Forgive her, she's antsy. Stopping to rubberneck in the middle of enemy territory doesn't sit well with her.
(I might have declared this an RP alt, just to give myself excuses to actually play her without the guilt associated with trying to play "throw-away" alts.)
Anyways! I was going back and forth on what kind of pet theme this hunter should have. Pets associated with death? Monochrome pets? Wintry pets? And then it hit me-- what if all her pets were "difficult" tames? Oh, not just rares, I hate them too much, but maybe unusual things from distant places. Something she could point to as a badge of accomplishment. I was already yearning for Duskstalker, as I stumbled across an old alt who did the tame back when it was "easy" and was rather impressed by how nicely a sabercat matches a tauren. And it barely counts as rare, all those lowbie "rares" just have a smidgen of a wait on their respawn timer is all. Getting into Teldrassil by yourself at level 10 is the prestigious part! Well, as much as there's any prestige in taming stuff.
Just one tame is boring though, where's the challenge in THAT... I know, she can get a pet from every Alliance starting zone!So that's what I set out to do. Carefully picked out my targets, dinged level 10, annnnnd I set off!
1) First Target: Teldrassil, Duskstalker
I decided to go for my kitty first, since I wanted it so badly. My last hunter got a crash course in Alliance public transportation post-cataclysm when she went for her ravager, so it was a mercifully direct route this time: Fly to Orgrimmar, hop a zepplin to Grom'gol, swim to Westfall, swap water bodies to swim up north, swap back to swim to the harbor, drown, rez on boat, fling self off of boat outside Teldrassil, swim around to the side, re-drown, spirit rez in Dolanaar, sneak over to Duskstalker's western area and ooooh it's alive! Great, that wasn't so bad, now to ta--
WHAT. I DON'T EVEN. HOW. I. AUUUGH??
So I hearthed.
1.5) First Target 2: Electric Boogaloo
I stomped over to my trainer in Bloodhoof Village and bought my grocery list of skills, or started to before I realized I was a total pauper and could afford two, tops. After I'd bought one: Beast Lore. Carefully looked the list over, bought Tame Beast, and figured I'd worry about the rest one my stables was fat with Alliance pets. Then I set off again!
Zepplin to Orgrimmar this time because I am SO broke, zepplin to Grom'gol, swim, walk, more swim, more walk, more swim, drown, rez on boat, fling self off of boat at Teldrassil, swim, drown, spirit rez, run to the same point and look who's still up! And THIS time... I am PREPARED. Have at thee, furrball!
Despite some severe shrinkage I triumphantly hearthed and tucked my kitty into the stables, plotting which beast to go for next.
2) Second Target: Azuremyst, Vale Moth
Well, I was on a roll with the "taking a boat to Teldrassil" thing, so I figured I might as well do it again. Again with the zepplins and the swimming and the walking and the drowning, although this time a kind shaman Flame Shocked a minute off of the wait in Stormwind. How nice of 'em. Pop onto the boat to Azuremyst Navy SEAL-style, sail over, hop off and cross-country it over towards the baby-squid area! After a couple rounds of haggling with the guards, I made it past their blockade and grabbed the first moth I could find.
Success! I hearthed gladly, and just as the cast finished smacked my forehead and wondered why I hadn't gotten the Death Ravager. Whatever! Two down, with two still to go. Into the stables, and on to the next.
3) Third Target: Elwynn Forest, Blackrock Battle Worg
A level of thievery to impress the most hardened rogue: stealing a worg from the enemies of your enemies, who are also your enemy. A bit less difficult to do, but I wanted to be done with visiting Grom'gol so next on the list it was! Zepplin over, swim north, hop banks, more swimming, and then this time haphazardly plow north through Elwynn Forest. There was a smidgen of revelry to be had at the Darkmoon Faire-- animals in cages! Fortunes! Kids with frogs!-- and then it was back to sneakily sneaking into Northshire. One particularly uninspired wall was jumped, and Yahesta all but landed on top of a bored-looking battle worg. Yoink!
Jeez, with how easy that was, no wonder the Blackrock orcs managed to get in. All the better for me! Tuck the new worg into the stables, and on to the last one.
4) Fourth Target: Dun Morogh, Bjarn
I'd originally been thinking of a white coyote from Dun Morogh, but I wanted the blackrock worg instead, so I moved on to the next best pet: a bear. As tempting as the slaty gray ones were, I figured I should go for broke and nab Bjarn for a white one. So with that settled, all I had to do was get there!
Hooboy.
You'll just have to imagine the Yakety Sax to go with the travel montage: zepplin to the Undercity, trek to Silverpine, trek to Hillsbad, trek to Arathi, trek to the Wetlands, trek/die through Dun Algaz, keep on trek/dying through Loch Modan, eventually squeeze into Dun Morogh and snake my way over to the Valley of the Stolen Rams, also Angry Bears. My sneaking skills were so unparalleled as to get me all the way to Bjarn before some ram-riding troll ran up to crash the party. That rude interruption aside, I quickly ran over to say hello to blubber-butt.
Boy is he fat. Just how I like my bears! Tucked him into the stables and congratulated myself: four tames for the four Alliance starting zones. Go me!
5) Bonus Round: Azuremyst, Death Ravager
Ok... ok. I can be honest. The moth just wasn't appealing to me like I'd been hoping. Sure, it's a moth and everything, but... moth. So much less ridiculously awesome than Death Ravager would be! So I (say it with me):
Took a zepplin to Grom'gol, swam, walked, swam, walked, swam, drowned WAS EATEN BY A SHARK, ran back, rezzed, died, rezzed and flung myself off the boat, swam, got on the boat, flung myself off it again, swam, walked, and finally made it to the menagerie wreckage. Doublechecked Wowhead that it's still a key off of the specimens to open the cage, got out my trusty bow, and went to town. "My last hunter I brought out here got it in ten kills," I thought. "Ten kills with super-spiffy modern Concussive Shot will be a breeze."
Only it wasn't ten kills.
So a level later, around 11.5 and with 50+ dead ravagers added to my kill count, I gratefully picked up my key and lawnmowered back over to the cage. Pop the lock, stand aside to let the stunning blue-green ravager enjoy its newfound freedom, aaaaand it repaid me by attempting to eat my face. Well, fine! If you're in such a rush I can be, too. Humph.
I finally hearthed, satisfied for the night, and put it in the stables with the rest. I settled on the cat to use for the moment, but the rest are on standby-- who knows which I'll whip out next?
And then I went to go buy the rest of my skills. Like, yannow, FEEDING. And DISMISSING. Or rather, I went to turn tricks on the street corner to pay for my pet skills. ...what? Catching goldenscale stonefish totally counts as a trick. If he hadn't told me how to do it, I would never have figured it out myself!
Anyways, that concluded this round of pet insanity. I don't have any plan for what to tame next, but be sure that if I do there will be more (long, picture-stuffed) stories!
