Chapter 23 – Woe Betide the Unimaginable

'Why? Why do you persist with your mission?' spoke the voice of a once beautiful woman.

'Because I must. It is necessary.' replied the monk, without looking at her.

'It is futile. You only prolong the inevitable.'

'The inevitable is not to be when I undo the Mist.'

He scooped a small handful of soil from the ground with his left hand and let it fall through his fingers. He had felt it countless times before, but its emptiness of nutrients never failed to make him sigh.

'It will never happen.'

'It will.'

'You are stubborn. You are delusional.'

'You are enslaved. I work to set you free.'

'Join us, in eternity.'

'I think not.'

The monk moved forward, carrying a grim looking shovel with him and a small vial of water on a necklace.
This was a better spot. He dug a hole in the ground and a dim, ghostly light breached the surface.

'Arise and return to this world.' the monk called out.

A small, ghoulish creature crawled out. It had no eyes, but could sense the monk's presence. It scampered towards his feet and stood there motionlessly, like an obedient dog.

'Yorick, you use the Mist as your tool. Why do you seek to end it?'

'The Mist is a means to its end, and this shovel is my tool, not the curse.'

Yorick was once a man in life, with an uncanny and unique ability to speak with the souls of the beyond. He became an outcast from his village for this, and was even rejected by his former monkhood out of their jealously of what he could achieve through faculty and what they could merely hope through faith. The souls found solace in Yorick's company, and they became his only true friends.

But as Yorick's sacred homeland of the Blessed Isles was scourged with a horrendous black mist, it became a world of the undead and a never-ending nightmare: the cursed land known as the "Shadow Isles". All beings rotted overtime in its atmosphere, and only those with the most determination could retain any semblance of who they were in life. Yorick lived in the limbo of life and death, and discovered the cause of the "Ruination": The bemoaning of a foolish King of a long forgotten empire, who attempted to resurrect his deceased Queen through prohibited magic.

Yorick's talent for communication with the dead became more useful than ever. He became a shepherd of souls, and vowed to congregate an army of ghouls to rid the isles of the Mist and restore its former beauty. Although he did not truly know how he was to accomplish this, the tenacity for his holy mission took him to all ends of the Isles, searching for sacred water from the old springs, or any other means, to liberate those who deserved rest.

How many years had it been since he taken the task upon himself? Yorick no longer knew. Many aspects of human like were beyond his recollection. Derogatory or insulting words were meaningless to him. Laughter was nothing but a noise he only vaguely understood. The only thing he remembered for sure was how scared souls feel when they reawaken after their body dies, and the perturb they experience in the Black Mist.

The Maiden of the Mist, whom accompanied Yorick wherever he went, coerced him endlessly to give in and embrace his state of being undead, but her efforts were fruitless, for nothing could impede Yorick's obstinacy. She herself did not realise that Yorick had her best interests in mind.

Yorick inspected the ghoul he had just raised. It was small, like the vast majority of the ones he summoned, but its plea for help was largely the same as the rest, and unmistakable.

'Don't be afraid. I am here to help you.'

'He lies to you.' the Maiden hissed.

'You are not here to utter deceit to my friends.'

'Friends? They are servants forced to do your bidding.'

'They know who I am. They know of my intent.'

'You are leading them to work, leading them to suffer for only you.'

'I work to save the isles. Souls are a small price to pay to cleanse this land.'

'Stop it with this madness, Yorick.'

'Stop it with your invectives. My ears only hear those who ask nicely.'

'The Treant has never once asked you of it. Who do you aim to please?'

'Maokai is blind by his hatred of humans. He does not realise that I aim to free everything, including him and his Isles.'

Yorick shook his head. He had become accustomed to her manipulative talk over centuries, but she constantly asked the same questions over and over again. Yorick wished that she would just go away. The Maiden would always return to Yorick's side, even after leaving him to do who knows what somewhere else on the Isles, as though she had never left at all.

He looked left and right. It was difficult to tell where he was in the midst of a forest of dead bark, surrounded by the Black Mist, but thousands of years of orienteering told Yorick everything he needed to know.
'I will proceed towards the south.' he thought.

'Where are we going?' the Maiden asked.

'You shall not follow me.' said Yorick, this time with more severity. 'There are plenty of other spectres who would care more for your presence.'

'They have all seen reason. You have not yet.'

'I have seen your reasoning, but I do not agree with it.'

'Then I must try even harder to persuade you.'

'You have attempted, countless times; it does not work, evidently. Have you tried preaching your sermons to the Eternal Scrivener?'

'Once I have. It wrote down everything I said to it.'

'Find it again, and tell it something else about you.'

'I have nothing else to say to it.'

'You have nothing else to say to me, yet you still remain.'

'If only I could make you see the error of your ways, Yorick. Then you would understand why you should remove that vial from your neck.'

'If only I could make you see the errors of your way, Maiden. Then you would realise you are wasting your time.'

'I have all the time I need, Yorick. The Mist will last forever and so shall I.'

'We'll see about that.'

Yorick turned left, with the ghoul following suit. The Maiden stayed where she was momentarily. She admitted that it was rather boring to just follow the monk around all the time, but she would not give up until Yorick terminated his mission and surrendered his shovel for good. But if limitless time was on her side, then why did she feel so incessant about converting him to shadow? If the Mist would never end, what was she so afraid about? Was it necessary to concern herself with nothing but Yorick's stubbornness?
Perhaps Yorick's own infinity would eventually give rise to him finding a way to clear the curse, given enough time. As she hovered in place, thinking, she realised that Yorick was already gone.


Yorick looked behind him as he moved. The Maiden was not pursuing him. 'What a relief.' he said out loud. 'Now I shall find some more spots to dig.'

Although the fertile lands of the Blessed Isles were long gone, the physical substances had not disappeared completely. Bodies could still be easily buried in the ground.

The ghoul he had summoned earlier watched as Yorick dug another hole in the soil. Just like last time, and thousands of times before, the ditch that Yorick had created spawned a dim light and a little ghoul. As always, Yorick examined the ghoul to ascertain who it was. It made a quiet, screeching noise.

'What's that? You say there is something by the coast?'

It made the same screeching noise.

'Interesting. I wonder what it could be.' Yorick picked up his pace and headed straight towards the southern shores shallowest point. Although it did not feel like often, due to his age, Yorick would frequently find something crash upon the Shadow Isles. Most of the time, it was nothing more than parts of a ship that broke apart whilst at sea, or supplies that fell off of one. This was to be expected though, especially from the foolish seafarers of Bilgewater, who would often test their luck by going too far south. But occasionally, he would find shipwrecked crewmembers. Yorick understood the value that a breathing body carried with it. It therefore pained him to see someone misfortunate enough to wind up in the chocking grasp of the Shadow Isles. Even if they had not drowned and were still alive, the Mist would ultimately take their breath away from them if they did not leave soon. Yorick would always be forced to bury the body, or patiently wait until their demise before doing so.

Yorick grimaced as he approached the shore. It was the same on he had found a sailor with plenty broken of bones and blood around him. He had begged for help and struggled for life, but Yorick could not feasibly help him. The poor man's soul was excavated from his body and consumed by a new ghoulish one. He had become one of many in Yorick's army.

Bracing himself for the worst, he held his shovel at the ready as he walked slowly to where the waves lapsed against the sand.

Two people. A young man and woman, or elderly – Yorick could no longer tell how old someone was by looking at them. The woman was lying on her side and the man was flat on his back. Yorick went up to woman, got on his knees and put his left hand on her ribcage. Then he did the same with the man.

'Both hearts are beating. Still alive. But what do I do with them?'

They had a few cuts and bruises on them, but no signs of any fatal injuries. What did it matter though? They would either die in the Black Mist, starve at the shore, or drown if they attempted to swim away. The most that Yorick could do was see if they would wake up. Perhaps he could find out where they had come from.

Yorick gently shook the man by his shoulders. No response. He tried more rigorously the second time. 'Are you alright?' Yorick asked somewhat loudly in his ear. Still the man did not move.

He made the same attempt for the woman, with the same result. 'Maybe they've hit their heads, or maybe they need to throw something up.' Yorick could not be sure, for he was not a doctor, but it was worth trying something. He lifted the man off the ground and placed him over his left shoulder and lightly beat his back, hoping that he would regurgitate anything unwanted.

Cough Cough*

He was right, the man spat out the remains of some sort of food in two separate retches. Yorick moved him away from the water so that he could lean against the edge of the small drop from the woods to the sand. Yorick placed him on the ground again in a sitting position, but he still did not appear to be conscious though.
He picked up the woman and repeated the action again. A few more beats did it, but unexpectedly, she made an incredibly loud burp. Yorick almost dropped her, and the two ghouls jumped up in fright. However, his technique had worked. The woman had threw up a lot more than the man did. Some of the vomit splashed onto the back of his ankles, but Yorick did not care. He sat her upright, close to the man.

'What has brought you here?' Yorick asked.

Silence…

'Still breathing.' Yorick checked. 'Heads are intact, yet they sleep. Maybe it is the Mist which prevents them from waking…'

Determined to learn more about them, Yorick prodded them even more. He took the man's wrist and shook it, pulled his long hair upwards and even knocked on his head as though it was a door. 'You are a drowsy one. Why could I have not been graced with such a pleasant night's sleep?'
Yorick poked him in the right eye.

'G-huh.' The man finally startled. He reflexively jerked backwards slightly.

Yorick took a step back to let him regain some awareness of himself.

'What's going on?' the man mumbled, rubbing the back of his head. His vision was blurry and only slowly recovered itself. 'Where am I?' His eyes found Yorick. 'Woah!' he said, frightened by his ghostly appearance and the ghouls at his feet.

'At last, you are awake.' said Yorick.

'W-who are you, and where am I?' the man asked, half demandingly, half fearfully.

'You do not want to know either of those answers, but I will gladly tell you if you wish.'

'Yes, please tell me.'

'My name is not important, but I shall say that you are in the Shadow Isles.'

'Shadow Isles?'

'Yes. I am sympathetic that you have ended up here, unless it was of your own accord.'

The man made an attempt to get up, but the effort was too strenuous.

'Stay down.' Yorick commanded. 'You will recover better if you do not inflict fatigue related injuries upon yourself.'

The man obeyed. Even though he did not trust Yorick, he was in no position to fight him.

'Do you know who that is?' Yorick asked, pointing at the woman on the man's left, with his shovel.

His eyes widened. 'Nora!' He immediately crawled over to the woman and shook her. 'What's wrong with her?!'

'She's just unconscious.' Yorick replied. 'I found both you two washed up on this shoreline. I forced you to regurgitate some stuff to clear your windpipe.'

The man took a closer look at his surroundings. Behind him, he saw the impenetrable darkness of the Isles. 'I… don't understand, how I got here, and what this place is or-'

'-What's the last thing you remember?' Yorick said abruptly.

The man closed his eyes, concentrating. 'It was all so sudden.' he muttered without actually addressing Yorick. 'I was in the airship… with everyone else and… the dragon. Oh yes, the dragon.'

'Good, keep going.' Yorick encouraged.

'We were on our way to, Ionia, I think it's called. Then a dragon descended from the sky and destroyed our airship. Mere seconds later, my head was spinning, and after that, I… can't recollect anything else.'

'Hmm. Ionia. I have not heard that name in a long time.'

'Do you know how far away it is from here?'

'All I know is that it is not here, for the Shadow Isles are an isolated archipelago. I could not tell you how far away it is.'

The man took a deep breath. 'Alright then. Is there a boat or some way to get off this island?'

'There is no way.' said Yorick. 'No one ever travels to these isles willingly, and whoever comes here tend to not leave by boat either. The only ones you may find are by the coastal region of Helia in the north, and we are currently all the way in the south. These isles are purged by this Black Mist. Nothing grows within. If you walk inside it, your life will begin to slip away and become an undead, like me.'

'Okay… and if we're stuck here, do you know what we can do for food?'

'You will find no such resources here.' said Yorick. 'Not in a land starved of natural life.'

'Great…' said the man with dejection.

'I can ascertain that you are in a very bad situation right now.' said Yorick. 'But if it provides you with any comfort, know that I am not here to hurt you. You might have chocked by now if I had not gotten rid of that food inside of you. The same is true of Nora too. So I'll take back my words when I said that who I am does not matter. My name is Yorick.'

Hesitantly, the man said 'I'm Ren.'

'Nice to meet you, Ren.' said Yorick.

'As it is to meet you.' Ren replied. 'But what do I do then? Are Nora and I doomed to die here?'

'If you think pessimistically, then yes. But I have clung to hope for far longer than any man should have. Do not lose it, for it is only over when you think it is.'

Ren did not know what to say. As far as he could see, he and Nora were screwed.

'Shall we try and wake her up?' said Yorick.

'Umm, alright. But I warn you, she's incredibly erratic and will probably go crazy when she discovers what sort of predicament we're in.'

'I assume that you know her better than I do, but if you want to survive, then it is necessary that she hears what must be said.'

'Okay, but if I wake her up, can you allow us to have a moment to talk in private?'

'Hmm. Oh, yes, relationships. I will allow you to have it.' Yorick strolled away towards a nearby tree and began digging.

Ren looked directly at Nora's eyes as if they were open. 'Hello, Nora. Are you feeling alright?'

Nothing.

He began to shake her gently, saying her name multiple times, nervous of her state, but he kept his composure close. 'Nora? Nora?'

'Is it time for pancakes yet?'

'Nora, how are you feeling?'

'I feel like a dragon sent me flying aaaall the way across the world.' she said in a stupor.

'That's exactly what happened.' said Ren. 'Can you see me?'

'Oh, uh, yes. I'm dizzy and I can feel a strange pain in my leg. But still, hi Ren.'

'Oh thank goodness that you're alive.'

'Why would I not be?'

'Nora, I just need you to listen to me carefully and keep calm. Can you do that for me?'

'Of course Ren. You know that I am perfectly calm in every situation we're in.'

'Heh, that's true.' said Ren with a brief smile. 'But in all seriousness, we've in a very bad situation.'

Nora's weak smile vanished. 'How bad are we talking about?'

'As in, helplessly bad.'

'Oh no… oh no! What are we gonna do Ren?!'

'Please, Nora, just let me explain what the dilemma is.'

'Oh, of course. Sorry Ren, she whispered.'

'We're stranded on an island that is possibly nowhere near Ionia. There's seems to be no feasible way of leaving, and if you look behind you...'

'What is it-oh goodness! That is some thick pollution!'

'It will apparently slowly kill someone and turn them into a… zombie of sorts.'

'A zombie?! I don't want to be a zombie! Can you imagine walking around with nothing but hideous Grimm flesh?! No one would want be with me anymore! '

'Nora, I said please just calm down. Let's not panic.'

'But what can we do?! We're stuck in this little area right here!'

'I don't know, but we have someone who might be able to help us.'

'Huh? Who, who?'

'Okay Yorick, we've finished talking now.' Ren called out.

'Remain here.' Yorick said to his ghouls before returning to Ren and Nora.

'Whoa! Is that a real zombie?!' Nora asked.

'I would not use that term myself, but I suppose it's accurate.' said Yorick

'Please forgive her Yorick. Nora is very hyper, especially around people she's just met.'

'Don't worry about it Ren. Words do not affect me anymore.'

'I'm just saying that she isn't meaning to be rude. Nora, Yorick saved our lives.'

'Of course I'm not! I'm just fascinated, because I've never seen an actual zombie before! And to think we just got saved by one!'

'Although I cannot recall,' said Yorick. 'you remind me of the idea of youth, and what it means to be young. If only I could remember back that far…'

'If you don't mind me asking, how old are you?' asked Ren.

'So much time has passed that I no longer know anymore.' said Yorick. 'Every passing year to me is nothing more than a single second. They all blend in with one another, and I would gladly give up my immortality so that I may finally see the Lamb...'

'It sounds like you have it exceptionally rough.' said Ren. 'I'm sorry to hear that.'

'It's alright.' said Yorick. 'I live only to rid the isles of this horrific curse. It is why I have not yet died.'

Ren and Nora let his melancholy pass before asking anything more.

'So, Yorick. Is there any way you can help us get off the island?' Ren asked, unsure if he would say anything hopeful.

'I cannot think of anything.' replied Yorick plainly. 'Or at least, not immediately. You could try and swim away, but that is near impossible in these violent waves and the horrifying things which may lurch out at sea. That, and the nearest land mass is exceptionally far away from here.'

Ren and Nora briefly glanced at each other with crestfallen eyes. 'You said that there's no food to be found on this island.'

'That is correct. All organic matter deceased here long ago.'

'How about water then? Is there anywhere we can stay hydrated?'

'All water here is probably not safe to drink. But I am not sure.'

'What actually is there on this island then, besides that Black Mist?'

'These Isles were once a landscape of beautiful life and nature. Although I did not have many friends, I knew, and still know this place as my home, even if it is now marked with enduring misery.'

'If it was once inhabited though, is there anything here we can utilise, like tools and resources?'

Yorick stroked his beard. 'Maybe there is… I did not think of that.'

'Well, that could be a start.' said Ren.

'Yeah, we could make a raft out of wood or something.' Nora suggested.

'But you cannot go inside the Mist, not unless you wish to suffer a fate worse than mine.'

'Yorick, are you absolutely sure that we won't be able to survive in the Black Mist?'

'I am positive.' said Yorick regretfully. 'It slowly decomposes your flesh away and feasts on your emotions, putting your soul in the vessel of a ghoulish body.'

'Rotting flesh and emotions?' Ren muttered to himself. He looked at Nora and nodded. She nodded back. 'Yorick, how long does it take for a person to become an undead?'

'Hmm. It depends on how bad you are before you enter the mist in the first place, but I reckon that it would take around ten minutes for the process to fully complete itself.'

'Can we take our chances?'

'What do you mean?'

'I'm not entirely sure how to explain this. It's a long story, but Nora and I aren't normal human beings.'

Yorick said nothing.

'If we step into the Mist, could we see what happens and then get out if it proves to be detrimental for us?'

'I suppose… But it's your funeral if you stay in there for too long.'

'We'll make a risk. Alright Nora?'

'Yeah, let's do it.' she said confidently.

They approached the edge of the Mist. It looked as though they were about to step inside a toxic cloud of smoke.

'Stay close to me.' said Ren. He put his left arm over Nora's should.

'Why would I ever leave your side?' Nora smiled.

'Yeah, you never do.'

They both gingerly moved forward, one step at a time. The mist felt chilling, as though they were stepping into a refrigerator. They inched further until they were completely consumed by the darkness.

'You've turned grey?' Yorick noticed as he joined them.

'Yeah. Cool, isn't it?' said Nora.

'You were expecting that?'

'Yep.'

'And how do you feel?'

'Alright.' said Ren. 'A little cold, and the air's a bit thick, but I'm feeling fine.'

'Me too. We're good.'

'This is very strange.' Yorick said. 'We should not be too presumptuous though. I want to you to go in further, wait for a bit and see how you feel then.'

'Got it.' They both nodded.

'Stay here, and be on the lookout for anything else.' he instructed to the two ghouls.


Inside the Isles, Ren and Nora could see nothing but bleak shadow and a world stripped of all its precious treasures of nature. Eerie sounds echoed all around them, and in such an unnerving environment, who was to say what something would not pounce on them at any moment. However, though he was an undead himself, Yorick had so far proved to be someone that they could trust for now. They remained sceptical, but as Ren had said when he met Nora in their hometown of Koruyuri, during a major Grimm attack: "We have to be brave."

'Yorick, are we going to Helia?' Ren asked.

'It is worth a try.' he replied. 'There is no point traversing through the centre of the Isles, thus we shall stay closer to the outskirts, where less undead life emerges. Be on your guard. I can communicate and reason with the souls of these Isles, but they may still not respond well to your presence.'

'We understand. Thank you, Yorick.' said Ren.

'Yeah, I really would rather not turn into a zombie.' Nora commented.

'I can't guarantee it, but let's hope that you two indeed can survive the Mist, and that the spirits do not harm you.'

'How long is it going to take to get there?' Nora asked.

'We shall continue to move slowly for now.' said Yorick. 'I want to be sure that the Mist is not unknowingly robbing you of life. If it appears to be not, we can pick up the pace. But although the Isles are not massive, they are not tiny either. So we will be walking for a while, and it is paramount that you do not exhaust yourselves, because you are not replenishing your energy without food or clean water.'

'Will we take breaks when it is necessary?' Ren asked.

'I will find a safe spot, where we are unlikely to be harmed. I should have asked earlier, how competent are you two in combat?'

'We've been in training as "Huntsmen" for quite a few years now.'

'Not to brag or anything, but we've pushed ourselves far beyond what most humans have been willing to do and taken on some really large monsters.' said Nora. 'If you ever see us in action, you'd be like: "Wow, how did you do that?"!'

'Maybe I would, but have you been fighting material opponents?'

'Mostly, yeah.'

'Then do not expect your experience to be entirely applicable to the infestations of these Isles. Your instincts may follow over, but the way you deal with them is not the same. Just keep that in mind.'

'Yes, Yorick. Thank you for informing us of that.'

'Hey, Yorick, is there anything cool about this place. You know, like, are there things left over from before there was this Mist?' Nora asked curiously.

'Some landmarks are partially intact. Others have been destroyed or are just no longer there. With many individuals being spiritual or religious. The architecture was tailored to allow for the faithful to hold rituals and live in peace. The Blessed Isles was home to plenty of scholars and seekers of knowledge. The works of many of these people were placed in libraries and vaults, alongside other cultural or historical artefacts. But since the curse of these Isles began, which I call the "Ruination", a lot of the literature and academic pieces have been erased from existence, with no hopes of recovering them.'

'That's really unfortunate.' said Ren. 'To think that an entire, cultured civilisation was wiped from existence…'

'It is, and it has been over a thousand years since that fateful day. The majesty of the Isles will never reobtain its ancient splendour completely, even once the curse has been eradicated. What made the Blessed Isles such a magnificent land was the people who cultivated it and harmonised the land into their home.'

'Dreadful, truly dreadful.' said Ren.

'How did this Mist even happen?' Nora asked. 'Who or what could possibly wish such a nasty thing over such a wonderful place?'

'The history is long. As you said to me before we entered the Mist together, "it's a long story.". I do not know the full details, but all you need to know is that the King of a bygone empire came to these Isles, hoping that a sorcerer would resurrect his Queen who had passed away. He refused to do it, and the King, in despair, conjured the Black Mist and the Ruination, in a highly unstable pseudo attempt to bring her back to life. Whether or not he caused the Mist of his own volition, or it was unintentionally caused by mourning, is unknown.'

'Wow. Some people really do lose their mind when their beloved is gone.' Nora commented.

'I would sympathise with the King, had he not gone to such an extreme measure to be with his Queen again. I have been able to speak to the ghosts of those who have recently perished, from such a young age, so perhaps I fail to see the significance of a relative or friend dying. But I do think that the King was weak if he could not keep his emotions in check.'

'Yep, he definitely was a drama queen.' said Nora.

'It doesn't matter though.' said Yorick. 'As long as the Mist is still here, I am too. And I shall not rest until I have freed the Shadow Isles of its stagnation.'

'You're trying to remove this Mist?' Ren questioned.

'I am indeed.'

'How exactly do you do that?'

'My mission is unending, but I have used and commanded the souls who desire to go to the beyond, for over a millennium, performing the last rites for those who happily embrace their ghoulish state and refuse to truly die. Some would say that my actions are immoral, because I am manipulating the weaker spirits to do what I tell them, but as more reluctant souls are put to rest, the less potent the Mist becomes, and the closer I come to completing this errand. I am still yet to find a final cure for the Ruination, but I have hope, even after a thousand years of ploughing through this Mist.'

'That is really noble of you.' said Ren after comprehending the scope of Yorick's undertaking. He was reminded of what Ryze had told him and everyone else in the abandoned village – and also why they had come to Runeterra in the first place.

'Do not praise me, for I am far from fulfilling my task. It feels insurmountable at times, and it isn't helped by a thousand years where I have reduced the diameter of the Mist only by a small percentage.'

'You're taking action though, and you've been doing so for far longer than Nora and I will ever live. Even if you do not see it through to the end, you should be at least satisfied, knowing that you had the ambition and were making a huge effort.'

'Exactly, don't be disheartened by your lack of results so far. At least you aren't sitting around on your butt all day.' Nora added.

'If only there were prizes for participation and unfinished work.' Yorick responded. 'I understand what you mean, and I can appreciate your kind words, but I assure you that it is hard to think in terms of effort, when you are bored by the monotony of what I do, and when it feels like you have made virtually no difference whatsoever.'

'Don't give up.' said Nora encouragingly. 'If you have all the time in the world, you'll get there eventually.'

'You remind me that the world is sometimes good. I yearn for a cheerful spirit like yours.'

'You gotta think about good things. Do you have any things or memories that make you happy, Yorick?' Nora asked.

'If there are, I cannot remember. It has been so long since I derived enjoyment from anything.'

Ren and Nora wanted to find something to say that would lift Yorick's mood, but they could not relate to the burden he carried. Even if they could, his momentary rapture would be fleeting.

'Well, we wish you the best, Yorick.' said Ren. 'Hold on to that hope.'

'Absolutely.' Nora agreed. 'Keep breaking those ghoulish legs and showing the Mist who's boss!'

'Thank you.' said Yorick.


Yorick had concluded that Ren and Nora were safe from the Mist, so they increased their walking speed. How this was the case surpassed Yorick's understanding, but he was grateful that they were not hindered by an inability to wade through it, otherwise he would have had no choice but to leave them to die.
Still though, the unnatural air of the Mist was not something they could ignore entirely. It made them feel rather queasy after hours of walking. How fortunate they were to be relatively close to the edge of the island as they went. Being in the heart of the Mist for a prolonged period may have been too much for them. They walked for four hours, with only six breaks of around five minutes each.

'We're getting close.' said Yorick.

'Oh, thank God. We've been walking forever.' Nora responded.

'I beg that it has not been a waste of our time though.' Yorick reminded her.

The sound of the waves became increasingly louder. Even though they had been in the thicket of darkness throughout their journey across the island, they could see a clearing as the mist began to thin out. Night time had ascended.

Things looked partially promising. Some small, wooden boats could be seen before the remains of Helia's docks. Serendipitously, a few small shacks were standing too

'If we cannot leave now, would staying in one of those be feasible?' Ren asked.

'I'll check inside to see if they're safe. Considering the condition in which I found you both in, I would recommend that you get some sleep.'

The uncomfortable cold sensation of the Mist had finally been replaced with a similar but nicer feeling of the sea breeze. There was still something unnatural about it, but the contrast from the Mist made it welcoming by comparison.

'Stay here.' Yorick instructed. 'I shall examine this one.' he said, pointing to a single room house. The only piece of furniture inside was a wooden chair. The two windows it had once on the back and right side were gone and the floors were moist. It was far from a pleasant accommodation, but Yorick conjectured that it was at least equidistant between the sea and the Mist: not too close to the sea, where a storm could catch them, and just outside the perimeter of the Mist. Most importantly of all though, Yorick was confident that no nasty spirits would find them there.

'The living conditions are abysmal, but its location and safety are actually rather good. Come and see what you think.'

Ren and Nora stepped inside. Instantly, they could smell the mouldy wood, which Yorick could not. The lack of furniture or any bed of sorts turned them off.
'Could we check the other ones?' Nora requested.

'We can, but I think that this one is in the safest position.'

'How about that one over there?' said Nora, pointing to one around twenty metres to the right.

'It's within the mist, but we can have a look nonetheless.'

This shack was not much better. It was ever so slightly larger in width, with only one window that had been shattered long ago. A decaying mattress was also on the floor in the corner.

The third shack, which was located even further into the Mist, had a table with a leg missing. The forth one, which stood a bit too close to the bay, had nothing in it at all.
There was no room for being picky though.

'Maybe we could bring the mattress from that house into the one you recommended.' Ren suggested.

'Not a bad idea.' said Yorick. He dropped his shovel and dragged the mattress back to the safest shack. 'Maybe you should see how it feels to lie on it.'

Ren and Nora gently perched themselves on it before lying down. It was damp on the inside, and some of the springs were broken, but it would suffice for making a night's sleep easier.

'Many thanks, Yorick.' said Ren effusively. 'You have done us tremendous good.'

'Your gratitude warms my dead heart.' said Yorick. 'Compassion is a feeling I have not given or received in a long time. It's oddly pleasing to feel it once again.'

'Are you sure we can't do something for you?' Nora asked.

'I would have asked if I needed it, but all my assistance comes from the spirits I command. There is nothing that you, or the physical being, can do to blow away the Mist. But I am humbled by your willingness to do offer your hands.'

'We are in debt to you Yorick. I have a feeling that we would not be alive if you had not come to our rescue.'

'You are not obliged to reciprocate anything to me. All I would say is that you should do yourselves a favour and rest. Tomorrow, I will try and find a way to send you away from here.'

'What will you be doing in the meantime?' Ren asked.

'I shall return to my task, but I will not stray too far away from here. Stay safe, and I shall see you in the morning.'

'Once again, thank you, Yorick.' said Ren.

'Have fun, doing what you do.' said Nora, somewhat awkwardly.

Yorick picked up his shovel and walked away into the Mist.

'Back to myself again.' he thought. 'With having such amicable company, I suddenly feel lonely. Hopefully a ghoul will substitute Ren and Nora.'

Yorick seemed to have an instinctive sense of where to summon a ghoul from. He strolled deeper into the Mist before coming to a stop in the middle of a pathway. With just one dig, he revealed faint glow of one in the soil. 'You are free to roam again, friend.'

It scuttled to him and did a few laps around his feet before stopping. It rasped quietly.

'What did she say to you?'

Greagh

'I suppose I have been gone for a while.'

Argggf

'Where is she then?'

'Yorick! There you are!' sung the voice of someone Yorick did not wish to see.

He had desired company and brought her back to him. 'To dirt, you return…' he said mundanely.

'Tell me Yorick, why do you regard the mangled corpses of generic people with more reverence than me?'

'Because you exasperate me to no end. Why must you always use your time with me?'

'It is the foolishly adamant who need convincing the most.'

'Have you spotted the irony in that statement?'

The Maiden retracted her tongue, and instead found another subject. 'I saw the Soul Shepherd today.' she brought up suddenly.

'Hmm? The protector of the weaker spirits?'

'He treats them with love and care. Why do you not give your ghouls similar affection, instead of using them as your slaves?'

'The Soul Shepherd is merely a guardian who offers comfort to the souls he sees. I go beyond and give them both comfort and a purpose: a reason to fight for the saving of the Isles.'

'It is abuse, Yorick. I beseech you to stop and give them the will to not choose your crusade.'

'I consult every soul I awaken, and I only take those who say "yes". We have been through this time and time again: the cost of a few souls and their efforts is a reasonable one to undo the Ruination. Remember that everyone shall be free once it has been lifted.'

'I cannot understand you, Yorick.'

'If you did not know a thousand years ago, and if you still do not today, then you never will. Leave me be. I do not wish to be talking to you right now.'

'What were you doing today?'

'That is none of your business.'

'You have walked all the way across the island in a single day. You must have been doing something important.'

'Whatever it may be, it does not concern your interests, or even mine for that matter.'

'Then divulge its details to me, if it is not a secret. What harm is there in me knowing?'

'It's a matter of principle.' said Yorick frowningly. 'Your nose does not belong in my affairs. If it is irrelevant, you have more reason to not know than to do.'

The Maiden sighed and thought back to what she had considered earlier that day. 'You will break one day, Yorick. You will toss your toy aside and stare at reality in the face. You will then bow to me and admit your failure as I humiliate you. All that time you spent on your mission could have been used to revel in the joy of eternity.'

'You will be untied from your leash long before that ever happens.' Yorick replied, no longer interested. 'When you finally enter the beyond, you will see how wrong you are.'
He turned his back on her, and marched away with the ghoul, in search of a new spot and a new solution.


Ren relaxed his muscles and encouraged his mind to enter a meditative state. Although he had only been awake for just over five hours that day, most of the energy he was supposed to be granted by hours of sleep, had been depleted by the effort of walking through the Mist, and what had presumably been a painful landing on the Shadow Isles. His body ached, and the poor quality of the mattress did not accommodate for this.

The same was true of Nora. Her extraordinarily high levels of energy were almost completely gone. She shuffled around on the mattress, trying to find the most comfortable position, but the there was none to be found.

With no food or water either, they were in for a rough night…

Time slowly trickled by. For Ren and Nora, they could not describe how long it had felt for them. Some sleep had finally arrived, but was cut short by a loud rumble.

'Ren, I'm really hungry.' Nora whispered.

'I know. I just heard that.' he replied, rubbing his eyes.

'Surely we could find something, even if it's barely edible and just a nibble.'

'If it only amounted to that much, it would not be worth the effort used to find it in the first place.' Ren yawned.

'It might make my tummy feel a bit better though.' said Nora.

'Nora, please don't fret. Yorick will probably figure out something tomorrow morning.'

'But are you not thirsty though, at least?'

'Yeah, I am, but there's nothing we can do about that. Let's just try and go back to sleep so that we recover some of our strength.'

'Alright. I'll try…'

Eventually the two of them reconciled with sleep and slid deeply into its pocket, and no disturbances waltzed their way into it too. The sound of the waves became non-existent, and the brief bump of something hitting the rocks did not either.

Nora was in the Beacon Hall with her teammates and Team RWBY. The tables had been laid with a buffet of food. 'So many choices. Turkeys, baguettes, watermelons and sausages. So many pancakes. So much syrup! So much everything!'
She leaped off the bench and dove headfirst into the giant stack of pancakes, opening her mouth wide enough to swallow them whole. As she devoured the last one, her face met the plate and it cracked. She landed in a heap on the table. Everyone was laughing in amusement.

'Nice one, Nora!' said Jaune, raising his morning baguette up in a triumphant manner. Ren and Pyrrha both smiled and laughed at the comical display.

'Look up, Nora!' said Yang as she flicked the lid off a bottle a syrup and held it upside down.

Nora opened her mouth and let the syrup run off her tongue and down her throat as though it was just water.

'Wait to go, Nora!' said Ruby. She squeezed her milk carton of "Udder Satisfaction" until it ruptured and squirted everywhere.

Everyone was in such a joyful mood. Even Weiss and Blake had suspended their maturity for the fun.

'Let's eat some more!' Nora shouted.

They were all at the Vytal Festival fairgrounds. The Shopkeep's noodle bar was in sight. Nora sprung to the stool, followed by her friends. They were all presented with a huge bowl of noodles (except Blake, who opted for tuna).

It was so good. It tasted like heaven. 'I want more noodles!' Nora shouted. 'Bring me some more food! Food! Food…'

Nora opened her eyes. Her mouth was watering, and she could feel her stomach craving to be sated. She sniffed, and she stood up. 'Food.'

'Nora, what are you doing?' said Ren sleepily.

'I smell food, so I'm going to get some.' she said merrily and skipped out of the shack.

'What's she talking about..?' Ren murmured. He let his tiredness drift back into sleep. 'Nora, go back to sleep. Stay with me. Don't go for foo- wait, what?!'
He sat bolt upright and looked to his side. Nora was gone. She had even left Magnhild behind.

'Oh no. Nora! Come back!' Ren yelled. He stood up and shook off his sleepiness and turned on his instincts. He went out through the doorway and looked around him. Which direction had she gone in? What food had she been referring to? Only Nora could discern a trail of food so easily. 'Nora, where are you?!'

She did not answer. Her appetite must have taken over her awareness and her other senses altogether. Ren looked towards the sea on his right. He could see nothing interesting there from the angle he was at. This leaved two options. Had she gone straight on, or had she gone left?

Ren listened acutely, ignoring the thumping of his heartbeat. 'There!' The key needed: the sound of loud, carefree humming. 'Left…'

Nora kept her nose sticking out in front of her. She did not look where she was going or where her feet were treading, not that she would have been able to do so through the Mist anyway, but she had discarded all her instincts and training she had learned from being a Huntress.
What did she even smell? 'It's like, some sort of vegetables, with meat.'

'Nora, stop! You're going too far into the Mist!' Ignore whatever it is! Nora!' Ren yelled. His words only fell upon one set of ears, but they were not Nora's.

Nora continued to skip obliviously towards the source of her hunger. 'I will find you delicious food, I will!'

'Well, well. What do we have here?' hissed a voice.

'Gaaarh!' Nora exclaimed. A searing pain lodged itself into her flesh, just below her neck. She found herself wrenched off her feet and was pulled towards the trees on her left. She landed on her back and winced as she hit her head. As she reopened her eyes, a look of pure, unadulterated terror carved its way onto her face.

'A poor, lost soul. Oh, what delightful agony you shall endure.' Its voice was soothing, yet more sinister than anything Nora had ever heard.

She screamed: louder than she had ever done before.

'Nora!' Ren yelled, as he sprinted to Nora's cries.

'Screaming won't do you any good, but it's music to my ears.'

Nora stared upwards to see a spectre of unrivalled horror. It picked her up with just a hook on a chain, which dug into her skin and forced her to stare into its mortifying, hollowed out eyes. Its skull had three horns, a jaw hovering below the roof, and was ablaze in an emerald, green fire.

It wore black robes, with rusted keys hanging from the side. It carried the chain and hook, holding Nora, in its right hand, and a lantern, with a green, glowing orb at the centre, in its left hand.

'Let me go!' Nora wailed.

'Hahaha! Writhe, like a worm on the hook.'

Nora squirmed, feebly attempting to pull herself off the hook, but she was sleep deprived and too weak. The more she struggled, the worse the pain became. 'Keep it up. The more you resist, the more fun it becomes.'

'What do you want from me?!'

'Your pain, your suffering, your soul!'

'Ren! Help me!'

'No one can save you.'

'Nora!'
Ren stopped running as he reached them and saw Nora hanging mercilessly from the spectre's grasp. 'Let her go!' he yelled.

'No. It's over when I say.'
The spectre grabbed hold of her head and yanked the hook downwards, splitting her chest open. 'Flesh is a prison.' The ear-splitting screams continued as Nora felt her life slowly eviscerated. 'Oh, yes! It's about to get much worse.'

Ren let StormFlower drop down from his sleeves and fired them at the spectre.

The bullets had no effect, and the spectre cackled at their impotence.

Ren made a dash towards the spectre, hoping that it would fall to a powerful kick. Suddenly, a prison of five ghostly pentagonal walls rose from the ground.

'My house, my rules.'

He ran straight into the wall and fell straight through it. In an instant, his vision become blurry and he felt his legs give in. He collapsed on the floor, completely debilitated.

'Hehehe, nobody escapes my torment.'

Nora watched as Ren crippled before the unbridled power of the spectre's control.
She was becoming faint, holding onto only a single strand of life.

'Ever seen your soul? Would you like to?' it asked mirthlessly.

'Please, I beg you, don't do it…' she pleaded weakly.

'Hehe, you're falling apart. What to do with the pieces?'

'Let me live… let us both live. We'll do anything you want…' she moaned weakly.

'Your death is not my desire. I said that your soul is what I want. Now, let's see how much yours is worth. What precious things do you have treasured in there?'

'No, no…'

'Any last words?'

'Spare me…'

'No. Relax, just… let go.'
With one final act of force, the spectre ripped the hook through the whole of her front. Her blood was spilled, and he could finally extract what he had specifically sought. He pulled out a glowing green orb from her heart and cradled it in his right hand. He let go of the hook. Nora's lifeless body fell to the ground, with a thud and a squelch.

Ren strained his neck just in time to see the what would haunt him until the day he died.
The spectre descended to where Ren lay. He held Nora's soul directly in front of his face. 'Listen to her screams.'

And sure enough, Nora's voice could still be heard, crying for help that would never come.

Ren had no energy to fight with anger or flee in fear. Instead, tears gushed out of his eyes.

The spectre opened his lantern, stuffed Nora's soul inside and closed it.

If he had listened close enough, Ren would have heard the screams of thousands of other people who had been misfortunate enough to cross paths with him.

It howled with laughter: expressing its pure evil and the most unfiltered depravity possible, beyond everything that Ren could comprehend.

A burst of white light flew towards the spectre. It gasped at its brightness and cried out in pain.

Ren saw a man running towards them from inside the forest. Rage was written across his face, and he wielded and pair of two handguns. He fired both of them rapidly at the spectre. 'There you are, you devil!'

'Grr, you again.' said the spectre, startled.

'You aren't getting away this time, Thresh!'

'Oh, but I am. You will never see your wife again.'

'Don't you dare talk about my Senna like!'

'Farewell for now.' said Thresh mockingly as he descended into the air and flew away into the dark, laughing with glee.

'Get back here, Thresh! I swear, you will pay for your crimes. I will END YOU!' He continued to fire his guns of light until Thresh was out of sight and it was pointless to shoot anymore.

He turned his attention to Ren and went on his knees. 'Hey kid, are you alright?'

Ren rolled onto his back and pointed towards Nora.

Lucian saw her body and Ren's soar, crying eyes before putting the two together. 'Oh no… He did not just…'

'W-what was that t-thing?' Ren struggled to articulate through his woes.

'That was the embodiment of everything that blights this cruel world. I cannot begin to describe how abominable he is. He has done unspeakable harm to a countless number of innocent people. And I'm sorry to say, but your… friend over there, is in a place far worse than death….'

'Wait, what do you mean by that?' Ren asked, dreading the answer.

'She's still alive, technically, but her soul has been placed in Thresh's godforsaken lantern.'

'And what does that mean for her?'

'I can't sugar-coat it. When inside that lantern, they suffer for all of eternity, undergoing torture that we cannot begin to fathom. It's the worse fate that anyone can be given…'

'No, this can't be…' said Ren. 'It can't! Why are you making this up?!'

'I'm not.' said the man. 'I just need to be frank with you…'

Ren's body shook. Then he contorted and wallowed on the ground in his own despair. 'Why?! Why?! Nora!'

The man put his guns down and let Ren unravel his overwhelming anguish. He let a few tears of his own trickle from his eyes.
'Listen.' he said once Ren had let out most of his outbursts. 'I know exactly how you feel.'

'You do?'

'Yeah. He took my wife… I have never felt so much wrath and spite towards a single entity. He laughed in my face and taunted me at the loss of my own beloved. He almost split my own mind apart. Death should've been the end for her, and I thought it was, until I encountered him again, and he told me what had become of my wife's soul. Rest assured that I feel for you. It makes my blood boil even more, knowing that he has made another soul perish, at the expense of someone really close to her. I have sworn to my wife that I will kill Thresh and make him pay for the thousands of crimes he has committed. And I swear also, that he will feel the pain he has inflicted on everyone he has taken, tenfold.'

Ren nodded. The man's voice was loaded with hatred, but it was fuelled by the love of his wife, and the endless sympathy he felt for those who had also gone to damnation.

'So, what's your name?' the man asked.

'I'm Lie Ren.'

'Although the circumstances of it are terrible, it's nice to meet you Lie. I'm Lucian.'

'You too, Lucian. I prefer to be called Ren though.'

'Oh, I see. Ren. How did you get here, to the Shadow Isles?'

'I… don't know. All I can say it that I'm far away from home and have no way of getting back there.'

'Well, tell you what then. Why don't you come with me? We'll get you some food and a place to recuperate back in Bilgewater. The Shadow Isles aren't a place for a good resort vacation. We'll see how you feel, and then we can get you back home. Or, if you wanted to, we could find Thresh, and kill him together. What do you say?'

Ren did not know what Bilgewater was, but he knew for definite that he wanted to take Thresh down. 'I've never believed in revenge before… but I certainly do now. Thank you, Lucian. I greatly appreciate it.'

'Don't mention it. This is personal, for both of us.'

Lucian helped Ren to his feet. His inability to stand after running through the wall had vanished.

Ren looked at Nora's mutilated corpse. The sight of it made him want to vomit, even with no food in his mouth.

'Leave her.' said Lucian. 'There's nothing you can do for her here. Focus on what's ahead, and don't look at what will make the pain only worse.'

'Right.' Ren nodded and took a deep breath.

'I came here by boat, and grabbed some wood to make a fire and cook a stew.' Lucian explained. 'It's late, so just try and get some sleep while I take us back to Bilgewater.'

'Thank you…'

Lucian helped Ren stagger towards the shack to retrieve Manghild before going straight the docks and into a wooden boat. It was petite and powered by an engine rudder. It was suitable for one or two people.
Although it was dark and very dangerous to be sailing across the sea at such a late hour, its speed would make the journey rather quick, making them spend less time above the sea's uninviting hostilities. And once they got out of the Shadow Isles' vicinity, things would become a lot easier for them.

Ren's mind and body were active and too stimulated to rest. He would never forget this fateful night. It gnawed at him even harder than the night the Imp Grimm had destroyed his hometown and killed his parents. At least the Imp was a mindless creature, but Thresh was cunning and could cause damage beyond anything a Grimm could ever hope to accomplish.

"We have to be brave." said the voice of his childhood self. But Nora was no longer there to be brave with him, and there was no way she could be brave inside the lantern…

Ren conceded his control over his mind and let himself cry, knowing that Nora was well and truly gone.


Yorick ran back towards the shack. 'What has he done?' he asked himself. The sound of the cackling and the screaming were unmistakable.

Despite him telling Ren and Nora that he would not go far, he had become annoyed with the Maiden and had meandered off in search of more ghouls, completely forgetting what he had promised to do.

'Just a bit further.'

Yorick caught something in the corner of his eye. He turned to the right and saw something which pained his heart like no other. Never before had he seen anything so upsetting. 'How could he? Why must the Warden foist his hobby on some many good people?'

He ran to the shack where they had been staying. 'Empty… Where could Ren have gone off to?'

Yorick desperately wanted to know. Maybe he had been imprisoned by the Warden too. Perhaps he had escaped and ran somewhere far away. Could he have thrown himself into the sea? What if he had been driven to madness and ran to the centre of the Isles, waiting for the Mist to consume him. This would only exacerbate his grief though...

There was no point in searching for him though, for he would probably never find him, and even if he did, he would be beyond saving.

He plodded back towards Nora's body. He moved her aside and began to dig a large hole in the ground. Once he had finished, he picked up Nora and gently placed her inside before refilling the hole with the soil.

Yorick bent down on one knee, held his shovel with one hand, closed his eyes and bowed his head.

'Here lies Nora, the nicest girl I have ever met.' he lamented.


A Soul Bereft of Love

When I look up into the sky
I realise how quickly the cycle rolls by
In a flash, light turns to dark
And on a new day we must embark
My Passion is overflowing with Love
Like a blossom tree with two white doves
For Time Stops for No One…

In all the years that went by
I failed to see an angel sat by my side
With a jump and glance to the past
I see what did and should've last
In the place of a beautiful life
Has been usurped by churning strife
For Time Stops for No One…

A match was made in Heaven
But I never made the confession
Joy and happiness has filled our hearts
With a bundle of giggles and laughs
Many years have been and gone
And that special bond is sadly done
For Time Stops for No One…

I shall see what the future holds
And find out what the path beholds
I truly hoped this bliss would never end
Now my heart is broken and will not mend
I wish you were here to do what we planned
With lips on lips and hand in hand
For Time Stops for No One…

And Love Makes Room for Only One…

~ Widow of Forgotten Songs