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May 20, 2018

FIESCHADA

“A strong, instantaneous attraction to someone upon first meeting each other; ‘love at first sight’.”

And the second story. I hope things aren’t too confusing, but I’m... doing my best. I had to alter the way I did the chapter texts AGAIN because... well, this chapter’s title was too long to translate nicely. I’ll be doing them like this from now on.

I might post it on FF.net and A03 as well, but I’m... tentative about that. We’ll see!

This chapter includes mentions of both @druidickats‘ characters , and a rather hefty cameo by @tricksterthief‘s Luxanai! Hope you guys enjoy it.

CHAPTER 2 But I haven’t met you yet

Her first year alone passed rather quickly. With Jashik at her side, Drepani quickly learned the ins and outs of how to fend for herself - and of course, she kept her raptor pendant close. Sometimes, she questioned the intentions of the Loa Gonk, but from what her mother had told her… the Loa were selective in their benevolence.

Since I be interesting to Gonk, Gonk be offering me his guidance, Drepani frowned, brushing hair out of her face. She needed to cut it somehow. It was all dry and gross at the ends, and she hated touching it. Maybe she could use her dagger?

Drepani huffed. Of course she could use her dagger.

The cuts were haphazard, and left her hair more unruly and uneven than ever before. She tossed the hairs to the birds; they could use it for their nests, at least. She spent the next ten minutes clawing through the various tangles and knots that was scattered throughout her hair. Jashik tried to help - but all he really succeeded in doing was making her hair more of a mess with all the feathers he tried to stick into the thick locks.

Drepani sighed, affectionately running her nails along Jashik’s snout, “okay, okay… I guess I be havin’ no choice bu’ to let it be, eh?”

Jashik churred.

The young girl made her way back into her cave, hands brushing over the various bags her mother had made before disappearing. She selected a woven one - the best kind for carrying crabs and shells and rocks and fish, if she happened to catch any.

Having selected her pack, she grabbed a spear she’d made - about as haphazard as her hair, decorated with the same paints that she used to decorate Jashik’s hide - and without a word she scrambled onto Jashik’s back. The raptor took off the second she was situated, leaving her to grasp the ropes that hung loose around his neck.

Nearly an hour passed once she reached the beach. Her bag was full of oysters, clams, a couple of fish, various shells, and a lively crab that kept trying to pinch her whenever she got too close. She wrinkled her nose at it, tapping its pinchers with her dagger.

Then, she turned her suspicious gaze to the wellmade crate that had been left under an outcropping of rocks she always hid the shells she found before she was ready to go.

There was a piece of folded parchment on it too. When she had arrived at the beach, it hadn’t been there, but when she had come prancing back over to the overhang the outcropping formed, she discovered the crate.

Now that she was ready to go back home, she gazed at it. Tilted her head to the left and the right; squinted her eyes - then she exhaled.

“Jashik… can you be goin’ to smell it?”

The raptor chortled, and she blushed, pouting, “don’t you be laughin’ at me!! Muuka always taught me to be cautious…”

Jashik made no complaints after that. He managed to hunker down enough to get his nose close enough to the crate.

The next thing Drepani knew, he was yanking the crate out from under the rock, making various sounds of what Drepani could only interpret as excitement.

“Jashik! Hey!” she had to laugh a little, as the raptor had clawed the folded parchment delicately out from under the ropes that held the wooden lid on. He was flailing it in her face moments later.

“Okay okay! I be gettin’ it. What you be so excited about anyway…?” she muttered, carefully unfolding the parchment.

‘Dearest Drepani--’

She clapped the pages together after reading the first word. Her heart was pounding. Jashik was poking his nose around the crate, oblivious to the turmoil that Drepani suddenly found herself in.

Heart still pounding, she slowly opened the letter again - then abruptly clapped it shut. She couldn’t let herself forget that the beach was not a safe place for her to get distracted by a letter.

She did her best to attach the crate to Jashik’s side after deducing that the items inside were of the non-breakable variety. Once it was secure enough, Drepani crawled onto Jashik’s back. The letter was clutched close to her chest the whole ride back to the cave.

And even when she was back safely at her cave, Drepani put her focus on making sure her catches for the day were properly prepared.

Work first, play later, she chanted to herself. It was what Alba’vida had drilled into her, after all.

The sun was just beginning to kiss the horizon when she finally sat down with the crate and the letter. Her eyes danced with excitement as she peeled it open.

She read the opening phrase again:

Dearest Drepani,

That it was someone who knew her, set Drepani’s heart racing - and in it’s wake left an empty ache. She continued to read despite the way her hands began to shake:

You were not to know me. I was not to know you - and while I am hard-pressed to ignore your mother’s wishes, I can’t stand to know that you are alone. How long have you been by yourself, I wonder, with no one but the ever faithful Jashik at your side? I wish I could come stay with you - but I will spare you my excuses. They are weak and feeble much like my resolve.

Drepani didn’t fully understand everything she read, but she could grasp at interpretations. This person knew her mother, but specifically said ‘your mother’.

The young troll looked up at Jashik - who had laid down across from her - with hope in her big eyes, “chaako?”

Jashik was of no help. He merely snorted, lying his head on the ground. Drepani pouted at him, and quickly resumed her reading:

Loa I wish I knew how big you were. I’ve hardly been allowed to see you. I’ve only caught glimpses here and there, but you have hair like the sea--

The ink was smudged where “like the sea” was written, and Drepani squinted. She raised the page, looking at it from every which angle, trying to decipher what had been written before. Jashik chortled at her, and she groaned, “you be no help, you big lizard!!”

Jashik merely chortled again, kicking one of his hind legs.

-- and your skin is minty, much like your mother’s. I wonder if your eyes are still as green as they were the first time I held you. There are some things for you in the crate. You are ever growing, and I did my best to place clothes in the crate that I think you might like.

But I don’t know you, and you don’t me. I hope this letter is enough.

Drepani had dropped the letter on the ground before she even finished reading the last sentence. Her fingers clawed at the crate, and after breaking one nail, she reached for her dagger. She pried off the top.

There was more than some articles of clothing inside.

A few wrapped goodies, which were sweet when Drepani stuck one in her mouth, and Jashik attempted to take the whole bag from her. He relented when she tossed him a couple after squealing at him to stop. There was more jewellery - mostly earrings, of course, so Drepani assumed that at some point, her mother had let it slip that the young girl had gotten her ears pierced. A couple of wooden, beautiful painted bangles.

Drepani slipped one on, and pouted when it nearly slipped right back off. Too big for her small wrists, it seemed.

“Oh well,” she muttered, pushing the bangle up her arm till it rested snuggly around her bicep, “I can just be wearin’ it higher!”

The dress, too, was a little too big for her - but she supposed she could grow into it. She could use the many colorful belts and sashes that had been stuffed into the box to cinch it more tightly around her small frame.

Her eyes drifted back to the letter. It laid on the ground, crisp parchment with crisp writing.

Drepani’s mother had taught her how to write; had taught her how to grind the blackberries into a sort of pigment.

She walked into the cave, plucking one of the feathers from her hair. She rooted around the firewood pile for a loose piece of bark - it was the best she could do, after all, her mother had only ever taught her to write on bark and not on parchment, and there was no parchment just lying around either.

There was some mostly dried ink in a pot near her mother’s abandoned things. Drepani added some water to it.

Of course, it wound up being gooey and sticky, but the little girl made due with what she had. She chewed on her lower lip as she did her best to write a response - the end result was a mess of scribbles, multiple crossed out words, followed by an apology for her sloppy writing. She had never gotten a real chance to practice.

I wonder if he’ll be finding it if I be puttin’ it in the same spot, she frowned. The sun had already disappeared below the horizon, even if the rays continued to light up the sky.

Sleep seemed like the wiser choice.

Her next gift crate had proper inkwells, proper parchment, and proper feather pens. There were even pages upon pages of letters she could copy as practice. Full sentences too. She did her best to practice her writing alongside everything else she was trying to do to take care of herself.

This went on for several weeks. Every now and then she would get a new letter, most often praising her for the improvements in her writing. Sometimes he asked questions after answering the ones she’d left for him, but he always ignored her question on his name.

It frustrated her to no end.

So much so, that she took out her frustration by sneaking up on Jashik.

The large raptor had no love for these antics of hers.

“Uuugh!” Drepani writhed on the ground, flicking her tongue and tail in a tantrum, “you’re not gonna’ be hurtin’ me, Jashik! I gotta’ be practicin’ my sneakin’ somehow…”

Jashik clicked his tongue. Drepani shifted back into a troll, pouting at him, “well… okay, fine. I guess you still be havin’ those wild instincts, but it be better to be tryna’ sneak up on you than… than a tiger!”

The raptor stamped his feet, and Drepani sighed in exasperation, “well if you don’t be wantin’ that, then you gotta’ be lettin’ me practice on you!!”

With a huff, Jashik stalked into the cave. Drepani scrambled to her feet to follow him. He had opted to curl up in a far corner, looking over his back at her with slitted eyes.

“Ooooh!! Fine! You be that way then!!” Drepani exclaimed. Jashik huffed; she stomped over to her pile of pillows. She fiddled with the pendant around her neck.

It had been a while since her last dream of Gonk.

Maybe I should be tryin’ that thing that chaako wrote me about the other day, she wondered, grasping the pendant fully in one hand, or well… maybe I should call him teacher. I still don’t be knowin’ if he be my chaako for real…

She crossed her legs and draped her arms over her knees. From the times she had quietly observed the other trolls, she had noticed that a group of them would often sit like this, eyes closed. Her ‘teacher’ had referred to it as meditation.

Raucous laughter met her when she opened her eyes.

“Oh look at her! She can meditate now! Good, good,” Gonk grinned broadly at her, “I was wondering when you were going to figure it out, little one.”

Drepani pursed her lips. She appraised the Loa for a moment, then got to her feet, “well… here I be! Teach me somethin’!”

He grinned toothily at her, “she sure is demanding, isn’t she?”

The little girl’s face fell, “muuka be sayin’ that to me once…”

“Hm,” Gonk prodded Drepani with his nose, “you’ve certainly grown.”

“It don’t be like I was gonna’ stay a baby forever, silly Loa!” Drepani chirped, giggling when Gonk nudged her more roughly.

“Silly Loa! That’s a new one. Come, I want you to meet someone. The two of you have some things in common, and it took me some time to permeate his thoughts,” and the Loa’s eyes sparkled with mischief. Drepani recalled again that the Loa were fickle beings, and while often inclined to be benefactors, they were no strangers to malice.

Regardless, Drepani shifted into a cobra and followed Gonk to an entirely different looking forest. It was… so different. The trees were large and elegant, stretching toward the sky - and their leaves were full. They covered the sky completely.

Drepani wasn’t sure how much she liked it.

Gonk led her further through the brush until finally, several minutes later, they came to a clearing.

Immediately the cobra darted into a bush. There was someone else in the clearing, and Gonk’s boisterous laugh startled the other being as much as it startled Drepani.

“You mortals amuse me! That being said, Naralex,” and Drepani found herself being pulled out of the bushes by Gonk’s tail, “I have brought this small one. Teach her druidic magic.”

The man stared at her, “I… what manner of creature is she? Is… is she a troll?”

Drepani shifted out of her cobra form and snapped, “is dat gonna’ be a problem!? Because you be lookin’ real funneh dere yaself, you weird, tuskless purple troll!”

Once again Gonk howled with laughter and this Naralex fellow stared at her with a gaping jaw. He turned his yellow eyes back to Gonk, “this is who you’ve been pestering me about? And how can she speak common so easily?”

“This is a dream,” Gonk purred, “and I am a Loa. Do you really think my power is not on par with the moon goddess? You would be wise not to question the capabilities of a wild god, elf.”

Drepani had no real clue what any of them were saying. Wasn’t she speaking the same language she always spoke?

“I don’ be knowin’ ‘bout you, bu’ I be knowin’ ‘bout me, an’ Gonk hasn’ been teachin’ me anyting fah a while!” she jabbed a finger at Naralex, “‘cuz he be tryna’ git you ta -- ta-- ta get along wit’ me!!”

Naralex appeared both miffed and intrigued, “I do believe the word you’re looking for is cooperate, little one.”

“Yeah dat!”

“Alright, well, if you come sit here… maybe I should teach you entangling roots first,” he tapped his chin as Drepani cautiously drew closer, “oh, by the way. I’m a night elf.”

“A night elf?” Drepani repeated, confused, “bu’ you be lookin’ like a troll… wit’ no tusks, an’ purple skin, an’ too many fingahs and toes.”

Naralex laughed, “I suppose you have a point there - then that makes you a night elf with green skin, tusks, and too few fingers and toes.”

Drepani pouted at him; he laughed. She supposed his temperament and his voice were kind enough.

“Come here, little one.”

“Drepani,” she corrected. Naralex smiled;

“Pleased to meet you, Drepani. I am Naralex, Druid of the Fang.”

Drepani slipped out of her meditation hours later to find a bowl of hot soup, another crate, and a long letter.

Another year had passed. Drepani added another tick to the cave wall that had been counting her years.

She was ten years old now - or perhaps more accurately, ten and a half. She sighed, sitting down on her mass of pillows and blankets with her various pieces of parchment paper. At her teacher and Naralex’s advice, she had started sketching the plant life and animals around her. Her drawings were… lackluster to say the least.

But she kept on trying.

Jashik was an all to willing subject, and regardless of how well or poorly Drepani thought she drew him, the raptor hoarded any and all drawings she made of him.

And slept on them, as raptors clearly do.

A smile crossed Drepani’s lips, “lately Naralex has been praisin’ me. Says I summon roots faster than most of the other druids he’s trained.”

She looked up at Jashik, “what do you be thinkin’ of that?”

The raptor chuffed, and Drepani sighed, “okay, okay. I’ll try not to be lettin’ it get to my head.”

Jashik settled down beside her. He did his best to discreetly look over her shoulder as she doodled, and jotted down notes beside her sketches.

During their practice sessions in what Naralex referred to as the Emerald Dream, the night elf had alluded to the fact that Drepani was not the first troll to ever find themself in the Emerald Dream. She seemed to be one of the first specifically led there by a Loa, but Naralex - being an elf, and living for a long, long time as a result - had seen the odd troll here and there.

But never once a child.

He had often nonchalantly spoken about different professions; things that could be taken up and used as a means to support oneself. Drepani wasn’t entirely sure what he meant by that, but she assumed that it had to do with being able to cook and write and fight.

All things she could currently do, of course.

And when the man had mentioned herbalism…

Drepani had taken an immediate interest.

Naralex had started with bringing a peacebloom with him to the Dream: a little white flower with a yellow center. He explained to her that it had healing properties, and was often used by alchemists to create healing potions. Drepani had listened intently, completely enthralled by the very idea that there were plants scattered all over the world that could be used to help people.

He had also off-handedly mentioned that Gonk was still working on getting through to someone he referred to as shan’do, someone who could teach her more than Naralex himself could ever hope to.

And when asked what shan’do meant, Naralex had responded with “honored teacher”.

Naturally, the next time she saw Naralex, she referred to him by this title. Drepani had never believed that she could make a grown man blush so fiercely, but he thanked her profusely for honoring him in such a way before requesting that she stick to calling him simply ‘teacher’.

Sighing, Drepani got up from her nest. Jashik churred at her in question.

“I just be wantin’ to get away for a while. Maybe practice some spells. Naralex been teachin’ me lots and lots lately! Cuz I keep pesterin’ him about this herb and that herb and this plant and that plant,” she giggled, stroking her nails along Jashik’s forehead, “he keeps tellin’ me that me bein’ so curious be gettin’ him a lot of suspicious looks with how much he be goin’ in and out of the herbalism shops! I don’t really be knowin’ why he seems unwillin’ to tell his other elf friends about me though…”

Jashik chuffed, and Drepani shrugged, “it be what it be, I be guessin’. Maybe it be because I still be so young. Anywho! I be off! If I need you, I’ll be screamin’.”

She took off into the jungles before Jashik could further protest. The sun was high in the sky, and weaving through the foliage unnoticed was a simple task for her.

It wasn’t until she reached the roots near the beach that anything of interest happened.

First, there were the murlocs. Drepani hadn’t noticed them initially, but yelling and screaming caught her attention.

She was startled by what she saw.

The murlocs were dragging troll children down the beach!

Drepani watched as the red-haired boy she kept finding herself drawn to nearly got away from the murlocs. When one tackled him, he put of a ferocious fight, punching and kicking and snarling. One of the bigger murlocs picked him up and threw him hard against a tree. His heavy drop to the sand was enough to make one of the bigger girls fight viciously - and it was a bad course of action for the murlocs themselves, as the children had all screamed.

The bigger girl soon went limp after she was struck on the back of the neck by the wooden part of a spear. A girl who looked similar to her cried out sharply - then she silenced herself with a hand when the murlocs turned on her, making various angry sounds.

Wait. Wait, wait! That be the hunter who be tryna’ catch me before!

Hurriedly, Drepani started sizing up the situation. She coiled in the bushes, tongue flicking, eyes calculating.

The murlocs were starting to move more quickly, and Drepani slithered through the bushes to follow them. There was a green haired girl that kept on trying to use magic, but the murlocs never remained still long enough for her to get a spell off. The white-haired boy wouldn’t stop screaming, and ultimately, the murlocs knocked him out too.

The last child that put up any sort of struggle had hair like fire, and briefly Drepani thought of her mother - until she too, was knocked out, and the murlocs continued on their way.

Drepani was resolved to help them.

She bolted out of her hiding place, mouth wide, spitting hisses. She lashed her tail over the head of one that had no child in its arms. It ran off, screeching in fear. Drepani threw herself into the middle of them, rearing up, knowing that they were afraid of her because she would remind them of the naga.

As she expected, a good four of them bolted off in terror at her presence - but one, the one with the spear, faced her. It released a gurgling battlecry and charged. Drepani dropped her belly to the ground and lunged, slamming her head into its gut.

The second it was on its back she sunk her fangs into its throat and thrashed.

Several of the kids who were still conscious got up and raced back the way they had been taken from, yelling that they would get adults. Only the crying little girl stayed behind to try and drag the unconscious hunter to safety.

Drepani raised her head. Blood covered her face, and she whipped her head in the direction the murlocs had run, tongue flicking. They still had some children with them. She was about to go after them when she saw him.

The red haired boy had been dropped.

Quickly, she slithered over to him. She carefully wrapped her mouth around his arm and started pulling. Perhaps she had practiced slithering backwards specifically for this moment, but it was still a tremendous task. She dropped his arm several times for fear of causing him any harm.

Just as she was beginning to get the hang of it, she heard him mutter, “nnn… Zal…”

Drepani froze, and his molten eyes fluttered open to look at her, “Zal… m’friend, he… he be the one with the braid…?”

The red haired boy’s arm dropped out of Drepani’s mouth. She stared as if she were in a trance. He gazed at her blearily, his expression overcome by intrigue. It was understandable that he was unable to process what exactly was happening, given his state.

Then he reached up to caress her face.

Somewhere, she heard a clap of thunder. It was loud, and it scared her, and she bolted down the beach in the direction the murlocs had run.

Children like her were still stuck in their grasp, after all.

It was mysterious even to her, when she felt as though Gonk were running alongside her - and something about her own form changed. Drepani had legs again, but they were thicker, and heavier, as if she had grown muscle. The trees were moving past her at an almost blinding speed.

Up ahead, the murlocs appeared to be in an argument. They gestured wildly at each other, while several children attempted to crawl discreetly away, or grabbed at their unconscious friends.

Drepani’s eyes honed in on the boy with the white hair - Zal, as he had been called.

She released an ear-splitting screech and leapt at a murloc. Briefly, Drepani caught sight of her feet.

They looked like Jashik’s.

Startled, she found herself smacking into the murloc’s face with no arms or legs. She battered the frog-like creature with open-mouthed strikes, letting her rows of teeth scour deep lines in its head.

Her screech, at least, had dispersed the murlocs - along with the other kids, who ran in the direction Drepani had come from.

Before the murlocs could regroup, Drepani gave chase to several, snapping at their ankles. By the time her excitement started to die, the murlocs were running away from her, and away from the direction the kids had gone.

Good. Now for Zal.

The boy was lying face down in the sand. Unlike his red haired friend, he was wearing a shirt. Drepani grasped the back of Zal’s collar in her jaw, raised him as high off the ground as she could, and began to slither toward the fleeing children.

Her vision swam after hardly three seconds, and soon she found herself gasping for breath on the sand.

“Get up, Drepani, get up.”

She struggled to her feet. Her legs and arms felt like jello, but she pulled at Zal anyway. He groaned in pain as he started to come to.

Then she heard the voices.

Scared, she dropped Zal again, noticing that his eyes were barely open as he peered at her. Drepani’s fright only grew.

As much as she told herself, time and time again, that she wanted to be with the other trolls, she found herself too afraid of the prospect.

Before she could escape to the safety of the jungle, her arm was grasped in a much larger hand. Someone, somehow, had appeared behind her.

“Ey waitaminute now, where you be thinking you goin’?”

Drepani was jerked around to face the man that held her - and her eyes widened upon noticing that he wasn’t exactly a man, but certainly not a boy. His eyes were widened as well.

“Holy Loa she be havin’ blood all over her face!”

Instead of attempting to make any explanation, Drepani struggled in his grip; he was unperturbed, “stop your fussin’.”

“Juh-JASHIK!” Drepani shrieked, clawing at his hand. She tried to shift into a cobra again to escape, but all her body did was shimmer weakly.

Jashik came barreling out of the jungle. He skid to a halt right before he could have collided with the older boy. Jashik snapped his jaws in the boy’s face - but again, to Drepani’s dismay, he was unperturbed.

“Oi, now you both just bein’ all sorts of unreasonable,” he chided, reaching toward Jashik. The black raptor screeched, nearly bit off the boy’s hand, and bolted back to the jungle. He began to bite and tear and rip and slash at the trees, making various vocalizations to further emphasize his distress.

Drepani had given up trying to get the older boy to let her go. She sat on the sand instead, gasping for breath, tears sliding down her cheeks.

“Kunan’ji!”

“What now, Kuzari?” he sounded annoyed.

“You better be letting her go!” an older girl snapped. Several children had gathered around her legs, and a tiger stalked not too far behind, clearly her pet, “the raptor be in real obvious distress. Let her go.”

Kunan’ji pouted, “but--”

“Let her go, Kunan’ji.”

The two stared each other down, while Jashik continued to make a mess of the trees around him. He started stamping his feet, and looking at the other children as if implying he would attack them if Drepani was not released soon.

Kunan’ji sighed.

The moment he released Drepani, she lurched to her feet. She stumbled all her way to Jashik. He lowered his head for her to grab and raised her in the air, turning his head back as far as he could to get her onto his back.

Seconds before he took off, Drepani looked back at the trolls.

Most looked confused. She was one of them, after all, why would she want to leave?

She was unprepared for seeing the look of desperation on the red haired boy’s face.

“Wait--!”

But Jashik had already sprinted away.

The raptor’s path was far more erratic than usual. Drepani thought nothing of it, and clung to him. Why, why did she not want to stay? Why was she so scared to be with the other trolls. Against her chest, her raptor pendant was cold.

Because you don’t be wanting to lose them like you be losing muuka.

Drepani choked on a breath, refusing to let herself cry over it.

Because you don’t be wanting to be left behind again.

Yet another breath was choked on in her efforts to fend off the tears. It had been a while since she’d cried over it. Drepani only calmed when she looked up from Jashik’s neck and saw the familiar sight of the cave. She slid off his back, and barely touched the ground when the raptor sped off again.

She stared, brows furrowed. He’d taken an erratic enough path, did he really need to go back and muss up his path even more?

The seconds dragged on with Drepani opting to simply sit and regain her strength. Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes…

Gave way to an uncanny stare on her back.

She was not alone.

Terrified, she shakily got up from her seat. The feeling of someone drawing closer beared down on her shoulders. If she could get to the cave and hide, she would be safe. She would be safe.

She bolted for the cave - but her body was too tired. She’d spent all her strength trying to help the other trolls, and she fell down before she could even make it three steps. Drepani tried to pull herself to the cave, but found herself swept up into warm arms instead.

Part of her thought she would see the face of whoever now held her, but there was a pinch at the back of her neck.

All she remembered hearing was, “Amita, Amita, you be safe. It be okay. Please rest.”

Two weeks had passed since the incident. She’d woken from the ordeal feeling refreshed, and kept her distance from the village for a while.

She’d found another letter, of course, filled mostly with praise toward her actions.

And she remembered being called “Amita”.

Something about this name resonated more with her than Drepani did. Maybe it was because being called Drepani made her think of her mother. Maybe it was because she thought if she left behind the name Drepani, she could leave behind her old mistakes and start fresh with Amita.

Or maybe it was because the person who had called her Amita had a distinctly masculine voice.

Perhaps, if she ever gained the courage to be with the other trolls, she could use her new name as a means to find her father.

“Your father?”

Naralex, of course, questioned her decision. Amita fiddled with the grass on the forest floor. In this session, she and her teacher were simply discussing. Naralex still had not told her why they weren’t practicing any spells.

“It don’ be like I’m givin’ up my old name…” she muttered, looking off at some nearby flowers, “bu’... if de one who be callin’ me Amita be my chaako, den, if I be callin’ m’self Amita, don’ dat mean I could be findin’ him fastah?”

“That will only work if you actually join the other trolls, Amita,” and a laugh escaped him when she gave him the best pout she could manage, “come now child. You know I jest.”

“Jest?”

“Tease,” he explained, one of his long ears flicking, “you know, I was looking into the history of my people recently. Somewhere down the line, we had forgotten that we were trolls once! I find that quite fascinating.”

Amita propped herself up on her arms, curious, “den why don’ dere be more trolls in de whole druid aspect o’ tings?”

Naralex hummed in thought, “well, I was wondering about that myself. Perhaps it has to do with how much more superstitious you are? Not that that’s a bad thing, of course! But, we night elves only worship Elune, the Goddess of the Moon. To my understanding - which is quite lacking, mind you - trolls have far many more beings that they worship.”

He nodded in the direction of Gonk when the raptor emerged, practically out of thin air, “Gonk, for example, is one of many Loa. Here, I’ll teach you some new words.”

“Okay,” Amita inched closer to him, ears perked up in interest. Naralex wrote on the ground with magic.

“Night elves, you could say, are monotheistic. That’s the belief in one, singular god,” he underlined the word, and Amita mouthed the letters to herself so she would remember how to spell it. Next to it, he began to write another word, “trolls, on the other hand, are polytheistic. That is the belief in multiple gods,” he smiled at Amita when he raised his head from the words, “neither of these beliefs are wrong, in my opinion! And then again, I’m not sure how being monotheist or polytheist plays into there being a lack of troll druids.”

“Loa are selfish,” Gonk chimed in, “we don’t like to share~ Technically, I’ve claimed this little one as mine, and mine alone - though, I will admit, I’m more willing to share the worship than most of the other Loa are.”

Naralex chuckled, and his ear flicked again. Amita wondered why, and quietly he asked, “is he coming?”

“Yes. It took me a few years, but I’ve succeeded.”

Amita sat upright. Nervousness washed over her when Naralex fluidly got to his feet.

And then, he bowed.

“Shan’do.”

Jashik stared at Amita. She stared at him.

She’d fallen over while she was meditating, and now her back ached from hitting the stone floor.

“... Jashik. You won’t be believing who I be meeting.”

He churred at her in concern.

“His name be Malfurion Stormrage. Oh Jashik!!!” she rolled over and scrambled to her feet, hugging the raptor’s face, “he be teachin’ me so many things!! I gotta’ practice! He be wantin’ to see me again, next week!!”

She danced in place, overcome by excitement. Jashik stamped his feet as well, his vocalizations betraying his own excitement.

Amita eventually took several breaths to calm down.

“He be wantin’ me to practice my stealth, most of all,” she informed the raptor. Jashik straightened. Amita stared at him. He looked to the side.

“See? This be what happenin’ when you don’t let me practice on you.”

Jashik wailed and retreated back to his pile of drawings. Amita rolled her eyes, “well, if you gonna’ be like that, then I’m gonna’ go back to the village! What better place to practice my stealth than on the outskirts?”

Her guardian protested weakly, and Amita informed him that he could protest all he liked; she was still going.

As per usual, her presence went unnoticed at first. Amita cautiously observed the other trolls. They seemed to have patrols, and one pair of males passed in front of her. Once she was sure they had passed, she slithered onto the beach.

Only to have a shadow fall over her.

She bolted under the nearest hut, right before she was grabbed. One of the males had backtracked, and was crouched by the tracks that Amita had left. She knew he could see her.

“Rokhan?” his companion had wandered back over to him. This Rokhan fellow had a boyish smirk on his lips.

“Well now don’t you be a lil’ shy eh?” and he was suddenly in front of the hut that Amita had darted under. She stayed as still as possible, and Rokhan’s companion hummed over her tracks.

“A snake?”

“A cobra. Y’know, I be thinkin’, you must be the one that young An’jen got in a fuss with her chaako about a few years ago.”

Amita soon found herself hanging in the air. Immediately she spat a hiss at the troll, snapping her body from side to side until she managed to wrap her muscular tail around his arm. Rokhan chuckled, then drew his head back when she attempted to bite his face.

“Mon, you be lucky you be havin’ such big hands,” his companion muttered, and Rokhan scoffed.

“So it be a bit big for a cobra! So what?”

“Not many of us can just be holding one like that, Rokhan.”

He pursed his lips. Amita ceased her struggling. Jashik obviously wasn’t nearby; otherwise, he would have come charging out of the jungle already.

She didn’t want them to know but-

Shifting back into her troll form was the best option Amita had. The looks of disbelief made her decision worth it.

And an uncanny stare settled on her back.

“Wha--”

“It be a child!?”

Amita scrambled between Rokhan’s legs, narrowly dodged the other male, and made a beeline straight for the jungles. Once again, Rokhan appeared suddenly beside her.

A bolt of lightning struck between the two, forcing Rokhan to jump back. Amita screamed, of course, but managed to dive into the foliage anyway. Rokhan had snarled.

Amita quickly shifted back into a cobra once she got a hold of herself. She slithered far down the beach, not caring what Rokhan and his companion were muttering about. The uncanny stare remained on her person, and no matter where she went, she felt it.

I be in stealth!! How can this gaze still be on me?! she was miffed. Amita could fully understand how Rokhan had discovered her: he’d drawn close enough to sense that she was there. And, regardless of her being in stealth, her long body would leave tracks on the sand.

So that be something I need to be workin’ on, she thought begrudgingly. Either she had to move faster, or she had to avoid the beach entirely.

Sniffling drew her out of her thoughts, and Amita halted.

Outside a hut, she could just barely make out the form of a child - one that she had seen before.

Amita’s curiosity got the better of her, and she slithered closer.

Wait.

Were those… bruises? The other girl wiped at her eyes, and wrapped her arms around her legs. There was a great deal of rummaging around in the hut behind her, and the girl appeared to bite down on her lip to stop from making any noise.

Against her better judgement, Amita slithered closer. And, further against her better judgement, she dropped out of her stealth. She flicked her tongue, releasing a quiet hiss.

“Ah-!!” the girl clapped her hand to her mouth, staring at Amita with frightful eyes. One was black. Amita slithered closer.

“Uh um wh-wai--”

She pressed her nose to the black eye, flicking her tongue again. Shan’do Stormrage had shown her how to use one simple healing spell while in her cobra form. It didn’t completely heal the bruise, but it healed the wound enough that it only faintly showed.

Amita didn’t know where to go from there. She ended up dipping her head to the other girl and started slithering away.

“Don’t--!”

Amita paused.

“Please don’t go, snakey…” the girl rubbed at her eyes again, “I don’t be havin’ many friends… will… will you be stayin’ with me… for a while…?”

Amita coiled in on herself, flicking her tail back and forth. The girl seemed to take this as a challenge of sorts.

“M-my name is Luxanai… I prefer Ani though… n-not that you can be talkin’, but… but I be guessin’ you should know, snakey. You’re um. You’re the snakey that An’jen be chasin’ some time ago, aren’t you?”

Amita reared up in interest at this.

“Do you have a name, snakey?” and Ani seemed to only be asking for the sake of making her stay.

Boy, did Amita have a surprise for her.

She cautiously slithered closer, turned, and began to drag the end of her tail in the dirt.

‘Amita’, she wrote. Luxanai beamed at her.

“Amita,” she said, giggling softly to herself, “I hope I be seeing you around more often.”

Luxanai looked over her shoulder, and sighed, “I think that everyone will be thinking I’m crazy if I be telling them that I made friends with a snakey… they’ll prob’ly say I be lyin’.”

The druid rested her head on Luxanai’s shoulder, bringing the other girl to giggle again. Luxanai reached up to pat Amita on the head - she allowed it. After all, Luxanai’s hand was shaking, and that wasn’t something Amita could ignore in good conscious.

Soon after, Amita lowered her head from Luxanai’s shoulder to her thigh. She subconsciously coiled herself around the other girl. Luxanai seemed content to just ramble about some of the other children, and Amita only paid half attention.

She wasn’t sure how long she remained at Luxanai’s side, simply giving the other girl the comfort of her company, but when someone harshly called for Luxanai, the little girl jolted.

Amita flopped onto the ground, startled, and was further confused by Luxanai waving her hands in a frantic shooing motion.

“Y-you gotta’ go, snakey, b-before my family be findin’ you,” her expression grew saddened, as if she were on the verge of tears, “I… I hope you’ll be stoppin’ by again sometime…”

The cobra growled softly, then quickly went on her way after dropping into her stealth - she’d heard a raptor cry just seconds after Luxanai had finished speaking, and slithered in that direction. Jashik was waiting for her just within the line of trees.

Thank you for reading!! I’m having quite a bit of fun with this, especially exploring the whole idea of Dreamwalking and what not (also, Gonk WAS the Loa that took Zenta’bra and some other trolls to the Emerald Dream in Cataclysm, so I see no reason for him to not be the reason why Amita gets there). As for why Naralex and Malfurion are involved... Amita had to learn druidic magic from someone.

And as much as I don’t like how Blizzard writes Malfurion, he’s clearly the sort of character that doesn’t see factions much. Again, this just means that I see no reason for him to be unwilling to teach Amita magic.

But yay! Now you all know why Amita calls herself Amita. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!

#WoW #World of Warcraft #fanfiction #Vol'jin #Amita Dakini #Fey'jun #Aza'aka #Ani #Air writes #aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa #I had this done for a while just...#Didn't have the art #hurgh #Fieschada

airanke