"How can you tell?" Vanessa frowned slightly.
"It's simple. Cats can't drink alcohol. To a cat, alcohol is like poison."
Robbie lowered his voice. "Could a Druid who's lived for eight thousand years and claims to know every animal in the forest not know something that basic?"
Vanessa looked again at the large brown wildcat diligently mixing drinks, her beautiful eyes full of suspicion.
"But my Death Mark..." Vanessa was puzzled.
"If I'm not mistaken, that mouse is very suspicious."
"I see. She almost fooled me again. Luckily, I, the commander, was wise enough to think on my feet and bring you along."
The Death Mark was on the little mouse.
The little mouse was beneath the cat's paw.
The two were practically one.
Vanessa didn't like playing underhanded games. She walked over openly:
"Qiana Moonshadow? Stop the act. Did you think you could escape my tracking by having a cat cover for you while you turned into a mouse?"
The wildcat stopped mixing drinks.
The little mouse crawled out from under its paw.
"Look what you've done," the little mouse scolded the wildcat in a pompous tone:
"A cat mixing drinks? Are you trying to poison yourself? Did you eat everything I taught you along with your meals?"
The wildcat blinked innocently and put on an ingratiating expression, looking adorably cute.
"Oh, heavens, how did this happen? What can you do now besides act cute?"
The little mouse flew into a rage, leaped high into the air, and kicked the wildcat.
A mouse kicked a cat over.
Bang!
The wildcat turned into a female Pandaren. She was short, with a round face and round eyes, and looked utterly adorable. She wore an ocher vest and a round hat, with a lock of red hair fluttering over her forehead.
The little mouse also returned to her original form.
Qiana Moonshadow was tall and slender, with delicate features and the composure of someone who had weathered life's hardships. But now she was furious, and she grabbed the Pandaren by one of her big ears:
"I told you to stall for time so I could remove the Death Mark on me, and you still managed to botch something so simple. You used to be steady, clever, considerate, diligent, and eager to learn. You had the potential to become an outstanding Druid. But now you... sigh... you've disappointed me so much."
Qiana Moonshadow shook her head in disappointment and turned to Vanessa.
"Our duel still stands."
"Good. I like solving problems this way," Vanessa said with a smile.
Qiana Moonshadow transformed into a leopard and vanished into the night. Vanessa also entered Stealth.
A battle between two Stealth classes could easily turn into a drawn-out contest of patience.
Though Robbie was thoroughly unwilling, he now had to keep his eyes on the arena at all times. If anything happened to the commander, he could come to her aid as quickly as possible.
The commander was fighting with her life on the line, so as her Follower, he had to do his duty.
"Here, have some chestnuts. I roasted them myself, with honey from Halfhill."
A crunching sound came from beside his ear as the female Pandaren Druid sat down next to Robbie and offered him a handful of sugar-roasted chestnuts.
"Thanks, but I'm allergic to those."
Robbie politely declined and casually put some distance between them.
"Don't eat anything strangers give you."
In any world, that was the most basic common sense.
Never mind eating them, Robbie didn't even want to touch them.
The female Pandaren was carefree and had a natural way of acting familiar with people she'd just met.
"My name is Mili Huojikaochi. I'm from Kaoshantun in Pandaria. What about you?"
Huojikaochi. A down-to-earth surname.
Kaoshantun. An equally down-to-earth place name.
"Robbie Capor."
Robbie answered offhandedly, still on edge.
Mili chewed her sugar-roasted chestnuts and tilted her head, thinking for a long moment:
"The Deadmines, Capor the miser?"
"Am I that famous? Even the Pandaren all the way in Pandaria know about me?"
Robbie didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
In fact, Robbie's other nickname, Defiler Kapol, had already surpassed Capor the miser of the Deadmines in both reach and renown.
"You're Capor the miser, so doesn't that mean your commander is..." Mili covered her mouth, her eyes wide with disbelief.
Vanessa becoming a commander was indeed a little unexpected, different from the game's story.
But wasn't that shocked expression of hers a bit much?
People said Pandaren were good-natured and simple-minded. Mili soon returned to her carefree self and mumbled indistinctly around her sugar-roasted chestnuts:
"You know, I have a dream. I have to meet Thrall."
"Thrall?"
If one were to assume maliciously that Mili was deliberately bothering Robbie to distract him, this time she had truly caught his attention.
"Yes, I have to meet Thrall and thank him in person." Mili's eyes sparkled with little stars. "Thank him for his contributions at Mount Hyjal, for repairing the damage to the land and defeating Deathwing. My sister Li Li works at a tavern in Orgrimmar. She sent me a jar of barbecue sauce some days ago, and it was delicious. I want to tell Thrall in person that I admire him."
Robbie gave Mili a suspicious look and was slightly moved, but he quickly put the thought aside.
Seeing that Robbie was determined to ignore her and seemed not to agree with her great dream, Mili was a little displeased and muttered.
"Your commander is sure to lose. My master studied under the most powerful Druid among the Night Elves." Mili Huojikaochi swallowed the food in her mouth and spoke clearly:
"Malfurion Stormrage."
Not Illidan Stormrage?
Robbie thought, Do I believe in Commander Vanessa?
Or this unreliable Pandaren Druid apprentice?
Or my memories of World of Warcraft from my previous life?
Forget it. Who Qiana Moonshadow's master is has nothing to do with me.
There was no need to dwell on it. Robbie didn't want to waste brain cells on this.
Bang.
As if in response to Mili Huojikaochi, a leopard suddenly appeared in the clearing in the woods.
It was motionless, paralyzed.
It had been hit by a rogue's Sap.
Vanessa didn't take the opportunity to launch a sneak attack. After a while, Sap wore off, and the leopard went invisible again.
Bang.
This time, it was a Kodo that had been hit by Sap.
Bang.
A Thunder Lizard.
Bang.
A raptor.
Qiana Moonshadow displayed her powerful ability to take countless forms as a Druid. As expected of a warrior who had raided the Dark Portal and survived, she truly had extraordinary abilities.
Unfortunately, no matter what animal Qiana Moonshadow transformed into, Vanessa dealt with her easily using just one move: Sap.
Finally, unwilling to give up, Qiana Moonshadow transformed into an Elite Ironjaw Wolf.
Though surprised, Robbie thought the duel was about to end.
Sure enough, even as an Elite Ironjaw Wolf, she couldn't escape Vanessa's Sap.
"All right, I admit defeat. With such powerful perception, you have me thoroughly beaten. I agree to go to your stronghold!" Qiana Moonshadow hesitated, then added, "I won't become your Follower unless you also tell me the truth..."
"Take them to the stronghold," Vanessa said in Robbie's ear.
"Commander, why won't you show yourself?" Robbie asked, puzzled.
"I'm a rogue who's invisible all the time. The drawback is that leaving Stealth isn't easy, and the CD is very long."
Sure enough, nothing in the world was perfect. Every advantage came with a drawback.