"Ya can't leave, Dal'bin. Ya still need ta heal. Stay with us."

"My place isn't with de Darkspear Tribe anymore."

Mulwan was right about Dal'bin needing to heal. His arms and chest were covered in thick cloth strips that served as bandages for his wounds and he still walked with a limp. With his regeneration, he would heal over time, as long as he did not push his body too far. Packing up the last of his supplies into his rowboat certainly was a task that he could handle. Setting out towards the open sea with little navigation experience might be a problem but it was the path that Dal'bin had chosen.

Dal'bin looked back at Mulwan without emotion. When his mentor had heard of his plans to leave, he had stopped his training to come and convince him otherwise. Mulwan promised that he could serve the Darkspear Tribe as a warrior or hunter, and with his skill, he could be one of the greatest the tribe had to offer. Secretly, Dal'bin appreciated that his mentor stuck with him in his failure, but his mind was made. This was the path he was going to take.

"Ya can stay with me," Mulwan offered, despite how futile his past attempts have been. "Ya don't have ta go."

"I have no place with de Darkspear Tribe," Dal'bin declared, turning away from the boat to face his mentor. "Will ya respect my choice as I have shown ya respect as a child?"

Mulwan sighed, then slowly nodded. "Fine den. I'll leave ya be, but don't think dat ya will still be alone."

Mulwan turned around and walked away from the shore. Dal'bin watched his mentor as he left, and noticed that he passed by Jamesa, who walked towards the shore. Dal'bin shook his head at her and turned back to make his final preparations to set sail. He started to push his boat out to sea, stepping into the cool and crisp water. Before he could climb into the boat, Jamesa grabbed onto his arm.

"Don't leave, brother," Jamesa begged. "Please, don't leave."

"Dere be no reason why I should stay," Dal'bin said, glancing over his shoulder at her. "I have no place."

"Den make ya own place!" Jamesa said, her voice rising. "Ya failed, but dat shouldn't have ta define ya! Don't let our father drive ya away!"

"Ya heard what Vukalai said: he has no son, and if he has no son, den I must not have a family," Dal'bin shook his head. "But he should be proud of what family he does have. His daughter will become a witch doctor."

"Don't be like dis," Jamesa sighed. "I wouldn't be a witch doctor if ya haven't saved my life."

"Ya wouldn't be a witch doctor without de loa, just as I cannot be a shadow hunter without dere blessing. I accepted dis, just as Vukalai has. Ya need ta as well."

"But I don't want ta accept it…"

Jamesa released her grip on Dal'bin, although she remained in the water with him. Dal'bin did not wait for her. Rather, he pulled himself up on the rowboat and let it drift out toward sea. Despite his instincts telling him not to, he took one final glance towards his home. Jamesa looked at him, tears forming in her eyes, and despite his attempts to look away, he could only watch his sister. It was only after she had become a dot in the horizon that he was finally able to muster the will to turn away.

Dal'bin woke up and remained quiet in his bed. That memory was the last he saw his family. When he joined the Horde forces, he heard that the Darkspear Tribe had joined with the Horde as well. Although disappointed to hear that they had been forced out of their old home, they were pulling their weight with their new allies. Dal'bin knew that Vulakai and Jamesa were both still alive but he never took the time to find them. As far as he was concerned, he was still disowned for his failure, and that seeing them wouldn't change anything.

Although he had no family, Dal'bin dedicated his service to the Horde, and in time, to his friends. He would fight for them as long as he drew breath.

"Oliktalv!" Dal'bin called out.

"Huh?!" Oliktalv gasped awake from his bed, woken up from his deep sleep.

"Today's da day," Dal'bin said. "We need ta join da others."

"Of course," Oliktalv sat up from his bed. "Let's get our equipment and get moving."

The two were soldiers at heart and were quick to put on their armor. While Oliktalv sheathed both of his swords, Dal'bin only holstered his spear and left his rifle behind in the room. Given that he was still out of ammo, there was no use to carrying the firearm with him. With the two ready, they left their room to join the others. The hunter's lodge was quiet and they quickly realized that the others were likely outside for last minute instructions. With a quick command from Oliktalv, Dal'bin followed the orc out of the hunter's lodge.

The other members of the Vanguard were outside by the river that surrounded the expedition outpost. Kelvin had arranged for additional tools with the quartermaster for their task with the most notable being a single rowboat. The rest of the Vanguard was present. Colben and Kelvin waved Oliktalv over to join them for a final briefing. While Balthar was by the rowboat and Belara standing away from the group, Salin and Finnal were caught in conversation. Dal'bin was quick to notice that the night elf had swapped her robes out for leather armor.

Salin was quick to notice Dal'bin's arrival and grinned. "There you are! We were wondering where you were."

"Ya could have woke us up," Dal'bin pointed out then walked toward to join the two.

"I insisted to Kelvin that we let you get you and Oliktalv get plenty of rest," Salin said. "Did you have any nice dreams?"

Dal'bin's shrug answered Salin's question as the troll turned to Finnal. "Ya wear armor now, huh?"

"That's right," Finnal said with a nod. "I've been thinking about our conversation last night and realized that you were right. Robes aren't good to traverse around the marshes."

"You can always count on Dal'bin to find the minor details to allow us to improve," Salin chuckled.

"I said dat before ya showed that ya can transform into aquatic creatures," Dal'bin said bluntly. "Ya could get along de marshes just fine."

"Well, maybe I wanted a chance to put Belara's training to use," Finnal patted the daggers sheathed at her hip. "The naga first see me as a saber one moment, then I transform back and catch them off guard."

"I could see how dat could work," Dal'bin said in agreement. "Not sure if dis is de time ta test it out."

"There's no better time than the present," Salin said and shook his head. "When we get back from disabling our pump first, you'll know how we pulled it off."

"Attention, everyone," Oliktalv called out. "We'll have one last briefing before we set out. Gather around."

Salin and Finnal smiled at Dal'bin one last time before turning towards Oliktalv, Colben, and Kelvin. Dal'bin figured that the two were more than capable of looking out for each other if their experiment on Finnal shifting back and forth failed. For now, the scout needed to focus on completing his own assignment along with Kelvin. While he had his own concerns about working with someone new, the sessions of capture the flag had proven to be helpful. Dal'bin was content enough to follow Kelvin's orders, trusting the gnome had a plan in mind.

Balthar and Belara stepped away from their respective places and joined the rest of the group. With everyone listening, Oliktalv stepped forward and pulled a large seed from his pocket. He clutched it tightly in his hand as he started to explain.

"The Cenarion Expedition was kind enough to provide us with enchanted seeds meant to clog and disable the pumps that we are targeting," Oliktalv explained then held his hand out to Salin. "Don't lose this."

"You can count on me," Salin assured Oliktalv and took up the seed.

"The objective is simple," Oliktalv continued, stepping back to rejoin Colben and Kelvin. "Each group of two has an assigned pump to take out. We'll fight our way through the naga, use the seed to disable the pump, then fight our way out. The Cenarion Expedition's base is where we'll meet up when we're done."

"And then what?" Finnal asked.

"We wait to see how the naga reacts," Kelvin answered. "There is no doubt that there will be an immediate response from our enemy once we disable a single pump, hence why we are disabling four at once. It is with this thought in mind that I must urge caution when making your escape."

"Should the Cenarion Circle have more rowboats for us to use? Belara asked and crossed her arms in boredom.

"This was the best they could offer," Colben shrugged. "I'm using the one we have since I don't think Balthar has what it takes to traverse through the swamps without wearing himself out."

"You're probably right," Balthar admitted with a sigh.

"We'll be able to make it to the Lagoon in no time with this," Colben grinned.

"But isn't Marshlight Lake the farthest lake?" Finnal pointed out. "Shouldn't the group assigned there use the rowboat?"

"I have volunteered Dal'bin and myself to travel to Marshlight Lake and deemed that the boat would prove to be a hindrance in our escape," Kelvin explained. "Between Dal'bins physical skill and his knowledge of the wilderness alongside with my grappling hook, we should be able to make it to our target without a problem."

"I'll do my best to keep up with you on our way to Serpent's Lake," Salin told Finnal with a chuckle. "Just don't try to leave me behind with any of your transformations."

"I won't," Finnal nodded in determination.

"We'll have a way to communicate with each other as well," Colben held up a stone. "Got four of these from the quartermaster, one for each of us. It's a little primitive for my taste but it'll get the job done."

"Once we're all confirmed at our respective locations, we'll strike," Kelvin told the group. "Are there any other remaining questions? If not, we'll begin to head to our targets."

Dal'bin had no further questions and the rest of the Vanguard didn't as well. The group started to break up into the pairs with the troll walking forward to join Kelvin. The gnome had his back to the scout, looking at the horizon to calculate the best path to Marshlight Lake.

"I trust that you'll be able to keep up," Kelvin said, not turning to face Dal'bin.

"Yeah, mon," was all Dal'bin said.

The answer proved sufficient enough for Kelvin, who pointed his wrist forward to fire the dagger from his mechanism toward one of the giant mushrooms in the distance. The rope to the dagger's hilt pulled the gnome forward after it struck, allowing for Kelvin to navigate Zangarmarsh without any difficulty. Dal'bin charged forward, relying on his own agility to see his way through the terrain. He had plenty of experience in humid jungles and Zangarmarsh was no different aside from the native flora. He would be able to jump over each stream to land, careful not to wear himself out.

While Dal'bin had no doubts about the success of his part in the plan, a small part of him was worried for the other pairs. Oliktalv had the habit of getting caught in his rage during a fight which could leave him exposed. The troll could only hope that Belara could keep him in line or at least watch his back. Meanwhile, with Balthar still struggling with his studies, Colben was practically fighting by himself. Although he was capable, any warrior could be overwhelmed by numbers. Finally, Salin and Finnal made for one of the best teams. Any problem that they may encounter would be something they could take care of with ease. Yet, there was still a nagging worry in the back of Dal'bin's mind.

Dal'bin pushed these thoughts away. It was too late to bring up any flaws he saw with the plan. All he had to do was follow orders and do his part.

A/N: You may have noticed with Lion's Vengeance updating but I'm back. I'm trying my best to get into writing daily and focusing on whatever projects I can.

So, here's a shorter chapter to catch us up. I'll admit that it's been years since I've written Drowning Depths and my writing style has changed. Honestly, I'm probably going to rewrite the first couple of chapters (and Broken World) at a later date to show how my writing has improved. However, for now, I intend to push forward with the story that's still in my mind.

Until next time.