Selena's Discovery

Selena's Discovery
By: Lyrissa

  The tall savannah grass of the Barrens rustled. The small animals who made the arid plains their home could hear the heavy impacts of footfalls without seeing anything due to the tall grass, and quickly scurried and slithered into their dens in the ground. A few seconds later a pair of large, heavy hooves stomped across the grass as a muscular tauren male continued his travel across the Barrens. He tilted his head up to try and guess who much time he had, but as he was not used to telling the time by the sun he could only surmise it was still before mid-day. He stomped onwards, but was already starting to feel faint. It had been several hours since he set out from Ratchet, and even his powerful body was feeling the effect of the unforgiving heat.

  The tauren headed for a tall, wide tree near a small mesa. The tree resembled a gigantic mushroom with a massive trunk that curved slightly towards the heavens and was topped by several thick, durable clumps of leaves. The tauren huffed slightly as he reached the shade cast by the crown of the tree and leaned his broad back against the dry bark, catching his breath. He unhooked a water bottle from the back of his belt and took a few swigs, remembering the instructions to conserve water at any cost. He still felt stifled, however, and suddenly a panic attack rushed through his massive frame. His three-fingered hands darted up towards his neck, shuffling the sweat-matted black mane aside and searching for something tiny. After a few breathless moments his thick fingers closed daintily on a small, almost invisible object.

  He tugged downwards across his spine.

  Suddenly the black-furred, muscular body of the tauren man split open and deflated as if it were a children's balloon that had been punctured. His strong face, framed  by one whole and one broken horn, became nothing but an empty sagging mask with hollow eyes, and his arms flopped down and hung loosely off something much smaller underneath. Clumsily, the deflated tauren reached up to his head and pulled at it with both hands, dragging it forward to drape across his now-loose chest. The head of a pale-skinned, black-haired human woman appeared from the depths of the mask, and she narrowed her blue eyes as she stared up at the sun. Beads of sweat poured down her forehead, and she risked another swig from the bottle. The tightness in the tauren's pants was gone as well, for which she was grateful. It was weird getting used to having a different set of equipment down there that didn't always behave the way she wanted it to.

  "This is much more work than I'd thought," Selena said to herself.

  When she had procured this bodysuit at great cost she hadn't imagined just how much of an effort it was pretending to be a tauren. It wasn't the whole 'faking being another race' part or even the 'pretending to be a male' part. It was the physical nature of it all. Selena had been a scholar her whole life, spending her youth studying ancient spellbooks and incantations along her Kirin Tor mentor while other children scuffled in the dirt outside. As an adult she had become a full-fledged mage who specialized in divining ancient secrets and studying artifacts from other cultures, and thus had rarely had to actually leave the mage's quarter to fling fireballs at anything. But now she had to do everything that she had missed just to stay alive, and she realized she had underestimated how hard it was.

  Somewhere in the distant there was a loud snickering noise which Selena vaguely identified as a hyena. She could easily dispatch the beast if it attacked, but it served as another reminder of how out of her element she was. She tugged a bit at the tauren bodysuit, flicking dirt off the thick, hairy skin as she thought. Getting to Ratchet anonymously and slipping off to get into the bodysuit and don his clothes was the easy bit. Actually getting to the tauren camp was tough. Selena wished she could just doff the suit and the coarse, primitive clothes that went with it and fly or blink to the campsite, but she knew she would have no chance at all to get close before Horde patrols spotted her and chased her off. Not only was she not a trained war mage, but she also meant these people no harm. She had chosen the bodysuit infiltration plan because she hoped it would let her complete the mission and get out just as quickly.

     The rough bark of the tree scraped against the soft skin on Selena's exposed back. She realized she should stop feeling sorry for herself and get going again. Putting the water bottle down she tugged the head of the tauren up over her own and reached back to pull the seam of the suit shut again. The dark flesh of the tauren slid together smoothly and seamlessly, once more concealing the fair skin beneath. As soon as the seam connected Selena felt the jolt of the change pass through her again, and then she was looking out of the tauren's eyes again, his massive nose ring dangling against Selena's upper lip and the hot Barrens wind ruffling his long black mane. The tauren reattached the flask to his belt and patted the leather tube containing parchments and writing equipment that was vital to his mission.

  Selena had become Hoven the tauren brave once more, and after gathering his possessions he continued his jog northwest.

  Selena tried to think of herself (himself rather) as Hoven as much as possible while wearing the suit. Trying to get into the mindset of a tauren would help when he encountered others of the race later, and made it less likely that the disguised mage would slip and reveal himself. Hoven had to admit that there was a certain appeal to the rhythmic pumping of muscles and not getting winded from running. Maybe after this was over Selena could adopt an exercise regimen, he thought idly as he left the large tree behind and headed towards the caravan road that ran from Orgrimmar in the north to the devastated areas south. Hoven's large feet whipped up a cloud of dust as he left the savannah grass and jogged onto the road, and he shielded his eyes with one massive had to make sure he was going the right way. Checking the sun again and repeating what he had memorized, he was sure he was going north.

  Selena had never been further from Stormwind than Elwynn Forest, barring one time as a child when her father had taken her with him on a trip to Westfall. Hoven thought the Barrens resembled Westfall a little, especially the masses of rough, dry grass that covered the dirt. But there were more differences than there were similarities. Westfall did not have the tall, reddish mesas that sprung from the ground everywhere here as if built by enormous termites. The Barrens trees were different and much hardier, and what little animal life Hoven had actually seen since he began his journey also made this seem almost like a different world.

  His strong legs propelled the black-furred tauren north as quick as he dared to go without exhausting himself. The suit conferred a number of physical benefits to the wearer involving stamina and general physical condition, but it had none of the knowledge or instincts that a true tauren brave would have. Selena had speculated on what this implied about the creation of such a magical disguise before she had obtained it, but now it seemed like a fairly unimportant question. Idly, Hoven reached up and scratched the worn-down surface of his broken horn. He wondered how the original Hoven had suffered the injury. The tauren was big and strong enough that it seemed unlikely to be an accident. The remains of the horn had been left on a tavern floor when the real Hoven departed for a long tour of duty in distant Pandaria. Fortunately, an Alliance agent had been on hand to pick the remains of the horn up.

  Using that and a few attached hairs, sorcery had successfully reconstructed Hoven as a bodysuit for anyone to use, and with the original Hoven gone for months, possibly years, he was now a perfect cover. Hoven/Selena laughed a coarse laugh as he kept running, wondering what the people of Hoven's village would think when he came back and claimed no memory of having visited them. Hoven quickened his pace, feeling his muscles could take it. He wanted to reach the camp before the afternoon had turned into evening.

***
  Hoven crouched on top of a very flat hill, his black body concealed by the tall grass around him. He brushed the plants in front of his face aside to get him a close look at his target. The small group of tents and simple wooden buildings clustered under a tall set of hills with a steep rock face behind the main camp for protection. Hoven's sharp eyes (another boon of the skinsuit - Selena was nearsighted) picked out a large central fire pit and a large bull-head totem next to the main longhouse, as well as a handful of tauren moving about their daily business. A few simple wind-powered mills sat on a hill next to the camp and spun around lazily in the breeze. This was it, Hoven realized. This was the thing he had been searching for.

  He peeked up and saw that the sun was sinking towards the horizon at an alarming pace. The shadows of the Barrens were growing longer and darker and soon dusk would settle over the land. Hoven had to move fast if he had to finish before evening. He got up and jogged back down onto the road, approaching the camp from the south in full sight. Deep within the tauren Selena had butterflies in her stomach. What if they recognized her as an imposter on sight? What if they became hostile? She reminded herself that she was Hoven, a simple tauren brave. Why would they attack him? He lived here, he was one of them! Soon he saw two lightly armored braves standing guard on a small hillock next to the road, and jogged closer.

  "Ho there! I see the braves of camp Windspear are alert as always!" Hoven hollered, trying not to let his nervousness color his loud greeting.

  "Hoven? Is that you?" one of the braves exclaimed, and ran down to approach the black-furred tauren. "By the Earthmother, it is you! We didn't expect to see you again in months, brother!"

  Suddenly the brown-furred tauren had pulled Hoven into a brotherly embrace, and Hoven returned it.

  "I am visiting Orgrimmar to have new arms and armor made," he lied. "I could not forsake the chance to visit my home, could I?"

  The other brave, a tauren female with a kind expression, approached them and also gave Hoven a warm greeting.

  "Tanika is out hunting, I fear. I'm not sure when she will be back," she said, smiling.

  Hoven suddenly felt panic jolt through his body. Who was Tanika? There was no way for the imposter to know, but the clear, natural way that the guard had presented the information indicated that she was someone of importance to the original Hoven. Sister? Mother? Girlfriend?

  "That is a shame, but I'm afraid I had no choice on when to visit. I hope she can return in time," he said, smiling back.

  "I fear she probably will not, but you should waste no more time. There are many who would want to meet you!" the male brave said, patting Hoven on the back with such force he almost fell over.

  The black-furred tauren simply nodded and bid the two farewell with a deep bow that he had practiced after studying how tauren moved. They waved after him as he ran up towards the camp to face his real test.

***

  The next few hours proved to be both stressful and fascinating for the disguised Selena. It seemed everyone in the small tauren camp dropped everything they were doing to greet the 'returned' Hoven. Soon he was surrounded by everyone from small children who demanded he tell them about his adventure in the distant land of pandas, and elders who expressed joy at seeing the young one return safely. To his relief they all seemed to accept his explanation on why he was returning unannounced and for a brief time only, and soon he was sitting in the chief's tent, telling several tall tales to the crowd. This proved not to be a problem as Selena had always been glib and good at telling stories. Hoven did not exaggerate his fabricated exploits too much to avoid scrutiny, and they all seemed content to hear about the long, dreary sea voyage, about spotting some rare giant sea animals on the way, and of the strange and exotic land of Pandaria.

  After being asked to repeat the stories several times the old chief of the camp told the rest of the tauren to give Hoven some time to rest and just enjoy his short stay. The children scattered while pouting while the adults smiled and thanked Hoven for visiting. After that he was more or less free to do as he wanted until supper, and he spent that time examining the camp closer. The large longhouse in the center was the house of the shaman, and that was where Selena's target was stored. However the camp was still far too lively and crowded for him to make any sort of attempt of entering and he knew he had to bide his time. As evening fell, Hoven returned to the central square of the camp, and was invited to sit down with the chief and his family. Sitting cross-legged on the firm dirt, the smell of delicious cooking filled the false tauren's nostrils even as a few tauren began playing a slow, lilting melody on their simple instruments.

  The stew was delicious and coupled with some spiced wine drunk out of a skin. Hoven listened to the chief and his family talk, and deep inside Selena added many fascinating tidbits about tauren culture to her memory. Hoven  enjoyed the music and even tried his hooves at dancing a little near the end of the evening feast, with everyone laughing at how clumsy he was. Fortunately it seemed the real Hoven had always been a terrible dancer, so that part of the disguise was flawless. Night fell, and the villagers returned to their tents and houses to sleep. Hoven had declined the honor of sleeping in the chief's large circular tent and instead elected to stay in a small, simple one off the side of the shaman's building.

  As the sounds of the village died down and most of the tauren were fast asleep, Hoven rose from his bedroll and snuck out.

***

  The moons cast their pale light in through the doorway. Hoven stood there, having pushed the elaborately covered cured hides that covered the entrance aside, and tried to listen to the sounds coming from the building. It was quiet, thank the Light. He had not know for certain whether the old shaman woman who used the building for her rites and divinations also slept there, but there was no sound of breathing or snoring at all coming from the darkened room. Hoven reached down to pull out the tiny crystal had he had concealed in one of his pouches. Speaking an arcane word, the crystal illuminated like a tiny silver moon, casting a soft radiance over the inside of the building. He stepped in.

  He knew the object he was searching for the moment his eyes flickered over it. It was a large piece of kodo hide stretched out on a rectangular wooden frame that was suspended on one of the walls. Hoven approached almost reverently, raising the radiant crystal to get a better look. The hide was covered in beautiful painted tauren symbols, carefully filled in by new artisans when the original paint had faded over generations. There were stylized paintings on the object too, centaur and tauren and quillboar and other things that Hoven couldn't immediately identify. According to Selena's research this was a carefully crafted copy of one of the tauren's most ancient history scrolls, and one of few copies to exist that was not in a major settlement. The original was kept under heavy guard in Thunder Bluff, a place so heavily guarded Selena hadn't even considered it. But this one, however...

  Hoven put the crystal down on the head of a wooden totem and reached up to pluck the hide from the wall.

  "You were going to sneak off without saying goodbye, weren't you?" said a calm female voice from behind Hoven

  He spun around to see a tall, muscular female tauren stand behind him, framed by the doorway. She entered the shaman's house with a confident stride and smiled as she studied the imposter. She had beautiful rich brown skin with black patterns and was dressed in the simple leathers of a huntress, a fact made more obvious by the long spear in her hand. There was once again a tightness in the male tauren's pants as his body reacted naturally to the closeness of a beautiful female of his kind. Hoven's mind rushed, and suddenly he thought he understood.

  "Tanika?" he asked.

  "Yes, my beloved. Your betrothed. I'm lucky I returned one night early, aren't I?" she said with a smile, apparently ignoring the fact that she had caught him in the middle of breaking into a holy building.

  "I'm happy as well," Hoven said, and took a step towards her  to embrace her.

  The point of her spear was at his throat before he could take the first step. Tanika kept smiling.

  "I'm afraid I can't let you do this, whoever you are," she said.

  "Then... you know?" Hoven said, dejected.

  He felt himself tense as he prepared to cast an invisibility spell to vanish from sight. It would ruin any chances of obtaining the history scroll and taking it back to the Stormwind library, but the option seemed to be getting impaled like a hog.

  "I know. Even if I hadn't caught you using  some weird magic item and attempting to steal our most precious artifact," she said plainly.

  "How-" Hoven began, but she moved her finger to her lips to make him lower his voice.

  "I came back earlier, actually. The braves at the road told me with great joy that my betrothed had returned and would stay for the night. This confused me. Hoven swore he would send a message ahead whenever he was returning here so that I could prepare and be at camp when he arrived. We told nobody of this, because we didn't want to call attention to his coming and create a stir, like you did."

  Hoven groaned, feeling panic set in.

  "So instead of rushing in with open arms, I snuck around the edge of the camp and watched you as you finished the feast and went to bed. And I knew right away. Your movement is all wrong. Your bearing too lax. Hoven is my mate, I know him better than any of the rest of the people here. They couldn't tell, but I could. So I waited for you to make your move," Tanika said with a very neutral tone.

    "So what now?" Hoven said, feeling the entire plan collapsing around him by the moment. "Will you kill me right here? Or call the braves?"

  Tanika stood silently for a moment, the razor tip of her spear prodding his adam's apple. Then she suddenly lowered the spear and relaxed her stance.

  "No," she said plainly.

  "B-but why? What are you going to do?" Hoven stammered, now thoroughly confused.

  "Let's get this straight. Whoever you are underneath there, I do not like that you have taken the form of my beloved, and I like even less that you are using him as a simple disguise to get our confidence so you can steal from us," she snapped.

  Hoven nodded dumbly, not knowing what to say.

  "...but somewhere deep in my heart it was good just seeing him again, even if it was a trick. When I ran back to the village I hoped with every step that I was wrong, that it was truly him. And even if it wasn't... there was still part of me that was pleased to see him."

  "Tanika, I'm... I'm so sorry. I didn't know. Hoven was just a randomly chosen disguise, it wasn't my meaning to hurt anyone," the false tauren stammered.

  "I know. And that is why I will not kill you or turn you in. You could have killed many in their sleep if your attentions had been truly vile, and you didn't. That makes me believe that you truly meant us no harm."

  Hoven nodded again.

  "But I also cannot let you steal our scroll of history, you understand," Tanika said, grabbing the spear firmly again.

  "I understand," Hoven/Selena said. "Are you letting me leave?"

  Tanika nodded and stepped aside. Hoven snatched up the crystal and with one final, mournful look up at the valuable parchment stepped past Tanika towards the exit.

  "Just two things," Tanika said.

  Before Hoven could leave, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him down so their lips met. The kiss was sudden, unexpected and passionate, but before Hoven could even realize it was going on it was over. Tanika grinned at him as she lifted her spear again.

  "What's the second thing?" he asked, worried.

  "I'm giving you half an hour's head start. Don't let me catch you," said the tauren huntress with a predatory grin.

  Hoven swallowed hard and rushed outside, starting to run back towards the caravan road as fast as his muscular legs could carry him. He was definitely not cut out for infiltration work he thought as he ran as fast as he could out into the wilderness. Tanika looked after him as he vanished and chuckled, shaking her head.

  "I just hope my real betrothed is as much fun when he returns," she said and stepped out to go back to her tent to sleep.