3 Love Cats (The Pride Watcher, Shy-Rotam, and Rak'Shiri)

[Tyuriwen]

Never before have I been in such a predicament. I've never been able to see myself as a hunter without a Cat, much the same way I can't be seen without my Wolf, Freki =)

Long story short, in my panic about seeing Krush, I abandoned my long time faithful companion, Erulissë, with the promise that I would pick him back up as soon as I drop off another pet at the stables. I tamed Krush, and all was well.

A few days went by until I realised I actually didn't have Eru by my side, which made me doubt how strong my bond with him was...if Freki or Medea, my Loque'nahak, weren't by my side, I would panic. So, with Théoden (my Random Challenge Pet) by my side, I set off to Winterspring to not only take a few snapshots, but also reintroduce my friend back into the family.

And this was the sight that greeted me.

Not necessarily a rare sight, but I hadn't been back to Frostsaber Rock in ages, not since the launch of Cata and definately not since 4.0.6, and looking at them all together in the wild was definately a breath-drawing moment...My eyes wandered to each of them.

My dearest Erulissë was a Pridewatcher, and what a fierce and proud fighter he was. I've set him free more than once, the first time to start a family of his own, the second because he was 'homesick', and now...well, I was hoping he'd understand. There, at the spot where I first tamed him all those years ago, he stood, and watched, and waited.

Shy-Rotam looked so beautiful next to her braziers, stretching and shaking her mane with a look that said 'I'm here if you want me'.

And of course, Rak'shiri. Prowling around, owning the frozen pond, eyes gleaming, as if he KNEW what I was up to.

So of course, I did what every hunter would do in my position, given the fact they had the space; I got all 3.

Rak'Shiri was first to be tamed; I love the glint in his eye, and I was very upset that I couldn't get the white riding tiger skin until they changed his skin. =)

Shy-Rotam followed suit. A 'playful' pawing before she ran to my side!

And finally, my faithful companion, the one I've been with all these years, regardless of new skins, ability changes, and the rest.

And with this, I'm not asking the Petopia community to CHOOSE one for me, I'm asking of all your stories, old and new, from way back when 2 shared the same skin, to now, your beloved kittens, and your fierce felines. Hopefully seeing them will stir something within me, alongside the bonding I'm doing with them this evening. =) Thank you all in advance x

[Yaone]

All three of these cats have meaning to me, skin wise...

I remembered trying to catch Rak'shiri so many years ago, that was the first rare pet I pulled a 36 hour camp for XD And ended up being with me as one of my main three pets for many moons!(3 stable slots eww)

Shy-rotam was one of those ... well lets just say I am exactly proud of how I ended up with her xD I didn't exactly do anything dishonorable by it, but it still felt shady as I hid shadowmelded at the back of the rock waiting for some poor horde to come along and summon her without knowing that she was quite the handful! That person died, and I waited and tamed her. >>

The purple kitty, ah I how loved to hate this one, Every time I ran out doing the old wintersaber rep I would look at one, and wished I had more stable slots. I also often toyed with the idea of dual wielding a aqua and a purple... And told myself that when I finished the wintersaber rep I would tame one just to run with it out by my side. My love for the color didn't help in terms of wanting this one xD

One of the first things I did do was go out and tame the purple one and Rak after we got 25 stableslots. Later when Rak changed, I added Shy to the family as well. And even tho I was upset with Rak's change, I thought about long ago when I longed for those kitties in darnassus to be tameable, and well now? I am looking to get her back. xD

[Comett]

Well, I have a bit of a story I guess. However I am wanting to level another (third!!!) hunter to get all three of these cats - ideally, tbh, all the mount models haha, that'd be awesome. Too many cats for too few stable slots.

When I was doing my wintersaber quests on my main, years ago - it was either just before, or during, the release of BC, I'm not too sure - of course I'd see these cats prowling around every time I ran to turn in that god forsaken meat. Occasionally I'd see Rak'shiri also. I ended up taming both purple and blue skins after a while, but with limited stable slots I never kept them for long. When I finally, finally got my mount, Auroara (tacky name I know, I was young hahaha), I decided that one day I would come back and tame her daughter - one of the pridewatchers - for sentimental value.

Well over the ages I tamed plenty of pets, but I never went back to get a pridewatcher permanently. However mid wrath, during one of many patches, we welcomed the spirit beast Gondria. I rushed to tame her as she is by far my favourite spirit beast, purely because of her looks and the persona she has. And that prompted the obvious similarities between the pridewatcher model and the Gondria model.

So, the basic story is, pridewatcher kitty was killed in an act of protecting the tribe, but her spirit and desire to continue her duty was so strong that she stayed attached to our earth, albeit in a strange "alternate" world - still lots of snow, but nothing else was the same. Auroara and I stumbled onto her and it was obvious they were from the same tribe, so we took her back to Frostsaber rock in hopes of finding her peace. It did help and she was happy to see her homeland safe again but she'd grown attached to us on the journey and now felt we were a small pride of her own worth protecting.

So in a bit of a round about way I did get my pridewatcher kitty in the end, I guess. But I still want to tame the trio again in the future ^_^

[Tyuriwen]

Haha, I can relate to that, back when I had to choose between Eru and Siouxsie (Gondria), with only 5 stables slots, it would always be a constant battle, keeping one to find I only wanted the other..in the end, I settled with both!

[Rhapture]

I have all three of these cats as well. The pridewatcher I had with me for months of the long wintersaber rep grind but I abandoned her when I saw Rak'shiri because I was in love with the teal skin, then Cata hit and my Rak was changed so I went and tamed Shy so I could get my teal skin back and I decided to tame a purple one as well because I had the room. I haven't let any of them go despite my full stables because I honestly cannot make a decision.

The purple holds some nostalgia for me as that kitty helped me through the first months of painful wintersaber grid plus it matches my mount I worked so hard for and it is a favorite color. The white one has been with me for years and was with me for the last part of that painful grind, as well it holds nostalgia for me being a twin of the first mount I had ever gotten and worked so hard to save up for. The teal skin is beautiful and probably my favorite coloration of the three and feels more like my old pet than the new skinned white tiger. So for now they remain in my stable until something else comes along and I am forced to make a decision.

[Pwncess]

I have Rak and Shy, but I ended up letting go of the purple one, only because I had to make room for Shadowclaw. O:
Butttt I really really love the change they did to Rak. I didn't like that he shared a skin with a summonable pet, and now I can have a white tiger that is rare and not common like King Bangalash.

Of all the kitties, Humar is my favorite. He's my lil' buddy. ^_^