Hope from the Horde

"I guess the Kirin Tor are really serious about that not-fighting thing." Said Serrok as he lay the catatonic Draenei down on her new bed.

"I guess," replied Nargsmarsh as he piled her things neatly in the corner and set her armor on one of the armor stands in the room.

After three days, when the Kirin Tor healer had certified the Draenei safe to move, the two Horde warriors had been given a choice: give the Draenei up to the Alliance, or move her to Cantrips and Crows, the Inn in the Underbelly of Dalaran. The Kirin Tor were serious about their city being a sanctuary, and they weren't about to allow the two warriors to keep the shaman there in the Horde Quarter not knowing if anyone was coming after her or not. The two warriors kept their mouths shut on that one, not wanting to bring up the fact that everyone that had accompanied the Draenei into Naxxramus had, as Nargsmarsh had succinctly put it, assumed room temperature. Given that room temperature in Naxxramus seemed to run in the low sixties, it was a safe bet that they were most likely no longer among the independent-minded. Neither of the Horde wanted to make a wager on whether they were 'alive' in any sense of the word. The possibility did exist that they would become zombie chow, and no one currently residing in Cantrips and Crows would be all that unhappy about that eventuality.

"What do you think we should do?" The Orc was just about at his wit's end. He'd brought in three more healers, and although the Draenei was able to do a few things for herself, she wasn't able to do most things. She showed no real motivation, no independent thought, and had to be directed in the simplest matters. She performed basic care tasks for herself woodenly, with no expression, and both of them were beginning to get seriously disturbed by it. She didn't seem to know that anyone else was even alive, she didn't go out of her way to acknowledge anyone although she avoided frankly crashing into anything. Most of the time she spent appearing to be asleep in bed, with only short breaks for eating, washing, and such. Both of the males were seriously disturbed by this behavior, and had never seen anything like it.

"I guess..." the Tauren thought out loud, "I guess we should bring another Shaman down. A Draenei if we can find one, but if we can't, one of our people."

"It's going to be hard to find another Draenei that'll come down here with us."

"Yeah." There was silence for a few moments while they both considered what they were about to do. "Yeah, but not impossible. Surely there's one of those spacegoats that'll come down here and check her out."

They watched as she turned on her side toward the window, and Nargsmarsh moved closer to her, stroking her hair.

"What if they try to take her away from us?"

"Hurr?"

"You know, what if they try to feed us that pap about she'll never get better away from her people, yadda yadda yadda."

The Tauren shook his massive head. "I say she stays here 'til she can make a decision on her own."

"Well, maybe we oughta try an Orc then, or a Tauren."

"I guess I'll see what I can find."

Knowing that he'd spent the lion's share of time with the female over the last few days, Serrok took himself out of the room and went on the prowl for another Shaman. The lanugage barrier was the biggest problem, he was completely unable to communicate with most of the Draenei that he came across. The few that he was able to speak with were hunters, not shaman, and either couldn't or wouldn't give him directions to a shaman of their acquaintence. Appealing to the Archmages of Dalaran brought similar frustration, and although he did give serious thought to kidnapping one, he finally settled on a female Tauren of his acquaintance, Moana Watersinger.

It was fortunate, indeed, that he ran into her, almost literally, in front of the Horde Inn in Dalaran. It saved him a trip to her last known location in the Dragonblight. It was she who hailed him, he was so deep in thought looking for her that he almost missed her completely.

"Serrok!"

He turned to see her, the light making her white fur almost glow, and he wondered how it was exactly that he could have missed her.

"Moana!" He was so relieved that he could have laughed for joy right there. "I am so glad to see you. I have a problem that I hope you can help me with."

She listened to all that he had to tell her attentively, and nodded sagely in several places. "Of course I will come with you to see your Draenei female." She said not quite enthusiastically, but the Draenei was, indeed, Alliance. For her part, Moana was amazed that the Tauren and the Orc had cared for the Draenei for so long, most of their kind would have gotten frustrated when she didn't immediately awaken and dragged her outside the city to be left for dead. She wondered what it was that had aroused the pair's protective instincts. Perhaps the Draenei was close to her heat period? But even a female in season wouldn't appeal to both the Tauren and the Orc if there wasn't something more involved. It was not the first time that Moana had regretted her decision to be only friends with Serrok. The male had a sense of caring and responsibility that one didn't often see in a male of his age unless they were Druids or Shaman. Pushing personal feelings behind, she followed the Tauren down into the Underbelly and to the Inn.

Once she saw the Draenei Female she understood what part of the problem was. The Draenei had sent her soul to the spirit-place in a bid to escape. It was a dangerous thing she had done, there were evil spirits that liked to use one's body if one's soul had vacated it, and even more than that, sometimes, as what appeared to have happened to the female, the spirit could lose it's way back to the body.

"It seems that she may have lost her way." Moana said to the two males. "If you would find me some food and drink? I am going to have to trance to try and find her soul and bring it back."

By unspoken agreement Nargsmarsh rummaged in his packs and found some honey spiced lichen that he'd been saving for a day when he couldn't find anything else to eat, and some spring water. The Tauren female accepted it gracefully, eating in silence. She then lit incense in a couple places around the room so that a light sweet scent filled the room.

"It may well take me a long time tranced to find her. Please don't try to wake me, nor worry about me. I have been tranced for many days, and I will come back to care for myself when it is needed."

Both males nodded mutely, somewhat overawed by the female's assertiveness. She smiled to herself as she pushed her spirit into the familiar spiral of within and without.

It was good that she had kept the Draenei female's physical body in her mind's eye, because the silver thread that tied her spirit to her body was threading out to far away from where her physical body was. Turning her own soul toward what appeared to be the destination of the Draenei, Moana flew swiftly through the spirit world. Even in the oddness that space and time had in this place, it seemed to take her a very long time to find where Calistera's soul had hidden itself. It had been six hours in the physical world when Moana found her in the company of the Naaru.

:Greetings, Noble Draenei.: The Tauren knew that auditory language might very well be a barrier, but the spiritual language of souls could transcend that.

:Greetings, My Sister.: Calistera was smiling as she turned her face to see the Tauren, and for a second or two shock coloured her features. :Why have you followed me here?:

:Your body yet lives in the company of my kin.:

:The Horde has my body?: An unreadable expression flitted across the Draenei's face. If Moana had to identify it, she would have identified it as fear, but it was gone so quickly that the Tauren female couldn't be sure.

:Aye. Two males, one as close as a brother to me, and another of the kindred of the Orcs.:

:Hmm.: Thinking quickly, Calistera divined that there was more to this than met the eye. Her memories had been muddled by the Naaru when she had arrived here because of the abuse that she had suffered. She had been almost-mad, operating only on instinct, and they had finally cured her as much as they could by the expedient method of leaving only the memories that were completely necessary. She knew that she had been abused by the men she had entered Naxxramus with, and knew that they were dead, but she didn't know the extent to which they abused her, nor what liberties had been taken with her body. Mercifully, the last thing she actually remembered was the whip beginning to come down on her.

:I wonder why they have me?: It was a question directed toward the Tauren female, and one that she was unsure of how to answer.

:I only know that they have been caring for your body. You were gravely injured when they brought you back to Dalaran from where you had been.:

:Rescued by the Horde?: A smile accompanied the thought. :An odd place for hope to spring from. Although my memories are not all here, I think that they must have saved me from great evil among the Alliance.:

Inclining her head, the Tauren female didn't say anything else. She did not want to bring back memories that were obviously lacking. She knew little of the Naaru, but from the time she'd spent in Shattrath knew that they were beings of goodness and light. She wasn't about to interfere with their judgment.

:I have come to show you the way home.: She finally said.

:I suppose it is time that I went back.: Agreed the Draenei. :I think I have been here for a long time, although time passes differently here.:

:You have been here for three turnings of the sun.:

:More than time I returned then.:

She said her goodbyes to the Naaru, who enfolded her in light and love one last time before they let her go. She thanked them all, and took her leave, following the Tauren female 'home'.

Together, the two females traveled back to their bodies, awakening at almost the same moment. They both wore the same amused smiles when the males startled at their twinlike movements.

"Food!" Moana commanded, and they fed both females. The Draenei thanked all of them, then curled on the bed completely overcome with exhaustion and was snoring before any of them could wish her good night. The males looked curiously at the Tauren female.

"She'll be tired tonight, and probably part of tomorrow, but should make a full recovery. She doesn't know everything, the Naaru seem to have wiped some of her worst memories away. I'm not sure, but her injuries may have done some of that for her. Her soul didn't know she had been healed, and showed me how much she had been hurt." She eyed the males seriously. "She has been deeply hurt. No one would blame you if you decided that it was too much for you to handle and you took her to the portal to Exodar and left her to her seniors."

"Moana--" Nargsmarsh protested.

"We will care for her." Serrok said, gently but firmly over any opposition that Moana might have had.

"It'll be a rough road." She said, "And some of her memories will probably return."

"We're up to it." Said Nargsmarsh.

"Call if you need me." Grinning at them in the way that only Shaman could, she took her leave.

"What now?" Asked Nargsmarsh, but Serrok was already climbing into his bed.

"It's going to be a long day tomorrow, dealing with a confused, awake Draenei. We'd better get some sleep."