RotG - Worlds Away

[squeaklings]

Title: Worlds Away
Wordcount: 3,933
Fandom: Rise of the Guardians, Legend of Zelda, Suikoden
Rating: PG
Warnings: None
Summary: A lone boy from a deep forest. A pale spirit from a darkened Realm. A young woman in a strange land. What does the future hold for them?
Notes: Written for Jchan's birthday! I'm not sure how well I managed multi crossovers, but...



“You ready, Epona?”

The mare whinnied her approval and Jamie hauled himself up, rearranging his gear as he settled into the saddle. His sword and shield rested snugly against his back, his boomerang lying against his hip.

“All set, time to ride!”

He snapped the reins and the horse took off, her muscles bunching beneath his legs as she picked up speed. Someone called out for him to slow down, but Jamie just grinned and adjusted his hat as it slipped back off his head.

The sheep were all settled, the harvest done, and he finally had a free day—he wasn’t about to waste a second!

Faron Woods blurred by as Epona galloped along the well-worn trails, her mane flying in the wind. Jamie let out a whoop of delight as she jumped a fallen log and landed in a shallow stream, cool water splashing up against his boots and leggings. The crisp morning air bit at his cheeks and the shadows danced among the foliage and nothing could be better.

As much as she’d love to, Epona couldn’t run forever, and after a while she slowed to a casual trot, tossing her head as he nudged her down a less-traveled path. He always enjoyed going this way—not many went this deep into the forest, and he always found it peaceful. Plus there was that pond he liked so much; it was the perfect spot to stop and have a bite to eat.

It was that moment when Epona shied suddenly, and Jamie sputtered as they walked through the spider’s web. He slapped the strands away and frowned, glancing around. There were webs strung between quite a few trees, in places he’d never seen them before. But sunlight filtered through the foliage, littering the ground with light and shadow, and while there was a hush over the area, he could still hear the sounds of life in the distance.

“…Does something feel odd to you, too, girl?”

Epona whinnied and tossed her head again, picking her way slowly down the trail. The air grew cooler as she walked, and Jamie wished he’d brought his bow with him. As it was, his hand hovered near the boomerang on his belt.

“…Do you hear that?” he asked suddenly, laying a stilling hand on Epona’s neck. She stopped and pawed at the ground, snorting, and her flank rippled in that way it did when she was nervous. “Yeah, me neither.”

The forest was completely silent.

With a last reassuring pat, Jamie dismounted and drew his sword. They were deep in the woods, but nowhere they hadn’t been before, and yet the world felt strange and alien. He crept forward, sword low, and Epona followed, her breath warm against the back of his neck.

The path they followed wound back and forth, and was usually rather scenic and calming. Now an ice-cold shadow seemed to blanket everything, and Jamie tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword as they neared another bend. He snuck behind a large elm and peeked around it, only to walk out onto the path in shock.

What was once a path didn’t exist anymore. A wall of dark, freezing, pulsing blackness blocked the way, and Epona whinnied nervously.

“Shh, it’s ok.”

She nipped at his collar when he continued forward, sword held before him now, but he pushed her away with his free hand. Epona stomped the ground and snorted, but Jamie continued until he stood just before the wall.

“I don’t understand. What is it?” He bent and picked up a rock along the path and tossed it gently in his hand before chucking it at the wall. It fell with a clatter to the forest floor, completely iced over. Epona whinnied again and Jamie turned to look at her. “We need to tell the village elder, something strange is—“

Epona cried out in alarm as a hooked staff slipped through the dark wall and caught her friend around the throat. Jamie had enough time to open his eyes in shock before he was pulled off his feet and dragged to the wall.

And then he disappeared into it.

・・・

The world looked strange when he opened his eyes. Everything felt…muted, like there was a dark haze covering the land. And it was cold, so cold. What looked like white flakes of snow fell gently from the sky, gold and silver flecks hidden among them, and his breath came out in puffs that clouded his vision.

And then something moved out of the corner of his eye.

Jamie tightened his grip on his sword and rolled onto his side. Whatever had been beside him jumped back, strangely pale against the dim landscape. His swipe went under its feet, and its following laugh echoed in the strangely silent place.

“Hey now, no need for that!”

Jamie scrambled to his feet, confused. That voice definitely sounded like a normal boy’s, not the creature he’d been expecting. Although when he finally got a good look at it, he didn’t exactly look like any normal boy he’d ever seen.

Whatever he was, the boy wasn’t Hylian. His ears were softly rounded, and his skin was deathly pale. He had silver-white hair and ice-blue eyes. He wore a blue tunic and tanned leggings, but his feet were bare. And he was floating, holding a crooked staff loosely at his side.

“Where am I?” Jamie asked, finding his voice at last. “What are you?”

“I could ask you the same,” the boy said, but he looked more like he was having fun than feeling nervous. “I’ve seen creatures stumble in before, but I never thought I’d catch anything from beyond the wall. This is great!”

“Beyond the wall?” Jamie turned in a circle, but the land continued undisturbed in all directions. The silent snow still fell, but for some reason it didn’t accumulate on the ground. “What wall?”

“It’s already moved. It does that.” The boy floated over to him and landed, but Jamie pushed past him, frantic.

“I have to get back! I have to warn my village!”

The boy grinned. “I can take you to the next spot. But!” he said, and flew up a few feet. “You gotta tell me your name.”

“I don’t have time for—“

“You’re right, you don’t. So, name please.”

Jamie stared at the boy for a long moment before sighing. “Jamie.”

“And I’m Jack,” he said pleasantly, a mischievous light in his eyes. “Welcome to the Winter Realm.”

Just then fire seemed to spread through Jamie’s body, and he cried out as he fell to his knees. The world pulsed around him, growing brighter and brighter as he burned inside. Jack hovered over him, a sad look on his face, and that was the last thing Jamie saw before darkness took him.

・・・

Jack waited a few minutes before he lowered himself to the ground beside the large, white wolf. The boy had held out for a long time against the transformation, but no one ever stayed human long in this Realm. He sighed and crouched down, drawing whorls of frost against the frozen ground as he waited for the beast to wake.

A quiet whine was his only indication before it lunged at him, and Jack whirled away with a laugh. “Catch me if you can!”

The wolf lunged again and Jack flew off, staying low to the ground so as not to get lost in the gloom of the frozen forest. He’d promised to show this Jamie to the wall, and he meant to keep it.

Too bad it wouldn’t actually help the boy regain his humanity.

They dodged in an out among trees, the snow-covered forest of Faron blurring by around them. Jack weaved in and out among the branches and trees, and Jamie kept up admirably, his large paws leaving furrows in the ground behind him. It took no time at all for them to break free of the forest gloom and out beneath the grey skies of Hyrule Field.

White plains spread out before them, the skies a pale grey that promised storms and snow. The falling white and gold flakes danced as the two sped through them, Jack laughing with delight. The chase was going perfectly, up until the moment the wolf suddenly stopped, his paws skidding along the frozen ground as he began to frantically sniff the air. Jack circled back around, curious. “Hey, Jamie, you find something?”

Jamie ignored him and sniffed at the ground, circling around a few times before darting off to the left. Jack followed him with a laugh, but was always careful to stay just out of range should the wolf lunge for him.

They continued through the silent, frosted land, snow falling gently around them. Jamie kept stopping to sniff the ground and make sure of the tracks he followed, and Jack stuck close to him, no longer bothering to stay out of range, his curiosity getting the better of him.

Eventually, the wolf led them up a wide hill and he paused, his hackles raised. Dark creatures moved about the field below, and a castle loomed large and ominous beyond them, covering the frosted ground in shadow. Jack alighted beside Jamie, his eyes hard.

“They weren’t always like this,” he said, gesturing at the dark figures. “They were kind, once, giant yetis that tended to fields and protected the land. But they’ve been corrupted, changed beyond hope.”

Jamie glanced up at him, his ears pricked forward. Jack gripped his staff tighter. “Winter King Zant lives inside the castle, commanding the world and bending it to his whims, but as long as I have this,” he said, and tapped the ground, whorls of frost spreading out from the staff, “he can’t gain total dominance.”

The wolf’s ears flicked, and Jamie looked out over the field again, watching the shadow beings closely. Then he looked back at Jack and jerked his head towards the castle, and a light shone in his eyes that made the pale boy smile.

“You really think you can take them all on?”

Jamie howled and darted into the field as answer, his strong muscles propelling him forward as Jack flew after him, staff held before him like a weapon. The dark beings all turned as one as the pair stormed the castle, and Jack shot off a blast of frost as they began to converge on them. Jamie tackled another of the shadows, his jaws ripping at its throat as his claws scrabbled against its mangled, deformed body.

“Yeah!” Jack yelled as they advanced, the shadows falling around them. The castle loomed closer, the details on the gates easy to make out in the looming twilight. When was the last time he’d been this close?

But then Jamie yelped in pain, and something hit the back of Jack’s head and sent him sprawling. A new shadow beast pushed past the others, completely unlike anything Jack had ever seen before. It towered above the others, and darkness trailed off it like vines. Any of the shadow beasts it touched shuddered as if in pain, and tendrils of its darkness merged with them, warping their forms to look like it.

“What is that thing?” Jack asked, flying over to Jamie and standing above him as the wolf got to its feet.

The gates to the castle city opened then, and a soft golden glow burst around them before melting back into a wall of darkness. Jack spun to look at it, eyes wide in surprise, and only survived the strange shadow beast’s attack because the wolf latched onto his arm and tossed him away. He skittered along the ground, his staff sparking against the frozen flagstones, and then Jamie was there. The wolf grabbed his arm again and hauled him up onto his back as he made a dash for the wall of twilight.

“No, wait! I can’t—“

Jack’s cry cut out as the wolf lunged, and the world flashed bright before fading into darkness.

・・・

They landed in a heap among some bushes. Jack’s staff clattered against a tree as the wolf tossed him off in a bout of flailing, and Jack yelped as he landed in a prickle bush. Eventually Jamie calmed enough to sit up, and he stared down at his paws, a forlorn whine echoing in his chest. The pale boy retrieved his staff and stood, taking stock of their surroundings.

Birds chirped in the early morning air, and warm sunlight streamed down through the trees. Jack stared in wonder at the brightness of it all. “I can’t remember ever seeing so many colors before!” He turned to look at Jamie, but his smile fell as the wolf glanced up at him. “Oh Jamie, I’m sorry.”

Jamie whined again and pawed the ground, and Jack’s chest tightened. He’d never really paid much mind to the other creatures who stumbled into his Realm and were transformed, and seeing the boy still trapped in this form shouldn’t have been a surprise at all. So why was it so difficult to see him there like that?

He didn’t have much time to wonder, though, as Jamie’s ears suddenly went back and he rose to his feet, his hackles up. A strong burst of wind smashed into Jack a moment later and sent him careening into a tree.

“Who are you? Who sent you?!”

“Wha…?” Jack shook his head to clear his vision and then turned, ice shooting from his staff in a sweeping arc. The newcomer cried out in surprise, and then alarm as Jamie pounced. Jack rushed towards them, staff at the ready.

“Who do you think you are, attacking from—“

His words died in his throat at the sight of the woman pinned beneath the wolf’s paws. She wore a shimmering gown of blues and greens and her short silky-black hair flared about her head like feathers. She had caramel-brown skin, purple eyes, and a very sharp scimitar pressed against Jamie’s throat.

“Put the sword down,” Jack said, his voice low.

The woman darted a glance between boy and wolf, her movements quick and birdlike, before she shook her head. She didn’t press the attack, however, and Jack slowly lowered his staff.

“Jamie, come here. Slowly.”

The wolf growled but did as he said, and as soon as his weight was off her the woman darted away, rolling backwards and up onto her feet. She kept her sword at her side, but Jack moved to stand between her and Jamie anyway.

She cocked her head to the side and pointed at the boy suddenly. “How did you do that thing with the ice?”

Of all the ways their conversation could have gone, that wasn’t one Jack had expected. “Uh. I just can.”

“But you have no runes!” She turned her hand around to show him the back, and a small glowing object seemed to be imbedded in the skin. “It’s impossible to cast magic without a rune, so how’d you do that?”

Jack looked down at Jamie, but the wolf just tilted his head as if to say ‘I don’t understand, either.’ When he looked back up he nearly jumped—she’d covered the distance between them and was staring intently at his face. Jack leaned away, a nervous smile on his face. “Um, excuse me?”

“Where are you from?” she asked, but by her tone it was clear she spoke more to herself than anyone else present. “I’ve never seen anyone like you before. And to use magic without a rune… Is it imbedded in the staff?” She reached for the piece of wood and Jack quickly pulled it out of reach. She blinked in surprise, a faint blush darkening her cheeks, and Jack frowned.

“Hey, do I kn—“

Jamie nudged them just then, and she glanced down at him with the same bird-like quickness as before. “You have a strange choice of pet,” she said, and Jack couldn’t help the quick, humorless laugh that bubbled up.

“Hardly. He’s not a pet, and you’re changing the subject. Just who are you?” He glanced around the lush forest. “Where are we?”

“Like you don’t know,” she said, the hint of a nervous laugh coloring her words. The boy and wolf stared back at her and she frowned. “How do you not know?” She turned then, scanning the forests, before looking back at them and gesturing. “Follow me.”

She was gone before Jack could say anything, and with a shrug he darted after her, Jamie bounding along beside him. They didn’t have far to travel, though; she led them to a campsite perhaps five minutes from where they arrived. A single tent stood before the remains of a campfire, the embers still glowing faintly. The woman kicked some more dirt over the fire pit before she began disassembling her tent with the efficiency born of practice.

“I have a lot of area to cover,” she said, flitting about after the tent disappeared into a travel sack. “So we can talk and walk.”

“You assume we’re going with you,” Jack said guardedly. Jamie looked relaxed beside him, sitting on his haunches as he scanned the area.

“Well, yes, of course,” the woman said, not even sparing them a glance. “We both have unanswered questions, and I’m curious how to help your friend there.”

“Huh?”

She turned to look at them then, a small smile tugging at her lips. “I’m not the best magician, but I can sense powerful magic, and your wolf reeks of it. And I think Sage Nicholas can help.”

Jack rubbed at his temples. “Who?”

“Sage Nicholas. He’s the man I’m going to see.”

“I still don’t even know your name.”

She paused at that, her face darkening again. “My name is Toothiana. You haven’t quite introduced yourself either, you know.”

Jamie snorted at that, a strange sound for a wolf to make, and Jack playfully tapped his side with the butt of his staff. Ice nipped at the wolf’s flank and he yelped in surprise, and Jack laughed.

“I’m Jack, and this here is Jamie.”

She nodded at them both and then kicked more dirt over the embers before lifting up the large pack she’d stuffed all her gear into. It was comically huge against her back, but she managed well enough as she led them back through the trees and to a faint trail.

“So, about those unanswered questions?” Jack asked after they’d walked in uneasy silence for a while.

“Oh, yes,” she said, still walking. “Where are we? We’re on the Seishin Pass. It’s not very long, but it is far from anything remotely like civilization so not many people come here. And I’ve already told you who I am, so now it’s your turn.” She moved closer, looking him over with those quick little movements she did. “Where are you from? How do you use runeless magic?”

“Hey, hey, you didn’t really tell us where we were, you just gave us a name.” He backed away a bit nervously. “Not my turn yet.”

“Because the name explains it!” She moved in again, reaching up to brush his bangs from his forehead, only to pull her hand away quickly in surprise. “You’re so cold! Are you alright?”

“We’re not exactly from around here, so the name doesn’t mean much,” he said, skirting over the rest of the questions. “Are we in Faron? Ordona?”

Toothiana shook her head. “I don’t know those lands. This is Holy Harmonia, near Mt. Maya and the border of the Grasslands.”

Jamie tilted his head at that, and Jack stared at the woman. “Where?”

She sighed. “This is obviously getting us nowhere. I hope the Sage can help us, because I’m at a loss.” She gave Jack one last long stare and then started along the path again.

“Why do you keep doing that?” Jack asked after a long silence, walking beside Toothiana.

“Doing what?”

“Staring at my face.”

“Oh!” She laughed nervously. “I was looking for rune marks, since I hadn’t seen them on your hands.” She glanced up at the sun hanging above them. “We still have a few hours before we reach the end of the path and the Sage’s home,” she babbled quickly, and Jack smirked at the obvious subject change. “You’re not tired or anything, are you?”

Jamie whined softly and she paused, kneeling and gently laying a hand along his snout. “I’m sure we’ll find a way to help you, don’t worry.”

The rest of the journey went quietly enough. Toothiana walked quickly, her steps light. Jack spent most of his time taking in their surroundings, amazed at the vibrancy of color. His own Realm was beautiful, of course, but where all he’d known was the greys and whites of a frozen world, muted skies and quiet forests, life bloomed everywhere around him here. Sure, the elves and yetis could be loud when they wanted, and if one knew where to look they could find beautiful winter flowers that burst with color in a sea of snow, but ever since Zant usurped the Realm and warped everything, there’d been perpetual silence and grey that ate away at Jack and sapped his strength.

But here? Here he felt alive.

“This place is beautiful,” he said after a long silence, and Toothiana smiled.

“Holy Harmonia is the most beautiful of all the lands. My father believed so, too.” Her brows drew together as she frowned. “That’s why I—“

Jamie growled suddenly, and then the world shook around them. Jack tried to take to the skies, but the wind wouldn’t heed his call, and he fell backwards. Toothiana shouted something, but Jack couldn’t make out the words over the rumbling all around them.

The earthquake lasted for what felt an eternity, and as the world slowly stopped rolling a loud roar echoed through the skies. Jamie’s ears pressed back against his head and he growled, but couldn’t keep his footing as he stumbled about. Toothiana remained crouched down, her hands bracing her to either side as she turned her head back and forth quickly, taking everything in.

“Is everyone alright?” she asked, her voice strained.

“Fine,” Jack answered, hauling himself up to his feet. He swung his staff, checking for any cracks or a change in the balance, but everything was fine. But when he tried to call the wind again, nothing happened.

“I don’t understand, there’s never been an earthquake here before. And that sound…” She trailed off and suddenly surged to her feet, nearly toppling over before she got her bearings. “Oh no, North!”

She dashed off up the path, and was around a bend before Jack could call out. “Aw man, c’mon,” he said, darting after her and gesturing for Jamie to follow. The great white wolf shook himself and ran after, his loping strides easily catching up to the two humans.

They chased Toothiana all the way to the remains of a large house. The earthquake had felled most of it, with just a portion of the left wing upright. Timber lay all around them, mixed with broken glass and what looked like metal. Toothiana knelt on the ground, tears on her cheeks as she stared with wide eyes at the ruins.

“Is this..?” Jack ventured, crouching down beside her, his voice soft as he took in her pained expression. Jamie whined softly.

“Sage Nicholas,” she said, and turned tear-filled eyes to Jack. “North is gone.”


End chapter 1