You never know who you'll meet in Stranglethorn (FIN!!)

[Telarr]

Part I

Stranglethorn Vale
South of Grom’gol base camp
(two years before the Northrend Expedition)


Telarr squinted towards the sea, the glare of the late afternoon sun shining brightly off the water. She’d found a good spot and the fish were running today. She had caught a good number of yellowtail and firefins so far. It was probably time to call it a day, but she was starting to enjoy herself. “Just a few more,” she thought, eyeing her half-full fishing bag “Where’s the harm”.

She eased herself gingerly onto the comfortable slope of the bank. The sharp pain in her side had reduced to a dull ache. Despite the pain, she chuckled at the memory of how she’d received the wound.

Two days earlier she had been hunting raptors in the jungles near the Cape of Stranglethorn. Their meat and skins were fetching a fine price in the Orgrimmar markets. She had followed a set of tracks to a small clearing. Dotted around the large open space were large, moss-covered standing stones adorned with carvings - remnants of the ancient troll civilization that had once ruled these parts. She stooped at a small pile of droppings. “One, maybe two hours old” she thought, her nose crinkling as she gave the dung a quick sniff.

She glanced around the clearing. Something wasn’t quite right. The birds that had been chirping and twittering a few moments earlier had gone silent. She edged back towards the treeline.

What was that? A noise came from the tree above her. She turned to look but it was too late. A blurred shape leaped from the lower branches and landed feet first squarely on her back. As she fell sprawling to the ground she saw light glinting off metal as a blade plunged into her side. Luckily she had been falling forward and it had only been a glancing blow, but the pain was intense nonetheless.
“Damn elf traitors,” spat a male human voice from above her. “I never did trust ‘em. One less to worry about in a minute”.

Telarr scrambled on all fours towards a pile of crumbling ancient masonry, trying to put some distance between herself and her chuckling attacker. Over-eager for a quick kill the rogue lunged forward. His vision exploded in a flash of white light as in desperation Telarr had grabbed a heavy stone from the ground and wildly swung it into the side of his head.

The human staggered backwards, momentarily dazed. Before the man could recover his wits, Telarr raised the stone with both hands and slammed it onto the right foot of her attacker. From the howl of anguish that came from his mouth- and the squelching sound that came from inside his boot- Telarr guessed that some serious damage had been done. She stumbled to her feet and ran for the tree-line, not stopping to look back. She crawled behind a log and aimed her bow towards the site of the encounter- but no-one was to be seen. “To hell with this” she thought and stumbled north towards the Orcish camp of Grom gol, blood flowing freely down her side.

A jerk on the fishing line snapped her back into the present. “Ferret- faced fool” she grinned “You won’t be climbing any trees in a hurry”. The strange shaman at the orc camp had strapped up her side and given her a bitter tasting draught to drink. The wound had mostly healed in just less than two days but it left her feeling a little light-headed. Not the best state to be in while fishing alone in Stranglethorn Vale. A place that was crawling with wild beasts, not to mention Alliance rogues with a grudge (and a limp).

[Telarr]

Part II

Telarr awoke with a start. Lurching to a sitting position she looked around, confused. The sudden motion sent a sharp, tearing pain through the wound in her ribs, focusing her attention. It was dark. An almost full moon reflected off the water in front of her providing some dim light. A fishing pole rested on her lap, the line still dangling out into the water lapping gently on the shore.

“Not exactly the cleverest thing I’ve done lately,” she mused. “Falling asleep while fishing in Stranglethorn Vale”. She chuckled quietly to herself as she eased herself up onto one knee. Gritting her teeth and with one hand holding her aching ribs she slowly stood up. Even two days later she still felt groggy from drinking the shaman’s healing potion. He had warned her about the drowsy side effects but she’d not expected it to hit this hard.

Slowly reeling in the fishing line, Telarr looked at the position of the moon judging that she’d been asleep for about 3 hours.
“I really need to get out of here” she decided. North along the coast she could see the fires of Grom’gol camp flickering in the distance. She had 4 or 5 miles to cover before she’d be safe.
“First I need to wake up”.
Quickly kicking off her boots and casting her armoured leather breastplate aside Telarr waded into the shallow water. It was quite chilly compared to the warm summer evening. She quickly dove under the cool, refreshing water. That felt better. Her senses weren’t completely cleared but she was more awake than before.

[Telarr]

Telarr walked up the beach towards her gear, her clothes dripping wet. The hairs on the back of her neck started to prickle. She froze. Something was here. She crouched low and looked up the beach at her armour and weapons piled next to her fishing gear about fifteen yards away. Her fishing gear which was…. moving? What the…?

She shook her head to clear it and looked again. Her fishing bag was definitely shaking and moving. Then a silver fish, one she had caught earlier, jumped out of the bag and hung in the air. As she looked closer a dark shape began to come into focus above the bag.

A large, black jungle cat. A shadowmaw panther almost perfectly camouflaged against the trees. It noticed her for the first time and fixed its yellow eyes on her. It paused as if it was deciding what to do about this small, pink creature. Telarr stayed very still, looking at the powerful muscles of its flank. Most of all she was looking at its very large claws and oversized fangs. This intimidating visage was slightly undermined by the long fish hanging half out the side of the cat’s mouth.

Telarr couldn’t help but grin. A small laugh escaped. As if it could sense it was being mocked the cat let out a low rumbling growl. The fur on it’s back rose up. It took a step forward. Was it going to spring? Telarr briefly imagined what her insides would look like if they were on the outside. Fear gripped her. The cat took another step towards her and she couldn’t help but take a step back. Its muscles tensed, ready to leap.

“This is it”, she thought. “Here we go................”

to be continued........

[Telarr]

Part III
Meeting the Beast

The cat coiled to pounce. Telarr braced herself for the end. And then, something changed. Looking the animal squarely in the eye, she took a nervous step forward. The cat was puzzled. This wasn’t how it normally worked. It growled again so low and deep that Telarr felt her bones vibrating. Another step forward, this time the cat took one step back. Another menacing growl.

“I don’t think so kitty”.

She focused her mind and looked into its eyes. She sensed its hesitation. She raised her right hand towards the cat, still 10 yards from her. Her hand trembled. She quickly balled her fist and opened it again, shaking no more. She felt so strange, not even sure of what she was doing. It was almost as if she was outside of her body, witnessing somebody else.

She could hear blood pounding in her ears, so loud that she could hear nothing else. She could smell …and taste? the fish in the panther’s mouth. As powerful as the fish was the scent of her own fear. Oddly, that fear was fading into the background. Her body felt like it was on fire. Everything looked red. She took another step towards the cat, her gaze locked on his eyes (she suddenly knew it was a male). The cat stood his ground, still growling but less and less sure of himself with each passing second.

Another growl- louder and deeper than any that had gone before. It took Telarr a moment to realise that this noise had come… from… her? No time to think about that now. Another step, and another. The cat was backing away, but Telarr moved faster... blood pounding…. She was right in front of him. One swipe from those massive paws and she was done. But that wasn’t going to happen. A rumble growing in her throat she reached out. In one swift motion she snatched the fish right from the cat’s mouth. A panther’s roar echoed through the jungle. The cat stood his ground but was clearly cowed. For that roar had come not from him, but the tiny elf who was now holding his dinner.

Telarr looked at the panther and then at the raw fish in her hand. Again looking the panther in the eye she tore a huge chunk from the fish with her teeth and swallowed it whole. She threw the fish to the ground in front of the cat. He waited, unsure of what to do.
“Eat”, she commanded. Without hesitation the panther gobbled the fish in one gulp.

Walking past the subdued animal Telarr bent to collect her gear. As she buckled her armour and weapons she felt the red mist subsiding. What had just happened? She became aware of her trembling legs, the churning of her stomach and the taste of oily fish blood in her mouth. She wanted to collapse to her knees and vomit but she put that feeling aside. The cat moved closer, meekly bumping his huge head into her side, his entire body rumbling. Was he.. purring?
She scratched the top of his head absently and threw him another fish from her bag. Gulp.. it was gone. She scooped up the last of her equipment. Time to move.

“Ok Cat.. I guess you are coming with me” she said moving to the treeline. The cat stood still at the campsite.
“Cat!” she boomed. "Come!" and turned away, running north. The great panther sprang lightly to catch up with her. He bounded into place at her side as they both ran through the jungle towards Grom’gol.

[Theotaz]

BRAVO!

[Shylaa]

Excellent!

[Barefoot]

Very nice!

I've often thought that it's a leap of faith to believe that hunters command cats. Wolves, boars, even birds could be trained into obedience - but cats?? That's a bigger stretch than it was to accept Blood Elves as part of the Horde way back when...

I'm glad to know how Telarr managed to tame Ziggs. Everything seems more believable now.

[Warburn]

<3 Ziggs

[Eyesore]

Delightful.

Eyesore

[Baelspar]

I don't see why it would be difficult to imagine a Sin'dorei hunter being one with a cat. Cats can see greatness, and just realize that the hunters in question need some help to reach those heights. I'm glad that Ziggs is taking time out of his busy schedule to make sure that Telarr remembers to bathe. If only all Sin'dorei hunters had cats as their companions...the stench from their club house wouldn't waft to disturb the meditations of the Blood Knights.

((Awesome story.))