A little late, for that I apologize, was waiting on something and I got caught up on things. Sadly Are We Alone will be delayed for a day or two until it is completed, then it will be posted. Sorry again for that.
Now onto the good news, not much on that front. Got two chapters for you. Also adding in the Side Stories, a story for all the scenes and moments in Transcendence that didn't make it into the final draft. Cut scenes and events that you will enjoy and helps tie the story together so much better than before.
Check it out when you have a chance.
Transcendence
Chapter 56: No Support
Feralas
It was impossible to see, the smoke was thick as the morning fog on the shores of Auberdine. Made even more difficult as it stung the eyes and choking the airways. Yet Iyeana led her warriors through the suffocating miasma, stepping over the many fallen Centaur and Sentinel bodies that littered the ground.
This continued on for several minutes, impossible to see through the dense smoke and ash, wandering through the remains of a battlefield with only the dead to greet them. The only reassurance they had was the feint lights that illuminated the distance and helped them see the Twin Colossi.
"This way." Iyeana ordered, picking up the pace as she hopped over the dead and moved towards the source of the fire.
As they entered the pass the dead grew in number, hundreds of bodies littered the eighty meter long channel between the Twin Mountains. So thick were the corpses packed together that they had to be scaled as if a natural obstacle of the wilds, none said a word as they scaled the dead fly ridden bodies to try and reach the other side of the passage.
"How many of them died here?" Ichigo asked, scaling the dead bodies alongside Iyeana and trying not to gag on the horrid stench of decay and the smell they once had even when alive only became fouler.
"Thousands maybe, this would be a great chunk of the Centaur race dead here, cannot say I am remorseful for their passing." Iyeana replied.
As they clambered to the top of the hill of corpses they found that the exit to be shrouded in dense ash and smoke, thicker than it was when they entered through the pass a kilometer back. They had been silent the entire way, only occasional prayers sent to fallen comrades and orders given by Iyeana filled the void of noise.
Truthfully it set Ichigo's nerves on edge walking through this while it was quiet and impossible to see. Moving across the battlefield that is shrouded in smoke and ash and with the only thing to see is the shadows of mountain in the distance, while all that could be clearly seen were the many dead that litter the ground. It was a morbid picture of war, one that he was not eager to get used to, not as these Sentinels seemed to be.
Again he realized just how terrifying it was for them to behave so robotically when looking at so much death and even walking over the bodies of fallen comrades. Offering a quick prayer to the departed and then moving on, it may be still dangerous around but he expected to see more of a reaction from them. But he may be overstepping himself and casting harsh judgements towards them, because while he tried to mimic their stoicism he was struggling to maintain his cool.
This attack had all but decimated the area, and he had no idea how many were dead and how many had survived this slaughter. Lorena, Pained, Shandris, Tervosh, Quintus, were any of them alive? He had a scary thought that Adelina might be around here buried amongst these bodies. It was horrifying not knowing, just arriving to find this place in ruins and littered with the dead and wondering if your friend was among them.
"There is someone ahead!" A Sentinel hissed, and immediately the party stopped and dropped low.
They remained motionless, listening carefully to any sounds that came from ahead. Mumbled words and footsteps could be heard along with groaning, it didn't take long for them to realize that those ahead were not Centaur.
"Allies coming from the pass!" Iyeana called ahead, rising up and beckoning the rest to follow.
Advancing through the fog they came to a large destroyed barricade, the marble stone blackened in places and scarred from battle. Passing through the large opening in its length they found a large encampment, littered with ruined tents and even smaller and more hastily erected barriers. But what was noticeable was the bodies that littered the ground, a great contrast compared to what was on the opposite side of the wall.
Where from the pass to the Desolace to the pass through the Twins there were many Centaur and few others, here was the opposite. Many slain Theramore Guardsman littered the ground, trampled and bloodied from horrifying wounds, while only one Centaur could be seen for every five of them.
"Dear god." Ichigo said aloud, shocked that so many had died.
"Who goes there?" Some called, a woman strolling up with a sword drawn.
"Amelyn?" Ichigo asked, recognizing the voice of one of the Theramore officers, she was a Sergeant he often trained with.
"Ichigo? Thank the Light." She said, coming into view and running a hand through her ash covered auburn hair. "What happened to you? We received Adelina's message three days ago but we haven't heard from you since."
"We have been attempting to destabilize the Centaur's leadership; sadly it has not been fruitful." Iyeana said. "Are there any other survivors?"
"Yes, Shandris pulled her forced back to Ravenwing Ruins and to the Dream Bough after they lost the lands between the Twin Colossi and the Pass, but sadly we were cut off completely." Amelyn replied. "Only a few dozen of us remain, Lorena was badly injured as was Tervosh, for the time being Pained is in command of what troops we have left."
Ichigo was mortified; he knew that there was at least two hundred people here that had taken up the defense of the area. If only a handful remain… he didn't want to think about how many had been killed.
"Come with us, we can take you to Shandris." Amelyn said, Ichigo having missed most of their conversation as he followed after the retreating Sentinels and Theramore Guardsmen.
The trek through the smoke dense forest was short, before they came upon the cleaner and crisp air that had not been polluted. But when they crossed into the Dream Bough they found that it was anything but a dream, more nightmarish than anything else.
While they found the wounded had been segregated to one area, both horrible and fortunate at the same time, there were few that were seriously harmed. But what did show is that the entire Bough appeared to be dying, the grass and trees seems to be decaying and losing its emerald finish and turning brown and black.
The ground crunched under his armored greaves and he was certain that it was more than dry old leaves, a glance confirmed that theory. Bugs and other foul looking insects were roaming through the grass and digging in the polluted mud. This place had changed, no longer was it some great sanctuary for nature and the lovely little creatures that lived in it.
"What happened here?" Ichigo said, looking around and finding the bark splitting open and foul vermin pouring out of the black sap within the decaying wood.
"We don't know, Quintus and Adelina have been here for days trying to get the Green Dragons to help us, we didn't know why they didn't come back after so long, until we came here." Amelyn replied.
"The forests… it's dying." Iyeana said, scowling as she further they walked the more this desecration seemed to take root. "What caused this? Who is responsible? The Centaur? The elements?"
"No, this is something else." Ichigo said, he could feel it in his very bones, something was definitely wrong here.
He could feel it, something was in the air and the ground, a presence that was causing this. He wouldn't call it reiatsu, or even spiritual pressure, something was here and doing this and he felt it. Made his skin crawl, that was something that he never expected really, and he was even more unnerved when he heard something.
"Alright, take me to the Ranger-General; I need to inform her of the situation in the Desolace." Iyeana ordered, and the Sergeant was quick to comply.
"She is located in a ruined tower near the portal, follow me." Amelyn said, beckoning them forward and towards the location of the portal.
Yet as they moved Anaesia turned to regard one who was not moving, standing in place and his head was bowed.
"Ichigo, what is wrong?" Anaesia asked, yet the substitute was not quick to answer or even move to show he heard her. "Ichigo?"
He turned to her before scowling and quickly walking off in a different direction. Anaesia frowned at his action and why he would not respond, she attempted to follow and see what had caused such a reaction but he halted her.
"I need a moment; I'll catch up in a minute, just need to talk with somebody first." Ichigo replied, his scowl firmly in place and his feet carrying him to a more secluded and less corrupted section of the Bough.
Anaesia frowned at his words, yet gave him the space he asked for and departed with the rest of the company. He was thankful for that at least, being able to do this without anyone around would be better, not many knew exactly what his powers entailed and the true depths of what they were.
With that in mind he found a clearing, mostly green and with very few bugs, hopefully this would be good enough. With that he focused his mind; he had been working on this for a few weeks now, ever since the little incident in Dire Maul he had been trying to get his powers to manifest properly.
Doing it himself was one thing but he knew that he needed an expert to help him, sadly his allies are not among those that he could trust to get this done quickly and effectively. So he had only one person he could turn to, someone he knew he could trust, and he was calling for Ichigo right now. With that the world began to dim and darken, the slightly breeze disappeared and the world seem to slow to a crawl.
When he looked up he found him standing right in front of him, waiting patiently for Ichigo.
"Alright, what did you want to talk about, Zangetsu?"
Shandris stared down at the map with a hard gaze, around her many Sentinels and Footmen scurried around with their duties. Even if the battle had ended and they were in no immediate danger they still went about their duties as if the Centaur were about to attack any moment from now.
Truthfully she would have wished for that, that they would have remained here and focused on them rather than rampaging down and through Feralas. Thousands of lives were in danger right now, the only solace she had was that she was able to send a runner to warn the Tribes further into the region.
Based on what she knew the Centaur were two days from reaching the nearest Tauren Tribe, but she could make it three if she got the remaining forces from Eldre'thalas to set up a defence. But even then she only had two hundred Sentinels, most of them still wounded and recovering, against thousands. They had been able to decimate nearly half the Horde, but she doubted that the other half could be so easily annihilated with such meagre numbers.
"General, Iyeana and her squad is here." Sierras Darksnow said, stepping in through the archway.
Shandris nodded to her newest Second-in-Command, Shyria had died in the line of duty and saved many lives. She was a good soldier, one that would be dearly missed along with the many others that had fallen here, but right now she had to see to keeping what forces she had left getting the medical attention they needed. Along with getting the prepared for battle and protecting the pass from any further incursions, she wanted to laugh at that, who else would be there to attack?
"General."
Shandris was snapped from her internal thoughts as she turned to Iyeana, she and her two officers right behind her. Shandris gave all her attention to the squad leader, she needed to know what was going on in the Desolace, and specifically this plan that Ichigo somehow cooked up on the spot.
"Iyeana, good to see you all in one piece, I have been attempting to get in contact with you for the last two days, where have you been?" Shandris asked.
"In the field, we have been attempting to keep the Centaur from organizing; trying to create infighting so they can slaughter one another." Iyeana replied, before her head lowered as she recalled the horrible field of carnage she walked through to get here. "Yet it seems all we did was send them your way."
Shandris did not doubt that Iyeana's actions did cause the Centaur to come towards the pass, their overwhelming numbers aiding in the breach and swarming over their defences. But Shandris had no time to reprimand her, there was no changing what had happened and all she could do now was make the most of what they had left.
"I want to know the situation that is transpiring in the Desolace, what is happening out there?" Shandris asked, deciding that some information on the Desolace was important.
"Nothing good, I am sure you were informed of the situation by Adelina." Iyeana asked.
"Yes, and while I compliment Ichigo on the strategy he concocted, I have my concerns regarding its effectiveness." Shandris asked.
Ichigo was relying on two elements to solve their most dire of problems, a problem that the both of them were responsible for causing. He had sent them both back to the city, their former stronghold, in hopes that their motivations would align to allowing them to turn against their former allies and kin to aid them. Shandris had no idea what Ichigo apparently saw when he was with them but she could only just wait and see what became of the situation and his plan.
"I shared your concerns but Ichigo had proven to me that it is our best option, and has a chance to succeed." Iyeana replied, and Shandris was honestly surprised that she heard actual confidence in her subordinate's words.
"You believed Codexia and Mordent will aid us?" Shandris asked.
"I don't know them enough to trust them, but if Ichigo says that we can trust their motives, than I will believe it." Iyeana replied.
Shandris was honestly surprised; it would seem that the young Shinigami had made an impression on her second in command. Ichigo was never one to come up with unique plans or even one to argue a point where he won, none that she recalled between her and him mind you. So it was strange for her to see that her second in command and probably her longest serving warrior actually trust him so uncomplicatedly.
"I see, then I suppose I can leave it alone for now." Shandris replied, she supposed that Ichigo could be trusted on this, he had a certain way about picking the right people. "But I need to know what is happening in the region, what is the status of the forces there?"
"We have been out of contact from Nijel's Point for three days now, we only got a missive from them to get to the pass after Adelina sent word of the danger." Iyeana replied.
"So you know nothing then?" Shandris asked.
"The storm is still churning above the city last we checked and sadly we have not heard from Caren or Azore regarding an alternate means to enter the city." Iyeana replied, sharing some discontent with her commander, as things were going they were possibly at their worst. "The missive didn't give us much, only that the Green Dragonflight was retreating into the Dream and your Mountain Giant allies had fled."
Shandris knew that well enough, the unexpected departure of both her allies when they had been at their strongest. From there everything began falling apart, greater Centaur numbers and quakes that brought down their towers and barriers that sealed and guarded the pass.
When Adelina and Quintus had begun negotiations they had only reported that something was amiss within the Emerald Dream and that they were being forced to contend with it. Whatever it was had taken the entire attention of their flight and all their servants, leaving Shandris to contend with the Centaur in an unexpected turn of events.
"Yes, that is right, and because of it the Centaur are progressing through Ferelas and then will reach Thousand Needles within a week." Shandris said, letting out a sigh, things were not going well for them.
"I am sure Hamuul Runetotem will be able to rally the Tauren to fight them, for now we must see to stopping this collapse of the Elemental Planes." Iyeana said, trying to help her commander stay on task.
"You are right, sadly that involves entering Ethel Rethor, and you said so yourself that you have no means to enter the city, is there anything else you can do?" Shandris asked, and when Iyeana gave no response she could do nothing but sigh in return.
Honestly this entire endeavor was doomed for failure from the beginning. With the limited forces she had on hand, to allowing the Highborne such a head start they had all but destabilized the region and fortified their own holdings. The enemy had, more than likely unintentionally, ensured that no army could assault their position or commit their entire army due to the widespread anarchy across the region.
"I need to get an idea of the situation; I am sending you back in to gather as much information as possible." Shandris said.
"What about you General?" Iyeana asked.
"We are going to Eldre'thalas, we have a contingent there, I intend to head the Centaur off and try to divert them away from the lower wilds, hopefully we can buy the Tauren there time and dare I hope receive some reinforcements from Ashenvale." Shandris replied. "For now I need you back in the field and relaying me information, we need to keep in communication and try to fix this."
"How do you intend to reach the city? With the Centaur ahead of you how do you plan to a lead on them?" Iyeana asked.
"Go beneath the mountains, remember those tunnels that the Highborne used to escape? We found them and we have been mapping them for the last few days, we have a straight line to the city." Shandris replied, smirking slightly as that was probably the only set of good news she had at the moment. "You best get moving, time is not on our side at this point."
"Yes General." Iyeana replied, slamming her fist over her heart. "I will not fail you."
"Good, gather your warriors, and send word to Eldre'thalas as soon as you have it, I will be there." Shandris replied, giving a nod to the Sentinel and then turning back to her command table.
Iyeana turned and nodded to her two officers, both returning the gesture as they left the tower and found their warriors waiting below for their next mission. But they also noted someone else among them, a lively purple haired woman moving between the warriors and asking them something.
"Adelina, what are you doing?" Iyeana asked, strolling down the ramp towards her contingent of warriors who were watching the girl as she spoke.
"I am asking where Ichigo is, he is not among your party." The elven druid replied, looking at the assortment of warriors and finding no orange haired humans.
"Not… wait, where is Ichigo?" Iyeana asked the troops, strolling down and wondering where he could have gotten off to.
True to Adelina's words the orange haired teenager was nowhere to be seen, his distinctive orange hair missing from the assortments of blue, teal and silver.
"He left the group for a moment, he said he needed to speak with someone." Anaesia said, stepping forward to reassure her commander that the substitute hadn't gotten lost.
"Then where is…?"
"Yo, sorry, got caught up in something." Ichigo said, walking towards the group with a dull expression on his face.
"Where were you?" Iyeana inquired.
"I needed to talk to someone." Ichigo replied with a shrug. "So, what are doing now?"
Iyeana raised a brow at his calm dismissal of the situation and decided to drop it, if it didn't affect her mission than she didn't have to worry about anything at the moment. Quickly relaying their orders she quickly gathered her warriors, restocking on their supplies and prepared to move out within the next few minutes.
Ichigo watched them get their gear in order, replacing damage armor and weapons or just restocking on arrows and other bare necessities that the Sentinels relied on. All the while he leaned back and thought on what the Old Man had told him, it wasn't good news and had him worried.
'You wanted me to run, what the hell scared you so much that you would want me to do that? After everything you told me.'
The Old Man often was a font of wisdom and usually brutal truths when he wanted to be, often forcing him to go on and fight the good fight, but this was not wisdom. Zangetsu was worried about something, he knew what was causing the destruction in the forest and he wanted no part in it.
"Are you alright?" Adelina asked.
"Nah, got some news that I am a bit worried about." Ichigo said, scowling as he remembered Zangetsu's warning. "Adelina, what do you know about what is causing this?"
He gestured to the forest, to the fading bark and dying leaves, that was beginning to smell of rot and get polluted with many crawling and horrifying insects. Zangetsu said that he sensed it, felt it in the very earth and spiritual energy in the ground, but he couldn't tell what it was.
"The Green Dragonflight doesn't know what is causing this, but they say that somehow it originated from the Emerald Dream and has begun to spread." Adelina replied, giving a shrug. "I tried to communicate with them and get their aid but they were so desperate to contain the threat that they didn't stay long enough for me to get any information out of them."
Ichigo didn't like that one bit; he had seen those guys and what kind of power they had in their arsenal, some were even more dangerous than the Mountain Giants. Even Ysondre was powerful, he couldn't feel her power but he knew that she was immensely powerful simply by virtue of size and what he had seen her do.
If something was causing the entire Dragonflight here to get cold feet, and willing to let the Centaur through the slaughter innocent people, than whatever was going on in the Dream was bad. Yet how was it that the Dream and whatever he was getting involved in now connected? What could be within the Dream that also was out here?
He didn't specify anything, just to run, get away from this conflict and let it settle itself.
'The Old Man wanted me to turn my back on this, what the hell is wrong with this picture.' Ichigo mused.
"You said you got news that worried you, who gave it to you?" Adelina asked.
"Zangetsu, told me to not get any more involved than I already am." Ichigo replied.
"Why would he want you not to be involved? I thought you said that he often pointed you in the right direction and gave you guidance." Adelina replied.
She had been told of Zangetsu, and of his Inner Hollow, and what he means to Ichigo and what he represents for Ichigo. Ichigo had told her of the many instances where his Zanpakuto spirit had helped and guide him when he needed it.
"I don't know, that's what's got me worried, it is like he knows something I don't and if the experts here have no idea than he is likely underestimating how bad this thing is." Ichigo replied.
"Wouldn't he be overestimating it?" Adelina asked.
"No, because I know the Old Man doesn't get spooked, and if he is scared of whatever is doing this than he has every right to be." Ichigo replied, and that is what worried him the most, because whatever the Old Man felt it made him worried.
Considering his own spiritual senses are dull and not very refined he was likely not picking up on things that are a lot more noticeable, he needed to be careful how he proceeded from her. If whatever was causing the Elemental Planes to draw closer and the corruption in the Emerald Dream than he best prepare for it.
"Let's go, I ain't turning back and dwelling on it isn't going to fix anything." Ichigo replied, he may value Zangetsu's opinion and wisdom but he couldn't turn his back on this, not now.
"Alright, everyone together, we are leaving now!" Iyeana called out.
Ichigo moved over to the head of the group, beside him Adelina followed and took her place to his right. They were going back into combat and they needed to be ready for anything, but deep down Ichigo wondered what else was there for them to do.
'Guess we'll see when we get there.' He thought.
Desolace, The Follow Night
"Not exactly a productive day." Ichigo grouched, leaning back into the rock and trying to get comfortable.
He wasn't wrong when he said that they had a very lackluster affair for all when they returned to the Desolace. They had scouted out the entire region and found that the Centaur have nearly all but deserted the region, with a few bands remaining to try and stake their claim on ripe and unprotected territory.
Good luck to them, beyond the fact there are hundreds of Elementals and they got no major support, all the more power to them.
It had been noted that maybe less than a thousand of the Centaur remained within the Desolace, and that may be overshooting it now. So at this very moment their entire species had become a negligible threat for them, so they could change targets.
"But still one that gave us information so to plan our next move." Iyeana replied, somewhere off to his left.
Ichigo glanced that way and couldn't see anything clearly as he wanted, even with the stars and moonlight the woman was damn invisible in the darkness. She along with the other Sentinels somehow had this weird ability to them, seemingly blending in with the darkness around them and becoming like ghosts. Ichigo wanted to snort at the analogy, he guessed this is what it felt like to have ghosts roam by you and not notice.
'Can't say that it is a pleasant feeling, knowing their there but out of sight.' Ichigo mused.
"So, where is the target then? Ghostwalker Post or Ethel Rethor?" The Substitute asked.
"We are still waiting for word from Nijel's Point, once we know the Druids are there we can try something, so we will be moving back towards the outpost." Iyeana replied.
Ichigo scowled, he hated this, the last three days had been nothing but pointless with how things turned out. The centaur have breached the pass into Feralas, the Tauren support was out the window with them now defending their lands from a massive Centaur army. The Green Dragonsflight was off fighting against an unknown enemy that was possibly related to whatever they were dealing with here.
While the Druids may be of some use here they would be useless in retrospect because they still cannot enter the city to try and end this thing.
"Sometimes I think I should just go Bankai and rush the damn gate to get inside." Ichigo said aloud.
"If you did that you would die, last time you were lucky to have only lost consciousness and suffered minor wounds, if you actually exerted yourself… you would surely die." Adelina said, Ichigo guessed she was somewhere to the left, but not exactly where to the left that was.
He had to sigh at that, it was still at the back of his mind that his most powerful trump card was out of commission and fixing it was impossible. So even if he got through the storm and the gate he would eventually collapse from his body breaking apart under his own power.
"We will find a way, we just need to get to Caren and see if she has found a way, just have some faith." Adelina said, trying to sooth Ichigo's restless nerves.
She could understand why he felt the way he did, being unable to do anything and forced to take the slow road and wait for something to happen was never his way. Always moving to fix something, usually forcefully, and never wanting to wait and let things happen while he could do something that might be able to fix it. That was something that often made those that knew him well enough to respect him, along with aggravate over his less than subtle methods.
"I know, but we are running out of time and if Codexia and Mordent haven't made any headway right now I would like to at least get inside and see if we can get them some help." Ichigo replied.
"Calm down, we cannot rush into a situation without at least thinking first." Iyeana replied. "At the moment we have no way in."
"I know, I know." Ichigo grouched back, truthfully he was getting tired of hearing that. "Just thinking waiting around is irritating."
"I find it remarkable for someone that was able to make me see reason is unable to follow his own advice, I suppose you are the type that likes to tell people how to do things and not know how to do them himself." Iyeana replied, he could feel the smirk on her face even though he couldn't see it.
Ichigo knew she was making fun of him, her tone of voice and the chuckles around the small camp they set up proved that. He knew he was being a little childish with this, even if his reasons for wanting to stop this catastrophe were sound, but he wouldn't take being made fun of.
"Well I…!" He never finished before a hand clasped over his mouth.
"Quiet, someone is approaching." Iyeana whispered.
As soon as the words left her mouth he heard the feint sounds of boots moving across the sand, and then everything was silent. He couldn't see anything and all he could do was sit still and wait for whatever was about to happen.
"Stay here." Iyeana ordered, quickly removing her hand and skulking away into the darkness.
Ichigo did as he was told, there was no way he was going to go stumbling around in the dark and attempt to deal with whoever was coming his way. Right now he just kept quiet and listened to whatever it was that set the Sentinels off.
But a nagging feeling hit him when he realized something, he couldn't hear a damn thing and he was damn certain that he was the only one in the little clearing. That changed when he heard crunching of sand, heavy crunches mind you of something big lumbering his way. Ichigo began to sweat as he heard it slowly coming his way, it was dark and he had no idea who or what was coming his way.
'Where the hell is everyone?'
Shouldn't the Sentinels have shot this guy? Or at least done something to show he was a threat or danger, especially true with how close he was getting. Then he felt something exhale on his face, he went really still for a moment as he smelt the breath of something that he could only attribute to a dog. Foul smelling and likely has never had cleaned its teeth, another exhale came but Ichigo didn't move.
"Very good Misha, you found him."
'Well shit.' Ichigo thought, quickly rolling to the side and away from whatever was in front of him and whoever was controlling it.
"Good reflexed, although I never expected you to act as bait to lure me in."
"Wait… I was the fucking bait!" Ichigo yelled, in a random direction, Iyeana had used him as bait! That bitch!
"I seem to be mistaken."
Then a burst of light filled the area, above them a orb of light shown down upon them all and allows Ichigo for the first time since the sun set to be able to see. His eyes widened when he found a massive grizzly bear next to a hulking orcish man that was covered in pelts and carrying two large freaking axes.
"You are Ichigo correct?" The large orcish warrior inquired, stroking the mane of his bear and seemingly ignoring the flare above their heads.
"And who is it that asks?" Iyeana inquired, strolling into the light with her bow at the ready and arrow notched.
"I am Rexxar, Champion of the Horde, I have come to seek you out." The Mok'nathal replied, slamming a fist into his large barreled chest.
"Speak then." Iyeana said.
"You used me as bait!" Ichigo yelled at her, clearly irritated by the tactic she used to lure this guy in, a freaking bear was breathing on his face and this guy could clearly see him in the dark.
"Calm yourself, you were in no danger." Iyeana replied, not taking her eyes off the large Mok'nathal, who only waited for Ichigo's rant to end.
"Like hell! That bear was a minute away from eating my freaking face! Why the hell didn't you tell me?" Ichigo continued to yell at her.
"Because I knew that you would complain about it, and if you did the surprise would have been ruined, so I decided to let you complain after rather than before." Iyeana replied, he couldn't see it exactly but he was certain that her lip was upturned.
Damn that woman.
"Ichigo. That is you is it not?" Rexxar asked again, drawing the substitute away from the Sentinel.
"Yeah, that's me." Ichigo replied, scowling as he turned to the massive man. "What do you want?"
"I was sent to find you by High Shaman Mairne Ragetotem and Primalist Codexia Fairchild, both are requesting you come to Shadowprey Village, they have news that you must hear." Rexxar replied, his aggressive visage never diminishing as he spoke the words.
"Shadowprey Village?" Iyeana asked.
"It is a coastal town near the base of Maraudon Mountain, we had to retreat there after the elemental overwhelmed Ghostwalker Post." Rexxar replied gruffly.
"What?" Ichigo asked. "You lost the Post? What happened?"
"There were too many elementals, and they suffered to many casualties, only a small number survived to reach the village, only a few dozen of the warriors remain." Rexxar replied, before he turned and began to walk off. "Follow, we can reach the village by daybreak."
Iyeana couldn't believe it, their defenses were crumbling and they had so few left to help them, she had hoped that the Horde would have held out for longer. Things were progressing more terribly than last thought, and from the sounds of things Codexia was out of Ethel Rethor.
"Did Codexia reclaim the Heart of Veles?" Iyeana inquired, that was her mission and if she was out than there was hope she had reclaimed it and was ready to bring it back to Maraudon.
"No, she was driven from the city, and requested that you be found immediately." Rexxar replied, halting only for a moment. "The loss of Ghostwalker Post is the least of our worries, things within Ethel Rethor are escalating quickly, and Codexia requests all present to come to Shadowprey Village."
"Why? What could she possible want? If she doesn't have the artefact we cannot stop the Highborne or the Elementals!" Iyeana demanded.
"She has found a way to enter Ethel Rethor undetected." Rexxar replied.
That had stopped any rant that Iyeana could have brought up, she turned to Ichigo and they shared the same look of surprise. Before turning back to the retreating Mok'nathal, he was disappearing into the darkness, he would lead them to Codexia.
"Form up, we are moving out!" Iyeana ordered.
Immediately the Sentinels moved out of the darkness and formed into two columns, Iyeana taking the lead and marching forward. Ichigo quickly kept up with them, thankful that the light from above descended and landed in the palm of Adelina. She sallied up behind him and let the light dim, giving a smile.
"I told you, we just had to wait and be patient." She said, smiling in an almost mocking way.
"Yeah, guess you were right." Ichigo conceded, trying to brush her comment aside but the nonchalant response and action did little to dissuade her.
"Well at least the bear didn't eat your face." Adelina said, smiling pleasently as she offered the little titbit of good news.
For once he was actually able to enjoy the more joyous air around her, it was good to have her back now, whenever she was nearby she always had a smile on her face. Maybe now they can finally get somewhere with the Highborne, he just hoped that Codexia's plan was a good one.
Codexia stepped from the hut, rolling her shoulder after the less than comfortable sleep. It had been a none to desirable stay in this troll fishing village, her presence here had caused a bit of a ruckus with the locals. Mainly threats to her life and that she would be in the next stew, along with something along the lines of a very detail step by step process of turning her spine and ribs into a crab net. Sadly it was so long and boring that even the other people threatening her just wandered off and left her alone for a while.
It was an awkward few hours for that guy who made a fool of himself. Then everyone forgot about it and then came back to hound her.
Luckily, Mairne and, oddly enough, Drakada had prevented any form of lynch mob from forming to either run her out of town or murder her. But still the trolls here were remarkably racist and made it a point to remind her of that every passing moment she was inside the village. Not like she needed to be reminded, she had learned enough about trolls to know what kind of people they are, and her short contact with Raizzariza had been less than pleasent.
"Sleep well?"
Mairne strolled up and greeted the young redhead, who in turn gave a brief nod before turning towards the coast.
"As best one can when sleeping on a thick bear skin and hard wood, have to wonder why the trolls are hunched over for, their sleeping mats do little for the back." Codexia replied, giving another stretch to try and fix what felt like a slipped disk.
Her gaze becoming long and faraway, she looked at the people down there preparing the vessel for the trip to Ethel Rethor.
"Did she say anything?" Codexia asked, remembering that yesterday she had left their little meeting with some tension between her and the Captain.
"It was a humbling experience, for both of you; yet you both required it to move forward and finish what needs to be done." Mairne replied, nodding to her and giving some sage advice. "Mistakes have been made, before and after your first disagreement, now it is time for you to fit it along with that which drove you apart."
Codexia had to agree with him, they had come to an agreement last night and left on reasonable terms that had left them both shaken. They knew what they had to do and that they needed each other, it was probably the only thing that was binding them together at that very moment.
"High Shaman, Rexxar returns, and he be leading elves with him." A Shadowhunter said, pointing off beyond the camp.
Mairne nodded his head and turned to Codexia, he did not need to say a word before he turned and walked to the edge of the village to greet the visitors. Codexia followed close behind and prayed that they had a sizable force with them, and that Ichigo was among their numbers.
When she caught sight of them moving down the hill she saw the orange haired youth in the back, walking side his close friend Adelina. But among the ranks she found twenty Sentinels, a small force but enough for the mission they were undertaking. Soon enough Mairne greeted Rexxar and then Iyeana strolled forward to speak with them both.
"High Shaman, Rexxar here says that a way has been found to enter Ethel Rethor, is it true?" Iyeana asked.
"It is, we found it when we arrived here, come I will show you the means we can enter the city." Mairne said, gesturing towards the coast where Iyeana could see many people already working on something.
As Mairne led them towards the odd structure Iyeana wanted to know what else could be discovered within the city.
"Why were you unable to retrieve the Heart?" Iyeana inquired.
"It was too heavily guarded, and I had thought to try and free the spirits first and starve the Highborne, they were using the spirits to power the Obelisk and also create a Draught to feed themselves." Codexia replied.
"A draught, typical of them, I have heard of the Highborne and their practice of drinking raw magical energies." Iyeana said, scathing as her words were she buried her aggravation quickly. "But why did you leave the city? Why not remain with Mordent and his allies to try and reclaim the artefact?"
"Because the Spirits urged me to come and find you, we are in greater danger than you may realize." Codexia replied. "I have discovered what they intend to do with the Heart of Veles."
"What do they intend?" Iyeana asked.
"They plan to expand the storm over the entirety of the Desolace, and possibly beyond, scour the entire region of life and leave nothing living to threaten them." Codexia replied, halting to look the Sentinel in the eye.
Shock and horror lit up on the faces of those who heard, save for only Mairne and herself, for this was not a reclusive pack of magic addicts locked within their city. It was tyrants who would see thousands dead just to keep themselves safe from harm, damn all others just to protect their way of life.
"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked.
"I am, the Nobles intend for this to occur soon, we must hurry before we are too late." Codexia said, turning back to the coast and moving with purpose to their vessel.
"What the hell is going through their heads? Don't they know that the freaking world is about to end because of what they did?" Ichigo asked.
"They segregate themselves from everything else, they didn't even know about the Centaur or the Elementals, in fact they don't even blame themselves for the Centaur's migration of the lives that are lost because of that relocation. They care for nothing but themselves." Codexia replied, scowling and more than convinced with her words.
"All the more reason to end this chaos before they cause more harm." Mairne said, before he halted and then gestured to the coast. "Luckily we have an ally willing to help us, and from an unexpected source."
Ichigo looked down to see the work crews working on some sort of massive metal vessel, a vessel that he distinctively found familiar. The large bronze and metal ship was large and bulbous in shape, even while beached he could see that it was meant to dive beneath the waves rather than ride above them.
"Wait, that a…" Ichigo stared.
"Come on boys, we are lagging behind! We got to get this Sub up and running now!"
They turned towards the one that gave the loud exclamation, finding a Gnome on top of three large crates and directing the crew to repairing the ship. Dirty grease covered overalls that had been saturated with so much oil they had turned many shades of black and grey. Even her hair, bright pink was not spared from the staining substance.
"How goes the repairs Captain?" Mairne called over, strolling towards the Gnome.
"It's going well, we will be underway in a day or so, you got those people you talked about ready?" She asked.
"Yes, these are it." Mairne said, stepping aside and gesturing to Iyeana and her Sentinels.
"Never thought I would see the day a group of Night Elves standing near a bunch of trolls and not killing each other, first time for everything hey?" She said, before she struck her hand forward. "Where are my manners, Marta Gearspanner, Commander of the Marta Mercenary Company, nice to meet you."
"I know of you, you are the Captain that led the expiation within Maraudon to retrieve the Heart of Veles." Iyeana replied, scowling as she shook the Gnomes hand. "You stole that artefact and through your actions caused this Elemental Sundering. You are accomplices in this catastrophe as much as the Highborne."
Marta sighed at this, returning her hands to her hip and shaking her head.
"Can't doubt that, I got enough lips last night to make arguing impossible." Marta replied, remembering the ironic twist of fate that had landed her in the hot water with her actions in aiding the Highborne. "But let's get past that, right now I am moving to make amends for what I did, I ran out of excuses for what I did so I think it is best we not waste words and simply work to actually fixing this mess."
"How can we trust you? You aided the Highborne and attempted to murder the very woman standing behind me, who is to say that we don't trust you." Iyeana replied evenly, looking at the short woman in the eye.
Marta turned and glanced at Codexia, her expression neutral as she regarded the Primalist, but she turned back to the Sentinel and scowled.
"Because I don't like being compared to someone that has already done something wrong, that is all you will get from me." Marta replied, waving her off and turning back to overseeing the repair of the ship. "Don't believe me, too bad, because I am your only shot of getting into the city and if don't think you can trust me then don't come, stay up here and wait for the storm. Me? I plan on fixing this, and making sure I am not remembered as the one that helped this slaughter happen."
She had this conversation already and she was not going to have it again, Codexia made it quite clear last night and that had spurred her to action. There was no way she was going to be turning her back on this and letting things get worse, and if that girl was serious about fixing her mistake than the least she could do was fix her own.
"My boys will be ready when the time comes, so if you want in on this you better make up your mind soon." Marta said, crossing her arms and overseeing her people got the job done.
Iyeana looked at her and wondered for a moment if he could trust this diminutive woman, she claimed to be doing this to right a wrong. She knew exactly what that wrong was, but it didn't excuse the wrong that had been committed and if her word could be trusted. She would have moved to speak more but Ichigo beat her.
"Alright, we will be ready." Ichigo replied, turning and moving off towards the small fishing village.
"You trust her?" Iyeana asked, wondering if this was another one of his moments where he would bestow some wisdom on them.
"Nope, don't know her or anything, but if this gets us into the city it doesn't matter, we got to take it otherwise we are not going to get it. And if what Codexia says is right we have even less time than before to fix this, so we can't be too picky about how we go about this." Ichigo replied, giving a shrug as he moved off. "Right now we all got a common enemy, can't be picky about who we call friend, because if we get bogged down in who did what back when then we won't be able to deal with what is coming since were too stuck in the past."
"Another bout of wisdom, he must certainly be a major asset to you Sentinel Commander." Mairne said, turning and moving off with the Substitute. "Come, I can show you to a hut to rest, and to make sure the Trolls don't attempt to kill you."
"Nah, don't worry, my dad taught me how to defend myself in my sleep, I'll be good." Ichigo replied nonchalantly as he and the Shaman discussed a few offhanded topics.
Iyeana sighed as she watched the young demi-god walked off with the High Shaman in toe, while Rexxar and even Adelina followed after them. It was strange how she could meet someone so indifferent to everyone he meets. While Jaina did what she did to maintain peace with the Horde, she was not above fighting them if need be, and truly only maintain a good relation with one member, its Warchief. She was guided by mutual cooperation and politics, looking out for the best of her people's safety and for peace, and shared that ideal with Thrall.
Ichigo.
He was different, he treated everyone as she would treat a stranger, greeting them and treating them as one would treat anyone within their own species. Never speaking formally or even looking down on them, he treated them without contempt or attempted to flatter to gain trust. Ichigo was an anomaly to this world, understandable considering he is not of Azeroth; his ways are something she can never fully grasp.
'Yet they have shown to be so prosperous when dealing with others.'
She had never known the power of his ignorance to the hostilities of the different races had been when he organized the accord in Nijel's Point. He had put aside all grievances and treated those who should be enemy as ally and was able to actually make them help him when they showed utter contempt for everyone else. He had done what even the like of Shandris and even Tyrande would be hard pressed to do, be it even in their interests to do so.
He turned enemies and divided people into allies and comrades; even here she could see that Ichigo was speaking with a troll near the entrance. Arguing more than likely, from the way they jabbed fingers at one another, but she was willing to bet that he would be able to haggle a truce with Mairne's aid.
"Everyone find a spot and rest up, when we depart we aren't going to be getting any rest from that point onward." Iyeana said, they had marched through the night and soon they would likely be going on a suicide mission, so best let everyone rest up so that they can go in well rested.
Codexia stood in place for a minute, watching as the Sentinels went about their way, some moving for a nearby tree to sleep under while the others were a little more precautious in closing their eyes. She could understand that, being near a village of trolls was not exactly the best thing in the world, especially when your only knowledge on them is that they are savage cannibals that will eat you.
'Guess my foster father didn't like trolls that much.' Codexia thought absentmindedly.
Casting away the mental ramblings of her long lost foster parent, she turned back to Marta. The Gnomish woman hadn't taken her eyes off the Sub that was still being repaired, but compared to what it had looked like when she first arrived it was in better shape.
"Got something else to say Codexia?" Marta asked, arms crossed and scrutinizing the work of her crew.
With a sigh the Primalist tried to marshal up some strength and guile to speak, try to get her point across and finish off what had been started last night. Yet as soon as she tried to utter a syllable Marta stopped her.
"If this is about last night, and the discussion we had you can stop right there." The Gnomish Captain replied, raising a finger and wagging it towards her. "We ended on a bad note with a lot of warring emotions, and I would like to keep what I am feeling right now without getting angry or depressed, got too much on my mind already."
Codexia was silent for a moment, she knew exactly what Marta was referring to, their verbal spar had brought up a lot of the bad blood between them and also their own faults. They both had committed great wrongs and for selfish and shallow reasons, neither of them were untainted by the sins of their actions and they knew it.
"It couldn't have been easy doing what you did, I think I know you well enough that you didn't choose to do this out of spite." Codexia said, trying at least to try and bury the hatchet. "Like me you are on a mission, one to help restore something as well, but we both went off the path of morality when a chance was before us, we both got too greedy and let ourselves forget about the consequences."
"Sad part is that I should have realized it, that going to work for the Highborne to get them something like that would have ended in only one way." Marta replied, her eyes roaming to coast ahead of her and not turning towards Codexia.
"You were angry, desperate and despairing for what you went through, I caused you all that pain and you wanted more than closure, you wanted to make me feel what I felt." Codexia replied. "Utter defeat, to hit the very bottom of the ocean and feel the weight of all that water on my heart."
There was silence between the two of them for a few seconds.
"Is there meant to be an analogy in that?" Marta asked, sounding annoyed as she waited for a reply. "Because it really didn't make much sense to me, so cut the poetic garbage will you and tell it like it is."
Marta turned and finally looked Codexia in the eye.
"I will admit: I did what I did because I was desperate, this job had a lot riding on it, you know why I am a Mercenary right? Doing all this knitting gritty crap, stuff even I loath to do but still do despite it, it ain't to pay the bills. It is so that my people can finally get their home back and live again without being known as refugees and exiles." Marta continued, she narrowed her eyes as she stared down the Primalist. "I saw the chance we had dangling in front of us and I took it, it wasn't about revenge, I did what I did because I knew that another chance like this would never come along. All those excuses I made were because I didn't want to be like you, saying a bunch of fanciful words just to get my way and not be held accountable."
Marta turned away and gave an annoyed huff.
"People can make up all the reasons they want about why they do something, but deep down it is always personal the reasons they do it. It may be for a cause or for someone else, but only when that cause and person are tied to you, nothing I did was out of charity or kindness. The Highborne didn't use me, I let them hire me to do a job I should have said no to." Marta finished, looking up and towards the Submarine. "I am accountable for everything I have done, be it direct or indirectly, as are you and everyone else here. So I am going to go back to Ethel Rethor, get the Heart back and bring it to Maraudon where it can stop this cataclysm so I can sleep at night and not dread that I helped bring about the end of the world."
Codexia was quiet again, she had let the Gnomish Captain say her piece and knew deep down their reasons were the same. They worded it differently but in a way they both wanted to make amends and fix everything that had been wrought by their actions.
"I suppose we both want the same thing then, not to be seen as monsters." Codexia said. "But I want you to know that you never even came close to being like me, you still had the interests of others at heart even when you did what you did."
Marta glanced at her for a moment, just out of the corner of her eye but did nothing else.
"Even in the end when you were going for your own interests you never stopped thinking about everyone else, so don't think yourself anything like me, you have already proven to be the better of us. Be it with or without fault." Codexia replied, smiling slightly before turning away, glad that this time they at least walked away a little more civilly than before.
Marta watched her go and disappeared back into that Troll hovel that smelled like rotting fish, even as she disappeared she kept her eyes focused where she was last seen. It felt strange hearing that from Codexia, considering their last conversation was them throwing accusations at one another, she never expected that girl to sound so humbled. Let alone be able to say in a few words that she wasn't as horrible as she thought herself to be.
She smiled a little, it certainly helped.
"Thanks."
There you have it, enjoy.
Reviews:
Guest #1: That he is, cannot remember how many times I played Founding of Durotar and upgraded Rexxar and my group with so many Agility, Strength and Intellect tomes, make them boss. Even then the final fight was a bastard.
Star: Thanks
Prince Sheogorath: Mounts have been decided upon actually, both a ground and flying mount, you will be surprised. Also Mugetsu will come back eventually. If only, Sargeras is capable of taking down planets with a single attack and possibly stars. Ichigo has nowhere near that level of power, and the Void Lords may be even more powerful than that.
As for ditching his current body he would be pulled into the spiritual realm and technically trapped there. Also without the right kind of container, such as one that contains his actual blood, like his human body on Earth, he cannot find a better more compatible body for himself. Even the Bracers wouldn't technically work and in fact weaken him because they phase him out of the spiritual realm and since normal spirits cannot operate outside of that realm they are weakened. A physical body is a better option than the bracers.
I intend to implement Fullbringer type aspects for Ichigo in the future but they will be different from conventional Fullbrings and how they work. Also yes, the seal does have something to do with Mimihagi.
Ben: 10,000: New Bankai, that will turn up eventually, but he first needs his True Zanpakuto first and also with the way I am going about it that Bankai will be different.
Astroga121: Thank you. Cannot reveal much but you certainly have a keen eye.
Squadpunk 2,0: Yeah, these guys are smart, and very dangerous. Worse even than Aizen.
Guest #2: While the tree was referenced it likely won't be making a specific appearance.
Guest #3: Hey! Shit for brains! Good to see you again! How's the English language going for you? Not too good if your message is anything to go by. But don't worry, you will get there soon enough, once you learn how to spell I am sure that you will pick it up.
Thenewguy15: Thank you, I do try my best with any story that I write to get the characters down correctly. Keep them consistent and make sure that they are presented as they should and interactions between them and Ichigo are spot on but also flavored and unique.
I would recommend Warcraft III before World of Warcraft if you want to get involved, cheap and entertaining and gives you a good idea about the universe and character. If you like those games then you can expand it more in books and World of Warcraft if you are up to it. I always think that starting off small is best. In a way it is how I got into Bioshock, Halo, and Metal Gear Solid, reading the fics and wanting to play. But start off small and go from there.
After the Burning Crusade actually, Wrath is going to be a very massive arc in terms of things happening. While the Burning Crusade will have things that will be massive in their own right but Wrath will take a new spin on Ichigo. Mainly learning the Arcane.
Each expansion will have its own sequential sequels, Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria will be their own standalone stories.
Very good, the artefact is tied to the Blue Dragonflight which Ichigo will be forced to contend with in Northrend. But before then Ichigo will have several encounters with the Blue Dragonflight through this story and its sequels. Multiple times in fact.
Also Ichigo will be meeting many of the Aspects during this story, mainly during Vanilla. Alexstraza and Ysera are confirmed to be meeting with Ichigo at one point or another. As for Onyxia, that will be an interesting moment for certain.
Thanks again
Black Cross0: That will actually be part of the Side Stories story that I have created to delve into events outside of the main plot. As for how long he has been on Azeroth, about three months now, just shy of ninety days. Actually have a timeline to keep track of things. Also Ichigo will be getting new armor before the Burning Crusade. Each expansion he will get new ones as time goes on.
The unsung antihero: Glad to hear it, many don't know much about the Lore that happens sadly because it is either skimmed over during play or it is hard to pick up on. If this chapter doesn't answer the question as to where the Greens went it is back to the Dream to contend with the entity trying to corrupt it. We shall see what happens to the Nobles in the end.
RojoSamurai: Glad you like it. Also thanks, keeping Ichigo in character is tricky at times and often you need to go over scenes that he has done in the anime and manga to make sure you know who he is and what he will do.
Also you are right Ichigo may rush into things but he is analytical, deductive and cunning. He learns on the go and analyses things as they happen and counters from there, it is one of his strengths and might get him a few scratches for it but it has proven to work.
As time goes on Ichigo will be able to make for a great commander, but that is far away from now.
Blindluck92: You can drop a review, congrats. Yeah, the Highborne are not doing so good. Also plan to expand more into their story with the Side Stories story that I am making.
Beer is Food: He would be desperate, he is trapped somewhere he has no idea about and his home and friends are in danger. Anyone would be desperate to get back. But yeah, I get the joke, sad thing about the manga though, so little happens over such a long period of time.
Yeah, early writing for the story was something I needed to improve on, plan to go back them and update the grammar and how it is done to spruce it up so to speak and add in more detail.
SuzuWuzu: No, mainly the fact he was wounded severally by Grimmjow and Nnoitra and expended a lot of his powers when trying to fight them. Also even in Bankai he would still have likely suffered for it because he would still be trapped there and technically only prolonged the suffering.
