Tales of a Rogue
Chapter 1 - Once a Rogue, Now a Stalker.
"Yes!" A now-Stalker cheered in joy, as the job transformation was completed. No longer was she a thief high, and now she, Chiru, was much stronger. Chiru had warm, emerald green eyes and mystifying silver hair that reached mid-waist, flowing freely. She had always hated ponytails, even when she was in battle. A black kitten plush sat upon her head, and although it looked like it could fall off any minute; it was as secure on her head as her daggers, hidden protectively in her belt. She wore a long, black cloak, with furry, white trimming that matched her hair. After buying enough potions from a merchant to last her a long time, she set off to the Orc Dungeon nearby to become stronger.
Upon entering the dark dungeon, Chiru went into hiding mode, completely invisible to the naked eye as she traveled past unsuspecting monsters and people. Hiding like this made her feel safe, and now that she upgraded the skill, people with skills such as Ruwach and Sight wouldn't be able to detect her presence. A zenorc stood in front of her, completely oblivious to what was about to befall it. Grinning mischievously, Chiru snatched a dagger from her belt and stabbed it in the back, successfully finishing it off. Orc Skeletons nearby rushed at her as soon as they caught sight of her, intent on killing her. Dodging every swipe from their axes with amazing speed, Chiru thanked the Gods for agility and killed them off, also. She was so engrossed in the battle, that the Assassin Cross that unhid itself before her shocked her as he slashed at her arm with a deadly Katar. Jumping back to avoid any more attacks, Chiru grasped her arm with a wince, glaring at the man. Smirking, he said in a rather cocky tone, "You should watch your back…or should I say, arm?"
"Do you want a death wish?" Chiru snapped back, watching him warily.
"No, however it is you with the death wish," He replied, suddenly vanishing from sight.
Crap. He hid himself, Chiru thought as she, too, hid herself. The only other class that made her uneasy were Assassins. They were more poison based than Rogues or Stalkers, but they were just as sneaky and had hiding skills also. Evening her breathing out until her breathing made no noise, just as she had been taught to do as a thief, she waited for any sign of the Assassin Cross. Minutes ticked by, and just as she was starting to get impatient, the Assassin revealed himself again. Grinning, she silently stalked over to his unprotected back, revealed herself, and jabbed at him with her dagger. Unfortunately, he must have been waiting for her to do something like that, and he stepped to the side, dodging the blow. Unhidden, she silently cursed having to unhide herself in order to attack. Out of nowhere, another Assassin Cross revealed himself from behind her and stabbed her in the back. Yelping, Chiru hid herself quickly and stalked further from the both of them. Looking left to right, she suddenly felt paranoid. How many more Assassins were hidden out there? There could be a whole gang of them, and her SP was running out very quickly. It took quite a chunk out of her SP when she hid, and this wouldn't be good. "Come out, come out, wherever you are," The new Assassin called out in a singsong voice. The other Assassin grinned, seeming to have just figured out Chiru's main problem.
"Don't worry, Xadon, I don't think her SP can hold out much longer," He said to Xadon, and Chiru knew this was the time where she had to escape, but the exit was on the other side of the dungeon, and her SP was slowly but surely diminishing. Weighing out her options, she decided it was better to get away from them far enough so they wouldn't be able to see her.
"Oh, I know, Sedek, I'm only having some fun," Xadon replied as he snatched a rock from the ground and began to play catch with it.
Moving as fast as she could without making any noise, Chiru mentally cursed as she could feel her SP dying out, and she was only a good 40 feet away from them. Not wishing to faint from over using her SP, she quickly unhid herself, and winced as the two Assassins snapped their heads in her direction; obviously hearing the rush of wind as she revealed herself.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" Sedek asked, grinning. He began to walk in Chiru's direction, as Xadon suddenly vanished from sight. Frantically trying to think of something to hold them off, she grabbed a stone from the floor and threw it with well-aimed accuracy at him. Surprised at the speed of the stone, Xadon didn't have time to dodge and the stone hit him square on the head, knocking him out. Chiru grinned at her success, temporarily forgetting the other Assassin's presence. She was reminded, however, as soon as he revealed himself right next to her and slashed at her legs; causing her to fall to the ground in pain. He was definitely a much higher level than her, to actually hit her in the first place, and then to cause so much pain. Kneeling down next to her, Xadon grinned in twisted delight as he raised a dagger, with her blood dripping off the tip to land on the floor.
"This is where we say goodbye, little Stalker," Xadon whispered, and Chiru glared at him furiously, but made no comment. So this is how my life is going to end, huh? Killed by an Assassin…Lovely. Chiru thought, as she watched the dagger rise in the air. Closing her eyes, she waited for the inevitable. But it never came. Instead, as soon as Xadon slashed at Chiru, the dagger bounced off an invisible force and he went flying backwards several feet. Confused, Chiru looked around, spotting a Priest a good few feet away. Did he put a barrier over me? She wondered, as a bright green light washed over her, erasing her wounds as if they had never been there. The Priest was healing her! Priests and Priestesses were told never to heal anyone of the Thief class, because they were all "Evil, selfish, stealing foxes," So she had to rely on potions bought from merchants. Awed, she brushed her fingers over her legs where the wounds were. Nothing was there, not even a mark. Standing up carefully, as if her legs would suddenly become wounded again, she looked to the Priest and asked, "Why do you heal me?"
Meeting her gaze, he replied, "Because you mean no harm, and were being harmed,"
Still unsatisfied with his answer, she looked to where the Assassin lay, groaning. He picked his head up and stared at the Priest. "What the hell was that for?" He asked angrily. The Priest smirked, and looked to Chiru. "I believe you can handle this," He said, and vanished in a blue light, most likely warping to a town. Chiru grinned. She was most definitely going to be able to handle this.
-X-x-x-X-
An hour later, many Zenorcs and Orc Skeletons surrounded two tied up Assassins. Smiling at her handiwork, she began to walk away from them, until a blast of fire whizzed by in front of her, causing her to halt and look in the direction of the fire bolt. A female Wizard stood there, complete with magic staff and golden robes. Wizards were deadly. They could bend magic at their will, and kill with the swish of a magic staff and words. Chiru was always cautious of these people, choosing to hide from sight until they passed by. However, since her SP was still healing, she couldn't hide unless she wanted to tire herself out. The Wizard was watching her, trying to predict her actions. Chiru tensed and watched her movement. Impatient, the Wizard decided to attack first. Holding out her staff, she cried out, "Meteor Storm!" and waved her staff in Chiru's direction. Chiru was glad she hadn't called out a more powerful attack, like Lord of Vermillion; but Meteor Storm hit in random spots, and if hit, it hurt a lot. She looked up at the ceiling of the dungeon just in time to see a flaming meteor crash nearby. Others fell after, and Chiru zigzagged through them until she was right in front of the Wizard.
"Divest All!" Chiru shouted. Divest All was where she could strip the opponent of all their gear, weapon, shield, shoes, everything. Unfortunately, the success of stripping them of all that gear was pretty low. And luck was not in store for her. Chiru cursed as her skill failed and she was very vulnerable right now.
Seeing her chance, the Wizard yelled, "Storm Gust!" waving her wand right at Chiru. Chiru gasped as she was suddenly frozen to the spot in a block of ice as a blizzard released its fury on her. The Wizard smirked and took a step closer to the literally frozen Chiru. "What should I do? Jupitel Thunder…Lord of Vermillion…Thunder Bolt…" She began listing all sorts of fatal attacks, and if it weren't for the ice on Chiru, her eyes would be bulging in shock. Waving her wand, the Wizard began chanting a spell for Lord of Vermillion, the most powerful thunder attack. The more powerful the magic spell, the more chanting you had to do for it to be successful. However, just as the Wizard finished the spell and flashing yellow and red lights began to crash from the sky, a blur of color flew into the Wizard and Chiru blacked out.
Chiru groaned as she began to awaken, struggling to open her now heavy eyelids. Her head throbbed as memories began to come back to her, and she suddenly remembered everything from the last time she was awake. Am I dead yet? She wondered, as her eyes finally opened and extremely bright light hit her eyes. Wincing, she let her eyes adjust to the light and then took notice of her surroundings. There were no clouds, angels, or fiery pits of darkness, which reassured her that she was indeed not in Heaven or Hell. Instead, she was in what looked like to be a cabin, with a cozy feeling. Bows and quivers with arrows in them hung on a coat hanger near the door, and archer trophies stood proudly on a shelf opposite a small fireplace on the other side of the room. A furry rug lay in the center of the room, and vanilla incense gave a mellow atmosphere to the cabin. Suddenly, a purple falcon flew onto her head, squawking like crazy. Startled, Chiru yelped and almost fell off the bed she was laying on. A sharp pain jolted through her right arm and she cried out. The falcon hopped off her head and into her lap, examining her arm curiously before cawing. Footsteps echoed outside and a Hunter walked in, carrying medical supplies in his arms.
"You're awake?" He asked, as he came over to where she sat.
"Er…yes, who are you?" Chiru questioned suspiciously.
"I'm Setei. I saved you from the wizard, but unfortunately I think you broke your arm there," He replied, gently taking her arm and wrapping white cloth around the wound.'
To be continued….some day.