The mind can be the strongest tool, and the weakest. It holds all our knowledge, our thoughts, the things that make us who we are. But it also holds our memories, the good and the bad. This is what cripples us. Nobody has a happy life; there is always some kind of sorrow that happens eventually. Our emotions will always get the better of us in the end. We may put up that little wall and block them, but it'll build and build, until finally the dam breaks and there's this rush of everything you've been hiding. And when you break, you best be ready for it.
"Anddddddd, we are back here!" Fora exclaimed, her arms spread wide, as if to embrace the build which was even far too large to attempt. But if she could, she would. Maximus just stared at the priest. After spending the last hour with her, walking around the city, he gathered most of what he would need if he was to make this his new home. She blinked at him a few times, as he stared off into the distance. "Hello?" Fora had spun quick on her heels and now began waving frantically in front of the warrior. Maximus glared at her. "I'm here, you can get out of my bubble now" Fora sighed and put her hands on her hips. "You have to be the most grumpy person I have ever met, You even trump Avia!" Maximus grunted at the death knight's name, Avia. Bleh, it left a bad taste in his mouth and he wasn't even the one saying it. Fora sighed and began to walk into the inn. "VVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVIA!" She shouted, and the death knight turned around on her bench, slowly, mouth full of salted venison. Her ice blue eyes stared at the priest for a moment before swallowing and answering in a gruesome tone. "Yes?" Fora giggled and bounded over to the death knight and sitting in-between her and the Orc shaman who had given her a look and then chuckled. "Well you have a lot of energy tonight, eh?" Fora nodded. "I have a lot of energy all the time" Avia laughed "Ha! Yea, until you crash in the middle of a mission and I had to drag your ass back home." The whole table chuckled.
Fora pouted "That was once and I was under a spell!" Heavy bellowed from across the table. "Sleeping spells don't last 4 hours, Fora" The softhearted laughter rumbled the table again. Maximus stared at them for a moment, unsure of what to do. "Oi, uhh new guy. Come over here" Maximus looked to see who had spoken. It was a mage, who wasn't really a mage because the visage would change so often, he wasn't able to tell what exactly his true form was. Tilli looked up and elbowed the shifter next to him "You be scarring the boy mon, pick a picture and stay there." The mage looked at the rough and laughed "I uhh, could say the same about your hair, uh Tilli" The troll gave him a glaring look, the mage laughing again and nodded "I kid, I kid." And picked the visage of an Undead warrior male. Maximus walked across the room and took a seat at the end of the table. Avia looked down the way at him and hit her hand against the table.
"Ok, New kid. You know the drill everyone." For a moment there was silence, complete and utter silence. "Well, I guess I'll go first then" The Orc Shaman spoke and stood up. He was wearing light colored robes and bored a shield of lighting that was now sitting on the ground behind his seat on the bench. "I'm Anomally, you can come to me with questions aboot anything" Fora covered her mouth and snickered at the accent. Anomally looked over at the priest for a moment, unapproving of her giggle. She shrugged her shoulders and he sat down. The next one to stand was the troll "Names Tilli mon, and I'm de best tank here!" She began to flex at the table. Heavy grabbed her by the belt and sat her down. Tilli made a noise of protest. "Eh, you be doing that again mon, and I'll be chopping off one of dem pretty fingas in ya sleep" Heavy rolled his eyes "So rude." The rouge took her daggers from their holster and spun them around on her fingers, like a pro. Avia cleared her throat and the rouge nodded, putting her daggers back in her belt and sitting down. Next as the warrior "I'm Heavy, and I'll be here if you need glyphs and warrior advice" He sat down about as fast as he stood up and began to drink his mead again. The Undead gentlemen stood up and bowed. "I'm Lia, nice to meet you" The accent on his words was thick but understandable. All of them had turned to look at Avia and Fora. Avia shook her hand dismissively. "The kid already knows who I am" Fora stood up and waved. "I'm Fora, Holy priest and tailoring extraordinaire! " Avia did the same thing Heavy did to Tilli and pulled Fora down back to her seat by her belt. Fora grunted in protest but let it be. She looked around concerned for a moment and Avia furrowed her brow at the sight of the little priest's distress. "What's the problem now, Fora" She grumbled. Fora sighed "Wait but wheres…-"
*RRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR RRRRRRRRWWWWARE*! A loud, bear cry came from the entrance of the inn and the entire guild turned to look, it was one of their own. It had collapsed on its side, several arrows stuck in its shoulder blade. Anomally and Fora sprang from their seats and rushed to the animal, which now started to phase back into a Tauren. Anomally started casting a healing spell while Fora sat the druids head on her lap and stroked his ears. He began to speak in soft, hushed tones. His words were cryptic and there was very little information that passed through his lips before he passed out. "What'd he say?" Tilli cried, now standing on the table, trying to get a better look at them. Anomally sighed and Fora shook her head mumbling "Why didn't they tell us?" Maximus stared at the group; they all looked like a bunch of baboons. One was on the table; another was pulling arrows out of another and healing wounds without any sanitary means. Maybe this was the human in him…he was sure his horde side wouldn't have been so bothered by this, but the human made him OCD. His right ear twitched and he sighed. Damnit all, what had he gotten himself into? Anomally stood up, his job done as Fora began to hum soft tunes into the recovering druid's ears, his tail twitching slightly to the beat.
"We have a problem." He mumbled and everyone groaned. "What is it?" Heavy asked, already standing up and equipping his weapons. "Apparently, three of our own including cow" Maximus rose and eyebrow. 'Cow?' he thought to himself. Tilli had caught his curiosity and whispered "That's the druids name mon" Maximus nodded solemnly and gave his attention back to the shaman. "Went material hunting out by the scarlet monastery and-"He was interrupted by Lia "got uh, captured? Yes?" Anomally nodded his expression like stone. The rest of the group knew what this meant "A rescue mission!" Tilli shouted and faded into the shadows, crouching as she went, heading to the door and out to the portal. "We have too many" Avia sighed, rubbing her temples, looking around. Anomally looked over at Fora and Cow "Doesn't look like they are going anywhere" Heavy nodded and began heading to the door as well to join Tilli, when he put his hand on Maximus's shoulder. "Can you tank?" He asked. Maximus looked at him and shook his head no, slowly. "No, I don't have the right gear for it" Heavy sighed and hung his head. "Then I guess I ha-"His words were cut off by the rouge, jumping onto the table out of thin air. "I CAN DO IT MON!" Heavy looked up at her and glared, the rage filling behind his eyes, like he was about to cut off her head. This however didn't phase the rouge one bit and she winked at the warrior, fading out once more. Anomally chuckled lightly "So I guess I'm healing, Avia?" The death knight nodded. "I'll stay behind and watch her" Lia spoke up, pointing to Fora "She will need help moving Cow" The group nodded and headed toward the portal. Heavy shaking Maximus firmly "Comon, time to jump back in." The young warrior grunted and Heavy chuckled. "You'll get used to it, common." With that, they had all headed into the portal and out to the scarlet monastery.
"NOW!" Yelled Heavy as the group plundered into the white portal, taking them to another dimension where the monastery was built. Going in like a freight train, the warrior had more rage then he could use, smashing heads with axes and crushing bones into walls. Avia not far behind him, commanding her ghoul pet to feast on the flesh of the living. The humans donned in scarlet fought back like mad. Gallants and Adepts dove into Heavy and Avia's quake. Their swords swinging through the air at great speeds, hitting the metal on their opponent's bodies, not even leaving a scratch. Their eyes went buggy as the last seconds of their lives went by in a scarlet fashion. Maximus grinned, what an ironic way to go out. "Careful mon" Tilli whispered, her form wasn't present but Maximus could feel her presence. One of the stragglers hid against the wall behind them as the group entered the court yard and jumped to get the attack on the backside of Heavy. But the body hit the floor in no time flat, its throat was slashed open and cut out, the rouge stood above it, organ in hand. She shook her head "No mon, nobody will be getting da jump round here!" She threw the throat across the room and faded again. Maximus had gained his confidence. Held his breath, and took the plunge into battle.
"Why did they go off on their own, I wonder?" Fora asked Lia, who was sitting right next to her. Lia sighed "I don't understand it either, but I'm sure they knew what they were doing." Fora raised a brow "If that was so, there wouldn't be a wounded Cow on my lap." She grunted and poked at his chest. The Tauren twitched under her touch and she looked to Lia. "Let's be real though, you have to have a full team for something like that! There were three of them." Lia just shrugged. "I uh do not know. Perhaps they thought they could do it?" All of a sudden, cow started coughing and Fora jumped at his sudden movement. "Cow!" She yelped and hugged his head gently. The Tauren began to sit up "Slowwwllyyy" Fora warned and the Tauren nodded, propping himself up with his arms. "It wasn't…something…we expected…to do" Fora tilted her head "What do you mean?" She asked, a worried tone carried in her voice. She knew what this must have meant, that it wasn't just blind stupidity. She's seen some crazy things but if it was the people she had in mind, this wasn't just a rescue mission. "Who Cow, who?" Lia asked and they both had leaned in to hear Cow's story...
"What are we waiting for?" Maximus asked, too pumped from smashing skulls to just stop. Too excited by his bloodlust. Too tense to relax for a moment. Anomally spoke "I need to replenish my mana." He was calm and sat in a corner, his back propped up against the wall, drinking his tea. Avia nodded "He looses Mana, we die." Maximus growled "I know what mana does" He stared at Avia, who held up her hands. "Alright, alright." She walked away from the group for a moment, scouting ahead with the rouge at her side. Heavy looked at Maximus "You'll have to get used to her, she's a pain in the ass normally but it's worse if you piss her off." Maximus shook his head and ran his fingers through his shaggy locks. 'Pain in the ass' he thought what an understatement. If her teammate was saying it, it means he's not the only one thinking it. Still, she must have SOME use if she's still here. Anomally stood up and walked past the two warriors and began to head towards the girls. Heavy followed and Maximus shortly after. "Into the fray we go" Avia mumbled, her eyes glowing bright like blue fire as she and Heavy charged into the next room, she took the left side and heavy the right knocking them off balance while Tilli appeared and ran her daggers through the soft flesh of the humans. Ripping the jagged edges clean out of their bodies, like cutting butter, blood splattered across the walls in angular patterns. Tilli nodded, pleased with herself. "That's a nice mural you got there Till" Anomally commented, and the rouge just laughed as they moved on.
"WHAT?!" Fora screamed, now standing up, her body tensed and froze. Lia looked from Cow to the Priest like her was missing something, completely confused. "Hold on hold on…So you mean to tell us" Cow nodded solemnly while sipping on tea that Fora had brought him for the headache he had received after hitting the floor. "We caught him doing it, and just bolted after him." Fora sighed and threw her hands up "This is perfect!" She began to walk back and forth "Relax Fora, you are going to make ruts" Lia spoke; she glared at the undead "How can you be so calm? We have to go!" Lia shook his head "The rules-"But Fora cut him off "FUCK, the rules." She walked over to the white wolf, petted its head softly before taking her kitten from its tail. The cat staring up with big eyes at her owner, purring. Her big paws kneading softly on the Priests robe. She calmed down, petting her companion softly. She cleared her throat and spoke calmly. "I am going to get them before it's too late, are you coming with me Lia?" She asked. The undead nodded "You can't go by yourself" Fora went to protest but stopped herself. She knew he was right. Her armor was barely armor at all. Rather enchanted clothes that offered little to no protection. "Well then, we are wasting time talking about it" And with that, she ran out of the inn, Lia in tow.
"Wha- But" Avia stuttered, and pointed to a battered Tauren at the end of the hall. For the life of her, she couldn't remember his name; she had only met him once, but her bore the symbol of their guild on his chest. Anomally threw him a healing spell as the rest of the group rushed over. "Are you ok?" Heavy asked, poking the Tauren gently with the hilt of his axe. The Tauren nodded "Yeah, we were just going through the motions here when we were ambushed by alliance" He spoke, holding his side. He hid it from view but it looked like he had hurt it somehow. "Alliance?" Anomally questioned, his head tilted slightly. The Tauren nodded "Yes, they knocked me out, left me here and ran after the others." He spoke. Avia was wary, this made no sense at all, and it wasn't likely for the alliance to kill other humans unless they wanted something from them. It's how they worked. Plus the rules would never allow…She turned to look at her teammates, who held the same confused and wary expression as she did. What was going on here? "Why are you guys here?" The Tauren asked and Avia went to speak but Anomally spoke first. "Normal run through, figured we'd show the new guy how things work." The Tauren looked at Maximus who looked back. To the Tauren, he looked like your everyday blood elf warrior. He sighed and grunted as he stood up. "Its best we go see if the others are alive." He spoke grimly and began to hobble along. Heavy put and arm around him and helped him move. "Avia" He spoke, but the woman was already changing. An icy visage covered her body and the armor she wore bean to change into a darker color, rimmed in a copper color. Frost, emanated from her entire being and you could see the mist coming off her feet. She ran in front of the whole group, throwing her hands up in front of her. A cold gust of icy air, shot from her fingertips and blasted the targets in front of her, enough so they had focused on her, and never saw the young warrior coming. In one mighty swing. His axe cleaved off the heads of a few scarlet's, the other gliding right down the middle of its body from his head. The Warrior whipped the blood off his helmet and continued to move behind the death knight when suddenly she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "What the he-"But Maximus froze as well. Entering the last room, the Arcanist Doan's body lay face down on the floor, his right arm seemingly ripped from his body, now clenched in the jaw of a dying wolf, which lay only feet away from its owner who was rooted into the ground. "Pan!" The Death knight yelled and ran over to the hunter, who stood sobbing in the middle of the room. "NO!" She screamed and pointed to Heavy and the Tauren. "RUN!" She yelled and drew her arms up with her bow but quickly dropped it, her arm dangling, useless.
Popped out of its socket. "GO!" Yelled another voice. All limbs rooted to the wall, armor slashed a ripped open all over the place, the metal bent into the gashes that oozed the life from the blood elf. "Z…" Anomally spoke. "He'll get you too!" Pant spoke quietly through her sobs. Avia growled "What the hell is going on?!" The Tauren began to laugh, hysterically. "You're all fools…" And with that, he threw out his arms in front of him, rooting everyone to the ground and pulling out of the iron grasp of Heavy, who reached for his gun but was blown out of his hands buy a spell of wrath. "What the hell!?" Maximus yelled and wretched his body around, trying to break free of the roots. "We caught him, stealing from the bank." The hunter spoke soft, still reaching desperately for her animal. Avia frowned, poor thing... "We ran after him, chased him here, but he had the upper hand." She coughed, covering her mouth and pulling it away, blood dripping from her fingers. "So many buffs…" She mumbled weakly, her knees shaking. Heavy, now furious gave a battle cry and tried with all his might to lift his legs from their restraints. Anomally, now fiddling with his fingers, trying to get a spark going but his mana was gone. The Druid smirked at his work. "Hang in there guys" Avia spoke, looking frantically from Pan to Z, who looked just about gone. "Why fill their heart with doom? There about gone, and so am I" The druid turned, clutching his side.
*GACK!* a loud, gargling sound filled the room, followed by the thud of the tauren's body hitting the floor. The sound, of metal ripping through leather filled the air. "NOONE! GETS THE JUMP WHILE IM AROUND!" Tilli screamed and flipped the body of the druid to face the ceiling, the light leaving its eyes. She leaned down, close to his ear and whispered "No one" and plunged her dagger deep into his chest, her grunted and his last remaining breaths filled the air as he slipped through the cracks. Tilli looked up just as the roots began to disappear back into the earth. The paladin on the wall began to fall forward, his body fragile and exposed. Heavy learched forward, ripping out of his vines and caught him, just before he hit the ground. "Z!" Anomally yelled and began to focus heals "Don't die on me man, we need you" Pan fell over, having only being inches from the ground in the first place, she pulled herself over to the dying wolf and put its head on her lap. She stared, sadly at it, tears streaming down her grime stained face. "Nooo, no I said play dead, not die" She whispered and held the animal close as best she could with the one functioning arm. Avia knelt beside Pan, a hand gently on her back. She bit her lip and looked behind her; Anom's focus had to be on Z, if he tried to save them both, there's a good chance he'd lose them. Avia sighed "He'll be somewhere nicer soon" Avia whispered to Pan, and let the hunter lean on her. Maximus sat down on the ground, staring at it all. What could he do? He was helpless in this situation….is this was being a hero is about? All this sadness and death. "Well, it's a good thing I'm here then!" Fora spoke, standing in the doorway, was Lia and Fora. Both were covered in blood but they were both stable. Fora ran to Avia and Pan. The kitten on her shoulder, hopped off and began to rub against the wolfs body. "Easy boy" Fora whispered, her hand igniting in a soft, white flame. She rest them on his body, just as he closed his eyes, a Guardian appeared behind the animal. It was a saint like creature, colored in blue and white. Fora looked up at it, and the guardian nodded, white light bursting from its chest as it disappeared, and fell into the body of the animal, who took a deep breath. Fora grinned "Good baby, now. Lie still" She spoke quietly and continued her work.
The kitten walked over to the wolfs face, who stared at it with content eyes. If this had been any other situation, the wolf might have tried to chase the cat, but this was not the case. She stared at him, with her big golden eyes and put a paw on his nose, as if trying to help Fora, who giggled at the animals antics. Anomally sighed, drinking Mana potions wasn't enough. Suddenly, he felt recharged; looking behind him was Lia, as a mage, casting evocation. "Thought you might need this" He nodded, and offered a hand with healing Z, who was in and out. "Comon man…" Heavy growled, angry at the druid, wounded by the spikey briars. Maximus stood up, he pulled out a rolled up bunch of cloth and handed it to Heavy. "It's not the highest grade, but it's a temporary fix" He spoke, Heavy nodded appreciatively. Pan had passed out from exhaustion in Avia's arms only seconds before her precious pet was saved. "How did you guys even get here?" Avia asked Fora, who had her attention on Pans shoulder now. Bones snapping and sinew retracting could be heard as she relocated the arm.
"The rules-"Avia kept going on but Fora stopped her. "Honey, if I lived by the rules, I wouldn't be living now would I?" She grinned a waited for her response, but all Avia did was laugh lightly. Fora knew what would come if they got caught, she'd deal with it later. Her eyes traveled to Tilli, who looked perfectly fine, and having a blast dissecting the organs out of the druid's chest. "Hey, I thought Voo-doo was illegal?" Avia joked, but Tilli paid no mind. "Hey" Fora spoke softly, putting a hand on Maximus's shoulder, which made him jump. Fora giggled lightly "Are you ok?" He nodded "Yea, just a little shaken" His voice was very quiet. Fora stood in front of him, inspecting. "Hmm….your armor seems a little torn" She spoke just as soft. "And..." She then looked at his face and sighed "Stand still." She whispered and he stiffened Fora sighed "I'm not going to hit you" She laughed lightly and put a hand on his cheek, brushing away his hair until she found the small gash on his skull. Her hand flashed a bright light for only a second. Maximus winced and Fora smiled kindly "You'll get used to it" She spoke and blinked slowly for a few moments before removing her hand and going over to help with Z. Maximus rubbed his forehead and sighed. What a distracting woman...