The Exasperating Psychic Feline

I've had a bit of a rocky road with Gondria.

It all started when the model was datamined and leaked to the public. The instant I saw the beautiful purple saber cat I felt a tug. Having never been a cat person in WoW, the saber model at least was the only type that I could contemplate taming.

I spent a lot of time in Zul'Drak immediately after the patch went live that brought Gondria into being. I circled around her rumoured spawn points, mashing a targetting macro (this was before I had discovered the joys of NPCscan), and wanting to find that spirit beast so badly. (Note: I will reference Gondria herself as being female since I can't see the wild mob in any other way. Post-taming is a different story.)

Though I never had any luck, I did start seeing a few hunters with her tamed...and felt a twinge of disappointment. The images I had first seen displayed the model against a dark background, and as such it was a rich, vibrant purple. In game, however, she turned out to have a much more...pinkish tinge than I had expected. I do not care for pink. My excitement waned and I ended up shrugging off the need to tame her. That was that, she wasn't for me, end of story.

*cough*

I truly can't remember how much time passed after I gave up the hunt, but then...it happened.

I was sitting in Dalaran, about to log out for the evening, when I was overcome by the irresistible urge to go search. I mounted up and flew straight for Zul'Drak, unsure of what I was doing or even why I felt such a strong pull to go in that direction. I headed for one of the spawn points that I was aware of, and sure enough...there she was. I stared at her in a stupor for a moment until regaining my senses and taming her.

I've had minor prophetic experiences before, but this was the first time it happened in WoW. I knew she was up, just as surely as if she called me and yelled for me to come tame her. I named her Esper, in other words someone capable of telepathy and other similar paranormal abilities. I struggled with the fact that Gondria was decidedly female to me. I've never had female pets. I considered making her a male, but there was no use. I couldn't see past the clearly feminine vibe the pet had.

Anyways, you would think the epic psychic kitty tame would have cemented the bond permanently, but that was not the case. I found myself feeling rather meh about Esper. The combination of a female pet, and her overt pink colour just wasn't clicking with me. I let her go.

*cue passage of time*

Once again...I'm dawdling around, minding my own business in game, when that call hits me. I made my way to the exact same spawn point I found her in the first time. She wasn't there. I couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that I should stay, however, so I logged out at that point and went to bed. First thing in the morning, I log in, and there she is waiting for me.

I was probably muttering low curses by this point. I did not have room for her. All 5 of my stable slots were taken. I didn't even want her. After all, I tamed her before and didn't like her, didn't I?

I ended up standing there on the ground watching her patrol back and forth and wracking my brain for a decision. Beast...I could let go of Beast. As soon as I reached that conclusion, I was letting him go and taming the spirit cat for the second time. I told myself that she'd be a male this time, and was named Augur (a sort of prophet or soothsayer).

The next day I was beside myself with regret. How could I let go of The Beast, a tame that was absolutely the hardest and most thrilling I had ever managed? Clearly the telepathic feline had clouded my judgement. I released Augur then went to correct my mistake and retame Beast...but even after an hour in Blackrock Spire he just wouldn't let me. In desperation I opened a ticket and begged a GM to restore him to me. Luckily that was possible (something I hadn't known at the time), and after just a few hours all was right with the world again.

Needless to say, Gondria wouldn't leave me alone. I ended up finding her more than any other spirit beast, but resisted the call and instead found others to tame her. This went on for....quite a while. -_- When our stable slots were expanded I thought that perhaps I could finally tame her and keep her since I'd have room. I didn't have the drive to look for her though, there still was a part of me that felt as though I couldn't bond with her at all, and after everything that had happened I'd exhausted my interest.

So it should come as no surprise to you that just recently I had that flare go off in my mind that told me there was a spirit beast up. No doubt as to which one.

Resignedly I made my way over to that spawn point...the same one she was at the previous two times...and lo and behold she was there. For the third time I tamed her, this time intent on making it work since clearly I couldn't stay away.

I knew this cat would have to be male in order to click with me. I thought about using the name Augur again, but there just wasn't a spark there. Esper had really had the perfect sound to it, but there was no getting over the fact that it was a decidedly feminine sounding name. Then it hit me. Esperon. A minor change to the ending and suddenly it was a male name.

I dedicated a good portion of a day spending time with Esperon and trying to get a feel for his character. I realized that he had a very subtle personality...calm, mysterious, reassuring. The sort of guardian angel or conscience character that's always by your side, giving you advice, looking out for you.

And that's when it everything just fell into place. The feminine vibe was gone from my pet, and suddenly I could see all the parts I loved about him. Even the colour no longer looked as pink as I once thought. In the right surroundings you can see how purple and otherworldly it is.

Now hopefully the damn cat is here to stay, because I don't think I could go through another one of those exasperating ordeals! xD