"Fall back!" The shout was clear in the night, despite the horrendous din that surrounded the two, armed men as they clashed swords with the enemy. "There's too many of them!"
Jake only grunted at his comrade's words, being involved as he was in driving his sword into the head of a quillboar, and then pulling the weapon back again before of the slain pig-man's friends hacked his arm off with their own implements. "Easier said than done, Yarin," Jake replied heatedly as he took a step back before swinging the sword again, parrying a mace from making contact with his ribs. "Where's the rogue?"
"Dead," Yarin replied briefly before deflecting a blow with his shield. He than slammed the warhammer he carried down upon the beastly attacker in retribution before backing away from another quillboar's sword. "One on your right!"
Jake swing around blindly, slashing his sword through the air, only to have it meet the arm of another pig-man as it was about to stab him in the back. A shriek of pain echoed briefly over the usual cries and squeals the loathsome barbarians as blood flowed freely from the deep cut. Jake stepped back at that, hoping to get more space to engage in a proper swing, but a sudden clang of armor and an unyielding object brought him to a stop. A glance behind him showed that Yarin had stepped back as well, and now the two human swordsmen were entirely surrounded by no less than eight of the burly savages. "What do we do, Yarin?" The younger warrior asked, looking around the scene as the enemy fell back a few steps to reorganize their formation so that no escape was possible.
Yarin sighed, and Jake noted that there was something distinctly wrong with the noise as it sounded as if liquid was softly bubbling. "I'm sorry, Jake… Damn, I'm sorry," Yarin said as he slowly slipped to the ground, his armor scratching and squealing against Jake's.
"Yarin!" Jake shouted, turning around to see that an arrow had lodged in the other warrior's chest, blood pouring from the wound and from the blonde man's mouth as he watched. His time to observe this was slim, unfortunately, as the quillboar rushed him, and Jake pushed everything from his mind; everything, save rage.
The next few minutes were a blur as the human fed his rage into his moves. Martial training long since ingrained took on new life as he used every trick he knew of to fight the accursed pig-men. Metal sang as swords clashed, his shield seemed to move with a will of its own, alternately interposing itself between his body and deadly blows and then swinging out to smash the faces and limbs of his foes.
Even with his newfound furor, however, Jake felt the blows start to land, as he could not protect his back, and he could only block two of the three savages in front of him. The chainmail he wore offered some protection, but strikes from maces bruised his muscles, and slashes from swords snapped links and drove cuts into his flesh, pushing deeper and deeper as the armor was battered and torn.
So too, was Jake battered and torn. His strength ebbed away inevitably under the relentless blows, yet he still forced himself to fight on, to try and take the enemy with him. He did indeed kill four more of the pig-men, but in slaying the last of that grisly quartet his failing abilities left his back open, and one of the boars drove a sword into a rent in the armor.
Jake screamed in pain as he felt the last of his strength leave him, and he fell to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut, finally giving in to the exhaustion. I'm so sorry, father, he thought as one of the pig-men rolled him over, and another dressed in the robes of one of their leading mages skittered over, pulling a dagger from its belt. May the Light keep me, protect me from harm, he began the prayer in his mind as the quillboar raised the jagged blade to drive it into his throat. …And stand between me and all the dark places I must walk.
A screeching squeal of triumph emanated from the mage, and the last three warriors around it echoed the unearthly cry. Then they were abruptly cut off as the mage-boar's head exploded into a splatter of gore, and the sound of a gunshot echoed across the land. The three remaining pig-men turned and screeched out in anger, but again they were cut off as a wolf pounced out of the gloomy night, toppling one of the boars and ripping into its throat with brutal ferocity. The other two ignored their suffering comrade, and quickly began to charge towards where they had seen the flash of the gun. Despite his extreme exhaustion and the encroachment of pain resulting from the abuse he'd suffered, Jake managed to lift his head and watch as the two quillboar ran headlong towards the new foe. His addled mind was only mildly surprised when he saw something light up in the distance and then flew towards him in a gentle arc that brought it to a thudding stop right in front of the charging pig-men.
The sudden squeal of terror was almost delicious as the two savages tried to stop, realizing what had landed before them. Unfortunately, they were already in the blast radius, and the detonation engulfed both, searing them with fire and sending hot metal shards to rip through their vitals, and they fell to the ground. There was silence for a moment, until one of them stirred, managing to slowly drag itself upright, and turned to once again head off towards the mysterious assailant. It wasn't long before a dark shape moved from where shot and bomb had come from, and moonlight glinted off of the burnished metal of a large sword before the weapon scythed down, cleaving the man-beast in half.
Upon seeing the last of the quillboar slain, Jake felt even the bit of strength holding his head up fade away, and he let it thump to the ground as he heard footsteps, both bipedal and quadrupedal, close in on his position. May the Light bless me and keep me… He thought before his eyes fluttered closed and he faded into darkness.
* * * *
The first thing that he became aware of was the dull, throbbing pain that seemed to emanate from every portion of his body. Jake groaned as his mind gradually swam its way out of unconsciousness, replacing dark nightmares of death with slowly increasing sensory information. The pain especially helped draw him further awake, and after a moment, the warrior realized that he could see light through his eyelids, telling him it was day. It also made him wince and tighten his lids down a bit before he moved his left arm up to cover his face.
Or rather, he tried to, but instead found that the arm was bound to something, keeping it from moving. Not that I mind, he decided, after the slight tug he gave it made the whole limb light up in fire. Deeps, it must be broken, Jake thought, now understanding the binding. That means a healer, which means-
Filled with hope, Jake slowly opened his eyes, squinting a bit before his pupils adjusted. At first all he saw was blue sky and a tree shading him from the sun, though the latter's unique shape told him he was still in the Barrens. He then slowly turned his head down to check on his arm, finding that it was tied to a pair of long, heavy metal poles that braced and weighted the limb simultaneously. After looking to make sure that the bone was set straight, he then carefully used his right arm to push his torso up just a bit, wincing in the pain this caused him before he looked over the area around him.
He saw immediately that he was at a temporary camp of some sort set in a small cul-de-sac in the side of a low hill. Off to his left was a small circle of stones around a pile of ash and charcoal, around which was arrayed a pan, a pot, several traveling bags of disparate designs, and a bedroll on the opposite side of where Jake laid upon several furs, clad only in his undershirt and breeches. Looking at the bags, he noticed that one of them was actually a rather large, metal toolbox, and it had been left open, displaying an array of small parts, which made him relax somewhat. An engineer, must be one from Bael'dun Keep, he told himself, thinking of the Dwarven stronghold. Thank the Light, I'm safe.
A snort came from his right, then, sounding as if it came from a large animal. Tensing up despite the pain it caused, Jake turned his head slowly to see that a massive beast had been tied up to the trunk of the tree, its reins having been loosened to give the creature more comfort. So surprised was he at not having noticed the animal previously, that it took the warrior a few moments to recognize the beast. It's… It's a kodo? Oh, no… That means-
He began to sit up then, or rather, tried to, until the pain of trying to lift his broken arm, and the weight the splints had on it, nearly made him pass out. Jake fell back onto the furs, and panted a bit as he waited for the pain to subside a bit. "Oh Light, please help me," he whispered, praying for a moment as he tried to think of what he could do.
Jake laid there for quite some time, trying to figure out a way to stand up, to leave and make good his escape. Only Horde use kodo… Well, them and the goblins, but I sincerely doubt one of those little chisellers would fight off quillboar, or take care of me. But then, if it's a Hordesman, why help me?
The sound of approaching footsteps brought the warrior out of his reverie, and he decided to lie still and close his eyes, hoping that by feigning unconsciousness he might be able to avoid or delay whatever fate the barbarian would have in store for him. As he lay, Jake focused his attention as much as he could, and he realized that there were two sets of feet approaching, and doing so from a distance, but approaching rapidly at a good clip. Soon enough, the sounds rounded the rise on his right that he'd seen behind the kodo, and they pulled to a stop near that large animal. From the sounds of it, it's another mount, Jake thought, recognizing the heavy thuds of one set of feet as having significant weight above them, yet he was confused, as he could have sworn that he only heard two of the ground pounding limbs. The other set of movement sounds he did understand, though, as it was the mostly soft padding of a canine, and his mind recalled the wolf during the battle.
The two newcomers halted then, and with the usual sounds of fabric, leather, and metal sliding against one another, the rider dismounted from the mount with a heavy thud. The latter let out a shrill, but low cry of some sort, and Jake was confused no more as to its identity: a raptor.
The rider fiddled with something that made noise, which Jake presumed to be the animal's reins, and after a few moments heavy footfalls approached his position. He sounds enormous, Jake thought, and mentally forced his muscles to remain lax as the mysterious person approached with the wolf, hoping that he could fool them both.
"I know you're awake," a voice said in accented, but understandable Common, making Jake tense up as he realized he was caught. Right after he did, though, the voice spoke again. "Huh, you're actually awake this time? I knew that would work if I did it enough," the rider said in mirth, and Jake blushed heavily as he realized that he'd been bluffed. Gritting his teeth, he opened his eyes again and slowly turned to look up at the person that was either his rescuer or his captor.
A Tauren? He asked himself in surprise as he turned his head upward to make eye contact with the naturally tall being, and was then promptly surprised again as he noted it was a female.
The Tauren looked down at him with an amused expression on her face, or so Jake assumed since he wasn't familiar with that race's face structure. She was clad from head to hoof in mail of various design and manufacture, showing the piecemeal acquisition common of dedicated hunters. His eyes caught on the large, dragonbone shoulder pads and the set of heavy, glowing goggles that rested on her brow, just above her green eyes, the headgear marking her as an engineer, and the shoulder armor indicating experience and prowess.
"You can speak, can you not?" She asked, her voice having a feminine quality that Jake didn't notice before in his panic. He frowned at her a bit, but nodded slowly. "Aye, I can," he said, carefully.
"Good," the Tauren said, walking forward and stepping over Jake, while the wolf simply sat down sullenly and watched him. "Let me have a look at this arm," she said, kneeling down and bending over to bring her large frame down enough to examine the human's broken limb. Still unsure of what was going on, Jake simply held his peace and only occasionally grunted in pain as the huntress prodded the bound arm occasionally with one of her thick fingers.
"Looks good," the Tauren said, standing up from her examination. "I'm not a healer, but a broken arm is easy enough," she added, turning to head over to the fire circle. Jake then noticed that she had a bundle of wood large enough to crush a gnome casually slung on her back, which she promptly removed and set down on the ground.
Several minutes passed as the huntress slowly cleaned out the pit and started to build a stack of wood to burn, during which no words were said, and Jake became more confused as time went on. What is this? What is she doing? How can she speak Common? The questions continued to roll around in his head while the Tauren continued to work on starting the fire. Still, he remained as silent as the huntress, determined to try and remain focused on the situation, both to learn about his enemy, and also to seek a way to escape.
Minutes turned into an hour, as the huntress built the fire up and waited for it to get to the point where food could be cooked. She had taken down a bag hanging from one of the branches of the shade-giving tree, and removed several bundles before returning the food store to its animal-safe position. Jake watched in quiet interest as she prepared the meat and bread, turning it into a meal. Much to his chagrin, he felt his stomach growl a bit at the smell. The Tauren heard it, and gave him a smirk – the first time she'd paid direct attention to him since beginning cooking – and he frowned back at her before turning his head to look around the camp some more. He didn't see much that was different from the fifty or so times he had done so previously; the wolf was laying down now, but still watching him, but other than that, the only change had been the large, massive animal that the Tauren had rode in on. Jake spent another few moments looking over it again, not recognizing the animal's specific strain, as it was much, much larger than most of the raptor's he'd seen in his travels.
"Here," the Tauren's voice said from close by, making Jake jump slightly before turning to see her offering him a small tin bowl, a piece of spice bread and a chunk of roasted meat lying within. He just stared at it, though, still confused at the hospitality, and made no move one way or the other. The Tauren sighed at that. "If you do not eat, you will heal much more slowly. Surely, you know that?"
Jake blushed slightly at her question. "Yes, I do," he began. "But I do not understand why you're helping me, and that makes me suspicious."
"Do you think I would go to all this trouble, killing quillboar and healing you just to poison you?" She asked, bemused. After a moment, Jake relented, and he reached out with his intact arm to take the bowl, which he set upon the ground next to him. He still didn't eat from it, though, until he watched the Tauren take the rest of the food from the pan with a fork and partake of it, whereupon he promptly took up the bread and began to eagerly eat. It was hard, only having one hand and being forced to eat from a contorted, reclined position, and he also dreaded having to eat the steak with his hand. Probably part of her plan, debase me, feed me like an animal, or something, he thought bitterly.
Movement from the Tauren made him look up, and he had barely done so when she drove a fork into the steak in his bowl, and left it there. "Feel free to use it," she said, leaving the utensil as she stood up with her bowl and walked away from the fire a bit and whistled. "Sha'tu, Mikula!" She called out, and the wolf that had been watching the scene patiently leapt up and dashed over as she placed the bowl on the ground.
Jake turned away from the mundane scene, as he was familiar with such events from his own life. Instead, he focused on the fork jabbed into the steak, and pondered about it. This is the fork she was using; did she clean it off? What if she didn't? He felt a mild revulsion at that. Ugh, Hordesmen, don't appreciate cleanliness. Despite these thoughts, his hunger overrode his pride, and Jake begrudgingly took hold of the fork and used it to lift the steak up so he could tear a bite out of it. Despite the oversized nature of the fork – to his hands, at least – he devoured the meat readily, and then set the fork and the bowl aside and lay on his back, his hunger more than satisfied. I hate to admit it, but that was good.
* * * *
The rest of the day passed on, and Jake soon realized he had awoken near lunch. As such he had the rest of the long, hot spring day to do almost nothing, save watch the Tauren move about the camp, cleaning the dishes and cookware, knocking down the fire so it would die and conserve its still un-burnt fuel, and then fiddling with some of her engineering devices. That a Tauren would be an engineer was interesting enough to the human, as he thought all of the bull-men were nature-worshipping primitives. He had heard of their great lifts and windmills, but he assumed that these were mainly inspired by the Orc and Goblin influences, and not true expressions of development. Not only does this hunter work with diligence, but she seems to be rather enthralled, he observed, wondering if this could be used to his advantage somehow. He recanted on those ideas, though, when he noticed that she tended to toy around mainly with explosives and some gadgets of Goblin design, most notably a large device that he had heard from rumors to be called a "rocket launcher." I don't think I want to be on the business end of that thing, he had thought with a small shudder before lying down for a nap as fatigue overtook him.
He awoke again when the sun was low, and the various hills and mountains of the Barrens cast their long, dark shadows across the plains. Again, he was alone, the Tauren having gone off somewhere on her raptor mount again with her wolf. He experienced a moment of panic at that as his arm was still weighted down, but soon enough he relaxed upon seeing the camp still laid out as before, and the kodo still tied up, albeit now it was lying on the ground and slumbering peacefully. He sighed angrily and lay back, wishing for the umpteenth time that the situation were different. If only we hadn't tripped up, he thought, returning to the nighttime battle that had landed him in this predicament. Bloody rogue, forgot about the wolves the squealers keep as pets and got pounced. That started it, and next thing you know…
Jake sighed sadly, and he closed his eyes and shook his head a bit. Damnit, Yarin, I wish I could have done more, he thought mournfully, feeling a few tears forming in his eyes. We should have listened to the lieutenant at Theramore, he warned us the Barrens would be death if we didn't travel in larger numbers, or at least had a priest or doctor along.
The sound of footfalls again intruded upon the landscape, and Jake recognized them from before. He opened his eyes and leaned up in his half-reclined position again, this time seeing the mounted Tauren and her wolf approach from the south. As before, she simply rode up to where she kept the large animals tied up, dismounted, and tied up the large, green and black striped raptor. Unlike before, she carried no wood, but instead there was a large carcass slung over the back of her mount, which the goggled female carried over to the far side of the camp and unceremoniously dumped it on the ground. "We shall eat well tonight," the huntress proclaimed, not looking at the human, but her raised voice was clearly intended for his ears. She promptly kneeled down following this announcement and took out a large knife from a pouch she wore on her belt.
Jake watched her work on the carcass for some time, having nothing else to do, other than glance to the Tauren's wolf pet from time to time, as it still unnervingly stared at him whenever it was unoccupied. It was twilight before long, and the Tauren finally stood up from the dressed carcass, and paused in surprise. "Na haraf ji'nalu, ne?" She asked herself, her voice quiet. She then shook her head and strung up the meat from the nearby tree in the last vestiges of the day. The rapidly darkening sky was slowly starting to show the first in the sea of stars upon the arching vault of the heavens when she finally finished and washed her hands with some water from a flask. By now, Jake was getting a bit nervous, as no fire had been made, and he was starting to hear some faint movement in the distance every now and then as the Barrens' nocturnal residents awoke from their slumber.
Finally, though, the Tauren reached into her toolbox and brought out something that Jake couldn't identify in the dim light. Soon he wished he could, as the huntress turned and walked over to him with the odd item in her hands. "Here," she said, kneeling down and offering a strange tubular device to the human. "This is a light, turn it on and point it at the fire pit so I can get the fire started."
"A… light?" Jake asked in unmoving surprise. His pause made the Tauren sigh, and she reached out and gently grabbed his right hand and brought it to rest on the cylinder. "Yes, it might be heavy, but you only need to hold it for a few minutes," she said, before pressing a switch on the device and a brilliant white light suddenly stretched out from one end of it. The sudden increase in light made Jake's eyes screw shut in pain, though they rapidly adjusted, and he opened them just as the Tauren released his hand and left him holding the heavy metal object. His arm wavered a bit, causing the beam to splay around wantonly until he finally remembered what she said, and brought his limb back under control and aimed the light towards the fire pit.
Jake watched on in a form of stunned silence, not having expected such a wondrous device from such an odd source. I've heard about things like this, but it was mainly Gnomes working on them. How did a Tauren get her hands on one? Such were his thoughts as he absentmindedly watched the huntress set up a good fire. By the time the kindling was ignited, though, his arm was growing tired, and the light was shaking up and down by the time the Tauren stood back up and returned to the human, her body catching the light's beam, showing clearly the splatters of blood and ichors upon her; results of her recent activity. "Thank you," she said simply, taking the light from Jake's hand and turning it off, casting the camp back into the last gloom of twilight. "I hope that did not strain you?"
"I, er," Jake said, stuttering a bit and blushing slightly at her concern. Thank the Light for the cover of darkness, he thought, somewhat ironically. "I'm fine," he stated flatly, lying back down on the furs as he spoke. "Just a little tired, that's all."
"It is to be expected," the Tauren replied, turning away and moving back over to her gear to return the light and begin working on dinner. "You took many hits, much damage," she added as she took out the cooking utensils. "I had to use a lot of healing potions to mend your wounds to the point where you wouldn't bleed out."
Again, Jake felt his skin flush, and he shook his head slowly as he considered his next words carefully. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke. "While the subject has been brought up…" he began, but paused as he weighed his words and her possible responses.
"You want to know why I'm helping you," the huntress preempted him, not even looking up from where she was working on the fire. "Is that right?" She asked, glancing behind her to look at the human.
Jake frowned, the growing light of the fire illuminating his face well enough for her to see now, and he nodded. "Yes," he said cautiously. "I may be fresh from the Eastern Kingdoms, but I was given to believe that relations between the Horde and the Alliance were… strained, to say the very least."
The Tauren glanced back again, nodding once before turning back to the fire and the food. "Yes, that is true," she said simply, and then let the statement hang in the air for several minutes before she decided to continue again. "Many of my people and our allies would have left you out there to be killed. Others might have even jumped you had you managed to win against the vile quillboar," she said, her voice dropping a bit, even as she finished working the fire into the right shape and burn for cooking. "I, however, believe that there is no harm in helping others defend themselves from this world's horrors, even if some who need help are my enemies."
Silence fell over the camp as Jake thought about what the huntress said, and the Tauren worked on dinner. Time passed on quickly enough, and by unspoken arrangement the two remained quiet all throughout the meal and the rest of the night. That is, until Jake, half asleep, woke up to the sound of metal springs being stretched. Slowly, he half sat up again, wincing in pain for the umpteenth time, and looked around the camp, his night vision working with the dying firelight to give a murky view of the surroundings. He focused on the area the sound was coming from, and saw the odd shape of the Tauren kneeling on the ground and working on something. Jake waited until the huntress stood up before he spoke up. "May I ask, what are you doing?" He asked carefully, some of his caution from earlier evaporated in the face of encroaching sleep.
The Tauren didn't seem to mind, however, as her voice was even as she replied. "Setting traps," she answered. "For the night."
"Ah, I see," Jake said, and then laid back and closed his eyes as sleep began to pull him under. "G'night," he said quietly, not even realizing he spoke.
"You as well."
* * * *
The next morning dawned over the Barrens with startling alacrity, the sun's rays blazing through the dry air and touching all within the dusty lands where neither hill nor mountain impeded the light.
One of the places that were shielded was the camp Jake slowly woke up in. The cold morning air of the near desert was seeping next to his skin, causing more than enough discomfort to bring him out of his deep, restful sleep. He tried rising normally, until the pain of his arm and all over his body made itself felt, and he suddenly remembered where he was. Right, right… Why am I cold? He leaned up again, this time more slowly and favoring his broken, weighted arm, and found out that the furs covering him had slipped off in the night. Carefully, he reached down with his good arm and dragged them back into place, once again covering him up properly. Jake sighed at that and lay back again, resting comfortably on the other furs beneath him.
Wait, I didn't pull anything up to cover me, he realized, blinking a bit as his memory of last night - somewhat hazy but still serviceable – showed him that he had simply fallen asleep too fast to even think of such a thing. But then, how-? The question was only half asked in his mind before he realized the answer, and he turned to look around the campsite for his host. He saw her lying on the ground on the opposite side of the fire, under a rather thick blanket made from several furs stitched together, her face turned towards the fire and consequently, to him. Jake noted that she was still asleep, her eyes closed peacefully, and that her wolf companion was curled up on top of her eight-foot frame, sleeping as well. For a moment, he was caught up in the tranquility of the scene, before he remembered that this Tauren was his enemy and that he shouldn't be admiring any setting that involved her being at some kind of peace.
And yet, his face burned as he remembered again the furs that now lay atop him. How could such a person of consideration be an enemy? Jacob asked himself, feeling embarrassed at the conflict in his head between gratefulness and mistrust. My duty and my training tells me that whenever possible, I should attempt to escape and/or kill her. Yet my honor and my upbringing only tell me that such consideration she's shown me is the mark of a civilized, moral person, and it should be rewarded in kind. "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Jake shook his head again, and then sighed as the two ideals warred within.
He lost track of time as he sat there pondering his self-quarrel, but soon enough the Tauren stirring from slumber drew him out of it. Jake turned and watched carefully as she yawned and sat up, forcing the wolf to wake up and crawl off. She was clad not in her armor, but only in a simple shirt and breeches that revealed her womanly shape more clearly than did mail, even while preserving her modesty. She looked around a bit before her eyes settled on the human, and Jake saw a brief moment of confusion in her green eyes before she blinked the last obfuscation of sleep away and recognition set in. "Da wa nay- I mean, good morning," she said, shaking her head a bit to clear out the cobwebs. "Sleep well?"
Again, Jacob felt embarrassment at her concern. "I did, yes," he said, simply. "Thank you for the covers."
The Tauren only shrugged and slowly stood up. "It was… Sensible, is that the right word?" She asked, looking to him again.
The blush on his face remained in full force as Jake felt odd being asked such an innocent question. "Yes, it fits rather well. There are other words you could use, but that one fits better than most."
The Tauren simply nodded to the human, and then turned to go about her morning ablutions, leaving Jake to once again sit in awkward silence as he watched her go about her business. Once, she walked away form the camp and over a small rise with nothing but her plain clothes on, confusing him momentarily before he finally came to realize that his bladder felt rather full. Oh… Oh dear, Jake thought, wondering how he would take care of that while his arm was bound to the heavy metal rods keeping his bone in alignment as it healed.
* * * *
When she came back, Jake had rather circularly brought up his dilemma, which prompted a brief laugh from her that proved to only deepen his embarrassment. Still, she was unmocking as she managed to help the wounded warrior up and basically carried his arm in her right hand until they got to a tree over the other rise framing the camp. There the huntress propped the arm against the tree, causing Jacob pain, but he bit back any complaint as he'd rather suffer a few moments of pain than the eternal embarrassment of potentially damaging memory. The Tauren left him to his own devices for a time before he called her back and the two returned to camp to resume their usual positions.
How odd to think of it as 'usual', Jake thought as he was lying down again on the furs, his stomach growling as his hostess cooked up breakfast. Yet she stays over there, I stay over here. That's as close to 'usual' as you can get in this situation, I guess.
Such ruminations were becoming more common in the warrior's head as the continued good behavior of the Tauren replaced the wariness and paranoia in his head with a slight form of trust – as she pointed out, no sense in poisoning or wounding me after going to the trouble to rescue and heal me – and, inevitably, boredom. Is this why patients in hospitals are so depressed? Is just the simple sitting and doing absolutely nothing, not even moving, more trying than the disease or wound they suffer from?
"Here," the Tauren said, interrupting Jake's musings by speaking and handing him the same bowl from before. Jake blushed again, but only slightly, as he sheepishly took the offered dish. The two shared a silent breakfast, matching the quiet lunch and dinner past, with only the Tauren feeding her wolf the break from the self-enforced peace.
After breakfast was finished and the various implements cleaned and put away, the huntress came over to Jacob and kneeled down to again check his arm. Much to his surprise, Jake felt less pain than before, and the Tauren grunted approvingly. "Good, the healing potions are doing well," she said, standing up again and towering over the supine human. "They don't work as fast with such a bad injury, but it will only be a few days until your body is fully healed."
Jake released a sigh of relief upon hearing that. "I thank you," he said, finally admitting expressing his gratitude. "For everything. You've done so much for me, even though we are nameless enemies."
The Tauren waved him off with a three-fingered hand. "I did nothing that was not uncalled for," she said, firmly.
"Still, taking in someone from the Alliance, who may have…" Jacob halted himself as he realized what he was about to say might be inappropriate, and even insulting.
"…Who may have killed me some other time?" The Tauren asked, giving him a teasing look. Jacob blushed at that, and she continued before he could reply. "I may be helping you, but I am not ignorant of the strain between our peoples. I am not so foolish as to think that the tension between the Horde and Alliance is merely constrained to foul words and insults; I have seen far worse," she added, her tone growing dark and menacing, though her focus drifted off into a distant stare that did not include the human at her feet. Still, Jacob shuddered slightly, realizing that this person before him undoubtedly had fought in a skirmish or two with Alliance soldiers. "For what it is worth," the human began slowly, drawing her attention back to him, and he carefully weighed his words. "After this… I don't think I could fight the Horde with a clear conscience," he added, feeling the truth of the matter even as he spoke the words. "Once I am healed and we part ways, I think I will head back to Kul Tiras."
The Tauren raised an eyebrow, and she smirked slightly. "Oh? Who says I'm going to leave you alone once you're healed?"
Her words made Jacob's blood freeze in his veins, and his breath caught in his chest. The paranoia and suspicion from earlier came back full force, and he narrowed his eyes and moved them around, looking over the immediate area for some sort of weapon. "Why would you not?" He asked, slowly, carefully, while simultaneously wondering what dungeon beneath Orgrimmar awaited him.
The soft chuckle from the Tauren bade him look up, and he found a smile on her muzzle. "You want to go home, right?" She asked. Jacob felt his blood go from flash frozen to boiling in a second as he thought she was taunting him. "Of course I do," he snapped.
She seemed not to notice. "Well, human, you're alone, out of provisions, lack a mount, and don't know where you are in a land that is only a year's drought away from becoming a desert," she said, smiling almost sweetly as she leaned over the warrior, looking down on him. "I don't suppose you know how to hunt the local animals, do you? Know where to get water? Which plants are edible or not?"
As she spoke, Jacob became more and more aware of his own helplessness in the situation, and he could have sworn that the blush on his face would become permanent. "I… I suppose I do not," he said, carefully.
"And that is why I shall be going with you," the huntress said, standing back upright, still smiling as Jake blinked in confusion. "I will take you to Northwatch Hold, an Alliance strongpoint a few days' travel from here. From there you can take one of the supply caravans to Theramore Isle, and I can be happy to know that my help was not wasted on someone with foolish pride who would rather wander off into the Barrens alone and unprepared and die."
Is there any blood left in the rest of my body? Jacob asked himself as his face continued to burn hotly. Yet underneath his embarrassment and lingering fear, he found the same gratitude from before, only now grown. "I… Thank you," he said, carefully. "There are some back home who would not do as much as you have done so far, and yet you are willing to go far out of your way besides. Yet I am struck that at any other time, we would not even exchange words and attempt to destroy one another in nameless hatred."
"Am I not destroying my enemies when I make friends of them?" The Tauren asked, and Jacob was struck silent for a few moments by the profound wisdom in those words. "I… I suppose you're right," he admitted, and even managed a sheepish grin. The Tauren returned the grin before she turned and walked back over to here most of her stuff was set up. "I am glad you see reason," she said, sitting down heavily on her sleeping mat facing back to the human. "That is a desired trait in any traveling companion."
Again, Jacob found the wisdom in her words, and marveled at the situation as the incongruous nature of it struck home. Never in a thousand years could I imagine something like this, the warrior thought. Eventually, he came out of his introspection, and managed to smile a bit. "Well, if we are to be traveling companions, then perhaps we should exchange names?"
The Tauren sat still for a moment in genuine surprise, and then laughed a bit. "I suppose that would be good, yes," she said, herself sheepish for a change. "I am a hunter of the wilds, so I am not used to talking; I forget such pleasantries, forgive me."
"Of course," Jacob replied, smiling a bit broader now that he saw the other wasn't quite infallible. "I'm Jacob, son of Martin the cooper, from August Point in Kul Tiras. I am trained in the martial arts of close combat."
"A pleasure," the woman said. "I am Tohopekaliga, of the Starchaser clan. I come from Thunder Bluff and am trained in the art of marksmanship and wilderness survival; what many call a 'hunter.'"
"Likewise, a pleasure," Jacob replied, and he nodded appreciatively. "Your mastery of my native tongue, while not perfect, astounds me. If I may be so bold, where did you learn it?"
"You may be so bold, but I need not answer," Tohopekaliga replied, grinning a bit. "Let me just say, there are persons in both the Horde and Alliance who are less concerned with current hatreds, and more concerned with ensuring a peaceful future. One taught my father how to speak Common, and later I learned from him as well."
"I see," Jacob said, and decided to leave it at that. For now, he mentally added. "Well, Toho… top… a-kila?" He said, realizing he was getting her name wrong.
Tohopekaliga chuckled. "Toe-ho-peck-ah-lee-ga," she said somewhat more slowly, dragging out the syllables. "But it is not an easy name for most, even amongst my people, so you may simply call me Toho."
Jacob nodded appreciatively. "Well Toho, you may call me Jake."
"Jake," Toho said, and then nodded at the name. "Well Jacob, or Jake, I have a feeling this shall be an interesting journey."
"I don't doubt that for a second."