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dawnfletcherstuff · 8 years ago

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The sky was gray, rumbling in the distance as a faint drizzle began above the outskirts of Sylvanas Town. Two figures walked side-by-side – the taller of the two being a blood elf sporting an especially fancy pair of sunglasses to complement some rad horns as well as a split felstalker bone mask around his collar. On his back was a small brown satchel of books that bounced precariously over the two vibrant pink draenite axes that were hooked onto his hips. Between his blonde pompadour and his odd vest, it was clear that this fellow was one odd customer indeed! That said, the man walking beside him was equally unusual- Lush hair with small, dark mushrooms growing in it was the perfect accentuation to this necrolyte's jaw of solidified shadow and five glowing ochre eyes. For that matter- his arms were a hybrid of shadows and vines.

The two, Armaleonis and Canthar, respectively, plodded forward through the gray mist, looking ahead, determined, but in good spirits, both smiling as they traveled West. As the Amani crypt colloquially known as the 'Tomb of Mystery' drew closer into view with every step, the rumbling in the sky intensified, leading the friends to hasten their pace to the unconventional shelter.

It was much darker in the tomb than it had been the last time- no loa-magic lanterns, no torches or even glowing mushrooms- further, it was silent, save for the slow dripping of a water leak deeper in. Had something happened since their last visit? The atmosphere was completely different, that much was for certain. While some might see an attack that nearly cost the pair their lives as undesirable, there had been some good company, at least. This time, however, it truly lived up to its nature as a graveyard. The two looked to each other, confused as they began to explore. “HEEEEEEEY!” Arma yelled into his cupped hand, pointed toward the deeper interior of the stone catacombs. “WHERE YOU AT, MUMMY DUDE?” Turning, he flinched a bit when he saw Canthar's displeased expression. With five eyes, the necrolyte could give a withering glare that may very well have been able to kill the recipient.

Before Canthar could get the opportunity to give his opinion on the matter, there was a long, agonizing wet noise that culminated in a thud behind them. They turned instantly, looking at what appeared to be a troll mummy in the dark. “Oh, S'tanky, you scared us.” Canthar said, breathing a sigh of relief- that is, until their eyes adapted to the low light and they realized what they were looking at was no troll mummy. It was some sort of creature that most closely resembled a jellyfish, bending itself into a trollish shape. Its body was rippling and swirling as a kaleidoscope-like rotation of colors and patterns quickly emanated from its goopy form, along a cloud of pheromones of some kind. The patterns were quick, even at the start, but at least they had some sort of sense- lines, colors- they began to move at a speed that made all of Canthar's eyes spin. While wordless, there was an undercurrent of chanting in some odd pseudo-language that accelerated as fast as the patterns upon its flesh. The two had no chance and everything went black.

Armaleonis awoke in a cold sweat in the most comfortable bed he could ever remember sleeping in. He tilted his head as he wiped his eyes and yawned. Yeah, that was a bed. His bed? Wasn't he just in a tunnel or something?

He yawned again, gently tapping his forehead as he tried to make sense of the world. It was too early for this, he concluded. He lay himself back down and pulled up the covers, determined to look into it after another...oh, five minutes or so.

“WOOOOORF!”

He was not going to get that extra five minutes. On the one hand, he was mildly annoyed that he had to wake up at this moment, but on the other, he recognized that bark- the owner of which came running into the room with a wide open mouth and lolling tongue! “Roland!” Arma cried out, grinning as he sat up. Most people would have flinched when a giant timber wolf with rusty red fur leapt onto their bed and snuggled them, but not Armaleonis! No, he gave the big lout the biggest dog hug that he could manage. “I've missed you so so much buddy. Man....” “WORF!” The wolf was looking down at him as though he were crazy. Arma leaned back and looked at the big beast and canted his head, as though expecting Roland to explain himself. In that moment, however, the wolf hopped down, made a sharp “Yip!” of urgency and ran out of his room, turning to yip at him again when he was slow to follow. Scratching his head, Armaleonis got up and followed his four-legged friend, who led him through a home that was bigger and more beautiful than any he remembered. Everything fell into place, however, once he passed the West Balcony- and was able to look into a star-filled sky that looked onto the Twisting Nether with alabaster bolts of lightning that tore across the sky. “This is...home?” He said, tilting his head. Another, slightly annoyed yip down the hall reminded him that the wolf was not the patient type, and thus the young blonde elf had to run to catch up. As he did, he found himself entering a forum, in the center of which there was a small series of tables- and most notably, two figures with food on their plates- as well as a third plate! Squinting, he could recognize them- even if his brain took a few moments to catch up- The black haired woman with her hair in a bun and the beige regal priest robes was none other than his mother, and the blonde man in sharp red and gold civil attire was his...father? He looked more closely at his father, head feeling like it was swimming through murk. Don't I have a Dad and a Not-Dad?

He tried to figure this out for a couple moments before his father got up and started walking toward him with a smile.

“You coming to eat breakfast with your old man and your mother or are you gonna stand there til sunset, Leon?” When Armaleonis canted his head a bit, it looked on the one side like his father's hair was scruffy and cut short, but when he looked at him straight, it was as though his hair was perfectly in order and long. He shook it off, chalking it up to not being a morning person, and made his way over to the table, sitting down at the third seat. Roland was sitting next to his chair. He was a good boy. The best boy. His mother leaned on her left hand with a smile. “We thought you weren't going to be up til tonight with how hard you partied last night, Leon. You really ought to thank Roland- at least ONE of you remembered your date with that Ezekiel boy.” Armaleonis tapped his chin. “Ezeki.....Zeke?”

Suddenly, everything made sense to him! His face went red and he put his hands on his cheeks in near panic! “OH NO I'M GONNA BE LATE TO MY DATE! AAAAAAGH!” He immediately jumped up, grabbed a piece of toast, put the corner of it in his mouth and ran to his room to change.

His parents laughed as Roland looked on, panting in what may have been the canine version of a laugh.

As he rapidly changed from his heart-print pajamas into his favorite outfit- a long-sleeved shirt with a fantastic V-neck and fancy ruffles as well as ruffled wrists with slacks and sandals, something struck him as he looked in the mirror.

His eyes. They were...aquamarine.

Something about my eyes...they don't....well, I do have nice eyes.

He flashed himself a grin and nommed a bit of his toast. Mm, cinnamon. With a fist-pump of excitement, he leapt onto the railing and surfed it down to the ground, where he landed with a triple-flip. He waved to his parents and Roland with toast still in his mouth as he ran out to meet his date not too far from home!

Wy tidd feal zmy ydypylzid darvw za ittyez zmuw witruouty, za qujy zmy fdzupizy pyrth ul zmy flylvulq vryip. Gujy zmywy zsa zmy gryiz dirc myrth!

Armaleonis scratched the back of his neck, squinting for a moment. “What was that?” He looked around as he walked, but nothing seemed to be making that noise. He shrugged it off, dashing to meet his date! The tall sin'dorei who was waiting for him was the ultimate ideal of cool- his hair was both wild and expressive, black as night and yet the style was all natural- no hair products necessary! Two large wings stuck out of his back and the lime green tattoos that were on his body, as well as his wicked horns and dragonlike tail swishing behind him made it clear that he was something exotic- a demon hunter! Arma bit his lip, nearly jumping in place, excited to see his date and friend. He didn't know what to say, and luckily, didn't need to say anything as Zeke hugged him firmly.

“You're late, y'know.” The demon hunter couldn't help but snerk at Arma's nature, even if he was late. “Good thing I like you that much, huh?”

Arma's face was completely red as he gave the goofiest grin, fiddling his thumbs together. “W-well, yeah! Yeah! I owe you one! Yeah! So where did you have in mind that you wanted to go?” Zeke tapped his thumb to his chin and shrugged gently. “I was thinking we'd go to a nice place to look at the stars. I know you're gonna wanna stop by to check on your best pal on the way, though.” Armaleonis blinked a few times before nodding rapidly. “Yeah! Oh my gosh, you think of everything! That's why you're the best!” He then tapped his chin. “Well I mean you're the best for a bunch of reasons, from your considerate nature to your confidence and sense of humor and the fact that you're incredibly attractive and are a lot more wise than me and like spending time with me and such.” He babbled a bit, completely redfaced. Zeke merely rubbed the top of Arma's head and led the way. It didn't take long for them to get to their first destination- a large mansion with what looked to be a purple phoenix-print for the door. Tilting his head to look at the yard, he saw a young man who couldn't have been much older than himself practicing dance moves in the backyard. Recognizing him, he waved frantically. “PURPS! OH MY GOSH PURPS! PUUUUUUUURPS!” He waved, jumping up and down for visibility. His date couldn't help but snicker at his enthusiasm.

Across the fence, the young man froze up when Arma cried out, but instead of looking embarrassed, made a beeline right for the gate and opened it at a brisk pace, waving at Arma in return.

“LEON! HEY! BUDDY! PAL! BUD! MY BEST FRIEND! HEY!” His pal, Purps, was looking extra nice today- definitely alive, for starters. His hair was almost fuschia and he had the biggest grin on his face. “I am so glad you stopped by!” He said, hugging Arma gently.

Armaleonis returned the gesture and looked his best pal over. “You are looking really healthy and happy! I'm so glad that you're in one piece and have never fucked my father which means it's okay for me to have a mild attraction to you but not too much because I am your best friend and brotherish figure sort of it's weird but bear with me I'm glad you're you and that's what matters!” Purps nodded. “Yeah man! That's exactly right! Hey, I would love to stick around, but I'm gonna have dinner with my folks! They just got back from a trip and they missed me a whole bunch! I'll hit you up later, okay?” Armaleonis flashed Purps a thumbs up. “Tell me how it goes man!” And with that, he turned toward Zeke with a grin. “Man, you are the best! You made a great day even better!”

Kyye afr witruoutyw kaflv za zmy kditc pyrth! wy'ry qaulq za witruouty zmy aly lipyv cilzmir ourwz!

Armaleonis blinked a few times. Did Zeke say that? Nah. Couldn't have been. The two made their way to their favorite hilltop and lay down together to look at the stars. Getting comfortable and snuggling together with Zeke, Arma smiled.

“This has been the best day ever. I don't know why, but everything just feels...right. I mean, I feel comfortable here with you, and we got to visit my best pal Purps, and my parents are happy together, and I'm healthy and....man. I'm so lucky to be here with you.”

Zeke looked at him warmly and gently brushed a stray hair away from in front of Arma's face.

“This can go on forever, you know.”

Something about his voice sounded off, but Arma did everything in his power to not care. He was happy. This was all that mattered. This was...his perfect world.

As he was lost in thought, something blocked the stars. Shaking his head, he recognized it once his eyes adjusted- it was Roland. Gently moving the wolf out of the way, he sat up and looked into the wolf's eyes. The beast looked at him with a gaze that said everything, wordless as he was.

“Something just ain’t righ...oh Light. You...you died a while back, didn't you, buddy?” Arma asked, breath suddenly tight in his chest. Those eyes looked like they were apologizing to him, grateful to see him, but with a dire warning. The wolf gently set his head on Arma's shoulder and whined.

Gyz zmy clujyw ryivh! wuzm zmywy, sy sudd kulv Canthar za zmy bdulv ezyrluzuyw vorv qiul qryiz easyr!

Armaleonis looked up- it was as though, beyond the stars, in the sky, there was some sort of glass dome over his world that he could now see through. He saw several troll cultists standing overhead, knives drawn above his pal Canthar.

Dream-Zeke's hand gently rested on his shoulder.

“You don't have to go. We can be here, forever.”

Armaleonis looked to Roland.

“What do...I have to do?” He asked the hound tepidly.

The wolf gestured with his head to a shadowy area not too far away, where, when Arma squinted, he could see the form of Ghar'bygg, and behind him-- the demon hunter who made him truly feel fear. Arma took a sharp breath and lowered his head.

“You've done enough for everyone. Don't you think that you deserve to be the one that gets rescued? You don't need to suffer any more. Think of all the good things you've done- you don't need to take that shitty life back!” Dream-Zeke looked more upset than Arma felt, and that was an accomplishment.

Softly, Armaelonis took Zeke's hand off his shoulder and stood up.

“I want nothing more than that.” He said quietly, before looking up at the troll cultists. “But it's out of my hands. I wouldn't be the person you love if I didn't do the right thing. I'm gonna miss you.”

Taking a step forward, he gave the timber wolf one last hug. “You're the best dog a man could ask for.” He was crying now, holding that wolf and trying to lock it into his memories.

Slowly, he got up and walked toward Ghar'bygg, the hound demon. His hound demon.

Someone was about to have a very, very bad day.

As he approached, the form of the felstalker shrank into a red and black orb that hovered in the air in front of the silhouette of the Illidari monster that hurt him. Arma looked up at that monster defiantly and grasped the felstalker essence and closed his hands around it, taking it into his true self.

In a flash, his world was pure agony as he felt every Illidari memory he had been trying to run from at once- and the physical transformation ripping him to shreds- felstalker tendrils ripping out of his back, the mask forming on his neck, the tail jutting out from his spine- and the loss of his true eyesight.

And it was that pain that woke him up with a shriek.

–

The Twilight's Hammer Cultists hadn't intended to run into two adventurers in their looting of an Amani catacomb, but they were all too eager to unleash a new variant of Faceless One upon them- the Dark Mercy- a creature that would entrap its victims in their own fantasies. They had drawn their daggers to sacrifice their new victims, only to be interrupted when the blood elf roared back to life and covered the two cultists standing over him in shadowflame. They turned and ran, but were too slow. The demon hunter gave them a thrashing they would never forget, leaving them holding onto life by mere threads, before picking his friend up and carrying him back to the town they called home.

-Fin.

#ShortStoryPractice #Armaleonis #Arma #PerfectWorld #WoW #BlindedFate

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