A Journey Made

By Serinthia Draftwood

"Come on, Serinthia, we're gonna be late!" Lakota exclaimed, running ahead of the hunter towards the airship tower.

"Keep your armor on, we're gonna make it," Serinthia called as she and her pet, Kirika, hurried after her.

It had been two weeks since they had left Lakota's home of Freewind. They had stopped briefly in Thunder Bluff before coming to Orgrimmar to catch the airship. Lakota had never imagined anything like it. Thunder Bluff had turned out to be very like the out post except several times larger, and full of tauren going about their lives in a somewhat more hurried manner, which Serinthia explained was just a consequence of living your life in the "big city".

At least it had given the two a chance to get Lakota more appropriately outfitted for her journey. No longer did she wear the simple working dress her mother had made for her. Instead, she was decked out head to hoof in a full set of leather armor. She even had a rifle of her own now, strapped to her back, and a one-handed axe on her hip. None of it was near as fancy or durable as Serinthia's own set, but the hunter had assured her better weapons and armor would come with training and experience.

This particular morning they had booked passage on a goblin airship which would cross the sea to Stranglethorn Vale. They had gotten a somewhat late start and the three were currently running as quickly as they could to get on board before it left.

By the time they made it to the top of the tower, the goblins were already getting ready to withdraw the gangplank.

"Hold on, we've booked passage on this ship!" Serinthia called to them.

The short green goblins paused and looked as her with some annoyance, but when Kirika growled threateningly at them, they rapidly changed their minds.

Serinthia sent Kirika up the plank ahead of her before taking Lakota's paw and helping her aboard, the younger tauren taking the opportunity to take in just what kind of ship it was.

Lakota had never seen an airship before. Wind riders were one thing, but this… This was massive. A giant ship in the skies with a giant…balloon Serinthia had called it that somehow held it in the air. There seemed to be lots of creatures on the main deck, not only tauren, but a mixture of Orcs and Trolls too, as well as the goblin crew hurrying about making things ready for departure.

"Not too intimidated, are you?" Serinthia asked with a teasing grin.

"It's just so big," Lakota replied "How can anything keep such a large ship in the air?"

"I don't understand it fully, myself," Serinthia admitted "But the goblins are pretty proud of it, and I know they've been trying to outdo the Gnomes for generations."

Lakota nodded quietly as the gangplank was finally pulled away and the docking ropes cleared. With a loud sputter, the giant propeller fixed to the back of the ship began to spin up and the ship began to slowly move forward. Then sensation of it took Lakota slightly by surprise as she staggered back a step, holding Serinthia's paw for support.

"Easy there," Serinthia said "It's kinda like a really big Wind Rider. Try to think of it that way."

"Remind me not to make it angry, then," Lakota said with a grin before taking a minute to get her footing again.

"Well, let's get our gear stored," Serinthia said "I actually forked over the coin for a cabin so we don't have to sleep on deck."

Lakota nodded and went below deck with Serinthia, finding a long hall running the length of the ship with a number of private cabins. Serinthia looked around a moment.

"Lakota try the doors down there, see if you see one with my name scribbled on it," she said.

"Ok," Lakota replied as she moved down the hall, still a little wobbly as she felt the ship shift and move in the air. Each cabin door had a name hastily scribbled on it in a clumsy sort of goblin script, but they were perfectly legible. So much was she paying attention to the doors that she didn't see the other figure coming down the hall until she bumped into her.

"Oh, excuse me," Lakota began, before actually looking at who she was addressing. She nearly shrieked in fear as she found herself face to face with an undead human of some kind. The creature had once obviously been female if the shape of her body was any indication. The robe she wore hung in tatters around her body and her eyes almost glowed with an eerie yellowness that set them apart from her partially decayed, green skinned body.

Lakota stumbled backwards; the cry stuck in her throat until Serinthia caught her and held her. Kirika padded up behind them, growling slightly at whoever dared to frighten her Mistress' companion.

"Easy," Serinthia cautioned, whispering quietly "I know they're frightening, but they're still allies…"

The undead female, though, seemed to think it was all quite funny as she laughed in a raspy sort of way.

"Not seen my kind before?" she asked rhetorically "Don't worry. We only harm those who get in our way. So don't get in our way…"

The creature laughed again before heading further down the hall and into her own cabin. Lakota found she was trembling badly, but Serinthia held her close for a moment until she felt herself calm.

"I…I see what you meant," Lakota said after a moment.

"Allies they may be," Serinthia said "But my gut tells me they're up to something we're not even aware of. Come, I found our cabin over here."

Serinthia took Lakota's paw and they went in. The cabin was small, really only made for one, but it seemed as though the bed, at least, would be comfortable, if not slightly small.

"Well, we'll just have to sleep close together," Serinthia said, setting her packs down on the floor as Lakota did the same "I don't think we'll have a problem with that."

"Not at all," Lakota replied, sitting on the edge of the bed and taking off, at least part of, her armor. Serinthia took off her chest armor and gloves as well and sat on the bed next to Lakota.

"You're still sure you want to do this, hmm?" she asked.

Lakota rolled her eyes and pushed Serinthia playfully.

"For the hundredth time, yes," Lakota said with a smile "Seriously, I still feel as sure of this as I did back in Freewind. I want my life to be with you."

Serinthia smiled softly and drew Lakota into her arms, nuzzling her softly.

"Well, we should get comfortable, then, this thing won't make it to Stranglethorn till the day after tomorrow, I think, if the winds are good," Serinthia said quietly.

"It's that fast?" Lakota asked "I thought the ocean took a long time to cross."

"On boats maybe," Serinthia said "These airships are faster, and only The Horde has them."

"Amazing," Lakota said quietly "I guess I still have much to learn."

Later that night found Lakota standing at the bow of the huge airship as it moved quietly through the night skies. Far, far below, she could see the dark, almost black ocean far below. Lanterns had been lit around the deck and those that couldn't afford cabins were lounging about, some trying to sleep, others not. As she stood quite by herself she heard someone approaching behind her.

"Good evening, little lady," came the unmistakably deep voice of a tauren. Turning, she saw a huge beast of a male tauren behind her. He had the typical physique of the males of her race; bulging arm muscles, huge paws that could crush most anything, a long coat of fur, black in his case, and a gentle grin on his face as he gazed at her.

"Good evening," she responded politely.

"You seem like one a long way from home," the male said "May I ask how you ended up out above the open seas?"

"I'm still working that one out, myself," Lakota replied "Excitement, adventure…love…"

"I see," the male said, his grin widening slightly "It's such a big world; you certainly can find such things. I have a cabin below deck if you'd like to talk for awhile. It's not a good idea for a young female to be on her own on a trip like this, even with so many of our own kind around."

The male's voice was comforting, but it also hadn't been the first time a male had tried to woo her. She was about to try declining when it was done for her.

"Quite right, which is why she has me," Serinthia said, walking up behind him "Now how about you find someone else to share your bed with."

The male blinked and turned, seeing the stern gaze in the hunter's eyes and her determination to keep Lakota safe from others. He bowed his head quickly and began to withdraw.

"My apologies," he mumbled "I didn't realize."

Lakota felt herself giggle slightly as the male disappeared back downstairs before looking at Serinthia.

"My hero," she said with a grin.

Serinthia smiled slightly as she came to the rail with Lakota.

"My love," Serinthia whispered, smiling softly as she leaned over and nuzzled Lakota gently.

"We should get some rest," she continued "I feel we'll get very little once we get to the outpost."

"Well, if you insist," Lakota said, smiling as she took Serinthia's paw and went downstairs as well "If you promise to let me actually sleep."

Serinthia grinned softly as they went into their cabin and began to undress.

"We'll see," Serinthia said "Don't worry, you'll get the sleep you need…eventually.

Serinthia drew Lakota close then, flesh to flesh, kissing her more deeply before the two dropped into bed.

The time aboard ship passed as if nothing at all. Before the two knew it, land had been sighted as had the Orcish outpost of Grom'gol. As the ship began to pull up to the tower to tie up, everyone was going about gathering their things and getting ready to disembark. Most seemed to be traveling merchants and tradesmen, probably just here to catch some kind of transportation further south to Booty Bay, or so Serinthia had been saying. Once the ship had docked, Serinthia and Lakota, with Kirika padding behind them, headed down the stairs and looked around the outpost. Serinthia glanced at Lakota slightly.

"Get used to it now," Serinthia advised "We may be here a good while."

"It doesn't look that bad," Lakota replied, looking around "A little Spartan perhaps."

Spartan was exactly the word. The outpost main consisted of a walled off section of the jungle and contained little beyond the landing tower, a wind rider pen, a couple watch towers and a smithy. Lakota blinked curiously

"Where will we sleep?" she asked.

"Wherever we can, out of the way, unless time permits to fly down to Booty Bay and get a room at the tavern," Serinthia said, looking around for the commander "Let's see why they wanted to see me in the first place. Oh, there he is."

Serinthia had spied Commander Aggro'gosh by the main bonfire in the center of the outpost and gone to greet him.

"Hail, Commander," Serinthia called as she walked up "Serinthia of Thunder Bluff at your service. You requested my presence."

The Orc looked over at her and smiled slightly.

"Indeed I did," Aggro'gosh replied "I was glad to hear you had received my letter. More glad that you decided to come. We have problems."

"I would assume so," Serinthia nodded "What's the situation?"
"Well, I'm concerned that the alliance may be considering moving further into this area from Darkshire," Aggro'gosh said "That's bad enough, and I need my forces to focus on it. Unfortunately, the tribes of Skullsplitter Trolls to the East of here aren't helping matters. They've been attacking caravans on the main road. I wouldn't care normally, but about a month ago, they slaughtered a group of my Orcs that I was sending to Stonard in the Swamp of Sorrows. This can not be forgiven! I need an experienced hunter to hunt them down and kill as many as possible. Then we'll see how they like having their own skulls split. Bring me a hand from each kill as proof."

Serinthia keep her expression deadpan as she listened before nodding in understanding.

"And what do I get out of this?" she asked.

"One gold piece for ever twenty you kill," Aggro'gosh stated.

"Agreed then," Serinthia said before bowing her head and walking away.

Lakota had heard most of the conversation and was feeling decidedly nervous inside. Hunting for animals she could cope with. Hunting intelligent beings was another. Sure she'd killed in self-defense before, but still.

Serinthia drew her aside and looked into her eyes carefully.

"You heard, yes?" she asked "You really feel up to this, do you?"

Lakota swallowed hard, but nodded.

"I'll fight by your side," she replied quietly.

Serinthia smiled some and hugged her gently "Well, it's late in the day. We'll double check our supplies then head out in the morning. I've been through here before so I have a pretty good idea of where they're hiding out.

Bright and early the next morning, the two were off. The jungle was quite a different landscape than the one Lakota was normally used to, however she stayed close to Serinthia's side and followed her lead as they crept through the dense jungle surrounding the outpost.

"The thing to remember about this place," Serinthia said quietly "Is that it's infested with wildlife of all kinds, some you may never have seen before. That's in addition to our targets and anyone who may be traveling on the main road."

"Well, I've got my gun ready if it's needed," Lakota replied as she looked around, her attention drawn to all the various animal and other bird calls she heard echoing through the jungle.

"Good," Serinthia said. They had reached a particularly dense entanglement of vines then. Serinthia drew her axe and began to slice through it easily. Shortly after, she froze and stared into the distance. Kirika, following her Mistress' lead paused as well, perking up her ears and turning her head from side to side. Lakota as well paused and tried to listen for whatever the other two heard.

"I think there's a raptor up there," Serinthia whispered softly, reaching behind her and drawing her gun "Stay absolutely still and be ready to strike when I say."

Lakota crouched carefully in the foliage with Serinthia who was studying the surrounding jungle intently. Then Lakota caught sight of the movement up ahead. About twenty yards away emerged a large reptilian like creature Lakota had never even dreamed of before. It's orange scales set it apart from the greenery of the jungle, but it's most intimidating feature was the sickle claw it had on each foot. Lakota made her gun ready as well when Serinthia patted Kirika quietly and sent her forward.

The tiger dashed forward at surprising speed towards the beast, slashing into the surprised reptile who tried to kick at her in return. Serinthia stood then and aimed.

"Open fire!" she called as she began to fire on the raptor. It's hide seemed particularly thick as one shot wasn't enough to bring it down. Lakota jump up quickly, too aim and fired, quickly reloaded, and fired again. With the three of them working together it wasn't long before the dangerous beast slumped to the ground, dead.

Lakota blinks and grinned widely.

"That was great," she said. Serinthia agreed.

"I've warned you about the creatures around here," Serinthia said "But when we work as a team, they're easier to overcome.

Lakota nodded as they approached and, not ones to waste anything, quickly stripped the carcass of meat and hides before moving on. Around midday they came to a wide dirt road cutting through the greenery.

"This is the main road that runs from Booty Bay to Darkshire woods to the North," Serinthia said "Heavily traveled. Somewhere along here is where those trolls have been ambushing people."

"Should we lie in wait and try to ambush them instead?" Lakota asked.

"No, that might take too long," Serinthia said "I don't much care for the jungle in general so I'd rather get this over with. They all hole up in some ruins a bit further east of here though, so it shouldn't be too hard to find."

"We're going to take on their whole village?' Lakota asked in some alarm.

"Oh no, probably just nick enough of the sentry patrols," Serinthia said "Safer that way."

"Someone's coming," Lakota said, turning to look down the road as she heard a noise.

Sure enough, a small group of creatures were coming down the road in a small caravan. Serinthia took one look at them and ushered Lakota back into the dense foliage before they got too close.

"Humans," Serinthia whispered as they hid for a moment.

As the caravan passed, Lakota got her first look at them. They seemed so much smaller than a tauren and had smooth skin having only hair on their heads as opposed to anywhere else…though some had it on their faces as well.

"How can people that small be a threat?" Lakota whispered very quietly as they passed.

"Even small creatures can wield big blades," Serinthia said "Remember when I told you about Gnomes? They really are just that short, and yet they and dwarves seem to cause us the most troubles. My advice is to avoid them altogether unless you're really good at fighting. Most are as well equipped as we are."

Serinthia looked out form their hiding spot then and, seeing no one else coming, emerged and motioned for Kirika and Lakota to follow her quickly across the road to the other side.

"So we're attacking trolls to keep them from ambushing humans?" Lakota asked with a smirk.

"Not hardly," Serinthia said "The humans and their ilk I could care less about, it's our own allies getting attacked that I don't like."

"Well, we'll put a stop to it," Lakota said, mustering her confidence.

Serinthia nodded as they continued to creep through the jungle. Soon, however, they came to a small path apparently worn down by people coming through here recently. Serinthia bent down and examined some of the tracks as Kirika sniffed at them and growled slightly.

"Trolls," Serinthia said quietly "And not too long ago, too. If it's a raiding party we might be able to catch them before they get back to their ruins. Follow me and stay as quiet as you can."

Lakota nodded quietly, arming her rifle once again and beginning to move more slowly through the thick brush, following the narrow path carefully, staying right behind Serinthia as she and Kirika continued ahead. All around her, Lakota couldn't hear a thing other than the usual animal noises she had been hearing all morning, except they seemed now somewhat quieter and more subdued. Ahead, Serinthia reached behind her and drew her rifle as well, quietly arming it as she kept her eyes fixed on the ground ahead of her.

Soon Lakota heard something different, about the time Serinthia began to slow down to a near snails pace. Singing. At least it sounded like singing. The words were nearly intelligible….but not quite. It sounded like the way Darkspear trolls spoke…but different.

Serinthia motioned with her paw then to stop as she crouched down in the foliage. Lakota did the same and the two crept even more slowly forward until they caught sight of what they were looking for. A Skullsplitter Troll camp.

It looked like a small raiding party. Four trolls were gathered around a small camp fire singing some tune neither tauren had ever heard before nor would ever care to again. They're heavily laden packs lay nearby and looked as though they had just come from ambushing somebody. They seemed relaxed, though, as their weapons lay with their packs, leaving them unarmed, for the moment at least.

Serinthia looked around slowly, scanning the rest of the surrounding jungle before motion for Lakota to come up next to her. The older tauren leaned over and whispered in her ear quietly.

"We have the advantage," she whispered "I want you to focus on those two on the right. Kirika will help you. I'll deal with the other two. Nod if you understand."

Lakota nodded quietly.

"Don't move until I open fire," Serinthia said "Then get it over with as quick as you can. Pay attention, though, in case I call for us to make a run for it."

Lakota nodded again and Serinthia stroked Kirika gently and mumbled a quiet command in her pet's ear. Kirika growled and was off like a shot, tearing towards the two trolls on the right of the fire. At the same moment, Serinthia stood up and opened fire on the two on the left, hitting the one closest in the head, his blood splattering all over the other as he fell over. The other troll jumped to his feet quickly, Serinthia's net shots hitting him in his armor and making him stagger as he grabbed for his weapons.

Kirika, meanwhile, had the other two trolls' complete attention. They jumped up as Kirika tackled the first one and bit into his shoulder armor, but not really able to get a good grip as he pushed her off him. Lakota jumped up then as well and opened fire, knocking down the second one just as he had grabbed his sword. Kirika wouldn't be pushed aside so easily, though, and continued her assault on her first troll, slashing at him as he managed to grab his weapon and take a few swings at her before Lakota turned her attention on him and fired a number of more rounds into his chest ad leg armor.

By now the three surviving trolls had armed themselves and Serinthia called to Lakota.

"Paw to paw!" she called as she drew her axe and made a run at the last troll on the left. Lakota sheathed her rifle and drew her own axe and charged at her two trolls while Kirika managed to tackle one of them and bit hard into his arm, making him howl in pain as he wrestled with her.

Lakota squared off with the third troll and slashed at him, the blows cutting deep into his armor. The troll was good with a sword, though and got a good slash in across Lakota's own chest armor, cutting enough that she felt the sword tip graze against her skin, the sting of it making her stagger backwards slightly. Still determined, however, she swung at the troll again and hit his weapon arm, opening a deep gash in his flesh, making him drop his sword as he howled in pain. She took the advantage and began to slash at the troll's head and shoulders, forcing him to stagger under her assault until he collapsed to the ground, heaving and bleeding from a number of gashes. Lakota raised her axe then and dealt him one more blow down across his neck, nearly severing his head in one slice, his blood spraying all over her as she pulled back and turned to see how her allies were doing.

Kirika had managed to get her troll down on the ground and had a tight hold of the troll's throat in her jaws, his blood seeping around her muzzle. IT would only be a matter of seconds. Serinthia and her troll were still locked in combat, the seasoned hunter apparently up against and equally seasoned adversary. Axe and sword struck each other as they parried each others moves, only occasion getting a good hit in, opening gashes in both the tauren and troll.

Lakota saw her opportunity then and ran up behind him, swinging her axe as hard as she could, striking right in the center of his back, severing his spine. The troll barely managed a paralyzed cry of pain before Serinthia seized the moment and swung her axe horizontally and took his head off in one motion.

Serinthia and Lakota both took a moment to catch their breath before looking at each other and going to embrace tightly, not minding their bloody armor one bit.

"Are you alright?' Serinthia asked with concern.

"Yeah, it's not my blood," Lakota said softly, rubbing her muzzle against Serinthia's gently.

"That's a relief," Serinthia said, holding her a moment more before letting go "Well, four down, at least sixteen more to go. Are you injured at all?"

"A little," Lakota said as the sting from the one slash across her chest came back to the forefront of her mind. She winced slightly and undid her chest armor and let Serinthia have a look at it.

"It doesn't look that deep," Serinthia said "I can bandage it up quickly."

Serinthia got out a bandage and began cleaning and wrapping the wound carefully, grinning slightly.

"At least he didn't cut into your breasts," she said with a chuckle.

Lakota blushed deeply.

"Yeah, it would've been terrible if you had to wait for them to heal before…" Lakota trailed off, still shy about completing such a thought out loud. Serinthia just smiled before letting Lakota put her armor back on and looked around the camp.

"Well, we ought to get their hands, divide up these goods for anything usable, and get a move on," Serinthia was saying, using her skinning to work on the corpses "There's a lake near here, we might be able to clean up a bit there, but mostly we should keep moving."

"You're right," Lakota said, opening some of the packs and looking for copper or silver, finding quite a stash of it, actually, before digging out some of the fine clothing they had apparently stolen from whomever they'd ambushed.

"These must be for humans," Lakota said, looking over the fabric carefully. Serinthia had packed up the hands she needed and looked over at Lakota.

"No, I think those are more appropriate for Night Elves. Female, it looks like," she said "It only look like a human could wear it because there's so little of it."

Serinthia grinned to herself, probably finding something funny in that comment that Lakota made a note to ask her about later.

"Well, good for selling at least," Lakota said, bundling it up in her own pack.

"Very true," Serinthia said, tending to her own wounds finally and Kirika's as well before standing.

"Well, if you're ready," she continued "Let's get a move on. The day is still young. And, ancestors willing, we'll live to see the end of it."

Lakota nodded quietly and hugged Serinthia one more before the two set off again into the jungle, ready to face the dangers within…together.

To be continued….