Author's Note: So I've kinda sorta gotten a little back into WoW in this last month... Depending on how well things go, I may stick around. In the meantime, I've spent some downtime on a little background for my Horde characters.
In this chapter, I introduce two characters:
Jah'Ziggy, a male troll hunter with a venomhide raptor pet. (Venomhides can be found in Un'goro, if you're curious, they have black hides.)
Blightborn, a female forsaken death knight, once served the Alliance Military before she was raised and ended up Horde-side. (She's not any of the DKs that were present in the DK starter zone, she was in Northrend when she died and was raised.)
Jah'Ziggy
Wars be a horrible thing ta live through. I've seen many battles, I've seen many friends die by their swords ta many different foes. But always, me and Hookfang always came out alive.
Whatever power may have looked over us, I sometimes wish it never had. Too much heartache came from those battles. But none more than the woman I had come to admire.
She was a fierce warrior, fought for the Horde with the strength ta rival a dozen Alliance troops. Where ever she swung her ax, her enemies flew through the air in pieces. When she yelled, her enemies trembled.
It was after a long, bloody battle, when a swarm of insects in Tanaris had finally been defeated, did I get a chance ta meet her. I was surprised she had a far more gentle side. Even Hookfang had a liking ta her, and we were a nigh inseperable trio.
It was about a year later, when I decided ta propose ta her. We were staging an ambush, and what a better time then afterwards, when we were celebrating another victory back at camp. We were crouched behind a bush in Ashenvale, ready ta surprise a Night Elf messenger.
I never understood how they found us there. She had been shot through her neck, didnt even have time ta register what happened when she died. If Hookfang wasnt there ta take that second arrow, I would have joined her in death.
I held the woman that I would have wedded, and I remember passing out as metal rang and several orc voices roared around me. The next thing I knew, was waking up in Orgrimmar next to Hookfang. He had been roughly bandaged, probably after giving the medic a rough time.
I let him sleep as what had happened flooded back ta my mind. My sobbing roused Hookfang, and when he saw me, I could feel his sorrow. He missed her, too.
We didnt have much time ta mourn when we were shipped off to Un'goro. We were ta help some professor study the exotic animals there. I imagined Hookfang being excited at first ta visit his home.
It was a foolish endeavor. The moment we sat up camp, we were beset by one setback after another. One of the assistants died because he didnt purify his drinking water. Another died from sickness. Two more were eaten, another was trampled and then eaten.
It was just me, Hookfang, the professor and an assistant. We were quickly packing up after the last of the guards died, carried off by a flyer before I could shoot it down. I could not wait to leave.
On our way ta the valley into Tanaris, we found a young, wounded troll clutching an egg. We helped him, soaked a few bandages in ointment and wrapped them around him. He didnt talk, and we just thought he was mute.
As we got closer ta Gadgetzan, Hookfang started getting sick. In spite of my best efforts, he died a few hours from the goblin town. I was a mess for days. I couldnt eat and I barely drank. The young troll, though, there was something about him.
He had sat his egg on my bed next to me, and it hatched. A baby venomhide raptor looked up at me from its shell and chirped. The void that I felt when Hookfang died felt a little smaller.
The lad left that night. I never heard from him again. The raptor never left my side. It slept, ate and drank with me. It protested quite loudly if I got too far from it.
Hookfang's death, I never truly healed from... But this baby raptor gave me something to live just another day for.
Blightborn
The bitter cold gnawed at my skin even through my padding and armour. The cold had only gotten worse as we neared Valiance Keep. We didnt know what we were headed for, we were all still new recruits.
Even the commanding officers were mostly struck by how fresh most of us were after arriving. When the Commander paused in front of me, he gruffly asked my rank and name. "Sir! Private Sarah Blightborn, sir!" The scribe behind him scribbled on his parchment, and they continued on down the line.
A few days later, Valiance Keep was under siege. The massive scourge spiders were innumerable from my perch on the wall. They swarmed the fields, and where one fell, three more took its place. They crawled over their own dead just to reave our troops to pieces.
Horns blared, screams errupted everywhere, orders were shouted, and in all the chaos, I dont remember what happened. There was so much pain and cold, oh the cold seemed to tear at my soul.
The next thing I remember is waking up in a small, dreary village. Two men stood above me, and one spoke, "Ohh, she's awake. Those new eyes seem to be working..." He snapped his fingers in front of my eyes, and when I blinked and tried to turn my head away, the other chuckled, "You always have a way with eyes, Master Apothecary."
I struggled to rise, quickly realizing I was tied down to a table. The Apothecary grinned at me, "Dont move too much just yet, you were out for years before we could revive you."
Years? I was bewildered. What had they meant by years? I looked around, trying to discern where I could be. I noticed a handful of run down buildings and many Forsaken.
I started to panic, struggling harder against my bindings. I couldnt believe what I was seeing as the Apothecary continued, "Or you could keep struggling. Not like you could go far, for as stiff as you are, Death Knight."
Great, now I'm also a Death Knight? "Nightshade! Hemlock!" I didnt know how I knew those names. Whatever it meant, two beasts answered. A hollow neighing echoed through the area and a strange gryphon call answered. A horse, black as pitch, raced through the village, tossing the villagers and everything else out of its way.
The few guards there chased the horse. While they were distracted, a skeletal gryphon landed on me, clicking angrily at the two apothecaries. They hesitated as the gryphon tore at my bindings. I got up slowly, realizing how stiff my body was.
"No, be careful!" The gryphon squawked defiantly at the speaker and he snapped his loose jaw shut. I clamoured onto the saddle, leaning heavily on its back.
I didnt need to tell the gryphon I was ready. It flapped its bone wings and climbed into the sky. The horse below neighed once more as I saw it dissipate in a cloud of dark smoke.
As the gryphon flew, I watched the terrain below. We flew over a large, crumbling stone structure. It looked familiar, and after a while, I finally remembered seeing a sketch of Lordaeron's castle in Stormwind's library. I was very far from home.
The gryphon veered south and picked up speed. It growled a bit, but continued flying. I didnt know where it was taking me as I wondered where I could go. I stared down at my hands for hours, entanced by how my hands have changed. My skin was pale blue and I knew I was chilled, even though I wasnt bothered by the cold.
The gryphon clicked and snapped its jaws, stirring me from my reverie. We were over Elwynn, to my surprise. I was perturbed to see the farm I grew up at. The skeletal beast landed near the barn and strode around the corner to the large doors.
"H-hello?" I called. I should have expected the worst, but my worst fear had passed. A young lad jumped out from a stall with a pitchfork raised, yelling loudly. Before I could react, the gryphon lunged, digging its claws and beak into the lad's chest and neck as I tumbled backwards with a heavy thud on the dirt floor.
"Curse you, beast!" I spat before laying my eyes on the lad. He looked too much like my husband before I left for Northrend. I could not believe my eyes as I knelt and picked up his head and shoulders. He couldnt be my son Max, this lad was too old.
"Who goes there...!" I jerked my eyes up to see my husband Sam... an older Sam. I stammered as his eyes widened. "Sarah? Sarah, what have you done!" I sobbed, though no tears came.
He yelled at me, though my mind whirled too quickly to understand his words. I picked up Max, like a doll in my arms even though he was full grown, got on the gryphon and flew away.
We flew for many more hours again as I held my son, feeling too sickened to take notice of where we were going. I dont know how I missed flying over the ocean or ending up on a zepplin to Orgrimmar. The goblins, I heard later, were quite shocked and disturbed with my unexpected appearance, but didnt protest when I just stayed in one spot the entire trip.
The gryphon took me to Thunder Bluff, into a cave carved into the side of one mesa. There were more Forsaken there. They took one look at me and helped me off the gryphon. I remember thinking I had become a monster, accepting my fate as one of the Forsaken.
I guess I got really confused for a while. I had thought I was still alive for a few months, still in the Alliance Military. I had started a conversation with a Tauren, a Pandaren and I think a Blood Elf was there. I guess... I just needed some time to recover. At least having my son with me again made it a little easier, in spite of him now being a giest. He's rather smart.
