Neela had no idea what happened with the strange dark draenei and the small rider. It was all she could do to continue on as she had been and try to forget about it. The Draenor native was an adventurer by trade. She solved problems on the bounty board, hunted over-proliferating wildlife on the frontier and was a body to defend settlements in case of attack. The problem with that was her peoples nature, and her expected nature. As a draenei she was expected to work for less for the sake of the community, despite the fact that outsiders were able to come in and demand more simply due to a low expectations the natives had for them. For her, enough to live was deemed enough by those that hired her, but she wanted to taste the finer things. The danger she felt in relation to the Dark Rider spurred her to action.
"I want offworlder rates." Neela spoke calmly and assertively. She found it the best way to get what she wanted out of her own people.
The male attendant crossed his arms and looked upon the girl somewhat disapprovingly. "But we're kin?"
She offered the man an unimpressed look, her hands resting loosely on her wide hips. "Do not pretend you do not have the resources. There is so much gold flowing in from another world. I would argue that I am making even less now due to how inflated it has all become." She argued.
The man rolled his eyes at first, but considered her point and gradually just offered a shrug. "Their rates require more complex jobs. How about you clear out some poachers in the plains before Karabor?"
"I can do that. Easily." She spied the reward for the quest. It was good. It was roughly what she would expect. It was a small victory for her, because all it meant in the most generous sense is that she was getting paid about what she felt she deserved. It was still work. The true dream, she felt, was to be one of those that was somehow able to make money by sitting in one of their garrisons all day.
* *
Neela was a warrior, but she had picked up some tracking and tailing skills as well. She was no Rangari but she felt like she was more than capable of finding a poaching operation on a flat plain. Indeed, the moment she stepped hoof onto the plains she was able to make out in the distance a sight that made her cringe at first. She moved closer. The thing that got to her was the size of the poacher. He was a little man, just like the small rider. On further inspection, however, he did not seem like anything special. She observed him.
Under normal circumstances capturing talbuk would not have been considered poaching, or even a problem. The issue came with the influx of so many people from off-world. Their resources were being dwindled by a population on the other side of a portal that could not be seen. As such, wildlife were disappearing at a far greater rate than they were comfortable with.
Neela watched the typical poaching practices unfold before her. The goblin performed the same acts that anyone capturing a talbuk would, he simply had access to more unusual technology than she would. Despite advanced technology, draenei were still somewhat archaic in regards to certain practices and were becoming more so as their history was lost or forgotten. The goblin man in basic clothing approached a pack of running talbuk and shot a lasso around the horns of one to guarantee a hit. Once it was roped in she assumed he would have to contend with the fact that the beasts were 10 times his size and able to simply pull him along. Instead, as soon as the talbuk turned it became pacified by a black and white spinning disk present on the rope gun's scope cover. Once the pacified creature was lured closer he shortened and shortened the rope until finally just getting rid of it, replacing the ropes with actual reins. He went through the motions of taking the talbuk through some drills. He seemingly just walked it in circles while talking at it and that was enough to tame the creature.
"Dumb animals... Did not even put up a fight. No wonder they need protection." She mused, stepping out from cover. She kept her hand on the hilt of both her weapons and approached the goblin as he was tying off his new prize to the same post as the others he had already collected. She did not need to kill him, she just needed to clear him out. The small man was barely guarded by just his gun and a dagger. A toothpick and a pea-shooter to the 8-foot tall woman. She was as a talbuk to him. The only difference was, she actually had the intelligence to fight back.
"Excuse me!" She called out harshly to get his attention and scare him a little. Neela was satisfied that the goblin turned suddenly, looking quite shocked.
"Shit!" Gavik turned and pointed his weapon at her. Not that it would do him any good. He was nervous and a little bit fearful right away. The woman may as well have been a mammoth to him. The draenei that he could barely measure up to held two weapons, one on each hip. Her armor was light, but she did not need it against him. He gulped. There was nothing he could do against the woman if she wanted to apprehend him.
"I can explain."
"Explain? Looks like there's not much..." She blinked rapidly, feeling an odd, lightheadedness fall over her.
"M-muh...ch... to..." She furrowed her brow and felt her head. Her jaw fell open and stayed open as she wondered what was happening she figured out that she was no longer blinking and her wide eyes were being drawn to the swirling disc that was off-kilter, but still clearly in her view. It was not even pointed at her, but she was still drawn to look into it.
"Uhm." Her hands slide off the hilt of her weapons and fell to her side loosely. She was not sure what to say. She was not brainless, just calm and non-confrontational. As drool pooled behind her bottom lip before finally leaking out in a thin line she had to first wipe her mouth and swallow, then second come to terms with the fact that she was being pacified somehow. The warrior's cheeks flushed deeply from embarrassment.
Gavik was as confused as her. He had not even intended to catch her with the disc because he never in a million years thought it would work on a fully grown draenei woman. The device was rudimentary. It was designed to capture the attention animals and ease them into a passive state that would allow him to then go through the motions of taming and prepping them. Despite what he thought, the girl looked completely caught. Even though numerous illicit thoughts bounced around in his brain Gavik was not actually a particularly malicious person. Poaching, as far as he was concerned, was a victimless crime; as in, if he could not see the victim it was not a crime. He could see her.
"You okay, girlie?" He threw the gun aside.
"I am not." Frustration could barely register in her tone, even though she wished to convey it as the only powerful negative emotion she could even muster.
"I am obviously not... Turn that thing off." She requested calmly.
"It's not an on-off thing, it's an effect. You-" He stopped himself.
"Animals are typically under for at least an hour or so."
"I am NOT an animal." She was uncertain, because despite that assertion, the one undeniable fact was that she fell under the affect of the device that only worked on animals, supposedly.
"That's why I corrected myself, toots! Relax!" He ordered. Though he did not actually intend for it to be a followed command, Neela in response loosened her already loose stance. No muscle was tensed on her body except those in her powerful legs that kept her standing.
She gulped. "O-oh light. I relaxed when you said that..." She was thinking the worst but could barely muster the ability to fight or flee, even in what she considered to be a dire situation.
"You got me." She began salivating again as her face heated up from embarrassment and a little bit of something else. There was a faint arousal building in her due to the unusual circumstance.
"You can literally do whatever you want to me." She half-complained. Her heart began speeding up and despite the pacification she was becoming antsy.
"I-I-" She was unable to fight it as a loose rope was thrown around her horns that tightened as she was pulled along. As she started walking, being lead, she felt her heart rate decrease.
"Jeeze, chill, girl." He uttered in disbelief. He had seen similar things happen in animals that he left alone under the effect of the disc. Without anything occupying their mind they would work themselves up into a frenzy and eventually the pacification would not even matter. The only cure he found was to give them something to do.
"I don't actually want to do anything to you." Gavik was of course present for the full mountification of all draenei in the main universe and he was one of the few that felt particularly bad for it. Where he was from, they were brainwashed, controlled, forcefully tamed. That is what he thought, at least.
It was not actually his voice that calmed her, but that is what she assumed it was. She stared down at the small man. As he lead her around in a circle like one of his captures he felt so much bigger than her, somehow.
"You could..." She responded. It may have been the pacification but it felt so natural for her to be lead around.
Gavik rolled his eyes. "Yeah? You're literally under animal mind control somehow. What kinda guy would I be?" He sighed.
"Like, 50% of goblin guys, but that's besides the point. I'm from a different generation. I believe in shit like CONSENT." He stared back at her harshly, pointing up.
"And your horny ass isn't helping!"
"S-sorry..." Neela gulped. She was still pacified but she no longer felt any reason to feel even an ounce of worry. She still could not shake her sudden leanings towards duty and loyalty, but the girl chalked it up to the effect she was under.
He looked back at her again with a sly smirk. "Listen, doll. If you wanna talk to me in an hour about 'becoming an animal' let me know. Trust me, you're gonna be too embarrassed to even look at me once this shit wears off." It was to his detriment, but he knew she would feel differently when she came to her senses.
