Chapter 32
Sham, having stolen two of Zoro's swords, throws them onto the ground. When Zoro attempts to attack him, Sham appears to be hit but then manages to pin Zoro down, revealing that he was never cut at all. Buchi then jumps into the air and attempts to hit Zoro with Cat Pound, but Zoro escapes. Buchi and Sham attack Zoro relentlessly, forcing Zoro to defend himself. Usopp attempts to help, but Zoro takes the attack in order to keep the focus of the attack on himself. Buchi and Sham, seeing the opportunity, cut open Zoro's chest. Nami runs to retrieve Zoro's swords, but Jango stops her by throwing his disk at her. The disk cuts her shoulder, wounding her. Kuro appears at the top of the slope, shocking the Black Cat Pirates.
Cruel Fortune
Zoro demands Sham hand over his swords, but Sham refuses. Sham tosses Zoro's swords aside so he can fight Zoro, which annoys Zoro deeply. Zoro cuts Sham, believing Sham is finished, Zoro heads for his swords only to find Sham has survived on the account of the fact all Zoro managed to cut was his shirt because Sham is really skinny. Buchi enters the fight as Sham holds Zoro against the ground. Zoro manages to toss Sham aside and barely dodge the attack; the ground breaks where Buchi impacts it.
Zoro realizes that he has to fight with one sword against the pair and there is nothing he can do, and he also notes if Buchi hits him with that technique, he will break every bone in his body. The pair strike at Zoro in a fury of cat scratches, and Zoro can only defend against the pair for now. Usopp fires his slingshot in an attempt to aid Zoro, but Zoro takes the damage, leaving himself to be hit by Buchi. Nami angrily tells Usopp off for his failed attempt, but Usopp tells Zoro took the hit on purpose. Zoro yells on them that if they hit the pair, the Nyaban brothers will go after them instead.
Nami attempts to get Zoro's swords for him, however as she approaches so does Jango and he slashes her side with his ring. Suddenly, Jango gets a bad feeling come over him and the Nyaban brothers both become incredibly frightened. On top of the slope stands Kuro. Kuro demands to know why dawn has passed and his plan is not in motion.
Mission 17
Handler and Loid meet up while disguised and discuss Anya's recent earning of a Stella Star. Handler poses the idea of using WISE agents to get her more stars, but Loid rejects the idea as it would look suspicious. Regardless, she encourages him to try to get Anya to get many stars as quickly as possible, as Donovan Desmond has been making some recent financial transactions that they find suspicious.
Anya arrives at school proudly wearing her Stella Star on her chest. Several students begin talking in awe about how she was apparently the fastest student to get a Stella Star. Becky greets Anya, who instructs her to call her "Starlight Anya" from now on. Becky states that with this fame, "Starlight Anya" could probably make 100 friends in just today. An image pops into Anya's mind of Damian asking her to be friends and Loid praising her for helping to complete his mission. However, Damian instead greets her by telling her not to get too full of herself before walking off, which disappoints Anya.
Becky and Anya head to their class, where the students immediately begin to badmouth Anya for wearing her Stella Star in class. Other students suggest that the whole incident was staged and she did not deserve the Stella Star. Two girls looking for support in this ask Damian what he thinks. Instead of support, though, he tells them that Eden Academy is not a third-rate school that would give out Stella Stars without merit. The girls worriedly try to take back their words before Damian cuts them off, telling them to transfer if they have a problem with Eden. However, these words only hurt Damian because he knows that he has lost to Anya.
Becky and Anya go for lunch, where Anya gets asked what she has decided for her reward for earning a Stella Star. Anya thinks she could get peanuts, but Becky pushes her to think bigger, like the gifts she has gotten of dresses, tiaras, and a tank. Seeing all the things Becky has gotten makes Anya frightened at the amount of money the Blackbell family has. Anya decides that she wants a castle, but Becky tries to get her to lower her request size. Becky brings up her favorite reward: her pet dog Wiesel, which makes Anya curious. Anya sees Damian and his gang walking by, so she asks Damian if he has a dog. Damian shrugs off the question, but Anya reads his mind and sees him playing with his dog Max. Anya envisions a future where she tells Damian that she got a dog, which makes Damian want to compare the cuteness of the dogs. Loid and Anya then head to Donovan and Damian's house, where Loid asks Donovan to end this war, thus achieving world peace.
When Anya arrives home, she tells Loid and Yor that she wants a dog as a reward for her Stella Star. Yor tells Anya that taking care of an animal is a big responsibility, but Loid tells Anya that he will give the idea some thought. Loid envisions a guard dog that can be used to protect Anya, whereas Yor envisions a dog that would attack and kill Anya. After reading their minds, Anya tells the two of them that she wants a small cute dog, which makes Yor envision a small dog slashing Anya's throat with a knife in its mouth. Loid decides that they should go to a pet shop over the weekend to see what is available.
Elsewhere, two men are discussing the sales of the dogs they have in holding. They plan on selling them to some revolutionaries who are going to use the dogs as bomb dogs. They look over the dogs and see that some of them are not doing well. One of the dogs sees an image of Loid, Anya, and Yor smiling at him, which makes him stand up.
Chernobog
Sunlight's last grasp reached up from the horizon like the clawing hand of a drowning man. Black against a blackening sky, the Great Mountain's frozen peak loomed.
In the crannies and crevisses, in the darkened recesses of stone and ice, the denizens of nightmare crawled and squirmed. Silken shadows given form, withered hags of sorcerous witchcraft, leathery gargoyles, and skeletal fiends - all creeping ever upward, gathering for their unholy sabbath.
Night at last swallowed light. Crystalline silence befell the summit. The wicked waited for their God. The pointed peak cracked and opened, two colossal bat-like wings spreading. He emerged, exultant.
Creatures of every horror danced and cheered in twitches and fits, calling to their God. His jagged finger pointed and his minions of malice spewed forth to spread fear and death and darkness.
Chernobog, Lord of Darkness, grinned.
High Inquisitor
At a young age, Sally Whitemane witnessed her family succumbing to the Scourge's plague of undeath while they were traveling through Lordaeron. She was forced to destroy her own parents and siblings when they rose as mindless undead, and since that day she found fulfillment only in the destruction of undead. She became a priestess of the Light and joined the Scarlet Crusade, a religious order dedicated to the eradication of the undead from Lordaeron. Though they believed that their mission of cleansing the world of undead was a noble one, the crusaders soon grew intolerant of all non-human races and came to believe that anyone who was not a part of their order was infected by the Scourge's plague of undeath and had to be tortured or eradicated. Along with Renault Mograine, who had been given the rank of Scarlet Commander, Whitemane oversaw operations in the Scarlet Monastery. However, while Mograine commanded the military forces in the area, the fearsome Whitemane, who had the ability to resurrect her comrades after death, was the true master of the Monastery.
Alliance and Horde ordered Sally's death, but this was not the end as the High Inquisitor returned years later. According to Lilian Voss, "the problem with the Scarlet Crusade is that they keep coming back, even after death. Behind those resurrections is High Inquisitor Whitemane. With her death, so goes the Crusade." To give Whitemane a final rest, Alliance and Horde adventurers retrieved two anointed blades known as Unquenchable and the Hand of Providence. They then confronted and slew Whitemane. The adventurers plunged the blades into Whitemane's corpse, seemingly putting a final end to the Scarlet Crusade's tyranny.
Ironically, Sally Whitemane was later raised as an undead by Thassarian and the Deathlord to serve as the third member of the new Four Horsemen. While death rid her of her madness, her strong spirit remained.
Chapter 4
Velen appraised Nobundo with his crystal blue eyes. Nobundo protested, "They will not listen to me! I do not think this was a good idea."
Velen's lip curved upward on one side. He wore that same expression that made Nobundo feel as if the Prophet was aware of so many things beyond Nobundo's understanding. "After all you have been through, all you have overcome, are you really willing to give up now?"
"I cannot get them to see me as anything more than Krokul, despite what I may have to teach."
"Perhaps the true problem does not lie with them."
That is what the elements said, Nobundo thought.
As a result of their previous conversations, Nobundo had learned not to try and guess at what the Prophet was thinking, so he stayed silent and waited.
Velen continued, "I hear the screams in your mind: the women of Shattrath. I am aware of your heart's burden. You have questioned whether or not your departure was an act of cowardice."
Nobundo nodded, suddenly overcome with emotion.
"A part of you knew even then that it was imperative for you to survive, to embrace your greater destiny. And throughout so many trials from that day on, never once did you give up. That is why I chose you. Why the elements have chosen you. Our people call you Krokul, Broken, but I believe you may present us with our greatest hope."
Velen extended a gentle hand to Nobundo's shoulder. "Let them go. Let the screams be silenced."
It was true. He was not a coward. Part of him had known, but in all that had happened since then, that part of him had gotten hopelessly lost. Nobundo let out a deep sigh, and somehow he knew right then that when he lay down to sleep that evening, the nightmare would not be waiting for him. He felt a sense of joy from the elements, as if they were... proud.
Velen smiled. "Now, for the good of all of us, go. Go and embrace your destiny."
Nobundo returned to the landing. The gathered draenei were conversing among themselves, paying no heed to the frail figure above.
He raised his staff. Clouds gathered from a clear blue sky, casting a dark shadow onto the settlement. The draenei stopped their conversations.
Nobundo called out, his voice carrying across the marsh. "Watch and listen."
A deluge of rain poured down. Lightning danced between the lamps surrounding the plaza, shattering the glass. The gathered draenei stared in awe.
"You have come here to learn. To one day wield these powers: the powers of the shaman."
"But shamanism is an orcish practice!" one of the audience called out. Others joined in concurrence.
"Yes. A practice they abandoned in favor of communing with demons. Now we will journey the shaman's path, a path that will lead us to a future where no one will kill our women..."
Nobundo paused, keeping his voice steady.
"Or our children. Where Krokul and unaffected will work together to realize a dream that has long been forgotten by our people: true freedom."
The members of the assembly looked at one another, seeking approval from one another, measuring any continued resistance. Finally they all seemed to come to the same conclusion: they would listen.
"Your journey begins with these simple words...."
Nobundo smiled. The clouds above swirled. Lightning arced. Rain poured.
"Everything that is, is alive."
Oda Eiichiro
Valentine's chocolates have arrived! Thank you so much!! The characters and staff included, we're all enjoying them. I love chocolate.
V・C（バレンタインチョコレート）が届きました！どうもありがとうございます!!C・S（キャラクタースタッフ）一同でいただきます。僕はC（チョコレート）が好きだ。
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