((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 6 -

Dawn rose over a bleary-eyed Galerunner.

She sat on her ledge, dozing off, only to jerk her head up again every so often and peer suspiciously at the creature a few dozen yards away. Her eyes were bloodshot; her mouth dry as the riverbed below. A small stack of rocks were piled beside her, within easy reach.

In front of her lay the smoldering remains of a small fire. She had made it hastily, to give her light while she had worked throughout the night, and now it was finally going out. Tiny tendrils of smoke curled their way upwards whenever one of the few remaining embers snuffed out.

On the other side of the dying fire lay the Night Elf.

Or, she thought it was a Night Elf. All she really had to go on were childhood monster stories of fire-breathing half-Tauren, half-tree folk and the occasionally glimpsed horned-shade when her cousins had dared her to enter Ashenvale four years ago.

The creature before her, despite having hair the color of pine needles and bluish-grey skin, certainly didn’t look like it was half of a Tauren. It was smaller, for one thing. And it had five fingers on each hand. Weirdest of all, it didn’t have a tail. She wasn’t so sure about the half-tree part, since those ten wiggly things under the worn foot-wraps MIGHT have been roots.

She was definitely sure it was male. She had checked while bandaging it last night.

If it was a Night Elf, then she had to wonder what it was doing way out in the Barrens. It’s only clothing consisted of some blood-splattered breeches and those footwraps. The myriad of slashes and bruises along its bare chest (and the fact that it had passed out on top of her) suggested it had been in a fight. Recently. Perhaps it had escaped from somewhere. Or someone.

As much as she would have loved to dwell on such speculation, though, Galerunner had an altogether different concern on her mind.

Her eyes slipped shut, just for a moment, and they snapped open again to see the wolf sniffing the Night Elf’s shoulder.

"Hah!" She launched to her feet, launching a rock at the beast. It dashed away, unhurt, to a distance of twenty feet, and stretched out on its stomach facing her. Yellow eyes stared at her, unblinking. It looked amused.

The big grey wolf had appeared shortly before dawn, ghosting into Galerunner's view. It hadn't come close, but simply had stretched out on the grass and watched her. It seemed determined to get to the elf. Galerunner, naturally, would have none of it.

She retook her seat, bouncing another rock in her palm. "I see you," she grumbled. "...you can't eat it. Would ruin my story if you did. What kinda ending would that be if I said-" Her eyes closed, her head dipped, and she jerked herself awake again. "-'and then the wolf ate the elf.' Can't go home with that kind of ending. Mother would kill me..." Her head drooped again.

The wolf's ears pricked up. It rose and crept closer, eyeing her warily.

Galerunner twitched, a loud snort bursting from her.

The wolf dropped to the grass, slowly creeping forward a few feet on its belly. When she didn't react, it got up and trotted a few steps forward. Paused. Trotted closer. Got close enough to sniff the Night Elf again, eyes fixed on Galerunner's form.

Galerunner exploded to her feet. She lunged at the wolf, which was already running away to a safe distance, tripped over the elf's body, and crashed to the ground.

The wolf made an unusual chuffing/wheezing sound. Ancestors above... it was LAUGHING at her!

Snarling, Galerunner took off after the wolf.

Up and down the river course they ran, the wolf outpacing Galerunner with hilarious ease. Down into the riverbed, hooves and paws kicking up silt. Up the other bank, where she ran into a cloud of gnats.

Coughing and spluttering and spitting out small bugs, Galerunner halted.

The wolf stopped as well a short distance away. It sat and watched her, tongue lolling, jaws gaping in a too obvious wolfish grin.

She peered at it. "You did that on purpose."

The wolf chuffed. Yep. Definitely laughing at her.

She scowled. "Fine. Then I am not chasing you anymore." And moving stiffly, she clambered back down the riverbank, headed for the opposite side.

The wolf yipped in surprise.

Halfway up the other bank, she glanced over her shoulder at it. The beast was at the edge of the bank, looking down at her. She snorted, and resumed her climb. "I am serious. I have to look after my elf." Gaining her feet, she turned to shoo the animal away. "Go bother somebody else."

The wolf was still sitting there, still staring after her, as she returned to her camp and went promptly to sleep.

Fin Part 6