Part I
His slate-gray fur was bedraggled - much of its healthy sheen had been lost, and patches of it had even fallen out, exposing the oozing flesh beneath. Each step he took was stiff and pained, and stretched the skin and coat so taut that each rib was clearly defined beneath. Rainawa had been tracking this particular wolf for days, from the moment she had seen his pack turn against him and drive him out as the first visible signs of plague emerged. The deterioration from healthy canid to this barely-living husk before her had been quick, and yet...one glance into his eyes spoke of the great inner strength that remained. His body might have weakened, his vision lost in one milked-over eye, but the other deep brown eye remained as indomitable as the spirit within. Plagued or no, Rainawa decided that she must have this wolf, to journey alongside her...companion and friend.He - Rottie, as Rainawa affectionately referred to him in her mind - was not as easily convinced of this. Even more wary of danger was he now that there were no pack-mates to rush to his aid, and now that the sickness had taken much of his strength. The taming process was slow; at first he even rejected the proffered meat that carried the determined Tauren's scent. Rainawa was undeterred. She enjoyed a difficult tame, and over the course of the next week left the corpse of a small mammal - rabbits, squirrels, and the like - out for Rottie each day, then lay low in a bramble thicket, where her pale fawn-and-white fur were not quite as conspicuous. In the end, stubbornness won out over stubbornness, and Rottie took pieces of dried venison one by one from Rainawa's hand while she gently stroked his head and crooned to him in Taurahe.
In a process even more daunting than the taming of the wolf, Rottie slowly regained his physical strength under Rainawa's care and training. As a team the two would plunge deep into the tainted forest of Felwood, armed with little more than what weapons nature had given them, and would not emerge until the land was cleansed. As efficiently as they worked, however, the plague seemed to continue its spread, undoing their work in mere days. And as much care and as many medicinal herbs as she lavished upon Rottie, he continued to suffer from the same illness. Anxious over the health of her companion and the seemingly unending spread of disease that had overtaken the forest, Rainawa decided to travel north, to Moonglade, and ask for any aid that the Druids could offer.
As they traveled even further into the depths of Felwood, the creatures appeared even more grotesque, twisted into cruel shapes by the plague, and all of the plant-life was wilted and dead. Here even the roads were not safe, for they had fallen into disrepair from lack of use, and there were no guards to defend them. More than once Rainawa found herself cornered by one of the bears, gone mad with plague, and was saved by Rottie, who threw his in-formidable form between and fought with the strength of one equally crazed - driven to madness by his love for the Tauren, and by his fear of losing her.
It was a week's travel before Tauren and wolf arrived at the Timbermaw Hold. Rainawa set up camp outside the mouth of the entrance to the tunnel, and then immediately began to treat Rottie, whose weakness had increased so much as of late that she had been forced, at times, to sling him over the back of her kodo and lead the beast on. Despite his physical frailty, however, Rottie's spirit remained stalwart and untouched, and he still leaped to Rainawa's defense at the slightest stirring of danger. Even when he slept soundly, as he did that night, his ears remained erect and listening for the sound of an approach, at which he would leap up, a growl tickling his throat, and remain on the vigil until the danger had passed.
The plagued beasts did not dare approach the Timbermaw's fortress, however, so it was not until the gentle, warm caress of the sun's rays fell across her face that Rainawa stirred and woke, and prodded her companion into action. She packed the essentials into a rucksack that she carried upon her back, and turned her kodo loose in what little grazing remained in the area - for she could hardly expect to lead so large an animal through the tunnel. Then she turned and, with a whistle to signal Rottie to follow, stepped into the darkness of the furbolg's maze.
Though she carried her bow with her, Rainawa left it slung over her back, for she expected no trouble from the furbolgs. Though they allied themselves with no other race, they were a generally peaceable race and would not deny passage to a lone Tauren - or so she thought. What Rainawa did not know was how far the corruption of the plague had reached. Even the furbolgs were now turned mad, and those who had not been tainted were suspicious of any strangers, and openly hostile against them. The greatest fear of the Timbermaw within the hold was that the plague would slip past the barricade and into their ranks - thus, when their eyes fell upon the Tauren accompanied by the wolf who was clearly infected, they fell upon the pair with a series of angry, deafening roars, warning Rainawa to retreat in a language that she did not comprehend.
Before she had time to nock an arrow, Rottie had sunk his teeth into the nearest furbolg, mistaking the warning for an attack. Wolf and furbolg were then shielded completely from Rainawa's vision as the rest of the Timbermaw rushed into the fray, frenzied in their attacks and even killing their own in the attempt to dispatch the wolf and their now-infected brother. Rainawa, just as frantic in the defense of her friend, nocked arrows as quickly as she could and fired them into the backs of the nearest furbolgs. A glimpse of silver fur became visible and, with little care for her own safety, Rainawa plunged a great arm into the pack and lifted Rottie clear of the marauding furbolgs.
They surrounded her now with spears, roaring their frustration and jabbing any flesh of the Tauren that was within their reach. Streaming blood from a number of wounds, Rainawa summoned the last of her strength to stamp her hooves and cause the ground to tremble. The Timbermaw were momentarily stunned, and Rainawa took advantage of the confusion, running north through the tunnel. She threw a trap over her shoulder, which was triggered by the first of the furbolgs to pursue, and turned the ground into slick ice. Her pursuers were slowed, but underneath the heavy body of Rottie now slung across her shoulders, Rainawa barely held her own, and barely managed to emerge into the safety of Moonglade with her life. The last she remembered was cradling Rottie's unconscious form in her arms, and the fleeting thought of throwing him clear of the tunnel if she were to be overtaken by the furbolgs, before she stumbled out of the tunnel's mouth and into the arms of a Moonglade Warden, her vision blackening and all senses of the mundane world leaving her.
...
