HEY! Back again!
This chapter is quite long and describes our wonderful main character before, well, all the crap hits the fan. Not sure if I should add Shadowlands into this with all the 'afterlife' stuff up there - let me know. Could add a twist to it.
The Earth date 3815 is completely fictional. I needed a way to tell the 'dimension' type to separate Azeroth from our Earth. All I did was open up the solar system.
Earth is the 3rd ball from the sun out of 8 planets and is roughly 13000km in diameter. I simply rounded it off to 15. Genius, huh?
Let me know what you think. Would love to hear your feedback!
Earth 3815 - 9th November 2020
It was a normal day in her hometown on Earth. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Just the plain, old, and boring it always seemed to be. Dull. Yet nothing could be done. She almost wished for something to happen to make life more 'exciting'.
"Can't this day just end?" she complained with a tired huff. She let her head fall to the office desk she sat at, her forehead connecting with a plonk. She could almost hear her office friends' eyes roll.
"Laena, you've just had lunch break. Don't let the boss see you or he'll do this whole block in." scolded Jason without taking his eyes off the screen. He was only a little older than her, black hair, glasses, piercing eyes that were always serious. He sat on her left in the four desk square they were in.
Laena groaned in frustration, mumbling regrets. She shouldn't have come into work feeling like she was. And she shouldn't have dropped out of college four years ago because of some stupid ex that didn't treat her right. Again she could almost hear their eye rolls.
"Laena, get back to work. I am not going to slave another week of UNPAID After-Hours because you can't pull yourself together. It's flu, not the Plague. I have more important places to be and a son to raise." scolded Giena, the blonde bombshell slash single mother at 26. She sat on Jason's left. She was the company's best writer. She got the big-money gigs and employee-of-the-month often while poor Laena got the repetitive-slash-boring content writing.
"Giena is right. We just finished our After-Hours doing your content after you missed an entire 3 days of work because Sylvanas killed Saurfang. I have night class, Laena, and I can't afford to miss it anymore. Please, get back to work." pleaded Sam, the shy nerd of the group. He sat on her right and was the gentlest soul of them all. He was just like her - a World of Warcraft geek but he was pro-Alliance. Yuck. He fancied the Draenei.
She grumbled more trying not to remember the game's recent cinematic. Her chest clenched, upset, for her second favorite character and burned with hatred for the Banshee witch. Sam wouldn't understand for he wasn't for the Horde. He had no love for the 'ugly' races and the strength in their beliefs. But she secretly knew he had the hots for the Banshee that didn't sit well for her.
But hey she understood. Sylvanus was….DAMN….but that did not make her legendary. It was her patience and skill, the smarts behind it all was extremely admirable. She was the best, most patient, and intelligent villain in all of history. And that was all Laena deeply respected. But if Laena was given the opportunity she would love to duel the Witch and off her herself. Even drawing the witch's blood would be enough. Everyone knew Sylvanas was untouchable.
However, Blizzard would never off the Banshee anytime soon. World of Warcraft revolves around Sylvanas now and without her, the game will no longer be World of Warcraft. No villain will ever be able to top her. Ever. She literally makes Arthas look like a Kindergarten bully. And she hated the fact the Witch had such control. God, she hated that Banshee! Though Sam loved it, immensely.
She mumbled a few choice words to insult them both under her breath before straightening in her chair with a sigh.
"I heard that," Sam replied and the tension between them sparked.
"Prove it, you Banshee-loving pervert." she retaliated, putting her reading glasses back on and popping a headache pill. Sam peered out from the divider that separated each desk in the square, his cheeks flushed, embarrassed.
"I'm not a pervert!" he replied angrily in a low voice and she looked at him with a raised brow. That's what he chose to defend?
"Says the one who plays the most perverted and self-righteous race in Warcraft. And whose main is a female of said race wearing the most scant armor known to the game? Not to mention said gamer fantasizes about a certain Banshee who SOMEONE should've offed already!"
Sam blushed deeper in angry embarrassment, looking away from her. Then he fixed his glasses with a determined air.
"9:50, Northrend Storm Peaks." Sam declared, determined to prove himself once again. Laena smirked, eager to accept the challenge once again. It was an annual thing between her and Sam, a playful rivalry. Though he had yet to beat her in single combat for a while.
"Mak'gora it is, brotha. Airess will beat ya like a drum, whelp." She smirked, using her Blood Elf Death Knight as her champion choice. Sam went scarlet with determination. He stretched out a hand stiffly and she took his arm firmly. They shook on the declaration of war. James and Giena rolled their eyes and hoped to the heavens the boss hadn't been watching.
"When you two are done with this nonsense please get back to work. Laena I NEED that piece on that fruit company today so shut up and get going." Giena glared over the top of the divide pointing a long pink nail at her.
"If I don't have it by the end of today I will personally tell the boss exactly why you missed work and Jason WILL hack that stupid time-waster you play and delete everything."
Laena gave Giena a deathly glare that looked ever so similar to a certain Banshee.
"You wouldn't dare."
Giena wasn't phased and matched her glare.
"Watch me."
The two stared each other down for a moment before Laena lifted her chin defiantly.
"As you command, your Royal Banshee'ness" for now. Giena huffed before settling back in her chair.
By the time the day came to an end, which felt like years for Laena, she was so ready to go home. Her flu had not subsided at all and seemed to have gotten worse. That was very normal for her. Though she hardly got the flu now that she was older she always had it bad when she did. As a child, she'd been the kid that was forced to homeschool because of the flu she kept catching.
She sighed as she sent her work over email that Giena wanted. She then packed up her things. She'll have to call Master Yen because she was not feeling up to ninja tonight. She felt awful.
"Did you finish that work I asked for, Laena?" Giena asked over the top of the divide, an expectant glare in her youthful features.
Laena nodded, sniffing. And just to prove it a ping went off on Giena's computer showing the email went through.
Giena returned to her computer and pulled it up, scanning it briefly. She then gave Laena a nod over the divide.
"Thank you. I will pass it through to Fruity CO for approval." Giena professionally told her and Laena nodded with a light, exhausted smile.
"I'll be off then. Don't work too late guys." Laena pulled her backpack over her shoulder. They all smiled at her, even Sam. Jason fixed his glasses.
"Take care of yourself, Laena, and get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day. I heard the boss is going to review us all himself." Jason spoke from his chair, his eyes not leaving the screen.
Laena groaned. She sniffed with a light cough. She then waved at her work friends as she left the square. Giena shouted after her to be careful on the roads, there was a nasty storm brewing outside.
Laena blinked. Odd. The forecast said it would be sunny. But she struggled and left her company's floor. She took the elevator down seven floors to the lobby.
However, when the elevator doors opened she was met with a sight that made her blink. There, out past the Lobby windows was a sky overcast with dark, ominous clouds. Wind blew trees like seaweed in the ocean and the chill of winter could be felt even where she stood. Her stomach turned in unease. It almost looked like a hurricane but she knew they never had those here. This was England.
Laena pulled her coat tighter as she shivered and braved the gales outside. She quickly made it to her car at the far side of the lot trying her best to not be blown over or lose her things in the wind. But the strangest thing….the wind wasn't as cold as she'd imagined it would be for winter. It was….warm...and the stench of sulfur was a bit strong. She shook it off as she finally got her car door open, got in and the wind slammed the door shut.
For a moment she sat there catching her breath. She felt entirely windswept as well. Her short brown hair no longer reached her collarbone but stuck up in places, knotted and strangely static. It looked as if she'd stuck her finger in an outlet. And soothing it down didn't help either. She sighed.
"Alright, let's get home before this hits us on the road," she told herself and started the car. In moments she was out the lot and onto the road. To her dismay, she'd hit traffic, and to worsen it the heavens opened up. The rain came down in buckets, roaring outside the car almost in a way that reminded her of Deathwing. She shivered.
Not that such a thing could happen. But just to be sure she peered over her steering wheel up to the sky looking for the massive Aspect dragon. Instead of the beast, lightning flashed in blues, whites, purples, and…..orange? Each strike was louder than the last.
Laena sat back, shaking her head. This was reality, not Azeroth. Earth won't be able to handle the destruction of Deathwing in the slightest. It may as well be the end of it. She shook her head again and focused back onto the moving traffic.
Eventually, after an hour in snail-pace traffic, Laena managed to get home. She lived right on the other side of the city where the land met the bay. Her home overlooked it, her flat only 9 floors up. Luckily, as she pulled into her parking lot, the storm had let up a fraction. This was good. This meant she wasn't going to be blown over.
When she left the car she tried not to worry too much about the weirdness of the storm. It felt…..strange, unnatural. Or perhaps that one of the factories in the city may be responsible for the sulfur in the air. But truly she just wanted to get up to her apartment and rest. Make some coffee and snuggle up behind her beloved World of Warcraft.
So that's what she did. Once inside the building, all the while sneezing a good few times, she took the elevator to the 9th floor. In the hallway, she greeted a couple she'd known for the past few years, Jacob and Mila. She'd babysat their daughter a number of times, the little girl so perfectly adorable. They asked her how she was feeling and she shook her head, not well. But they didn't have to worry, she had an entire pharmacy in her bathroom. They laughed and went on their way with good wishes to her.
Laena waved before turning to find her door right at the end of the corridor. Apartment 296. She pulled out her keys and unlocked her door. Closing it behind her she dumped her bag in the kitchen and turned on the light.
Ah, so good to be home. She thought with a light relieved smile. She took a deep breath of fresh, homely air before putting on the kettle. Thunder flashed behind the blinds of her apartment but she paid it no attention. She was not afraid of storms or bad weather. In fact, she loved them. It was so a part of mother nature's power.
Making her coffee she went straight to her computer and turned it on. She placed her mug beside the mouse and fished her phone from her jacket pocket. While she dialed the number she shrugged off the thick coat and hung it on the door.
RING RING
'Kon'nichiwa, Yenshou supīkingu.'
"Kon'nichiwa Shujin Yen, it's Laena Brown," she responded and the man on the other end greeted her fondly. She smiled as she walked about in her apartment getting ready for a shower. She sneezed a few times before answering.
"I'm doing alright, better than yesterday. But I don't think I will be making the class tonight, I don't feel it will help me fight this cold." she sniffed already feeling a headache coming on. Master Yen chuckled and wished her a good rest. She could come in whenever she is better. He also didn't want the others and himself catching it either.
"Okay, I will. Arigatō, Shujin."
Laena ended the call and tossed her phone on the bed. She sighed. That was the third class she had to miss because of this flu. She was going to be so behind if she ever managed to curb this. She had a big tournament coming up in February and at this rate, she won't be ready. With another sigh and an added sneeze climbed into the shower.
When she was done, she dressed in her nightclothes and pulled the duvet from her bed. She then made her way to her computer and sat down, draping the thick blanket around her. Without a moment's wait, she logged on to her beloved World of Warcraft. She sipped on coffee as she waited for the character selection.
"..Hmmmmm, which character should I be before Mak'gora?" she muttered to herself with a sniff and scrolled through 20 odd horde characters. She paused on Airess for a moment before moving down to her troll druid. Perhaps a little questing.
For the next hour, she quested in all manner of places with her druid. And while she was at it she ordered take out. Sure, she usually had leftovers but tonight she thought she'd treat herself with some pizza.
The storm outside was now full-blown with rain pounding on the windows, wind tossing trees like seaweed below the ocean, and thunder clapping every so often. She wasn't worried at all about her computer, she had anti-surge boxes installed into the outlets.
She quested some more before deciding, out of the blue, to pay her favorite character a visit. She logged out intending to go as Airess but accidentally clicked 'new character'. On the screen appeared a Shaman female troll with pink hair. And thought why not. She went in and changed the hair to green and the eyes too then entered the game.
In truth, she wasn't much of a shaman fan. She was more into the druids, hunters, mages, and the possible rogue. It made the gameplay fun for her and the classes appealed to her most. Sure she had other classes like an Orc Warlock female and a Tauren Priest. But she enjoyed the 'magic' classes better.
When the prologue scene had finished she downed the last of her coffee and began. She ignored all the trainers, except Zuni, and went straight to Vol'jin's hut. And that's where she stayed for a while sitting in the corner watching him. Several other players came and went and each time she watched the Darkspear chieftain speak with Thrall. No matter how many times she'd listened and watched, it never ever got old.
Laena smiled to herself as the eighth round of Vol'jin and Thrall came about. She ignored the groan of the winds and thunder outside, focusing solely on his voice. It was so appealing and the most handsome sound out of all the game's actors. So calming, soothing, that she could fall asleep to it.
She considered Vol'jin one of the best characters in the game no matter how many others find him useless, a waste. He had both honor and courage, strength and compassion, and was wise beyond others. He deserved more than what he'd gotten in Legion. She knew he deserved much more. If only she could give him that. She'd abandon her own magicless world to live the rest of her years in Azeroth for better or worse.
She sighed before making her character wave goodbye to the chieftain. She then moved on to the trainers and took out some tikkies. She passed her pit test with flying colours. Zuni was there too and she was quite fond of the troll. If she ever somehow found a way into the game by some god-given miracle, she would chain the troll to Vol'jin's hut to prevent him from joining the Chieftain in the fight. As crazy as that thought was, she shook it from her thoughts.
For the next 20 minutes, she aimlessly trolled around with her shaman exploring Durotar's shoreline towards Orgrimmar. She even swam a stretch as far as she could go out to sea wondering if there was anything interesting out there. You never know you just might find a chest with cool things in it that Blizzard hid for the real explorers of the game. But, disappointingly, she found absolutely nothing. She returned her character up to the surface, wishing Azeroth's shorelines to be more exciting.
Suddenly, without warning, a bright orange flash of lightning filled the room, and seconds after a mighty BANG! Laena shrieked with fright and shock, completely and utterly taken by surprise. She nearly leaped right off her chair and almost tossed her mouse out the window! The lights cut, dumping the apartment into darkness and the computer screen jumped with static.
"HOLY sugar spice!" she exhaled with a hand over her heart. That may as well have scared her ancestors in the Stone Age. She took a moment to calm her spluttering heart and breath. All over, she was tingling from the adrenaline rush and her fingers felt like she'd stuck them in outlets. Pins and needles.
Finally, when she was able to calm down and breathe she got up on shaky knees to the light switch by the door. Goodness, she hadn't had a fright like that in so long. She sneezed before switching on the lights. They flickered a second before settling.
Laena then looked at the clock and suddenly realized she'd been waiting over an hour for her pizza. It was already 8 pm. Her Mak'gora with Sam was in an hour. She paused and went to fetch her phone on the bed. Turning it on she saw 2 missed calls from the takeaway. She lightly swore hoping that her dinner wasn't compromised and redialed the number.
"Hi, this is Laena Brown. I'm calling in to check on an order I made at 6:04 to be delivered. I have 2 missed calls from your staff." she spoke when the caller picked up. She listened as they confirmed her order but unfortunately all deliveries had been halted as a result of the weather.
Laena inwardly swore, sighing. She would have to go and collect. For the love of…. She thanked the takeaway caller and ended the call. What a day. She sighed again as she popped a flu fizzy in a glass of water and redressed into her jeans and top. When she was done she downed the water in one go. She hoped this would ease the flu. She sniffed, not keen at all for this.
On the way out she grabbed her bag from the kitchen and her coat from the door. She paused in the doorway glancing at her computer, her shaman character still staying afloat in the water.
It was probably fine to stay online. There weren't any enemies in the water and she'd be back in no time. She switched off the light and left the apartment.
Down in the car lot, she struggled to get to the car. The weather was horrendous and she wasn't sure if she should drive. But she managed to get into the car, start it and pull into the road.
The trip was nerve-wracking, the wind pushing the car and the roads barely visible in the downpour. And worse, the traffic lights were out.
It took her ages to get to the takeaway and she managed to park in the lot safely as close as she could. She then ran to the front door like a madwoman, burst through, and used her body to push against the wind to close it again. When it finally closed, she was drenched and so was the floor.
Every pair of eyes in that takeaway was on her. She smiled, embarrassed, before straightening and going to the front desk.
"Ah...order for Laena Brown?" she asked the staff lady behind the counter. The lady nodded with a professional air and handed her a wooden box. Laena thanked her and made her way back to the door.
She braced herself, pizza in hand, then braved the storm. She made it to the car in one piece, closing the door once inside. Though as soon as she was in she sneezed hard, her elbow accidentally hitting the hooter.
"Agh….goodness…." She breathed, winded. This was not good for her, this weather. And going out like this in this storm? She wouldn't be surprised if she landed up in ICU on her back.
Well, there was no helping it now. Thunder cracked outside the car, the rain pounding even harder onto the earth. If she drives now it'll not be safe. Maybe if she sat a while and ate, the storm would subside?
And that's what she did. She opened her pizza and pulled out a hot slice, starving. She bit into it, groaning at the wondrous flavor. Oh, how she'd missed this. She took another bite, then another and another until she'd eaten half the pizza.
"Bless the soul that invented pizza." She sighed leaning her head back onto the headrest. Now she was pleasantly full. Maybe now she will feel a bit better and all she needed to do was get home and snuggle up.
With that in mind, she put her pizza on the passenger's seat and started the car. The rain hadn't let up at all but she'll have to brave it and drive carefully. She couldn't stay out here all night. She had a Mak'gora to get to and she'd never once been late. She pulled out of the takeaway lot and into the road.
So far it was going well. Until she took a wrong turn. It was so hard to see in the downpour even with the windscreen wipers on full.
Nonetheless, she followed the road which took her along the bayfront. She was quite high up from the water. Glad about this because she wasn't the best swimmer. But just thunderstruck, her car rounding the bend something fell onto the car, clanking. She frowned, though not paying too much mind to it.
Then it happened again, then again and again until it almost sounded like hail. But it wasn't. Laena yelped, swerving in fright as her windshield shattered, stones rolling down from the hill on the left. The car immediately lost control as the hillside began to crumble on her left and beneath the car into a landslide.
Laena didn't have time to gasp, her stomach dropping in terror, as the muddy earth swept her car off the road and down to the bay below. Thunder boomed and flashed as the car hit the water, pushed down by the sludge. Orange lit up the murky depths from the sky, a second bolt of lightning striking the ocean water with an almost beast-like roar.
That was the last thing she saw until…..nothing.
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN BLIZZARD OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTER AND STORYLINE.
The shadowy figure is of my own creation
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