And I actually don't have a lynx named Carni, bee tee dubs...Nakae Heartwalker was raised in the wild.
Her father was unknown to her. So was her mother. It was the Heartwalker pride of lynxes in the unexplored forests of Eversong whom took pity on the small, furless child who's screams echoed into the sky, unanswered. It was the old matriarch, Pinda, who took her in as her own.
The matriarch soon realized that her adopted child was not of her own kind, but one of the hated Blood Elves, as they called themselves, who hunted their kind mercilessly and decimated the sire's population as they scavenged food for the milking mothers. Pinda did not care, and decided to teach her young charge the ways of the hunter, those precious few who take the sires and mothers into their care. She named the child Nakae, which meant Love in their tongue.
Nakae became an exceptional hunter, learning to shoot at the small squirrels and bushes in her homeland, with a small bow that one of the elder sires brought home to her. She learned to walk sillently and assuredly among the forest undergrowth. She learned to speak the Wild tongue, and learned to thrive in her home.
She was discovered some time in her adolesence. Nakae had become incredibly curious of the Blood Elf towns that started moving into her hunting grounds. She leaped to the roofs and looked down upon the peoples who looked much like her, and yet so different. She didn't understand the reasons behind the 'clothing' they wore, when she was perfectly comfortable without? It seemed rather cumbersome.
Another strange thing was their magics. She was mesmerized by the gaudy flashes of colours and small moving creatures that did menial tasks for her people.
One woman always caught her eye. She was called Sallina, and she was a hunter, like Nakae. But she had greater accuracy with her longbow, and had tamed a young dragonhawk as her lifelong companion. Nakae was entranced by the creature, and her master. Would she grow to be like this Sallina? Could she?
It was that dragonhawk that spotted her, and raised the alarm. The small outpost looked around confusedly, but it was Sallina saw the small naked girl on the roof. She sent her companion to retrieve her.
Nakae growled, and leaped on the beast as it approached. Surprised, it screeched and fell to the ground. Nakae landed, and thrust her bow out, warding off her attackers. Sallina threw out her hands, stopping the onslaught.
She cried out with the strange tongue of her peoples. The weapons dropped to the ground. Nakae was confused.
Sallina gestured to Nakae's bow, and then her own. She dropped her bow to the ground, and gestured the child to do the same. She did.
Sallina touched her forehead with her fingers, and pointed to Nakae. She would teach Nakae.
She didn't move. The dragonhawk fluttered feebly under her, and she looked down at it. At the grace of it's wings and the sharpness of it's beak. She imagined one just like it by her side, loyal until the end. It filled her with happiness.
But she couldn't leave Pinda, and her friends and family. Could she?
Could she live with both worlds?
Slowly, slowly, Nakae nodded.
.:***:.
Years passed, and the young lynx-woman grew into her potential under the guidance of Sallina. She learned how to shoot not only her shortbow, but longbows, crossbows, and the dreaded, loud shotgun. She learned to live with the uncomfortable armor, and learned the strange language Thalassian.
She visited Pinda and the Heartwalkers every day, explaining to them her adventures and lessons. They were enthralled. All except Pinda.
She still felt the motherly bond toward her youngling, and disapproved of her learning to hurt and kill, skills she could use against her own peoples. She was afraid for Nakae's conscience.
The blood elf assured her mother that this would never happen, that she was still a Heartwalker through and through.
Finally, on the eighteenth anniversary of Nakae's appearance in the Heartwalker land, their beloved matriarch died.
Nakae was distraught, leaving both her lessons and pride to wander the plains of Eversong. For days she was not seen.
Finally, finally, after almost two weeks, she came out of the brush with a small companion by her side. It was the youngest daughter of Pinda, named Carni, who agreed to follow her sister until the ends of the earth and back. She walked upright and quickly to one of the leaders of the town, Magistrix Erona, and murmured, "I am ready, send me on my way. I cannot stand to stay another moment on this isle, near my family and past. Send me on, into the world."
Erona looked Nakae in the eye, and saw her vicious determination. Deep in her soul, she would always be a wild beast.
"Nakae, I have seen you grow, from a child to a strong-willed hunter. I believe you will do well in our world; even thrive, such as you have here. I send you on. May you remember your past and always, always, your mother."
Nakae nodded, and ran into the plains, Carni right on her heels.
