User blog:KodiakPackAttack/Naharak Hawktotem - Ghosts

Originally posted on June 10, 2014 on my | blog.

= Ghosts  =

"Even the stars lose their shine in the daylight"

THE SIEGE of Orgrimmar was grueling and bloody, but Young Hawk had weathered it. He and seven Hawktotem warbands arrived in Durotar; they were all of the fighting forces that the Hawktotem could possibly field. They sang songs of battle when they charged alongside the other rebels and were always the last ones to leave the field of battle. That bravery had earned them the respect of the warriors, but it caused the Hawktotem’s ranks to diminish greatly.

A single warband had survived the siege and even then it was not the entire warband. Only seven of ten braves made it out alive. It weighed heavily on Young Hawk’s soul that he led over seventy tribesmen to their deaths; it was the single greatest loss of life that the Tribe had ever experienced. Each death was not in vain, as the Hawktotem achieved each objective that it was assigned.

They were returning home now; home to the mountains of Mulgore which held the Hawktotem’s first established village: Camp Ahok'awa. It was a village that was established by Young Hawk in the name of his father, Ghost Paw. Almost two-hundred Tauren called Camp Ahok'awa home. With the warband was a large kodo caravan containing sixty-three bodies of those who had fallen.

The trek to Mulgore was long. Due to the Great Divide, the caravan had to take an alternate route through Ashenvale and the Stonetalon Mountains. They stopped only twice: once at Sun Rock Retreat and again at Hunter’s Hill. The trip was mostly silent until Hunter’s Hill.

“It will be good to be home,” said Bithip Ironhoof, Chief of the Ironhoof Sect of the Tribe. “It has been the better almost half a year since we left to aid the rebels in the Barrens and Durotar.”

“My little one will be walking by now,” replied Leturok One-eye, Champion of the Tribe’s Sunwalkers, “and I’m told my eldest began training to become a Sunwalker in Thunder Bluff just like her father.” He turned to face Bithip. “Lohtahn is teaching her.”

“Then she’ll have a good mentor. Lohtahn is a powerful Sunwalker. He beat me in a duel not long before we left for the siege,” remarked Bithip.

While the warband was breaking its long silence, Young Hawk and Bohanu had separated from the group. Young Hawk looked over the Barrens and stoic Bohanu was ever vigilant. They stayed there, not saying a word to each other.

Young Hawk and Bohanu Splinterhoof did not participate in the conversation. Young Hawk separated had himself from the group to look out over the Barrens and stoic Bohanu was ever vigilant in guarding his Chieftain’s life. The silence between the two was long and it wasn’t until the rest of the warband had gone to sleep when that silence was broken.

“Bohanu,” whispered Young Hawk, “you are the Spear of the Hawktotem and leader of the Honor Guard. I must know: was I correct in taking the remaining two warbands from the village and taking command away from Leturok during the siege the best strategy?” His voice was trembling and shaky. It was clear that he had been silently weeping the entire time that he had been staring over the Barrens. Bohanu was silent for a long moment before responding. When he spoke, he spoke in a firm but reassuring and quiet tone. “I saw you command the Hunter’s Hill braves alongside the Hawktotem’s when the Kor'kron attempted to assault the camp en masse. You led the defense from choke points and set up traps beforehand so that their numbers did not matter. In that regard, you succeeded in tactics. The siege was a more different beast than a battle in the field, however. It was not surprising that you made several mistakes during it that led to the deaths of many.”

“What would my father have done?”

“Ghost Paw would not have committed any forces to the siege. The Hawktotem always succeeded in guerilla campaigns, which was most of the Hawktotem’s combat history. Ghost Paw was seldom defeated in the field, but when he did it was because he left guerilla tactics behind in favor of more organized warfare. The Slaughter in Stonetalon and the tail end of the Barrens campaign were two defeats in particular that Ghost Paw had to deal with.”

Young Hawk was shocked. Given the knowledge that he did the exact opposite of what his father would have done stuck him deep. “Was I right in aiding the siege, then?”

Again, Bohanu was silent for a long moment, choosing his words carefully. “You are my Chieftain, Young Hawk, and I am your spear. I believe that whatever your decision is, it is the right one.”

Young Hawk turned back towards the Barrens, but Bohanu continued to speak. “This is part of what it means to lead braves into battle, Young Hawk. You will lose – all battlefield commanders lose – but what matters is that they achieved the result that they set out for. You were given commands by the High Chieftain and you set out to reach those goals, no matter the cost. I would not put the loss of so many braves out of your mind, but you must learn that with such a great struggle, there will be a great cost.”

The caravan left Hunter’s Hill for the last leg of their journey back home. There were multiple ways into the mountains of Mulgore, and Camp Ahok'awa was located at the fork of a pass that led to Desolace, Stonetalon, and Mulgore. They chose to go through the route to Mulgore as they had a much larger force of Tauren to return to Bloodhoof Village before going to their destination.

As the warband walked up the pass with the remainder of its caravan, Young Hawk noticed that something was off. Where are the watchers? He thought to himself. His heart began to race as he climbed to crest the hill that overlooked his village.

When he reached the top, his heart was in his mouth. His worst fear came to fruition: Camp Ahok'awa was decimated. He was in silent shock and each member of the single remaining warband let out his grief. They raced down the hill, the distance of half a mile closing in less than a few minutes.

They ran through the gate and more horror was strewn across their faces. In the open he saw the banner of the Kor'kron Guard atop a mountain of corpses. Young Hawk sank to his knees in grief, put his head into his hands, and wept.

The others closed in behind him and stopped upon seeing the mountain of corpses. Leturok stepped forward, picking up his son. “Not even the little ones were spared.”

Bithip began to inspect each of the dead for Lohtahn. “They were scalped, just as we did to their dead. This was a revenge killing.”

This is all my fault, Young Hawk thought as he stood. He walked through the village desperately looking for survivors. After hours of searching, he did not find any. All of the tents and other buildings had been burned to the ground. While the others members of the warband began to separate the mountain of corpses, Young Hawk sat alone near his old tent.

As he sat alone he saw a figure come from the burned tents. The figure was a grey, aging Tauren. He only wore a simple brown kilt, thus showing off the scars that he had gained from what Young Hawk could only assume was a lifetime of war. The figure approached Young Hawk and spoke.

“This is the result of your decision, Naharak,” said the figure. “All of these burned tents and dead are because of it.”

Young Hawk looked up. “Father,” he said addressing the figure, “I have tried so hard.”

“And thus you have fallen so far. Do you know why?” Hranu’s eyes gazed at his son, a cold stare within them.

Young Hawk shook his head. He lowered his voice to a whisper. “No.”

Hranu turned towards the village, opening his arms wide. “You wore my axes. You wore my armor. You carried out the ways that I had set forth. The Tribe was supposed to stay fractured until another came.” Hranu lowered his arms. “My son from Fyalna.”

Young Hawk stood, tears flowing from his eyes. “But I have done so much – better than you have! I established a village; I saw the greatest influx this tribe has ever seen!” “And where are they all now?” Hranu scoffed. “You’re not me. I did not wish for you to be me. I have been damned by our ancestors for the evils that I have committed. I must walk this earth forever to atone.” He looked back at Young Hawk. “You were not supposed to follow in my path.”

“What must I do now that I have lost everything?”

“Forge your own path. The Horde remains fractured; its enemies close in around it. You must aid in building its unity or you must die. Abandon my path. Become greater than I ever was.”

Another voice was added to the conversation. “Chieftain?” It was Bithip. “Who are you speaking to?”

Young Hawk turned towards Bithip and then back to the direction of where his father’s ghost was. The spot where the ghost once stood was empty. Young Hawk’s eyes widened. Am I going insane?

“No one. To myself.”

“The bodies are ready to burn at your command. The funeral pyre is large and will likely take many hours to burn.”

“Do it,” replied Young Hawk.

For the next two days, what was left of the Hawktotem Tribe burned the funeral pyres. Almost two hundred dead burned and Young Hawk did not sleep until all of the ashes were scattered over the plains of Mulgore. Afterwards, Bithip, Leturok, Bohanu, and the others gathered around Young Hawk. “What is our next move, Chieftain?”

Young Hawk looked to each of them. “Go back to Thunder Bluff. Tell the High Chieftain that the Hawktotem no longer exists. I am not your chieftain – you are all released.”

Most of them began to filter out of the ruins of the camp. Bithip and Leturok were the last to leave.

“Should you ever need us, Young Hawk, we will be waiting for your call. You may not be our chieftain, but you are our friend.”

Bohanu did not leave. He stayed by Young Hawk’s side. “I am an instrument of your will, chieftain,” he said. “I cannot be anything else.”

Young Hawk patted his shoulder. “Do not call me Chieftain; we are equals now.”