"Wake up," a vaguely familiar voice grumbled. "You are going to wake up to the end of the world if you don't wake up."
Jimmy grumbled and rolled over, not wanting to wake up. Whatever she was sleeping on was very comfortable, more comfortable than the pile of blankets she usually slept on. A faint breeze brushed her face, causing her to grumble again. One of the damn twins must have forgotten to close the window, she thought to herself.
"Will you quit ignoring me and wake up already? I knew it, he saddled me with a lazy one. I won't listen to him again, even if it means the end of this world. I will just sit around and pretend to be deaf. Now, WAKE UP!"
"Damn Nix," she yelled, bolting to her feet at the voice's bellow. "You don't need to be rude! Do you have a cold? You sound funn-ah."
It wasn't Nix who woke her up so rudely. A large, well she thought it was large, silver wolf sat near her, glaring up at her. She glared back, wondering what to do. Wolves or any wild animals weren't common in the city, she had never even seen one in a zoo. Yet there was one here, in the basement. She looked around, suddenly realizing she wasn't in the basement or any place she knew to be exact.
"Where the hell am I? she asked a loud as she stared at a stagnant pool of green water at her right. "Toto, I don't think we are in Kansas anymore."
"Of course you're not," a voice snorted. She swung her head around quickly to stare at the wolf in shock. It gave her a grin, showing it's very white and sharp looking teeth.
"Did I scare you?" the wolf asked, still grinning. "I am so sorry. Next time wake up when I tell you to."
"So you were the one who yelled in my ear," she groused, rubbing her ear ruefully. "Rude much."
"You'll get over it," the wolf said matter of factly. "Right now you have bigger concerns. Welcome to Ferelden, where a Blight is about to begin. My name is Fen. You need to get to Ostagar, where the first battle is about to begin, and save some very important people. Let's go."
"Stop," she said, putting her hands up in confusion. "Are you saying I am in a video game? Don't make me laugh! Then again, that would explain the talking wolf but this can't possibly be real! I must still be sleeping, the twins or Owl are playing Dragon Age at max sound and I am dreaming about it."
Closing her eyes she tried to will herself awake. This was too much to take at once, being in a video game with a talking wolf. She pinched herself, yelping at the pain. Scowling she closed her eyes again, trying as hard as she could to will it all away. Another pain flared at her hip and she jumped.
"Ow," she cried. "What was that for you mangy wolf?"
"It's Fen," it sighed, sounding male. "Not mangy wolf. Listen, this is all real. Every tale, every video game and movie in your world, has truth to it. This place is real, just like your home. Now quit messing around and let's go."
She glared at the wolf, fixing her clothes before following after the beast. Having never been out of the city, Jimmy had no real idea which direction they were heading. The sky was cloud filled and gloomy, keeping the sun hidden. They followed a mostly solid path through the swampy forest. One thing the video game didn't show was the bugs.
Small pepper sized bugs buzzed around her face, trying to invade her nose, mouth, even her eyes. Slightly larger bugs buzzed around her exposed skin to try and take a bite out of her. After killing some of the biters and trying to wave away the pepper bugs, Jimmy decided she hated this place.
This has to be the Wilds place, she thought darkly to herself as she tried to protect some of her face with her hoodie. Supposedly witches and other scary things live here. Owl always got scared of this part so I had to play. They don't show you how much of a pain the place really is. Ah man, I stepped in more of that green gunk.
They trudged on, Jimmy's mood getting more and more irritated by the second. Fen at least was staying on the solider parts of the trail he could find. That didn't stop either of them getting some forest slime on them. Her hoodie and jeans were splattered with the gunk and her boots, after a few slips in some shallow pools, were squishing with every step. She really did hate this place.
"Why are you helping me?" she asked after some time. "I know you aren't part of the game, at least from the bits I have seen and played."
Fen snorted, shaking his head before saying, "I was sent by someone important to help you and ensure you are here to help stop the Blight. That person has seen this entire thing play out in many different ways and every time you are not here, the world is overrun by darkspawn. I was sent to bring you here and help you along this mission to ensure you do not fail or die."
"That's really cheery," she drawled, tucking her hands in her jean pockets to protect them from the bugs. "Are you going to give me magical powers or something? Oh I know! Can you change my appearance, turn me into some crazy looking creature? That would be cool."
"Your appearance has already changed."
"No it hasn't."
"Yes, it has," he growled, pausing at one of the many pools of water. "Look at yourself."
Fen touched his nose against the water and the swamp slime suddenly cleared away, leaving the water bright and clear. Frowning she looked into the water, wondering how she could have changed without knowing it. The face that stared back at her wasn't her's or at east wasn't the face she was used to seeing.
Large green eyes stared back at her, the same color as before but her eyes themselves were larger. Her facial features were more sharp, delicately defined bones under her skin. A more slender nose sat on her face but there was something even more startling. Hiding under her hood, peeking up through her hair, were well pointed ears, like the elves in the game but more delicate and real.
Slowly she touched her face, confirming what she saw in the pool. Her fingers moved to the sides of her head, brushing the pointed ears. The touch told her they were real, very real in fact. She stared at herself a bit longer until the swamp slime returned and the clear water vanished.
"I told you," Fen said smugly, his tail beating on the ground with glee. "Now if you are finished gawking, let's go."
"I'm still the same height, aren't I?" she asked nervously as she followed the wolf again.
"If you mean your insanely tall, five foot seven inches height, yes you are still tall," he replied. "Don't be surprised if you get some looks and are treated even more differently than most elves here. They never get as tall as you, must be something in your genes."
"Great," she muttered as a strange humming filled her head. "Now I am an even bigger freak in this world. At least I am used to being treated different, that won't be much of a shock."
"That's the spirit! Now hurry, we are almost there. Damn, I think the battle is about to begin."
They walked through an open gate, no one in sight. Elven servants scurried around like they were packing stuff away. Carefully they kept to the shadows, keeping out of sight of the elven and human servants moving around. Jimmy spotted a tent near their path and gestured to it then herself, raising an eye at Fen. The wolf gave a soft sigh before tilting his head with approval.
The tent was empty. Jimmy gave a sigh of relief, preening her luck before going through the random bags and crates. Fen wiggle under the tent canvas to joining her in raiding the tent. A medium sized pack was filled with whatever food stuffs she could find, some random bottles with red stuff that Fen pushed to her, some extra cloth and what looked like loincloths. She wrinkled her nose but shoved them in anyways.
A crate at the back of the tent held exactly what she was looking for and whoever had put it there was a life saver. Carefully she pulled over a leather top piece of armor with looked like bits of metal sewn into it. She slipped it over her hoodie, pausing a second to thank her luck that her hoodie was so worn and thin that the armor piece fit well. More digging exposed some leather pants, same style as the top, a pair of leather boots, and a nice dark brown cloak. She put the rest of the stuff on before grabbing her newly acquired pack full of things she'd need and ducking out of the tent the same way she entered.
Resuming their path, Jimmy discovered that the cloak went completely to the ground and the hood covered her whole head and shadowed her face. She smiled evilly, skipping along behind Fen. The wolf shot her a glare and she stopped skipping, still smiling. The thought that she looked like a mysterious warrior played in her mind as she followed Fen to the tower he was aiming for.
They stopped, Jimmy finally realizing it was raining after some drops hit her in the face. From the tower they could see the battle was just beginning. Men and women stood in perfect ranks, ready to face down the enemy. Jimmy glanced at the forest before the army, realizing her eyesight was much better than before when she could see some of the darkspawn marching towards the army.
"They are going to die, aren't they?" she asked sadly, sitting on the tower wall with Fen sitting next to her as they both observed the two armies below them, one in the open and the other still slinking in.
"Most but not all," he said emotionlessly. "There are two people we need to save, however. The king and the Grey Warden Commander. They are our priority but we must wait, the battle is beginning."
He was correct. The darkspawn finally broke from their cover in the trees and marched towards the Ferelden army. The humming Jimmy heard got louder and louder til it was maddening. The only way she could describe it was as if she had heard a song but couldn't remember the words, only the beat of the song. Fen poked his nose into her ear, making her jump. She started to yell at him when she realized the humming dulled to a more manageable volume. Nodding to him, she returned to watching the battle. They had just released the mabari and were preparing to advance.
It was chaos to say the least. People screamed, the darkspawn made their noises, and the mabari howled. The archers were firing as fast as they could, balls of fire flew down from the bridge while balls of fire from the darkspawn smashed into the bridge. She glanced at Fen but the wolf shook his head, staring intently at a tower opposite of them.
Jimmy stared at the battle with a mixture of horror and curiosity. Horror filled her as men and women died as the darkspawn moved further and further towards the army while curiosity filled her with how the whole battle played out in reality. Finally she looked away to stare at the tower below her, wishing they could leave. She tried to ignore the battle before them by fixating her mind on the tower sides and how crumbly it looked.
"Let's go," Fen said suddenly, rising to his feet. She glanced at the tower he had been staring at, noticing that a fire now filled the top of it like a beacon.
"What about all those people?" she asked waving her hand at the people still fighting while their reinforcements marched away. "They are going to die thinking that someone is going to come help them. We can't leave them here like cattle going to slaughter. We must do something!"
"What would you do?" he asked simply, staring at her. "We can't rescue everyone and I'm sure they won't believe you if you went down there and told them. What would you do to save them?"
She thought for a few seconds, her mind racing. What could she do? She wasn't even sure of how she could save the world, let alone these people fighting a losing battle. Regardless, she had to try, even if they wouldn't listen. A faint memory filled her mind's eye. She and the twins had snuck into a movie theater to see their favorite movie series, Lord of the Rings.
The scene where the steward went mad and began to scream for everyone to run, that they were doomed stood out clearly. Then the wizard beamed him upside the head and told everyone to prepare for battle. Would something like that work? She wasn't loud but maybe a certain silver wolf could help her. It was worth a shot to ask.
"Can you make my voice loud enough for them to hear?" she asked Fen. He nodded slowly, glaring at her. "Could you possibly, pretty please, also make me look all glowy and mysterious? I know we are far enough that they won't know who we are but I like the dramatic side of things."
"Dramatic my ass," he grumbled as he rose to his feet. "I can make your voice loud enough for them all to here and I can do something about our looks this far from them. You will owe me however. Now stand up, put your hand on my shoulders, and tell me what to do. I can follow your every command if I want to, not that I always will."
Jimmy stood up, adjusting her cloak and ensuring her hood was sitting right. Gently she placed her hand on Fen's shoulders. He really was large, tall enough that his head could brush her belly. She ignored that and stared down at the battle.
"Fen, louden my voice," she said, feeling stupid telling him what to do when she asked him what he could do. "And make us look like something from a legend." A flash of light seemed to burst out into the battle field from behind them, causing the battle to pause. Jimmy took a deep breath, feeling like an idiot suddenly.
"Run," her voice boomed, filling the air. "Flee now to fight another day. The battle is lost but not the war. Abandon the field and run."
Her voice echoed across the field like she was being heard from several loud speakers. The armies were frozen, both human and darkspawn, until some of the humans broke off and ran from the fighting. More soldiers broke away from their enemies to circle a pair of men, one wearing gold armor and another in silvery blue. She glanced at Fen who shrugged at her.
"Let's get down there," he said. "You climb down and hurry while you are at it."
"What about you?" she asked, already climbing down the tower. Thanks to its decay there were plenty of foot and hand holds. "Actually, never mind. I don't even want to know what you are going to do to get down. See you at the bottom."
The climb down was easy and quicker than she thought it would be. In a matter of minutes she was at the bottom, Fen waiting for her. She simply glared at the wolf, who grinned back, and headed quickly towards the group of men. The soldiers were filling quickly as they tried to defend their king and the Warden when suddenly, a large orge stormed into the fray. She watched as it grabbed the king, crushed him, then was killed by the Warden. More darkspawn headed towards the fallen men when fear and fury filled her.
"STOP IT!" she screamed, her rage filling her voice as her fear backed it. "JUST STOP IT!"
A flash of light, like the one when she was on the tower, filled her vision. When it cleared, Jimmy looked around in shock. Everything was frozen from the men to the darkspawn. Even those in mid fight were frozen, droplets of blood and gore frozen in midair.
"Fen," she said nervously. "What's going on?"
"You said stop it," he replied as if were the most obvious thing. "So I stopped time. You might want to go get that Grey Warden over here. I will try and save the king and keep us hidden til the battle is over."
"You said stop," she muttered grumpily under her breath. "I stopped time. Go get the Grey Warden. Nag nag nag I'm a prissy silver wolf. I'm going to save the king cause I'm a snob." Surprises were not good for her heart or her attitude. Surprises were very bad.
Warily she walked over to the Warden, skirting around the frozen darkspawn. Even frozen they were creepy looking. She frowned at the man laying before her, looking like a pirate. All he needed was an eye patch and a parrot and he would be the perfect pirate. Carefully, she grabbed him under the armpits and started to drag him towards Fen when he moved and groaned, causing her to drop him in surprise.
"Fen," she yelled, eyeing the man warily. "He's not frozen! Are you sure everything is really frozen cause he just moved!"
"That's because you moved him idiot," he growled, curled around the king so his head was on the wolf's side. "Now quit panicking and get him over here. I can't hold this spell for much longer and I need power to keep us safe til the battle's done. Don't think I didn't hear you muttering earlier either. Prissy wolf, as if."
Grumbling, Jimmy finished dragging Pirate over to Fen, settling him next to the king who looked like a bloody statue. Once they were settled, the spell broke and the battle resumed. Pirate moved slightly and she pressed her hand against his mouth. When he looked up at her she slowly shook her head, staring at the darkspawn that were moving around them like they weren't even there. Acknowledgement brightened his eyes and Pirate slowly nodded his head, freezing when the darkspawn raced by without a second glance.
She moved her eyes towards Fen who was staring intently at Statue King. Whatever the wolf was doing was helping the king. His breathing already sounded better than the gurgling she tried very hard to ignore earlier. If he was still bleeding or not she couldn't tell, he was covered in blood. Instead she watched Fen and hoped this would all be over very soon. The sooner the better.
Notes: I'm so sorry that this is so late! My original computer crashed almost as soon as I tried to post the other chapters I had written and I was so very heart broken and upset I didn't want to write. BUT now I have this mini laptop my hubs gave me as a early b-day gift so I can type again! I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment or share advice! Let's show the meaning of haste!