Becoming the Hunter, part IV

Do I really need to link parts I, II, & III?

* * * * *

The hot, dusty air of the Barrens burned Kwazimoto's lungs as he drew each laboring breath, but his legs? His legs ached and his calf muscles screamed at him to stop running, but his ankle? His ankle throbbed from when it had rolled under him as stepped into the Prairie Rat hole, but his heart? His heart beat like it was fit to burst, and the pounding in his ears sounded like the war drums of the Horde.

The Horde: the very reason why he couldn't stop running.

"Stop!" yelled a guttural voice from behind him. "We'll make it quick!"

Kwazi kept running, east, towards Ratchet. He hoped towards Ratchet. It had to be this way. This was the way the signs had pointed. If it wasn't this way, well, Kwazi didn't want to think about that, so he did the only thing he could do; run.

When he'd seen the sign posts earlier, pointing south towards Crossroads and the Goblin village of Ratchet, Kwazimoto hadn't realized he'd actually pass so close to the Horde town. In retrospect, it made perfect sense, given the town's name. It was called Crossroads, so logically it should be at a crossroad. And it was. On the crossroad leading to Ratchet!

Fortunately for Kwazi, despite the entire town seeing him pass by, they'd chosen to do nothing but point and laugh at the young Dwarf. But the hunting party was another story. Made up of a few young Orc Hunters all eager to earn their first coup, they had given chase. More fortunate was that being so young, none of the Hunters had achieved riding status in the tribe so they were all on foot, just like Kwazi. And being young, none of them were armed with anything more than training bows, strung loose to force young Hunters to learn to get close to their prey to make their shot count. And yet some of the arrows fired from those bows had still come dangerously close to Kwazi. Simple bows they may be, but these young Hunters knew how to use them.

"Come on! Faster!" he heard one of the Orcs behind him say. "He's gonna get...to Ratchet...if we don't...catch him! Faster!"

So it was this way. That little bit of knowledge buoyed him up, and Kwazi felt his second wind, or was it his third? Who cares! Run!

Don't...Stop!

Don't...Stop!

Don't...Stop!

He ignored the pain in his body, the pain of his body. It hurt! His whole body hurt!

No! Stop that. It doesn't hurt. Keep running. He heard Raene's voice, urging him on, and so on he ran.

The ground gradually sloped down, and he could smell salt on the air. Ahead, far ahead, so close, but still so far away, the white capped waves of the ocean beckoned him. Ratchet. He could see Ratchet. So close.

Keep running. Keep running. Keep running!

Shhhhooonk!

An arrow struck the road just ahead of him and Kwazi stumbled and almost fell. He managed to catch himself before he plowed face first into the road, and being bent over at the waist, with arms and legs churning as he fought to keep his balance, actually saved him.

Shhhhooonk!

He felt the wind of the second arrow as it passed above his bowed head.

"That one would have hit me square in the back," Kwazi thought to himself, perhaps a little too calmly given the situation. The Dwarf managed to straighten up without slowing down or losing his balance, and with arms and legs pumping he flew down the road with the hunting party still giving chase.

"Sttoooopppp!!!" came a yell from behind him.

"Pigs!" thought Kwazi to himself, as he ran into Ratchet and finally collapsed next to a Goblin Bruiser standing watch at the Pier. But the yell wasn't meant for Kwazi. As he rolled over and looked back he saw one Orc had followed him into Ratchet. The young Hunter stood barely a few ten-feet away. His bow was drawn, and a wickedly barbed hunting arrow was nocked and at the ready. The Orc's chest heaved as he struggled to catch his breath, but Kwazi noted the arrow's point barely wavered. The young Orc was obviously winded from the chase, yet he was also clearly capable of still making an accurate shot. Kwazi was impressed.

"Thrag! No! Don't!" yelled one of the other Hunters. Unlike Thrag, the rest of the hunting party had all stopped short of what had to be Ratchet's border. "Neutral ground, Thrag! Neutral ground! Don't!"

Thrag's eyes narrowed and his breathing slowed. "Bastard dwarf," he snarled at Kwazi, and released the arrow, which struck the shield the Goblin Bruiser had lowered in front of him. There was a muffled thump, and when the Bruiser lifted his shield Kwazi saw Thrag's unconscious body was now entwined in a net and being carried off to Ratchet's makeshift prison.

"Damn it, Thrag," said the earlier speaker, "told you to stop. Never bloody listen. Pop is gonna love this one. Well, Dwarf," he said - Kwazi raised his head - "You can run. Yeah, you sure can run, but you can't hide!"

"Oh, you'd be surprised," replied Kwazimoto, "I can hide pretty well when I need to."

The Orc laughed. "Good hunting to you, Dwarf!" he said, thumping his fist against his chest.

"Good hunting to you, Orc," Kwazi replied, returning the salute. "May Orion guide your arrows to their target."

The Orc stared at Kwazi for several long seconds, before smiling - It was probably meant to be a friendly smile, but tusks and a mouthful of fangs don't make for very friendly smiles - then he nodded his head, turned, and as one the Orcs began running back towards the Crossroads. Not walking, not jogging, but running. Kwazi smiled and shook his head in wonder. They breed them tough out here in the Barrens, he thought. Now, where's that Inn? I need a drink.

* * *

Kwazi had to admit, fishing off Ratchet's pier was extremely relaxing. Each day two ships sailed from Ratchet to Booty Bay, one in the morning, and one in the early evening. Most folks chose to ride the one in the evening because it allowed them to sleep during the trip and wake at Booty Bay in the morning, but there were still a few folks that sailed out on the morning ship.

For almost a ten-day Kwazi had done nothing but fish off the pier. Fish, and wait for the right ship, although it would be more accurate to say he was waiting for the right passengers. Kwazi needed a morning ship to set sail with absolutely no Horde on board. Alliance would be fine, but not Horde, not for what he had in mind. Chatting with the Goblin sailors Kwazi had established that as they sailed out of Ratchet, their ship passed fairly close to the Echo Isles. Rather than approach the Isles by land, via Durotar, and pass dangerously close to Orgrimmar, Kwazi was choosing to go by sea. Dwarves can swim, they just prefer not to, not if they can avoid it. But when the need arises or their life depends on it Dwarves have been known to swim short distances very, very quickly.

Kwazi needed a morning ship with no Horde passengers, because any Horde warrior worth their salt would pursue a member of the Alliance jumping ship so close to Orgrimmar. And so Kwazi sat on the pier, and fished, and waited. Hunters are very, very good at waiting. If they weren't, they wouldn't be Hunters, and Kwazi was a very good Hunter, which is how he could sit on the pier for half a ten-day and do nothing but fish. Of those he caught a few small ones were tossed back, a basketful went to the Innkeeper to pay for his lodging, and a handful were smoked as provisions for the future. Kwazi had a special pouch, with heavily greased water-resistant leather, that kept things like tinder, gunpowder, and dried provisions as dry as possible, and he had this pouch stuffed full of smoked fish and some Kodo Jerky the Innkeeper had made, which was actually quite tasty.

Finally the day arrived when the only travelers waiting for the morning ship were a couple of Alliance soldiers, and when the ship set sail it did so with just three passengers. While the two soldiers headed below deck, Kwazi stood on the portside of the ship, and waited. As the wind filled its sails the ship pulled away from Ratchet and Kwazi watched the mountains slide by. It was when the ship started turning more and more to the south, away from the mountains, that Kwazi made his move and jumped.

It was not a graceful entry and it was not a masterful stroke that propelled Kwazi through the water, but it was effective, and after several long minutes he was able to stand up in chest high water. With the hills rising almost straight up out of the water, Kwazi had no choice but to begin slowly wading east, towards the Echo Isles, but when they finally came into view, so, too, did a Troll fishing village.

Fortunately for Kwazi most of the Trolls of Sen'jin Village had long since headed north to Orgrimmar, to serve Thrall, so on this morning only a couple of Trolls were about, and none were looking towards the ocean. They certainly weren't expecting a Dwarf to be wading up the coast from Ratchet, so Kwazi was able to start swimming across to the largest of the Isles without being seen.

When he finally made shore he unwrapped his water-resistant pack and took out several pieces of fish. The grease had done its job, and unlike Kwazi, the fish had not been affected by their prolonged exposure to the water. As Kwazi slowly chewed one piece he felt his strength return, but it was the Innkeeper's Kodo Jerky that sealed the deal and Kwazi felt ready to take on the world. Although for now, an Echo Isles' Tiger would have to do.

As Kwazi stood up to go searching for his Tiger he realized one had already found him. Maybe it was the aroma of smoked fish, perhaps the Kodo Jerkey, or possibly just the strange scent of wet Dwarf that drew it out of the cover of the jungle. Whatever it was the Tiger only had eyes for Kwazimoto, and Hunter and Beast stopped and stared each other down.

It was the Tiger that made the first move, as it had to, for Kwazimoto's role in this play was simple; stand firm against the Tiger, and make it see that its attacks were futile. Kwazimoto had to be the dominant one, the stronger of the two. He had to be Alpha, and the Tiger had to be made to realize that.

As the Tiger charged in Kwazi did nothing but stand his ground, meet its gaze, and stare it down. The Tiger crossed the distance between them in a heart beat, but under Kwazi's unwavering gaze it balked, and swerved away. The Tiger made a huge circle back to its starting point where it stopped and looked at the Dwarf, clearly confused.

Wasn't this prey? It smelled like prey. Then why didn't it act like prey? Why didn't it turn and run? With a snarl it leaped at the Dwarf a second time, and again Kwazi stood his ground, and once more the Tiger checked its attack and turned away. Again it made another large circle and finished up back where it had started.

Kwazi glared at the Tiger which now really wasn't sure what was going on. This creature clearly smelled like fish, and something else delicious, but it didn't act like prey. So if it wasn't prey, it was competition for prey. It was competition! The Tiger turned and made one last charge, coming right up to the Dwarf where it drew back a huge paw with wicked claws extended and...it made its last mistake; it looked up into the Dwarf's face.

Kwazimoto stared back into the Tiger's amber eyes, barely a couple of feet from his own. He could see every whisker on its face, and smell the last meal on its breath. He stared into the Tiger's eyes and the Tiger finally realized this was not prey, and it wasn't competition; this was Alpha, its Alpha. The Tiger lowered its paw, rolled over, and offered its belly to its Alpha.

Kwazimoto let out the breath he didn't realize he'd been holding and took out a second piece of smoked fish, but instead of offering it to the Tiger he took a huge bite and chewed with gusto. The Tiger whined and looked longingly at the fish, until it caught Kwazi's stern stare. The whining stopped and it lowered its gaze.

Kwazi took out the third piece of fish and took another huge bite, and only then did he offer the remainder of this piece to the Tiger. Slowly, carefully, it took the offered fish from his hand, then swallowed it whole and looked up expectantly.

More?

"No."

While it may not have known the word, the tone was quite clear, and the Tiger immediately understood that it only got food from its new Alpha when it was offered, and not before. Still, no harm in asking, right?

"No!

Ok, fine. No more food just yet. So, what do we do now? Where are we going?

"Well, Tiger," said Kwazi, "I probably should have thought this crazy idea of mine through a little better, because I have no clue how we're getting back to Dun Murogh."

The Tiger looked up at him, and like Tigers sometimes do, gave an amused woof.

Kwazi gave its head a rough pat. "You're a fat lot of good, aren't you? Then again, I guess I'm not much better. You know what, Tiger? I didn't see Durotar on the way over. I guess we could go back that way, through the Barrens, and head back up to Ashenvale. I know a pretty Elf there who'd like to meet you. What do you say, Tiger?"

The Tiger had no clue what its Alpha had just said, but it knew it was being asked a question and it gave another woof.

"Good answer, Tiger," said Kwazimoto. "Let's go."

* * * * *

To be continued? I don't know. Maybe. If you never read it, there is one more Kwazimoto story, where he faces down Klinfran the Crazed, the Burning Steppes demon who's part of the old level 60 Epic Hunter quest. You can find it here.