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VanHellseig · Visitor Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 10

Chapter 1: Oh Brother, Where Art Though?

All was quiet in Stonegate, a slight discomfort to the sentries guarding it, but a welcome change from bloodshed of the past to the average citizen. Unfortunately, Alex VanHellseig was not average and the lull of peace bored him terribly.
It was this boredom that had brought the warrior to his brother's house, the armory of Stonegate. Ebon's use of the arcane left him aloof, but he did enjoy watching the wondrous results from spells cast. As he rode closer to the house, the flickering lights and almost red glow of the structure made him aware that Ebon was in full swing of his practice.
Upon entering the armory's shop, Ebon yelled, "Brother, stand back! I can control this!", and with that, disappeared.
Alex stood for a minute, staring at where his brother's form had once been. "Still, so bored" he complained, and exited the shop.

TheLivvingDoll · Adventurer Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 76

“Disappeared? What do you mean he disappeared?”

Calmly Alex went over the events of the evening once more. With every recital Livvie's confusion and anger mounted.

“Of all the times for him to do this!” She took a beat then and tried to calm herself. The whole aspect of changing when she got angry or upset was yet to be completely under her control and the last thing Stonegate needed right now was Livvie in wolf form acting on pure instinct.

“What did he say? What did he do?”

“It happened very quickly.”

“Was he messing with something? Did he have it in his hands?”

Quietly and somewhat annoyed at her incessant questions he walked her to the back of the first floor and showed her the object in question. He heard her cuss then and took a step back.

Her eyes flashed and any thought Alex had on his mind ceased. There was no getting through to her now. Livvie watched as he calmly followed her up the stairs.

“You can stay here tonight. I'll take the couch.” And even though she didn't intend to bite his head off with her tone she knew she had.

“I'll wait outside.”

VanHellseig · Visitor Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 10

Chapter 2: Here and Away

What had he done? Ebon stood in the icefield that used to be his home, the home of Stonegate, but all was gone. Though the mountains still stood and cast their shadows far, they touched not a single building. The barren snow blinded him with a white intensity he had never before seen.
Walking to the east, he found one single structure, unfamiliar with no markings of Stonegate. Had he done it? Had he indeed broken the plane of existence from his world to this one? He searched his pack for the small sliver of red stone that had brought him here, but could find it nowhere.
As he gazed over the white field, the reality of his situation came to light. This was not home, this was not Stonegate, and where ever "this" was, did not contain his Livvie.

TheLivvingDoll · Adventurer Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 76

The council knew now. Everything. What they would do about it remained to be seen. Sitting and waiting was never one of her strong suits and now so, even less. She'd climbed the steps, worked on her newest assignment and run 7 miles all before daybreak. But then when you couldn't sleep it was easy to get things done. The right side of the bed had been empty now for some time. And with every sunset she came that much closer to trying to activate that damn stone herself.

"Of all the times for you to up and disappear." She bit out to the empty third floor of the Armory. Was he hurt? Was he hungry? Was he cold? Every one of those had crossed her mind a million times with no answer in sight. Grabbing his pillow off the bed she inhaled his scent and laid down on the couch, yet again. Ebon was her anchor and without him she lay adrift in the sea of snow just beyond the stained glass windows.

TheLivvingDoll · Adventurer Joined: 20 Mar 2010 Posts: 76

With an exhausted sigh, Livvie took off the mage hat and let her long locks spill down her back. Casually she ran a hand through the strands to shake out the knot. Overall the night had been a success and when she had left the meadhall there had been laughter and conversation echoing off the newly designed stones. Everyone had worked their butts off for tonight, herself included.

She'd listened as Alex introduced her and heard the smile in his voice at the mention of her new last name.

He should have been here to see this. Ebon's absence had turned Livvie's world upside down. So far every possible lead turned up nothing but a handful of snow and an empty wish for this nightmare to end.

"Before you, He was gone for a long time." Wasn't that what the council had told her? Maybe she had worn out her welcome. Maybe Ebon had moved on.

With a curse she berated herself at such thoughts. "He would be here with us if he could. You know it. Quit your damn pity party and grow a pair already!"

Alone in the Meadhall Livvie spoke again to no one imparticular, "Ebon, it's time to come home now." Sighing she put her head down on the table and let the tears flow for the first time in a long while.

VanHellseig · Visitor Joined: 13 Jun 2009 Posts: 10

Chapter 3: Pieces of Twenty-Seven

Frustrated and tired, Ebon found himself at a tavern. The host had provided him with pie and plenty of wine, and as the alcohol ran its course, he found himself quite inebriated.
"My wife makes the best pies!" he lamented.
"You're married?" asked the host.
"Indeed, I am." he said, as he stared into his glass of wine and thought of his Livvie.
"Do you like the wine sir? It is our very best, made from fermented berries. You see, the secret is in our yeast. We use the freshest yeast of which reacts..."
It was this word that made Ebon think of the reagents. He had been looking for reagents when he had found the sliver of stone that had transported him to this world, in the woods above the ranger station just beyond the docks that crossed from Skara Brae.
With just the slightest of touch, he could feel his surroundings shift, an enormous power surge over him. With the slightest of care, he loaded the sliver and the dirt surrounding it into a bag. He would carry it back to his shop in Stonegate, this power would have to be studied further.
It was there that very night, his brother standing not far off, that the sliver had unleashed it's power and ripped him from his own world and transplanted him in this one, a world in which seemed in many ways identical. The towns, with minor exceptions, were the same. The waters, trees... reagent fields? Would the reagent fields be the same?
"More wine sir?" asked the host.
With a stager and a stumble, Ebon stood, waved his hands in the air and transported himself to Skara Brae. He then raced to the dock, crossed the bay, and raced up the hill past the rangers station. It was in this patch of overgrown wood that he would find what he was looking for.
In the middle of this field, now before him, a perfectly heart-shaped rock. He picked it up, this time not right away looking beneath it. Carefully he laid it on the ground to the side of him, cast a spell and concentrated a beam of lightning from the tip of his finger, engraving a message on the stone, "No matter where I am, I will always love thee Livvie Dell VanHellseig."
With that, he turned, looked at the glowing earth in front of him, and scooped it up. "I will see you again!" he softly said as he disappeared in a hue of red light. To his disappointment, he would do this another twenty-six times before he would find the correct valley, his valley.
At the entrance, he would stop and bow before the statue of the beloved wolf king. "I have done it, I am home!" he yelled into the frigid air. He stood and stared down the alley that connected to his home, and ran as fast as his feet could carry him. His only thought now on his Livvie.