Well life certainly got in the way there. Sorry about delaying this chapter, but here it is for you all now! This is a lot more depressing than my normal oneshots, so just be prepared for that. This is the 'origin' story for Ravarth, so if you'd like to know the reason this grump is mad all the time then this is the chapter for you!
Requiem of the Wolf
Ravarth couldn't keep the glare off of his face as he stomped down one of the many hallway in Stormwind castle, quite obviously uninterested in what was happening around him.
Around halfway down the hall he ended up passing Ruby, who gave the Worgen a small smile and a wave, only to then shrink away when she noticed the look of barely restrained aggression written on his face.
Only a few moments later the wolf noticed Blake trying to sneak past him without being seen, sneaking behind plant pots and ornaments. Despite her attempts to be sneaky however Ravarth found it almost irritatingly annoying just how much she was giving herself away.
Even Yang seemed nervous when they passed each other, the blonde taking extra precaution to make sure that she was clear on the other side of the hallways when the two crossed paths.
Eventually, with trepidation written clear on their faces, a small host of three guards walked up to the Worgen, stopping just short from smacking face first into the lupine warrior's breastplate.
It was a good chunk of his new squad. After a majority of his old one had been wiped out during the invasion of Remnant, aside of course from Weiss and Rvarth himself, High Command saw fit to stick a new bunch of recruits under the Worgen's command.
Recruits who, evidentially, did not yet know of his famous temper.
"Ravarth, sir!" The leading guard saluted as he held out a small stack of papers towards the Worgen, who only eyed them warily. "We've just finished the design on the new training regiment and we just need-..."
"If you're finished then why're you coming to me about it, soldier?..." Ravarth growled as he bore his teeth to the young man, causing the young man to quickly rethink his approach to the situation, along with his quickly fleeing confidence.
"W-well sir, since you're the squad leader we need to get your final say on the plan before we go ahead with it so if you could just-..."
"I don't need to look at it. As long as it doesn't kill any of you louts than I couldn't care less right about now..." Ravarth interrupted before standing at his full height, his eyes trained on the now nervous faces of all three recruits. "Now move. That's an order..."
"Y-yessir..."
The recruits quickly moved to the side, letting Ravarth pass.
Once he was out of sight from the small group the Worgen sighed before quickly turning out of the hallway, into a smaller corridor, at the end of which lay a small doorway.
The Worgen stared at the old doorway with a hint of trepidation, pausing for a moment to stare at the doorknob before reaching out and pulling the door open, revealing a small dusty bedroom.
Ravarth glanced around the small lodging with a hint of disgust. The place hadn't been cleaned in months. Perhaps even a year or two.
It was supposed to be his residence. Where he would live when not out on campaign or actively training soldiers in different sections of the kingdom. Not the small townhouse that he ended up staying in while in the city.
He couldn't stay here though.
Not while 'it' was here.
Silently, the Worgen strolled over to edge of the room where, by a wall, a small chest lay. With shaking fingers Ravarth undid the latch before slowly prying the lid of the container open, covering his nose with his free hand when a small cloud of dust assaulted him from inside of the box.
After a moment he reached inside and pulled out a small object covered in a thick dark blue cloth.
Saying nothing, the Worgen slowly unwrapped the cloth away from the object revealing it to the world.
The small stuffed wolf that haunted his very being.
The last requiem of his past.
"Thomas! Thomas! Look what mum got me at the market today!" A small girl with a gilnean accent cried out as she hobbled hurriedly into her family's living room, where a boy with reddish blonde hair peered up from a small book.
He watched with a worried glint in his eyes as the girl, who was keeping herself upright on little more than frail limbs and a walking stick, attempted to make her way over to him.
"Hm? What is it Milly?" The boy, Thomas, smiled watching as the frail little girl shuffled her way over to him, holding up a small cardboard box, no larger than a hearthstone, holding it out in front of her towards the older boy.
"Tarot cards! A nice woman who lives in the forest sold them to her for only a few silver!" She exclaimed, holding up the box of cards proudly, as if she was holding aloft a long forgotten treasure, previously lost to time.
"A few silver? That's not exactly cheap for tarot cards." Thomas chided in a good natured tone, giving the girl a knowing look.
"Oh yes it is! Because guess what?" Milly said before limping over to Thomas' side, whispering in his hear, "Mum says they're enchanted!..."
"Ahh, alright." Thomas relented before glancing at the girl's arms, empty save for the deck of cards in her hands. Where was?-... "I thought she was out to get your stuffed friend repaired though."
"She was!"
Thomas stared blankly at Milly for a moment before laughing. She was nothing if not honest. "That's fair enough then."
Milly laughed along as Thomas placed his hand on the girls head, rubbing the thin strands of white hair that covered her scalp, letting the thin strands run between his fingers before fluttering back down past the girls shoulders.
When Milly had first come into the world, she had done so with what the villagers believed to be a curse upon her.
She had exited the womb severely underweight, with not a peep to be heard from her weakened lungs, with hair as white as bone that grew in place of the reddish blonde hair that the rest of her family shared.
If it had not been for the help of the nearby church, Milly would have most certainly died at birth. But in the end she had been saved, the priests refusing to let her die just because she was born weak, though cursed with a frail body for what would no doubt be her entire life.
Thomas just had to wonder... Which path was truly the cruel one? In the end which fate was honestly worse? Dying before you even knew what it was to live, or go through life knowing you could never be anything more than a burden.
"Say, why don't we give those tarot cards a shot?" Thomas suddenly spoke u, realizing that he had been silent for s good while, with Milly staring at him quizzically. "Tell me my future."
"Okay!" Milly exclaimed happily before adopting serious face which barely hid the excitement that swam under it. "Sit, stranger, and I shall tell you the tale of your future..."
Thomas only chuckled and sat back down on the couch, watching as Milly systematically laid out a small collection of cards in front of them both in a facedown position.
However, just as she was about to place the rest of the stack on the table she was suddenly overtaken by a small coughing fit, forcing her to drop the cards in a small pile on the ground.
Thomas was on the floor a moment later, hastily gathering up the cards while Milly recovered from her coughing fit. It was quite a common occurrence, seeing as how Milly's lungs were still extremely weak, even after being alive for a decade.
Thanks to that however, neither noticed as a faint white glow encompassed the surface of the cards for only a moment, fading just as fast as it had appeared.
Once the cards had been gathered back up and Milly had recovered from her coughing fit, both brother and sister reassumed their positions on either side of the table, with Milly standing proudly over the three facedown cards that lay before her.
"First up!" She said before reaching down, flipping a card over as she and Thomas both glanced down to get a better look at what would be revealed.
The illustrated image of a dark haired wolf standing on its hind legs with bright yellow eyes stared back at them, the pupils of the humanoid wolf boring into their souls as they gazed at the drawing. What was most haunting however was the layer of what was obviously meant to be blood that coated the wolf's fur.
"Huh... I'm not sure what a wolf that's covered in blood means..." Milly mittered as she stared down at the card. "Maybe it means you'll be really fierce and awesome when you get older! Like all the royal guards!"
"Perhaps I will. I doubt it though. I just want to be a merchant when I come of age." Thomas admitted bashfully, rubbing the back of his head nervously. "I've never really liked the idea of fighting all that much."
Milly giggled before reaching for the next card. "Next up!"
She flipped it face up to reveal the symbol of a great golden lion with a blue background covering the rest of the card face.
"...A lion?"
"Huh... I've never heard of a golden lion before."
"You know... I used to hear all the grown ups who take care of me talking about another kingdom when they thought I wasn't listening." Milly suggested, thinking back to how hushed the nurses always seemed when discussing it. "They had a big golden lion!"
"Really?" Thomas asked, staring at the symbol with interest. "I wonder why it shows up in my future?..."
"That's so cool! Maybe you'll get to see that faraway kingdom someday!"
Thomas couldn't help but to smile like a goof at the thought of leaving the walls of the Gilnean kingdom one day. "I sure hope so."
"Alright! Last one!" Milly reached over and flipped over the final card. "It's a-... Huh?..."
"It's... A mirror?..." Thomas asked, staring as the glasslike surface of the face of the card in confusion.
Milly picked up the card and stared into it, a perplexed eyebrow raised. Her reflection gazed back at her, without even the bendable nature of the card causing the image to distort. "Weird... How does a card have a mirror inside of it?..."
Thomas shrugged before taking the card from Milly's hand.
"Well you did say mother bought them on the streets.. Perhaps they just-..." Thomas cut himself off as he glanced into the mirror.
Staring back at him, to the horror of the boy, was the image of a humanoid wolf, fangs bared as it stared at him with piercing yellow eyes.
Thomas immediately yelled out in surprise, tossing the card onto the table as he shot from his chair, his breathing ragged as his mind attempted to process what it had just witnessed.
"Thomas?!" Milly yelled concerned for her brothers sudden reaction to the card. "What's wrong?!"
Thomas did not answer, merely reaching for the card once more, apprehensive to see those eyes staring back at him again. However when he did finally find the courage to gaze into the mirror once more, he saw only his own reflection, sweat drenching his forehead.
"...Thomas?..." Milly asked cautiously, reaching out towards her brother carefully. "Did you see something?..."
"Don't worry about it Milly... I-... I just hope that at least some of what you've predicted is true. I'd definitely love to see the world." Thomas deflected, placing the card back onto the table. "But I guess we'll just have to see if those cards really do have powers..."
Which they didn't.
They couldn't...
After all, he had just imagined those piercing yellow eyes... Right?...
"Children! Supper!" A middle aged woman with greying hair called out towards the hallway as she finished setting up a small meal on a quaint dining table that had been lovingly crafted out of wood.
"Coming mother!"
A few moments later both children appeared at the doorway, Thomas helping Milly through the kitchen, lifting her onto her chair before pushing her in. She chirped a quick 'thank you' in response before lifting up her knife and fork, ready to devour the first piece of food placed in front of her.
When he was sure she was situated, Thomas took his own seat and watched as his mother handed Milly a small object wrapped carefully in a dark blue cloth. "Here you go dear, I suspected you would want to have your friend before we started supper tonight."
"Yay!" Milly squealed, dropping her knife and fork in favor of frantically unwrapping the cloth, pulling out a stuffed wolf toy, hugging it lovingly the moment the cloth fell away from its form. "Ravarth!"
Thomas smiled as he watched Milly hug her beloved stuffed animal. That toy was a major source of her strength. More than any priest's spell or well wisher's words.
She may have been cursed with a weak exterior, but she was born with a wolf's heart. Of that at least, Thomas was sure.
"Now that he's all better, no one will ever be able to take him down!" Milly cheered loudly as she hugged the toy one last time before a large plate food was gently placed before her by her mother, causing the young girl to visibly drool almost immediately.
"I'm sure they won't dear. Now let's get him off the table." Their mother said as Milly nodded and placed the stuffed wolf onto her lap with a smile, digging into her food.
Burning.
That was the only sensation that Thomas could feel burning through his muscles as he and his family ran through one of the many winding alleyways of the Gilnean capital, desperately attempting to make their way to the edge of town so that they could escape into the open countryside, where they could take shelter.
Seemingly overnight, as if a switch had been flipped, a strange curse had suddenly begun to ravage the populace.
It started with the death of a civilian here or there. Certainly alarming, but nothing worth worrying over for the average man or woman living in Gilneas.
But then it happened. Only hours later bodies seemed to be turning up everywhere, their flesh torn from their bones, their skulls crushed by what could only be described as jaws of a great beast.
And that 'great beast', Thomas suspected, he had met.
After being given the order to evacuate Thomas had volunteered to travel down into the nearby food storage rooms to grab some rations that could sustain he and his family for the next few days.
Unfortunately while he was down there scrambling for supplies he had been unlucky enough to come across a creature. A creature that Thomas could only describe as a horrific beast. And that beast had done quite a number to his upper arm with its teeth.
Thankfully before any real damage could be done, past the bite he had received, Thomas had been able to grab the ration bag he was after and scarper out of the room, the creature hot on his heels, only stopped by the metal reinforced door that Thomas had slammed in its way.
However, just as Thomas and the other two members of his family were finally able to see the alleyway that would lead into a clearing that would grant access to the countryside, they attacked.
The first few seconds of seconds of the confrontation seemed to pass as quick as lightning.
Thomas had not even noticed the men following them until he felt the butt of a game hunting rifle slamming into the back of his head, sending him sprawling onto the ground with an indignant grunt.
Their mother was quick to response, attempting to grab one of the bandits guns as she screamed at both Milly and Thomas to run.
Unfortunately another bandit was quick to react to the sudden fight being put up by the woman, slamming the butt of his own rifle against the back of her head, splitting the back of her head open.
Her limp form flopped uselessly on the ground a moment later, her empty eyes facing her children, who could both only watch in speechless horror as one of the bandits pressed the barrel of his rifle against the mothers head.
He pulled the trigger.
Milly immediately let out a toe curling scream whole Thomas scrambled to his feet, lifting her up into his arms before making a break for the clearing, only to end up on the ground once more a few moments later when another bandit caught him and tackled him to the ground.
The force of the impact caused Thomas drops Milly, who also accidentally lost her grip on her wolf, the stuffed animal tumbling to the ground beside her crumpled form which twitched violently.
As the man who tackled Thomas leapt back to his feet another one of the bandits strolled over and slammed his foot against Thomas' shoulder blades, pinning him to the ground.
Once he was sure that the other man had Thomas pinned, the final marauder, seemingly the leader of the gang, pulled out a large knife from his waistband before kneeling down next to Milly, yanking her head back at an unnatural angle
Milly could only stare at Thomas with horror in her gaze as the edge of the knife ran along her throat, opening it to the world.
Thomas screamed loudly in protest, pushing the bandit that had been standing on him off him scrambling over to Milly while the thieves turned their attention to both the bags the family had been carrying, along with whatever they could find on the corpse of their mother.
Thomas paid them no mind however, instead bringing Milly into his arms as he pressed his hand against her neck, desperately attempting to stop the bleeding.
But after a few moments, when Thomas' hand had been stained completely red, all he could do was look up at Milly's face as she gave him one last weak smile before she faded away, the last shreds of her life ebbing away from the wound in her neck.
Thomas gazed down at the ground with tears clouding his vision as his breathing began to grow ragged. Every muscle in his body burned, crying out to be used. His mouth felt dry, and his eyes scratchy.
And then, as if fate felt as if he deserved one final cruel joke, through his tears he saw it. The stuffed wolf, Ravarth, with Milly's blood steadily dripping onto the toy from her neck, coating its fur blood red.
It was silent then. Not even the usual somber crowing of the ravens could be heard.
Realizing that their last victim had gone silent, one of the bandits turned his attention away from the loot they had been gathering, strolling over to Thomas with his rifle in hand, ready to finish off their last witness.
However at that moment, once the bandit had drawn close, Thomas turned his gaze up, causing the bandits recoil in surprise.
Thomas' eyes were glowing a sickly yellow.
"Wh-what the hell?! What-..." The bandit closest to Thomas was cut off as he was suddenly grabbed by his head, flailing helplessly as Thomas pulled himself up and sunk his teeth deep into the thief's neck, ripping away the flesh with his teeth.
The other bandits quickly drew their weapons as the horrified scream of their companion filled the air, along with the sound of tearing flesh as Thomas bit down once more, tearing the man's throat away from the rest of his neck.
"This kid's insane!"
"Put him down! The bastard got Reginald!"
However before any of them could think to fire every bone in their bodies seemed to freeze when a low growl passed into their ears, emanating from the blood covered young man that stood before them.
Thomas suddenly hunched over violently as the bandits watched in terrified fascination, listening as the bones in the boy's body began cracking and snapping, as if rearranging themselves inside of his body.
Eventually, as the bandits continued to stare as if in a trance, a dark aura surrounded Thomas, winds rushing past as they were blinded by a torrent of dust that surrounded the young man in a blinding sheet of dirt and fog.
And then it began.
The blood.
The desperate pleas for mercy.
The cracking of bones.
The tearing of flesh.
The echoing howl in the night.
The vengeance of a forlorn soul...
Thomas stood before a recruiter, his monotone colored Gilnean armor loudly shifting as the Worgen stood at attention, watching carefully as the dwarf in golden armor silently wrote down various pieces information on a large ledger in front of him.
As the recruiter continued to jot down what seemed like a novel, Thomas took a moment to idly glance up at the grand statue that stood proudly before him.
The golden statue of a lion.
He had made his way here to Stormwind after Gilneas had fallen.
He had been lucky enough to be found along with the other Gilneans by the Night Elves, who had helped in restoring his sanity along with a potion that Krennan Aranas had concocted.
Unfortunately, while his sanity had been restored, his memory was not so lucky. While he was able to remember the bite that had caused transformation along with the vague remembrance of fleeing the city, he could not for the life of him remember the exact details of what happened that night.
Eventually though he had been told by another Worgen that he had most likely ended up murdering his family. Quite a bit of the population had died in such a way. Killed by those that they had loved.
It had been difficult to accept, almost impossible even, though the evidence pointed to no other conclusion. As far as he, and anyone else, would ever be able to guess, he had been the one who had slaughtered his family.
He had been the one to take Milly's life.
All that was left was the blood covered wolf that she had loved so dearly.
"And your name?" The recruiters words snapped Thomas out of his self induced trance. He glanced down at his paws for a moment, his long clawed fingers clenched into fists.
After a moment of silence he glanced up at the recruiter.
"Ravarth, sir..."
"Ravarth, eh? Alright then." The recruiter nodded, jotting down the name into the ledger laying before him. "Last name?"
"...No." Ravarth muttered in reply.
"Eh?" The recruiter asked as he chuckled softly. "I must've misheard you, I thought you said you-..."
"Don't have a last name..." Ravarth clarified, his face betraying no emotion. "...She never gave me one..."
Those words alone caused the recruiter to halt his quill and look up at the Worgen, only to let that quill dip down as he realized just what sort of recruit he was gazing upon.
He recognized the look in the Worgen's eye instantly. He'd seen it so many times before. It was a look that he knew all too well, and seen in too many faces.
It was the look of loss.
"Aye... Very well... Ravarth it is..." The recruiter whispered before standing and holding out his hand, which Ravarth took, giving it a solid shake.
"Welcome to the Alliance..."
Ravarth sighed as he turned the stuffed toy upside down and pulls out a small card lodged in an open section that had been haphazardly sewn into the stomach of the plushie.
It was the mirror tarot card that he had gazed into all those years ago. He had been carrying it when the city had been evacuated. He had always been so curious as to what he had seen that night when he first gazed into the card.
And now that he knew, there were days that he would wish for nothing more than to go back to his life of ignorant bliss.
But it was impossible now. Those days were gone.
"I'm sorry Milly... But Thomas died on that hill with you..."
He gazed into the card, seeing not a surprising sight that caused him to jump back. No. Now all he saw was his own reflection.
The reflection of a wolf. A monster.
"I'm so glad," Ravarth whispered, "You can't see what I've become..."