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This tale describes what happened to his mate, the power the loa had bestowed on him and the ultimate price for such. Most of this was only told to a very few trolls who were with him at the farm in Arathi, so it's pretty much still not publically known, some of which won't be known at all for obvious reasons.

Timeline: This takes place between Zalazane's betrayal, Gonk and the retake of Echo Isles. The tale will tell how it all happened on that fateful day.

Paragraphs in bold/italic is what goes on during the firecamp at the farm, the rest is the story as in the past.

***

_ Looking up into the night sky, Jat'von returned his gaze back to the other trolls as they stood outside of the barn, looking about they couldn't see any of the peons at all, most had settled down for the night and he nodded for them to follow him. _

_ Finding a secluded place, all of them looked about carefully, the entire area wasn't safe anymore but after checking there was no sign of hostiles about and they settled down. _

_ "No doubt they're all busy sieging Hammerfall miles away..." Jat'von said, sitting down as he pulled out a flask, popped the top off and took a sip of the contents inside. Wiping his mouth he placed the flask onto the soft grass beside him and looked up into the moon again for a moment. _

_ "After..." Jat'von said and looked about again at the others, he didn't know what actually happened but it did leave him with memories he had hoped to have forgotten. "There's something I need to explain so please bear with me..." He saw the others nod and he began... _

***

In the beginning Jat'von was born into the tribe while they were still holding out against the rest of the jungle troll tribes in Stranglethorn. Sen'Jin was the chief and of course all newcomers were welcomed into the tribe by a happy ritual of joyful dancing, singing and for some a few tests of strength and cunning.

Jav'Ju leant in as he looked over the shoulder of Seh'Jul and placed a hand on her opposite shoulder, Jat'von was curled up within her arms, sleeping with a thumb in his mouth. She looked up at him and smiled. "We have been blessed by Shirvellah. He will be strong, fearless..."

Jav'ju nodded his head back and brushed his fingers through his mate's hair. "Yes, I see big things for him, not to mention who he'll be with, in the future."

Both looked to the other side past all the trolls that were dancing as not only was there one born this month but another. Both parents were there sitting and watching as they saw a witchdoctor continue with his ritual before approaching them. "It won't be long for our turn..." Jav'ju said, looking down again at their son.

So much pride were in Jat'von parents that they did not see a younger whelp walk up and grasp his hand onto his mothers arm and looked at the small whelp in her arms. "That my brother?" He asked of which she nodded. "Yes, he is your brother Tav'Jo." Tav'jo smiled and gave a smirk. "He looks chubby..."

"So did you a few years ago..." Sen'Jul said kindly as Tav'Jo blushed and looked away before skirting around to go behind his mother as the witchdoctor approached...

***

Jat'von smiled as he looked around at the others and took another sip from his flask. "I was told that I was given the blessing of Shirvallah, blood from the prey his children hunt and the fur of one of his own that died to make way for me. But anyways, I trained to be a witchdoctor until we were forced to move..."

"It was several years later and of course two moves that the tribe found themselves in an uncertain position. Not only had they had lost Sen'Jin and his son Vol'Jin had taken over but they had also sworn to join the orcs led by Thrall. The tribe settled down on the isles and had started to make it their home while the orcs had moved onwards to the larger land in the distance. Having lost their parents, Jat'von and Vee'cha decided to bond with each other shortly after arriving on Echo Isles..."

***

Vee'cha leant against Jat'von as they watched Tav'jo fight with another troll. She smirked as she placed her hand onto his and gave it a gentle squeeze. "Never rests does he?"

Jat'von shook his head. "No, doubt he will either what with attacks we've been having from the humans." Jat'von looked around and turned back to Vee'cha again. "Even Zalazane is getting annoyed, was rumours he and Vol'jin had heated words..."

***

"And so..." Jat'von said as he looked around. "We all know what happened eventually. Zalazane betrayed the tribe and went against Vol'Jin's wishes." He paused as he and the others started to put together a small camp fire which was quickly lit as thin wisps of smoke drifted up into the air. "That is where I spoke to my brother for the last time... It wasn't a happy discussion..."

***

Tav'jo frowned as he looked at Jat'von and Vee'cha. "Are you serious? We're leaving the isles; we can't go up against him. He is turning our own against us."

Jat'von frowned back. "This is our home; we've been moving far too many times, loa sake! After learning on leaving Stranglethorn... How many times do we have to show weakness and fall back?"

"Woman, will you talk sense into him or are you just there for when you actually make a whelp." Vee'cha blinked but Jat'von was already there as he landed a fist to the side of his brother's head.

"Don't you talk to her like that, we're staying and I'll tell you why as well!" Jat'von glared at Tav'jo as he watched his eldest brother shake. "We volunteered, someone has to stay here and find a way to stop him and before you even say it." Jat'von paused as he looked at his brother directly into the eyes. "I'm not going to get caught. But I am not going to move again either."

Tav'jo sneered at Jat'von. "And that is your final decision then?" Jat'von nodded his head as Tav'jo turned around. "Then we have nothing else to discuss then, you're on your own..."

Jat'von went to place a hand on his brother's shoulder but he found it being shrugged off as he saw his brother walk off. "Tav..." Jat'von sighed as he looked at Vee'cha who snorted then saw the look on Jat'von's face and relented before speaking. "He is wrong..."

Jat'von nodded as they both picked up what they managed to get and while most of the trolls moved towards the beach to leave the isles. He and Vee'cha went back into the jungle with the others that had decided to stay.

***

_ "It was the last time I spoke to him..." Jat'von said as he looked at the others around the fire. "And the last time I would ever see him alive as well, but those that know... He left me a message... A tablet and was sorry and that he was proud of my decision..." He smiled for a moment and shook his head. "How it ended up in the hands of gobbo's though... That's another story however but again most have heard that one... So let me continue on..." _

_ Thunder sounded in the distance as he turned his head to where he saw a faint flash of lightning and returned his gaze back again to the others. "We spent most of our time watching what was going on and we weren't happy in what we saw either." _

_ Picking up the flask again he took a bigger swig and wiped his mouth once more with the palm of his hand. "Outnumbered completely, we couldn't stop it and we even lost a few who did get caught. So some decided we should ask the loa for help and help came... Though for a price..." _

_ "What I am about to tell you is after we had been taught to change forms from Gonk, some other loa weren't happy but deals were made to appease them, even today I appease Shirvallah and Bethekk. Even though what happened, I learnt that they're powerful and our enemies should fear them." He paused and looked about again, studying each pair of eyes that was staring back at him. "This tale I'm about to say tonight isn't a happy one. I would not hold a grudge against anyone to not be about to hear it... It started one summer's day..." _

***

It had been a few months since Vee'cha told him that she was expecting and Jat'von was at that time the happiest troll he could be, considering the circumstances. They had risked a few times to shift back out of their tiger forms to discuss the matter on whether they should stay or leave and it had been pressing on his mind ever since.

A few beams of light coming from the thick overgrown jungle rooftop of the isle that they were both on signalled the start of another day, that and Jat'von, flicked an ear as he heard something approach and slowly got up, his body shifted against Vee'cha as she began to stir awake. He stretched himself slowly as he lowered his back to get out from the low branch and ventured into the small clearing and yawned.

Jat'von looked up and saw that other tiger and he saw the eyes staring back at him before giving a small roar of which he returned and saw the tiger turn around and leave vanishing into the thick overgrowth.

Vee'cha came out and walked along before she ducked her head and rubbed under his chin, then his neck. Following the same motion he nuzzled her gently before both jumped and ran alongside each other and playfully batted each other's face with a paw.

Panting he came close and nuzzled again, rubbing his head against hers as he walked alongside her, their bodies rubbed before he turned around and returned the motion and then he started to walk off. Vee'cha gave a grunt which made Jat'von turn around and he roared back before they both nodded their heads at the same time and Vee'cha saw Jat'von shift through the foliage and out of sight.

Slinking through the thick overgrowth, Jat'von slowly made his way through the jungle as his ears perked about to listen to noises around him, monkey's overhead in the tree's that called out warning shouts when they saw him. He looked up at one before slowly moving on again as he passed a snake slowly waking up as it hung on a branch.

The smell of water reached his nose as he pushed aside a large leaf with his nose and walked through into the clearing to where a large waterfall and pool that down below. He turned around slightly and began to make his way down the stone ledges. Pausing as he arched his body, rocked slightly and then jumped to land perfectly on the ledge below.

Even with the sound of water crashing down, his ears turned to hear the fain sound of drums playing further down the river and he began to approach with more caution, crouching more as he made his way through the thick foliage until he came to a stop and shifted about on his belly, feeling the leaves brush over his tummy fur until he laid perfectly still at the outskirts of the village itself and looked at the trolls within.

Jat'von waited all day as he watched the controlled trolls move about. He never moved a muscle as he remained hidden within the thick foliage of the jungle around the village as he saw a glimpse of Zalazane, guarded with few of the mind controlled trolls and he felt hatred well up inside him but he remained still and watched.

Hours went past as the heat increased before the shadows began to get longer and the orange glow of sunset began to shine down on the clearing and Jat'von still remained with his watchful eyes, unmoving as night came and he could see fires being lit around the village.

It was in the early hours of the morning that awoken Jat'von as the village came alive with the sound of a troll being carried by others. Growling he watched as another poor soul was brought up to where Zalazane was and saw the ritual carried out. Digging his claws into the ground, he made a slight move to go forwards but he stopped and settled down again. It was foolhardy to try anything and all that he could do was watch and wonder where the rest of the tribe was.

Seeing the poor troll get turned by Zalazane made his stomach turn as he fumed in anger, enough to make the tip of his tail twitch back and forth. Jat'von fumed on why it was taking so long for the rest of the tribe to get back and deal with this situation. He had seen many times before a lone troll or a small party attempt to take down Zalazane but shortly after they had left, there was the witchdoctor again, laughing.

And he was laughing now as he worked his magic, gaining another in his ranks as the troll was killed and brought to life of being an undead zombie within Zalazane's control. Jat'von wished he knew where the tribe was, they could be so far away now and yet they managed to get another troll for this sickening sacrifice, going against Bwonsamdi himself.

Eventually the whole village died back down again to its usual running with undead trolls patrolling about under the control of Zalazane and Jat'von remained awake as he gazed on the newest recruit begin his new duties. Slowly as the sky began to go from black to ivory, then purple, pink with the new day beginning he slowly began to edge his way backwards, being very careful to trace his steps the same way in reverse.

Jat'von turned around and saw another tiger waiting here and he nodded his head, tilted his head to the side and then moved his paw across the ground from left to right to signal another troll lost its life that night. Slowly, he walked past and watched as the tiger crawled into the space and he turned, making his way off again as quietly as he could.

Feeling the hairs on the back of his neck raise, Jat'von snarled at a monkey that dropped down to tug on his tail and chased, launching himself into the air as his jaws snapped shut, barely missing the small monkey as it made its escape up the tree, turned around and laughed, which made the others laugh. Stalking about for a moment as he looked up he snorted and walked off again, leaving the monkeys to their usual cocky sounds of triumphs.

As soon as he reached the pool where the waterfall was, he ran and jumped in, something Jat'von always did after watching Zalazane and his puppets. It had become a ritual to wash the dirt feeling from not only his fur but from within as he felt the chilling water envelope him as his head popped up again, nose splayed and he blew water out. Swimming about he slowly made his way back to the edge and clawed his way out as he stone on the wet stone and he shook himself dry. Water sprayed everywhere as he moved his head, body and all the way down to his tail to get rid of excess water and looked up to where he needed to go.

The route back up to where he knew Vee'cha was would be longer but there was no other way for him. Walking through the undergrowth, he decided that it would be best to hunt as well, bring something back for Vee'cha as she would need it considering her condition. His ears flicked about as he heard the monkey move above him through the branches and he decided to pretend he didn't hear it, letting his guard down though he was alert.

Small wisps of steam began to slowly drift up from his fur as he made his way through the heavy jungle the heat allowing him to dry off much faster as he looked about in a small clearing and sniffed the air. His nostrils slowly opened and closed as his tongue slid out to lick over the nose before sniffing again and with a flick of his tail he continued on his way again. As he caught the scent of a monkey nearby Jat'von came to a stop and lowered his body to the ground.

He could not see the prey but the scent was thankfully downwind to him as he knew for the time being that the wind elementals was favourable to him today, but also of Bethekk who he praised for the stealth of the kill ahead of him.

Ahead of him was the thick vegetation of the jungle, Jat'von knew that to make a successful kill he had to have not only the stealth of Bethekk but also the speed and strength of Shirvellah as well so he had to get into a position to see the prey. This was the time that Jat'von had spent a time learning the skills to survive as he remembered the lessons that Gonk had taught him.

Gonk gave a toothy smile within the emerald dream as he looked at the troll in front of him. "Remember that to kill, trust your animal form, listen to it, and obey it as it will show you on what you should do. You have no weapons bar the teeth and claws, you may be a great hunter in your tribe with spear and bow but this is as primalistic as it can get. So listen to your form and the loa that represent those forms for they will guide you if they so wish it."

It was at this time that Jat'von moved slowly forwards, making sure that his padded paw gingerly pressed down onto the ground, ensuring that not a single sound came from him, this was the pre-hunt, the preparation of the main attack. His ears heard the monkey rummage about on the ground as the sounds of leaves were lifted up, the scratching of the soil underneath and the crunch of insects in the mouth.

Staring ahead, he saw the leaves and then the clearing just behind it as he pushed his head very slowly part of the way trough, staring out into the small clearing and seeing the monkey in front of him. His tail moved to the side to aid in his balance as his body tensed up before he jumped out, ran two to three steps and with a loud snap, he broke the monkey's neck in his mouth and let go, seeing the form go limp. Picking it up again, he moved off into the undergrowth, heading back to where his mate was.

The day carried on, getting older as the hottest day came and went, the shadows continued to dance on the jungle floor before even that went as the sun above moved across the sky. Jumping from one rock to another as he crossed over a small stream, all the time the dead monkey in his maw, Jat'von continued to make his way through the jungle, noticing all the warning sounds from various other animals around him. And yet, something was starting to bother him, making him want to get home back to his mate, driving him on. It was then that he came to a stop at a well known path, used a lot by the trolls under influence at the time and he stood there just behind the foliage line and listened.

This he did for a while, just listening and sniffing for any well known scents. The scent of troll on the ground made his fur stand up on end, Jat'von knew that they were once part of the tribe and in a way they weren't responsible for their actions but it still made him uneasy seeing a troll on these isles.

Carefully moving onto the path he ran across and vanished into the other side back into the safety of the jungle once again and looked about. Jat'von didn't trust many these days, in a way he had nearly forgotten he had been a troll himself, never once had he or Vee'cha turned back into a troll, both thinking it was way too risky. In the early days both acted very troll like while hiding away in their forms, doing the right rituals at the right time of the day. Then slowly that started to get a bit more clouded, the memories of their pre-feline lifestyle slowly slipped back to take a back seat in a way until now it wasn't the most important part of their life but what the feline part of them wanted.

As such, he didn't trust anyone on the isle, no troll, orc, tauren. To him, they meant a threat, a threat that he just couldn't ignore. That and he had seen many skinned animals including other tigers on the isles from visiting hunters on their way to or back from their mission to kill Zalazane himself.

The surroundings began to become more familiar to him, including the scents as he moved back into his own territory. Pausing he dropped the monkey onto the ground and sniffed at a tree before adding a new spray of scent onto the truck before picking up the monkey again and moved on slowly. Soon he would return and Vee'cha would eat, that was the most important part within his mind at the moment.

However the more he moved towards her, the more that something was wrong to him. It wasn't until he had reached a part of a smaller path that was made by him and her that he detected it, the stench of orc. Dropping his kill onto the ground, it fell with a soft sound as he moved and looked at the footprint and sniffed it. Then he saw another and he slowly felt the anger build up within him. Leaving the kill where it lay he moved off along the path, stalking the new threat.

***

_ Jat'von paused as he looked around the campfire again and his face looked sullen as he looked around at the others, pulling a pipe from a small leather pouch as he began to fill it up with various herbs, pushing it into one end. He remained silent as he did this task as though he was trying to prepare himself on the next part of the story. His hands shook slightly as he reached out for a long dry stalk of grass, reached over and set it alight from the campfire. Placing the pipe into his mouth the grass stalk burnt but shook as it moved towards the opening and he lit the pipe and took a few breaths to make the dry herbs burn, giving a bright yellow glow before returning back to a softer red. _

_ The sweet stench of the herbal smoke drifted into the air as he gave a soft sigh, the shaking in his hands softened and he cleared his throat and continued on. "It was then that I realised I had ta pay a price. Aye a price which by the end I will reveal..." _

***

Feeling the tension continue to rise, he hurried along the path. His eyes and nose kept track of the footprints as he saw them definitely heading back to where he and Vee'cha had currently made their home in this part of the isles. Then he heard it in the distance, the sound of fighting, large heavy footprints on the ground, the sound of Vee'cha calling out and then the scent of blood filled the air.

Running ahead now, Jat'von rushed along the path as he came to a stop to see the form of Vee'cha on the ground. Jat'von crouched down as he saw the large male orc, the foul stench as he saw the small pearls of sweat roll down the dark green skin, the thick black hair that dropped over the face as a flash of light came into view, the blade that was partially hidden away, only the faint dark crimson tarnished the golden colour of the sunlight bringing a bright red piercing glow.

The cover of leaves had made him un-noticed for the moment as he saw the orc begin to pull out the blade, cleaning it on the grass before pulling out another knife and began to work on skinning Vee'cha. Anger swelled up within Jat'vons head, his feral side was furious as his muzzle tensed up, allowing the sharp teeth to show through. As his tail flicked about, his whole body tensed up as he saw the armed orc shift about. Still the scent of Vee'cha's blood kept the orc from detecting him as he remained within the confines of the overgrowth that hid him away and he waited for the right moment.

When he saw the orc move onto the other side and place his back to him, that was when Jat'von came rushing out of the overgrowth. He saw the orc begin to turn his head around to look at what made a sound and no doubt the briefest moment of seeing a large feline running full pelt towards him. Jat'von was three quarters there when the orc began to react and start to turn around but was too slow as the large feline slammed into him with teeth and claws. Ripping into the leather vest, his teeth bit into the back of the orc's neck and held there.

Hearing the orc cry out before snarling he found that the orc was strong as he began to shift his weight in hopes of throwing Jat'von off him, using his arm to try and stab at anything as it made connection to one of the rear legs. Feeling pain, Jat'von kept his hold as he felt the blade slice into his right leg, which buckled slightly.

"Get off me..." He heard the orc say but Jat'von didn't care, but the orc was gaining some ground as he managed to turn part of his body around as Jat'von felt himself falling to the floor as he felt the skinning knife sink into his abdomen. With a muffled growl, Jat'von bit down harder until he heard the spine snap between his jaws and he felt the orc go limp. With a painful hobble, he pulled the orc away from Vee'cha, dragging the body away and let go as he looked down at the orc. Not convinced or out of pure anger he tore out the throat and looked back at where Vee'cha lay.

Panting, he felt his lower body sting as he looked at where Vee'cha was and began to slowly walk towards her but he fell to the ground as he stared at her. His front paws began to move as his claws dug into the ground as he pulled himself to where Vee'cha was. When he reached her, he gave her a nuzzle, then a nudge as he placed his head underneath one of her paws and lifted it up before it fell off his head and back onto the ground again. Pushing himself up with his front paws he gave a sullen roar as he cried out, which repeated. Hearing it go across the jungle he looked down at Vee'cha again and moved his head to where the unborn was and nudge it with his snout. Moving into position he slowly laid himself down next to Vee'cha as he watched her and then he felt himself slip into unconsciousness himself.

***

_ Jat'von looked about as he bit onto the pipe, stopping him from crying as he looked into the flames of the fire, watching the flames dance with each other as the smoke rose into the cold night air. "I don't know what happened next, I was near her and when I woke up I was somewhere else and healed and yet..." Jat'von looked about. "I remembered nothing of Vee'cha until only a few days ago when I was at Hammerfall..." _

_ Pulling the pipe from his mouth, he let the smoke billow out as he sighed and frowned. "Maybe we both did something wrong, perhaps the lesson is that we annoyed the loa in trying ta be them in their animal forms for so long and a price had ta be paid. Maybe we were both suppose ta die that day but I escaped and got punished another way. Who is ta say...? That is the end of my tale or at least for now..." _

_ Jat'von got up and stretched, he didn't say anything more as he left the others around the campfire as he made his way to find a private place as he remembered seeing Vee'cha for the very first time when they both found they were to be bonded as arranged by their parents. Tears began to run down his cheek and along his tusks as he smiled at the memory. _