"Just you wait, little piggy!" the orcish amazon of a woman called Gorsha smiled as she held P-chan within her muscular arms. "As soon as we're at the Crossroads, I'll buy aa nice collar for you... that bandana is cute and all, but I definitely need something to attach a leash on you... you just get lost too often without it."
Ryoga tried to squirm out of his captor's grasp when he heard that. Being put on a leash was certainly not how he wanted to overcome his habit of getting lost. He couldn't believe his bad luck. For two days was he forced to come along with this green-skinned woman, and all she did was wandering around aimlessly through the hot landscape of the desert. Ryoga wasn't complaining about the wilderness, it just seemed to him that this orc-person didn't seem to have any clue what she wanted to do. One time, she was monologizing about heading to a big city called Orgrimmar, then she babbled about having heard something about ruthless harpies that attacked travellers, which she had to stop.
They never ran into a single one of them.
"Well, we sure had fun together, isn't that right, little piggy?" Gorsha grinned as she cuddled Ryoga close to her. "But everything has to come to an end... and thus, we are going to meet at the Crossroads, with a VERY good friend of mine. You'll like her... she's called Cliffdancer, and with her around, I always feel much more secure." She giggled. "You know, people say that I tend to aimlessly wander around when left alone, and that I'm not able to accomplish anything on my own... weird, huh?"
Ryoga had a good idea that he wasn't the first one who got annoyed by the strange behavior of the orc-huntress.
He gave Bristly, the big, wild boar that Gorsha had captured shortly after him, a pleading look, but the black pig just snorted as if it wanted to say: 'Hey, don't look at me, I'm in the same boat.'
"Hey, look at that, piggys!" Gorsha suddenly shouted as she came to a stop. They were standing close to a primitive-looking, but efficient bridge that was spanning a gentle river that was flowing through the otherwise barren landscape.
"This is Southfury River," the huntress smiled. "Across this bridge lies the big city of Orgrimmar."
'Yeah, I know that, you dimwit...' Ryoga thought. 'You said it the last time we crossed it while getting here from the barrens... I'm just glad that crocolisk didn't eat me.'
"You know, I heard that huge lizards known as crocolisks are living in this river," Gorsha suddenly said. "They say that the Tauren like to take their skin to make bags out of it... you think I should skin a few and bring the skins to Cliffdancer? I'm sure she'd like that..."
Ryoga facefaulted. Now he was sure of it: That woman was suffering from a bad case of short-term memory. There was no other explanation for it... She just COULDN'T have forgotten how the crocolisks nearly bit her in the butt the last time they crossed the river.
"I got it!" Gorsha grinned. "I'm gonna skin a few of those big lizards and bring the skins to Cliffdancer... she'll be SO happy!" And she jumped off the bridge, into the water... taking Ryoga along with her.
"BWEEEEEE!"
Bristly looked over the edge of the bridge and shook his black snout with a grunt. He pitied the poor little guy who had even more to endure than him... at least that orc didn't force HIM to be carried around like that. But then again, the little kid didn't look like he'd be able to defend himself on his own...
Nabiki panted heavily as she leaned against the wooden palisade that surrounded the Horde outpost. "Finally..." she sighed. "The Crossroads... maybe I can finally get rid of this Sunfish here."
She approached the big gate, feeling tired. She had never been physically fit as her younger sister, and the distance between Ratchet and the Crossroads was definitely bigger than she had thought.
The Orc grunts that were guarding the gates reached for their axes when they saw Nabiki. "Human!" they shouted.
"I'm from Ratchet," Nabiki sighed, not even looking up at them while she pulled out the Steamwheedle Cartel pass of Neutrality that Gazlowe had given her.
It was amazing how much power a tiny piece of paper had over people, even here on this fantasy world. The grunts just took a look, nodded and let Nabiki pass.
The middle Tendo sister let her gaze sweep across the biggest settlement in the Barrens. While she had already met quite a few interesting faces in Ratchet, this place was much more busy. And she was the only human around... she saw the green-skinned orcs, the tall and lanky trolls, the towering Tauren and even a couple of Undead and Elves... Blood Elves, as Gazlowe had told her.
"There just HAS to be one person in here that is willing to pay a fair price for a fresh Sunfish," Nabiki muttered. She was aware of the frowns and disgruntled looks the people were giving her, but she wasn't called the 'Ice Queen of Furinkan' for nothing. She simply ignored the looks and walked at the biggest building, which had to be the inn.
When she entered, a broad-shouldered Troll bumped her shoulder on the way outside.
"Hey, watch it!" she shouted.
The Troll grinned. "Sorry 'bot dat, mon... can't help it if yer so fat!"
Nabiki fumed. Fat? For a resident of Nerima who did NOT practice any form of martial arts, she was quite proud of her figure, and she knew it was just her reputation that stopped the boys from Furinkan from asking her out on a date.
"At least I can walk through a door without getting my tusks entangled in the door frame..." she muttered, certain that the Troll was far enough away to not hear it.
She was wrong. The blue-skinned creature's long ears perked up and he turned around with a hostile sneer on his face. "Care to repeat dat, mon?" he snarled and pulled a hand axe from his belt.
Nabiki gulped and took a step back inside. "Please, let's just forget everything and go separate ways..."
"I don't think so..." the Troll grinned. "I don't like if da humies think dey can get away with everything..."
"H-hey, I have a pass of Neutrality!" Nabiki shouted.
The Troll ignored it.
"Hey, take it outside!" the innkeeper, a grey-furred Tauren, spoke up. "No duels in my tavern."
"Oh, we'll keep it short," the Troll snickered. He licked the side of his axe as he came even closer.
'Just great, Nabiki...' she thought to herself. 'You just got yourself into a situation where your money and reputation won't do you any good...'
But just before the Troll could take another step, a heavy hand with stubby hoof-fingers was put upon his shoulder.
The troublemaker looked over his shoulder in annoyance. "Hey, what gives?"
The female was a literal cow... but she looked imposing, even for Tauren standards. She was as big as most males were and had thick, muscular arms and feet. An even bigger hand axe than that of the Troll was dangling from her belt, but she didn't need it... her fist was just as impressive. And if that wasn't enough, she was also carrying the biggest firearm Nabiki had ever seen on her back.
"Leave the human alone!" she said in a deep voice.
A tiny voice inside the Troll's brain told him that he should just quietly leave, but he was stubborn enough to ignore it. "You take care of your own business, Tauren!" he shouted. "Dis is between me and the humie, and no mojo-ridden milk cow is gonna..."
SMACK!
Both Nabiki and the innkeeper winced. One firm blow of the female Tauren's fist was enough to send the Troll flying... right out of the inn, and into the drinking trough of the riding wolves.
Nabiki whistled. "Not bad! That's quite a punch you're packing!"
The Tauren snorted. "People like him are the reason why the Horde and the Alliance are still not working together... and on top of that, he's stupid enough to ignore a Pass of Neutrality from the Steamwheedle Cartel. I actually might have done a favor to him..."
"Yeah, I don't think he'd want to know what Gazlowe and his buddies might have done to him if he had touched me," Nabiki smirked. "Thanks for the help! I'm Nabiki Tendo, new in town!"
The Tauren shook Nabiki's hand. Nabiki gulped when she saw how her own hand vanished in the massive paw of the cow-woman.
"I'm Cliffdancer," she said and gave Nabiki a small smile. "The Barrens are my hunting grounds. I am curious... what kind of business does a human of your age have with the Goblins? The only humans I've seen near Gazlowe's office were emissaries from the Alliance... and I don't think Stormwind would send a girl as young as you. No offense!"
"None taken!" Nabiki replied. "And there's a good reason for why I'm in his favor: I just happen to know him ever since I was a little kid!"
"Sounds like an intriguing story," Cliffdancer said. She pulled up a couple of chairs. "Care to share your story over a drink? I'm paying!"
Nabiki hesitated. She still had to sell her Sunfish, but... should she reject the offer for a free drink? Besides, she could use a break... the journey through the Barrens had been a long one, even though she had stayed on the road.
So she sat down and crossed her legs. "Sounds good to me!" she grinned.
Later on, the two females were still sitting in the tavern, enjoying their drinks (and no, they were not stupid enough to get themselves drunk), and laughing at the top of their lungs.
"And Kuno actually thought that I was interested in him," Nabiki giggled. "The only thing I was interested in was his money, but he had always been a blockhead..."
"Hahahah, who knew humans knew such amusing stories?" Cliffdancer snorted. "I haven't laughed this much ever since I heard the story of the Gnome and the Goblin that were discussing Elven politics... but you must forgive me, but your story sounds a bit unbelievable. The only other world I have ever heard of is Outland... and I know enough about the portals leading there to be sure that they don't just pull people on the other side forcefully."
"Well, but here I am," Nabiki shrugged. "So I better make the best out of it... so, what do you say? You think there's someone here who would want to buy this Sunfish?"
"Sorry, but I think dear old Gazlowe pulled your leg," Cliffdancer chuckled. "No one around here likes fish... and in this heat, can you blame them? The fish would go bad in a couple of days, and I think it's pretty obvious that all the ice that is used to cool it would melt within a few hours."
Nabiki looked down into the small chest in which the fish was lying. It was now floating in a puddle of water that was quite warm... the ice must have melted halfway during her trip through the barrens.
'Figures... dear old Gazlowe-sensei must have predicted that I would make this mistake. And as far as I know him, he's already on his way to a better place to sell his own fish...'
"I guess you're going to lose this bet," Cliffdancer shrugged as she took another sip of her mug.
"Yeah, probably..." Nabiki sighed. She shuddered. She certainly wasn't looking forward to another stroll through Booty Bay in a pink sundress.
Suddenly, another broad-shouldered figure entered the inn. "CLIFFY!" she shouted. "Oh, I missed you, I missed you!"
Cliffdancer smiled when the orc-woman embraced her with a hug that would have crushed everyone else's ribcage. "Hey, Gorsha... looks like you made it in time. I'm impressed, though... you haven't forgotten that we wanted to meet here, today."
"What?" Gorsha looked surprised. "That was today? Really?"
The Tauren sighed. "Nevermind... say, you look wet. What happened?"
Gorsha grinned. "Oh, I must have fallen in the river... and look, I took out a few crocolisks and I brought you their skin... you Tauren love crocolisk skins, don't you? At least you told me so when you gave me this bag last month..."
"Gorsha... that bag was made of Kodo leather! Not crocolisk skin!"
The orc blinked. "Are you ABSOLUTELY sure?"
"Yes, I am!"
"Oh, too bad... oh well, maybe I can make a nice collar for my newest pet out of this stuff..." She reached into her bag and pulled out a small, black piglet. "He just looks like my bigger pet, Bristly, but much smaller! Isn't he cute?"
Ryoga's eyes widened when he saw Akane's sister.
Nabiki blinked. "I think I've seen this pig before."
"You did?" Gorsha asked. "Oh, but I've been hoping to keep him... he's just too adorable!" And she squeezed the little piglet to her bosom.
Ryoga gave Nabiki a pleading look while he was crushed between a pair of green globes.
"I really shouldn't do this..." Nabiki mumbled to herself, but she knew that she had already lost her bet... she would never find someone who'd buy her Sunfish here at the Crossroads. "Here, you can have this fish if you give me the pig."
"A fish?" Gorsha's face lit up. "Oh, fish is my absolute favorite food! How'd you know? You are such a kind human..."
Nabiki nervously stepped back when Gorsha tried to give her another hug. "Um, that won't be necessary. All I want is the pig."
"Oh, sure!" Gorsha smiled as she accepted the chest with the warm Sunfish and gave the black, little piglet to Nabiki. "Yum, yum!" she said as she took a bit bite from the warm fish.
"I think I will never understand how you can eat warm fish in this heat..." Cliffdancer grumbled.
"Excuse me for a moment..." Nabiki said as she hastened over to the innkeeper.
"You know, you owe me for this, Hibiki!" she told the pig she was carrying.
She then asked the innkeeper: "I'm sorry, good sir, but could I have some hot water?"
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(Posted Sun, 30 Nov 2008 17:16)
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