Diablo 2: Longing to be with you (Chapter 2)
By Amethyst Haze

***

Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo II, its concepts, its designs or anything else related to it. Those are the property of Blizzard Entertainment, this story is simply a non-profit tribute and parody. This story is Rated R for moments of sexual content, offensive language and violence.

Amethyst Haze's comments: If this story sounds EXTREMELY familiar to you.... then you've read the original fanfic as the NC-17 version when it was under my old pen name. I will not be writing like that anymore.

***

The paced out creaking of the wagon echoed and rattled in the young sorceresses mind as she pressed her palms flatly against her temples, "Argh..." She shook her head weakly as she lay back on a comfortable pile of pillows. Her head hurt worse than the memory of her first hangover. It was MUCH worse. Her eyes kept going in and out of focus as though they were pulsing, her mouth felt incredibly dry and her entire body ached. "What the hell...?" She couldn't understand what caused these symptoms, more importantly, when they started. She was asleep the whole time... Nevia's face flushed red as the dream slowly inched its way back to her memory. However, the realization that the throbbing ache in her lower body made her blush.

"Oh geeez..." she thought, looking nervously over at Erix who was quietly reading a book, completely oblivious (at least that's what she thinks) to her dilemma. That made her feel even more embarrassed having overlooked the fact that it was he who made the cameo appearance as her fiery lover in the erotic dream. She quickly turned her head away as she blushed furiously.

Minutes past as the wheel continued its groaning like a starved animal. Nevia was still occupied with recollecting pieces of her dream until everything fit and she was able to go through it frame-by-frame. She lay back on the pillows again, closing her eyes with a deep sigh. She felt a desperate longing between her legs, an ache that can only be remedied properly by one man. Although the idea of seducing the nearby paladin into curing and somewhat living up to her dream, she knew she couldn't. "I rejected him yesterday..." she recalled bitterly. "I think he'd be really uncomfortable if I threw myself in his arms and cried, "Take me, I'm yours!" ."

The wagon remained still, but Nevia was so immersed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice their traveling stopped until she heard Warriv's jolly voice, "I think this would be a good spot to camp."

Nevia's eyes opened and she sat up staring him as the paladin quietly and swiftly jumped out of the wagon. "Already?"

He nodded and left her field of vision, leaving her blinking and wondering how the day went by so quickly. "Oh right...." She was sleeping.....The dream occupied most of her daytime.

The first thing she noticed upon setting foot out of the wagon was the scenery. They were camped on the edge of the desert, close to where a thick forest ended. She stretched her arms out and yawned, lifting herself onto her tiptoes for a good wake up call for her body before smiling. "So beautiful..." she said under her breath, glancing around. "Warriv?"

He turned in her direction, throwing down the rolled up canvas cloth for a tent, "Yes?"

"Where's Erix?"

"Practicing in the woods probably," he replied briskly, untying the twine-bound canvas roll. She turned away from the man, surveying the landscape and staring directly on the forest. "A river should be nearby," she thought. A smile crept up on her face at the thought of a bath as she reached into the wagon and re-equipped herself before heading out. "I'll be back in awhile."

***

Erix ran through the thick forest madly, trees seeming to dart behind him and create a random repetition of whooshes' as they did. A few oaths were muttered under his breath as his mantra hummed to life. He was fully aware that one of his weaknesses was speed and endurance. His feet were sore and his chest felt tighter with each breath, but... "Must keep running!"

***

Twirling playfully, Nevia let out a childish laugh as she tossed the last article of clothing that separated her from partial nudity and full nudity, her panties. "Ahhh...." She sighed, leaning over the edge of the river and dropping her wand. She felt that keeping it nearby would be a good choice in case some monsters were to show up. She knew she'd probably be caught off guard since she wanted to take a bath... but, with the wand at least it's not TOO off guard.

She dipped her barefoot into the smoothly flowing river and her face fell slightly. She knew the water would be cold but she was hoping that it wouldn't be too cold. As tempted as she was to cast an inferno at the river, she knew that would prove futile since the water was constantly moving. "Besides, a cold bath is probably what I need right after a dream like that..." she pressed her hand to her face gingerly and felt her skin grow hot again.

She breathed in deeply and jumped in. The freezing cold of the chilling water seemed to mercilessly pierce her skin like the quills of a spike fiend. Completely submerged, her hair waved in a flowing manner like a kite in peaceful winds. Her legs kicked madly as her head emerged from the cold water, eyes and mouth wide open with water spilling from her mouth as she emitted a shriek.

"Eyaghhhhh!!!!" Her hands gripped the biceps of the opposite arm as her teeth chattered. "D-d-damn..." Every inch of her skin was covered in goosebump, every hair on her was standing on end and her nipples also felt painfully tight and hard by the shock of the cold water. She shook her head, trying to concentrate on warmer thoughts other than the freezing water.

That failed miserably. "Arghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!" She cried in defeat as she raised her hands casting inferno at the water of the river flowing towards her. A thick wave of flames burst from her hands, warming the water in front of her. She narrowed her eyes, keeping the flames alive for as long as she possibly could.

The water seemed slightly warmer and her body was quickly adjusting to the temperature. "Good," she thought, smiling proudly. "No more screaming."

Minutes later, she was leaning casually back on the river edge as she sighed, her mind returning to her dream. "Strange," she whispered softly to herself, "I never really knew I could think of him like that..." She pictured Erix's face again and blushed before lowering her arm and rubbing the skin of her shoulder until she felt the grains of dirt roll into tiny lines.

***

"What was that?"

Erix spun around, his ears desperately searching for the direction the peal of laughter came from. "That sounded like Nevia...." Minutes later during his trek, nother sound was heard, less high pitched and, without another thought, the paladin sprinted through the thick forest, the visions of Nevia being killed by monsters acted as fuel for his stamina, keeping it at an all time high.

"... Nevia..." Her name echoed in his mind but not more than the anguished scream he had heard only a few seconds ago.

***

A loud and dry snapping sound behind her startled her. She quickly pulled the wand out of herself, wincing because she didn't pull it directly out, but at an angle. She whirled around and held up her wand at the sound source, a gargantuan that was angrily roaring at her. "Oh god...!!" Nevia cried out and flipping her want around, realizing that she was pointing the orb at herself. She looked down at the beast's feet. A meter behind it was her clothes and armor. "Oh shit..." she cursed at herself, backing up to the other side of the river and getting ready to throw an ice orb once the gargantuan leapt in to the river to attack the naked sorceress.

A loud growl was repeated from the side of the river that Nevia currently had her back pressed up against. She nervously whirled around to find yet another beast roaring angrily, this time, it was a werebear standing on its hind legs, ready for battle. "Oh shit!!!" she cursed, holding her wand out at the bear and throwing a weak fire bolt. The bear didn't move, it grunted in pain before it made its first strike..... it jumped into the river, directly on top of the gargantuan already there, tackling it.

Nevia's eyes darted away from the beasts' scuffle to her clothes and armor lying safely on the ground where she left it. Swimming as quickly and in a way to not attract attention, she tried going around the dueling animals. The gargantuan's arm swung out at both the bear and the sorceress. Nevia was fully submerged into the river, coughing as her head re-emerged from the water. The bear clawed angrily at the gargantuan as it grunted in pain. Surprisingly enough, the bear then managed to throw the raging beast onto the riverbank, then climb up on the bank to continue the battle. The bear swung its left and right mercilessly at the beast before rearing back and slamming its own muscular form into it. As Nevia rubbed her eyes, giving one last cough, she heard a big splash right in front of her as the gargantuan's limp body fell in and sank into the dark river water.

The sorceress looked up at the bear, somewhat curious as it remained on its hind legs, staring at her. She frowned, raising her wand and sending lightning bolt, which the bear surprisingly ducked and avoided. "What're you doing, Nevia??!" the bear yelled.

Nevia froze, "A talking bear...." She thought as she stared at the creature before the reality hit her. "No way..." she said in disbelief, slowly shaking her head and pointing at the bear. "You can't be..!!"

If the bear could smile, it would. Instead, a light bright shining light surrounded the muscular and fur-covered body. Through the slits of squinting eyes, Nevia could see the form decrease in size and density to a shape more human. The light faded and Nevia lowered her arms which acted like a light shield, her face holding an expression of shock and delight, "Oh my.... Rune!" she cried at the sight of the familiar green eyes, strong jaw and the reddish-orange hair, tied back in a small ponytail. A smile split her face as the tall and burly fur and leather clad man grinned, "It's so good to see you again!"

"Uh, it's good to see you too, Nevia..." He coughed and looked away, not meaning to embarrass her anymore with the unintentional pun. Nevia flushed red, a full body blush, and dropped down in the water, crossing her arms over her exposed breasts, only letting her head remain above water level. She laughed nervously and scolded him, "You pervert! You could've said something!"

The young (but older than her) druid ran his fingers through his hair, putting on a fake suave tone in his voice, "Yeah, I could've, but what man would interrupt a beautiful naked woman during a bath. It's rude." She made a face and retorted, "And you think oggling at a nude woman isn't rude?"

"I wasn't oggling," Rune said seriously, turning back to her, a sincere look on his face. "I was trying to save your life." Nevia felt touched. She smiled briefly before her scowl returned, "Well, you're oggling now."

Rune faked a hurt tone of voice and turned away from her, "Damn."

Nevia laughed, "You haven't changed..."

He turned his head to the side and grinned perversely, "Well, you've changed into a woman now, and damn am I glad."

"You perv," Nevia sighed, shaking her head and quickly throwing her wand at him. It reflected off the side of his head and fell to the ground. "Ow." He bent down to pick up her weapon and grinned, thinking about what he saw from his hiding place behind a cluster of wild bushes before the gargantuan showed up. "You might need this..." he said, concern deep in his eyes.

Nevia frowned. It was always a horrible habit of hers to keep her weapon at least six feet away from her. She did it in the bath way too often and could recall numerous times Rune himself had saved her from a situation simlar to this one. Bubbles formed in the water not too far from her..... she paled.

Standing up, she screamed as the wet form of the gargantuan rose out of the water with its arms raised in fury as it roared, thrashing wildly. One of his arms smashed into her side, knocking her into the water. "Shit!!" The druid cursed, stretching his hand out and shooting out a molten boulder.

The rolling mass of fiery magma smashed into the monster's skull, resulting in a loud and ugly sounding crack before the boulder and the dead monster sank into the water. The druid jumped into the river and pulled the sorceress up into his arms, noting to himself that the water felt warmer from the heat of the heated boulder. "Are you alright?" he asked as she spat out more water.

She nodded weakly, completely forgetting her nudity, "Yeah, I'll be fine... Thanks a-"

"--What the hell have you done to her??!" an angry masculine voice suddenly shouted from where the druid stood before.

Nevia turned her head and her eyes widened, "Erix!"

Furious at the sight of another man holding the woman he loved, naked, the paladin pulled out his blade and quickly chanted the words for the might aura under his breath. "You will pay for what you've done!!"

The sorceress panicked, shaking her head as the druid set her down. Rune was plain confused, "What's with this guy?" he asked the sorceress. "Reminds me of some whacked out hero-wannabe..."

"Erix! It's ok!" she quickly explained her story, purposely leaving out the details of her little pleasure trip in the river. "So, it's ok, Rune saved me." Erix's jaw tightened as his eyes fell upon the druid who climbed out of the river, passing him and saying, "I think we should leave Nevia to change here, hero..." The way Rune said hero was no compliment at all. It was hinted with a frost which the paladin was sure he'd be the victim of.

Erix quickly stole a glance at Nevia before following the druid.

***

The sound of crunching twigs and dry leaves came with every step from the two men as they walked through the thick forest. Erix's gaze never left the druid's back. "So.... you're Nevia's partner," Rune suddenly said, coming to a stop and turning around to face the holy warrior. The paladin stared at the druid as he replied thinly, "I am, what's it to you?"

"Are you her lover as well?" he asked flatly.

"That's none of your business," came the quick reply.

"Then that can only mean you WANT to be..." With a smirk, Rune's eyes looked up and down at Erix as though sizing him up, "I don't know what she could ever see in you." Erix's eyes widened at other man as he turned his back and continued walking, "Who the hell are you?"

The druid stopped, turning around again and his eyes shone as though they were smirking instead of his lips, "To her, an old love. To you....competition perhaps." He turned his back again and walked ahead confidently leaving Erix to angrily glare at his back.

"What the hell??" he thought, gripping the hilt of his sword angrily.

***

Nervously, a sigh escaped Rune. As the hard ivory of his teeth sank into the warm tender meat, the muscles controlling his mouth spasmed slightly and forced an awkward smile. "This is excellent!" Rune exclaimed, trying to convince himself as he closed his eyes, not out of joy, but to stop the tears if any decided to surface past the dome of his visible eyes. He never really did like Nevia's cooking. The wild chicken he had caught had obviously gone to waste with her style of cooking, the Zann Esu way of cooking. That meant zapping the chicken with lightning bolts until the sorceress felt it was okay to stop. On top of that, to add to Rune's misery, Zann Esu's rarely ever used spices... they relied on lemon grass and Nevia was really fond of it.

Sitting around the campfire and basking in it's warmth and soft light, Nevia sat down, cross-legged on Rune's right side, watching closely as he ate the meal she carefully prepared. The chef could only clap her hands together in happiness, "Really? You like it?" He swallowed hard and nodded rapidly, quickly reaching for his cup of wine that Warriv had traded for with another wagon. His hand fumbled with the cup in the light of the fire. Warriv had gone to sleep in his tent, no doubt clutching a spear like he always does and Erix..... he was nowhere to be found. After the small verbal scuffle with the druid, he left the camp and has not been seen since.

Biting into her own portion of the dinner, Nevia glanced back with a worried look at the dark woods behind her in the direction of the river, "I wonder where he went to..?" She felt sick to her stomach at the thought that he might not come back. She remembered that look in his eyes when he saw her in the river with Rune. It was mixed agony and anger. She didn't even get a chance yet to explain everything from the top to him. "There are a lot of things I never told him... I owe it to him to at least be honest with him..." She shook her head trying to imagine just what was going through that paladin's mind. It was bad enough that she didn't respond when he confessed his feelings to her. Rune's appearance only made things more complicated.

"Why're you here?" Nevia asked all of a sudden and tossing the chicken bone, stripped of its meat, to the ground.

Rune looked up from his fire-gazing, "Huh? Oh, uh..." he hesitated. "I'm on my way to Lut Gholein."

"Oh..." her face fell slightly without her even realizing it. She quietly and daintily took a sip of her wine. The druid arched an eyebrow, leaning closer to her, "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" She smiled, "Nothing, just thinking."

"About what?" he inquired. "Or should I be asking 'who'?" Another smile came from her and she shook her head, "Are you a mind reader?"

He grinned, "I try. But if I were, I'd give you half-off the normal price."

Quickly setting her wine cup down, Nevia scowled and punched his strong left arm, "Hey! Don't be like that!" She pulled her hand away and shook it in the air, her knuckles sore from the contact against the firmness of his muscles. "Wimp," he said with a broad smile that made Nevia unsure of whether to slap him or hug him. She missed him. As she laughed, a sudden movement in the shadows caught Rune's eye. He paused to decide whether he should tackle the figure or not. He knew who it was and that made his smile widen even more as he thought of what possibilities could arise.

The sorceress shook her head and simply said, "I missed you, you know."

Rune's face melted into a serious gaze, "I know.... but you were the one who ran away, remember?"

Nevia lowered her head, her dark raven hair falling over her face with a sigh, "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be," he replied, sitting up on his knees and leaning close to her, a serious expression on his face as he leaned close to Nevia, his right hand pressed to the ground as support. Nevia's breath caught in her throat, her eyes focused on Rune's face, the fire casting dark shadows on one side of his face left a feeling of mystery in the air. Her lips trembled slightly, wanting to say something as she though, "Gods... I can't believe I forgot how good looking he is..." She was about to lean in to him when he suddenly smiled and said, "Can you pass the wine bottle?" In his left hand, he held up his empty cup.

The sorceress' cheeks burned in embarrassment. She quickly backed away from the druid and hastily passed him the uncorked and half-empty wine bottle. "Oh... r-right. The wine." Nevia laughed nervously.

Rune quietly poured himself another helping of wine and quickly drank half of it down. The sorceress watched him closely, a sad look in her eyes and not noticeable anywhere else. The druid could've laughed at throwing the woman off, but had he laughed, he would've spat the wine out to the fire or at Nevia. He set his drink down and watched Nevia pour herself a cup of water from her gourd. Rune suddenly lifted the drink up for a toast towards her and smiled, "To reunions."

She paused and went along with it, "To reunions." Their cups dully clinked together as they consumed their beverages. Promptly, Nevia wiped her lips with the back of her hand. She dropped her cup, her face flushing a warm red. She blinked slowly, confused. She was not the only one confused, Rune watched her, a concerned look washing over him. "What's wrong?"

She yawned, stretching her arms up and out. "Ugh, I'm gonna sleep now..." she muttered, slowly getting up and walking in a zombie-like state towards her tent. Rune quietly watched, confused at her sudden exhastion. "Odd," he thought as her body disappeared into the canvas flaps. "She didn't seem at all tired..." He curiously picked up the gourd she left behind, opened it and sniffed it several times. Something wasn't right. The water had two very faint fragrances to it and it was very familiar to him. "I know this...." His mind raced, trying to figure out what it was. He knew it couldn't be poison. "Why did her face flush?" he thought. "It almost seemed like she was...." His thoughts stopped dead in its tracks as he quickly got up and walked to Nevia's tent, knowing what it was. "Sleeping root and the aphrodisiac called 'Goddess,'" he thought, entering her tent.

Nevia lay with her back on the floor and a thin tan blanket covering her body. She would look almost the image of peaceful perfection if she wasn't writhing on the floor like a lover lost in the heat of the moment. The druid marveled at the sight once he threw the tan blanket off the sleeping sorceress. She was beautiful like that, the picture of a beautiful desperation; a woman longing a bedazzling moment of passion to loser herself within. It was irresistible. He couldn't help but sink to his knees and hesitantly reach out to brush the stray dark wisps of her hair away from her face. His callused fingers brushed the soft inviting skin of her cheek and, unable to stop himself from the little indulgence he would take, he lowered his face close to hers, his lips seeking the soft plumpness of her own.

A sharp rustling sound from the tent entrance startled him. He turned his head to find him staring at the sharp and angry tip of a metal blade that desperately wished to be embedded in the druid's forehead.

At the end of the sword was the firm and confident hand of Erix, tightly gripping the hilt as though he was strangling a poisonous serpent. "You touch her and I'll kill you."