I am writing to you in a very dire situation, Uatu. Things have gotten out of hand in ways I didn't imagine. I thought the TVA would intervene, but you didn't tell me anything about this.
Stephen stood on a frozen lake and saw her.
She was, at first, skating so elegantly. His inner insticts getting the better of him, guiding him like the gut feeling leads the animal, he ran towards her.
"Donna." he used his powers and levitated towards her. As she slipped, his hand grabbed her by the coat, pulling her away from the collapsing ice. Her hand touched his, turning back to look at him. Her eyes were keen blue, just like his. She smiled at him, still a little child from so many years ago.
Stephen still could not realize what is happening. "Do...Donna?"
She pulled him by the hand. "Stephen. You must trust them."
He blinked. "But...Donna, it's...it's you!"
"Stephen, you must understand me. Trust them. Please!"
His hands twitched. "I...I'm trying to. I can't...Donna!"
Not even finishing the sentence, she disappeared.
The land they woke on was filled with sand that made the fall easier. Mikey stood up feeling like he landed on a pillow. "Dude. Not gonna lie, this is one of the better ones."
"Gosh." Leo said. "I've never been in a desert." Leo's hand felt stuck in sand. When he took it up, some it stayed between his fingers. "Geez. This is sticky."
Donnie heard him and crouched. The sediment on the ground certainly looked like sand, but when he touched it something felt off. It was not dry, but wet. A bit sticky, just like Leo said. He grabbed some of it, then sniffed at it. "This...this isn't sand."
Stephen still felt as if a bell was was ringing inside his head. He leaned on a stalagmite-shaped rock, trying to get some rest, rubbing his forehead.
Stephen...
Heavens, he thought. Whoever you are. Why is this happening to me?
They heard a humming sound, making them prepare their positions. It slowly grew louder, until it gained a music-like flavor, sounding less like humming of mouth and more like music of instruments, though with a more rough touch to it. Few figures emerged out of the rocks that stood in front of them. At first they had a very humanoid form, but upon a closer look, Donnie saw them different. They were tall - very tall, a head taller than Stephen. The creatures in front of them had a skin covered in marbles of red, white and black colors, not unlike many aliens either of them had met in their career. Their eyes were completely black - iris and white was missing completely. Carapace was growing on some of them, on arms, back or on top of a head. They were wearing huge black armors and long spears, twice as long as Donnie, made of a material he had never seen before.
These four creatures stared down at the Five of them, waiting for something. The Turtles all raised their hands, even Raph, keeping them as far from their weapons as possible, while Stephen kept his hands clasped. Leo slowly made the first step. "We're not enemies. Please."
The tallest one among them, one who, unlike the others, was without a dark beard woven with some precious stones, seemed curious. He - or she, they could not really know - tilted his head and opened his mouth: the long, slow sound, like the one from before, came out of it. Leo made a step back. His heart started beating faster. The creature still stared at him, not changing its sound. The others made similar sounds. Now, as they listened to it more closely, it resembled notes.
Then they spoke. Donnie was happy they spoke, even if he could not understand them. At least the language was better than these rhythms they were repeating.
"Try and talk to them?"
"What?" Stephen flinched.
"You have magic. You know that, Translation spell?"
"Spell of Communication." Stephen hissed. "But there's no way I am doing it now."
Leo pushed him. "Alright, use that spell right now!"
"No way, I will!"
"This happens every single time, Strange! Why the heck are you so afraid to use it? What use of a wizard if he can't even do anything, shell!"
"Because they're not humans, idiot!" he raised his voice. "I don't know if it will even work on them."
One of them made the slow sound again, and Stephen turned so sharply he almost stumbled, and raised his hands out of instinct. Now, the other one made a different rhythm. This one had a very, very sharp and irritating sound. Not loud, but certainly irritating. Stephen wished they at least had normal eyes - maybe then he could read some of their expressions. This way, their faces were as easy to read as Wong's handwriting. Unlike the Turtles'.
"Alright, alright!" he said. "I'll try."
He approached them. The one with an irritating rhythm went silent, while the one with a long, slow rhythm continued. The other two were talking to one another, not breaking eye contact with Stephen. He swallowed and cussed, hiding his hand and making a yellow ring of energy. Energy then entered his body as he cast the Spell of Communication.
It backfired. The creatures flinched, raising their spears and pointing them at Stephen. "I told you!"
"Shell!" Raph was the first to take his weapons out and, Leo at his side, jump at the enemy to fight them. Mikey and Donnie hesitated, but at seeing their brothers fight, joined them. The warriors moved as quickly as Turtles, more dancing rather than fighting. Donnie's new metal staff was shaking while hitting the spears, and even that was producing sounds that sounded unnatural. Leo tried to stab one of them in the carapace, but his blade was almost broken at that strike. Raph ran to the most aggressive one and was surprised to see this huge creature moved faster and with more skill and ease than he did, despite the large armor. Mikey basically just tried not to get beaten while having a contest with another one.
All of this happened within such a short timespan that Stephen almost forgot where he was. Reaching for his power, he flew into the air, the Cloak holding him up. He fired a single Spell of Fire and Water, throwing it right before the feet of their opponents. Then, he cast the Spell of Lightning at the ground, merely attempting to scare them away. Their opponents stopped, looking up at him. All four of them made a loud sound, a rhythm almost akin to the roaring of lions or howling of wolves, yet with a sentient touch, distinct enough from animals.
"Turash!" one of them yelled. "TURASH!"
Stephen prepared to throw another lightning, but a sharp energy struck his back the moment he tried. Pushing him down to the ground, the thing that attacked him did not give him even a second. Stephen tried to get back to the Turtles, but instead got caught up in a power he could not challenge at the moment. He barely turned his gaze at the long, red ribbon standing above him. The figure looked just like one of the soldiers the Turtles were struggling with, but its marbles were covered in a color red as blood. The long robes were also red as blood, and circles of power were dancing around them. A long, black spear had a pointed end adorned with red crystals. This enemy was flying just like Stephen.
He pushed himself into the air, creating Spells of Fire, Destruction and Strength, forming three circles of red, purple and yellow color. The circles flew right at the fighter, but using his spear, he deflected Stephen's own power and it ran right after him. Stephen jumped back to the ground. He had planned to save his friends, but the fighter of the sky before jumped at him again from behind, grabbing the Cloak. Stephen reached out, trying to summon the Cloak, but his opponent slapped the Cloak. The sparkles of red light appeared and the Cloak flew far away into the distance. Stephen screamed, reaching out again, but the opponent then grabbed him for that hand. Stephen feared he will stab him with the spear, but instead of that, without any movement from the opponent, except the red twinkle in the eyes, Stephen was sent flying in a straight line, against his own will. His body was smacked against the tall rock.
He heard his bones break and fell before that rock. The creatures, alike to crabs, ran at his sight. He made the first move, trying to reach his back, but he could not reach it. Damn me! Damn me, it hurts! It was worse than the accident in which he lost his hands. If he does not get up soon, he will not be able to heal himself. Stephen struggled to do so, barely even standing up to his feet. It seemed, however, his hands suffered the least damage. That stilled his fear at the very least.
Then, long, reddish hands emerged out of the ground, all around him, just as he felt his back hurt. Stephen panicked, waving to send them away. He was surprised to see his hand moved through them as easily as through the air. And they were not reaching for him - just going up. "Wha...what?!'
Leo and Raph took turns fighting one of their opponents, but they were quickly surrounded by them. Mikey and Donnie tried to save their brothers, but Donnie got pressed down close to the ground by one of them. The warrior smacked him in the shell, then throwing him away. Leo and Raph were surrounded by the other three, while Mikey got into a fight with the last one. It was incredibly hard to determine, but he assumed this one was the eldest among them, at least because of the black beard filled with gems he wore. He jumped to grab him by the carapace, but the fighter just slightly shook himself, throwing Mikey with an incredible strength. He grabbed Mikey's nunchaku, pulling them away. "No!" was all Mikey had the time to say before he grabbed him by the throat, slamming him almost a dozen times.
Stephen continued waving towards the rising hands, making them disappear, and he prayed to whatever the Power in Heaven was called to get up. He reached out to throw a whip of energy, but his opponent stepped on it, not reacting to its heat. He grabbed the whip, which was still attached to Stephen, and pulled it closer.
Not here! He looked towards the Turtles, but none of them had the way out. Not here, please. Don't let it end like this. His opponent raised his gaze up, probably not even giving Stephen much thought. Please!
The Heaven answered. Stephen glimpsed a blue, glimmering blue dot falling from the sky right before his eyes. The blue dot grew larger, gaining the shape of a man. The man threw himself at Stephen's opponent, blue and red light mixed together during their fight. The alien opponent and the man both jumped into the air, though the man in blue seemed to have better control in it. While the opponent was just jumping through the air, back to the ground and to the air again, the man looked like he had a genuine control over the air around him. Seizing the opportunity when the fighter went back to the ground, the man, shinning more brightly than before, fell to the ground and, with his fist, hit the ground. Blue pieces of light appeared in the cracks, making the opponent think twice before attacking.
Stephen looked around. Dozens and dozens of other men, dressed in the same blue uniform like that man who saved him, jumped, all of them glimmering with blue light. The creatures looked up, letting the Turtles go. The fighter in the air continued his combat with the man who shined like a blue star. They both fell to the ground, and the man's crystal blue spear stabbed the enemy champion. Two more men arrived, striking the champion down and ending him. And before Stephen's very eyes their spears and blades disappeared, gathering back to the invisible wind.
Donnie emerged from his shell, coughing while the strange, violet balls came out of the ground and danced around him. He flinched and tried to send them away, feeling they will overpower him. A small, blue bolt of light was thrown at them, so bright it made him temporarily lose his sight. He felt he leaned onto someone, who helped him get up. He rubbed his face, clearing the eyes.
"Uh...thank you. I..." Black, lightless eyes stared down at him, and a face with marbles of both red and black color, though dressed in a dark blue uniform. Creature looked just like the fighters that attacked them minutes ago. Donnie turned to run, and Raph and Leo appeared from behind.
"Leave my brother, freak!" Raph made an attempt to stab the creature, but the creature's eyes then shined bright blue. He waved with his spear, and the light that emitted from it sent Leo and Raph away, and they fell to the ground. Mikey and Donnie ran towards them, looking at all the men around them.
"Try and touch them, if you..."
All the men in blue uniforms made a circle around them, pointing their blades and spears at them. Mikey and Donnie felt like children because of their size. They had nothing, neither their weapons or their wizard. Mikey was the first to back down. "Shell!" he said out loud.
The men all stared at them, carefully focusing their gaze upon the Turtles, which they have grown used to long ago, of course. This is the least unexpected part of this, Leo thought. But still the most annoying.
The man who fought in the air returned, speaking loudly and telling his men to put down their weapons. He was the tallest among them, after the large red-headed one, and had a dark hair that went all the way to his shoulders, including a small tattoo on his forehead - one they all shared. His eyes, like of the others, were gleaming bright blue, in contrast to his tanned complexion. The gaze he kept on them for a short while was not as curious as it was simply confusing - he behaved as if they were not supposed to be here.
One of his men pulled him away to something, and Raph felt a push from behind. A grey-haired man looked without good will at Raph, cursing in his own tongue. "Alright, noob, I'm moving!"
Mikey leaned in. "I don't think it's good to yell at them, buddy."
"They can't understand a single word we're saying, Mikey." One of them separated them, raising his forefinger in a warning.
"They understand something, though."
When they saw Stephen lying on the ground, almost paralyzed, Donnie and Leo rushed to help him get up, only to be stopped by the same elder man. Leo looked with worry - Stephen probably could help himself, but in this way he could barely move.
The leader, as they thought him to be, approached Stephen and lightly pulled him over. "Ow...stop it! I can't even...Ah!"
"Bastards, you're hurting him!"
"Wait!" Leo laid a hand on Raph's chest. "Wait." They could have killed him if they wanted to.
The leader looked towards the Turtles and raised his hands, as if justifying himself. He looked over to his men. "Rlain!" was what he said. Whether a name or a verb, the one among them who looked like the opponents they met before walked up to Stephen. From a bag, he pulled a sphere, sphere that shone with a light of pure, clear sky. Some of the light raced up his arm, his eyes glimmering brighter now, waking curiousity inside the Turtles. The leader and that soldier both crouched before Stephen, the former not taking his sight off the Turtles. Carefully touching Stephen again, the soldier appeared to have passed some of that silvery blue light to his body.
Slowly, but certainly, Stephen felt his bones recover. He felt the pain pass like the cold when he drinks sweet hot chocolate. Numbness remained for a few moments and, with the leader's help, he was able to get up. Some pain remained and it looked like it would not pass soon, but it was definitely bearable unlike before. The soldiers around Stephen all calmed down, with some even easing their grisp on Turtles.
They were men. That was undeniable. But very large man. All of them - twenty as he counted - fairly taller and more muscular than him. Each of them was at least a head taller than Stephen, some maybe one and a half: the red-haired giant two heads even, along with the one who healed him. They all had tanned skin, darker or lighter, one of them a clearly black-skinned person. But no matter their height, or even species, their eyes shined blue at the moment.
"Thank you." He bowed his head in gratitude and they understood, nodding. Stephen raised his hand and the Cloak returned to him, alerting a few of them, though the leader calmed the others again. Brave guy, he thought. Raph cleared his throat to call him. "Ah...yes!" Stephen, still feeling a bit numb, walked towards the Turtles. "They're...they're with me." He struggled making gestures for them to understand. "They're safe."
"What are we pets?"
"Shut up, Raph!" Donnie gently pushed him.
Their leader gazed thoughtfuly at all of them. He eventually nodded and told his men to put down the spears. Raph glanced in victory at the elder man who pointed the spear at him, but the soldier did not react to that at all. Soldiers looked at their leader and spoke with him, several of them taking heir spheres and wondering what to do and at one point something was proposed that the leader waved away. He instead walked up closer to the Turtles and Stephen, placing a hand on his chest. "Kaladin."
"Donatello." Donnie already understood what the man meant to say, making his brothers introduce themselves as well, though Raph grumbled other things too. Stephen introduced himself last.
"Well..." Leo coughed. "I suppose we can't make you to try and cast that spell again?"
Stephen just gave him a look that said clearly: "Do not even think about it." So Leo shrugged.
Donnie talked with the letter a bit, both of them making gestures and trying to understand each other. He turned turned towards his brothers and Stephen. "I think they want to take us somewhere else. Their home, probably."
Leo gazed at the leader's still gleaming eyes. "Look at them. Can we trust them?"
Stephen chuckled. "They just bust their asses trying to save us."
"Really?" Raph said. "It looked pretty easy for them."
"We can't complain now."
"Who says we can't?"
"Where'll we go else?" Mikey said. "They could have killed us now if they wanted to. And they don't wanna put chains on us."
"This leader seems like a really nice guy." Donnie said. "He doesn't want to escalate."
Leo sighed. "So...majority decides, no?" He shrugged to Raph, who cursed. Donnie scoffed and nodded to the man, who gave the order. "Do we at least know where we're going?"
"We'll see."
As they travelled this road, they noticed that the damp rocks and hills, replaced the dry land filled with sand. In the short distance, tall mountains of snow could be seen, especially one that held everything behind it out of sight.
"So...what now?" Mikey asked.
Leader said to Donnie something he did not fully understand, gesturing towards the tallest mountain. He shrugged to others. "I guess they want us to pass over that mountain."
"Huh!" Raph scoffed. "Well, ask him how he plans to do it, since..." the elder soldier grabbed Raph, holding him tightly. "Hold up! Get off of me." The man took the sphere out and absorbed some of its light. "Hey, listen buddy, I do not like to be..." Raph could only scream as the man lashed himself high in the air, followed by blue trails of light. The other Turtles and Stephen stared at Raph flying over the mountain. Leo turned to yell at them in defense of his brother, but then he realized some of the soldiers tightly embraced the others in their group and then also lashed themselves into the air.
"Awesome!" Mikey screamed and ran to the first man. "Buddy, this is gonna be, great. How about I count!" His holder nodded when Miley showed him his fingers. "Okay! One, two...threeeeeeeee!" Mikey screamed out of excitement as he was pulled into the air as well. "BOOYAKASHA!"
Another man grabbed Donnie. "Uh, just so we make sure - this is one-hundred percent safe, right?" The man waved away, not understanding at all. "Oh, bugger." Then he could only scream out of terror as much as Mikey's excitement.
Leo swallowed as the man behind him held him. "Well, as Splinter said: 'Just be done with it.'" He bit his tongue to keep himself from screaming.
Stephen was looking at them, uncertain whether that's safe or not. He was staring so long he almost did not notice captain Kaladin approachimg him. "Uh...there's no need!" he waved away. "Really, really!" Kaladin was confused. "I can do it myself. You see?" He slightly levitated, though the Cloak wanted to do something else. "Stop it! Ah...not you, sorry. But you see, right?"
Kaladin slowly nodded.
"Right. Now you just go first and I'll see where we're going."
Kaladin then smiled and shrugged. Absorbing his own light, he lashed himself up, stronger and faster than the rest. "Great!" Stephen said to himself. "Now..."
He flew really high into the air, the Cloak leading him up above the mountains as he was following Kaladin's flight. As he was there in the air, wind slapping him, he looked down when he passed the mountain. It was as tall as the highest peak itself, a building similar in structure and resembling the tower of Pisa, but much larger, with hundreds and hundreds of levels, each wider as they went down. Windows reflected the sunlight back at him - so numerous and large were they. Not a single structure he had seen before could be compared to this, not even those of technologically advanced civilizations he visited during the war with Thanos. This...this was something different.
On a large balcony below him, blue dots waved at him and he went down to meet them. Leo needed a bit of time to gather his thoughts and his stomach, while Raph barely let go of the man. "Are we down yet? Please, please Donnie, tell me we're down yet!"
"We are down there, Raph."
He opened his eyes, holding the soldier tightly, still hanging away from the ground. The man, though trying to be silent, grunted in slight pain and frustration because of Raph's weight. "Um...cool." he went down. "Cool, you're cool, man."
Mikey leaned in, barely keeping his chuckle. "Not as cool as always seeing you lose your shell."
Raph snarled and wanted to throw himself at Mikey, but Donnie held him back. "Alright, children, that's enough!"
Dozens and dozens of other soldiers joined them, all clad in the same blue uniforms like Kaladin and his men. Stephen wanted to ask them something, but instead pointed to another man in the middle of the balcony. A tall man, slightly shorter than Kaladin, yet decades older. He was dressed in the same uniform, though his was a bit more adorned with bright colors and symbols. The man had pale blue eyes and dark hair, though with some grey in the temples. His face was old and from his crooked nose, Stephen could guess this man was a warrior. He must have had it broken a little hundred times in his life.
Kaladin said something to this man, who nodded and approached Stephen. His appearance gave off an aura of stability and good will, which he demonstrated by nodding towards Stephen. The man absorbed the same blue light from a sphere and then offered his hand to Stephen. He would often be wary of this, but now it appeared right to take the hand.
When he did so, the energy raced up his body as well. At first he felt both warmth and cold, and then he realized he was more aware of the man than he was moments ago. It looked like he could feel every heartbeat and breath he was letting out. And some strange words formed in his mind, which, at first he did not understand, but as he held the shake longer, it crystalized.
The man opened his mouth to speak, but some very odd words came out, ones that appeared to sound English, but not having any meaning. Stephen blinked - the man was trying to communicate with him. Maybe if I...
He decided to do so. Preparing the thing, as orange rings danced on his arm to his hand, he cast the Spell of Communication. The man showed he felt a sudden energy enter him, but did not fear. A good sign. Then, the weaves of both their magics joined as if clicking together, and words had meaning in Stephen's mind. "It...it worked."
"Great." the man answered, and Stephen completely understood him.
Keeping a bit of his weaves, Stephen turned towards the Turtles and shared the circle with them. First words Raph muttered were likely curses of sorts, but they all understood their meaning, more or less. "Yes. It worked."
"I am glad. That means we can talk more." the man pointed at himself. "I am Dalinar Kholin. Welcome to Urithiru."
You have no idea how excited I am about writing this:)
This crossover will be different than those that came before - it will be longer and its chapters will be published separately rather than at the same time.
For you who have never read any of Brandon Sanderson's works, don't worry! I have given my best to make this crossover likable to both fans and newbies. I do hope I will inspire you to read these beautiful books though.
As for the fans like myself, I'll answer the question now: this takes place in the one year gap between Oathbringer and Rhythm of War - I believed to be the best date for writing.
See you soon: welcome to Roshar! (Original cover art by Zack Stella)
P. S. For Stormlight fans: I want to add that Rlain being able to Surgebind and being bonded to a spren before Rhythm of War was not a mistake on my part - it was a conscious decision I made for the sake of the story, so it is a slight retcon of the original.