Lance paused when he reached for his sword that he had left sitting beside the dresser. Eyes drawn to items he had left sit out on the top. One being a medal he’d never wear.
It felt wrong to wear it. Unearned. Or so he felt. Not that it meant much to those outside of House Haillenarte. Most of Ishgard still seen that day as a failure. House Haillenarte simply moved forward after a period of mourning. Praised him for his service and gave him time to recover from wounds suffered in the attack.
To him, it was not worthy of praise. They had failed to hold the Vigil. Even lost the lives of many, including their commander. Those that survived either carried on or retired due to injuries. He himself had debated ending his career as a knight after that incident.
Still his thigh bore the scar of a aevis that nearly killed him. Nightmares still occasionally plagued him. Teeth, claws, and dragon’s fire. It mattered little that the war was over. Old wounds cared little for whether the fighting ended or not.
Yet he soldiered on. Someone had given him a reason to. Reminded him of the life Lord Chlodebaimt sacrificed to save what few others he could in a lost cause of a fight. In turn, Lance swore to do his best to repay that sacrifice. Everyday. So on he would keep marching. He didn’t need any accolades or fancy titles. It was simply the duty he had accepted and felt was his calling by Halone’s will.
He would fight on. Picking up his sword and placing it in the sheath at his waist. Even if the war was over, there was always work to be done.
Ul’dah was in full swing as noon neared. The usual streets an stalls busy and bustling. Keaira was navigating the busy streets even at the age of nine.
Not that she was supposed to be doing this errand. However her mother was not feeling very well and father was at work. That left her older sister to deal with all of their mother’s usual work with weaving. That left them without someone to run and fetch or deliver things. Thus Keaira had begged and pleaded to get her big sister to let her do this to help. The youngest was still far too young to do much besides play.
Keaira paused with a dress bundled in her arms. Looking down the side street at the voices she heard. A boy that looked her age was crying and covering his head as two slightly older boys clearly harassed and bullied him. One was even smacking the poor boy with a stick.
“Hey! Stop that!” Of course Keaira couldn’t let it continue. Frowning as she stomped towards the boys. Two on one wasn’t fair. It was cowardly. Especially when the boy clearly couldn’t defend himself from them. There was no way she was going to walk on. Or simply try to find an adult to break this up. She’d deal with this herself. Even if it meant she’d get in trouble later for fighting again. “Leave him alone, you bullies!”
“Ha! What are you going to do about it, little girl?” Sneered the oldest of the two as he put his hands on his hips and taunted as he looked down on Keaira. She was well under both of their heights.
At this point the dress in her arms was quickly forgotten as she dropped it to lash out with a fist towards the oldest bully. The boy was caught off guard, not expecting to have a small fist flying towards his face. He fell backwards and landed hard on his butt as he stared wide-eyed for a moment. His buddy had quit hitting the little boy with the stick when his friend fell.
Keaira bit her lower lip as she tried not to look as nervous as she felt. Getting into a fight with two older boys and she hadn’t even been allowed to do more then play fight with her father a few times and chase off a few mean boys but never two at one time. At most her father had wanted to teach her how to defend herself since she was often out running the streets much to her mother’s dismay.
“You hit me!” The older boy’s expression changed from surprise to anger as he climbed to his feet. He took a swing at Keaira when he lunged her way. The fist grazed her cheek as she attempted to dodge. Only to get a knee to the gut. The boy clearly knew more then she did but she wasn’t about to let that stop her as she fought to catch the air that had been knocked out of her. The other boy was still clearly staying back. However that had given the little boy a chance to flee while they were ignoring him.
A few more blows were exchanged between them before his partner cried out in alarm. “Adults!” The younger one took off fleeing. The older one cussed softly before giving Keaira a venomous look.
“This ain’t over, short stuff.” He too then fled after his buddy.
“Cowards!” Keaira shouted at their retreating forms.
Keaira wiped at her cheek with her hand before looking at the discarded dress and grimacing. Yelping in surprise when she looked towards the two adults approaching. One just happening to be her own father, still all dressed in his sultansworn’s attire. Running was pointless now as her father had already seen her. So she stood there, trying to not look guilty and slightly scuffed up.
No words were said to her though. The other adult with him went off to see if he could find the bullies. Her father simply picked up the discarded dress with a frown before finally looking towards her again. A raised brow at her disheveled state before putting a hand on her shoulder. Keaira tried not to flinch as she was worried he was about to scold her.
“Keaira… My feisty little girl. While I admire what you tried to do, your mother is going to be disappointed if she finds you got the dress all dirty to get into a fight. Come, let’s go get you cleaned up an see what we can do for this dress before heading home. Let’s not tell your mother about this if we can.” Crouching down in front of Keaira and lightly touching her unharmed cheek. “Then we’ll see about getting you some proper fighting lessons if you’re going to keep sticking up for the underdog against bullies.”
Keaira blinked in surprise. Finally throwing her arms around her father in a hug. Expecting a scolding for another fight with bullies and instead getting the promise of fighting lessons. Weaving wasn’t in her blood. No. She always had wanted to be just like her dad. Protecting people. Now he was willing to give her the chance she longed for. Plus a promise not to tell her mother about today. Everything had worked out for the best other then some minor injuries that could easily be tended.
Put your playlist on shuffle and list the first four songs that pop up:
Lose Yourself by Eminem
Dance With the Devil by Breaking Benjamin
Had Enough by Papa Roach
Erase My Scars by Evans Blue
Grab the nearest book to you and turn to page 23, what line is 17?
She raises an eyebrow as he approaches, and he blurts out, “I swear to you, I didn’t put that song in.” (Tainted Moonlight by Erin Kelly)
Ever had a poem written about you? No.
When was the last time you played the air guitar? Can’t recall.
One sound you hate and one you love: Can’t stand screechy children. Love the sound of rain.
Do you believe in ghosts? Yes.
Do you believe in aliens? Yes but if they’re smart they’ll avoid earth. 😛
Do you drive and if so have you gotten in a crash? I drive but I’ve only been in a couple very minor fender benders that didn’t really do any significant damage. Mostly just scuffing.
Do you like the smell of gasoline? Nope. Definitely not.
Neutral Good-
A neutral good character does the best that a good person can do. He is
devoted to helping others. He works with kings and magistrates but does
not feel beholden to them. Neutral good is the best alignment you can
be because it means doing what is good without bias for or against
order. However, neutral good can be a dangerous alignment because when
it advances mediocrity by limiting the actions of the truly capable.
“Hmm… Fish I guess? It’s easy enough to come by and can be cooked in a variety of ways so I can’t get bored of it. I’m not really too pick considering the way I grew up. It’s nice to have the gil to afford my food instead of stealing it to survive.”
Alex breathed a sigh of relief as he set the box down on the counter. Just having returned from a bakery and some other shopping. His cooking skills just were not up to par yet for what he needed. Though he was sure Sana would have loved it either way. However he wanted her to have this after he had seen it in the bakery.
It looked like an adorable cat head. It was supposed to be filled with a thick rich chocolate. Now he just had to find a place to hide it till her nameday and play stupid.
He totally hadn’t done a little asking around for when Sana’s nameday was. Nope not at all. Plus he had bought her something else. Now he just had to hide them both from her till then. Surely he could play dense for a few days easily.
Rules: Bold what your muse prefers and then tag some people!
Go apple picking vs. Go on a hay ride Scary vs.Sweet Sweaters vs. Boots Socks vs. Mittens Bonfires vs. football Trick-or-Treating vs. Watching scary movies Bake pies vs. bake cookies (Both!) Rain vs. Fog Black cats vs. Owls Ghosts vs. Wizards Harry Potter vs. Halloweentown Go hiking vs. Sleep in Cinnamon vs. Nutmeg Reading vs. Writing (Neither? XD) Hot Chocolate vs. Tea Live in a cabin in the forest vs. Have it be fall 24/7 Candy apples vs. Caramel apples Blankets vs. Pillows Roasted marshmallows vs. Roasted chestnuts Coffee vs. Apple cider (Spiked with booze :P) Red leaves vs. Orange leaves Braids vs. Bows Scented candles vs. The smell of fresh baked goods Carve pumpkins vs. Make pumpkin pie Pumpkin spice lattes vs. Chai lattes Coats vs.Oversized sweaters Beanies vs. Berets Candy corn vs. Peanut butter cups Jump in a pile of leaves vs.Swing on a tire Corn maze vs. Haunted house Bob for applesvs. Visit a pumpkin patch Whipped cream on hot chocolate vs. Marshmallows
“Not really sure. I never really considered actually being able to try things until this past year. It’s always just been survival before now. So it’s still an adjustment to think I can actually try new things. I mean I’ve tried my hand at cooking and Sana an Ana aren’t dead yet so I can’t be a bad cook. I thought about opening some kind of place to eat but I ain’t got the temperament to deal with assholes if they want to try and pull shit over on me. Don’t think I’m quite ready to try that yet.”
“Either sitting in the water somewhere or some shaved ice. Calm waters preferred of course since it’s not so much motion that it makes it hard to relax and not feel like I might be swept away. As far as the shaved ice, something just a little sweet but fruity in flavor. Surprising to find I like a cold treat like that when I’m around snow and ice all day in Coerthas.”
“Have I?” A long silence as he looks away. “Maybe. I mean we made mentions of weddings after watching a friend’s sister get married. At most we agreed the wedding was tacky and we didn’t want something like that. I don’t really see how being married or not being married is anything special. Well beyond making that promise I guess. But I think it might mean more to Sana then it does to me. If she doesn’t kick me to the street, I’ll likely ask eventually just to make her happy.”
Spirit of the Warlock 