The Terror of Teldrassil

Author: Pook
Shadowglen Sentinel Castellon Leafrunner and his partner, Abbatil Moonwind were walking their usual beat around the perimiter of the small glade in Teldrassil, known as one of the few places where a fresh-faced adventurer could get their start in...well, adventuring, and as such things were usually pretty quiet. An occasional 192, Naked Dancing in Public, an occasional 224, Yelling Stupid Stuff at the Top of your Lungs, but besides that the life of a Shadowglen Sentinel was relatively calm.
Which was why it came as a surprise to both of them when an unruly crowd of Elves came striding over to them, looking angry and afraid.
"...so what *I'm* thinking is, if Thrall and Jaina Proudmoore DID get together what if they were to--" Abbatil mused as Castellon tuned him out with a blank gaze. Catching sight of the mass of Elves, though, he held up a staying hand.
"Hey. HEY! Just stop, okay? Look, there's something going on," He said, grateful for the interruption.
"You have to do something!" The Elven man in the lead said as they got close, holding an arm that looked badly scratched. The rest of the crowd started to join in as well right away.
"I saw a--"
"There was this HUGE--"
"I mean, would that even WORK? With, like, different anatomy and genetics and everything? I--"
"I just needed to kill some Grells! And--"
"Those poor DEER! And the BUNNIES! Oh GODDESS, the BUNNIES! It was--"
"STOOOOOOOOOP!" Castellon shouted, holding his arms high. The assorted group blinked at him quietly. "Okay. One at a time. You!" He pointed to the first man with the mauled arm. "Quickly now. What is happening?"
"Okay so I was hunting grells only everyone else was hunting grells too so I went to the edge of the forest and there were a lot of dead grells and some rabbits and a couple of deer and stuff and I heard this NOISE and it was like RAAAR and I turned around and there was this dark shape and it was glaring at me with these EYES and the next thing I knew I...I..." And the man promptly passed out, having turned a deep shade of purple due to lack of breathing in between his words. The crowd took this opportunity to erupt with their own accounting once more.
"It was HUGE! With--"
"Eyes like the very NIGHT! And FANGS! And--"
"I suppose the baby would never want, though, what with rich and powerful parents like that--"
"It took a swing at me! And I ran away as fast as I--"
Castellon pinched the bridge of his nose in exaspiration, and then took just one babbling Elf by the shoulder and pointed in his face. "You. Where?"
Lip trembling and shoulders shaking, the frightened Elf pointed to the northwest.
Castellon strode away in the general direction indicated, leaving the milling group behind and leaving Abbatil to trail behind him.
"Hey, Cast, what's going on? Where are you going? What was that all about? Hey? Cast?" Abbatil asked, practically skipping to keep up with him.
"Castellon." Castellon grumbled. "Preferrably Shadowglen Sentinel Castellon SIR. And I'm GOING to do our JOB, if that's all right with you. Apparently there's something scaring the locals up along the treeline over there."
As they grew closer they could already see the devastation. Dozens of Grells laid dead and mauled on the ground, along with a good number of pigs and deer. Whoever killed them hadn't apparently been looking for their moss or for food, as most looked to be savaged and then otherwise left for dead. 
"Wow, this is bad, huh Cast? Hey Cast, what's that noise?" Abbatil asked, picking up the limp arm of a dead Grell.
The two of them turned as one to see a black flash with glowing eyes leap for them.
== ==
Some time later, Castellon sat at his desk, dictating a report to Abbatil as his good writing hand was bandaged, as was his neck and leg. Abbatil was fairly unscathed, but that was mostly just because he was much quicker to run than most at the first sign of danger. 
"Okay, so we've gathered reports and...first hand information..." Castellon said, wincing in advance.
"Ha! First HAND, Cast? Get it? Because that thing almost bit off your HAND?" Abbatil tittered.
"Yes, I get it," Castellon growled, glaring into empty space. "Basically, we know there's a big black cat of some kind killing stuff and attacking people up in NorthEast Shadowglen, probably some species of large Saber--"
"Hey Cast? What if it's a Druid? Do you think? It looked like its eyes were glowing and its ears were pretty long, Cast..." Abbatil asked, chewing on the tip of the quill he was writing with.
"It's unlikely," Castellon said curtly. "Corrupt and insane Druids, the ones likely to actually attack passers-by, usually travel in packs, cults, stuff like that. Anyway, even though we fought valiantly..." He looked to where Abbatil was still sitting, staring thoughtfully and not writing. "We FOUGHT VALIANTLY," Castellon emphasized, stabbing the paper in front of Abbatil with one unbandaged finger, "But were not strong enough to overcome it, as were most of the forces we had in Shadowglen. We're going to have to ask for outside help."
"Oh! Oh! Cast! What if we called, like, ArchDruid Staghelm? I bet HE could take care of it! He'd come down and be all "PSHOOOM!" with a Moonfire and then all "BYAAAAWW!" with an Insect Swarm and then "WHHHPSHAAWW!"..."
"Would you just SHUT your HOLE for ONE MINUTE?" Castellon snapped. "Take this down exactly like I say. Hey. HEY!" He said, snapping his fingers in front of Abbatil to make sure he had his full attention. "EXACTLY like I SAY. No "Pshoom" or Druid or Thrall or whatever STUPID thought comes into your head!"
"Okay Cast..." Abbatil sulked.
== ==
The Following Notice is for Immediate Postage at all Public Cathering Places in Azeroth (even Horde places, if they can like read it and stuff!):
Shadowglen, an area for beginning Adventurers on the island of Teldrassil (Shadowglen 4 life! Woo!) has fallen prey to a savage beast. This large Saber-like cat (or maybe a Druid) has been attacking the local fauna as well as any people that get too close to its lair (and it hits HARD!) located in the NorthWest quadrant of the area (Cast says that's like, if there was a pie, it'd be like a quarter-piece. That's a lot of pie!)
We, the Shadowglen Sentinels (woo!) are asking for the help of the general populace to help capture and dispose of this menace (but be careful because it's real strong!) We are offering a reward of 10 Gold Pieces (wow, really? That's a lot!) to whomever can take down this beast. If it is a group who does it, the gold will still be 10 pieces in amount and will be sent to the leader of said group for distribution (I hope they're honest!) If the person or persons who do so are Horde, we can still make arrangements for this to be paid in full in the interests of cross-factional peace and cooperation (boo Horde!) 
Whatever you do with the beast after you take it down is your business. Just take it away, please (aww! Poor kitty!) It seems to appear at irregular hours, and we cannot guarantee that it will present itself to be killed in a timely manner (Cast got real mad when I brought this up to him, he was like, "Should we ask the ravenous beast its SCHEDULE? Would you like to VOLUNTEER for that duty, Shadowglen Sentinel Abbatil?) (Woo!)
Thank you for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
The Shadowglen Sentinels (NightElf4Lyfe! WOO!)
Category:Stories