||May 31, 2010, New Mexico, desert some miles outside of Puento Antiguo||
The Bifrost shot down in an epic lightshow, leaving behind runic marks of the Ancient Norse as well as two figures in the New Mexican desert.
One stood tall, dressed in shining, meticulous blue and green armor. The other was unconscious, dressed in but a shirt and pants, and lay sprawled on the ground.
Both men had long hair, though one was blonde, the other had hair in an odd, otherworldly shade of green. Yet both had imposing, chiseled bodies without equal among common men.
Most peculiar, however, was that one of them held a gigantic, magical-looking bow dripping with arcane energies. The other one had just been hit by a car.
The man who was still standing had pale pinkish skin, pointy ears and eyebrows, and glowing, seemingly pupil-less, amber eyes that were slowly scanning his surroundings until they settled on the car. An old all-terrain vehicle that looked ready for long roads and camping trips.
In a language nobody spoke on this planet they were on, or even in this universe, called Darnassian, the elven man whispered, "A car? Why are there cars in Outland?"
He grabbed his head in confusion, switched the language to another yet unspoken language in this world called Thalassian and quietly added, "Outland? No, I was just accompanying Lady Liadrin to Dalaran, and suddenly, the space violently twisted around me inside the portal we took."
He looked to his hands and found his most prized possession: Thori'Dal, The Star's Fury - the bow he was awarded after helping the elves of Quel'Thalas' Shattered Sun faction reclaim their Sunwell from the hands of Kil'Jaeden and his demonic following.
The elven man furrowed his brows in confusion.
To seek the council of the Naaru on the impending last stand of the Scourge after Deathwing resurfaced - too early according to Kal'thal's meta knowledge because it happened before the Lich King was completely dealt with - Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune and leader of the night elves had sent him, Kal'thal Ravencrest, to the Outlands, as an ambassador with a group of her most trusted priestesses of Elune.
He had just stepped through the Dark Portal in the Blasted Lands south of the Swamp of Sorrows, and instead of standing among the group of beautiful elven healers he was with, he found himself here.
In a desert.
With an actual car.
But at the same time, he was also Kal'thal Theron, youngest and sadly only remaining nephew of the blood elven Regent Lor'themar Theron and most priced apprentice of the feared Lady Liadrin. A paladin of the Sindorei's Blood Knights faction that only recently joined under the banner of the Knights of the Silver Hand to combat the impending next invasion of the Burning Legion.
Three people exited the Pinzgauer car that had hit the blonde man, and they spoke a language the elf recognized as... common? No, it was English!
"I... my soul is back as one?" Kal'thal wondered out loud as memories of the English language flooded his mind as he started to grasp that he was both of them once more. The night elf and the blood elf.
Once upon a time, the soul of Kal'thal had been a regular man on a planet called Earth. There, he played a game called World of Warcraft until his untimely demise. Upon his rebirth as two people at once, Kal'thal used his memories to steer the world of Azeroth into a future with less bloodshed and more hope for the future.
To do so, he started living a simultaneous, duplicate life, seeing and experiencing both at once. Two lives filled with adventure, politics, and legendary campaigns against 'evil'.
He freed Silithus from the clutches of the old god C'Thun together with the armies of the night elves and tauren. He freed Ulduar from the corruption of Yogg-Saron during the Northrend expedition. He did his best to stop the downfall of Guardian Medivh. Together with Lady Liadrin and aided by his night elven self, he led the blood elves to free The Sunwell from the Burning Legion's corruption and banished Kil'jaeden once more. He was made a general in the reclamation of the Outlands.
His cleverness and knowledge of the world made Illidan rejoin the Alliance instead of getting imprisoned by Maiev. He even taught Anduin Wrynn in the ways of the paladin and the holy light to foster the relationship between the blood elves and the kingdom of Stormwind whilst stopping Onyxia's plot to frame the stone masons of the queen's murder.
These split existences of his hadn't been born at the same time but with a good dozen years between their births. Yet his perception was always at the same age for both long, elven lives. It was a little confusing at first, but it allowed him to make changes to the original timeline he was familiar with with more precision than he likely could have without the 'delay'.
And he was able to make tremendous changes come true.
Like the blood elves and the tauren joining the Alliance instead of the Horde. Or being the catalyst for Illidan's early redemption, strengthening the dragonflights, and stopping the creation of the Iron Horde.
As a night elf, he had been one of the most talented archers of his people, forged by unending practice, relentless training and the favor of his peoples' leaders. A hunter, a leader, a veritable one-man army turned general during the Alliance's campaign against Illidan Stormrage in his Black Temple and Prince Kael'thas Sunstrider in his Tempest Keep after the reopening of the Dark Portal.
Kal'thal was quickly promoted to be one of the first men to join the sentinels in a leading position even before Illidan rejoined the alliance with his 'Illidari'.
At the start of the campaign, he was groomed to be one of the most powerful sentinels Darnassus had ever seen by Tyrande Whisperwind, High Priestess of Elune, and Shandris Feathermoon, leader of the Sentinels, themselves.
As their most gifted and driven student, he led yet another campaign to free the Sunwell from the Legion's corruption and reclaimed the legendary bow Thori'Dal for his heroic actions against Kil'jaeden and his minions of the Burning Legion. The blood elves gave it to him on the counsel of his other self.
A way to mend broken fences and rekindle a fruitful relationship between the two elven civilizations and the cement by which the joining blood elves came to be true members of the Alliance once more.
As a blood elf, Kal'thal had been born a prince to his people. His talent with the blade was only overshadowed by his high attunement with the Light. Therefore, his uncle, Regent Lor'themar, had him groomed to be his right hand under the tutelage of Lady Liadrin herself, the most powerful blood elven paladin there was.
But more than that, Kal'thal Theron was born special even before he showed his talents. Taller than his brethren by a head, Kal'thal was born without his peoples' inherent flaw: the thirst for mana after the destruction of the Well of Eternity and taint of the Burning Legion upon the Sunwell. That alone made him the hope of his people.
The only reason his uncle hadn't made him a breeding pig for the female population of Quel'Thalas was that the man feared Kal'thal's progeny would turn into a second class of citizen by virtue of their blood. Outcasts to be feared or paragons to be worshipped.
"Hey, you alright?" The shorter, bespectacled of the two human women asked as she hurried over in a fluster. Once she reached him, all her bewilderment was replaced by excited curiosity, "Holy smokes, you're tall! What are you? Seven feet!?"
As he towered over her, the elven man formed an English sentence in his mind first for preparation. It had been much too long since he had spoken the language. With his address prepared, Kal'thal curiously inquired, "Who are you, if I may ask? My name is... Kal'thal."
"Darcy," she hurriedly answered in a dreamy voice but quickly snapped out of it. "Is that your real name? Is it, like, Asian or something? Are those ears real? No, are you, like, a cosplayer or something? Sick costume, dude! How did you get your eyes to look like that? Is that a mask? Contacts?"
She reached up to grab his ear but failed until Kal'thal bent down a little with an amused expression. This was a welcome distraction from the elf's spiraling emotions and he felt absolutely no threat from any of the people present.
Yes, he had urgent matters to attend to back on Azeroth. Two lives with many people depending on him. Two old gods and a mad titan leading his army were still doing their very best to corrupt the beings of his planet. But without anyone having knowledge about the secrets of space magic present, getting back wasn't something he could do immediately regardless. He would need to figure out where he was first, in that case.
"No, I'm certain the ears and eyes are real," Kal'thal offered with a soft grin.
"Woah," was all Darcy Lewis could add with stars in her eyes as she softly grasped his ears.
"And those special effects on your armor and bow? Are those LEDs or something?"
"Hmm, or something," Kal'thal non-confirmed after thinking about it. His training in diplomacy and politics kicked in.
He wasn't yet sure where he was or why they didn't recognize him as an elf. These humans had a strangely familiar fashion sense, as well as an odd car that he knew he had seen before. But he didn't know the common sense of this world yet, even if he knew that it must be a world similar to the one he first lived in because of the English language.
His upbringing as a prince among the blood elves told Kal'thal that if he was the only one with access to mana, diplomatic relations could get strained fast if he was perceived as too powerful. And even among his own people, he was outstanding already. Him wielding overwhelming power would be seen as a threat to the ruling party of these men. A threat to be neutralized by any means. Something he wished to prevent from happening as best as he could in an unknown world.
Just then, the elf looked back to the man that had been hit by the car and found him slowly sitting up in the arms of the other woman. Kal'thal's eyes widened and the mana in his body started getting agitated.
"Wow, your eyes glow!! How do you do that?"
"Chris Hemsworth as Thor?" Kal'thal mumbled in a lost voice as he looked at the two women and the older man to confirm the vague memories that were popping up in his mind. "I'm in the... MCU?"
"What are you saying? Did Jane hit you with her car as well?" Darcy worriedly inquired.
Kal'thal had lived centuries worth of two lives. His time on Earth had been mere three decades in comparison... It took him a moment to recollect the old memories that felt like several lifetimes ago.
He curiously tilted his head and started casting Greater Blessing of Kings on Thor to see if that made him worthy of Mjolnir and break the plot. But before he could, Kal'thal noticed... nothing happened.
Looking back down at his hands, he furrowed his brows a little and muttered in Darnassian, "Right, I'm a Kaldorei sentinel... too bad. Being a paladin had so much more potential for the MCU as I remember it..."
He noticed that Darcy looked at him like he was mad, but he unhurriedly continued his utterances, "At the very least, Thori'Dal requires no arrows but creates them with ambient mana. I doubt there's many fletchers around... wait, is there even mana in the Marvel universe?"
He drew the bow with all his strength, feeling the pleasant ethereal bowstring caress his fingers instead of cutting into them as a blue mana arrow constructed itself from particles coming from his hands and the air around him.
"How are you doing that!" Darcy loudly exclaimed in wonder, and that got the attention of everybody present.
"An elf? You don't look like any of the elves I know," Thor inquired with furrowed brows as he ignored his own distress for now. The humans were of no consequence, but the elf felt like a formidable warrior to the Asgardian. Remembering how someone crashed into him whilst traveling in the space tunnel, Thor asked, "How did you enter the Bifrost?"
"Space anomaly," Kal'thal explained tersely while looking down at the bow in his hands, barely paying attention to the Asgardian prince. "And you won't know me or my people. We are not from Alfheim or Swartalfheim."
"Space anomaly? Bifrost? Alfheim? Swaral-huh?" Jane Foster quickly asked as she picked up bits and pieces from the conversation yet understood close to none of it.
Kal'thal didn't answer and instead released the arrow he was looking at. It left a flickering trail of light in its wake as it silently shot through the desert and drew a beautiful, flat arc before it hit a boulder almost a mile away squarely.
Thor was about to mock the effectiveness of that arrow, not yet aware of his own powerlessness or the purposeful accuracy of the shot, but then the boulder split in two with faint blue light not too dissimilar from the color of the arrow coming from the crack.
Kal'thal furrowed his brows a little and drew the bow two additional times. He cleanly hit both halves of the same boulder at exactly the same time thanks to his prodigious talent and years of dedicated training.
The first shot blasted the half it hit in a small explosion of arcane energies. The second shot didn't do anything except keep the light blue arrow stuck in the half it hit. Buried inside the rock until most of it was hidden, it blinked an ominous orange-red light thrice in three seconds, and suddenly, the arrow completely obliterated the boulder half into little pebbles.
"What in the hell is happening?" Jane screeched in confusion as the other two humans on the scene visibly tensed up. The non-human among them, however, gave the elf a scrutinizing look up and down.
"Impressive marksmanship, my friend. Are you a sorcerer as well as an archer?" Thor curiously inquired, completely distracted from his own situation now after having assessed the elf's worth of a warrior a little better. He had been the only one who had clearly seen the arrows, their flight, and what they hit that far away.
Darcy just stared at Kal'thal with an enchanted expression when the sudden loud noise no longer scared her as Doctor Erik Selvig tried to wrap his head around what he was looking at, muttering, "I must be seeing things..."
But Kal'thal cared for none of it because in his vision, something closely resembling the classic WoW chat box appeared at the very edge of his field of view. He could clearly read it without focusing on it. He could perfectly see everything without the letters blocking even a speck in his vision.
[Skills used: Arcane Shot, Explosive Shot]
[Marksmanship profile fully integrated]
[Sentinel class partially activated]
[User @Kal'Thal ready to proceed with full class integration]
[To change to the Paladin class + Blood Knight subclass, confirm action.]
"Uh, confirm," Kal'thal mumbled, and suddenly his green hair changed to a pale golden blonde. His skin turned a little more tan - pink making way for a healthy golden hue - but the most visible change wasn't even his person itself.
No, his chainmail armor and his trusted bow disappeared. Instead, Kal'thal was now dressed in his shining, resplendent plate armor that appeared readily equipped on his body. The one his uncle had specially made just for him and his teacher that made the two stand out like a beacon wherever they went.
His orange with blood-red accent glowing shoulderplates and the floating crown above his head stood out especially - but only until he unhooked the gigantic two-handed sword from his back.
The 'Lustrous Daybreak Greatsword' had been a gift from his teacher, Lady Liadrin, after he had cast his first perfect Blood Knight version of Avenging Wrath. A holy light spell that was his teacher's favorite for the devastating amounts of damage he could do in a short moment with the spell active and because gaining beautiful golden wings of mana would make most women nod in contentment.
She had joked that the greatsword was the longest sword ever wielded by a Sindorei - and since it was a head taller than even he was, she had probably been right.
[Skills used: Blessing of Wisdom, Aura of Reckoning]
[Retribution profile fully integrated]
[Paladin class integration in progress]
After a small pause as the Holy Light soothed Kal's being, more chat messages appeared in his vision.
[Holy profile partially integrated]
[Protection profile partially integrated]
[Blood Knight
[
[Manual change of class on cooldown. Cooldown: 2h]
[Be aware. Classes change every 12 hours:]
[Blessed by Elune, the sentinel will reign supreme in the night and strike terror in his enemies. Blessed by the Light, the paladin shall avenge his allies and heal the wounded.]
[Smite thy enemies, User @Kal'Thal]
[All limits removed. Become the Light itself. Gain Elune's eternal favor.]
[Gain strength through battle. Receive a final blessing. The blessing of the hardworking:]
[Full integration of the following professions: Jewelcrafting, Enchanting, Cooking, Fishing]
[Materials of this world may be used freely. The ideal tools for the professions may be summoned and unsummoned at will.]
"Kal'thal? You still with us?" Darcy suddenly asked, though, from a safe distance next to Jane.
"You look hurt," Kal'thal said in reply, looking at Thor. He stabbed his sword into the ground and raised a hand.
A Word of Glory hit Thor and instantly healed the god of thunder's little scrapes from the car crash. They disappeared like they were never there, even the dirt and blood from the wounds vanished in specks of light. And all three humans could see it happening, Jane standing next to Thor especially.
"Holy shit!" Jane shouted with a disbelieving look. "Darcy! Did you put shrooms in our food or something!?"
"Oh my god, I think I just creamed my pants a little," Darcy whispered into Jane's ear in reply with urgency, who immediately took a step back and looked at Darcy like she was a lunatic.
"You're a noble healer as well? How did your appearance change in an instant?" Thor inquired with a small frown and started looking around in a guarded posture. "Are you a mirage sent by my brother? Loki!? Are you playing tricks on me!?"
"I am Kal'thal... yet I am also Kal'thal," the elf non-explained with a shrug.
"Darcy... did you slip him a shroom, too?" Jane furiously whispered in her assistant's ear.