As the green child rambled on, the ghostly elf noticed a bag near by. She shifted through it finding a thick book titled "The Common Man's Dictionary". Everything written inside of it was in common, which would explain why many pages were missing and there were unsightly stains on a few of them. Evidently this child wasn't using the book for late night reading. Flipping through the pages the elf eventually landed on the page with the word "Guardian" on it. Apparently guardians were those who gave aid and advice to their charge, which was news to the elf.

[b]"Ah ogre patties. That apparently is something guardians do! Well can't say I've ever done something like that before, but I'm an elf. And elves are the best at everything!"[/b]

The ghost eventually floated back to the child, who had noticed she had left and was now quiet. Upon her return the child tried to say something but was quickly shushed by the ghost. [b]"Ut! Silence, I’m about to guardian at you."[/b] Floating next to the child the ghost sat down. Or at least she would have tried, if she had legs. Instead she just sort of... Floated half way into the ground. Then she put a reassuring hand on the young boy's shoulder, however once more she was reminded that she was incorporeal and her hand phased through his body. It was a strange, frosty feeling. 

[b]“From my understanding, your issue is that nothing is turning out like you had hoped.”[/b]

[color=a2d39c]“Yeah. I-I get that the-”[/color]

[b]“Shut up. That was a rhetorical question.”[/b]

[color=a2d39c]“That wasn’t a ques… Nevermind, go on.”[/color]

[b]“You see... Mushroom kid... Sometimes life gives you lemons. And when that happens... You need to find a big hammer and crush those lemons into juice, because lemons are terrible. I only ate them once and rest assure they are the worst fruit. If life gave me lemons, I would view it as nothing short of a declaration of war."[/b]

The little kid wasn't really sure what the ghostly elf was getting at, and was frankly getting a bit nervous. Regardless of his feelings the ghost continued on with her story. [b]"Let me tell you the story from my homeland called 'The Puny Pebble'. Once upon a time there was this tiny pebble who wanted to fly. It wanted to fly so bad that it just rolling along the ground, looking for ways to fly. If rolled into the river, it rolled off cliffs, and it even rolled into people's shoes. It wanted to fly so bad, it just kept rolling around and around, hoping to find a way to fly."[/b]

The ghost seemed to have some point in this story, though frankly the child was just getting cold. He was seriously considering getting out of this rain before he freezes to death, but this ghost seemed pretty intent on telling her story. [b]"And then the Warrior-Singer-God Amora crushed the pebble under his foot as he rushed out of the forest and went to stop the Nar Barbarians. When he arrived he killed all the invaders, blew up their fortress, and burst out from the inferno on a winged unicorn. He turned water into ice as he powerslide off the unicorn and onto his immortal throne just as his ride exploded into pearls and diamonds."[/b]

There was no words that could describe the look of utter confusion on the child's face. [color=a2d39c]"That's a bad story."[/color]

The ghost simple shrugged her shoulders and huffed. [b]“I expected as much from a child. Of course you can't appreciate the depth and intricacy of elven storytelling. Esssentially, the point of the story is that all that stuff about the rock is stupid, and the tale only gets good once Amora comes and starts blowing things up.[/b] The ghost put an arm around the child, only to end up putting on arm through the child and sending a shiver down his spine. [b]"If he didn’t show up, then it would just be about the dumb rock doing the same thing again and again until it either worked or it died – and that would be a terrible moral to teach kids. But Amora does cool and exciting things, the story has become a classic piece of folklore printed in children’s books for generations."[/b]

Standing up for once the child stepped away from the ghost, mostly because being near her made the kid very, very cold. [color=a2d39c]"Yeah, alright, but... What if we're more like the pebble? That we want to really, really, want to do something, but every time we try we just... Don't? I mean... What if I never do anything with my life? What if I'm really just food for the strong? I came here to be someone [i]special[/i], or at least useful, but I can't do anything right. I couldn't catch fish, I couldn't pick mushrooms, I wasn't able to break some rocks, and I couldn't even find that goat for-"[/color]

It was at this point that the ghost also stood (Or floated) up and put her hands in front of the child to stop him. [b]"Whoa whoa whoa. Whoa. Wait a moment dirt bag. You're fishing, foraging, and looking for wild animals?"[/b]

[color=a2d39c]"I was... Yeah?"[/color]

[b]"“You are an [i]barbarian[/i], like I was! I saw you take that boulder back in that bridge! The stars made you a rage-powered, face-smashing, avatar of chaos! Surely you'd consider becoming a [i]Totem Warrior[/i] like I was."[/b]

The child looked at the ghost with continued confusion and concern. [color=a2d39c]"... A Totem Warrior?"[/color] The ghost looked utterly ecstatic and tried to lift the child up, only for her hands to once more phase through his body and instead throw some rain drops into the air. Somehow. [b]“You know: a warrior who specializes in harnessing the beast inside. Bears, eagles, wolves, that sort of thing. The weird shit normal people can’t do. You’re built for it.”[/b]

Sighing, the child had just about enough of this weirdo. He went over to his bag, put the dictionary back inside, and put the soggy rucksack back on his back. [color=a2d39c]"Look, that's.... Neat, but it's impossible. I’m not a warrior, or some animal spirit, or anything like that. Sorry, but... I’m nothing special. I’m just a wet, homeless, weak nobody out in the rain because he has nowhere else to go."[/color]

As the child walked away, the ghost smiled as magic crackled in her hands. [b]"Oh, but I can fix that..."[/b]

[hr]

Suddenly Orchid woke up. He heard the muffled apologizes of one of the soldiers who had accidentally bumped into the orc. Sitting up with a yawn Orchid looked around and noticed that a lot of people were starting to move about. Something must have happened. Then again if it was important they would have gotten him. No matter, he had a nice nap. He vaguely remembered that he was dreaming about the past, but those memories quickly faded when he looked down at his shield. It had a distinct lack of dragon hide on it. Taking out his tools Orchid was going to fix that problem.

Sometime into the night when there was a massive uproar. Orchid heard the shouting before he heard the message, but it was clear enough: The dragon was attacking. A wide smile broke out on Orchid's face. [color=a2d39c]"Finally."[/color] Orchid hefted his [url=http://www.woodus.com/den/gallery/graphics/dw7psx/shield/dragon_shield.png]new shield[/url]: it was round like his old one, but with the dragon's hide stretched across it's front. Orchid had no idea what the protective qualities of a drake was, but even if it offered no meaningful protection it at least looked awesome. The dragon's head was the center piece, and using some of it's spines and bones to add some awesome looking spikes on the edges. Truly if nothing else, this shield was a work of art.

Aside from admiring his handiwork, it was time to fight. No doubt that the dragon would be too cowardly to try and land on the rampart itself, though if it did it'd just make Orchid's work easier. So instead of going out with his machete in hand, Orchid had his harpoon instead. He also tired rope to it so that way when the harpoon sunk into the dragon's hide, he could climb up to the dragon while it flew and he could kill it in the skies. Maybe not a [i]smart[/i] idea, but this was how a Totem Warrior thinks. And this was how a Totem Warrior fights.

[hider=Info/Rolls]
Health: 12/14
Rage: 1/2
Status: Hyped
[/hider]