large white mare leading them towards the hidden gateway to her people. He regarded her as they traversed the trail through the wilderness. She sat proudly in the saddle; her raven hair splayed across her shoulders and the curling locks cascading down her back. The sapphire cloak was drawn around her as she plodded in front of them, protecting her from the cool fall breeze. His mind went back to the past couple of nights. There had still not been a very clear, decisive talk about what was all had happened, and any plans to remedy the events that had happened, or would happen. When asked, all Diana would say is that she would lead them to her queen and there it would be safe to discuss the matter fully. As for where the queen was, Diana would not say, except that she would take them where they needed to go. On the brighter side, an unspoken agreement seem to have passed between them to not bring up why neither party had been involved in saving the knights. Even though they were not bringing up that particular issue, it was still plain to see that Diana was not comfortable being around men. Kal realized it must be hard for her to be away from her own kind, and while he could not make her comfortable around the others, he had set about trying to ease her mind around himself.
Kal's first effort had not been very successful. It seemed to make her tense up more than she already was, especially if the question was about anything personal. He tried asking about her armor, what it was made of, how she got it, but all he would get in return was a bewildered expression and suspicious glances. He opted instead to volunteer information about himself and James, which was primarily responded to with curiosity on her part. She did not ask questions though, just looked at him thoughtfully when he spoke. Kal decided a new tactic, instead of having conversations with her around the others, he would wait until it was just the two of them.
Last night Kal had waited until James and Patrick were sleeping before he made his next attempt. To his surprise, Diana seemed very willing to talk. She said she was very curious to learn more about him. They started the conversation off slow, talking about schooling and training. Kal was surprised to see her smile and actually laugh. Her blue eyes sparkled in the fire light and her laugh.. he could not begin to describe her laugh… "She is absolutely beautiful," he thought to himself. "And she's not a royal…" his mind pointed out and his heart thudded a little harder in his chest. He sighed again, but this sigh was of a different caliber.
James looked over to see what had prompted a reaction from his former mentor. James found the former knight's gaze fixed firmly on the elf ahead of them. Not that he could blame him, the elf was as fair a woman as he had ever seen. James pursed his lips. These implications were undesirable at best. James had long heard the stories of the distrust elves had for men, and that supposedly that is why they never came out of hiding. James was sure that the stories of their hatred for men were true, having followed Diana for two days now. Her responses were always laconic, and rarely did she venture to discuss anything outside the mission and basic necessities. As he observed his friend, he saw that Diana turned in her mount to glance back at Kal. The corners of Kal's mouth turned slightly upward when their eyes made contact. Diana quickly turned back to face forward, but James could swear he saw her cheeks color, even if just for a second. James smiled. "Interesting indeed. Maybe Kal-El is the right man for this job."
Many more hours of silence had passed when Diana spoke up. "It's near dusk. We should start setting up camp." She gracefully slid from the top of her steed and motioned for Kal-El to lead the way into the woods.
