Disclaimer: I own some rats, I have cats, I live with dogs, and I have a cage of lizards, but I don't see a Warcraft anywhere. Strange, it must have picked the lock on its cage. Damn you Blizzard, you created it too smart and it is not mine!

A/N: I got some really positive feed back about the last chapter. You seem to like Var'Jun a lot, and I must admit he is a really fun character to write about. He has some interesting reactions to situations, which will be found in this chapter. And, of course, his past will unravel through the story! Yippee! Also, please excuse Mistakes I make when navigating through Warcraft, I haven't quite explored it right yet.


Chapter Four: A Long Journey

Var'Jun sniffed softly, his lips curling in disgust. The smell of blood was carried on the air, though unlike Yawna he could not sense further and interpret its meaning. But the troll did know the smell of day old blood on the winds, and he shook his head and guessed already what would be over the next hill.

"I smell it too." Yawna hissed softly, her hands already shaking. But it wasn't the smell that got to her, but her Awareness. It was coursing out of control, desperately picking up every pain around and slipping it into Yawna. She could feel what was over the hill, but also a few unfortunate squirrels that had been happened upon by a wolf and a the cry of a Plainstrider who's leg had been broken in a harsh fall.

"C'mon then, it's in our path anyhow." Var'Jun replied jaggedly. As he began to stride up the knoll Yawna noticed he was still limping slightly, for it had only been a night since his run in with the Alliance marauders. He was full of pride and purpose though, and there had been no stopping the warrior as he had set off. Var'Jun was stubborn, but it was rather refreshing after being alone and afraid for Yawna.

They were heading north, or at least they thought they were. But the two were still young, and only Weary Traveler knew they were headed northwest towards the coast. But even if he could have the wolf would have said nothing. For the settlements of Night elves were ahead and the wolf wanted little to do with that.

The pair crested the hill, their eyes widening with shock. In front of them was a battle field, stretched dirty and broken across the plains. What had once been waving layers of plain grass was not slicked down weeds, covered in day old blood and bodies. The smell was nauseating and Yawna's Awareness picked up the pain of stragglers, their breaths still clinging to their lips and their pain immeasurable. Every race was laying across that field, though the most numerous were the Tauren and Night elves. The eyes of the dead stared to the sky and even Var'Jun, who expected something far worse, couldn't help but throw an arm up to his mouth and choke back a gag.

"A dispute," he remarked in an almost uncaring voice. But it did not suffice, for even the troll knew it was no mere battle for borders. It had been a full fledged, organized, planned out encounter which had been played to its fullest. A battle this large hadn't been seen since the days of peace had started, and now it seemed that war was once again close at hand.

With a gasp Yawna dropped to her knees. She bowed down on the ground, her hands clasped above her head. Var'Jun blinked, his long ears picking up the sound of her voice praying softly in her native language. Weary Traveler sniffed her back, but she did not stir and for a moment the troll and wolf looked at each other. Finally they looked back to their companion, the huntress still bowing down before the battle.

"Err," Var'Jun began hesitantly, looking around him as if expecting someone to pop out of the grasses. "I don't see anything coming. You're really not expecting them all to just get up and walk about now, are you?" The troll had not been raised religiously. But Yawna had been brought up thinking that everything she did depended on the whim of her goddess, the Earthmother. It would have been hard for her to stop, now at least.

Weary Traveler began to bark, the fur along his back rising and his lips curling back. Both Tauren and Troll looked up quickly and their eyes centered on the side of the battle where a small figure was now headed towards them.

"Wow, they did get up," Var'Jun remarked, shading his eyes with a spindly-fingered hand and squinting in the direction of the figure. "And guess what, they brought an axe with them."

As Yawna rose from the ground a fresh wave of anger and hatred spread over her. It sickened her stomach and for a moment she was stricken, her body shaking like a leaf in autumn. There was something else there too, a terrible determination and a deep despair that brought a whimper to Yawna's throat.

"It's a human," Var'Jun remarked, his eyes more suited to sunlight and distance, "A female too. She looks rather hurt I'd say, dragging one leg like a dead tree." He shook his head as he slowly pulled his broadsword from a sheath slung across his back, his hands weighted down by the immense weapon.

"It'll be an easy kill, but I may feel bad." the troll remarked nonchalantly, but he still sighed. But the scene of horror as his home burnt down and the fresh wound of the marauders was playing before his mind. He was not as forgiving as Yawna, who had all her life felt the pain of others, and he could not exonerate so simply.

"No, it won't." Yawna thrust the flat of her blade into the trolls face and blocked the view of his quarry. For the first time Var'Jun realized there were runes carved into the blade and they glowed softly. He wondered vaguely where she had learned this, for he knew her to be a leatherworker and skinner.

"I will not allow you to kill her. You shouldn't kill." Yawna said evenly, lowering her blade and revealing the figure drawing ever closer. "She has just as much as a right to live as you do." Yawna looked towards the oncoming figure, shaking her head slowly and looking at the troll sincerely.

The details of the woman were starting to come into sight. She was wearing a long dress that hugged her hips and flowered out. It was the color of a weathered spring, green like dryed sage. It was also layered with leather, especially on the top where it crated swirling patterns across the green. Underneath she wore a cream shirt with blossoming bell sleeves and a cut collar. The human had leering eyes, though they would have been pretty and emerald had they not been filled with hatred. Her honey hued hair was pulled back into a messy but at the back of her head, her eyes shadowed by unkempt pieces of hair that had broken free from the bun. She was also hefting a large cleaver, one of which she wasn't trained in and had no power to use efficiently yet had plucked from the body of a dead tauren this huge axe. She let it rest on the ground when she was only ten feet away from the pair, her voice ragged on the battle air.

"Have you come to burn more towns?" she demanded in what would have been a sweet voice had it not been cracked and broken. She hefted the cleaver onto her shoulders which much effort, holding it like a bat.

"Not really," Var'Jun offered. "I usually don't burn towns, too messy. But I do make little fires to keep warm with. Do you want one of those?" He was holding his sword at leisure, but Yawna could see the muscles in his arms tensing and could feel his effort at holding himself back. The woman, likewise, was also testing their limits and the Awareness scented hesitation.

"We're just passing through." Yawna's voice was commanding, demanding respects and as always sounding cool and rational. She took a step forwards, her hands coming up with the bone axe in them.

The woman tensed, the meat cleaver at ready, but her eyes widened as Yawna let her weapon fall. She stared at the Tauren in disbelief, her eyes registering the fact that the hostile looking troll behind the huntress had even dropped his sword, though grudgingly done with looks at the tauren as if she were mad.

"We are unarmed," Yawna said, holding up her empty hands and smiling as she took a step towards the woman. Weary Traveler growled low in his throat, but loyal to his mistress he didn't move towards the woman.

"So was my town!" the woman screamed. She rushed forward, her patience and thoughts snapped like a broken bone. The cleaver was too heavy though, a challenge even for an adult male tauren. But for the young woman it was more than a challenge and it made her totter slowly forwards, missing the tauren huntress as she stepped aside and running straight past the troll.

Var'Jun stepped behind her, grabbing her arms as they grasped the cleaver and shaking them until the great axe dropped from her possession. He pulled her hands behind her back, hissing softly in her ear, "Stupid move, human."

"Let go of me," the woman screamed, flailing around in the trolls grasp and lashing out as Yawna drew near. Her eyes were desperate and tears of frustration rolled down her cheeks. Var'Jun seemed as a loss, the troll was uncomfortable around people crying. He blinked and looked to Yawna for help.

"Come now," the troll said when he realized the Tauren could offer nothing. She was staring straight ahead, though he couldn't realize her Awareness was picking up the desperation of the girl and rendering Yawna in her memories.

"Let go of me!" The woman kicked out, her leg catching Var'Jun in the leg and tripping him. She leaned up too, her head smacking the troll in the jaw. When Var'Jun lost balance they both crumbled to the ground. It was at that moment, when the two were sprawled across the ground, did Yawna wake from her fitful state and stare down at them.

"What the hell are you doing, Var'Jun?" Yawna demanded, her eyebrows knitting together in shock. She looked at the two first with concern, then with disgust. "What have I gotten myself into," she hissed under breath.

Var'Jun sat up quickly, his hands coming up beside his head as if threatened. He looked nervous and rather ruffled, though the woman looked far more angry. She shot him a gaze of venom before balling up her fist and sending it right into the side of his face.

"Bastard," she spit icily, "Keep your hands off of me otherwise I'll send a knife into your chest." The young woman stayed sitting on the ground, her back facing the bewildered troll and crossing her arms across her chest.

"Hey, you were to one who tripped me. And I wouldn't dream of it, believe mehuman." Var'Jun sniffed, turning his back on the women likewise. He closed one eye, the other yellow orb keeping a warywatch on the human.

Yawna groaned softly. "You two are acting like calves." she snorted, looking down on the two as they remained in silence. "And I am not going to baby-sit you two. If we are going to travel together-"

"Who said anything about us traveling together?" demanded Var'Jun, standing quickly though the human stood beside him. Both their eyes were blazing, and though they would not have admitted it they were both thinking the exact same thing.

"Your village burnt down too, did it not?" Yawna asked softly, the memories of the woman still passing before her. She shook her head sadly, smiling still though. "Everyone you know died. Var'Jun and I are out to stop the burnings, and I'm sure you can be civil enough to help us. That's why you joined this battle, right, to stop these from happening."

The human looked at her feet, her eyes refusing to meet those of the tauren. A tauren was her hated enemy, deserved to be slaughtered. But she couldn't seem to hate this one. Every time she looked up at the eyes of the tauren she could feel no hatred, like fire being quenched by rain.

"I am Yawna." the tauren offered out her hand with a smile, "And this is Weary Traveler. don't shake unless you plan to stay with us. Otherwise walk away, but do remember, in order to stop these fires we have to work together. They won't believe the group only consisting of Horde members, but with a human…"

"I do this for the sake of my family." the woman took the taurens hand, "Otherwise I would never travel with a tauren and a lecherous troll." The woman shot Var'Jun another look of venom. "My name is Katherine, but just Kat for short." The human hesitated, her eyes rolling back to look at Var'Jun.

"C'mon, in order of this alliance to work you have to get along. Otherwise people will keep dying and there will never be times of peace." Yawna growled, pushing Var'Jun forwards slightly. The troll sniffed softly before holding out his hand stiffly.

"Var'Jun," he spit awkwardly, never meeting the woman's eyes and otherwise looking at his feet. He said nothing as Kat took his hand and shook it quickly, neither letting the shake last for long. Then they both stepped away, neither talking.

"This is going to be a long journey." Yawna muttered under her breath and to her surprise Weary Traveler nodded, his eyes glinting as they watched the troll and human stare each other down.

A long, long journey.


"Well maybe if you weren't so slow to get up I would have thought you didn't enjoy it, you sick troll." Kat repeated for what seemed to be the three hundredth time. The two were arguing again, for they seemed to be always arguing. It hadn't been three hours and they were still discussing the fall they had both taken.

"Hey, I wouldn't enjoy something like that with a human. I mean, you are a girl after all, right? I can never tell with humans." This earned the troll a smack across the face though it was only a few minutes after his last one.

"Please you two," Yawna begged them. She was walking head of the pair, Weary Traveler at her side. Even the wolf seemed annoyed by the childish antics of the two and he now refused to look back at them.

"She hit me," Var'Jun whined, staring at human with distaste, "You would yell if I hit her, Yawna. Why don't we just club her and be better off without her. It would be easy."

"Well that's why the Horde worries about trolls," Kat spit out before Yawna had a chance to speak. "You see how easily they are able to break alliances. I wouldn't be surprised if he stabbed us all when we sleep. Not that I'll be sleeping mind you, with the libidinous troll looming over me."

"I told you, I wouldn't dream of it," the troll spat out and a fresh batch of arguments branched forth. Yawna sighed softly, her Awareness tingling with the feeling of annoyance and distaste that the troll and human were exhibiting towards each other.

"Take a break guys, I can't take anymore." Yawna tried to yell above the arguing, but it was to no avail. The pair continued to complain and but heads all through the walk.


It was night now, and there was no time to bicker. The night was dangerous, for each knew there would be deep trouble if they were found. If they were discovered by the Horde then Kat would be killed straight away and Var'Jun and Yawna on trial for treason and most definitely death. If they Alliance found them it would be the other way around. Either way was death and neither wanted that.

"I'll take the first watch," Var'Jun offered as he set aside a rough wooden bowl. Each had eaten from their own provisions, for they would go bad before the journey was over. The night air was cool, but a fire had been lit and the plain was illuminated by a white moonlight.

"Good, because I'm tired. Listening to you two gave me a head ache." Yawna said very shortly, curling up under her bedroll and facing her back to them. In truth, not only had it given her a head ache, but her Awareness had gathered their bad feelings and given her a heart ache. She was beginning to tire of having the human and troll together, and once again longed for her simpler life. But that life had burnt down with the fires and there was nothing she could do. Plus she knew she would need the human and troll, maybe even more.

The Tauren fell asleep quickly and thus didn't hear or sense the creature moving through the grasses. She would have sensed its deadly intent, the anger collapsed within, but she dismissed it as a nightmare in her sleeping state.

"I'm hitting it too." Kat said, seemingly to no one. She refused to look at the troll, her eyes blazing with fire light. She shuffled under her bed roll farthest from the troll. Though she said nothing Var'Jun could feel her discomfort and he shifted under it.

It was only a moment later before the creature chose to strike. It sprang from the shadows of the plain grasses, a dagger poised above the head of the human. Kat had not yet fallen asleep and her eyes were shock open, staring up at the dagger above her head.

It was held by an undead. The humanoids rotting face was twisted into a leering smile It opened a mouth in which one half of the jaw was partially missing. His eyes blazed and the dagger dangled above the human's head.

"That battle was meant to kill you," the undead spit out, Var'Jun balanced in between launching and sitting, waiting for it all to take place, but the undead paid him no heed. "The battle was meant to kill everyone. No one should have lived. How did you manage to?"

Var'Jun stopped himself from moving again. Humans were hated, they wanted to torture him. And this female seemed to take a special dislike to him. But even in the silence that hung in the air Var'Jun could see the terror on Kat's face. She had surely made him angry, but enough to die?

Yawna was awake now. The undead hadn't looked up yet, in fact he seemed to be drinking in the moment. But Yawna was too far away, not to mention too slow on her feet, to ever reach the human in time. The tauren turned to look at him, her eyes pleading and her usually cool and calm face now panicking. She was so desperate that Var'Jun felt himself begin to panic as well. The silence was just far too much to bear, and suddenly Var'Jun heard his own voice ring out.

"Stop." the Undead looked up in surprise as Var'Jun took a slow step forwards, his hands already drawing out the sword. "She lived through the battle, so she has a right. And why was the little scuffle supposed to kill everyone? What's going on?" It was obvious Var'Jun was worried, his voice shook slightly.

"Such a nosy troll, shut your mouth." The undead commanded. He made a move as if to shift his dagger, but instead pulled a throwing knife from the folds of his shirt. The knife found its mark, though luckily for Var'Jun missed by a few inches. The knife buried itself to the hilt a little below his shoulder and both Yawna and Var'Jun sang out in agony.

Kat screamed and the undead turned back. He had enough of this game, it was time to leave. His masters orders were to make sure no one from that battle lived, and he had only this girl left. With a smile raised the dagger, Kat still lying very still in case of a sudden lurch from the assassin.

That was when Var'Jun sprang. He collided with the undead, knocking him backwards into the grass. The troll was baring his teeth, his two tusks pressed very close to the undead's face. His yellow eyes were glowing with rage and he ripped the dagger from his shoulder, chuckling to himself as he held it up.

"Don't," Yawna was standing almost behind him. Var'Jun could even hear her trembling, her voice strained and her breath short. Kat was standing next to her too, not saying a word but staring down at her would be assassin.

"Oh come now, still working for the Alliance?" the undead smiled brilliantly, "Now I recognize you Var'Jun. You always used to like humans, got you in a bit of trouble back home though."

For a moment time seemed to freeze. Var'Jun paused, his face portraying disbelief and pain. The dagger was poised above the undead's throat though he seemed unperturbed about it. Indeed, his face was twisted into a macabre grin that made his hollow eyes sink further into the back of his head.

"Don't you dare." Var'Jun spit finally. He pounded the dagger dawn, ignoring the warm liquid that spilled over his hands and the gurgle that issued from the undead's mouth as his own throwing knife ended him. But still he was smiling, for he had completed another of his masters wishes. The troll was breaking down.

Yawna gave a piercing cry, crumpling to the ground beside Kat. The tauren couldn't handle the pain that her Awareness brought her at such a close ranged death. A wolf was one thing, but undead were complex beings with conscience thoughts and feelings.

"You didn't have to." Kat said very softly. She hesitated, then placed her hand on the trolls shoulder as he stood, his back facing her. "We could have just defeated him, just sent him packing. And…" Kat paused, her sigh echoing across the plains. "And I know you really didn't do it to save me. You would have liked to see me die."

Var'Jun let a breath of air escape through his nose, his lips twitching thoughtfully. He ran a finger across one of his tusks, trying to wipe away a spurt of blood and only succeeding to smear it. Finally he turned, looking down at the shorter human and shaking his head slowly.

"No, I really didn't. Strangely enough I think I cared what happened if you died, though I'm not sure why yet. But do me a favor, forget this conversation happened. I don't want to know you, and you really don't want to know me." Var'Jun cast a yellow eye on Weary Traveler. The wolf was giving him a cynical knowing look that sent shivers down the troll's spine.

"Oh, I will." Kat was herself again. She crossed her arms, pointing her nose in the air and rolling her eyes. "I wouldn't want to even know that some lecherous troll decided that he would rather not see me die. Really, it's enough to know I'm traveling with you. But if you are going to 'trip' again don't do it around me."

"You are the one who tripped me," Var'Jun spat out, a new wound opening in their argument, "Maybe that's what you wanted. I don't know, some strange thing that humans get when their own race wont- Ow! don't hit me, I'll stab you too."

Yawna huffed softly. She had just come to only to hear the pair fighting once again. "They'll never stop. Never, ever stop." she mumbled to herself, putting her hands over her ears to block out the bickering.

"This is going to be a long journey."


A/N: Wow, this chapter was surprisingly easy to write. Anyhow, that is the third party member added to Yawna's group. There's one more to go, but many more twists. And you'll never guess who that undead's master was. Oh super, I foreshadowed. Anyhow, leave a review if you read, because otherwise I think no one did. Signing off, it's me.