Ranko stared at the new guild member confused by her initial reaction to seeing her. She had short black hair with natural dark blue highlights to it and brown eyes that looked very surprised to see her. The girl wore a fitted ivory blouse with a slight ruffle hanging from the banded collar under a heather blue vest with simple brown pants and button up ankle boots with a one and a half inch heel. The coat she wore was a simple short brown fitted jacket. At her side was a basic bowl hilt rapier, a very economical intermediate sword.
"Ranma it's me Akane," the girl identified as Akane said with a hint of shock in her voice as she approached the redhead.
Ranko did not know what to make of Akane's actions towards her as she was pulled into an embrace by the new guild member. Looking over at Quinn for help Ranko's silent plea was met with a look of apology for not being able to help. Letting out a sigh Ranko proceeded to tell Akane what she thought was the truth.
"I'm sorry but you have me mistaken for someone else. My name is Ranko not Ranma. I don't know any Ranma," Ranko explained as she felt Akane loosen her hold and look her in the eyes.
Akane took a few steps back and looked Ranko over. Before her was definitely Ranma as there was no mistaking the signature pigtail and the fiery red hair. Yet, something about her had changed. Something to do with the curse and the piece of equipment that had them trapped in a world that was a mix of steampunk and classic sword battles. Putting two and two together Akane could only reason that Ranma was in girl form in order to play the game as everyone's avatars changed into an exact replica of how they looked during the calibration scans for the control helmet. And somehow remaining female in the game erased all memories of who she truly was except for the alias they used to fool Ranma's mother.
"Well Ranko, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Akane. I just joined this guild and I hope we can be friends," Akane said with a smile as she felt slight déjà vu.
From his position at Ranko's side Quinn smiled and introduced himself to the newest guild member, "Welcome to the Amora Guard Akane. The name's Quinn Ranko's best friend and battle partner. If you'll excuse us for a bit we're scheduled to meet with the council."
Akane sighed as she watched Ranma, no it was Ranko now, interact with the men around her. There was no cocky stride and puffing out of her chest to prove she was the best there was. Instead, Ranko held an air of gentle confidence about her that garnered great respect from the men around her. At the same time, Ranko was doing the one thing Ranma would never do, she was willingly following the orders of another person without question or argument. Ranko was a loyal warrior in service of the Amora Guard. The incident trapping all players logged into Steam Swords on the day of its release had completely erased Ranma Saotome and replaced him with Ranko. Akane had hoped Ranma never logged into the game and was sitting by her body waiting for her to wake up in a gesture of devotion. Ranko's presence had proven that all wrong.
"Leave it to Ranma to not want to miss out on a single chance to prove he's the best and master whatever he's doing before anyone else," Akane remarked to herself clinging onto the memory of someone who for all intents and purposes was considered dead or nothing more than a dream.
Akane remembered vividly why they were in the mess they were in to begin with. It all boiled down to the two guys at Furinkan who counted Ranma as a friend and the generosity of his very own mother. It was Hiroshi and Daisuke who convinced Ranma to buy a copy of the Steam Swords game so the three of them could party around and form their own guild. And because Ranma kept bragging how he was going to master the VRMMORPG before anyone else and be the best, Akane bought her own copy so she could prove he was not the best at everything. Ranma's mother insisting she and Ranma have computers for school work and helping to pay for them was the icing on the cake.
Not seeing either Hiroshi or Daisuke in the game in the year since she was trapped in it Akane figured the boys were lucky because they decided to log on after the initial rush and the incident that had everyone prisoners of the game. She had hoped Ranma decided to wait to play to avoid lag issues and used that as her driving goal to make it through the game alive. However, the site of him in female form with no memory of being male one year later only confirmed that wasn't true.
"Akane," Quinn said gaining her attention, "the council has asked Ranko and me to take you on as our partner during your initial guild initiation period. You see we don't have any members in need of a partner right now so they asked us to do it."
Akane watched as Quinn made a few small gestures with his hands before a message appeared on front of her. Tapping the yes option she accepted the invitation to join the party Quinn and Ranko formed eleven months back when they first met. Even though Ranko was her actual flesh and blood friend first, Akane felt like she was intruding on a very close bond between two people who had known each other since they were babies. It hurt to see Ranko so close with someone else and not remember her at all.
"So you claim Ranko's name from the Other Side is Ranma and you two knew each other. Is Akane really your name or what you go by in the game," Quinn questioned trying to understand the situation he was now in better.
"Both. It's silly, I know, but I couldn't come up with anything better. And yes Ranko is really Ranma, our families are good friends, we go to the same school, and we each practice a sister school of martial arts," Akane told him softly leaving out the parts about the curse, the engagement, and the fact that Ranko was really a boy.
Quinn knew something was being left out but decided to not push it instead informing Akane about Ranko's current situation, "Ranko's situation in Steam Swords is quite unique Akane. You see, she's the only one I've met who has no memory of the Other Side. She has these dreams of what she thinks might be connections to it but what she sees worries her so much that she doesn't want to have anything to do with it. There are times when I swear she questions if the face she sees in a mirror or the water is really hers."
"I'll try not to force her to remember things from outside the game. It'll give us the chance to get to know each other all over again," Akane said as Ranko joined them.
Quinn smiled as Ranko stood before them with a warm and genuine smile on her face. He had noticed over Akane's shoulder Ranko making the familiar movements to access one of the game's menus and knew Marcello, one of the section leaders, had sent something to her.
"What did Marcello want," Quinn questioned his best friend and partner.
"Turns out the guy you bought our house from was a gaming buddy of Marcello's from the Other Side. He messaged Marcello about it and he wanted to donate a few things to get us started. He had a vase of flowers from an early NPC crafting quest and a little table in his inventory he wanted us to have. Plus, he gave me five thousand Guinea to buy something for the house. I think he either wants us to buy a bed or a stove because he said he wants to be the first person we invite over for dinner when the house is finished," Ranko replied with a slight blush that was built into the game's emotion engines.
Akane giggled softly at Ranko's reaction to the thought of sharing a bed with Quinn. As a girl with no memory of being male, Ranma was very shy when it came to the mere mention of intimate acts. Akane found this version of Ranma Saotome to be quite cute.
"Well, that was very generous of him but right now we have to get Akane here acclimated to the streets of Amora and show her the ropes of the guild," Quinn remarked.
"So what do you two have in mind for someone new to this city," Akane wondered.
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(Posted Sun, 16 Sep 2012 16:13)
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