Reunion

The sun beat down on Ihoni Skychaser as she trudged up the packed dirt road. Sweat gathered in the small folds of her body, slid along her fur and dripped. It was mercilessly warm, but in the body of the horned bear, it wasn't as bad as it could have been.
She panted quietly as she followed the road from Camp Taurajo. It helped to keep her cool, and she made use of the natural mechanism happily. It had been a start, feeling the mind of a bear where her own should have been clear and rational. The druids had said it would be like that, though, and so, instead of fighting it, Ihoni learned to operate within it.
She was pleased to learn that the mind of a bear was blissfully uncomplicated. Eat, sleep, rest, walk. If she concentrated, she could make it think of other things, like the fact that the Tauren in the camp were friends, not food, or that it would be a long walk to the Crossroads where she had been sent.
Now, though, Ihoni was content to let it wander freely, only pausing now and again to nudge the great, lumbering body north. She drifted in and out of pointed consciousness, happy to let her Tauren mind wander as the bear continued on. When the shape appeared on the road ahead, the bear edged off it in a survival instinct as old as time. Ihoni came back to herself quickly and stared through the bear's eyes.
The Tauren walked past with the long, loping stride of a man on patrol. Ihoni recognized that stride; it was the kind of long-legged lope that let Tauren walk for miles without pausing. It ate up ground without exhausting energy, something the wanderers had learned long before Ihoni's time. She turned, tracing his steps.
As she came up behind him, sensitive nose picking up the scent of oiled metal and sweat, a gnome darted past. The bear growled instinctively, growled again as the gnome vanished along the road and the Tauren turned.
He studied her as she circled him. "Can I help you, druid?" he asked politely.
Help her? Help her! She'd show him help. Ihoni padded so close that she could smell the soap he'd used earlier in the day. She bared her teeth, reared back on her hind legs, and let the full of her heavy, muscled weight fall against him. He yelled as he hit the ground. "What the--?!"
He fell quiet as she stood over him. She dropped her face to within inches of his, peeled back her lips from her wicked, fish-tearing teeth, and dropped her cold, wet nose against his cheek. She went "whuffle" with a breath, smearing her cold nose all over his face.
The bear lumbered back, and with the breathtaking speed of transformation, Ihoni stepped free of the dust that surrounded her Tauren body. Her smile stretched from ear to lifted ear.
Roshanar Skychaser pulled himself to his feet, his eyes wide. "Ihoni?"
She beamed. "Hello!"
"Ihoni!" He reached her in a single stride and pulled her into his arms. She nestled in to the tight hug with a laugh. "What are you doing out here? And a druid, no less!" He whistled over her head. "Does Beram know?"
She hesitated. "Yes?" At his look she added carefully, "He knows I came to be with you."
"Ah, I see." He sighed. "'Honi, why did you leave Thunder Bluff? It's dangerous out here."
Ihoni picked at the heavy leather belt around her waist. Although she knew a lecture was unavoidable, she wasn't ready for it so soon. She sighed at the leather, unconsciously mimicking his own sound. "I know it is. I want to experience it for myself, I'm not a calf anymore."
"What if something happens to you?"
"Then I'll learn," she said stubbornly. "Shan, I want to learn!"
"I've been out here," he replied, equally as stubborn. "You could die."
"Then I'll die knowing I was trying what I wanted to do," she shot back. Her face crumpled, tears gathering in her eyes. "You got the chance, how come I can't?"
He closed his eyes, hid the answering shine there. "What if I didn't want that chance?"
She gestured wildly. "Well, I do! Am I supposed to run back home and live the life you wanted, while you live the one I want? That's not fair!"
He shook his head slowly.
"Please don't send me back!" she pleaded, her words all but falling over themselves as she hurried to get them out. "I told him that I was going to find you because you're our brother and I didn't want to get married only he said you weren't, so I went to do it anyway and ran away because I don't want to be a shaman, and you are."
Roshanar's expression glazed over. "What?"
Her jaw set mulishly, and she raised her head. "I said I won't go back."
His chuckle was warm, sudden, and soothing. "Okay, Ehawe, I know that look. Come talk with me." He searched around them, and spying a wide, shady tree, he led her to it.
She balked, her eyes suddenly razor-sharp. "Who is Ehawe?"
"What?"
"You called me Ehawe," she said again. "Who is she?"
Roshanar cleared his throat. "Oh! Ah, Miss Ehawe is a druid, too. A friend." He sat on the ground without worry for his armor, and she followed suit. Before she could explore any further, he asked, "What have you been doing?"
She thought about it. Explaining everything just seemed so terribly messy right now... She sighed. "I did some things for Bloodhoof Village, and then they sent me here. I have to go somewhere called the Crossroads."
"Where did you go for two weeks?"
Again, she hesitated. Had he known she was gone? Who had told him?
More, why didn't he try to find her?
She picked at the grass beneath her fingers and said in a small voice, "Camp Narache." She pressed on before he could, "Greatmother Hawkwind and Chief Hawkwind took me in and helped me, so you can't tell Beram or else I'll--" What would she do? She shook her head. "You can't."
"Okay, okay," he said, laughing lightly. "I won't tell Beram. Why did you choose to become a druid?"
Grass crumbled beneath her fingers, dry and straw-like from the heat. Abandoning the near-dead blades, she turned to poking holes in the dry dirt instead. "Being a shaman was hard." At his look, she smiled a rueful, tiny smile. "I felt so small compared to all the other shaman. They were so good, and I felt so tiny..."
"Aw, 'Honi." Roshanar reached over and put an arm tightly around her shoulders. For the first time in a long time, Ihoni felt better. She smiled up at him as he said, "You're not small at all. Look at you! On your own, and a druid!"
"Beram doesn't like druids."
There wasn't much either of them could say to that; it was true. Beram didn't trust them. Then again... "They have elves," she added with an expression of dislike. "Everywhere."
"Well, you'll have to get used to that," he said. "You're a druid now. And if I always did what Beram wanted me to do, well... Imagine what I'd be doing?"
She could. In her imagination, Roshanar would still be home, would never have left. She looked down at her fingers, dusty with the bone-dry earth. "I suppose. What have you been doing, anyway?"
The sun passed overhead as they spoke. Roshanar told of his time with the Night Vanguard, and she listened intently with rapt interest. She laughed as he spoke of the Kodo Wrestler, and he pointedly outlined the dangers of the world outside of the bluffs.
She ignored it.
"And there's the zeppelins," he continued. "I bet you've never seen those! They fly through the air with machines and balloons."
She gaped. "Flying machines? In the air?" She winced. "Do they ever crash?"
He shrugged. "It's not unheard of, but I've never seen it."
Her heart started to thud unhappily in her chest. She shifted, shaking her head. "Oh. That's very helpful, thank you."
"I thought you said you were ready to face danger?"
"When I said 'danger', Roshanar Skychaser," she replied severely, "I didn't think you meant flying machines thousands of leagues in the sky!"
"'Honi," Roshanar said with a stern look. "Am I going to have to send you back?"
She smiled radiantly. "You can't. You said you wouldn't!" Smug triumph filled her face as he snorted.
"So I did."
"Besides, I'm not a calf anymore," she said again, with a thrust to her jaw. "I can handle it! And I'll be with you. I'll cook and clean your tent and you'll never regret it!"
He winced. "I hope."
She grabbed his hooves and tried to shake them, unsuccessfully. "You'll be proud of me, Shan, you'll see. I'll make you proud."
"I already am," he answered with a rueful smile. "Now, I better return to my patrol. Should you be off to your--where is it?"
"Ah!" She leapt to her feet and brushed the dust off from her leather pants. "I have to go talk to someone named Sera. Sergra. Srega." She pinkened beneath her dusty hide. "An orc at the Crossroads."
His laugh rumbled out of his chest and wrapped around her like a comforting blanket. Ihoni smiled with happy relief. "I'm sure you'll find her," he said, amused. "I live in Orgrimmar now. Will you come there when you're done?"
"Okay," she agreed readily. "Oh, and before I go..." She took two steps closer to where he sat, drew back her hand, and thumped him solidly on the chest. It went 'clang'. She tucked her hands behind her as he stared in surprise, discreetly shaking out the sting that went all the way to her elbow. "Four years!" she yelled. "Four years, you never even wrote! Not one letter! No word!"
The humor drained from his face, and he looked suddenly sad. "I'm sorry, 'Honi. I'll make it up to you."
"It's all right." She straightened her leather vest and grinned. "I wouldn't have written back anyway, then. I was upset. I'm glad to have found you, Shan."
He rose, and again, he wrapped his thick arms solidly around her. She burrowed in against his armor and felt a rather startling urge to purr. She wasn't sure she knew how, so she settled for a sigh. "Missed you too," he said over the sound. "Be careful."
"I will," she said easily, and wasn't sure if she'd be able to or not. But she left it at that, setting off again down the road. She turned to wave, walking backwards. "Earthmother bless you!" she called.
His shadow mimicked his wave, and her brother turned toward Camp Taurajo.
Ihoni hummed as she followed the dusty road.
Category: Horde Stories
Category: Stories