//------------------------------// // El Guerrero // Story: A Raven’s Quest // by Chemtest //------------------------------// Creatures start to poor out of cracks in the walls, all moving to surround us. Raven looks over at me, “Mind if I take them?” I nod, “Go on ahead. Boreas is mine.” Raven summons his scythe, and charges at the creatures, leaving me with Boreas. Boreas lets loose a magical sphere towards me, the runes on his body lighting up. I move into mist, and charge towards him, allowing the orb to go through me. I coalesce back, and stab my spear forward. He blocks it with his blade, sending my blade off to the side where it hits one of the runes. He screams in pain as I cut the rune off his skin. His magical sword also flickers a bit, and seems to become weaker. I smile, his weakness now apparent. I thrust with my spear once more, counting upon his parry. He does it, causing my blade to slice down his arm. Rune after rune comes off, causing him to shout in more pain, and his sword to flicker. He screams, and starts to fire off more magical orbs at me. I enter into mist once more, allowing the magic to pass by me. But, as I exit, he swings his blade at me. I have to block, and am send sliding back by the force of his blow. I slide up next to Raven as he slaughters a few of the creatures, “Why were you out here anyway?” I run back at Boreas, rolling under a magical orb and stabbing with my spear, “I knocked the Idol into the Abyss through my own foolishness. So, I should be the one to retrieve it!” Raven shouts back, “Your voice sounds like there’s something more to it! Come on, what is it?” I backstep away from a slash from the blade, “Well, in all honesty, I missed my old independence! Back when I could walk into a camp of bandits alone and teach them the true meaning of fear! I was always the powerful one that was in charge, that fought the powerful enemy at the end! I just wanted to feel like that once again!” Raven shrugs off an arrow as it hits in between his bones, “Sombra, if you thought that, you could’ve told me! You’re not weaker than you were, we are equals!” I parry another swing, and go in for a stab, “I know that, Raven, but it just doesn’t feel that way! You faced Celestia alone, faced the Master alone, punished Blueblood alone, and even now you try and find the Totem alone! You are the one everyone looks up to as leader! You’re the Element of Unity, the one who brought us all together! All I am is Laughter! The comedian, funny man, the comic relief!” Raven stops his fighting to look towards me, swinging his scythe with his arm turned backwards, “Sombra, I never meant to exclude you. You are my friend, my equal; and I’ve never thought of you as anything less.” I continue on my fight, “It just feels like I have become less than what I was before! I always sit back and fight the peons whist you take on the leader! I know what you feel and think, but it doesn’t come through!” He shakes his head, “Sombra...” I unleash a flurry a blows against Boreas as I create multiple Spears of crystal, “I am King Sombra!” I cut away at the runes on him, “King of Darkness!” I create even more, and stab with more force, “King of Shadow!” I take a spear and plunge it into his chest, “Spirit of Fear!” I rip the spear out, and plunge it into his head, “¡No soy un personaje secundario de dos bits, segunda clase y sin valor! ¡No un príncipe, no un señor, no un maldito campesino, sino un rey!” Boreas collapses with a unearthly screech, the runes on his body all gone. The creatures all look at their dead leader, and flee. I pick up the Idol, and throw it over to Raven, “Let’s get out of here.” —(Raven)— I catch the Idol in my hands, and look at Sombra with worry, “Sombra... I’m so sorry. I never realized what I’d been doing.” He turns, and smiles at me, “Don’t apologize. You’ve done nothing wrong. I wasn’t thinking straight. I just needed to get it off my chest, and the need for adventure as well. Come on now, it’s time my gift pays off.” I rest a hand on his shoulder, “Sombra, please, if you want to talk about something, talk about it with me. I can help, I am your friend.” He smiles, and laughs a bit, “I know you are, Raven. You are the best friend I’ve had.” I smile, “And you are a friend closer than the rest of them. We are still very good friends, but you have an understanding they don’t. Sweetie is my love, but even she lacks the understanding. Immortality, darkness, corruption, being a social pariah. We understand each other, and we always will keep that understanding. I have never once seriously regretted saving you from death, and I never will. I may not seem like it sometimes, but I care about you Sombra. A problem for you is a problem for me. And there will never be a day that might come as to where I would not lay my life on the line to help you.” He laughs once more, and reaches up a hoof to wipe a tear from his eye, “Look what you’ve done, making me emotional.” He turns back to me, “I would gladly give my life for you, Raven. I don’t like it when you go places alone. Not because I want to be out there, but because I want to be there to protect you. I want us to be warriors who always have each other’s back, who will be able to take on the worst odds that come their way. It’s just hard to do so when you go everywhere and do everything alone.” I pat his shoulder, “That will change, Sombra. We might not have any real enemies yet, but I can swear to you. When the time comes for me to put my life at risk for the world, I want you there by my side. Sombra, my brother in the shadows, and my friend above all others. No opponent could stand up to us together, for our bond is to strong for them to break.” He nods, “And I would gladly die beside you, Raven.” He smiles, “Come on now, we gotta find a way out.”