TJ rushed to the door and shouted out that the war pick was specifically for Connor, as he’d promised the Zealot a new weapon. True to form, though she obviously was still upset and brooding over the fact that several people had died, the mayor turned Bureaucrat and Disciple turned, made eye contact, and nodded before continuing on her way. TJ too struggled with the thought, and wondered if he would regret having gotten to know more and more of the people he was, at least temporarily, stuck with.
Then, the thought of who he would need to become and be to do that settled over him. He didn’t like it, but he’d promised that he would kill what he needed to to make it through the Tutorial and find Junior. Beyond that, TJ swore that he’d kill even a person to make sure he made it to his son.
That said, TJ wanted to remain himself. He could feel the changes that were happening in him. The sickness he’d felt at having to kill a coyote when he’d first come to this place, just a couple of days ago, was long gone. When he’d first heard a pukwudgie speak, he’d felt like a monster for ending its life, but now he slaughtered them with impunity. Was who he was about to become, who he was in the process of becoming, even still TJ?
To attempt to ensure that he remained himself, TJ opened his heart to the negativity of this situation. He would bond with people, and if Granny Penny was one of those who died, he would mourn her, truly. The sweet woman might die, and if TJ didn’t feel something were it to happen, then he couldn’t still consider himself TJ. That decision had been made. He steeled himself and looked down at all of his crafting materials, spread across the table and ready for him to work on.
“I’m going to need more space.” TJ muttered to himself before setting off to see if he couldn’t find a folding table in the house to set up.
—-
When the first of the hopefuls stepped up to the door, TJ was ready for them. After searching through the house turned up nothing, he’d nearly given up. However when he poked a head into the detached garage/shed, a pair of ten-foot tables leaning against the wall took care of the problem of where to work.
“Hello, Mr. TJ?” A young voice called out as TJ settled the materials onto the second table in the now somewhat cramped family room of the home.
“Come in.” TJ called as he turned and saw a young girl he didn’t think he’d ever seen before. Her curly brown hair was as well kept as could be managed after days without being able to wash in a shower as usual, and the vestiges of heavy eyeliner remained at the edges of her eyes. The remains of a tear streak remained on her left cheek, which she didn’t seem to be aware of. She wore a too-large hoodie, the sleeves pulled over her hands. The poor teenager was anxiously wringing her hands in the sleeves, and when they met eyes, she smiled awkwardly. “What’s your name?”
“Molly.”
“Glad to meet you Molly. You can call me TJ, no mister needed. Do you want to take a seat for now?” He gestured to one of the chairs at the main kitchen table. He’d moved most of the furniture into a pile in the corner, leaving just tables and chairs to occupy the bulk of the space. All the chairs were at the kitchen table, piled high with the vast majority of all the materials he had already prepared for use. Molly nodded and sat at the table before speaking up again.
“So why am I here? Miss Laura just told me to come here, and to be ready to work.”
“I’ll explain more when everyone else gets here, but I’m going to help you get an Occupation, that’s the big one.”
“What kind of Occupation? Is it yours? I’ve heard yours is called Savage, right?” The sudden rapid fire questions were tempered by a similarly sudden flush of her face. “Um. Sorry, Mr. TJ.”
“Don’t worry about it.” TJ chuckled, restraining the urge to reach out and tousle her hair. “I wish it could be, but you guys won’t qualify for the same Occupation as me. To be a Savage, you can’t sleep inside, use plumbing, or stuff from before the beginning of this whole Tutorial crap. I wasn’t trying to get the Occupation, I was just dropped in the middle of nowhere, so I just didn’t have anything. I was lucky that I was able to make a fire and didn’t get too hurt that day, or else I would have died. I’m not going to make you all sit out in the cold and suffer, so there won’t be any more Savages any time soon.”
“That sounds pretty shittastic. Did you think you were abducted by aliens? That’s what I thought happened. I, uh… got pretty disappointed when I saw that… I wasn’t asleep or anything.” Molly obviously swallowed past a lump in her throat as she said as much and tears welled up in her eyes.
“Yeah. It’s been rough for most people. Sorry you’re going through it, but I hope I can help at least a little.”
“Well, I was hoping to be just like you, since you’re doing so well.”
TJ nearly said she couldn’t be like him, since she wasn’t a Neophyte, but decided to Appraise her instead.
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Neophyte, 2
“Well now. Didn’t realize I had a fellow Neophyte in my presence. What can you do with your Divine Transformation?”
She smiled, a little uncomfortable, but then, suddenly, a wolf-sized canine of some sort was in her place. It wasn’t quite a wolf or a coyote, not a fox or a dog, just canine and big. Molly’s Divine Transformation made her into something that TJ instinctively understood to be an under-evolved form of a Mayan Lightning Dog.
“Xolotl.” He breathed, an instinctive understanding of her Bloodline settling into his bones. The twin of his own Bloodline’s origin, Xolotl was a god of lightning, fire, and monstrosities. In some beliefs, nearly evil, in others nearly heroic. The mythologies and the individuals’ history varied slightly, with Xolotl focusing his power nearly entirely among the Aztec while Kukulkan embraced a greater diversity among his worshippers, spreading to the Mayan, Aztec, and more. Unfortunately, TJ could feel that the brothers parted on bad terms, Xolotl embittered, feeling forgotten and rejected by his twin.
“I… Yeah. When I first saw you transform, I knew we were kinda related.” Molly said, twisting her hands once again.
“Well, glad to have you, cousin. Happy to help you out in getting an Occupation too.”
Even though TJ understood the history between their however-many great grandparents, he also didn’t care. It had nothing to do with him, and following the instincts of a failed god’s long-dead grudges was stupid at best. Beyond that, when Molly saw that TJ was just excited to help her, her smile broadened and she stood from her wooden chair.
“I didn’t think you were a bad guy. You’re scary, but my dad’s scary sometimes too. I bet he’s being scary wherever he is now, too. So I’m glad to know you aren’t just like, a douche or anything. You know? Do you know anything about Xolotl?”
Different from the prying Valerie, TJ didn’t mind answering Molly’s litany of questions. He quickly learned that she was a freshman down in Mesa, not far from where he lived. When he didn’t have any answers about Xolotl or anything else, Molly began asking questions about his exploits and how he’d gotten so strong.
“Obviously you’re the strongest one in the Tutorial, and so, if I want to protect my family when this is all over, I need to be like you! You can be, like, my Gojo or something!”
“I don’t have a dojo. I guess, if you want to, you can call this our dojo? Not learning martial arts or anything though.” TJ shrugged, a little confused.
“No, like my sensei! Gojo is this guy in a manga I love. He’s like, super awesome and hot. Wait, I’m not saying you’re hot, or ugly, or wait, shit, I’m sorry.”
Molly continued tripping over herself as she continued to make an awkward fifteen year-old out of herself. TJ raised both hands as she blushed furiously and buried her face in her hands.
“I get it. I think. You want someone to help you and teach you. I can do some of that. I’ll tell you right now, though, that this world isn’t sunshine and rainbows. It’s gonna get worse, and I don’t know what’s going to be waiting for us once we get out of the Tutorial. You’ve gotta stand on your own two feet, because I’m struggling too, ok?”
Though he smoothed over the worst of it, Molly stopped talking to him after her apparent faux paus. He could remember that age, and he’d constantly had his foot so far in his mouth that he could smell his knees. After assuring her that he didn’t care about her not meaning it that way, TJ turned to the door as he heard footsteps approaching. The clunking of heavy boots seemed familiar, and as he pushed open the door, TJ asked Stanton, “What, you need something?”
“Something like that.” The old cowboy looked around the room, frowning a bit at the tables filling the area where the couch had been. “Just wanted to tell you something.”
After waiting a minute, TJ realized what his friend was doing and asked with a wry smile of his own, “What was it?”
“Just… by the way. For your information. Found another one of these.” Then, TJ watched as Stanton pulled his hand from behind his back and showed off a Lifebloom, at least as large as the one they’d found before.
“What? When? Where?”
“Out on the hunt today. Felt it out there with my Skill, and checked it out. I’ve got a couple ideas about what it can do, but I want to see if your new Skill helps you find anything else out without my interference.”
“Ok. But we talked before this, you had the opportunity then. Why didn’t you tell me?”
“You didn’t ask.” Stanton grinned wide, his teeth shining in contrast to his wrinkled, heavily tanned face.
“Dammit man. Get out. I’ll look at it later.” TJ couldn’t help but smile as he shooed Stanton away, just in time for a group of five people to walk up the ramp to the door.
While what TJ supposed was the last of his little class of people to learn walked in, he rolled his shoulders. Molly quickly settled into a corner, still mortified but paying attention while the rest of the group settled into the chairs surrounding the kitchen table. The surprise to TJ as he looked on were two men he recognized–Jeff and Ricky. Jeff still looked angry at the world in general and TJ in particular, but Ricky looked at the materials with genuine interest.
“Alright guys.” TJ said, clapping his hands once. “I might be the person with the highest leveled Occupation in the Tutorial. I just hit level 10 last night, and I’ve learned some things. Because of what I’ve learned, there’s something I want to teach you all to make sure we live through this Tutorial. Before I get started, are there any questions?”
“Why do you think you’re better than us?”
“What?” TJ sputtered, unable to believe what Jeff had just said.
“I’m sorry, that wasn’t what I’d intended. Why do you think that you know better, you have the same amount of experience as the rest of us.” Jeff at least had the decency to look a little embarrassed as he spoke.
“Ahh. Makes sense. I’m sure you’ll know why when we get there, but short answer, I have information that nobody else in the Tutorial does, due to my position as one of our premiere fighters and crafters. I hope that’s good enough for now, because we’re moving on. Any other questions?”
Nobody spoke or moved, so TJ nodded once.
“We’ll start with the javelina hides. Now, let’s talk about brains.”