Chapter 1:
One day a new girl appeared in town, and her name was Tori Kelsen. She was quite an odd ball out to the town of Lumbridge, and very clueless on how the place worked; for she had previously lived out her days on one of the many paradise islands, and had never left, or had any intention of leaving until just that evening, or so it read in the newspapers.

See, after joining a tourist boat club and venturing out of her intended habitat, she found herself lost in the amazement of foreign lands. And with help from her ship captain, she slipped out of the group and decided to stay put on the island of Bogandeiz so that she could investigate further the wide wondrous worlds she only saw through tourist, sea-bound eyes. Unfortunately, this love for adventure brought her to a terrible place, very unfit for a young lady; but that’s exactly what she loved about it. Now she was free to be the warrior she had only dreamed of becoming on her elegant, princess-like islands; and that’s exactly what she intended to do.

Looking around the tavern at the wooden and stone made walls, she couldn’t help but think they may be lost. Couldn’t it be possible that Sir Vant had lead them the wrong way? As she thought, sweat dripped down her sun-kissed skin, and her beautifully perfect, midnight black, curl spikes bounced up and down in her ponytail as she jolted from side to side. Quickly she pulled out her map, but unfortunately they were exactly where they were supposed to be.

“Squire, what should I do?” Tori asked nervously as she watched the dragon’s large head bobble and stare at them. Luckily, for the time being, they were behind a small barricade, but it wouldn’t last long. The sand bags were packed up much too sloppily, and the dragon’s fire had taken out their only other wall.

The Squire responded to her in a panic, “Oh dear, oh dear, it’s coming. You’d better talk to Sir Vant. He’s in charge.”

Well, the Squire was never of much help, she thought. But this whole situation had gotten her quite irritated. She did not like being stuck in a damp corner of a cave, and was getting quite bored with the dragon. She wished it would just leave them alone so they could venture somewhere new, somewhere exciting, and not so dangerously deadly. She used to love the thrills of the wild, till they took a turn for the worst and she was forced to live out her days underground; tunneling for survival with two idiots she wouldn’t trust to keep their hands off her gear.

She steadily walked over to Sir Vant, ducking below the barricade and positioning herself upright on the moist dirt. “Hello,” she said cheerfully.

“Wait a moment – there’s a dragon coming.”

No way, she thought sarcastically, golly gee, isn’t that new and exciting. She rolled her eyes, bent down, and crawled behind one of the wooden pillars, her metal skirt clanking against the cobblestone. She sat down, and laid her head against the pillar, angling her face so she was looking up at the crack in the ceiling. She gripped her arm protectors and then began to pull up her boots, when all of a sudden the dragon rammed the barricade. The whole thing wobbled and it sent shivers down Tori’s spine, but she stayed put, and peaked her head around the corner of the pillar.

With a great breath, the dragon let out a massive amount of firepower and it struck the Squire, sending him up in flames. A few seconds later, his ashes floated back down to the ground, and with a loud clunk his armor fell to the floor, toppling over his remains. Tori’s dark chocolate eyes widened in horror and her mouth dropped. Sir Vant swung his sword at the Dragon and hit him in the nose, but it only made the Dragon angrier and Sir Vant yelled for Tori.

Slowly she picked herself up off the ground and ran over to aid him. “Thank goodness you’re here! My squire’s dead, and there’s a goblin going through my bag,” Sir Vant panted, “I can’t turn my back on this Dragon. I need you to take my squire’s equipment and deal with the goblin!”

Tori sprinted towards the Squire’s gear, and picked it up and fitted it on herself as best she could. Then she went to face the goblin. “Heh, heh, heh,” the goblin cackled, and Tori almost lost the courage to take him out. Taking a step forward, she lunged the sword into his back. He turned around and swung his sharp claws at her, but she just kept on slashing and she could tell he was growing weaker. Finally he dropped to the floor and she jumped with excitement from her achievement.

“Thank you! Now to deal with the dragon. Come here, and I’ll tell you my plan," Sir Vant pleaded.

She quickly ran to his side.

“This dragon’s a tougher customer than I’d expected, but I know a way we could defeat it," he said confidently, “One corner of the ceiling is held up by wooden pillars. We’re going to lure the dragon there and then collapse the roof on top of it. In my bag is some meat I’ve prepared with a sleeping potion. I need you to put the meat in the food bowl by the wooden pillars. The dragon will eat it and fall asleep. I’ll keep the dragon’s attention. Once you’ve got the drugged meat you’ll need to climb over the wall next to me.” He motioned for her to do it, and so she scurried to the bag to grab the meat.

As Tori took out the odorous meat, she tucked it inside her armor and went for the wall. She grabbed a piece of plywood and laid it down against the barricade. Skillfully, she inched her way up it, and then placed her hands on the top of the wall and flipped herself down to the other side. She then trotted vigorously to the other end of the tavern and placed the ferocious smelling meat in the large dragon bowl. Carefully she turned around and tiptoed back; jumping slightly to get over the wall, tumbling down onto the floor, and hiding behind Sir Vant’s bag.

The dragon smelled the meat and it went tromping off to go get it. As soon as he ate it, he became very drowsy and curled up on the stone floor.

“Well done. Come out of hiding and I’ll tell you what we’re doing next,” Sir Vant urged Tori, “We need to destroy these pillars to collapse the ceiling on the dragon. Could you get the rest of the supplies from my bag please?”

Tori rummaged through the bag and found an oilcan, two cloths, two fuses and two tinderboxes. She grabbed them and quickly returned to Sir Vant’s side.

“Now we’re going to burn these wooden pillars and bring the ceiling down on this fat old worm! First, we need to wrap the pillars in oily rags. There were two pieces of cloth in my bag. Soak them in the oil. Wrap the oily rags around the pillars, then add a fuse to each one.” Tori did as he said and then came running back to him. “Just hand me one of the tinderboxes from my bag,” Tori handed the box to him, “Thank you! When you’re ready, set fire to the other pillar. I’ll light this one at the same moment.”

Tori slowly stepped over to the wooden pillar, and took a deep breath. With caved uncertainty, she lit the fuse and sprinted around the corner. The pillars went up in flames, and slowly the ceiling began to come down till nothing but a pile of boulders lay over the ground.

Strangely enough, an old man came out from a hidden doorway and walked up to Tori and Sir Vant. Sir Vant smiled shamelessly, and Tori stared between the two of them, turning her eyes into slits with suspicion.

Finally Sir Vant spoke up, “Could you please return my things to me?” Tori looked down at her body and slowly stripped herself of the armor. She handed it back, along side the tinderbox and oilcan. She was still extremely confused, and the old man’s amused eyes made her feel as if she was slowly being unsewn so that everyone could see what was inside of her, only she didn’t know it was happening; she only had an itching, burning feeling on her spine, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“Right, I think that’s everything. Now, we’ve just got to find another way out of this place,” Sir Vant cried, almost not realizing that another human had interrupted their scene.

The old man stepped into the conversation, “The dragon destroyed the ladder? That’s a catastrophe! Oh, I should never have tried rearing a dragon in here.”

Tori was about to ask the old man’s name when Sir Vant chimed in, “When the ceiling collapsed, it damaged that wall. It looks like there are two places where you could break through. One’s blocked by rocks, the other by tree roots. I’m sure Roddeck can teach you how to clear the rocks or the tree roots out of the way.”

So his name’s Roddeck, Tori processed, measuring her trust for the both of them.

She approached him slowly, unsure of herself and not completely positive on how to ask for his help. Tori gazed through her curved bangs at how Roddeck’s black cane rocked back and forth on the cobblestone. Nervously, she questioned him.

“We need to break through one of the damaged wall sections by clearing some rocks or tree roots. The choice is yours: would you like to mine through the rocks or chop through the roots?” Roddeck’s old voice was hoarse and cracked many times, but there was a depth to his words, a passion, and a wisdom, that made her feel very comfortable trusting him. So she decided, with a tinge of guilt behind her worried lips, to mine through the rocks. Roddeck steadily handed her a bronze pickaxe, that he seemed to pull out of nowhere, and pointed her in the direction of the wall. “Now you’ve got a pickaxe, mine your way through the rocks inside the damaged wall,” he said as she paraded towards it.

As she got up to the rock, she attempted to swing her axe and cut through the stone. But as she did, the axe merely bounced off the stone and fell to the floor near her feet. Stupidly, she picked it back up and tried again, but the same thing happened. Damn it, she thought.

She turned around and headed back to Roddeck. “I need help. I can’t do it,” she said with a twist of helplessness.

He then pointed her towards the rocks in the middle of the floor. “You can practice mining on the rocks that fell into my cellar when the roof collapsed.”

With quick wrists, she hiked the axe over her shoulder and walked over to the rocks. She stared at them cowardly, as if they were vicious lions sent to feast upon her flesh. A worm inside her brain whispered to her ears that she could do this, and so she stepped forward and started swinging. She swung and swung and swung till she got the hang of it. And she continued to practice till she had it down.

Bits and pieces of the rock began to fall off all over the place. Tori felt so successful.

Roddeck interrupted her amazement, “You’ve mined a few stone chippings from the rock. They’re not particularly useful, but you’ll get more useful goods from mining once you’re out of this cellar.”

Thanks Dad, she thought sarcastically, narrowing her eyes.

She took one more big swing, and with that she split the rock in two.

“You should now be able to mine through the rocks in the damaged wall,” Roddeck commented.

Tori waddled herself back to the wall, and looked at it with hope, as if this victory were a great prize to be won. So she stood back a bit, angled the axe perfectly, and swung as hard as she could. The rock broke apart and Tori squealed in happiness.

“Oh, well done! Climb through the hole, and we can all get out of this cellar,” Sir Vant clapped appreciatively.

She quickly nudged herself through the hole in the wall and out into a small room with a ladder up to the surface. With breaths of relief, she climbed up the ladder, wondering what lay above her.

As she got through to the surface she stood up and dusted herself off, as did Roddeck and Sir Vant. When they all finally looked around, there was a man standing in the center of the room staring at them with the words “Explorer Jack” stitched into his uniform. His cap looked like one you might wear into the jungle, and there were several ropes tied around his clothing.

With shock sounding loudly in his voice, Explorer Jack spoke, “Goof grief! Where did you three come from?”

“I’ll explain later, Jack,” Roddeck calmed him.

Sir Vant stood up proudly, “Well, my mission is accomplished now. Roddeck’s dragon is no longer a threat,” he said with a sense of honor, “I’d better head back to Falador. My squire’s family will need to be informed of his death. It’s been a pleasure working with you Tori.”

“Goodbye, Sir Vant, and thank you again,” Roddeck praised.

And with that Sir Vant left.

Tori crept out the door after him, and stood marveling at the light and warmth of the sun as it shown down upon her and the rest of the village. Roddeck walked away towards his home. And as Tori looked up at the big sign over her head with the words “Lumbridge” on it, she knew she had finally made it to her destination.

Today is going to be a good day, she thought.

Chapter 2:
She still wasn’t used to this town, even after living here for six months. Though she supposed it made sense, for most of her time was spent in the gardens or with the sheep. She didn’t much care to converse, and the only person she had really spoken to was the woman that worked nights at the bar. Tori felt a deep regret and a feeling of longing for something that she did not know how to quench. She had been living on the streets the past months and had absolutely no ideas on how to move her living situation upwards. She’d thought about moving into a house with a roommate once or twice, but had never settled on it because she had no money to offer anybody, and therefore had not the courage to ask any one of the fine singles in the town.

Feeling quite down on herself she decided to venture elsewhere to look for anyone giving away free tools. So she walked up the dirt road towards Varrock. On her way she found an abandoned chicken coup that had eggs, and so she took a couple. She also found an axe in the back and took that as well. There were a few chicken bones lying on the ground so she picked them up and buried them around the corner of the little shack. She rummaged around some more and found a couple buckets and a few uncooked chickens. Just as she started to leave, a farmer came out of the house next to the chicken coup and stared at her. She stared back at him, feeling a bit awkward and stupid for thinking the place had been abandoned. Out of nowhere he came at her with his pitchfork and she tried to defend herself with the new axe she had just acquired. Unfortunately, she was not strong enough to fend him off, so she grabbed her things and ran.

As she ran she saw a group of cows grazing in a field. She needed something to drink, and since she had some buckets, she decided to milk one of the cows. When she was finished she had five buckets full of fresh milk, and decided she needed a snack as well, so she killed a couple of the cows and packed their meat and hides into her knapsack. She then took the bones, and as she had done before, buried them. Walking back out of the gated field, she found some candles and a sling, so she picked them up and put them in her bag. Then she proceeded to walk towards the small gathering of trees to get some firewood.

She took one of the axes she found in her hand and chopped down two different trees. Damn it, she thought, if only I had a tinderbox to light the wood so I could cook the beef. Taking a deep breath, she walked farther up the path, hoping she’d have better luck once she got to town. On her way she was met with a fork in the road and took the left path towards the sheep fields. She found a nice garden to the side of the field and sat down on the bench in the middle of a flower circle. She breathed in slowly as she watched the soldiers near by fight large rats. That was exactly what she didn’t want to end up as; she wanted to be a real warrior, not a stupid soldier reduced to fighting village vermin.

After taking a few more seconds to take that all in, she stood up and walked down the path into the Varrock village. She made her way to the general store in the town square and asked one of the shopkeepers if she could sell one of her axes or anything else she possessed for some money or swap it out for something else he had in his store. Luckily, almost all of her items the store was willing to buy from her, so she sold most of what she had, only keeping a few of the essentials: an axe, three pieces of beef, three raw chickens, two eggs, two buckets of milk, the four candles, the sling, and one cowhide. She acquired 48 gold coins, and used 17 coins to buy a tinderbox, hammer, shear, and two empty flour pots. She then walked herself to the bank and deposited her money, sling, candles, a cowhide, chicken feathers, two egg, and two buckets of milk. Searching through her receipt to make sure it all went into her account, she noticed that there was something in her account she had not put there. It was a Golden cracker. She didn’t know what it was for, or how it got into her account, but she kept it to herself, not willing to give it up.

As she wandered out of the bank she took a turn down a new cobblestone road, and made her way to the clothing store. She walked up to the lady in the front of the room, who was wearing a nametag that read Thessalia. “Would you like to buy any fine clothes?” she asked sweetly.

“What do you have?” Tori asked.

Thessalia sighed, “Well, I have a number of fine pieces of clothing on sale or, if you prefer, I can offer you an exclusive, total clothing makeover?”

Tori seriously considered a total makeover, but decided to just go with searching for clothes. “I’d just like to buy some clothes.”

Thessalia showed Tori the racks of different clothes they had in the store and then just kind of wandered off. Tori sifted through the many items, and picked out a white apron, some silk, a needle, and some thread. She then handed the items to Thessalia and told her she’d be back later to buy them. She then headed over to the old women in the corner, rocking on her chair, with a nametag that read Iffie, and said hi.

“Hello, dearie! Were you wanting to collect a random event costume, or is there something else I can do for you today?” she asked with a kindly old voice.

Thinking that she’d look quite good in a costume she continued with, “I’ve come for a random event costume.”

“I’m sorry dearie, but you haven’t any points,” the old women said, looking down her list.

“Aren’t you selling anything?” Tori asked, curiously.

Iffie cackled slightly, “Oh, you want to talk to Thessalia. She’s in charge of the shop and makeover service.”

Tori glanced down at her feet, “Oh. Kay, thanks.” She said and then slowly walked out of the shop.

She headed to a sword shop, just one shop down, and went inside.

“Hello, bold adventurer. Can I interest you in some swords?” The shopkeeper asked slyly, his red hood hanging down over his eyes.

“Yes, please,” Tori chimed.

He then showed her the rack in the back room full of steel swords and black daggers. They all seemed a bit pricey. “Got anything cheaper?” she asked sheepishly. He pulled out a beautifully crafted bronze sword and handed it to her. She took it in her hands and turned it over and over again. It was magnificent, not as hardy and deadly as Mithril or Adamant longswords, but still impressive. She looked it over and then looked up at him. “Is this for me?” He nodded. He then grabbed another off the shelf and handed it to her smiling. “This one too? For free? Really?” she asked, confused. He nodded again. “Thank you. So much,” she squealed.

Awkwardly the shopkeeper walked away, and Tori took her new swords and walked out of the store. She walked across the street to the bar. She smiled, noticing a few familiar faces sitting at the drinking tables: Clive Dresdon, Burt McKraken, Mavis Grey, and John Everyman, who sat at the counter. Randomly she felt an urge, and attacked a woman who was walking through the bar. She killed the woman, and all the men cheered. She then picked up the woman’s belonging: a staff of air, two candles, 3 gold coins, a cake, and her bones, which she buried.

Another woman walked by and Tori stopped her, “Hello.”

“…whassup?” the woman stammered.

“Are you alright?” Tori asked, concerned.

The woman wobbled for a few seconds and then responded, “… see… two of you… why there two of you?”

Tori looked at the woman suspiciously, but then remembered her surroundings. “There’s only one of me, friend,” she said as nice as she could manage.

“… no, two of you… you can’t count… …maybe you drunk too much…,” she hinted.

“Whatever you say, friend,” Tori laughed.

“… giant hairy cabbages…,” the woman whispered.

Tori stared at her, confused, but then the woman just walked away, so she sighed and went up to the counter to talk to the bartender.

“What can I do yer for?” the bartender asked as she cleaned a glass cup with a wet rag.

Tori thought for a second, “Can you recommend where an adventurer might make her fortune?”

“Ooh I don’t know if I should be giving away information, makes the game of life too easy,” he winked at her.

“Just a small clue?”

He tilted his eyebrow and pursed his lips, “Go and talk to the bartender at the Jolly Boar Inn, he doesn’t seem to mind giving away clues.”

She rolled her eyes and went to talk to the Barbarian chick that was walking around the bar angrily.

“What do you want, outerlander? Can’t you see I am drinking?” she hissed.

“Nothing, actually,” Tori backed off slowly.

The Barbarian smiled smugly, “Good!”

Sudden, Dr. Harlow, an old friend of hers, walked out of the back room, stumbling frantically. “Buy me a drink pleassh,” he slurred.

“No, you’ve had enough,” she said, grabbing his arm and leading him to a seat.

“Pssssh, I never have enough!” he shrugged her off.

Tori made her way to the back room to talk to the cook.

“What do you want? I’m busy!” he growled as she walked up behind him.

“Can you give me any free food,” she said, biting her lip.

His horseshoe mustache twisted up, and his face fumed, “Can you give me
any free money?”

“Why should I give you free money?” Tori questioned.

“Why should I give you free food?” The cook answered.

Tori nodded, “Touché’, forget it.”

She walked out of the bar and down the street to find another vendor that may have any other free items for her.

Chapter 3:
“Do you want to buy some runes?” Aubury asked Tori.

Tori smiled, “Yes, please.”

He then handed her thirty mind runes and thirty air runes. “The first thirty of each of these are both free.”

“Wow, thanks,” Tori beamed.

He threw a couple more runes in and then they said their goodbyes.

She diligently walked back to the Combat Training shop, and began once again attacking one of the Dummy’s that hung from the wooden posts. The woven sack swung as she hit it with her sword repeatedly. Slowly, she worked up a sweat, and stopped to cool off.

A few seconds later, she went down the street to talk to Horvik.

“Hello, do you need any help Tori?” Horvik asked with a sweet smile and a
tender voice.

“Do you want to trade?” Tori asked him, blushing a little and lightly batting her eyelashes.

Horvik ran his strong, rough, blistered hands through his light blond hand; shaking it in such a way to attract Tori’s attention. “I’m not sure if we can get away with that this time,” he said as he pondered the idea, “My boss has been checking all my inventory lately, and I think he’d know if we swopped something. Sorry Tori.”

“No, that’s okay,” she cooed, “I’ll talk to you later then. I’ve got to go check the new shop that just opened up down the street anyway for some new gear. See you later.” She waved flirtatiously, and wiggled her hips slightly as she walked out the door. God she loved how she could control him like that. Horvik was always a fun one to play with. He never seemed to realize he was being tricked, and she found that very adorable. There was something about his clueless, boy-like charm that just had her stuck on him.

As she got through the doors of the new potion shop, she was greeted. “I am the Apothecary. I brew potions. Do you need anything specific?” he asked.

Tori stared up at his grey Afro and almost giggled. She looked around at all the potions dispersed on the shelves that clung to the walls. “Have you got any good potions to give away?” she asked.

“Ok then. Try this potion,” he said, handing her a strangely shaped bottle.

It was turquoise and looked rather odd, but she took it gladly. She then thanked the man, smiling brightly, and left the shop to investigate the one next to it.

“Tanner?” she questioned, as she entered the shop.

“Greetings friend. I am a manufacturer of leather,” he said with a big grin.

Tori raised her eyebrow, “Leather is rather weak stuff.”

The boy laughed, good naturedly, “Normal leather may be quite weak,” he said rolling his eyes, “But it’s very cheap – I make it from cowhide for only 1 gold coin per hide – and it’s so easy to craft that anyone can work with it.” Tori tried to hide her smile. “Alternatively you could try hard leather,” Tanner continued, “It’s not so easy to craft, but I only charge 3 gold coins per cowhide to prepare it, and it makes much sturdier armour.” He took a deep breath and then turned around to fix up something, “I can also tan snake hides and dragonhides, suitable for crafting into the highest quality armour for rangers.”

“Thanks, I’ll bear it in mind,” Tori giggled as she walked out the door.

Tori walked into Zaff’s shop, eyeing the walls. “Hey Zaff,” Tori smiled.

“Hey Tori, would you like to buy or sell some staves?” Zaff asked.

“No thanks,” Tori responded.

Zaff shook his head, “Still looking for Zeek, eh?” He watched her face for a reaction. Her smile slowly changed to an unsure, irritated frown. “I thought so,” Zaff said as he chopped down a long stick, “You know, it’s been nine month Tori. He probably isn’t—”

“Don’t even,” Tori interrupted him, “Don’t you dare say he probably isn’t coming back! You know, you KNOW Zeek is strong. You KNOW he’s a GREAT soldier. How could you even think that? He was your brother Zaff! Your OWN brother. How could you even THINK he wasn’t coming back! Zaff he IS coming back. He is. He has to. He’s strong. He can make it. You know that! You KNOW that!”

Zaff tilted his head down and sighed, “Tori.. He knew from the beginning that death was one of the consequences for taking on the dragons of Garuk, and so did you! Don’t act like you had no idea what he was getting into. You knew very well what he was doing.”

Tori gulped down her fears and what she knew was the truth, “Damn it Zaff! You were brothers. I thought you’d have more faith in him than this.” She bit her tongue as a tear rolled down her cheek. She quickly turned around and walked towards the door. Zaff tried to stop her but she shoved him off and walked outside. Just before the door slammed shut she whispered to him, “At least I have courage. At least I believe in him.” And with that she walked around the corner in a furious rage, and ran down the street to the Combat Training shop.

As she burst through the door she just about screamed. Then, taking slow breathes; she stepped up to one of the stabbing sacks and punched it as hard as she could. Over and over, till her body ached and her eyes were swelled up.

Then she fell to the floor and leaned up against the wall with her face in her hands, sobbing. She sat there till she was all cried out. When she had calmed down she picked herself up and walked outside to the fountains. She looked around at the villagers as she sat down on a bench and breathed in the air as it whizzed past her face. Putting her hand down in the waters and swishing it around a bit, she watched the small fish swim around her fingers, and she sighed.

It seemed as if everything was right with the world. So how come Zeek wasn’t with her anymore? How come he wasn’t back yet? He was suppose to be back a few months ago…shouldn’t he have come home to her yet? He was a great soldier, a wonderful fighter, a brilliant warrior. How could he still be gone?

She knew what had probably happened to him. I mean, he was out fighting dragons, and she wasn’t stupid. She just didn’t want to believe it. She loved him. Rather, she thought up reasons he may have stayed away from her. She tried to convince herself he was a lying, cheating bastard; that he was just away with another woman, so he didn’t want to come back. He had no intention of ever coming back. She would have liked to believe all of that. Better that than him being killed by a dragon.