thebladesedge

[thebladesedge]

Cold Trails and West Winds (cont.)

Weston sat down across from Jakk, heaving a great sigh. "I'll get through this quicker if I shut him up."

The redhead shoved the mace over, Huck's decapitated head landing face first in the dirt, muffled protests lost, unable to roll or turn on his own.

"There we go.. so I came from a timeline vastly different than yours, the Alliance had wiped out the Horde.. a victory I am sure many would rejoice for. However.. all that you have experienced here, so too did we.. only we didn't have the Horde at our side. War after war.. fight after fight.. and then came the blight. The undead came like a tidal wave across Azeroth, leaving only a few scattered and well fortified Alliance strongholds. I was a knight sworn to High Warlord Araian Sunshield, our home was one of those strongholds, spanning most of what you know as Westfall. A rift opened within our walls, we quickly sealed the area off from our people, but the Lord asked me to investigate. So I stepped through and found myself here."

Jakk blinked, a strip of meat held half-way to his mouth. But before he could comment on what this man said he continued.

"Once here I came across your people, they were fleeing from some dark force in Duskwood. Needless to say they were none too happy to see me, which was odd for me as I should have been a stranger to them. That was when I learned that the me in this timeline... was this bastard." He kicked the severed head of West who groaned in a muffled exclamation of pain. "Despite this I worked with them against that darkness, not realizing everything was this one's doing. The final battle was.. brutal.. but your people managed to get free and myself and a gnome named Father Locke acted as lock and key to keep the darkness he summoned chained. We managed it for some time.. not realizing we were helping him get stronger. He eventually, in a manner I never saw, managed to possess me. I killed Locke and escaped the dimensional prison and found another gnome.."

He chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Your kind never liked me where I came from.. but here I'm a bloody gnome magnet. Anyway.. this gnome happened to be a mage and could tell some sort of magic was at work within me and dispelled it, trapping the spirit of West into a crystal. Together we made our way to Southwatch where the body that used to have this head ripped us into some pocket dimension. The gnome, Harper, and I nearly met our end there.. but were saved by one of the Chronowardens that had come to ensure this pocket was no more. He sent me home.. well not my home.. apparently mine was no more, only reason I could think of as to why I was sent somewhere else. My time there was short lived.. because of this persistent little fuck." Another boot to the back of West's head. "He underestimated me and overestimated his own ability. I managed to free myself once more, a nasty habit I seem to have, I suppose. Figured I'd ensure he didn't get another chance so I relieved him of his head. I later would find that I was somehow brought back here once again. That's when I heard the voice.. couldn't ignore it.. took the first ship I could. I was part of a group that had pushed past the nerubians on the beach, we ended up cut off, several of them big bastards gave chase with some of those flying ones. We got pushed deeper into the isle and blindly stumbled on a hole. Or rather.. in. I was caught by some winged beast.. I fought, it flew, I had no idea where I was.. but suddenly there was light and me and my angry transportation crashed."

Weston smiled, reaching over to cut himself a piece of meat that he then used to point at Jakk. "I joined up with the lamplighters here.. but keep West up at this camp, I tell them I like to have my privacy.. but really I don't think they'd understand this. Weren't here long before I saw the Lord and his people down there, they don't know I'm here and I don't know why they are.. not really my business. I left them on good terms.. don't know if I belong here and given what they experienced at the hands of one who looked like me, I don't believe I belong among them. I am just following my heart and my head here. So.. there you have it."

Jakk chewed, he wasn't sure why but he had this feeling this man was telling the truth. No matter how crazy it sounded. "Quite the story.. as for why the Lord is here.. Rose was in Dalaran. No idea if she's alive or dead.. but they plan to find out. I followed them but I feel our paths are not meant to cross, much as I'd want to know what happened to her, something pulls me away, something here that I can't explain. Somehow that brought me to you."

"Well then.. this chance meeting may have been fate." Weston flashed a smile, "I'd been planning to investigate a matter but didn't wish to go alone or bring one of these lamplighters to some foul end, they're good folk. And just as I was planning to go alone.. you arrive. What say you.. care to join me?"

Jakk mulled it over briefly, sparing a glance back at the Arathi camp below where he knew the Lord still remained. "May as well.. looks like they're here for the night. What were you investigating exactly?"

"Where these things go after they take people.. and why. In my experience these instances are never pleasant for the victims. I saw one take a tunnel, dragging a webbed cocoon behind it down there.." Weston pointed off the edge of the cliff they were sitting on, causing Jakk to stand and look over it himself.

"Somewhere down there lies an answer to that question and I plan to find out.." Weston continued.

"Then we'll go together.."

((To be continued..))

[thebladesedge]

Cold Trails and West Winds..

Jakk to me....

The only gnome member of the former SI:7 team, a team that had been twisted and warped, shattered and stitched back together into something else entirely, was what some would consider the more practical of the group. Where others relied on the vile gifts granted by their maker, Jakk always chose the more grounded, direct option to achieve the same goal.

Jakk to me....

Those words echoed in his mind, and the gnome sighed as he gathered his things together. He knew Sarv would search in his own way, and though the two had not spoken in some time, the gnome was certain their paths would join once again before death took them. As for Mason, Jakk was never too sure where that boy's head was at, but he was likely answering the call same as he was, Ali too, if she wasn't already with Rose, that is.

Dalaran has fallen, there doesn't appear to be any survivors that we know of. Information is still coming in but no reports of the Lady you speak of. I'm sorry I can't be of more help.

While the others seemed to spread out, much like the "handmaiden" Jakk stayed close, as close as one can without being in the way. So when the information reached the Lady's father and his people began to gather and prepare, the gnome was already packed and stowed away.

Jakk to me....

As soon as the Isle of Dorn was on the horizon Jakk slipped through the veil to reach the shore ahead of the ships, keeping out of sight as the landing parties clashed with Nerubians. Going unnoticed wasn't difficult, given his size, even without the shadows or the veil and try as he might the gnome couldn't find anything familiar among the rubble and wreckage of the once proud city of mages. He'd never visited himself, what little magical gifts Jakk held were not ones taught by those that once called these ruins home and he'd never had a reason to visit the home the Lady stayed in.

He was left with no choice, he'd follow the Lord and his people without interfering if he could help it. A solid plan, given he had little to nothing to go on, and keeping out of sight allowed him to focus on the task at hand without fending off questions he had no answers to.

Jakk watched their path through his spyglass from a tree between the Shore and what he would later learn to be Freywold Village, all the while attempting to contact Rose through their connection. Though he received no answer, Jakk was certain her death would affect them in some way. She was alive somewhere, how he believed this the gnome couldn't say, especially given the evidence so far that practically screamed she was gone. He refused to believe it.

Given the speed in which the Lord and his people were traveling, they'd found nothing definitive so far. It was getting dark, and unless something happened, their path was clear. The sun was beginning to set and Jakk settled against the trunk of the tree taking deep breaths as he closed his eyes. This was a nightly ritual for the gnome since his time in Pandaria, clearing his mind and cleansing himself of whatever darkness threatened to creep into the recesses of his mind. Meditation helped more than he'd ever had the hope it would, especially in the beginning when he was truly struggling with his own personal mental prison.

Jakk to me....

He jerked awake, nearly falling from the branch he'd spent the night on. Jakk wasn't sure how long he'd been asleep but a quick glance through his spyglass told him the Lord was on the move. How they moved and the looks on the Lord and his people's faces told the gnome all he needed to know.

The gnome followed them at a distance, making camp when they did, spending his nights in meditation, and his days tracking the trackers. Through Isle, through the coreway, through the Ringing Deeps.. but it was in Hallowfall that Jakk chose to take his own route. He'd followed a group of the smaller nerubians, taking him on a wide path through tunnels and damp caves that eventually brought him to The Aegis Wall where he would once again find the Lord and his people. But far from the wall a small fire burned and it was this fire that caught Jakk's attention and drew him in. Whoever this person was they were either spying on the front's movements or trying, much like him, to stay on the fringes and avoid these creatures as much as possible.

As he got close he could hear two voices even though he saw only one rather heavily armored person sitting at the fire..

"Can't keep me like this forever, you know."

"Probably not.." The heavily armored individual grunted, from what Jakk could tell both the voices were male, but he could still only see the one. "..just makes you more manageable."

Jakk crept closer, he could smell meat being cooked over the fire and his stomach betrayed him with a loud grumble.

"Shh.. someone's here."

The armored one quickly rose from their seat, a large claymore in hand that immediately flared with the righteous fire of the Light. "Best you make yourself known before I have to find you, stranger. That won't be good for either of us, all that ruckus will draw some rather unwanted attention."

There was nothing for it, the lightbearer was right. "I'd appreciate if you lowered your weapon at least a bit." He unholstered the gnomish railgun revolver from his hip, keeping it pointed at the ground. "And I will do the same, I saw the fire.. smelled the meat.. been on a long journey myself and I admit my curiosity brought about a rather tight little predicament for the both of us."

He tried to keep his voice light, but could hear the cold and detached tone he'd always held doing little to calm the lightbearer.

"Wait.. I know that voice. Jakk?" The voice of the unseen individual spoke up.

The gnome instantly raised his gun as he stepped out of the shadows the fire's light didn't reach. "West..." he hissed. He was ready to shoot that damned redhead the moment he caught a glimpse of hi-...

As he rounded the edge of the fire's light Jakk saw why he couldn't see the other speaker. Shoved onto the pommel of a small mace, bound and chained to it, was a familiar, and yet, rather decayed head of Lord Huckleberry West. One of the man's eyes was hanging from the socket but the other was locked on the little gnome.

The armored one lowered their sword, a soft chuckle coming from their helm. "Ah.. you two know each other.. and given your reaction.." He gestured to Jakk. "Not friends."

"Definitely not.." The gnome lowered his gun, but still kept it pointed in the general direction of the redhead's.. well.. head. "I am sure there's a story here.. and I definitely want to hear it.. but right now I would like to know who you are."

The armored man set his blade down to lean against the rock he'd been sitting on beside the fire and reached up to remove his helm. "That, my friend, is a tale that will take us all night to get through, so we may as well get comfortable."

The hood that rested over the helm was drawn back as he continued speaking. "..I am someone who shouldn't be here but has nowhere else to go."

Then came the straps and buckles, one by one.

"Eat, eat.. you look like death. You eat, I'll talk. There's also some wine in that waterskin by my pack." The gnome nodded at the armored one's words and grabbed the skin first before attempting to cut himself a piece of meat.

Only a pair of buckles held the helm in place now, the gnome took a seat by the fire as Huck's head let out a laugh. "You are about to have your whole world turned on it's head." West paused. "Head! Hah!"

Jakk struggled so hard not to roll his eyes before looking back to the armored one as the last of the straps gave way and a mane of red hair fell around their pauldrons and breastplate. They could have been twins... if the other wasn't just a rotting head. The likeness was undeniable, but once the shock wore off the gnome was able to spot differences. Where West kept himself nearly perfect when he was whole, this mirrored reflection of him had the look of one that spent actual time outside. Several minor scars could be seen on the other redhead's face, and the skin that could be seen beyond the armor had definitely spent time in the sun and the closest thing to pampering it had received was the occasional rainfall.

"I know.." The armored redhead began. "..believe me when I found out about this myself it was quite the shock. But.. if you will allow me to explain you will see that he and I are nothing alike."

The gnome set the railgun revolver on his lap, taking a bite of meat and chewing slowly while the tension in the air continued to build...

"Go on.." he finally said, speaking over the decapitated head

To be continued..

[thebladesedge]

"It is a mistake to fancy that horror is associated inextricably with darkness, silence, and solitude."

“I have something to tell you, hear me well my lady. I fear.. I fear…”

Sarv and Willow raced towards where the bodies lay, unconscious and still. In the din of Duskwood’s curse, their bodies were pale and lifeless in their pile. Ignored by the undead that swayed around them. Together, they moved them to the wagon while Varsen positioned himself closer to where Rosemarri spoke with the creature. His body tilted so he could watch the wagon and remain so close to her that she could smell the soap he had used for the day.

“MASON!” A shrill, heart-wrenching cry drew her attention from the Ferryman for a moment. Willow’s form hunched over the still form of her soulmate within the wagon, her blood-colored strands stark against his flesh as she clung to him, his limbs were lifeless even though all three of them could feel life in his body as sure as if they could see his breath.

“My lady..” The Ferryman’s voice twisted with misery. “I am certain he knows.”

Rosemarri jerked her stare back to him and away from the sobbing woman. Her eyes widened, twin pools of brilliant green framed in thick black lashes easily shared her terror at this moment with him. Her hand that clung to his cinched as the fear that filled her eyes ate a path down her spine. No, please. “He knows you help me? He knows wh–..”

“---Jakk..” His free hand motioned to the gnome that Sarv wrapped in blankets, not that it would help return warmth to his body just yet but he tried in the name of care. “Jakk was close to completion, they would know the moment they no longer had something to work o –” The hand that held hers squeezed violently summoning a soft cry in response. His words gargled and then stopped altogether and as one the three stared down at the odd arrow that protruded from the ferryman’s chest.

No…

Metal whined against metal as the arrow exploded into a T shape and time froze, it seemed. The ferryman stumbled, Rosemarri couldn’t move her hand fast enough to grip his robes before Varsen’s thick arm found her middle. Up, her feet left the ground. Away, she was turned from him and the hands that kept them connected split - the allies were torn apart. One by a Viking and the other by death himself.

“No, don’t let … no VARSEN do not let him go! I command you…” Her whisper turned into panic, panic that echoed through the silent graveyard and caused the undead to look their way, enchantment threatening to release what kept them fixated and motionless. They needed him. They needed him. They needed – she couldn’t breathe, her chest twisted and her heart roared in her ears. Varsen’s movements took them toward the wagon and their horses. His hold was absolute despite her struggle and his weapon drawn as he backed away. The ferryman first sank to his knees, then hunched forward with only the T hook keeping him from landing on his face. The chain that connected him to the fissure exposed no enemy to fight, just that single deadly tether but they all knew who had been behind the severing. “WILLOW GO.” Varson bellowed over her head.

The Ferryman’s arm rose to reach for the daughter of his lord, loyalty only severed by destruction when not even death could mangle the bond created in life. He was gone when she looked back, roughly deposited onto Varsen’s horse with the reins of her own mare in his hand as he mounted behind her.

He was gone…

The wagon was well ahead of them by the time the pair reached Westfall’s border and the sun that provided a promise of fake safety. Rosemarri closed her eyes, fingers plucking at the leathers that weighted at her with her back resting against Varsen’s chest, and a single arm of his kept her in place. Not that she’d jump but she suspected he wasn’t happy with the Raven Hill exchange. As their horses clambered over the rickety wooden bridge, her childish wailing had subsided into soft, choked sobs and a random hiccup.

“Explain to me..” He demanded, needing to understand not only the evil that they faced but what the death of the creature meant to his charge.

Peeling her eyes open, she stared at the watery shoots of grass that greeted them, hot tears burning her cheeks in now silent grief. Did she answer? No, and he did not ask again. It was perhaps thirty minutes before she finally spoke. “Only a few know the way from t’anjva to here, it’s a-a dangerous path..” She sniffled. “.. without a guide, no one would make it.”

“Explain to me…” He repeated, a scowl firmly etched upon his brow. T’anjva?

“He is the only reason we have been able to escape and not be utterly lost.”

“So their eternity died today.”

“Ultimately, yes. Unless I am there - yes.”

No words followed her statement but there was a subtle cinching of the arm about her, a wordless warning that she would no longer be aiding in the escape from hell if he had any say, and unlucky for them, he did. He would send them there first if he had to.

“I cannot breathe..” She sucked in a ragged breath, perhaps she could but it didn’t stop him from curling his fingers into the break of the leather beneath her armpit and giving a tug sharp enough to destroy the ties on one side. In response, she inhaled sharply and then promptly ignored him in favor of using the passage through the desolate part of Westfall to wallow in her grief. @adamarmeadowcroft @willows-whispers @thebladesedge

[thebladesedge]

Undone..

Cold. Ice. Freezing.

Jaaaaaakk...

The name and voice were unfamiliar. But the cold. Biting. Piercing. It was a mockery of a memory. 

What are you thinking?

We’re on the right track. If we keep this heading we should-

New voices, cut off by an explosion, screams. Panic. Not within. Something other. 

Clash and clang, steel meeting steel. 

Cold. Empty. Abyss.

Jakky boy...

The voice mingled masculine and feminine. Real? Or a memory. A haunting.

Run, Jakk!

A woman’s voice. The ice shattered. He was falling, no, flying. Plunged into icy waters. Flung into the air. 

SARV! A familiar voice. Maybe? Yes. 

Flying, falling, slamming. Landed hard. Bound to surface.

Maaaaaaaakkkkeee yyyyoooooouuu whoooooolllllee......

Knives, needles, nails, glass shards stuffed under eyelids, teeth pulled one by one. Fleeting memories, familiarity all forgotten, past undone, future uncertain. Burns, razors, snapping bones. Torn to shreds, sewn together. 

MASON! GET BACK HERE! That voice again. Unsteady. The world rocked and swayed. A taunt. Another memory written over. 

He took the stones.. Again, familiar. But not. Gone before it could be grasped.

WEST!! A loud boom, screams. The moment lost in fog before it could focus.

Cold. Ice. Freezing. Vision swimming. Underwater. Beneath the ice. Hands scraped and clawed. A cry for help, lost in bubbles and drowned in icy abyss..

[thebladesedge]

Torturecation.. take two..

(Warning: Uh.. just prepare yourself)

Pain is weakness leaving the body. 

I must have a lot of weakness in me.. because all I know right now is pain. I am in a constant state of whole and shattered, ripped and sewn, I beg for death, but but when I think sweet release is right around the corner, it starts all over again.

Ever had a searing hot needle pushed into your eye? But it doesn’t cool, no, instead the needle gets hotter and hotter until you can feel and smell your eye cooking in your skull. It’s an entirely unique experience unlike any other.

Fingernails ripped off, teeth yanked out. Death by a thousand cuts, rub a little salt in the wounds, sliced and diced again. You’d think I’d be numb to it by now, but they keep finding new ways to make it interesting. Kill me, end it, do it.

Back again on the table, another day, another new interesting torture method, barbed needles shoved into my ears canals. It was.. exquisite.

Can’t move, needles are spinning, barbed ends turning everything to a high pitched ringing of pain. Kill me, kill me please. End it. 

[thebladesedge]

Prey

Jakk had hunted West since their talk, not swayed by the young Lord’s words, he had a duty to uphold. He did, however, give the redhead a three day head start. Boralus was where the trail took the gnome, the twisting alleyways offering the bastard plenty of cover from Jakk’s rifle. Dead end after dead end had begun to aggravate the gnome, he’d gone without rest, or even food for the most part, as of late. He was just about to give up when he caught a glimpse of what he was looking for, that shock of red hair, those piercing blue eyes, was that disappointment in them? It didn’t matter. “West!” Jakk shouted, turning heads in the street as he drew the rail-revolver from his belt and spun the chamber, powering up a shot. People scattered, Jakk fired.. At nothing. West was gone. Had he imagined it? No.. there he was again, leaning against the entrance to an alley, the bastard frowned at the gnome, shaking his head as Jakk charged towards him. West disappeared down the alley out of sight just as the gnome rounded the corner, rail-revolver raised, another shot already primed. He was gone again.. no.. faint light at the end of the alley. The sound of a door shutting. The bastard was cornered. Jakk rushed down the alley, grabbing the doorhandle. “Locked...” He cursed under his breath, aiming the rail-revolver at the handle and firing, blasting the door open to reveal.. a hole in the ground, flies buzzing in the air, the foul stench of waste reached his nose as something cold pressed against the back of his head. “It doesn’t end here, West..” “I know.. but I am still sorry.. she made it this way..” The last thing Jakk’s mind registered was the crack of gunfire..

[thebladesedge]

The Hunt

Stormwind 3:15 a.m.

The bastard was in his sights.

The streets were empty.

All it would take was a little pressure on the trigger.

As soon as West stepped past the tree, he was dead.

Deep breath, steady, one shot, all he needed.

“What’re you lookin’ at, mate?” A voice said only a few inches from his ear.

Jakk reacted instinctively, swinging the butt of the rifle up and across. -CRACK- into the traitor’s jaw, sending West staggering back.

“Mother fucker..” West said through his hand, the redhead working his jaw side to side. “..now.. if you want to just get to it, we can do that, but don’t hide up here like a coward and shoot me.”

“You’re a traitor.. and you think you deserve the right of an honorable fight? Piss off..” Jakk brought the rifle up, firing from the hip.. only to hit nothing. He whirled around at the sound of the bastard behind him.

“WHOA! WHOA! WHOA! How am I a traitor? Hm? Because I took the shards? Shards the Broker’s claimed would work? Did no one pay attention to how the Broker’s fucked me?”

Jakk tossed the rifle aside, drawing the gnomish revolver from the holster at his thigh. The gnome had nothing to say to West, the man was a traitor, he nearly cost them their mission. -BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!- One shot after another. And still Jakk hit nothing. Each shot was met with air, West standing in a new place. “WAIT! -- HANG ON! -- STOP! -- HOLD IT! -- You finished? --STOP SHOOTING AT ME!” West was panting.. the gnome holstered the revolver, eyes narrowing. Something was different. The tingle of the arcane was absent in the magic at play here, he knew the pull.. the shadows.. the bastard traitor was using the shadows to evade him.

Jakk pulled the whip-blade from behind his back, electricity arcing through the gaps in the blade. “Nothing you say will change what you’ve done, West. Your fate is sealed.”

“Nothing I say? You certain about that?” The bastard still hadn’t pulled a weapon, hands held out to the sides, his jaw already beginning to bruise. “They call their little groups cartels, Jakk.. I don’t know about you, but every cartel I’ve done business with has been shady as shit. There’d have been another side to that coin the moment you put the pieces together.”

The gnome paused, watching the bastard carefully. “It was still the only way to find him, West. It doesn’t change that fact.”

“Why was it the only way, hm? Why did we have to travel across every inch of the Shadowlands to collect these pieces? Think about it, Jakk, you’re smart.. probably smarter than all of them. Think! Mortals in their realm was entirely new. Unheard of before the sky opened and connected our realms.” West was still standing away from Jakk and that crackling whip-blade, hands up, palms facing the gnome.

“You still took them..”

West sighed, shaking his head. “I did. But it was still because of me that we even made it as far as we did. Despite everything I had on my plate, I pushed on, providing transport, keeping them together when they fought like bloody school children. I pushed through Ravendreth with Astrid when the others disappeared, I brought her home to save her from death. I took the knee first when everyone else was still busy bickering. I know I shouldn’t have taken them.. I know I was wrong, it was a betrayal. But despite all I did for them.. they still abandoned me twice to remain behind. There wasn’t going to be a third. I didn’t push through all that shit just to not be there at the end. So kill me if you want, Jakk.. but know that without me, you lot would have still been there diggin’ through the muck.” Arrogance, ego, bravado.. but a grain of truth. He’d seen it first hand when he arrived with Rose and the others. These people were fighting like cats and dogs when they should have been focused on the mission. Jakk sheathed the whip-blade, staring at the bastard. Shouts from below caused them both to look down, several Stormwind guards were gathered, pointing up at the pair. “This isn’t over, West. Not by a mile.. but you’ll get your talk with me on my terms soon enough.”

West smiled then, and Jakk wanted nothing more than to smack that smile right off the traitor’s face. “Another time..”

Jakk watched as West faded from view, the gnome grumbling to himself as he stepped through the veil and vanished just as the guards came clamoring up the sides of the roof.

[thebladesedge]

Stormwind was nothing like he remembered..

Nothing was..

When he’d woken up in the ward it was the middle of the night.. instinct drove him and instinct alone kept him going. Once near the city of Stormwind, Jakk stole clothes from a sleeping family.. just enough to cover him until he could make it to one of his safehouses. 

After searching several he managed to find one that hadn’t somehow been found and ransacked, stripped of his tech and weapons. The chainmail and leathers were loose, he’d lost weight, the weapons were prototypes and barely kept together. One of the original multi-tools he’d made before joining the SI:7 was all he could find of his tech. Barebones and nearly worthless, made more for mechanical work than what he’d eventually turned it into.

Everything was different.. there were bear people, void inflicted elves, entirely mechanical gnomes.. creatures he learned were called lightforged that looked like the draenei he’d been introduced to during his time in Outlands, massive humans that came from Kul Tiras. It was a lot to take in.

He found a group of humans talking in the Canals.. and the next thing he knew he was caught in the crossfire of several Stormwind Guards. He moved with them, certain that the Guard likely lumped him up with these people.. and as they ran he learned they knew his name. Their faces were unfamiliar, but they seemed to know him, and he sensed a distrust from one of them in particular. Some baby faced man in armor.

As they escaped through the cemetery, Jakk noticed a headstone, Ellie Mayfield. The dates made no sense. Her death was marked a roughly ten years in the future.. how was this possible?

The story he would learn made no sense.. but then again.. it felt like a lifetime trapped with the Mad King’s monsters.. here in this realm Jakk had lost ten years. He locked up, it was just another hell, one that was sadly his new reality. The time meant nothing, he was a monster that killed his own team, he was a traitor.. he was the very thing he used to hunt. They offered him a place among them but all he could think of was what he might one day do.. beyond his control.. or on instinct burned into him after a lifetime in hell.

Freedom was all he wanted.. freedom to make his own choices.. freedom to worry about nothing but making it through the day. He was done.. done with it all.. damn the team, Sarv was alright, but damn the team.. damn it all. It was his time now.. he’d make his own choices, his own mistakes, lead his own life.

[thebladesedge]

Jakk..

The gnome broke through the ice, grasping, clawing, desperate to escape the black depths.

Jaaaaakk...

He laid on the snow dusted ice on his back, he expected to be wet, to be freezing, but he was numb.

JAKK..

He sat up, scanning his surroundings. Nothing but the ice, the snow, and the trees. The gnome’s hand brushed over the snow as he tried to stand and what he saw caused a chill, not of cold, but of fear to run down his spine. Beneath the ice, face frozen in agony.. was him.

Welcome home, Jakk..

“No.. no.. no..” His voice was horse, cracking with each word. “No...”

He tried to run, but the ice around him cracked, hands bursting through to grab his limbs.. pulling him under.. and then the shifting ice above him froze back over.

JAKK..

The gnome broke through the ice.. the struggle against the grasping hands took every ounce of strength he had.. leaving him gasping.. weak.. his arms and legs ached. His lungs burned... this wasn’t real.. this was in his head.. it wasn’t real.

Oh it’s very real, Jakk.. very, very real.. and you.. are.. mine..

[thebladesedge]

Crawling

It came on suddenly, but Jakk knew the feeling all too well, he’d lived with it while the others were out. It was his life.

The creepy-crawly’s, he called them, the one sensation that he’d never felt outside the veil that warned him of something other, something dark, was watching him, hunting him. Sleep held no comfort from this sensation, though his dreams rarely brought him relief these days as it is, the gnome found them especially uncomfortable. He was restless, irritable, and paranoid on a daily basis as it was and this didn’t help.

“Get your tall, clumsy, bumblin’ ass out of my shop!” He shouted at one of the Sunshield staff, who were only bringing him the spiked coffee he’d asked for.

Get it together, Jakk.. you’re out.. you’re free.. maybe this is just some sort of..

The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and Jakk whipped around, firing two shots from his pistols before his eyes could focus on what he was aiming at. The new ammunition cut through the hull of his crawler-tank like butter without the armor plates in place. “Son of a bitch..”

He holstered the guns and went to inspect the damage, vital components seemed to be fine, just Sparky’s Workshop Grease Girls poster in side took the most damage. “Right between the eyes of Miss August.. nice.”

Maybe Sparky won’t notice..

Or I could finish his love-bot for him, he seemed pretty interested in that. Shouldn’t be too hard to pick up where he left off.. wait.. why are the blueprints stuck together. Oh.. oh..

“Hurgghhh.. hurrgghh.. hurrggghh..” 

The sensation returned, demanding his attention, causing Jakk to whip around again, firing at the ceiling with his wrist rocket. Shit..

“Uh.. we needed a skylight.. for.. circulation. That’s what I’ll tell them.”

[thebladesedge]

Down the mechanical rabbit hole..

Jakk was huddled outside the building, using the blanket wrapped around his naked form to wipe the blood from his forehead. He didn’t know if the person he attacked was with the enemy or not, all he knew was distance, and to create as much of it as possible. The gnome knew these games too well, having spent what felt like lifetimes going through them over and over whenever he was caught that he was certain this was another fake rescue to lull him into a false sense of security. 

He started moving again, heading towards the sound of water, though it wouldn’t stop the monsters, it would at least slow them. As he passed another building, keeping his head down, he paused again to catch his breath, leaning against the wall his eyes caught a symbol that didn’t make sense, a symbol he’d never seen before in this place. He’d all but forgotten about it, it was the symbol he planned to use for his business before he’d joined up with SI:7. Was it a trap? How could they know about it.. and why wouldn’t they have used it before now? Were they desperate?

Jakk looked in the direction the symbol was facing, his brows furrowing together as he spotted another carved into the wood of a cart nearby. This continued for hours, following symbol after symbol, soon being drawn away from the buildings and the strangely empty streets to a beach. The gnome looked desperately for a sign, for something, anything.. he’d just slumped down in the sand when a mechanical rabbit hopped up to his side. Jakk couldn’t believe his eyes, the rabbit had the same symbol stamped into its steel body.

The rabbit hopped off a few feet before looking back at the gnome who jumped to his feet, sprinting off after the rabbit as it hopped off down the coast. A fog was rolling in, and twice the gnome nearly lost the rabbit, but the mechanical creation chirped and beeped until he found it again. On and on they went, the gnome only being able to see a few feet in front of him, following after the rabbit’s noises. Jakk felt like he’d been running all day by the time the rabbit stopped and the gnome stared at the mouth of a small cave, the entrance covered in seaweed. As he approached the entrance several mechanical spiders sprang up from the sand, circled him once, and scurried off into the cave followed shortly by rabbit.

The cave itself was empty, Jakk cursed, picking up the mechanical rabbit and tossing it deeper into the cave. “Thanks for nothing...” The gnome paced back and forth, the rabbit hopping back up to him and retreating into the back of the cave that the light from the entrance couldn’t reach. Every time it hopped back Jakk became more and more annoyed until finally shouting, “WHAT!?”

The rabbit hopped off into the darkness, only instead of returning it stayed there, chirping and a beeping. Irritated and ready to dismantle the damned thing, Jakk stomped off into the darkness, cursing and swinging his feet in the hopes of kicking the infernal contraption only for his toes to collide with something much more solid and heavier than the rabbit. At first thinking he’d kicked a rock, Jakk screamed, a string of profanities leaving him as he held his foot and rocked back and forth. Light drew his attention, the damned rabbit’s eyes were shining in the darkness, as well as several smaller lights spinning around something a few feet away. The rabbit’s eyes shown brighter and brighter until the object he’d kicked was illuminated.

It was a box, the same symbol from the rabbit on its lid..

“What is this...”

The gnome crawled up to the box, placing his hands on either side and lifting the lid carefully. The rabbit hopped up, shining its eyes into it, revealing creations Jakk had only ever dreamed of..

A pair of daggers he’d once drawn up the plans for when he was younger, blades that split into chains or combined into a short sword. A pair of rail pistols he’d floated an idea for to his superior in his early days of SI:7, an idea he’d improved on until they’d become a staple of his arsenal with the agency. A version of his muti-tool he’d been certain he’d never have the technology for in his lifetime. And armor.. finally something to wear.. it was like nothing he’d ever seen or worn, but each item held a similarity, though vastly improved upon, to his original designs.

There were other weapons, more pistols, a pair of spike knuckles, a sword and strange pair of boots. The rabbit looked up, drawing Jakk’s eyes to a letter nailed to the inside of the lid. The gnome leaned closer, his eyes focusing on what was undeniably his handwriting.

Jakk,

I don’t know if we survived my plan, but on the off chance that we did, trust nothing your mind tells you. I don’t know what state we will return in if we do, but I do know there are some things I can’t leave to luck alone. If you haven’t found this then that means not only did we not come back, but that too much time has passed and I failed.

If you are reading this and you aren’t me turn to the other side of the page and follow the instructions, the rabbit and spiders will see to it that you do, stray from them and they will detonate themselves and the items held within this box.

Back to you, Jakk.

A lot has happened, too much to put into a letter, seek out your brothers, they should be able to fill in the blanks. There are two others, you don’t know them yet, but they are family now, they’ve gone through what we did, Willow and Ali are their names. Your brothers will fill in those blanks as well.

These weapons are for you, your brothers, and your new sisters, they will help in our fight, they are made and imbued with the same materials I used to create the bomb, don’t count on them to be able to kill the monsters, I only know that they should at the very least injure them more effectively than anything else we’ve used in the past.

Lastly, before you go back to the others, head to Stormwind. Go to the graveyard, six rows down, two rows in. Grieve. Suck it up, and get back in the fight.

Jakk

Me

Us

Good luck

[thebladesedge]

A little va-torture-cation..

Pain, white hot and demanding their attention, was the first thing they felt.. it was accompanied by a voice, a whisper.

You will regret what you’ve done..

No.. that wasn’t right.. it was a memory.. not a voice. They heard it again..

You will regret what you’ve done..

This felt wrong.. they couldn’t move.. 

A memory, just a flash, looking up at a shadowy figure.. then a bright light.

Pain again, more demanding, they tried to cry out but nothing came.

Jaaaaaaaaaakkkk....

That voice.. they knew it..

Welcome home, Jakk, welcome home..

Jakk.. they were Jakk Boltor.. they knew this.. the voice was calling to him..

I’ve missed you, Jaaaaaaaaakkkk... you’ve been broken, my boy... it’s time to make you whole..

It was slow at first, a tingling, hidden somewhere within the all consuming pain. Fingers.. toes.. arms.. legs.. 

His eyes snapped open, sickening creatures hovered over Jakk, creations of madness.. he craned his neck, trying to get a better view of what was going on between the blinding flashes of pain. It was wrong.. it was all wrong..

I will fix you, Jakk, I will make you whole..

“FUCK Y- ..” He found his voice, but only for a moment, he could feel one of the creations digging inside him, clawing, probing, ripping, tearing.. the pain was indescribable. He wanted to close his eyes.. but he couldn’t.. Jakk could feel them being forced open by something he couldn’t see. He tried to block the pain out, only to feel something grip him, as if a large hand was holding his head in place.

No, Jaaaaaaaakkkk... no.... you will witness your rebirth..

[thebladesedge]

Through the veil..

The shadows didn’t greet him as he’d expected. They didn’t stretch and reach for him, they didn’t shine like beacons for him to step through. Jakk stood frozen, barely breathing, eyes wide, he was back through the veil....

Run, Jakk..

It wasn’t the voice he’d heard before, it took him a moment to recognize it, he’d never heard it sound so panicked. 

RUN, JAKK! MOVE!!

It was him, he’d never heard himself sound so scared and no matter how hard he tried he couldn’t. Fear had paralyzed him.

Jaaaaakk... Oh.. Jakky boy..

Jakk broke into a sprint, flinging himself from the ledge of the canal, expecting to hit the water and swim as hard as he could to the other side. He hit the water as expected, only to find himself sinking, his arms reaching, hands cupped and sweeping, but still Jakk sank. He began to panic, only to pause, where were the air bubbles?

Jaaaaaaaakk..

MOVE!

It was slow going at first, but the more Jakk pushed the faster he moved. He wasn’t as restricted here as he was outside of this place. Faster and faster, Jakk kept pushing, the gnome didn’t know where he was going, only that he was going the right way. One by one he felt them, he was was close, they were here with him. On and on Jakk went, pushing as hard as he could and beyond. Without exhaustion, without the need to breath, he moved at a pace he’d never experienced. His legs didn’t burn from their relentless running, his chest didn’t heave from exertion.

Before he knew it the ocean floor began to dip until Jakk could no longer see the surface. It was here that the gnome saw them for the first time, the dead, they lingered along the ocean floor staring blankly ahead as he passed. Some of the faces he knew, people he’d not seen since before their mission, soldiers he’d fought beside, laughed with, drank with. A pang of sorrow cut through him, but still Jakk didn’t slow, the pull was too strong now, too difficult to ignore.

It wasn’t long before he felt that whatever he was looking for was right above him. As he paused, wondering how he’d reach it, an image flashed in his mind of the man hunched over and chained. Was this what he was being pulled to? Jakk didn’t know for certain, all he knew was that whatever called to him was here. He crouched down, hoping this worked and pushed with all his might off the ocean floor. Up, up, up he went, chancing a downward glance only to see the dead once more, staring back at him, whether they could see him or not the gnome couldn’t say. But that last image burned into his mind as he broke the surface, the veil slipping away when his hand gripped one of the ladder steps jutting out from what Jakk now saw was a ship. 

It was here as Jakk climbed up that he felt them once more and one by one they left the veil. He clung to the side of the ship, all the fear and panic he’d forgotten as he made his way here came rushing back. His team crouched beside him and Jakk, panic subsiding, readied himself for whatever this night would bring.

@agilneanrose

@hallowed-secrets

[thebladesedge]

Between dreams..

Jakk was exhausted, he’d gone beyond the point of losing track of time itself, now the gnome was no longer aware if he was dreaming or not. Flashes of monsters and the images he’d seen from his last vision spilled into reality, hunting him, chasing him, clawing after him. Mingled among the horrors that he saw from the edges of his vision everywhere he went were shadows. Their forms not quite taken shape, a large shadow bounded after him, using the rooftops. A small shadow flew high in the air, always circling, always watching. And a pair of shadows danced and twisted around each other, using the canals and pathways to always keep the gnome in view.

Jakk broke into a sprint, his eyes refusing to stay open for more than a few seconds no matter how hard he tried. His lungs burned, his legs ached, Jakk was slowing, he could tell. The shadows were gaining.. he could hear a piercing cry above, a wild chittering beside him, and the heavy thud of footsteps, no.. paws crashing into the rooftops behind him.

Run, Jakk..

Jakk tripped, the smell of grass filled his nostrils briefly before..

“You are sleeping.”

He blinked, his vision was a blurred mass of shadows, he was caught, he was doomed, the gnome reached for his weapons. Jakk would be damned if he’d go without a fight.. every place he reached he found an empty holster or sheathe. The gnome pushed himself to his feet, hands balled into fists, little or not, these shadows would learn his name before he drew his last breath. As the shadows parted Jakk found himself standing on the chess board again.

It was a battlefield, the pieces returned to their places laying in defeat. The gnome moved among them, trying to understand the meaning of this game, why he was here, why was he brought here twice..

“He will put them back together.”

Jakk’s gaze shot to where the voice came from, narrowing to mere slits as his hands shook. It was the black queen. “Who are you? What do you want from me? Why do you keep bringing me to this accursed place?!”

She was in tatters, splashed and slick with gore, her dress ripped to rags. “Answer me!”

But she didn’t, she instead turned away, moving through the monsters, her dress brushing over them as she moved. Jakk followed behind her, stepping around the war torn creatures. As she came to a stop so did he, leaning around her dress to see what caused her to stop. Like her.. these were the last pieces standing.

The wolf.

            The falcon.

The beavers, two beasts twisted into one piece.

       The Raven.

                            And another…

“We need him.. “

Jakk tilted his head to the side, transfixed on the kneeling oozing form of what appeared to be a chained man. The chains and clasps were heavy, the kind of restraints reserved for monsters and murderers. “Why do we need him? Why should I help--..” The more he looked at the man, the more Jakk felt that same deep longing that pulled him from his endless nightmare.

“Find him, Jakk.. we need him.”

The gnome groaned as he struggled to move, his leg was trapped. His vision blurred and unable to focus. 

Please, Jakk..

The gnome gasped, whatever this was.. a lingering from his time trapped in the veil, or if there was something deeper at work. It didn’t matter though.. that longing was there, that pull he couldn’t ignore. So for the first time since he woke and escaped the ward.. 

Jakk attempted to step through the shadows to search for this human.

@agilneanrose

@hallowed-secrets

[thebladesedge]

Madness.. or something more.

Jakk hadn’t slept more than a few minutes since his escape from the medical ward. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep his eyes open. He’d had frequent lapses in time as it was, sleep sneaking up on him without him knowing, minutes or an hour would pass, finding himself either on the floor or in unfamiliar surroundings.

“Do you...”

Jakk stumbled, had it happened again? He was leaning against the wall in the Trade District of Stormwind. It had.. it.. “….. Do you…”

He was in the Canals now, standing on the edge of the walkway, swaying, almost losing his balance. The gnome needed to get to high ground, it didn’t do well to be so exposed if it happened again, city guards or no, his weapons alone could net a tidy bit of coin. He pulled the G.R.P.L. H.K. from his back, sliding his arm through the braces and locking them in place, gripping the handle with his other hand before squeezing the triggering mechanism. The moment the barbed spear-like end slammed into the wooden post of a shop sign, the gnome was ripped through the air in a streak of crimson and black leathers. It took some doing, and some damage to the sign, but he was able to pull the end free and slip the device back over his shoulder. He was close to losing it again, Jakk could feel it.. the darkness was already creeping at the edge of his vision, his knees were weak.. “Do you…”

Darkness consumed him, swallowing him and pulling the gnome from his surroundings. The endless abyss swam before him, twisting like a whirlpool..

When he could see once more, Jakk found himself standing on a chessboard that was all too familiar. Before the gnome could wrap his mind around what sort of nightmare was about to unfold his eyes found the pieces that filled the board. He knew them for what they were, his heart hammering in his chest, his breath coming in panicked gasps. Jakk tried to tear his eyes away, but he found himself transfixed.

“Do you know the story of the big, bad wolf?”

Only the voice could have pulled the gnome from his frozen terror. It danced and played in his ears, Jakk couldn’t help the smile that pulled at his scarred lips. She stood in the place of the white queen and her movements were halting, twitching, almost mechanical and robotic in motion. So lost in her motions and the limitless depths of her eyes, Jakk had almost forgotten about the creatures that surrounded him and stood on the other side of the board. His gaze found the creature she indicated, the wolf appearing both foreign and familiar at the same time. The beast’s colors were not unlike the armor he wore.

“Do you?…” She paused, a soft gasp slipping from her lips.“…. do you?”

“Run, Jakk.” The whisper that came him was haunting, the desperation in its tone sent a chill up Jakk’s spine.

“.. know how they got him to fit inside of that very small body?”

Wake up, Boltor! WAKE UP! I’m asleep, I have to be, fate wouldn’t be so cruel after all I’ve been through. WAKE THE FUCK UP!

“They tied his arms ahead of his body..”

WAKE UP!

“… and they stretched -stretched- stretched his legs backwards until his spine did not want to stretch any longer and still they stretched him.”

“Run Jakk.” Fear clawed up his spine to the back of his head, locking his eyes with the beast as the woman spoke, the whisper cut into him deeply, chilling the gnome to his very core. The change in the air was unsettling, fear had dogged his every step through the veil, the fear and unsettling hatred that surrounded him was so thick it was nearly palpable.

“.. then they cut into him. They needed only a small piece to make you, Jakk. But what is creation without pain? Pawn, move forward two places.”

One of the creatures before him, a legless torso began to pull itself to the square the white queen had indicated. Each slap from it’s bloated hands followed by the sound of its forehead dragging across the massive game board.

His eyes lifted from the pawn to the shadowy figures that stood at the other end, soon finding the black queen. Following her gaze, Jakk once more stared at the wolf.

“They cut him into pieces, slowly - at first. With a dedication no one has seen since the arrival of the gods and when they felt that the wolf had suffered enough. When they felt that he had learned what it would feel like to inflict this suffering onto others… they created you, Jakk.”

WAKE UP! OPEN YOUR EYES!

“Do you know what happens when the wolf dies..?”

“There is war.” 

The black queen spoke, causing the gnome to snap his gaze back to her as chaos erupted around him. The pieces surged forth, clashing at the boards center. The queens were spared from the battle that spilled before them, their faces lifted. Jakk looked up to see a balcony above them..

Standing there, smiling, the mad king’s eyes seemed to bore into the gnome, a ringing filling his ears.

WAKE UP!

“Come home, Jakk.”

He gasped, reality slamming into him with such a force that the gnome fell, his head striking the rooftop. A coppery taste filled his mouth as Jakk continued to gasp for air as though he’d been holding his breath through the whole nightmare.

@agilneanrose

[thebladesedge]

The rooftops of Stormwind had always held some sense of comfort to him, and Jakk was glad to find they still did after all he’d been through. He’d spent most of the day and well into the evening sitting on the roof of The Pig and Whistle. Listening to the patrons and workers through the open window below him brought the gnome enough entertainment to pass the time. The hour was quite late, judging by the moon as Jakk pushed himself to his feet, groaning as his legs protested from their stiffness. “Dark enough, I’d wager..” Using the gap between the Pig and the building beside it, Jakk slid down to the street below, using his hands and feet to slow his descent. It was quiet, most of the people of Stormwind were tucked away in their beds, he’d only have the guards and whoever called the streets their home to deal with. His armor felt loose, as though the gnome had lost quite a bit of weight, he had to cut a new hole in his belt just to keep his trousers up. He stayed close to the walls and shadows, moving between them and using the sounds of city to mask his footsteps as best he could. 

Jakk checked his weapons beneath his cloak with one hand while the other kept it closed around his form, his dagger and pistol felt like lost lovers to his touch, each sending a welcome thrill through the gnome. His sword, hummed as his fingers graced the handle, practically singing as they closed around it. He couldn’t help but smile knowing his team kept everything for him..

The team..

Where were they? Why weren’t they there when he woke? How long had he been out?

His mind was so lost in thought that he didn’t register the footsteps behind him at first. But soon Jakk felt the familiar sensation that he was being watched, causing the gnome to instinctively pick up his pace. There were two of them, that much was certain..

His blade left the sheathe and he turned in one motion only to find there was no one actually behind him..

Jakk..

The gnome froze, he knew that voice..

Jakk.. this way.. 

He closed his eyes tightly, “No.. no, no, no..”

Over here.. this way..

“No.. you’re not real..”

Jaaaakkkkk.... 

“Get it together, Boltor..”

He took a deep breath, his head tilting quickly from side to side, popping his neck. “Come on..”

There was a creeping chill climbing up his spine, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. Jakk grit his teeth together, reaching up and giving himself a sharp slap on the cheek. “Get your shit together..”

You’ll come to us eventually, Jaaaaaaakkk... you aaaaaaalllwwwaaaayyss dooooo..

“Not tonight..” Jakk hissed, pulling his cloak tighter around him as he continued on, shaking his head and cursing under his breath.

(( @agilneanrose ))