I don't own Diablo. If you think I do you're wrong. Wrong! WRRRRONNNG! BWAHAHAHAHAAH! HOOOHHEHEHEHEHEEAHAHAHAHAHAH! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ahem.
Note: This story mixes DnD elements with Diablo. An Assimar is a being with some celestial/angelic heritage. A Tiefling is a being with some infernal/demonic heritage. Oh, and Mathias has white skin, he's not like the rest of the Zakarum.
Oh, and this was based off a rollplay, so half the credit goes to my comrade in arms, StalwartShadow
Oocho sighed, picking dirt off her bowstring. Gently, reverently, she polished the bow till it practically glowed. Beside her, a cloaked figure snorted, laughing lightly to itself. Oocho eyed the cloaked figure dangerously and then shook her head, standing up. Below her foot was a make-shift 'sea-saw'. Sitting at the other end was a thick demon skull, and when Oocho slammed a foot down on her end, the skull flew into the air. One of her arrows thudded deep into the horned forehead, nailing the skull into a log-like wall of the fort.
Oocho was a rogue. And she was pissed because two people, she and the cloaked person beside her, were not a large enough group to survive out in the Blood Moor alone. Irritated and bored, she had converted her time into honing her near-perfect aim- the one skill she prided above all others.
"You know," the cloaked figure said in an amused, low, female voice, "we could always just take Gheed, the sleazy loser, with us and use him as a human shield. Then there'd technically be three of us." Oocho grunted, eyeing the cloaked figure critically. "What! At least I'm trying to put forward a suggestion. You don't seem too keen on proposing your own."
"After your tantrum, Gheed sells us potions at half cost. He's convenient to keep around a little bit longer."
"We could just come back and say he had an epiphany before he died and wanted us to take all his wares." Oocho rolled her eyes, nailing another demon skull to a wall.
"Nice shot," said a dark voice behind them.
They both turned but saw nothing but shadow. Oocho merely snorted, her eyes narrowing.
"I have dealt enough with shadows to be sick of them. Step into the light." He laughed darkly and then slowly moved into the ring of light. Both cloaked being and archer shifted their gaze lightly to watch a man standing in the shadows step forward, wearing dark green clothing except for his shirt under his cloak which is completely black and had a symbol on it of swirling red and orange fire. All that could be seen of his face is his chin in the little light from the fire.
"It seems you need a party. Am I wrong?" The cloaked figure shook her head.
"No, actually, we have a party- each other. You can join if you want." He laughed lightly.
"Now why should one of you be at the head of the party? I can help you if you will travel with me through the moors."
"Want me to gut him?" The cloaked figure hissed out unpleasantly.
"No, I've more important things to worry about," Oocho muttered back. The man merely laughed.
"As if you could, little rouge."
"You can either join us or not, your choice." Oocho snapped and strode off, without another word.
"Fine, I was just offering. It's you who's losing out here, not me." Ignoring the man behind her, she kept walking.
"He was rude," the cloaked figure murmured, and Oocho sighed.
"Yes, Amon. And so were you."
"I've had enough evil people to last me a life time, thank you very much." Oocho smirked and kept walking, rounding a segment of wall and blinked. Sitting on a log was what appeared to be a paladin, slowly sharpening his sword. Behind her, Amon took one look at the paladin and hid behind Oocho, effectively vanishing. Then she went stealthy- effectively vanishing entirely. He did not notice this, fully concentrated on his task, but Oocho blinked, eyeing the paladin a moment. His skin was not the dark shade of most Zakarum, but he was distinctly a paladin. His hair was silvery, his face reflecting inner thoughts and worries.
"Greetings," Oocho murmured, smiling, and striding up to him. Standing at six foot, four inches tall, she was a goliath among the rouges, easily dwarfing her above average, 5'7" female cloaked companion (Who was currently invisible). The paladin lifted his head and raised an eyebrow before smiling and nodding in greeting.
"Good'een to you mi'lady," he said, smiling.
"My lady?" she asked, smiling. "Well, that is not a title I normally hear." He smiled lightly in return as she came up to him, smirking and crossing her arms over her chest. Then he stood, sheathing his sword quickly before bowing in a more formal fashion.
"'Tis always a pleasure to meet new people. Why not address them in the proper manner?" This brought a small chuckle from the rouge and she bowed back lightly.
"My name is Oocho, sir knight. Are you a paladin?"
"My name would be Mathias, lady Oocho. It is a pleasure to meet you. And indeed, a paladin, that I am. He smiled lightly.
"Do you have a party for out in the blood moore or no? We could use a good paladin." He pondered lightly and grinned.
"I would be glad to join you in your quest to rid this place of the evil permeating it." In return, she grinned, evidently pleased. What he said next, however, made her lift a brow and finger an arrow in her hip quiver. "Though I must say I am happy to have a traveling companion as lovely as you," he said with a light smirk.
"Good. I was worried myself and Amon wouldn't be able to get through the moore alone." Turning, Oocho looked around and sighed. "Unfortunatly, Amon seems to have snuck off on me again." Mathias chuckled lightly.
"The more the merrier, of course." Oocho joined him, laughing and nodding, with a dismissive,
"Ruddy stealthie." Then she looked back at Mathias. "I warn you, though, she is a rouge by the purest definition of the word- not like we archer rouges, like we sisters of the Sightless Eye, are. I hope you don't have a problem with that- she IS a good creature at heart."
The paladin blinked and shook his head. "As long as she's not going to be stealing anything or hurting anyone that she shouldn't, she's fine with me."
Pleased even more so, Oocho nodded. "Yes, the only one she 'hurts' is that sleazy merchant Gheed who tried to sell us red dye in water as healing potions. The paladin made a disapproving face but laughed lightly. "Course, if she hadn't, I would have."
"Indeed, he is not exactly the best of merchants." Again, the archer woman chuckled.
"Underhanded, No honor at all."
Before the two were allowed to become entirely twitterpated with one another, a voice interrupted them.
"I'll say," a voice said from the shadows. "Luckily these ARE mana potions- not blue dye in water. And half price too .."
"Indeed," murmured the paladin, tensing lightly. "Though I don't find the need for them quite pressing." Beside them, Amon melded out from the shadows, holding up some mana potions and cramming them into her pockets.
"Yeah, well," she returned lightly, "Then there are unfortunate people like me in the world, who do better off with mana potions." Mathias turned his gaze, shifting it over to Amon.
"And you are Amon, I am guessing?" Amon was a tall, 5 foot 7 inch woman, but was entirely dwarfed by the 6'4 rouge and the 6'3 paladin. She wore leather and plate armor under a clingy black cloak (Quite an unusual mix) and the tip of a helmet was visible beneath the hem of her low cloak hood.
"I am she," the woman said in response. "And you are Mathias. Nice too meet you. Off the bat, I assure you I do not need any preaching, attempts at conversion, or other irritating holy speeches." The paladin, surprisingly, rolled his eyes and laughed. "And I will have to hit you rather rudely over the head with a large blunt object if I am forced to endure them.
"I had figured as much," he said kindly. "You do not look like one who would be interested in the teaching of the Zakarum."
"Actually, the Zakarum interests me very much .Were you aware the entire order fell to the corruption of demons at the main temples? Or that the highest of them now serve in the shadow council under Mephisto, Diablo and Baal?"
He nodded sadly, looking at the ground. "Yes... I know of this well... I knew a few of the high order personally... I am on my quest to purge them and bring back my order to the light.
Though no one could see it, Amon smiled beneath her hood and helmet.
"Then come on, we better get started." She turned, looking at her gargantuan rogue companion. "Come on Oocho, let's clear this Den of Evil so I can get back here in time for dinner." As an afterthought, she added, "Maybe I can even catch a few quill rats and barbecue them on the way O.o." Mathias blinked. "That would be nice."
"… Might I ask why you would like to grill some quill rats?" he asked slowly. Oocho simply laughed and put a hand on Amon's head. The cloaked girl tilted her head to the side and looked up at Mathias, however, her face and underlying helmet still mostly concealed.
"Because I'm just strange like that," she said simply. Mathias grimaced.
"I hope you are not going to eat them… are you?"
"Of course I am. And then the poison on the quills, when boiled down with a mana potion, makes a lovely antitoxin. I can cure most poisons in this ruddy moor." He nodded slowly as she continued, "Now, come on, every minute we waste they get more and more ingrained in the caverns." At which point she grabbed Oocho's arm and actually tugged her off. Mathias shook his head, murmuring to himself.
"The poison part is good... But the eating?" He made a face, shaking his head and picking up his helmet and shield…
And as he did so, Amon paused briefly, noticing a stray silver feather on the ground.
"Alright!" Oocho said roughly. "Alright, I'm coming." At which point she jerked her arm away, pulling out an arrow and notching it in her bow. Smiling, Mathias followed behind without another word. Some distance from the frail wall acting as a gate to the rouge encampment, Amon started speeding up.
"Alright, everything's good so far," she said. "I'll scout ahead and let you know if I smell or see anything suspiciously dangerous." At which point she vanished off into the shadows, hurrying to the head of the group. Seizing this opportunity, Mathias walked up briskly beside Oocho.
"She is indeed quite a character," he remarked. "Where is she from to have such strange customs and habits?"
"Actually," said Oocho, distracted and looking around, "She's from around here, actually. Some town north of here." If the paladin had been using his innate ability to detect lies, he would have noticed she was telling mostly the truth-
Just not all of it.
"Odd," Mathias murmered.
"But yes, it is kind of gross that she eats quill rats -.-"
"Yes… Those things don't look very appetizing to say the least."
Oocho nodded, neither of the two mentioning that the rats were demonically corrupted.
Amon returned some time after, holding a wooden stick on which she had implanted 6 hunks of quill rat meat, all fried and blackened. Neither one of the two inquired where the fire had come from- rouges were all filled with surprises.
"Nothing ahead of us until we reach the entrance of the den," she said, fading out of the shadows. "Then we have a large group of fallen to deal with.
"Well," the paladin murmured, eyeing their surroundings, "You work quickly." She shrugged… and her helmet must have been removed, because she took a bite out of one of the rats, chewing the seared meat ravenously. As Mathias saw this, he winced and coughed lightly, averting his eyes to the road again. "Sorry," she said between bites, noticing his obvious discomfort.
"No, no… It's fine… But please, keep the display to a minimum… please…" He fidgeted anxiously with the hilt of his sword, something Amon noticed. She eyed him a moment and then faded into stealth again. "I simply meant the display… as in, to not eat it as ravenously as you were doing…"
"Hey, I haven't eaten anything in five days," She said defensively. He shrugged lightly.
"Is it not possible to still eat in a civilized manner."
"Hey, you try not eating anything for five days, and we'll see how you eat. Come on Oocho, I smell gargantuans. We should run to get past them- I hate having to fight the brutes if I can avoid it. Mathias simply smiled, as Oocho responded with,
"Right behind you or… whatever," she amended, as she cannot actually see Amon to know if she is ahead of the girl or in front of her."
"If you must," Mathias interrupted, "then go ahead. I will take them by myself if it bothers you." Both women paused.
"Eh…" Amon said slowly.
"No… we're fine…" Oocho continued. Both lapsed back into a walking stance, Amon muttering something about 'ego' through her food. He eyed the direction of the comment and smirked.
"No ego is concerned here, m'lady. Only that of the will to destroy all the evil that permeates this place. Akara has indicated the Den in these moors as the source… but even if we destroyed the source, wouldn't we have to still destroy the ones here anyways?" He smiled lightly at this logic.
"Or we could just kill Andarial and leave them all leaderless to slaughter each other and slowly be consumed back into the hells." Mathias shook his head, evidently disagreeing with her theory.
"They would cause more harm to innocent people if left un-lead then if they were under the control of their masters still. Nothing would hold them back."
"You're mistaken, I think," she said in her simple way, not offering any defense- just the statement 'I think you're mistaken.'
"I would know…" he said with a soft sigh.
And of course, the small party did come across a lumbering herd of gargantuan, which immediately take it into their stupid little evil minds to charge the party which seems to be made of merely two. Mathias closed his eyes, murmuring softly under his breath- "Give me strength… Light of the heart…"
And as Mathias changed, the leader is promptly set upon by a small irritancy… and a very large, elegantly carved blade going directly through its thick head. Amon materialized from the shadows, standing on its shoulders, and gave a childish but powerful cry of, "BRING IT ON!"
Oocho said nothing, sighing and shaking her head, starting to pepper the monsters with angels. Beside her, the paladin opened his eyes, which flared lightly. Immediately, strength was imparted to both of them as he drew his sword. The peppering of arrows was designed for one purpose… to draw the monsters away from the powerful but frail Amon. And as they turned to lumber at Oocho instead, she began aiming with more deliberation at their heads… as Amon proceeded to dismember them from behind.
Charging forward, their paladin manned the front of the whole operation, trying to keep the gargantuan distracted from both women. Unfortunately for his sake, it worked.
Irritated and confused by what exactly was going on, all the gargantuan turned their attention to the most easily accessed target- the paladin- and began attempting to thwack him through the air with their massive, powerful arms. Knowing the giants were sluggish, he kept moving, trying to keep track of all their lumbering hands. Unfortunately, it was a mathematical equation too many, and he failed to see one of their arms as it thwapped him directly in the bucker, sending him stumbling back and grunting. The one that hit him was quickly put to an end by an arrow shaft protruding from its left eye, but another of the great behemoths charged at the paladin, successfully bowling him over.
Just managing to keep his footing, the paladin grunted and ducked under the lumbering giant's short legs, slashing at its thighs with his blade. This, unfortunately, did not exactly work, as the monster was promptly hamstrung and sat upon him, spewing blood all over him.
"Aaacck!" he grunted out, trying to shove it off., stabbing it with his word and trying to get it to move. It did try to move, to its credit, but its thighs currently had no muscles left with which to support it. Inevitably it would happen that a slightly brainier of the gargantuan would realize the paladin could barely move, and reached down, grabbing for the poor paladin's head with the intent of ripping it off. Irritated and partially flattened, he growled, stabbing at it with his bucker spikes and swinging his sword wildly. The brute lost a finger and some blood, but if anything that just made it grapple at him harder An arrow thudded into the hamstrung gargantuan, evidence that his comrades had not forgotten or abandoned him, but this just caused the monster to slump more, half crushing the paladin. At least it had been trying to stand up earlier. Prone and near helpless, Mathias gagged slightly, coughing and gasping for air as he struggled to keep himself from being ripped apart. It appeared not his luck to retain his limbs, as the other gargantuan finally got a grip on his sword arm and neck. It starts squeezing with the intent of popping his head right off… But as it did so, Amon finally got wind of the situation, pouching on its back, and sending its head rolling off onto the paladin's shield.
"Glad we didn't run ahead, Pally?" he said, jumping off the gargantuan and pushing it over with a single hand. What a disrespectful form of slang to call a paladin. Not waiting for an answer, she knelt down, and tried to help him get the dead hamstrung gargantuan off of him. He grunted to her, accepting the help begrudgingly.
Both women were surprisingly strong, and together, Oocho and Amon easily heaved the massive carcass off of him. At that point, Amon grinned under her replaced helmet, kneeling down next to him, her hood still down.
"You alright?" She asked. He nodded, sitting up, his silver hair shedding another feather.
"No broken ribs or anything?" He shook his head, standing and shifting his clothing about slightly. "Good." She paused, silent for a moment, and he murmured,
"Thank you."
Another long pause. "Are you an Assimar? I noticed your hair has feathers in it." He nodded slightly. "So you have a bit of heavenly celestial blood, right? Explains why you're a paladin."
"Would there be any other reason?" he smirked lightly. Amon laughed and slowly touched the hem of her hood.
"This… was given to me… by a friend…" Slowly she pushed back her hood, revealing an elegantly crafted paladin helmet beneath. It was compact enough to fit nicely under her hood, but also adorned with some tusks, spikes, and feathers. Her eyes were obscured by the mask, the eye areas being enchanted to let out no light, but allow light in to the viewer. He blinked, peering at her from beneath his own helmet.
"It's… quiet elegant." He took his helmet off for a moment to breathe easier, but said nothing after that, putting his helmet back on and getting up to keep on the walk. "Let us continue," he said, as if nothing had happened to him. Amon grinned beneath her helmet, standing up and fading into shadow.
Unknown to him, she watched him to see if he was hurt or limping or anything. As far as she could see, there was nothing wrong, but she asked one more time. "You're sure you're not hurt? You did get sat on to the point where you could barely breathe."
"Yes," he assured her, "I'm perfectly fine."
"Kay." She resumed eating her rats as the den of evil came into view. At the gaping maw of the entrance was a huddled man, with near albino skin, gray eyes, raven black hair, and his right arm and leg wrapped in bandages. And at the mouth, there was no Fallen. All was silent.
"Whoa…" Amon murmured, reappearing near the stranger, and peering at him curiously. "Who are you?" The man opened his eyes, pure gray in color, and looked at them silently. She docked her head to the side and then tried again. "Hello."
"Hello," he returned.
"What is your name? I'm Amon." The man shook his head, as Oocho ran up behind Amon, scowling at the cloaked girl as if saying 'We don't know him, he might not be on our side!'
"Are names so important?" he asked. Inwardly, Oocho groaned. Oh no… not another of those philosophy monk types…