moonshadows

"Ryxl? What kind of name is that?"

One green hand tightened around the handle of the young orc's axe. Ryxl reminded herself that maiming the recruit officer would only hurt her career, and slowly let go. "It's the name my father gave me. Or so I'm told."

The pompous orc looked down his nose at her. "And where did he come up with a name like that?"

"I don't know." Ryxl gave him her best troll grin, teeth displayed prominently. "He wasn't able to say much more with mother's knife in his throat like that." After years of answering the same questions, she'd honed the answers into phrases that were both short, and likely to prevent other questions. The recruit officer's eyes widened slightly. Ah, another orc without the balls for real battle. Bet he'd piss himself if the Warchief sent him out into the world. Well, at least he won't dare make a move on me. Her smile widened into a predatory leer, strengthening the psychological advantage, and the older orc coughed and shuffled papers around to cover his unease.

"Well, everything seems to be in order. Here's your letter, just give it to Kaltunk in the Valley of Trials. Follow the road south and you can't miss it. For the Horde!"

Ryxl took the letter, amused that the other orc wouldn't - or couldn't - meet her eyes, and walked out.

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The road ran as a beaten track between low hills of red earth and carved its way through cliffs of equally red sandstone. Ryxl loped down it easily, unbothered by the heat but squinting against the sun. She could see signs of wildlife to either side of the road, and hear screeching echoing in the canyons, but did not stop. After the lush riot of greenery in Stranglethorn Vale, the small stands of prickly plants huddled in the parched air made her feel like she was running through another world. The canyon ended suddenly, leaving the young orc in a brief no-man's-land before a small town. The orcs guarding the gate were no strangers to battle, judging by their scars and the familiar way they hefted their weapons, and Ryxl could see them assess her as she trotted up.

Young, but no stranger to hard work. Not tall, but not fully grown either, and not gangly or thin. Worn clothes, worn axe and bow, ears pierced in three places each and ringed with gold. Hair long, but up in a long tail, scalp shaved bare everywhere else. Yes, I know what I look like, and I do know how to use the axe, thank you very much. She met the eyes of each guard in turn, one hand resting easily on the handle of her axe, mirroring their alert stance with the ease of familiarity. They nodded at her, acknowledging her as being no helpless civilian.

"Throm'ka, young orc! Welcome to Razor Hill." The one on the right gestured behind him, while the one on the left resumed his watchful position. Behind them, a equally-scarred female in a guard's uniform strode past on patrol.

"I'm looking for the Valley of Trials," Ryxl said warily. Did that pompous ass give me the wrong directions?

The guard on the right grinned. "Of course. Straight through town, keep going south. Follow the western fork, or you'll wind up in Sen'jin."

Ryxl nodded her thanks, and walked through the gate.

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The Valley of Trials turned out to be more of a box canyon than a valley, with a small permanent camp set up in the middle, and other would-be heroes running about killing boars or gathering fruit from the prickly plants. Ryxl loped down the path to the orc the guard had directed her to, trying to emulate the arrogant aloofness of the jungle panther as she ignored some young orc male trying to get her attention.

"Yes?" Kaltunk turned as she trotted up, taking in her dusty appearance and her build in one appraising glance. Ryxl held out the letter the recruit officer had given her, and let it speak for her. Kaltunk broke the seal and skimmed the contents for a moment, then returned his attention to the orc standing before him. "So, Ryxl, you are of age...of age to battle in the name of the Horde. To conquer for the glory of the Warchief. Yes..." His gaze flicked down to her well-used axe, and the muscle on the arm that held it. "You will do nicely. No doubt you wish to find a great dragon or demon and strangle it with your bare hands, but perhaps it would be wise to start on something less... dangerous." He laughed at her expression. "No? Not wanting to throw yourself head-first into the maw of a mighty beast to prove yourself? Well then, go report to Gornek. He'll assign you tasks to assess your skills. You will find Gornek in the Den, to the west." Kaltunk gestured, then turned his attention to a young troll that had run over.

Ryxl trotted over to the cave Kaltunk had indicated, and calmly accepted the petty tasks given to her. The boars and scorpids in the valley were easy to kill, compared with things she'd tangled with in Stranglethorn Vale, and she was soon given more difficult tasks. After a day or two, the troll Jen'shan sent for her and told her that hers would be the path of the hunter. Ryxl rejoiced. Jen'shan explained what it was like to be a hunter, and hearing the familiar trollish lilt brought a slice of home to the arid training camp. They squatted together in the shade, talking of bows and beasts, and Jen'shan didn't blink when Ryxl's orcish slipped into the same trollish cadences.

After that meeting, Ryxl threw herself into her tasks with more enthusiasm and returned often to receive training with the troll huntress. She was dispatched to Sen'jin and Razor Hill in due course as her skills improved, more than willing to run errands or kill centaurs to prove herself. Anything to aid the Horde, the only family she had. Finally the day came when her new mentor Thotar summoned her back to Razor Hill to learn how to tame beasts. The young orc listened closely to the other hunter's directions, and soon progressed past the need for material props to help her perform the taming magics. She dutifully bent crab, boar, and scorpid to her will and taught them to obey the commands that had been taught to her. While she exulted in the power it gave her to have the beast bow itself beneath her hand, they were only placeholders. Ryxl already knew what type of creature she wanted at her side.

Finally, Thotar declared her ready and sent her to Ormak Grimshot in Orgrimmar. She'd seen the city in the distance when she arrived from Grom'gol, but hadn't had the chance to enter it yet. The presence of so many unfamiliar orc males made her nervous, but a challenging look and a sharp axe warded the curious away; most of them went about their business without looking twice at her. Ormak, naturally, was the type of orc who saw her as a young warrior rather than a young woman - and was certainly not one of the filthy males her mother had always warned her about. He taught her the magics that would let her heal the beast she tamed, and return its spirit to its body if it was slain. How to feed the beast while still maintaining control, and gain its loyalty. Ryxl absorbed the knowledge like a sponge, and when he had no more to teach, she set out for the vast plains of the Barrens.

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The Barrens were as hot and arid as Durotar had been, but with more life. The red raptor she'd bent to her will trotted at her side, thinking of her as some kind of strange, tailless raptor who might - if he was lucky - mate with him and make him the alpha male of her pack. Ryxl patted his head with the affection that an artisan gives to his first attempts. He was a start, and certainly better than a boar, but she didn't intend to keep the young beast for long. Inside her vest was a letter sending her to the city of Crossroads for further instructions, and the road stretched before her. The heat was comforting and familiar, but she wished for the humid shadows of Stranglethorn. As orc and raptor came up on a ridge of earth, a familiar shape seen out of the corner of one eye, a flicker of motion, a flash of color stopped Ryxl in her tracks. The red raptor made an uncertain sound, and she hushed it, watching the ridge of earth. Was that...?

The head of a purple raptor crested the ridge. It was. Almost absently, Ryxl drew her dagger and slit the throat of the red raptor at her side. The purple head - identical to the ones she'd seen so often in Stranglethorn - came up as the scent of blood filled the air, and Ryxl stood very, very still. In one hand, the hunter's magic curled, ready to soothe the beast. In the other, the knife dripping raptor blood glinted faintly with the voodoo she'd learned as a child, reaching out to the purple raptor's spirit. The red raptor collapsed, looking at her in confusion, and she silently apologized to it as she took its strength. The purple raptor edged closer, not sure what she was yet. Ryxl remained still, and after a minute the raptor edged closer still and began lapping at the blood of her former pet.

In an instant, both hands were on his head, the magic weaving around and through him. The knife nicked his jaw, and blood mingled with blood. The slain raptor's spirit mixed with his, promising strength if he submitted. The hunter's magic blinded him, dulling his sense of smell, so that he could not sense what Ryxl was. With one hand she entreated; with the other, she intimidated. It didn't take long before the poor raptor submitted, shivering beneath her touch, confused and frightened. She spoke to him softly then, stroking and crooning, and when the magic faded she was the alpha female of his pack.

"You see?" she whispered to the corpse of the red raptor as she cut out its heart. "It not be so bad, ya? You go wit him, you stay wit me." The purple raptor quivered in delight as his packleader fed him the tasty morsel. She stroked his head, noting that he was an adolescent like her. "I'll call you Rex."

Rex, not understanding anything but the tone, wiggled in pleasure that his packleader was happy with him.