The Adventures of Dibykali the Darkspear Orc!

[Jonoth]

Chapter 1: The Big, Fat Sale
Note: Removed references to her prosthetic leg, as it has since been retconned.

"So dis be da place dat da mon want meh come ta, but da chichimon no show him face."

Dibykali awaits in the inn at the Crossroads, a stack of leather garments at her side and her faithful raptor Samsonus not far from the doorway, chewing up a fairly large steak. She is growing impatient, her one good eye darting around hoping to spot her customer. She reminds herself of the time she lost her other eye on the Echo Isles.

"Good ting meh gat enough sense ta stay alert. Gotta keep what meh still gat."

She shuffles, growing weary of waiting. As she begins to stand, a rather undersized orc enters the inn. Smile curling her lips, she speaks, "Chu was seconds away from losin' jah garments ta some oddah mon." He replies with a smile "Then you weren't going to get paid, fake troll." She laughs, having grown used to people's remarks about her unusual accent over the years. She shows him the clothes, which consist of thick pants, boots, and a long overcoat made of kodohide.

The customer nods in approval, pulling some silver pieces from his coin sack and handing them to Diby, "These will do quite nicely. They look almost tough enough to take a knife." Dibykali nods, "At da least if chu get bitten, dere be a chance fa chu notta bleed ta deat'." The customer looks over Dibykali, noting her various old injuries, "You seem like you've had plenty of experience to know, so I'll take your word for it." She nods, half smiling before walking towards the entrance. He chuckles, calling out to her, "What if I'm not satisfied with this? Can I get my coin back?" She turns her head a moment, a sly grin on her face, "If chu can catch meh first, boi." She winks as she hops onto her raptor, riding off. The customer can't help but a whistle, as he examines his garments again before heading off as well.

[Jonoth]

Chapter 2: I Used To Love 'im
Note: Check out this thread for a background on this story

"Joffy...chu gone too soon, mon."

Dibykali looks out over the port at Ratchet. She remembers Jof'zert, and the day she first met him. She had returned to Sen'jin carrying his sister's dead body in her arms. She was a Zufli, as Diby would later discover her own mother was. Diby never expected that she would make such a close ally from such a sordid affair, especially as she tended to keep to herself. But Jof'zert was a Troll of honor and family, and she would soon come to both befriend and respect him.

"Him was fishamon...no wonda him give me food fa t'ought now."

Diby last saw her friend in the jungles of Stranglethorn. After a search, she found his slumped corpse. A shell of what was her friend, now a clue in the larger mystery she was trailing. She would eventually find his killer and deliver her vicious justice, but it did not bring her friend back. Time has passed, but the wounds are still fresh.

"Muddah say dat in voodoo chu eat da dead so dem spirits no haunt afta. Maybe since meh no do dis, dat be why Joffy followin me in meh heart an mind now."

Dibykali's thoughts now switch to her mother, and her offer to teach Diby the ways of the people that raised her. Diby knows she is not a Troll, but sometimes wonders whether she is an Orc either, even if one by birth. To Dibykali, she is a hunter, the only decision being to continue her hunt as is, or to seek greater prey. She thinks about Jof'zert again, the simple fisherman. Should she follow the path of her ghost, the path of her blood, or the path of her legacy? She ponders as she heads back towards the Barrens, Samsonus in tow.

[Jonoth]

Chapter 3: To Be, Or Not To Be...Orc

The wind flies past Dibykali as she stands on a hill overlooking Oshu'gun. Her travels with the Stormshade Clan have led her to Outland, attempting to unite one of its broken tribes of Orcs. She prays for Shadra to be on their side, and wonders if she will find the time for her own purpose.

She recalls her talk with Kol'nagrom, the questions about what she remembers of her parents in order to help her get in touch with her roots. Suddenly, she is back in the camps, an excitable little girl in a sea of lethargy. Her parents smile, the only time they are afforded happiness in this prison partly of their own making. Barely visible under the sleeve of his shirt, she sees the tattoo of the eye, and what was originally blood coming from it. In this camp, the drop becomes a tear for all their people, a cry for freedom in the form of a whisper on the wind. She was too young to understand the time before, and never questioned how her people ended up in this place. She only felt that there was more to the world than the surrounding fences, and she was determined to someday find out what was out there.

It is night time. The guards are half awake, the Orcs too lazy to try anything. There hasn't been even an attempt at freedom in some time. Dibykali braves to beat the odds. She darts for the fence, feeling the rush of air as she gets higher and higher! She is so close to freedom she can taste it!

The gunshot is loud. It breaks the wooden ledge she was reaching for, narrowly missing her hand. She falls to the ground, and the soldiers surround her, guns trained at her skull. One calls out, "It's just a little girl! Send her back to her parents with a warning." Another soldier grabs her arm roughly, as he drags her back. She is too shocked to fight, the impact of the bullet ingrained in her head. The soldier shakes his head, "Don't even know why we bother. Should kill them now before they breed again."

The soldier tells the parents that next time they will not miss their shot, and that if she was found running again they would join her in death. They scold the child and send her to bed. She dreams of the gunshot, waking up the next morning in a cold sweat. Her father holds her, telling her that she is the only hope he has left, and that he could not bear losing her. She hugs him tight, the eye on his arm resting just under her chin. She looks up to see her father's eye nearly identical, a tear coming down the once proud Orc's face. She knew this wasn't the man he was, only the man the camps made of him. She asks him to tell her about the old days. He kisses her forehead, and simply answers, "The old days will some day return. And you will be here to see them. I can only hope I will be, too." He takes her by the hand, as they go off to get breakfast.

She is back on the hill in Nagrand. Her left eye leaks a tear in memory of the man she had forgotten until now. Her empty right socket leaks a tear of blood in memory of the man he had been. She whistles for her raptor, mounting and riding off to prepare for the return of the old days.

[Jonoth]

Chapter 4: Raptors Are A Girl's Best Friend

She sat squatted in the tall grass, her eye fixed on the zhevra. Her spears sat in their sheathe, her fingers wrapped around a bow for the first time in a long time. Dibykali permitted herself a little nervousness, and a little excitement as well. She could feel the breath of Samsonus next to her, a feeling long denied her after he was battered and beaten in Outland. The raptor eyed the same prize as she did, and in those eyes she could see that he had not forgotten how to hunt. The only question on her mind was whether he had regained the strength he once had, the speed of a killing machine. Would his body still keep up with the mind behind it?

She did not allow the thought to persist. Instead she fletched the arrow and widened her step to the side of her friend. Her muscles tensed in her arms and legs, her brow furled in concentration. The zhevra was still unaware, but once they took off, instinct would take over and the striped creature would fight and flee for its survival. In an instant, with her upper body still prepared to shoot, she swung her leg over the raptor and perched on top, years of practice signaling to Samsonus that it was time to fly.

The zhevra perked at the rustling grass, then took off as the duo punched out of it in a flurry. Samsonus was steady on his feet, even with the added weight. Dibykali prepared to shoot, their meal caught in her sights, when she realized that the zhevra was getting closer and closer. She silently mouthed a 'thank you' to her favored Loa, Sha'dra, as well as her mother Kela'rin. She hopped off the raptor mid-run, and with a roll she was back on her feet as Samsonus pulled ahead faster and faster. She could have taken the zhevra down herself, but to her, the prize was for her friend.

When she caught up, she could see Samsonus pulling the beast by its neck, its entrails hanging from a stomach that had been slashed by the raptor's claws. Diby had not smiled that toothily in a long time. She bound the zhevra to keep its innards in, and hoisted it onto Samsonus' back. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and with a firm pat they started the walk home to Sen'jin.