Ripper

Story by: Yeehaw @ I need to write (free bios)
Ripper is an Imperial of questionable origin. Prior to joining the clan, he was only known by locals as the obsidian dragon who aimlessly wandered the shadowy ranges of the Tangled Wood. The locals considered his permanent, toothy scowl and his thorned appearance and decided to nickname him “Ripper”. They feared and loathed Ripper. They saw how he would encroach the territories of other clans and silently watch their doings. They saw the way he crouched in the dense underbrush and pierced the darkness with his white eyes, appearing more beast than dragon. It made them firmly believe that he shrouded himself in the dense foliage of the Wood in order to hide his malicious intents. They thought him to be a threat that lurked in the deepest crannies, ready to swoop onto the unsuspecting. Many a time they held council to discuss a plethora of ways to rid of him. However, they never did interfere with Ripper’s mysterious behavior. That is, until one day, when a traveling mercenary came along.

He was a proud and powerful flint Wildclaw named Trin. And he had arrived to the Tangled Wood in search of quarry to slaughter for coin. The locals saw the opportunity and raised enough funds within their small community to pay Trin to kill Ripper. Trin looked at the treasure they offered and grinned, he knew that day that there would be bloodshed. That day, Trin sharpened his claws until they were keen hooks and polished his armor to a glistening sheen before setting out to find Ripper.

Trin had covered numerous areas, from the Driftwood Drag to the Wispwillow grove, when he eventually came across Ripper in the Foxfire Bramble. The obsidian Imperial lay there in his black hovel of briar and bramble, as if he had been waiting for Trin. Trin uncertainly stood there and stared into Ripper’s pale eyes. “Well then?” uttered Ripper in a surprisingly husky and aged voice. “Are you going to kill me or not?”

Trin was taken completely off guard. The least of what he expected was this reaction from his target! “W-what? How did you know I was hired…. Wait, why are you so aloof about this? Why won’t you stand up and fight? It is your life after all!”

Ripper’s rugged face grimaced and he replied solemnly, “I’ve been robbed of life already. My children, my past, all gone. I’ve crept along for no other reason than to see how much better the lives of others are. I’m both glad for them and envious. My eyes take in what could’ve been my life. But now it’s time for me to pass….”

Trin was shocked and unsure of what to do next. He never had a target willingly give up their life to him in this fashion. For a while, Trin stood stiff, contemplating his next course of action. He prided himself as a warrior, and killing a defenseless old dragon did not sit well with him. Yet he had been paid by the locals to kill him. “I’ll give them their money back then.”

Trin finally said to Ripper, “I won’t kill you, I know of a place where you’ll find others who’ll most likely welcome you, judging by their character.” He pointed a claw towards the center of the Tangled Wood. “They live over there. Near the Forum of the Obscured Crescent. I haven’t stayed for long in that clan but from my experience Ghastly and Reaper are very much like you. Why don’t you give yourself one last chance?”

Ripper crawled from his thorny hovel and rose up slowly. He looked at Trin, as uncertain as he had been. Trin walked a little ways and looked back at him, “Come on, I’ll take you there.”