Ranma readied his pack, bracing himself for the short journey to the nearby Night Elf village of Ashenvale. From there, a small party of volunteer adventurers would guide them to Auberdine, and from there, the Night Elf homeland of Teldrasil.
Along with the weavers, several warriors had been chosen to guide the small caravan of traders. However, considering how most of their fighters would have to stay behind and guard the rest of the Kumojin, Ranma, the best fighter they had, was asked to come along.
He had been assured that he wouldn't have to go near any cat type beasts.
Nabiki and (Morisato) Megumi had also been elected to go, as Nabiki was one of the best at negotiating contracts and organizing trade agreements. Megumi, her partner in crime and love, was also eager to learn more about whatever technology these Night Elves may have.
Kasumi, however, had to be asked by Belldandy to venture forth, and even then, she was reluctant to go without Skuld. This ended abruptly when Skuld leaped at the chance to join the party towards Darnassus.
When asked later, Skuld just cackled maniacally. Kasumi was amused.
Everyone else was nervously looking for the nearest exit.
Ranma's wives volleyed for chances to go, but in the end, Ranma insisted that they stay to watch over the eggs. He didn't want anything to happen to his potential children, and the demons could return at any moment.
After an immensely teary departure (Ranma thought he'd never be able to leave), the party of twenty weavers, twelve volunteer helpers, seven understudies, seventeen warriors, and the above mentioned leaders ventured forth into the unknown.
TWO DAYS LATER:
Aurora sighed, and then sneezed.
The young Draenei maiden was only an acolyte on the path of Shamanism, but she was often taken by odd trances and could sometimes glimpse future happenings. However, the sheer randomness that made it occur made her a figure of confusion amongst her teachers. In the end, it was decided that she should venture out and try her hand as a wandering hero of sorts.
With her was her best friend, Laurana Moonsong, a Night Elf priest trainee who had also been permitted to go out into the world. They had often met up during their training, and were quite close.
As their journey made its way into Ashenvale, a Sentinel met up with them and asked if they would be willing to help guide the representatives of a new race and possible ally back to Darnassus, where the leaders of the Alliance would converge to discuss things. The girls agreed, and were partnered with another group of adventurers.
This group was lead by Dwarven hunter Flint Ironhunter, who had chosen to go out with his brother in arms, Ashti Steamwagon, who was the magical artillery of the group (aka, he was a mage). They had been adventuring in the area, and had been asked to come along.
The small party were waiting on the outskirts of Astranaar, ready to meet the Kumojin. All four had been briefed on the odd make up of the new race, as well as the unusual fear that one of their leaders had (hence, no cats were out, and they had taken care to get rid of any of the local stock).
Finally, as Ashti was starting to get to his fifth dirty joke (Flint thought they were funny, and Laurana didn't mind it all that much, but Aurora was starting to get annoyed), the party appeared.
It was lead by a young human looking man with black hair pulled back into a pigtail, and a serene looking woman with long brown hair, six arms, and eight eyes. There were many others with them, some looking like a strange cross between spider and human, and others had strange black skin, multi-faceted eyes, and long fangs.
It was lucky they were prewarned, because some of them looked quite fierce.
As they got closer, Aurora stood from where they were sitting, and then felt head spin.
Then, there was darkness...
Laurana immediately realized that there was something wrong.
Aurora often had strange fits, where she would enter a trace-like state. Sometimes, they were harmless, like the time where Aurora felt the spirit of a mother dear come upon her, leading her to a young orphaned fawn who was starving to death.
Other times they could be quite embarrassing, like when a bear spirit possessed her and lead her to help fend off invading nagas from a nearby den... right when they were bathing in the nearby river.
Being called to help defend one's territory was one thing, but couldn't the damn beast wait until they were dressed, for Elune's sake?
She got up and nervously watched Aurora stumble towards the Kumojin lead male. As she, Flint and Ashti followed behind, they noticed a young human-looking girl move out from the rest of the Kumojin. This one seemed to have an odd feel to her aura, and had strange markings on her face. As she neared the leaders, she grabbed the female with multiple eyes and arms, and gently pulled her back a bit.
The male looked back, confused, but as he turned around, he was confronted with the Draenei girl... who immediately leaned forward and licked him on the lips.
As both groups watched, stunned, Aurora let out a meow, and then licked the male again.
Nabiki watched the odd quartet closely. There was an obvious Night Elf female there, and what looked to be a dwarf and a gnome out of the old fairy tales, but that blue woman thing just confused her. Beside her, Skuld looked at the group, blinked and grinned a grin that had Nabiki worried herself.
It was a grin that she would have smiled after something happened that, while unexpected, furthered a master-plan. She watched the girl dart up to Kasumi and pull her back.
And then she watched this strange girl-thing walk up to her brother in law and lick him on the lips.
After the moment of shock passed, she was about to move up and interfere (Akane and Ukyo had both asked to ensure that Ranma not pick up any more strange girls), when the girl MEOWED of all things, and lick him again!
That's when things got really weird.
Normally the sound of a cat meowing was enough to really freak Ranma out badly, even if it was an obvious imitation. However, he stood there as if in a trance. Then even more meowing started.
It was not, however, from the odd female. As if by magic, ghostly cats seemed to pour out of Ranma's being, mewling and gathering around the blue being, who got on her hands and knees and started frolicking with them.
As the last cat-ghost leapt out of Ranma, he stumbled back, blinking, and then yelped in shock at the gathering before him. However, it was not the yelp of fear that usually preceded a trip into the Neko-ken. He just stood there, stunned at the ghost cats, who upon noticing him, moved forward and meowed at him.
And then, they just faded away...
At that point, the blue thing seemed to shake herself, and as Kasumi started casting translation prayers, asked, "Um, what did I just do...?"
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(Posted Thu, 30 Sep 2010 22:21)
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