Voro stood in front of the Tower number 9, Downtown rupture or the Sundered Hold as the system called it. His FBAM hunter ID was proudly stapled to his jacket visible to all.
"YO Vane"
Burt`s voice from 3 days ago rang again in his head
"Don`t rush the 5th. I can see that you a freak and you liked this"
Even if that man was insane in his own way, childish and with constant ADHD, he had a moment of clarity when they went their separate ways
"But Floor 5 is a Killer. The real game. I like you , so I won`t tell you shit" and his laughing face was showing up in his memory ever since.
"Burt is right. Rest. Get some gear from the higher ups if you can. And ..." Maya hesitated for a while back then "Say your goodbyes"
He already did, to everyone he knew enough to care about them.
Years ago.
Now the only one who could be slightly sad or annoyed by his death would be Thorne, and he just waved him bye on his way here. His heart started beating a bit faster than usual.
'Am I .....scared?' Voro asked himself such a question for the first time in his life.
He never stressed nor scared enough to sweat. Yet now he did.
"screeeeeeech - test test"
Someone fired up the microphone
"Is this thing working?" a distorted but familiar voice boomed over the site
Voro turned around towards the observation platform with an angry face
"ekhem ekhem"
"PUSSY!"
.
"EY FUCK YOU TOO THORNE" Voro extended his arm and the middle finger with it.
The stress evaporated instantly, replaced by a surge of familiar irritation.
With a wide, dangerous smile, Voro stepped forward and disappeared into the white light of the Tower.
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A small goblin, barely anything apart from his large ears an a piece of cloth over him, walked past stones and stone things in the deep part of the forest. His name was Grik and whenever he walked through here, his bones trembled.
Around him, the Exiled Wild was cold and quiet. No animals. No goblins. No trees.
Just a bunch of rocks and weird wood.
"He don`t come here Big Shaman?" He whispered while clutching onto a bigger, much older goblin`s stick.
Big shaman didn`t look down at him but continued to look at the rocks in front of them.
"The stone forest is broken today. But days ago, it was home to many strong goblin.
Stone Father. Krog the Big. Old Sword ash. All even the Dirty Skree are dead there.
You have heard stories of them. You have heard stories of The White in the Dark too.
It lived here. Now it`s home is gone. And it is gone too."
The staff wondered through the ruins of an unknown place, witnessing wooden pieces and colors only found on flowers.
"But, if its home is gone, The White One can find another one. "
"But .. but..it will go to more rocks.....rocks??!!?...yes???"
The shaman stroke his beard
"The White One does not need rocks. The White One does not need meat of the forest.
The White One needs blood."
Grik backed away from the rocky terrain and away from the Big Shaman
"The White One needs YOUR BLOOD Grik" The shaman turned very quickly with a grin on his face.
"NOOOOOO" Grik ran away from him
Back into the forest, back to where it was safe. Back to his own little wooden hut.
"he he he" The shaman laughed a bit from his own joke, but after realizing that Grik was only a small goblin child, he might take it too seriously, so he followed him.
Grik was at his safe place, his own bedding of leaves, his wooden toy and a small hidden fire, that no one could see from the outside. Grik climbed into his bed and covered himself with leaves.And he waited.
Shaman walked past it while talking loudly to him, that he will wait for him in the village and that The white One is just a story.
Grik waited for him to leave and once again went to the rocky place, the Stone Forest was calling him. Come Quite literally, since Grik heard some noises come from behind a giant thing that looked like a tree but was not a tree.
here here a whisper came from a bit more forward.
The trees have leaves and branches this one had....2 metal rings. No problem, he could just climb over the rocks around the 'not tree'.
And there it was , the source of the whisper. A goblin laying on the ground behind the thing. But he ... was dead. A pool of his blood was very visible, even a child like him could see that this goblin could never speak again.
Come. Here here.
The voice was no longer a whisper but now a normal voice coming right from behind Grik.
Behind him and slightly above.
Grik swallowed loudly and very slowly turned around.
A white face with even whiter teeth was looking straight at him, while the rest of its body was covered in darkness.
'The White One' Grik instantly thought, cold sweat ran through his body.
shhhhhhhhh the creature put its long arm over the whitest parts of its face and made a sound like a slight wind in the trees.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
Grik started climbing back the way he came, over the rocks and next to the wooden not-tree
Splurt
One of his hands lost grip of the weirdly smooth surface of the rocks and he fell down all the way he just got up. Grik was still starring at the creature, he scuttled back on his butt until he hit the wooden wall, right next to the dead goblin.
"Please sob no no no sob no no sob Please no kill Grik" He whimpered through tears as
The White One
came closer.
And when he came close enough for Grik to see the small hairs on his face, it whispered softly, one word. It was said in the most terrifying and non-goblin way, he ever heard any word in his own language spoken before. It slipped out of The White One`s face just as one of its metal spikes slipped into Grik`s torso. And the word was ...
"Yes"
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