I realize that I have posted this story before, but after reading it, I realized I needed to do some heavy rewriting and editing.
Each of the characters is based of a character I have had in WoW.
I do not own WoW or anything affiliated with it.
Rated M for future Mature content
Sazlek shifted in cat form, stealthily prowling through the shrubs outside her home of Sen'jin Village. She had her eyes set on a rather small boar, just big enough to feed her and her twin, Sorlok. The druid took a step forward, bearing fangs as a growl rumbled deep within her throat, and pounced.
Great paws extending before her, claws extracting themselves as she met the creature with a loud thump. The boar let out a shrill grunt and attempted to bolt off, but the cat was much too strong for it. Her jaws finding themselves around its neck, she it down hard, razor-sharp fangs burying itself into flesh, feeling the warmth of the blood seeping through her mouth, as her fangs broke through veins and arteries, blood rushing out in pulses with each beat of the mammal's heart. Her claws dug into its back, rending the flesh as through it were nothing more than water, staining her bluish paws with shiny crimson. Within a matter of seconds, the boar was felled, blood gushing from the grievous wound on its neck, the tigeress jumping from its back, to survey its death before it. Sazlek saw its eyes widen as she approached its head, blood dripping down her chin, pausing only to lick her paw clean. She eyed the boar with pity; it wasn't the best of lives to live, knowing that since birth, it was only going to die by Sazlek's bloody claws. A weak squeal escaped him, brightness of its eyes fading, when the troll realized it had suffered enough. With one swift movement of her lethal paw, she had ended the boar's life.
Sazlek let out a grunt and threw the corpse over her back, feeling the blood soak into her black-striped, cerulean fur. She began walk through the desert back to her home, half lidded eyes showing clear satisfaction with her kill. She would have to wash up before beginning anything, as she felt her fur become increasingly sticky, but that would be no problem for her; the sea was only a short distance away, and she could easily wash herself up, though she was brought to reality as a hiss from the east interrupted her thoughts.
A scorpid, poison green and raising its barbed tail, watched her dangerously as she passed by, earning a flick of her tail and a low rumble emanate from deep within her, letting loose a terrifying growl as she bared her fangs. It was enough to frighten anyone, even a scorpid, though this one had not backed down. "Ya really don' wanna be doin' that, mon," she told it, though she hardly though it would understand her trollish tongue, colored thick with the accent accustomed to her people. Her crimson eyes sparkled in a threatening glare as she faced it, swishing her once more, nearly forgetting about the decomposing boar on her back. The creature seemed to think about attacking her for a moment, but backed away, realizing she was an opponent far too powerful for it to handle. With a satisfied huff, the tigress continued her journey back home.
It was a two minute run from where she hunted to Sen'jin, and the creatures between the areas wouldn't dare try to attack her. Despite her looks, Sazlek was a terrifying troll, one that not many others dared to cross, and she made it very clear to anyone that crossed her path that she was one to be cautious around. Once, a foolish orcish commander had tried to use trickery to try and bed her, but he had far from succeeded. It had been a late night in Orgrimmar, filled with drinking and laughter, and Sazlek, along with her twin Sorlok, and several of their friends, had been drinking well into the night, heads all blurred in a drunken haze, as an orc decided it would be a fine idea to begin hitting on her. She didn't mind it at first, accepting a drink from the man, but the moment he got handsy, all flirting from her end came to a complete stop, crimson hues glaring at him with such an expression that it made even the bravest men cringe. Everyone knew that it was time to stop, but drunk as he was, he did not heed the warnings, allowing his hand to travel up her inner thigh as she say upon her stoop. Being quite adept at hand to hand combat, it wasn't long until the male was on the floor, nose broken and lip bleeding profusely as she had defended herself. They'd given the bartender extra gold to pay for their trouble, and left without another word.
Sazlek had returned to the village within a matter of minutes, much to her pleasure; the dead boar upon her back was getting quite uncomfortable, and not to mention the stickiness of her fur was getting rather bothersome. She kept her head low as she entered the village; as of late, the trolls hadn't seemed too happy with the young female, the looks in their eyes always greeting her with some form of disapproval. Sazlek was bewildered with their actions; she could think of nothing she did wrong, but the Darkspear trolls seemed to have an odd knack of unusual actions, such as this. However, her thoughts of unease left her mind as she heard footsteps fall in line with her own, in a familiar pattered that she was all-too-familiar with. Soon, her friend's familiar aroma entered her nostrils, deep and musky and rather pleasing, though it had never done anything for her. Turning her head slightly to see Garluz, a troll mage that she had known since birth, picking the dead boar off of her back and slinging it over his own shoulder, she shook, flecking him with small amounts of blood as her fur was soaking wet.
"See you're back," he said. "Dis boar is smaller dan usual."
"You must be comin' to dinner, den," Sazlek replied, still in cat form, walking beside him. "Normally, when you be mentionin' ma catch, you be eatin' as well."
"Naturally. Speaking of eatin'," he said, rubbing his stomach hungrily, shifting the weight of the boar onto both shoulders, "Is Sorlok joinin' us as well?"
"She be in Orgrimmar, doin' some priest trainin' at de moment. Dey short on trainers and dey know dat Sorlok be de best around. She's also gettin' a new mount; Duskrunnah died a few days ago. She should be headed dis was soon, with Vandina and Seliah, too. Dey arrived by zeppelin de other day."
A grin lifted Garluz' lips as Sazlek mentioned their companions. Seliah, the Undead Huntress, had always been a great friend of Sorlok's; the troll had saved the other woman on numerous occasions, earning herself a deep-rooted respect from the Undead. Vandina, on the other hand, had met Sorlok and Sazlek in the deepest parts of a dungeon, fighting through the menaces that inhabited the dark recesses. She was a Blood Elf, and a Paladin at that, a woman that constantly put her life on the line as she drew the enemies near her, giving her allies a chance to attack as they became distracted with her. Stunningly pretty, it was no surprise to Sazlek as she saw the look on Garluz' face at the mention of her name. Having met in a bar that evening, celebrating a victory, the hulking troll had been instantly attracted to her, so of course he would be happy to see her again. She was often off fighting with Sorlok and Seliah, rarely making an appearance in Sen'jin, where Garluz spent most of his time. "Vandina, eh?" He mused, rubbing a finger along the end of his large tusk, jutting out like that of a mammoth. Though he had always been proud of that feature, he couldn't help but to get annoyed every once in a while, as the often got in the way. "Been meaning tah speak with that lil' Elfie for a while now…but still. Hopefully Sorlok be getting here by dusk; dere be a meetin' of the village. Apparently deh elders aren't happy with some of de stuff dat's been happening here.
"Why did I not know of dis? No one be tellin' me about de meetin'."
"You be huntin'," Garluz said, shrugging. He and Sazlek entered the latter's hut, though the female hesitated for a moment, knowing well that she was covered in blood.
"Eh, give me a minute," Sazlek said, returning to her normal form. A woman of average high for her race replaced the enormous cat, bright crimson eyes gleaming beneath her brow. Two tusks, not nearly as big as the male's, curved upward from her lower lip, which was curved in a smile as the male made himself at home, pulling out a skinning knife as he began to work at Sazlek's catch.
"Yeah, yeah, get yerself washed up. Ya stick, Sazzy." Scrunching her features at his statement, the female rolled her eyes, backing out of the hut as she neared the sea right at the edge of her village, searching for a secluded spot to bathe. She knew how some of the men of Sen'jin operated, and she wanted to stay away from prying eyes, knowing well that it would be nearly impossible. Still, she found herself slipping out of her leather armor, allowing the material to slide to her ankles, stepping into the cool pool and submerged herself, holding her breath. She loved the water, feeling it engulf her body, washing away the blood that had covered nearly her entire body. Kicking at the floor of the sea, she reemerged, rubbing the blood off of her arms. Soaked hair became plastered to her pale, blue-green skin, and she brushed it back, getting her dark locks out of her eyes. "Good enough," she muttered, dragging herself out of the waters, covering herself with the shirt and shorts she wore under her armor. It wasn't like her to show up naked, and she knew that it would give many others unwanted ideas.
Reentering her home, she found that the hide had been completely removed from the boar she had just hunted, being dried and stretched outdoors, while Garluz was nowhere to be found. For a mage, he was an exceptional butcher, cutting the meat easily, as if it were second nature to him. Throwing her armor upon her bed, she slid outside once more, her crimson hues searching for the male. He was hanging the carcass up by its hind legs, the blade of his knife resting against the flesh as he began to rend open its belly, spilling the innards. Wrinkling her nose as the stench of its contents reached her nostrils, she reached for a large leather pouch, scooping up the liver and intestines to use later. Digging into the corpse, blood splattered onto his face, while nearly hitting Sazlek, who dodged the oncoming blood just in time.
"C'mon, Garluz, I just washed off…don' need ta be covered in blood again."
He smirked, giving her a playful glance as he continued working, tearing out the boar's heart and tossing it at her. "Looks like ya already got it on yer hands again…what's a little more fer ya?"
Making a noise of disgust as she caught the squishy organ, she threw it into the bag of entrails, staring at her, once-again, blood-soaked hands. Looking for anything to wipe up the mess, the pair of trolls fell silent. Cleaning herself, she could feel Garluz' gaze upon her back, causing a frown to furrow her brows.
"Sazlek." The silence had been broken, though his single utterance was more of a statement than a question.
"Hmm?" The female straightened herself, turning her head slightly to peer at him over her shoulder. "If dis is about what I tink it is…"
"Many of de trolls be speakin' of ya."
"Tell me someting I don' know. Dey been speakin' of me since Sorlok and me could talk."
"Dey be speaking oh ya badly though. Dey be saying tings dat aren't...well, dey aren't you."
Sazlek rolled her eyes. "Does it have to do with dat missing kid? I've heard way dey be sayin'. Dey saw a cat, leaving with de kid, but it wasn't me." She huffed angrily, folding her arms across her chest, brows furrowed as her rage only increased. "Dis is bothering me…more den it should."
"You have de right to be angry. Dey don't know shit. You know who ya are…and dey can't do anyting about dat."
"Still…"
"Sazlek," Garluz said, stepping back from his handiwork, before beginning to cut away at the boar's flank. "Just ignore dem. Dey know not'ing about you. I know de real you."
"Tanks, mon. Tanks a lot."
The sun had fallen and the entirety of the village sat around a giant bonfire, placed at the middle of the settlement. Sazlek and Garluz sat near the head of the group, the former with her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on her knees. Garluz relaxed casually, his staff sitting in his lap. He kept glancing at Sazlek, a somewhat worried expression on his face. She hadn't acted normally since he had given her the news of the elders' thoughts.
Suddenly, from the darkness, Master Gadrin appeared, smoking billowing from whence he came, looking more dark and intimidating than it had been. "Dis council has been called to order by de elders. Certain…events...dat recently passed have caused a bit of…disarray among de villagers. A child, young, tusks not even beginnin' to grow in, was taken from dis village. By a cat of some sort." His face looked rather sad as he glanced in Sazlek's direction. The female sighed, knowing the man's thoughts as her words faded into a temporary silence. It was known that Sazlek was only one of a few druids in the village, her primary focus being shapeshifting, often into the form of a large, striped cat. When news of this had reached her ears, she knew that it couldn't end well for her.
"Ya know dey only be expectin' me."
"It's demanded by da elders dat she leave this place…for more reasons den just this. Ya know da rules of lying with a woman…forbidden." Her eyes widened at his statement; it had never been in her interests to lay with a woman…never. But he was speaking so clearly and pointedly at Sazlek, that she just couldn't believe what she was hearing. Sazlek…with a woman. It was completely unheard of.
"So," continued Master Gadrin. "I undahstand dat dis be hard for you to hear. I not be agreein' wit what dey say, but dey be askin' dat yeh be leavin' de village." He said his words to no one in particular, but Sazlek knew it was aimed for her. Her jaw clenched as she peered into the fire before her, a small sigh escaping her lips. So be it.
"Dat be it." The final words of Master Gadrin echoed through the gathering, and he retreated backward, disappearing into the night as the crowd too began to disperse. Sazlek stood quickly and headed back to her hut, wrath gnawing at the pit of her stomach. If they didn't want her, then fine. She would leave. She would leave and not return.
Her raptor, Lana, was lying outside of the hut, her feet twitching as she dreamt. Sazlek knelt next to the slumbering beast, prodding her lightly, saying, "C'mon girl. Gotta get up. We be leaving."
Stirring and opening her bright blue eyes, she nuzzled Sazlek, growling affectionately as she stood up, stretching her body. Sazlek patted her muzzle walking back to her hut, grabbing what supplies she needed for her trek. She put on her leather armor, made to fit her form exactly and packed her saddlebags, throwing them over Lana's back. As she rubbed Lana's neck, Sazlek felt a strong hand upon her shoulder.
"You don' need to do dis, mon," Garluz said as Sazlek faced him. "Dey don' know what they're sayin'."
"I have to, Gar. I cannot just defy dere orders. And what good would I be? I'd just be a disgrace."
Garluz could tell that there would be no way he could change his friend's mind. Once Sazlek had her heart set on something, nothing could change it. He looked into her eyes, seeing sadness deep within them, though he said nothing. She was one of his longest and closest friends, and though he would offer to leave with her, he knew she would never accept. Sighing in defeat, his arm reached behind his head, rubbing the back of his neck as his shoulders rolled in a shrug.
"I guess dere be nothing ta change yer mind, Sazzy," he said, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. "So I guess dis is goodbye…" Offering her a sad smile, he made to leave, but the next second, Sazlek had her arms wrapped around his waist, face buried into his chest. Startled, Garluz put his arms around her, stroking her hair.
"Don' worry, mon," he said. "You be a strong troll. If anyone can get through dis, it be you."
"Tank you, Garluz. I'm gonna miss you, ya know."
"I'm gonna miss ya too, Sazlek. Take care of yerself."
"You too," she replied with a nod, the smallest hint of a smile crossing her lips. "Maybe, one day, I can make it back and see ya again."
Without another word, she dug her heels in the sides of her raptor, and the Druid was off, disappearing into the night.