Prologue.
Disclaimer: I no own Blizzard creations. Wuv Rexxar. Wuv wuv wuv...
Misha crept down the hillside, her snout quivering as she sorted out the scents assailing her nose. She paused, sending a glance over her shoulder at her sleeping master- he stirred once, and fell into a deeper slumber. Snuffing her approval, the large bear continued to follow the scent that confused her so, weaving around trees and rocks.
There was no clearing, not lack of trees or special rock to indicate that she had arrived. Misha just stopped, because the scent had stopped, and sat down on her rump to wait. The wind brushed the tree leaves, crickets chirped their night song, and somewhere, off in the distance, something was struggling through the thin underbrush.
She waited. Misha was a patient bear- she knew it was coming one way or another, and she'd rather not give up her spot, thanks very much so she scratched her head lazily and sniffed after the thing a bit more.
Her shoulders tensed suddenly, wet nostrils flaring. Iron- a wetly metallic scent. Fresh meat. Two more snuff's of the now drenched air and Misha's hair was standing on end, her claws and teeth bared instinctively. With a hopefully lack of sound, she crept back up the hill, inch by inch.
It wasn't fast enough. The thing dragged itself into the clearing, dripping and leaving a shining trail behind its slow course.
Against her better judgment, which was substantial for a bear, Misha froze. Bloody claws grasped blindly before the thing, its body mangled. In the dark, it seemed to be coated in a black, viscous liquid that pulsed as though it was alive. The smell of rot and blood was overwhelming, causing the bear to flatten its ears and shake her head. What seemed to be the head of the rotting thing slowly turned to where Misha stood, and it stopped moving.
Fear poured like water down her spine. Her muscles locked as it reached towards her, dug its claw into the earth, pulled itself across the undergrowth. About to let out a deafening roar in the hopes that her master would come save her, she heard something other than scraping and dripping.
"H…help…"
The bear's eyes widened. This was no creature of the Scourge, no demon of the Legion. Now that it was in a better light, she could see the strange angles of two legs, useless, dragging across blood soaked earth. It was this own creature's fluids that seeped into the plants, its own flesh rotting.
"He…help…m-me…"
Her head shook again. The scent of this being was nauseating. Whatever damage done to it had become infested with infection and disease, its body now a cesspool of filth.
Rising on her hind legs, Misha looked over the pathetic, dying life form that was begging her. How desperate and delusional it must be, to think that a huge bear would help it.
It settled into the earth, the ferns folding over the top of it. Blood still oozed, though it seemed it would be unable to carry itself any further.
Turning, Misha ran as fast as her legs could carry her, darting around trees and bushes.
Rexxar would know what to do.
