Whispers
A Champions: Return to Arms Fanfic
By Taylor Schell
Rating: PG-13 (for use of dark magic and talking to spirits)
Character(s): Ignot, Spirits

The sound of bones and leather sliding across scales was one of few sounds heard in the subsurface cave. The Shaman stalked on silently through the darkness, his claws and tail dragging over the ground. On and off, his forked tongue flicked in and out of his mouth as he scented the air. The cave was musty, but had no unnatural scents but his own and the herbs he had in one of its many 'rooms'. It was like a maze once one entered the cave's first fork-but the Shaman didn't need to know his directions.

He listened to the whispers heard only by himself. They guided him on through the darkness. Ignot never found himself lost because of them.

He was a solitary Iksar who tended to avoid Firiona Vie's other Champions. He didn't trust them; not with so many choosing to side with the damned Prince of Hate as of late. Firiona wasn't always approving of that choice; the realms were dangerous to traverse alone, after all. If his kind had the ability to feel humor, Ignot would've laughed. Alone? He was never truly alone-he had spirits to keep him company. They were always whispering to him; he could use them to physically enhance himself, or to aid him in battle.

Ignot uttered something quietly in an eerie tongue and held up one hand. Purple flames erupted to life there, allowing the lizard-man to see through the darkness. He'd reached his main 'room' in the cave; all he needed was to light the candelabra placed on the center of a stone table. A flick of his wrist was all it too for the flames to transfer from his hand to the candelabra; the purple changing to a soft orange and lighting up the room.

Scrolls were piled in differing crates; as were bones, potions, and armor pieces. From his back, Ignot removed his hammer-the thud that occurred when he placed it in a corner echoed throughout the room and into the cave beyond.

He still listened carefully to the whispers surrounding him as he crouched at the stone table. Reptilian eyes closed and the Iksar breathed slowly, simply listening. He had no trouble distinguishing the voices, nor what they said. Some of them he was familiar with, as they followed him everywhere; such as Tagar and the Badger. They were both old spirits, and ones Ignot had summoned the first time simply by mistake. That had been when he was young, and thought magic-no matter how dark-was just a game. They'd become spiritually bound to the Shaman. When he'd been young, he'd thought their whispers would drive him to insanity.

Now, they'd saved his hide more often than he could count.

Ignot listened to their words, his tail swaying slowly behind him to keep him balanced as he crouched, perched on his toes. He uttered something in the strange tongue once more and was shrouded in a purple glow. The whispers raised in volume and became clearer, far easier to make out. One voice reminded him that Firiona was expecting a report soon on his progress through the realms. Another spoke of the Vah Shir and High Elf who had requested aid in the Plane of Fire. That one, he brushed off; the pair was still weak. If they'd been foolish enough to choose to face one of Norrath's most dangerous realms, Ignot would let them burn.

Tagar reminded the Shaman he needed more Gate Scrolls soon, or he'd have to find other means to return to the Plane of Tranquility. Mithanial Marr was growing impatient; a younger spirit brought that up, and it was yet another thing Ignot brushed off. He would work in his own time; not when the ever-impatient Mithanial wanted him to.

The spell was cut off after the Iksar had listened to what he needed to, and the voices dulled back down to whispers; the purple glow faded from his form.

Ignot stood back to his full height. A quick spell snuffed the candelabra's flames and he turned to leave the room-the voices once more guiding him. Ignot would give himself some rest, and then return to the Plane of Tranquility to give his report. Afterward, he would simply follow the whispers.

AN: I tried searching some RtA stuff, and I'm surprised at how little fanart/fiction there is for Champions. I may just have to change that...

Meet Ignot. He's my character in the Action-RPG/Hack-and-Slash game Champions: Return to Arms. He's an Iksar Shaman (lizard-man that uses spirits for his attacks) and...well...why not give him a story? I kinda want to see where it will go-this's just a one-shot, but I might just have to make a story for him.

From the "Whispers" prompt by MyMidnightLove on Deviantart.