Da Hunt Begins

**Da Hunt Begins**

**Dramatis Personae**

* **Dazdug** - *Trappa*
* **Grolruk** - *Trappa*
* **Ragbad** - *Yoof*
* **Morngok** - *Trappa Nob*

Alroight, ya lanky gits. If ya ain't got nuffin betta ter do, gatha round. Wretchitt, put some more squig dung on da fire! An' bring me sum fungus beer! Lazy l'il runt... I'z gonna tell ya the tale of 'ow we first saw... Da Dreddtusk Squiggoth! So sit bak, shut yer face an' smoke 'em if yer got 'em.

Way back in da past, before da ladz called ourselves Da Dreddtuskz...

## Years(?) Ago

Dazdug hefted his long-hafted stabba and huffed. His tracker-squig, Kruncha, sniffed the ground a dozen paces ahead and looked back at him.
'Whatcha got, Kruncha, eh?'
The creature oinked at him and went back to snuffling. After another minute, the ork yanked on the lead in frustration and Kruncha let out a surprised squeal.
'Leave it out, Kruncha, der ain't nuffin dat way.'
The squig trotted past Dazdug as he shuffled back towards the other trappas. They had been out scouting for big game and checking traps on the edge of the plains near the forests for nearly three days and found nothing. Morngok didn't want to return to camp empty-handed but it seemed as though the local squig herds had moved on. Grolruk shambled up to Dazdug as they all prepared to move on.
'You not find nuffin?' Grolruk asked. Dazdug shook his head. 'I told yer dat squig was a wrong 'un. Ain't worth da five teef ya pulled for 'im.'
Ragbad appeared at Grolruk's side. 'Oo's teef?', he asked, spying Dazdug's full grin.
'Some git's' Grolruk shrugged. Ragbad was a bit slow on the uptake, even for a yoof.
'Zog off, Grolruk. Kruncha's fine!' snarled Dazdug as Kruncha doubled back to snarl at the trio. He gave the critter a kick which sent it forward several feet. It rolled onto its feet and put its snout to the ground as though nothing had happened. The last thing Dazdug wanted to think about was he had made a bad trade.

'Pipe down, ya fungus-lickers! Only one of us oo's 'ad any eatin fer two days is dat useless snuffla. If we don't find nuffin by sun-down, dat squig's goin' in da pot.'
The deep, gruff voice of the group leader, Morngok, put an end to any more squabbling. The hunting party moved on, following trails of bent long grass towards the trees. After another hour's walk they reached the forest. They could see a herd of squighogs had been through here; recently, judging by the aroma of the dung. Normally, the tribe kept to the grasslands as it was where they loved to ride down food or intruders on their boar and squighog mounts. Morngok turned to the others.

'We'z goin inter anuvva tribe's territory so keep a lid on it until we see summat worth snaggin'. With a gesture and some reassuring cuffs to the other trappas' heads, he shepherded them into the woods and motioned for them to spread out. All manner of birds could be heard chirping among the trees, though none that would make a decent meal for any but a snotling. The orks sought larger herd animals. Occasionally, one would stop to check for signs of prey but nothing looked noteworthy. After another two hours, they saw something ominous at the edge of a clearing. Trees had either been uprooted wholesale or smashed off their trunks, and could be seen on their sides about the area. The ground had been compacted by numerous colossal footprints - some of which contained bloody smears - and scattered about were numerous limbs and mutilated bodies. Ork bodies, the trappas realised.

The thought of something massive running around killing other orks unnerved and excited the trappas in equal measure. Kruncha was pulling towards one of the small craters excitedly when suddenly a loud roar echoed from a distance and the trees across the clearing shook as if caught in a sudden blast of wind. Seconds later the ground shook briefly. The hunting party immediately broke into a run. The clearing was open ground - any enemy boarboyz or arrerboyz would have had easy pickings on them but none were about. As Morngok's trappas reached halfway to the treeline, there was a second, louder, roar and a heavier tremor. The prospect of violence fuelled the greenskins and they broke into a sprint.

Upon making the trees, Morngok and his trappas quickly made their way through another 300 metres of trees until they got to the other side - what they saw made their jaws drop.

'By Gork it's... so 'uge!'

'And killy!'

'And stompy!'

'And 'uge!'

'Shut it, Ragbad.'

Before them was the most massive squiggoth any of the tribe had laid his beady eyes on. It was a 100 metres tall colossus of scale, bone and muscle. Its feet were nearly as broad as the trees the trappas stood beside. It was around 400 metres away but Dazdug could see the cause of the commotion: the creature was surrounded by a small army - hundreds - of huntas. Many of them were tossing stabbas at its legs. Some enterprising gits tossed a big harpoon tied to a long rope. When the stone tip buried itself in the squiggoth's ankle, dozens of boyz grabbed for the cord and began pulling. The monster barely even flinched; instead it charged in their direction, lowering its ponderous skull. The orks were slain in a gory display. Some were dashed apart by the monster's tusks; others were flattened beneath its feet while an unfortunate few were scooped up in its maw, chewed on and spat out partly eaten. As Dazdug and the others watched, more roped spears were thrown; some missed but most landed. As the large hunting band began a concerted effort to bring the squiggoth down, the huntas pulled the legs in different directions. The squiggoth's gait began to widen and Morngok was sure they had it, but in a sudden burst of strength, the creature turned, breaking most of the stikkas embedded in its flesh and pulling the orks off their feet. It then set about mercilessly savaging them. Greenskins flew through the air in varying states of dismemberment thanks to teeth, tusks and tail. Just as many vanished beneath the beast's tread.

The other orks broke and fled in every direction. Morngok shouted 'leg it!' as the beast began pursuing the attackers in their direction. Dazdug and the others almost made it back to the clearing when the squiggoth was on them. Of their group, Ragbad died first as he had been the last to start running. The squiggoth gored him with such force that Ragbad simply burst; his innards and blood showering the backs of Urdrog and Thrakgob who were flattened by a tree seconds later. Dazdug managed to pass Morngok who made the fatal mistake of looking back. He tripped and fell in full sight of the rampaging monster. In a moment of Mork-inspired kunnin', Dazdug hid himself behind a large tree at the edge of the clearing and dropped his stabba to catch a breath. After glancing to his right and noticing Grolruk had got the same idea and was behind a nearby tree, Dazdug heard Morngok yelping as the squiggoth picked him up in its teeth before shaking him like a squighound with a grot. The wet thudding sound of Morngok's lower half impacting Dazdug's hiding tree was followed by a deafening bellow. Dazdug clapped his hands over his ears which were still ringing seconds later. Several strange sounds caused Dazdug to peer around the tree in curiosity. The squiggoth was turning its head this way and that, trying to catch the scent of other orks. As Dazdug slid back round the tree out of sight, the beast's left eye swivelled to look at him. Dazdug whimpered as there were two thunderous steps.

Two massive tusks covered in freshly-spilled blood emerged at head height, followed by the rest of the squiggoth's head above, which was similarly coated in viscera from its snout to its eyes. Bits of flesh and bone were wedged between its big-choppa-sized teef as the squiggoth growled at the trappa. Dazdug was too busy babbling in terror to notice 'da drops' were visiting him for once as a warm liquid dribbled down his right leg. The beast's gaze dropped to the discarded spear. The trappa followed its gaze then looked back up to make eye contact. Something undefinable passed between beast and hunter in that moment. As Dazdug started to back away there was a shout, a muted thud and the orkeosaurus turned away with another ear-ringing bellow. As the trappa peered round the tree again, the Dreddtusk broke into another earth-shaking run to chase down a nearby band of orks who had come back to try their luck again. Dazdug caught Grolruk's attention, jerked his head in the direction they had initially come from and the pair ran.

## Da Present

'Why didn't it krump 'im?' interjects one of the yoofs.
'Wot?' asked the story-teller.
'Why couldn't Dazdug 'av got krumped by da squiggoth? Dat woulda been a betta endin'.'
'Oh for zog's sake... Becuz-'

'If Dazdug got 'imself krumped,' chimed in a squeaky voice. 'Ow would 'e 'av made it back to da tribe to tell us wot- AAAAaaaaa!'

'Shaddup, Wretchitt. I'm tellin' da story!', says the ork as he slaps the gretchin back towards the stink pit. 'If da Dreddtusk 'ad krumped 'im as it probably shoulda did, ol' Daz woulda been a bit past it ter come back n tell us wot 'appened.'

'But-'

'Stop spewin' stoopid queschins ya moufy berk!'

'Sorry boss!', the yoof flinched. 'But... 'ow do ya know all dis?'

'Dat's easy, my curious lad. Becuz-' says the storyteller before he is interrupted by a large bulky figure stomping into the firelight.

'Becoz Grolruk 'ere was wiv me from start ta finish.', says the newcomer, in a voice that rumbles like distant thunder, as he drains a tankard of fungus beer with a single swallow. '*I'z* Boss Dazdug and *I'z* gonna snag dat Dreddtusk, ride it like a hog and stomp de otha tribez flat! Grolruk, grab da banna. Loudgob 'as found da beast. We'z leavin' by sun-up, all of us.' Dazdug grinned.

Grolruk matched his bosses' toothy smile with one of his own and picked up the primitive totem which sat next to him. It rattled with the sound of bony prizes claimed from large-toothed prey Da Dreddtuskz had brought down. At the pole's summit sat the jawless skull of the old boss killed by Dazdug when he took control of the tribe. Beneath this stretched a length of squig-hide which had been coloured and painted in a primitive rendition of a roaring squiggoth maw surrounded by orkish script.

Grolruk rhythmically thumped the pole on the ground as Dazdug began shouting. Nearby boyz picked up Grolruk's rhythm and began thumping their choppas and bone clubs in time with the Nob. As the sky of Ruk filled with dawn's warm colours, the beastboss's bellow echoed around the valley. The camp at Squig'ead Rok became a hive of activity as every greenskin gathered its equipment and marched out towards the plains, Dazdug at the fore atop Gitchompa.

The Dreddtusk tribe was on the hunt once more.