"JOAN!!" three female voices shouting were the first things that Jon heard as he returned to consciousness.
The second was the pair metallic, Shhhlnk's, of metal scraping against metal.
And the first thing he felt were a pair of small, warm hands grabbing his head and planting it on something soft.
"What did you do to her?" growled a low, musical female voice.
"I-I swear I did nothing!" stuttered a heavily accented male voice that seemed familiar.
"Are you sure?" asked a second female with a voice that had an animalistic hiss to it. "I will cast a truth spell if your untruthful."
"I swear to you, fair maidens, that I haven't laid a hand on your companion," Jon now recognized the voice as the bartender's, "Nor have I given her anything to make her collapse as she did."
"He's right, Sae," spoke a young female voice over him, "She hasn't absorbed any poisons, nor is she under any spell. I think she just fainted from exhaustion. The only thing wrong with Joan is the bump she has from hitting the floor."
As the girl said this, her hand settled over the throbbing part of Jon's head and warmed even more, taking away the pain. Jon let out a moan of relief that seemed to catch the others attention as he heard quick footsteps approach and felt another hand rest on his forehead. Jon's eyes fluttered open, only for him to realize his vision was blurry, all he could make out were two dark shapes that hovered over him. He closed his eyes, moaned once more and gently raised a hand to his face, only to feel if clasped by a strong slim hand.
"Joan?" asked the musical voice, "Are you alright?"
Jon slowly opened his eyes and this time the blurriness faded away. Blinking his eyes repeatedly to make sure his vision was perfect, slowly sat up - with the help of the woman - and looked at her, only for him to nearly gasp in surprise. Kneeling beside him, was the most beautiful being he had ever seen; her skin was dark and smooth, her hair was a sparkling pale blonde and long, her eyes were the color of the morning mist in the forest, and her ears... her ears were long and ended in points that ended 4 inches on either side of her head. He was looking at an elf, and not just any elf, his brain told him, This was Ysatia the ranger/huntress.
"Joan," Jon was broken from his daze and turned to the girl who was also kneeling beside him, pretty much expecting who it would be.
He just barely managed to suppress his emotions when his eyes settled on Lilly the young healer. For her 17 years of age, the girl looked so small and fragile, with long dark brown hair, emotional grey eyes and kind face. It was then he remembered that Lilly had said something, so he shook himself and answered.
"I'm fine," Jon once again suppressed his frayed nerves when he heard that monotone feminine voice come from his own mouth. Lilly opened her mouth to say something, when a tall being slithered into his vision, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him up off the floor into her scowling face.
"You faint for no apparent reason, other than because your exhausted, nearly giving us heart attacks and all you can say after you wake up is FINE!?" hiss/growled Meesae the Naga sorceress, through her pointed teeth. Just like the other two, Jon observed, Meesae looked just like her description; she was tall - from her hips and up - and she was long - from her hips to the tip of her 10 foot tail - her build was slight with skin so pale it was nearly white, her face if it wasn't so contorted in anger was small featured and pretty, Her wavy black hair hung down to just below her shoulders, the tips of her pointed ears poking through the raven strands, and her amber eyes flashed between anger, worry, and concern so fast that Jon's eyes hurt.
"Yes," Jon said, once again in his emotionless voice, even though on the inside his emotions raged out of control, "Can you please let me go now?" he asked with a slightly raised eyebrow.
The sorceress frowned for a second, glared into his face once more and released him with a huff of annoyance. Jon straightened out his clothes, freezing when his hands bumped things he never had before, and turned back to Ysatia and Lilly. He internally winced when her saw the frowns on their faces. He held up a slim fingered hand, forestalling any of their questions.
"I know you have questions about what happened, so do I. I will explain everything to you, but first I need to take care of something," the way his voice sounded still caused him to flinch. Jon turned to the bartender, "Where is your washroom?"
The man stared at him with wide eyes and pointed toward a doorway, "D-down that hall there, miss. Second door on the left."
Jon nodded his head, glanced at the three females and then walked out of the room.
--
As soon as he saw his reflection in the washroom's mirror, Jon finally let out his shocked screamed, muffled behind her gloved hand. Jon's brown hair was now waist long, wavy and pulled back into a braid. Her eyes were now a pair of black voids, not her original brown. She was a few inches taller than her original height, so she was short for her age, and she was a good 4 years older. Her body was thinner and narrower, but it was toned and curved, which much to her shock she liked it. Her skin was golden brown and she had a high cheekboned face that was really pretty. A really familiar, pretty face.
Joan's face, his Rune Quest character.
Her sleeveless, skin tight, black midriff-baring shirt clung to her like a second skin and emphasized her round C-cup breasts. Her black legging's hugged her wide hips, heart shaped rear, thick thighs and her long toned legs. A pair of toeless black leather boots encased her feet and shins, a brown leather belt, with a few pouches tied to it, circled her lean and toned waist. A pair of black fingerless gloves were on her hands and a small dart launcher was strapped to her right wrist. Around her neck hung a black face mask and a grey-green cloak hung over her shoulders. strapped to her back was sheathed short sword, hanging on her belt were a bunch of throwing knives and a sack of darts, and strapped to her right and left thigh were two daggers.
There was no doubt about it, Jon looked like Joan, Jon was dressed like Joan, and Jon was armed like Joan. She didn't need to feel for a certain thing in a certain area to tell her gender, the tight clothing showed it all.
Jon was Joan the thief, her female character in the game.
Joan stood staring at herself in the mirror for a few more minutes, then she took a deep breath and sighed heavily. She turned from the mirror and walked over to the wash room door, paused and sighed once more. "Well, here goes nothing," she murmured and pushed open the door...
