Leata's Superb Scorpid
First, this pet brought back some nice memories to me -- this was Cerah's Scorponok's original skin colour, back when I was playing on my bf's account. I switched to the Corrupted Scorpid skin when I remade Cerah (thought it was prettier), but the bronze has a nice, gleaming look to it. Anyway, on to Leata's story:
"Awww what a cutie!" Leata could hardly take her eyes off the other dwarf's pet, a hard-won Durotar Scorpion from the Argent Tournament, won after a jousting duel with an Orc up in the Northrend event.
"If ya think that's impressive, you should see his big brothers." The dwarf replied, while moving his hand away from his scorpion's eager stinger. "Da big ones like this are out in Durotar, bad-tempered buggers they are ... much like Durotar's other residents, come ta think of it".
Durotar ... Leata remembered her first trip out, deep into dangerous Horde territory. It was there that she had found her crocolisk, Hyde. Perhaps he would like a visit back to his home waters, and maybe she could make a new friend besides. So after finishing up some business in Ironforge, it was time to go.
A flight up to Menthiel Harbour, and the boat across the Great Sea to Theramore was luckily uneventful. Leata always liked Theramore -- the town was ruled by probably the most level-headed human in Azeroth, after all. (Usually, "level-headed" and "human" weren't words that belonged in the same sentence, from her experience).
A quick flight from Theramore over to Ratchet, and she was well on her way. This is where her journey really became dangerous. The riverbank between the Barrens and Durotar was a hazardous place -- many of Hyde's former associates still roamed the waterways, and Horde members who likely wouldn't be too happy to see her in their lands were always a danger. However, Leata soon found what she was looking for -- a beautiful, bronze and emerald-green scorpid, a perfect match to the companion pet she had seen in Ironforge. It was love at first sight.
"Quickstrike" seemed an appropriate name for the little devil, as he proved against a gaggle of fire elementals who were assaulting Ratchet when Leata returned to the goblin town. Unfortuately, she was too late to save (and might have accidently shot) one of the Orc residents of the town, something the "neutral" goblins didn't take too kindly to.
Leata desided another good testing ground might be the Warsong Gultch Battleground. She usually didn't participate in battlegrounds -- they seemed to go against her whole goal of peace between two of Azeroth's eldest races (Dwarves and Trolls), but Quickstrike's enemy-disarming "clench" ability just begged to be tested. Besides, it turned out her opponents were bad-tempered Orcs, creepy Forsaken, and Alliance-abandoning Blood Elves (Leata couldn't really blame them, after what happened with the whole Scourge-rampage-through-Silvermoon, and King Magni only finding out much later, but still. Their hostility towards humans was understandable. Dwarves, not so much). Anyway, Quickstrike made quite the impression. [OOC: battlegrounds are quite confusing when you're used to the other side]
Doing a little more exploration of the Barrens/Durotar boarder, Leata came across an interesting find -- a Troll-style hut on the river's edge that seemed to have been abandoned for some time. Always eager to learn more about troll archietecture and culture, Leata took a look inside. On the floor, surprisingly, was an envelope, with her name written in perfect Dwarvish! Nervously, she opened the envelope, and read the letter inside:
We be watching ya, mon. We know what ya want -- why you're always pokin' yer nose around our towns, our lands, but we can't trust ya, not yet. If you really want peace between our peoples, ya gots ta prove yerself to us first. Nearby lives a rapta, one that's different from the others. We call her Da Leapa. Do you have da mojo to face her?
Leata knew how much Trolls admired and respected raptors -- and this one was special. With Quickstrike following, she climbed up into the Barrens to find this "Leaper". It didn't take too long to find the shadowy, dark raptor, patrolling the hilltops. But what did the Troll letter mean by "face her"? Such a beautiful creature ... Leata put down her gun. She couldn't do it -- couldn't kill this beauty. But maybe ... maybe the Trolls had meant something else.
Leata could hardly believe it -- the Leaper, no, Nightfire, was now her companion, her newest friend. Violence didn't have nothing on love! [yeah, I know that's cheesy, but it fits]
Exhausted, and sure that her time in the Barrens/Durotar was drawing to a close, Leata hearthed back to the Eastern Kingdoms. Time for a rest, and maybe a pint. A reward for a job well done.
So, that's twice now that Leata's gone out on her random pet challenge, and found a rare pet to tame as well! This system's turning out to be really lucky for her!
How's that for a review?
I wouldn't mind another challenge for Leata. I think I'll just stick to my lowbies for this game from now on. Or, I could always use the main site's Popular Pet Looks voting page, like Veph suggested. I kind of like other people picking for me though -- I think I might censor myself if I do it alone.
Edit: Nevermind. I'll just use the new
Mark II page instead. Good idea Acherontia!
Leaper was always one of my favorite skins too.
So I got one of the wild ones. I named him "Bergril," which means "graceful bandit" in Drow.