Transcendence
Chapter: Ash and Cinder
"To get him to walk squeeze his sides, but not too tightly." Tarem instructed Ichigo, letting out another sigh at being forced to teach the boy the basics on riding. How could this boy not know how to ride, he should have at least been taught them when he was younger or at least know what he had to do. But when he was asked if he knew how to ride and he said no Tervosh laughed, actually thinking he was joking, that was for from the case.
"Good, now when you want him to stop pull on the reigns lightly." Tarem continued as he watched the substitute wander forward for a few seconds.
Ichigo did as instructed, pulling the reins closer to his chest with both hands, and the horse came to a halt. Letting out a breath he was holding while moving around on the horse, but deep down he found this kind of embarrassing. He could tell that Tarem found it annoying that he didn't know how to ride, and he could see whoever came close enough to realize what was going on found it rather amusing.
Off to the side Pained and Tervosh watched, the latter finding it slightly amusing watching as Tarem trained the substitute. He particularly liked how the young man was fidgeting in his saddle and holding his straps closely to his chest. He would only see such worry on young children that were riding for the first time and afraid of the horse.
But still he had to wonder if this boy was what he was said to be, he had been told along with a few select people what the boy truly was. A God of Death, something that really concerned him when he first heard of it. A possible Primal God on the mortal plane and coming to their fair city, he was terrified at the prospects, despite the assuring words of the Ranger-General that he was no danger. Still he was given this task as a way to monitor the boy in their trek to Shady Rest, to see if they could find anything out about him and his motives other than returning home.
"Don't bring those reigns to close to your chest, leave them loose otherwise the horse may get startled," Tarem warned the boy, seeing the reins being held to close and tightly. "Loosen your hold on them; leave them slack in your hands but don't drop them."
Ichigo let the reigns loosen, and put his arms down, leaving both reins in his left hand. Ichigo sat there for a few moments, finding his balance and also adjusting his centre to find a comfortable position.
"Now, do you know how to turn the horse?" Tarem asked, and Ichigo looked at him for a moment before looking at his reins. "No, we don't use the reins like that, we use the position of our legs to steer the horse. Put pressure on his side, away from his calf, with your right leg. It will make your horse move left, he will move away from the pressure. But not too much otherwise they tend to jolt sharply and you may lose control of him."
Ichigo did as he was told, careful pulling his leg back and pressing the horse in the side, and as explained the mounted turned to the side steadily. Feeling a little brave Ichigo pressed down with both legs and motioned the horse forward. Ichigo did a few laps, practicing and memorising where he had to put his legs and the right pressure with the turns. He deciding to keep it as a simple walking pace rather than a trot or full gallop.
"Very good, you're a quick learner, now that you know how to turn and motion your horse we can go," Tarem said, moving off towards his own mount.
"That's it?" Ichigo asked, surprise on how quick the lesson had been, he had expected a little while longer in the training.
"I am just making sure you don't fall off while were moving to Shady Rest, and you can actually follow us." Tarem responded, mounting is own mount in one swift motion before trotting past Ichigo and towards Pained and Tervosh.
"It didn't really seem that hard." Ichigo said, mostly to himself, looking down at his horse and wondering what he was so worried about in the first place, it seemed a little easy.
"Of course not, any man who had ridden before or know how to ride can do it," Tervosh said, before he smacked himself in mock surprise. "But you don't! You don't even know the basics, yet you still didn't fall off, you must feel so proud."
"Hey, I ain't an idiot! I know that it is complicated and stuff and I just got a crash course in this." Ichigo shot back. "But this really doesn't seem so bad."
"Wait till we move through the marshes." Tervosh replied, a smirk pulling at his lips as he said that.
"Wait, Marshes? We're going through…"
"You don't need any lessons do you?" Tarem interrupted Ichigo's question with one of his own, yet instead of towards ths substitute he directed it to the young elven druid walking towards them.
She gave no reply; instead she walked over to her horse and quickly mounted it with expert grace and signs of previous training. She then trotted over towards Ichigo and turned and stopped her horse besides the substitutes, facing each other as Adelina looked at Tarem. He got the idea and knew she could ride.
"Very good, let's go, it will take four hours to reach Shady Rest, and about an hour for you two to reach Tabetha's hut from there." Tarem finished, before turning around and moving for the gate.
Tervosh and Pained turned their horses and followed after the investigator, trotting after him before falling in line beside him. Ichigo pressed his left leg into the horse's side and turned him towards the gate, Adelina remaining by his side as he turned fully. Then both motioned their mounts forward and towards the gate, a fast walk toward the retreating forms of their three companions in their journey.
Ichigo kept himself alert and tried to maintain his balance on the horse, he knew if he got distracted he likely would fall flat on his face. That is the last thing he wanted to do while he was in the swamps, he would probably drown. He looked at Adelina, and again she surprised him on how easily she seemed to be able to ride the stallion.
Adelina was shaken out of her thoughts before she answered with a smile.
"How can you ride a horse?" Ichigo asked, from what she had told him they had no horses or anything, in fact he had asked her about it once and she said they don't have horses on Kalimdor.
"They are not so different to Nightsabers, also the methods on controlling them are very similar. Although the straps here are a find substitute to actually shifting you position to stop." Adelina replied, admiring the thin black leather rein in her hand for a moment.
"Nightsabers?" Ichigo asked, wondering what kind of things these guys rode, and he knew they rode giant bird things called Hippogryphs but he had no idea what they looked like.
"Yes, they are giant panthers that Sentinels ride into battle with, no different to you humans and your horses," Adelina replied, but Ichigo didn't see it that way.
Aside from Adelina's obvious inability to tell the difference between a panther and a horse, was the fact she thought that a massive cat was as domesticated as a stallion. Ichigo already got an idea in his head on how that would look on a battlefield. Massive black panthers being ridden into battle by an army of warrior woman, shooting enemies from a distance and having their mounts tear them to bits up close. It would be gory to say the least, but at the same time kind of awesome, so long as you weren't the ones they were attacking.
"Exactly how it is you find humans fascinating?" Ichigo deadpanned, seeing nothing so far that shows humans to be in anyway more awe-inspiring than a monarchic race of elves that ride panthers into battle and are immortal.
"Why wouldn't I find humans interesting? You're such a tenacious and honourable race, humans can overcome almost any challenge set before them." Adelina said, remembering the first things she heard about them. "I have heard many tales of dozens of different heroes and legends from across the sea; they have accomplished tremendous feats that few here could claim to have done the same. The human race is one that I find interesting because you have done so much in so little time, and have made itself a power that the entire world recognises."
Ichigo had to admit she did know how to get her point across; sadly he had no idea what the Alliance has really done so he really couldn't be the judge. But he doubted that they have anything like the Night Elves.
"You ride of massive cats and can command nature at your beck and call as well as have a bunch of gods as back up, what part of that does translate as being less interesting than humanity?" Ichigo asked again.
"But that's normal," Adelina replied, looking confused to Ichigo's meaning, to which he simply slumped his head into his free hand and accidently forced his horse to a stop when he slouched forward.
Correcting himself quickly he saved himself from falling off and making himself look like an idiot in front of the guards and people around. He straightened up and quickly caught back up with Adelina. Soon enough they passed through the gate and onto the muddy and dishevelled road.
"Come on, we need to pick up the pace," Adelina called out, her steed running past Ichigo in a slow gallop, leaving Ichigo to play catch-up.
"I better not fall off," Ichigo grumbled as he pressed his heels into the horse's side and forced him to go faster, chasing after his Night Elf friend.
Shady Rest
"Search over there, if it doesn't look Alliance or human than get it."
If one watched from a distance they would see twelve people, all moving through the town and searching. They were rummaging through the ruins of the destroyed settlement, searching for anything of value. Stepping around and over the deceased with little concern, moving from building to building and searching for anything they could find.
But it was not gold they sought.
No they searched for something more valuable, evidence.
These men were of Theramore, soldiers in white and silver armour who looked for any clues to the town's destruction. They would find many hoof prints on the ground, dozens of them scattered through the town. Occasional large three fingered hand prints would be found along any flat surface cover in soot. Anyone would instantly know the race that held these two defining anatomical characteristics.
This was damning proof that this town was attacked by Tauren. But these men did not want damning proof, they simply wanted it gone. Hand prints were rubbed away or the walls smashed down to hide their existence. But there was also signs others were here, evidence that would damn members of the Theramore guard if it were to be found. Weapons and armour, belonging to a band of mercenaries, with stylized Q and R letters etched into the metal. A brand that must never been seen by eyes familiar with it.
They were here to hide all evidence; there was no massacre by the Horde. It was perpetrated by Centaur and this was a tragedy that could not have been avoided, and Light willing it would all blow over with time.
'It won't blow over.' Chronormu thought.
Unknown to the Theramore soldiers there was someone watching them, having witnessed their acts of vandalism to hide the evidence regarding the massacre. She knew every single detail of this investigation down right to where every single piece of evidence originated from. Including all the people involved in this investigation along with their family, as well as their ancestors going back a thousand years.
She knew how this investigation would proceed, and how it should have, and the results they would bring. Those results were not to her liking.
Chromie moved away from the collapsed wall and proceeded deeper into the ruins of the inn, her temporal powers giving her many different conflicting visions of the timeline. Showing her how events were to proceed and how they were unfolding at the moment.
One of the major changes was one man, who was now lying under a pile of rubble that had crushed him when the inn collapsed. Chromie approached and kneeled before the charred hand that jutted out from beneath the rubble. For a moment she was able to see the course of his life appear before her, seeing many happy memories. She saw the man's birth, to his first fight, a moment where he fell in love and when he held his young son for the first time. Before it all was snuffed out in a painful and fiery death.
Chromie felt some pity for the man, he was not meant to die but she could not doubt that he would not need to suffer a life filled with despair. Maybe now he could be reunited with his family rather than being forced to endure the flow of time before he could meet them again. But despite the good it did for the man, it was still a major problem for the Bronze.
Chromie stood up and examined the situation clearly; everything was falling apart in a spectacular fashion. That was the best way she could describe the situation as it unfolded, it was utter chaos. The events of Shady Rest were meant to go mostly unnoticed to the rest of the world, but because of the anomaly it was not going to be the case this time around.
It would seem that Theramore now suspects the Horde is involved, something they were never meant to suspect at all. Because of this Theramore will look for evidence that links the Horde to the attack, something they will eventually find. This will lead the Alliance to bolstering the defences on their only sphere on control in Kalimdor. Something the Horde will not take sitting down.
This will lead to negotiations and eventually the revelation of why these actions were being taken. But as time goes on more complications will arise, the Horde claiming that the evidence they found was also incriminating against the Alliance because it was stolen from Horde caravans. Eventually things would go back and forth and then the Barrens would become a battleground between the Alliance and Horde similar to Warsong Gulch.
If that happened both sides will lose focus on the serious threat of the demon in Dire Maul. Already she could see that the demons will easily take over Feralas if the Horde and Alliance do not mobilize to counter them as they should. This will have dire consequences to both factions if this is not sorted out correctly, she may even be forced to break protocol and actually reveal those responsible to prevent further calamity.
It will cost her she knew, but she could not let these events create more damage by coming to pass.
"I need to find the Anomaly, and send someone to keep me apprised of this situation," Chromie murmured to herself, glancing down into the cellar of the Inn and seeing the dead Tauren below.
His body was going to be burned and his arms and armour taken, and the body would become too unrecognizable to be used as substantial evidence. This would have actually been a very important piece to show that the Horde was not responsible, for if they had looked closely they would know that this one was no supporter of the Horde.
Chromie let out a breath; this was not how things were supposed to be. Glancing down she took note of something shining in the light, in the cellar she saw a flash of silver. Her eyes lingered on it for a moment and her eyebrow quirked in sudden interest. That was not something she remembered seeing in her divination.
As per protocol with every expedition in the field and into the timeway they were meant to divine their journey and plan it accordingly. Making sure they did not make any disruptions and avoided any crucial moments and people, after all, even the most simplest of things can cause drastic changes. In fact she remembered where she treads on a flower and then she nearly caused a war between Gilneas and Stromguard.
She had to go back in time, replace the flower she stepped on with a fake and then leaves a temporal memory trap so when her past-self appeared she would repeat her action of going back in time. Then her present self would replant the flower and everything would continue on their correct course. It was very taxing really, all because of a flower, who knew that the Gilnean prince liked Mageroyal's rather than Peaceblooms. Who knew that a war could start because someone didn't like the flowers they got as a gift because the vendor just sold their last Mageroyal.
Chromie quickly blinked into the cellar and appeared in front of the strange object that had caught her attention. To her surprise she found a massive blade, six feet in length from handle to tip, easily as tall as a normal human and likely as heavy as one. Chromie looked at the sleek black and silver blade and admired the real simplicity of the weapon.
"I don't remember seeing this before," Chromie said, kneeling down next to the weapon and giving the completely flawless surface a once over.
To her surprise it didn't have a traditional hilt, only a piece of metal that jutted from the blade that was wrapped in a white cloth. Either its hilt was lost or the person who owned it was too cheap to get a normal hilt, and possible compensating for something – that was how humans put it right? – Chromie giggled to herself a little.
But despite this it still had her interested, after all she did not see this in her divination of her visit here. So where did this come from?
Chromie bend down to pick the weapon up, but stopped, feeling a strange surge from the massive blade as if it had a consciousness of its own. She stepped back, startled by the presence she felt. But her surprise was not from its existence, but what kind of power she felt from it.
It was spiritual energy, the power that the most powerful of spiritual being use. Something that was quite rare from this world, for only a select few beings had the power to tap into their very essence and wield this kind of power. The Ancients were one such group, as were the Primal Gods that roamed the spirit realm. But this blade was a complete mystery to her, where did it come from and why was it in Shady Rest?
"Check the cellar, there might be something down there!" Chromie turned sharply, seeing something appear above her, without a moment's hesitation she disappeared before anyone noticed her.
Appearing on what remained of the second floor of the inn she glanced down at the humans, chastising herself for getting distracted, she was better than that. She nearly got herself caught, that was a whelping mistake, and she hadn't made a mistake in the last six thousand years. Great, now when they realize what happened everyone would make fun of her, saying she was getting a little too old.
Chromie looked to the south and as expected she saw some soldiers in silver and green approaching, Kul Tiras was right on time. While Tarem was only two hours out from reaching the town, but by then most of the evidence would be gone and the only thing they will know is that someone in the guard did it. But even then events will eventually force Theramore to acknowledge the Horde was responsible, especially when they move to assault Lost Point.
"Maybe I can fix this before it gets worse, the anomaly is the problem, remove him and we may be able to prevent further calamity." Chromie said, nodding to herself and quickly turning to her next destination and disappearing in a flash of gold.
Reethe looked down the hole, his eyes scanning the darkness below searching for anything. A moment ago he thought he saw something down there, a flash of gold as he peaked over the edge. But when he looked there he saw nothing, just a dark and ruined cellar filled with debris and dust.
He did see a very large blade down below however, easily as tall as a man and likely weighing as much. Likely the blade was another piece of evidence linking the Horde to the attack. There's no way a human could carry something so large, only an orc or tauren could hope to do that. That likely meant that it was wielded by one when the attack took place, even more reason to get it out of here.
"Hey! There's a Tauren down here!" A soldier called out, Reethe turned sharply and rushed over with his sword drawn.
He saw the private looking down a hole in the floor. Reethe rushed up next to him and glanced down the opening, and immediately groaned in aggravation before smacking the lad up the side of the head.
Soon enough everyone else came in after hearing the man's shout, their swords drawn and shields at the ready. Some gathered around the hole and glanced down, and immediately rounded on the one who had made the exclamation.
"Idiot, it's dead." Someone said as Reethe took note of the dead tauren, its chest was pulverised and it was missing an arm. His black fur was covered in ash and debris; it likely died from either blood loss, or from the large beam that was currently on its chest.
"Next time don't do that." Reethe chastised the younger soldier, who sheepishly apologized. "Get down there and burn the body, we don't want anything here saying who was responsible."
Three soldiers quickly dropped down into the cellar, moving around the Tauren and piling some unburnt wood around the body. Before getting to work on starting a new fire, Reethe walked out of the inn. He took in a breath and looked at the desolate street, finding the blackened buildings and pile of bones scattered around doing little to his already conflicted consciousness.
Had this gone any other way he would have tried to make amends, he never wanted this to happen. So caught up in reaping some revenge against the Horde he never considered the consequences to his action, or to those who he was putting in danger. He was the one to blame for this, he was the one who led this town to ruin.
"Sir." Reethe turned to the soldier, and to his surprise he found another man with him, clad in silver and green armour. A similar tabard with a green anchor emblazed on it, as well as the familiar blonde haired man who wore it, Bolos Jacken.
"Pavel, been a while, how are things in Theramore?" Bolas asked, snidely as expected, both sharing a glare of greeting before the Lieutenant decided to respond.
"It has Bolos, and they are going well." Reethe replied, his gaze fixed on the Kul Tiras leader, or whatever he fancies himself these days.
"Not from what I have heard, I go a letter saying that I need to pack up and make a break for it, just like those damn Raiders did after the attack." Bolos said, crossing his arms over his chest and making his annoyance well known.
"What do you expect, you need to leave before the guard figure out what happened here, and if they do then you are like not going to be able to hide from them for long." Reethe replied with equal irritation. "For the moment you have nothing to worry about, but that can change at any time now."
"Actually I got a missive that says otherwise, they know everything." Bolos replied, speaking as if the news was not important as what Reethe was suggesting.
"What!" Reethe shouted, rushing forward as Bolos spoke. "How? How did they discover this?"
"The survivors, apparently their pretty good at not dying, survived the assassination attempts and now the rest of the guard knows about the traitors and are looking for them." Bolos said, watching at Reethe and the soldiers nearby got twitchy. "I was told to bring you to Lost Point, apparently people are coming this way, and they want you all hidden."
Reethe glanced towards Bolos for a moment, that didn't seem right. Why would they need to go to Lost Point? Clear suspicion on why he was being led there. But he tried to rationalize it, the Lieutenant likely wanted any evidence found to be dropped off at the tower and then they could make a hasty retreat back to North Point. That is likely what he wanted them to do.
"Gather up everything you can see and get it back to Lost Point, take the horses and use them, we don't have much time!" Reethe called out to his men who doubled their efforts.
"You seem more twitchy then the rest of them, why's that?" Bolos asked, looking slightly pleased with how the Theramore officer was shaking.
"Because, right now, I feel like a dead man."
Two hours later
Ichigo saw it in the distance, breaching through the thick cover of the trees in the distance, the remains of one of the houses in Shady Rest. He knew they were getting close to the town, because before he saw it, he smelt the ash and smoke a few miles back. But he also smelt something else, a very putrid and foul smell that made him want to vomit. He almost did when he realized what he smelled was the lingering stench of the bodies that were burned with the town.
Their gallop soon dropped into a slow trot towards the edge of the town. Ichigo felt his heart beat all the more harder as he got closer to the town, the fear of what was inside squeezing at it very tightly. As soon as they exited the clearing they stopped, Tarem saying they will keep the horses out of the town as they don't want them adding false prints to the area.
Taking the horses and placing them near a fallen tree they tied them down before making their way up the small slope and to the town. Ichigo would have followed but he was stopped by Adelina, who stood in front of him and was looking him right in the eye.
"Is there a problem?" Tarem asked, looking back at them.
"Ichigo will be minding the horses, me and you will search the town," Adelina said, and Tarem looked at them both sharply but made no comment. He walked up the slope and moved down the street, he didn't want to listen to the argument that was about come.
"Remain here, I will retrieve Zangetsu," Adelina said, staring Ichigo right in the eyes as she said it, but Ichigo did nothing but scowl and tried push past her.
"I can do it myself," Ichigo replied, but as he tried to walk past she stepped in front of him and halted him, as he tried again she put her hand on his chest and pushed him back. "What the hell?"
"You can't go in there, remain here and I will get you your blade." Adelina said, not backing down, but instead advancing on him and trying to force him to back down.
"I said I can get it, besides I came here to help with finding any evidence, Vimes…"
"Captain Vimes was mistaken in bringing you here, you shouldn't have come, you are a liability." Adelina cut him off, glaring at Ichigo; his stubbornness was more a danger to him at the moment than anyone else.
Ichigo was surprised for a moment at her words, before he quickly felt his temper get the better of him.
"Where the hell did this come from? I am going in there, I need to help, and there might be people who survived." Ichigo yelled, trying to push past her again, this time with some force, but h was surprised when she grabbed him and slammed his back into a tree and pinned him there.
"Remain here, you haven't recovered from your ordeal!" Adelina shouted, her arm braced against his neck.
"I'm fine dammit, I need to go, I need to see!" Ichigo shot back, trying to push her off.
"What do you hope to accomplish by going in there? To find closure?" Adelina rebuked, fighting hard to keep him restrained. "You haven't gotten over all those deaths and I can see it, I won't let you go in there."
"I have to! I need to do this! I have to fix this!" Ichigo shouted, pushing Adelina off of him and moving up the hill.
"You can't fix your own weakness!" Adelina cried out, emotion leaking into her tone that startled Ichigo enough to stop the substitute from moving another step.
Ichigo turned to Adelina to see her sorrowful expression, it was fully focused on him.
"You still feel guilty for what happened, I can see it in your eyes." Adelina said, moving forward and embracing the surprised Shinigami. "You feel as if they were all counting on you, and you failed them all. But it isn't you fault."
Ichigo remained quiet and let her continue, in fact, he couldn't even talk if he wanted to, the words failed to express how he was feeling.
"You can't go in there, you can't handle seeing what is in there," Adelina said. "You aren't strong enough to face what happened in there Ichigo; you may never be that strong. I know you feel like you should go up there, but please, don't. You won't be able to handle it; you will only drown in your despair and destroy yourself."
Adelina released him from her embrace, stepping past him and looking him right in the eyes. This time there was no determination to force him to remain, but pleading eyes asking him not to go.
"Please, stay here, stay out of Shady Rest," Adelina said, her words soft and caring. "Don't hurt yourself trying to prove you aren't weak."
Several emotions passed over the substitute's face, anger being the most dominant of emotions. He didn't want to accept it, to accept that he was weak in the face of this, that he couldn't overcome it. He had faced armies of hollows, faced down people a lot stronger than him and in the end he had always come out the victor. What could he say to her other than no?
"Fine," Ichigo breathed out with a growl.
Yet despite what he wanted to say, he realized she was right, he wasn't strong enough to go up there and face the consequences of his failure. As sickening as it was for him to accept, he was glad Adelina forced him into submitting to her demands. He knew that if he went up there and saw the site of the massacre, he wouldn't be able to handle it.
Seeing the bodies, seeing the destruction, seeing what he failed to stop. Ichigo had never faced anything like this before; he had never had to think about people dying. He always thought that he could keep them safe, but now, he felt like he wasn't really able to do anything. Ichigo slumped against a tree, watching as Adelina took her leave, and wondering what was the point of him being here when he had no purpose.
Adelina walked besides Tarem, both were moving through the street of Shady Rest without saying a word to one another. Tarem had nothing to say but Adelina was trapped in her own mind thinking over what she had said to Ichigo. She felt some regret speaking to him in such a way, she did not want to go that far, but she had to keep him safe from this.
He was her friend; despite the short time she was with him she found his qualities and kind nature to be something she found quite lacking in her life. But he had his faults, stubborn and unpredictable, and most of the time they got him in trouble with others. But this time it would have caused himself harm.
She looked around to see the burned down remains of the buildings, finding the remains of bodies littering the streets. So many innocent dead splayed across the ground, bones charred black and internal organs rotted beside them. It was disturbing to see, she even felt some bile rise into her throat. She could only imagine Ichigo's reaction to this; it would become a true nightmare for him, especially if he felt personally responsible for it.
"We can start at the Inn, it is where we know the Tauren were." Tarem said, his eyes focusing only on the inn at the far end of the long road. "You said you were able to bring one down, would the body still be inside?"
Adelina was silent at the question, wondering how this man could remain so impassive to the slaughter around him. Maybe he had seen such things before, maybe not only the aftermath.
"Yes, the body should still remain; he likely is within the cellar." Adelina said, regaining some focus enough to momentarily forget about her confrontation with Ichigo.
"Good, that will be proof that there were Tauren who attacked the town, after that we simply need to find out who sent them." Tarem said, passing through the massive opening in the inn's wall.
Both navigated their way around the rubble of the collapsed building, making through way to the dining hall where Adelina had dropped the tauren through the floor. Adelina pointed it out to the investigator before she turned to the massive gaping hole where Ichigo had been thrown through. Adelina climbed through it and moved forward, making her way towards the hole that Ichigo would have fallen through after he was attacked.
Adelina stopped when she looked down, finding a familiar pile of debris down below in the cellar. Quickly jumping down she landed gracefully on top of the rubble in a crouch, looking around quickly and making sure nothing had taken up residence. After a moment to make sure she was alone, she turned to look down at the blade she had come to retrieve. But to her surprise she did not see the blade, instead she saw an empty space, where it should have been.
The young druid's eyes darted around, looking around and trying to locate the blade. Surely it had to be here, she must have just looked in the wrong place. But as she continued to turn and try to find it her worry began to rise at the prospect of it no longer being here.
"This is impossible, where could it be?" Adelina said aloud, frantically trying to find her friends weapon, leaping off the pile and searching around the rest of the cellar, it couldn't be gone.
Tarem looked down at the Tauren, and did not like what he was seeing. Ever since he set foot in this town everything has gotten more complicated than it should have been. The two kids that were sent with him were one thing; Captain Vimes wanted the boy to be used as a glorified tracking hound to hunt those down who did this. Something he didn't approve of considering Ichigo was a survivor and that coming here would likely traumatize him.
But aside from the potential to leave the boy a bloody wreck everything was nothing short of bad. His evidence was destroyed, the body of the Tauren – if it could be identified as a Tauren anymore – was burnt to nothing but a black husk. But that was not the worst of it, he couldn't find anything else to show that there were tauren here or that this town was attacked by the horde. The hoof prints could be passed off as Centaur, but still that didn't give much along the lines and definite proof.
Yet, there was only one thing that made him concerned. The body was burned only recently, the charred flesh was still warm and also small embers were still burning along the surface. Yet he also found that the Tauren had no armour on, nor did it have a shield and also it would appear its horns had been torn off to make identification impossible. How did he know this? Well, the fact there was three sets of standard Theramor Guardsman boot prints around the corpses made that apparent.
Tarem know that there were traitors in the guard, Captain Vimes had given him that little detail before he left and now he had found some evidence of that. But worse was the fact that they had to have been here no less than an hour or two ago, if that was the case they may still be in the area. If not they would be going back to Theramore. Either way, he needed to find out who they were, that was the new top priority.
Tarem moved off to find the girl and see if she could help him track them, finding Adelina was not hard; she was busy running around searching.
"What's wrong?" Tarem inquired.
"Ichigo's sword, it isn't here," Adelina said, franticly looking around.
'She is right, I am weak.' Ichigo thought to himself, gazing off into the swamps. "How can I blame her, I don't want to go in there, the only reason I came back was because of Zangetsu."
Yet he didn't have the guts to go and get his Zanpakuto himself, he had to have a friend do it for him. Leaning against the tree and roughly running his hand through his hair Ichigo tried to figure this out, try and find some ground so he could find stability and actually figure this mess out. He knows that he couldn't have saved everyone; he knows that he likely couldn't have saved anyone. But he could have tried, that way at least he wouldn't have felt like this.
Why was it that every time there were lives on the line I come up short?
Ichigo looked at the partially visible building over the rise in the road, his heart telling him to do one thing but then his mind telling him to stop. His mind berating him and saying to man up and go in there and face whatever he sees, but his own fear stops him. His fear of what he will see if he goes around that corner and looks at the carnage.
What should he do? Go there and face it, a sort of punishment for his failure, something to remind him why he should not fail again. Bring him closure to finally give him some stability, so he could think of something other than all those dead bodies. He didn't know, but every moment he sat on that log he felt like he was one moment closer to finally snapping.
"Ichigo…"
The substitutes head shot up in surprise, he never thought he would hear that voice again.
"Zangetsu?" Ichigo shot to his feet, looking around in surprise, thinking he would somehow manifest in his inner world or his spirit would appear in some manner.
"Ichigo, find me… come for me…" the Zanpakuto spirit called, and his wielder felt a tug on his senses, making him turn his head to the south, but not towards the town, but something past it.
Ichigo walked to the swamp shore that ran up the very edge of Shady Rest, before looking to the south and gazing off into nothing for a while. The strange tug on his sense pulling him in that direction, he knew exactly what it was, Zangetsu was calling to him and leading his Zanpakuto. Without any resistance he let it lead him, pull him towards whatever wanted him to come, he walked forward before he dropping low and started to run.
Adelina walked back to the horses, she was not in good spirits, especially with the news she was going to deliver to the substitute. Ichigo would be sent into a hysterical fit if he is told his sword is gone. Although she had no idea what kind of importance the sword is to him, he says it is a manifestation of his soul. He always gave odd answers and never explains them, almost like she is meant to know what he means.
Hopefully she can calm him down and try to ease him into it, but she doubted it would work like that. There was no way Ichigo would remain calm about this, especially with how he was acting now. But it may not be all lost, they have a solid idea on who may have taken his sword, but no idea where he could have gone with it.
Adelina walked over the incline along the road and back to where they left the horses, they were grazing on what little patches of grass there were. But Adelina could not find the familiar orange haired young Shinigami she had been travelling with for the last two weeks. Instantly she felt her heart tighten at the thought he may have entered the town, quickly running back she tried to locate him.
"Ichigo!" Adelina called, cursing at herself, he wouldn't have listened to her so easily he was to rash for that. "Ichigo, where are you?!"
Adelina ran down the street looking through the charred houses looking for him, looking through each house, but she couldn't see anyone. Again she looked and tried to find him, but like the first she failed to locate him. She was starting to become frantic, thinking he may have wondered into the swamps, the close proximity to the town getting the better of him. She ran over to the horses again, looking around the surrounding area, trying to figure out where he was.
She couldn't see him! He had to be close they had only been here for less than an hour, she was coming back to tell him about the sword. Maybe if he realized it wasn't here she could take him back to Theramore. But now this happens, this couldn't be any more worse than it already is. Did he run because of what she said, the guilt of the thought alone was painful, she almost felt like she was going to vomit.
"No… he wouldn't do that… he's smarter than that…" Adelina tried to reassure herself.
Adelina quickly recovered herself, she needed to remain calm and think this through. Ichigo wasn't a fool, she knew he wouldn't run off into the swamps since he knew it was dangerous and he was unarmed. He had to have walked off somewhere; she just needed to figure out where that was.
Adelina looked to where she last left him, finding his tracks along the slope of the small hill, before she followed the sandal prints towards the log where the horses were tied down. There were several dozen prints in a single area showing he had been sitting there for a time. Then they abruptly stand and move off to the water near the swamps, before quickly turning south and moving along the edge of the town and off into the swamps. The distance between each step show that he was running.
"Ichigo where are you going?" Adelina said, following after the prints.
"What's going on?" Tarem said, running towards the elven druid, and he quickly took stock of the situation and what it was lacking. "Where's the boy?"
"He's gone into the swamps, he went that way," Adelina said, pointing to the south and she noticed how the investigators gaze darkened as he looked that way.
"We need to get to him now." Tarem said, moving to the horse and quickly untying the reins from the branch.
"What? Why?" Adelina said, concerned for what Ichigo may have gotten himself into and what Tarem knew.
"Because I found track, a lot of them, all going that way, and likely wherever Ichigo is going it is where they are." Tarem said.
Adelina didn't need to be told twice, she quickly followed Tarem's example and untied her horse from the log. He did not wait for her; instead he took off as soon as he was on his mount, Adelina following in his wake when she was ready.
Tabetha placed the herbs into the pot and let them simmer for a moment, making sure none fell out and through the filter she had in the water. Her concentration was solely focused on the concoction she was making. This was very important and any distraction would ruin it and then she would be forced to wait for another day to make this, something that she could not afford to do.
"You idiot!" Tabetha heard her apprentice Morlann yell, abusing her other apprentice Garion. "You used all the regents again!"
"What, of course not you bastard I restocked them yesterday after you complained!" Garion yelled back.
Tabetha poured the liquid into a small cup, the water steaming slightly and giving off a rich aroma that brought a smile to the magi's face. Lifting the cup she took a sip, her smile widening and letting out a pleased sigh as the warm liquid warmed her and soothed her frail nerves. She always enjoyed her Goldthorn tea, calmed her nerves and always brought a spring in her step.
"Excuse me," Tabetha turned to the door and saw a welcomed sight, Archmage Tervosh was there, waiting inside the door.
Tabetha put down her cup and moved to greet him; she walked past her two apprentices who were still arguing to notice their new arrival.
"Tervosh, such a pleasure to see you again, to what do I owe this welcoming visit." Tabetha asked, walking over the magi and smiling pleasantly.
"Sadly this isn't a social call," Tervosh replied awkwardly, slightly nervous around the woman, she was quite a unique woman and the way she spoke, it wouldn't be hard to say he found her quite an appealing woman.
"Such a shame, I would have loved for you to stay and chat with me," Tabetha said, moving to a small table and motioning for Tervosh to sit with her. "Tea?"
"Yes please," Tervosh said, taking a seat opposite the female magi, and it was then that Tabetha noticed her colleague's friend, a tall stoic Night Elf that she was familiar with on her many trips to Theramore.
"Pained, good to see you as well, sadly I don't have any of those muffins you like," Tabetha said, and was met with a small rare smile from the elven warrior.
"It is good to see you as well my friend, but as Tervosh said, this is not a personal visit." Pained replied, her smile dropping slightly as she expressed the seriousness of their visit.
"I see, would this have anything to do with Shady Rest?" Surprised Pained and Tervosh both shared a look with one another, before turning back to the hermit mage.
"You know what happened?" Tervosh asked.
"Yes, I discovered it early this morning; I went there and found the town destroyed and no one within." Tabetha said, some sadness in her tone as she took a sip of her tea.
"Why didn't you contact us?" Pained asked, Tabetha was not someone to simply hide something of importance, especially of this scale.
"Because I had no need to, I saw over a dozen guardsmen there already." Tabetha said calmly, setting her cup down and looking at both Pained and Tervosh seriously. "Sadly they were not there humanitarianly."
"Guardsmen in Shady Rest?" Tervosh asked, surprised and worried, Tarem and the others were there, they could be in danger.
"Yes I watched them for a time, an even saw a most surprising guest or two appear." Tabetha said. "One was a soldier from Kul Tiras."
"Kul Tiras, they were there?" Pained said, not liking this, Kul Tiras was as much an enemy to them as it was the Horde, if they were involved somehow they needed to figure out why.
"Yes, and I believe they were attempting to cover up any evidence as to who destroyed the town, but I think they took something they shouldn't have." Tabetha said, looking at a small bowl filled with a black liquid, momentarily seeing a white mask with red tribal marking along its surface.
"What do you mean?" Tervosh asked, he knew that Tabetha was a scryer and had the ability to divine future events and see from great distances, yet she wasn't one to be cryptic.
"I knew you were going to be coming here, I didn't even need to scry to see that, I simply felt his approach," Tabetha said, rising from her seat and quickly stopping her apprentices fighting with a smack to both their heads. "I felt it that night as well, I felt that boy when he was in the town, and now he is moving after them."
"Boy? Do you mean Ichigo?" Tervosh asked, he was the only other person in Shady Rest when it was attack, but what did she mean by felt him? "He has orange hair and…"
"There is no need, I can feel him now, and the one calling to him," Tabetha said, grabbing her staff and travelling cloak before motioning her apprentices to do the same. "We should hurry, if we don't reach it in time he may leave no survivors."
Pained and Tervosh went rigid at that comment, they both knew what he was and what he was capable of. If he was going to be killing people that had to stop him.
"What? Where is he?" Pained asked, practically shouting the demand.
"He is moving off to meet my neighbours, they are very territorial and when he sees what happened there, he will be most angry." Tabetha said, moving to the door with her two apprentices in quick tow.
"Where is he?" Tervosh asked again, Tabetha turned to him and smiled before pulling her hood over her head and moving out the door.
"Lost Point Tower."
Enjoy, until next time.
