Drahkin strode down the pleasant white-stone street, quietly munching on his loaf of bread. Normally he might have been an intimidating figure—a fully-armored man with a six-foot sword slung across his back—but as a town in the edge of Felwithe where the monster-infested forest was just outside their gates, this town seemed to accept strange adventurers like himself more than most
Drahkin leisurely scanned the streets as he walked through them, but stopped suddenly when he saw something catch his eye. In large words was written: "WANTED: Raaj, leader of the White Wolf clan."
Drahkin's eyes were wide as he walked up the poster to get a closer look. Could it really be? The White Wolf clan….they were back! How could it be? He had destroyed them! Drahkin hit his fist against the wanted poster in fury.
"Curse you, murderers! How could you have survived?!" Drahkin exclaimed. Noticing his commotion was drawing attention from the villagers around him, he sunk to the ground and leaned against the wall, his arms crossed. How could they have survived? How was it possible? He remembered he had let a few of them go after taking the commander, but to think that those few regrouped and continued the clan? It seemed unlikely. But there was no other explanation, except that another band could be using White Wolf's name, which seemed rather unlikely.
"Curse them…curse the White Wolfs! Linnira's death…it's all their faults! Curse them…I'll kill them again, and this time, make sure they're ALL dead!" Drahkin said, jumping to his feet.
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Drahkin walked slowly through the dark woods, his gaze towards the ground. He was doing it again, wasn't he? He had promised he would forget about things like needless revenge. Revenge never worked—he had learned long ago that he never felt better after taking revenge, no matter how it seemed. Yet he couldn't help it—the people who killed Linnira, who burned her alive—they were still alive. Curse the White Wolfs! He wanted to destroy them! But there he was going, again. Revenge never helps. The old sage had taught him that long ago…
So, if it wasn't for revenge, why was he out here, following a rumor that the White Wolfs now resided by the northern walls? Would he kill them, or bring them in for bounty? What about the ones that didn't have bounties on their heads? These sorts of thoughts ran through Drahkin's mind as he made his way through the deep forest.
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Raaj sat on a stump, sharpening his sword.
"Commander Raaj, do you know where Renka is? She's been gone all morning, hasn't she?" one of the bandits asked Raaj.
Raaj turned to look at him. "Renka....she said she was going to the nearby village to resupply. Do you need her?" he asked.
"Err, no I don't, but are you sure it's ok for her to leave the band like that? It would be a great opportunity for one of our enemies to capture her, and…"
Raah smiled. "Come, now…I think Renka is more than able to take care of herself, don't you?"
The other guy paused. "Well, yes…I suppose so…but still, I think…"
"Don't worry—she took two men with her when I requested her to. She'll be fine," Raaj said, turning back to his sword-sharpening.
Suddenly, he stopped. Had he heard something in the bushes? He turned, looking at the bushes, but they were too dense to see much. He listened closely…something snapped, and Raaj jumped to his feet, but before he could even grab his sword, he saw a great High-Elf Warrior break through the brushes, sword drawn, charging Raaj. Raaj grabbed his sword and blocked the attack, but as their swords collided, Raaj was pushed back in surprise—the attacker had the upper-hand on him.
"ATTACKER!" Raaj yelled, warning his clan, using his strength to push the attacker back. This guy was incredibly strong—he must have been a warrior, as well. Before he could think another thought, suddenly he gasped for breathe as he felt the man's kick to his stomach. Raaj jumped back, holding his stomach where the man had kicked it, but the man had recovered quickly. Raaj's men ran desperately to aid their commander. The last thing Raaj saw before everything went black was the man's long, huge sword coming at him.
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Renka stood in the alley, three younger boys lying on the ground. "All right then, I'm glad we settled that!" Renka said happily.
The boys looked up at her, rubbing their bruised stomachs and eyes. "Just who ARE you?" one of them asked.
"I am Renka of the White Wolfs!" Renka said proudly, holding her head high. "Really, you should know more about a person before you try to mug them. I mean, look at my outfit!" she said, pointing to her solid white outfit with black trimmings and a long white cape. "Do I LOOK like a normal, innocent city girl you could just beat up and mug?" she asked. They just groaned. "Well, no matter—this shall be a lessons learned!" she said cheerfully.
"Now, since you tried to take all my money first, I think it's only fair for you to forfeit your own money now that I've won!" she said cheerfully. "Any resistance will, of course, result in me having to beat you to unconsciousness and then taking your money from you," she said smiling, rubbing her fist, ready to do some more hand-to-hand combat. The boys stood up and dropped their belongings on the ground, running off in the opposite direction. Renka smiled cheerfully. "Thank you for your contribution to the White Wolfs! Your money will go directly to help our needs!" she yelled, smiling as she watched them run off. She picked up the money from the ground and stuck it in her bag.
"Not much, but it'll probably help buy supplies. Now, where were those two? They were supposed to protect me, but….Oh yeah, I left them at the blacksmiths. I bet they'll be unhappy about that. Better start heading back there soon, but first I'll head for the market—I promised I'd bring something good to eat back to the White Wolfs!" she said, walking away happily.
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Renka walked along the small path through the forest, humming loudly, drowning out the sounds from behind her.
"RENKA, LISTEN TO US WHEN WE'RE TALKING!" the two bandits yelled, annoyed.
"Oh come ON, guys! Just forget about it! I know I ditched you, and I know I told Commander Raaj that I would let you protect me this time, but I jut changed my mind. You were slowing me down, and I…" Renka began.
"Renka, you're not supposed to ditch your bodyguards! We were sent SPECIFICALLY to protect you, and you left us at the blacksmith's! What if you had been attacked? You look just like a normal, innocent city-girl, who any random thug could beat up! Well, except for your weird clothes…" he said.
She glared at him. "Weird clothes, ehh? They just show my loyalty to White Wolf. And besides, they didn't even get a shot on me! I mean---they WOULDN'T have, had anyone attacked me, but since, uhh, no one attacked me, err—"
"You WERE attacked, weren't you?" one of the bandits attacked. "See, what did we tell you? If we had been there, we—"
"But they didn't even get a punch in on me! Seriously, guys, the city is like the SAFEST place I could be, compared to the Greater Faydark forest where I LIVE! I mean, what's the point of protecting me while I'm in a CITY?" she exclaimed.
"The problem is when you leave the clan. When you're inside the clan, you're pretty safe, but as soon as you leave the clan, you're vulnerable," said the bandit.
Renka sighed. "Yeah, yeah. Let's just drop it and hurry and get back to the clan. I'm starving, and I can't wait to see what Commander Raaj thinks of the white biscuits I bought us," she said, running up ahead. "Come on, guys! You're slowing me down again!" she yelled, smiling at them as she turned and began running ahead.
The two bandits looked at each other and sighed.