Please note, this is a work in progress. If you've started reading the story already and a new chapter doesn't make sense, check the previous one for an update. This is a really, really rough draft with a lot of details missing so I can get the overall outline out for everyone to enjoy.
This story is set in vanilla. You know, back before BC and WoTLK ruined the game? (Not that I'm biased or anything) So there are references to the old PVP ranking-style and PVE rogue Tier 2 Bloodfang Armor.
With that said, critiques are greatly appreciated along with any feedback. Thanks for reading! ^-^
Darkness, oblivion. Apoch was keenly aware this was a dream, but such a realization meant he could control where the dream went. Something more suited to his taste for battle, or a well fought sparring match. But he had no control over it, couldn't shake the inky depths of nothingness that blinded him. He tried to concentrate, eyes narrowing, but nothing came into focus yet. The sensations were too acute; the dampness of the cool air, the soft click his eyelids made when he blinked and rising pound of his heart.
It made him nervous, to be this out of control.
And then in the distance a small ray of light whispered into existence, its' luminosity neither warming or ominous. But he knew what it meant, and so he went.
With every step the light grew, casting its pale glow over the wet stone steps that led to it until it's light was enough to keep him from stumbling. He could find his way to the phenomenon even if there was no light to begin with by now, the steps cold surfaces chilling his feet until his toes were numb from it.
Closer now the apparition became clear; a mirror floating in the air, the light coming not from it's reflection but from inside it. Apoch moved up the last few steps until he was before it, staring into the silvered depths. But there was no reflection of himself there.
Instead there was a human girl gazing back at him. For a brief moment the two merely stood there, looking at each other in curiosity. She was beautiful by human standards he supposed. A delicate bone structure beneath milky skin and wide, azure eyes that gave her an innocent look. Her white hair that he knew from this same dream previous hung past her shoulder blades was pushed back over her shoulders, the locks catching the prismatic colors around her.
"I know you."
She smiled at her own words, raising her hand as if to touch the mirror, the light grew steadily, blinding him from seeing whether her fingertips ever made it at all. "Apoch."
"Apoch!"
He snapped awake with a gasp, bolting upright as lightning burned his gaze. Rain exploded against the little hut's roof as if applauding the dream, beckoning an encore, deafening him for a moment as he tried to get his bearings. Outside the thunder finally crackled and rolled by.
"Apoch? Are you alright?"
Another set of blinks and a silhouette came into view. Nedivah, his promised mate. She was sitting beside him holding his arm, steadying him. He shook her off and covered his face with his hands, trying to get the overwhelming points of light out of his gaze. She pulled away and sat at the edge of the bed mat, her silence interrupted by the maddening claps of rain.
"Was I doing it again?"
"Yes. Iscah."
"Iscah." He let his hands drop, slouching over more-so than usual as he rolled the name over his tongue. It was hard to pronounce the I of the name, so he didn't. It was a foreign sound. A foreign name.
"I could hear you from the other room." Her voice trailed off, the emotion choking out her words. He didn't blame her. He looked up from his dull stare at the floor to her, to the crimson eyes like his own. This marked five months, or somewhere close to it he presumed since the dreams had begun. It was hard to swallow the fact it was a dream, the fact the elder shaman of his village had confirmed it wasn't some sort of curse and had eagerly begged to know more of what he saw.
To know what the mirror showed him.
He understood without informing the old one what it meant. It meant the end of a lot of things, perhaps even his own life. So he had ignored it, but all that had done was make them more powerful until they began tearing his reality apart at the seams. Nedivah was proof of that, her bed mat visible from around the doorway in the cramped living room. He looked away miserably and she took the hint, raising herself up to leave him alone once more.
Outside the lightning and thunder met as one, a neighbor's dog barking frantically somewhere nearby before silencing under the yell of its' drowsy master.
He listened quietly as Nedivah rustled about before stilling, listened longer until he could hear her breaths deepen with sleep. The brunt of the storm rolled though until there was only the rain falling delicately, its procession marked with the distant sound of rumbling as it drenched the Barrens parched landscape. Already the breeze had begun to take the perfumed edge of cactus blossoms and damp sandalwood, reminding the sleepy world spring was not quite over yet despite the heat. The air was cooled from the showers still, wafting from the generous windows of his habit to bring goose pimples his clammy skin, but he didn't pay attention to it, mind too far lost in confusion and frustration.
He was losing Nedivah, he was losing respect amongst his brethren, losing himself. Despite Nedivah's best efforts to stifle the questions and rumors the village still had ears. And the damn huts were built too close to one another to hide their arguments or the things he said in his dreams.
To top it all off the elderly shaman, O'zenth, had visited them to discuss their domestic issues and offer advice how to save their relationship by consulting the fates. At least that had been how it had begun.
O'zenth's bones clattered across the floor, their pattern fate induced and only comprehended by the old troll hunched over them. His face darkened with concentration, withered hand reaching up to wipe away a trickle of drool running down from the edge of his sagging lip. He was hideous with mutilations, but that only gave him more respect amongst the village; remnants of battles lost and won, of victories and defeats that made him a wizened and capable elder. Apoch found himself wondering what the battles must've been like, if they had been easier or harder than his own. Such things were calming to think about rather than the fortune or misfortune they were about to hear.
"Your lives are no longer entwined, the fates are separating you." Apoch's vision reeled as if he had been struck across the head.
"A darkness seals your future Apoch, I can no longer look into it." O'zenth's bony finger wobbled towards the skeletal fragment that had fallen at the edge of the heap, perpendicular to all the others, its markings hidden beneath it. He looked up to the couple, to Apoch who was swaying ever so slightly.
"You're holding onto that which no longer exists."
She had moved into the other room that night, when the dreams began again. It was only a matter of time before these dreams broke his engagement to the well-known healer that had fought beside him. What had begun as a powerful team on the fields of battle had grown into something more personal, and after a time they had begun courting due to the convenience of their relationship. He did love her, but he had never felt that thrill in his gut like the way he did in his dreams when Iscah would look at him. He blinked slowly, sitting up a bit and looking out the open window to the skies grey with a dawn hours away.
Had O'zenth ever been wrong in his foresights? Had the bones ever lied? Of course they had, of course he couldn't always be right. Bitterness overwhelmed him, making him gnash his teeth and flex tense muscles to ease the pang of anger rising from his belly.
He rose with purpose now, absolutely silent from years of training and expertise, gathering his weapons, gear and travel necessities and packing them slowly so as not to disturb his love. By the first light of dawn he was ready, Bu'u his raptor bridled and set, waiting patiently for him as he sat beside his sleeping fiancé, watching her remorsefully. He'd make this right. He'd set this straight and put his life back to the way it was.
He reached out and touched her cheek tenderly, recoiling when a pang of guilt made his stomach lurch. The emotion only confused him more, made his anger greater. Instead of waking her like he had first planned he scribbled a note, only able to write down half of what he wanted to. It felt more like a last letter to her rather than an explanation of where he had taken off to.
What better way to end the dreams than kill the girl in the mirror.
Shouldering his pack he left his quiet abode, stopping at the edge of the dozen or so huts that made the sleepy village to watch the clouds take a green-gold hue with the dawn before turning west. Ratchet was a days ride away, which meant he could be in the human territories in three at that pace.
The road was empty save for a few early risers, or young adventure-seekers whose glory was more important than sleep. It made him smile to see them, some nodding to him respectfully when he passed, and he returned the motion. Being in his small village most of the time made him forget how well-known he was outside of it, made him forget the impressive titles he wore fighting for Thrall, for the horde. He sank into the lull of memories that were the battles fought against the alliance to pass the miles, rousing himself from his daydreams long enough to watch an impressive sunrise that managed to pierce between the billowy fluffs of clouds.
"You seek out your dreams, traveler?"
The question caught him by surprise, and he turned to look at an old troll about to pass. The Shaman smiled, leaning heavily on his walking stick to take the weight off a gnarled foot.
"What?"
"You have the look of one who is after his dreams. A copper for your fortune?"
"A gold for your breakfast and silence," he snapped, fishing out the money and tossing it to him. The elderly troll tried to catch it but missed, the metal thudding into the sand near his feet. Apoch sighed, irritated at his own lack of respect, dismounting to pick up the gold and hand it carefully over. The soothsayer smiled toothlessly, snatching his hand before he could pull away, obviously enjoying the off-guard expression the younger of them was wearing suddenly.
"You can't escape your destiny, young master. And when you find what you are looking for you'll not understand anymore than you already do, but I can tell you if you bring me this object of your desire."
Apoch snarled viciously, pulling his arm away with the same ill-will. The fortune-teller laughed gleefully at his reaction, pocketing the gold he had managed to snag from his hand.
"South of Ratchet a small cave in the hills is where I can be found, young master," he added quickly as Apoch turned his back to him and mounted Bu'u once more, kicking his raptor a bit too hard, eager to get away from this man who was telling him things he didn't want to know. "Come find me after you've found what you dream about!"
He stayed off the roads for the rest of the journey.