The HuntFollow

I realized I hadn't gone on and on about Humar for a while, and it occured to me that I could share with you a chapter of a story I've written on my own guild's forum. It is a bit taken out of context of the main story itself, but it is the "storyfied" version of me taming Humar. Chapter two of five, and I've not even finished chapter four and five yet. Anyhow, got bored, and decided I'd share it with you guys. This story takes place before the Horde had a solid hold on their outposts in Ashenvale.

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There was little movement in the dark corners of the cell. The only sound was the skittering of the rats, and the rhythmic clink of metal against metal. Elliena wondered what the future held in store for her, while she absentmindedly toyed with the chain that shackled her to the wall. The defense of Ashenvale had been a disaster from day one. The Horde was simply too strong and too fast for the Astranaar defenders to hold. She wondered wether or not Astranaar still stood. Ah well, she had done her part, and more, the two days Ashenvale was still Night Elf territory. Well, her and Humar, she amended to herself as she let her eyes drift towards the Black Lion resting next to her.

Elune be praised that they allowed him to live, or she would be dead as well. Dying with her hands locked around the neck of his killer. She thought back to the day she first layed eyes on this magnificent creature. It was in Horde territory of all things.

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Elliena shielded her eyes from the sun as she stepped off the boat in the coastal town of Ratchet. Only the Goblins of the Steamwheedle Cartel could be so hungry for profit that they established a neutral town in the middle of the Horde area of the Barrens. Trade apparently flourished between Ratchet and Booty Bay, another one of the neutral goblin controlled towns. Which brought Elliena back to the task at hand. A rather shady looking goblin had needed someone to guard a shipment of Felcloth on the trip from the Bay to this town, and had been willing to pay a decent amount of gold for the task.

And thus Elliena found herself sweating from every pore as she kept a watchful eye on the workmen offloading the bales of cloth onto the carts that would carry the shipment the rest of the way to Orgrimmar. She almost regretted that her part of the vigil would be over as soon as it was all offloaded. Orgrimmar would be something to talk about in the tavern back in Astranaar. Ah well, a Night Elf entering Orgrimmar unscathed would happen sometime after Orcs took to bathing. Which wasn't very likely to happen anytime soon if the dockworkers here in Ratchet was any measure.

“I got what you need!” a voice that sounded like it belonged to something three days dead came to her attention. A goblin had spotted her from his vantage point in his store a short walk from where she was standing at attention. Apparently spotting what he thought was easy gold, he came running down the street with a cartful of what looked mostly like trash. “Souvenirs! Trinkets and Clothes! Even some nifty little creams and herbs for your lovely skin, Night Elf! Only a few silver, and then I am barely managing to stay in business, my Lady! So whaddaya say? Wanna spend some of your Elvish fortunes on things that would make ya the envy of all of Teldrassil? Eh? Eh?”

She threw a glance at the assorted rubbish in his cart before she let her eyes return to the dockworkers she was supposed to oversee. “No thank you, Greenskin. My “fortunes” will have to wait 'till later to escape my watchful eye.” The goblin, obviously undaunted merely grinned, and walked back to his shop. Nevertheless, he certainly noticed the pale human walk up to Elliena and hand her a pouch heavy with coins.

“Here is your payment Elf. You have done your job admirably well. We will keep you in mind, should we need similar services again.” he said, with a grin. Elliena just nodded and watched as the carts started moving to the staging area of Ratchet. It's cargo now guarded by a handful of Orcs, who squinted at the sun, as if cursing it. “If you are looking for more work, I know the Goblin Tradesmen of Ratchet needs a hand. Apparently they are having problems with the wildlife here in The Barrens. As a Night Elf, you would be a shoe-in for the job, I reckon.” Again, Elliena just nodded, and looked towards the store owner who had offered his... services. Perhaps he did have a use after all.

“That's right, Longears, we do have a problem with some lions to the north of here. Our trade lanes usually go through Crossroads, but when we have... sensitive... cargo we usually take a shorter route, which passes near lion territory. Now, these lions have for some reason decided to attack almost every single caravan that passes, and we are getting fed up with it. We need someone to... well.. deal with the problem.” The goblin stated this while continuously showing off his wares to Elliena, even though he realized he wouldn't be making much of a sale today. “Us merchants would pay a decent penny to the person who manages to secure our caravans. Interested?”

She hadn't even answered the goblin, just shouldered her bow and started walking out into the wastes of the Barrens. This kind of behavior in lions was strange, and even though she had more than enough coin, her curiosity was peaked. Something must be causing these lions to do this, and as a Hunter, it was her duty to see to such matters. Her current position inside one of the few bushes in the area was hot as the nether itself, and offered little shade. However, the view was exactly what she wanted. The caravan of carts she had overseen the loading of, was trundling it's way past the area the goblin had described. So, a shipment of Felcloth warranted a “Sensitive” mark from these fellows. Ah well, not her problem anymore.

Her eyes caught motion past the caravan, and surely enough, several lions were prowling near the Caravan's path. Strange. Lions should have avoided such activity, yet here they were. She watched as the lions closed in on the caravan and the outlying scouts suddenly disappeared in the grass. Intelligent ones, these lions. Not losing the element of surprise. She grinned to herself, as she realized these guards would have a nasty surprise coming their way. And true enough, when the warning cries reached her, it was almost too late. The lions were already closed in on the caravan and the battle was on. Not interested in the caravans fate anymore, she decided to watch instead of interfering with the events.

The battle was short. Only two guards still stood when the lions retreated, and only one lion corpse remained among the Orc corpses littering the battlefield. She easily dodged the attention of the guards as she skirted around them and tracked the lions to their home. Sure enough, it wasn't far to run. The lions halted around a huge tree and cared for their wounded. Licking wounds was the extent to their care, and yet, it seemed strangely adequate. Elliena crept closer to them, and started looking for anything out of the ordinary.

Her breath caught as her eyes probed the shadows beneath the tree. A shadow larger than all the other lions lay there, only a silhouette against the tree. Never before had she seen a lion that graceful. Her heart whimpered in joy as she watched the lion rise and slowly exit the shadows. Black as the night itself, and fangs as white as snow. His fur shone in the sun's rays as if it had a light of it's own. His muscles rippled underneath his fur as he stalked around what was obviously his pride. So this was the reason for the attacks. This lord of all he perused was defending his territory from all threats.

Suddenly she realized all the lions were looking in her direction. The emerald green eyes of the Black Lion had held her attention for too long. The pride rushed towards the intruder. They rushed towards her. She didn't even bother taking her bow out, nor her twin axes. She rose calmly, knowing her end was coming at the speed of a running lion. The Black Lion in the lead. Smiling to herself, she opened her mind to the magnificent beast that would be her end, so that it would know how wonderful he appeared to a kindred spirit... a Hunter.

Her eyes opened in shock as she felt his spirit... the images coming from him, the shock he felt from being able to see the mind of his prey. His entire life came rushing into Elliena's mind, and her mind almost broke from the strain of translating the images and scents into something it could understand. A name came unbidden to the top of her mind.

Humar the Pridelord.

Her eyes open as far as they could go, finally started registering the world around her once again, and she was startled to see she was still alive. She looked around her and registered that the pride was sitting around her, watching intently. Watching what? She wondered. Then she saw the Pridelord... Humar... watching her as well. Again, she opened her mind, and the lion once again entered it, but this time with intent. She could feel him perusing her mind and intentions as if he had done it a thousand times before. She felt him hesitate as he found her feelings about himself, and she saw in his eyes a glimpse of... curiosity. Everything she knew about the lands outside the Barrens was carefully being perused by him, and she allowed him entry. A decision was made, and her heart jumped as she realized what he wanted.

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The goblin was hard at work attempting to convince the seamen on their way back to their ship that his wares were practically a steal, and that they would make good money selling them back in Booty Bay, when he spotted the Night Elf standing near his shop. She was looking towards him and obviously wanted something. Perhaps that arrogant long-eared twit had done as he wanted and killed off those cursed lions once and for all. Even though he was loathe to let a possible profit go, he abandoned the seamen and started towards her. He was slightly puzzled when she entered his shop instead of waiting outside, but merely followed her inside.

“So Longears, have ya got any news for me? Are the lions done for?” His hopes soared as she smiled towards him. “No...” “What? No? What are you doing here then?” He asked, cursing the day he met this Elf. “I was told a few things by a new friend of mine. He told me how you and your caravan reacted the first time you saw the pride near your trade lane. And I also can't help but notice the stack of lion pelts in the back of your store.”

The goblin started sweating as her smile grew cold and detached. “And that friend would like a word with you as well...” His eyes moved to the door and he just caught sight of a pair of emerald green eyes staring back at him before he died with the fangs of the Pridelord around his neck.

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“So Elf, did the goblins find work for ya?” The pale human asked her as she made her way down the dock towards the ship. He didn't even flinch at the sight of the magnificent black lion watching him intently from the side of the Hunter. “In a way... they did prove beneficial.” she said, and smiled as she stroked the side of her newest friend and ally. “Come Humar, let us see what adventures lie ahead for us.” The Pridelord let out a low growl and brushed up to her, seemingly completely at ease with his newfound friend.

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Elliena squinted and put a hand on her friend as the door to her cell creaked open, and a Orc guard entered. Roughly, she was unchained and unceremoniously pushed outside. The dry Barrens air she knew from those earlier years greeted her and her parched throat in a rather rough way. As she was walked towards what appeared to be the gathering place for the Warsong Outriders, she opened her mind to Humar, who was stalking the path next to her. Unsurprised, she felt that he recognized the place he had lived in before he joined her in her travels across Azeroth. Also, she felt that he considered this place home. Again, her heart jumped as she realized for the first time that she had felt that no matter where they were. A tear rolled down to her smile as she looked towards Humar as if to say that she too felt at home, as long as she was with him.

“We meet again, Orcbane.” a familiar voice called out to her. “Aye, Grash'cal. I had a feeling we would.” She grinned wickedly towards the very same Orc Scout she had let live that day in Ashenvale.



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Right. Enjoy the story, ladies and gentlemen.
Another Humar story. Ah, my work here is done.

Nice...

As crass and rude as you can sometimes be North, that story is awesome and very well written. It holds a place with me as well being a fellow Humar lover. Keep up the good work man, I can't wait to read the rest of it. And from now on, I'll be looking at you in a different light too bad we're not on the same server, and even if we were I'm horde, so...

What server are you on and whats your character name anyway?

Very nice north, although all this talk makes me feel pretty bad after giving up my cat that i leveled to 60 with :(

I play on various servers, but my Hunter is on a normal PvP server. Got a Rogue and Warlock on a RP server though. And my experience is that you can't find an RP server that isn't already infested with lolbois and leetards. Still, most RP servers do have an active RP population. Just keep looking, and check the Server's official forum. Often, you can find a good number of Roleplaying guilds who have (through necessity) managed to work together. On my own RP server, we even have very close relations to Alliance guilds for World RPPvP.