For the past hour, Ranma had listened to Sylvanas' tale, to her story about what had happened during his absence in Azeroth. About the invasion of the Orcs, the foundation of the Alliance, the High Elves' withdrawal after the Second War, the emergence of the Scourge, Arthas' treachery, the downfall of Lordaeron and the Scourge's march for Quel'Thalas. Finally, Sylvanas' transformation into an undead being, the destruction of the Sunwell, the foundation of the Forsaken and finally, how the remaining High Elves had turned into the Blood Elves.
Ranma was sitting on the stairs in front of Sylvanas' throne. He couldn't believe the tragedy. For him, his visits in Quel'Thalas had always been times of happiness and joy, sunny days that he could spend with a good friend, days that allowed him to escape his own life...
But now that illusion was shattered, revealing a world that was even more harsh and unforgiving than Nerima. In Nerima, the people might be crazy and delusional... but at least there were no bloodthirsty warriors, cold-hearted warlocks, walking corpses or evil demons.
His image of a happy fantasy world had shattered in front of his eyes, transformed into something dark and disgusting... similar to Sylvanas' transformation into an undead.
"So, do you see, Ranma?" the Queen of the Forsaken whispered. She wasn't angry at her old friend anymore, but her voice was still filled with bitterness. "The Sylvanas you once knew is long gone... and I am all that remains!"
Ranma stayed silent for a moment. Then he sighed. "But... you are the same Sylvanas I knew," he then spoke up.
"How can you say that?" she snapped. "How can you look at me, see what I have become, and still say I am the same?"
"I mean: You might look different now, and sure, yer dead and everything, but... as long as I could tell, you're still the same person inside."
"Do you believe that?" Sylvanas whispered and shook her head. "Do you honestly believe that? I knew you were always pretty naive, but I never thought you were such a fool..."
"Now why did you go and do that for?" Ranma asked in annoyance. "I'm trying to help you here, ya know? Make you feel better, see?"
"I will feel better as soon as Arthas is dust underneath my feet..." Sylvanas hissed.
"Hey, I have a bone to pick with him as well," Ranma said. "Especially if I imagine what he might be doing to Akane right now... but that's what friends for, right? To help each other out. I'll help you bring that jerk down, and then we..."
"'Bring him down!' Oh, of course, we're just wander inside Icecrown Citadel and shove Arthas off his frozen throne. Easy as that!" She snorted. "Ranma, thousands of soldiers, warriors and mages have besieged his citadel and fought his legions... and do you think either of them ever returned? Even Illidan failed..."
"I dunno who that Illidan guy is, but he's no Ranma Saotome," Ranma said with determination. "I'm telling ya, if that jerk turns out to be too powerful for me, I'm just gonna train until I'm strong enough to take him down! I'd even teach you Anything Goes martial arts if I have to."
Sylvanas sneered. "Martial arts, huh? You might remember that I never believed you when you said that martial artists were more powerful than Elven Rangers... and I don't think I'm going to start believing you now."
"Then I'll prove it!" Ranma shouted and jumped to his feet. He raised his fists. "C'mon, I challenge you to a match. Then you'll see that Ranma Saotome doesn't lose!"
Sylvanas laughed. It was a bitter laugh. "If I used my Dark Ranger skills against you, you would be dead, Ranma!"
"You scared? Or do you think I wouldn't hit a girl?"
The whole situation seemed ridiculous to Sylvanas, so she just stood up and turned her back to Ranma. "If you are done wasting my time, can you leave? I still have a town to run..."
Ranma went out of his battle stance in confusion. "Wh-what? Sylvanas, I didn't want to... is it something I said? I didn't want to insult you or anything... it's just, that's the way I handle things. When I'm upset, I just spar. That makes me feel better."
"I haven't felt good ever since Arthas' cursed blade pierced my body..." she whispered.
Ranma scratched his head. Damn, this was going to be tough... whatever could he do to pull his childhood friend out of her depression?
"I know," he then said. "How about we take a stroll through the woods?" He grinned. "I know you always loved to walk through the forest whenever I came to visit. What do you say, the two of us go outside and take a little walk."
Sylvanas would have laughed if the situation wasn't so absurd. "You... want to take a walk through Tirisfal Glades?"
"Yes, why not? Isn't it a beautiful forest?"
"Oh sure, it is," Sylvanas said in a mocking tone of voice. "I'm pretty sure the Darkhounds, bats, zombies and undead Gnolls will agree when you ask them. Should I also schedule some sightseeing in the Scarlet Monastery?"
Ranma was taken aback. "You... you're making fun of me..."
"Oh, I would never dare and make fun of a martial artist," Sylvanas grumbled.
Ranma smirked. "It worked!"
Now it was the Banshee Queen's turn to be confused. "What?"
Ranma walked up to her and tapped her nose. "Made ya have fun!"
"I... I wasn't..." Sylvanas was dumbfounded. She couldn't believe how this young human man tried to cheer her up in an almost innocent way. "I... I mean... you can hardly call that having fun," she finally stuttered.
"Well, it was a beginning," he shrugged. "Got to start somewhere, right? And I'd be damned if I would let my childhood buddy down in the dumps."
Sylvanas sighed. "Ranma Saotome, you are a peculiar human, no doubt about that... but I'm afraid life doesn't work that way. And if I still had a beating heart, I would have called the attempts you made at making me feel better almost... sweet."
"You can't tell me you don't have any feelings left," Ranma proclaimed. "Look at you standing there! Listen to you talking to me! If you were really the undead monster you see yourself as, you wouldn't have hesitated to shoot me when I appeared in your throne room, ain't I right?"
Sylvanas thought about it. It was true, if Ranma had been a regular human of the Alliance who somehow had made it into her quarters, she would have ordered her guard to subdue him, either for interrogation or to give the apothecaries a new guinea pig for their experiments...
But... with Ranma at her side, and with no other reminder of her status as the Banshee Queen, she felt almost... normal. He didn't pay her the respect a queen usually deserved, but at the same time, still saw her as his best friend. Yes, he even accepted the fact that she was nothing but a walking corpse.
Also, she could use some distraction from her daily duties.
"I... think we should cancel the sightseeing tour at the monastery... but there's a pretty nice view from the top of the Zeppelin tower outside of town."
Ranma was pleasantly surprised. "You... actually want to do it?"
"I guess it's the least I owe to a friend who tried to cheer me up," she sighed. Then a grin appeared on her face. "But you will have to forgive me if we run into those bastards from the Scarlet Crusade and I use them as target practice."
Varimathras, the Dreadlord, was pacing back and forth at the entrance to the staircase that was leading up to the Royal Quarters. Never before had Lady Sylvanas insisted to talk to anyone in private, especially not a human. He really wondered what kind of relationship she and that boy shared.
Varimathras huffed. "Human feelings..." he scoffed. "I fail to see what use they are... or why that human would believe that Lady Sylvanas, as an undead, would still be able to feel anything but bitterness and hatred..."
"Lord Varimathras!" An undead scout, obviously a member of the Deathstalkers, Undercity's assassin guild, stepped in front of the dreadlord with a salute. "We received message that the Rot Hide Gnolls are once again plundering the graves north of Brill. You said to inform you immediately if we spot increased Scourge activity in that area."
Varimathras sighed. It was a trivial matter, since the undead Gnolls of the Rot Hide clan were the most pathetic troops the Scourge had to offer. "Ah yes, I see... give me that report, I will inform Lady Sylvanas... as soon as she took care of her 'guest'..." And he reached out to accept the report scroll from the scout.
Only to have it snatched out of his hand by a pink blur. "Michelle! Michelle!"
Varimathras blinked in surprise. Then he stared at the female, ALIVE human in the pink dress that had come to a stop in front of the river of green sludge that was flowing through Undercity. On her feet, she had some strange contraptions with wheels... another weird invention of the Gnomes? The girl was clutching the scroll to her bosom as if it was a long lost child.
"If you value your life, human, you hand that back to me right now!" the dreadlord demanded with glowing eyes.
Azusa Shiratori shook her head and put the scroll into her pocket. "Little Michelle belongs to Azusa now! I'll never give her back again!"
Varimathras was frustrated beyond comparison this day. At first, he had been sent out of the trone room by Lady Sylvanas, then the courier bothered him with that trivial message, and now this extremely irritating human female thought she could make a fool out of him.
"Then you DIE!" he roared. Without any warning, he thrusted his hand forwards and shot a bolt of dark energy at the young skater.
But before the projectile hit its mark, a young, pig-tailed man dove past him and pulled Azusa to safety, just before the shadow bolt hit the wall next to them.
Azusa smiled when she saw Ranma. "René!"
Ranma sweatdropped. "Um, my name's Ranma..."
He then glared at the dreadlord. "You keep her hands off her, creepy, ya hear me? You have to pick a fight, take me on for a change!"
"Ooooh, René is defending little Azusa!" the kleptomaniac gushed. "I feel all fuzzy..."
"Just what the heck is going on here?" came the thundering voice of Sylvanas Windrunner as she came down the stairs. Varimathras and the undead residents that had been attracted by the commotion quickly gave her hasty bows... it was uncommon that the Dark Queen would leave her quarters. "And Ranma! Why did you run off like that, all of a sudden?"
"I only did it to hinder that creep from harming my friend!" Ranma shouted, pointing a finger at Varimathras. "Well, my acquaintance..."
"Who is that girl?" Sylvanas demanded to know. "What is it with all those humans appearing out of nowhere today?"
"My lady, they are obviously spies, both of them!" Varimathras hissed. His fangs were bared. "The woman stole a scroll from me, a report from one of my scouts... it is obvious that she was sent by the Scarlet Crusade!"
"No way! Little Michelle wants to stay with Azusa!" Azusa proclaimed, taking the scroll out of her pocket and gently petting it.
Ranma groaned.
"The Scarlet Crusade? Excuse me, Varimathras, but I find it difficult to believe that they would send someone like her... they have much better agents than that."
"And Azusa's from the same town as I am," Ranma added. "Although, I really dunno why she's here..."
The female part of the Golden Pair smiled. "Little Azusa was busy talking to her darling ones in her room, when suddenly, she came here. Maybe it's time to visit her old friend again..."
Ranma frowned. "An old... friend?" He scratched his head. He had come to Azeroth because of his connection to Sylvanas. Akane also had an old childhood friend, Prince Arthas... and now Azusa, too?
"This is ridiculous!" Varimathras roared. "I think we should kill those intruders on the spot!"
"You will do nothing like that, dreadlord!" Sylvanas commanded. "Although I do want an explanation... Ranma, come back inside... and bring your 'friend' along!"
"Um... does that mean you don't wanna take a walk through the woods anymore?" the pig-tailed boy wondered.
"NOW!" Sylvanas yelled. Ranma winced and decided to come along. The last time a female was so angry at him, he found himself at the blunt side of a mallet.
"Come on, Azusa," he sighed. "I think it's best not to keep her waiting... oh, and I think you should give back that scroll to the, um... nice gentleman over there."
Azusa pouted. "But Michelle belongs to Little Azusa..."
"It's okay," the scout sighed. "I guess I can always write a new one..."
When Ranma and Azusa turned to follow Sylvanas back into her throne room, Varimathras followed them as well.
"DID I SAY YOU COULD COME ALONG??"
The mighty Nathrezim was stopped dead in his tracks when the heavy door was slammed right in his face.
The undead scout winced. "Ouch..." he muttered. "That must have hurt..."
Back inside, Sylvanas furiously glared at Ranma. "Okay, who is that girl, and why is she here?" she demanded to know.
"I told ya, she's a girl from my home town, and I never knew she'd come to Azeroth as well..."
Azusa tilted her head. "Is she always this loud?"
"Only when she's upset..." Ranma sighed.
"You know you should try and have fun instead of being angry," Azusa told Sylvanas. "You know what I always do when I'm feeling down?" She smiled. "I'm dancing, dancing, just dancing, dancing..."
And she began to dance a very weird dance, right in the middle of the throne room. Ranma had never seen a dance like that before, but it involved a big amount of hip-wiggling and Azusa putting her hands up to her head, to imitate bunny-ears.
"Come on, dance along!" Azusa sang. "Move your feet, shake your hips, clap your hands, sing along and do the caramel dance!"
Sylvanas could only stare. "Is she... is she for real?" she muttered.
Meanwhile...
In Elwynn Forest, a few of the hyena-like Gnolls (members of the Riverpaw Clan) ran up to the taller form of their leader.
They barked and whined at him, which could be translated to: "Chief Hogger! We stole more pumpkins from that human farm!"
"Yes, and I took these from a traveling merchant," another Gnoll spoke up, presenting some stolen candles to his boss.
"But I've got something much, much better!" the third Gnoll yipped and showed Hogger a red piece of cloth.
Hogger's muzzle split into a wide grin as he snatched the cloth out of his underling's paws. "Francoise!" he shouted with joy. "Come to little Hogger!"
The other Gnolls looked at each other in confusion, then they shrugged, dropped the rest of their loot and left their leader alone for now.
Hogger happily dug through the pile of stolen goods. "Laverne! Antoine! Charlotte! Come to me, my little darlings!"
He sighed while snuggling up to the Defias mask called Francoise. "I'm missing little Azusa..." he sniffled. "She was the only living being who ever understood Hogger..."
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(Posted Fri, 17 Oct 2008 22:00)
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