Chapter One

Hello, my name is Jendai, but you can call me Jen for short. My dream is to become the greatest rogue ever. Fuckers don't think I can do it. Won't even let me study with them because I'm a Tauren. I'll show them how wrong they are. I'm starting out on an adventure with my best friend. Now where the hell is she?

Currently, I was crouched beneath a bush. A few feet away, my prey began preening the feathers under its wing. Slowly, so slowly, I took a step silently forward. The bird didn't have any idea what was about to hit it. Suddenly something went WHAM, very close by. My prey, startled, took flight. I leapt after it in desperation, but my claws swished harmlessly through its tail feathers.

"There you are, Kara! I've been looking all over for you!" called an innocent voice from the same vicinity as the wham that had lost me my lunch. Growling low in my throat, I turned to face Jen, who had just fallen out of a nearby tree, where she had apparently been convinced she would find me.

"I'd been stalking that bird for twenty minutes, bitch! I was THIS close!" I yelled, resuming night elf form. "And haven't I told you you can't climb trees? You have hooves for crying out loud. Call that stealthy?!"

Perhaps I should introduce myself. My name is Karaethon, Kara to my friends. I'm a night elf druid.

"It's not my fucking fault you didn't tell me where the fuck you were going! Anyway, stupid tree's too small! If they made trees bigger I'd be able to climb them fine!" I stomped over to Kara, hefting my "dagger". In actuality it was bigger than some of those dinky two-handed swords the blood elves used.

Kara and I were nearly the same height. We'd been friends practically as long as I can remember. Ever since I woke from the emerald dream and the Cenarion Circle stationed me in (country where Taurens are from, please fill in, I'm stupid) Mulgore. I met a young Tauren girl who had gotten quite lost looking for one of their tribal spirits of some sort. In fact, she was so young I got the distinct impression she hadn't been sent looking. I took her home to her mother, who happened to be the tribe's druid. Though she studied the healing arts and I sought* oneness with my animal brethren, Cheesy identified with me as a fellow druid. I spent many years living in the wilderness nearby, with the occasional civilized meal at their home.

And, of course, since her mother knew nothing of stealth, Jen relied on me to teach her the ways of the rogue. Or at least of the cat, I never had proper rogue training either. Over the years she progressed nicely, given the fact she was a 7 foot tall cow.

Well, I decided that if a giant dinosaur could be sneaky, why not me? Although Kara had helped a lot with my early training, I was really interested in learning the poisons that only the rogue guild knew. If they wouldn't accept me, fine. But I was going to get those recipes one way or another.

Although Tauren look like cow people, they have the sharp teeth belonging to a carnivore* and I was getting pretty hungry. "Come on, sorry the stupid branch broke. Let's go find something else to eat." I crouched down on all fours and began attempting to stalk silently through the dry, noisy grass like an enormous puma*.

With a sigh, I shape shifted back into a cat and went with her. Like I said earlier, Jen did very well given her natural disadvantages, but still had a very hard time making herself inconspicuous. We spent over an hour trying to catch an antelope. In the end she had to pretend to be one of the herd while I sneaked up from behind.

It was time to find a rogue who would teach her, and we decided to set off immediately. We headed back to camp to tell her mother.

I burst into the spacious tent I had lived in all my life, the floorboards shaking as I bounced with excitement. "Mom! I'm going out with Kara now! I might possibly be back eventually someday probably, okay?!" I ran up and gave her a kiss on the cheek. She looked incredibly startled by the sudden burst of noise and couldn't seem to comprehend what I'd just told her. "Uh, okay honey. Dinner's at 6. Have...fun?"

Kara had been reluctant to follow me inside, and was just peeking through the flap at the ruckus I was causing. Not noticing her as I bolted out the door, I sent her flying in my haste. "There you are Kara! what are you doing on the ground?" I picked up the stunned night elf and flung her over my shoulder as I happily began skipping off in a random direction towards my future.