Snippet #1738899

The rays of morning light struck the ruins as the sun slowly began to fill the golden desert with life and light. The Moon went back to sleep while the Sun brought the day as the god awoke from his slumber. The desert was a place dreaded by many and few; The place was pretty much life-less and there was not much else but sand, stone and even more sand. Water and any kind of growth were no where to be found or seen in this vast wasteland.

However, in the middle of the desert there was a large ruin that had once belonged to the citizens of Brightvale. It had once been a bustling city filled with life and happiness as well as despair and pain, just like any other city in the world. Although the war had taken its toll on the city of Brightvale and its citizens, many still clinged to the past as they tried to resist the drums of war and the beating sound of death and revenge. All they wanted was to repair their homes and start anew in a new chapter for themselves. They wanted to teach their younglings the lessons they’ve learned through life and find ways to hopefully avert war amongst their people and against others.

Four figures had left the ruins upon first light and they were now traveling through the desert upon their horses in their usual diamond formation; Theron Lockwood, the master assassin and leader of the group, rode first; Akida, Theron’s apprentice, rode just behind her leader to his left; Barca, a large green barbarian being called an Orc amongst the people who knew what he was, rode last in the formation; Ace, the elvish archer and monster hunter, rode next to Akida and just behind Theron. They were quite the odd company of skilled warriors, hunters and assassins.

They were riding fast and it wouldn’t be too long before they would see the plains in sight. When they reached the point where the plains and the desert almost split the land in two with their borders, Theron stopped Merlin, his white horse, and looked around. The rest of the company continued onwards without him. He had suddenly been struck by a strong headache and his hands shook violentely as he felt an immense power throughout his body. The assassin wondered where this source of power came from, but at the end he decided it was best to leave it be for the moment as he commanded his horse to sprint onwards. He was soon reunited with his company and they continued towards the White Shadows camp in the ruins of Blackhurst.

Upon reaching the camp itself, Theron and his friends were meet by some healers who stopped them in their tracks. They demanded, as usual, that the stranger should all disarm if they wanted to enter the encampment; Theron approved of this and ordered everyone to relieve themselves of their weapons, but he kept his two hidden blades on. Before moving on, Ace turned his head towards the forest behind them and saw some shady figures amongst the trees, but he tried to ignore them as they finally entered the healers camp.

”I’d like to speak with Annie, if I may.” Theron asked a nearby healer as he jumped off his horse and lead it along with the others to a nearby place where he could tie them to a pole. The healer walked off, in no hurry at all. That was okay though, Theron knew he had to have patience when dealing with the healers. As he remained where he was standing by his horse, Ace, Akida and Barca started looking around.

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The elf moved through the encampment with little to no problem and people seemed to stare at him more here than in Brightvale. He didn’t know why, but he guessed these people had at least been educated about other races outside Valcrest. It was that or maybe they’ve heard more stories about the elf’s fearless demeanors and ruthless ways in war than anyone else in this wretched land. Whatever the reason was, Ace were in no hurry to find it out nor was he interested in it either.

After walking through the camp a bit, scanning both the people in it and the various exists as well as every single tactical point where one could kill countless people before facing death or victory if a battle would erupt. The healers seemed to take notice that he was scanning the area and it didn’t take long before one of them approached him;

”Are you looking for something specific?" The woman who had approached him asked, but Ace ignored her as he moved past her. However, she seemed to be of the stubborn sort as she chased him down and began to walk beside him. ”You’re an Elf, right? I didn’t know people like you even existed. My mom always used to--”

”I couldn’t care less about you and your mother, alright?” Ace cut her off as he waved his hand at her. It was obvious that she grew mad, but somehow she kept her stance and remained calm. She continued to follow him through the camp.

”Then what do you care about, Elf? Why are you and those other mysterious people here, wandering around?” She asked bluntly with the same tone that Ace had given her when blowing her off. Ace stopped in his tracks and faced the girl.

”We’re not looking for something. ”Looking” implies that we wouldn’t know where it is. No, we’re seeking something that you have.” Ace explained shortly to finally get rid of her, but he failed to understand that this gave the young girl more questions than answers.

"What is it? Maybe I can help you find it?"

”In time, young one. In time, you will find the answers to your questions.” Ace responded both mysteriously and wisely. The girl sighed heavily as if she had heard that a million times before. And with that, the conversation was over. However, the girl continued to follow Ace around.

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Barca found his way over to one of the healers tent, figuring that the healers must be keeping their strong alcohol to treat wounds somewhere around here. However, as he entered the tent he was faced with a view he had seen so many times before; A woman sat on her knees beside an object which was covered by a long blanket that was clearly a dead body and she was crying her eyes out. Her attention raced over to the armored giant that had just entered the tent. She sobbed fiercely as she began to wipe away the tears tracks from her face.

”What are you doing in here!?” She tried to shout, but her voice failed her as she began to cry again. Barca stared at her for a moment. He had seen the exact same scenario so many times before and all of those times it had been one of his friends wives sitting next to his friends body. They had too cried their eyes out and every single one of them had asked the exact same question. ”What are you doing here?” She repeated her question as she finally caught Barca’s attention.

The Orc shrugged the horrible Déjà vu feeling off as well as his old memories as he moved over to the other side of the bed. He kneeled down beside the bed and lowered his head before slowly removing his helmet. The woman stared at the Orc before her and he stared back at her. Barca was the first to break the eye contact between them.
”What happened?” He asked slowly as scanned the blanket that was covering the body. The woman had not stopped to stare at him. ”Why do you care? You didn’t even know him.” She stated and tears began to roll down her cheek again. The orc sighed slowly for himself.

”I never knew him. I’d like to have known who he was and how he was, but that’s not possible now, Ma’am.” Barca began and lowered his head once more. ”I’ve seen so much death in my days, Ma’am, and it’s not something I’m proud of. It’s not something you can be proud of.”

”Why are you telling me this?”

”Because I want you to understand that even if I never knew the man you cling to, I do care. I care for every living soul for they all have a purpose in life. You have a purpose just as much as I have a purpose. All we can do is to realize what our purposes in life are and fullfill them. I’m ready to do my part with the life that the gods have given me. Are you?”

There was a long silent moment between them as the woman continued to cry. However, eventually she stopped to cry and their eyes meet each other again across the bed. She stared into his beast-like eyes and he stared into the same sort of eyes he used to hate a long time ago; Human eyes.

”Then... Then what would you have me do? KIll myself?” She asked absently as she looked back at the body of her dead husband. Barca had a hard time pulling his gaze away from her, but once he did he pulled out a large knife, almost big enough to be a sword for a human being. He offered it to the woman across the bed and she was obviously hesitating about all of this. Although she eventually accepted the knife/sword, she wasn’t smiling when she did so.

”An eye for an eye; A tooth for a tooth; Blood demands blood.” Barca quoted his people’s motto as they both rose. The Orc handed her a purse of coins and she repeated the same words he had just spoken before nodding towards him and stormed out of the tent. Barca slowly followed her out and stood there and watched how she pushed three healers out of the way before leaving the camp. She was heading north-east, towards Blackpond.

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Akida had seated herself close to where Theron stood and awaited this woman named ”Annie” who might or might not be the White Shadows leader. From here she could just barely see Ace walk around the encampment alone, but he was soon joined by a woman, one of the healers from the looks of it. Akida snickered as she imagined how a conversation with Ace would be for the healer.

She continued to look around and couldn’t see Barca anywhere, but after a couple of minutes she saw a woman storm out from one of the many tents with what looked like a sword in her hands and a small leather bag in her other hand. After her came Barca out from the tent with a large smile shining so brightly.

”What have you done now, you stupid Orc?”, She muttered for herself as she glanced over at Theron who had obviously seen the same scene that she just had. This meant trouble for Barca, that’s for sure. Big trouble.