(A/N: Ok, I'm gonna try this again.My other WoW fanfic didn't work out so well, I mean I barely got any reviews commenting me on a good job, if any at all. Plus, the stroy just faded off in my head. So, now I'm starting off with a new one. Hopefully, this goes better. However, I'm going to be at camp in the next few days, so don't expect an update for at least two weeks. Sorry!)
I Am The Enemy
The Dust Plains, Westfall
6:54 pm
A woman hummed softly to herself as she attended to the small house she lived in. Although, 'house' actually wasn't really a valid description; 'shack' better fit its features.
The woman looked over into one of the other rooms, of which there were four, and scowled, saying "Julius! How many times have I told you not to mess around with those guns in the house?"
Her son, a rebel-natured fifteen-year old, looked up, grimaced and slid his green goggles up, whining "But Mom, the season's about to change! I have to make sure these guns are ready to hunt with!"
The woman,Laura, sighed and said "Alright, just made sure you don't bring any ammunition ANYWHERE close to those guns. Honestly, you're more like your father when he was your age."
At the sentence before last, Julius grimaced again and discreetly hid the ammunition he'd brought out behind a box on the table he was sitting at.
Sliding his goggles back down again, he continued cleaning the rifle he was attending to. It had been his father's rifle, up until his father had lost an eye and had to resort to using a shotgun.
Finishing up with the cloth on the barrel, Julius slid his goggles upward, rummaged in the box next to him for a second, and came back up with an empty rifle cartridge. The rifle was breech loading, meaning that you worked a lever, opened a chamber, slid one cartridge in, then worked the lever again to close it. The whole process only took a few seconds, and a skilled hunter could fire several shots at his target before having to engage it in close combat. The last time Julius had used the gun was to hunt for boars in the forest near the river between Elwynn Forest and Westfall, and his constant crawling had gotten wet sand in the barrel. Now had been his first and only opportunity he'd had to clean it.
Also sitting on the table was a pistol that used the same kind of breech loading action. He'd dropped it into the river itself and, not knowing what had happened, had proceeded on until he found it wasn't there, and had traced along his entire hunting route until he found it sitting on the river bottom, clogged with silt. Now that both guns were clean, Julius had decided to test the weapons so he could get back to hunting.
Sliding his goggles back over his eyes,Julius openedthe action on the rifle, slid the empty cartridge in, then closed the lever, took aim at an imaginary Orc, then pulled the trigger. The gun gave a sharp snap! as the hammer met the end of the empty round. Satisfied, Julius opened the gun again and extracted the cartridge. The gun had made nary a sound except for the snap of the empty round and a few minute clicks as the action slid open and closed. Setting the rifle aside, he picked up the pistol and did the same. It, too, was almost silent, safe for the click! it made when he pulled the trigger.
Grinning ear to ear, Julius pulled the empty pistolround out, set the gun down, and slid his goggles down to hang around his neck. Julius' eyes had always been a local mystery; they were three colors. One was a walleye, and the other looked like cracked glass, fragments of brown and green changing smoothly from one color to the other as one examined the different fragments. The other kids in Sentinel Hill called him a freak, and told him he was wasting time with guns when he should be training with swords. His father, however, simply laughed and said otherwise.
"Son, if there's one thing for anyone to remember, it's that stubbornness and perseverance can get you through just about anything. So what if the other kids like swords better than guns? If you want to shoot, shoot."
Julius stood up and walked over to his mother as she said "Your father should have been back by now. The fire's been burning almost an hour, and we need to get dinner on the-"
She was interrupted when a blast came from outside, including a few shouts, then another blast and a cry of pain. Both Julius' and Laura's eyes widened, and Julius leapt back to the table, toward his guns.
Scooping the rifle up, he started hastily shoving ammunition in his pockets with one hand while keeping the rifle in the crook of his arm and tossing his mother the pistol, saying "The ammunition is…" he waited, giving his mother the chance to fill in the sentence. She almost never used a gun, but living in Westfall and not knowing how to defend yourself was the equivalent of yelling a death wish. They kept plenty of ammunition hidden, and his mother could never remember where it was.
Laura thought hard for a second, then said "In the pantry?"
Julius sighed. He didn't have time for this.
"No mom, for the last time, its under your bed! Now if you'll excuse me…"
He quickly rushed to the door, opening it and loading the rifle in his hands at the same time. Shutting the door behind him, he crouched down and let his eyes adjust to the almost darkness. He could hear voices around the corner, not hushed, simply out of hearing range. Defias goons? Creeping around the other side, he came to the last corner of the house and peeked around. Now he could hear the voices clearly, and they certainly weren't Defias men. In the gloom, he could make out five shapes standing about two dozen feet away from the shape of his father Michael, back to the wall of the house, a double barreled shotgun in his hands, ready to fire.
Although, Julius thought, if he had rounds in that gun, he would've used them by now. Dad's never one to stall like this. Then again, neither am I.
That's when he heard the voice.
It was more like a deep, throaty rumble than actual words, but Julius caught what it said, and it scared him to the bone.
"We said you could take care of him until he reached thirteen years of age, human. That was the agreement. We've been lenient, but time's up for you. Give him to us and you and your wife will be spared."
It came from one of the five shapes, and Julius realized what they were; Horde.
"NO!" came the raspy voice of his father as he menacingly brandished the scatter gun, even though it was empty. "I won't let you take him! I've worked FIFTEEN YEARS for him, and now won't be any different."
"Then," said another shape, even deeper than the first and not as growl-like, "We have no choice."
Instantly, the five shapes sprang away from each other and leapt at Michael. Julius' eyes widened when he realized their intentions. Rolling out from behind the house, he shouted "HEY, YOU SONSABITCHES! OVER HERE!"
He aimed quickly at the largest shape and was about to pull the trigger when an excruciating pain rain through his side and the shot went wild as he fell onto his back. His fingers scrabbled over his torso until he found the cruel stalk and feathers of an arrow sticking out from between the right side of his ribs.
An accent-laden voice rang out as one of the shapes yelled "OW! Dammit, he got me! Can ah' kill 'im now?"
"NO!" shouted the growl-like voice. "We need the boy alive! Kill the other two, but bring in the boy alive!"
"Oops," said a dripping with sarcasm, slightly ragged voice, which sounded female, "I guess I shouldn't have taken a shot at him."
"YOU WHAT!" snarled the growl.
There was suddenly a yell, a click, and a squishy sounding thud. Julius knew exactly what had happened.
"That's the man. Now what?" said deep voice.
A pistol shot echoed into the night, shattering the glass in a window as a grunt of pain came from the shape nearest it.
"YOU BASTARDS!" came the voice of Laura, sounding close to tears. She probably WAS crying, as Julius should've been, but, strangely, he couldn't do anything. The five shapes all got out of the way of the window, and two figures went through the light; growl and deep voice were actually a Tauren and an Orc. Then he saw a sight that simply broke him in two; he could still see his father's blood dripping off the Tauren's war ax. His eyes widened and his teeth became clenched in anger as a red haze seemed to descend into his mind, cutting him off from all rational thought as he felt himself rise, reload, and give a blood-curdling scream of rage as he fired, then reloaded, fired again, then abandoned shooting all together and rushed forward, swinging the gun at whatever he could. He felt the rifle connect with something, and he began a tirade of blows on the unfortunate being's head. That is, until something hit him in the back. In his rage, this wouldn't have been a problem, but for some reason, he tottered over backwards until he hit the ground, paralyzed.
The Undead archer who had shot Julius was breathing heavily, lowering her bow as she looked at the sight before her.
A child, a HUMAN CHILD, had managed to blow a hole in her shoulder, then rush forward and proceed to turn the Tauren into a bleeding pulp.
Oh, they were still alive alright, the Tauren was simply knocked out and the Undead woman had simply shot the boy with a poison arrow. He wouldn't die, but he would be out of it for a few hours.
The Orc came out of the darkness, took one look at the bloody Tauren and the stiff human in front of him and said "Arat'hin, help me get Grass Wing up on his feet."
The troll slipped out of the night, shaking his hand, which had Julius' first shot in it, and then put his uninjuredone under the Tauren's left arm while the Orc took the right.
As they pulled him up, the Undead woman said, irritated, "And me, Ajax?"
After taking a few seconds to catch his breath, the Orc said "Monique, see if you can get this big lug awake."
Ajax thumped the arm of the unconscious Tauren, who was now leaning against the house. Turning to the troll, he asked "Arat'hin, can you start planting charges around the house? I want to make sure we leave no witnesses."
The Troll looked slightly confused. "Sure, but…why are we trying to take this kid? Alive no less?"
Ajax turned on him, thoroughly annoyed. "I've told you a thousand times, he's-" Ajax stopped himself, calmed down, than continued "Warchief Thrall wants the boy brought to him alive concerning a deal made with someone. You'll learn the whole story when the boy wakes up."
The Troll simply shrugged, then walked off and started planting the explosives, making sure to duck under any windows. Monique busied herself trying to wake up the Tauren while Ajax turned his attention to the boy.
'Now, let's see if what we have here is what we're looking for.' The Orc thought.
Picking Julius up by the shirt, he held him up with the light from the window shining on his face. Releasing him with one hand, he carefully opened one of the boy's eyes, then the other, confirming the authenticity of the package. Just as finished, Arat'hin came around the corner, dusting some gunpowder off his hands as he finished laying the powder fuse.
"Charges are set, Ajax. Dis' liddle spot on da map's gonna be erased big time."
Ajax, nodding, slung Julius over his shoulder and said "Monique, what's taking you so long?"
The Undead rogue had been unsuccessful in waking Grass Wing up by conventional means, so she had resorted to a little magic she'd learned. The Tauren hunter was slowly starting to wake up when Monique kicked him, resulting in him lashing out and her planting a dagger in his fist, causing him to roar with pain.
Soon, however, they found two warriors and a human between them as Ajax snarled and said "Move your asses! I won't say it again!"
They both followed his orders, Grass Wing swaying slightly, as Arat'hin lit the powder fuse with a grin.
"Stand back! WAY back."
The Troll engineer ran towards the rapidly disappearing party and shouted "FIRE IN DA' HOLE!" as the explosives went off and the house crumbled in on itself, bursting into flame. The final shrieks of Lauren were lost to all the commotion, and went unheard as each of the party mounted up, Julius lashed to Ajax's saddle, and took off down South, towards Stranglethorn Vale.
(The next chapter's gonna be better, I promise!)