| abstract | - by Nerrok Nerrok focused in on the darkness, inhaling the rich grey incense smoke through his flaring nostrils as he kept his eyes firmly shut. Bare-chested with his black bandana wrapped securely around his head, he sat cross-legged in front of a small campfire, alone, deep within the woodlands of Nagrand, the Orc's ancestral grounds of Draenor. Feeling the flame's heat lick at his thick green skin, he allowed himself to once again be enveloped in the spirit of The Wilds in yet another attempt to make contact with those of his bloodline. He'd been trying for weeks, now; ever since speaking with Greatmother Magatha in Garadar, the urge to make contact with the spirits of his unknown past had become more powerful than ever. He had followed her instructions for the ritual down to the letter, gathering enough herbs and oils for the ceremony from all across Outland in order to try, and try again, until he got it right. Still...So many attempts and nothing so far. He refused to let the lack of results stymie his efforts, however...And thus he continued, night after night. His concentration was beginning to wane as the hours passed. He found himself thinking of Taai and their last moments together before he was sent back through the portal, of Krelle and her grinning face as he had kissed her on the forehead, saying goodbye to her as well. "Take care of the place while I'm gone, Squirt. Got a feeling this deployment is gonna be a long one", he had said to her. It was only because of this break in his concentration that the sound of a twig snapping underneath the foot of something large in the nearby darkness was able to break his meditation, a solitary eyelid rising instantly to seek out the source of the sound. The other soon followed as he heard nothing but silence for a long while after, as he slowly rose to his feet, turning in the direction of where he had heard it from. He'd sensed a malignant presence trailing him for the last few days, now. How he had managed to do so without catching nary a scent of whatever it was, surprised him. His senses seemed to have come alive, moreso than they were already trained to be, after spending so much time in the home of his ancestors. He had no doubt his daily rituals had something to do with the strengthening of these abilities, but the fact that whatever it was that was trailing him had managed to stay downwind of him for this long had him curious. Whatever it was, it had been trained in the ways of The Hunt...and it was quite good at it. Nerrok wasn't used to being the prey, and the simple fact that he was being tracked and couldn't do anything to stop it, to put it simply, pissed him off. One of the many things he had to work on, he reminded himself as stared narrowed-eyed into the shadows...Control of his anger. "You can come out now", he growled, hands curling into large, iron-like fists. "I don't like this game anymore." What happened next did so with such speed and ferocity, even Nerrok's reflexes were tested to their limits. The sound of churning earth from the opposite direction of where he faced caused him to turn around, just in time to see the head of the largest bear he'd ever seen charging toward him, head down in a ramming motion. Nerrok thought the beast was large enough to give Misha, Rexxar's pet, a run for her money as he placed both of his palms flat on the bears head and jumped skyward, legs spreading over the animal so that he leap-frogged over top of it, hitting the ground in a crouch and looking over his shoulder to prepare for the next attack. The creature's momentum was so great that it couldn't stop before it charged headlong into the trunk of a large tree, its girth breaking against the wood and splintering the thing nearly in half, its base cracking and tumbling to the forest floor with a mighty crash. The hulking beast roared in a combination of pain and anger as it regained its composure, shaking off the slight daze it had acquired from the impact as it turned around to face Nerrok again, snarling savagely as saliva dripped from its maw, filled with saw-like teeth. Nerrok did his best to analyze the situation, size up his opponent and look for some type of weakness, before the next onslaught. The creature had him cut off from his gun and his polearm; both were leaning against a tree that was on the other side of the huge bear, so that wasn't an option...At least for the moment. He'd have to maneuver it around a bit in order to get to them. He noticed though that the creature seemed to have that in mind as well; it hesitated to charge again, something that no simple enraged wild animal would do when it had its prey cornered and defenseless, like it had Nerrok. It was then that the hunter noticed the black, swirling markings on the beast's brown fur along its hind legs and flanks. This was no normal bear; those were druidic runes, he realized, which would explain why this particular creature had managed to avoid the various traps and such he'd set up around his camp. It could easily shift forms, taking to the trees, the water, or even the sky, to avoid them. The realization made him grin, his fangs glistening in the faint glow the campfire cast outward. He stood up, then, rolling his neck in a slow, deliberate fashion and hearing a few responsive bones pop loudly as a result. His hands reformed into fists as he chuckled, a rumbling sound originating from deep within his cavernous chest. This only seemed to enrage the bear further from the crazed look of bloodlust in its eyes, which was exactly what Nerrok wanted as an idea began to formulate, in his mind...To goad it into another charge. She'd managed to get past all of his defenses...Save for one. He quickly and discretely added up the angles and calculations in his head, taking a step backward to line up just right as his eyes darted toward the treetops, for the split second. He'd have to time this perfectly. "Nightshade, I take it. Pleasure t'meetcha. Y'know I usually don't hit women...But in your case I think I'm gonna make an exception." His statement achieved what he'd wanted it to, an earth-shaking roar bellowing forth from the bear's throat right before it charged at him, once again. The orc dove to his right, sliding roughly along the forest floor as the creature sailed past where he once stood, yanking a stake out of the ground as he flattened himself against the earth. The tripwire attatched to the stake was set off as a result, and a large, heavy tree branch suspended out of sight along the forest canopy swung down like a pendulum, missing Nerrok by perhaps an inch as it slammed into the bear, mid-stride. The impact sent the beast tumbling to the side, collapsing onto the forest floor with a low, painful groan. With the creature hurt and muddled, Nerrok wasted no time, quickly getting to his feet and making his way to his weapons, extracting his serated hunting knife from his pack and closing the distance between the wounded druid and himself, preparing to slit the beast's throat and end this particular chapter in Tong history, once and for all. He was stopped short, though...as he felt a searing pain pierce his shoulder, from behind. He roared, more out of anger than anything else, as he looked over his shoulder to see the shaft of an arrow half-buried into him. It was soon followed by another, again and again, until the majority of his back and arms were riddled with them, his skin on fire with agony. The knife fell from his hand and he stumbled. Too quick for a loss of blood, he realized that the projectiles must have been coated with some sort of tranquilizing poison as his legs turned to mush, his head colliding with a stone along the ground with a sickening thump, opening up a large gash across the side of his head. Nerrok's vision quickly blurred, and the last thing he remembered seeing before his eyes blacked out and his mind shut down, was the figure of a lithe, naked night elf female limping toward him, and the feel of her tongue sliding over his face, lapping up the blood oozing from his head. An intricately carved wooden box was delivered to Kya's doorstep. The note attached read: "To Qal'Tirrin, my love. I hope you like it.", and inside would be a large, orcish heart, wrapped in the bloody, tattered remains of Nerrok's bandana.
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