Author's Note - Sorry for such the long break. Christmas + Vacation + New Years + Cataclysm = Not much time for writing. But I'm getting back on top of it. Hopefully everyone is still interested in my story!
Of Claws and Totems
Chapter 6
Recuperation
As Blackheart came back to his senses and regained control, the pain came back as well, even more intense than before. His chest was on fire with agony from the blows he had taken, and he had to work hard not to retch from the pain in his stomach. His eye was swollen shut from the blow he had received to the side of the head, and he had a monster headache. The worst part of it all was the damage done to his back from hitting the barricade. The damage at the time had not been significant, but prolonged combat had exacerbated the wound and it was now bleeding rather profusely.
"You did well kid. Now, would someone care to help us to a healer?" At Ahonan's request, four draenei rushed in to help the old warrior and the injured worgen to their feet. Blackheart grunted in pain as the draenei put a shoulder under his arms bringing more pain from his wounded back. "Get healed up, and come back in a few days if you think that you can handle it."
As Ahonan was helped off the training field by his two draenei, Blackheart's supporters strained to help him get to Kalara's house. As they opened the door to let him in, Tuluun looked up from the poultice he was making. "Oh my… I assume that the training didn't go too well. Just lay him there on the floor; I'll take care of the rest." Following Tuluun's instructions, the two draenei eased Blackheart down to the floor.
Tuluun walked over to the wounded worgen and knelt down to examine him. Helping him to sit up, he looked at his back first, then his face and chest and stomach. Easing him back down he walked over to the counter saying, "You look pretty rough. Ahonan must not have pulled any punches with you my friend. I'm bringing you something that should put you to sleep and ease the pain."
Tuluun handed the tonic to Blackheart as he came back over to him. The old shaman knelt down and reached out his hands, green and blue energy coalescing into them. Just as Blackheart suspected, each caster, each race, even each person had their own distinct take on magic. Tuluun's magic smelled old, it reminded him of the tallest tree in the forest, smelling of ancient bark and earth, of roots that were tunneling deep underground. He could feel the roots drawing up strength, as if from an underground stream, and then feel it pouring into his face, easing the swelling and erasing the pain.
As his eye opened up fully, Tuluun focused his healing magics on Blackheart's stomach and chest. He could feel the muscles becoming unknotted and the pain decreasing. Once his stomach had unclenched and he had no urge to retch, he tipped the vial up and drained the potion. "Your back is quite a bit more damaged and will require some manual work to fix. The potion will put you out while I work on it."
Whatever was in the potion was very strong. Even with his improved constitution, the potion was going to work. As he was lying down he heard a gasp and something clatter to the floor. The last thing he sensed before falling asleep was a familiar, comforting scent enveloping him.
When Blackheart awoke it was dark in the room. He was still on the floor a short ways from where he remembered ; the old broken and Kalara had tried, and failed, to move him to the bed. He could also smell that same comforting scent. As he raised his head he felt a weight on his chest. Craning his neck to look down, he noticed Kalara had fallen asleep partially on him.
Remembering the previous morning, Blackheart started steadily blowing air on her face. At first she swatted at nothing, but slowly she awoke and sat up. Seeing her confused look, he barked a weak laugh. When she was fully cognizant, she turned an angry glare towards him. "How could you go and hurt yourself like that! There was a huge hole in your back for light's sake! You had me worried to death!"
Bowing his head and wincing slightly as the stitches in his back pulled tight, he said, "I'm sorry for worrying you. The training truly helped. I'm on my way to mastering this… whatever this is that's inside me." At a huff he looked up and saw that she was still angry.
"Just… just try not to get hurt ok? I can't have one of my only friends always injured on me."
"I will do my best to avoid any future pain, I promise."
Kalara stood up then, and headed for the kitchen. As Blackheart tried to stand up and follow, she firmly pushed him back down. "I don't think so mister. You're injured and gonna sit there while I get you something to eat." She returned with a hot bowl of soup for him and plopped down next to him after giving it to him. As soon as she had started fixing the bowl, the scent had wafted into the room and Blackheart's stomach was growling in anticipation. He set to work enjoying the hearty meal.
As he ate, Kalara said, "I had been out collecting herbs for Tuluun when I overheard the other draenei talking about you fighting with Ahonan. I rushed back as soon as I could, but they had already brought you back here. Your back was pretty badly wounded. As soon as I saw you laying there I... I just had to help. What happened?"
"Ahonan wanted me to get angry, but I was trying to resist. I didn't want to lose control. So… he forced me to get angry. That injury on my back is what tipped me over the edge."
"He hurt you on purpose to make you lose control?" she gasped.
"Yes, but don't worry about it. With just that short training… somehow he helped me to start controlling it. I was able to regain control without burning out this time. I will go back in a few days and learn all that he has to teach me."
Patting his chest, she took his now empty bowl and pushed him back down onto the mat. "Try to be more careful next time. Since I can't let you out of my sight or you get all beaten up you can come with me tomorrow to help me finish picking herbs for Master Tuluun." Wincing slightly as he settled down on the mat, Blackheart said, "That would be nice."
Blackheart rose just before first light of dawn and kept to his ritual. Stretching the stiffness out of his healed back, he left the cabin. There was one thing he didn't like about healing magic. When skin normally healed it itched. When magic is used to heal the skin it accelerates the healing a great deal, allowing for more grievous wounds to be healed but also causing a crazy amount of itching. He had enough trouble with keeping himself tick and flea clean as it was.
The rush of change that the sun brought with it seemed to revitalize his body as well as his mind. It would rain later today, unless the smells were off. Usually he could tell when it would rain to within an hour, and it got more accurate as the time closed. Most likely it would rain later that afternoon. He also caught another smell on the wind, one that was most peculiar, almost angry, but it was gone so fast he wasn't sure he had actually smelled anything at all.
When he got back to the house, Kalara was groggily coming out of her room. She wiped her glowing eyes as she said, "Where did you go so early?" Escorting her to a nearby chair, Blackheart replied, "Just to watch the sunrise. I'll have to show you sometime."
"I've seen the sun rise before."
"You may have seen the light coming from it, but you probably have not witnessed it like I have. Sometime I'll show you what I mean."
After a quick breakfast the two headed for the forest in search of herbs that Tuluun had requested. He had told Kalara to gather up as much Earthroot as they could find, as well as some Kingsblood. Kalara found that Blackheart seemed to zero in on the herbs faster than she thought possible.
In just a short while his herb bag was bulging over while hers only contained a handful of the plants. She stomped over to where he was picking yet another herb and snatched it from him. Using it like a pointer, she waved it in his face, saying, "HOW do you do that so well? How can you just walk straight to all of the herbs so quickly?"
Blackheart reached down and wrapped his hand around hers and pulled the flower close to his nose, breathing deeply of its scent. He let her hand go then and leaned closer, placing a finger on his nose. "Because this," he indicated his nose, "is better than this," and he tapped her nose. "I can smell everything around me, and most flowers that are useful in alchemical or medicinal purposes have a very distinct smell so it's easier to track them. Your nose isn't as strong as mine, but I can teach you how to search for them that way."
Kalara's eyes widened at that. "Really? You mean you could teach me to sniff out herbs like you?"
"Well… it won't be as quick or as accurate as me, but it will be better than what you are doing now. We'll start with this Kingsblood. It has a very potent smell. Now you need to do just what I say. First close your eyes and take deep breaths." Kalara did as she was instructed, closing her glowing blue eyes and breathing in slow, deep breaths. Gradually he lifted the herbs to her nose, letting her breathe in their scent.
"Focus on the herb: its peculiar scents, the tang that it leaves in the air, the taste in your mouth after breathing it in. Focus on the herb still. Now focus on its place in the rest of the world." Blackheart slowly lowered the herb away from her nose, keeping at a few inches away. "Find the herbs place in the forest; see how its smell interacts with the other plants. Breathe deeply."
He slowly put away the herb in his bag, saying, "Now, I want you to find me another Kingsblood." She opened her eyes and looked around, but let out a squeak when he covered them with his hand. "Without your eyes though. Search for the herb with your senses, remember what it smelled like. Remember how it fit in with the forest around it!"
With a sigh she took his hand in hers but kept her eyes shut. "Just don't let me fall while I go off traipsing around blind looking for plants alright?" Gripping her much smaller hand, he said, "I've got you, don't worry."
They spent the next half hour randomly wandering around the forest; Kalara became more impatient every minute. Finally her eyes snapped open and she glared at Blackheart. "I can't find anything!" she said angrily. Sighing, Blackheart said, "That's because you aren't looking."
"Not looking? I've been wandering around this damned forest for thirty minutes trying to find the flipping flowers using my nose! I've had about enough of this nonsense." She then stormed away… or would have if Blackheart didn't still have her hand. Bending over close to her face to look her in the eyes he said, "No. You're trying to look with your eyes still. Close your eyes like you didn't have any and look with your other senses. Try again."
After a few more seconds of death glare, Kalara closed her eyes and focused on her other senses, trying her best to ignore the darkness. She breathed in slowly, letting all of her senses go towards her nose. After a few seconds she started to pick up on something… earthy. That must have been the ground. The she noticed a sticky smell. That was the tree sap from the tree next to her. Then faintly, to her left somewhere, she caught it. That sharp smell of Kingsblood. Slowly she started turning left and walking. She tripped over tree roots a few times, but Blackheart easily kept her standing. As she got closer she could smell the plant getting stronger, but it wasn't directly in front of her yet. She started a pattern of walking forward, smelling, adjusting her direction, then walking forward and smelling again. Soon the smell was very intense. When Kalara opened her eyes she was standing almost on top of the herb she was looking for.
"Wow…" she whispered, "I did it." Turning to Blackheart she jumped on him and hugged him. "I really did it! That's amazing! I can't wait to show Master Tuluun. Now I can fill my bags up too." With that she was off, picking the herbs and then calmly smelling them out. They spent the next couple of hours searching through the forest and filling up Kalara's herb bag. Blackheart let her find all of the herbs, urging her to use her newfound abilities in conjunction with her sight to find herbs even quicker.
As she finally finished filling her herb bag, her stomach grumbled angrily and she found a suitable place to sit down for lunch. Blackheart joined her, and she pulled out two sandwiches she had made earlier from her backpack and handed one to him. They ate mostly in silence, just enjoying the nature that was around them. Food that didn't require utensils, definitely easier for Blackheart than trying to cut something with a knife.
Sniffing the air, Blackheart could smell rain coming. And fast. "We need to head back, it's going to rain soon." Picking up her things, Kalara joined him in heading back to Azure Watch. In training her nose they had gone much deeper into the forest than she had realized. In what seemed like only a few minutes the rain was upon them, opening up and dumping buckets of water on them. Kalara was soaked in mere seconds, while Blackheart was kept dry by the pendant she had given him earlier. "You didn't make one for yourself?" he asked her as he noticed the water dripping off of her.
"No I didn't think about it, but I really wish I had now. I'm freezing!" Blackheart looked down at the pendant hanging from his neck and over to Kalara who was trying to push her soaking wet hair out from in front of her face. Thinking it might work if she was in close proximity to it, much to her surprise he scooped her up and started carrying her back to the town. Just as he thought, the rain seemed to be hitting a little bubble that was around her. But she was still soaking wet and cold. "What are you doing you big elekk?"
"I'm keeping you dry. There's a cave nearby where we can go so you can warm up as well, it will take us at least three hours to return like this and you might get sick by then. We'll head back after it stops raining." Blackheart changed direction then and loped through the trees. The wind and Kalara's clothes made her shiver, and she nuzzled closer into Blackheart's chest. He was very warm and it felt good just to rest against him after the long trek through the woods.
It didn't take long for Blackheart to make his way to the cave that he used to stay in. It had only been a few days since he had been in it and the flower bed was still there. As he set her down she picked up on the aroma and noticed them. "I love these flowers! I always pick them when I can and keep them in my room. How did they get here, like this?"
"This… this is where I used to sleep sometimes. These flowers remind me of… something. I don't know what it is about them, but they make me at ease and make me feel comfortable. As far as I can recall it's my favorite scent."
When she was done examining the flowers she started shivering and rubbing her arms, trying to work some heat into them. "I'm freezing. That rain was much colder than it should have been. I need to get warm, but I don't have any thing for a fire, and all the wood will be wet."
"I think I have a solution for that," Blackheart said as he walked over to her. He sat down with his back against the wall and patted to the spot just in front of him. "If you're that cold then you won't mind a little immodesty. Sit down here and let my body heat keep you warm."
Kalara gave him an incredulous look and started to refuse but another bout of shivers racked her body. Blushing from embarrassment she did as he said and sat down, stiff backed and upright in front of him. He reached up and easily forced her to lay back against his chest and wrapped his arms around her. The change in temperature was dramatic to say the least, and she was very warm and comfortable.
"So this is where you stayed at before I ran into you?" she asked, surveying the cave. "Indeed it is. A lot of the time I would sleep outside but if the weather ever turned bad I would come here to stay. This is where I kept my supplies as well."
"Supplies? What kind of supplies?"
"Well… any clothes that I have… procured that fit me. Any kind of food that I collected or herbs and such. Basically everything that I own is stored in this cave."
"But where? I don't see anything."
Blackheart lifted his arm and pointed across from them to a pile of rocks. "Under there. I have to keep it covered tightly so that the other creatures of the forest don't get into it. There isn't much in it right now though. I was wearing most of what I own when I met you and stayed in Azure Watch."
Kalara quietly mumbled, and when Blackheart looked down at her he noticed she was breathing very deeply with her eyes shut. She had fallen asleep. This was the second time that she had fallen asleep against him. The feeling he was getting from it though… that was unique. It was enjoyable. Blackheart pulled Kalara in a little tighter and stared out the mouth of the cave, waiting for the rain to subside.
In an hour the rain had passed and Blackheart gently shook Kalara awake. She mumbled groggy protests but finally stood up and stretched. Her clothes were still a little damp, but she was warm and the rain had stopped so she would be fine. Turning back to Blackheart she said quietly, "Thank you for… that." She quickly turned away from him and he though he caught a rosy tint to her cheeks. "We should probably head back, Master Tuluun will be wondering where we are."
Before they left the cave, Blackheart went to the small pile of rocks on the floor. Setting them aside he reached inside and withdrew the only keepsake he owned, aside from the necklace Kalara had give him. It was a small wolf's head medallion on a chain, with the wolf's head looking serenely out while set onto a many sided star. It was made of mithril and glinted in the light that the cave let in. . "That's beautiful." Kalara said in awe. "Where did you get it?"
"I... I don't remember. I've just always had it and I know it means something to me, or it did, and I know that I've always tried to keep it with me. I don't know if it's magical or not, but I do know where I can keep it now." He reached over and, to Kalara's surprise, fastened it around her neck. The chain it was on was also mithril, and it hung down to her chest. She lifted it and stared at the medallion in admiration of its fine craftsmanship, then turned to Blackheart. "I can't take this when it means something to you." She moved to unfasten but was stopped by Blackheart. "You're the only friend I have. If I can't find my way back to you then the medallion will be somewhere vastly better than in a cave, under some rocks." Blushing and smiling, Kalara closed her hand around the medallion and said quietly, "I'll keep it safe and with me always."
The two returned to Azure Watch in the next couple of hours. Master Tuluun greeted them when they came into his house. "I hope you didn't get caught out in that rain storm we had earlier. I assume that's why you are so late returning?" Kalara unloaded her herbs, and then took Blackhearts and started unloading and sorting all of them. "Yes master, Blackheart found a cave for us to wait out the storm in." Nodding, Tuluun said, "Mmm that's good, I'm glad you two didn't have to just sit out in the rain the whole time. I wouldn't want either of you to get sick."
"You both brought back a nice collection of herbs for me. I most likely will not have to pick any for a long while. These last few days have been interesting to say the least. Kalara... I believe you're ready." Kalara gave a little whoop and jumped into the air. Seeing Blackheart's confused look she tried to tell him in a rush what was going to happen. "I get to go out and get my next totem! I've gotten my earth totem, and now I'm finally enough of a shaman to get my fire totem!" She continued dancing around the small house; Blackheart smiled at her joy at this news.
"Because of the volatile nature of the elements, generally multiple shamans attempt to appease the elements and gain the ability to use specialized totems to call for greater help from the elements. Once a shaman is powerful enough they can summon and bind an actual elemental to help them. However, Kalara is the only shaman in the village that is training. As much as I would like to go with her, I have other duties to which must be attended. Blackheart… I have seen you in action and if it isn't too much of a bother, I would like you to accompany Kalara and help to protect her from any danger she might face."
Blackheart saluted then bowed, saying, "I would be honored to accompany and help Kalara in this quest." Kalara did another little whoop and jump at this news, saying, "Thank you so much! Oh this is going to be great! I'm so excited I can barely stand it!"
Tuluun turned to Kalara then, saying, "Since you are so bursting with energy you can finish sorting the herbs you two collected while I talk with Blackheart." Kalara skipped over to where the herbs were stored and started sorting them, placing them in neat piles and the correct containers. Tuluun took Blackheart aside and said, "Thank you for helping her… but I must warn you. I don't know what it is, but something is wrong with the elements. Something feels… off about them. That may not make sense to you but it is what I have felt during my meditation."
Nodding, Blackheart quietly said, "This morning as I watched the sun rise I caught a whiff of wind that smelled… angry almost. It was gone in a flash, making me wonder if I had even smelled anything at all." With a grim look, Tuluun said, "Just be careful and be wary of anything out of the ordinary. I'm sure most everything that Kalara does tomorrow will be out of the ordinary to you, but you know what I mean. You have keen instincts." Blackheart saluted once more and said, "I will do my best." Tuluun patted his arm then, a smile finally breaking his previously grim features. "I know you will."
After the talk, Blackheart helped Kalara finish sorting the herbs that they had found. He was having trouble following what Kalara said as she rapidly outlined all the steps necessary to achieve harmony with the elements. He did catch something about summoning a fire elemental and having to please it though. Tomorrow was going to be a most interesting day. His mind was starting to reel from all that had happened. In a few short days he had saved a life, been given a name and made a friend, fought and won a battle which gained him acceptance and respect, and had learned how to start controlling his rage… and now he was going to 'speak' with a fire elemental. All in all, he thought to himself with a smile, much better than another week of hiding in the forest.
The following morning when Blackheart watched the sun rise he was acutely aware of the wind and its smell. Just as the sun broke over the horizon, sure enough, there was a quick hint of what could only be taken as anger in the air. Why would the air be angry? Perhaps he would find out later this day.
When he returned to Tuluun's house, Kalara was already fully awake and ready to go, practically bouncing. She had two packs loaded with supplies that had been packed the night before for both of them. After the two had readied themselves and strapped on their supplies, there was a knock at the door. Tuluun shuffled over and opened it to reveal Vindicator Valina. "I'm glad I caught the two of you before you left. I have a surprise for Blackheart."