*This one is for my Bronies, my fellow WoW junkies, and anyone else that feels like they need to be acknowledged.
Chapter One
Titus wandered through the lower reaches of Shattrath slowly, his head a mess. The familiar architecture and the familiar faces of the Draenei capital of old did little to improve his distraught state. Worried faces followed him wherever his steps carried him, but he couldn't tell with his brown hair covering his bearded face. They wouldn't understand, they couldn't understand.
He made his way to the World's End Tavern, a fitting name and a fitting place for a paladin like him to bury his sorrow under drink. The Silver Hand had always looked down on it, but never forbid the consumption of alcohol, since the Dwarf's couldn't actually survive without a pint entering their bloodstream every hour.
He sat himself far out of the way, away from the eyes of the huge ogre sitting near one of the bars accompanied by the strange Blood elf, Zephyr. Titus had been in the city long enough to know most of the people's names, and that blood elf always seemed a bit strange. Titus was a man of the Light and didn't really associate himself with any strange individual. In actuality, he didn't talk to many people, aside from his friend, Eleii.
The sorrow washed over Titus again. That was just it, perhaps he didn't have any friends anymore. His mind raced back to that morning in the Mana Tombs. Mental pictures of death, panic, anger lashing out at his friend flashed through his distraught mind. They had lost everyone in there that they had entered the Mana Tombs with. Eleii, who was traumatized from the situation, had frustrated the Paladin.
He had yelled at her, and said horrible things. Things he didn't believe he would have ever said to her. She left the dungeon in flurry of sobs and tears. Titus was forced to follow her or share the same fate as their unfortunate companions. The journey back to his lodging in Shattrath was nothing less than bleak. His mind worried about what had happened to her constantly. It was more frustrating than anything.
He laid his head on the table while the less than stellar comedian fed the crowd rehashed jokes over and over again. Titus wanted to go up there and smack the man with his hammer, but what was violence going to do? He was a paladin and he shouldn't even be thinking these kinds of thoughts. He was a man of example to these others, a guardian and protector of the innocent.
Still, he would be doing everyone a favor by smacking the man silly. He didn't really feel like moving, though. He didn't feel like doing anything. There was little point to anything after the crisis he had caused.
Perhaps he would finally give the Argent Crusade a try, he thought. Tirion had been impressed with the way he carried himself when he been in Hearthglen and he assured Titus that the Crusade would be more than happy to accept him into his ranks.
But that was back in the ruins of Lordaeron, now known as the Western Plaguelands. Tirion was in a great shape, but he was still old, and with age, there was always the increased possibility of senility. He had to do something, however. Anything to make himself feel just a fraction better.
"Sir... Are you going to order anything?"
Titus lifted his head from the table. The serving girl, a blood elf who went by Kylene looked at him, with that same worried face that all the others had given him during his walk of shame to the tavern. But Titus sat up, trying to keep his dignified air. No need to show weakness here.
"I'll have mead, if you don't mind." he said, fighting back the choking in his voice.
She silently dropped one of the mugs she was holding to her chest and left as suddenly as she had appeared. Good, he could go back to stewing in his depression. He lifted the mug and brought the honey tasting liquid to his lips. He only sipped, but he wasn’t use to the zing that any alcohol product brought and he slammed the mug down on his table, fighting back fits of coughing.
Luckily, nobody had seen him, and this time, being more mindful of the biting flavor, he took more controlled sips from his mug, bracing himself every time. He soon found it empty and frowned. He sure didn't feel different; maybe more mead was necessary? More than likely the case, he concluded. With a pounding from his table, Kylene soon was bringing mug after mug to the young paladin, who went from sipping the drink, to gulping it down in seconds.
Titus's head was swimming; everything seemed to be moving too fast for him, but the will to move was back and soon found himself out of his chair and staggering towards the stage, falling only twice, he minded himself, utterly proud of his ability to hold his drink. The comedian was still talking, but only noise poured from his moving lips.
Titus didn't want to pull out his hammer and smash his head in however, that would be too much work. He simply put his hand on the man's face and pushed him until the man fell down the steps to the stage with a yelp. He looked at the people who had been humoring the man on stage before Titus had so honorable saved them from another minute of utter crap coming from the pathetic excuse for a comedian.
Their faces were in a shock, silent. They seemed frightened but Titus knew better. They were simply so surprised at how well Titus had handled the situation. Titus beamed awkwardly to the spectators. They were so happy for him, it was only right that he make their nights worth the trouble of coming to this Tavern, where the mead was so, so sweet after the 5th mug.
He wanted to pour his heart out to these people, his new friends, who had been so kind as to hush and remain polite to the mentally deficient comedian, even after his forceful ejection off the stage. They deserved something special, something about him, about how he was feeling.
He burst into song, the words sounding so controlled and each note hit with perfection. If he had been the one sitting down there, he was sure he would have burst into tears from the beauty that he was being subjected too.
After the song was complete, Titus opened his eyes slowly. He found the audience on their feet, applauding furiously. He swore he could hear “woo's”, but perhaps that was another word. They were also throwing things at him in celebration. What enthusiasm! He smiled softly but remembered what brought him here in the first place. He was about to return to his seat when he caught sight of a certain Draenei standing near the entrance to the tavern.
It was her, Titus thought, and she was... smiling? He wasn't sure. Perhaps she had found his handling of the comedian amazing too? But more than likely the song, she always liked the songs Titus sang. He was about to step off of stage to meet her when he lost his footing, to his shock and dismay (how could he lose his balance when he held his alcohol so well?), and met the ground of the tavern headfirst.
Everything went black.
*************************************
Titus shot up, jerking out of the sheets that laid over him. He sighed in relief, realizing where he was. He was at the inn near the Aldor temple, the holiest of all places in the great city of Shattrath, where only the Aldor and its allies were allowed, looming over their enemies, the Scryers in the lower district of Shattrath.
He also found himself staring at his Draenei friend, Ellei, who was smiling once again. She got up out of her chair that she sat in to watch over the Paladin and leaned on one of the walls in the inn.
"What happened?" Titus stammered. "How did we get here? Why aren’t you mad at me?"
She shook her head, slightly laughing.
"Can't remember anything from last night, can you?" she said with amusement.
Titus thought back. There was the Tavern, ogres, an annoying comedian, and mead.. lots of mead. That was all he remembered from the events last night. He frowned, but Ellei didn't seem to upset about him anymore, and that was good enough for the Paladin.
He jumped out of bed and threw back on his gear from the previous night, a hammer, plate mail and the lot. Eleii was wearing a similar such thing, but with two massive axes behind her back. Titus still couldn't believe such a woman could command that much strength. Regardless, it was good to be back to the way things used to be.
"So what's the plan today?" Titus asked.
Eleii stood up from the wall. She seemed to be exactly the way Titus had remembered her before, long hair dark hair, hooves, glowing eyes and all.
"I was thinking we could just get everything back in order today, you know, just talking." She said quietly.
Titus wasn't truly one for talking, he never had been. Eleii understood that, but he also understood that this was probably for the best. A lot had happened that they both needed to sort out. Titus was willing to give it a try for his one friend.
"Alright. I'll try." He said, smiling softly.
They left the inn after several moments, checking to make sure their possessions were either with them, or in a safe place back within the inn. Better safe than sorry was their motto, and just because of the turmoil that had broken out the previous day, that did not kill long time habits.
They made their way to the elevator leading down to the rest of Shattrath, far below the Aldor's platform. They were silently waiting for the elevator, but Titus was tired of standing there and doing nothing. It was taking a long time to ascend back up to them. Longer than usual. Titus walked away from the elevator and sat down, right on the edge of the Aldor's platform, his legs dangling down.
He looked down to the city far below, where the ragged war veterans were wandering the streets as usual, and the Naruu's army of Draenei and Blood Elves trained far below, awaiting their deployment to the Shadowmoon Valley. He also looked down to the trees, out of the way from the rest of the main buildings. Arakkoa outcasts were making their way out through and around the trees, shunned by their brethren for not waging war against the many races that occupied the Outlands.
Titus sat there silently, continuing his sightseeing as Eleii finally joined him. It was awkward for her to sit the way he did, since her legs were jointed slightly different, but she managed to mimic Titus's position to a degree. He looked over at her, and smiled slightly, happy for the company. Happy to have things the same way they used to be.
They sat there, in contented silence for a short while, forgetting all about the elevator, which had obviously made its trip and back several times now. Titus couldn't remember feeling so relaxed in his life. But when was the talk going to come? They might as well get it over with right now, and then get on with their adventuring, the thing they were both best at.
"Eleii, would you like to have that talk now... actually?" He asked innocently.
Eleii didn't look at him; her eyes were still looking down at the happenings of Shattrath and its people. Titus sat there awkwardly, waiting for an answer to come. She always took her time to answer Titus pouted. Never willing to get things done as quickly as possible, but hey, he couldn't ask for a better friend.
She finally turned to him with a considerate eye."Perhaps it is time we talked" she said.
"Okay good... what first?"
"Well.. I was wonder-oof!!"
With that, Titus was no longer looking at Eleii but at nothing but air. She was gone. He panicked and found her falling off to the ground of Shattrath far below. He was about to stand up and shout for help when an unseen hand pushed him off, sending him falling in a similar manner as Eleii.
He was falling upright however, and caught sight of the owner of the hand in question. It was a masked undead. His eyes were lit up in satisfaction. He had obviously achieved what he had set out to do.
Then he fell back out of sight, to continue on with his unholy life, his existence a blemish upon the Light and all it stood for.
Titus knew he was going to die. There was no way he could escape death twice. Perhaps it was time. Maybe his journey was suppose to have come to an end within the Mana-Tombs and this was fate reasserting itself over all living beings in this strange world.
He knew that Eleii was more than likely already dead. At least she wouldn't have died alone, he thought with a strange feeling of happiness overtaking him. At least they died friends. He turned his back to the sky and looked at the ground of Shattrath closing in on him. There was nothing he could do now; he couldn't call out a prayer to the Light to shield him at this point.
He didn't want to close his eyes; he wanted to see death when it came to him. He fought back the urge to flail about in the air, and time seemed to slow down as every inch of distance between him and his bitter end was consumed.
Here it came.
With a bone shattering crack, blackness took itself over Titus once again.
******************************
Titus woke to the bitter taste of grass in his mouth. He rolled onto his back and removed the blades of grass from his dry mouth. He looked for light, but found no direct source as a canopy of trees laid over him. He rolled to his side now and saw that he was in a thicket in some kind of forest.
This wasn't any kind of forest he was familiar with, however. Everything seemed more vibrant and brighter than the Elwynn forest, and certainly more tightly packed than the Terrokar forest near Shattrath. Strange, he thought. He remembered that fall, and the crack. He shouldn't be alive at all, let alone in an unfamiliar forest.
Perhaps he was in some uncharted area in the Outlands? No, everything was too bright and alive to belong to the dying planet once known as Draenor. All he knew was that some unforeseen force must have brought him here. Perhaps the Light had found him worth maintaining? He couldn't even imagine why, but something was at work here.
He stood up, and found the forest even more alive than his first impression. He heard the chirping of birds and strange sounds echoing through and around the tightly packed trees. Life seemed to be all around him, but never actually in sight. He wanted to at least find some kind of road to get a sense of where he was.
He began to cut in between a bit of shrubbery when the thought of Eleii shot into his mind like a hammer to the face. He turned back and looked around the thicket. No sign of her. If he had survived, it was safe to assume that she had come out of that disaster unharmed as well. His heart sank as he found no trace of his Draenei friend, but he returned to his original task of forcing his body in between trees and shrubbery, looking for a road. It was better to at least find someone, maybe they would know where Eleii was, or at least they might have seen her.
He felt like he had been traversing through everything that nature could throw at him for hours. It was rough work, especially considering that he was doing this all in full plate mail. He found it strange that whatever whisked him to this strange place, would take the time and effort to transport not only his plate mail, but his hammer as well.
He suddenly tripped and fell, expecting a root where there wasn't. He fell onto a dirt road, with slight overgrowth beginning to take over the lightly treaded dirt road. He coughed from the dust that built up from his fall and pushed himself back up, patted the dirt off his armor and clothing. That was great, he thought. More falling, that’s all he did these days it seemed.
This fall seemed to have brought him into the right direction, however. He did get to the road, and that was something.
'Be more optimistic' he told himself. Those that followed the Light always looked at the positives. He had been told so much about the Light that it sometimes made him sick, but it was just something that came with the calling, he assumed.
He headed down the road into the direction of the weeded overgrowth, finding himself having an easier time of navigating through it than the previous pockets and slits throughout the forest's main body. It was a nice break from squeezing in between trees, though.
He eventually came out of the overgrowth and the forest was finally beginning to recede. Titus was eager to get out of this maze of a forest. The Elwynn forest had never been this bad, he thought. He found himself picking up pace as the forest receded farther and farther apart.
He was greeted by lush fields of green, and a view of a village not too far back away. Finally, he could find someone to talk too and get some idea of where he was at. Perhaps they would have more mead? He shook his head. What was he thinking? This was no time to get sidetracked by some stupid beverage that had only caused him distress. The need for food however, was very much real, and he was quite famished. Just another reason to carry himself towards the town.
Titus went from a walk to a stride, covering as much land between him and the town as possible. To his misfortune, (he would've said that someone was out to get him) his foot found the one hole within the rolling hills, and Titus lost his footing for the umpteenth time. This time he couldn't hold back a cuss as he hit the ground. It wasn't a hard fall, but a fall nonetheless, and he was fuming when he began to recover.
"Oh my gosh!"
Titus pulled his head up and was staring into the eyes of what appeared to be green miniature horse, a streak a white running through her otherwise spearmint mane, complete with a horn on her head. She looked as surprised as he felt. What was going on here? Where exactly was he?