Follower of Sanguine [Assassin] [Completed]

[Jurkey]

Follower of Sanguine

Contains coarse langauge.

Coriv's Life

Spoiler:

Chapter I:
- Introduction

Chapter II:
- Hidden

Chapter III:
- The Caravan

Chapter IV:
- The Red Axes

Chapter V:
- Parchment of Freedom

Chapter VI:
- Resolve

A Week in Stormwind

Spoiler:

Chapter VII:
- Disappearance
Chapter VIII:
- Alter-Ego

--

Introduction

Chapter I

The blood was everywhere, dripping from my blade and on the ground. "Rest in peace" was my following words, and I ran away as fast as I could. The orange sunlight gave the blood dripping from my blade a new saturation and I could reflect myself in his punctured stomach. I was standing there, starring at the corpse before waking up from my daydreaming. So many thoughts in my head at once, but when I heard yells behind me I rushed away, not looking back. I slipped into the shadows, like an insect hiding in their hive. My guilt; my deed...

"Excellent, Cheetah, excellent. You are learning more and more, from day to day" Sanguine said proudly patting the still young Coriv on his shoulder as the shadows were getting longer and Sanguine's face was hid in shadow They were under the ground, in a cave hidden by moss and grass. The walls were covered in moss, hiding the dark stone that it was originally build off. The torch that Sanguine was carrying revealed the inside of the cave they were in and also Sanguine's face was revealed by the glow. His gray beard, wrinkled skin, narrowed eyes and a satisfied smirk was visible under his black hood..

"The one you just silenced was a corrupt noble of the Alliance, one of the men behind all of this. It was a neccesary death - it may be the death of merely 1 man, but it's going to make a remarkable difference in the long run." he said, standing proudly looking at Coriv. Coriv was sitting on the floor, lothering up against the wall, resting his right wrist on his right knee, while his other foot was stretched out, crossing the floor. Even though Coriv tried to look confident, his hands were shaking slightly, sweat dropping from his forehead gliding down his newly shaved face. His underlip started bleeding slightly, due to his teeth slowly piercing through it.

Sanguine looked down at Coriv and shaked his head slightly at him, noticing his nervousity. He inhaled deeply and sighed, before speaking.
"Don't feel sorry for him, 'Cheetah'. As I have always told you: "Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right". What we are doing may be against the law, but we are servants of justice, of liberty - you see Cheetah, we are alike the paladins in many ways, but we are the ones who have not been brainwashed by their corruption. We fight for liberty, to make it a better place for the people. We are just misunderstood, Cheetah. While the paladins may be out fighting the Scourge, the poor and sick are sitting in the streets without shelter or food. It's not the paladins, or the soldiers fault; it's corruption of power's fault. Like the old saying: "Most men can stand adversity, but if you truly want to test a man's strength - give him power." the old Sanguine said, crouching down and putting his hand on Coriv's shoulder, trying to establish eye contact with him. Coriv looked down in the floor, and slowly eyeying Sanguine up to make eye-contact with him. Sanguine was gently smiling at Coriv, trying to make him calm down a bit.

Sanguine was and old man, and Coriv was aware of that - he had to continue his masters work, his art, everything he fought for, because one day - Sanguine would be no more. Mysterious, manipulative, strong, agile, good-hearted and keen minded was what Coriv had to achieve, to follow his masters footsteps. As Sanguine was done speaking, he gently patted Coriv on the shoulder and stood up. He walked into a small cell - actually the only one which was down in that cave and lied down on a blanket, which seemed to be freshly new making it's threads almost glow up the small cell. Coriv smiled, realising that his master was right and lowering his head a bit to not make his head bump into the ceiling. He walked into the cell and lied down on the bed, standing across the room from Sanguine's blanket. Being able to see his own breath, he thought that sleeping without clothes on was a -very- bad idea.

I can't sleep, all these thoughts are flying through my mind. I killed a man today, in a dark alley in Lakeshire. I saw the women screaming and the children crying as I ran off into the shadows, slipping through the alleys. Sanguine told me that he did not die by my hand, but the hand of justice's. "The man was corrupt, tricking the people and greedy. You see, Cheetah, power corrupts people and this man had too much power to handle." was Sanguine's words.

[Jurkey]

Hidden

Chapter II

Coriv woke up in the cave that they slept it, by the glow of the torch which was still lit hanging on the wall. Coriv raised his eyebrow, trying to figure why it was hanging on the wall as he clearly remembered Sanguine having it in his hand. "Can't have slept for long, since the torch is still lit." was his first thought, but as he looked around he saw a faint sillhouet standing next to him and he quickly realized that it was a guard as Coriv spotted the tabard he was wearing. With a still blurry mind, he saw the tip of the guards blade on it's way to pierce Coriv's throat. As he quickly rolled and got up, he drew two daggers, each from a sheath on his back. There was two guards infront of him, and the torch's fainting made their sillhouetes visible. The guard who just tried to pierce Coriv's throat had trouble with getting his sword up from the stone floor that he had struck it into. To Coriv's advantage, Coriv threw it up in the air and grabbed it in an icepick grip. He shanked it the guard's eye right eye and gave him a kick with his right foot in the stomach, "pushing" him away. Coriv pulled out the dagger and was walking towards the other guard cofidently, smirking slyly at him.

The guard was helpless, shockingly mumbling, unable to move and his body was shaking, which made him drop both sword and shield. Coriv thruseds the dagger he held in his left hand next to the guards collarbone, in a revealed spot, with a icepick grip. He then draws out the dagger, using his other hand to hold the guard by his backhead, and thrusts the dagger into the guards throat. The guard falls to the ground and Coriv proudly stares it down smirking, crouching down and pulls out his dagger slowly, making the blood float down across his chest. He stood up, peering around the small cave that he is in and walks in the moss, spotted by blood from the guards bodies. The glow from the torch is almost extinguished, but the blood still gives a clear reflection. In the only cell that is inside the cave he finds a note on the old dusty bed, with the mattress feeling as hard as stone, due to the cold down there.

Coriv picks up the note, which is an old parchment with a yellow hue. He wipes off the dust from it, making the letters visible as he reads:
"Dear Cheetah,

If you are reading this, it means that I'm not here anymore but in hiding and that you are still alive.
You will get further explaination later, there is no time for me to explain at the time being.
It is not safe for us to cooperate as a team - physically, anymore. We are wanted men.
I won't write any details on your next task here, incase that the guards find this before you do.
In the hallway, there is a small sack. Inside that sack, you will find some regular clothes that you can wear.
They will prevent people from getting too suspicious of you, and we don't want to draw more attention at you than neccessary.

The map on the bed will lead you to your next objective.
I believe in you, apprentice.

-Sanguine"

Coriv stood there, lost and confused. As he was walking around the cell in circles, letting his fingers feel the moss that covers the wall and peering at the guards' bodies once in a while. After a while, he found a map struck onto the wall inside of the cell, with a knife. It was a map showing Lakeshire, and there was a X at something that looked like a well. Coriv thought that it might be a clue, to where he could find his master. He pulled the guards' corpses into the corners of the cell and walked out into the small hallway. Coriv took off his clothes down in the cold cave, making him jump on each foot to keep warm. He openend a small sack which was filled with fine clothes. He put on the clothes, putting his old ones into the sack. Sanguine had luckily made hidden sheathes in Coriv's new clothes, and had already put small daggers in each of them, which were rather light.

The sun was bright, seeing as it was midday. Coriv was smiling, reminding him of his life back in Lordareon. "I don't I have time for this" he mumbled to himself, as he headed towards Lakeshire with the sunrays glowing right into his faces, putting up a hand to his forehead to cover his face from the sun, still narrowing his eyes a bit. Lakeshire was empty at this time of the day, and the only noise was the birds singing and the wind blowing. Standing next to the well in the middle of Lakeshire, he noticed how one of the rocks that the well was build out was poorly put in and was way brighter than the other rocks, making it look like it was bleached. He barely touched the rock before it fell out of it's hole and fell down the well, splashing and making a drop of water hit his cheek. A thick sealed letter was inside of the rock hole. Coriv glanced around the city, searching for anyone watching him and without luck he pulled out the sealed letter discreetly and opened it. A bunch of parchments was inside the letter, and they all looked old, with a yellow hue and fainting ink. He drew the first parchment from the letter and read it closely:

"Dear Cheetah,

I see that you have found this letter, and the probably means that I'm either imprisoned or dead.
I wrote this letter a just when I recruitted you, because I had a feeling this would happen.
You have to seek out a troll named Jethan, he is an assassin who lives near Ratchet. Just tell him that you are my recruit.
I am currently in a prison, a couple of miles away from Lakeshire. It is an old mine, hidden very well and only a few people know anything about it.
It is specially build for 'dangerous' people like me - like us. I will most likely be there.

Seek out Jethan and he will assist you.

-Sanguine"

Coriv put the parchment into the sealed letter again, wrapped it up with some thread he found on the ground and put it into a pouch in his belt. He discreetly walked up to the stables, looked around and took one of the horses and discreetly galloped away. He galloped from Redridge Mountains to Elwynn Forest, and stopped at Lions Pride Inn, in Goldshire. He happened to stumble upon a caravan there, that was standing still, which was was bound to a horse. Coriv checked if anyone was around and spotting no-one, he discreetly jumped into the caravan and started waiting. Being tired from the long day, he quickly fell asleep in the back of the caravan.

"I hope this will work, and this wagon will hopefully go to somewhere near Booty Bay. I will hopefully reach the bay, take the boat to Ratchet and then be able to find the Red Axes. I don't want to make my master's dissappearance any worse than it already is, and I'll hopefully find Sanguine soon. was Coriv's thoughts just before he fell asleep inside the back of the caravan.

[Jurkey]

The Caravan

Chapter III

Waking up all of a sudden, confusingly looking around as two guards were standing ifront of him. The guard had pulled the blanket hanging at the back of the caravan, which was used to hide Coriv. One of the guards had the edge of his sword resting at Coriv's throat, while the other was standing a few feet behind him crossing his eyes, narrowing his eyes - glaring at Coriv. Judging by the grass and palmtrees, this was definently Stranglethorn Vale - and that would mean that Coriv was close to Booty Bay!

"Why are you in our caravan, you rat? You better get the hell out of here before I slice your body in half" the guard with his sword pointing at Coriv said.

Coriv did not answer, but desperately managed to smash one of the crates which was inside the caravan into the guards face. Making the guard stumble, he jumped out of the caravan and in a pounce-alike move he sat on the guards stomach and twisted his neck. He quickly jumped up, and just as he did the other guard swinged his sword at Coriv, slashing his stomach horizontially. Coriv bended over a bit, with one foot behind the other and pushed one of his hands against the wound, to temporarily stop the bleeding. With the other hand, he picked up the sword of the fallen guard and as the guard again tried to swing in the same fashion as before, Coriv parried with the flat side of the blade. He "slided" it down towards the guard's solarplexus and had quickly pierced the guard's gut. Letting go of the sword, the guard fell to the ground, seizuring around at first but in a matter of seconds - he was laying completly still, with a bit of blood dripping out from his mouth and his open wound, soaking the grass. Coriv swayed around and accidently made a crate from the caravan open, by getting off-balance and elbow striking the crate. He ripped the silk into bandages and tied them around his stomach trying to stop the bleeding. He was weakened and his vision was getting blurry, and coughed blood once in a while. He managed to untie the horse that the wagon was bound to and layed down on it's back, just holding his stomach a few inches away, resting on his elbows. As the horse was gallopping towards the bay, he tightly held around it's neck patting it on the side to make it more calm and tried to endure the pain, since his wound was held it against the back of the gallopping horse.

He finally reached the bay and slided off the horse back and dropped down on the ground. Coriv had some troubles getting up on his feet, after he landed on his back, but managed to get up and stumble inside of Booty Bay. Coriv did not get to see the bay very clear, as the only thing that mattered for him was to survive and he stumbled inside the nearest house. He smacked open the door with the side of fist and spotted a small bed near the small door that he had passed through. He had some problems with his balance as he was loosing blood, swaying around before stumbling upon the bed-end, making him face-plant into a pillow, lying in the top of the bed. A green-skinned being was standing in front of him, shorter than a human - about the size of a gnome. Coriv had never seen such being before, but couldn't afford to waste his time thinking about matters like that, in that situation. He was forced the trust the small being. The goblin narrowed his eyes a bit and raised an eyebrow at Coriv's sudden appearance. Tapping his foot a bit waiting for some kind of excuse or response from Coriv, the goblin sighed and finally questioned Coriv, seeing as Coriv didn't say anything.

"Hey, why are you crashing into my house like that, pink-skin?"
-the goblin said, adjusting his red eyepatch a little that covered his left eye.

"I-I need help..."
-Coriv said, rolling around, rolling from lying on his stomach, to the back and revealed the bandage to the goblin, that was wrapped around his stomach.

"Eight gold pieces and we got ourselves a deal"
-the goblin said proudly, not taking the situation very seriously, grinning at Coriv, lying in his bed almost bleeding out.
Coriv slowly nodded as he closed his eyes, with all of his limbs outside of the bed due to the small size of it. He woke up with a very bad taste in his mouth. He was lying in the bed and soon began puking into a rusty bucket standing next to the bed, that he was lying in. As he was done puking he looked up and saw the same green-skinned gnome standing next to the bucket. He was wearing some bright breeches and a sleeveless shirt.

"The thistle I gave you have side-effects... so, when do I get my money?"
-the green-skinned fellow said, rubbing his palms slowly together, smirking slyly. There was a small bowl of some moshed green stuff, standing on the bed table next to Coriv. He was barely awake and was still feeling dizzy from the side-effects of the thistle. With two raised eyebrows and narrowed eyes, he looked at the goblin and was rather confused about the whole situation, and how the hell he was ended up there. After a moment of thinking he recalled the caravan, his master, his training - everything and answered the greedy green-skin with a faint voice, coughing afterwards. "There is a silk wagon, not far from the bay... It's inventory will be worth quite some gold, fella"
-Coriv said trying to fake a smile to the goblin, in an attempt to convince the goblin that it was an OK payment.

The goblin nodded at Coriv, mumbling something and seemed rather pissed, walking in small circles around himself, raising his hand dismissingly at Coriv. He was reliefed and glad that he shouldn't run some weird errands for him, like Sanguine made him do. Coriv discreetly got up, and put on his clothes back, seeing as the goblin had taken them off when getting treatment. Coriv then quickly got out of the door and sneaked down towards the dock and as soon he was around a corner - he sighed in relief and walked upright. A couple of hours later, Coriv was ready, sitting at the dock of Booty Bay, and was soon on his way to Ratchet to find this 'Jethan', that Sanguine had told him about. Waiting for a couple of hours on the dock, chatting with some random adventurer about her travel to Booty Bay he got on the boat. As she questioned him how he had arrived to Booty Bay and why, Coriv just smiled at her and walked across the dock and on the boat.

Secrecy was something that Sanguine had told him to uphold, seeing as it is -very- important to their job. The only difference between a warrior and assassin is 'secrecy'. It was something that Sanguine had told him alot of times and he had also told him that is a top priority. He spend most of his time sailing across the sea, watching the crystal-clear water pass by, thinking about this.

[Jurkey]

The Red Axes

Chapter IV

Jethan, who is this Jethan? Sanguine have never told me about him, I have no clue who it is. Oh well, I suppose I have to trust him as he is my master and he always speaks true. My master always told me that assassins are merely predators, hunting their prey. We have to adapt our primal instincts. We have to be swift, merciless but still remain silent. A huge part of my training has been discovering my true instincts, and following them. Coriv was thinking this whole scenario through, when he was on the boat on his way to Ratchet. It was a long trip, but he knew that every second counted. Patience; that was one of the first things that Sanguine taught him. Sanguine once told him that he had waited for 3 days for his target to arrive, only to throw a knife into his throat. He lost completly track of time, he might had sit in that boat for days - but were only thinking about his master. He knew that his dear Juliette wouldn't live much longer and Sanguine would be his only friend remaining. He was most of his time sitting on the deck, lothering up one of crates staring out into the water. It gave him a feeling of joy, as he smiled watching the bay come closer, gave him a feeling of nostalgia.

"Ey, you! Got off the deck!" -
the green-skinned deckhand said to Coriv while scrubbing the deck.

Quitting his daydreaming he shaked his head slightly and blinked. He thought that he had been dreaming all along the trip, since it felt so surreal. He stood up, and slowly walking off the boat, entering the bay of Rachet - it sure looked like a weird place, he thought. He walked towards the inn, hoping that he would find Jethan. As he was about to walk inside the inn a tall muscular orc approached him. "Lok'tar ogar. You must be 'Cheetah' I suppose? Jethan is looking for you, he inside a tent up that hill. When you meet him, tell him that you have spoken to Gorb Silverblood." the orc said, narrowing his eyes a bit making the eye patch pop out of place. He pointed up a hill, heading towards the Barrens, outside of Ratchet. Coriv nodded at the orc and rolled up the sleeves of his fine shirt as he walked up the hill, in the direction that the orc had told him, where he could find Jethan. He walked up the hill and peered around the flat barrens. Coriv have never seen this place before, and he began thinking about how the place could be -so- barren. As he walked down the road, seeing the occassionally dead strider lying next to it which looked dried out. As he walked down the road he saw a small camp lying to the right of it, which basically was just a couple of big tents put up in one place. Coriv could see a couple of sillhouetes in the distance and he walked towards the camp. He saw a couple of people sparing, fencing or just talking and drinking something from their mugs. All of these people, no matter race - all wore a red tabard with a motive of two white axes crossing. Coriv didn't seem to care much but that as he was walking on his way to the tent, all of the people suddenly became quiet and glared at him, narrowing their eyes and had their hand on the hilt of their weapon, ready to draw it. As they were slowly sheathing their weapons about to approach him a troll came out of the tent. The henchman all became quiet, and tilted their head forward a bit, showing respect to the troll.

Hearing the footsteps of the troll, all of the henchman quickly sheathed their weapons again and a human tried to approach the troll. The troll just dismissingly waved his hand at the human and walked towards Coriv. The troll was tall, his skin had a blue-hue and he had long pointy ears, sticking out from his black hat which covered his eyes. The troll wore the same tabard as the others, which covered his dark leather tunic, and his dark leather pants. The troll drew the bo staff that he had equipped on his back and tapped it in the barren sand. "Yo. I kno' why ya' be her', mon'. Ya' be 'da Cheetah - Sanguine's recruit, mon. Don't ya' worry, I got 'da help ya' need."-the troll said.
"Where-" Coriv got interrupted again by the troll, who slowly made his left hand go up and down slowly, telling Coriv to calm down a bit. "Don't speak, mon - Sanguine told me 'bout 'tis long before he got captured. He knew 'dat he be wanted. But he only be doin' 'da good 'ting for 'da people."

Jethan's sly smirk was the only thing, not covered by the shadow that the hat made putting the most of his face in darkness. He gave Coriv sign to follow him inside the big tent that he just came out from. As Coriv entered the tent he noticed all of the equipment lying everywhere - and he recognized some of the armor, seeing as it was the one that the Alliance guards wore. Jethan sat in the other end of the tent, opposite from Coriv who was sitting at the entrace of it. Eyeing Jethan, Coriv noticed a small orb lying infront of Jethan. The crystal ball that was attached to it had a red mist flewing around inside of it. Jethan smirked slightly and fixed his gaze upon the orb. "Tis' orb 'be powerful, mon. Ah' stole 'dis from a powerful wizard a lon' time ago. 'Tis orb mus' not fall in 'dah wrong hands, mon. It can easily mak' havoc!" Jethan said and picked up some sort of scroll, put into is belt. He unsealed the scroll and handed it over to Coriv, revealing the faint letters, the parchment with a yellow-hue. Before Coriv could read anything on the scroll Jethan interrupted him, and Coriv gazed upon him again "Follow da' instrunctions in 'da list I gave ya' mon. It will explain everythin'." Jethan said, with a determined voice, pointing with his left index finger at Coriv, resting the elbow on his knee, sitting in a crouching position. Coriv sighed and closed his lips tightly as he walked out of the tent, walking past two of the tabard-wearing mercenaries, guarding the entrace of the tent. As he walked towards the road, towards Ratchet - he had a feeling that someone was watching him all along. He travelled back to Booty Bay, found a horse standing outside and rode back towards Duskwood, and finally through Westfall and to Elwynn Forest - ending up in Stormwind.

It was a long travel, but Coriv got kind of used to it afterall seeing as he had travelled alot around, the last couple of weeks. Stranglethorn Vale was rather peaceful at the noon, before the night creatures came out of their hiding. Duskwood was as always, dark, creepy and not a place where you wanted to be. He finally got to the entrance Stormwind and sighed in relief, having an alright travel - but he was not done yet, there was more to do... alot more.

[Jurkey]

Parchment of Freedom

Chapter V

After the long travel from Booty Bay to Stormwind, Coriv finally arrived. Having a bit of scurvy from the travel, the first thing he did was walk into the Gilded Rose, swaying around the streets. Finally, he managed to get inside of the inn smacking up the door and swayed towards a chair. As he sat, he told the innkeeper to give him oranges - immediately. Did as he was told, the innkeeper gave Coriv the oranges and Coriv began eating these oranges as fast he could, making his teeth shed them like a pig. Coriv felt better after eating the fruit and he recalled his mission again;

The first thing the note said, was that I should get a guard uniform; but that I didn't had time enough to get recruitted - I had to steal it from somebody else. Coriv sighed and got up, flipped over a couple of silver coins to the innkeeper and walked out of the inn. Walking around, gazing upon this beatiful city, it reminded him of how long time he had been away from there. It must have been years since he was here the last time. He came across Old Town and as he was on his way towards the Stormwind Keep, he saw a thug and a guard having a very furious discussion, near Cut-Throat Alley. Coriv smirked slyly and walked towards the guard, sneaking up on him. The thug quickly glanced at Coriv, also smirking at the dagger that Coriv just had pulled out from a sheathe on his back, covered by his cape. Coriv grabbed the guard's shoulder, forcing him down on his knees and shanked him into the side of his neck in an icepick grip.

The thug laughed satisfied at Coriv, but Coriv didn't really pay much attention to it, his mission was the only thing in his mind, at that moment. Sheathing his dagger into the hidden sheathe on his back, he pulled the guard into Cut-Throat alley by the guard's wrist. He then undressed the guard's body and equipped his garments. Coriv walked out of the alley, while the thug was still standing rather confused raising an eyebrow at Coriv - obviously impressed by his skills. Picking up the note from the thick letter, inside of his pouch, Coriv read the description narrowing his eyes slightly, reading it closely:

Lakeshire's jailor is currently in Stormwind to go through some stuff with the officers; signing a contract - who knows what Sanguine would do to get out. When the jailor is done with the contract-thing, I have to steal the paper with the written rights about being Sanguine's jailor(and the risks) and get to Lakeshire before him. You decide if you want to silence the jailor or not, if you get detected it will be neccessary. Coriv walked towards the keep, noticing the guards standing outside. Rather surprised, they let him though not being suspicious of him at all. As he sighed of relief, he walked into the keep peering around at the pretty hallway. It seemed that the royalties was gone and standing in a hall completly empty, beside him and an officer.

"You should get back to your post, soldier" the officer said, approaching him.
"Uh, uh-" Coriv stuttered, while looking around.

He noticed that there was nobody around, everybody was at their break. This was a chance for Coriv, to get rid off the officer quickly and get into that room and steal the paper before anybody noticed the dead body. A messenger from Stormwind couldn't get to Lakeshire before Coriv.
He walked up to the officer and desperately gave him a hook to the face. The surprise attack, made the officer stumble and while doing that; Coriv pulled out his sword and pierced it through the guard's gut - right under the breastplate, in a vulnerable spot. Coriv strangulated him with his other hand, to prevent him from alerting the other guards who was on their break. He pulled the guard into an empty library room, hiding him between two bookshelves. Coriv walked outside, and found himself asking about the direction for the jailor. The guard pointed him in direction to another room and Coriv waited outside, for the jailor to come out. Suddenly he heard a loud noise from the inside. The door opened suddenly and Coriv saw a man running out as fast as he could, with the parchment in his hand and blood dripping from his dagger, that was sheathed on his hip. The man was wearing a a black robe and a black hood which covered his whole face, making him look familiar with monks. Coriv runned after the assassin, but the plate armor he was wearing too heavy. He got the fire orb out that Jethan gave him, and smelted the plate armor. Afterwards, he ran after the assassin but the assassin threw a smokebomb and as the mist was cleared away - he was gone. Coriv found himself running from the guards, but managed to run around a corner and blend into a huge crowd. The guards had a hard time finding him and eventually gave up. He was reliefed and found the next note, put between his belt and chestplate.

"Dear Cheetah,

You are a probably reading this, because an assassin called "Fox" got the parchment before you. I had a feeling that this would happen, as he is my old student. You see Cheetah, this student was corrupted; he didn't fight the fight that we do, for justice but instead offered his services for money. I told him that I would silence him a long time ago and we did have a fight - but he managed to escape. Now he seeks vengeance, the parchment will mean that he will be able to come into my cell and kill me. I'm weak and fragile at the moment, so the odds won't be even. Cheetah, come to the jail where I'm imprisoned, wait for him to arrive and pounce him when he is off-guard
Prevent him from fullfilling his mission.

-Sanguine"

Coriv walked out of Stormwind, pulled out a dagger from a sheath on his thigh and shanked it into the ribs of a mounted Stormwind Guard. Hi-jacking the horse he galloped as fast as he could through Elwynn Forest. Every second mattered, but something happened on the way"Hey you! Give us all of your money and you're death will be less painful!" a man with a red mask yelled at Coriv, laughing afterwards. There was 2 men with red masks, rather young, who approached Coriv and threatened him. They were wearing rather old clothes, but armed with either a rapier or cutlass. "I don't have time for this, bandits! Go away before you hurt yourself." Coriv said with confidence. This was one of the few times where Coriv lost his cool, being stressed. He tried to gallop past them, but a bandit swong his dagger at the horse, managing to shank it and making it fall to the ground. Coriv quickly stepped back and was surrounded surrounded.

He quickly drew two daggers from sheathes on each thigh and they began fighting. Even though Coriv was a very skilled swordsman and assassin, it was 2 to 1 and while fighting more and more men were crawling out from their hides. As one of the other bandits tried to stab Coriv in the back, Coriv just evaded the tip of the dagger and pierced his body with his dagger. Coriv pulled out the dagger and the bandit fell to the ground. His comrades didn't seem chocked at all, but before Coriv knew; they had outnumbered him by 10. Coriv fought the best of his abillities, as Sanguine has teached him, but even though he killed alot of them he did take alot of hits and he became more and more tired. He had scratches all over his body, and blood was everywhere - but he was grateful that Sanguine had teached him how to fight. A bandit kicked Coriv in the gut and Coriv fell over, while another bandit with a rapier was just about to pierce his heart - Coriv closed his eyes.

"It's over, goodbye cruel world."

[Jurkey]

Resolve

Chapter VI

Just as he felt the sword tip lightly poking his chest, he opened his eyes and saw the bandit had an arrow piercing his heart. It felt like Coriv's eyes had been closed a long time, seeing all of the bandits was lying on the ground, in a pool of blood. As Coriv looked up, he saw Jethan and all of his men armed and with bloodied blades. Jethan was squading down next to him, offering his hand to help him up. "Ya' be lucky we be her' to rescue ya' ass, mon. On' second later and ya' be dead, mon."

Coriv's eyes were wide open, looking both surprised and confused at once. He followed Jethan and his band of mercenaries to Lakeshire, where they brattly stopped infront of it. "We create da' distraction, while ya' sneak 'round da' City and into 'da mine, 'lright mon?"

Coriv nodded and they all rushed into Lakeshire. Soon the swords began clashing, Jethan's men and the guards were having a big fight. The panic, the screams and gore covering the place was music to Coriv's ears. Jethan yelled something to Coriv, but the sounds of flesh being cut up and metal was too loud. Coriv just ran through Lakeshire and upwards the hill untill he heard that the ground's sound was different from that of moss. He looked down and saw that there was a handle on the ground. He pulled the handle, and there was a hidden opening. He climbed down the ladder and he was in absolute darkness. He couldn't see a thing! He thought that this was the jail, hidden under the ground. He could hear people sobbing around, the occasional rat crossing the floor and faintly hear the raid at Lakeshire. He knew that the odds were against him, and that if he didn't free Sanguine then Jethan and his men would fall. While Coriv used his senses to get around, he realized that he didn't have felt guilt for killing the officer, or the guards at the Stormwind - nor the bandits that tried to kill him.

But he didn't have the time to think, as he saw a torch equipped by a faint sillhouete approaching him, making a shadow on the wall. He could faintly recognize the fact that it was a guard, walking closer. Coriv swiftly hid behind some crates, while his heart was beating faster than ever before. Just as the guard passed him, he stood up, put up one hand before his mouth and the other with a dagger slitting his throat. The guard fell to the floor and the torch lied on the floor while it slowly extinguished due to a small pool on the floor, just reaching the sole of Coriv's shoes. Coriv looked around when he saw that the way the guard came from, was a dead end. Coriv quietly sneaked through the passage, which seemed miles long. He got closer to the constant screams and while looking around, he saw that it was cells filled up with men, women, children.

Sanguine was right, the Kingdom is truly corrupt. How can they jail women and children? What have they done, since they deserve something like that? I have to concentrate, I'm an assassin - I have to forget my opinions, morales and emotions to serve the higher causes.

He finally got to the end of the hallway, where a sillhouet stood before the cell door. Coriv recognized him and walked towards him and drew his daggers. It was the man who had stolen the parchment right infront of Coriv and now tries to kill Sanguine, his master - and his only true friend. Coriv was filled with anger and had his resolve: that man had to die, he serves no good in this world. Weakened as he was, Coriv still had his resolve and pride. Coriv drew his daggers and sneaked up on the sillhouet, crouching towards him, attempting to shank both of his daggers into the spine of the man in a multilate-like move. The man quickly glanced over his shoulders, spotting Coriv as he smoothly evaded the daggers.

"Oh, you finally got here - excellent.. I was just about to end the life of that petty man behind the bars over there." said a arrogant and calm voice, coming from the opening of the cowl. The cowled man grinned at Coriv. "Shut your trap, "Fox"! You are a weakling, who fell to the power of greed!" Coriv said, with a fainting voice. Sanguine was sitting at a bench, behind the cell door wearing his black hood and robe looking down in the ground with his hands folded and legs spread a little. A torch from the cell, lit up his hood, casting a shadow over his face. Only Sanguine's mouth and nose was visible, leaving his eyes in shadow. Coriv began stabbing fiercly at "Fox" in anger, exhausting himself while Fox calmly was parrying and doging all of his attempts to shed him in half. Fox smiled at Coriv, with an arrogant smirk. Fox managed to do a couple of counter-attacks, smacking around Coriv. It didn't last long before Coriv fell to his knees, bleeding all over the floor. There was a minute of silence, just when Coriv had dropped to the floor. The only sound in the whole hallway was the sound of his blood dripping from his a wound crossing his chest. Fox began laughing in sheer amusement:

"Oh, the little recruit who that petty little criminal is OH so proud of, now kneeling for the great Fox - I thought you had a little more strength to fight me. But you are obviously, no challenge at all" Fox said, while placing his right foot on his shoulder to keep him from not falling down. Fox grabbed Coriv's jaw and made him look into his eyes. Fox's face was scarred, his eyes were very light blue and he had long blonde hair, sticking out from his cowl. Fox starred into Coriv's eye, revealing Fox' wide opened eyes and insane smile, before he spat him in the face saying:
"Pathetic. I can't believe that the men who taught me how to fight, didn't even bother learning you how to use a sword."

Fox turned around and walked over to the cell door, lockpicking it. Coriv couldn't see Sanguine anymore, because Fox was standing infront of him. Coriv tried to pull out the orb from his pocket, but had a hard time doing so. It can't end like this... Juliette, she needs to be taken care of. Everything I stand for can't end right here - Juliette and Sanguine...

Fox drew his dagger, as Sanguine began to smirk slightly, fixing his gaze upon the weapons.
"I'm going to end your life, your unworthy bein- What do you find so funny, rat?" Fox' said surprised at Sanguine. "You should watch out for yourself, before you watch out for others." Sanguine said, with a calm voice.
Suddenly, a dagger tip was sticking out of Fox' chest. "What the-" Fox' said with a fainting voice. His eyes were opening and blood dripping running down his lip. His robe was covered in blood in seconds, and there was blood spraying out from his chest. "Your death was inevitable, scum." a voice coming behind from Fox said. As Fox fell to the floor, Coriv became visible as shadow, standing behind him. He stood there, with Fox' blood dripping from the tip of his blade behind the dead body and the torch lightning up his face. The racket from the people's screams, drowning out the fight between Coriv and Fox. Sanguine stood up and looked Coriv into his eyes. Sanguine's eyes were narrow, and his face expression made him rather hard to read. There was a minute of silence before Coriv tried to say something, but Sanguine interrupted him:

"Do not speak, Cheetah. Your questions will be answered in time, but I must say - I'm impressed. You managed to complete your mission, without doubt or inconfidence. Your skill and power have been growing incredibly fast. You woke up and made your way out of our head quarters. You obtained the orb from Jethan, sneaked into Stormwind keep and obtained an armor from a soldier, fought countless numbers of bandits and overran the city of Lakeshire with the Redaxe's help - and finally you managed to get into this cell and kill Fox. You are truly a master assassin and a true fighter of liberty, Cheetah. You have adopted many of your primal instincts and have truly understand the concept of an assassin, Cheetah - Or should I call you, son?"

Coriv looked rather surprised at Sanguine, with wide-open eyes and Sanguine smiled comfortably at Coriv. Sanguine hugged him, patting him on his back. They made their way out of the underground jail, lockpicking all of the locks on their way. Walking out of the prison with hundreds of angry criminals covering their back, they made a riot and took over the city. Even though they had conquered the city for days, the Alliance finally got hold of it again. Being ashamed of it, you'll most likely not find it in the history books - but if you happen to stumble upon Coriv, he might tell you the story...

[Jurkey]

Disappearance

Chapter VII

Narrowing his eyes, straying his fingers through his newly growed beard, he read the letter he recieved, over and over again. Occassionally, he gazed through the horizont of Booty Bay to collect his thoughts, then read through the letter again. He could spot the statue of Janeiro in the distance, but didn't seem to bother his mind with it.

"Dear Cheetah,

It has been a while, eh? You and your business in Stranglethorn has with no doubt kept you busy. As long as you fight with our cause in mind, purify the damned, purge the corruption. Many years ago, we fought a group of people called "The Fleshbound", do you remember that?
The ones who will reign doom upon our world, the ones who will try to corrupt all life to take advantage of it! We have to fight them, once again. Seems they re-established, and are now growing. We need to stop them from corrupting our world! Cheetah, you shall bring righteousness. They have a small establishment in Elwyn Forest. Infiltrate their ranks.

In the letter I've send you, there is an identifaction paper. Go to Stormwind and give it to a man in the Cathedreal Square called Velson.
He will make them legit, and you will have a new identity. You will stay in Stormwind for a week or two, and that means that you will need a new identity - An alter ego.

You should worry about handing in the papers first. Afterwards, you should infiltrate their ranks. After you have done that, twist your knife into the back of their leader when they least expect it. Go now, I wish you good luck.

When you have fulfilled this contract, there will be a payment waiting for you. I will hand it to you in person.
After you have read this note, get rid of it.

- Sanguine"

Coriv read it for a last time before crumbling it and letting it fall of the bottom floor of Booty Bay, into the water. He put the identification papers into his pouch, knitten tightly to his leather belt. The wind made it blow all the way into the horizont, towards the sun. Coriv exhaled and walked up on the deck, peering around. He walked into the tavern and spotted Kirabo sitting in the corner, talking to someone. Coriv approaches him, telling him that he will leave for a while. He is aware that telling people about it is risky, but Coriv will not let his close friends stay back without any clue about his whereabouts. Kirabo tells him to take care and Coriv smiles at him, as he crosses the floor walking towards Demitrius, basically telling him the same thing. "There's less competition for your business when I'm gone, Demitrius." Coriv says sarcastically at Demitrius, as he grins shortly and leaves the tavern. He walks out of the bay, with a million thoughts in his mind. He saddles his horse outside of Booty Bay, takes off his scarlet hat and puts it on a sack, bound to the rear of the horse. As they ride through Stranglethorn Vale, the wind blows through Coriv's hair as he closes his eyes slightly.


The wild creatures in the jungle doesn't seem to mind them, convinced that they can't catch up with the galloping horse. Coriv is thinking about how his merc business will work out, when he is gone. He didn't tell any of his members about it yet, but he figures that he should write a mail to Keakrekyea - his most trusted man, when he gets to Stormwind. After a couple of hours riding, he finally reaches the small camp at the top of Stranglethorn, where he gets something to eat while the horse takes a rest. The hills of Stranglethorn acts like a cover of the Rebel Camp - as a child lying inside it's mother's womb. After Coriv finishes his meal, he thanks the humans of the camp and gets back upon his horse again, as the horse trots through the opening of the dark forest. The trees crown blocks the sun's light, rendering Duskwood in complete darkness. As Coriv and his horse trots on the road through Duskwood, they turn to the left towards Westfall. Coriv haven't spend much time in Duskwood before, and last time he was there was a couple of weeks ago, when his band of mercenaries were killing off Harrien and his orc minion. He had secretly been stalking them, keeping an eye on them. Coriv was very proud of his group of mercenaries - after all, they were the closest thing to friends, he ever had.

His horse was scared, Coriv could feel it sweating as the saddle began to slide around on the horse's back a bit. He would occasionally pat it on it's neck to damper it's nervousity and it worked. Coriv could see the barren land of Westfall in the distance, and made the horse gallop. Coriv narrowed his eyes, as the brightness of Westfall's sand reflected their light into his eyes. Suddenly, his horse falls over and screams in pain and Coriv falls off the horse, and lands on his leg - serverly injuring it. Biting his underlip in pain, he looks up and spots two thugs standing over him, starring him down. They are wearing black masks and black leather garments, both of them having daggers sheathed on each hip. One of them pulls Coriv up on his feet again and puts Coriv in a lock, tightly hugging both of his forearms on the front of Coriv's shoulders. The other man begins to punch his face and body. They laugh, enjoying the situation, as one of them spits on Coriv. Coriv sighs and smirks, laughing maniacally at the situation.

"What the hell is wrong with you, fuckhead? Don't make me end your worthless life already!" one of the thugs says, laughing nervously afterwards. He throws a smokebomb first, to get the upper hand as he manages to grab the one thug that is holding him's, right dagger, from the thug's sheath and stab it into the thugs thigh, making the thug fall on his knees groaning in pain. The other thug punts him in the stomach though and unsheathes both of his weapons, as he attacks Coriv in a pounce-like move - jumping up in the air holding both of his daggers in an icepick grip. Coriv grabs a throwing knife from a breastpocket on his red vest and throws a small dart into the pouncing thug's eye, and evades the pounce - making the thug faceplant directly into the ground and making the dart smack through his head. As Coriv turns around to face the other thug though, he gets smacked in the side of his head by a fist. Coriv blackouts for a second and as he looks up, the thug has grabbed Coriv's neck and is about to thrust his dagger into Coriv's stomach. Coriv grabs the thrusting hand's wrist, and kicks the thug's triceps with his right-foot - breaking the yet stnading thug's arm, making the thug scream in pain and fall to the ground. "The sword of justice has scabbard" Coriv whispers to the still alive thug that is lying on the ground, as he thrusts his dagger into the thug's stomach. Letting go of the thug's neck that he was holding while stabbing him, he stands up again and climbs up the horse again - galloping towards Westfall.

[Jurkey]

Alter-Ego

Chapter VIII

The break of darkness is fading away, as he is coming closer to the break of Duskwood. As he reaches Westfall, the sun shines brightly blinding him shortly, as his eyes had adjusted themselves to the darkness of Duskwood. He is breathing heavily, being rather exhausted after the fight with the thugs. The sands of Westfall blows off away from the road, as the hooves of his stallion clears the path. Gallopping through Westfall, he finally reaches Sentinel Hill. Sliding off the back of his horse, he carefully pats it and walks through the golden sand and up to the gryphonmaster.

"A gryphon to Stormwind." he says, smiling gently at him and takes forth a couple of silver coins, flipping them.
"O' cours' laddie. Three silver coins." he says, rubbing his index and thumb against each other.
Coriv hands over the silver coins, as he gets onto a gryphon and flies towards Stormwind. Surfing through the winds, flying above the treetops he scouts the luxirant forest. He is suddenly struck by nostalgia, smiling as he reaches Stormwind. Diving towards the gryphon platform, they deaccelerate rapidly as the gryphon reaches the platform. Coriv nods at the gryphon master, and slides off. He then walks through the city, towards the cathedreal. Glancing around the city, his eyes widen as he peers around. "Can't even recognize the damn place.." he thinks to himself, as he finally reaches Cathedreal Square. He seems rather shocked when he sees the huge cathedreal. He walks towards it as he suddenly gets interrupted daydreaming. "Psst! Are you... Coriv Aseldor?" a man in a light robe whispers to him. The man bites his underlip, glancing nervously around. Coriv nods at the man. "You must be Velson, I suppose?" he perks an eyebrow at him. The man nods, as he motions for him to follow as they go into an alley, Velson opens a crate and hands the inside of it to Coriv. It's a blue and golden robe, with a blue hood. Coriv holds up a hand, making a gesture for him to hold on for a second. He then pulls out the identifaction paper from his belt and hands it over to Velson.

"Ah, I see. I will take care of it, just go ahead and change somewhere. When I have legitimated these papers, you will be "Brother Falar Goldhand"." Velson says as he nods and walks out of the alley. Coriv smirks slyly, as he begins to put on the robe and hood, putting his hat into the crate. He walks out of the alley and towards the barber in Trade District. Walking into the barber, he eyes the goblin and sits down in a barber chair. "I would like to get my hair dyed blond." he says, putting a pouch of silver coins on the table before him. The goblin smiles broadly. "Alrighty! Let's get started then." he says, as he grabs the pouch and counts the coins carefully. Afterwards, the goblin begins to dye his hair with some gnomish device. Hours passes as he is finally done, he walks out of the shop and nods politely at the barber. He then heads towards the cathedreal square, and enters the huge cathedreal. Never being in there before, he carefully gazes around the place. He walks into the crowd of people, who wears familiar garments to his own. He smiles and nods at the people around him, as a man approaches him. "I haven't seen you around before. New around these parts?" a priest asks him, people around Coriv begins to perk an eyebrow at him, being curious in their conversation. The robed man rubs his black facial hair, eyeing him with his crystal bright eyes.
"I'm new around here. I'm Falar Goldhand." Coriv responds as he smiles gently and nods at the fellow priest. Coriv reaches out his hand, and shaking the priest's firmly. The priest nods at him. "Garon Lightspring" he says as he then turns away and walks away, and becomes one with the crowd again. Coriv sighs in relief, as he walks out of the cathedreal and sits on a bench next to the well.

"Alright, time to find out about these Fleshbound People. Andarun might know something about them. he thinks, as he looks around. Not spotting anyone watching him, he walks into an alley and picks up a small walkie-talkie looking device from his pocket. "Andarun, you therethere?" he whispers into the walkie-talkie. "Aye Coriv. 'Ows goin'?" a rather drunken voice responds. "Do you know anything about a organization called 'The Fleshbound'?" Coriv says into the walkie-talkie, still peering around, making him look at bit paranoid. Andarun provided him with the information that he asked for: location, motive, name of leader and how to join their ranks. A sly smirk spread across Coriv's face as he heard this and he immediatly began his travel to Blasted Lands. Andarun told him that they were a secret group who hid in some kind of cave underground, and they actually disguised as casual people amongst other people. It was hard to spot who were members of The Fleshbound, but Andarun told him that they all lacked their left ringfinger nail. The public had no idea that members of the Fleshbound lacked the nail, but it made it easier for the Fleshbound to identify members. He walked into the alley where he changed clothes and took on his assassin garments - dark cowl, armor and all his daggers in his hidden scabards. Coriv thought the whole scenario through as he walked through Stormwind and reached Elwynn Forest. He jumped up on his horse as he began the travel through Redridge Mountains, Swamp of Sorrows and finally reached the sands of Blasted Lands. Smirking broadly as he peered through the valley he rode down towards the location that he had marked on his map. Coriv was exhausted after the long ride, but aware that this mission should be a short one, he just had to avoid doing any missions and go straight for the kill.

Coriv finally reached the middle of nowhere, and it seemed that most of the demons, ogres, basillisks and whatever is found across these lands were asleep. He slipped of his horse back and told it to go back to the nearest alliance camp. As he walked across the sand, he stumbled upon something. It was some sort of handle and as he pulled it, an entrance appeared in the sands. He peered around and spotting noone, he walked dwon the old dusty stone stairs. "I have no time to earn ranks, and I cannot risk innocent lives. I'll assassinate one, and grab their armor." was Coriv's thoughts as he sneaked down the underground cave. Torches were hanging on the walls, and their glow were the only thing that gave any vision. The brown stone walls were covered in blood, and he stumbled upon the occassional corpse which had been ripped apart. Coriv spotted a person in red armor and a tabard that Coriv recognized: The Fleshbound. Coriv took a moment to inspect that armor, and like the casual armor that the Stormwind guards wore, the weak spots were the same. Sneaking up on him he grabbed his helmet and twisted it, making a crack sound and made the guard fall to the ground. Smiling satisfied for a moment for his smooth killed, Coriv then dragged him inside a cell that and scavenged his armor. Peering around, Coriv spotted some sort of torture table with a rotten corpse bound to it, and various corpses chained to the walls. The smell of rotten corpses and the screams coming from under ground made Coriv even more fierce and as the guard lied naked on the ground, and Coriv had stole his equipment he decided decapitate the guard. "You scum, I hope you rot in hell!" he thought to himself as he walked out the cell and walked down the alley. After a bit of walking, he saw how the hallway became broader and soon he found himself in a huge room with people wearing the same tabard as him.

[Jurkey]

Infiltration

Chapter IX

As Coriv stood there peering through the bright hall, he was a bit surprised how this had been kept secret for the whole world. It was a huge room with a small hallway at the end, but the door seemed to be closed. "Damn it! The leader must be in there, but I suppose the only way to get in there is to sneak in there at night, and steal a key. Asking around who my superior is would be too damn risky though. I have to figure something, fast!" he thought as he gazed through the big hall, eyeing all the people wearing the same uniform as him. Taurens, orcs, humans, dwarves and even -gnomes- were in here, all for the same cause. Coriv thought that when everyone went to sleep, he could sneak into the master's bedroom and twist a dagger into his face. Coriv spend most of his day thinking about how he should get into the master's bedroom, and asking the others about it didn't help him much. They spoke some sort of ancient demonic tongue and asking too many questions would make him look suspcious. Hours later, the main room seems to be somewhat empty, the door to the master's bedroom appears to be open. Coriv looks around as he walks into the room, and spots a person sitting infront of a big mirror with a black frame. The person appears to be combing her long black hair, with blood dripping from the tip of it. "Finally... Seems like fate lead us together, yes?" the person says as it raises up and turns towards Coriv, revealing the person is infact a woman. She whips her dry black hair behind her back and locks her gaze at Coriv, smiling with her rotten teeth. Coriv has a hard time figuring what she's looking at, seeing as she has no pupils. Narrowing his eyes at the lady he charged towards her, unsheathing both of his daggers and attempts to stick it through her throat. She grins as he pierces her throat, grinning faintly. "My death will mean nothing and this won't be the last time you see me. I'll rise, stronger than ever.." she says as she falls to the ground, bleeding. Guards rush inside and Coriv throws a smokebomb and makes his way out through the mainhall and into the dark entrance as he rushes out. He grabbed his other garments on the way, and quickly put them on instead.

He gets out of the "cave" and looks around the desert lands. He grins, smirking satisfied but a bit worried. "How come she let herself die so easily..?" he thought, as he travelled back to Stormwind. Days passed, maybe weeks before he finally reached the gates of Stormwind. Walking through the gates, he felt home again. As he walked into the trade district, he was poked on his shoulder. He turned around and spotted a familar person. "Sanguine? How, when, what..." he whispered lowly, as the man smiled at him. "Congratulations, Cheetah. Your training is over and we our paths will split here. You shall head back to Booty Bay and continue your business - and I... I will stay here, and serve justice." he said as he turned around walking away. Coriv stood there, hopefully confused. "Very well..." he said, watching Sanguine leave.

Coriv was in his usual attire, as he put his hat down before his eyes walking off. "Finally... I'm now an assassin.." he thought, smirking.