Disclaimer: Well, considering this is so AU it's practically original, I don't know if I really need this but I'll include it just in case. ;-) HL characters do not belong to me--they belong to Panzer-Davis, Rysher, Gaumont, etc. Except the character of Richie Ryan has been adopted by Clan Denial since all the people I listed above don't seem to want him anymore. :-P

Category: very AU. Set in the Diewar universe.

Rating: G to PG

Note: I'm a big fan of high fantasy fanfic AUs, like the XF fic "The Magician" or Becky and Robyn's Prophecy universe which incorporates a couple of characters from The Sentinel, so I was amazed to discover after paging through the Seventh-Dimension archive that there didn't seem to be any for HL. So, I created one. I'm only starting to play in it--these little stories are my way world-building--but I thought some people might enjoy the journey.

Characters:
Rhisiart = Richie Ryan (who is still very much alive, thankyouverymuch)

Summary: The god of youth has a coming of age of his own.

"Independence Day"
by Azar

Freedom. It had taken him long enough, but he'd finally persuaded his Brothers and Sisters that just because he looked like a young man just barely come of age didn't mean he should be treated like one. Laughing with the giddy glee of it all, Rhisiart, god of youth, paused on the road and fixed his sparkling blue eyes on the distant city.

"Feels like an eternity since I've done this," he joked softly to himself. "Oh wait...it has been eternity. That could be it."

He'd walked the world before, but never alone. Quite frankly, the only place he'd ever been left unsupervised was inside his own temples. Which was nice--at least the other gods had the decency to give him that refuge--but only a few millenia after the creation of the world, it had ceased to be enough. Unfortunately, his tendency towards sarcastic emotional outbursts on the subject hadn't helped his case any.

Grinning, Rhisiart reached out his mind towards the distant buildings. Like a beacon his charges called to him. Young people, caught in the precarious balance between childhood and adulthood. Some feeling the thrilling rush of love or lust for the first time. Others struggling with new responsibilities they weren't quite sure they were ready for. Some few--and these were especially precious to him--robbed for whatever reason of both childhood and youth and already tired in spirit though young in body. He did what he could to restore them, if they let him.

Then there were his other favorites, the adults who hadn't abandoned him as they aged, who prayed daily that their hearts be kept young always. That was one request he was always glad to grant. The ones who prayed to him asking that he restore their physical youth...he could do so, but he seldom did. For usually it was their very fear of aging that prevented them from keeping the spark of true youth in their souls.

It would be fun to go down and mingle with them. Let them think he was just another young man finding his way in the world--it was half true, anyway, and it was about time he of all beings got to experience it!

Eager to do just that, Rhisiart took off again down the road. He didn't tire, after all, and it would blow his cover to just appear inside the city walls.

FIN