Chapter 4

I have seen Llane throughout the years and learned some interesting things about the blonde hair boy. He is kind, gulablel, surprisingly a good swordsman, and very quiet about his family. But I had my suspicions, like he wasn't telling me the whole story.

We made an agreement to at least meet up once a week to hang out. At one of these little hangouts he asked me if I knew how to use a sword because he needed help with his training. Llane yelped as I swiped his feet out from under him, I giggled as he laid on his back.

"Do you want help?" I asked as I started to laugh, he stared at me as I continued to laugh.

"Are you going to continue to laugh at me or are you going to help me up?" He said as he got up on his elbows. I helped him up as I giggled to myself,

"Pick up your sword, let's go one more time" I said as I walked over to my side of the patch of grass that I had found that looked like an old training ground before they built the town and Stormwind. Lane sighed as he looked at his sword.

"Llane, what's wrong. You seem off," I said as put my sword down just bit,

"It's my dad, he wants me to take up more lessons but I'm not a soldier… I'm not like him" Llane said as he got into position.

"I don't think he's trying to make you like him, he's just trying to get you some more help so you have a better understanding on how to use a sword properly, and you really need to learn how to relax, you can't move at a seconds notice if you're as stiff as a brick. Even metal bends before it breaks." I said as I walked over to him. He was frozen like stone, I took his sword and set it off to the side.

"You have to relax, you're making acquired moves, you're moving like you don't have joints," I said as I stretched his arms out. Showing him that he does have elbows,

"Ow that hurts!" he yelped as I stretched out his right arm. I asked him why, and he explained to me that he stranded it when he was training with his father. I scolded him for pushing himself too hard, and that rest was important so his muscle can recover. We spent the rest of the day picking up the stuff and trash that was littered around the small training grounds. I look up to see a hawk perched on a large tree just watching. The eagle was a light brown, with a light underside, when it flaps its wings a couple times to see red feathers strung out its wings.

"What's a Red Winged Hawk doing all the way up here…" I mumbled to myself. Red hawks were native to Duskwood Forest which was located far North of Stormwind City. They were stackers like panthers and lions but were up in the trees, they hunted other birds, small cats, mice, sometimes even small dogs. They grow to about the size of an eagle, but this was small for a Red Wing Hawk, he must be very young. I had a feeling like I had seen this bird before. Before I could get a chance to take a closer look. It flew away, The bird flew through the tree out into the open sky back towards Stormwind. I tried to brush it off, the bird was being too observant for my liking. There is a difference between looking around and closely watching.

"Athal!" Llane yelled from across the training grounds. I ran to make sure he was okay, when I got to him, he was bent over a small box.

"What's wrong, are you hurt?" I asked as I put my hand on the small of his back.

"Yea Im fine, I don't think he is" Llane said with a worried tone as he showed me the small box. In the box was a small puppy curled up in the middle of the box.

"Aw little guy, here let me see it" I prompt as I picked up the puppy. The pup was cold to the touch, at least the puppy whimpered when I picked it up. The puppy seemed wolf-like but had the facial structure of something else.

"Is he going to be okay?" Llane asked as shuffled in his spot

"He'll be fine, just a little cold and tired. I wonder who left him here." I said as he started to warm up, definitely a chatty little guy. He's not small, about the size of a six month old puppy, but when I looked at his teeth, he had to be two months old. I looked around to see if he had a litter mate but saw none and not a mother to be seen lingering around. The puppy seems to be dumped here. I looked at him for a while and he seemed to look like a dire wolf of some kind. The puppy opened his eyes, and picked up his head.

"Why does it have a white face?" Llane asked as the puppy barked softly, the puppy looked like it dumped its face in a bucket of white paint.

"He looks like a dire wolf. Just can't remember what breed, maybe a Sweyn?" I said as the puppy wagged its tail softly back and forth. Definitely feeling better than before, The Sweyn Dire Wolves are normally the breed that the orc's of the horde use for their rides around Orgrimmar and the plains surrounding it. The Sweyn, Antoran Hounds, and the plain wolves that live there. There are a large number of wolves that roam the planet of Azeroth. Along with many other creatures, even some that should only live in the deepest of nightmares. There are also creatures that you thought were in myths and in children's story books. The creatures here can sometimes give me the creeps, but if a Sweyn wolf was here the Horde had to have been here for a short period of time. Normally orc's don't leave their wolves behind, they see them as soldiers and they don't leave soldiers behind. Hopefully they don't come back, it will be a nightmare if they came back.

"Wait, if he's here does that mean that the Horde has been here?" Llane asked

"No they have to be long gone by now, let's hope that they don't realize he's gone." I said as I picked up the puppy. He cuddled into me as I held him. He seemed very light for a puppy of his size. I tried to think about how long he must have been here if he was this skinny. He must have been the runt of the litter and that's why the Horde didn't bother coming back for him. I wonder what my dad would say if I brought him home, I hope my mom doesn't freak out. This poor thing needs to eat, I wonder if dad threw out the fatty meat yet, and maybe some fish too. I'm going to need to look at that book again. The Sweyn are a dark brown color almost like stained cow leather, but they're famous for their snow white face and necks and sapphire blue eyes. Legends say that they are not native to Azroth, the fancy story about them goes something like, they were fighting with the gods then landed face first in the snow turning their faces white. The Horde likes them for their fighting skills, definitely a type of wolf you want on your side in a fight. Besides being killing machines they are the biggest lap dogs on the planet, some orc family's have them as "babysitters" to be with the kids if they go out to the market or gone for a short period of time. They are really good caregivers, their protectors and don't deal with abandonment well or death of their friends. There, like dragons they make strong connections with the people they trust.

"Where are you taking him?"Llane asked sternly

"Home, where do you think I was taking him?" I asked as I scratched the puppies chin

"I-I don't know. Umm… maybe turn him into the King's Guard? You know….letting them know that the Horde was here." Llane said as he stepped closer.

"They're long gone. How would that help them now?" I said as I looked at him with a blank expression but my tone was getting a little frustrated .

"It was an option. I highly doubt that you can raise a dire wolf on your own." Llane said as he pet the top of the pup's head.

"You underestimate my abilities. Trust me. I used to do this as a hobby, and I used to have a puppy that could not maintain his weight. It's just going to be a bit of work to get him to a proper weight and hopefully keep it there." I said as the puppy squirmed in my arms.

" I still think we need to take him in so they have a record of when they were here." Llane said as he pet the puppy.

"Llane, after they do that, they would most likely kill him, or he'd starve to death. I'm not taking that chance. He did nothing to deserve that type of treatment." I said looking at Llane hoping he'd understand. Then the puppy went still and then made a soft growling sound. I looked down at him trying to see what was wrong then I looked up. There sat the hawk on one of the barrels that was left behind. I looked at Llane, the boy looked almost horrified like he saw a ghost. He shifted to move in front of me and put his hand in front of the hawk. Then the hawk looked around, almost looking for something. I followed its gaze up into the trees where it was looking. I had to blink twice at the surprise of seeing a very large black almost eagle looking bird. It looked off with its long feathers that looked like ears and two white tufts at the base of its beak. The thing that startled me the most was its yellow eyes. They weren't normal bird eyes, but those of a wolf.I felt my muscles tense up to the point I can't move. I took a closer look at the bird, which seemed to be puffed out to make itself bigger. I looked over at Llane to see him trying to get the hawk to leave. Then I looked back where the eagle was supposed to be.

"Crap, where did it go?" I thought to myself as I looked around for it and it was gone. How did I lose a very large bird that has glowing eyes? Then I remembered something about Druids that Aldon told me. You may not be able to see them but they are still there . If they're a Feral Druid they are known for sneaking up on people. I hear a flutter of wings, I look where the sound came from to see that the hawk was leaving along with the large eagle. Now that I could see the bird in the light. The weird traits made more sense, the bird was a Druid but in their flight form. I sighed to myself knowing I was going to get in trouble either with the King's guards or with my parents most likely both. The puppy looked up at me and started to lick my chin trying to make me feel better. His tail started to wage as I started to giggle. A few minutes later, I hear the ending for a spell. Llane turned around so fast he almost fell over.

"That can't be, how is she back already?" Llane said a little panicked

"Who's here? Llane, is there something you're not telling me?" I said looking at him to see a very pale boy standing next to me. Then I heard some bushes move and a faint blue glow that looked like it was at the end of a staff. Then a white haired woman walked out along with a dark gray colored panther with long ears.

"So I can't find you for several hours, and this is where you are?" The lady said as she crossed her arms. Her hair is white with a blonde streak that runs along the side of her face. She wore a white skirt with a white long sleeves that seemed to be attached to a short chest plate along with short shoulder plates that had two layers. She also had a purple drape that went to the floor that was decorated with gold.

"Jaina, your back earlier than I thought. How was your trip?" Llane said as he fidgeted with his hands. And refuting to make eye contact with the women

"My trip was okay, I got the stuff that I needed faster than I thought. I was going to surprise you when I came back. But when I came back I found your father panicked because he couldn't find you." She said as she shook her head.

"I'm sorry, who are you?"