((AN: Another little ditty from World of Warcraft. Galerunner is my 70 hunter on Thorium Brotherhood. Copyright Blizzard blah blah blah don't sue me.))

Serendipity - A Coming of Age Story

A World of Warcraft fanfic

By Kristin Renee Taylor

Part 3 -

For as long as Galerunner could remember, the Shuh'halo had always been nomadic wanderers, and the Fartotems had a tendency to wander farther than most. This season found the small tribe (sixteen souls strong) far north of their kinsman, perilously close to the towering trees that marked the foreboding border between the Barrens and Ashenvale.

Despite the small size of her tribe (or perhaps because of it), there was plenty for a young Tauren bubbling over with energy to do. Within minutes of returning the clearing where the half dozen tents were sprawled out, Galerunner found herself:

-hauling water-

-harvesting firewood-

-airing tents-

-washing clothing-

-checking snares-

-feeding the kodos-

-watching the stew-

-watching her cousins-

-watching her cousins spoil the stew-

-disposing the ruined stew-

-hauling more water for the new stew-

-and a host of other duties in a line of duties that never seemed to be done.

By the time night had descended, Galerunner was exhausted, but in that "good day's work" kind of way. She ate heartily, curled up in her bedroll in her family's tent, and promptly fell asleep.

Half-formed voices chased her down, nagging at her. One of them said her name.

An ear flicked. An eye opened.

There it was again: her name. Someone was talking about her.

She rolled over, fully intending to go back to sleep. But once it had sunk its talons into her, curiosity tugged and tugged until she was fully awake. Carefully, she rose and crept outside.

A single campfire still burned beneath a sky decorated with hard bright diamonds. Two dark shapes sat around the fire, speaking in low tones. Moving with all the stealth of a youth not yet used to her rapidly growing body, Gale snuck closer until she could discern individual words.

"...it is her choice," Skunkstripe said. Tall and imposing, Skunkstripe was near-invisible against the backdrop of the night sky. The dark-haired Tauren, so named by the thatch of bright white hair streaking his otherwise black mane, was the chief of the Fartotem tribe. He was also Galerunner's father. He sat on a log, his large hands fletching the last few arrows from a stack at his hooves with surprising speed and nimbleness.

Opposite the fire, half-shrouded in shadows, Tomia stood facing her husband with arms folded. "And when will she make that choice? She should be apprenticed by now, beloved. Every year that she is not is another year she falls behind her peers." Her mother sounded angry and frustrated and concerned, all at the same time. "How long will we allow her to gallivant around as if she's child? A decision must be made, and it must be made soon."

"She cannot decide if she does not yet know what she wishes to be. Do not worry, beloved. Galerunner will make the right choice." Her father lifted the arrow he had finished binding, sighting down its length to judge its straightness. "When she is ready."

"Pfagh." Her mother, ever the warrior, begin to pace, never content to remain idle for long. "I would not be so worried if she would simply pick a vocation and /stick/ to it. Everyone knew Stonemaur would be a shaman almost from the moment I birthed him. But she-" Tomia shook her head. "How can she be so fully involved with something one moment and completely disregard it the next?"

Skunkstripe chuckled, a low, baritone laugh that rumbled out of his chest. "Do you remember four years ago? When she swore up and down that she was going to be a tanner? One week she was fostered to Rabbit before he returned her to us, all of her dyed head to hoof that weird green color. It must have taken weeks before her original hair color grew back!"

Tomia paused in her steps to look at her husband.

"And do you remember two years ago, when she had decided to take up the druidic arts like Brother Wolfsbane? All summer she badgered us to let her travel with him and, when we finally did, she came back three days later covered in welts from a nettle bush she had fallen into, trying to save that prairie dog from a snake."

Tomia snorted.

"And now, as you've told me, she's been terrorizing those self-same prairie dogs. 'The mighty Tauren warrior' is she?" Skunkstripe propped his elbow on his knee, grinning up at his scowling wife. Laughter danced in his light blue eyes. "You should be happy that she is finally showing an interest in your profession, beloved."

"I would be happier if she maintained her interest- in anything- for more than a handful of days."

Skunkstripe chuckled again. Setting aside his last arrow, he rose to his feet. "Come, beloved, the night is young, and so are we. It is the Fartotem way to explore every possible avenue, to journey along all possible paths. Galerunner will make her decision when she is ready, and not a moment before."

"It is the Fartotem way to daydream and wander about in both body and mind, you mean." Tomia smirked as she walked over to her husband. "Truly, I do not know what I was thinking when I decided to marry into such an easily distracted tribe."

Skunkstripe's smile took on a roguish cast. He lifted his wife's hand, kissing her palm, and kicked dirt onto the fire with his hoof. "Allow me to remind you."

As the two Tauren slipped into the night, Galerunner returned to her bedroll. It was a long time before she managed to fall asleep again.

Fin Part 3