The soul once known as Ryouga Hibiki had started in a favourable spot amid the crowd of thousands upon Athena's staging area. He hadn't been next to Akane, but within line-of-sight. It should not have been any great surprise to anyone who knew him in life, that he lost his goal in the act of pursuing it. In other words, when he tried to get close enough to Akane to talk to her, he got turned around in the maze of discorporated bodies and didn't manage to find his way up to the front for a good hour.
Once there, the first thing he noticed that Akane and her sisters were no longer standing in the place that (he was reasonably sure) they had been before. Looking around and jumping to see over other people's heads didn't reveal them anywhere (and resulted in him taking another trip to the back of the crowd, though this one only lasted a relatively short 30 minutes).
When he finally reached the front (partially aided by the fact that the crowd had thinned out a bit by then) he was nearly in a panic! Akane was nowhere to be found! While Athena's speeches to everyone had carried all the way to the back, he'd paid them only scant attention, focused as he was on finding Akane. Thusly, he had not caught the parts where the former Tendou sisters had been called up and chosen their new lives. Growing desperate, Ryouga pushed past the slightly indignant people who had been intending to step up next, and dashed over to that roman chick who seemed to be in charge.
"Hey you! Have you seen a girl named Akane Tendou?"
The goddess blinked at him. She was not accustomed to being addressed as 'hey you'. On the other hand, the boy didn't seem to mean it in a condescending way (like that self-righteous twit Tatewaki, whom Athena had delighted in debusing of his delusions of divine favour). Rather he just didn't seem to comprehend who and what she was, so she chose to be amused rather than wrathful.
Athena smiled at the frantic boy. "I did see a soul who was once a girl named Akane Tendou. With the disconnection to her former life, she's known as merely Akane now, just as everyone else here has lost their blood-ties to their former families."
Ryouga didn't quite get that, therefore he ignored it. "Where did she go?"
Athena sighed. "I take it you weren't paying attention when I explained all this before. Very well, since we have no real need to hurry things along... Each of you are going to be choosing one of these eight races behind me to live your new lives as, along with a class, or vocation if you prefer. Once you decide, you will begin your new lives on the world of Azeroth. The soul known to you as Akane was part of the first group to head on in."
Ryouga blinked, looking over the 16 bizarre figures behind her. "You mean... Akane changed into one of these? How will I know what she looks like?"
Athena shrugged. "Her facial features are almost exactly identical, as is the case wherever possible, depending on one's choice of race. More than that, since nearly all of you are going to be looking very different than you used to, I saw fit to include a sort of subconscious identification system. Once in Azeroth, all you have to do is look at a person and you'll immediately know their name, as well as a rough idea of how strong they are compared to yourself; sort of an instinctive classification of the person you see as 'too weak to bother fighting', 'easy kill' 'a fair challenge' 'tougher than me' 'a lot tougher than me' and 'I'd be like a mosquito biting a bear in the ass'."
Ryouga waved all that aside. "Yes yes, but I'll know her when I see her?"
Athena shrugged. "You'll know that the person your looking at's name is Akane, but there's probably a few other girls in this crowd with the same name. With the name and a close look at her face however, you shouldn't have too much trouble identifying her as the girl you knew before. Voice is usually a fairly close match for most races as well."
Ryouga nodded. "Okay, so I just have to pick one of these and I can go to where she is?"
Athena shook her head. "Not immediately. Most races start in different locations, with a couple exceptions. Also, you might want to know that the two factions don't speak each other's languages. If you want to go to where Miss Akane is right now, you'd have to pick the same race she did."
"And which was that?"
"The Night Elves." Athena replied.
"Okay, which ones are the Night Elves then?"
Athena blinked. "You can't tell just from looking?"
"I don't usually read fantasy novels much." Ryouga admitted.
Athena shook her head and sighed. "Alright. You see the human pair?"
Ryouga glanced at the line-up. "The blondes with the dumb looks on their faces?"
Athena grinned. "That's them. The Night Elves are standing to their left. Just walk through the male Night Elf model and you'll change into one. Then you can fine-tune your appearance a bit and choose a class to suit you. Walk through the class model just like the race model and you're set to go. Better hurry though, Miss Akane has a bit of a head start on you."
Ryouga nodded and immediately ran through the male of the race left of the humans, briefly wondering why Akane would want to look like the female of that race. Well, he supposed it was cute in its own way, though he thought she'd been perfect the way she was before. He definitely wasn't going to hold her new look against her, of course. He'd learn to like girls like that for her. It shouldn't be that hard, as much as he loved Akane for who she was.
As soon as he was through the race model, 5 more like the male model he'd run through appeared, along with a table filled with variations of the facial appearances he could choose. He didn't even slow down to look at them. He didn't care what he looked like, and they were all variations on the same theme anyway; he just wanted to get to Akane! He didn't stop running as he ran through the closest of the Class choice models. He didn't care what his job would be either; his whole purpose would be to be with Akane! Still not slowing down, Ryouga bolted through the creepy-looking gateway and into the new world he and Akane could share together.
One aspect of Athena's lectures had stuck in his mind, driving all other details into non-importance: all relations and relationships existing in their last life were gone or dissolved. Akane wasn't engaged to Ranma anymore, and further wasn't even connected to the Tendou family anymore, so if her father demanded she marry Ranma, there was no reason for her to listen, much less obey.
This was the chance Ryouga had been dreaming of for the last two years. There was now nothing to stand between Akane and him! (Well, other than his terminal shyness, or Akane's total obviousness to his feelings, but inconvenient details like that didn't rate mention in Ryouga's mindset.)
"HERE I COME, AKANE-SAN!"
~ ~ ~
Athena blinked as the lost boy bolted heedlessly through two models and then the gateway itself. It took her a moment to understand what she had just seen.
"I said 'on the human's left' not 'to the left of the humans'! Honestly! I'd always thought that lack of a directional sense was a genetic defect of his family, something like having no internal compass. I guess it must be tied into his karma somehow. Oh well, I hope that Akane girl of his likes beards. NEXT!"
~ ~ ~
Ryouga blinked as he took in his new surroundings. This didn't look much like the scene he'd seen through the gate before running through it. For one thing, wherever this was, it was winter here.
"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?"
"Ack lad, there's no need to shout now. Ye're in Coldridge Valley, in the land of Dun Morogh. I take it that since ye're a new arrival, ye'd be the new priest-in-training we'd been told to be expectin'. I'm Sten Stoutarm, an' I... Lad... did ye know ye've got that there robe on backwards?"
Ryouga, currently reduced in height to about 4'4", and increased in stocky girth by about 30% sideways in most places, was indeed wearing a thin white robe... backwards. There was a reason Athena had asked everyone to walk through the models from the rear. He stared down at his new body, with its bizarre dimensions. Each thigh was nearly as thick as his waist had been, and the arms were almost the same. He also had a good deal more body hair than he used to, including, incidentally, a thick black beard that covered almost his entire face and hung down to his belt.
The tag on the robe was tickling his throat in an unpleasant way, so he pulled the thing off and looked at it a moment before reluctantly putting it back on properly. It was winter here, after all, though the cold wind on his bare skin didn't chill him as much as he thought it should have. This body must be better adapted to the cold, which was nice as far as it went, but he'd still rather have the old one back. Maybe he should have just chosen human to look mostly like himself, then tracked Akane down a bit later.
"Why on Earth am I wearing a dress?" He grumbled.
"Here now lad! That there's no dress! Those are the robes of yer much respected calling! I don't know why you took it up if ye dinnae like the clothes that go with it so much. Though if ye really want, there's a cloth goods vendor up the road in Anvilmar who can put you in a vest sell ye the pants to match, though I'd be surprised if ye have any coin on ye. New adventurers usually don't when they come to me."
Ryouga looked confused. "My calling?"
Sten palmed his face, sliding his hand down to stroke his beard to try and keep his temper. "Aye, yer calling. You are a priest, aren't ye?"
Ryouga blinked. "I'm a damned priest?"
Sten threw up his hands in frustration. "Bloody hell lad! Do ye need me to tell ye even that much? What sort of priest are ye anyway?"
Ryouga shook his head in denial. "I'm not a priest! I'm a warrior on a training journey to beat my rival... or I was anyway, before I died I mean."
Sten stroked his beard some more, but it didn't seem to be helping. "Died now, have ye? An' here ye are standing in front of me, all corporal-like? Fancy that. Maybe ye were hitting the Thunder Ale a bit hard and had ye'self a wee strange dream or two. Anyway, if ye be awake now (an' damn but I hope so) you'd be wanting your first task on yer way to being a great and powerful priest someday, wouldn't ye?"
Ryouga moaned. "I don't want to be some wimpy priest!"
Sten grabbed Ryouga's beard and yanked him close. Though they were about the same height, Sten seemed to tower over him as he glared down menacingly, a wild and near-insane look in his eyes that spoke of being once step from snapping completely. "WOULDN'T YE?"
Ryouga swallowed and chuckled weakly. "Eheheh! Um... I suppose I would. I mean... aye."
Sten released the new priest's beard and composed himself, once again appearing the friendly, helpful mentor type. "Right then, down to business. I don't suppose you noticed, but it's a mite cold around here, and even though we dwarves don't mind the cold much, some nice warm gloves wouldn't be something ye'd turn down, would they?"
"I... suppose not."
Sten nodded. "For sure it helps to keep a good solid grip on yer mace or to wiggle yer fingers to cast them priestly magics of yours if'n yer fingers ain't gone all numb and stiff. Now I got me lots of good gloves; I work for an outfitting company, but I'm looking for some Tough Wolf Meat for me dinner. Ye wouldn't believe how hungry I've been getting. There's a whole ton of Young Wolves just south of here. Go hunt some of them up until ye've got me eight pieces of Tough Wolf Meat for me stew. Do that an I'll give ye a nice pair o' gloves out of me stock. Fair?"
Ryouga nodded weakly. "Doesn't sound like a bad deal... so I just have to go out and kill eight wolves?"
"Well now lad, not every wolf ye kill will have a decent piece of meat on it, so ye might be needing to kill a few more than just eight. Shouldn't take ye too long. These here wolves are pretty weak, even for a novice priest like ye'self. Just hit 'em with a couple Smites to soften them up an' then whack 'em with that wee mace ye've got there until they stop movin'. An' if ye get a little bit chewed up, ye should have been taught a Lesser Heal spell to close up them wounds in an eyeblink. Don' be forgetting to be a good little priest and use that spell to help out any other's ye come across who've gotten themselves hurt. It's a priests calling to help people, ain't it?"
"So I've heard." Ryouga mumbled. "So the wolves are this way?"
"NO YOU BLASTED DAFT... no lad, I said their south of here, that way." Sten pointed.
Ryouga promptly headed Southwest... which was very good considering his track record, but it still left him walking in a different direction than Sten's finger was pointing.
The older dwarf began to twitch, his extended hand trembling. With a long groan, he slapped his forehead with his other hand and wiped down his face, stroking his beard again, almost frantically. Fortunately, the wolves were spread out over a relatively wide area, and Ryouga's current direction should lead him across the outer fringe of them. Hopefully, once he had wolves in sight, he'd be able to finish his quest. After all, the damned beasts were so overpopulated here that each time the lad killed one, there'd likely be at least two or three within his line of sight.
Hopefully.
"Damnation, I need an Ale..."
It would be two hours before Ryouga found his way back to Sten (who would have been very hungry and angry had not several other new dwarf adventurers arrived after Ryouga, been given the same quest, and returned with the wolf meat in about 5 minutes each). Mind you, he was also level four now.
"Where in the bloody hell have you be... actually no, I think it'd be a mite better for me blood pressure if I dinnae ask." Sten moaned. "Now ye have the 8 pieces of Tough Wolf Meat, I hope?"
Ryouga nodded and fished them out of his backpack. "Here you go. Sorry it took so long. I... got lost. I did find lots and lots of wolves though... and boars... and these really ugly blue guys with punk hairdoos and tomahawks..."
"I said I dinnae want to know." Sten moaned, taking the meat and fishing out a pair of cloth armour Rabbit Handler Gloves, along with a scroll. "Here's yer gloves, an' here's a letter from the priest trainer in Anvilmar. Sell whatever loot ye picked up that ye don't need, then go to yer trainer to learn some handy new spells. If ye have any money left over after that, ye can think about buying better clothes that protect ye from getting hurt a bit more than what ye've got now. Ye also might want to save your money to buy better when ye leave coldridge an' get to the town of Kharanos. They sell better gear there than here, though the price is higher of course. While yer in Anvilmar, ask about to see if anyone has any other taske ye can do to build yer experience, like the wee gnome fellow Felix.
"Now then, that would be all the advice I have to tell ye', saving that Anvilmar is just up the little road here, right here, that I'm pointing to with me finger. Now that all that's taken care of, I dinnae suppose we'll have any reason will be having to enjoy any more wee chats in the future. Off with ye now! Ye're well on yer way to being a great and powerful priest. Go get 'em!"
"Um... Okay. I just wanted to ask--"
"I SAID GO BLOODY GET 'EM! THAT MEANS YOU GO BLAST YE!" Sten exploded.
Ryouga was so startled he actually bolted in the correct direction.
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(Posted Mon, 01 May 2006 09:25)
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