Chapter 22

I could feel the warmth of the portal room. How the sunlight coming through the stained glass window felt on my skin. The sounds of magic being used to keep the portals open buzz through the air. I opened my eyes to see I was back in the portal but it was stopped. Like a stitch in time, there was no one there. I walked around until I saw one that looked familiar. The portal led to the pandaren village and I was standing face to face with the pandaren in the tiger-like armor again. But it was a little different . . . . I could see more detail almost like I was standing right in front of him in person. Like how his fur parted against his mask. How the mask actually looked like a scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. How his hat circled his head. I could almost see the emotion of his face. How his eyebrows were slightly furrowed, his eyes seemed more intense. He seemed frustrated, he didn't look angry, just upset.

Something caught my eye, a flash of a black scaled tail with the black greyish hair on the very end. The hair looked long and well groomed. Its scales seemed well polished, the way it shined seemed like whoever owned the creature took several hours out of their day to make sure the animal was well taken care of. I placed my hand on the portal. My hand just laid there like I was touching a piece of glass but it was cold almost like ice. The room seemed to get colder and colder. To the point I could see my breath. I took a step back and heard a crunch, like a foot on fresh snow. I turned around to see the portal room was covered in a layer of snow. I cupped my hands together and brought them up to my mouth trying to use my breath to keep them warm. When I looked back at the portal the scene changed. It looked like a bedroom. The wood of the room seemed old and worn. I could see a desk and a bed that looked really comfortable. I noticed a saddle stand off to the side, I could barely see the saddle that was on the stand. The saddle seemed sturdy and heavy. The backside of the saddle looked almost like a chair. There was a lantern that hung from the side I could see. The lanterns were light blue just like the sky. It had red tassels that dangled off the bottom.. I tried to see more of the room,

"I feel like a stalker" I thought to myself as I pressed my face closer to the portal trying to get the right angel to see deeper into the room. I noticed an armor stand that looked like pandaren armor. The armor was black with the silver white strips. I sharply turned my head when I heard shuffling within the room. I had to reposition myself against the portal to see what was shuffling around.

"What in the world is going on in there?" I mumbled to myself as I saw a flash of white and black fur. I stepped back as the pandaren stepped more into the room. The pandaren was wearing a simple linen shirt and pants. He seemed to be grabbing polish for the saddle. I was kinda hoping he didn't see me. He turned towards the portal and I was able to get a better look at his face. His ears were actually a medium brown instead of black. There were brown spots around his eyes. His eyes were bright yellow just like the pandaren that I saw standing in front of the portal not long ago. But he was not wearing his armor or the scarf around his neck. I could feel myself freeze, as I held my breath when he glanced at the portal then moved past it like he didn't notice me. I sighed in relief,

"I'm surprised that he didn't do a double take" I mumbled to myself as I rubbed my face. When I looked up I saw that the face of the portal was now a light blue, like the sky. I gently touched the portal, and its surface rippled like when you throw a small rock into a still lake. I watched as the ripples faded off the end of the portal. The portal had a soft glow to it like it was

shifting through places like it was trying to find one to land on. I shivered but it was not from the cold. Like when you know something is off. The hairs on my arms and neck started to stand. I turned my head and saw a dark mist start to fill the room. It took the shape of a dark figure.,

"Are you sure you are strong enough," A deep gravelly voice whispered

"You'll never find him," The voice said as it got lighter

"Why do you even bother, you know it's never going to matter in the end," The voice started to get more and more familiar,

"What?" I questioned as the figure in the continued to whisper,

"You're just wasting everyone's time with your questions," The voice almost sounded like my own as it got closer as it was trying to morph into something. I stepped back until I bumped into the portal,

"They probably could have found him by now, but you are holding them back," The creature said as it had me backed against the portal,

"They'd be better off without you," The creature whispered as it took a humanish form. I grew more confused and scared as the mist took its human form. My mind raced trying to figure out what in the nine realms of the otherside I was seeing,

"You'll never be good enough" continued the creature as the mist smoothed over, My eyes widened as the form looked more and more like . . . me. The creature was able to mimic how my curls fell around my face and casted over my shoulders, the curve of my chin, how my freckles spotted my face, and the way my dress hung over my body. But the creature was still a deep grey color,

"They all see thru that vasad you call bravery, you are just a coward and you always will be,"

"You'll just mess them up, you always find a way to mess up," the creature continued. The words echoed off the walls, getting more and more persistent as the creature spoke,

"Why did they pick you to help find the prince expressly when they had way better options than you," The creature hissed as it spat out another insult,

"Ava . . . Ava child it's time to wake up," a low soft voice chimed almost like cutting through the harsh voices. I slowly opened my eyes to see Lore Walker Cho standing over my shoulder with Ari,

"Ahh, good morning, I was starting to think I was going to have to pour some water on your head to get you to wake up," Cho said as he walked away

"Come on, birds aren't going to feed themselves" Cho said as he walk over to a linen sake of what looked like bird seed

". . . What?" I quietly questioned as I sat up in my bedroll. Ari playfully booping my cheek with his noise as he wagged his tail. I looked at Ari and realized that he had a medium sized ribbon that was a crimson red. I looked at the way the red stain shined,

"My birds will not feed themselves, and they already seem to like you. So you'll feed them this morning," Cho said as stood next to the sake. I slowly got up from the comfort of my bedroll and pulled my hair back into a low ponytail with a ribbon that Ari had in his mouth. I stretched then walked over to where Cho was standing,

"I have many exotic birds and they seem to have a liking for you already. Your elf friend has already fed half of them and you will feed the other half," Cho said as he gestured to the large open sack. I grabbed a handful of birds seed and watched as some cranes started to come out of the small bamboo forest that Cho had,

"Don't cranes normally eat fish?" I questioned

"Yes they do eat fish but they also can eat a variety of things like berries, small rodents, insects, crabs, grains, and seeds. Like the ones in your hands and you'll want to toss the seeds out to them. Their beaks are quite sharp and I don't want you to get hurt, " Cho quietly said as the cranes trotted over so I started tossing the bird seed to the cranes. I found it strange as the cranes pecked at the ground, picking up the small seeds and grains that we mixed in,

"Oh are we going to be brave today?" Cho said softly as he started for his house.

"Who?" I questioned trying to get an answer from Cho. When I looked back at the bamboo forest to see who he was talking to.