“… and that, dear children, is why you always go for an Orc’s knees.”
The group of children sat around the tall Night Elf in a semi-circle. Their eyes wide and mouths a gape. There was an uncomfortable moment of stunned silence when she’d finished. Vesthi wondered if it was the shock of the story she’d told the children or if it was the fact that she was quite obviously a Demon Huntress. She’d hoped her colorful blue and gold 7th Legion attire would help offset her otherwise demonic visage, but perhaps she’d miscalculated.
Then a small voice came from amidst the group. “Coooool.” It was like the opening of a flood gate. Children began raising their hands while others shouted out their questions in rapid succession with all the pure zeal that only a gaggle of innocent souls can muster.
“What did you do after?”
“Did you go for the head?”
“Did you take his tusks?”
“What about a Forthsakened?”
“Ooo! Oo! What about a Tur-cow-en?”
Twap, a child smack the other child’s head. “It’s Tauren, dummy!”
Other children laughed among themselves. “I like Tur-cow-en.”
Vesthi smiled to herself, careful to keep her lips tight. “Well,” She turned her blindfolded visage to each child in turn even as they continued to chatter over one another. “Forsaken can be frightening and unpredictable. They don’t feel pain, at least not in the usual manner. Taking out their knees will hobble them to some extent, but they’ll not reel in pain as the big Orc had. Those skellies are deathly fast, so best to take that moment and run as fast as you can.”
Some of the children chuckled among them selves, repeating Vesthi’s comment. “Hehe, skellies.” Vesthi turned to another child.
“Have you seen a Tauren up close? Their legs are like tree trunks!” She held her arms out wide. “While it holds true that their knees may be their weakest point, you may want to pack an ax just in case.” She said with a half grin, careful not to display her fangs. The children chuckled at the absurdity of the thought, completely oblivious to the obviously grim connotation. Vesthi was actually quite serious about the ax. Tauren limbs are notoriously dense.
“And no,” Vesthi continued, speaking generally to the children. “I did not take the Orc’s tusks.” The same child blurted out, “Why not?” Vesthi’s blindfold singled him among the group. “That is the way of some, but it is not my way. I do not take physical trophies of the ones I’ve defeated in battle. I consider it disrespectful.”
“But why not?” The same child persisted. “I’ve heard of other soldiers taking ears and other body parts. Adorning their armor with them or wearing them around their necks.” Some of the other children murmured among themselves.
“Eww.”
“That’s so gross.”
“Creepy.”
“Seems perfectly reasonable to me.” The boy continued with a fervent defense. “They’re trying to kill you, after all, and they’re your enemy. If not for them…” Vesthi could sense where his comment was heading, and she sharply cut him off.
“Most of the time those soldiers are collecting proof so they may later collect a bounty. That is their work for extra coin. Some of these do that purely for the coin while the others do it out of spite or for some twisted sense of honor. That’s been my experience at least. I have no love for the Green-Skins and less respect for their culture. However, it takes a great amount of courage to wade into battle. Even more so to stand toe to toe with a Demon Hunter.” Vesthi unfurled the pair of wings she kept carefully tucked behind her. The sharp sound quieted the children’s chatter for a moment and pulled their focus to her. Vesthi continued as her wings relaxed, redirecting her comments to the group as a whole.
“Imagine being one such soldier, standing at the side of your fellows. Your goal is to stop the enemy advance but to do so you must stand against one such as I.” She allowed her tone to take on a hint of a demonic echo as she referenced herself. “The strength of your arm fails you, but the strength of your heart and your soul carry you ever forward to what you know will be your end.” Pulling her wings inward she finalized her comments. “It is no small thing, to bare a weapon into battle intent on stopping a foe at all costs. There is bravery in that simple act, and I believe that bravery should be respected. Even honored. Regardless the person or creature standing against you. A quick end, leaving them where they fall, undesecrated, is how I pay respect for that bravery.”
“Now,” Vesthi turned to collect her bag. “I think my time here is finished.” That same child that challenged her on taking trophies, stood up from the crowd. His tone was harsh as he pressed her with his question. “You said physical trophies. That must mean then that you do take trophies of the ones you’ve killed. I’ve heard that you Demon Hunters take souls. Is that what you do then? Take the souls of your victims?”
Vesthi took a deliberate pause. She checked her own tone, then continued to pull the straps of her pack over each shoulder in turn. “I’ll excuse your insolence, boy, and tell you this. If you wield a sword long enough you will eventually learn that with every life you take you also take from them a splinter of their soul. Demon Hunter or not.” Vesthi stepped toward the boy. The crowd of children parted before her while the boy stood his ground. Vesthi knelt before him, her face inches from his own. Her voice low and menacing.
“You remember the look in their eyes as they stand at the point of your blade. Their deepest fears. Avail themselves to you, but behind that is all the love they once shared. All the lives they once touched. Their families. Their friendships. Their good deeds, and intentions. Their hopes and dreams.” Vesthi slowly extended her finger to the boy’s throat, lightly touching his skin with her long demonic talon. “All of it brought to an end at the point of your blade. The moment you twitch.” She flicked the flesh at the boy’s neck, not breaking the skin yet giving the sensation that she might have. “You take all of that away. Erase all that made them who and what they were, but it doesn’t just disappear. You carry that with you. Forever. So you see, in a way, we all take souls.”
Vesthi stood, and with her the rest of the children. She stepped past the now stunned boy and lightly placed a hand on his shoulder in passing. “Even the best among us carry that burden.”
Vesthi continued on her way. “Good day, children! Go play in some mud, or how ever you have fun.”
One of the other boys stood near the one that Vesthi had addressed, and turned to him saying. “She’s a Demon Hunter, stupid. That was dumb.” One boy shoved the other, which then erupted into a wrestling match.