Family Ties

[Nasari]

((AU from Blackstar. This story takes place in the WoW universe.))

Mulgore.

A peaceful, beautiful land of green, fertile plains and tall mesas, cut off from the rest of the continent of Kalimdor by tall mountains. It is the home of the Tauren, a race of tall bovine humanoids who worship the Earth Mother, the protector of nature and all of its beings.

Bloodhoof Village.

One of the small Tauren settlements in Mulgore, and home to Chief Cairne Bloodhoof’s son, Baine Bloodhoof. It is also home to a powerful druid. Her name is Amahura.

She is married to Dalgren Steelhorn, one of the strongest warriors in Mulgore at the time. Now we go to their wigwam, where Amahura is seen rocking a cradle that Dalgren had built.

But something is amiss.

For one thing, Amahura has tears running down her face.

Another… the cradle is empty.

Amahura and Dalgren were so happy to hear the news that they were going to have a baby when they visited the shaman of the village.

But alas, it was not to be.

Amahura and Dalgren had visited the shaman again that day when she started feeling pains, and it was only six months into the normal eleven-month pregnancy. There, they heard the news that they had dreaded.

She had had a miscarriage. The baby had died.

So there she sat, crying and rocking the cradle, thinking about what could have been.

‘There could have been a baby here. We could have had the family we had always wanted, but we do not. And nobody is to blame but me. If I had not gone fighting after I started having morning sickness, I would be a mother, Dalgren would be a father, and we would be happy. But since I had to go out and fight like an utter fool, here I am, rocking an empty cradle.’

She jumped a little when large arms wrapped around her, and she calmed a little when she realized it was her husband. She turned to look at him, and saw that he had tears in his big blue eyes as well.

They continued to cry together until eventually, Amahura fell asleep against Dalgren’s chest. He picked her up, laid her down on their pallet, and lay down next to her and fell asleep as well.

<<Amahura’s dream sequence>>

It was pouring down rain, the sky so dark one could barely tell it was daytime. But for some reason, Amahura could not feel the rain. She looked at her hands, and they were transparent. The rain was going right though her.

All of a sudden, she heard the laughing cries of gnolls (hyena-like humanoids) and screams. But these screams were higher-pitched than an adult Tauren, but too low to be a Tauren child. Amahura had heard this kind of voice before.

Pinkskins.

Two of them.

Amahura ran closer to the noises, and saw two pinkskins being overtaken by gnolls. They were unarmed, and the gnolls were toying with them. One gnoll, the biggest one, moved in and snatched something out of the female pinkskin’s arms. Then, the gnolls swarmed the pinkskins and killed them both, while the biggest gnoll ran away with the squirming bundle that he had stolen.

<<End dream sequence>>

Amahura bolted up from her prone position, panting hard. She remembered everything she had seen, which was never a characteristic of normal dreams. She knew that this was no dream.

It was a vision.

((So... Whatcha think? Should I continue? Do you like it? Not like it? Anything I could change? Please give me reviews, and be gentle. I hate flames, and I get my feelings hurt easily.))

[3kul]

I found it a pretty interesting read, short yet still with enough detail to flow well. I don't know much about Warcraft but you've managed to cover enough so that I don't really have any questions either .

Good work Nasari, I'll be checking out the next part of this whenever you get around to posting it .

[Nasari]

<<The next morning>>

It was pouring rain. Both Amahura and Dalgren woke to a startlingly loud thunderclap, and by the position of the faint glow behind the clouds, it was sometime between late sun-wake (morning) and sun-high (noon).

Amahura stretched, stood up, and donned her rain-cloak, which was treated with Mulgoran pine tree sap to make it waterproof, and picked up her gnarled wooden staff, which had lain unused for five months. She walked outside. In the distance, she heard gnolls.

Remembering the vision she had the night before, she ran toward the laughing sound as fast as she could. When she reached the source of the laughter, she saw a horrifying sight.

A large male gnoll was holding what appeared to be a tiny infant pinkskin by its leg, poking and pinching it.

“Pinkskin pup make good meat!” he yelled. All the other gnolls laughed and yowled their agreement.

Amahura dashed up to the male gnoll and clubbed him over the head as hard as she could, giving him a terrible concussion and knocking him unconscious. Catching the wailing baby pinkskin before it hit the ground, she held it in one arm and fended off the other gnolls with her staff, all the while running in the direction of Bloodhoof village.

After the gnolls gave up pursuit about halfway there, she ran straight to her and Dalgren’s wigwam.

Dalgren walked out in his own raincloak, staring at Amahura. All of a sudden, he ran up and hugged her.

“Amahura! You’ve been gone for an hour! You had me worried sick!”

“Cough… Dalgren… Can’t breathe…”

“Oh… sorry. Come inside, I don’t want you catching a cold.” Stated Dalgren.

When the couple got indoors, Dalgren noticed that Amahura was carrying something. He looked at it for a few seconds, and noticed that it was moving.

“Amahura, what is that? We’ve been over this before. I don’t want a pet in this household.” Dalgren stated firmly, as though reprimanding a child.

“Dalgren, I am not a child, and this is not a pet.” Amahura uncovered the baby pinkskin’s face, and Dalgren’s blue eyes widened.

“A pinkskin! Amahura, you know they are our enemies. We cannot keep this creature here. Return it to its parents. This… abomination has no place here!”

“Dalgren, it has no parents! They were killed by gnolls, and if I hadn’t been there, this child would have been eaten and skinned! What do you expect me to do with it, let it die a gruesome and painful death before it even is able to talk?! What would you have done?” Amahura blurted out.

Dalgren was speechless. He knew that Amahura was strong-willed and would not tolerate having her feelings downplayed or disregarded, but this was the last thing he expected.

“I… I admit, dear, that I would have done no different. But this creature could endanger us all.” Dalgren admitted.

“Dalgren, it is a baby. We could teach it the ways of the Earth Mother. Do you remember the legend of the Troll-Child? How a young Tauren was kidnapped by Trolls and taught the ways of the Darkspear tribe? He was a Tauren in body and a Troll in mind and soul. Do you not think that this could happen with a pinkskin child?”

“It is a possibility. Is this child a boy or a girl?”

Amahura opened the blanket.

“It is a girl.” She answered.

“Very well. Tomorrow, we will take her to Baine and have her named.”

[Nasari]

((Super Ultra Gigundo Bump Kick!....'d! No reviews for chapter 2? Oh
well. Anyway, I decided to continue this story, for reasons even I can't
understand.))

The clouds had cleared away sometime during the night, and the sun shone bright as ever as it rose. Stonebull Lake, a lake not far from the village, was much fuller than usual.

Dalgren sat on the roof of the wigwam, repairing a small leak that had
left a rather large puddle on the dirt floor.

“DALGREN!” Amahura called. This startled him so much that he nearly fell off the roof.

“By the Earth Mother, Amahura, don’t scare me like that! What do you need that’s so important?” an exasperated Dalgren asked.

“What, did you forget? We’re supposed to take the baby to Baine today.” Amahura stated.

“Oh, yes! You’re right. Where is she?”

“She’s with me.” Amahura turned around to show the baby in a special carrier on her back.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” Stated Dalgren. He climbed down off the roof to join his wife.

So the couple made their way through the village until they reached Baine Bloodhoof’s wigwam. Amahura knocked on the frame of the entryway, and Baine’s voice came from inside.

“Enter.”

The two Tauren entered the wigwam, and Amahura took the baby out of her carrier. Fearing the son of the High Chief’s reaction, she held the baby close.

“You need not fear for your adopted child’s safety. I already know what she is, and do not hold contempt for her.”

At these words, Amahura’s maternal instincts relaxed, as did she.

“Amahura, I do not blame you for what you have done. The Earth Mother’s laws state to be compassionate to all forms of life. You have done just that. I shall now begin the naming ceremony.”

Both parents stiffened. They knew that for a naming ceremony to take place, all the adult Tauren of the village needed to be present, and Dalgren and Amahura did not think all of them would be so accepting of the pinkskin child.

Baine walked out of the wigwam and called out, “All those Tauren old enough to hunt their own food, gather around! We hold a naming ceremony!”

All the adult Tauren gathered around Baine, Amahura, and Dalgren. Amahura shifted from one hoof to the other nervously.

“All those who object to having this child named may leave the village.”

To their surprise, nobody left the crowd.

“I had a vision last night. In it, I was told this child’s new name. She may be a pinkskin, but nevertheless, the Earth Mother has spoken to me, and shown me that she approves of this child being here. Amahura, the child’s adopted mother, rescued her from the savage gnolls that dwell in the mountains. Come forward, mother of this child.”

Amahura stepped forward. She handed the child to Baine. He held her up high, and everyone looked at her. When Baine brought her back down, he placed one of his massive hands on the baby’s head.

“Your name shall be, from this day forward, Shawnee, meaning Purity. We welcome you to our village, and may your path be lit by the Earth Mother’s grace.”

Everyone cheered, and some of the young ones came out of their homes to see Shawnee. One of the girls, a twelve year old named Asha, asked, “Can I hold her? Please?”

Amahura laughed and said, “Yes, but be gentle, as she cannot hold her head up yet.” She handed Shawnee to Asha, and all the children crowded around her, whispering.

“She’s so tiny!”
“She’s got no hooves!”
“Where’s her hair?”
“What happened to her real mommy and daddy?”

At this last question, Amahura hung her head. She answered with a sad voice.

“They were killed by gnolls. She was about to be when I found her.”

The Tauren children gasped.

“How did you find her?”
“Did you kill the gnolls?”
“Yeah! Did you kill ‘em?”

Amahura laughed again, and said, “No, I didn’t. I’ll tell you how it happened later. Now, Shawnee needs a nap.”

“Okay! Bye Mrs. Steelhorn!”

So Amahura took Shawnee back to their wigwam, and put her to bed.

‘That cradle really did come in handy.’ She thought.

[3kul]

I'm still reading it, I just liked where it was going and didn't want to interrupt (I didn't realize that you were expecting chapter-by-chapter reviews ).

I'm not a big fan of visions and such (seems like Baine could say that he had a vision about almost anything and everyone would've believed him ), but it's obvious that this is a part of their culture, and I shouldn't complain about it.

I still think that it's an interesting story Nasari, I'm looking forward to the next installment .