Winterspring

[Sochi]

Winterspring
Author’s note: Some of what we encounter on a daily basis in WoW we just take for what it is. There are several levels of communication offered to us. We can talk to all and any with /say, keep it private among a chosen group in /gchat, /party, and /raid. We can /whisper a single player. Translating these lines of communication into prose took a little thought. I decided to use a method offered by another game, Final Fantasy 11’s, linkpearls. Their guilds are called linkshells and each member carried a pearl that allows for their version of guild-chat. The small bead of metal that Shaon carries works in this manner. I decided to use an amulet to represent NPCscan, my chosen method of rare finding. I used it once before for Sochi’s tale of TLPD hunting, a tale I have to finish and post.
Lastly, to Sinnocent, thank you again for alerting me to Rak’Shiri’s being up and about. I truly did seek this cat with my main hunter only to have him be a no-show time and again. Too, I have made the attempt with Shaon to no avail. I can cross him off the list thanks to you.

Words and thoughts, conversations and chatter. Shaon was only half aware of the talk coming from the small metal bead she wore around her neck. Resting close to her skin, under her armor, it allowed her to “hear” the words of her guild-mates in her mind and to respond. It worked if one guild-mate was in the northern most parts of Northrend and the other was in Stranglethorn’s Cape. Truly a marvelous device to have. She wore the bead of metal next to an amulet that would alert her to any rare creatures in the area. It was to that she paid the most attention, for something in these foothills had caught her interest. She had only to find it.
Shaon was riding, had been riding for a while. Rockpaw was racing over the foothills of the Alteracs. There was a wolfish grin on his face under his armored mask for Rock loved nothing more than to run, to bear his rider into and out of a battle, or just down the road. Right now, he nimbly carried her over the foothills, moving at a pace a rider on horseback would call a canter. This was no headlong dash. Their path was short, the area they looked around in not overlarge.
She was just about to turn Rock around again when she caught onto something a guild-mate was saying, it was Sinn and he was out in the wilds of Winterspring.
-…been stalking around out here since this morning. Rak’Shiri is quite the sight, almost as elusive as other rare cats, I’d say. Often hard to find.-
Shaon pulled so hard on the reins, that Rock almost sat down in his haste to obey her command to stop.
-Rak’Shiri? You are watching Rak’Shiri?- she blurted, her words breaking into the guild’s chat.
-Yeah. He’s been up and about since yesterday.- Sinn sounded slightly amused.
Shaon felt something fall and settle within her stomach. Her hand went to her belt, fumbled the strap to get at her Hearthstone. Sinn and that great cat were on the other side of the world. Haste was called for.
Green light enveloped her as she pressed her fingers down on the Hearthstone.

[Sochi]

Winterspring; Part Two

Shaon raced Rock for the Skyrider Tower, weaving him through Orgrimmar’s crowds as fast as she dared. Wolf paws raised dust as they headed for the tower. Once there, Shaon called to the Flightmaster and he brought her a mount. Soon she was in flight, her borrowed wyvern sailing towards the north. It felt like such a slow manner of conveyance. Shaon had earned the right to ride wyverns and her own were quick and responsive. The only thing she got from this borrowed mount when she attempted to get him to fly faster was a snarl. Shaon was forced to just sit and appreciate the view.
The wyvern’s feet had barely touched the ground when she was whistling Rock up again. The orc Flightmaster who kept the wyverns here chuckled a little as he watched her ride off, letting her wolf race over the snow.
Winterspring was a place of perpetual winter. Snow and ice ruled here and the weather could be mild or wild depending on the season. Everlook was the only real outpost and the goblins ran it, though Shaon hadn’t understood what the goblins could possibly want out here. Too the goblins welcomed both members of the Horde and the Alliance, saying no one's gold shone more than the others.
-So, I take that not a one of you wants this cat as a companion?- Sinn said. -Not everyday you see a tiger with ice-blue stripes.-
-I’m coming. I’ve heard of Rak’Shiri and have looked for him before to no avail. Watch him for me.-
Sinn chuckled. -As you will.-
Winterspring supported some wildlife, there weren’t too many creatures that would put up with the constant winter. Owls ruled the skies along with a species of chimera. Huge white bears vied to be lords of the land with the Winterspring sabers. There were yeti, too, and owlkin, but they mainly kept to the foothills.
The cats of Winterspring came in a few varieties. There were the snowy coated huntresses and their cubs. Males often grew huge and their coats sported inky stripes. They were renowned for their stealth. Some males grew much larger and their stripes came in the color of an icy dawn, a faded lavender. These were the pridewatchers, protectors and keepers of the cats here. Night elves often sought those cats for breeding stock for their riding sabercats. The ice-blue of Rak’Shiri’s coat was shared only by one other, and was a true rarity.
Shaon spotted Sinn sitting his ‘strider on a small rise. She eased Rock out of his full-out run to a walk and the Wolf padded up to a stop beside the other elf’s ‘strider. Rock’s sides heaved only a little and his tongue lolled as he regulated his temperature. Shaon patted his side, whispered praise to him. He’d run fast and far for her.
Sinn pointed. “See him?”
Her eyes followed where he pointed and there, out on the snow, following some track only he was aware of, was the great tiger. He had the build of a riding saber, heavy shouldered and deep chested. His fur was sleek and she imagined that it was thick and warm. From here she could see the glint of his jade-green eyes. Rak’Shiri paused and vented a chuffing roar, clouds of warm breath accompanying each roar.
“Think you that he’s aware of us?” Shaon asked, her voice pitched low.
Sinn nodded. “Been trailing him all morning. Gave me some ugly looks, too.”
“You’ve watched, but made no attempt to tame?”
The grizzled blood elf hunter chuckled. “Y’know, Wild would call me crazy, too. But I’ve a full stable. Couldn’t give up a single one.” Sinn gave her a side-long look. “And you? Out here just to watch him or have you come to ask him to walk with you?”
Shaon’s hand fell to her belt, where was strung her taming rod. Her eyes did not leave the cat as she replied, “I have an open space. I had made an attempt to bond with a worg, but it was not to be. I released him to a place where I felt he would find home. Maybe someday our paths will cross once more. When you said you had found this cat, I was riding back and forth over the foothills of Alterac and something in me shifted. I knew I had to come here.” She undid the carry-thong, weighed the rod in the palm of her gloved hand.
“I know that feeling well, sister.” Sinn said, his gaze distant for a moment.
Shaon swung a leg over her saddle and dismounted, boots scrunching in the packed snow. She handed Rock’s lead to Sinn and began to pad towards the cat. Sinn watched, his hawkstrider shifting its feet in the snow, as Shaon moved to a place that would put her in the cat’s path. Rak’Shiri watched her move, too, but if the great cat cared, he didn’t show it, he kept to his track. Shaon must have found a spot she liked, for she dropped a trap down, the frosty blue naming it a freeze trap. And then, she bent down, scooped up snow and wadded it into a ball. She threw the frosty projectile at Rak’Shiri, hitting the cat squarely in the face. The huge tiger snarled and charged her, only to hit her freeze trap and become encased in the ice. Shaon set her rod to the ice and began the tame. Her chanting reached his ears, the words old and full of power.
Sinn recalled hearing of Shaon’s tames in the guildhall when guild-mates gathered to talk and plan. This hunter was nothing if not different in her technique. Sinn shook his head. Tackling a maddened cat with a canvas tarp was crazy, but then, crazy was often a hunter’s middle name. A well-aimed snowball wasn’t so far-fetched for getting a creature’s attention. This was also a hunter, who when tasked with bringing Echeyakee’s pelt in to prove her worth, had brought in Echeyakee alive and padding at her side instead. Sergra Darkthorn had cursed a blue streak harsh enough to make a Warsong veteran blush. But rock-hard Sergra had also praised her in the same sentences.
The ice broke and fell away and Shaon’s chant came to an end as the great cat greeted her not with bared teeth and claw, but with rough pink tongue. Shaon had fallen to her knees with the effort of the tame and was now ruffling the fur of Rak'Shiri's neck and ruff. The tame was an exertion of will, an attempt to convince the creature that walking with the hunter would be a good thing. It was an overture of friendship and respect. Sometimes the animal was as keen to accept the Bond as the hunter was. Sometimes there was resistance and the animal would exert its own will against the hunter and the magic that sought to bind them. Taming could be exhausting work.
Sinn nudged his ‘strider forward and Rock trailed on his lead. He stopped a respectful distance from Shaon and Rak’Shiri. “Got a name for him?”
Shaon stood, her knees still a tad unsteady given the way she leaned on the cat. “I think I shall call him Rakesh, it means “moon” and I feel it suits him. It also echoes his old name though that’s only what we called him. He tells me he was called,” Shaon frowned a moment, thinking of the right words, “Snowtreader. He-who-is-the-great-watcher-of-the-pride, brother-to-the-pridemother, hunter-of-all-foes. That is what he called himself. The name I offered him pleases him and he will allow me to call him that.” Shaon shook her head, smiled up at the other hunter. “Thank you for telling the guild that he was walking today.”
“No trouble, sister hunter.”
Shaon took Rock’s lead, clambered back into the saddle. “Let us ride for Everlook. The goblin’s have a decent bar there. I’ll buy you a pint in gratitude.”

[Nefretiti]

Very nice story I'm glad I could help you get him, he's one of my favourite cats

[Azunara]

Yay! Grats! Very crafty way of interpreting guild channel, as well. My methods stand as mental link joined by all of the guildies and an RP channel I play with on CC, HearthstoneIC, consists of a rune inscribed on a hearthstone to allow communication.

And I love Rak'shiri. Moonlight is my best friend. xD

[Saturo]

I love it.

[Serendipity82]

Love it!

[VelkynKarma]

Very nice. Some excellent takes on otherwise cryptic game mechanics. Love the explanations for the guild chat and for taming. Also, Shaon has so much character, and you can tell she and Sinn get along really well too Even the mount has a name and a personality!

~VelkynKarma

[Sochi]

I do name my mounts. Even if it's unofficial. Shaon has Rock and Flyer, her Wolves, and Feathers, her single hawkstrider. I haven't named her wyverns yet.

Thanks for the good reviews! I hope to post another tale soon. Aotona joined the "pack" tonight. Needs a name and a background.

[Nefretiti]

I havent named my mouts in the past but with the story and all Sinn has Dawnfeather his red strider,and Wild has her green raptor Mossfoot

hehe and I like how Sinn appears almost likeable here