A/N: Sorry for the super long delay in the story chapter. I've had a lot personal issues crop up over the last little bit which has interfered with this. Enjoy.

Of Claws and Totems

Chapter 23

Howling Vale

"Oh no…" was all that Kalara could say. She had fought blood elves, demons, and orcs but the thought of fighting something that had the strength and ferocity of Blackheart terrified her. When the howls sounded once more, this time closer, she was physically shaking. Images of Blackheart tearing into his opponents came to her mind and she could almost see it happening to them. It took her a moment to notice that Blackheart was standing directly in front of her with Miakoda at her back. She needed to get it together so she could help out.

Blackheart knew where the attacks were likely to come from if they had kept the same tactics as when his group had been killed last time. That memory brought an unpleasant thought to him: some of these worgen could very well be his old comrades. He would like to somehow bring them back to Darnassus to be cured like the rest of the Gilnean worgen… but if they were going to put Kalara's life in danger then they would never get that chance.

"Mia, watch the tops of the trees more than the ground. One of them is for sure to be up there. One will come straight on, and one will likely come from one side or the other. If there aren't more that is."

The tauren nodded an affirmative before lifting her bow up to watch the trees. She was having much the same thoughts as Kalara, thinking of Blackheart's ferocity on the battlefield, but after hunting raptors in Durotar she had a little bit more mettle than the draenei. She definitely wasn't blaming Kalara though. After a third howl that was much closer again all went deathly silent. She could hear the trees creaking and the water in the stream slowly gurgling, but other than that was dead silence. She kept her focus on the trees, trusting in her other two companions to protect her while on the ground.

She kept her gaze on the trees, remembering her father's words when teaching her to hunt. "You must keep your eyes always open, but not totally focused. If you focus in on one thing, you miss all of the others. You must see everything at once." She kept this in mind, half focusing her eyes on the treetops… and there it was. A slight, sudden movement and she saw the worgen leaping directly down at them. With the confidence of years of practice she raised her bow, following her instincts, and let fly. With a short howl of pain her oversized arrow caught the worgen square in the chest, altering his trajectory so that he flew to the side of the group. It was dead before it hit the ground. She turned her attention to their flanks, trying to spot the next worgen that she could deal with.

The next worgen that came charged straight at Blackheart. With a howl and a burst of speed, it charged even faster than Blackheart could move and leapt for him. A split second of flash back and Blackheart realized he had seen this before, and knew that the simplest way to counter it was to become almost like a porcupine. As the worgen sailed for him he ducked behind his shield and held his longsword out straight, bracing it as best he could. Without the ability to alter its course, the worgen fell upon him, impaling itself on the sword while trying to slash him with its wicked claws over the shield. The impact had jarred Blackheart, but he had kept his footing and, throwing his shield arm forward with as much muscle he could put behind it, sent the previously impaled worgen spiraling off into a tree where it lay still.

Kalara had watched as Miakoda shot the worgen from the trees and Blackheart had taken the one in front down. That meant it was up to her to stop the flanking one. She looked side to side, searching for any form of movement at all. She saw a flash of something black against the green of the underbrush and she cut loose with a blast of lighting, sending a spray of dirt into the air and lighting the bush on fire but missing the worgen. It was still hiding behind the foliage, waiting its chance. If it was going to hide behind cover, she would just have to make sure there was no cover to hide behind. Summoning what little remaining power she had she cut loose with a torrent of lightning, immolating all of the bushes and sending the worgen scurrying out, patches of his fur on fire. He was still barreling straight for her when she cut loose with another torrent of lightning, electrocuting him and throwing him into a tree. Smoke came off of his fur and he spasmed where electricity was still coursing through him, but otherwise he remained still.

Behind Kalara she heard the thrum of the large bow and she turned in time to see Miakoda take down another Worgen that had come from the other side. Her first arrow took it in the shoulder. It roared in defiance and charged again to be stopped by an arrow between its eyes. Her third arrow took the worgen behind it in the chest, piercing its heart before it had a chance to cry out. Turning once more she saw Blackheart fighting with another worgen, this one more measured in its approach. He had just cut it down when she turned back to find one last worgen barreling down on her. As she raised her hands and let out another torrent of lightning the beast leapt out of the way towards a tree where it landed against the bark, seeming to defy gravity, before leaping away again as her lightning blasted the trunk, scouring it and turning the bark black. What was left of the bark anyway. The next time she fired a bolt of lightning her head started throbbing… not a good sign.

As she continued to fire off bolts of lightning the worgen dodged but made its way steadily closer. She had never seen anything as fast as it. Finally as it landed oddly it stumbled and she caught it with a blast of lightning… but as the pain in her head increased to migraine level she saw that she had only stunned it slightly. Shaking off the blast it made a bee line for her. She tried to summon more elemental energy but the best she could do was make a few sparks from her fingertips. After all of her usage that day, she just didn't have any energy left. The worgen was a few paces away when it leapt, snarling with its mouth open, fangs exposed, and its claws posed for the kill. She closed her eyes and waited for it to tear her apart.

When, instead of an impact on her, she heard a roar and a metal clang she opened her eyes to see… nothing. The worgen wasn't there. When she looked to her right she saw Blackheart charging at a full sprint away from her, the angry worgen on his shield trying to claw at him. Before it had a chance to do any real damage Blackheart reached his destination: a sturdy tree. Their impact was followed by a sickening crack and a whimper as the worgen's back was broken. Once it fell to the ground Blackheart dispatched it with his sword.

Blackheart came back over to them, gazing around and listening. He looked like a mess but seemed unhurt. His clothing was cut in many places but the chainmail underneath seemed to have held up to the claws of the worgen that had attacked them. Miakoda was likewise unharmed, if a little shaken.

Kalara was sitting on the ground, not even having the energy to stand. Apparently, she mused, the massive expenditure of her energy had left her completely exhausted. Her head was pounding as well, and it was getting worse. It felt like her brain was slowly exploding, and she could see stars behind her eyes from the pain. It was to the point of making her sick. She had closed her eyes and was massaging her temples when she felt Blackheart scoop her up.

The worgen instantly knew something was wrong when he got near her and she didn't resist him picking her up. He could see her cradling her head and grimacing in pain. "What's wrong?" he asked her quietly.

She moaned for a moment before saying weekly through clenched teeth, "My head." She continued trying to massage her head after that, squinting hard against what little light there was.

"Hold on for a little bit, I'll fix it."

Kalara didn't have the slightest idea what he meant about fixing it. As far as she had ever seen, he didn't have any healing magic. Then again, she knew that when Blackheart said he would do something it would get done without her having to worry about it. Thinking about it made her head hurt more. She opened her eyes to look around once, but quickly shut them. They had moved back into the brighter part of the forest and the light only intensified her headache.

At different times she felt Blackheart bend down and rest her on his knees for a few moments while doing something with his hands and then picking her back up. She also remembered hearing him talk to Miakoda, but his words were lost in the jumble of pain. She honestly didn't remember much about the time she had spent leaning against him, fervently wishing her headache would just slow down a little bit. Her head was still in deep pain when she thought she heard water trickling nearby and short time later felt Blackheart touch something to her lips.

"Drink this." She heard Blackheart say. "It will help."

She wasn't too concerned about what it was she was drinking. As she downed the concoction, she noticed it had a somewhat familiar taste, but something was off with it. As her headache rapidly receded she found that she didn't particularly care what it was, only that it was fixing her. When she opened her eyes she saw Blackheart close at hand, a very concerned look plastered across his canine features.

Blackheart was pleased that she had finally opened her eyes and the sense of pain she was exuding had gone significantly down. The Mageroyal and Peacebloom had been easy enough to find, but the Silverleaf had been rather sparse in this particular area of the forest, but he had found enough to put Master Tuluun's mixture for headaches together. Thankfully, it had worked.

When Kalara had finally opened her eyes she gave him a grateful look. "Thank you. I don't know what you did to make that drink, but I'm glad that you did." She rested a few moments in his arms before trying to stand. He nodded and stood up, helping her to her feet.

She looked around, noticing the tauren's absence. "Where's Miakoda?"

"I sent her to look for more herbs, in case these didn't do the trick or weren't enough. I imagine she'll return shortly."

He started to gather up his things, but before he could go anywhere else she stopped him. When he looked to her she took his face in her hands and said, "I think you should turn back into a human for a bit."

He gave her a confused look, and she almost laughed as his ears swiveled forward and his eyebrow arched. When he tried to pull away to transform she held on firmly to his face. At another look she quietly said, "I want you to turn while I'm holding you."

"I… don't think you would like that." Blackheart said.

She could hear the trepidation in his voice as he said it, and she knew that it wasn't just that she might not like it, but that he didn't want her to feel whatever it was that happened.

"I want to know what it's like, for you to change I mean. I want to feel you change. I know what we saw back there was hard on you, and so I just want you to feel comfort when you are changing back to being a human."

He looked deep into her eyes for a few moments before giving up a resigned so. "Ok." He said. "It won't be pleasant though."

He closed his eyes and a bright light emanated from him and, to Kalara, it seemed that time slowed down for a little bit. At first, she could feel nothing different, other than warmth coming from Blackheart. Then she felt the first ripple of change. It was almost a wave of static that passed through his body and it made her hands tingle where she held onto him. She could feel his fur receding first. It wasn't quite gone when she felt the first structural changes. She would have gasped when it started, but she didn't seem to be able to do anything. She also couldn't see. She didn't remember closing her eyes, but apparently she had. She was holding on to either side of his face and she could feel the bones deforming. She could hear the ones that had to be majorly rearranged cracking and breaking. If she could have she would have cringed; Blackheart's jawbone had just broken under her hands and it was receding towards the back of his skull. With her hands covering his shortened face she could even feel his large incisors shrinking to normal human proportions. She could also feel him getting shorter. As a worgen he was nearly two feet taller than her. As a human he was a bit over a foot taller. When his face had finally reconfigured itself she felt the last of the fur shrink into his skin and then the warmth was gone. Opening her eyes she saw Blackheart standing before her as a human, an expectant look on his face.

She couldn't even imagine the pain he must go through when he turns, having all of his bones reconfigure like that so quickly. Somehow, even though it seemed she had caught most of the nuances of it, she knew it had been nearly instantaneous. She leaned forward and wrapped him in a tight hug. She didn't really know what to say to him after feeling all of that, but she was glad that she had done it.

"Well… disgusting isn't it?"

She stretched out to arms length and saw that he had a decidedly unpleasant look on his face and she thought back to when he had just seen the area where he had been turned. He really did hate it that his humanity was taken away from him. She felt the overwhelming need to comfort him.

"You're not disgusting at all, and I've never thought you were. Even when I first met you and I was a bit scared of you, it didn't bother me what you were. It still doesn't bother me. I just wish you didn't have to go through the transformation as often as you do." She pulled him down and kissed him then, spending a long moment enjoying the moment.

When they parted lips she looked into his eyes before quietly saying, "Even before you could change human I knew how I felt about you. I didn't know how it would work, and I didn't care, as long as you felt the same. Nothing has changed that. It never has bothered me what you are and it never will. I promise that. The only thing that matters is that I have you."

He returned her deep look before finally smiling at her. She absolutely loved his smile. He didn't seem to smile enough, in her opinion, but when he did it lit up his entire face and it was infectious. She felt his arms wrap around her waist as he lifted her up off her feet into another deep, long kiss. Once it was over, she wrapper her arms around his neck once more and rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying the privacy until Miakoda returned a short while later.

Seeing Kalara up and about, the tauren gave her a smile and put the herbs she had collected in one of her pouches. "I'm glad to see you're finally up and about."

Kalara nodded. "I'm glad to be up and about. It's also nice just to be able to open my eyes without it feeling like someone let loose an angry hornet in my brain."

Blackheart, still in his human form, prepared for them to get under way. They hadn't covered a great deal of distance since the attack at the Howling Vale, and likely wouldn't make it out of Ashenvale before nightfall. He just hoped they could finish the day without any further incident.

A few hours later, as the sun was setting and the forest darkening, Blackheart's wish finally came true. They had made it just to within sight of the border of the Northern Barrens. When they went to cross though… that would be a different story. On the border was a defensive structure that Blackheart had never seen before. When he had came through here in the military there hadn't been a Horde encampment between the two regions.

From their vantage point among the trees they could see orcs patrolling the area immediately around the camp, but they didn't seem to extend too far into the forest. As they returned to their camp and it became full on night, Blackheart started removing his armor and chain mail.

"What are you doing?" Kalara asked, bringing out some of the trail rations they had packed. They couldn't risk lighting a fire and cooking this close to the encampment.

"I'm going to take a closer look and see what I can find out about that camp. Do you know much about it Miakoda?"

The tauren shook her head. "Nope. It's new to me, it must have been put there before they pushed into Ashenvale."

Darkening the already sparsely lit area, Blackheart shifted into his worgen form. He spoke up before Kalara could protest him going. "I won't be gone long, and it's only for a look at their camp. I want to see what we'll have to do about getting around it tomorrow."

Kalara narrowed her eyes at him, giving him the all too familiar semi-death stare. "You better be careful. If you get caught I'm gonna give you a good wallop on your furry little head."

Blackheart snickered before turning his back and loping off into the darkness. He was glad to be free of his chain mail and the constant clinking it made when he moved. Now, with all of the lightly basically gone he was completely in his element. Slipping silently through the shadows he saw the defensive structure looming ahead. He found a tree that would support him, gathered his legs under him, and sprang up into the branches, well above the sight lines of the patrolling guards. He watched the patrol to the immediate front of the defensive emplacement. Their patrol was easy to memorize and, to be perfectly honest, they had some massive gaps in them. Then again, Blackheart thought, they didn't really expect an attack.

The clouds covering up the moon created a near perfect darkness that Blackheart easily used to his advantage. Slipping down from the trees and letting his black fur camouflage him in the shadows, he snuck past the guards and just inside the outpost. There were a few lamps burning here and there, but for the most part all of the inhabitants were either inside. There were a few dwellings, some shops, an inn, and a small wind rider outpost. He scouted around the outskirts of the town, searching for a way for them to get through come tomorrow. The town was almost completely walled off except for the two entrances: the way he came in and the path to the Barrens.

Hoping to overhear some conversation he made his way stealthily to the alley between the inn and another building. He stopped under a window and listened, trying to pick out anything useful and just hoping they might be using common. It wasn't likely, but it was worth a shot. He was focusing his hearing inside the inn when he heard the footsteps rapidly approaching the window following a swell in orcish shouting. The likelihood that he had been compromised was small, so he ducked down as far as he could go and hugged the wall, becoming nearly invisible. A few moments later he understood what the footsteps meant.

With a crash of glass an orc, smelling heavily of alcohol, came crashing out the window and landed just past him. He saw an arm appear above his head, coming out the window, pointing at the orc and yelling something at it. Still in its drunken stupor and partially blinded by the window's light, the orc stood up and yelled something back before looking right through Blackheart and stumbling off somewhere else.

Taking the close call as his cue to leave, he circled around the other side of the outpost. Coming down the edge he saw what he thought might just be their way out: an Earthen Ring building. There was no mistaking the symbol over the door. As he snuck to the edge of the town he started formulating his plan to get them through.

Once he had made it back to camp, intentionally making noise as he got closer so as not to scare his companions, he had his plan fleshed out with details. Sitting around in the darkness he explained it to them, waiting for their comments.

"Well… I suppose it could work. Or we could try to look for another way around." Kalara said.

"Yeah, but if it doesn't work we'll have to look for another way around anyway. I think this ought to work just fine, at least depending on who's there." Miakoda said. "Plus, if they are opposed to it I can just leave and we haven't lost anything. It's better than trying to sneak all of us through at night, that's for sure. Come morning, I'll set out for the town and we'll just see how it plays out from there."

"Then we had best get some sleep. I suggest same watches as last time." Blackheart said.

"Sounds good to me." With a grunt, Miakoda stood up and slipped into the woods to take first watch.

Kalara looked over as Blackheart turned back into a human and sat his pack under his head to rest on. She laid down next to him and soon felt his arm reach around her and pull her close to him. She rested her head on his chest, drifting to sleep listening to the sound of his heartbeat. Too soon it seemed he was waking her up for her watch. It was completely uneventful thankfully, and when Blackheart came to relieve her she gladly snuggled up next to him to finish her night of sleep.

Early the next morning, Miakoda, along with Kalara's Earthen Ring tabard, were gone before Blackheart woke Kalara from her slumber. They readied their gear and Kalara made sure she was wearing her Earthen Ring tabard and then hunkered down to wait on the tauren's return.

As Miakoda approached the outpost, Mor'Shan she saw on the sign over the entrance, she began to get the first hint of nervousness. What if it didn't work? What if she was attacked while she was in the outpost? She shook her head, ridding herself of the negative thoughts. If she was somehow taken prisoner for what she was about to do, she was sure that Blackheart and Kalara would find a way to save her.

The thought of the current situation gave her a moment's pause. Here she was, a Horde, walking into a Horde town, and she was nervous about it, whereas when she thought about people she could rely on without question they were both Alliance and would go through every effort for her. They had already saved her life once for that matter. A smirk played at her lips as she remembered being scared out of her mind when she opened her eyes to find a worgen shortly before clubbing him in the side of the head.

As she approached the outpost one of the town guards came out to meet her. He blocked her path, stopping her before asking in Orcish, "What do you want?"

He was an ugly orc, even by orc standards. He had large protruding lower teeth and a rather unintelligent look on his face. He also smelled decidedly unpleasant. If ever there was an orc that embraced the peon, it would appear to be this one.

Standing up to her full height, a good two feet above the orc, she stared hard down at him before responding in the most commanding tone she could muster. "I am headed to the Earthen Ring here."

The orc scratched its head for a moment before responding. "You don't look like a shaman."

Putting as much menace as she could into her voice she stepped forward, towering over him, and said, "And what exactly does a shaman look like then? Do you see this?" She pointed to her tabard, clearly representing the Earthen Ring. "Do I have to be an orc to be a shaman? Should I be wearing a wolf pelt on my head then?" She stepped closer, forcing the orc back a few steps. "If you don't have any more stupid questions then you can get. Out. Of. My. Way." She bit off the last words, poking the orc hard in the chest, forcing him back a few more steps.

The orc was now completely overwhelmed, both physically and mentally. He finally decided that it just wasn't worth it to argue with this obviously agitated tauren. He scampered out of her way not long after she finished her short rant, allowing her passage into the outpost. She walked in, heading directly to the building that Blackheart had said belonged to the Earthen Ring. It was on the right side of the main path and not too many buildings in. She saw the sign hanging above the door, the circle of stones representing the faction of shamans. Without hesitating she pushed her way in.

At first it appeared that the building was empty, but soon she heard a shuffling off hooves across the wooden floor coming from one of the other rooms. "Just a moment" a voice called out in taurahe. There was something familiar about that voice. It was soon followed by a crash, the shattering of glass, and a string of curses that would have made a sailor proud. Soon she knew why it seemed familiar. As one of the doors to her left opened a tauren stepped out to meet her, only to pause for a few moments when he saw her. "Mia?" he asked quietly, his mouth hanging open in disbelief.

"Well, Sinyo, are you gonna stand there and chew cud or are you gonna welcome me in?" she asked. Once he nodded she knew it was a young shaman that she had grown up with. One that, if she remembered correctly, was of very high moral standard. Something, she hoped, would help get her friends into the Barrens. She had a sneaking suspicion that the tauren also had had a crush on her. Something else that would help.

The other tauren fumbled for a chair for her before he found his voice again. "How… how are you here? Everyone back home thinks that you and Kuruk are dead."

"I'm ok but…" her voice caught for a moment as she thought of Kuruk; thought of the Twilight Hammer murdering him. "Kuruk didn't make it."

Sinyo, while unhappy that Kuruk had died, was more than happy that at least one of his childhood friends was still alive. "Well how did you end up here? The last time I saw you was when those orcs came and started conscripting people."

Miakoda told then recounted her travels and infiltration into the Twilight Hammer, up until the point where they had murdered Kuruk. "I'm not exactly sure when they killed him." She said quietly. She hadn't particularly wanted to relive this moment again, but being able to share it with a friend who had also known Kuruk was providing her with a sense of closure.

"How did you get away?" he asked.

"Well… that's part of the reason why I'm here. I was saved… by some Alliance."

Sinyo's mouth once again fell open. "The Alliance?"

"Yep. A worgen and a draenei at that. I've been with them ever since."

"And… they've never tried to hurt you?"

"Not even once. As a matter of fact they've fought with me on more than one occasion. We were together when Deathwing came and, if not for them once again, I probably wouldn't be around." She continued telling him about their travels, skimming over it and touching on the highlights.

Sinyo cupped his chin in his large hand and digested the news for a while. Miakoda could imagine what he was thinking. They had always been told to be very wary of Alliance, though being part of the Earthen Ring meant a greater deal of cooperation than most Horde members ever bothered with. Especially since the shamans that the draenei produced seemed to be exceptionally strong, the few of them that there were.

After a few more moments of consideration he said, "So now you're here and I'm guessing this isn't just a social call. So… what can I do for you and your friends?"

"Well… we need to get into the Barrens. And this outpost is the closest way. I was hoping you could get us through."

He stared at her for a few seconds before answering. "Get you through? How on Azeroth am I going to get you through a horde town, escorting a couple Alliance members?"

"Well, Blackheart had an idea about that. You're an Earthen Ring member right?"

"I am."

"And theoretically the Earthen Ring are neutral, right?"

"…theoretically yes."

"So… we'll just pretend they are Earthen Ring and we can just walk right through town, as long as you vouch for them."

"You're crazy."

That wasn't quite the answer that she was hoping for. Miakoda knew it had been a long shot in the first place to come here and ask, and though she thought her chances were higher with someone she knew, it was still as much as she expected. With a sigh and a nod, she stood up and turned for the door.

"Wait."

When she turned around Sinyo went into a back room and came out with a small bundle. He moved up to her and let out a sigh before saying, "I just said you were crazy, not that I wouldn't help. Everybody needs a little crazy in their lives. Let's meet these friends of yours."