Destiney paused on the small bridge over the river in the lower part of Central Coerthas. Looking up at the falling flakes of snow. Letting the flakes settle in her hair and on her clothes.
Closing her eyes she took a deep breath of the frigid air. Slowly exhaling before repeating. Focusing on the aether around her and within her. Not going for anything particular today. Nor difficult. Just simple aether control practice.
She had learned a lot between her time working for the Order and the efforts her brother made to teach her. Forming a small ball of water aether between her hands. Letting it go. A favorite of Oni’s. Though she had a feeling he much preferred when the aether wasn’t water based.
Now the part she was trying to get the hang of. It was half the reason she came out here. She wanted to try and grasp the ice aether. Water had always been easy. Ice was just frozen water right? The step between shouldn’t be that hard right?
Wrong. It didn’t come that easily to her. Yet it wasn’t nearly as hard as working with fire aether. Fire was still the most difficult element for her to use when she had to cast spells. Red magic did not use a full array of elements either. At least not that she had learned anyways.
Destiney sighed softly. Maybe she just wasn’t in the right mood for this today. Maybe it was too cold. Fingers without gloves was a bad idea for long in this icy chill. Rubbing her hands together to try and warm them a little. If she didn’t succeed today she’d just keep trying another day. Maybe one that wasn’t so bitter cold.
Alex did his best to hold still as for the second time in his life the needle neared his eye. The first had been when his mentor had marked his face with the red flowing tattoo. Now he was changing that red to black.
His mentor was dead. No love lost there. Never would be. But he was no longer owned by that monster who taught him to be a killer. This was his way to declare his freedom from that binding. It was easier to have it recolored rather then try to change it to some different design.
Another show of his defiance. Just like the dragon tattoo over the scars on his back. Defiance towards the nation he had no love for. Nor the lords that ruled it. Brume born and abused by one of those who held power till the man was murdered. Murdered by the man he had called mentor for many years.
Each scar was a reminder of where he’d come from. What he had survived. Marked him as someone who wasn’t ready to die yet. Each tattoo another show of his strength and will to keep pushing forward despite whatever hell the gods threw at him.
The newer scars? The ones Anata had given him? Badges of pride more then anything. Marks of hard work and training against someone he considered better then him. He’d keep improving. Keep showing his defiance and will to survive. Gods be damned.
That reminder helped him to relax and let the person work on recoloring the tattoo.
Valen paused to look around before sighing. This was just not his moon. First he got lost early in the moon. Now he’d lost his prey. What had he done to deserve such bad luck?
Worse part was… His prey had vanished without a trace. Or perhaps he had simply missed something glaringly obvious. Either way this was no a good sign. He needed the gil from this Bounty unless he planned to try and sing for his supper.
He really did need to sit down and have a talk with Virae. Especially about some of the activities he got himself into at times. Her opinion and feelings were important to him. It was why he had gone more into the hunting lately over the singing. Not that he didn’t still sing. He just wasn’t sure some of his other ‘preferred’ activities that went along with that would be okay with the small raen woman.
Valen adjusted the strap to his quiver before deciding to look around again. Surely he just missed something stupid. Then it dawned on him… What if his prey had used magic to give him the slip… Wouldn’t that figure… Another sigh but he kept searching anyways. It was that or back to square one on this hunt.
Bonds. Connected by a thread of fate. No matter the distance. We will always find each other again.
Sometimes the connection between two people is the most unlikely thing you would think could happen. That they don’t fit together. But somehow it works. They fit. Like the missing pieces of a bigger whole. That the one half fits into that broken and jagged half so perfectly to make a whole.
Alex couldn’t help but fall for the small raen healer. She didn’t see him as beyond help. She believed he could change. Be better then he was. For her he was willing to fight to make that true. For Sanagi.
“You’re mine. I love you, Sana.”
Sometimes it takes that one bright and shining soul. The shining light that can break through the darkness and take that person by the hand. Guide them from the darkness and the pain. Let them heal and smile once more.
She had been hurt and used. The memories clearly still haunted her. Yet she was still the sweet little bird who had flown to his side when he made a mistake and gotten injured. Whose smile made him want to offer her the world if he could. Just to see her continue to smile. To keep his sweet rose from withdrawing back into the pain. To see her true worth. Especially in Valen’s eyes.
“Such a pretty flower, You shouldn’t hide away.”
To find that something the soul longs for. To truly live again. As that thread of fate is pulled and tugged. Sometimes gently. Sometimes shoved and pulled. As if the hands of fate are truly at work.
Lance wasn’t looking for someone. Had pretty much given up hope on such an ideal at his age. Duty. He lived for duty to the High House he served. Then in walked an angel. He could have sworn Halone herself had sent this woman to him. A tug towards the lady who offered her kindness and help to quiet the pain. Still he remained guarded yet. So afraid to let anyone close to him after all that had happened. Maybe he really did need a shove by Halone.
“Kyna, I shall do my best. I hope you will continue to help me through this.”
Sometimes that is all one truly needs. A hope. A guiding hand. To find a bond so very needed. A bond that gives them strength and steel. Makes them stronger rather then weaker. A bond that they would fight tooth and nail to protect.
Silent wings. Silent songs. A calling neither answered. Yet a small hope began to bloom as the dragon began to find herself craving the next meeting with the small miqo’te woman. So many people she couldn’t trust with the truth. Yet Bodge… Bodge she could trust. Bodge was the first person she had trusted since Roselle.
“Bodge friend, would you like some berries?”
Yet no two bonds are exactly alike. Each one is unique. Each one is special. As that red thread of fate brings them together. No matter the distance, they will find each other.
Destiney had been cautious at first. Not sure she wanted to love again. More then once she had been shot down, left feeling unworthy. Then along came the wolf to steal the maiden’s heart. She handed it over to him so willingly. Found herself wanting nothing more then to stay by his side. To have a family with him.
Alex sighed softly as he looked at his gear and ran a hand over the guards for his hands. Remembering the other night. The way Sana had looked in the coat made by the same man who had crafted his own armor.
Hell he still remembered the first time he truly fell for her. It was still hard to believe that she could love someone like himself. They were heading towards a year now though. It seemed so close and yet still so far. Even with all they had been through over the time they had been together.
Fixing his injuries without too many prying questions. Not admonishing him for what he did. Actually listening to the truth he rarely told most. Not even running from him when he had tried to scare her off for her own safety. Not looking at him like the broken creature he often felt like…
Still she tried to make him see his own worth. Making him feel like maybe there was some hope… Even for someone like himself.
L’ania. Ulan. Arik. Ilan. Lancefer. Most importantly Sanagi.
Perhaps he wasn’t as hopeless as he once thought. Giving a wry chuckle before running a hand over his face. A lot had changed in a little over two years. For once… He had friends. He had someone he loved. He had a chance at happiness. If he could let go of the fear.
His thoughts drifted to Sana again. To just them together for her nameday. To the sweet tenderness of her tending to his wounds. Sleeping with her snuggled close to him. Seeing her smile. Having perfectly normal meals together. Treating him like he was a valid person and not just a monster.
Sana always seemed to make everything okay. No matter how stupid he acted. Her light chased away the darkness. She somehow always made everything okay.
Alex tipped his head back as he closed his eyes. He was alone. He felt no shame in letting the tears run down his cheeks right now. “Please… Let me stay by her side. Let me have this one thing if nothing else.” A quiet plea to the gods that he swore hated him and made him suffer for so much of his life.
Esper dozed on his favorite blue pillow as Stefan worked in his room. Papers and books had been set aside to make space for some alchemy work today. None of his usual had any medicine requests. At least not recently. But it never hurt to make extra.
Extra plus he wanted to tweak and play with a few of the recipes. The science wasn’t yet perfect. Not good enough. Always room for improvement. More results needed.
Trying to change the tastes of medicines without changing how they worked could be tricky. It was a lot of trial and error. Or waiting on test results. More often then not he ended up being his own test victim rather then try to find someone else willing. It had only gone badly a few times. Thankfully his sister lived in the Goblet as well. Not that he was any sort of alchemist expert. Yet. His skills with a tome and magic still outclassed his skills with alchemy.
Stefan checked the vial after mixing the ingredients. Setting it aside while he started another. The first one needed to set for a bit before he could test the results of the mixture.
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.
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.
Adelena sat around the table with several others. A mix of pirates and deckhands that were all on shore leave. Various bottles and cups littered the table in arm’s reach. The middle contained a pile of coins. The group all seemed intent on their cards in hand.
Sharp eyes on the man from a merchant’s vessel. The man seemed to be acting rather shady. Whether it was nerves from playing with some known pirates… That was harder to say but Adel’s money was on cheating.
“Alright lads and lass. Show them hands.” The dealer of the group declared.
Adel knew she had a good hand. Lady luck was with her today. Yet something was telling her to keep her eyes on that man. She spread her cards on the table, subtly keeping her eyes on him. Ready to call him out.
Her hand beat the rest of the table. Then the shifty man placed his down. Adel had noticed that subtle shift. The man was keeping extra cards up his sleeve. It gave the man a winning hand. Just as he reached for the pile of coins, Adel pulled a knife from her belt and jabbed it down into the table mere inches from the man’s hands. It startled the man enough to make him jump. The loose hidden cards in his sleeves falling free.
“Bloody scallywag. Trying to cheat us? I’ll make you shark bait.” Adel growled at the man who backed away from the table. Her fellow card players stood up and also gave the man vicious looks. The man looked about to piss his pants before he took off and bolted from the room.
Adel sighed and put her dagger back into it’s sheath before sitting back down. “Now where were we? Another game, boys? Rums on me this round.”
Spirit of the Warlock 