Disclaimer: I don't own World of Warcraft. I do own, however, the character Simonee and the guild Slayers of Destiny within said property.

A/N: Changed this due to Ikeris' recent little bit of news. Please stomach through my early writing, as it is quite terrible. It may not be quite as important to read this as I make it seem, as there is a synopsis of the plot at the beginning of Trial by Fire. If you wish to continue reading, then by all means continue. If not, then Trial is a perfectly fine place to start. Thanks for checking me out, and Be Happy - Python.

Destiny's Warriors

Chapter One: Origins

The mage looked at the Lion's Pride Inn and smiled a smile he hadn't smiled in years. Memories swirled in his head as he looked back at the good years, and at the adventures he had.

It had been nearing the end of summer, the bright, verdant foliage of the Elwynn Forest glowing a green hue. Slight breezes rocked the trees as a mother would her baby, cooling adventurers with a cool wave. In Goldshire, friendships were easily forged, almost as easily as enemies could be made elsewhere. The Lion's Pride Inn was a viable meeting place, as found by the small group sitting in one of the tables in the bar area. This particular group had been sitting here, talking in a not-so-quiet tone, joking, and spilling ale since morning light shone through the trees outside. The group of four had had a grand time, as two of them could attest (the other two were drunk out of their mind and could only spit out moans similar to that of zombies), and had just finished up a drinking contest.

"Ahh, I thhinnks will be pppbbassed errrr, wha?" said one very inebriated druid.

"Do what?" laughed the mage sitting to the right of him.

"I dunno... wwwhy bee theroom spinsomuch?" replied the druid, as he passed out, hitting the ground with a dull thud.

The warlock across from him reciprocated and let out a long belch as he finally became unconscious, lying on the ground. The slightly drunk mage and rogue were left to pick up their comrades and literally drag him to the room they had rented out overnight. Up the stairs and around the corner, a bed could be seen, and the two unconscious fellows were dumped onto the exceptionally hard mattress. Exhausted by carrying a 185 pound Night Elf up a flight of stairs, the mage Simonee sat in the also hard wooden chair next to the bed and was content to pant heavily.

"So... what you feel like doing now?" he asked after an exceptionally long breath.

"I don't really know. You wanna duel?" replied Dagerly, the rogue.

"Typical rogue... oh well, you asked for it..."

"Oh, please, a mage could never stand up to a rogue!"

"You'll see," came the cryptic reply.

The two walked down the stairs, and outside, they would duel until dark. After that day, the friendship between the four would keep going strong, along with the recruitment of a few more.

Simonee looked over the 100-plus heads in front of him. Ugh, recruitment's been quick about this, haven't they? It seemed as though each guild member was carrying on a conversation with his neighbor, and him with another member, so on and so forth. In short, the room had gotten loud in a hurry.

"Everyone, settle down!" shouted Simonee from the back of the inn. Behind him lied the kitchen, the aroma of spiced meat drifting lazily through the heavy winter air. Also behind him sat five chairs, with five people settled into them. The Lion's Pride Inn had remained exactly as the mage remembered it those many months ago. Meanwhile, the mob in front of Simonee had finally become quiet enough for him to start speaking again. "First of all, I would like to congratulate you all for your induction into the Slayers of Destiny. We are glad to have you all, and wish you enjoy your stay, however long it may be. Secondly, congratulations also on our 100th member, Ryinn."

At this news, the grouping had started to cheer, continuing until Simonee raised his hand, signaling for attention. "I would like now to draw attention to the members behind me. This is our council. They and I will be in charge of administration of our guild, so if you have problems or questions, contact us, and hopefully the matter can be resolved quickly."

Behind Simonee, the councilmen stood and introduced themselves.

"I am Aeriah, I am in charge of treasury, so tell me if you need loans or items from the guild's bank, and I will gladly try and assist you," said a tall 185 pound Night Elf druid.

"I am Hoardale, in charge of information and records," said a human warlock, the imp beside him contemplating complete insanity.

"I am Dagerly, in charge of new member training. Contact me if you would like combat training, logistics, or pretty much anything to do with combat," explained the rogue.

"I am Aubs, I happen to be emotional support, so, if you need consoling, I'm your girl!" exclaimed a beautiful human mage.

"I'm Dince. I don't have charge over anything, but you can still talk to me from time to time, lest I become lonely…" moped a depressed rogue.

"Er… thanks, Dince. Finally, I'm Simonee, your guild leader, so if you have any problems at all that our council can't take care of, come to me and I'll see what I can do. You know, when the council and I decided to forge this guild, we held no illusions of nearing 100 members, but here we are. I would like to thank you all. Now, council, if you please," said Simonee, cueing the men and woman behind him to join him.

The mage started to cast a spell, muttering an incantation under his breath. To his sides, the council assisted in the spell, the same incantation being recited. Above each member's head, blue lights could be seen sewing a black tabard, one with gold trim and a blood red rune in the center. Once the cast was complete, the tabards dropped onto the confused members, each fitting disturbingly correct. With tabard on, the members now exemplified their belonging to the guild.

"The initiation is complete." Simonee stated simply. "HAIL SLAYERS!"

"HAIL SLAYERS!" came the reply from 100 people.

Satisfied, the mage bowed, saying "You are dismissed. May you have luck in your travels."

The crowd filed out and he turned back to the council waiting behind him. The group fell into a proud laughter.

"We did it!" Aeriah exclaimed.

"We sure did," replied Dagerly, wearing a smirk.

"Now, to celebrate!" cheered Hoardale, to joking protests. "Barkeep, Ale all around!"

The bartender seemed happy to oblige, and quickly slipped the bitter drink to the six friends.

Aubs raised her wooden mug, and toasted, "To the Slayers of Destiny!"

"To the Slayers…" replied Simonee quietly, "and to the Slayers to be."

"Hear hear!" acknowledged the group, and much fun commenced. After half-an-hour, comprised of mostly the same routine as before, minus the drinking contests, Simonee stood up and stated, "I have business that needs tending to in Stormwind. You guys tagging along?"

Each of the five stood (or wobbled), and marched out of the inn. On the loose dirt road, covered by a slight film of snow, the friends turned north and headed off on the journey to the grand city of the humans, Stormwind. Although the trek was moderately short, the trip was still good for reflection, as Simonee noted, spying at least seven Defias thieves on the side of the road.

Spotting what had his leader staring, Aeriah spoke up, "Something's gotta be done about those fools."

"Like what?" the mage calmly quizzed.

"Dunno, but something."

Directly after the small exchange, the group witnessed a Defias dashing from the white wilderness toward the traveling fruit vendor, reaching her before she noticed what was going on.

"Give me the money and I might think about letting you go," the thief sneered.

The small woman squirmed, and the rogue only held the knife tighter, drawing blood from the small prick at the end of his blade.

"How 'bout you let her go, and I might think of not roasting you alive," called Simonee, his calm air nearly palpable.

Releasing the poor, confused merchant, the thief locked on to the snippy mage in front of him and sprinted.

"Bad move," Simonee said, as he prepared to conjure his inner hands glowed a bright red, and when the spell reached it's pinnacle, he released the fireball, which caught the Defias 'brother' quite litterally in his tracks. The now-crisp body of the thief fell backwards, his seared skin cracking apart, to an ooze of deep red.

"Like that, Aeri?" he asked.

"Like... that..." Aeriah replied.

"How do you like your thief? Extra crispy?" joked Aubs.

Simonee chuckled and the group of six continued on their way, thankfully without any more 'incidents'. Around the defias' body, the snow had melted away, leaving the body lying in his own personal grassy field. Ahead of the group, looming over them, was the stonewall city of Stormwind.