Klingon Proverbs (Part I)
Gizban stared at the device, butterflies tumbling in his stomach. This was dangerous, the device still had a rather high failure rate. His mom had downplayed it repeatedly, only a twenty percent chance of temporal inaccuracy with a ten percent chance of a minor serious failure as she called it. Leave it to a gnome to call death a minor serious failure. Gizban smirked, he had that gnomish blood in him, if it weren’t for that blood he would never understand how to control the device, though the inner workings were still a mystery to him.
“Are you ready Giz?”
Mebane’s voice startled him out of his thoughts, “I’m ready mom, I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll miss you Giz, do what you can for us all.” Meb hugged her son choking back a tear, watching as he began adjusting the dials on the small device. The hum grew louder, turning almost into a screech, then in a bright flash of light they were gone. Meb stared at the vacant space tears rolling down her cheek, time becoming lost to the pain. Quietly she talked to the darkness, “Save them both Giz, do me proud.”
Stormwind was much as Gizban knew it, everything was in the same place, it just looked a bit newer… well, relatively, the keep was still well over a hundred years old. He had been through the place many times with his mother and knew every cobblestone. He quickly made his way towards the park hoping to find the Crimson staffed. It was dusk, but there was no way to know yet if he had landed in the right time frame.
The good news was that he hadn’t been hit with that ten percent, unfortunately there was still a twenty percent error rate in temporal placement. If the device worked perfectly it should be near the beginning of the pregnancy before word had gotten out. Gizban shook his head clearing his thoughts. He needed to know when he landed, but couldn’t reveal too much. If he admitted to who he was, if he said too much the timeline would change, then any information he had would become useless. People would change their actions knowing what would be to come, nothing he knew would be of use. He would have to ask some of his mother’s friends and hope for the best.
Stepping into The Crimson, Gizban looked around and quickly spotted a familiar face. Ravine was reclining at a table talking with someone. Gizban approached waiting to be acknowledged. Ravine looked up and smiled, for a moment, Giz expected Ravine to hug him as she so often greeted him. The moment faded as Ravine greeted him, “Hello there sir, can I help you?”
“Ahhh, certainly miss, I would like to chat if you have a minute, may I take a seat?”
Ravine smiled and motioned across the table, Gizban settled in and tried to sort his thoughts. He had long decided the direct approach would be the best, depending on where he landed there might not be much time, “Uhm, well, I would like to know of someone, do you happen to know if Mebane is pregnant?”
Ravine’s smile faded as she leaned back, looking Giz over trying to get a reading on his intentions, “I’m not sure I’m at liberty to discuss that, I think that’s something you should talk to her about.”
Gizban nodded, her reaction told him that she knew of the pregnancy, though it might also indicate it wasn’t common knowledge yet, “I take your reaction well, you’re obviously a good friend, a bit protective.” Gizban pulled the temporal device from his pocket and stared at it for a second, “It seems it worked about like it was supposed to, she built it well.”
Ravine stared across the table looking a bit lost, “I’m sorry sir, who did you say you are? And why does any of this concern you?”
Gizban looked up startled, and slipped the device back into his pocket, he couldn’t give his real name, it might tip someone off, “Oh… uhm… er… Sorry Ravine, I guess I never introduced myself, my friends call me Giz.”
Gizban watched across the table suddenly realizing he had never really heard her name either, Ravine didn’t seem to notice the slip though, “Quite so Giz, but that still doesn’t answer my other question, why does this concern you, what are you doing here?”
Gizban stared at the table, he wasn’t sure how to answer those questions, “I’m here to help, I’m afraid I can’t really say too much more, but I need you to understand I mean her no harm. I must also ask that you keep this conversation in confidence, please do not tell Grendel or Mebane what is said here, it’s important that I work discreetly.”
Ravine, sat back sizing up the man some more, unsure of his intentions. He spoke in riddles, asked dangerous questions, and asked for secrecy with little in return. Ravine was about to dig a bit more when a familiar voice called from the doorway, “Hiya Ravine! Who’s your friend?!”
Gizban jumped to his feet, staring at his mother, only quite a bit younger. It was eerie, he couldn’t help but look, though panic was setting in. He shouldn’t be too close, he had even decided to make a point of trying to avoid being in the same room as her. If he saw himself, if he touched his mother while she carried him in her womb, the consequences could be disastrous. Snapping to, Gizban worked up his best smile, “Uhm… my friends call me Giz, have a seat, we were just making small talk.”
Gizban stepped away from the table making as wide a berth as possible, waiting to see where she would sit, then made a point of sitting at the opposite end. He sighed in spite of himself. It appeared that Ravine was going to keep their conversation in confidence for the moment, though it killed what chances he had of learning precisely where he landed in the timeline. Gizban reclined in his chair making idle talk, resigned to working more later on finding out when exactly he was.
Gizban woke early the next morning. The spot by the fire in The Crimson was always such a wonderful place to sleep, very warm and cozy. Stretching out he found himself a bit to eat and sauntered up to the balcony. The day would be long as he waited for a chance to talk to someone he knew, or would know. It was becoming more obvious than ever that discovering when he was would be difficult, but there were few other options than direct questioning that he could think of.
The day was largely spent watching over the balcony, patrons coming and going, with little sign of anyone he knew. It wasn’t until the evening that finally he spotted a small form come through the door. Gizban smiled, he recognized Frore instantly, her purple hair standing out among the crowd. She had always been so nice to him when he visited as a child, perhaps she would be able to help him discover when he was.
Gizban walked from the balcony approaching Frore and Damon, “Greetings, I was hoping I might have a minute of your time.”
Damon looked Gizban over with his usual sneer, “Wot the frell do you need mate?”
Gizban shifted nervously and laughed in spite of himself, “Damon always the…”
Giz stopped mid sentence realizing where he was going. Frore looked quizzically at Damon, “Have you met this man before?”
Damon’s sneer turned meaner, incensed by the familiarity the stranger was showing, “roight…I ain’t got a clue who this sot is, wot th bloody ‘ell do ya want and Just who the ‘ell do ya think ya are?”
Gizban shifted nervously staring at the floor, he knew Damon’s temper all too well, “Please let’s go have a seat and I’ll be prompt I promise”
Damon rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, “Loik ‘ell oi will, ya best be getting to th point before oI lose my patience mate”
Gizban looked to the strangers around the room, this wasn’t the best place for this, but there was no other choice, leaning close he spoke in hushed tones, “I need to know, is Mebane’s pregnancy common knowledge yet and have there been threats on her life?”
Frore stared in shock before nervously looking about the room. Damon started to protest over the question before Frore gently took him by the arm, “Why don’t we find a seat in the balcony.”
“Like I said… after you”, Gizban motioned towards the stairs with a bemused look. He waited patiently at the top for Frore to take her seat before settling in, “I apologize for being so blunt right now, but I must know, is her pregnancy common knowledge, and have there been threats against her yet?”
Gizban tried not to make eye contact with the warrior across from him, now seething fists clenched on the table, “You be makin’threats against me mates you sot? Oi’ll ‘ave you ripped limb fer limb, so oi suggest you be watchin what ya say next.”
The gnome sighed trying to calm Damon, “I don’t think that’s what he’s saying hon. Why don’t you head off for the warfront, I know you just received a summons”
The warrior gritted his teeth and stormed out wordlessly, the eyes of the others following him out the door. Frore managed a smile that Gizban knew all too well from gnomes. It said, “I hope this isn’t more ‘the reactors’ failing ‘ news”. Gizban chortled, gnomes could be so accommodating, it was a wonder that so many found them annoying, or for the Horde, simply wanted them dead.
“I don’t think I caught your name Mister…?”
“Ahh…. Well… my friends call me Giz, I guess I should have introduced myself Miss Frore.”
Gizban stared for a second realizing that he had never heard her name, well, at least not here, he hoped that she wouldn’t notice his slip up (that were seeming all too common). Luck played out well as she continued seemingly unaware of the faux pax, “Well, I’m not sure that’s information that should be given to just anyone, nor that I’m really at liberty to discuss it. Have you asked Mebane yet?”
“Well… er…. That is… I would prefer if she was mostly unaware of my presence and my questions, it’s really for her protection, it’s safer for her that way”, Giz sighed finding a recurring theme among the Retribution, they were all cautious but it was hurting his endeavors.
“Oh and what would happen if she knew about this?”
“It’s hard to say exactly, but it could be harmful to her, please just trust that I have the best of intentions, I really must know these things.”
Frore leaned back obviously unimpressed, just as she was about to speak a familiar voice rang from the lower deck leaving Gizban’s stomach doing a summersault. Mebane had returned again. It would seem that getting the information was nearly impossible, hell keeping his distance from his mother was almost as bad!
Meb came up the stairs, her belly bulging slightly as she greeted them, “Hiya! Frore! Oh… uhm heya Giz, back to the Crimson again?”
Frore chimed in quickly a bit surprised, “You two have met?”
“Just briefly the other night, Giz was fairly quiet, didn’t say much” Meb settled into a chair rubbing her ankles.
“I must apologize, I was a bit weary from my travels, how are you doing Mo…eeebane?”
Frore interrupted speaking in Gnomish, “Meb, I’m concerned about him, he’s been asking all kinds of questions about you and the kids.”
“What? What kinds of questions?”, Meb responded in Gnomish
Both the gnomes stared as Giz responded, “I assure you I mean no one any harm, I’m really just here to help”
The gnomes stared incredulously, “Meb, do you think he understood us?”
Her answer came all too quickly, “Is it that strange that I know Gnomish? And I also wish to show you my intentions, I could have listened and used your conversation against you, please take this as a sign of my sincerity.”
The gnomes stared in surprise, jaws hanging open. Meb’s expression turned from surprise into one of anger as she leapt onto the table, “All right you! I’ve had it! I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell you’re doing here before I beat you into a pulp with my staff!”
The young warrior jumped back trying to keep his distance, “No please! You musn’t get too close! Please, anything that might hurt you will most likely affect me as well, I really mean you no harm!”
Meb grabbed her staff stepping slowly towards Gizban, “Sounds like a load of hogwash! You’re just afraid to get beat up by a gnome! Now start talking! Who the hell are you! Why are you asking questions!”
“I..I!.... I can’t tell you! It would ruin everything! Please don’t ask me to talk about that!” Gizban backed up cautiously hands in front of him, eyes wide in fear.
Meb took a swing with her staff, coming inches from Gizban’s groin, the young warrior rolling out of the way, ending up kneeling against a wall in the corner, “I’ve heard better excuses from the Stormwind Orphans! You’re a damned assassin sent by those bigots in Darnassus! I want to know who you’re working for now or I’ll just have to beat it out of you!”
Gizban screamed as Meb raised her staff to beat the warrior over the head, pausing as she heard his desperate cry, “Mother please no!”
Meb and Frore stared at the man kneeling practically in tears, Frore was the first to speak, “Meb? What is this Meb?”
“Please mother, it’s too late now, I’ll tell you what I must, but for both our sakes, you cannot touch me, If you do we would both die quickly and horribly.”
Meb stared incredulously, “My children aren’t born yet, you expect me to believe you’re my son?”
“You built a device in the future, it was done from schematics that you found in your father’s lab in Gnomeregan. That device used materials from the Caverns of Time in the outlands to manipulate the flow of chronatoms in a fixed manner to alter the flow of time. It was a time warp device mom.”, Gizban took the small device out of his pocket placing it on the fkloor and rolling it across.
Meb picked it up inspecting it carefully, keeping Gizban in her sight from the corner of her eye. Frore stood wide eyed surveying things, waiting for a reaction from Meb, “It looks a lot like the one from the schematics, but it’s not exactly the same.”
“No, you had to modify your father’s schematics, his never worked properly because he needed critical components, essences of the chronatoms and minerals that had long time exposure to their flux were needed for proper displacement. Sadly, the power supply was very limited, this was a one way trip for me.”
“I’m not sure I understand Meb, is that right? Do you think he’s really your son?” Frore’s eyes looked worried, still uncertain of the situation despite the new calm.
“The schematics have been rather confusing even to me, but what he’s saying does make sense. As for if he’s my son…”, Meb straightened up looking at Gizban, “Oak and I had chosen names for the children, two each since we don’t know what sex they would be. What were they?”
Gizban smiled in relief, “Gizban Buzz Oakheart, for your father is my name, it was chosen by yourself. The other name was Grendel Oakheart junior, also chosen by yourself. As it turns out the other child is a girl, Lorielle will be her given name, chosen for Oak’s mother, and Mebling would have been the other name, also given by father, for his pet name for you.”
“Is that right Meb? Does he know these things?”
“It is right, and only an extremely small handful, perhaps two at most, besides Oak and myself know these things. I’m not ready to say for sure he is my son, but perhaps we should listen to him at least. But I also want you to come clean Giz, if you’re here to help, then we need to know everything we can.”
Gizban sighed as he escorted the pair to a table downstairs. He went through everything, describing how his sister died in birth, caused prematurely from a drug being introduced into Meb’s food. How an assassin had indeed been hired and would strike at Meb within two weeks in the city of Shattrath.
Meb and Frore listened intently, seemingly in disbelief. Eventually Meb sighed rubbing her head before excusing herself, “I need to sort this out, some time to myself. If I think it through we can come up with something, and especially a way to verify your claims Giz.” Meb strolled out of the tavern, the sound of Firechicken being kick started into action and dashing away into Stormwind.
Gizban followed suit, excusing himself from Frore. He laid back in front of the fireplace trying not to cry to himself. He may have just ruined everything. He had told it all to them, the timeline would be changed, everything would change. Giz’s thoughts turned for a second. No, not everything, he had managed to keep some to himself. They still had no idea that Oak would die before it was done too. With any luck he could use the knowledge he had of the future to prevent that travesty. His mother often cried at night, talking to Oak through her mental link, through the void of death even. He knew that she missed his father. Somewhere in the back of Gizban’s thought’s he hoped his mother wouldn’t do anything rash after he left.
*********
Meb put down her tools, and looked at her fresh creation, a voice soothing and pleading sank into her thoughts, “No Su Mushal, not like this, please there will be plenty of time for us later.”
Meb relaxed her eyes letting her thoughts join with her deceased husband’s, “There is only us love, If he succeded then it has not affected this timeline and there is only me. If he was alive he would be here right now one way or another, no it is just us and I am ready to be together again.” Meb pulled the rather large explosive into her lap, her last creation, a small note in a box in case anyone should find her remains.
“Mushal, there is more you can do, we can both wait, think about it Mushal!”
“I’ve thought of it plenty, I’m ready to be with you again.”
“Please Mebling! Not like this! Give it some time!”
“I did, I set the timer for ten seconds, it’s got three left right now…”
“That’s not what I meant, I want to see you Mushal but it can wait please!”
“Too late…”
Deep in the forest of Elwynn, a large ball of fire sprang from the ground, light and heat drawing the attention of the inhabitants for miles around, long before the sound reached them a locked fireproofed container the only indication of what had taken place.
“Are you ready Giz?”
Mebane’s voice startled him out of his thoughts, “I’m ready mom, I’ll see you soon.”
“I’ll miss you Giz, do what you can for us all.” Meb hugged her son choking back a tear, watching as he began adjusting the dials on the small device. The hum grew louder, turning almost into a screech, then in a bright flash of light they were gone. Meb stared at the vacant space tears rolling down her cheek, time becoming lost to the pain. Quietly she talked to the darkness, “Save them both Giz, do me proud.”
Stormwind was much as Gizban knew it, everything was in the same place, it just looked a bit newer… well, relatively, the keep was still well over a hundred years old. He had been through the place many times with his mother and knew every cobblestone. He quickly made his way towards the park hoping to find the Crimson staffed. It was dusk, but there was no way to know yet if he had landed in the right time frame.
The good news was that he hadn’t been hit with that ten percent, unfortunately there was still a twenty percent error rate in temporal placement. If the device worked perfectly it should be near the beginning of the pregnancy before word had gotten out. Gizban shook his head clearing his thoughts. He needed to know when he landed, but couldn’t reveal too much. If he admitted to who he was, if he said too much the timeline would change, then any information he had would become useless. People would change their actions knowing what would be to come, nothing he knew would be of use. He would have to ask some of his mother’s friends and hope for the best.
Stepping into The Crimson, Gizban looked around and quickly spotted a familiar face. Ravine was reclining at a table talking with someone. Gizban approached waiting to be acknowledged. Ravine looked up and smiled, for a moment, Giz expected Ravine to hug him as she so often greeted him. The moment faded as Ravine greeted him, “Hello there sir, can I help you?”
“Ahhh, certainly miss, I would like to chat if you have a minute, may I take a seat?”
Ravine smiled and motioned across the table, Gizban settled in and tried to sort his thoughts. He had long decided the direct approach would be the best, depending on where he landed there might not be much time, “Uhm, well, I would like to know of someone, do you happen to know if Mebane is pregnant?”
Ravine’s smile faded as she leaned back, looking Giz over trying to get a reading on his intentions, “I’m not sure I’m at liberty to discuss that, I think that’s something you should talk to her about.”
Gizban nodded, her reaction told him that she knew of the pregnancy, though it might also indicate it wasn’t common knowledge yet, “I take your reaction well, you’re obviously a good friend, a bit protective.” Gizban pulled the temporal device from his pocket and stared at it for a second, “It seems it worked about like it was supposed to, she built it well.”
Ravine stared across the table looking a bit lost, “I’m sorry sir, who did you say you are? And why does any of this concern you?”
Gizban looked up startled, and slipped the device back into his pocket, he couldn’t give his real name, it might tip someone off, “Oh… uhm… er… Sorry Ravine, I guess I never introduced myself, my friends call me Giz.”
Gizban watched across the table suddenly realizing he had never really heard her name either, Ravine didn’t seem to notice the slip though, “Quite so Giz, but that still doesn’t answer my other question, why does this concern you, what are you doing here?”
Gizban stared at the table, he wasn’t sure how to answer those questions, “I’m here to help, I’m afraid I can’t really say too much more, but I need you to understand I mean her no harm. I must also ask that you keep this conversation in confidence, please do not tell Grendel or Mebane what is said here, it’s important that I work discreetly.”
Ravine, sat back sizing up the man some more, unsure of his intentions. He spoke in riddles, asked dangerous questions, and asked for secrecy with little in return. Ravine was about to dig a bit more when a familiar voice called from the doorway, “Hiya Ravine! Who’s your friend?!”
Gizban jumped to his feet, staring at his mother, only quite a bit younger. It was eerie, he couldn’t help but look, though panic was setting in. He shouldn’t be too close, he had even decided to make a point of trying to avoid being in the same room as her. If he saw himself, if he touched his mother while she carried him in her womb, the consequences could be disastrous. Snapping to, Gizban worked up his best smile, “Uhm… my friends call me Giz, have a seat, we were just making small talk.”
Gizban stepped away from the table making as wide a berth as possible, waiting to see where she would sit, then made a point of sitting at the opposite end. He sighed in spite of himself. It appeared that Ravine was going to keep their conversation in confidence for the moment, though it killed what chances he had of learning precisely where he landed in the timeline. Gizban reclined in his chair making idle talk, resigned to working more later on finding out when exactly he was.
Gizban woke early the next morning. The spot by the fire in The Crimson was always such a wonderful place to sleep, very warm and cozy. Stretching out he found himself a bit to eat and sauntered up to the balcony. The day would be long as he waited for a chance to talk to someone he knew, or would know. It was becoming more obvious than ever that discovering when he was would be difficult, but there were few other options than direct questioning that he could think of.
The day was largely spent watching over the balcony, patrons coming and going, with little sign of anyone he knew. It wasn’t until the evening that finally he spotted a small form come through the door. Gizban smiled, he recognized Frore instantly, her purple hair standing out among the crowd. She had always been so nice to him when he visited as a child, perhaps she would be able to help him discover when he was.
Gizban walked from the balcony approaching Frore and Damon, “Greetings, I was hoping I might have a minute of your time.”
Damon looked Gizban over with his usual sneer, “Wot the frell do you need mate?”
Gizban shifted nervously and laughed in spite of himself, “Damon always the…”
Giz stopped mid sentence realizing where he was going. Frore looked quizzically at Damon, “Have you met this man before?”
Damon’s sneer turned meaner, incensed by the familiarity the stranger was showing, “roight…I ain’t got a clue who this sot is, wot th bloody ‘ell do ya want and Just who the ‘ell do ya think ya are?”
Gizban shifted nervously staring at the floor, he knew Damon’s temper all too well, “Please let’s go have a seat and I’ll be prompt I promise”
Damon rested a hand on the hilt of his sword, “Loik ‘ell oi will, ya best be getting to th point before oI lose my patience mate”
Gizban looked to the strangers around the room, this wasn’t the best place for this, but there was no other choice, leaning close he spoke in hushed tones, “I need to know, is Mebane’s pregnancy common knowledge yet and have there been threats on her life?”
Frore stared in shock before nervously looking about the room. Damon started to protest over the question before Frore gently took him by the arm, “Why don’t we find a seat in the balcony.”
“Like I said… after you”, Gizban motioned towards the stairs with a bemused look. He waited patiently at the top for Frore to take her seat before settling in, “I apologize for being so blunt right now, but I must know, is her pregnancy common knowledge, and have there been threats against her yet?”
Gizban tried not to make eye contact with the warrior across from him, now seething fists clenched on the table, “You be makin’threats against me mates you sot? Oi’ll ‘ave you ripped limb fer limb, so oi suggest you be watchin what ya say next.”
The gnome sighed trying to calm Damon, “I don’t think that’s what he’s saying hon. Why don’t you head off for the warfront, I know you just received a summons”
The warrior gritted his teeth and stormed out wordlessly, the eyes of the others following him out the door. Frore managed a smile that Gizban knew all too well from gnomes. It said, “I hope this isn’t more ‘the reactors’ failing ‘ news”. Gizban chortled, gnomes could be so accommodating, it was a wonder that so many found them annoying, or for the Horde, simply wanted them dead.
“I don’t think I caught your name Mister…?”
“Ahh…. Well… my friends call me Giz, I guess I should have introduced myself Miss Frore.”
Gizban stared for a second realizing that he had never heard her name, well, at least not here, he hoped that she wouldn’t notice his slip up (that were seeming all too common). Luck played out well as she continued seemingly unaware of the faux pax, “Well, I’m not sure that’s information that should be given to just anyone, nor that I’m really at liberty to discuss it. Have you asked Mebane yet?”
“Well… er…. That is… I would prefer if she was mostly unaware of my presence and my questions, it’s really for her protection, it’s safer for her that way”, Giz sighed finding a recurring theme among the Retribution, they were all cautious but it was hurting his endeavors.
“Oh and what would happen if she knew about this?”
“It’s hard to say exactly, but it could be harmful to her, please just trust that I have the best of intentions, I really must know these things.”
Frore leaned back obviously unimpressed, just as she was about to speak a familiar voice rang from the lower deck leaving Gizban’s stomach doing a summersault. Mebane had returned again. It would seem that getting the information was nearly impossible, hell keeping his distance from his mother was almost as bad!
Meb came up the stairs, her belly bulging slightly as she greeted them, “Hiya! Frore! Oh… uhm heya Giz, back to the Crimson again?”
Frore chimed in quickly a bit surprised, “You two have met?”
“Just briefly the other night, Giz was fairly quiet, didn’t say much” Meb settled into a chair rubbing her ankles.
“I must apologize, I was a bit weary from my travels, how are you doing Mo…eeebane?”
Frore interrupted speaking in Gnomish, “Meb, I’m concerned about him, he’s been asking all kinds of questions about you and the kids.”
“What? What kinds of questions?”, Meb responded in Gnomish
Both the gnomes stared as Giz responded, “I assure you I mean no one any harm, I’m really just here to help”
The gnomes stared incredulously, “Meb, do you think he understood us?”
Her answer came all too quickly, “Is it that strange that I know Gnomish? And I also wish to show you my intentions, I could have listened and used your conversation against you, please take this as a sign of my sincerity.”
The gnomes stared in surprise, jaws hanging open. Meb’s expression turned from surprise into one of anger as she leapt onto the table, “All right you! I’ve had it! I want to know who the hell you are and what the hell you’re doing here before I beat you into a pulp with my staff!”
The young warrior jumped back trying to keep his distance, “No please! You musn’t get too close! Please, anything that might hurt you will most likely affect me as well, I really mean you no harm!”
Meb grabbed her staff stepping slowly towards Gizban, “Sounds like a load of hogwash! You’re just afraid to get beat up by a gnome! Now start talking! Who the hell are you! Why are you asking questions!”
“I..I!.... I can’t tell you! It would ruin everything! Please don’t ask me to talk about that!” Gizban backed up cautiously hands in front of him, eyes wide in fear.
Meb took a swing with her staff, coming inches from Gizban’s groin, the young warrior rolling out of the way, ending up kneeling against a wall in the corner, “I’ve heard better excuses from the Stormwind Orphans! You’re a damned assassin sent by those bigots in Darnassus! I want to know who you’re working for now or I’ll just have to beat it out of you!”
Gizban screamed as Meb raised her staff to beat the warrior over the head, pausing as she heard his desperate cry, “Mother please no!”
Meb and Frore stared at the man kneeling practically in tears, Frore was the first to speak, “Meb? What is this Meb?”
“Please mother, it’s too late now, I’ll tell you what I must, but for both our sakes, you cannot touch me, If you do we would both die quickly and horribly.”
Meb stared incredulously, “My children aren’t born yet, you expect me to believe you’re my son?”
“You built a device in the future, it was done from schematics that you found in your father’s lab in Gnomeregan. That device used materials from the Caverns of Time in the outlands to manipulate the flow of chronatoms in a fixed manner to alter the flow of time. It was a time warp device mom.”, Gizban took the small device out of his pocket placing it on the fkloor and rolling it across.
Meb picked it up inspecting it carefully, keeping Gizban in her sight from the corner of her eye. Frore stood wide eyed surveying things, waiting for a reaction from Meb, “It looks a lot like the one from the schematics, but it’s not exactly the same.”
“No, you had to modify your father’s schematics, his never worked properly because he needed critical components, essences of the chronatoms and minerals that had long time exposure to their flux were needed for proper displacement. Sadly, the power supply was very limited, this was a one way trip for me.”
“I’m not sure I understand Meb, is that right? Do you think he’s really your son?” Frore’s eyes looked worried, still uncertain of the situation despite the new calm.
“The schematics have been rather confusing even to me, but what he’s saying does make sense. As for if he’s my son…”, Meb straightened up looking at Gizban, “Oak and I had chosen names for the children, two each since we don’t know what sex they would be. What were they?”
Gizban smiled in relief, “Gizban Buzz Oakheart, for your father is my name, it was chosen by yourself. The other name was Grendel Oakheart junior, also chosen by yourself. As it turns out the other child is a girl, Lorielle will be her given name, chosen for Oak’s mother, and Mebling would have been the other name, also given by father, for his pet name for you.”
“Is that right Meb? Does he know these things?”
“It is right, and only an extremely small handful, perhaps two at most, besides Oak and myself know these things. I’m not ready to say for sure he is my son, but perhaps we should listen to him at least. But I also want you to come clean Giz, if you’re here to help, then we need to know everything we can.”
Gizban sighed as he escorted the pair to a table downstairs. He went through everything, describing how his sister died in birth, caused prematurely from a drug being introduced into Meb’s food. How an assassin had indeed been hired and would strike at Meb within two weeks in the city of Shattrath.
Meb and Frore listened intently, seemingly in disbelief. Eventually Meb sighed rubbing her head before excusing herself, “I need to sort this out, some time to myself. If I think it through we can come up with something, and especially a way to verify your claims Giz.” Meb strolled out of the tavern, the sound of Firechicken being kick started into action and dashing away into Stormwind.
Gizban followed suit, excusing himself from Frore. He laid back in front of the fireplace trying not to cry to himself. He may have just ruined everything. He had told it all to them, the timeline would be changed, everything would change. Giz’s thoughts turned for a second. No, not everything, he had managed to keep some to himself. They still had no idea that Oak would die before it was done too. With any luck he could use the knowledge he had of the future to prevent that travesty. His mother often cried at night, talking to Oak through her mental link, through the void of death even. He knew that she missed his father. Somewhere in the back of Gizban’s thought’s he hoped his mother wouldn’t do anything rash after he left.
*********
Meb put down her tools, and looked at her fresh creation, a voice soothing and pleading sank into her thoughts, “No Su Mushal, not like this, please there will be plenty of time for us later.”
Meb relaxed her eyes letting her thoughts join with her deceased husband’s, “There is only us love, If he succeded then it has not affected this timeline and there is only me. If he was alive he would be here right now one way or another, no it is just us and I am ready to be together again.” Meb pulled the rather large explosive into her lap, her last creation, a small note in a box in case anyone should find her remains.
“Mushal, there is more you can do, we can both wait, think about it Mushal!”
“I’ve thought of it plenty, I’m ready to be with you again.”
“Please Mebling! Not like this! Give it some time!”
“I did, I set the timer for ten seconds, it’s got three left right now…”
“That’s not what I meant, I want to see you Mushal but it can wait please!”
“Too late…”
Deep in the forest of Elwynn, a large ball of fire sprang from the ground, light and heat drawing the attention of the inhabitants for miles around, long before the sound reached them a locked fireproofed container the only indication of what had taken place.