kaynetsuki

[kaynetsuki]

So the FC has been running a plot throughout November with high stakes and a few casualties. Kayne ended up being one of those casualties. I’ve been playing this character for around 5 years now and I felt that I had told all the stories he had to tell. He was my first rp character and I know I made some mistakes with him, but he was a great introduction to what rping in an mmo is like as well as a wonderful means to meet some of the people who are now my best friends. I’ll miss my big angry boy but it was time to move on to something different. I am unsure of what I’ll do with this page. I think it’ll just sit here for a while. I might eventually change it up for the new character, or I might just leave it as a testament to what once was. For now, so long Kayne Blackfire, and thanks for all the fish.

Art credit to the wonderful @moon-giest

[kaynetsuki]

Day 30: Sojourn

Over three years ago, Kayne took a sojourn to the Azim Steppe to discover more of himself, to find family. Fool that he is, he assumed the only family he could find was one of his blood. And though he did get to meet with blood relatives (an uncle and a few cousins), and though he got along with them well enough and grew to enjoy their company, they did not fill the void left in his heart by the loss of family. It was one of those cousins that revealed to him a great truth. To follow the path of his heart, wherever it may lead. And that at the end of that path he would find the bonds he seeked, be they for love or family or both.

Now, over three years after that day, he is forever grateful to that trip and his cousin for setting him on the path to those he holds most dear. For at journey’s end he found more than he could ever hope and bonds that will never be broken.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 29: Fuse

It had been a while since Kayne found himself in his familiar dreamscape. The familiar stomach churning fear rose as he looked at the snowy field from the bank he was knelt on top of. The uncertainty of what horror his mind would choose to show him, what memory, what pain would be thrown at him to torment his fragile heart. His breath hitched as he felt the presence at his shoulder, the smaller frame, the lighter steps, the gentle hand that reached for him. This was not Chaumont, this was far worse. 

Slowly he turned his head to look at the raen clad in blue, his light, his love. His heart shattered anew at the look of distain on her face. The disappointment was clear and he knew the source. 

“He still lives. The one who took me.”

Kayne felt the rush of red as his anger surged even in his dreams at the mention of the man. He stamped it down, not willing to give in...

The roar of a dragon stopped him short as a great red beast circled down from the sky to alight in front of him. ‘Aurora’ walked around to Kayne’s front, placing herself next to the dragon’s talons.

“You were to become this. To take the power it could give you and avenge me. Yet you still maintain this farce of control. You still bind yourself to your weakness to appease those too afraid to do what must be done.”

As she spoke a small blue lizard emerged from the snows on her other side. She looked down on the creature with disgust before turning back to face him.

“Choose. Now. Become as the dragon and let the power of it’s rage guide you to justice, or be the lizard and know you will never be enough.”

Kayne looked back and forth between the two creatures, before his eyes settled on ‘Aurora’. For the first time, he forced the fear of this place down and steeled himself against the apparition. And when he spoke, his voice was strong.

“No. I will not choose. I will be both. I will have the patience the lizard affords me, the control to wait until the time is right. And I will have the power of the dragon, so when we are ready, and that will be soon, I will be able to mete out justice. I am more than either of these things and I will not be limited by fear and hatred.”

As he spoke and his words became more sure, the vision in front of him shifted. The dragon and lizard moved closer, touched and then fused into one beast. Within his dream a new creature stood. While still a dragon, it was now blue in color, and not as savage in appearance. A tempered down version of the beast that had claimed his blood. One that would work far better for the trials to come.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 28: Vainglory

As Kayne posted up, leaning in the shadow of the pristine white building, watching the man that took his light away out of the corner of an eye, one might assume the xaela quite bold. He wasn’t overly disguised, nor super well hidden. He had long since discovered that he couldn’t slip into and out of places in quite the same way as before his growth spurt. In this instance, he simply used the bustling city to his advantage. Crowds would block him from view of his target, he carefully chose his gear to blend in as best he could, he would stay in the shade and try to move during that precious time after the sun had gone down, but while students and researchers where hurrying to food or homes for the evening. It would seem many Sharlyans lost track of time while working and so it was with great luck that the city was often very busy not long after sunset as the fading light alerted the people to the passage of time.

He was only there to watch. To see. To reaffirm the ever burning hatred and restoke the fire. No matter what else happened, he wouldn’t wait much longer. His blood sang out for justice to be done and he would be a fool to deny it for too long. Yet for now, he waited and observed. Kayne was not a stupid man, so he did not stick around too long. Just enough to see and know where and... to be seen apparently. Mayhaps it was a bit of hubris that had Kayne thinking that he could skulk around a city like the old days. There may have been a bit of an inflated ego at work as he tried to adjust his technique from when he was a small boy. Or maybe there was a part of him that wanted to get caught, to be seen. Maybe deep down he wanted Bogamel to know that his hunt had not stopped.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 27: Hail

Many years ago

Kayne idly watched from the safety of his hill top as the the battle raged on. The dragons rained fire down on the knights even as the archers retaliated with a hail of arrows. None of it was what the xaela was interested in. He crouched, hidden in the snows as the whole battalion of knights was wiped out in a single pass of sharp claws and fiery breath. He remained in place as the archers fired another volley, shredding the wings of one dragon and grounding it. He seemed almost bored as the same dragon charged the archers tearing through them even as they mortally wounded it in kind. It wasn’t until the first of the small black figures slammed into one of the aerial dragon’s backs, taking the beast down, did Kayne stir to attention. This is what he had been waiting for. The dragoons. 

Now the xaela watched intently, analyzing the knights movements, their strike patterns, their technique. He hated watching the dragons fall one by one, but he would need to be patient should he truly learn their ways. He would soar through the skies as they did, to dive down on their enemies, to fight as dragons do. He would steal their power for his own and turn it on them in kind. As soon as he could get his hands on one of their soul stones. He knew one of the little blue gems would be required to truly steal their abilities and he knew how to get one. He just had to wait for one of the bastards to die. 

His gaze locked on one of the dragoons, an elezen by the shape of the helm, that seemed to be leading the others. Kayne recognized that one. The head of their order, the Azure Dragoon. He rumbled and shifted, burying himself a bit more in the snows. As long as that one was on the field, he would have no such luck with procuring a soul stone. Kayne contented himself to watch for now, committing more of the dragoon’s techniques to memory. Eventually one of them would slip up and he would be ready.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 26: Break a Leg

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

The first time the xaela girl had head the phrase was the day of her first performance for Father’s guests. Her mentor had said it to her in a quite voice, such that only she and her fellow performer would hear. She thought the woman was cursing them at the time, but could not figure out why. It was the second time, before their next performance that she had been able to ask. She was told that it was considered bad luck to wish a performer good luck and so the phrase ‘break a leg’ had been adopted instead. Something about having the opposite of the wish come true. She didn’t think too much on it a the time, but the phrase had stuck with her and she would find herself telling those she cared for to ‘break a leg’ before they were to do anything stressful or dangerous. There was only once that she hadn't said the phrase and it had been the last time she saw her mentor. She never forgot after that day.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 24: Vicissitudes

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

The young xaela woman was not used to things going her way. So it was with not a small bit of fear that she decided to leave the one good thing that had happened in her life and set out on her own for the first time. Well, mostly on her own, as the squeak of the ruby carbuncle at her side pointed out. The war with the Garleans was over, despite her own feelings on the matter, and she needed to get away from a place where the bastards were slowly beginning to be welcomed in to. And mayhaps, she’d find a group to join where she could continue to try to help make the world a better place. Wouldn’t that be nice? She glanced down to the carbuncle as he hissed and sputtered, looking very much like an angry cat. She bent to tend to him, soothing his ruffled fur? aether? It was soft at the least. She always got worked up thinking on the Garleans and it always sent Cobble into a fit. The little carbuncle was scooped up into her arms, so she could continue babying him as she walked.

“Shhh, Cobble. It’ll be fine. I know we haven’t had the best track record, but surely not all changes must be bad. Look at our last change! From that horrid facility to having our own bed! And a room with a door! And the only lock to our room was on the inside too! We’re in Eorzea now, and things are different here. They’re good. Just because we left a good place doesn’t mean where we end up will be bad. This will be better. I know it.”

As the carbuncled chirped and murred at the attention, the xaela was almost able to convince herself that her words were actually for him and that she truly believed them.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 23: Pitch

It always started with pain. Be it his or another's it did not matter, all that did was the initial burst of red that followed. The pain turned into a spark of anger that was quickly followed by the rushing roar of the rage that burned ever constant in his blood. The rage that was his birthright, that was complimented by the power of dragons that he had stolen, all amplified by a little dragon’s eye gem that had been ritually infused to give mortals a taste of the strength granted by the burning hatred felt by the dread wyrm himself. The intoxicating mix of power granted by the three sources was enough to make his blood sing with desire for more. And these days, he was not fool enough to deny that song. Into the raging river he fell time and time again, letting the current of that power take him where it will. Letting the song raise to a fever pitch as he let go of conscious thought and acted on instinct alone, becoming more beast than man. And when the song faded, when the raging river petered out into gentle stream and conscious thought began to return, more and more Kayne found himself longing for when the song would crescendo once more.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 22: Veracity

After his chat with Valentyne regarding the incident, Kayne did not continue his note taking. Instead, he sat and reflected on the conversation the two had had and the events that lead to it. After that battle, after her brother had taken Val’s broken form to a place of healing, Kayne was not sure that he would ever see her again. After Skye had brought her back, and they had a meeting to try and gain understanding of her current state, he was not sure he should allow her return, though he did not voice that thought. But after this sit down... His thoughts were not as clear. She had seemed fine and good and he had witnessed parts of the her that he knew surface. After the conversation, he knew in his heart that she had the capacity to be a good person, to offer aid as one of their number once more. He could see her regret, even if he was not convinced that it was for the reasons he hoped. He could see glimpses of the friend he once knew, even as he knew that that friend did not exist, that friend was a mask used to hide. He had urged her to find who she truly was without anyone telling her who to be, without any of the masks she had worn. He believe in his heart, that her true self would be someone he would happily invite back into the fold, someone he would enjoy getting to know, and someone he could eventually rely on as he did the mask she had once worn. Only time would tell if his feeling were proven true.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 21: Solution

When Emeline asked them to join her in the Shroud to gather reagents for various healing concoctions, Kayne readily volunteered. When she requested that the reagents be gathered without harming the creatures they came from, Kayne was happy to work on solutions to their issue, even if he was equally happy to let the others deal with the morbol. He protected Emeline from the morbol’s breath, and was quick to issue the order to retreat once they had what they needed. He was happy to pet the giant frog and to be slimed by it’s tongue while Ty collected it’s saliva. The group had preformed wonderfully, and the creatures were none the worse for wear from their treatment.

However, when Emeline froze as the Elementals cried out for aid and justice, as Haldhielje lead them to the scene of carnage that was the source of their pain, as they looked upon the foreign poachers in the Shroud’s shade, Kayne was reminded of his one truth. As Emeline called for the justice the Elementals desired, and Kayne relayed her orders in no uncertain terms, he wore a toothy grin, more for the poachers than anything else, as he was proven right once more. Sometime the only solution to the problems of the world was violence.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 20: Anon

A/N: This story is not about Kayne. It follows the story of an alt I want to make at a later time.

The xaela woman sat in a waiting area outside the office of her captain. She summoned a thread of aether to dangle near the floor, letting her ruby carbuncle bat at it while they waited. She was nervous in a way that she hadn't been recently, her gaze constantly flicking up to the door and the desk where a secretary waited. The secretary, a plan looking midlander woman, was mostly ignoring her, having enough work of her own to complete. The xaela didn’t speak, and quickly hushed her carbuncle when it squeaked in annoyance as the aether thread went still. She started to wiggle it again as she thought. It wasn’t exactly uncommon for people to apply to leave the Grand Company, but still. This had been her home, the only kind one she could remember, and it was scary to think of leaving, but... She had other goals, things she needed to see, to remember, to find. She could only learn so much from the confines of the Company and she knew going out into the world would be the best for her. The door opened, and she jumped in her chair as another of her squad mates wandered out. The young male roe gave her a grin and a comforting pat as he continued on out of the office area. She tried to smile back, though the expression was forced and she quickly shifted her gaze back to the receptionist. The midlander placed a hand to her ear and muttered something low before nodding. She looked to the xaela with a kind smile.

“The captain requires but a moment more, she will see you anon.”

[kaynetsuki]

My friend Yuno took some awesome screenshots! He’s amazing!

[kaynetsuki]

Day 19: Turn a Blind Eye

One month ago

Kayne always had reservations about going along on these public facing mission with other groups. There was a level of pomp and ceremony and control involved that he didn’t particularly like. It was a show and he was no performer. Yet there was still pride in being trusted to keep the members of Aetherwatch safe in the field, especially with so many other groups being involved. Which is how he found himself in a medical clinic of a small town recently freed of Garlean oppression. 

His job was to protect Emeline and Jun while they checked in with the local doctor to see what aid the group could offer. Even better, Einarr was with them as well. It was comfortably easy to fall in with the hyur back into their old routine. They were on the same page as something triggered their danger sense, and were equally prepared to deal with whatever may happen. All in all, this was setting up to be a good time. Until one of the patents jumped Eme.

Time seemed to slow as Kayne very quickly assessed the room. The man was clearly not in his right mind as his hand reached and grabbed Eme’s wrist. He knew it would be nothing for him to end this man for the audacity of harming Eme. He knew everyone that mattered to him in this building would turn a blind eye should he do so, and for any ensuing chaos. He also knew that Eme preferred that he exercise restraint in these situations. In the end, it was only that preference that saved the man’s life. Kayne still jumped into action, but the offending hand was simply removed from Eme’s person instead of from the man’s body. The man was simply restrained instead of broken. Everything was over in a flash as himself and Einarr took care of the situation in a manner that represented the aid group well. Even after the incident was resolved and they were back home, Kayne found himself grateful to be in a group that both encouraged him to be better, but that would not judge him when he wasn’t.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 17: Novel

Kayne roamed the halls of the house, aimlessly exploring. He had heard of a room with a swimming pool and rumors of one only called ‘the cake room’. He hoped to find one, or some other unexplored room within the house as he wandered. In truth, he was bored. Things had been a bit slow for the Xaela’s liking. They had basically finished the job with the Sharlayan, the business with Arrow was on hold until an opportunity presented itself, and his primary goal was stuck behind political bullshite. So he had taken to entertaining himself by attempting to annoy whatever consciousness that made up The House into showing him something neat. The House was having none of it. Which is how Kayne found himself with a new bump on his head and one of Rosette’s more scandalous novels in his hand. Not knowing any better, Kayne cracked the book open and began to read.

Later that day, there would be no explanation as Kayne darted through the halls, slammed open the door to Rose’s office, threw the offending novel in her general direction, slammed the door shut once more, and promptly took off to burn the mental images from his memory.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 16: Deiform

It wasn’t uncommon for the things that Kaye fought in his work with Aetherwatch to refers to themselves as gods. And sometimes he could see why they would think that. Eldritch horrors with thousands and thousands of eyes and hundreds of mouths and countless limbs could easily be viewed as ancient cruel god-like beings. Until they bleed. Until they are put to the test and they die the same as any mortal being. Ancient immortal beings of elegant form and unfathomable power could seem similar to the Twelve. But their immortality never meant they couldn’t be killed. And once they did die, it was hard to see them as any more than anyone else in the world. So, as much as Kayne did revere Nhaama, as much as he respected the Eorzean belief in the Twelve, as much as he knew Emeline communed with a higher power in the form of the Elementals, he found himself more and more apathetic to the concept of divinity. After all, if all of those beings could bleed, what’s to say that the gods didn’t as well.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 15: Row

It was so early in the morning that the sun hadn't come up yet. Yet still, Kayne managed to find someone willing to rent him a boat that he might row out into the Rhotano Sea with his fishing gear in tow. He made it to the point that he could just barely make out the land before pulling up the oars and beginning to bait his hook. As he cast his line out, his eyes drifted upwards to the beginnings of the sun cresting the horizon and a soft smile spread on his face. It was his favorite time, alone on the sea, with only the fish to keep him company, watching the sun rise. He took a breath and closed his eyes for a moment, and he could faintly feel the memory of his fathers hands over his own as he waited for a bite.

[kaynetsuki]

Day 14: Attrition

A number of months ago

It was an average day for the people of Aetherwatch, which meant they were in the middle of a heated battle with a horror beast of unknown origin. It could have simply been a figment of their collective subconscious, brought on by the hallucinogenic flowers that littered the woods they found themselves in, or it could have been some science experiment gone wrong from the facility nearby. Either way, it was mad and they were fighting with everything they had.

It had managed to get a heavy hit off on Kayne, a unknown appendage slamming into him and slashing across his exposed arm. With the blood that dripped, Kayne felt the familiar roar of his rage build. His vision became tinted red and, without a second thought, he opened himself to the flood of power that rage brought, loosing all semblance of control of his own actions as he did. He knew he would fight the beast until it was dead or he dropped from exhaustion, and should he still be held by the power of his rage once it died, he might turn his strength on his allies. 

In the past, that possibility had been enough to give him pause, to have him fight the siren song of the power of his blood, of his soul, of that little cursed gem amplifying it all. He would hold his anger in until he could not anymore, the call, the need, the overwhelming power chipping away at his will and resolve until he could not fight it anymore. Until it was not his to direct and he could only pray that he would target the right thing in the feral state he ended up in. Eventually he would always loose that war of attrition. 

So he would let the power out in small, controllable bursts. And for a while that seemed to work. Until it didn’t. Until the lesser power that it granted him wasn’t enough. Until he lost something he could not afford to loose. Then he stopped fighting it. The power was needed and he needed to learn at least partial control. He could not keep fighting the war with himself, not if he wanted to keep those he cared for truly safe. So he made a compromise. What did it matter if he possibly harmed those he cared for if it meant they got to live? When he did harm them, the shame was horrible, but as long as they were alive to hate him for it, he could live with the shame, with their anger and distrust.

Through the haze of his anger, he saw himself dive at the beast and begin to pull it apart piece by piece. He knew the others fled while they could, for it turned out that this beast was not one they could defeat. And pride swelled in his heart at being able to give them that chance, even though it meant making himself a risk to them all.