Awake

She screamed for years. She screamed for what felt like an eternity. There was darkness, all-engulfing and endless. It surrounded her.

She was alone.

She had seen the female troll's eyes turn murderous and seen the flash of a blade and then felt pain. The pain ended and she felt relief. Peace, for the first time in her life.
As she lay on the floor bleeding to death she had not felt pain, nor anger, nor regret. All she had felt was relief.

Then the darkness came. Her ancestors were not there to welcome her.

And so she had screamed. Alone in life and alone in death. No one cared for her, no one had ever cared for her and now no one ever would.

After what seemed like an eternity her screaming grew louder. Something was taken from her. A portion of her soul was sucked from her and she heard the laughing of a mad troll.
Still, she sobbed like a child. The laughter was another person, she was not alone. This fact made her cry out, desperately seeking this mad troll's attention.

But the laughter ended and she was alone once more. So she screamed again, and was alone in the dark.

She screamed so much her throat hurt. The pain made her scream more.

Then awareness dawned.

Pain. She had not felt pain in an eternity.
Pain meant life.

The screaming stopped and became choking laughter.

Naked as the day she was born Guk sat up. She was in Durotar, she would recognise this barren wasteland with her eyes closed.
She didn't stop to think on what had happened, she felt only animal relief that her torment was over.
She crawled until she could stand upright and limp and then walked once her legs remembered what to do.

Guk walked naked towards Razor Hill and stopped outside the pallisade.

"Help me! Please help me!" she cried.

Soon a figure emerged through the pallisade's gateway. A female orc, dressed in a fine robe and bearing a crude staff surmounted by a bear's paw.
"By the ancestors... What has happened to you?" the stranger asked, staring in horror at Guk.
"Trolls... T..t...trolls. Trolls caught me." Guk gasped.
"Hellscream's balls... Let me help you."

And with that the female walked closer, hands outstretched. Guk sniffed the air, catching the scent of ozone.
"Shaman." she hissed.

Guk leapt at the shaman, barreling her over and tearing into her throat with her tusks.
The scuffle ended as quickly as it began.

Minutes later Guk walked the road leading to the Barrens, clad in a new robe and leaning on a staff surmounted by a bear's paw for support.

She would find the laughing troll. She would reclaim what he took from her.
She would find the female troll who killed her and she would make her beg for death.

 

The tauren died sobbing. He was out hunting when Guk found him, and was more than happy to help the bedraggled looking orc.
She needed answers, and knew no other way of getting them.
So the tauren hunter had died beneath her knife, slowly.

But, she now knew where to start looking. Grim and the Blood Wolves had been seen both at the Red Rocks and in the abandoned quilboar village near Camp Narache.

Her first stop was Red Rocks. Her enchanted carpet flew her safely to the top of the cliffs, where she found the camp abandoned.
It had clearly been inhabited, but not for several weeks.

Irritated and tired Guk had re-lit the old campfire and sat down.

She smelt something. Sweat and ozone, burnt air. Shaman...
Guk turned and saw a figure she recognised. Grim's mentor, Drek Skysplitter.
The huge male stood there, glowering at her through the eyes of his wolf-mask.
"And you are?" he growled, his voice sounding like rocks being ground together.
"I know you shaman. Drek Skysplitter. I am Guk."
The male tilted his head, staring at her. "Grim's sister?"
"Yes. It seems we both seek my brother."

They sat by the fire, talking.
He asked her a question, "Why do you seek Grim?"

"Because I want his help. He is family and is honour-bound to help me if I require it."

"What help do you need from him?"

Guk stared at the fire, wincing at her memories. "I was wronged by the Marauders and I want revenge. I want their Chieftain in chains and enslaved. I want that bitch-troll naked and broken at my feet and I want that witch-doctor castrated, blinded and kept alive to suffer."

Drek shook his head slowly, "They must have wronged you greatly. Grim will not agree to help you with this unless the wrong they did was truly dishonourable."

More than just the fire was warming Guk. She couldn't remember the last time someone simply sat still and had a conversation with her.
Guk found herself sneaking glances at the orc, trying to imagine what he looked like beneath his wolf-mask. He reminded her of her mate, the father of her child, Adag the Frostwolf. So big and imposing, so confident.
Yes, this orc was sterner and laughed less but she found herself drawn to him nonetheless.
Not only that, he had shared her experiences. He too had... died? Or gone elsewhere? She was still not sure what had happened to her but nor was he.
He too was searching for Grim.
She edged closer to him, hoping he would not mind.

He didn't even notice, so she stood. Nervous now, she decided it was time for action.
"Grim and his Wolves have not been here in weeks. I questioned a tauren earlier and he mentioned this place and the abandoned quillboar village near to Camp Narache."

The male grunted and turned to stare at her. "What do you mean by questioned?"

Guk's eye twitched uncomfortably, "I merely questioned him. He was happy to answer." she said, and the tauren's last sobs as her knife flayed him echoed through her mind.

She unrolled her enchanted rug and sat on it, lying down and stretching, hoping the male would notice her body.
He didn't. He merely clambered onto the back of his wolf.
Sighing, she moved on and Drek followed.

An hour or two's ride saw them at the abandoned quillboar village. It had not been abandoned long.
Kor'Kron corpses littered the ground, as well as several blocks of ice containing orcs.
Guk wandered between the corpses and ice blocks, stopping before one in the centre of the village. She tapped the block, grinning at the noise it made and then grinning wider as she recognised the orc trapped inside.
"Skysplitter! Here! This one is Frosthowl, a Deathwalker aligned with Grim. His second in command if the rumours speak true."

"Should we free him?" Drek asked.

Guk scoffed, glaring at him. "No you dolt. He is likely warded. But... Grim cannot be long gone, or he would have come back for him."

Drek grunted again and strode into one of the abandoned huts. "Paperwork." he called, prompting her to follow him.

Guk peered at the papers "Meaningless paperwork. Orders. Supplies. Feeding coffee to the hozen. What is a hozen?"

"Perhaps it is the name of one of his Wolves?" Drek shrugged. "But look here Guk. This one is useful. 'We travel to Grom'Gol, meet us there and bring the hozen."

So they had discovered another clue as to Grim's whereabouts, though whether he would still be there or not was a different matter altogether.

Drek snarled at Guk, "I am not stepping into one of your damned portals. They are foul and I have no wish to be corrupted."

"You idiot male! They are harmless!"
"Tell that to Draenor."

"Our only other choice is to ride to Ratchet and catch a boat to Booty Bay then." she growled.

"Now who is the idiot? We simply head to Orgrimmar and board a zeppelin."

Guk shook her head in dismay. "Do you not listen to the rumours? Orgrimmar is a death trap. The Kor'Kron have it locked down tight. Death squads roam the streets, all it takes is a whisper in the Kor'Kron's ear that your neighbour speaks ill of the Warchief and the neighbour disappears, along with his family."

Drek shrugged, "What does this have to do with us?"

"We are strangers! We would be rounded up instantly!" she hissed between clenched teeth.

"Then you portal and I will catch a boat at Ratchet. I have no desire to travel with you anyway. You only wish to use me to get in Grim's good books."

She shrieked with frustration, clenching her fists. "You fool! I am fearful that travelling alone would be too dangerous. I wish for company and protection."

The shaman stared at her, unmoving. "What use is fear?"

"It keeps us alive you arsehole!"

Drek shrugged again. "Hurry up then. I do not have all night."
With that he spurred his wolf on and rode rapidly out of sight, causing Guk to struggle with her enchanted rug.

Replaced. Replaced already.

Guk sat very still, trying to control the twitch in her face. Rage filled her, she was brimming with it.
The shaman had instantly started panting after that bitch Odelka. As soon as she had appeared, younger than Guk, Drek had turned on her. He had accused her of being aggressive, of being rude and all she had done was show the appropriate wariness of a potentially dangerous stranger.

She had travelled with them, despite the idiot young girl leading them in circles. She had followed the, despite Drek no longer having any interest in her presence.
All the while she had been daydreaming of Odelka's death. Daydreaming of the young female screaming and begging for death, while Drek watched, unable to help and knowing his turn was next.

As soon as they had arrived in the ruins of Lordaeron she had used her spellcraft to disappear, to leave them to their own company. They did not want her around anyway.
She would do this alone, as she always did. No one had ever helped her but she had always coped.

She would follow them in secret, follow them to her brother and turn him against the two orcs. She would turn the Clan against their own.

Vengeance would be hers, vengeance for the slight shown her by the shaman and the girl. Then when her brother and his Blood Wolves trusted her she would unleash them on her true targets...