This is just s short story about a Troll and his coming of age as a hunter. I hope you like it. Here's a cookie! I don't own Blizzard, warcraft nor am I affiliated in any way. Drats

The Raptor

Zepylo was a troll living in Durotar in the Sen Jin village, he was sixteen and today was his coming of age as a hunter.

The young troll was well liked enough in his village, he was funny and creative and everyone found him refreshing. He was however a bit of a loner, he had no solid friends to speak of, his personality put off people. He wasn't mean or arrogant or smug, he was simply eccentric even at his young age and this made him an outcast of sorts in the tribe.

He got along better with the elders of the tribe than with the children his age, he had however friends all over Azeroth. He had befriended an undead alchemist who had a strangely charming and sunny personality named Rakanus, an Orc that lived in nearby Orgrimmar with his sister; Dhrok and Laki respectively. And lastly a very kind but shy Blood Elf named Seraph.

He met them through the city of Orgrimmar and wrote to them almost every week and sent them stuff from time to time. Be it little trinkets he made, recipes from troll cuisine, or just pages of the short stories he liked to write. In them he would invent stories about all of them as adults, in which they lead armies and freed Azeroth of war and evil.

Zepylo was in all intents and purposes a dreamer. He was not however in a dreamy state of mind as he was sitting with other initiates in a circle around a fire in the Valley of Trials.

His heart was in his throat, he was sweaty and excited. He hesitated when the Orc in charge called his name. "Zepylo, hunter of the Darkspear Tribe!" shouted the Orc as he gestured for the troll shaman initiate who was before to sit down.

Zepylo gulped and stood up and walked over to the Orc, he dropped to one knee and bowed his head, the Orc placed both hands on his shoulders. "Zepylo you are a child of the Darkspear tribe, member of the Horde in equal status as any one of us. You have worked long and hard for this day, today is the day you are recognized as an adult, should you pass your test of cunning as a hunter, go to Minshina, he will tell you what needs to be done", said the Orc as he gestured the young troll to sit down.

Zepylo exhaled nervously as he plopped back onto the ground. He scooped up a fistful of the orange sand, and acknowledged that the short ceremony was not painful at all or as scary as he thought it would be, maybe the business of becoming a warrior of the Horde and an adult was not so hard.

After the ceremony was over, all the young children were chatting amongst themselves happily, friends embracing each other, girls gossiping.

The teachers looked at their students with scrutiny, singling out who was the most promising and who was the least promising. Amongst them, a red haired and robed troll, noticed Zepylo walking away from the group.

He looked at the young troll wrapping himself in a long cloth, with the same vibrant color of the sand. Minshina followed the boy to where he was heading, the young troll walking to the entrance of the Valley of Trials.

The same went between a crack in the thick stone wall and slipped into a small cavern in the same stone. He had several things hidden away there, snacks, a few books, trinkets made from roots and boar tusks. This is where Zepylo liked to come to think, he was surprised when Minshina called out to him from outside the cavern.

"Hey boyo! Come out, we have to talk mon" said the robed troll, Zepylo hesitantly peered his head out his little sanctuary.

"Heyas mon, I am Minshina and I be your teacher for the hunter's test", Zepylo came out and bowed to his teacher, he was surprised when Minshina returned the bow.

Adults don't usually do that.

"Why you bow to me, teacher?"

"Because in life I have learned one must always be humble" he said simply and with a smile on his face, a silence descended upon the pair.

"And what you wanted to talk to me about?" asked Zepylo gently

"Nutting, I just wanted to say hello to me student". Minshina walked away without saying anything more, Zepylo didn't think his teacher's thinking was strange, he did things like that all the time.

As he plopped back into his cave and lit three candles he took out a splinter of charcoal and thought about how to draft a letter to Seraph, he was sure she would want to hear about this.

The next day, Zepylo woke up bright and early, he had a quick jog to Razor Hill which was a settlement north of his village to drop off letters for all his friends. As he jogged back he noticed Minshina with a small group of kids he knew from training with him.

"There ya are mon!" said Minshina happily as he saw the young troll approach, the rest of the kids behind him were not alert and still half asleep.

Both Minshina and Zepylo were the only morning people there. "I trust ya brought ya gear wit ya" asked Minshina.

Zepylo checked his backpack and he still had his bow and arrows on it, he had his pouches with antivenin in case he had a close call with a Scorpid. As he gripped his spear he nodded. Minshina smiled fondly and gestured Zepylo to follow.

The group made its way to the beach and made a small camp amongst rock on the shore.

There they cooked breakfast, the children continued to chatter amongst friends as Zepylo ate his bread and meat alone.

Minshina noticed the separation between the oblivious group and the loner and felt nostalgic, he too was a loner in his youth, he still was, but at least his brother was always there for him. Zepylo was an only child on the other hand.

As everyone finished eating, Minshina told them to gather round.

"Children, before we begin I warn ya. Nature and her creatures must be treated with respect, if ya don't, well, try not to think about that" he said with an impish smile.

All the young hunters nodded, "Your final test as to prove yourselves as hunters is to tame a wild creature as your loyal companion, your friend, your guardian. But be wary as you choose, the creature you choose for yourself is not only your ally but also part of you. Choose a creature with a kindred spirit to yours, a creature capable of understanding ya, a creature capable of loving ya and one that you can understand and love. Because in the end, if you make a creature care for you like that, if ya ever find yourself alone. That creature will be there for you" he said as he laid down on a rock looking at the ocean.

The hunters looked about themselves, "That's it master?" asked one of the orchish boys.

"Yup, go get yourselves some companions".

The group looked about themselves and set out in pairs or trios, but Zepylo went alone, the sun wasn't even up yet, there was still a cool air about.

Zepylo looked quietly at the creatures in the area from atop a large rock. He contemplated each of them quietly; which one would be best for him. He saw a group of boars grazing idly on the dry vegetation, he instantly discarded the idea, boars were very protective and made good pets but he wanted something more soulful than a creature with a food based mind track.

He glanced at some Scorpids, their wicked stingers and tough claws, these make excellent hunting partners and guardians. But they don't go too far in affection. He thought for a moment about a lion, or a wolf, he discarded the idea seeing as there were none nearby and that he didn't particularly like either of them despite being very affectionate and making great hunting partners.

As Zepylo contemplated his possibilities he hear some grunting nearby, it was frustrated and angry grunting.

He followed the noise quietly and followed it to its source. A bloodtalon raptor caught in a hunter's trap.

As Zepylo saw the creature, the same, stopped moving and remained perfectly still returning the hunter's gaze. Zepylo approached the creature quietly and calmly as to not scare it, he was surprised when the little raptor started to growl maliciously.

Hissing at the troll, the small raptor wiggled and tried to at least be able to sit in the net, but to no avail. Zepylo, drew his knife and calmly spoke to the creature, "I'm gonna get ya out, don't bite me, ok?" he said trying to see if the raptor would at least calm down as it saw he meant it no harm by being friendly as it was at his mercy.

The raptor stopped growling, Zepylo was about to bend down and let it out but he saw something he didn't like in the raptor's eyes.

He decided to tackle this but behind the raptor's back so he would be less at risk from harm. The trapped beast followed the trolls movements and refused to let him out of his sight, Zepylo then decided to cut the base of the net rather than risk and obvious bite from the agitated creature. He gripped his spear and maneuvered it to the base of the net and cut it as the raptor squirmed. As he finished cutting the last tie, he backed off as the moody creature almost jumped out of the netting, he held his lance in a defensive manner not knowing if the raptor wanted to fight. The same looked straight at the troll and twitched its claws, only to slowly walk away from him and dash away, probably to its pack.

Zep stayed there quietly for a moment, he smiled and thought about the raptor. Its ruby red scales, it's ebony claws and talons, it's emerald eyes and stripes on its hips. He wanted that raptor, it had a lot of fight in it and was determined to resist even in the situation it was in.

Zepylo had heard stories about raptors and how they communicate, strange creatures how they act and behave. He decided to have some of his snacks and set a date of sorts, as he learned during his time as a loner in nature; the best way to earn a creature's trust is through its stomach.

So whaddya think? Here's a cookie! Please R&R