The Adventures of Lucy and Tharion

Chapter V

-The Gnomish Gamekeeper-

"Help! The panther is hunting me!"

Lucy yelled, running through high grass around the small cabin at the edge of the forest, where she was living together with Tharion, her beloved night elf. Being closely followed by an impressive feral druid with shining black fur, an observer could have assumed that she was in real danger. But on a second glimpse there was something strange about this hunt. The gnome was almost naked, wearing only underwear and was giggling all the time while the wild animal seemed mysteriously unable to catch up. Anyway, it was quite unlikely that anybody could watch them since it was very early in the morning. Lucy looked back and smiled, still running as fast as her gnomish legs could carry her.

"Ha! The kitty is too slow!"

It was their very own odd sense of humor playing such little games, which usually turned very naughty in the end. Tharion growled and exposed his long, sharp fangs. Yet he slowed down significantly to maintain the gap when Lucy almost tripped over a root. After another lap around the house, Lucy made a sharp turn and ran right through the door, closely followed by the gorgeous animal.

"Oh no! He trapped me!"

Lucy jumped onto their bed and Tharion immediately charged his tiny prey. The heavy panther knocked her over and pushed her down into the soft pillows, panting excitedly. Tharion lowered his head and licked playfully over Lucy's back. He already had the waistband of her panties between his teeth, undressing his gnome as carefully as possible for an animal, when they suddenly heard a soft elfish voice from behind. Lucy and Tharion both turned their heads simultaneously toward the elfish woman, who stood at the door with a rather serious expression on her face.

"I hate to interrupt your cute little mating ritual, but I fear I have no choice. There is a situation of utmost urgency."

Tharion dropped the remnants of Lucy's underwear that had been dangling from his teeth to the ground and lay down next to his now naked gnome. Lucy didn't even bother to cover herself with the blanket, sat up stright and beckoned to the woman.

"High-priestess Valiandra! We were only playing a little game, nothing to worry about. Please come in."

Valiandra couldn't deny herself a little smile and nodded as she sat down on a nearby chair.

"We have a problem at Winterspring. Over the last few weeks, saber cats have been missing. We didn't find their corpses, only occasionally stains of blood. The sentinels of Darnassus have sent small groups to protect them and find out who is doing such a crime. We can only assume that some of the goblins at Everlook are behind all this, probably selling the precious fur to ruthless customers. Unfortunately, we have no proof; and goblins are not stupid enough to do the dirty work by themselves for they know quite well that the punishment would be draconic."

Lucy had put her arms around Tharion's furry neck during this story, looking alarmed as if she had to protect her panther from these scrupulous murderers right now. Valiandra sighed and continued,

"Since we have been observing the area, nothing has happened - until yesterday when we tried to leave the cats alone for the night; and now two of them are missing with no trace. It seems like we are being watched, and the criminals strike only when they feel save to do."

Lucy had started scratching Tharion's ears and said,

"I see. We will go there at once and investigate undercover. These filthy goblins will never guess that a gnome works for Darnassus; and Tharion is obviously no sentinel either for being a male druid."

Valiandra stood up and took a deep bow in front of Lucy and Tharion.

"You are the living proof of gnomish cleverness, Lucy. But there is no need to hurry. You two are expected to arrive at Everlook at noon; so you can still enjoy this wonderful morning. The last sentinels will leave beforehand and as demonstrative as possible without being suspicious so that the goblins feel save to send their assassin."

Valiandra was already on her way out of the cabin when she turned around - this time with meaningful grin.

"And by the way: Since you two are supposed to patrol and watch the saber cats, it would be of no use if Lucy wasn't able to walk, Tharion. Perhaps you shouldn't stay furry while Lucy is naked."

Tharion immediately shifted into his rather rarely used elfish shape. He was naked as well and replied in a miffed voice,

"As if I would do my gnome any harm, Valiandra. But if you insist..."

Valiandra nodded and added,

"I really hope you will find out who is behind these crimes -- probably a filthy orc, troll or forsaken. If you can catch the murderer, stop him at all costs! We rely on you. May Elune bless you."

Valiandra was barely through the door when Lucy turned to Tharion, who was about to leave the bed.

"Where are you going?"

Tharion stared at her cute body and answered,

"You heard the high-priestess - no gnome-humping this morning."

Lucy purred and crawled onto his lap.

"Sure, but I don't see why I shouldn't make my cute little elf a happy elf!"

Tharion moaned and closed his eyes when he felt Lucy's soft, warm lips around the tip of his member and her hands right below. Valiandra, who had been waiting outside just out of sight, listening carefully, started her way back to the Temple of the Moon very slowly so that she could hear the slurping noises and Tharion's agitated panting a little longer.

It took Lucy and Tharion longer than expected to start their journey to Winterspring. Lucy was a complete mess and had to take a bath and, first of all, wash her hair first due to a minor inattentiveness on her part. Her by now very happy elf found it quite amusing that his gnome was dripping with his sticky cum, but Lucy was giggling as well. When she was clean and tidy again eventually, Lucy covered herself with no less than two thick robes, knee-length boots, a fluffy woolen hat, a pair of black mageweave gloves and a scarf so long that she could wrap it four times around her neck. Tharion examined his cushioned gnome with a puzzled look on his face; and although he didn't ask, Lucy caught his glimpses and answered anyway.

"Why do those cats have to live in Winterspring of all places on Azeroth? I hate snow. Gnomes are freezing so easily."

Tharion smiled and knelt down beside her.

"I see. But at least I'm allowed being furry again now that you are far from being naked, my cute little ball of wool."

And in a split second, he became a panther again, purred kindly and stepped outside, waiting for Lucy to climb onto his back.

Although the elves had got used to the sight of Lucy riding her druid, today a lot of them turned around seeing Lucy in such a strange outfit. And even Lucy had to wonder if she had gone over the top as they rushed through Darnassus. It was a nice day on Teldrassil and the cuddly, warm fur of Tharion contributed to her sweating. She bowed down and kissed his right ear as they passed the portal to Rut'theran and dismounted niftily at the end of the queue of people waiting at the hippogryph-master, where Tharion had stopped. Lucy sighed and looked up to her again very elfish mate.

"Do we really have to fly there? I mean... we could take the ship to the mainland and take the path though the Timbermaw caverns."

Tharion shook his head.

"That route would take at least half a day, and we have to arrive in an hour. Flying is so much faster!"

Lucy nodded and murmured,

"Yes, I know. It's just that flying is one of the very few things on my list of 'stuff-I-like-even-less-than-freezing'. It's not that I'm afraid of the height! But those gryphon-masters tend to give us gnomes the oldest and weakest specimen they have left. One time such a beast literally died in midair and if I hadn't learnt levitation already, I would have left a small crater on impact. You will see!"

And really, when it was Lucy's and Tharion's turn, one of hippogryphs the master's assistant was leading to them had evidently lost a lot of its feathers and was coughing alarmingly. Lucy muttered "I told you" to Tharion, who immediately started ranting furiously at the poor intimidated elf, who stammered something about "lightweight gnomes".

A minute later, Lucy sat on Tharion's lap, being held safe in his arms as they soared through the cold air on the back of the healthiest mount Rut'theran could allocate. Lucy kept her eyes closed for most of the journey, imagining more enjoyable activities which all involved a very naughty panther and herself wearing a lot less cloths.

Yet when they eventually crossed the border to Winterspring, Lucy was quickly reminded why she had chosen such an outfit. The wind was biting cold and she tightened her scarf so that only her eyes were visible between thick layers of wool.

They reached the small town of Everlook in Winterspring just in time to witness the departure of the last two sentinels, who talked a little louder than necessary about their plans to ultimately end the observation of the saber cat's grounds. Tharion gave Lucy a tender hug and whispered,

"I will wait for you at the road junction just north of the town. Take a look around at Everlook and see if you can find out something before we move along to the cats."

Lucy gave him a kiss on his lips and just another one on his snout as he became furry again before he rushed out of sight. She sighed, went through the city's entrance and right into the inn. It wasn't hart to spy on the goblins at all. On the contrary -- she had just entered when the first one beckoned her to the bar, apparently very interested in gnomish woman.

"Hey, little cutie! What are you doing here? Business or pleasure?"

Goblins in general were already ranked high on her mentioned list of detested stuff. But for the sake of her mission, she offered him a drink. Only five minutes later she was not only assured that goblins should probably climb up to number one of disgust - this goblin had also told her that she had chosen the perfect day to visit Winterspring for those stupid elves, who had ruined perfect business opportunities during the last weeks, had finally left for good. Unfortunately he also insisted on showing her around privately, and thus Lucy chose to say goodbye before she could possibly get overwhelmed with the urge to punch him.

Tharion sat next to the road and purred when Lucy arrived somewhat short of breath.

"Ok, goblins are really the most disgusting creatures in the world. And I'm almost sure by now that they are behind the killings here as we assumed; an especially nauseating one at the bar has more or less admitted everything."

Tharion nodded, and together they set off towards the frost-saber grounds in the north. It was snowing by now so that their footsteps became hidden quickly behind them. This was perfect for a secret observation, but on the other hand Lucy sank into the freshly fallen snow up to the ankles with every step and began to feel even colder for all the cloths she wore.

Nevertheless, they soon reached the remote hills where the wild cats were gathering in small groups everywhere. Usually this area was out of bounds for everybody by order of the night elves, and these animals had been notorious for their aggressive behavior against intruders even before all these killings of the past weeks. But as Lucy assumed, the sentinels had announced Tharion's and her arrival because the frost-sabers didn't mind them walking around their kittens.

The problem was - the area was so huge that they soon realized that they had to split up to increase their chances to catch an intruder. Lucy felt a little uncomfortable and hugged Tharion as if she could force him to stay this way.

"Are you sure I can run around here alone? These cats are really huge and perhaps they don't know that I'm officially a priestess of Elune. I don't want to end up as a snack."

Tharion purred and licked the small part of her face not covered with her scarf.

"Oh, these cats love gossiping even more than night elves. The kittens learn to talk already at a very young age; and I would be surprised if there was a single frost-saber here that didn't know your name, your profession and what kind of males you prefer. Just be careful, Lucy, when you happen to find our assassin! He is far more dangerous than our furry friends."

Lucy giggled and kissed Tharion tenderly. After a last hug, Lucy took a sharp turn toward the hills in the west while Tharion sprinted in the opposite direction.

The snowfall had not ceased so far; and Lucy soon started to hope that she could find anything that would allow her to get back to a cozy fire, even if that meant the company of more goblins. At least, Tharion had been right about the cats. They were completely peaceable; and when she eventually saw a particularly gorgeous one standing alone near a small snowy hill, she approached the impressive animal.

"Hi! I'm Lucy. Have you seen anything fishy here today?"

The cat examined her curiously and purred -- and like Lucy had gotten used to from Tharion, she could hear a deep voice inside her head.

"My name is Ra'shan. And of course you are Lucy. We've heard enough about this famous gnome to recognize who was running around here with the druid. So, is it true what the elves are saying?"

The cat smiled with its fangs exposed. Lucy giggled and stretched out her right hand to scratch Ra'shan's soft fur behind his ears.

"If you talk about me mating with my druid, I think it is."

She would have loved to elaborate on her relationship, but they were interrupted by the deafening sound of a gunshot. It had been close - very close! Lucy and Ra'shan turned around and just stared for a second before they ran side by side up the small hill. When they reached the top, they saw another frost-saber lying in a puddle of blood at the foot of the hill and only a few steps away the supposed hunter, his gun still smoking and pointing at the injured animal.

"NOOO!"

cried Lucy and ran down to the helpless prey, still accompanied by Ra'shan, who stopped, just like Lucy, next to the trembling picture of misery.

"Are you crazy?"

yelled the hunter and made a step backwards at the look of Ra'shan. Lucy was immediately casting greater healing spells upon the poor victim and staunched the gushing wound. It had been close, but the seemingly very young kitten was saved by the marvelous healing powers Elune had granted her tiny priestess. Only now Lucy realized that the hunter spoke the common language of the alliance; and when she looked up, she met the gaze of a dwarf still holding his gun, who spoke again:

"What are you doing here, gnome? These cats will kill you if you run around here; and if these stupid night elves catch us, we are in big trouble as well!"

Lucy had undone any harm, but the young female kitten was still trembling in horror. Lucy looked at Ra'shan, who was whining miserably, and whispered,

"It's OK, she will survive. We were just in time."

And with a fury she had never felt before she turned her head toward the dwarf, who looked quite alarmed now that Lucy did not only remain mysteriously unharmed by the wild animal beside her, but also seemed to talk to it now.

"You! Don't move! And tell your pet to stay calm as well, or I will defend myself!"

cried the hunter before Lucy could say anything. Ra'shan roared menacingly and made a step towards the dwarf, who took aim. Lucy reacted instantaneously and cast a shield spell upon the cat a split second before another gunshot echoed from the hills. The bullet could not penetrate the magical barrier and ricocheted to the side. Lucy yelled as a piercing pain in her shoulder told her that she had took the hit instead.

"You insane bastard! Just wait until my friend is here!"

She was now bleeding too, but fortunately she seemed to suffer only from a grazing shot. Nevertheless, it hurt a lot; and the dwarf finally panicked, aiming in every direction as if there were attackers everywhere. And as a matter of fact, there were at least two more frost-sabers approaching carefully, attracted by the noise -- just still no Tharion.

"Stay where you are! I will shoot every rotten cat that stands in my way! You will not be able to save them all, stupid gnome!"

But the animals around him were furious! They had seen what the dwarf had done to their female, and very slowly they drew nearer. The problem, Lucy thought, was that the dwarf was right. She could never shield them all when the dwarf began shooting around and without really thinking about it, she raised her uninjured arm toward the dwarf. A bright column of holy fire burst out of the sky and knocked the hunter over with a hard, searing blow! And not only that she had given the animals around him a chance to attack; the bright light was also a beacon for Tharion, who had been searching his beloved gnome desperately since he had heard the first gunshot.

Lucy was taken by surprise by her own attack. She had never used her holy powers aggressively against another member of the alliance before; and now that at least three raging animals were charging the dwarf, she was almost as scared as him, who had dropped his gun and stood no chance to get away. Lucy stared at the swearing dwarf and screamed:

"Don't kill him! Please! Just... hold him in place, I beg you!"

And really - the cats listened to her. They were not gentle, but essentially their strong paws were only pushing the dwarf down into the snow by his chest. Lucy turned to the injured kitten again and petted her head soothingly. The young female's wounds had healed without a trace, and the small feline finally seemed to realize that she was safe again. Only Lucy's own shoulder was still bleeding; and just when she finally thought about healing herself, at last, Tharion arrived, panting and with a look of utmost worry on his cute furry face. He ran to Lucy and immediately saw the blood from the gunshot wound.

"Are you OK, Lucy?"

he purred; and when she nodded, he looked around, growling,

"Who did this?"

Lucy didn't answer - but the cats on top of the dwarf stepped aside; and Ra'shan roared a furious,

"He did."

The dwarf realized that he was in bigger trouble than ever when he saw the cold gaze of a druid, who walked toward him very slowly - which was somehow far more frightening than it would have been if Tharion had been running. Tharion stared into the dwarf's eyes and then at his right hand, which clenched the long skinning knife the hunter had carefully drawn from his belt shortly before to fight the wild cats, and which he now quickly threw away. The dwarf knew that he had to find a very convincing excuse before the druid was in range, and in desperation he cried, pointing at Lucy,

"Don't touch me, druid! It all this gnome's fault! The crazy bitch attacked me without..."

But he didn't finish that sentence. He had only a split second to realize that he had made a terrible mistake before Tharion took a huge leap and struck him with a hard blow of his right forepaw. The dwarf's last word ended in a strange gurgling for a long and sharp claw had cut his throat so deeply that his blood gushed out into the snow, ending his life only seconds later. Lucy looked at Tharion wide-eyed, hugging the kitten that had finally stood up and cuddled against her gnomish savior.

"Oh wow, Tharion. I mean, he deserved it, but... wow!"

Tharion purred innocently and returned to Lucy. Licking the red cloth on her still bleeding shoulder, he reminded her of her injury. Lucy had almost forgotten about it and quickly cast a small holy renew upon herself which was sufficient to stop the bleeding. Lucy looked at Tharion's face and suddenly wrapped her arms around his furry neck, releasing the frost-saber kitten, who bid farewell with a thankful purring and ran to the full-grown cats standing nearby, watching the scene curiously.