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 Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:54 am
She couldn't remember her family. What had her parents looked like? Did she have siblings? Were they warriors or crafters? She had nothing to go on, except for names that meant nothing to her. But somewhere deep inside, she wanted to know them, to meet the people who had chosen to abandon her because she was different, because they had seen her as broken.
She had been told that they had brought her as just a toddling calf... or at least she should have been toddling. She had had certain physical delays in her development, and combined with some visible oddities, this is what had stirred them to bring her to Moonglade. That choice unto itself made Malie wonder. It wasn't as if their people didn't have their own healers. Why bring her so far, to strangers? The druids told her that her parents stayed anxiously by her side as their best healers had worked to determine the cause and possible cure for whatever it was that ailed her.
Malie grimaced, sending her feline whiskers spreading wide as she paced onwards and reflected on these things she'd been told, but could not recall herself.. She hadn't been sick or injured, so there had been nothing to heal. She simply had been a little small, a little twisted, a little slower to achieve milestones. But her parents, rather than taking her home to be loved and taught how to grow strong and confident, had left her with the druids and gone back home without her.
Oh, she'd been assured time and time again that they had left her in the hopes that the druidic healers could find ways to help her body 'mend', but in her heart, Malie personally believed that they hadn't felt up to the job of caring for her. They hadn't loved her enough to make the effort. As it turned out, she hadn't needed much help or accommodation at all. The druids, in fact, had mostly left her to herself. She had been taught druidic ways, of course, and had learned her histories, how to read, write, and figure. But somehow she never had been loved. She was their responsibility, but not their family. She had no family. For all that she had parents somewhere out int he wide world, she was undeniably an orphan.
It had been a lonely childhood, but she had found solace in that green, verdant valley. When the adults were too busy tending to their own business, and she had been left to her own devices, she had crept off into the leafy depths of the forest and found true friends among the creatures that dwelled there. She had learned early how to transform herself... it had actually surprised her teachers how quickly she'd picked up that skill. So she had walked among the animals as one of them, and they had welcomed her with affection and acceptance. The furred kind became her family when none else stepped in to fill that void.
As a tauren, she was clearly stunted in her growth. She was short, lighter boned, and with several joints turning just slightly out of whack. One ankle turned faintly inwards... her shoulders hunched just a little too much.... one thumb was too slender and did not bend, and her horns clearly had not grown out as they should have. The druids had come to accept her appearance, but any newcomers to the valley had given her odd looks, peering at her out of the corners of their eyes so as not to appear to be staring. She hated it, and so hid anytime someone she didn't know was around.
As a feline, she was still somewhat small and slender, but her joints no longer were twisted, and she gained a gracefulness that was impossible in her 'natural' form. Her muscles were stronger, she had more stamina, and she felt more powerful and in control of things. She didn't get strange looks nearly so often as a cat, and she had a good excuse to not interact with anyone.
Over time, as she developed into a teenager, she spoke less and less, even to those druids she was closest to. Now, at fifteen, her teachers had declared that they had taught her all they could, and it was now in her hands as to what to do with herself. That very night, she had taken only what was important to her and left. She had one thing in mind, for the time being... it was time to find her parents, and ask them the question that wrenched at her heart, day and night.
"Why didn't you love me?"
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Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 10:37 am
It had taken her quite some time, padding along by herself, or hitching a ride on someone's cart, to finally make it here. Arriving in Mulgore, her people's homeland, she had chosen to start as deep into the valley as she could find dwellings. A small village sat upon a mesa, rising above the valley floor and accessible only by a narrow, winding pathway. That was the best place to start, she decided, and went bounding up it on determined paws.
Would this be the day? Would she somehow find and recognize her parents, look them in the eye and present herself whole and capable? Granted, she wasn't like most other tauren, but should that matter to one's parents? She didn't think so, but the idea of still being rejected by them made her heart flutter. She bit down on her tongue to push those unsettling thoughts away. It was with the taste of blood on her tongue that she first crested the top of the trail and gazed into the village.
It seemed quaint and quiet, a cluster of huts and tents, with the minutia of daily life scattered about carelessly. Practice dummies stuffed with straw sat comically against a hillside, and a frame for stretching leather stood prominently within sight. Tools hung on racks, and the sound of heavy hooves and deep voices arose beyond them. Taking a deep breath, Malie padded forward, staying in cat form. She wasn't about to give these strangers a reason to look at her that way, to reject her before she'd even gotten within speaking distance. She swallowed hard and stepped out from between two leather-walled homes and into the village of strangers.
It was small, so she wsn't at all overwhelmed, but it still was terribly intimidating to be confronted with so many faces she didn't know. She ducked her head low, looking up uneasily at those she passed. She got a few smiles, one or two curious looks, but generally was ignored. Now... how was she going to determine who her parents were without knowing much about them? And how, oh how was she going to do this without having to talk to every single person in the village?!
She began her search by simply going from one structure to the next. She employed her nose, figuring that perhaps a scent would be familiar, the smell of her mother perhaps. No one seemed to consider her an intruder, and merely moved around her if she happened to be in the way. She was greeted once or twice, though she had always tucked her tail in close to her haunches and scurried away immediately. Once she'd thoroughly searched every corner of the village, she was getting desperate. She saw no signs of anything that might be construed as familiar. She sensed nothing to indicate anyone missed her here. She was the stranger, and nothing more.
Nearly shaking with fright, but still just as determined in her quest, she located a big, burly male who looked like he was in charge. Taking her courage in hand, she sidled up beside him and waited until he had a moment free. "Honored elder," she began, her feline voice a bit raspy and soft, "I'm looking for... someone. Does anyone live nearby?" Her question wasn't the clearest, but he seemed to understand. He nodded his horn-heavy head and turned to point down a path that led out of the village.
"But young one," he rumbled, "I am sorry, but those homes have been destoryed. We are at war with the bristlebacks, and they have driven us out of our sister village across the way. If the one you are looking for was there... they may be with the ancestors now." His expression was at once both sorrowful and wrathful. She backed away from his intense expression, shaking like a leaf. With a mumbled thanks, she turned and fled the direction he'd pointed.
She scampered along the trail until she began to hear the sounds of battle. Slowing, she crept up and into a war camp that was being defended by tauren warriors of all sorts. Eyes wide, she found someone and was forced to speak again. "Where was the village?" she managed. The soldier glanced at her briefly and pointed out beyond the rough battlements.
"Go that way, and take as many out as you can!" he ordered her, turning back in time to catch an enemy's axe on his halberd. She gave a soft yowl and sprang backwards, then looked where he'd pointed. Sure enough, smoke rose in the distance, and between her and it were knots of tauren and bristleback invaders, tangled in violence and bloodshed.
Her fur stood on end, but could she leave without searching thoroughly? No, she'd always wonder, and she wasn't sure she could live with that doubt. With her fur standing on end and making her look somewhat bigger than she usually did, she slunk out onto the battlefield.
Never had she felt so out of place. Screams, yells, cries of pain, and the alarming sounds of death surrounded her. The air smelled of gunpowder, metal, blood, and dust. She crept between the groups, keeping low to the ground, relieved that no one seemed interested in her. Up ahead, she saw where the fighting slowed, but the destruction began.
What had once been a village was now a wasteland. Buildings still burned, others canted crookedly with broken walls and supports. Others were disturbingly whole and untouched. Bodies sprawled everywhere on land that seemed to have abandoned all life... except for the massive, bitter-smelling vines that seemed to have crawled from the ground to enfold and smother structures. The bristlebacks were everywhere, but generally ignored her.
She gulped, fighting back terrified tears as she threaded her way through the desolated village. She turned to enter the first place she entered, and was met with an enraged squeal and fierce charge of one of the enemy. She was so startled and fearful, she did what she never thought she could. She fought back.
What the druids had taught her came flowing back, and she raked her claws across the ugly thing's snout, eliciting yet more squeals, this time ones of pain. It didn't stop, however, and kept at her, a rough club in its hand. It only took one good whack along her shoulder to convince her that this was serious, and that she had to act, or die.
Her mind was a whirl, but from the chaos surfaced a thought... what would one of her animal friends do, if they had been attacked? There was no doubt as to the answer of that. They'd fight, and they'd do so with all their might! In the animal kingdom, the weak and hesitant fell, and only those willing to stand up for themselves and their kin survived. Her eyes flashed at this revelation, and she rose with a roar that belied her size and took on the bristleback.
Her skills were unhoned, but effective. It took some time to kill it, but she succeeded in the end. When she finally stood, panting, over the still body of her foe, she expected to promptly be sick. Instead, she felt a surge of... well, something. It wasn't delight. Death was never something to delight over. It was... triumph. Satisfaction. She had overcome, and had done so honorably, as the druids had taught her. She didn't like it, but it was significant to her that now she knew she could.
She went on to search through the ruined buildings, killing any creature that stood in her way. She also happened across cages with tauren inside, never hesitating to free them. Each one of those freed ran to join the fight, leaving Malie feeling as if she had made a difference, not just for herself, but for those who had lived and died here, past and present.
In the end, her search was fruitless, but her effort was far from wasted. She had discovered in herself a warrior, a fighter who would no longer be a victim, but could stand on her own four paws and make her own way in the world.... just so long as she didn't have to interact with those who weren't her enemy. That... was still much too hard for the timid little girl. Only time would tell if that too would be overcome, but for now, it was enough that she had found her own ferocity. For now, that would do quite nicely, and server her well as she continued her hopeless search.
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