Maxine Vida's Story

The wheels of the wagon that Maxine was riding in squeaked atop the cobblestone road. Her carriage was more of a cage. Amongst her fellow travelers were 3 other female witches. The necromancer the three had been enslaved to had died three weeks passed, and his successor saw the women as more of a profit to be made, than an inheritance of labor. His name had been Lancelot, but in no way did he uphold the legends that were made by that name. None the less, he had been Maxine's Master for as long back as she could remember. The fact that his nephew had sold her, and the younger witches, had been more insulting then being enslaved period. Maxine had overseen the entire care of Lancelot's estate, apparently she had fooled herself the entire time thinking she would receive credit for her time and duty.

Now, here she was, riding in a magically protected cage to an FWP camp. The three young girls riding beside her had looked to her for leadership and guidance for many years now, and for the first time, Maxine felt as if she truly had nothing to give them. Within Lancelot's home, they were at least given enough freedom to practice without being noticed or punished for it. Maxine herself had never been or seen an FWP camp, but had heard many things about them. The first rumor that proceeded them was the fact that not a single prisoner could exercise their powers, ever. This in itself was torture enough for any witch, let alone one like Maxine who seemed to cling to her own gift as much as she did the air passing through her lungs.

The guards driving the carriage were lower ranking necromancers themselves. Maxine had full confidence, that if there wasn't a binding spell put upon her enclosure, she could take both of them out at the same time. However, the moon was high above the trees, shining brightly over the entire forest; the spell resting above their heads was strong enough that it nearly had a glow about it. Maxine hung her head low, and covered her face with hard edged hands. 'Survival would be much more easier in this wretched world without a bunch of different blood thirsty necros barging in and out of my life every day.' There was not a single ounce of hope to be found in any of the girls' eyes. Maxine was exhausted; so much so, she almost entertained the thought of sleeping for the rest of the journey. Almost.

An Elementalist leapt from branch to branch, taking advantage of his small and nimble body as he expertly traveled up above on the trees. It's time. It's time to rebel. It's time to start acting out against the Necromancers and the Shadow Walkers. That's what he thought as he followed the carriage of prisoners. He's been studying up on everything. He knows what they do. It's time for this to stop.

Ian sat upon a tree branch, concealed by the leaves. He waited, watching as the carriage approached his position. Already did the elementalist prepare his first attack; there were several explosive tags that ran on the side of the road and on the center. Detonating them with the right timing would result in a wall of ice blocking the carriage, as well as Necro-popsicles.

Ian smirked. 3. 2. 1. Now. A large explosion occurred, and half the Necromancers were frozen as well as a large wall of ice had appeared, blocking the carriage's way. Ian jumped from his branch, landing on the nearest Necromancer's back and dodging a Shadow Lance from another Necromancer. A Necromancer comes up behind him, about to attack him with a sword, but Ian managed to roll away before placing a specially made tag to release the binding spell that was cast on every prisoner-transportation method. Smirking, Ian threw the last of his tags at the rest of the Necromancers, either burning them or freezing them to death. "Well... That was surprisingly easier than I thought it would..." Ian muttered as he stood up.

Ian sighed as he caught his breath. Easy didn't mean using energy. When he looked up again, the prisoners were gone thankfully. However, the nearby trees looked to be uprooted and blown down, falling on the carriage and the ice sculptures of the Necromancers. Ian knew that it wasn't his doing. The only things the Elementalist used were the explosive tags.

Looking around, he saw nobody, well, nobody in plain sight. He did catch a glimpse of a person's leg running away, but that's just it. Ian caught one last breath before he began to move back into the forest. Huh.. Guess someone else did my job for me. Ian thought. Less work for the tired on- The Elementalist's thoughts had been interrupted when he landed on a branch, specifically one that was taken by another. Ian found himself facing a girl's face, and the Elementalist lost his balance when recoiling in surprise, landing flat on his back moments later. "Ow....." Ian groaned. "My back...." What the hell... I didn't think anyone was up there....

Maxine's eyes grew double their size as the young man landed on her branch.

She shot a glance down the path to assure that there weren't any more Necromancers haunting the area. Satisfied, she stepped off the branch and glided down closer to ground level. She still perched in the tree roughly 6 feet above the person lying on the ground.

"You there! A-Are you alright?" The man didn't seem concerned with anger, but his physical pain. Only because of this, did Maxine even bother to offer help, which she hadn't done yet.

"Ugh...." Ian sat up, slowly. Have you ever fell from a high branch in a tree? It hurts. A lot. Especially when landing on your back. The boy holds his back in pain, still focusing on his pain and agony. "You there! A-Are you alright?" A voice sounded from above.

The Elementalist slowly looked up to see a girl in dark clothes, high up on the branch he fell from. "Ow..." Ian groaned quietly and stood up. "You.... Ow... I'm good...." Ian called up. "Ian brought up a pair of knives, holding one on each hand. He then stabbed one and pulled himself up. Wash, rinse, repeat. The Elementalist repeated this process until he reached a branch, and the boy swung himself onto a branch. Upon closer inspection, Ian realized that he caught a glimpse on her face while assaulting the Necromancers. "Are you one of the people from the carriage thing?"

"Maybe" Maxine responded, skeptical of the young man that stood before her. She recognized him as an Elementalist with the tools he used for climbing. However, rogues were not to be trusted until otherwise given reason. "Who are you, and why did you free those Witches?" Maxine was no longer concerned about the physical state of him, but his reason for action in general. Her left hand hung, fully extended, ready to attack if necessary.

"Who are you, and why did you free those Witches?" The girl asked him. Judging by her tone, she was hostile. Well, it was obvious that she was hostile. And using this to deduce her race, Ian could tell that she was also a Witch.

"Hargh!" Ian pulled himself up on more branch. If there was going to be a fight, the least he could do to prepare would be to make sure he has enough time to grab another branch or slow his fall should his branch snap. "I freed you people... Because it's an act of rebellion..." Ian smirked. "I'm sick and tired of all of this shit. I mean, really. It doesn't really matter if you're a Witch, Wizard, or an Elementalist... We're still being pushed into the mud. It's time we all rebel..." Ian explained. "And I don't care if you're against my idea; I'll still go through with it."

"Pushed in the mud, huh?" Maxine couldn't help but admire the boy standing before her for his ... 'bull headedness'. Maxine searched the surrounding area with her aura, and sensed no one other than them, one remaining girl from the prisoner carriage, Ivory. "It's safe, for now." She mumbled, then proceeded to jump from the tree, landing gracefully on both feet. "Show me you can stay out of the mud, young rebel, and join me here on the ground." She yelled this up into the tree with a light sense of humor in her voice.

"Show me you can stay out of the mud, young rebel, and join me here on the ground." The Witch yelled after landing from a jump from a high branch.

Ian couldn't help but smirk at this. The Elementalist jumped off the tree branch, using his power over wind to slow his fall to a safe speed. Ian dropped and landed on his legs, smirking. "There, see? Not a bit of mud on me." Ian winked at the girl, chuckling. He then began to walk into a certain direction. Unfortunately, they couldn't stay here as Shadow Walkers would soon arrive.

"Hey." Ian said. "Let's go to town and talk there, alright? Maybe get some room in the inn, because I don't want to have my butt dragged into the shadows and not the mud... in fact, I'd rather be thrown into the mud than the realm of the shadows." Ian said as he broke into a jog. Stopping and turning after a few steps, he urged the Witch to come with him. "Come on!"