Okay, been a bit longer than I wished it would've since the last update (When has it not? Heh.), but here you go. I was actually a little surprised at how long this ended up being. Also, I was looking back through my reviews for no bloody reason (Thine name is Pride.) and I'm just going to go ahead and make a note, I amaccepting anybody who wants to suggest a character.

Runescape Chronicles
The Witch's Potion

"How did this happen?!"

Joe screamed to the air as he scrambled through trees and over rocks, a horde of goblins tailing behind. Arrows whizzed past his head and battle cries rung in his ears. "I turn my back for a freaking second!" He turned and yelled at the Goblins, who laughed and jeered.

The drop-off of a quarry wall steeply fell before him, and he looked behind him, and immediately ducked as an arrow flew above him. Joe swallowed, and slid down the rocky slope, tearing loose gravel as he went. He fell sharply backwards, and the soil came loose and he tumbled down into the quarry and rolled across the hard ground. The Goblins roared and jeered in anger at losing their quarry. But Joe saw, in horror, that they were circling around to the north side of the pit, lighting torches in the dying light.

Joe groaned and stood up, adjusting his balance, and getting a few curious stares from some late afternoon miners. "What are you looking at, have you been shot with a Goblin's arrow? 'Cause you should!" He growled, and maneuvered around some iron rocks and scrambled up the southern entrance to the quarry, and he saw a small village, lights streaming through windows.

Joe looked backwards to see a line of torches bouncing down the northern entrance of the quarry, shouting at the miners nearby. "Should buy me some time." He panted, smiling, despite himself. Looking anxiously towards the village.

Joe ran through the gloom and on to the cobblestone path into the village, which led into a misshapen village square with an old well raised on circular steps. Four paths leading in four different directions led to different, squat, stone buildings around the square. He looked wildly around and picked the nearest building, in the southwestern corner of the village, and knocked frantically, looking behind him as goblin voices carried over the village.

"Hello?" Joe almost punched a man in the face as he pulled the door open, and Joe stepped backward and grinned nervously. The man wore a thick, light brown apron over baggy, green pants. His hair was dark brown and hung over his eyes, sticking up in places, and he had a goatee growing out of his chin, which he instinctively stroked upon seeing Joe at his doorstep.

"Okay, I know how sudden this is, but, um.. See, there's a pack of goblins chasing after me and I really -." The man laughed, his eyes sparkling beneath his unkempt hair. "Ofcourse, the fiends act like they run the place. Come in, come in, the little cowards give up too easily." He motioned and turned around.

Joe sighed in relief and gently shut the door behind him. "My name is Joe Pl - Joe, thanks." He thought it would be best to leave out his title, since he was certainly not in the mood for any quests. The man turned to him with a warm smile and outstretched his hand, which Joe shook tentatively. "Name's Rommik, and I run this little craft store in bottom-of-the-continent Rimmington." Joe nodded silently. The name Rimmington seemed vaguely familiar, and he assumed it was the name of the village.

He looked around the room, seeing a desk where Rommik must usually sit, and shelves lined with moulds and rolls of thread and other assorted items. "Again, thank you." Rommik sat down at a chair in front of the desk. "No worries, I'd be glad to have you for the night." He said, picking up a needle absentmindedly and picking at a piece of fabric on his desk. "Thank you." Joe nodded hurriedly, despite his politeness, he was very sleepy, and he wanted to be able to get up bright and early so as not to impose on Mr. Rommik.

On his way into his host's guest room, he glanced out one of the store front windows to see torches waving across the square, and one goblin stepped into the moonlight by the fountain, and then they all retreated back into the shadows to their forests.

----------

Joe blinked as light filtered through the guest room window and blinded him. He turned over, groaning to himself, and remembered that he had a host. Joe slid off the bed, smoothing out the covers behind him and slinked over to his pack next to the dresser. He dressed up in his armor and proceeded swiftly out into the main room, where Rommik was bent over a boiling pot filled with grayish liquid.

He turned and smiled at Joe. "Good morning, there's some bacon and eggs on the range. A bit cold, but please, help yourself." He turned his attention back to his pot and stirred it with a metal spoon, rubbing his chin. Joe proceeded over to the range and piled a few strips of bacon and some eggs on a wooden plate he'd taken from a cupboard. After eating, Rommik gave him some lessons on amulet-crafting, but he finally decided it was time to leave the man alone.

"Well, sir, I think it's about time that I should head off. I don't like to impose." He laughed slightly, and Rommik turned and nodded. "You aren't imposing, boy. It's been fun having some company over, safe journeys." He grinned, and Joe grinned sheepishly back. He gathered up his things, and with a last grin and wave, went out the door.

He pulled out an old map and sat on the steps of the well, two children were running around the square playing tag, and he smiled as he ran a finger over the map. He traced the paths down to Rimmington on Asgarnia's southern peninsula. Port Sarim and Falador, the latter of which was from where he had come, though he had not meant to come so far down the continent's peninsula.

But he was suddenly interrupted by a raspy shout from across the square. "Hey, you!" Joe looked up, looking wildly around, wondering if it was a goblin. But instead, he saw an old, ugly woman in a ragged black dress and a bent conical hat of the same color. She was plainly a witch. Joe, himself, had had unpleasant business with witches in the past, and preferred to avoid them, for all the wizards and witches he met tended to be, for lack of a better expression, "off their rockers."

"You! You're the one I've foreseen!" Joe's eye twitched, looking around nervously. The kids had edged over to the other side of the square and resumed their game, and the witch was walking towards him now.

"The Player Killer!"

Joe groaned, crumpling the map back up.

----------

"Look, I'm really not in the mood, witch!" The old woman, whom he now knew as Hetty, had somehow managed to corral him into the shack in the southeastern corner of the village she called a house. "I didn't come here, and I don't care how you knew I was coming or what I have to do!"

The witch Hetty still cackled at him. "But I saw it in my cauldron! I asked it, and it showed me." She spun around whimsically, which only served to annoy Joe even more. "And I recognized your face from the posters!" Joe frowned, even here he wasn't free of Bob's advertisement. But he tried to act polite.

"Okay, I'm sorry, I'll help you some other time." Now it was Hetty's turn to frown. "But I must make a potion! I'll let you sample some of it, I'm unable to go and get the ingredients by myself, being as elderly as I am." Joe raised an eyebrow. "So, you used a spell on the cauldron to see the future so that you could have help to.. find ingredients?" Hetty smiled proudly. "Yes, so, have you changed your mind yet?"

Joe groaned, but shook his head. Though the witch was clearly out of her mind, he decided that he would help her, he probably wouldn't be able to live with himself if he left an old woman by herself, even if she was a crazy witch. "Fine!" He paced around in a circle, grumbling, and Hetty clapped her hands excitedly. "Can you make a.. list.."

Before he could even finish speaking, the witch had whisked a piece of yellowed paper off of a nearby shelf and held it out to him, and Joe's eye twitched threateningly.

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"Onions.."

Joe scratched his chin. It always came down to onions. There was a field just north of Rimmington which was a few minute walk. He looked around for any farmers or travelers watching, and silently slipped through the gate. The northern side of the field was planted with rows of cabbage, and the southern end was lined with onions, which was what Joe currently seeked.

Joe quickly skimmed the fields for a good onion and plucked one out of the ground, wiping off some of the dirt from its bulb and sticking it into his pack. Sighing, he looked up and saw the Crafting Guild on the coast reflecting sunlight in the distance, the faint sound of cows coming from its fenced-in pasture and the waves foaming on the rocks. With a quick smirk, Joe turned and left the field for his next objective.

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Next he simply had to find a rat and cut off its tail, which Joe spent several tedious hours trying to find. Trying to round them into corners or catch them, with no success. But he finally managed to round one up. Though Joe couldn't help feeling sorry for the small rodent, he sliced off its tail and let it scurry back off into the dark corners of the little village. Joe shrugged, and then continued on with his ingredient hunt.

Having found the rat's tail, he proceeded to collect the next item; the eye of a newt. And the nearest magic shop was further north at Port Sarim, so Joe quickly hiked there. On the north end of the docks was a small magic shop run by a woman by the name of Betty. Upon entering the shop, Joe was confronted by a woman in a slim, purple shirt with a black dress and a ruby amulet hanging around her neck.

"Uh, hey!" Joe smiled nervously, and Betty smiled back. "What d'ya need?" She set something straight on a shelf, and Joe cleared his throat. "Do you stock Eye of Newt here?" She nodded, heading into the back of the shop and yelling out to him. "Most people just come by for runes, but - yes! I still have a jar of Eye of Newt gathering dust back here!"

Betty reappeared with a large jar filled with a murky green liquid, and, floating around inside, bouncing against the glass and against eachother, were a bunch of lonely eyeballs that all seemed to be staring at Joe. He tugged at his collar nervously. "So, how many do ya' want?" Betty unscrewed the cap with a screeching sound, and reached into the liquid. Joe swallowed, and cleared his throat again.

"Just one thanks." She giggled at his squeamishness and grabbed an eyeball that bobbed near the surface. "Making an attack potion?" She asked. Joe chuckled lightly. "Sort of.." She moved to drop it in his hand and he quickly covered it with a piece of cloth and wrapped the eyeball up in it, trying not to gag. Betty looked over a piece of paper on the front desk and turned back to him. "That will be three pieces of gold for one Eye of Newt." She smiled as he tucked away the eye and fished in his money pouch.

"Here." Joe dropped three gold coins into her hand and Betty retreated back to the counter, sorting them into a drawer, which she then shut and locked back up. "Well, I'll be on my way then." He eyed the jar of newts' eyes. Betty giggled again and waved him off. "Guthix be with you!"

----------

The last task was the one Joe had saved for last, simply because he didn't look forward to trekking through goblin-infested forests to find an oversized rat. But, it was either that or travel all the way to Varrock or some other city's slums to find more, and he preferred to get this done as soon as possible. If he came across goblins, he'd be ready to deal with them better this time around.

As it was, he was about to get his wish as he saw a goblin watcher leave a tick patch of trees, too late. Joe just stared at them for a second, and it opened its mouth as to let out a goblin war cry but he moved forward, and it was forced to leap to the side and silence itself, drawing a short sword and waving it threateningly.

Joe gritted his teeth in anticipation, and swung his sword out in an arc, and it hit the goblin's with a loud clang. He swung his gaze out to the forest, and froze as he heard another war cry, from not too far away, from what must be a goblin camp. He was knocked out of his thoughts by a quick strike from the goblin that caught him off guard, swiping across his cheek and making a cut that oozed blood.

He winced and jumped backwards, parrying another blow and scraping against the goblins sword. Sword against sword, he scraped it downwards, some sparks leaped from between the blades. Joe grinned despite himself and twirled his scimitar around the goblin's sword and bent the blade, sending it spinning out of the goblin's grasp.

It gasped as he pointed the tip of his blade at its throat. "Don't m - !" But before he could do anything he heard the twang of a bow and swung out his scimitar, clipping an oncoming arrow and sending it spinning into the grass. The first goblin ran for his sword, but before he could do anything, Joe sprinted into the opposite side of the woods. Hopefully he'd be able to lose them in the winding trees. But that hadn't worked the night before, either.

More ululating cries resounded behind him, but he found his quarry. A feral rat stood tearing at a rotten cabbage, which no doubt came from the field Joe himself had been at hours ago. The giant rat looked at him, red eyes gleaming, but before it could do anything, he plunged his sword into it and the giant rat was no more.

In better circumstances, he would've taken it to a clearing and skinned, but, so to speak, he'd have to take it on the run.

----------

"How did this happen?!"

Joe screamed to the air as he scrambled through trees and over rocks, a horde of goblins tailing behind. Arrows whizzed past his head and battle cries rung in his ears. But now, a giant rat under his arm was oozing blood over the side of his armor. And this time, there was no mine with which to lose the goblins that were tailing him. He was headed south around the southern side of Rimmington, where he would hopefully be able to slip between the buildings and the goblins would stay out of the village, where someone might see them.

Joe ducked around a tree and saw a gap between Hetty's home and another building, and he rushed between it, stumbling into the square, where the two children were now sitting on the opposite side of the square, drawing a hop-scotch board. He took a breath and looked behind him, his eyes widened and he automatically ducked as an arrow whipped through the air and drove itself into the side of the well.

The children looked up and screamed as a line of goblins began to file through the gap in the buildings. "Fresh meat soon!" One hissed, and they all joined in the jeering and cried in having him cornered. A door opened and a man rushed over to the children, but the goblins ignored him, taunting in their guttural language. Before Joe could do anything, he was drawing his mythril scimitar and warding them off, clashing with a dozen short swords in one arc of his sword. There was a clang and a jolt shot through his arm.

Joe stumbled backwards, swiping one sword away, but another caught him off balance and swiped along the upper left side of his chest, slicing through his armor. He cried out and fell backwards with a loud thump, and the goblins laughed uproariously. Joe shut his eyes, but the goblins never struck, and there was a dull, green light pulsing behind his eyelids.

Joe opened his eyes, a green light glowed radiantly above him, he tilted his head backwards and saw a man holding an amulet that emitted the glow by its golden chain. He lowered his arm and the light shifted and Joe saw Rommik's face covered in green.

The goblins were staring in suspicion and doubt at the light, but a second later, they began to growl and retreated. Rommik followed them slowly, waving the green amulet back and forth, until the last goblin scurried back through the gap in the buildings.

Rommik returned to Joe's side and stretched out a hand to help him up. Joe took it and Rommik pulled him to his feet, he staggered, and then caught his balance. Rommik inspected Joe's cut, and nodded. The glow from the amulet receded, and he hung it back around his neck. "Amulet of Defense, one of many advantages of being a skilled craftsman." He grinned and Joe laughed weakly.

"Now, didn't I tell you safejourneys, son?"

----------

Joe slammed the door of Hetty's shack behind him, giving her a hateful glare, he quickly sat down on her floor and grimaced as he skinned down the giant rat, and, without even bothering to clean it up, he followed the witch's advice and went to the house just north of hers, empty, but with a working range in the corner. She said that it needed to be burnt, and so he stuck it inside, and waited. And waited.. And waited..

A couple of hours later, in the late afternoon light, Joe drug a barely recognizable, scorched and smoking giant rat carcass to Hetty, and kicked open her front door. In the middle of stirring her now-bubbling cauldron, he sore loudly and threw the burnt meat into the cauldron and hot water poured over the sides and splashed through the air. Hetty recoiled to the corner of the room, her eyes wide, and then cackled as loud as she ever could.

Joe sat down and pulled out his pack, digging through it and providing the Eye of Newt, the onion, and the rat tail, which Hetty promptly stirred into her cauldron, which, once everything was added, glowed an eerie green. Though Joe could've left, despite his irritation, he couldn't help but be curious.

Several minutes later, Hetty made satisfactory noises to herself, and sipped some of the green stuff off of her metal spoon, and grinned. "Oh, you must try it." Joe frowned, too tired to yell at her. "Do I really have to?" Hetty looked sadly at him. "Oh, well, no.." Her voice wavered, and though Joe was well aware it was an act, he groaned and got to his feet. Hetty clapped her hands together and cackled in glee. She supplied him with a metal ladle and he stared silently at the bubbling green liquid, and filled up the ladle.

And then, he drank it...