Archers.
Hanzo Shimada: Mastering his skills as a bowman and an assassin, Hanzo strives to prove himself as a warrior without peer. He is likewise skilled with the sword, but has sworn off using such a weapon. He considers crossbows to be "toys for children," and believes that compassion has no place in battle. He has demonstrated a cynical view on the nature of the world.
The Shimada family was established centuries ago, a clan of assassins whose power grew over the years, enabling them to build a vast criminal empire out of Hanamura that profited from lucrative trade in arms and illegal substances. As the eldest son of Sojiro Shimada, the family's head, Hanzo was bound by duty to succeed his father and rule the Shimada empire. From a young age, he was trained for that responsibility, displaying a natural aptitude for leadership and possessing an innate understanding of strategy and tactics. He also excelled in more practical areas: he was a prodigy in martial arts, swordplay, and bowmanship.
Upon the death of his father, the clan elders instructed Hanzo to straighten out his wayward younger brother, Genji, so that he, too, might help rule the Shimada empire. When his brother refused, Hanzo was forced to kill him. Unbeknownst to Hanzo, however, Genji narrowly survived the attempt with the help of Overwatch. This act broke Hanzo's heart and drove him to reject his father's legacy, ultimately leading him to abandon the clan and all that he had worked so hard to attain. Furthermore, he swore to never again wield a sword, and would forevermore rely on his skills with the bow. Seeing his abandonment as betrayal, the clan declared Hanzo an enemy and assassins were sent time and again to kill him.
That was ten years ago. Now, Hanzo travels the world, perfecting his skills as a warrior, attempting to restore his honor and put the ghosts of his past to rest, honing his murderous skills all the while. At some point he visited Numbani, but did not find the city to be to his liking.
On the tenth anniversary of Genji's death, as he had done every year, Hanzo broke into Shimada Castle and took down the guards before they could alert anyone. In the main room in front of the sword display he lit an incense offering and prayed to honor Genji. He however called out an apparent assassin that he knew to be there, revealed to be a cybernetic ninja. The ninja asked Hanzo about honoring his brother, yet also being his killer.
Hanzo initiated a battle between them, openly admitting that his actions were about duty, but also a burden he carried and that it didn't mean he didn't honor Genji. The ninja countered that to show honor, it should be done through one's actions, not incense offerings. Hanzo tried the Dragonstrike to take down his opponent, only to be shocked when the ninja revealed the Shimada ability to control dragons as well, turning the Dragonstrike right back at him, and took the full brunt of the attack.
Defeated and with the ninja's wakizashi at his neck, Hanzo told him to go ahead and kill him, but the ninja refused, saying he would not grant Hanzo's wish for death and that he still had a purpose in life. To Hanzo's shock, the ninja then called him "brother", revealing himself to be Genji, still alive, and to prove it unlocked his facemask to show his eyes. Hanzo was a bit disturbed at seeing Genji's physical changes, but Genji stated that he was at peace with it and had forgiven Hanzo's actions: now Hanzo needed to forgive himself. Times were changing, stated Genji, and Hanzo would soon have to pick a side. Retrieving a loosed arrow Hanzo aimed it, angrily declaring Genji a fool in believing that real life was like their father's stories. Genji conceded that he might be a fool for believing that there was hope for Hanzo, but nevertheless did, which gave Hanzo pause. Asking him to think about it, Genji vanished with a smoke screen. With much to contemplate, Hanzo returned to the main room to finish his offering.
After all that, Hanzo continued his travels around the world and ended up in the middle of another realm. The Nexus. And soon his skills will be put to another great test.
He was currently walking through the forest. but he was being watched by another archer. The female Night Elf named Tyrande Whisperwind.
Tyrande Whisperwind is the most prominent night elf leader, as the chosen high priestess of the goddess Elune, the former general of the night elf sentinels, and the current head of the Sisterhood of Elune. Together with her lifelong mate, the Archdruid Malfurion Stormrage, she has represented the highest leadership of the night elves since the fall of Queen Azshara and the Highborne caste ten thousand years ago.
Tyrande grew up together with the two male night elf twins, Malfurion and Illidan Stormrage, in the kaldorei city of Suramar. The three were inseparable, playing in the woods, racing, learning to hunt. Tyrande consistently bested the brothers. As they grew into adulthood together they encouraged each other to find their respective callings.
Tyrande was to find peace in the Temple of Elune in Suramar, and became a novice priestess in the order of the Sisters of Elune. Malfurion, meanwhile, was taken under the wing of the demigod Cenarius, but Illidan was yet to find his own destiny, and searched for it in the arts of the arcane. Illidan was enamoured by the very thought of Tyrande, but his brother never even noticed this "contest" of Illidan's over Tyrande's heart.
When the War of the Ancients began, Tyrande helped to convince Illidan to leave the Highborne, and when he did, she helped him to master his insatiable addiction to magic as they sought out Cenarius. When finally they found him, they gained the allies of Alexstrasza's dragons to fight at their side, and made war upon the Burning Legion and its allies Azshara and her unholy Highborne. It was during the battles against the Burning Legion that it became apparent that Tyrande was far more adept at channeling the power of Elune than any other member of her order.
Tyrande was long the love interest of both Malfurion Stormrage and his brother Illidan, though it was Malfurion to whom she returned the affection.
In the latter half of the war, word reached Tyrande of the death of High Priestess Dejahna at the hands of the Burning Legion and how on her deathbed she had named a successor, one who was favored by Elune and touched with the power of the Goddess herself: Tyrande. Tyrande was forced to reluctantly accept her new role as High Priestess even though she had major reservations about her ability to lead the night elves.
But as years passed Illidan was imprisoned for the vile acts against their people and Tyrande's heart has always belonged to Malfurion, leading to them getting married.
10 000 years passed and Archimonde the Defiler would return to the world. Archimonde slaughtered her kindred, and would have killed her if she had not quickly used the powers of Elune to hide in the shadows. Enraged, Archimonde ordered his doom guard to find and destroy her. Hoping to warn Shandris before the Shadowleaves were attacked, Tyrande stealthily used her shadowmelding powers to navigate the forests unseen. She collected the survivors of her cadre, and together, they raided the undead settlement blocking their way and made for the Shadowleaf encampment across the river.
Being forced to awaken her lover and even allying herself with the Humans and the Orcs, The undead were beaten back and Archimonde was finally killed.
Time would go on and Tyrande would be involved with several more events. Including aiding in the hunt for Illidan and several more battles against both the legion and the corrupted horde led by Garrosh, Tyrande would ultimately end up in the Nexus and so far she has not met anyone she recognized, leading her to be on constend guard and not trusting anything new.
When she saw the male archer enter her current home, she naturally picked up her bow and got ready to fight, should it be needed.
Still, out of respect for a fellow archer. Tyrande jumped down from the tree, making sure he could hear her before aiming her arrow at him "Stop right there!".
Hanzo did stop but he did not turn around "So, you finally decided to reveal yourself. I was beggining to wonther how long you would remains in the trees".
"You know I was watching you the whole time?" Tyrande asked.
"I am not that easy to sneak up on" Hanzo said before he turned to look at the elf "Better people than you have tried".
Tyrande glared slightly, not liking his tone "Be very careful what you say next, human. My patience for your kind has never been strong. Only a handful of humans has earned my respect".
"I don't want, nor do I need your respect" Hanzo said as his grip on his bow became a little tighter "And I do not need to explain myself to anyone. Least of all you. So walk away while I still have some mercy".
Tyrande has officially lost her tolerance with this man and aimed her arrow "The goddess guides my arrows. You will not walk away from her alive".
"I need no goddess to guide my arrows" Hanzo said as he quickly loaded an arrow and fired. Tyrande fired as well.
The battle was on.
The two arrows clashed, sending both flying away. Tyrande moves to the side and fires her arrows as Hanzo moves to the side to avoid her shots. He then fires his own arrows as the two continue running sideways to avoid each other's shots. Hanzo spins and gets behind a tree for cover as Tyrande does the same on the other side. Hanzo steps out of cover aiming his arrow as Tyrande does the same and fires first, forcing Hanzo back behind cover.
Tyrande runs towards Hanzo, who then emerges and fires his bow, ready to shoot. Tyrande runs toward a tree and runs up it for a moment before jumping off of it, avoiding Hanzo's fire and landing near him. She then rolls out of the way of another arrow before charging towards Hanzo. Tyrande attacks with a low sweeping kick, which Hanzo avoids by raising one of his legs, followed by a jumping kick that Hanzo avoids by stepping backward, concluding with an upward kicks that Hanzo ducks downward to avoid.
Hanzo prepares to fire his arrow when Tyrande's next kick strikes it, causing his single shot to miss. Before Tyrande can follow up with arrow of her own, Hanzo swings his bow at Tyrande's own, whose shot also miss. Hanzo then goes for a downward punch with his left hand as Tyrande swerves to the side, then prepares her bow once more. As she fires a shot, she is suddenly struck by an upward swing of Hanzo's shap bow. After this, Hanzo charges forward and headbutts her, knocking her onto back as she rolls backward back onto her feet.
She swings her bow at Hanzo's head with both hands, causing Hanzo to place his right hand over his face. Tyrande then turns backward to escape so she can gain som distance, But Hanzo grabs her arm. She swings at him but Hanzo ducks, then rises with a right punch. Hanzo then grabs onto her shoulders before headbutting her, then goes for a swing with the sharp side of his bow, but Tyrande ducks, then counters with a knee to the stomach. Hanzo grunted before firing an arrow, but Tyrande avoids it and kicks his bow out of his hands. She then kicks him in the head, knocking him into the ground as she takes her bow and arrow, and aims at him.
"You lost human. You shouldn't have been so arrogant" Tyrande said.
"Never underestimate a dragon!" Hazon declared.
Tyrande was confused befor she noticed the arrow she avoided before came right back at her. She was forced to dodge it again, but that gave Hanzo the chance to kick her in the stomach, making her back away. Hanzo retrieved his bow and the fight continued.
Immediately, both archers readied their respective arrows and shot them at each other. The two then collided with each other, negating each other out. Tyrande then sent a series of light arrows at Hanzo, who quickly used his skill to shoot at the arrows, stopping their advance. Next, Hanzo had decided to do the same, sending his own barrage of arrows. However, Tyrande had just countered them just like Hanzo.
Realizing that there was at a stalemate, Hanzo gritted his teeth before rushing off. Tyrande's eyes widened before firing an arrow forward. But, Hanzo was looking back and when he saw the incoming arrow, he managed to flip to the side to avoid it as it hit the ground. Tyrande then aimed at Hanzo and sent out another magic powered arrow forward at him. However, Hanzo had seen the shining arrow coming and blocked it with his bow. While he had successfully guarded against the projectile, the burst had sent Hanzo flying backwards, tumbling to the ground. Despite being in pain, Hanzo quickly got up and hid behind another tree.
Seeing this, Tyrande smirked before aiming up at the sky. She then fired a barrage of arrows in the air before they fell down to the ground, particularly where Hanzo was hiding. The ninja looked up and his eyes widened before he dove to the side to avoid being skewered or blasted away from the powerful magic arrow. Tyrande then fired another arrow, but Hanzo had managed to get into a kneeling position and shoot one arrow.
However, the night elf just scoffed before firing another arrow at it. However, this time, the arrow had curved to the side, not only avoiding her arrow, but also flew towards her. The Night elf leader's eyes widened before raising her bow to block the arrow. The guard was a success but because she was taken off-guard, she staggered.
Hanzo then rushed over and did a series of strikes with his bow and kicks, hitting Tyrande several times. Hanzo then finished the assault with a flip, kicking Tyrande in the chin and sending her into the air before landing on her back. Tyrande groaned before looking up. Only to have an arrow, pointing in her face. Acting quickly, Tyrande rolled to the side. Hanzo quickly did an axe kick before Tyrande managed to block with her bow.
Tyrande then rolled backwards into a kneeling position. Hanzo's eyes widened before raising his bow to block the arrow. This resulted in a burst of energy that had sent both archers flying back and sprawling on the ground. The two then got up into kneeling positions. Hanzo then tried another trick by aiming another arrow. Tyrande readied herself. However, Hanzo fired at a rock near her. This resulted in the arrow ricocheting off of the rocks and cuting Tyrande in the leg, making the night elf cry out in pain.
"How… How is that even possible?" Tyrande asked.
Hanzo just scoffed. "I am a better trained archer than I seem".
Tyrande glared "I will show you what a true archer can do!".
Tyrande jumped back and powred up her arrow even more. This one had enough power to destroy and entire building.
Hanzo nerrowed his eyes as he jumped back and took out his own arrow before speaking famous words "RYUU GA WAGA TEKI WO KURAU!".
But just as they were about to fire away their most powerful arrows. A powerful wind blast sent both arrows away, making them hit the ground in a powerful explosion of power.
Both Archers looked up to see a red dagon land, before transforming in to a woman. Tyrande gasped as she knew exactly who this was.
"Lady Alexstrasza, the life binder! Why did you stop us?" Tyrande asked.
"You dare interfear with our battle?! I hope for your sake that you have a good reason for this" Hanzo demanded.
Alexstrasza held up a hand to calm him "You are fighting the wrong battle, Hanzo Shimada. The real evil are planing to invade the Nexus. And unless we band together we have no hope of stopping them".
"What is this evil you speak of, Life Binder?" Tyrande asked.
"Evil from all worlds. Some of them have even formed deadly alliances" Alexstrasza explained "If we are to stop them. We need to form alliances of our own. And alliance of light".
"I walk and fight alone, life binder. If this great evil you speak of decides to come for me, I will deal with them on my own" Hanzo declared.
Alexstrasza shook her head "This evil is beyond even your amazing skills, Hanzo... and your brother had already joined us".
Hanzo got wide eyes "Genji!?".
Alexstrasza nods "Yes. Genji Shimada knows what's at stake. You brothers needs to unite once again and fight back the bringers of death".
Hanzo looked down before he spoke in a dark and broken tone "My brother is dead. I killed myself. That machine you speak of, is no longer the Genji I once knew. I am sorry, life binder. This is not my war. And I refuse to be a part of it".
With that, Hanzo walked away without another word. Tyrande wanted to stop him and call him out on his cowardice for refusing to face his brother. But Alexstrasza stopped her.
"He is a broken man. I can only hope he heals enough to see that he is already a part of this war. We were all brought here for a reason. To stop the evil before all worlds fall in to chaos" The Life Binder spoke with her strong wisdom.
Tyrande could only nod in agreement.
The war was about to begin.
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