Disclaimers: Still no ownage of D2 here. But then again you knew that, right? Right, to assume that I actually owned any rights to Diablo II would be... Well... Silly
: Chapter Two:
While indeed Necromi was embarrassed by the fact that Ran-ran could navigate better then he, it did not take long after finding the Cold Plain and traveling for the monster situation to become apparent again. And for Ran-ran to employ her 'Run away, run away!' tactic to survive. Of course, it didn't last long, the necromancer she traveled with quite competent on the battlefield. So, she only had to scream and run once, soon seeing not a moment later that the threat had been effectively cursed stabbed, bludgeoned, and poisoned to death.
It was Quite stressful for Ran-ran, doing both navigating and trying to stay alive, after a time pushing for Necromi to summon forth a golem from the earth, and then make sure that its first priority was protecting her. Of course, this did manage to annoy her necromancer just a bit, often calling her insane or something the like. But he never let her die, or even get a scratch for that matter, seeing as she was still navigating them towards the place they needed to go. Which, since Necromi had cleared out the Den of Evil, thus having the rouge's blessings and trust, was to investigate the happenings at the cemetery and put Blood Raven out of her misery.
Once inside the barriers of the Burial Grounds, the undead that swarmed about them took a minute to take notice of them. The plan was originally for Ran-ran to make use of an amulet to increase her stamina and speed and distract the surrounding zombies and skeletons Blood Raven had as Necromi and his horde attacked the demon archer. It was rather simple, and Ran-ran knew from experience playing the particular quest in the game over and over that it would be a piece of cake to have her necromancer kill the first significant boss of the game. Hell, she even got a front row seat to watch the battle, and all she had to do was make sure she kept out of the reach of the significantly slower living dead about her.
Well, needless to say the plan hadn't worked as they originally planned it to. The first circumstance that led to a change in the plan was the fact that while running around and distracting the zombies as Necromi dodged flaming arrows and he and his horde tried their hardest to catch Blood Raven, Ran-ran was anything but weary of the empty graves. She managed to dodge about some of them, by pure luck, only to fall backwards with a scream. Well, since the zombies were anything but smart enough to actually go in after the grave for the girl, they simply returned to chasing Necromi in a painfully slow mannerism.
The summoned skeletons and golem then turned their attention to the other undead, leaving Necromi to chase after Blood Raven on his own. Ran-ran climbed out of the gave just enough to start pulling her body out and trying to avoid being stepped on by the nearby battle of skeleton vs. skeleton. As she was almost out, hearing the cackling of the approaching Blood Raven, the girl had looked back just in time to watch the dead rogue's foot catch on her side. Both of them cried out, the archer going down as for the second time that day the wind was knocked from Ran-ran.
Blood Raven again got to her feet, as Ran-ran rolled to get up as well. Far behind either of them Necromi was busy contending with a skeleton that tried to keep his attention. The risen captain grabbed up her bow again, and looked up to see not her enemy, but instead the girl. They looked at each other for brief moment, Ran-ran with a look of surprise and Blood Raven with one of analyzation of this little girl. And then, as if with out reason, Ran-ran gave a scream, and so did Blood Raven.
Not exactly wanting to be killed, Ran-ran started running, the laughing demon on her heels, a few flaming arrows speeding past her. The screaming continued for a time, either females running about the graveyard as Necromi tried to catch up. And he did, Blood Raven having stopped to fire more arrows at Ran-ran, and Necromi taking the opportunity to attack the demon archer. The bow was knocked from her grip, and the few moments they wrestled on the ground Ran-ran has stopped to go and watch the carnage from that became of the Blood Raven dying from behind the broken gate.
Despite how terribly arie the plan had gone, Blood Raven was killed, and both Ran-ran and Necromi were still alive. At least that seemed like the plan as they went to go and inform the rogues of the demise of the fallen archer. After a short break for rest, thank you's and some roasted pig for lunch, they were approached by Akara. Or, well, Necromi was approached by the priestess; Ran-ran fidgeted and was ignored.
But still, she had requested that the two make use of their time and try to save Deckard Cain. Oh Ran-ran remembered this quest well, having rolled her eyes and sighing a bit by the fact that they had to go semi-out of their way to save the old coot. But hey, she knew that not saving him would probably disrupt the very fabric and time line of the story line—not to mention that they would to pay to have items identified for the rest of the game. And by god that would be a pain in the ass, Ran-ran liked her free item identification!
She just hoped that Necromi's navigationally challenged ass could make it all the way through the underground passage and through the dark wood before the demons of Tristram could kill Cain. Three hours had passed of Ran-ran and the golem simply staying near the large pillars of mage cair stones. Unfortunately her necromancer claimed that he had a natural instinct for navigating caves—just nothing else—and forced Ran-ran to stay behind and make sure that nothing happened to the magical stones. He claimed he would be able to find the tree of Inifus and stop off at the camp before coming back to open the portal. By this time Ran-ran was trying her hardest to keep the possibility that he had just died and failed to pressed the 'esc' key from protruding into her thoughts.
"Christ Chex, where the Hell is he…?" She asked, mostly to herself as she pressed her back against the large magical stone, sliding down to sit on the ground. Scattered on the ground were the corpses of the small blue imps of the area, not one having their bones as Necromi had risen his skeletons from their bodies. The ground in some areas was ankle deep in a mixture of blood, organs and skin, and the smell was enough to make her nearly vomit if she was to think about. Good thing she had that scented candle, now half-burned and leaving the air about her smelling quite good.
With the candle set at her side, Ran-ran looked up at the golem's sudden collapse to a pile of lifeless clay at her side. She gave a blink, wondering if the battle at Necromi's end must have been bad enough to strip her of her only protection besides the fiery vodka attack by summoning the golem to where ever he was then. It seemed like an eternity had passed since she had to employ that tactic against an enemy, grinning to herself at the memory of the flaming zombie. Ran-ran looked around at the field, which was far less foggy than the Blood Moor had been, and at the moment completely desolate of monsters and demons that Necromi killed, and hoped that more didn't come before her necromancer could get back.
Oh, how Ran-ran hoped that he could find his way through such a place as the rouge's camp on his own, as he had the last time they were in town. It was quite laughable, what she supposed was suppose to be a scary and intimidating necromancer getting all lost and confused inside the wooden encampment. But she guessed that some of his lack of navigation had to be contributed from stress. After all, rumors of the Lord of Terror returning to reek havoc upon the world, and Necromi now responsible for freeing the gate to the East of one of the demon lord's demonic advocates; Hell, Ran-ran would be stressed out to.
Not too much longer passed before she heard the sudden crunch of bone many times over coupled with the soft sounds of closely associated metal brushing together to make sharp metal noises. Ran-ran looked up and behind her, twisting her body just to watch as Necromi and his horde approached from the nearby waypoint. She couldn't help but smile, the few hours of solitude making her miss him and the skeletons, getting up as they walked closer. It was good to see that he to had the slightest traces of a smile as well, of a combination of pride after making it through the throws of battle once again with a small bundle of scrolls in his hand, and maybe that now he had someone to talk to that would be able to actually talk back; much unlike his skeletons.
"Necromi! Good to see that you could actually find your way through the camp this time!" Ran-ran said with just a hint of sarcasm, "You did get the scroll all translated, right?"
"Of course I did. Now come on, we have to go save Cain before the demons get to him." Necromi answered with a sigh, rolling his eyes as the small smile had had faded to a slight frown at Ran-ran's comment. He didn't even stop as their paths met, and he turned her about to head right back to the stones, handing Ran-ran all but one of the rolled up scrolls. Which, after she had a chance to open them and check, turned out to be maps of the Black Marsh, through the barracks of the monastery, and through the levels of the lower catacombs, where she knew that Andariel was.
With a quick glance at the order that the stones had to be touched, Ran-ran stood off to the side with Necromi's summoned horde, watching him activated the stones. The odd humming sound they made after humming vibrated through the air as another and another was touched, the air seeming to thicken and almost crackle with energy. It left a feeling in the air like that of a day of heavy humidity, when the last stone was touched the hum leveled off. And then suddenly the light seemed to drain from the area, streaks darting between the pillars in all directions, holding for a moment before in the center of them all a rip seemed to appear. Colors swirled for a brief moment before red dominated them, the portal settling into a defined oval shape.
"Whoa..." Stared Ran-ran, who had looked at the scene with a wider eye, having found the normally annoying event to be rather amazing, "So... That's like the portal to Tristram...?"
Necromi nodded, and then looked back at Ran-ran, seeming completely serious as he asked,
"Are you going? I would understand if you didn't want to go."
"Of course I'm going! You may have made your way through the camp this time, but I have a serious doubt in your fucking navigation skills-- screw you, I'm going to go and make sure your navigationally-challenged ass doesn't get turned around in the town square." Ran-ran said with a raised eyebrow as she stepped closer, with no more warning pushing Necromi into the portal. She looked around, surprised that the skeletons and golem didn't suddenly disappear as well, blinking as she looked back at the portal. In all honesty, she didn't want to go, the whole situation seeming insane. She was running around dealing with demons and zombies and skeletons and now her necromancer, Ran-ran seriously started to doubt her perception of reality, at that moment firmly convinced that it was merely a dream...
And it was then that the skeletons and golem seemed to press forward, pushing Ran-ran forward into the portal as if it was their first order of business. Sure, she had cried out a bit in distress at suddenly being forced forward, but eventually settled into the feeling of being rushed over many miles in one second, reds and swirls writhing about her as the dark at the end of the tunnel seemed to never end. Then, in a flash, she stumbled to a stop just outside the portal. That was the second time she had to ever use one, after killing Blood Raven was forced through one back to camp. Of course, since Necromi had used the same tactic of pushing her through, he had gotten kicked to the shin.
"Okay, who pu-MRF?" Ran-ran's claim to kick one of the bony creature's bony shins for pushing her was cut off as she found a leathery hand wrapped about her mouth as she was forced to the ground. She blinked, her knees at an odd angle as beside her Necromi knelt, quietly shushing her as his horde started to arrive. They were behind a small section of stone wall, on one side a river flowed, Ran-ran inwardly wandering if it was the same river flowing through the Blood Moor, while to their other side was a small field fenced off from the church yard.
Necromi nodded back, gesturing to what would lay ahead of them, and slowly let Ran-ran go so that she could twist her body about to peer over the wall. Fires burned in the buildings, their roofs by then knocked down and walls beginning to crumble. From the town a pillar of thick, black smoke rose constantly due to the fires, demons and zombies and skeletons wandering aimlessly it seemed. Luckily, though, they didn't go so far as to patrol around the area they were at.
"So, what now Mr. Necromancer? Run up and take the horde of undead and demons head on, basicly ignore Cain until absolutely all the enemies are dead and loot is collected, go back to town to sell stuff, almost forget about Cain on the second trip to get loot, and then come back?" Ran-ran asked, referring to her usual method of approaching this particular quest. Or, really any of the ones that required saving someone. She expected to get a reaction out of Necromi, indeed getting a stare that suggested that he thought she belonged better in an asylum rather than fighting the forces of evil. And that may very well have been the case, seeing as she believed that she was currently in the realm of a video game.
"Well…" Hesitant, Necromi shifted his eyes from Ran-ran to the evil creatures that failed miserably in noticing them, and then back at his navigator, "Do you think you can manage not to trip this time? I mean there are a lot more enemies this time… All I have to do is get Cain out of there, and then we can leave, alright?"
Ran-ran couldn't help but frown, having always thought of killing Griswald and all the other monsters in Tristram as sort of, well, a past-time. Like baseball to America, or her pyromaniac brothers buying large quantity of fireworks and throwing the black cats at her, cars, and randomly placed animals. But, seeing as Necromi was the one with the horde of skeletons and a golem, Ran-ran didn't have really any means to kill and gain loot with, she supposed that going along with this plan was the best thing- especially since it seemed that monsters seemed to have an affinity for trying to catch crazy little virgins.
There wasn't much more staling that she could have done, Ran-ran simply sighing as she crouched into a more moveable position. Then, jumped over the fence, and with an ear-piercing scream that got the attention of the nearby skeletons, she ran forward, faster than the bone creatures would be able to. But of course they didn't really realize that, not that it mattered, their weapons of bows and arrows requiring only that they keep her in sight, not near. Though that did mean that they had to go after Ran-ran as she rounded the corner of the burning, fragile buildings.
But before Ran-ran could ponder where exactly Griswald was at the moment, she skidded to a stop at the large form over her. The not-quite formed question was answered as she looked up, eyes gazing at the skinless face over her glasses. Ran-ran gave the slightest of 'Eep' as the large undead creature looked down at her. And then, without another moment's notice, raised his hand, then curled into a fist.
"SHIT, SHIT! Angry Griswald, run away run away!" Ran-ran screamed, her own voice almost enough to give herself a headache as she turned on her heel, dashing away. She cried out in fright as she stopped just before a wall of arrows passed before her, running ahead as the skeleton archers reloaded. Oh how she hoped that Necromi was hurrying as fast as he could.
As she was being chased by the skeletons and disgruntled Griswald, eventually Ran-ran curved her path of running and screaming, dashing between two buildings into the heated town square. Arrows flew at her, and she miraculously managed to not be hit by one of them, hot a dyed hair upon her head or of her blue-colored clothes were struck. She spotted Necromi fighting through the blue cavern demons to try and reach Cain in his cage. Perhaps it was the delusion of her dream, or maybe the demons simply didn't notice her at first, but Ran-ran managed to duck around and jump over the small demons, past Cain's raised cage and around the well. All the while screaming, and all the while knowing that the whole situation was going to be scarring her for life—even worse than her brother shooting at her with a bee-bee gun.
"Necromi! Hurry the HELL UP!" She had screamed as the skeleton hordes of Necromi were starting to get the situation under semi-control, the golem and Griswald going at it in a punching match. Her necromancer companion sighed as he lowered Cain to the ground, helping the senior Horadrim out of the cage the demons had put him in.
"Ah, many thanks to you stranger!" Cain said in an almost cheerful voice, relieved that someone had finally come to his aid, unlike many of the not-so accepting of Sanctuary, he didn't care if his savior for the moment controlled the magics of death or not. What mattered was that he was alive, though the matter of that screaming girl was something else, and he glanced over as Ran-ran dashed out of the square, a few blue caverners chasing after her, "And… Is that odd little girl… a friend of yours…?"
Looking up and over, Necromi could only sigh as his shoulders dropped, opening a portal to the rouge's camp for Cain to step through before turning back to look for Ran-ran. While a few half-goat men and caverners had found it fit to chase after her—seeing as she made no move to resist—it made finding her easy, her screams acting as a beacon. Just as Ran-ran was turning her head to look back at the horde chasing her, her foot caught on an object that made her go down. With a scream she collapsed to the ground, looking back to see the dead body, practically flowing with gold, beneath her. Ran-ran gave a squeak as her pants were splattered with blood, and Writ's leg came loose.
She gripped it though, and with a wild scream found herself jumping up and swinging at the creatures, cries of 'NO YOU!' ringing out, accompanied by the screams of the bludgeoned creatures. As the creatures in the ruin of Tristram's town square were all dead, even Griswald at that point, Necromi had set out to find Ran-ran. With a single focusing of fears and terrors about the clan's mind she was having a touch of trouble with, the dark gray and black creature was soon sent running from the invisible horrors that plagued it. Necromi couldn't help but smirk a bit at his own handy work, walking calmly to Ran-ran ran.
For a moment they just stared at each other, Ran-ran's gaze measured from over the top rim of her glasses. She narrowed her eyes playfully, feigning annoyance as she said,
"About fucking time, ish da old dude all, y'know, safe?"
"I didn't understand most of the words in your sentence," Started Necromi, crossing his arms at he looked down at his companion, wondering if taking the girl—who killed several demons with someone's leg for god's sake—for mere navigation was right on an ethical level. But then again, it was important that the situation with the demons be handled in a timely mannerism, and that meant getting where he needed to go fast, and since he couldn't use a map worth shit, that meant taking this girl—who could use a map—on the dangerous quests which would sooner or later be either of their end, "But yes, Deckard Cain is fine."
Ran-ran blinked a few times, raising Writ's leg to brace against her shoulder as she nodded a bit. Then, having no more business to attend to in the fallen town, they left. Upon getting back to the camp Cain thanked them, was properly introduced to both of then basicly the rest of the day was spent resting.
Oh, such resting they had.
It was no normal rest, no no, it was rest…. Of DOOM…