This is a sort of 'teaser' for some of my writing. This was from some years back, and looking over it, I could've done with some better imagery biggrin
In any case, This is parts 1 and 2; Originally posted on Warrior Nation forums, when the SilkRoad Online section was still around.
Second part was left unfinished, as the community at the time wasn't too Forum-bound.
~Prologue~
Cries of agony, pain, and fear fill the air just a stone's-throw south of Jangan; sounds of battle and scent of death trail behind the cries...
In the soft glow of the moonlight, dark scarlet pools around the innocent trader's corpse; garments stained, weapon broken.With her glaive in hand, (smears of victory present,) the thief motions towards the beautiful thoroughbred horse.
"Some thoroughbred. I've seen better," says the thief, with a bit of laugh in her tone.
Within the blink of an eye, a streak of scarlet hits the air as the horse falls next to it's owner, gasping for breath. Eyes wide open and staring, the thoroughbred glances around worriedly
as it's last lungfuls of air are spent; watching the thief steal his load as all fades to a deeper black.
Out of the darkness, a neutral gains the thief's attention, "Why did you have to do that? Why do you steal and murder?" says the plainclothes man.
"Because I'm good at it," she replies, rearing back with glaive in hand and silencing the bystander. Tugging the ribbon from a colored scroll, a burst of light appears next to her. Taking form out of the blueish-green light, a brief whinney coming from the form; "This is a thoroughbred."
--"Get her!" - "There she is!" -"She's killed two more!" - "Kill Epica!" --
A sinful smirk spreads across her hidden face as she abruptly jerks her weapon from the fresh corpse, taking her combat stance.
"Bring it! You won't get very far, hunters." she laughs, taunting them with a 'come and get me' attitude. The crackle of lightning and the scent of fire quickly fill the air, as the hunters throw their fists charged with green energy towards the ground. The hunters have already made their first mistake, standing side-by-side, thinking they know precisely where she will strike from. Epica spits out another retort, but is heard in two places, "How naive!"
The hunters gasp as she's no longer where she was standing, but off to the side with her glaive superheated and blazing. Taken by surprise, the mistake proves fatal for the hunters, both being impaled by the same weapon, their wounds being seared shut immediately by the intense heat of her weapon. In the attempt of retrieving her weapon, Epica's world becomes a blur for a brief moment, spinning uncontrollably from the strike of a crossbow.
Laughing in the darkness, Epica fades away, trade mount, weapon, and all. The hunters have once again failed to capture their most wanted; arguements between the still-living hunters quickly get out of hand, as explitives are exchanged as well as accusations:
"You let her get away!" - "Why are you even a hunter?!" - "Worthless failures!"
"Another day, another kill... Never changes" Epica proclaims, selling the stolen goods to one of the thieve's guild merchants...
Drinking with Huhoan
“Spare me! Please!”
"You never paid me, so I’m taking my pay… now.”
Walking around Jangan on a clear summer morning, the hustle and bustle has already started, but still oh so quiet. Epica stretches, making her daily walk to pay a visit to Huhoan, the doorkeeper to the Jangan Casino. Nothing of interest catches her eye: no traders, no hunters.
A little European girl runs back home after fetching some herbs and water, watching the front door to her home open as she approaches. A large blade covered in scarlet shows first, the man holding it after. The little girl stops for a moment, trying to recognize the hunter. The hunter returns the glance, startling the little girl. She turns and runs away, dropping what she was carrying as if death itself had just locked gazes with her...
"How boring! Not even a good drink yet this morning!" she says aloud, shaking off the memory that was trying to resurface. Tugging at the ribbons on one of her hands, she exposes the heavy scarring on her knuckles and fingers. Examining the scars, she begins walking up the steps towards the eastern part of Jangan.
Small amounts of blood mixed with wood particles drip slowly down the side of a tree. A teenage girl sits upon a nearby tree stump wrapping up her bleeding hands, bucket of water near...
"Hey, Wei San! Did you bring it?" asks Huhoan giddily; the way he usually is when it’s something he wants.
"Yeah, yeah, but you aren’t getting all of it. The herbalist is getting more demanding.” Epica says, a wide smile showing up across her face, snapping out of the memory.
"Ahh, the strong stuff it looks like!" Huhoan says, releasing a belly laugh as he gets a peek at the whiskey bottle.
"Don’t drink too much, 'mister doorkeeper'. You remember yesterday, right?"
Huhoan finds himself falling over people and tables, laughing and snickering. A drunkard whose rage seems endless decided to pick a fight with a pretty girl: Epica.
"Morons like you need to find a new place to hang out!” she says, gripping the collar of his shirt and effortlessly tossing him out the front door of the casino…
"Hooo yes, I remember last time. I needed your help with that one, Wei San! It was fun though!” Huhoan says, still laughing a little as he takes a straight swig from the whiskey bottle, “Oh well, I can take some of this later, sounds like a little rough-housing is going on.”
“Don’t hurt yourself again, Huhoan. Lose some weight! Fat men don’t scare me!” Epica snickers, watching Huhoan pull a brick from the nearby wall of the casino and stashing the whiskey inside the hole.
"Beautiful women like you don’t scare me either! They do other things to me! You need to ugly up a bit!" he contorts, chuckling at his somewhat obscene comment. Within a split second, Huhoan’s laughter is cut short as Epica plants a fist into his shoulder. “Ow! That’s going to hurt tomorrow,” he says, still grinning but no longer laughing.
"Damn right it is. You may be bigger than me but I can still plant a foot in your a**! "
“I’m going to fix this fight. See you tomorrow, Wei San!” Huhoan says, walking inside the casino. Sounds of fighting and drunken brawls burst from the doors as soon as they open, as if a fresh wave had just washed through.
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