Ah yep, here we are again in the sequel to 'When a Savior is Saved'. I hope you like this one, I really hope you do :) I'll try to describe the Warcraft III characters the best that I can without rambling.
Do not own SC characters or Warcraft III characters.
"..." Speaking
'...' Thoughts
Italic Siegfried's conscience.
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Chapter 1: Empty Souls Meet
(Prologue)
Nightmare stood within the streets of the town he crumbled in his hand and bodies of those that fell to his knees and the will and bloodlust of his living, soul-stealing, pumping weapon. Below him lies a corpse of a man he severed and sacrificed to his weapon. He eyes still portrayed horror as they stared lifelessly onto the cobblestone path he fell upon. Nightmare looked stared at the corpse for a few seconds, grinned widely, and with narrowed eyes he cast his view to the blood-covered town as it slowly fell into ashes beneath the houses burning roofs.
"Heh heh, a work of art." Nightmare spoke to himself as he gazed at the dozens of corpses as they flayed across the streets and the tips of the flames twitched in his eyes.
'Another town demolished... I do hope the spirits of these people will be freed, for both their and my sake.' Nightmare ignored the voice of his weaker half within him.
"Work of art indeed." A man with a rather dark and forceful tone spoke behind him. Nightmare turned to find a man up to his neck with dark wide armor that's finely etched along his arm, shin and high-length shoulder guards, complete with a long black cape. His long snowy white hair draped over his face covering his pale skin and deep, icy green eyes that observed the city as it slowly falls into ruin.
'Eh? I missed one? And a well-aged one at that... how could I have missed him?' Nightmare's eyes widened underneath his helmet as he stared at his confronter who's fierce gaze swept to him and gave a small, menacing smile with lowered eyebrows. Nightmare raised an eyebrow. 'Humph! No matter, my thirst may be quenched... for now... but might as well drink another soul as it wanders so easily into my mist.' He raised his giant sword over his shoulder as he turned to face the aged yet well-armored man.
"You are quite easy to follow; just look for a trail of ash and blood. That used to be my trademark." The intruder stated simply. Nightmare was confused by this man's words.
'The demon doesn't seem to sense the evil aroma this strange man emits.'
"What are you talking about, human? You must be one of the many... heroes..." Nightmare chuckled at all his confronters failed attempts. "Who's trying to kill me and either be praised for destroying evil or use my beloved sword as a trophy." Nightmare chuckled once again as he stared right back into the elderly man's eyes. Nightmare's eyes narrowed as he watched his confronter burst into laughter.
"You obviously don't know who I am or perhaps even the weapon that I wield." The man's grin faded slightly as his eyes became more serious. "Have you ever seen the fires of Hell?" He raised an eyebrow, eager for the Azure Knight's response.
Nightmare grinned evilly as his eyes narrowed at his confronter and chuckled. "I am the fires of Hell!"
'And I'm chained at the gates...'
Nightmare raised an eyebrow as his confronter grinned widely with narrowed eyes. 'He looks pleased... why? Humph, must be some sort of self-righteous fool.' Nightmare swung his sword once and pointed it right at his confronter. "Why are you here human? Besides sacrificing your life so willingly."
The man slowly came forward, hearing the rhythmic sound of the metal of his wide boots hitting and scraping against the cobblestone road. The wind that swept passed opened his cape, exposing that his chest plate had a large skull on the stomach area. "I'm here to offer you a chance to power, to kingdom, one thing a knight such as yourself never received. I rule over a legion, one that no other mortal has ever seen. It is one that came about for the purpose of ridding the world of weak mortals and imbeciles of peace-making kings and replacing it with a new order... a true order... a darker order." The man spoke proudly as he smiled rather excitedly at Nightmare, who seemed unmoved.
"Your advertisements don't interest me, nor do they make sense coming from you." Nightmare spoke plainly as he drove his blade into the ground and crossed his arms over his chest.
The man's face turned serious. "But I'm offering you a chance to be the next to me in battle, for the only reason that your blades demonic power can work with mine and together can help the new order to surface. You'll be greatly awarded for your code of chivalry and trusting in my command." He grinned.
Nightmare's eyes widened. "YOUR COMMAND?" He boomed. "You believe that I... Nightmare... the one who has slain many and destroyed cities to be under even anyone's command? Preposterous! Your sword, one the size of all the heroes' weapons who strengthened my sword and weakened their honor by confronting me, can't even begin to match the power within Soul Edge!"
The man chuckled loudly. Nightmare was beginning to get annoyed with this human's constant confidence. "We shall see... won't we?" He unsheathed his sword from his belt and pointed the tip at the opening for the eyes of Nightmare's helmet. Nightmare pulled back as he felt his weaker half hidden within him gasp at the amount of evil this sword emitted.
The sword had a long bronze hilt that had a large thorn at each end and the blade's edges were wide and ridged as well as black as iron, while its middle section was gold. Near the hilt two smaller points of the blade, which also was made out of gold, came outward and pointed in the direction of the blade's tip. In the center of the two points was a small ram skull with eye sockets that emitted a strange blue light.
Nightmare stared in awe at the strangely made weapon; he had never seen a blade constructed so differently, much less the powerfully evil aura and strange glowing eyes of the ram's skull.
"I can sense your bewilderment and eagerness of proper experience and I must say... I'm flattered." He chuckled at his mocking tone as he kept his sword's tip close to Nightmare's face.
"Who are you? What is that blade?" Nightmare's eyes shot towards the pale man's face. He pulled his sword away from Nightmare and pointed its tip towards the sky as he gazed at it.
"This is the sword that has granted me dark power, command and kingship over the dark legion, that has slain the many imbeciles of mortals who've stood against me or even tried to run away from me and my wrath. This..." He smiled fondly at his beloved blade. "This is Frostmourne." He swung his blade. "And I..." He stopped as he drove his blade into the ground and looked up at Nightmare with a wide grin. "Am Arthas. King Arthas."
Arthas stared at Nightmare as he laid one armored hand on the top of his blade's hilt. "Will you join me in ridding the world of mortals and establishing the new order?" Arthas raised an eyebrow.
Nightmare narrowed his eyes. "I thirst for souls, not new orders." He stated plainly.
"And you will get your souls, thousands. You can do the dirty work for us, not that I don't love a good, bloody, painful killing every now and then. My acolytes will be more than happy to serve you in building you a base, and I'll find a lich for you to find your way around to many..." Arthas leaned forward and spoke in a deep tone as if his suggestions seemed appetizing. "Many... highly populated towns and villages." He let out a hand to the suspicious Nightmare. "Well? Will you join me? My demons will be greatly pleased."
Nightmare just stared at Arthas' opened hand as if he thought that touching it would vanquish his demon-self. He looked up suspiciously. "You want something in return, do you not?"
Arthas raised an eyebrow. "Your trust in both me, the legion, and the beliefs of the new order, as well as the power of corruption within your blade. I can corrupt a few lands myself, but I've heard that your blade corrupted nearly half the world. That kind of expansion I'd so love to see." Nightmare's expression remained unchanged. "Do we have a deal? Souls for expansion?" Arthas grinned excitedly.
Nightmare just stared at him aimlessly. He didn't fully trust him, but what kind of a man who carries a sword as dark and mystical as that and wished for the demon blade of another, how and why would he commit treachery against him? And the sound of his acolytes working beneath him did sound interesting. Although he wasn't really sure of how a lich, a corpse, would help him, but might as well see what this legion had in store.
Nightmare cautiously let out a hand and shook Arthus' in agreement. "Let me see this legion your so fond of." Nightmare raised an eyebrow as Arthas grinned widely and darkly.
"I thought you'd never ask." He turned behind him and faced the opposite complex streets as he sheathed Frostmourne. "Kel'Thuzad! Bring out the meat wagons! There are more than plenty of corpses to collect!" He shouted to the empty streets.
"Meat wagons?" Nightmare questioned.
"They hold corpses and we use them to either break down buildings and trees, as well as feed our... warriors." Arthas raised an eyebrow as he smiled. Nightmare watched as three catapults came into view, being led by five cloaked figures having their eyes be the only thing visible and a pale, thin man finely dressed in purple robes, he actually appeared to be floating. The closer the thin man came to them, the more Nightmare noticed was amiss.
"A... a skeleton?" Nightmare raised an eyebrow.
"A lich, to be precise." The skeleton corrected simply, which made Nightmare pull back even more in surprise. His voice sounded like a normal person's voice; it was deep but with a slight raspy sound to it.
"What magic is this?" Nightmare turned to Arthas, who seemed unchanged.
"We are a cult of the damned, there is more dark magic surrounding this legion than you would think." The lich spoke simply as he raised a hand to the acolytes and meat wagons for emphasis. Nightmare took a closer look to this lich and noticed that an icy-blue-like smoke slowly drifted out of its mouth and eyes. Kel'Thuzad turned to Arthas. "Well, I would like to see the humans try to stand up to us now that we have the Soul Edge." He stated as he observed the fully armored knight before him.
"Yes, indeed it would certainly be amusing to watch the human drop one by one before us. Kel'Thuzad, make sure that he is given a lich to serve him while he is within our grounds at Stratholme." Arthas turned to Nightmare, who seemed bewildered as he watched the acolytes gather the bodies and stack them in the meat wagons, which already had dried blood covering most of the outside of the wagon.
"Where is this Stratholme?" Nightmare questioned curiously.
"In the north, far north." Kel'Thuzad answered.
"And... this... is the legion?" Nightmare looked over to the five acolytes and three meat wagons with eyes that clearly said that he was expecting something more impressive. He heard Kel'Thuzad chuckle.
"Oh no no, you'll know the legion when you see it. Welcome to the Scourge, Azure Knight."
(End Prologue)
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"You little rogue!" Sophitia giggled as she felt Taki's fingertips tease her side as they walked down the white-pebble path to the sea that she wanted to show Taki. Taki laid a hand on her chest and took a look of surprise.
"I'm not a rogue! And by the way, you call me that now?" Taki grinned. "You know I've done worse things." She raised an eyebrow.
Sophitia even blushed at some of the memories that passed in her head. "Yes I know quite well. Things like whenever we're in front of my parents at the table and you sat next to me you'd have the tendency to play with my knuckles with your fingertips, and when you'd happen to sit across from me you'd tickle my shin with your toe." She smiled, then sighed. "I'm just happy you didn't do that as much when I was engaged to Rothion. That would've been difficult." She admitted as she ran a hand through her hair.
Taki looked down. "Oh yeah, him. That was awkward, I wished you'd told me about him before we came here." Taki could remember the feeling of her heart shattering within her when she found out about their engagement. In all honesty, she really didn't have much against him; he was sweet and caring to Sophitia, but there was only so much she could take when being near them when they were together.
The hugging she could take, the kisses on the cheek she could take, she could even take the fact that they slept in the same bed, but... it was when he kissed her lips, when he would say 'I love you' and Sophitia would have no choice but to say the same to him that she couldn't take it. She understood that Sophitia couldn't help it, but it just felt like someone was grabbing her heart, squeezing and twisting it within its cage.
"I'm sorry, I completely forgot because I was still so struck when I had found you, or when you found me, in Spain." Sophitia's head lowered as she sighed again.
"What made him change his mind about you? What made him call the wedding off?" Taki asked with a raised eyebrow. Sophitia blushed slightly.
"Remember what happened that one evening at the town center and the large fountain? When you and I were trying to act as if the whole marriage topic was okay for the both of us?"
Taki looked up to the skies as she tried to recall the memory:
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Taki sat on the outer edges of the concrete fountain that had a tallCorinthian columnin the center. Gazing deeply into the water, passed the ripples shemade using her fingertips as she caressed the waters surface. 'Why must this happen to me now?' Taki thoughtto herself in a saddened tone.
"Taki?" The sweet voice that she loved to hear spoke from a small distancebehind her. She turned to find Sophitia standing there nervously, her head slightly lowered and her hands clasping each other in front of her. "Are... are you alright?" She asked in a higher tone than usual, showing her tentativness.
Taki turned back to the water and continued to stare at her reflection. "I'm fine." She stated simply.
"You don't sound it." Sophitia slowly came forward. Taki paused for a moment in her stillness.
"Do you love him?"The Asian suddenly asked, makingSophitia pull back slightly and felt her eyes soften. That wasn't a fair question andshe knew Taki knew that.
'I can't say no and I can't say yes. If I say no then she'll start attacking me with questions saying why I'm marrying him in the first place, and if I say yes then it would break her heart, tearing mine as well. I don't want to hurt her, she loves me, and I...' Sophitia slowly gripped her shirt over her heart and she briefly closed her eyes.
The longer the Greek took to answer, the more Taki took it as a rejection towards her."I see..." Sophitia's eyes snapped open as she heard Taki's slightly depressed voice as her mahogany gaze moved to the concrete edge. "Perhaps I'm just in the way. Maybe you'd live a safer... happier life with him than you could with me. He offers you a stable life... while I..." Her gaze swept to her reflection and stared at it for several seconds before her gaze softened as she looked away as if she wasn't pleased with it at all.
"Maybe I..."The older womanstood herself up from the edge but continued to look down. "Maybe I should leave you two be and go. I don't deserve a woman as talented, gentle, intelligent or beautiful as you anyway." She turned to Sophitia with a soft gaze, who just watched and listened with a look that showed both amazement and disbelief at the way Taki soundedhow she described her. "I don't deserve a goddess like you when I have nothing to offer. So, I'll just tell you that I do love you and I will always want to please you and be with you always. But for you and... your betrothed's sake, I'll just keep all in here and never let go." Taki placed her fingertips over her heart. Her eyes widened as she noticed that Sophitia's eyes were becoming moist as she stared back at her as if her own heart had been broken. "Sophitia...?"
Taki's eyes widened even more as Sophitia suddenly ran towards her and lunged at her. The force pushed Taki off balance and so they both fell into the fountain with a loud splash. Taki leaned on her elbows so that she could stay above the surface as she felt Sophitia lift herself to just leaning on the heel of her palms but still remaining in the fountain and upon her.The huntresslooked up to the half drenched woman on above her, she wouldn't move, she could see the tears that slowly streamed down the younger woman's face.
"No Taki, please don't leave me again. The only reason I agreed to marry Rothion was because I didn't think I'd ever see you again." Sophitia's voice had a desperate tone to it as she looked straight into those deep almond eyes she loved so much. "You think you can't offer me anything well you're wrong; you've given me love, faith and happiness, things I never thought I'd ever get as strongly as you've given. Please stay... I want you to stay with me... always." Sophitia's voice turned soft.
Taki watched as Sophitia moved towards her through the water and gently pushed her back until she was against the pillar. She felt the younger woman wrap her arms around her waist and pressed her body against her. Even through the cold water she could feel the warmth of Sophitia's body.
"I do love you too." Sophitia smiled softly and when Taki grinned in return she kissed her with all the love she could show and give to her. Taki ran a hand through her damp hair while the other was placed on her hip, pulling her closer...
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"Oh... yeah... I remember that." Taki stated as her gaze softened at the memory.
"Well, Rothion kind of walked in on that one." Sophitia noted softly. Taki sharply turned to her wide-eyed.
"Did he?" Taki spoke quickly as if she was rather embarrassed about that.
"Yeah, he said that he could already tell that I was in love with you by the way I always looked at you. He said that at first he wasn't sure if it was love or just a strong friendship." Sophitia looked out to the sea as they came closer to it, as well as the many small houses lined up near the shore.
"I guess he got an idea when he saw us." Taki smiled as Sophitia chuckled slightly.
"I suppose so." Sophitia glanced over to her love's direction and noticed that Taki did the same. Taki smirked as she reached out and took Sophitia's hand within her own and let her thumb rub softly against the back of her hand.
Sophitia smiled as she looked over to Taki and entwined her fingers with her own. Taki smiled softy in return as she brought up Sophitia's hand and kissed it gently.The younger girlwatched and smiled as she did so.
"So what was it about this sea that you wanted to show me?" Taki asked as she kissed her hand again then let their clasped hands drop to their sides.
"You came to Europe through the Atlantic sea, you haven't seen the Aegean Sea yet." Sophitia spoke simply as she continued to feel Taki's skin with her thumb.
"Why do you want me to see it, may I ask?" Taki raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, just because I want to show you as much as I can." Sophitia stated with a smirk.
"I see." Taki smiled as she glanced at her. She turned to one of the small houses as they passed them and noticed that one was actually a small market full of jewelry. 'Oh, maybe I can give her something for all she has done for me since I came.' Taki thought as she looked over to Sophitia with a sneaky grin, which Sophitia didn't notice because she was so focused on the sea ahead. 'But I have to get it without her knowing.' "Sophitia." Taki addressed her nonchalantly and she looked down.
"Yes?" Sophitia turned to her with raised eyebrows.
"Do you mind if I pick up some steel polish for my blades? You can go on ahead, I'll only be a minute." Taki hoped this would work.
"Oh-uh sure. I'll be just over the hills." Sophitia pointed over to the high hills of grass that ended with jagged ridges of rock and miles of sand behind them.
"Alright. I won't be long, I promise." Taki assured as she ran over to the market. When she got there, she waited until Sophitia was far enough so that she couldn't see what she was doing. She turned at looked at the dozens of metal jewelry before her. 'She deserves the best, but which one?' Taki thought to herself as she searched.
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"I'm not surprised." Sophitia chuckled to herself as she leaned against one of the rock-like hills and let her feet dig into the white sand. The miles of beach was completely deserted and she liked it that way, at least when Taki's around. Sophitia sighed as she listened to the waves as they crashed against the shore.
Her thoughts were thrown to one side as she felt a sudden rumbling beneath her feet. She looked down to find the grains of sand sifting at the rumbling continued. 'The ground's shaking?' Sophitia's eyebrows lowered with confusion.
Suddenly the sand appeared to lift into the air and began to take up a strange form of something or someone. The more Sophitia watched as the sand took up a form, the more she recognized it. The shape was of a strongly build man with curly hair and beard and held a sword and shield and grew to be about two feet taller than her.
"Hephaestus." Sophitia addressed softly as she felt the rumbling stop.
"Hello again, my sentinel." He spoke in his deep, echoing voice.
"Are you here to send me on another quest?" She asked as she stood up straight as thoughfor the purpose of looking presentablefor the god before her.
"This mission surpasses all others apart fromSoul Edge. You must go after Soul Edge again and there is a second sword that you must dispose of. These two have joined as one and have planned to lead an army. The name of the second weapon is Frostmourne." He informed broadly in his stout form.
Sophitia could feel her heart stopping. "It's back? Again? I must go after that cursed blade again? And by myself?" 'It was so difficult the first time sinceI was travellingalone. The reward of knowing that I actually completed my quest was all that I needed by the end.' Sophitia recollected thoughfully.
He seemed to chuckle. "Even I wouldn't do that to my skilled,belovedsentinel. You must head north, to a place called Ashenvale. There is a race there that will help you gather forces in defeating the army. They are familiar with Frostmourne so they will serve as a great aid to your cause."
Sophitia tried not to raise and eyebrow at the towering figure. "A... 'race'? What do you mean by that Hephaestus?"
The sandy figure paused. "I'll only tell you the name of the woman within that race you should look for and nothing more; her name is Tyrande Whisperwind."
'Whisperwind? Hm, that's a new name.' Sophitia thought to herself. Her gaze rose as she remembered an important topic. "Can Taki come with me?" She asked with a hopeful eye.
He seemed to just look down at her for a moment. "It makes no difference to me who you bring. Some races within the north can be somewhat hostile. I'm not one who would allow a foreigner to assist a sentinel of mine. But, it would be in your best interest to have someone with you to fight along side you."
Sophitia beamed. "Oh, thank you Hephaestus. You won't regret it, I promise Taki and I won't fail you." She clasped her hands together as she bowed slightly to her mighty smith god.
"I know you won't, I trust your word." He said as he turned and Sophitia watched as his sandy form melted down into the ground. Sophitia sighed as she placed her hand over her heart.
"I'd do the most impossible mission as long as Taki's with me." She smiled as she closed her eyes and thought of her love.
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Taki was heading down to meet with Sophitia with her gift in hand. She took another look at the beautiful ring she bought for her. It was a medium-sized silver band with several wavy etches around it and an aquamarine jewel that was the width of the band and brought itself out as the center of attention.
"I hope she likes it. I think aquamarine is her birthstone too."The ebony-haired woman liftedthe ring high so that she would watchit catch the sun's light in a gleam. "I'm going to make this a 'promise' ring for us, so that I can really showmylovefor her."She spoke to herself then smiled fondly at it before sheplaced it within her money bag just for safe keeping for the time being.
By the shore, she stopped as she noticed the Greek with hereyes closed.Having anidea, she grinned as she sneaked up behind her and tapped her shoulder twice. Whenthe slightly shorter girlturned around, Taki wrapped her arms around her love's waist and pulled her into a soft, sweet and tender kiss.
Sophitia's eyes widened in surprise then slowlyclosed them and smiled as she leaned against Taki as much as she could considering that the other woman wasbending her lightly backward. Tenderlywrapping her arms around the taller woman's neck, shefelt her tied-upebony hair and instantly loved its softness. 'I love it when she does this; it feels like time stops just for this, just for us, so that we can enjoy it to the fullest.' She sighed softly as she felt Taki's lips move against her own.
When they finally pulled apart, Taki smileddown at her fondlyas she ran a hand up and down her back. Sophitia smiled in return, then looked down briefly.
"Taki... Hephaestus visited me again." She stated simply as she look back up to Taki, who raised an eyebrow.
"Really?" Taki looked up briefly, Sophitia could tell she was trying to find her god. "What did he tell you?"
"We have to go to the north to Ashenvale." Sophitia's face suddenly became serious. "Soul Edge is back and has joined another force. We have to find a race in Ashenvale who'll help us against it." She stated as she let her fingers run along Taki'sjet blackhair.
Taki's eyes widened at the news, then took in a breath as she seemed to shift her position. "Oh, well, at least we're going to have some help. I figured Soul Edge would want to come back eventually, its greed can easily consume others, only making it stronger." She sighed. "I guess we have to leave as soon as possible?"
"I'm afraid so." Sophitia let her head fall on Taki's chest and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of being held so close to her.
"I know, I'm annoyed by all this too." Taki assured as she kissed the top of Sophitia's head and let her hand run through the soft blonde hair. She heard Sophitia sigh, feeling her warm breath caressing her upper chest, she closed her eyes to take in the feeling. "But at least we know two good things besides the extra help."
"Oh really?And what wouldthat be?" Sophitia asked as she laid her head on Taki's shoulder and held her tighter.
"One; we'll be together and Soul Edge will be destroyed again." Taki stated confidently thenpaused, waiting for Sophitia to speak.
Sophitia smiled at Taki's first good thing. "And the second?"
Taki grinned. "Hephaestus didn't see you almost completely naked this time."Her grin widenedas Sophitia's head shot up with an expression of stunned surprisewhile wide smilebroke outacross her ownface.
"Taki!" She pushed her back playfully as she laughed. Taki couldn't help butsnigger herself. She slowly came forward, taking Sophitia's chin with her fingers and briefly yet tenderly kissed her lips.
"Hey, you being my love, I have to make sure than no one, not even the gods take advantage of you."The older womanspoke softly, then kissed Sophitia's smiling lips again but for a longer period. She felt Sophitia pull her into a warm hug and felt her head lay on her shoulder again.Taki looked to the skies. 'Oh, great, this isn't really the best time to give Sophitia her ring. I want it to be a special place and time, very special so that it can be easily remembered as the fondest memory. I'll have to wait until I find one. But might as enjoy this moment as long as I can.' Taki let her head fall gently on Sophitia's as she kissed her forehead softly.
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Wow. (Wipes the sweat off her forehead) I've never written a chapter this long before, the others might be just as long so might as well get used to it ;) I hope I portrayed Arthas well enough. He'll have more of an anger management problem in later chapters. I enjoyed writing this one and I hope you enjoyed reading it :) It's going to take me a little if not a lot longer to write these chapters what with school, homework and whatnot.
For those of you who haven't played Warcraft, I know that the appearance of Kel'Thuzad may be a bit out there and the basic purpose of meat wagons might seen brutal and crude but hey, it adds more to the story and it was in the game.
To Witch-Hunter 51: Thank you for your review on my epilogue and thank you even more for thinking so highly of my creativity. I greatly appreciate the confidence in my writing :)
To El loco: I always give a reviewer a reason why I would or wouldn't use a suggested character, so I guess I care more for the reviewers than others ;P You flatter me beyond words of proper expression for your approval of my work. Let me know if you want a specific Warcraft character in my fanfic, I'll let you know if I can or can't wedge him/her in :)