Chapter 3: Buried Memories
It had been about a month since Laiken had last seen Lucien, and as he slept he grew more restless as each hour passed. This restlessness was attributed, and grew, as each passing day; he found that Lucien had failed to mail a letter to him, even a simple 'hello', or 'sorry I can't be there'. This made Laiken highly suspicious, even to the point of asking Kai if she would have accidentally misplaced the letter, which would have made much more sense.
"If I had seen the letter, I would have put it aside, for you later, dear", she would say.
At one point, Laiken almost tackled the mail carrier, to see if he was playing games, but to no avail. He sank into somewhat of a depression, before garnering the bright idea to ask Kai if she could accompany him to the docks.
"Why would you want to go to the mainland?" Kai asked.
"Lucien is waiting for me, I can feel it, Kai", Laiken pleaded with the elderly orc woman.
"Lucien will be here, remember the year he didn't show until Winter Veil? The boats were nearly froze to the water, but he made it", Kai stated.
Kai sure was stubborn. Laiken praised this part of his heritage, and wished it would come out as more prevalent, but the other part of his heritage denied this. Instead of being outright stubborn, Laiken was brave, and very intelligent. Whenever he went over these things, he would always end it mentally by saying 'may as well not complain, after all, you're a rarity among the rare'.
"So… we just wait? It's been a month, Kai… and he said I was nearly ready to go to the Eastern Kingdoms…" Laiken trailed off as Kai began to exhale loudly.
"Come, dear, sit with me, there is much I must explain" Kai softly said.
Kai led him to a living room, which he had seen many times before, but this time the room seemed quieter, as if it held dark secrets, that squirmed and squealed back into the darkness that hid them whenever they were exposed to sunlight. She sat down, and looked Laiken directly in his red-brown eyes.
"Laiken… you are aware of what you are, right?" Kai slowly began.
"A Half-Orc… my parents were a human and an orc. I was never told who they were, or why I've never gained the opportunity to meet them", he said.
"Do you know why we live on this island… away from the mainland? Asoria?" Kai queried, her voice was quavering a tad.
"No, I was never told that either, in fact… I haven't been told a lot of things, have I? Why is that, Kai?" Laiken replied.
"If you didn't already know… the history of the orcs and humans is stained in bloodshed, nothing is without the draw of the sword, a strike upon a shield… it is a very violent thing, I'm sure you're aware", she continued.
"I know very little… but yes", Laiken quietly said.
"Before I continue, Laiken… know that even though Frist and I weren't your real parents, know that I love you more than anything I've ever held close… besides Frist of course… and before I continue, let me know that you want to hear this, I need to know. I made a promise to Lucien that I wouldn't say a word, even if I had died before you knew, only if you asked", she expressed.
"I understand… and yes, Kai, I wish to know…" he took small pauses between his words.
"Your father was a respected paladin. His name was Varkaan Kesh… he despised all orcs with such a passion, that it carried on to some of the lower ranks of his fleets. However… after the Second War, and us orcs had been rounded up into the internment camps, your father found a young shaman…", Kai was cut off by Laiken.
"My mother?" Laiken pleaded.
"Yes, dear… your mother", Kai chuckled as she said this.
Laiken's eyes did not move from Kai's gaze as she began to explain in detail, what she had known from what Lucien had told her, about how Varkaan and Laiken's mother had met up.
"Your father was stationed somewhere north of the place where he was originally stationed, which from what Lucien told me was Durnholde Keep. He was patrolling the area when he came across a young shaman… who was bloodied from an attack by a nearby mercenary group. He, knowing that murdering someone, even if she or he was an orc, while they were injured was not righteous, so he took to hiding her and, in the intervening weeks, bringing her food and medical supplies", Kai explained.
"Is that what happened? He…" Laiken cut himself off.
"Elements, no! But, he did spend much time with her, and found himself devoting a lot of time to her, rather than his study. One night, she was attacked by the same group of mercenaries, and instead of letting her die… Varkaan saved her, and killed the mercenaries, striking them down with his blade", Kai said.
"He did care about her then? Where is he now, Kai?" Laiken questioned.
There was a sudden awful silence between the duo. Kai looked up, her strong eyes quavering to look away from Laiken's.
"H-he was murdered, by an assassin, who was believed to have been hired by the headmaster of Varkaan's order. Lucien was Varkaan's… protégé. Before Varkaan was killed, he made Lucien promise to keep you safe from harm… and Varkaan told him of us, Frist and I, and Asoria. Lucien took you here when you were so small… I can remember like it was last night", Kai softly explained.
Emotions rushed into Laiken, he felt anger, sorrow, pity and even remorse. But, still one thing drove him to ask a simple question to the now emotionally-drained orc woman.
"Where is my mother?" he asked.
"Your mother was never heard from again once Varkaan was killed. Lucien told me that Varkaan spoke very little of your mother, but her name was Hargu" Kai looked down at her hands.
"Hargu… she could still be alive?" Laiken asked, with a slight tone of excitement rising in his voice.
"Your mother will want nothing do you with you, dear. She left for a reason… Varkaan was heartbroken when she did", Kai tried to comfort Laiken with this statement.
"I am going to find her, and then Lucien", Laiken defiantly stated.
"You'll get no refusal from me, dear", Kai said.
"Excellent…", Laiken was cut off when he saw Kai open her strong-jawed mouth.
"But, you'll get no help from me either" Kai sadly stated.
"Why?" Laiken almost roared when he asked this.
"I cannot watch you go off and kill yourself on some stupid quest… but I know I can't stop you either", Kai replied.
"What do you mean?" Laiken asked.
"The world is full of hate for half-breeds, young one. Perhaps you do not know this now, but once you step foot on the shores of Kalimdor, you'll find that the world is not a place for Half-Orcs… or any kind of race that is a half-breed", Kai said.
Laiken nervously smiled. He then thought about the reality of the situation, ending up possibly a prisoner of war in some far-off place… far from home, far from everyone and everything he could have possibly held close, dying without saying goodbye…
"But… I wish you the best of luck", Kai said, her arms wide open.
Laiken embraced his godmother, and packed his training sword that Lucien had given him, as well as a shield that Lucien left. By the next morning, Laiken was in the boat, headed for a strange place known to him, by what the crew and Captain said, as Ratchet.
…
Lucien, dressed in his ceremonial golden plate armor, sat on the edge of a swirling whirlpool, that had caused the landscape that kept the Stranglethorn Jungle and The Cape of Stranglethorn held together, with his blade at his side, and shield lying on the ground. He drank from an old-glass cylinder, which had some of the finest rum from Booty Bay in it.
"Laiken's going to be here soon…", he said to himself, as the wind picked up, and blew his hair grey back.