Chapter 4: Krug Firebane and Company
Laiken's boat voyage wasn't any especially special. For our human-heighted half-orc, he was very sea sick. At one point, one of the crew, who mistook him to a full-blood orc, asked him if he was truly an orc.
"I am not a full orc… just because my skin is light green and I have things similar to tusks, doesn't mean I am", he snapped.
Laiken didn't mean to offend, but he didn't have time to apologize either, as the crewmember walked off angrily. He cursed under his breath as he walked back to his cabin, where he laid down, and held a bucket very close. He began to drift off into sleep once or twice, and in on instance, he saw Lucien, being tied up and killed by an unknown person, causing him to jump up, very frightened.
However, even with his sea sickness, Laiken made his way to Ratchet, and joyfully slung his sword on his side, and his shield on his back, and paraded off the boat, gleefully stepping onto the port. He breathed deep in about twice, and headed toward the run-down looking town, where footsteps and unintelligible chatter were heard throughout. One of the crewmembers had followed him out, and tapped him lightly on the shoulder.
"Sir, if I must give a word of warning to a newcomer of this place… don't listen to any 'job offers' these goblins have to give. Not anything personal, but from what I've heard, they'll rob you of anything that they can grab off of your corpse when they have led you into a trap", he said.
Laiken gulped, and his godmother's voice briefly flashed throughout his head. He shook off such things, and smiled back at the crewmember.
"Any advice on who I should talk to, then?" he politely asked.
"If you know how to speak fluent orcish… then try going to this little shop on the east end of town, called Weapons of Destiny. I know people we've ferried, they talk about him, and he usually will do something for you in return. His name is Krug Firebane… as we said before, if you want to travel to Booty Bay, you'll have to head off to Orgrimmar, but Krug can usually get you there, for cheap or free, depending on if he likes you", the crewmember explained.
If you didn't already know, the Asorian Boat Travel Agency was restricted from coming too close to any major settlements that were extremely biased toward one faction. Booty Bay was one such place.
"Thanks… anything else?" Laiken asked.
"Yeah… don't act like a mercenary unless you are one… you look like you have a good build, but no combat experience", the crewmember said, and with that, the boat's bell was heard, and he stepped back on as it heaved away from the docks.
"A mercenary…" Laiken said to himself, looking down at his body.
Laiken wasn't the tallest around, but that was due to his mixed blood. He had a strong, orcish build, coupled with the demeanor, and slight perfections of a human's build. He wasn't hunchbacked, and his arms were slender, but muscular. He stood at about five feet, eleven inches tall, and whenever he really wanted to look tough, all he needed to do was flex a tad.
But… now looking down at his body, Laiken now noticed he was still wearing the same clothes that his godmother had helped him put away for travel. His midsection was covered by something reminiscent of a farmer's attire, and he wore cloth sandals, his green toes sticking out.
"If I'm going to be any help to this… Krug, I'll need some armor", he said to himself, walking down the lane that led into the main part of the town.
The city itself looked run-down, but had a sense of business and trade about it, almost like an older and less-taken-care-of version of Asoria City. He walked for a while, before seeing the edge of the small, yet large looking town.
"Must have walked too far…" he said to himself, turning around to see a goblin with a gun on his side standing there.
He gulped, and his hands were tempted to hover over his weapon and shield, but instead he waited for the goblin to say something.
"Lost?" he asked, his voice was harsh.
"No…", Laiken slowly replied, before seeing two other goblins surrounding the one.
"Oh? Interesting… so, how much money do you have on you? For the toll of getting back into town, of course", the goblin snickered.
"There's not a toll to speak of, Kraven, I'd hope", an orcish voice said.
The goblins looked immediately scared, and ran off, heading back into the many alleyways and buildings they came from. Laiken felt so lost, but he slowly turned to see a gruff looking orc, hands dirty with soot, beard and hair frenzied, and his eyes looking as if they sought out adventure at any cost.
"Krug Firebane, engineer and owner of Weapons of Destiny, at your service", Krug said.
Laiken exhaled so fast, he thought he'd hyperventilate. Or maybe he'd hoped he would.
"Thank you… sir", Laiken hesitantly said.
"What's your name?" Krug asked, his voice piercing through Laiken's nervousness.
"Laiken Tearshorn", he said proudly.
"Laiken, eh? Doesn't sound like a very orcish name… but Tearshorn does. Not that I care… but Tearshorn sounds familiar… can't put my finger on it, but hey, let's get inside, Kraven and his flock are sure to come back for more, and I'm not in the fighting mood right now", Krug said, shaking his bag slightly.
Krug led Laiken through a maze of alleys, and streets, before finally, on the east end of town, just like the crewmember of the boat he travelled on had said, and Krug hastily unlocked the door, opening it to a wide variety of weapons hung on the walls, and the like.
"This is the shop…" Krug said, putting his bag down.
"I see…" Laiken said, looking around.
Krug flipped through his key ring, and found a large brass key, and walked to a dusty door behind the main counter. He slid the key into the lock, and turned it once. Almost immediately, gears and cogs could be heard, rather loudly, turning and grinding, as the door slowly slid open.
The opened door revealed a large room with moving mechanical devices, as well as a small work-table and chair. Laiken gasped as he saw it was a large room, shaped like a dome, and at the top of said dome, was a large window, letting in a beam of sunlight that shined directly over the work-table.
"Seems… cozy", Laiken finally said.
"Cozy? Where do you come from for this room to be deemed cozy?" Krug asked, looking directly at Laiken.
"A… place far away from here", Laiken was about to say Asoria, but decided not to, as he was still unsure of Krug's feelings about Half-breeds.
"Far away? Seems about right, you don't look as worn in other people I've seen coming into Ratchet", Krug said, sitting at his work-table.
Laiken felt unwanted at that very moment. He looked back at the weapons shop, and then back at the engineering shop, then back at Krug, who was looking back at Laiken.
"Is there some reason why you're allowing me in your shop?" Laiken promptly asked.
"Well… I saved your… riches; those goblins would not have killed you, not under my watch, at least. So… I guess instead of asking for a thank you, I am asking you to perform tasks for me as I go about my daily duties", Krug stated.
"I cannot", Laiken retorted.
"And why is that?" Krug asked.
"I am looking for someone important, who was taken from my life, or so I believe, and being a delivery boy for some roadside engineer isn't the way I'm going to find him!" Laiken angrily said.
Krug seemed to take this in for a brief moment, and then looked directly back at Laiken, rubbing his chin methodically.
"Who is this person?" Krug asked.
"I-I cannot tell you that. Can't we just keep it at very important?" Laiken pleaded with the engineer on this one.
"So… he's someone important enough you lash out on me in my own shop, yet you cannot tell me who he is or why… seems… slippery, doesn't it?" Krug was now digging into Laiken's cover.
"If I tell you, you'd probably kill me", Laiken hesitantly said.
"Try me, then", Krug said, revealing a pipe, of which he put tobacco in, and lit.
Laiken almost wanted to strike this person down, in raw anger, which was strange, as he was experiencing something he had never experienced before, at least before this instance. His palms were sweaty, as he turned around, angrily, and walked out of the shop, determined to head for the strange place known as Orgrimmar. To his chagrin, Krug began to follow.
"You're not free of my law, yet, traveler", Krug said.
"Leave me be, I'll find my way on my own", Laiken snapped.
"I think not, Mr. Tearshorn. I'll follow you until wherever you go, I can't", Krug laughed as he said this.
Laiken gritted his teeth, and continued to walk on the path that took him out of the town of Ratchet. He was there less than 6 hours. Further down the road, Laiken had to stop to garner some energy, and Krug finally stomped his feet on the ground, and spoke his mind.
"Just where exactly are you trying to end up? Dead?" he exclaimed.
"No", Laiken merely stated.
"Then where? At least tell me, so I can tabulate the time it might take us!" Krug yelled.
Laiken inhaled a few times, before reopening his eyes, and looking up at Krug, who was tapping his foot impatiently.
"I am trying to get to the Eastern Kingdoms. The people from the ferry service told me they didn't make runs to the Eastern Kingdoms, so I went looking for you in town before you found me, about to get attacked by a few goblins. You 'saved' me, and now you're acting like I owe you a huge favor, which I really don't think I do", Laiken calmly said.
Krug threw his hands in the air, and then he began to rub his chin methodically, like he did when they were back in his shop. He then looked at Laiken, and smiled wide.
"The Eastern Kingdoms? Why didn't you say so… we'll begin our journey immediately…" Krug's voice was cut off by the tapping of metal against skin.
Both Laiken and Krug looked behind them, to find the same group of goblins had followed them, and brought some huge looking things that held what looked like battering rams.
"Kraven… good to see you", Krug nervously said.
Before Laiken knew it, he had dropped his weapons and the ground met his face rather quickly, as he blacked out from being struck by the huge people with battering rams.