Kul'thran's Introduction - Part 7 - My Friend

Kul'thran was helping build the new village on Echo Isles just east of Sen'jin Village in southern Durotar. It had been several months since they had escaped the island, and a month since they arrived at the new continent.

He had gone through many trials and tribulations since they had crash-landed on Kalimdor. Kul'thran, the Darkspear Tribe, Thrall's group, and the Warsong Clan had all been separated. The young troll had found himself alone without any anyone around him. He finally met up with some members of his tribe. They had been tracking the footsteps of the orcs for miles, and Kul'thran decided to help them.

It was then that the young troll began to learn how to track--a skill that would prove useful in his future.

Eventually, Kul'thran was reunited with Mah'kajor, Vol'jin, Thrall, and the rest of the Horde when they just encountered humans on the land. Thrall was seeking something called "the Oracle," and while the young troll was curious, the warchief was more interested in keeping young people like Kul'thran alive. So, he was kept the safest parts of the settlements as they travelled from place to place. It was during this time that Kul'thran and the rest of the troll tribe began to study the shamanistic arts of the Horde.

Much later, he found out that the Horde was, ironically, all aligned with the same group of humans led by a woman named Jaina Proudmoore. He never caught the details of why they were united, except for the fact that Grom Hellscream, the leader of the Warsong Clan, had fallen to the influence of the Burning Legion.

Staying safe in the strongest parts of the base, Kul'thran watched the horrors of the Legion unleashed upon the Horde. However, in the end, Thrall and Jaina won, and Grom sacrificed his life to save the orcs from the Legion's grasp. He had never seen it, but Kul'thran had heard of Grom's courage against the Pit Lord Mannoroth, which led to the deaths of both combatants. Thrall said that in their new home, he would create a shrine for Grom's noble sacrifice.

Right now, Thrall and the others had ascended a large mountain called "Hyjal," now uniting themselves with a race called the "Night Elves," who had apparently defeated the legion before, in order to protect the World Tree from the grasp of an evil demon named Archimonde. He didn't understand all the details, but all he knew now that he was helping build the new home for the orcs and the trolls while the others fought at Nordrassil (the name of the World Tree).

The young troll was busy working on one of the shacks when he saw another troll run up to him. He wore rugged pants and carried a quiver of spears on his back. On his head, his green hair was shaved into sharp mohawk. In his hands, he held a blood-stained spear that was broken. It looked like it was once a berserker's spear, but all that was left was half of it, some wood and the spearhead.

Kul'thran stopped working. He turned to face the warrior troll, curious as to why this spear was being brought to him. He was shorter compared to the warrior, yet that troll knelt before Kul'thran as a token of sorrowful peace. Something was wrong; a troll only did this to another when something important or dire had occurred.

"Kul'thran," the warrior troll spoke. "I be havin' bad news fer you. Mah'kajor is dead." Kul'thran's eyes popped open wide, startled. "He died fightin' in the battle of Mt. Hyjal, savin' a night elf's life." Kul'thran was speechless. "Here, take dis," the warrior troll said, offering the blood-stained spear to him. "This was all we could find of Mah'kajor after da battle. His corpse haff been mutilated."

Taking the spear slowly from the warrior troll's hands, Kul'thran nodded. "Tank you..." was all he could say.

The warrior troll stood up, nodded at the young troll and then left.

Kul'thran fought back the tears of pain; Mah'kajor had been his best friend throughout his entire life. The berserker had taught Kul'thran many things, like how to throw a spear, how to be a strong warrior (though that never worked out too well due to Kul'thran's lack of strength), how to be brave, and most importantly, how to be happy in the most dismal of times.

This was one of those times; Kul'thran could cry all he wanted, but his tears would not bring back his dead friend. He thought back to the last moments he shared with Mah'kajor. Kul'thran had been allowed to go see the preparations at Mt. Hyjal before the demons and the undead arrived.

§

There was a great amount of tension as the orcs, humans, and night elves fervently fortified their bases for the inevitable assault. Kul'thran felt out of place as he watched the orc peons quickly, yet precisely construct the needed buildings for defense. He wasn't a warrior despite his brave attack on the Sea Witch so long ago, so he felt worthless on the battlefield. Nevertheless, Kul'thran was excited and prayed that the allied groups would have victory over the Legion.

Suddenly, he was tapped on the shoulder. Turning around, Kul'thran was face to face with Mah'kajor, who was grinning mischievously. "'ey, brother," the berserker said. "Wanna see da night elf base? Dey got some whacky voodoo over dere."

This aroused Kul'thran's curiosity. "Whacky voodoo, eh?" He had never seen the night elves up close before. However, Vol'jin had told him to stay at the base. "Hmm... but Vol'jin dun be wantin' me ta leave."

"Bah. What happen'd ta yer sense of adventure, mon? Come on, we be takin' a short look and den return ta da base, ja?" Mah'kajor winked.

Kul'thran grinned back. "All right. Let's go den!"

"Dat's da spirit," Mahka'jor said approvingly, patting Kul'thran on the shoulder. "Follow me."

The two trolls made their way up the mountain to the very base of the World Tree where the night elf base was situated. They took a route off to the side to avoid going through the main entrance of the base. There, Kul'thran could not believe what he saw. He had heard rumors that the night elf war buildings were trees, but he never expected it to be true.

Yet it was. There, he saw tall trees with gnarled arms, and glowing eyes. Each tree seemed to be rooted to the ground, except one. It was a smaller tree, walking slowly towards another group of similar-looking ones. After awhile, the tree sat itself down and rooted itself into ground next to its 'brothers.' Because they were all placed at the entrance of the base, Kul'thran assumed that they were guardian trees of some sort, ready to protect the base from danger like the orcish burrows or watch towers would.

There were two type of buildings that Kul'thran recognized as 'normal.' One looked like a fancy human building with arching roofs. The other type was a big group of large, stone wells, filled to the brim with shimmering water (or at least, he thought it was water). He thought it would be a great place to take a bath.

Then there were the night elves themselves. The majority of the them were female, and for the first time, Kul'thran set his eyes on night elf women. All of them were armored to the teeth, save their heads, which were protected by face-guards instead of helmets. He thought they were the most beautiful creatures he had ever seen in his life. This was very strange because he was troll, and they were elves. In the eastern kingdoms, there was a mutual hatred between the high elves and the trolls. Both sides hated the other, and despite these night elves being a slightly different type of elf, it would seem abnormal for a troll to think kindly of them.

Despite this strange reaction that was occurring inside of Kul'thran's heart, the troll just gave himself deeper and deeper into the beauty of the night elves. He was so entranced that he didn't realize Mah'kajor was trying to get his attention by nudging him in the shoulder. After several nudges, Kul'thran felt shaken and looked sharply at the berserker.

"What'cha starin' at? Ya look like yer in heaven or someting, mon."

Kul'thran knew he was blushing the moment he thought of the elves again. "I was jus'... surpris'd by... umm... da buildings! Jah, da buildings. Dat's all," he lied.

Mah'kajor laughed. "I dun believe ya. Anymon dun drool over trees. I be bettin' ya were lookin' at someting else. Eh?"

Kul'thran groaned. "All right, all right. I was starin' at da women 'ere. Dey're... all so... pretty."

Mah'kajor raised a brow. "Dey're also elves, ya know."

"Not high elves, though!" Kul'thran protested, looking at the berserker intently. "Dey dun be our enemies, mon!"

Mah'kajor chuckled and patted the young troll on the back strongly. "Yeah, yeah. Dat's true. Tell me, Kul'thran, which one of dem do ja like da most?"

He couldn't believe Mah'kajor had asked him that question. Now, the young troll knew he was being teased. Neverthless, he turned his head again and looked upon the warriors (or warrioresses?). Then, he noticed a particular elf that was fairly close to him and Mah'kajor, but hadn't noticed them yet. She was thin, yet strong-looking, her glowing, star-like eyes were a light pink, and on her cheeks, across her eyes were crescent, facing markings. She had royal blue hair, set in a short ponytail. The night elf was in full armor, yet had not fully armed herself like the other warriors.

As she sheathed her sword, she noticed Kul'thran staring at her. A foul expression crossed her face and she looked away from him. The night elf said something in his direction in her native tongue that he didn't understand before walking away. It sounded hostile, though, and caught Kul'thran off-guard.

"Dat one, eh?" Mah'kajor said, making Kul'thran lose his train of thought. "Ya know, girls dun like it when ya stare at dem."

"Well, you asked, mon!" the young troll countered. "Such an embarrassin' question, too. But... yer right... I do like dat one." He suddenly felt bad. Kul'thran had been literally staring from the sidelines at these women for minutes, almost like a pervert. Crap. That's not what I meant to do. He placed his palm on his forehead and groaned at himself for being so disrespectful.

"What be wrong?" Mah'kajor asked.

"I be feelin' like a pervert, mon," Kul'thran admitted. "'ere, I've been starin' at dese elves fer awhile, not tinkin' about what dey tink or feel about dis."

Mah'kajor chuckled. "Well, it only be natural, Kul'thran. Dun feel too bad about it. Dey'll forget about it very soon." He leaned over and whispered into the young troll's ear: "ya picked a real cute one, though."

This caused Kul'thran's cheeks to warm up. "Oh geez, Mah'kajor. Do ya haff ta embarrass me like dat?"

"What are friends for, eh?" The berserker grinned and then laughed again, patting Kul'thran on the shoulder. "Though, dere's someting else ya should see. Look dere," he said, pointing towards the gigantic World Tree. Kul'thran looked and saw a tall male night elf, wearing horns on his head and carrying a large, blue, and curved staff. He looked very wise, sage-like, and from what Kul'thran could feel spiritually, this night elf was very powerful.

"Who is dat?" Kul'thran asked.

"Dat's Malfurion Stormrage. He's da night elf Archdruid, and leader of da night elves."

Kul'thran had already heard of Stormrage, however. He was a powerful person who Thrall had said that the presence of the spirits was very strong around him. Kul'thran felt amazed, stunned even, to see the Archdruid in person. "Wow... so... dat's him." Stormrage didn't seem to notice them at all; he was busy speaking with one of the female warriors. Yet, still Kul'thran was puzzled. "I thought dat dere be another, though; another leader."

"Ah. Ya mean da Priestess Tyrande Whisperwind?" Mah'kajor asked. "I heard dat she be down at da human base, makin' preparations dere."

The made sense; Archimonde was likely to hit the humans's base first since it was located at the base of the mountain.

"So, had yer fill of da elves?" Mah'kajor asked with a grin. "I told ya dey haff some whacky voodoo up 'ere."

"Yeah... da trees and everyting," Kul'thran responded, sounding impressed. Though, he had not seen what the night elves could do, nor what the Archdruid's power was. In time, he would discover what those were. "Yeah, let's go back. Vol'jin is gunna kill me if he finds out dat I left."

"Right."

Thus, the two trolls left the night elf complex. Kul'thran took one look back, to see if he could catch that one night elf warrior he saw earlier, but it was in vain, she was lost from his sight.

When they returned to the base, they found Vol'jin waiting near a burrow for them. "Kul'thran...!" he growled. "Where haff you been, young mon!? What did I tell ya earlier!?"

Kul'thran sighed as he walked over toe Vol'jin shamefully. "Not ta leave da base."

"Dat's right and--"

"Wait, wait!" Mah'kajor interjected, running between Kul'thran and Vol'jin. "Let me be takin' da blow. I be da one who dragg'd him up dere. I wanted to show him da night elves."

The young troll felt stunned, yet not surprised. Mah'kajor often stood up for him when he was in trouble. He felt gratitude towards his true friend for taking Vol'jin's ire for Kul'thran's sake.

§

Kul'thran had returned to Sen'jin Village on a raptor at that time because the Legion had been drawing close. Kudos were too slow, and he needed to be somewhere safe.

Staring down at the bloodstained spear, he let his tears drop on the edge of blade. The berserker was dead now and had gone the way of the earth. Kul'thran reflected on their friendship. Even if Mah'kajor was dead, they would be friends forever; that bond would never be broken. That consoled him inside. Yes, there was still hope.

Setting down the spear next to his feet. Kul'thran returned to work, with a dark, yet hopeful countenance around him.