This short story, to be presented in three parts, is from an RP between myself and Weiila. It explores our characters-some of which will be familiar if you've read our fan fiction before-in the era during which the Darkspear Tribe lived on an island off the coast of Stranglethorn Vale. We hope you enjoy this story.

Morning spread over Stranglethorn Vale like the petals of a yellow-gold blossom, blooming slowly across the lingering night. Cobalt turned into a bright, cheery blue, and the hazy sun illuminated the dark jungle teeming with life that was either awakening for the day or slinking into the shadows for sleep.

The village on the western coast of the Darkspear Island was awakening. Its inhabitants stirred and emerged from their huts to greet the new day and begin their customary chores and duties. Young, strong males gathered their spears, blades, and bows to patrol along their village's borders or venture deeper into the island's dense trees and brush to hunt and gather. Priests and priestesses set out on their diligent treks to the temples further inland. Elders sat outside of their dwellings beneath thatched roofs, greeting one another and praising the warm, sunny day. Villagers went to work with woven baskets of picked herbs, newly stretched hides, clay pots of pigments, potions, and elixirs, or just a wooden pipe and a pinch of ganja.

Many of the females gathered near the beach with baskets balanced on their heads and hips, filled with laundry to be washed, fruits to be cut and dried, or grain to be rinsed. As the sun continued to rise above the ocean, they sang songs of praise and humble thanks to Ayida and Erzulie, praying for the loa's continued protection of their whelps. The women luxuriated in the warm light and the cool breeze lofting from the sea, and shared morning gossip while their children played on the shore.

The whelps moved like a synchronized flock of birds, their swift and abrupt changes in direction determined by the leather ball being kicked ahead of them. At the head of their pack was a gangly, skinny lavender-skinned mem'ki. His long feet kept the ball spiraling and bouncing across the sand. Shouts and laughter of amiable, if fierce, competitive excitement followed as the other children bounded after him.

It was already starting to show, even at such a young age, that Nok would a quick little pup when he was older. Vo smirked at himself for thinking of him in such a way, as he was not quite an adult himself. Though he was nearly twice Nok's age, there were still several seasons before his adulthood ceremony. There was a time when Vo did not see or feel the age difference between himself and his younger friends. Yet as he grew into a mon's tall, lean body, it felt appropriate to distinguish himself from the little trolls that were unquestionably children.

Vo's age and longer legs offered him no advantage in the game, however. No matter what, the purple furred whelp and many of the ones closer to his age kept well ahead of him.

Nok was playing dirty, too. Vo recoiled whenever one of the others came too close to the foamy waves, kicking up a spray of salt water and sand. He had fed the raptors in their pens that morning and gotten too close to a wilder one. The new slashes on his legs weren't deep and healing well, but the salt water would sting unmercifully if soaked through his bandages. Vo swore Nok, much more wily and shrewd than most whelps of seven, knew that.

Tch. Vo rubbed a sand-covered hand against his sweaty forehead. He sort of missed his long hair. The fringe had provided some shade for his eyes, at least. But raptors liked to snap at things, and his once-long braid had gotten too close to toothy jaws one time to many.

Vo glanced aside and sought the eyes of the other older troll in their group, certain that he would be delighted to team up with him for the ball. Kall was burlier than Vo, but still kept up with the younger children. He found his gaze across the heads of the whelps and grinned with understanding. Flattening his long, pierced ears against his head, Kall pumped his large legs harder to fall in pace with Nok.

"Vo!" Kall called out, and kicked his foot quickly between Nok's. The move was too well planned and quick to actually trip the younger troll, but it did send the ball shooting away from the whelp's feet and directly to Vo's.

"Hey!" the young green-eyed troll barked as Vo took up the ball with his feet and changed direction. Immediately, he was flanking after him, readjusting his course with little transition. The other whelps could barely keep up with the violet and blue blur, some tripping in the sand as they tried to turn just as abruptly. Nok sprinted after Vo, tongue stuck between his teeth. "Cheater!"

"Ain't cheating' to work together!" Vo panted with laughter. Glancing quickly around, he leapt to the side, spinning and kicking the ball toward another whelp. "Your turn, Kee!"

The small troll with a wild and half loose tail of blood-orange hair made a squeaking noise of elation as Vo passed him the ball. He nearly tripped over the leather sphere, but managed to regain his footing and propel it forward. As quickly as he scampered, Keevu was nowhere near as fast as Nok. The whelp was regaining the distance that had been put between him and the ball.

Keevu squeaked in alarm. "'Kashii, help!"

With all his strength and before he toppled face first into the sand, the whelp kicked the ball to another boy. Akashii caught it beneath his foot before taking off in a fast sprint, nearly running into a woman that was hauling a basket of seaweed up the beach. "I got it, Kee!" he shouted. If anyone was a match for Nok in the impromptu game of take away, it was the taller, stronger youth. Nok advanced on Akashii, flanking his side, and the two friends grinned challengingly at another.

Rising from the sand and spitting it from his mouth, Keevu shook it from his wild hair before spiritedly running to rejoin the game. Kall, keeping in stride with Vo, chuckled breathlessly. "We're getting too old for this!"

"Yeah, or they're getting longer legs," Vo replied with a feigned huff for emphasis. The pair rushed in, prepared if Akashii wanted to pass the ball on. Yet the group game had become a one-on-one duel. The other children didn't seem bothered being omitted briefly from the chase. Gathering in a wide ring, they cheered and hollered encouragingly, excited by the ensuing "battle."

"You just better give me the ball, 'Kash," Nok goaded playfully, though his eyes were narrowed and his ears flat against his head. "You know you can't beat your big brother."

Akashii laughed and deftly kicked the ball back and out of the other youth's range as Nok tried to dislodge it from beneath his feet. "Tch, there's no way I'm giving you this ball, Nok," he retorted. "Especially when you think you can beat me just because you are older! I'm bigger!"

"You trying to pull age on him now, Nok?" Vo snickered, taking up a post beside Kall outside of the circle of children. Despite his goading, the older troll kept an eye on the pair for any escalation in play to real aggression. Akashii and Nok were both ferociously competitive, and neither would relent in surrender. Vo hoped it wouldn't turn into a true fight. Chances were, it would. It was the nature of most friendships, nothing out of the ordinary that wouldn't be reconciled later. Scratches healed and lost teeth re-grew or made for amusing stories. All the same, no matter how brief, Vo hated that period before tempers settled and the fight was forgotten.

"Bebes! Breakfast!"

With those two shouted words, the battle for the ball and a subsequent scuffle that would end in a week or so of snarling and aloofness was inevitably avoided. Nok and Akashii, already growling with more hostility, stopped and swiveled their eyes and ears up the beach. Food would always have priority over satisfied egos. They exchanged a grin before joining the pack of whelps that swarmed toward the cluster of their mothers and the large pot.

"Yay! Breakfast!" chirped Keevu, who, trying to keep up with the other whelps, tripped over the fluttering ends of his kilt and once again fell face first into the sand with a squeak.

Kall and Vo laughed at the youngest's expense. "Mem'ki, we need to get you a shorter sarong," Kall said, picking up his little brother and dusting the sand out of his fur and hair. He took his hand and the three followed the hungry gaggle to the breakfast pot. Two of the mothers were doling out generous portions of warm porridge made of rice and fruit.

"Vo, Kall, Kee, c'mon!" called Nok. He and Akashii already had their woven bowls, and were moving to claim the cluster of tall, broad-leafed palms they often ate.

"Guess we better get breakfast before it's all gone or the whelps start eating without us," Vo sighed, his stomach growling at the mere idea of foraging for himself.

Fortunately, there was plenty that morning. The older teens and the younger whelp collected their bowls and joined Akashii and Nok in the shade. Vo crossed his legs comfortably and, blowing on the porridge to cool it, scooped it into his mouth with his fingers.

He enjoyed the early mornings with his little brothers, before his chores called him away. The whelps got to play longer, but both Vo and Kall had their duties to the tribe as near-adults. It was fortunate that those duties also involved taking care of the younger mem'kir, allowing them a sort-of reprieve. Seeing after the rambunctious pups could be just as exhausting as wrangling raptors.

"Don't inhale it," Vo mildly chided them. Akashii ate just as ravenously as one of the reptiles, and Nok barely breathed between gulps of the sweet, nourishing porridge. Only Keevu ate with reserve, sitting between Kall's legs with his bowl in his lap, picking out the fruits in his cereal to eat first.

"Vo, you and Kall goin' to the mainland today?" Nok asked. Akashii's head snapped up from his bowl, and he too stared at the teens with eager curiosity. Being close to adult age, Vo and Kall were allowed to join on the scouting patrols that left their island by skiff to venture onto the mainland of Stranglethorn Vale. For the younger whelps, the privilege was as fascinating and thrilling as it was terrifying. The mainland was home to dangerous creatures that considered the Darkspear as prey. Specifically, other trolls.

"Chaako said that the scouting parties weren't going to the mainland again anytime soon," Keevu said in his timid, soft voice. He looked up at his big brother, nibbling nervously on his lower lip. "Right, Kall?"

Smiling, Kall soothingly patted the little whelp's head. "That's right, Kee. Master Sen'jin said so," he replied. His blue eyes flitted over to Vo's pointedly. Neither had to say why parties weren't being sent to the Vale. Everyone knew, even the whelps. It had been a chilling and depressing night when the two surviving scouts of a party of six had returned battered, beaten, and nearly dead. An ambush of Bloodscalp trolls confirmed the enemy tribe had moved closer to the northern shore of the Vale. Though the Darkspear Island was well away from the coast, it was still an unsettling thing for the village to be aware of.

Snorting derisively, Nok lifted his head and puffed out his chest with the overzealous and overconfident bravado of youth. "I'm not scared of any Bloodscalps!" he proclaimed with a toss of his tusks, which were just beginning to jut a small distance beyond his chin. "I dare them to come to our island! Chaako has been showing me how to use his daggers and he says I'm getting good! I can defend our village!"

"Me too!" Akashii added with just as much insistence, his brown eyes narrowing beneath his brow and red bangs. "Those Bloodscalps can't defeat our tribe! We're too strong." Keevu did not echo his friends' zeal, quite content eating breakfast in the safety of his brother's presence.

Vo was not enthused by their fervor either. His ears twitched down, but he subdued any other sign of unease behind a grin. "Going to the mainland is not half as fun as it sounds," he said with a snicker he hoped sounded unimpressed. The teen tried to divert their attention. He leaned over to playfully flick Nok's ear. "I'm gonna hunt birds for raptor bracelets. Do the master rogue, great warrior, and wise shaman want to come along?" He looked at Keevu, smiling. "Master Kej'don wanted some pretty seashells for the females too."

In an instant, all three whelps' attentions were diverted away from fantasies and fears of fighting Bloodscalps to a much more plausible and safe activity. "We can go with you?!" Nok asked, his emerald eyes wide. "Yeah! Let's go hunting!"

"I'm good at finding shells!" the youngest whelp exclaimed, smiling brightly. Kall stroked Keevu's red head and gave Vo a grateful smile. For now, the grisly topic of mainland patrol was completely forgotten.

"When can we go!?" Akashii asked, bouncing excitedly. "Now?"

"After breakfast," Kall replied sternly, and added as the boys began to eat faster, "And no rushing. You'll both get sick and your mothers will keep you home."

The hunter's words didn't do much to slow their ravenous eating. They were too impatient. Even Keevu quickened his pace, but his hazel eyes fell to Vo's thigh. "Are you still hurt, Vo?" Keevu asked.

Licking his lips, Nok's eyes moved to the older troll's wrapped leg. "You're wearing bandages still?" He frowned. "That raptor must have gotten you bad, huh?"

The sudden interest in his wounds gave Vo some pause, and he lowered his bowl to look at his leg. "It's not so bad," he said, though he was touched by the concern. His heart was sorer than his leg, however. The decision had been made by the master handlers to kill the beast, deemed too aggressive for proper rearing. Vo was not the first that had been attacked by it. Even when he had been on the ground bleeding, the trainer-in-training dizzily mourned the loss. It had been a beautiful creature, and Vo worried his own carelessness had cast the final straw against the raptor.

Vo smiled through his lingering disappointment and guilt. "Can't be that bad if I was able to keep up with you today. And look, I've got all my fingers." He waggled his hands to prove his point. It had been almost three weeks since he last lost a finger. Closing up on his record.

Nok's frown turned into a smirk. "Still couldn't catch us," he retorted with a grin that was looking more and more like his father's every day. It softened into a smile. "But I'm glad you're feeling better and could play with us today."

"And didn't lose anymore fingers," Akashii added, licking rice from his chin. "Me and Nok got a bet, you know. If you can make it a whole month and a half without losing another, I get his wave riding board. So be careful."

"You're not gonna get it," Nok deadpanned into his bowl as he drank.

Vo wasn't sure if that comment reflected Nok's lack of confidence in his abilities as a raptor handler, or just resentment at the idea of losing his beloved board. Probably both. "I'll do my best to make sure you win," he grunted and poked the side of Akashii's head. Nok got a playfully angry glance for his lack of faith.

Keevu was not interested in a wager surrounding missing fingers. "Have the eggs hatched yet?" he asked with wide, eager eyes.

"Not yet, but any day now. I'll tell you at once when it happens," Vo said with his own enthusiastic smile. He, like all the other breeders, prayed for as many eggs as possible to hatch. If there were enough, not only would it be a blessing, but Vo's master Kej'don had implied the young trainee would be granted the honor of caring for his first brood. Under supervision of an elder, of course, but it was an honor all the same. Vo was already receiving praise for his natural skill with the reptiles; the thought of rearing a whole brood was exhilarating. Strong, healthy whelps were a blessing from the Loa, as it meant strong, healthy mounts for riders and companions for hunters. It also revealed the obvious skill of the trainer that handled them.

"I can't wait until I get my first raptor!" Nok said spiritedly, balling his fists and grinning. "I'm going to have a big dark one like Chaadoi does! With scary armor on it and my spears on the saddle!"

"I want a red one!" Akashii piped up. "A really mean, snarly one that I can call Firescale!"

"I just want a little one I can keep in the hut…" Keevu mused, chewing the last of his rice porridge. He looked up at Vo'don. "Can we see the whelps when they hatch? Will the muuka let us touch them?"

Vo was warmed by his little brothers' enthusiasm and interest. Their individual desires for very different raptors was telling of their personalities. "Probably not right away, but I'll ask Master Kej'don when they are a few weeks old. They won't have too sharp teeth then, either."

Keevu giggled, excited was the prospect of getting to see newborn raptors. "Okay!"

"So can we go now?!" Akashii huffed excitedly, bouncing up from the ground. "I'm finished!"

"Me too!" Nok exclaimed, wiping the remainder of his breakfast from around his mouth and stubby tusks. "Let's go back to the village and get dressed and ready!"

Kall collected the empty bowls and stood. "I suppose I should get going as well," the young hunter said, stretching his tall, thick body. "Master Zun wants me to do some tracking a bit further inland. Some of the tiger dens have been moving, which isn't normal. He's afraid something has been chasing them out of their territory." He smirked at Vo. "Think you can take care of the bebes without me?"

"I'm not a bebe!" Nok and Akashii both huffed in unison, glaring at the older males that just laughed.

"We'll stop calling you bebes when you stop calling us old mons," he told the whelps, who puffed again indignantly. Vo lifted his brown eyes to Kall's blue. "We'll stay close to the beach, don't worry. I'll have my bow with me."

He hadn't planned on going too far inland anyway; it wasn't necessary when hunting the birds he had in mind. However, if something was hunting tigers, he didn't want to run into whatever that was, nor a family of huge, agitated cats.

"Have the mem'kir take their daggers with them too. Just in case." An unnecessary request, Vo thought, but he was glad Kall said it in front of the children. No Darkspear went anywhere without being armed, even the youngest of them like Keevu.

Kall took the bowls to the women for washing while Vo and the whelps waited. Nok smoothed his hands through his long, dark indigo hair and yawned. "Maybe we should find Kanna," he said casually. "She's good at spotting birds."

"You only want her around so you can gawk at her like a big-eyed murloc," Akashii chided his friend as Keevu giggled.

Scowling, Nok narrowing his gem-green eyes before tossing his head away. "No, I just thought she'd be useful since she's good at finding birds, s'all!" he snapped, a blush rising to his lavender cheeks.

Akashii folded his arms smugly. "Fen'di shouldn't come on a hunting trip, it's too dangerous," he proclaimed. "Besides, she'll just argue with Nok the whole time and then they'll get mad and we'll have to listen to them fight."

"You better watch it, or Erzulie might see fit to have a fen'di stronger than you put a dagger in your heart," Vo replied with a snicker. "She'll beat you up but you'll love her anyway and then you'll look like the weak one." The teen shrugged. "A lot of the fen'di go hunting. Half of 'em are better hunters than me, that's for sure."

Akashii's ears twitched and he snorted derisively. "I'm not saying fen'di are weak," the young troll scoffed. "I'm just saying they shouldn't come on hunting trips! They might get hurt and then there won't be anyone to have our whelps!"

"He's such a traditionalist," Kall chuckled, returning to the group as he wiped his hands on his tunic.

Vo gave Akashii a long, thoughtful look and then grinned at him. "And a considerate mon…I guess…"

"Can we go now, huh?!" Nok asked impatiently, already dashing ahead.

Grinning at Vo, Kall picked up Keevu and sat him on his broad shoulders. "Yeah, let's get going before you pups wet yourself in excitement. Meet by the mo'ai in a few." The younger mem'kir cheered and, in an impromptu race, took off running toward the village.

The group separated briefly to retrieve what weapons and supplies they needed. Vo returned to his family's hut. It was empty, both his parents probably out tending to their own duties. He collected his bow and quiver, his belt and dagger, and a bag with cloth and cleaning oil for the feathers.

He didn't have to wait long at the mo'ai, a towering statue of a snarling loa in troll form. The whelps returned, wearing leather tunics and pants with short bows around their chests and small daggers on their belts. Keevu and his brother came a few minutes after. The young hunter was dressed in sturdier armor appropriate for an advanced trainee of his level. Kall took a moment to readjust Keevu's belt and small dagger while warning him to be careful. The glances he gave Akashii, Nok, and even Vo said the same thing, and the older boy left them for his duties.

"Alright! We're ready!" Akashii shouted, his fur visibly bristling with excitement. "Let's go!"

"We should search the area near Muuka's temple!" Nok said enthusiastically. "There are always TONS of birds over there, and the other priestesses are so—"

The sound of heavy, strong voices diverted the youths' attention. A group of armored, weapon bearing trolls passed through the entrance marked by the protective mo'ai statue. Most of them were sentries that regularly patrolled during the day and night. Two of them, however, were dressed in sleeker, darker garments, one wearing a sheath of spears, the other a pair of black-bladed daggers. The Shadow Hunter, tall and thickly built with a slow, but powerful gait, walked in stride with the one-eyed, dark furred rogue. They were in deep conversation, and did not notice the whelps until Nok called out.

"Chaako!" The mem'ki ran toward the group, and the rogue smiled and greeted his son with open arms. Nok clung to him, giggling and pleased by the attention. "Honnah, Chaadoi!"

The Shadow Hunter smiled with sedate warmth, and reached down to ruffle his grandson's hair. "Honnah, kai'fi," he spoke in a voice that was soft, yet commanding. His brilliantly red eyes lifted to the other young males that approached. "Are we going hunting today?"

"Yeah! Vo wants us to help him hunt birds, Papa Sen!" Akashii said with an excited nod, staring reverently at his best friend's powerful grandfather and father.

Vo's own regard of Shadow Hunter Sen'kafa and his son the rogue Neero was just as awed. He knew both of the mons of the Shadowskull House well on a near familial level having been Nok's friend since he was a bebe. Still, the younger troll showed respect by bowing shallowly to the two elders.

"Well, it is good to see you have dressed appropriately and armed yourself," Neero said with a smile, adjusting his son's leather tunic. He looked to the eldest present and his face sobered. "Tread carefully, Vo. I trust Kall told you about the tiger den that has seemingly disappeared."

"Of course, Master Neero. I'll make sure nothing happens to the boys. Those tigers will eat me before that happens." He said the last in a lighter tone, but there was a look in his eye that said he was very aware it wasn't the tigers that worried everyone, but rather what had chased them off.

The white-haired rogue chuckled. "Well, I'd prefer that none of you get eaten," he replied, a note of fondness in his voice for the young raptor handler.

"Chaadoi, ya goin' off on patrol?" Nok asked curiously, looking up at the Shadow Hunter.

Sen'kafa nodded, the many jujus and beads around his neck chiming together. "Yes, kai'fi, down to the other side of the beach." He looked up at Vo, the shift in his focus purposeful. "There were mysterious tracks found there, ones that may or may not be troll."

By troll, it was unnecessary for the older Darkspear to clarify he meant "enemy troll." Neero saw the look of fright in the younger whelps' eyes and he smiled comfortingly. "No need to fret, mem'kir. Just stay away from the western edge until we make sure it's safe."

The three boys nodded, murmuring confirmation with coy voices. Vo didn't have to worry about their brash bravado and curiosity getting the best of them. Akashii and Nok may have talked with tiger teeth earlier, but they weren't so foolish as to be ignorant of how dangerous unknowns could be.

He had his own not so small anxiety, but hoped it did not show when he nodded to the two mons. It meant much that the elder trolls entrusted him with their whelps, the most precious assets of the Darkspear tribe.

Sen'kafa, Neero, and the rest of the party took their leave, and Vo wished them well on their patrol. There was a tension among the young whelps and a wariness in their large, frightened eyes. Smiling reassuringly, Vo hunched down, reaching out to put one hand on Nok's shoulder and one on Akashii's, so that his arms brushed along Keevu's back as well in half a group hug.

"Hey now, I'd never take you anywhere dangerous. Even if you insisted," he said, throwing a mild jab back at the little pups' earlier eagerness. "I'd never let anything happen to any of you, you know that, right?"

The mem'kir exchanged glances, then they nodded. Vo grinned and pinched at their ears to make them giggle and smile. "Good. Well, let's go hunt some birds."