Title: Accidentally in Love
Author: Lundyn
Summary: Night elves and taurens share similar cultures, and were both blessed by the demi-god Cenarius with the gift of druidism. Now, those not within the Cenarion Circle are mortal enemies. Or are they all enemies? A night elf with a fascination for taurens, and a tauren who dreams of vuloptuos night elves. A chance meeting turns to friendship and love as the mystical powers of the world of Azeroth give them unexpected opportunities.
Rating: PG-13 and up for violence and intense sexual situations in some chapters.
Pairings: Arlyanna Moonlight and Arigoth Wildmane (night elf/tauren)
Feedback: Desired!
Characters: Arlyanna Moonlight, Josifina, and Arigoth Wildmane.
Betas: My wonderful fiance who listens to all my crazy ideas and helps make them work. Some of this also wouldn't be possible without the help from Arigoth's player. Although not betas, my thanks goes out to all the wonderful players in WoW, who I admire, and in turn, have inspired me. I am also looking for someone who would like to be an actual beta for this story. If you're interested, leave a review stating you'd like to become my beta, and your contact info.
Author Notes: This is a World of Warcraft fanfiction, and a cross faction/cross race one as well. Those who can only see taurens as cows, and not intelligent humanoids may find this fic to be "squicky". It is my intention to follow the lore of Warcraft as closely as I can, as well as taking events and concepts from the World of Warcraft game, and making them work in a written fantasy world. (No /roll here)
Disclaimer: Arlyanna and Josifina belong to me, and Arigoth to his player. All other characters are based off of NPC's that belong to Blizzard, and player characters whose names have been changed simply because I cannot ask everyone's permission to use their character name. World of Warcraft belongs to Blizzard, and I am in no way making money off of this.
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A whisper of the wind was all that could be heard in the forests of Ashenvale. The animals were silent on that spring day, hiding from both adventurer and logger. Barely audible, the wind rolled by once more, only this time, it carried a scent. The scent was caught by a hunter and her pet out looking for prey. The hunter had been hired by the local sentinels of the town of Astranaar to patrol the Ashenvale borders for a time. Hidden deep within the bush, master and pet were waiting for unsuspecting prey to come their way. There was something interesting about the scent that had reached the nostrils of the hunter. It smelled strangely of cow, but there were no cows in Ashenvale. It was not some human lost with his cow; the hunter would have caught the scent of man. With another gust of wind, the hunter caught a whiff of dry earth and sweet grasses. The smells of the rolling lands of Mulgore. There was no mistaking it, a tauren was roaming the forests of Ashenvale by himself.
The hunter stirred, her fingers itched to grab the bow that lay beside her. The Horde had been encroaching on Ashenvale for years, tearing down the plentiful trees to create their monstrosities of war. The hunter that lay in wait for the tauren to come within sight was filled with anger at the audacity of the beast for roaming the forests of the night elves alone. Every time the hunter had encountered Horde in her homeland, they were grouped, usually in three or more. More often than not, she had run into more, for there were frequent battles for an area of land rich with resources which had become dubbed as "Warsong Gulch", between the lands of Ashenvale and the Horde controlled Barrens. The night elf herself fought in the battles on many an occasion, and could recognize the smell of several members of the Horde. The smell that was slowly approaching was not a familiar one to her.
The moment the tauren came within the hunter's range, a streak of white rushed out of the bushes toward the lumbering tauren. The pet knew what her master wanted; distract the tauren while she hid in the brush doing damage from afar. Hunter and pet shared a unique bond, for the great white cat and night elf could share words, thoughts, and images with each other. The night elf carefully laid an arrow upon the ancient bow that had been as much of a companion to her as her cat. The tauren was quite large, as most taurens were, but she could see he was on the larger end of the scale. His white and pale brown fur and hulking frame stood out amongst the bright greens and dark rich browns of the forest. An easy target.
Her arrow flew loose as the white cat lunged at the tauren, both creature and arrow stunning the target. The stun from the enchanted arrow would last several seconds so that the night elf could carefully study her opponent. With feedback from her cat, the hunter was able to perceive she was up against a shaman. Clad in mail, it was not possible for him to be a warrior, and no self respecting hunter would be roaming around unfriendly territory without his pet. The hunter feared both the warrior and shaman. The plate armor of a warrior made it more difficult to wound her opponent and a shaman's totems and healing spells gave him more stamina in battles. Even worse, if this shaman were able to locate the hunter, she would be in great peril. While she was skilled in axes, she performed best in ranged combat. A shaman could easily overtake her if he was skilled, and smart enough. He started to stir from the stun of the hunter's shot, and both she and her pet quickly went back into action. A poisoned shot flew into his side as the cat growled fiercely, hiding the sound of the arrow. The tauren shaman drew his mace and shield, and blocked the white cat as she attacked with her ferocious claws.
Arigoth, the shaman, thought he had felt something hit him in the side, but feeling disoriented, he only noticed the beast in front of him that desired his life. As he fought with the beast, he did his best to scan the area. The white cat was out of place in the great forest; it had to belong to a hunter. If it was a dwarf, he knew he would be hard pressed to find him in the brush, but if it was a night elf, the search could be much easier.
Distracted for a moment, the cat was able to knock him to the ground, dazing him once more. It was then he noticed the multiple arrows in his side. He was indeed against a hunter, and knew he had to draw his opponent out into the open. Carefully, he let the cat think it had him overpowered, hoping it would lure its master into sight.
Arlyanna, the hunter, who had thought she had been seeing her opponent fall to the ground in defeat, came out of hiding to praise her pet. She also hoped to take the massive tauren into custody for the Astranaar sentinels to handle.
"Good work, girl," she said to her pet, and gave the cat a soft pat to the head. "You took him down very nicely." The hunter beamed down at her most trusted companion.
Do you not feel that this victory was easily come by? The thoughts of the white cat, Josifina, sounded elegantly in the hunter's head.
"Now that... " Arlyanna stopped speaking as her thoughts took over. Her companion was correct. She had never taken a shaman down so easily before. Either he was extremely idiotic or... "Josifina!" Her senses had been suddenly overwhelmed with immense pain. The shaman had thrown the large white cat off of him, and into the nearest tree. Stunned by shock and emotional pain at seeing her companion wounded, the night elf stood dumbfounded as the tauren grabbed her by her neck, and lifted her off of the ground. She began to struggle, now aware of what was happening, but she knew she could not break his grasp. The severity of the situation hit her harder than a berserking warrior. Her mind was so clouded with emotion and pain that she could feel nothing coming from Josifina, and now she was at the mercy of a tauren. Crystal tears fell down her pale cheeks.
Arigoth was taken aback at what he saw. He had never seen a night elf cry before. All those he had encountered before were too arrogant to show their enemies any tears of pain. A pang of unease struck the tauren. Just because he was a warring shaman did not make him void of his gentler emotions. As a tauren, he was one with the earth, and a gentle creature when not in battle. He moved his grip on the crying hunter to her shoulders, to get a better look at her. She was a creature of beauty that any man, Arigoth included, could not help but appreciate. His eyes were drawn to her body, needing to take in the sight of her. She had long white flowing hair that reached past her small waist and ended at her voluptuous hips, pupilless eyes of glowing silver, and skin almost as pale as her hair. Like all female night elves, she had markings on her face. Hers were simple; curved pale blue lines framing her face, in two groups of three. The center lines of each group centered over each eye. The shaman took note of how light she felt. She was quite thin, and the tauren wondered when the last time she had eaten was. A female of his kind would have been considered starved if she were as light as the night elf he held, in fact, in comparison with her own people, she was thinner than most. A stab of pain in his side reminded Arigoth that he had more pressing matters than a sobbing female.
Slowly, the shaman put Arlyanna in her bewildered state on the ground. "Porah hale," was what came out of the tauren's mouth. She did not understand what it was he had said, but she had no intention to run from her captor. She merely kept her head bowed, waiting for her death.
With a shrug, Arigoth looked down at his primary problem. Arrows. He realized that taking his armor off would make him more vulnerable to an attack by the night elf, but keeping it on would only make pulling the arrows out more difficult. He sighed, knowing what he had to do, closed his eyes, and conjured a healing totem onto the ground in front of him. The powers of the totem would lessen the pain when he pulled an arrow out, and keep him rejuvenated enough if the female before him decided to attack. Arigoth then picked an arrow at random, and pulled. A growl escaped him, even though he had done his best to keep his mouth clamped shut. That had hurt. "Damn, this is going to cost me more than I'd like to spend on repairs. The local blacksmith will celebrate my name from now on. 'Arigoth the idiot who got his superior mail armor plugged with holes'. Repairs should not be so expensive. I should have been a druid like Mother advised. Cheaper repair costs on leather." Arigoth grunted and cursed some more, frustrated more at the condition of his armor than his own physical condition. Once more, he chose an arrow and pulled, this arrow slid out slightly easier than the first. He caught a whiff of something strange, and examined the arrow. It was poisoned. Great. "Stupid she-elf." Thankfully, he had a spell to purify his body of any remaining toxins, which he immediately cast.
Arlyanna looked up at her captive and brushed away her tears. That had sounded like an insult. An insult pointed at her, and her emotions instantly overwhelmed her again. She would not stand for his insults. How dare he insult her when he had her so easily cornered? He had no reason to be so rude. She stood up, took a look at the shaman, then grabbed a hold of the last arrow in his side, and pulled as hard as she could. The gushing sound of the arrow coming out was covered by the roar that erupted from the tauren's throat.
Arigoth looked down at the impudent little elf and gnarled his teeth, growling at her, hoping to intimidate her back to her original position. Instead, he got spit in the face.
"Bully." She spat at him as she walked over to the tree where her cat lay motionless. So she wasn't the most verbose night elf ever, but her choice of words mattered very little to her. Not like he could understand her. Carefully, she stroked her cat's body, praying that her companion would react in some way. Arlyanna was rewarded with a faint heartbeat. Her pet was barely alive; knocked unconscious. The night elf heaved a sigh of relief, and gently kissed her pet's head, comforting her friend and thanking her goddess, Elune.
Arigoth was still cursing as he bandaged his wounds. Frikkin' little she-elf, he thought. "What did you have to do that for? You attacked me first! You didn't need to pull the arrow out that hard!" He yelled at the oblivious white haired elf. "Bitch," he grumbled. He partly wished she could understand him, that way, he could give her the proper lecture in fighting etiquette that she deserved. It then struck him that her back was turned towards him. She was at risk of him killing her, but instead ignored him, more concerned with her pet than with him and the threat that he posed to her. He might have been injured, but she should have known that it didn't make him any less dangerous. Throwing his used runecloth bandages into his pack to be washed later that night, Arigoth performed a quick healing spell on himself. Good as new, and time to face the hunter again.
Arlyanna had heard the tauren muttering the chant of his healing spell, and she knew she was in danger now that he had recovered from her arrows. Strangely, she wasn't scared. Arlyanna, the voice sounded weak and tired in the hunter's head. Arlyanna, the shaman, be careful; her pet warned.
Do not be worried my friend, the Goddess will watch over us. Arlyanna projected her thoughts to her friend, and hugged the cat's wounded body close to her own. She turned to look up at the shaman, her eyes tired and pleading with him, hoping to make him understand she wanted nothing more to do with him.
Arigoth had his mace at the ready when her beautiful doe like eyes looked at him. She was ready to call the fight forfeit to take care of her companion. The elf was now physically weakened. How Arigoth knew this when he knew he had caused no physical harm to her was beyond him. He simply knew she was in pain, and thus could be easily taken out. One less arrogant night elf to plague the Horde. The idea of killing her like this however, while she was defeated and unarmed, was clearly dishonorable. Arigoth was well known in the orc city of Orgrimmar for his honor. If he were to kill this night elf, no one would know how he had done it; they would only know his version. But the Earth Mother, she would know. As his goddess, she saw all and knew all. She would frown on his dishonor for killing a weakened worshipper of the earth. Arigoth knew that while night elves did not worship the Earth Mother, they did care for the earth that they lived upon. He struggled with his moral dilemma, and took one last look at the white haired beauty in front of him. In her eyes he saw nothing of a blood thirsty warrior that was planning to strike an attack once his guard was down. All Arigoth saw was a young night elf scared for the safety of her companion, not the safety of herself. With a sigh, Arigoth dropped his mace and shield to the ground and bowed before the elf.
Arlyanna was stunned when she watched the tauren drop his weapons. She knew it was a sign that their fight was over, that she was free to leave without worry of him harming her. The hunter had never known a tauren to be so kind, but, she realized, she had only encountered tauren in battle, and dead tauren. Neither of those circumstances would have greeted her with kindness and understanding. Without thinking, Arlyanna jumped up, and enveloped Arigoth in a hug. Goddess bless this young tauren, for he has spared me and Josifina today, she prayed. Coming to the realization that she was hugging a tauren, Arlyanna let go, and backed up to Josifina. She bowed her head to him, and tried to hide the fact that she was blushing. Arlyanna kneeled next to her pet, touched Josifina's head, and looked up at the tauren as she said slowly, "Jos-i-fin-a"
Arigoth looked at the night elf with confusion. First she had hugged him, and now she was trying to communicate? This was the strangest night elf he had ever heard of, let alone come across. He watched her as she performed the action again, and it hit him. Josifina was the name of her pet; she was letting him know whom it was that he had spared. This unnerved him; he had never "known" the enemy. But could a simple cat be considered an enemy?
Arlyanna saw that he appeared to understand Josifina's name, and then put her hand over her own heart, and spoke her name clearly. "Ar-ly-an-na." Part of her was uncomfortable with what she was doing, but could not bring herself to stop.
Crap. Arigoth hadn't wanted to know the night elf's name. Now he did, and that made things personal. If they met in battle again, could he fight her when he had not only spared her, but had begun to know her? Arlyanna, it was a beautiful name, one quite worthy of her. Arigoth rolled his eyes and cursed to himself silently. This would come to get him in the end, he knew it. However, against his better belief, he pointed at himself, and said "Ar-i-goth."
"Ar-i-goth," Arlyanna repeated slowly. It rolled off her tongue nicely and the sound of his name pleased her. His name made her feel oddly warm inside. Perhaps it was just because she was flustered by his kindness. "Josifina, he is Arigoth."
I got that, the cat said coldly but softly.
"Josifina! Be grateful! He has spared us!" she snapped at her pet, dismayed at Josifina's disrespect.
If he had spared our lives, he would have left our forests by now.
Josifina had a point. Why was he still here? Was it all a rouse? No, his actions were not those one would take in a rouse, she knew that for truth somehow. He was relatively undefended, and still slightly wounded. Arlyanna stood up, bowed her head at Arigoth, and waved goodbye to him.
Arigoth had recognized Arlyanna speaking her pet's name, but was confused with the angry tone she seemed to have taken with her pet. He knew, however, that it was time for them to leave each other. Arlyanna was bent over, looking as though she were preparing to pick up her companion, when Arigoth stopped her. He made her stand up straight, and he could see in her eyes that she was terrified, afraid that he might be breaking his word. "Arlyanna," he spoke softly, hoping to convey to her he meant no harm. She seemed to relax in his arms. Arigoth bowed his head down to hers, and touched his forehead to her's. He then let her go, bowed at both her and Josifina, and stowed his mace and shield away. Arigoth cast a spell, and was surrounded by a blue-white light before shifting form into a transparent wolf. It was a special gift bestowed only to shamans. Taking the form of a spirit wolf allowed a shaman to move much more quickly than on foot. Normally, Arigoth would have called his kodo, but had left his mount to be taken care of at the inn at the Crossroads, a rather large camp in the middle of the Barrens. The closeness of the trees in the forests of Ashenvale made it much more difficult to travel on his large riding kodo, and made it far too easy for him to be spotted. As soon as he had transformed, Arigoth disappeared into the thick forest.
"That was…" Arlyanna was at a loss for words. What had just happened? Why had Arigoth done that? Why had she herself done what she did?
Odd, perhaps? I think it is high time we leave the forest Arlyanna, and head back towards Astranaar.
"Right." Arlyanna nodded at her companion, picked her up, and laid Josifina over her shoulders. "Are you gaining weight, Josie?" A disgruntled "humph" was all that came from Josifina, and Arlyanna laughed her way back to Astranaar, trying to shove the odd experience with the tauren out of her mind.
As Arigoth ran through the forest, and crossed the border of Ashenvale into the Barrens in his spirit wolf form, he contemplated the situation he had gotten himself in to. He would have to forget it all. Most importantly, he could not tell a soul what had happened. In this time of undeclared war, but vocalized hatred between the Horde and the Alliance, Arigoth could be easily exiled by his people if they were given the knowledge that there had been a night elf at his mercy, but instead of killing her, had let her go, and attempted communication with her. Only the druids communicated, and only within the Cenarion Circle. Even still, the whispers in the shadows disapproved of tauren and night elven druids interacting with one another. Arigoth cursed himself. He sure had gotten himself into quite a mess. If the Earth Mother willed, he would never see Arlyanna again, and in a few weeks time, he would forget all about her.