THIS ONE IS EVEN SHORTER THAN THAT OTHER REALLY SHORT ONE.
I SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED.
...But I'm not! Because hey, at least I'm updating right? ...Right?
Aw...
Bwahah. Anyways. Yeah, here's a really short teaser chapter for you guys. I got a sunburn this afternoon, (curse my paleness) so I came inside for a few hours and got this much done, and I'm gonna publish it because why not. ;)
Plus it's a bit of a WHAMMY chapter.
Review Responses:
Chapter 36:
Zarabethe: I too think you know what's about to go down... ;D You may or may not have already said it once and I dodged answering it. Maybe. Bwehehe.
The Corrupted Typer: Ahh! I love Julian too. He doesn't get enough spotlight in this story. You know, I actually have a story arc with him as the main character that I really REALLY wanna do.. But I don't know if I should add it to the many I have just yet. Even so, Julian Silverpaw is a widely underrated little dude. 8D
Impsy Locke: BWAHAHA. I live to create infuriating suspense.
Chelinka the Archmage: Oh my god, I almost fell asleep in Transformers. Longest. Freaking. Movie. They should've just completely left everything surrounding Megatron out of it and it'd have been better. And it didn't help that I hated the girl and her boyfriend. If any guy even dared to treat my dad like that... *ahem* I'm not going to get opinionated about it or anything, though. ;D And ahaha yes! Extreeeeeeme recycling! Like the olden folk! xD Also, I'll let Sarion know you'll...provide...nursing expertise. *cough* He'll appreciate it. Mwahaha.
Kintaraheart: See, that would've been a very practical direction for this story to go, one of the guards hiding his body... But here I am, THROWING IN TIME TRAVEL AND PORTALS AND BLWWARGH! :D Oh yeah: *spoiler*
CherryMountain: Pfft yeah, Unaril can't die. He's immortal! As for Raphael, oh man he's totally my favorite character. Or at least one of them. In WoD, he may be kind of terrible. But I mean, we love him now, so we can't hate him later... xD
Darkblight The Hunter: Okay! My wifi is terrible, and I'll only be home 1 day out of the rest of this month, but if I can ever find time to get on I'll add you xD. As well as everyone else I've promised. Maybe I'll just stick my battletag on my profile so you guys can send me a request and then next time I log on I'll just accept 'em all! And fanks, I wuv da drawrin. Izz fun.
NyteKnight: SO much more to write, and in such a small space. :D Well, at least we got the Tiana part cleared up. Tiberius's trial won't be a direct point here, but in Chance, if I ever get around to actually writing it, it'll be a definite big scene.
FreakinGodzilla: WOO CHAPTERS. ;)
Noriana26: I hope your cousin didn't call EMTs or something :D happiness seizures are totally not an emergency but they probably look pretty freaking hilarious!
Kirara-sama Bakinha x3: Yay time shard! We love the time shard! Three cheers!
Ophianara Blade: Hopefully he won't ever die again ;D Or they'll have to resurrect him for a 3rd time. Idk if he'd be so lucky. Bwahhaa.
Gamer Girlfriend: I should be super-mean and kill off the whole entire tribe in a freak accident. Like... one of the mountains falls on them. *evil cackle* MWAHAHAHHA!
Shion Rasenka: Hahaha oh man, I have five of them. Patience is definitely a virtue.. xD
Lady Pixi: ...if Unaril were alive? OH, YEAH. About that. :D
Aeschielle: DON'T DIE! *chokes*
Chapter 37:
Darkblight the Hunter: Sustenance chapters are a must. *feeds you chapter*
Zarabethe: You're crazy! (just kidding) ;D And honestly I like it too... I almost wish I'd put the scene in Breaking Faith. But I kinda like that it was kept secret. Like, maybe Norivana didn't even know about it. I dunno. *shrugs*And also, WE'RE POSTING SIMULTANEOUS CHAPTERS. I LOVE THIS. :D :D Except mine are kinda short... If I didn't cut my chapters in half all the time, maybe I'd already be done with this story. Bwahah.
Noriana26: Yesss! I stuck a tiny little cameo in there in hopes you'd catch it... xD Just a 'hi! bye!' thing. heheh.
Ophianara Blade: More Raphael in this chapter! :D
Gamer Girlfriend: Not long at all! I've got to reorganize some of my chapter plans because I've been splitting them all up weird. But it won't be too long before it's all resolved.
Kirara-sama Bakinha x3: I knowwww... And when there's palm trees, and they're blowing sideways... It's SO COOL! And I know, Sarion's totally not gonna allow her to make him her backup. xD He's got too much dignity and..stuff. mwhaha.
Nyteknight: Angsty Sarion tends to happen a lot, now that I think about it.. xD And elf babies are pwecious! Plains storms are probably almost just as cool. I love seeing 'em where I live, because it's flat, and so you can see the clouds all swirly and dark for miles and miles. You can even see the cold/warm fronts come in and clash in the clouds. It's so amazing. 8D
Kintaraheart: I know dat feel... :S And apparently Sarion, too. *beckons Sarion to give Kintaraheart a big hug*
Impsy Locke: I concur! ;D
Sarion
He hadn't paid much attention to how many days had passed since he'd found Nyela on that ledge. It might've even been weeks, he wasn't sure.
But one thing he did know was that he didn't want to leave her alone again, not after the sudden jolt of pure fear he'd felt seeing her there, teetering just a foot from the edge. She denied having intentions of jumping, for which he was relieved, but he still couldn't get the horror out of his mind of it possibly happening.
Nyela was not herself now, and he'd been watching her like a hawk.
A few times he'd nearly cracked and told her about the discovery of Unaril's possible survival, if nothing else to give her something to put her hope in. But he didn't want to put a false hope in her only to be doused when the bad news came, which for some reason he expected. Not only that, but Raphael had been gone nearly this entire time and hadn't sent any word of success. Personally, Sarion had been doing his best to cope with the idea that his brother really was gone. It was hard. Really hard. But he was managing it. He didn't really have time to focus on his own feelings; his worry for Nyela overrode his needs.
Sarion wasn't with Nyela constantly; he was pretty sure she'd bite his head off if he didn't give her space, but he was still at least there. He kept an eye on her and was there for her when she really needed company. He wasn't sure how long this would last, but he prayed constantly she'd at least begin to heal. It pained him to see her so sad all the time, and it was beginning to get to him. He hadn't given himself time to heal, but he wouldn't do so until she'd begun to as well. The only way he could heal was to leave this place, get some distance, clear his mind. He wanted to travel, to get out. Everything here, as great as the orchard was, it reminded him of the sacrifices they had to give to get it all back.
He wanted to go somewhere that reminded him of all the good times he used to have. He wanted to go to Ashenvale.
All of that aside, spring was approaching quickly. It always came early in these equatorial coastal areas, sweeping in from the sea and warming the world a day at a time. The rains were heavy and long-lasting, warm and promising, coaxing the sleeping land back to life.
Sarion walked along the edge of the forest on an evening much like the many before it, a warmer breeze blowing from the southwest coast and catching his long, free raven hair, causing it to flow out behind him like a cape. He'd been planning on cutting his hair shorter; it was getting extremely long, longer than he'd ever had it before. It nearly went down to his hips, like a sleek black mane, trickling over his shoulders. Even when he'd shift to cat form, his hair was longer, like a thick winter coat. That wouldn't do for summer, especially since it was black and would absorb the heat of the sun.
He caught himself letting out an unexpected laugh in the otherwise quiet location. Here he was, with everything going on, worrying about the length of his hair.
The sound of Raphael's voice nearby drew his attention.
"I don't care what they say; laughing when you're entirely alone is a sign of genius," the Blood Elf piped up, approaching on the dusty path where Sarion stood.
Sarion allowed himself a smirk. "Welcome back." He stuffed his hands in his pockets and met the guy on the path. He was a little hesitant for the news; it'd been a while since Raphael had left, and every day had just added to the anticipation.
Raphael replied to the welcome with a light nod of thanks, sending a sly smirk before straightening back up. "So you probably want to know what happened with Unaril, yes?"
"I don't know, do I?" Sarion asked hesitantly.
Raphael beckoned the man to keep walking, matching his stride. "I'll tell you everything we found. And you can decide what to do with it, if anything. I don't know if anything can be done, other than letting time take its turn."
Sarion stayed quiet, allowing Raphael to begin.
"I recruited a Mage from Silvermoon, a woman who focuses on rare crystals and abnormal magics. Her name's Katerina Sunstepper. Related to Norivana somehow, if I'm not mistaken. Sister, maybe?" He shook his head. "I don't know. Doesn't matter, anyway. She's...a very different character, but useful nonetheless. With some direction from witnesses of the vault massacre—as my Rogues are calling it—she managed to pick up traces of the shard's magic and study it. She pinpointed its origin after about a week's worth of trial and error."
"And?" Sarion pressed.
"She says the shard came from a Dark Portal."
Sarion's eyes widened at this.
Raphael shrugged. "Not sure if it was the Dark Portal, but either way, Katerina said whatever that shard was, it was practically dripping with malleable, warping energy of the portal. If he was struck by something with that much energy, she predicts that as an elf, his body, rather than rejecting that energy, would feed on it. He'd absorb it, and by doing so could control it, to an extent. Probably not consciously, but if he so much as thought of another point in time while that energy coursed through his veins, he very well may have transported himself there. It probably also gave him the energy he needed to restart his heart. At least, that's what Miss Sunstepper claims, and she says it'd explain what everyone saw in that last second, when Unaril bolted awake."
The dark twin stayed silent for a few beats, letting this all sink in, his mouth hanging slightly open.
"So you're telling me my brother absorbed some dark portal energy and time traveled?" The thought was too ludicrous to believe, and yet at the same time, entirely probable.
Raphael sent him a sideways shrug. "I'm simply relaying the message from my Mage friend. She's a brilliant magician; she knows what she's talking about. If she says your brother's alive, he's probably alive."
"Does she know where he ended up? Or...when?" Sarion asked hesitantly.
"He didn't go back in time, she knows that much. Which means he could show up anytime between now and forever."
Sarion felt like the information he was receiving was sucking the breath from his lungs. Unaril was supposedly alive, but after that, he had no idea if he'd ever see him again.
With nothing else to do, Sarion let out an incredulous laugh. He had half a mind to hug Raphael, but thankfully didn't. He wasn't that far gone. He resigned to reaching out a hand and patting it on Raphael's shoulder firmly, a grateful gesture, and smiled. He shook his head.
"Raphael Amaranth, turns out you're not as useless as I thought," he laughed.
Raphael smirked slyly. "I get that more often than you think."
A second passed, and Raphael spoke again.
"So, will you relay the news to Nyela? Or do you want me to?"
Sarion shook his head. "I'll do it. Thank you."
Raphael nodded back. "Fair enough. In that case, I'm off to Silvermoon again. I won't be back for a long time, not until the Strom trial. Take care of her, and yourself."
Sarion gave Raphael a thankful nod and a farewell wave and took off back through the forest. He finally had good news for her, but he was afraid of how it'd affect her if things went south. It may end up they'd never see Unaril again; from what little Sarion knew of time and dimensions, it was possible he'd just ported to an entirely different world. Meaning they could sit there and wait for him for ages and ages and his return would never actually come.
On the other hand, Unaril could show up tomorrow.
That thought gave Sarion such an intense rush of relief mixed with anxiety that he almost forgot how to put one foot in front of the other as he jogged back to the giant tree. Perhaps this was what Nyela would need to bring her out of the rut she was slowly falling into.
So I tried to keep them brief, but the review responses were almost as long as the story tidbit itself. Sorry it's so short... I swear I'm not laughing at it.
At least I didn't call it "plot" this time. Okay now I'm really laughing.