Search for a war raptor: Ironheart

[moonshadows]

Zjolnir turned Rex's head firmly this way and that, ignoring the raptor's attempts to snap at him or break free of the troll's grip. "A war raptor, ya say?"

Ryxl nodded, watching the raptor trainer at work. "Can you do it? I know he's not fully grown yet..."

The troll released Rex's head, giving him a slap on the flank that made the raptor squawk and retreat behind his packleader in confusion. "He gonna be big enough, dat not gonna be a problem."

"Then something else is going to be?" The young orc asked, absently soothing her raptor.

"I tink you got him too young, mon. I can train him, but da spirit o' da war raptor be a tricky ting. Witout da spirit, he nevah gonna be more dan just a ridin' raptor." Zjolnir gestured to the well-behaved raptors tethered behind him.

Ryxl nodded, chewing on her lower lip absently for a moment. "Do it. I gonna find me a new raptor while Rex get his trainin'. She gave the raptor a critical look, unaware that her orcish had slipped back into a trollish accent. "You got any raptors around here dat earned dere own names? Ones dat might have da spirit o' da war raptor?"

The troll grinned toothily. "You be askin' about Takk da Leaper," he said. "You wanna catch him, go up north by da bog da Venture Company got up dere. But you gotta be quick, mon. Dat one, he be dark as a shadow and quick as da wind. You catch him, he be a fine war raptor."

The orc nodded again and nudged Rex over to Zjolnir. "I be back. Not sure when, but I be back."

Rex watched in confusion as his packleader ran off without him.

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The black raptor proved to be every bit as elusive as promised. Ryxl tried traps and snares, but the beast leaped over them or dashed around them. She tried charms to increase her speed, to make her harder to detect, to hide her scent - but Takk saw through them, scented her, and was faster than the best voodoo could make her. In the end, it was a deception that granted her victory. The carcasses of three Barrens beasts covered her head to toe in dripping, bloody meat. Beneath her stinking disguise, Ryxl held very, very still and waited. Other predators came up for a bite, but a swift poke with a dagger was enough to send them scurrying away. Finally, she saw Takk edge out of the shadow of the nearby mountain's foot, and watched him watch her. He circled around the pile, edging closer once or twice and then dashing off in the other direction, making sure no other raptor or lion was going to challenge him. It took the better part of an hour for him to be satisfied that he would not be interrupted, and when he finally approached Ryxl, it was with a speed that startled her. The raptor sniffed the offering of meat, licking at one bit or another, and Ryxl held her breath as the raptor fed on the meat, his clawed feet tapping nervously just in front of her face. The blood and hot flesh covered her scent, but who knows how long Takk would be fooled. Summoning the hunter's magic quietly, the blood-soaked orc reached out and latched onto the raptor's left leg with both hands.

Takk reared and screamed in fear, trying to back away from the treacherous meal but hampered by the orc attached to his leg. He bent down to claw her, to bite her - but his forelegs were too short, his chest too deep. He could not reach her. He leaped into the air, trying to dislodge her, but her weight was too much. He tried to run, but couldn't get very far. And all the while, the hunter's magic encircled him, weaving a net of compliance underneath his skin. In less than a minute, the black raptor shuddered and panted in exhausted fear, but did not run when Ryxl let go and stood up. As she had with Rex, she ran her hands over his smooth hide and uttered soothing nonsense to impress her touch and voice on him. Takk's spirit was much stronger than Rex's, however, and the raptor glared at her as though insulted.

Ryxl grinned toothily at him. "You not be taken in by sweet words, huh?" She cut a hand-sized bit of meat from her stinking pile of corpses. "We do dis da long way, den. Here. You be hungry enough; eat."

Takk eyed her resentfully before snapping the meat up with blinding speed. The orc laughed, cutting another chunk that was likewise inhaled. Ryxl fed the raptor until he was no longer interested in the meat she held. She stroked his head and shoulders, dried blood flaking from her fingers, and between the fight and the food he did not have the energy to do more than just whine sullenly. She led him off towards the river that marked the border of Durotar, and he followed - reluctantly. Whether the reluctance was for following her or because he wanted to sleep after gorging himself, he did still follow the orc to the water and then into the water. The water was warm, but without the salt tang Ryxl was used to. She washed both herself and the raptor, making sure no dried blood remained before camping on the shore. Takk curled up against a tree readily enough, and seemed too tired to protest when she used his warm bulk as a pillow.

It will take time to earn his trust, Ryxl thought as she drifted off, but what a mount he would make some day!

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Rex had no sense of time, being a raptor, but he knew it had been far too long since he had seen his packleader. Not that he was unhappy where he was; the other raptors accepted him easily and there were a few females who didn't seem to mind his interest, but the voodoo had done its job well and he still saw Ryxl as being his packleader. When the normally well-behaved raptor stamped restlessly and kept craning his head around to the north, Zjolnir knew why and was unsurprised when Ryxl trotted up with a lithe black shape following her.

"It been too long, mon!" He called cheerfully, grasping her forearm in a warrior's greeting. "Dat raptor you left couple o' seasons ago been real easy, he take to da trainin' like a fish ta water. He gonna be a good mount, but he never gonna be a war raptor."

Ryxl returned the troll's greeting, and grimaced. Rex wiggled and stamped in excitement, and she soothed him absently.

"'Ey," Zjolnir said, noting her expression. "He be young an' healty. I know you be wantin' a war raptor, not a tame riding beast. If you want, mon, I keep him here and breed him wit' a few females. He be a lover, not a fighter."

"Take him," the orc said dismissively, fingers curled around the invisible ties of the voodoo she'd ensnared the young raptor with. One sharp twisting motion, and they shattered.

Rex blinked a few times and wandered away, more interested in the blue female making eyes at him than the two-legs standing by the pack-trainer. Once he was out of the way, Takk sidled up to take his rightful place at Ryxl's side, and she rested one hand on his shoulder. It had taken more than a moon to gain his loyalty, but it was worth it once she had. Zjolnir's eyes widened.

"Is that...did you...?" He stopped and shook his head. "Dat be Takk da Leaper, or I be a gnome." The raptor looked at him, hearing his name. Troll and beast shared a long look, each taking the measure of the other. "I never tought I would see da day dat Takk da Leaper would stand still for any hunter," Zjolnir said slowly, tearing his gaze away from the agile black beast. "You be good, orc. I tell you what. You let me take him, I train him ta be a war raptor, an' I teach you how ta do it." Hesitantly, waiting for the raptor's permission, he ran one hand lightly down the beast's flank. "Dis one...da trainin' got ta go slow, he be no one's fool. He not be ready ta ride inta battle for a few seasons, but when he is...I swear on my spirit, you not gonna find a better steed."

Ryxl's brows drew together. "How much dis trainin' gonna cost? You can keep Rex, do whatever you want wit' him, but he can't be worth as much as training Takk."

"You be right, girl. He not wort' as much as trainin' Takk." Zjolnir ran appreciative eyes over the black raptor again. "But you got sometin' more valuable you can give me."

"An' what dat gona be?" The young orc crossed her arms, waiting with sour amusement for the answer.

The troll grinned. "Da experience o' trainin' dis black beauty. No amount o' gold could buy dat. Turnin' Takk da Leaper inta a war raptor! No one else gonna ever be able ta do dat! You let me train him, mebbe he sire a few young if da ladies like him, and dat be so valuable dat I gonna owe you - and in payment, I teach you how ta make a raptor let you ride. You gonna need another raptor to fight with while I train Takk; I'll teach you how to make dat one a mount until Takk be ready for you."

Ryxl thought about finding another raptor with a war spirit, something she could fight with and possibly ride until Takk was a true war raptor. After a moment, a toothy grin split her face.

"You got a deal, mon," she said, holding out her hand to shake with Zjolnir and seal the agreement.

"I gonna get started right away. You come back wit' another raptor, I teach you how to ride him."

"I'll do that," the orc promised.

She knew exactly which raptor she wanted at her side. The trick would be getting him.

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The damp heat of Stranglethorn was a welcome sensation after the dry dust of Durotar. Ryxl disembarked from the zeppelin that had taken her from Orgrimmar to Grom'Gol, taking the winding stairs so quickly that her boots on the familiar wooden steps sounded like a rapid drumbeat. The pack that hung so heavily from her back was filled with a seemingly random assortment of objects - herbs and twigs and stones, leather and dried meat, organs wrapped in enormous leaves that make sticky, squishing sounds, and the cleaned intact skull of an orc female. She did not linger in the base camp that was the closest thing she had to a home. A few skins of water, a bundle of arrows, and she was off into the jungle before anyone could ask her business.

Home at last, she thought as the green shadows enveloped her. A panther made hungry eyes at her from beneath a bush, but she met its yellow stare with one of her own. It lifted its lip and displayed gleaming fangs; she did the same. It growled low in its throat, warning her. She growled right back, but did not just warn. Her growl climbed into a shrill scream, challenging the panther. The yellow eyes vanished; it wasn't that hungry. Ryxl moved on, comfortable in the humid green gloom and amused in the knowledge that the other predators would walk a little lighter in this area after hearing her challenge.

It didn't take long to reach the territory held by Tethis and his packs. An ancient tree with thick, gnarled roots provided her a place to make her tiny camp and she set a small cook fire between the reaching arms of the roots. It was not food that she cooked, however. The concoction of herbs and unidentified body parts that went into her pot of water would only look appetizing to the undead, although only trolls would understand the torrent of speech that accompanied its preparation. Anyone listening would swear she was talking to someone. She commanded. She wheedled. She reasoned and agreed. And when she was done, she swung the pot off the flames and drank the steaming liquid, leaving only the bits of organ and bone behind. Those, she dumped on the fire to hiss and smoke. Then she dug around in her pack again, pushing aside the few items remaining until she came to the skull. With a charred stick she wrote on it: 'Kalika Ironheart'. One of the leaf-wrapped organs came next, a small pattern of puncture marks identifying its contents to the orc who now unwrapped the giant leaf. It hadn't been very old, or very powerful, but the raptor had been purple and that was enough. Ryxl set its heart inside the marked skull before re-wrapping it in the bloodstained leaf and setting the whole thing carefully in the heart of her dying fire, alongside the remnants of raptor bone and raptor brain and other bits unidentified. The last thing she did before settling in for sleep was to slice her left hand, letting the blood drip down onto the steaming leaf where it ran down the sides and sizzled as the flames lapped at it. A bandage wrapped around the hand kept the wound shut and she tied the knot awkwardly before curling up in the hollow where the roots met the trunk. It would be an interesting night.

Anyone watching the orc female would swear she slept. Her chest rose and fell evenly, not catching on the acrid smoke as the skull and heart smoldered over the embers of the fire. She did not move at all, except for her eyes which darted this way and that beneath her eyelids in what was undoubtedly a dream. She was not asleep, however. Her spirit walked through the spirit of the jungle, tracking an elusive target that faded in and out. The spirits of the raptors nearby flickered and wavered like smoke and flame, ordinary and insubstantial. The one she sought was stronger than that, but more clever as well. While she tracked it, it hid itself. The hunt through the shadowy world of spirit continued relentlessly, winding through the vague trees and the shadows of slumbering raptors. Thinking to shake her, the elusive spirit Ryxl tracked led her to the spirit of Tethis, who loomed in this realm as a blue bulk with burning yellow eyes. No doubt this ploy would have worked with anyone else, but Ryxl stood her ground and did not flinch.

You know what I seek, she told the raptor's spirit calmly. I know what you want. Help me.

They stood like that for a long time, the orc waiting patiently for the raptor to make a decision. The potion she'd drunk left her spirit draped in the spirit of the raptor she'd slain for his heart, and Tethis could not decide if she was orc or raptor. Finally, he decided that he didn't care. He dipped his blue head and she touched his forehead lightly with her right hand, knowledge passing between them as a series of hot, primitive images. Yes, he wanted what she was offering, and wanted it badly. He would aid her; their goals for the moment were the same.

Ryxl woke with the dawn, shaking out the stiffness in her limbs. The fire had died, leaving the heart burned to a charred lump and the skull cracked. She left them there, taking time only to snatch up her pack before vanishing deeper into the jungle. The scalding potion in her gut and the burning in her left hand tugged her one direction; the hot pressure in her right led her another. She followed her right hand.

The trail was easy to find; Tethis had no need to be stealthy in his own territory. She followed it through the jungle, passing clutches of the purple raptors that were his obedient subjects. She watched the males, dismissing the young and the females, but none of them showed signs of being discontent with their stations. The burning in her left hand pulsed sullenly at each one, telling her that these were not her quarry. She moved on.

It took three days to find Tethis; his legs were longer than hers and his territory was vast. The burning in her left hand and gut drew her on and kept both hunger and sleep at bay, something she knew she would pay for later. It was close to noon on the third day when the hot sensations in both hands pulsed once and were gone. Carefully, she crouched behind a bush and pushed the leaves aside with hands that trembled slightly from the starved exhaustion that was sure to set in quickly. In the clearing, a magnificent purple male tore at the flesh of a dead basilisk, completely ignoring the cobalt raptor bearing down angrily on him. Tethis stopped and screamed; the violet raptor looked up irritably and screamed back. The blue raptor-lord snapped at the insolent male; he snapped back. The dominance-fight went on for several minutes with the purple usurper not backing down before Tethis finally retrated in sullen anger. As he passed her bush, he looked at her and glanced back over her shoulder as if to say, I held up my end; you hold up yours.

Ryxl crouched there, watching the violet raptor eat in triumph. There was only one raptor that color who could come out on top against Tethis. She unwound the bandage from her left hand and stretched the flesh until it parted reluctantly, blood oozing from the partially-healed wound. With her right hand she dug a voodoo charm out of her pack, and smeared it with her blood. The purple raptor was eating lazily, now. With any luck he would decide to take a nap. Ryxl followed him when he wandered away from the remains of the basilisk, watched him drink his fill at the river and then settle sleepily beneath a tree. It took a moment for her to calm her beating heart and remind her nerves that screaming in anticipation was not helpful. Moving as quietly as she could, she glided closer to the sated raptor who would probably have scented her through the voodoo if his mind had not been dulled through gorging. His eyes had just drooped shut when she dropped the charm at his feet, breaking the magical concealment. They shot open again as orc-scent invaded his nostrils, but it was too late. Her hands closed around his muzzle, blood dripping down his lip and into his mouth where he licked at it instinctively. The hunter's magic dove behind his eyes, entangling his will as her body finally rebelled against three days of no food and no sleep and the voodoo that kept the hot potion in her belly. The startled raptor had just enough time to close his eyes before the fetid liquid was expelled violently, covering him in the remnants of the magic that had tied her soul to his and led her to him.

When the hunter's magic had finished, Ryxl let go and fell to the ground, heaving and retching until not even bile came up and she lay there, trembling, for many minutes as the confused raptor wondered what he should do. Finally, she groped weakly in her bag and pulled out a waterskin, rinsing her mouth and drinking slowly until she felt able to stand without passing out. Still shaky, she made her way to the river to wash and was dully pleased when the big purple male followed uncertainly. She washed him as an excuse to lean on him so that she didn't collapse, muttering nonsense to him in a raspy voice. When she was done, she led him slowly to a different tree and made him lie down, something he was more than willing to do, as she collapsed against his warm bulk and weakly dug some dried meat out of her pack. She sucked and gnawed at it while re-bandaging her hand, drank some more water, and gave into the exhaustion that had stalked her for the last three days.

When she woke late the next day, the raptor still hadn't moved but was looking very irritable.

"I'm not too happy either," she told him in a croak. "I could use some breakfast. How about you?"

The raptor grunted.

It didn't take long to find another basilisk, and while the raptor tore into it gleefully, Ryxl preferred her meat cooked. She claimed two legs and built a fire to roast them over, relaxing against the raptor as he lay next to her. He still wasn't sure why he allowed it, but the two-legs let him eat at her kill, so she couldn't be all that bad.

"You need a name," she told him. His tail twitched at her voice, but he didn't stir. She watched him for a minute, stroking his head and neck. "I'll call you Ironheart. You got my mama's spirit in you; she'd like that. Or at least, she'll respond better to it." Ironheart opened one eye and looked at her sleepily. "Yeah, we gonna go slow. My mama wouldn't take any disrespect, and neither will you. But we gonna do it somewhere else; Tethis won't stand for us stating here."

Ironheart just closed his eye.

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When she was certain that the raptor would permit the indignity of being ridden, she took him to Sen'jin for lessons. They were instructed in the basics of handling, and Ryxl was given a practice saddle and bridle to use on Ironheart, with instructions to return in a moon for the next step. Considering the very angry look in her raptor's eyes, she agreed. Ironheart still had not given his full loyalty. Zjolnir also suggested she periodically put Ironheart in a stable for a week or so - once she was sure he wouldn't eat the stable master - and take Takk out hunting to maintain the bond with the black raptor. Ryxl was only too happy to agree to that; Ironheart was brute strength where Takk was agility, and she'd missed him. It took Ironheart four more such visits, each a moon apart, before Zjolnir declared the great purple beast ready for the final training. When asked about Takk, the troll just grinned and said that a work of art couldn't be rushed.

"Now," Zjolnir said as he checked the fit of the saddle on Ironheart's back, "when he feel you on his back, loyalty or no, he gonna run. You got ta hold on tight an' remember da commands. Make him react like he been trained, bring his mind back to you. You ready?"

Ryxl nodded, and wound the reins around one hand. She gripped the front of the saddle tightly, tensed, and vaulted into the saddle. Ironheart's head came up, and the orc had half a breath to clamp her legs tightly around his body before he took off running as if the wind of his passing would blow her away. She leaned forward, fingers fumbling for the reins for several seconds before she got them sorted out and gave a sharp tug to the left. The raptor barked in surprise and turned left, then right as Ryxl tugged the reins the other way. Soon, instinctive reactions faded into the mental rut of obeying the commands that had been hammered into him, and Ryxl had him leaping and turning for the sheer fun of having him under her command in this way. When he tired, she led him at a trot back to Zjolnir, who watched with approval.

"He be a fine mount," the troll said as she dismounted. "But Takk, he gonna be better, you wait and see."

"I believe it, mon," Ryxl said, watering the tired raptor. "But until he be ready, dis one will seve jus' fine."

In his stall behind Zjolnir, Takk glared daggers at the purple brute drinking from the water trough.

 

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