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| - The human just didn't understand that He didn't want to hurt her. She was quick, too. Slather rubbed his temple and gave chase deeper into the spider den. He feared that he was chasing her deeper into the thick of the spiders, but if he turned back now, she was most certainly lost. If he followed her too closely, she may blindly run deeper into peril. Women, he muttered under his breath, are the same no matter what race. He began to lose sight of her. The Shaman was only afforded a darting glimpse every other turn. Soon, she was gone. Grumbling under his breath, he continued to pick his way along the path she had taken. It was not difficult to see signs of her passing, but he grew more frustrated at her lack of prudence and his slow speed. Spiders were very high on his avoid at all costs lists. He hated spiders ever since his formative years in the hot and humid jungles of his ancestors. This wasn't a situation one would call favorable at all. First his diplomacy mission had gone horribly, horribly wrong, He hadn't heard from Kopfjagger in some time, and now Lucia had given him the slip as well. He seemed to be screwing up left and right. He sat down. Maybe a drink would help clear his head a little. He fished a flask of cool spring water from his pack, lounged against a rock, and began to drink. He had only downed a couple of sips when he heard a human womans scream further down the path. He threw the skin aside and ran in the direction of the scream. He hoped for a moment that she was injured badly, so that she couldn't run further, then immediately felt guilty for it. Such thoughts were unbecoming of a Shaman his stature. Standing over a pile of fresh earth he looked around for a moment before he noticed the roots dangling from above. A small hole in the ceiling of the den let in a single, wide shaft of light. Softly, a moan came from near the opening. Quickly, Slather shimmied and pulled his way up the root. His thick Troll muscles making short work of the climb. His selfish thoughts turned out to be true. There she was, only a few dozen meters away. She was on the ground and clutching her ankle. With horror plain on his face, he watched her collapse and drift off into a poison induced sleep. Slather took one step and then paused. He sensed someone else. A bony figure emerged from the shadows, rushed to her side, and examined her wound. It must be Kopfjagger, he thought. After spotting her wound, the Rogue picked the girl up and ran right past Slather, muttering all sorts of things in Gutterspeak, seemingly unaware of the Shamans presence. Slather tried to give chase and tried alert Kopfjagger of his presence. "Wait! I can help!" Either Kopfjagger was completely oblivious, or was blatantly ignoring him. Slathers feet were beginning to hurt from so much running and chasing. He sighed, shifted into a Ghost Wolf once more, and began pursuing the Rogue. "What a frightening sight the humans must consider this." he mused. "A Forsaken carrying an unconscious Human female over his shoulder, and a Troll turning into a wolf and chasing them. What a day." Kopfjagger found a spider's nest very quickly. He laid Lucia down softly and stood to gather the venom sacks from the spiders. As soon as he stood, he heard Slather from behind him. "Troll, she needs healing very badly. I can cure the poison but she will die if not healed immediately. Please, please do not let her die Slather!" He did not even wait for a reply before heading into the spider den. He could hear the Troll speaking as he ripped spiders open, searching for a venom sac what could be used to make the anti-venom. At last, he had one. He fumbled with his vials and herbs as he ran up the slope back to Lucia. If the Troll did not heal her in time, he would die. Vengeance needs to be channeled and, sadly, Slather was the closest. Then there was Goldshire.... and Stormwind.... and everything in between them. Slather repeated the Forsakens words silently to himself. "Please, please do not let her die, Slather!" Kopfjagger had pleaded to him. He had never seen an Undead so eager for another's life, let alone begging. Slather nodded. "I can prolong her life, and I can even help nullify but Kopfjagger was already gone. "- the poison." Slather thought that was pretty rude of the Rogue. Shaking it off to the Forsaken not handling stress well, the Shaman gathered his thoughts and became attuned to the Earth. He began a channeling the healing powers of the Earth, and a wave of vitality washed over the unconscious Lucia. With Lucia in a half-stable condition, he reached out with his consciousness into Lucia's body. He felt himself coursing through her veins, in search of the venom that rotted her from the inside out. He found it. It was a dark, sticky feeling, and he could see the damage it had done to her bloodstream already even with his healing. Slather returned to himself, and oriented upon the site he had just been. He centered himself, and began channeling the power of Water to cleanse the poor girl. It took a massive amount of concentration. He finished the final word, and broke the channel. He began to search Lucia's veins again. The poison was still there! Not only that, but was continuing to spread. Slather repeated his healing chant. The girl needed proper anti-venom, which he was sure Kopfjagger had gone in search of. He needed to fulfill the Undead's request, and his own inward vow to see them through. Slather downed one of his precious Mana potions, and felt a burning sensation within him. He then planted a Mana Tide Totem to assist him, and began to continuously channel the Healing of Earth. Slather was quite drained even with the aid of his totems. His hands were shaky, and he fumbled over his Herbs and Vials, muttering something. Kopfjagger returned and immediately noticed Lucia's face was pink instead of pale, but her brow was covered in sweat. Her beautiful hair was matted against her head and her body shook. She was not out of danger, but without Slather, she would have surely been dead already. The anti-venom was completed within moments as he spoke comfortingly to Lucia in what broken human-speak he knew. It would take her will to live as much as his antidote to restore her to health. He murmured a quick prayer to whatever god was listening as he completed the antidote. Gently resting her head in his lap, he began to slowly pour the antidote into her quivering lips. A few moments pause, and he poured a little more. He repeated this until the entire vial was gone. During the pauses, he would stroke her hair, dab at her cheek with a small cloth and whisper quietly of his love for her. They were no longer on the road, but if Lucia lived, he did not care if one hundred guards came down and destroyed him where he knelt. He was aware of how deep in the enemies territory he was. He knew that at any moment his spirit would be sent to the nether to wander. Lucia took in a deep, shuddering breath. Her eyes fluttered and she tried to sit upright. "Shhh.... Shhh.... Rest my sweet," he soothed. "Rest just a few moments longer." Gently, he pulled her back into his arms. He only wished that his body was warm so that she could feel something other than cold leather and smell something other than rotted flesh. ((This part of the story was written in partnership by Kopfjagger and Lucia. I have the honor of retelling it but at least half, if not more, of the creative power comes directly from Lucia even though her name does not appear to the left of the post. *bows deeply to Lucia* Thank you, Lucia, for letting me retell our story, I hope to do it justice.))
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