Of Claws and Totems

Chapter 1

Savior

He had been watching this strange creature crash through the underbrush for some time now. The creature, a female of her particular race, was being hunted. He, of all creatures, could understand the thrill of the hunt. But this... this was cruelty. She was not food, nor even a threat to them. She was just something to be killed. She, and her entire race of people, had shown up only a few years prior; he had watched as their home, their Exodar as they called it, fell from the heavens and rent the earth with its impact. Trees, animals, vegetation… all perished for a league around the impact site. He had not been the only one to see the impact either. The… sin'dorei, the blood elves as the other races called them, had seen it as well. And they had come with a vengeance upon the aliens. As they were now with this one.

He had lived in these lands for a short time before the aliens had arrived, the draenei they called themselves. Living off the forest and trying to stay away from the other humanoid creatures. Run ins with them had never had a positive outcome. As the draenei passed underneath him her pursuers came into view. He coiled his legs and leapt to the next tree ahead to continue watching the pursuit.

The way this female moved was clumsy. She must be unaccustomed to forests: roots constantly snared her hooves, branches snapped her in the face, and she sounded like a mad kodo running through the forest. The blood elves however… this was their planet. They knew how to move in the forest. She was running blindly, or so she thought. He knew where she was going. They knew where she was going. They were herding her... and they would catch her. Unless… should he intervene? He had lived here, careful to remain undetected, for years. Should he give that up to help out this draenei? These blood elves were hunting her, for no better reason than what she was. He could most definitely identify with that.

He settled into a tree overlooking the strange natural gorge that the forest made. It had been a cave entrance, once, but was now just a rock face with only one way in. As the draenei ran into the gorge and tried unsuccessfully to scale the rock she realized her mistake. After a few glimpses around, she put her back to the rock and settled in to await her fate. He could smell the fear from his perch high above her. He found it interesting how humanoids exerted smells based on emotion, yet they never seemed to be able to detect it themselves. He could also smell the blood and fatigue. She wouldn't last very long.

As the five blood elves chasing her came into view they slowed to a walk, calling at her in their language as if taunting her. None showed compassion for girl, trying desperately to appear unafraid. Neither he nor she expected them to. As the leader of the blood elves stepped forward and yelled something, she lashed out with a bolt of lightning, stunning him and knocking him back a bit. Before the draenei was able to launch another attack one of the remaining blood elves magically silenced her. When she saw that her spell had fizzled and she couldn't cast anything else, her face finally betrayed her fear.

Out of the fog of his mind came the desire, the need to protect this creature. Whether it was reminiscent of who he was or someone he idolized previously, he did not know; but being more animal now he tended to listen to his instincts. As the leader of the group slung his bow and knocked an arrow, he decided to act.

Like a black meteor he leapt from his perch, hurtling towards the hunter. Seeing the movement, the hunter tried to raise his weapon in time but was much too slow and was crushed beneath his weight as he landed. The other four blood elves gave a yell of surprise; instead of watching their comrade kill the draenei, an eight foot tall worgen had came from seemingly nowhere and crushed him. One of the lesser willed members of the group gave a cry of horror and fled the area as fast as he could. The worgen also heard a gasp and a thump behind him. Two reactions he had received quite a few times. The other two blood elves had more fortitude though and drew their weapons.

One of the blood elves, with a cry of "Anar'alah belore!" charged at the worgen with a large, two handed mace. The worgen crouched down and tensed, and as the blood elf came at him with a vicious overhead smash, he sprang forward. Using his razer sharp claws he eviscerated the warrior, easily ripping through the leather jerkin to spill entrails.

The other more seasoned warrior didn't bat an eye. She checked her shield once again and went into a defensive stance. Razer sharp his claws may be, but the steel of a well built shield was too hard for him. He would have to get that away from her somehow.

He tested her skill with a few quick in and out swipes which were dodged or blocked by her shield. The sword she carried was going to be a bigger problem than the shield. Without a weapon of his own, the worgen knew he would have a tough time dealing any damage to her without taking some vicious hits himself.

She then went on the offensive, executing a series of thrusts and slices meant to keep him at bay while still being on the defensive her self. The worgen easily avoided all of the attacks, and on the last straight ahead thrust he retaliated, nimbly dodging to the side and leaving a neat set of claw marks across her arm. Grunting in pain she went back on the defensive and checked her wounds. It wasn't a very deep scratch, but it would slow her down nonetheless.

They repeated this exercise a few more times, earning her gashes on the shoulder and back; these were much deeper. As the worgen knocked her now feeble thrust away and was about to go for the kill pain exploded in his left shoulder and he was knocked forward. He leapt away instinctively and searched for this new threat. The warrior that had been previously stunned by the draenei had recovered and put the hunter's bow to use, and now the worgen had an arrow protruding from the back through the front of his shoulder. With a howl of anger he leapt to the warrior and relieved him of any life that remained.

By this time the other warrior had regrouped and, with the renewed vigor gained by seeing the worgen injured, came on in a fury. She had dropped her shield and was using two hands for her sword, swinging with abandon. The worgen was having more trouble dodging the attacks now and had taken some nicks and cuts, and the last slash had opened up his right leg pretty badly. In an attempt to finish him the warrior let out a yell and charged ahead. As her sword was descending the worgen stepped forward and caught her hands in his and stopped the descent of the blade. The warrior was stunned, and remained stunned as the worgen lifted her off the ground tore her throat with his teeth.

After discarding the corpse of the last blood elf, the worgen limped over to the draenei. From what he could guess about these draenei, she appeared to be young, barely an adult. She was a couple feet shorter than he was, around six feet tall, her skin was a pale blue color; she almost seemed to glow. And she was bleeding. He could smell and see the blood she was losing. If she didn't get help… she would die. He had done this much to save her; he might as well finish the job. He needed to patch himself up first though.

He howled as he pulled the arrow the rest of the way through. He tore the remnants of the blood elves' clothing for bandages and wrapped his wounds the best that he could. He did the same for the girl. As he lifted her with his good arm he staggered slightly. He knew that she wasn't THAT heavy. As he regained his footing he sensed the cause… the arrow had been poisoned. And it was a mean poison too. Luckily worgen have a strong natural resistance to disease and poisons, but it was still burning and spreading throughout his body. Once he got this girl to safety, he would find the necessary herbs to counteract the poison.

He decided the simplest route would be to carry her to the nearby outpost. 'Keep it simple stupid' floated from the fog of his thoughts. These little mantras or impulses would float to him from time to time, something recalled from his past life, whatever that may have been.

As he approached a clearing in the forest he could see the draenei's settlement. Azure Watch he had heard them call it. Where this bit of Common usage had come from he wasn't sure. They mainly spoke in their own language. He had been relinquished to a slow walk; the poison's effects were weighing heavily on him. His vision was getting blurry while he walked out into the open. He went towards the town until he heard a shout by the guards.

Amid a chorus of shouts and approaching soldiers he sat the girl down and loped back into the forest. He should have found the cure for his poison first. It had been foolish to risk everything for this one draenei... but there had been something about her that had called to him. It was too late to worry about it now. He decided to try to take to the trees to evade the draenei now pursuing him. He leapt up to a low branch, then to another tree to one a little higher. As he tried to leap to the next tree over his leg gave out and the poison took full hold. The last thing he saw before blacking out was the ground approaching rapidly.

Edited - 8/19/2014