Worgen1
#3 of Word of Warcraft
"Balce!" Balce stopped his game of chase, standing tall upon his backwards curving legs. He placed himself between the speaker and his friends. The gate guardian smiled wolfishly, his eyes appraising the young worgen before him. He beckoned Balce towards him, and the young worgen loped forwards, easily going to four legs for faster movement. His friends also stopped, looking after him, watching his progress. One of the female worgens made a small gesture with her hands, and the rest of the small group could suddenly hear.
"Balce." The guardian dropped to all fours and rubbed necks with the younger worgen. He stood up again, and Balce followed him. "We have need of you young pup. The gates have fallen."
"WHAT?!?!?" The guardian whipped his head to the three worgen left behind that had shouted out. He gestured with a scowl, and the three remaining worgen loped towards them. They stopped a short distance away, their ears laid back, each wondering what their reprimand would be. Balce moved infront of his friends, his stance planted and strong. His back rippled with muscles hidden by fur and flesh. The guardian offered a snort of mirth at the thought of the younger pup preparing to attack him. He waved his hand at the group, denying their fears.
"I take it they're your friends Balce?" Balce nodded, mute. The guardian shook his head. "As you no doubt just heard, the gates have fallen."
"But they can't have!" The dark green furred worgen made a small motion to the white worgen female that had spoken. She noticed his movements and fell silent, her young mind in a whirl of denial. The guardian's eyes glowed with masked joy. This was a true find, something that could have been seen as fate. He looked at the four assembled worgen, and wondered how far they could possibly get.
"Balce, you've received some warrior training, have you not?" The black worgen nodded his head, his yellow eyes gleaming with suspicion. He pointed to the dark green furred male beside the white female. "And you?" The male bowed, the movements elegant within his bestial form.
"Master of the town gates, protector of us all, I have received training from the master of the shadowed cities." Balce's face traced a ghost of a grin.
"A rogue then, and a charming one at that." The rogue bowed again, his tail straight and down. He pointed to the white female next to him, and she gave a brief curtsy, pulling the hem of an imaginary dress.
"My mistress has taught me much about the healing energies within my body, and within other's." The guardian smiled warmly.
"A little priestess, how wonderful." The young worgen's face fur fluffed outwards along the ridge of her nose, her ears flat and pointed to the sides. The guardian hid a laugh at her embarrassment. He moved his hand to the blue worgen, and tension rose within the air. The guardian turned to Balce, and watched in hidden shock as the pup exuded an aura of menace and destruction as he pointed to the blue worgen. She moved close and laid a hand upon Balce's shoulder. Frost coated Balce's dark fur, and the guardian received his answer. "A mage, how utterly delightful." Balce looked up in shock, rolling his arms and cracking the thin crust of ice from his right shoulder.
The guardian shook his head, awe softening his aging features. "The honoured protector, the hidden warrior, the selfless light, and the guarded snow.. it can't be possible, not now." He grabbed their full attention. He shook his head, his ears twitching with his agitation. "Never mind. I shall extend the invitation to all of you, I daresay that you three will follow Balce wherever he goes." All three young worgen nodded their heads in unison. The guardian shook his head again. "Follow pups." The guardian dropped to all fours and raced towards their town, the four worgen dropping to all fours behind him and racing to keep up.
The small group ended their race through the darkened city streets of Gilneas at the town hall, where the gate guardian knocked upon the wooden door. It opened after a moment, an older worgen with a patch covering his left eye moving aside at seeing the guardian. He went to close the door, but the guardian stopped him.
"These are the four I've chosen." The door guard laid his ears back and spoke in a massively deep voice, one that barely managed to be a whisper.
"You're only meant to choose one." The guardian dropped the facade he was keeping up, and roared at the door worgen. Immediately he dropped to the floor, kneeling in submission. "I over stepped myself gate guardian. I humbly apologise for any slight of honour my words may have inflected upon yourself." Balce and his group looked in shock at the sudden exchange. Worgen law stated that those in higher positions were to be obeyed, the fact remained that they could be challenged for it, but for a simple roar to stop a challenge in it's tracks.. The group edged closer together, unconsciously moving into their set fight patterns and stances. Balce made to grab weapons that were no longer upon his person, the blue worgen made a few little gestures, and the temperature dropped slowly. The dark green worgen seemed to fade from sight, becoming nothing more than a smudge of shadow as he moved behind the last worgen. She whispered under her breath, and everyone immediately felt stronger, more alert, not as fatigued.
The guardian looked up suddenly from the prostrated door worgen, and noticed them, as if for the first time. He ducked his head out the door and looked around, ushering the four of them inside hurriedly. Balce moved first, his yellow eyes looking for any type of threat. The blue worgen followed, her steps leaving small icy pools. The white worgen came next, and the black smudge followed her every movement. The guardian closed the door, and another was opened. The patched worgen quickly bolted the door and stood beside the open one. The guardian walked down the stairs, and Balce and his friends followed. The stairs echoed and creaked as they walked down, each of them needing to be careful as their bowed legs needed to be placed exactly right in order for them to descend.
Balce was the first to see them, and immediately he exuded that aura of menace, placing his large frame squarely between those assembled in the room, and the group behind him. The townleader turned to him, as did the guardian who had requested their presence.
"Be silent young pup!" The townleader barked at him, his deep voice raising to a crisp cutoff. The worgen Balce was looking at smiled darkly, waving a dark grey hand at him, his eyes alighting upon the blue worgen behind Balce with lust. A grip colder than ice wrapped around Balce's neck from behind as the young worgen female used her talents to prevent him from moving.
"Don't Balce. Ignore him, he wont do anything here." Balce struggled against her grip, and against himself. The worgen who was fueling his hate had tried to rape Ferilan a few months ago. She tightened her grip, ice crusting and forming, making a collar out of thin air. Her hand deeply embedded within the ice, Ferilan pulled sharply, making Balce unsteady on his legs and disrupting his mood. The guardian kept his mouth shut, eyeing the tension, and the unexpected goings on. The townleader was less than impressed, turning to the gate guardian.
"Relas, you were told to bring one, and only one. Choose your warrior and be done with it." Balce shot a glance at the gate guardian, Relas. The guardian incurred his head towards Balce. Balce made a few gestures with his hands behind his back. Ferilan caught them, and immediately repeated them behind her own back to Lisha and Gurick. Relas stepped forwards and garnered everyone's attention in an instant.
"These four are my choice. I have with me the honoured protector, the hidden warrior, the selfless light, and the guarded snow." The worgens within the room froze, glancing to one another. The townleader stepped forwards, glaring up at Relas.
"Those four are not the ones of prophecy, they can't be! Arugal still stands within shadow fang, and the mindless ones still roam the forests! Our brothers and sisters are persecuted by the risen dead, and our town is still beset by the necrotic arts of Arthas. Untill our home is safe, the chosen ones were not to surface. So these mere pups are not the chosen ones!" Relas snarled at the town leader, who snarled back, his lower canines larger than his upper set. Balce heaved a sigh and turned around nodding to the top of the stairs to everyone. The group marched up the stairs while Relas and the townleader snarled and paced around each other. Gurick opened the door and faded out of sight. Lisha stepped through the door and Ferilan followed her. Balce moved up after them, his eyes immediately going to the door worgen. The worgen grimaced at him.
"I was told to guard the door, I wasn't given orders about you, you're free to go." Balce nodded his thanks while Gurick opened the door. Balce walked out with his group, his mind trying to figure out what to do. They'd been brought because they were supposedly these chosen ones. But what were those other worgen doing there in the basement? Why was the townleader involved? Why was Ickrun, of all the owrgen in the village, why was Ickrun there?
"Balce?" Balce looked up, his feet taking him the house he'd been sharing with the others since their parents were killed in the cataclysm that had rocked the twon to it's foundations. Ferilan looked at him worriedly, and he smiled. Ferilan always got worried when his mind was occupied and his body made decisions for him. He grasped her hand and sent his thoughts to her.
I'm sorry Ferilan, I'm worried about what this all means. The gate guardian mentioned something about prophecies and the gate falling. If..
Balce stopped, his hair going on end as a fear so gripping and powerful rocked him to his footpaws.
"Balce!" Balce's gripped reaffirmed itself upon Ferilan's wrist, though tighter and harsher. Ferilan grimaced, then forgot about the pain.
Get armed, tell everyone to get armed. If the gates have fallen then the mindless ones and the undead will be upon us in moments!
Balce let go and ran inside, heading to the chest by his bed that held his weapons and heavy armour. He touched his palms to the spelled chest, and watched the lid pop slightly as the locking spell released. He grabbed his armour and set it on the bed, the wood creaking at the weight. He grabbed the mail pants and pulled them up over his fur grimacing as his fur caught in the chinks of armour. He grabbed the mail chest plate with it's shoulder attachments and heaved it over his head, slipping his lupine head through the enlarged neck slot. He clasped the two pieces to one another and grabbed the metal studded belt, latching it about his frame to keep the heavy gear up and on his furred body. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ferilan getting dressed in her clothing as well. Her blue robe accentuated her fur perfectly, and was yet another reason as to why he adored her.
Balce grabbed the modified copper boots and stood in them, latching the clasps and pulling the soft chomomile leather snug against his fur. He grbbed the bracers and added them to his arm, clipping them shut. Then he turned to the weapons left to him by his father. Two swords, one white, one black. One glittered with soft pale light, while the other oozed darkness with a touch of red taint. He grasped both of them, the white in his left, the black in his right. He clashed the two swords together and listened to their screams of rage. His readiness for battle soared with their cries. He clasped his weapons to his belt, and turned to face his group. The others were looking at him, grim certainess in their faces. He spoke to them in sign language, his fingers flicking quickly.
'The gate has fallen, the gate keeper is challanging the town leader, and no one seems to understand the significance of this event. We've been sealed for too long, we've forgotten that we must fight to survive. We are Worgen, the beast people, survivor's of Arugal's madness. We are the ones that shall turn his madness against him, we are the weapons that will fight him and those like him. We are going to the gate to fight against the horde that will be invading. We will protect our home, and we will venture into the world that has forgotten about the citizens of Gilneas!'
His friends smiled and nodded to him. They were with him one hundred percent. Ferilan grinned a little more, and opened up a bag that glittered with blue ice. From inside of it she pulled out small pouches of dust, a few crystals, and some glowing balls of blue and orange energy. She also pulled out a gold wand inscribed with runes of shattering and mending. She placed her hands upon everyone's gear, one piece at a time. Small flashes followed with the disapearance of the items in her hands, and a reduction of pouch sizes. When she moved to Balce, he felt stronger than ever by the time she'd finished.
'You're an enchanter.'
Ferilan nodded. "Yes, I've been studying for several years now. My parents had a massive cache of materials underneath their house. They'd started training me when the cataclysm occured. So I was left to learn from their books. Everyone." She turned and looked at the group. "Should have more strength. I gave Lisha some boosts to her spellpower, Gurick, agility, strength, and stamina, I gave you the strongest strength and agility enchantments I could spare. Lisha's staff has a spirit enchantment, Gurick's daggers have agility, and I have a spellpower enchantment upon my staff. I also have some cloaks for everyone." Ferilan went to her backpack by the side of her bed, and pulled out four cloaks, each the colour of everyone's fur. They glittered with little runes that glowed and faded. "My mother.." Ferilan swallowed before continuing. "My mother.. she said that we would become a group eventually, and that we would need protection. She and dad.. worked very hard and spent almost everything they had in order to make these for us. Mother said I should only bring them out, when we left Gilneas." She handed the cloaks to their seperate owners. The dark green was handed to Gurick. The pale white was handed to Lisha. The solid black she personally attached to Balce's armour, licking behind his ear when she was done. She twirled and wrapped the glittering blue cloak about herself, and revelled in the power that was suddenly gifted to her. An enormous amount of energy was at her command, but untill her power filled it, she was forced to realise just how insignificant her power was compared to that of her parents.
"This is.." Lisha touched at her cloak softly, her eyes aglow with pleasure. "Your parents were wonderful people Ferilan." Ferilan nodded at the compliment. Gurick shrugged, uncomfortable with Lisha's display of emotion. Balce offered a grin and felt the strength of comfort and protection his cloak offered up to him. his hands and fingers flashed as he signed to his friends.
'Let's go, we need to reach the gate within two days. If we don't get there fast, we may be over run before the others can actually do anything. Gurick, I know we've only sparred together, but we must be prepared to kill from now on. We can't afford to let anyone or anything through to the village.' Everyone nodded, parting so he could lead the way. He moved his weapons to his back, crossing the swords so he could grip the handles when attacking. He dropped to all fours and let out a long howl that lingered in the air. The howl of the hunting pack.
Demon,