Tauren Tale, Chapter 12

Story by gre7g on SoFurry

, , , , , , , ,

#12 of Tauren Tale


Sanja's dreams were frightening and surreal. The elves had fled during the night and taken her brother with them. She tried to chase after them, but the thick, jungle air slowed her movement. It was as if trudging through the waters surrounding the campsite.

When she awoke, Meridia smiled at her. Jorga was sleeping with his head in her lap and she was idly petting his mane. Ellemayne had snuggled close to Sanja as she slept. She pushed her huge head underneath the Tauren's hand.

Meridia mouthed some silent, Darnassian greeting when she noticed that Sanja was awake. Not recognizing what it could be, Sanja mouthed Good morning, in reply.

Kazbo's face looked more normal today. He sat beside the fire and warmed his hands around Tanavar's mug. He sipped at it between satisfied smiles.

"May I?" Sanja whispered, trying not to wake her brother. The Gnome shared the mug, but she nearly spit out the surprisingly bitter drink.

"If you do not care for the taste," he said quietly, taking the mug back, "I'll keep it from going to waste." Sanja sensed that if anything, he seemed relieved that he would not have to share it.

When it was all gone, he returned the mug to the Night Elf. "I don't suppose I could have a... little more java?" Kazbo asked sheepishly.


"I wish you luck on your journey," Tanavar said to the Gnome. He made a deliberate effort to look Sanja in the eye. "Elune-adore..." a pause before explaining, "May Elune watch over you, all the way back to Mulgore."

"Thank you. May the wind always be at your back," she replied. "I hope your meeting with the princess goes well."

"Now you be careful," Meridia said to Jorga. She knelt in front of him and buttoned his vest, even though he preferred to leave it open. "The Stonetalon Mountains can be a dangerous place."

She frowned for a moment before reaching in her pack. "I want you to take this," she said. Meridia removed a perfectly tanned hide and draped it over the small boy.

"Wow!" Jorga gasped. The skin was from some sort of huge cat that he had never seen before. The thick, orange fur was decorated with stripes of black, and had a belly that faded to white. The paws, tail, and head were still in place.

Sanja was confident that whoever had prepared this hide was certainly an expert.

"But your mother..." Tanavar started to say.

"...will be happy to know that her gift is keeping a young boy warm," she finished for him.

Meridia draped the hide over Jorga like a cloak. She adjusted the cat's head over Jorga's and the cat's paws over his hands. "Oh goodness!" she giggled. "It's a tiger!"

"Rawr!" Jorga growled. He swiped a floppy paw at Kazbo. "Rawr!" he growled at his sister. The boy tried to pounce on Ellemayne, but the jungle cat seemed far more interested in being scratched. She butted the boy with her head and knocked the small Tauren on his tail.

Sanja took Meridia's hands in hers and lowered her forehead to them. "Thank you, Meridia. You have shown us such generosity, that I could never repay."

Sanja lifted her head and the druid looked her in the eye for the first time since they had met. Whether it was magic, or just a sense of empathy they shared, she could feel the strange woman's thoughts. That tiny vest will give him no warmth this winter, she seemed to say. Although I hate to see it destroyed, please use this pelt in whatever way you must to keep him safe.

Sanja tried not to think about cutting the beautiful pelt up to make clothing, even though she knew such a drastic action would hard to avoid.


Supercharged with two cups of java, Kazbo hiked with surprising energy. He talked non-stop about anything - and everything - that entered his head.

Even though she had put the pelt away in her pack, Jorga continued to pretend that he was a tiger. He stalked. He growled. He pounced.

Between the two, very distracted boys, their progress was slow; but Sanja didn't truly mind. They were in no rush, and for the first time since they saw the balloon crash, she felt that everything was going to be all right. She couldn't help but smile.

"Wow!" Jorga gasped suddenly.

Sanja and Kazbo ran up a small hill to catch up with the boy. They turned, and the trio stared out across a large, green lake. There, only a hundred yards away, shambled a gigantic figure.

The Ancient was perhaps forty feet tall, and he trudged slowly across the water's shallow edge. He looked like a mighty tree, but his legs rooted and uprooted themselves with each slow step. His face seemed sad and his outstretched limbs looked almost angry. A long, thick beard of ivy swung slowly back and forth as he swayed.

Sanja and Jorga knelt and lowered their heads. Feeling out of place, Kazbo knelt too, but he couldn't take his eyes off of the spirit of the wild.

The Tauren began to sing. At first it was just a long slow sound they shared, punctuated with rhythmic drumming against the swampy ground.

Oh... oh... slap slap

Oh... oh... slap slap

The Ancient started swaying in place, its face looked up to the sky. Kazbo wanted to ask the children what it could be doing, but he didn't want to interrupt. They seemed very serious all of a sudden.

Forgive us, forgive us, mighty spirit of forest,

Forgive us, forgive us, slap slap

We mean you no harm, we mean you no ill,

Our failings are our weakness, slap slap

Tiny sparks of light began to spin around the towering creature, and then ghostly leaves of dark green joined in to the dance. "That looks like the spell..." Kazbo started to whisper, and then feeling ashamed of his interruption, he closed his mouth and returned to watching the figure across the lake.

The birds in the trees hushed reverently, and the air filled with strange scents. Kazbo smelled cinnamon and wildflowers, and then freshly cut hay. There was a strange buzzing that built and built until it was the wings of a thousand birds.

We love your trees and the fruits that they bear,

We thank you for the shade that they give, slap slap

The life that you give them, you give to us too,

And for this we clap our thanks, slap slap

The song faded out over the water and the trio watched in silence as the Ancient completed casting his healing spell. The leaves faded away, and although they sat a tremendous distance away, all three felt a gigantic wave of vertigo pass through them.

"Whoa!" gasped Jorga. He reached out to Sanja's shoulder to steady himself.

Ever so slowly, a small stand of trees began to rise from the swampy banks. In just moments, the Ancient was surrounded, and the trees continued to grow. The being shambled away into the forest, and finally out of sight.

"Look! Look!" Kazbo shouted in surprise. Tiny clover and wildflowers were sprouting all around them. Out of thin air, deep green moss was forming on their clothes.

"Wow," Jorga said again. He scratched some of the moss off of his pants with a fingernail and watched it regrow. "That's neat."

The birds began to sing again and the trio just sat there listening to the music. A feeling of well-being washed over them.

"So that was a..." Kazbo said.

Sanja and Jorga nodded.

"Do you think we could... perhaps go... and talk to it?"

Sanja and Jorga shook their heads.

"They are sacred beings that hold power over life itself. Just being near one can cure disease, or mend broken bones," Sanja explained.

"Only the most valiant warriors have the courage to try to speak to an Ancient. The elders say they hold grudges against every race for what they have done to the trees. Well, every race other than the Night Elves, I suppose."

Kazbo thought about his home, back in Gnomeregan. He thought about his furniture of dark-stained cherry, the oaken bookcases, and the library of words printed on paper sheets. Although he had never - personally - cut down a tree, he could understand why the Ancients might not like Gnomes.

"But surely they do not hold a grudge against the Tauren," he said. "You live in harmony with nature. So many of the archdruids are Tauren..."

"We cook our food over wood fires. We make our weapons of wood. Wooden poles hold up our tents," she explained. "And they are nearly immortal... Who knows what they have seen Tauren do in the past? What if they had seen a Tauren start a forest fire? Or chop down a tree? Or cook acorns? The elders say that they hold entire tribes responsible for the actions of every individual."

"Well, that doesn't seem very fair," Kazbo grumbled.

"Not every people think in the same way that you or I might. Surely you have been surprised by our differences. I know I have."

He nodded, reluctantly.

"Do you think you could you hold a conversation with someone," Sanja asked, "if you thought they had cooked their food over a pile of burning Gnomes?"

Kazbo shivered at the thought and the silence stretched.

"I think we must be near the edge of the oasis," Sanja volunteered. "If they are using their powers here, then perhaps they are protecting the swamp from the desert... or trying to expand it further."

"So you think there's more of them?" Kazbo gasped.

The girl nodded. "There's no way a single Ancient could do all of this. We are witnessing something very important going on."

"Are you certain?" he asked.

Sanja smiled and shifted to one hip so she could face the Gnome. She picked some of the small flowers and stuck them in her mane. "Suppose I went to Gnomeregan and told you that something very important was happening in Desolace, and that I needed you to go there... Would you go?"

Kazbo's eyes opened wide as he imagined being back in his library, a whole world away. He thought about how easy his life had been before he came; the cozy bed, the fine meals, and the company of his family. In his mind he compared it to the heat, the bug bites, the hunger, and isolation. He swallowed hard. "Yes, I would, Sanja. I don't think you would ask such a thing if it were not important."

She nodded and smiled. "And if I told you that you needed to bring ten other Gnomes with you, could you manage it?"

His mouth hung open slightly. "That would be a lot to ask. It would be harder to convince others who did not know you. Much harder."

"What about a hundred? A thousand other Gnomes?"

Now he just looked at her.

"The Ancients did not just come here because someone asked them," she said. "I don't pretend to understand their reasons, but something very important is happening here."