[center][h1][i][color=f6989d]Pebble Cliffside[/color][/i][/h1][/center]
[center][color=f6989d]. . . . . ╰──╮ ╭──╯ . . . . .[/color][/center]

[i][color=FEC1AD]"Roar, roar,
The Orc was green,
Had the biggest envy,
Ever seen.

Pretty, pretty,
The elf was tall,
She dominated men, 
one and all."[/color][/i]


Pebble toddled along a tall deciduous forest path singing her delightful song. Not a care in the world was given as she occasionally swung her hips at the outro of verses. Her sickening squawks resonated ghastly doom. Dissonant tunes aired like dull blades hacking at the breeze, murdering the peace, and sewing discord in the elements of life. The forest darkened at the noise of her ditty. Leaves wilted and small shrubs shriveled. Bark peeled like rotting flesh. A squirrel chirped and dropped dead from high in the trees. A young doe shuddered and keeled over.  

It was a lovely morning! Little Pebble was supposed to be on the road to find her Ma and Pa, least ways that’s how she figured it, and she would’ve been a sight more prompt about it if she cared a tad more. She was headed in the general direction of what was meant to be, yet there was just so many other things that piqued her interest along the way. There were holes to dig, songs to sing, baths to take, foraging to do, food to cook, rocks to admire. Heck, the list of distractions was endless. 

Life sighed with happy relief when Pebble’s voice cut out. She stopped in her tracks at the noticing of a corpse on the side of the path. It wasn’t no ordinary corpse. What do you call a body that’s been mostly eaten? She knew not to touch it. With her butt on her heels and chin on her knees she looked the dead person over. Most of the body had been devoured right down to the bones and it needed a bit of study to determine this person was an Orc. The remains of his gnawed and torn flesh were fresh and his head, by heckers, had been turned right around. Who could do that to a big ol’ Orc? Pebble had a hunch that it wasn’t an animal. What she figured it was wasn’t something she wanted to be tangling with. The death of this Orc being recent meant that whatever killed him wasn’t far away. 

Pebble stood right on up and looked around. She took Ed from her pocket and gave him a kiss for good luck then slipped him back into her pants. With her hammer and axe in hands Pebble moved cautiously down the path ready to defend herself. Precious ores, this wasn’t how she was wanting to spend her morning. 

Thundering avalanche!  There it was around the next bend in the path. The sick form of one of the diseased sent shivers up Pebble’s spine. Pebble had never seen a Rotted with her very own eyes before but she recognized it by stories been told about them. This Rotted must’ve been well into its final stages as its gray pale flesh had marbly green patches and its own black blood was gooped down its chin and body. Some monsters Pebble could handle just fine. Bad men were a pleasure to mash up with her hammer. But a Rotted wasn’t something she wanted to get even the itsy bit close to. Heckers no! Pebble sighed at the thought of having to run, she absolutely hated running, but this Dwarf wasn’t about to get sick today.

There was no sure as heck way of knowing what race the Rotten was. If Pebble hazarded a guess by its height and how fast it was chasing after her short little ass, it was probably an elf. Pebbles wasn’t going to outrun this thing. She had to think fast and find another way to escape. Climbing a tree was no options. Pebble wasn’t the most atrocious climber in the world. Heck, she thought herself pretty darn good at it, but she was still outmatched by an Elf in that field of expertise. Throwing rocks at it wasn’t going to do a thing. She was beginning to panic. She could hear it coming fast up her rear. She figured she was gonna have to fight its ugly ass after all. There was also one other option that struck Pebble’s mind like a fast-moving stone as she turned to face her Rotted pursuer! 

Pebble started singing her little heart out! Her voice shrieked like a dying litter of cat demons. Leaves wilted and snowed down from the trees. Small plants shriveled. Insects popped. The ground cracked at her feet. Birds started squawking with despair and some of them died if they couldn’t fly away fast enough. Pebble was raising her hammer and axe to throw at the approaching Rotted but ended up not needing to do that all. The sick Elf slowed down and stumbled to a stop a small distance away. It rolled its head all around like it was trying to catch a fly with its mouth.  Pebble couldn’t believe her big doe eyes. The Rotted started to sway. Was this thing... dancing?  

Pebble wasn’t at all certain what to feel about this. Kinda made her feel all nice and gooey inside to finally find someone who appreciated her lovely singing voice, but now what the heckers was she going to do? If she attacked it her weapons would be contaminated and splatter from the carnage could still make her sick. She figured pretty much that her only rock-solid option was to keep on hollering her dreadful song and back away reeeeeal slow. 

[center][color=f6989d]. . . . . ╰──╮ ╭──╯ . . . . .[/color][/center]