Chapter 2: Volume 1: Chapter 2
Lost Lion
Disclaimer! I don't own warcraft, it is the property of blizzard.
Volume 1: Chapter 2
A few things I learned that made me doubt if this was the movie universe was that the township I was in was called Grand Hamlet. As far as I knew, Grand Hamlet only existed in the gameverse, but that didn't mean that it couldn't exist in the movieverse as well.
Second thing was that King Adamant was the current reigning monarch. So that was a pretty good indicator that I was in the game universe except…the humans here looked a lot like the stronger humans you could find on Earth. The humans of warcraft were a lot more muscular and bigger than your standard-sized Earthlings. Essentially, the game universe's rendition of humanity was shown in the game cinematics as stocker and burlier.
Thirdly, there was my father, Lothar. If he was his game version, he should have been big and bulky. However, no matter how I looked at him, he still looked like the actor, Travis Fimmel.
Whatever the case, I decided to lay low until I know more.
One of the things that transmigration/reincarnation stories often failed to show was that the sheer amount of free time there was. There was absolutely nothing to do so the days passed by slowly in the township of Grand Hamlet.
Now, how best to describe Grand Hamlet? It was big. Like really big, as large as a packed residential district in the modern day world. It wasn't a city by any stretch of the imagination, but there was a castle in the distance. I would say the town itself extended to about a five miles wide radius. It made me wonder just how big Stormwind really was.
One of the cool things I get to see on a frequent basis were the iconic footman patrolling the streets in squads of twenty, often to keep the peace. That really hit home that I was in Warcraft. Heck, one time they even accompanied my father aka Travis Fimmel aka Anduin Lothar home, on one of his rare visits. Seeing those footmen was a win for me, though Lothar didn't stay long. He was as much of an absentee father as he was portrayed as in the movie verse since I could count on both hands the number of times that I saw him since my birth, and it was never that long at that. With a neglectful father like this, I could imagine that this was why Callan turned out the way he did.
Strangely enough, I never saw my aunt Taria nor did my father or caretaker ever mention her, but then again, in the movie and its accompanying comic follow-up, she was supposed to be with King Llane. Maybe they were in the middle of that courtship for all I know.
Now that I think about it, in the movie, they never showed Callan or his aunt as being particularly close either. At least, there weren't any real scenes between them that I could remember, but even before my reincarnation, it had been years since I had seen it. Perhaps she blamed Callan (aka me) for her sister-in-law's death too? Well, it would have been cool to meet her, but if Lothar didn't want to introduce her, I wasn't going to bother asking.
Now, where was I? Oh yes, time and how to kill it. There really wasn't that much entertainment of the children variety. The men's favorite pastime here was to go to the nearest tavern or brothel, both of which were options that I couldn't partake of at the time. As for the women here...well, there are two types of women. The first and most recognizable ones were the infamous dainty ones with their bosoms heaving left and right. Those women enjoy gossiping either in their sewing circle or at some sort of ladies outing.
The second type of women here were the soldier/mercenary types. These women looked just as good as the dainty ones, but they were rough and tumble like the men. They too went to the taverns to get shitface or visited a brothel themselves. Apparently, anything goes in Azeroth. The continent Azeroth, not the world.
The children were pretty much left to entertain themselves for the first six years of their lives. After that, their playtime would get cut in half, and they either got trained by their parents on basic survival skills and self defense or they were apprenticed to one of the professions around here. In medieval fantasy times, it seemed that they started young and early. The main benefit of the apprenticeship was that they were taught to read, so kind of like primary education in a way since there wasn't a schooling system here.
At the age of eight, your playtime was over and gone. Instead, what took its place for both boys and girls were mandatory self-defense training. One of the things I taught over and over again was that if there was a raid by Gnolls or Trolls, the most reliable person you could depend on was only yourself. Soldiers shouldn't be relied on to get to you in time so rather than be helpless, we were taught to fight back or know enough self defense to get help and survive.
Of course, they weren't completely spartan like a certain movie. You would get days off, and those were the days when you would reconnect with your friends. Finally, when you turned fifteen, that was when you had to choose a path such as the army, a profession, or simply being a mercenary.
As for Priests and Mages–sorry, I meant 'Clerics' and 'Conjurers' as they were commonly known in the south–they went through the Jedi route. What do I mean by the Jedi route? They were taken away as children or infants if they showed affinity for the Light or Arcane. Most of the time, the parents were fine with it since the children would have a better life in general unless they were nobility.
As for me? The Clerics missed my screening because I didn't show off my Light powers on purpose. I knew how it works and didn't feel the need for anyone to teach me it. However, most of all, I didn't want to be on the radar of a certain dragon species.
I wasn't sure if the Bronze Dragon flight existed in the Warcraft movie universe, but I wasn't going to risk alerting them to my presence. Thanks to the movie, I knew that in the canon timeline of the cinematic universe, Callan dies. If he suddenly started showing an affinity for Holy magic, that could potentially set off red flags and bring the Bronze to my front door.
No, I had to keep a low profile until Anduin abilities fully integrated with me, which for Anduin was around 19 years old. That was how long I had to live in order to receive full command of Anduin abilities–or at least, theoretically. Then I could protect myself against the Bronze Flight if they exist, especially since the movie verse was sketchy on that detail.
It was fortunate for me that today was my fifteenth birthday which signaled the end of my childhood and the first step into my adulthood. In order to stay under the radar, I decided to follow canon and enlist instead of going the mercenary route. With my mastery over the Light, I would have an easy time joining a group. Like the game, healers were sought after in real life too.
It was just too bad I was the only one enlisting. I had childhood friends, of course, but none of them chose to enlist with me, instead opting for various professions like blacksmithing and alchemy. That meant that I was alone for now. My old nursemaid turned caretaker became a permanent resident of the Lothar household now and since I wouldn't be home for a long while, she had our house all to herself.
So it was on this bright and sunny day that I found myself walking into the Grand Hamlet's recruitment office.
The first thing I noticed was that there was a line of people waiting to get served. The line ended at a recruitment table manned by two iconic armored footmen with their helmets off. The first guy was a black man with some white in his hair and the second was a tanned man with a balding head. Behind the desk were another two footmen filing the papers or stamping them with some sort of seal. Next, I noticed that the décor of the place looked really elaborate with one-handed swords and shields hanging on the wall.
With that done, I finally looked at the recruits in line and did a double take. That was because the last one in line was a girl who was not only young–as old as I was, really–but was quite tall despite her age, though she had a lanky build.
"Next!" One of the footmen shouted, making the line move up by one.
I quickly got in line behind the girl and stood calmly while the girl seemed to shuffle in place.
"Are you okay?" I asked kindly.
The girl turned around, and I finally got a good look at her. She had dirty blonde hair braided in the childish way that girls in my neighborhood had theirs done. When the girl saw me, her eyes widened while her cheeks reddened.
Not to sound conceited, but this wasn't the first time that a girl took on such an expression with me. I didn't do anything about it, of course. Even though it would be legal, I wasn't into that. Call it an old world hang up, but even if my body was the same age, I would prefer someone that was legal in my old world too. As for why girls would have crushes on me, it was obvious with one look at my father. As I grew older, I realized that I started to look like a very young version of Travis Fimmel but with softer features which must have been from my mother in this life.
Sometimes, when I thought about her, I would get complicated feelings. After all, Callan was supposed to be here, but I took his place. However, that didn't mean that I stole his body. As I developed my holy magic, it helped me determine that my soul was my own. There was no hint of any other soul inside me. Therefore, I was–for all intent and purposes–really Callan.
"You alright?" The girl asked me, taking me out of my thoughts.
"Pardon?"
"You had a sad look on your face..." The girl trailed off, perhaps realizing too late that she was making assumptions.
"NEXT!" And once again, the line moved.
"I'm fine. Just thinking is all," I reassured her before extending my hand. "I'm Callan."
"Aloman," the girl said as she took my hand.
There was a moment of silence as the girl didn't seem to know what to do so I decided to break the ice. After all, it wouldn't hurt to make a friend.
"Nervous? I know I am."
"Very much!" The girl answered, almost in visible relief.
"NEXT!"
"Really?" I asked and leaned in closer to her to speak in a lower voice as we both moved up a spot. "If you're nervous about the army, why not take up a different profession?"
The girl shook her head softly.
"I am only good at fighting."
"Really?" I asked, interested. "How good are we talking here?"
"No one in my neighborhood could win against me." The girl fiddled around, as if self-conscious about her bragging. "W-what about you?"
"Eh, I'm alright," I answered, and that was true. I was maybe above average in terms of swordsmanship and had even gotten my ass kicked by some of the better swordsmen in my age group. "I'm okay with the sword, but I'm better with a bow."
I pantomimed drawing back a bow and letting it loose in front of her.
"Oh!" Aloman looked impressed.
"NEXT!" And the line moved once again.
I was all but certain the bow skill came from Anduin, as I remembered Callan was strictly sword and board. Anduin must have been damn good with a bow since I really didn't have any problem using it. I couldn't say I was an expert, but I rarely missed the target board.
"Who knows. You and I might get assigned to the same unit. Would be nice to see a friendly face, no?" I grinned at her and saw a return grin.
"Ahem! I said NEXT!"
Aloman's eyes widened as she let out a strangle gasp, realizing that it was her turn.
"A-Aloman Thorne, reporting for duty!"
The girl gave an awkward salute which made the guard roll his eyes as he looked the girl up and down. With a nod, he turned a book on the desk around after writing something on it and shoved it toward her.
"Sign your name and what area you are from along with your parents' names in case we have to notify them of your demise."
The footman sounded almost bored, probably from having to repeat the same statement all day.
Aloman nervously signed it with a shaky hand.
As soon as she finished, he took a blue wax seal stamp and stamped it on the book. He did the same on another two sheets of paper, one of which he handed to the footman clerk behind him. The second one, he handed to Aloman.
"Congratulations on becoming a new recruit in the Stormwind Army. Here is your contract stating that you have to enlist for ten years of service, at the end of which, you will have the chance to re-enroll to gain further promotion or take the reward of land ownership in a place of the Kingdom's choosing. Now, report to the Grand Hamlet's barracks for training."
"O-Oh, than–"
"NEXT!"
Aloman jumped and moved quickly but didn't leave for the barracks. How sweet. She was waiting for me.
"Name?" the footman clerk asked as he dipped his quill in ink.
"Callan Lothar."
The man's hand froze as he was dipping the quill. The two clerks who had been organizing the papers behind him snapped their heads to look in my direction.
I saw from the corner of my eyes Aloman's shocked 'pikachu' face and felt some of the men behind me holding their breath.
"A-Are you by any chance related to Lord Lothar?" the footman asked with uncertainty.
"He is my father," I replied with a practiced smile and saw the man's eyes widen as he quickly stood up, nearly spilling the ink jar.
"By the Light, it's an honor to have the son of Sir Lothar here!" The footman looked at the coworker beside him who also hurriedly stood up.
"Please, my father's accolades are his own. I haven't done anything to earn your respect," I replied in a suitably humble way, watching as the footman's eyes began to shine. "Can you continue with my enlistment? There are others behind me waiting their turn to serve Stormwind."
"O-Of course! Just sign here, here, and here, and I'll take care of the rest."
After signing the book and three more parchment scrolls, I was given one of the scrolls and a standing salute, one to which I returned.
"Thank you." I allowed my hand to fall to the side with the parchment as I faced Aloman. "Shall we report to the barracks now?"
"Y-Yes?!" the girl yelled in a high pitched voice before she followed me as we exited the building.
As I left, I heard the footman clerk say loudly with pride, "Of all the recruitment stations, the son of Lothar came to mine!"
WoW's creative team severely underplayed how revered Lothar was, it seemed.
"Well, Recruit Aloman, are you ready to fight for king and country?" I looked at the tall girl and grinned.
The girl jumped at my question before she answered back with a grin of her own.
"I am Recruit Callan." She saluted playfully. "For Stormwind!"
"For the Alliance!" I shouted as I returned the salute.
"The who?"
"Ahem, forget about that. Too soon, my bad."
TBC
A/N: First of all thanks to Icura for doing the editing on this chapter. Woot woot. Yes its another chapter that soon. I find that it is quicker and easier to write shorter chapters especially when I am excited about a story. Which I am for this. Thanks for reading!
While editing this, I find that SI writing is a lot more intricate than I thought but I plan on seeing this story play out in a way that will be surprising to the readers, in a good way of course!