(Hope I did this right! Its more story oriented than utility)
"More and more of our people slaughtered..." The Laughing Skull orc adjusted his mask, his frustration readily apparent. "We'll never get Gorgrond scouted with that damned beast flying around." Silence filled the small camp as the loss of even more struck our hearts.
The silence was broken by the old orc Chieftan. "Who among us would have the courage to bring down the Doomwing?" More silence. Durotan's disappointment was obvious.
"I..." My voice trembling, "I will try." With Durotan's blessing, I entered the Drywind Gorge on the hunt for a massive murderous rylak.
A few hours passed and there was no sign of the Doomwing anywhere. I figured he was holed up in some cave somewhere, so I found some shade to rest and wait by. The skies were filled with rylak soaring high and wide, but my attention was constantly stolen by one in particular. This guy seemed smaller than the others, and only flew in low tight circles, as if he was too timid to fly higher with his brethren.
My curiosity peaked, I decided to see if I could get his attention. I waited a few passes and threw some rocks as far as I could, wanting them to be near, but not too close. One fateful throw grazed his tail, and just as I suspected, the little guy panicked and flew directly into a nearby patch of growth, hiding among the trees and bushes. I cautiously followed.
He was shaking. "What happened to you, little guy?" I whispered to myself as I watched this terrified animal. I decided to see if I could coax him out, so I slowly appeared from the bushes, low to the ground and spoke to him softly.
He was not having it! The rylak, trembling still, leaped from his hiding place and lunged at me. I darted backwards wondering what I gotten into, but luckily he stayed close to his hiding spot.
I watched him a while longer from a distance, and noticed he looked very thin, even for a rylak. I looked around for something, and finally spotted a raptor near the growth. I snuck through the bushes, hiding by the rocks and crevices until I had a clear shot. Within moments, the raptor succumbed to its wounds.
I headed over to the kill, knelt and laid my hands on its head out of respect for the life it gave. I quickly carved out a few pieces of meat and left the rest, already being eyed by a circling buzzard.
I hurried back to my spot to find my buddy still hiding, but not trembling as much. I emerged with the the majority of the meat and slowly laid it down in a clearing. The rylak noticed me immediately, but took much interest in my gift. As I backed away, I watched it follow its nose to the meat, and then consume it voraciously.
After finishing, he looked up in my direction. My attention perked when he then began to growl. The beast suddenly leaped, dust and leaves flying everywhere! I ducked to the side as he soared over my head, turning to find that he had tackled and killed a nearby Botani that was too close behind me for comfort.
The rylak's demeanor immediately changed as he stood triumphantly over his kill. I chuckled as he seemed to show off for me.
I decided to try again and boldly reach out for him. He timidly accepted my hand, and thats when I saw it. Scars, a bunch of scars on both faces and necks. I'd seen similar before in other beasts whose siblings tried to kill them in their nest, a particularly close dragonhawk pet I knew when I was younger. Apparently the same happened to this guy, and so I named him after my pet from my youth: Caurin'as. He might have been a runt, wasn't the prettiest creature, and certainly smelled something awful... but his heart was huge.
I fed Caurin the few pieces of meat I had left, and noticed the little guy warming up to me. We spent the rest of the day traveling around the Gorge, taking the safest paths we could. We went by the steam pools, around Highpass, and even near the Gronn Canyon, but it was pretty obvious he wasn't ready to tangle with the Gronn. To be honest, neither was I!
I could tell the sun would be setting soon, so I figured I would head back to Beastwatch for the night, my new buddy in tow. It was then I looked down and noticed a dreadful shadow.
I startled at the sight, and Caurin must have sensed it as he took off toward the shadow, flying up to nearby cliff.
"CAURIN NO!" I yelled as I ran after him, much slower than my nimble little friend rylak.
I heard the roar of the Doomwing.
I heard the fire crackling.
Finally the thunderous flapping of the giant rylak flying off. I knew what had happened.
Caurin'as had fallen.
I was enraged. All I could think about was slaying the creature that killed Caurin'as. I watched the sky for hours, I hunted in the Gorge for days. This beast had shed enough blood, but now it was personal.
And then finally, I had my moment. The great rylak had made a fatal mistake.
Foolishly it had tangled with a nearby Magnataur, and barely escaped with its life. The Doomwing escaped and managed to fly to a nearby cliff... the very cliff it killed Caurin on... the very cliff I waited on to return the favor.
I slowly snuck out and aimed my shot. Took a deep breath, and fired. The beast roar in pain and anger, turning to face me. It was much more monstrous in person, but it was large and clumsy and I small and agile.
It rained fire all around me, some of it scorching me, but I kept the battle.
Dodge, fired my gun, dodged again, another round.
Finally, the Doomwing collapsed to the ground, barely breathing. I watched it as the fire in its eyes slowly died out.
I walked up to its lifeless body. "I only need your fangs, wretch," I said as I knelt to rip them out. "Let the goren have the rest of your miserable hide."
Back at camp, they called me a hero. They cheered and roared my glory. They displayed the fangs for all to see. I didn't care though. I couldn't stop thinking about that ugly, smelly, runty rylak as I walked away from Beastwatch.
"I'm not the hero here..."
(little cheesy yeah yeah)
I have to admit, I kinda groaned when I saw the pet assigned to me. I don't like rylaks and this has to be my least favorite color. Yet as I fleshed out this silly little story, I connected with him! Moral of the story: Give the "ugly" beasts a try! They can really steal the show and a slot in your stable. And hey, slow fall is a really great utility to have! I think I'm going to keep this guy in game, if that don't beat all.