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Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 14 Time to Train

The grand exodus to Varrock includes more than two hundred noobs. There are also at least one hundred middle and high levels who have heard about Zamorak’s takeover of Lumbridge. I lose count after two hundred, and Hamlet loses count after four hundred. Cheesecracker is leading us and keeping an eye out for danger, so he can’t count. A couple of the higher levels (fifties and sixties) are trailing behind Cheesecracker, and the rest of them are bringing up the rear.

Hamlet is walking beside me and appears to be lost in deep thoughts. Meanwhile, I have a finger lingering over Fireheart’s name on my Friends list. I can’t bear to break the bad news to her. For some reason, the fall of Lumbridge feels like my fault. This unwelcome guilt makes me reluctant to message Redseed too. I finally settle for sending a message to Dawn.

“Where are you?” I hope my plaintive words don't sound too desperate.

“Draynor,” comes an immediate message back. “I’m training with my woodcutting pals. Is something wrong?”

I blink at the perceptive assumption. I type in, “Why would you think that?”

“Otherwise, you wouldn’t be contacting me. What’s the bad news? Redseed and Fireheart will find out eventually!”

Oh fish sticks. I can hear the Pokey Lady’s arrogant tone at this very moment. With trembling fingers, I put in, “Lumbridge has fallen. Runescapians can attack other Runescapians now."

After a minute of no message, Dawn’s reply finally comes, “It’s all right. Just don’t stay in Lumbridge.”

“We’re headed to Varrock,” I reply.

“Good. Go there and train. Tell Fireheart everything.”

My attention is diverted from the Friends list when Hamlet nudges me. “The dark wizards are close,” he mutters.

However, I see that the high levels are sending groups of noobs (ten or twelve of them per group) to run to the safety behind Varrock city walls. Bit by bit, our group vanishes into the city until only Cheesecracker, Hamlet and the relatively high levels remain.

24-Aug-2010 00:56:50

Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
I stride over to one of them, a friendly-looking chap. “Thanks for organizing that.”

The Runescapian’s face contorts into an expression of surprise. “Uh, noob, you might want to run to Varrock before those dark wizards catch sight of you.”

Puffing up in anger, I declare, “Yes, I am a noob, but I am also Freak449, commander of…” Wait, what am I commander of?

“Noobs,” finishes Hamlet. He jumps when a magical bolt strikes the ground near his feet.

“The wizards are coming! The wizards are coming!” Cheesecracker laughs. Despite his amusement at the imminent terror of dark wizards, my fellow commander runs ahead towards Varrock. GAH! I HATE dark wizards! I believe my least favorite word is dark and combined with wizard, the word’s ten times worse!

I flee onto the streets on Varrock, ignoring the puzzled glances of nearby guards. I’m alive! I wasn’t terrified for more than a minute. Really. Once I catch my breath in the center of Varrock, I realize our noobs are waiting anxiously in three groups of eighteen for further instructions. I take a gander at them.

Most are young and have hair of wild colors (pink, violet, sky blue and green…take your pick). Several of them are actually female. In any case, all are poorly equipped in the weaponry-and items-to-wear department. What fine troops! I wipe a sentimental tear from my eye.

Cheesecracker nudges me. “Shall I take my unit to train?”

I nod. Hamlet suddenly enters the scene, which is an odd one actually. A bunch of noobs standing around in Varrock Square: rapt with attention and quiet as the grave. I can’t help noticing that the dark hair on Hamlet’s head is on fire. It’s only a little flame but concerning.

“Hamlet, your head’s on fire,” Cheesecracker points out with his usual bluntness.

“ARG!” Turning pale, Hamlet smothers the fire with frantic hands. “Curse those dark wizards…”

"I'll do that as soon as my Magic level is high enough," Cheesecracker assures him.

24-Aug-2010 00:59:23

Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
In a few minutes, we all separate. I’m followed my eighteen eager noobs, and I admit I’m at a loss. How does one train? But first…I ask the names of my crew. Heck, it shouldn’t be too hard to learn their names.

“Forgen12.” I ask if I might call him Forge. He agrees.

“Blackdragon56.” Him I dub Blackie.

“Aurora43.” A rather pretty level twelve.

“Fluffybunny1.” Nice to meet ya, Fluffy.

“Gorgonwrath7.” He’s a fierce-looking level thirty.

“Gembit42.”

“Gnokhead17.”

“Lady Posetta.”

“Rosegarden2.”

“Queen Grae.”

“Dolina754.”

“Saint Loren.” He tells me he has fifty-seven prayer. Whatever that means.

“Jugular778.”

“Fritterbug23.”

“Goldeneye64.”

“Marigold359.”

“Hammockhead.”

“Bluestar.” This noob offers a hand for me to shake. I stare at it for a moment before taking it. His grip is solid, and his expression tells me that he’s not power-hungry, embittered or loony. I immediately consider him as a potential second-in-command, but I don’t tell him that.

“How do we train?” I ask Bluestar. He ponders for a moment.

“There’s a training area near the other bank. A place with training dummies,” says Bluestar. I like the honest blue gleam in his eyes. No treachery there. I decide to trust him and to let him lead us to the place.

“What level are you?” challenges Gorgonwrath. He’s speaking to Bluestar rather than me. For some reason, I feel overshadowed.

“Eighty-four. What’s it to you?” answers Bluestar. His words are aggressive, but his tone is perfectly--what the heck am I going on about tone for? A level eighty-four!

“But…You look like a noob,” I stutter. Level EIGHTY-FOUR!

“I’m a noob at heart,” declares Bluestar with a grin. “Don’t tell me I’m not welcome.”

“You’re perfectly welcome to join us,” twitters Aurora. She seems very taken with Bluestar. He’s not bad-looking. I’ll give him that. Aurora blinks her dark eyes at me. “We could use high levels to fight Lord Luxon.”

24-Aug-2010 01:00:43

Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
At the sound of that name, my heart shudders in fear. “That’s true.” My heart then sinks. “Bluestar, you should take over our unit. I’m just a noob.”

A fleeting look of dismay crosses Bluestar’s face. “No. You are the leader. A level doesn’t make a great leader. This is your unit, sir. Not mine.”

He called me sir…

Even with his refusal to become leader, Bluestar is content to show us the straw-stuffed dummies we can practice on. He meanwhile wanders off to train elsewhere. Every now and then, he comes back, munching on a slice of pizza.

Exhausted, I finally desist hacking at the dummies though Bluestar doesn’t seem too battered. “Why are you eating?” I ask. Seems like an odd time for a snack.

“For healing.”

“Strange world,” I mutter. Eat to heal? I thought it’s eat to live? Maybe in some other world. A memory flickers in my mind for a moment of a land different from Runescape. I’m suddenly staring at a square portal, but inside that portal is a screen of the world of Runescape…but I’m somehow outside the screen and looking in!

“Sir?” Bluestar’s voice drives the memory away. Back to reality?

“Don’t call me ‘sir.’ My name is Freak.” I smile at him and the recruits hacking away at the dummies with various weaponry. Sparks (it’s not spontaneous combustion, I remind myself) are exploding around their heads.

Some of my recruits pause to grin at me. After returning their smiles, I slip outside the building. Ah, so many at the bank! They have no idea about Luxon’s evil intentions. I can warn them, but more than likely, they’d brush my warnings off. After all, I am a noob. Or am I?

I take out the Status thingamabob and click on the flashing icons. Letters flash at me. Sparks explode around my head and I try not flinch away from the bothersome colors.

The Status reads: “Combat Level 12.” No way…

Jumping for joy, I re-enter the building. All around me, sparks are exploding. So terrifying! But exhilarating. I catch Bluestar’s eye, and he nods.

24-Aug-2010 01:02:02

Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“What level are you, sir?” he asks.

“The name’s Freak,” I correct him briefly and then I grin. “I’m level twelve!”

The other noobs attack me in their joy.

“I’m level twenty now!"

"Level seventeen! WOOT!”

“Twenty-three!”

“I’m level ten!”

“Thirty-two!”

“Twenty-nine!”

“Forty!”

“Level nine!” Marigold throws her arms around my neck. I indulge her though I can’t help thinking of Lady Lore. Be still my heart…

The sound of progress heartens me. What heartens me even more is Bluestar’s presence. He reminds me of Fireheart. Blasé. Sensible. Calm. Maybe it’s a high level thing. But both Fireheart and Bluestar have something that Lord Luxon lacks: sincerity, integrity and a genuine respect for noobs.

Now, with a sigh, I prepare to focus on one thing: training. Oh bother. The others seem to be enjoying themselves. Why can't I? Maybe my pacifist nature is rebelling against the concept of training by hacking at things.

"Freak?" Bluestar directs his bright smile towards me. I step back into the dummy arena with a silly reluctance. "Is something wrong?"

I shrug. Nope. Training. Business as usual for Runescapians.

~End of Chapter 14~

24-Aug-2010 01:03:39

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 15 Fireheart’s Would-Be Conspiracy

After messaging Hamlet and Cheesecracker to check up on their progress, I reluctantly decide it’s time to break the bad news to Fireheart. Maybe the Pokey Lady has already told her. In any case, I should report back to her. Bluestar agrees.

“She should be told exactly what happened in Lumbridge. I’ll come with you.”

“The others…”

“Can train on dummies and on guards,” he supplies with a disarming smile. I stare at the high level for a minute and finally deduce that he's excited.

This isn’t the time to beat around the bush. “Why are you so excited?”

“I want to meet the woman who has the courage to stand up to Lord Luxon! Finally, that bully will get what he deserves.” A strange glimmer (perhaps of maniacal vindictiveness) appears in Bluestar’s eyes.

“Um…did Lord Luxon do something to you? Maybe to someone you love?”

Bluestar hesitates before saying, “Lord Luxon is my father.”

My world goes black. Eventually, I realize that someone has dumped water all over my head. I wring out my soaked locks and look up blearily at the concerned SON of Lord Luxon. “You’re…his son?” Now I can see the resemblance. The eerie charm of both of their faces. Their eyebrows are the same. The nose too. GAHHHH! THIS IS TOO CREEPY!

“He’s not much of a father,” Bluestar says with a humorless laugh. “I cann't stand being related to him.”

His tone pulls at my heart. He speaks as if HE should be ashamed. For being born! I place a hand on his well-muscled arm. “Well, we can’t choose our relatives, and at least you have relatives. I don’t know where the heck I came from.”

Winking roguishly, Bluestar laughs, “Reproduction is always complicated.”

I bet. Moving on… “We should hurry, but I don’t know where I’m going.” That could be a slight problem.

“Send her a message,” Lord Luxon’s son---NO, I shall henceforth only think of him as Bluestar!--murmurs.

24-Aug-2010 03:56:43 - Last edited on 19-Nov-2010 16:26:13 by Dawn719

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Okay.” After fiddling around with my Friends List, I receive a returning message from Fireheart.

“I’m at the Varrock Palace. Dawn said to ask you about Lumbridge.”

My nervous fingers type in and send, “What did she tell you about Lumbridge?”

“Only that something is wrong. You better come here and clear that up, Freak.”

“I will. Soon.” A moment later, the words “Varrock Palace” reminds me of Reldo. I’d forgotten about asking Reldo about Saradomin’s Chosen One.

I turn to Bluestar, who looks almost depressed. "Can you lead us to Reldo?”

His face lights up. “No problem. Just follow me.”

~~~

No such thing. The librarian with a pony-tail is surveying me now with concern. I’m numb with shock.

“No such thing!” I mutter. “There has to be mention of Saradomin’s Chosen One…if Zamorak has a Chosen One!”

Reldo snorts. “True, there is a book that concerns Zamorak’s Chosen One, but it’s a tale! Not real. Prophecy is highly unreliable.”

I whip around to glower at the thick-headed librarian. Clearly, he hasn’t heard of Lord Luxon. “Well, Zamorak does have a Chosen One. A Runescapian named Lord Luxon.”

Blanching and straightening his spectacles, Reldo spat, “Impossible!”

Bluestar, who has been quiet as a wall so far, mutters, “It’s true. He’s got the power of Zamorak behind him.”

After a brutal shake of his head, Reldo insists, “I’ve never heard of Saradomin picking a hero to fight Zamorak’s Chosen One. Nonetheless, I shall look further into it.”

“Well, I know there’s a Chosen One for us!” I say staunchly. “I don’t need a dumb book or a dumb prophecy to tell me that!”

With my nose in the air, I stomp from the library with Bluestar trailing after me. GRR! The nerve of that librarian! I bet he eats books for breakfast! Not that I have anything against reading. I love reading…I think. My memory is still awful. I still don’t understand where Runescape came from or where I come from. Maybe I never will.

AAAH! I think I’ve smashed straight into someone.

24-Aug-2010 03:58:25

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Watch where you’re going, idiot!” snaps an armored woman. Then she shakes a steel sword in my face.

I feel Bluestar tug me backwards until my back is against his arm. “Please excuse him, my lady. He’s been distracted…by weighty matters, I presume.” Here he gives me a wry look.

Much to my astonishment, the lady (warrior woman, really) giggles and turns quite pink. “I’m sorry. Perhaps I should have been more alert.” She’s not apologizing to me. Nope, she only has eyes for Bluestar.

“It happens,” soothes Bluestar. Ain’t he a charmer?

“Abby, what’s going on?” A well-dressed, crowned man enters the hall. I can only assume that he’s a king, or maybe he likes playing dress-up? Of course, Varrock Palace has to belong to someone---why not a king?

“I crashed into this noob a minute ago, Your Majesty,” giggles the warrior woman. “Sorry for making such a clamor.”

The king rolls his eyes. “It’s quite all right, Abby. You’ve only startled the life from me.”

Abby smiles at the king’s tone. “May I take my leave, Your Majesty?” Once the royal hand is waved, the warrior woman walks away though she occasionally glances back to stare amorously at Bluestar until she disappears into another room.

“King Roald, have you seen a woman who calls herself Fireheart?”

Bluestar knows a king! Why am I not surprised?

After a second, King Roald says, “I have. She’s meeting with Lord Luxon in the dining hall. I’ve never seen Abby infatuated before…”

I refuse to let my body faint no matter how much it wants to. Fireheart is MEETING with Lord Luxon? “Your Majesty, perhaps you mean she is arguing with him or battling him?”

Considering me, the king murmurs, “No. When I left them, they were talking quite civilly.”

Quite CIVILLY!

“Thank you, Your Majesty.” When King Roald inclines his head as permission to leave, Bluestar bows. I follow his example hastily, and we leave behind a king amused by my attempt at a bow! Well, I’ve never had to bow to anyone before…

24-Aug-2010 03:59:38

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Behind the doors of the dining hall (I assume), Bluestar yanks me to into a position where he can look me in the eye. “Are you sure Fireheart is on our side?”

“She hates Lord Luxon. She’s fighting for us noobs.” Isn’t she? Otherwise I might just cry.

Placing a hand on my head, Bluestar murmurs, “We can’t barge in there.”

Of course not! Let’s eavesdrop then! Sourly, I suggest this to Bluestar, and he agrees! A warning look in his eyes tells me not to argue. Ah well. He’s the high level. He knows what to do…I hope.

With deft fingers, Bluestar pries the two doors open a bit. At the closest table sits Fireheart and…that loathsome Lord Luxon. They’re both sipping at wine as if they are the only two in the room! Uh…of course, they don’t know that Bluestar and I are here.

“I thought you a fool to challenge me, but you are brave,” purrs Lord Luxon. For once, he’s not in armor, but his muscled build shows me he could still withstand several blows without flinching. Heck, I can’t even imagine Lord Luxon flinching.

“Thank you.” I’m glad to note the hint of tension in Fireheart’s voice. She looks gorgeous. Maybe it’s the dress she’s wearing. Or the light in the room? OH, snap out of it, Freak! Think Lady Lore! I almost groan in agony, but Bluestar puts a hand over my mouth. He reads my moods like Reldo reads books!

“You called me here to negotiate,” Lord Luxon murmurs. His gaze suddenly settles on the door. I can’t help feeling that he’s staring straight at me, but he’s not. Surely he would have told Fireheart? “You want me to free the noobs in exchange for whatever else I desire?”

She nods her dark head. NO WAY! Give Lord Luxon anything he wants? The freedom of enslaved noobs isn’t worth Runescape being ruled by Lord Luxon! Then we’d all be enslaved.

24-Aug-2010 04:01:28

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