Author's Note - I will be gone for two weeks after this chapter is published, so don't think I've just given up on the story. I'm just on vacation! Have a great holiday season everyone, and thanks for reading my story.

Of Claws and Totems

Chapter 5

Training

Blackheart returned to the house to find Tuluun up and about, preparing a simple breakfast. "Catching the sunrise?" Blackheart nodded in answer and stood by the shaman. "Of all the planets that I have called home, this has been my favorite so far. The natural beauty of this planet constantly astounds me. Tuluun prepared a bowl for both him and Blackheart, leaving enough in the pot for whenever Kalara awoke. "Just a little simple oatmeal to get the day going."

They sat at the table and commenced eating, and after the first bite Tuluun noticed that Blackheart had paused, with a distant look in his eyes. After a short while longer Blackheart noticed Tuluun observing him. In a sad tone, Tuluun said, "I've seen that look before. You were somewhere else, reliving a memory from perhaps a better time. Running from the Legion for centuries, we often have many such times among our people."

After taking another bite, Blackheart said, "It reminds me of some time before I was turned. I have no concrete memories before it happened, but sometimes things like a smell or taste will jar something loose and it will float up to the back of my mind, just out of reach. This taste is very familiar, as though I've eaten a lot of oatmeal in my past life, and it reminds me of a comforting time. Perhaps when I had a family and lived at home this is what we ate a lot, but I don't know for sure." Growling, he said despairingly, "The memory is so close! I can taste the oatmeal in my mind, see the bowl and the spoon and the table, sense the people, but I can't see anyone! It's… argh it's right there and I just can't grab it. I can never remember who I'm with or where I'm at When I try to see the face it all slips away, and the harder I try the faster it seems to fade. My dreams, these sensations, they never lead anywhere other than basic recognition. It's always the same!"

"I'm very sorry to hear that Blackheart. Perhaps someone of a more druidic nature could help you recall more of your memory, but there is something I can suggest if I may. Instead of grasping for the things that aren't there, such as the faces of people or the location, try focusing on what is there, what you see and sense as real. My people are immortal, and after a thousand years or so you tend to lose memories, forget things, but there are things you can do to help preserve and strengthen the memories we do have. Oftentimes by focusing on what I can remember, I will remember it more often and it will unlock more of what's around it. Unless your head is damaged, a memory is never forgotten, we just sometimes have a hard time finding it."

Smiling, Blackheart said, "Thank you Master Tuluun. I'll keep that in my mind and try to do that next time." They both heard a low moaning from Kalara's room. Tuluun chuckled, saying, "She must be awake and experiencing the effects of her binge last night. Would you like to check on her?" Nodding, Blackheart finished his oatmeal and fixed Kalara a bowl, then entered her room.

When he walked in Kalara was sitting up in the bed with her head in her hands. Her long, raven black hair was in a mess around her. She whimpered a little bit while he was walking to the edge of the bed, and winced slightly when he set the bowl down on the night stand. "Do you have to be so loud?" she asked. Smirking, Blackheart retrieved the potion he had concocted last night for her. He knelt next to her and quietly said, "Drink this, it will help your head." She gladly took it, but Blackheart stopped her hands before she could down it. "Just a warning: it tastes horrid." Nodding, she took a small sip and went into a coughing fit. "Oh light, I think the hangover would be better."

Gesturing for her to finish it Blackheart said, "Just hold your nose and down it in one gulp. It's like swimming: it's best to just jump in all at once." Doing as she was told, Kalara held her nose, took a deep breath, and emptied the foul smelling vial. After a little bit of sputtering she got it all down. Blackheart watched her as she drank, taking her appearance in. She usually wore her hair with a band going over the top of her head to hold the hair behind her horns which were shorter than most of the females' that he had seen. She had short tendrils extending from behind her ears to run just slightly onto her chest. She had a pleasant face, as if she was used to smiling a lot. She was very slender; she was used to working more with magic than with physical strength. Her skin was a pale blue.

In just a few seconds she let go of her head and opened her eyes more. She was feeling better already. "Here, eat this. It should help with the taste a little bit," Blackheart said as he handed her the oatmeal. After eating the oatmeal as fast as she could, she handed the bowl back to him. "Thanks for the potion, and the food. I feel much better now… wait. How did I get here? The last I remember I was resting my eyes on the table at the inn." Blackheart laughed at her then. "It's not funny!" Still smiling, Blackheart responded, "I disagree, watching you challenge a seasoned fighter with twice your bodyweight and a hundred times your drinking experience to a drinking match was highly entertaining. Hopefully you learned a lesson from that."

"Yes, I am never, ever drinking again, especially if I have to drink that foul concoction to cure it. That was worse than the hangover I swear!" Blackheart's ears picked up the faint laughter of Tuluun in the other room at her response to the potion. He said then, "Well, I carried you back from the inn and then Master Tuluun and I made the hangover cure you just endured."

An angry puff of air rustled his fur, followed by, "You helped make that? Couldn't you have at least made it taste better? By the light it was like licking an elekk pen." Laughing harder still, Blackheart said, "No no, it can't be made to taste better. That is just how it must be made. It's the secret ingredient that fixes the hangover that makes it taste so awful. I'm sorry." Sighing, Kalara said, "Oh well, at least it's over with."

"Now that you are up and about, I believe I must be on my way to go train with the Vindicator. Do you know where I should head to?" Rubbing her chin in thought, she replied, "Probably near the armory, they have a small practice ring there. I bet that's where she'll be at." Then in a huffy voice, she said, "I bet she didn't have drink the elekk dung potion."

Bowing to her as he stood, he said, "Thank you. I will return here when I am finished with the training for the day. I don't have any idea how long it will take though."

"Don't worry about that, I have a little bit of my own training to do actually. Be careful! I don't want to heal your scruffy self any more than I have to."

He left the house then and headed to the armory. Vindicator Valina waved him over when he arrived. "Good, an early riser. I like that in a green recruit. I've spoken with our warrior trainer, Ahonan, and he has agreed to train you, at least for the time being. Do not waste his time though. When he says jump, you don't bother with how high, you just jump. Understood?" He saluted to her, thumping a fist into his chest and lowering his head slightly. "Well, at least you know how to salute properly, though I don't recognize the style. It will do. Ah, here is Ahonan."

Blackheart turned to what was the single largest draenei he had ever seen. He was as tall as Blackheart himself and looked the worgen in the eyes as he marched up to him. The warrior seemed to be covered with more scars than unmarred flesh. The only hair the draenei had was two tufts coming out where sideburns would be, with four face tendrils, the two inside small and the two outside quite large, protruding from his face. In a voice as deep as Blackheart's own, he said, "So this is your new recruit, Valina? Well, you did say he was a bit different." Turning to Blackheart, he said, "Alright, lets see what you've got under all that fur. I need a good gauge of your strength, so I want you to hit me, right here on the chest, as hard as you can."

Remembering the Vindicator's earlier words, Blackheart wound up and threw a punch with all of his considerable weight behind it. It was akin to hitting a brick wall, and the warrior trainer didn't even budge, just gave a slight grunt at the blow. "My turn" Ahonan said as he reared back. Blackheart watched as the draenei's eyes glowed a devilish red for an instant, and then he slugged Blackheart. This was akin to being hit by a brick wall… and angry one. The worgen was fairly surprised as he did a back flip to land on his chest, spitting up some dirt he had acquired in the process. As he was standing up, he could feel the red haze trying to take hold. He forced it back down as he reached his feet. "I forgot to mention that I'm gauging your toughness as well. Now get up, and come at me again. This time put some back into it!"

Blackheart, still spitting out some dirt and grass, rolled his shoulder and tried to ignore the pain coming from his chest. Once more he wound up and laid into the draenei, still only producing a grunt, and still feeling like he was attacking a wall. He expected the hit coming from the trainer and to the worgen's credit he only was knocked to his backside. "Half of being a warrior is knowing how to take a hit, now get up again and let's go!"

The pain in his chest was quite a bit more intense now, and he could feel a massive bruise forming above his left pectoral. The red haze was coming on stronger now, it was starting to block out the pain but he was having a hard time thinking straight. He stood up to face the draenei again, and the warrior trainer could see the slight angry tint to the worgen's eyes for a short while before it was extinguished. Before he could wind up, the draenei said, "This time in the gut. Maybe you can hit harder than a gnome there. Well? Let's do this."

Stepping back slightly and coiling his legs under him, Blackheart let loose a vicious body shot to the draenei warrior's gut. This time it was more like hitting a tree instead a brick wall. A slight improvement, Blackheart thought. It also elicited a sizeable groan from the warrior. "Alright! Now we're getting somewhere. I hope you haven't eaten yet." With a short hop the draenei brought his fist up into the worgen's gut. Even with as much hardening as he could do to his abdominals, he could not have been prepared for the blow that hit him. The force of the punch lifted him off the ground and caused him to double over; spittle flew into the dirt slightly before him as all the air in his lungs was forcefully expunged. He lay there for a few seconds trying to get the air back and trying to fight through the pain screaming from his stomach. Soon his vision was bathed in red, and the pain was gone. He was starting to lose control.

"Don't quit on me, get up!" The warrior said. Getting his dark side under control, Blackheart staggered to his feet as the pain rushed back to him. It seemed that when he got himself under control, the pain increased from what it was before. His breathing was still ragged and he was having difficulty straightening up, though after a few seconds he was able to stand all the way upright. "I want to see the rage that Valina was talking about. So far you're about as angry as a Peacebloom. Come on, show me some anger!" Blackheart shot the Vindicator a confused look, thinking back on what she had said the night before. "If you lose control while you're around me again, I will put you down myself!" rang in his head.

Blackheart didn't see the next blow coming; the hoof met his solar plexus with a surprised yelp as he was knocked rolling to the ground. He almost couldn't see through the pain… then he almost couldn't see thorough the red haze. "Don't look at her, look at me! I want you angry. Now, get angry!" The draenei was on top of him almost before he stopped rolling, picking him up and tossing him into one of the barricades that had been set up the previous day. One of the spare branches pierced into his back then; no major damage was done… to his body. His mind however, was lost to the red haze of anger that he could no longer keep under control.

A small crowd had gathered by this point, and they and Ahonan watched as the change overcame the worgen; he saw Blackheart's eyes take on a red glow and saw him shake off all of his previous wounds. Blackheart went into a predatory stance then, snarling and circling the draenei. "Now that's what we're here for." he said. As the worgen lunged for him, he quickly reacted by batting aside Blackheart's grasping claws and giving him a swift knee to the abdomen. It didn't seem to affect the worgen in the slightest.

Blackheart retaliated faster than the draenei expected, leaving a large gash on his right forearm open and bleeding. Ahonan adjusted to the quickness of the frenzied worgen, and with the next lunge the draenei landed a solid hook to the side of Blackheart's head which sent him tumbling to the ground. Growling, Blackheart shook his head to clear the daze and now turned so he could see the fierce warrior with the eye that wasn't swelling shut. The worgen growled in irritation as Ahonan constantly circled towards his blind spot.

Injured as he was, Blackheart was taking a more measured approach to attacking the warrior. "So he can do more than just blindly attack when he's angry. Excellent!" Ahonan said. Blackheart's next lunge laid open a large section of Ahonan's thigh. With a grunt of pain, the warrior turned to face the worgen. As Blackheart charged in for a more direct attack, instead of dodging him Ahonan went forward to meet him. When they met, Ahonan grabbed the worgen's reaching claws and fell over backwards, using Blackheart's momentum against him. He planted a hoof in the worgen's abdomen and heaved him over top of him. Blackheart landed five paces away hard on his back. Taking the advantage of the momentarily stunned worgen, Ahonan quickly got up and tackled the downed worgen.

As soon as he was pinned to the ground, Blackheart began thrashing to get free. Ahonan was holding his arms down on the ground and was almost sitting on his chest, staying just out or reach of the snapping worgen's jaws. "Get ahold of yourself Blackheart!" He yelled. "Control this! Don't let your anger get the best of you. You can do this." Letting go of one of the worgen's arms for just a second, he slapped Blackheart across the face and then resumed pinning him to the ground. The jolt dazed the worgen, and when he came to he was looking the angry draenei right in the eyes. Blackheart saw no fear in those eyes, only a burning anger that was being directed in its full intensity at the worgen. That's when the change happened. Blackheart's eyes reverted to their normal shade of icy blue. He was in control.