Disclaimer: I do not own Diablo II or any of its affiliates.
Chapter 8: ACT I: Sisters' Burial Ground
Lena woke up in the middle of the night to sad-sounding moans and cries. She looked over and saw Terra, rolling in his cot, desperately trying to claw something from his body. She immediately ran over to Akara and asked her about it. "Lena, he is having a bad dream. However, this dream is not treating him well. We can take a peek into his dream if you wish. I can set it back to the beginning." Lena looked back at the tent, bit her lip, then said, "Yes. Please, Akara, set his dream back."
Akara suddenly took on a look of great concentration and grabbed Lena's elbow tightly. Lena felt the world shift around her and suddenly, she was in a forest. She looked around for a few seconds, then saw a young boy, smiling with his mother. The face, though, was easily recognizable. "It's Terra!" Lena whispered to Akara, who was nodding her head, already knowing who it was. Terra and his mother walked on a bit further, when suddenly a huge bear jumped out of the woods. Lena tried to nock a bow that wasn't there, but she didn't worry for long. Suddenly, the bear's limbs shifted into a more human formation, the hair receded and she could see clothes and armor on this human. He smiled at the two and she heard Terra laugh and say, "Daddy, why do you do that?"
His dad looked warmly at Terra, but suddenly, his eyes widened and he shoved Terra out of the way. A fire spear passed by where Terra once was. Terra's tears were immediate, and his mother tried to get to him. While she was running towards him, though, a fire spear passed right through her chest, exploding the front out on Terra. His eyes widened to an unbelievable width and he started moving back slightly, whimpering. His father raised his arms and a huge vine raised up from the ground and swallowed the imp.
Terra's father passed over to Terra and held him in his arms. Terra sobbed into his father's shoulder and soon was silent, looking at his mother's body with an immensely empty expression. Terra looked at the ground for a moment, then concentrated, just as he had in the tent and, in a few moments, a white rose grew, its beauty dazzling. Terra looked up at his father, and she could hear his words, even as the dream began to fade. "Daddy? Will this make her happy?" His dad nodded through tears. "Yes. Yes son." They walked away, and Lena felt the swirling sensation again. They were back in the camp. "Sorry, but I'm gonna go check on Terra." Lena said and then ran over to her tent.
She got there and Terra was sitting there, staring quietly at the rose. "Terra? Are you...okay?" Lena asked, hoping that if he had an outburst, he wouldn't be sad about the dream. She also hoped, although this was much larger of a hope, that she wasn't seen in his dream. Terra looked up at her, and she could tell that he had cried during the dream. She didn't blame him, for she, too, would've cried if her warrior-mother had died in that way, right in front of her.
He smiled slightly, and then said, "Yeah, I'm all right. How're you, though? You left after staring at me funnily." Her eyes widened. "How did you know that?" He smiled. "This raven's here to watch me and those near to me as well as fight." She looked at the raven, who chose now to make a sound. She sighed. "I was worried about you. It looked like you were trying hard to flail against a dream that you never wanted." Terra got up, and for the first time, she really noticed his height. "Imps killed my mother right in front of me. Suffice it to say it wasn't pretty. Remember the mentor I told you about?" He asked. She nodded in silence. "He was my father's brother, who had stopped being vigorous about life whenever my mother died."
Lena looked to the ground and then back at Terra. "I'm sorry that your life has been so horrible on you. If there's anything I can do...?" Terra smiled and shook his head. "Nothing, unless you want to follow me all the way back to my home after this is all over." Terra said, darting his eyes away from hers as though he were looking at something through the flap. He saw a rogue enter the camp, with many wounds along her arm and leg.
Kashya ran over to the rogue immediately, and she called for Akara immediately. Akara came over and healed her, but Terra couldn't hear anything more. "Lena, perhaps we should get ready. We may be about to do something else." Lena followed his gaze and her eyes widened. She began to run out there, but she felt Terra's large hand close over her shoulder. "Don't. If they need us, they'll get us. I have no doubt of that. For now, we both need sleep." He walked her over to her cot, then went over to his and laid down. Lena felt tiredness take her immediately after laying down and her eyes shut.
Terra woke up, put on his armor, then woke all of the others, starting with Lena. As they all got ready, Terra looked at Lena, who was still within her tent for some reason. "Lena, what are you doing? We have to get-" "Terra, I want you to know that I saw your dream last night." For some reason, Terra felt his stomach do a somersalt. Terra's eyes narrowed and he asked, "How?" She looked visibly scared now, and she immediately said, "I went to ask Akara and she wanted to look into your dream as well, because it was causing a great amount of stress to you. I told you, I was worried."
Terra looked at her for a moment longer, then turned away. "A man's mind is the place where he can hide, where no one is supposed to get to. You broke that, though your reason was honorable. Why didn't you just wake me up?" Terra asked, still in a monotone formal voice. She breathed in, and then said, "I was afraid that if I woke you up, your clawing would go to me immediately without you thinking about it." Terra nodded, then turned around. Tears were visible, but she could also see fear. "So you saw her. My mom? You saw her, right?" Lena nodded and he did as well. "She was always so nice, and she never actually yelled at me. She supported every one of my ideas without fail. Well...unless it could cause me trouble or pain." He smiled in a painful sort of way, and she immediately felt sorry for him, unable to know a mother's loving embrace when he needed it the most...she looked back and forth and said, "I'm sorry to cut you off, but I think we better get moving. The others are waiting outside."
Terra's eyes widened, and he yelled, "I forgot again! Damn!" He ran outside and everyone was waiting there, listening to Kashya. When he walked near to her, she looked at him, sighed, then started again. "My Rogue scouts have reported an abomination in the Monastery graveyard. Apparently, Andariel is not content on taking only our living. Blood Raven, one of the finest captains in the battle against Diablo in Tristram, was also one of the first to be corrupted by Andariel. Now you'll find her in the Monastery graveyard raising our dead as zombies! We cannot abide this defilement! If you are truly our ally you will help us destroy her." Terra looked at her, then smiled. "Of course we'll help you. After all, you've helped us as well, what with putting up with our presence in your camp."
Kashya looked speechless for a moment, then retook her stubborn, maliciously mean face. Before she said anything else, however, Terra and everyone else walked toward the gate out, and they left. They went through The Blood Moor, reaching Flavie quickly now that they were stronger. "Go on, but beware. The monsters are much more dangerous ahead, madam Amazon." Flavie said, upon seeing Lena. Lena smiled slightly, then they pressed on. As they arrived in the Cold Plains, they saw a circle ahead in the distance, similar to the ones in town, except this one wasn't lighted. As they approached it, the torches began to gutter back to life, and when Terra stepped on it, the torches came back to life. Terra smiled, but suddenly, he saw three black-haired, white-skinned rogues running towards the group. He didn't need the warning that followed from Lena to know that they were evil.
As they approached, he pooled his strength and called up a vine creeper. It came out of the ground and hit one of the rogues, and she turned visibly green as her circulatory system distributed the plant's poison throughout her body. Lena launched an arrow at the poisoned rogue and Lauria shot both of the others with fireballs. They were visibly weakened for Terra and the others to fight when they got there. They fell easy enough and the group rested afterwards, feeling the need to peruse through their various abilities to learn. Terra saw the spirit wolf ability and smiled to himself. He studied the passage about the spirit wolf and concentrated on a wolf. He felt a slight drain and then looked down in front of him. There stood a wolf, panting up at him as though it had run a long way for this indignity of being called to nothing. He smiled and nostalgia hit him again as he remembered what must've only been a few days ago, but now, felt like it was centuries behind him. He knew, however, that he couldn't handle the strain of too many wolves. Terra looked over at Damien, whom he still referred to in his mind as the necromancer. He was directing three skeletons, testing his abilities.
Terra smiled to himself and concentrated upon the wolf and a command for it. Suddenly the wolf's ears pricked up and it turned around, seemingly having a smile on its face. Suddenly it jumped one of Damien's skeletons, tearing out the fibia of one of its legs. Terra smiled, whereas the necromancer looked rather sourly at the wolf. Terra started to laugh, as did others. Suddenly, though, Lance quieted everyone and put his ear to the ground. "There's a lot of...tiny imp-like creatures." Terra looked at Lance, who looked rather odd with that muscular body pressing his head down on the ground. "Okay...Lance, please get up."
Lance stood up and looked strangely at the man who said that to him. He seemed as though he had forgotten entirely about the druid. "Why don't you be quiet and listen yourself, nature-man. Your precious plants would tell you about these things, wouldn't they?" Terra stared severely at Lance, but he didn't so much as flinch under Terra's gaze. Terra sighed and then ducked and looked over the hill, hoping that whatever it was wouldn't end up seeing him. He saw so many Fallen he started to get dizzy, including many Fallen Shamans. There was also a shaman who was rather...off-color.
"Stop right where you are and give up!" Terra heard the slightly hoarse, shaky voice and he immediately reached out to his wolf. The wolf responded post-haste, dropping the bone and going for the throat of the nearest corrupted rogue. She cried out in a gutteral noise before her throat was ripped from her body. The nearest Fallen turned toward the cry, and saw the adventurers. William's eyes widened and he whispered, barely audible, "Oh...God..." The Fallen alerted their comrades with gutteral cries of battle. Terra could feel the helm he was given start to bleed some sort of power into him, and he let it flow through him. Suddenly, two more wolves appeared. Terra's eyes widened and the wolves ran into the crowd of Fallen and began ripping them to shreds.
He looked at his hands, wondering about the power he felt flow through them suddenly and then decided that it was better to focus on the battle at hand instead of trying to think about this. They all rushed forward, killing Fallen after Fallen until everything was dead, including Bishibosh, who screamed before exploding. Terra, who was breathing hard, looked over at his wolves, who were smiling, then looked over at the rest of the group, and finally, Lena. Lena was looking down at one of the Fallen, holding her side. Terra stared for a moment, then his eyes widened dramatically. He ran over to Lena and looked at the large amount of blood spurting out of the hole she was trying to cover up.
She winced, and Terra's eyebrows furrowed together as he looked over the wound. He pulled a potion out of his pack and pulled the stopper. She looked slowly at him, then the potion, seeming to lose coherence. "I'm not letting you die." Terra said, pushing the bottle against her lips, letting the liquid pour through into her mouth. She gagged slightly as the bitter taste left itself on her tastebuds, but she could feel the wound healing. She moved her hand slightly, and the wound was already coagulating. Moments later, the scab fell off and the skin was red, yes, but there. She looked down, then smiled up at Terra. He smiled at her and then, without even thinking about it, kissed her.
He felt her tense up in his arms for a moment, trying to move her head, but after a second had passed she gave herself into the emotion and feelings of the kiss. They both kissed for about a minute, the others staring, shocked and awed. They both moved back slightly, smiling at each other and Damien made to clear his throat. Terra heard the noise, remembering where he was all in one shot and looked slowly over at the group. William was looking slightly scornful, whereas Damien, Lance, and Lauria were all smiling. After a moment of looking, he saw Aile standing over near the wall a hundred feet off. "What are you doing?!" William practically yelled, staring at Terra and Lena as though they were children. "You two don't need to let your guard down as such in the middle of a heavily demonic area. There could be many taints, physical, mental, and spiritual around here!"
Terra glared at him angrily and reached out with his spirit. He could feel the taint coming from the one known as Blood Raven. He's right, though. This is definitely not the time or place to be doing that. However...it felt so good! Terra thought to himself. He looked over at Lena, who was blushing brightly and staring at the wet, muddy ground as though she were ashamed of what she had done. "If you can't do what you feel, then you shouldn't be around to feel anything." Terra said, looking straight into the paladin's eyes. Lance smiled even wider when he heard that, and Terra knew that perhaps there was a chance of being friends with Lance, or maybe even Damien, who had kept the same smile as before.
William glared at him for about a second longer, then broke his hard stare, looking over at one of the dead fallen shamans. Terra looked at everyone else, then William, and finally spoke up. "William, I realize that this is not the best place for me to be kissing her, however, I was caught in the moment. You'd understand that if you hadn't been raised by monks for most of your life." That seemed to touch a nerve in William, because when he looked back up at Terra, William was red-faced and very insulted by something. "Yeah! Well, at least my teachers didn't sit and stagnate in the ground for centuries. They went and did things!" Terra, without thinking, jumped at William, knocking him to the ground. The two started rolling around, punching and kicking each other until Lance stepped over and pulled the two from each other.
Terra was bleeding out of his nose, which looked slightly crooked, but William was bleeding profusely out of the mouth and his nose was more than a little bent. Terra took a wild swing and missed, rocking him back and forth while still being held up by Lance. "You meandering idiot! Set me down!" William screamed at Lance, who stared at him for a moment and judged that he wouldn't try to kill Terra. He still held Terra up though, who was still trying to swing at William. "Terra, calm down. William won't hit at you again." Lance said, trying to get through to him. Lance sighed and then smacked Terra across the face with his free arm. Terra looked angry, surprised, then ashamed, all within the space of a few seconds.
"I'm...I'm sorry, William. I didn't mean to jump at you, but you need to tone down your own anger a bit." Terra apologized, hoping William would forgive him, but William just stuck his nose into the air. "Just make sure it never happens again." Willaim said before he started walking some more. The others began to walk, and Lance set Terra down, to which Lena rushed over as quickly as possible to help him straighten his own nose. Terra cried out as she pushed his nose straight again. "Don't scream too loud, unless you want to attract more monsters." Terra looked at her, and saw that she was smiling at him. "Don't play with me like that..." Terra said, looking down at the ground, remembering their sudden kiss.
Lena seemingly knew what he was thinking about because she said, "Terra, did you enjoy that kiss?" Terra looked up at her, and without missing a beat, said, "Yes, I did. I enjoyed it a lot...but did YOU enjoy it?" Terra asked, stressing that it was about her. Lena smiled and said, "Yes, I did." Terra smiled, but then saw through his raven's eyes that the rest of their party had made it to the area called the Burial Grounds. "However, we may wish to continue moving. The others are already nearing the gates. They may need our help." Lena's eyes widened, showing that she hadn't even seen them leave. They ran to catch up to them, and found the others at the entrance to the burial grounds. "About time you showed up. We almost left you two behind." Damien said, looking off in the distance towards the powerful demonic taint that they could now see in the air. It felt heavy on their bodies and Terra didn't know how much of this he could take.
They headed into the area, feeling the taint a bit more with every step they took. Suddenly, Terra cried out. Everyone turned to him, but he didn't see them. As their gaze turned towards where he was looking, beyond them, they saw the horrors that he had screamed about. There must've been a hundred zombies milling about in the graveyard, and among them, constantly running to another grave to raise another zombie was Blood Raven, which was told by the blood-red armor that she wore upon her curvacious body. Damien took the time now to study the corrupted rogues closely, especially one who shouldn't have such knowledge of the necromantic arts. He could see runes floating around Blood Raven, similar to the ones he found on the skeleton when he had first ventured out of his ancestral home.
Terra noticed that Damien didn't look so well, so he walked over to him. "Damien, what's wrong?" Damien looked up at him, and for once, the haunted kid who never got a true childhood shone through like a blinding light. The lonely boy who wasn't even adept at using necromantic spells in the first place, but that kid was eclipsed by the burning desire to study necromancy and not let his people down. However, he still let them down to this day. Most necromancers his age would've known how to raise something with a powerful necromantic raising spell called Revive. Terra, of course, didn't see this, but he did see that the kind kid who never was good at being a cold necromancer, and that was enough.
Terra looked away, pondering his position. When he turned back, Damien was once again in control of himself. "Damien, what do you suggest we do?" Damien looked away for another moment, stealing a glance at Blood Raven and then turned back to Terra, saying, "Don't worry about the zombies. She's the source of their power. Without her, the zombies will fall." Terra nodded grimly, not relishing what was ahead for all of them. They readied their weapons when, suddenly, a band large band of zombies limped out of the darkness behind a tree, moaning their pained, morbid cries with mouths unable to form the words to articulate their pain.
Terra gritted his teeth at the cry, feeling it strike him at his core, where he would always try to help another. Suddenly, a white bolt of magic flew past his head, striking one of the zombies. It immediately fell, the spell binding the zombie broken. Terra ran forward, feeling invigorated by one of the paladin's auras he had mentioned before. It was a small battle, but everyone could tell that Blood Raven noticed them now. She constantly taunted the adventurers, telling them to come to their deaths. After working their way around the entire graveyard, they found the gate into the graveyard, and there were plenty of zombies reinforcing it. Terra panted, holding one of his arms, where a cut had turned into a gash because of his constant use of that arm.
He turned around to the group, only to have the white bolt that hit the zombie hit him. For a moment, he expected to feel pain, but he instead felt his current pain melt right off of him. He looked over and saw his arm, without the gash that had previously dominated that arm. He looked up, amazed at the caster, who turned out to be none other than William. William said, "Don't wear yourself out. If you need to return to town, those of us who don't need to go can wait." Terra smiled, feeling his tired body crying for reprieve, so he opened a town portal scroll and read the few words on it.
A blue portal appeared and Terra, along with Lance and Lena left, going to town to sell their items or deposit items they want to save until later to wear, such as the flawed ruby that Lance found in a treasure chest along the way. After taking care of any business they had in town, they returned, fresh-faced and ready to fight. They ventured through the gate and immediately were swept up in an ocean of zombies and skeletons. As they fought their way through the ranks of undead, they heard both Lauria and Aile cry out as they were both struck down by the zombies. Terra called his wolves to his side, feeling the rage he put off whenever thinking of these undead bastards, and he could feel the changes beginning to overtake him. His face elongated, turning into more of a snout than a nose and mouth. His ears moved up, turning into points, as everyone could hear the slushing of his bones rearranging themselves ever so slightly, except in his legs, where the structure changed entirely, bending and creating an elongated set of legs. His hands clumped up, then talon-sharp claws erupted from the flesh. Finally, the fur came, rippling across his body, covering everything that otherwise looked ugly. His transformation into a werewolf had completed. The others looked on in a grim sort of fascination as Terra howled, the wolves joining in the howl immediately. Terra looked at Blood Raven, lifting his lips, revealing razor-sharp teeth and he jumped at her, howling and bringing one of his paws down, slicing Blood Raven's face. She howled in pain, then pulled her bow, forming an arrow of flame that she shot directly into Terra's chest. He howled, and his wolves came up, driving her back as he looked down and looked back at her.
Blood Raven's face contorted to a look of horror as he jumped at her again, this time striking her with a ferocity she didn't know he had. His first swing took off her arm, his second took her other arm, and the third ended her. Suddenly, Blood Raven's spirit jumped out of her body, and white bolts traveled to the zombies and skeletons she raised, immediately breaking the necromantic spell. Terra's body turned back into his normal form, but he grimaced as his mouth came back, feeling a sense of being disconnected from all the wonderful features of the world. He saw the horrified looks of the others, still reeling from his transformation, and he looked confused. "What's wrong?" Lena, who appeared to be more vocal than the others at this moment, stepped forward, speaking in a slightly shaky voice. "What...What was that?" Terra didn't expect them to not be used to something like that, with as often as he had seen a similar display.
"I'm sorry that I scared you, but it's an ability that every druid gains. Eventually, my transitions will be much smoother than it was now. Even I could feel much of the pain, being the one transforming." Lena walked over to him and said, "But that's not all I'm actually worried about. I'm sure the others share my fear of you going berserk. Seeing you jump at Blood Raven..." Lena shivered noticeably, and Terra could begin to feel the fear in the air. He looked down before pulling out a scroll and saying the words on the scroll. A blue portal appeared in front of him and he walked into it without saying a word. Lauria rushed through, followed a few seconds later by Aile. Lauria looked worried and asked, "Guys, what happened to Terra? He had tears sliding down his face as he walked over to Charsi." Lena looked at the ground, then back to everyone else. "I think...I think I may have made him feel bad." "It's not your fault," William tried to assure her, "He never warned any of us of the transformation, and as such, we were not prepared for it." Lena didn't say anything else, however. She walked into the portal. When she arrived back in town, she looked around and noticed a raven sitting outside of Terra's tent. She walked up, but the raven cawed menacingly.
He...He never had his ravens guarding from...from us...Lena thought, feeling hurt that he was trying to keep her away. After everyone came back, they all went to their respective tents. Kashya, noticing the split, decided to employ her patience. As night took full turn, Terra left his tent. He walked over to the still-open portal to the death-still graveyard and walked right through. He arrived silently with his wolves and ravens. He summoned another vine, feeling the vine's death for the first time. He walked over to the mausoleum and killed monsters within it, making himself stronger and looking for better weapons and armor. He then walked over to the other building and rooted through it as well.
Back at the camp, Lena decided to check up on Terra. She arrived at his tent, noticing the raven gone. She smiled a hopeful smile, pleading with fate to let him be happy again. She walked into the tent and found something she didn't expect. No one was in the tent. She then walked outside and moved around the rogue camp quickly, trying hard to find Terra, but to no avail. Kashya saw her running around the camp and walked over, stopping her and asking, "What's wrong, Lady Amazon?" Lena had tears of frustration rolling down her cheeks, and Kashya could tell that something was wrong among the group. "Do you need any help? I can give you a rogue of my own. She can help you with quite a bit of combat." Lena nodded offhandedly, not really paying attention because an idea appeared in her head. Had the portal been missing? She walked back in, followed by Kashya, to find that the portal, indeed, was gone.
She took the waypoint, not even aware of the other rogue that had followed her through. Her mind was focused on one thing: Terra. Everything else, even killing the monsters that rushed her with their battlecries, took a distant second. Eventually she worked her way to the worn stones that dictated another walled-off area. She saw the mark they left on the side which told her that this was the graveyard. She ran into there, seeing that there were no monsters further up. She could hear, however, echoes of battle reaching her ears, and beyond that, the howl of a wolf. She knew from the way that it chilled her that it was the werewolf howl of Terra. She pulled out her bow, rushed through the now-placid graveyard, reaching the mausoleum and rushing down the steps three at a time, almost tripping with every step. She made it to the bottom in no time, rushing closer and closer to the fight. She ran into the room and saw, with undisguised horror, the foul-smelling zombie, which looked like it was about to make the final transition to a skeleton, most of the meat hanging off of its red bones.
Her eyes slowly turned, inevitably drawn toward the movement created out of the corner of her eye. She found it strange, however, that when she looked at the bipedal white werewolf, that she didn't feel any fear of him. He looked at her and she could feel how he felt through his eyes. Suddenly, he looked forward again and Lena, for the first time, noticed the rogue when she began to fire arrows into the zombie, who moaned slightly before walking toward Lena and the rogue. "What's your name, rogue?" Lena asked as she nocked an arrow to fire. "My name's Sarah." She replied as she, too, nocked another arrow. They both fired off ice arrows, slowing the zombie's assault to a slow gait. Terra rushed in, hackles raised, and swung out with one paw. The zombie shattered into tiny pieces, scattering frozen, decayed flesh and bone everywhere. Terra changed back, bones creaking less and flesh looking less disturbing already, and looked at Lena before he sighed and opened a portal. He pulled something off of the stone floor where the zombie had died, the floor still being ice-cold. He held it to Lena, who widened her eyes. A composite bow! She couldn't believe that he had found it. Terra smiled and put it in her hands. "This is for you." He walked through the portal, and she watched through the portal as he headed into his tent. She smiled and walked through the portal as well. She looked at Sarah, smiled, then gave Sarah the bow she had owned before. Lena walked to her tent and fell asleep from the moment she passed through the air in front of the bed.
AN: For those of you wondering, I will have each Act focusing on different characters. Right now is Terra and Lena. If anyone has any suggestions on who you'd like to see next act, message me or e-mail me.