Steph's Fiction

Author's note: Anyone who's played a young Vah Shir rogue should know of adventures in "The Pit" -- attempting to hunt those darned young rockhoppers and also dodging guards as we attempt to practice our pick-pocketing and begging skills! While playing EverQuest, I actually -did- run into another human playing a Wood Elf, hence her appearance in this story. I attempted to engage her into roleplay, but she ran away, hence her behaviour in this story. =) Again, this story was written near the end of 2003.

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A globe of water droplets sprayed around Kakari's lithe form as she shook out her fur. The rain left her stylishly matted and spikey-looking. The feline woman grinned down at the muddy pit where far-away rhinobeetles and scorpions scampered over the gently-rolling landscape of the Luclin crater. She recently learned that this deep crater was fondly known as "The Pit".

Kakari stood proudly as a new official citizen of Shar Vahl, overlooking the massive training zone far below. The crater walls were dangerously steep, so Kakari crossed the bridge in hopes of finding a gentler way down. On her way to descent, the glimmer of a guard's armor caught her eye. Might as well --

"Honourable Sir, might ye have some spare coppers?" she approached him cautiously.

To her relief, his refusal was a mere shake of his head. "No." He averted his gaze back to his guard duty. ,,This, Kakari could deal with. She wondered if it was common for guards to unleash their swords on beggers. She hoped that yesterday's misfortune was a unique incident.

Her stomach growled again. She snarled back at it. "Time to go hunting, " she murmured.

Kakari felt her way down the steep crater wall until she could focus on the floor of the pit. Then she crouched, and let her powerful legs springboard her into the air. She sailed with the breeze in her fur, a half-smile on her face, until she landed in the mud with a messy splash.

She rolled to soften the impact, pleased with her first attempt at improving her landing skills. It only hurt a little. Next time, she'd jump from a higher place.

Kakari scanned the landscape for other students like herslef. In the distance, she spotted a few glowing purple orbs before they flickered out and died. Kakari knew that the orbs marked the trail of a bard. Next, she spotted another small movement. Kakari strode her way closer to see a very short, thin-looking creature. Although she'd never seen one before, Kakari suspected that this was an Elf.

"Hail, small one." Kakari realized that she'd probably startled the poor thing. The Elf clutched her long wooden staff and seemed to pretend to ignore Kakari.

More softly, "Thou art a far way from home, neh?"

The Elf took a step backword and scampered off. Kakari snorted. Oh well, perhaps she was busy with a mission.

Behind her, a cackle of bones accompanied a sharp blow to her left thigh. Kakari fluidly turned, dagger in hand, and slashed the arm off of -- a moving skeleton...?! Unbothered, the small skeleton laughed manianically and continued to attack her. Moments later, Kakari suceeded in tranforming the skeleton into a motionless pile of bones in the mud.

Kakari knelt to examine her kill. She sniffed. The meat had rotted off these bones long ago. This would certainly not do for her lunch. She picked up a couple of tarsal chips. Perhaps someone would trade these for some coppers.

Kakari spent the rest of the afternoon familiarizing herself with the terrain and with the strengths and weaknesses of each of the pit's critters. As a new citizen of Shar Vahl, Kakari was assigned a mentor who was presently putting her through a training course. Her first mission was easy -- she slew three rhinobeetles and brought their soft chitins back to her mentor. Next, she was instructed to hunt down four rockhopper eggs and then bake them into a tasty treat.

The rockhoppers were elusive little devils. It took her several days to gather the four eggs. Back at the ovens in Shar Vahl, Kakari ruined three of the eggs before she successfully made a semi-decent snack out of it. She sighed. Although she'd have to go back into the pit to gather three -- or more -- rockhopper eggs, she was pleased at all the skills she was honing in the process.

Kakari was eager for her skills to become sharp enough to truly serve Shar Vahl.

(Kakari, fourth season.)