Sitting in the shadow of a palm tree sure was a nice pastime and watching Tusk chasing around the surprised scorpids was entertaining enough to not get bored. His eyes half closed, Boktor gave a deep sigh that was singing a cheerful song about relaxation, freedom and enjoyment. He felt his eyelids getting heavy and a little smile crept on his face as his mind waved a friendly welcome to the little nap that was coming closer.
He heard steps and then a shadow fell over him. He opened one eye to see who had come to disturb that little piece of peace he was trying to enjoy to the fullest. It was Torka, Razor Hill's cook.
"You got your raptor eggs. Now leave me alone." Boktor said.
"Ha, you think you go get some eggs and thats it? No pal, you are part of the horde and like everyone else you will get off your fat arse and do something valuable for the people around here."
"And what heroic deed did you have in mind?"
"Easy enough, pal." said Torka, "You're a hunter. You have a bow. You know how to hunt. Kind of gives me the idea you could go out there and look for some fresh meat. We're almost out of cured meat and I need fresh supplies, so no orc or troll will go hungry."
Boktor gave a deep sigh again but this time, it sang a mournful song.
"Alright. I'll go. Any special request?"
"Anything an orc can chew will do. I got a large sack of hot spices delivered only yesterday." Torka gave a humorless laugh. "They won't recognize what it is anyway."
As Boktor got to his feet, dusting his bottom off, he gave a sharp whistle and heard Tusk grunt in frustration but stopped his pursuit of a terrified scorpid and returned to Boktors side.
"Sorry, you little show-off" Boktor said, "but we've got work to do."
He rummaged in his pockets and found half an apple, which he threw over his shoulder. He knew that Tusk wouldn't let it go to waste and sure enough, he heard the black boar chewing withouth hearing the apple hit the ground.
Boktor thought about the upcoming hunt for a moment.He could bring in some boar meat and some boar ribs but couldn't bring himself to do that to Tusk. Maybe some of that strange meat from the scorpids? Torka said he would season it anyway. But then, he would have to chew on that stuff as well. That left him with only three choices: crocolisks, raptors or a journey to the Barrens. He decided on crocolisks.Their meat was tasty and he might get some nice skins as well. He shouldered his quiver, took his bow and took a deep breath. A quick glance around made clear that no one was going to wish him luck so he just left Razor Hill to the west, following the road to the river. Left and right he could see the large thorn twines that indicated those primitive quilboar settlements. "We'll have to take care of these bastards one day." Boktor thought. Tusk raised his snout and sniffed loudly.
"Yeah, those are kind of relatives, huh?" Boktor laughed. "I hope you won't let me down when we're driving these bastards out of Kalimdor one day."
Tusk eyed him expectantly but Boktor was sure that his friend was hoping more for some food then details on a battle plan. They followed the road, down to the bridge, where he saw lots of crocolisks lurking in the river. He gave a swift wave to the guys at Far Watch but only Kargal Battlescar seemed to notice or care and waved back.
The river was glittering with reflected sunlight but Boktor could make out the huge, massive forms just below the surface. Immobile, almost like logs, floating in the water.Boktor had seen them pulling a drinking boar into the water and ripping him apart in almost no time. Unlike any other predator, crokolisks didn't kill their prey before starting their feast.They just didn't seem to care. Boktor swallowed hard. There were more of them than he had seen at first. The water seemed infested with crokolisks.He heard rumors about crocolisk skins so thick and hard that an arrow wouldn't go through. Suddenly, the whole idea of crocolisk meat didn't seem such a bright idea anymore.
Boktor turned around as he heard some footsteps. It was Kargal.
"Hey kid. Why're you lookin' at those crocs?" he asked.
"Well, Razor Hill needs supplies and I thought it a good idea to go hunt some of them. Would get meat and leather in one go, you know?"
Kargal gave a short bellow of a laugh. "Not the easiest prey you picked, kid. But I tell ya something. There are so many crocs in that river, even the raptors use straws when going for a drink!" He laughed again and slapped Boktors shoulder. "Good idea to get rid of some, I'd say."
Boktor watched him walk away, back to Far Watch. Then he looked down at Tusk, who starred back expectantly.
"Don't ask me, pal. I have no clue how to do it either."
They left the bridge and went down to the river bank, always looking around for any sign of a crocolisk, a raptor or one of those damned scorpids. Boktor thought it best to go to the Barrens now, look for some strider or something but now he couldn't back off his task, not with Kargal watching him and all.
He found a spot that looked good to him. He took his bow from his back and got ready. "You hear me, buddy? No running into the water. You stay here with me. No charging before I tell you, understood?" Tusk grave a loud grunt and Boktor hoped it meant confirmation. He drew his bow, took careful aim, held his breath and... let loose. He watched it go, hit the surface and then heard it crack in two pieces. The crocolisk didn't even so much as flinch.
"Damn!" he swore.
"Righ', mon!" he heard behind him.
He turned around quickly, even Tusk seemed to be taken by surprise. There were a troll and a hyena, both sitting on their haunches, both having their heads cocked to one side.
"Ya huntin' da crocs, mon, ya betta switch tactic." the troll said.
Now Boktor realised, the troll had equipment not very unlike his own. The hyena seemd tame and so the troll must be a hunter, too.
"I never went croc hunting before, so try-and-error is all I can do. My name is Boktor and this is Tusk, by the way."
"Me be Shoya'Jin an' dis 'ere be Nura." the troll said, pointing at the hyena. "Me be huntin' da crocs becoz of dere skins, mon."
"Really? And how do yo do that?"
"Me be showin' ya, orc." the troll said with a grin.
to be continued...