Dark Souls [Ravvus Wiseau/ Wei]

[Wei]

Wei was not thrilled to be in his home province again. He did not want to return till he was a true warrior. He was far from that at the moment and that very fact got under his skin. However his father, a sergeant in the Thria city guard, had sent him a letter telling him to return. The city state was going to need all the freemen they could muster. There was growing problem in a city called Hopsvill. The undead were starting to gather in the region and were attacking the town. Thria had feared that a horde was going to form and as a result they had sent out there knights and soldiers to stop it. That was where Wei's father was at. However he had heard about rumors of undead appearing outside another small town named Sparta. It was just whispers, but Wei's father feared it may become another Hopsvill. As a result he had placed up posters and hired mercenaries from his own pocket to take care of the threat. He had called Wei back because he thought it would be good training for his son, and thus Wei was back in Thira.

"Alright listen up men", spoke a women clad in white armor. She had crimson hair and blood crimson eyes. Her skin was sun kissed from many hours out in the sun and her skin covered in small scratches. This was Lila, a friend of Wei's father. Since he himself could not come to oversee the project he asked his childhood friend and adventure body to take hold of the reigns. She was a stern captain and a good fighter, but Wei could care less for her. His mother never liked her and the two seemed to be on really bad terms. To make things worse she would always show up at his birthday parties and end up getting into a fight with his mother over small things. Wei's father however always seemed to be happy with her around so she would always be invited back next year. However the real reason Wei did not like her was far more egregious. when Wei was a little boy she would never stop pinching his cheeks. She would always call him cut and treat him like he was a little baby. Even before he left on his training journey she would did that. That women always found a way to get under his skin.

"In a hour we will move out to take care of the growing monster horde. So far there has been spotted twenty five of the beast. With a grand total of fifteen we should be able to handle these rotting corpses pretty easy. However don't let your guard down. They are still monsters after all. If you think it is dead then hit it again!"

With that the maiden walked off to take care of some personal business and allowed the mercenaries who gathered to do there own things. Wei sat in the back of the group and inspected his axes and attempted to stay out of the maiden's sight. He did not want to deal with Auntie Lila right now.

[Ravvus Wiseau]

Seemed like everybody needed mercenaries these days, least in Lycia. The undead threat had really gotten out of hand. You couldn't set foot in any of the provinces bordering Ostia without peasants bombarding you with horror stories of revenants and bonewalkers, or seeing fliers calling men to arms. Bad for the people of Lycia, but good for fighting men like Ravvus.

Thria was about the halfway point for the mage. After traveling for as long as he had, he was running low on provisions. Roasting a couple of undead sounded like an easy way to fill his pockets, so the mage signed a contract and found himself in the company of sell-swords.

Ravvus kept to himself amidst the crowd as a carmine and ivory clad woman gave the company their orders. Funny. She reminded him of Gavrilova, just with inverted colors. Where the guild-master, Luba, was pale and blue of hair, Lila sported red-hair and a farmer's tan. He couldn't help but wonder how the two might interact with one another. Both were military, both were thorough and protective of their people, at least Lila gave the mage such an impression. They might become fast friends, or they might hate each other's guts. Luba wasn't the type to share leadership of her unit, let alone take orders. She was the kind to lead, not to be led. Ravvus couldn't say the same for Lila, he simply didn't know the woman well enough. But if the red-haired woman was the same, there was little chance she and Luba would have gotten along well.

The mage shook his head. Musings aside, he was looking forward to fighting the undead. Even with the egg incident in Bern, Ravvus hadn't had a proper fight in a while and, ever since the Killuan job, he'd been itching for one. He was looking forward to testing out Hailstorm as well. He'd yet to get any use out of the fimbulvetr tome as of yet. Hell, he didn't even know if the magic would obey him, but a low-stakes job like this was the perfect opportunity to try his hand at the spells of ice and water.

[Wei]

As Lila moved out of sight Wei began to move around. He wanted to get a good idea of who he was working with. Everyone around him seemed like they had been thought a good fight. A few of them even had some cool scars. The marks and dents on there armor gave testament to there battle brawn. Wei on the other hand did not have any armor to brag about. He left home with bare minimum supplies and he had not saved up enough money to buy armor. Instead he was outfitted in what was called the peasants armor. It was thick black leather jacket, with a regular T-shirt underneath. It did not provide much in defense, but it gave Wei enough protection to keep him alive till now.

As the young boy walked around he ran into a man who looked like a mage. Wei had not seen much magic in his journey. Well if you don't count monsters. Magic was a oddity to him. Like every body he was fascinated with it. However at the same time he took great pride in his own physical might. Still though that did not stop him form asking questions.

"Excuse me", spoke Wei as he walked up to the mage. His two axes swayed to the side on his belt as he walked. "Are you by any change a mage." The young journey man looked up at him with big moon eyes as he waited the answer. From a distance he looked like a small child staring up at his favorite knight in the city. However if you told Wei that he would snap on you in a heartbeat. He took great offense in being called a kid.

As the boy moved to lean the secrets of the man he just meet, Lila began her search for him. She knew he was here, but she had not seen him. Walking out her tent she began to scan the crowd.

[Ravvus Wiseau]

Ravvus raised his fists to his head in a boxer-like stance. He threw a few jabs at the vacant space before him, bobbing and weaving in hopes of forming a rhythm. Getting ready for a fight was like going for a run. The body couldn't, least it shouldn't go from zero to hundred percent at the drop of a hat. If you didn't make room for a warm up, you might pull something or burn out prematurely. The mage preferred to avoid that, preferred to be as ready as possible before throwing himself into host of deadly monsters.

”One, two!” Ravvus muttered, casting two punches in quick succession. ”One, t-” His voice was cut-off as a younger-looking individual interrupted his warm up. The mage glanced in the direction of the voice, spotting a younger-looking freckled individual. ”Uh... Well, I hope I didn't give you the impression I was a pugilist!” Ravvus joked, lowering his fists. The young boy probably didn't know what that meant. The mage offered his hand for a shake. ”Yeah, haha. Yeah, I'm a mage. Pleasure to meet you, uh?” Was this another one of the mercenaries? He looked like an adolescent, but carried a pair of heavy axes at his hips. How in the world his tiny frame managed to support such tools was beyond Ravvus' comprehension.

”Are you uh...” The mage panted, winded from his brief warm up. ”-part of this mercenary group?” Ravvus inquired, still perplexed by how youthful the man's face was. ”You, uh...” And then he sealed his fate. ”You look a little young to be fighting revenants.”

[Wei]

As the man reached his hand out Wei shook it with glee. "Nice to meet you to wizard", spoke Wei with glee. He had meet a actual mage. Magic was so cool. Still Wei had no idea of what a pugilist was. If he had to guess it was probably some kind of fist fighter. Most people just called them brawlers thought, but then again there were different terms for the same thing where ever you went. Wei figured he was probably from a different province or maybe a different nation. He was a mercenary after all. Mercenaries were not soldiers. They all came from different places looking to sell there blade in different conflicts. As the boy shook his hand he introduced himself."My name is Wei, Wei of Thria city." Letting go of the man's hand he listened to whatever else the man had to say. It was needless to say Wei did not like the way the conversation was going.

"What, of course I am part of the mercenary band. Well I am not apart of the leaders band, but I am a freelance mercenary. I don't understand what gave you the idea that I was not a fighter, and I am not a kid, pugilist!" Wei was angry now. Here he was being disrespected again. He was a fighter dang it. He may be fifteen years old but he could throw down with the best of them. Well that was not even true. Wei was, well a terrible fighter. He had improved greatly since he left home, but he was far from a fully trained mercenary. He did however survive long enough to reach this point. That was saying something.

"Look here Pugilist Wizard I may be a bit shorter than all the other guys around here, but I am just as beefy as the next guy", he spoke while pounding his fist onto his chest. "I don't need people looking down on me just because of my age. I am a real man! A proud and brave one at that!"

As Wei was talking Lila had worked her way thought the crowd. She had spotted the young boy while he was in the middle of his little rant. Rather than go straight up to him the maiden decided she was going to play a little prank on him. Sneaking around him and the mage she came up to Wei from behind. Just as he finished his line about being both brave and proud, she made her move. Slamming both hands onto his shoulders she screamed Boo into his right ear.

"Yeep", shouted Wei as he almost jumped out of his boots. He did not expect her. The maiden just ate the entire situation up. She wrapped her arms around him and pulled him close to her chest. His face plowed against her ivory armor.

"Yep brave indeed", she laughed as a cheerful grin crossed her face.

"A-aunty Lila", quivered as he attempted to recover his pride. He then attempted to pull away, but the maiden had him in a firm grip.

"My my little Wei, you have grown quite a bit since you left home."

"Come on and let me go", wined Wei as he attempted to pull himself lose. However the maiden's grip was iron.

"Here you are talking about being a man too, but you welp like a little pup." Wei's face flashed red as a tomato.

"I don't welp", shouted Wei. As he continued his futile struggle.

"Umm huh", she spoke as she turned her attention from Wei and placed it onto the mage. "Oh right, your are Ravvus Wiseau, if I remember correctly. Your that mage that sighed on. I hope that Little Wei here did not give you to much trouble."

"I am not little, and I am not giving anyone trouble. Let go of me already you are embarrassing me. You are making me look like a little baby in front of everyone!"

"But you are a little baby. You will always be my little Wei."

"Aunty", he shouted again. The maiden finally let him go.

"Fine, go out there and be a man", she chuckled at him. Suddenly however her face turned deadly serious. "However when the fighting starts I want you to be posted next to me. I want to keep keen eye on you." In a flash the maiden had switched from loving relative to serious mercenary boss.

"I fight where I like", snared back Wei. He was still trying to recover from the embarrassment.

"No you will follow my orders, or you will go home", spoke Lila with a deadly tone. "I am not talking about the road either", she interjected. "Once the battle is over I will hunt you down and drag you back to your father's house."

"What", raghed Wei!

"You heard me boy", she growled back. "Fall in line or get out." With that she began to walk away from the duo. "Oh, and we move out in forty five, so get ready." With that she melted back into the crowd of people.

[Ravvus Wiseau]

”Wizard pugilist?” Ravvus scoffed, raising his eyebrows. Despite the show of indignation, the mage had to admit, he fit the description perfectly. The axe-wielding youth beat his chest, like a raging silverback. Bits of saliva flew from the fighter's mouth, decorating Ravvus' cheeks and nose with translucent fluid. ”Never said you weren't a fighter. I just said you looked a little young.” He wiped his face, collecting a mixture of sweat and spittle with his forearm. Despite his calm tone, the mage had half a mind to punch the upstart youth in his face. It was not in his character to simply lie down and submit to a lengthy diatribe. ”I see...” He continued once the loud youth finished beating his chest. ”How, uh, old are you exactly?”

Before the youth could answer the question, red-haired Gavrilova returned and did something decidedly un-Gavrilova...ish. She poked fun at Wei, displaying a sort of big sister relationship with the youth. They went on for a time, with Lila acting as a guardian and Wei incessantly attempting to assert his manhood. He didn't perform particularly well on that avenue. Ravvus sighed as the red-haired soldier walked away. The mage didn't doubt Lila would keep an eye on Wei. She was, apparently, his aunt after all, but Ravvus didn't want to leave anything up to chance. The little axe-bearer was a spit-fire, much like Ravvus himself, and if he knew anything about the short-tempered, they hated to be belittled.

”How about this, Wei. You stay close to Lila and me once we get out there and I promise to treat you like a man. If you end up dueling a revenant, or bonewalker, or whatever, once we get out there, I won't interfere unless you ask for my help. That also means no outbursts once we're in the field. You want me to treat you like a man, you've got to act like a man. Deal?”

[Wei]

Damn it, Wei shouted to himself in his mind. Once again that women had gotten under his skin. She not only belittle him, but did so in front of everyone who was looking and that was a lot of people. Once she passed thought them everyone she passed stared and they saw the entire ordeal. Wei's face was still as red as his hair. He swore to himself that he was going to get her back one day. He did not know how, nor did he know when, but he was gong to get Lila back. He would embarrassed her beyond measure. One day her face will be just as red as her hair. As Wei came out of his inner rant he was once again approached by the Wizard. Wei had lost all his anger toward the man. The embarrassment alone made him want to crawl into a hole and die.

"Yeah, sure", spoke Wei. He knew Lila was serious about her threat and even if she was not she would move over to him anyway. Not to mention it would be cool to see the wizards magic up close. Wei still wanted to see what magic could truly do. "Fine, I will stick close to you and Lila. However you have to keep your word Mr...., um, I don't know your name. Well I will follow my end of the bargain I just need you to follow yours."

After Wei and the Wizard exchanged words the journeyman moved off to prepare himself. Time flew by quickly and before he knew it they were called off to march. Moving as a single unit the force made there way toward the village. They had gathered not to far away so the march only took them a hour to get there. However once they where there they knew there was evil about. The woodland around the village was still, deadly so. The wind blew a light breeze that had the smell of death. There was noise coming form the village and not a single fire burned in any of the homes. Only the stink of death filled the air.

"We were too late", spoke Lila as she pulled her Silver Axe off her shoulder. The mission was not to save the village. It was to eliminate the undead. However Lila herself wanted to get there and put a end to the mosnter threat before the village was overrun. That idea was clearly not possible. Either all the villagers fled or they were consumed by the monsters. The one fact that remained undisputed was that Sparta was no more.

The maiden stared into one of the houses. There was slight movement, but no sound. Clearly it was not a villager. "Everyone prepare for a fight", she shouted! Almost on point two undead rushed out of nearby door ways. There fangs and claws stretched out toward the nearest mercenary. One of the creatures had hopped onto one of the buildings and had leaped thought the air toward Wei.

"Crap", spoke the journeyman as he attempted to pull his axes out of his weapon hoop. He had made a armature mistake by not drawing them early. The creature was going to reach him first, but Lila, ever vigilant, swung her mighty two handed silver axe with speed that rivled a blade. She had cleaved the monster into two before it could pounce upon the boy.

"Keep your head into the game Wei", she spoke softly, despite the chaos and danger around her. A smile crossed her face as she moved to engage another enemy. Wei still a bit shook, slammed both the heads of his axes together. You don't have to tell me that", he shouted as he moved to engage a monster.

[Ravvus Wiseau]

”It's Ravvus. Sure. Wouldn't have offered the bargain if I didn't intend to stick by it.” The mage responded plainly and watched as Wei ventured off to prepare for the engagement. Ravvus shook his head. He hoped Wei knew how to use the axes on his hips.

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It was quiet when the mercenary company reached Sparta. The village appeared empty, but Ravvus knew otherwise. The stench of decay hung heavily in the air, a direct indicator of the presence of revenants. The undead carried their scent with them, making them easy prey to track. The mage kept pace with the company's vanguard, deliberately sticking close to Wei and Lila. The red-haired commander took point, cautiously leading the hastily formed militia. She approached one of the vacant homes and inspected the inside. ”Maybe we should put them to the torch.” Ravvus piped up, conjuring a fireball in one hand. The village was thick with the smell of undead, but there were none to be seen. They had to have been hiding in the houses. An eerie pitter patter of footsteps alerted the mage to the first wave of attackers. Ravvus spun about to see a pair of revenants sprinting from one of the abandoned homes. Funny. He'd never known revenants to move at a pace faster than 'aggressive limping'.

”LIGHT THEM AFLAME!” He bellowed, lobbing a fireball into the abandoned domicile. The spell exploded, setting the midsection of the hut ablaze, but failing to compromise it's integrity. Flames summoned via a novice fire tome were only so destructive. Ravvus followed suit with a volley of two more fireballs and immolated the hut entirely. The fires flickered and danced as a lance-bearing skeleton exited the hut, sunk to it's knees, and shattered against the earth in a pile of blackened bone.

The mage back-peddled, putting some bodies between him and the incoming undead horde. As much as he would relish a close-quarters fight, Ravvus was simply more useful as support when he didn't have to worry about defending himself. The mage kept Wei within his peripheral vision, and conjured a fresh fireball.

[Wei]

The creatures came out in waves, one undead after another. The mercenary company was expecting only twenty five of them, but it was clear that the entire village was probably turned. This meant they would have to kill them all. As the fighting broke out the resident Wizard of the group began to shoot fire onto the nearby buildings. It was a good idea. At this point burning down the village was inevitable. Two more mages mixed in with the soldiers followed his example and began shooting fire on the vulnerable roofs. The flames would draw out there hidden enemies and kill the ones that remain hiding. However that alos meant that they could not use the buildings as tools to funnel the undead. It was a win lose situation no matter what they did. There only option was to fall in line with the current stratagem and take out the enemy as they speared.

The heavier armored units took the front. They positioned themselves between the two buildings. The lightly armored mercenaries took the rear and flanks. Wei however, despite being light infantry, was up toward the front, right next to Lila. The maiden would have him in no other place. It was far more dangerous, but she feared him being pulled off on the sides even more. Wei was brash and foolish, she could see him breaking rank and getting himself into trouble.

As the undead attack the lines Wei was forced into battle. One of the beast swung its claws in his direction. His twin axes, like all axes, were not useful in defense. There were offensive weapons, but Wei would have to learn to defend himself with them. As the beast swung it's claws Wei swung his brave axe. The claw and axe both meet in mid air, but the beast attack won out. With a fearsome blow the beast blew back the boy's weapon. The attack let him open. It's second claw came in to make a deadly strike, but the force of its attack was blocked by a knights powerful shield.

"Watch it kid", shouted the man as he blocked the blow. His assistance filled the boy with shame and angry.

"I am not a kid", shouted Wei as he lunged forward with his axes. The boy delivered a powerful counter across the mid section of the beast. However the blow was far from killing. The undead only had one true weakness and that was the head.

[Ravvus Wiseau]

”Good. Good. Don't give them any ground to go to!” Ravvus called mid-throw. The spell soared through the air, trailing a tail of sparks and smoke, before crashing against a thatch roof and exploding in a spectacular shower of flame and straw. The other conjurers followed suit, slinging gouts of flame and immolating the remaining houses. Ravvus exhaled, a mixture of burning wood and rotten flesh permeating his lungs as he sucked down a new breath. The engagement was going well. So long as the undead host didn't overwhelm the vanguard, the battle would be won with minimal loses.

The mage allowed himself to relax. This wasn't like that time in Ilia, when he'd fought the Scorched Behemoth. This time there was no alpha, no leader to the undead forces. They were disorganized, clumsy, coming in waves as opposed to swarming the company all at once. It made Ravvus almost confident enough to test out Hailstorm. Almost. There was a chance the magical manual wouldn't respond to his summons, and the mage didn't want to be caught impotently muttering to himself whilst a host of undead assaulted his allies.

Ravvus winced as one of the mercenaries came close to assist Wei. That was the second time someone had to step in and save the youth. The mage had given the journeyman the benefit of the doubt, despite his hot temper, but so far he'd only proven himself a liability. If the youth didn't start pulling his weight, then Ravvus was going to have to go back on his word and intervene.

((Apologies for having taken so long. I've been in a bit of a rut writing-wise this past week.))

[Wei]

OCC: Don't worry bout it man. The entire site has slowed down thanks to Heroes coming out.

IC:

As Wei's blow connected to the monster's chest the beast struck back with equal ferocity. It's claws dug into Wei's shoulder piercing easily though his jacket. The blow sent a wave of blood ozing out of the wound and a expression of pain across Wei's face. it was a newbie mistake and something Wei should have known. The undead are not limited to normal blows like normal men. He should have known better than to strike at it's chest. He should have aimed for the legs or maybe the head. His goal should have been to cripple the beast. In a normal fight that wound would have meant something and Wei's instincts were not bad. However this was a fight against the undead. Wei had no excuse, he had fought zombies before, but he had allowed himself to slip into complacency.

As Wei took the blow anger began to rise up in his belly. The pain coming out of his shoulder faded as Wei struck back out at the beast with savage furry. His twin axes slicked though his target's chest once more. This time the force was strong enough to for the beast to take a step back. With his brave axe leading the way Wei struck at the monsters claw as it rushed in for another blow. Knocking it off course Wei moved in with his iron axe for the kill. However his glory was stolen from him in a single moment of furry as Lila's silver double headed axe rushed in and split the beast down the middle.

"Get your filthy claws off my boy", she shouted! The maiden was in a frenzy. She pushed forward ahead of the line and began to cleave into the horde of the undead. While she moved into her rage she pushed Wei back toward the back of the line.

"Healer", shouted one of the units as a man with a staff rushed to treat the wound. All while Wei felt like crap. He was suppose to be a fighter, but here he was screwing up again. The man healed Wei's shoulder and the boy moved to rejoin the battle. However the more experience mercenaries pushed the young boy back.

"Guard the rear kid", spoke one man as he shoved Wei back from the front. He then rushed forward with his spear ready. His weapon flew right past the head of one of his allies and landed in the center skull of a beast. A good kill.

"Damn it", shouted Wei as a couple of tears began to flow from his eyes. Here he was being saved again. Wei was a warrior dang it. He was not some kid to be pushed around. Sure he made a mistake, but that did not mean... Suddenly Wei's attention was turned back toward the back of the line. A sudden chattering sound began to erupt from the woods. Wei's face turned to see what most of the mercenaries were not paying attention to. They were so focus on there front that they did not notice the force moving at there backs. From the woulds came a scoure of bonewalkers. With blades and axes in there hands they made there way forward from behind. There moves nearly silent. The only thing giving them away was the slight rattling of there bones and the young war who was forced to the back of the line.

"Enemies", shouted Wei as he prepared himself for battle.

[Wei]

The battle between the undead and the mercenary force intensified as the undead lunched a assult from the forces rear. The mercenaries quick to adapt turned half there forces around and assulted the incoming enemy. However the situation had turned sour quickly. They fought bravely and fearsomely, but position wise the mercenary force was in trouble. Being attack on both there front and rear flank left them pinned down in a tight position. There left and right flanks were clogged up with the two burning buildings they had set a blaze beforehand. Now they were trapped between to burning structure with two enemy forces baring down on them. At the rate they were going death seemed almost completely certain.

It was in this most dire moment that the leader of the mercenary band showed her stuff. Lila retreated from the front lines and moved next to Wei. The maiden pulled the young journeyman away from the back lines along with a few other soldiers. She then began to organize them into a wedge and prepared them to charge. Before she did so however Lila took the time to kiss the young Wei on the forehead and give him a hug. The action caught the journeyman off guard completely, but what was even more confusing was her words that came after. "You are my precocious and sweet little boy, Wei. Even if I must hide it." Wei tried to question her, but the maiden threw it off and took command of her men.

With the ferocity of a giant and the speed of the wind the War maid Lila charged forward at the tip of her wedge and slammed into the undead units. Like a wedge though a log there forces split the enemy ranks right down a line breaking up the undead movements. As they pushed though Lila took note of the leader of the pack of undead, a bonewalker. As she broke off and faced against him Wei fought bravely with the main force. He was injured in battle, but eventually the mercenaries routed the undead from behind. With there threat to the rear taken care of the mercneary unit turned around and marched into the destroyed village. Wei however stayed behind under Lila's orders and had his wounds looked at. The battle was a glorious one and one that would be used to train new recruits in Lila's forces for years to come. For Wei and others this battle was a tragedy, as the villagers died before the heroes could even arrive.

With the mission taken care of Wei left Lila's company and moved back to the road. He had a lot of questions and very few answers. One thing he did know however was that he needed to be a lot stronger if he wanted to survive.

[Wei exit thread]