01-17-2017, 05:35 AM
Baldur grunted in annoyance for the hundredth time. Brooke had promised the Goron exciting adventures in lands with beautiful oceans and forests, or within great cities of old and new technology. Yet, somehow he now found himself standing in a place that was even more destitute than the lava filled wasteland he had once called home. He had traded blackened, ash covered skies for a gloomy and seemingly eternally cloudy sky. Dragons were merely replaced by decayed and ravenous humans, with the occasional other species mixed in. Even more, sometimes there were monsters that he was not nearly creative enough to dream up in even his wildest nightmares.
Brooke was getting tired of Baldur’s passive aggressive grunting. She had already explained that they didn’t pick where their jobs would take them. After all, that’s how the mercenary ended up in the Ashen Steppes and recruited the increasingly cheery Goron in the first place. She dismissed his murmurs, and continued with her work.
They were in a small clearing near a river that would allow ample opportunity to see an attack coming from any direction, theoretically. They had been ambushed by creatures rising from the ground before, after all. While Baldur scanned the area for threats, Brooke was huddled over a small fire and stove, boiling a pot of noodles. Baldur didn’t like eating anything other than rocks, but his fears that even the rocks were diseased in this cursed plane of reality overrode his typical appetite, so he was willing to settle for something a little more exotic to him.
Brooke brushed her blonde locks behind her ears as she stirred the pot, and adjusted her hat so that it would help hold her hair from her face. This trek was exhausting, and they hadn’t even begun their assignment. They had been traveling through this disgusting verse for days now, searching for an abandoned village. A mage from Dalaran had contracted the bounty hunter and her new Goron partner to recover an item of great value from one of the buildings in the deserted town. All she had was a loosely drawn map and a rough description of the object. Baldur had not been interested in the details, so she didn’t bother forcing them on him. The trek to the deserted town alone was explanation enough as to why hiring outside help for this recovery was needed, so the massive Goron was content. Somewhat.
“This is the worst,” Baldur decided to vocalize the obvious, and it was Brooke’s turn to groan in frustration.
“I know, Baldur,” the girl calmly replied, though she was clearly at the limits of her patience.
She’d traveled the Omniverse quite a bit, but never had she wandered this far into the Pale Moors. In fact, she actively avoided this verse due to the horrors that inhabited it, and the fact that there was absolutely no safety net. If you got in trouble in the Moors, the only thing coming to get you was more trouble. It remained to be seen if she had grown too overconfident were her new Goron friend in tow.
“Food’s up,” Brooke announced to her Goron compatriot. One crisis at a time.
Baldur stomped his way over to his human companion. The clinking of his metallic leg guards could be heard for quite a way through the open terrain, but he’d given up on trying to keep quiet. The terrors of this realm were coming for them, regardless of how stealthy they tried to be. He sat across the fire, and tentatively accepted the bowl she handed him. It was tiny in his massive palms.
Brooke sat back and began to work on her own lunch. Baldur was slightly hesitant, but one thing that would not go unanswered was his own hunger. He tentatively slurped up a bit of the noodles, the Brooke’s personal amusement. Baldur frowned, but pressed onwards. It was no slab of limestone, but it was nourishment, and that was a lot to ask of the Pale Moors.
“We should be in the town by the evening,” Brooke announced, now that the situation had been lightened just a little bit. Besides, they still barely knew each other. A little small talk couldn't hurt.
“Great,” Baldur laughed, admittedly not at Brooke, but at their luck in general. “Just in time for dusk in this hellscape.”
Brooke chuckled at his fear. She didn't have the same hesitance, having heard tales of worse places than this or the Steppes within the Omniverse. The way she understood it, though, you had to really piss someone off to end up there. Baldur didn’t know it, yet, but she had a definitive way of preventing herself from making enemies. It was a discussion for another time.
For now, she could only laugh and offer a weak toast with her bowl of noodles. After all, he was right. She just prayed for a quick and easy mission. Yet, somehow, she had a feeling wouldn’t be that simple.
Brooke was getting tired of Baldur’s passive aggressive grunting. She had already explained that they didn’t pick where their jobs would take them. After all, that’s how the mercenary ended up in the Ashen Steppes and recruited the increasingly cheery Goron in the first place. She dismissed his murmurs, and continued with her work.
They were in a small clearing near a river that would allow ample opportunity to see an attack coming from any direction, theoretically. They had been ambushed by creatures rising from the ground before, after all. While Baldur scanned the area for threats, Brooke was huddled over a small fire and stove, boiling a pot of noodles. Baldur didn’t like eating anything other than rocks, but his fears that even the rocks were diseased in this cursed plane of reality overrode his typical appetite, so he was willing to settle for something a little more exotic to him.
Brooke brushed her blonde locks behind her ears as she stirred the pot, and adjusted her hat so that it would help hold her hair from her face. This trek was exhausting, and they hadn’t even begun their assignment. They had been traveling through this disgusting verse for days now, searching for an abandoned village. A mage from Dalaran had contracted the bounty hunter and her new Goron partner to recover an item of great value from one of the buildings in the deserted town. All she had was a loosely drawn map and a rough description of the object. Baldur had not been interested in the details, so she didn’t bother forcing them on him. The trek to the deserted town alone was explanation enough as to why hiring outside help for this recovery was needed, so the massive Goron was content. Somewhat.
“This is the worst,” Baldur decided to vocalize the obvious, and it was Brooke’s turn to groan in frustration.
“I know, Baldur,” the girl calmly replied, though she was clearly at the limits of her patience.
She’d traveled the Omniverse quite a bit, but never had she wandered this far into the Pale Moors. In fact, she actively avoided this verse due to the horrors that inhabited it, and the fact that there was absolutely no safety net. If you got in trouble in the Moors, the only thing coming to get you was more trouble. It remained to be seen if she had grown too overconfident were her new Goron friend in tow.
“Food’s up,” Brooke announced to her Goron compatriot. One crisis at a time.
Baldur stomped his way over to his human companion. The clinking of his metallic leg guards could be heard for quite a way through the open terrain, but he’d given up on trying to keep quiet. The terrors of this realm were coming for them, regardless of how stealthy they tried to be. He sat across the fire, and tentatively accepted the bowl she handed him. It was tiny in his massive palms.
Brooke sat back and began to work on her own lunch. Baldur was slightly hesitant, but one thing that would not go unanswered was his own hunger. He tentatively slurped up a bit of the noodles, the Brooke’s personal amusement. Baldur frowned, but pressed onwards. It was no slab of limestone, but it was nourishment, and that was a lot to ask of the Pale Moors.
“We should be in the town by the evening,” Brooke announced, now that the situation had been lightened just a little bit. Besides, they still barely knew each other. A little small talk couldn't hurt.
“Great,” Baldur laughed, admittedly not at Brooke, but at their luck in general. “Just in time for dusk in this hellscape.”
Brooke chuckled at his fear. She didn't have the same hesitance, having heard tales of worse places than this or the Steppes within the Omniverse. The way she understood it, though, you had to really piss someone off to end up there. Baldur didn’t know it, yet, but she had a definitive way of preventing herself from making enemies. It was a discussion for another time.
For now, she could only laugh and offer a weak toast with her bowl of noodles. After all, he was right. She just prayed for a quick and easy mission. Yet, somehow, she had a feeling wouldn’t be that simple.