#STORMBLOOD ( ic )

[avirael]

The Frozen Lake

It was the third day since he had stopped feeling like dying.

About a week ago he had woken up from his far too lifelike fever dream and a few days later the last spikes of the fever itself had been gone too just like the hallucinations it had brought in his sleep.

He still had been sick though and welcomed Rael telling him to stay in bed until he was perfectly healthy again all too eagerly.

While he still sneezed every now and then, it was at least tolerable now, still annoying but he didn’t feel incredibly uncomfortable anymore.

That day, just like the last and also the ones before that, he had awoken late. Against Rael’s order to stay in bed he had found the courage to get up and take a look out of the window. It was a sunny day, which in Coerthas still meant that it was bitterly cold though. But the sun was shining brightly and already high in the sky too which meant it had to be almost midday. He had slept way too long again, way to many hours for a surprisingly dreamless sleep. Or maybe it was exactly the lack of dreams that allowed him to finally rest, after all in the past there rarely had been good ones…

For a moment he considered to go downstairs and ask for a late breakfast if that wasn’t too insolent given the late hour but then a knock sounded from the door.

Quickly he hurried back to bed, just in case it was Rael, but the person who carefully peeked into the room a few seconds later wasn’t a viera.

“Ah, you are awake! That’s good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and brought a small tray with hot soup and also something warm to drink. “It is so late already, you must be horribly hungry. Alphinaud checked in on you earlier but you were still fast asleep and he didn’t have the heart to wake you.”

A little uncertain on how to answer to that, A’viloh just nodded. Haurchefant grinned, put down a mug on the bedside table and handed A‘viloh a comfortingly warm bowl filled with some rather delicious smelling stew.

Instead of fetching the chair from the small desk by the window, Haurchefant sat down at the lower end of the bed balancing the tray with his own lunch on his knees. Rael once told him that ishgardian society had an absurd amount of strict and antiquated rules and so A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder, that although it seemed like a very appropriate distance to him, in Haurchefant’s hometown the fact alone that he dared to sit on someone else’s bed was probably scandalous.

“I hope you don’t mind me having lunch with you.”, the Elezen asked as he noticed A‘viloh staring.

Quickly the Miqo’te lowered his gaze to his bowl of soup. “Not at all.”, he muttered and tried a spoonful of the food just to change the topic. “Mhh, this is very good!”, he mumbled, still chewing, surprised by how good this really was compared to the bland food and bitter teas Rael had usually brought him these last few days. It must have been the Viera’s way of punishing him for running away.

Haurchefant laughed and then for a while they ate in silence.

“You look a lot healthier already.”, the Elezen stated after a while with an amiable smile on his face before taking a sip from his mug.

A‘viloh shrugged a little embarrassed, since it had been his own fault that he hadn’t been well in the first place. “Only because all of you took so good care of me.”

Haurchefant nodded. “You know, you had us all horribly worried right?”

“Sorry about that.”, he said and guitily looked into his mug.

Curiously Haurchefant eyed him for a moment. “Why did you do that anyway? Run out into the storm.”

A bit surprised A’viloh looked up. Had they all thought he had done this on purpose? “There wasn’t a storm when I left! What do I know about weather? I didn’t expect it to start snowing, let alone that much!”

That made the Elezen chuckle again but he still looked at him expecting an answer.

“Still… why did you leave?”

“I assumed Rael told you…”, A’viloh replied not sure what Haurchefant wanted to hear exactly. He nodded. “Rael did. But maybe I want to hear it from you…”

A’viloh sighed. His plan hadn’t been very smart and he felt a little uncomfortable having to explain his reasons to someone else, when in retrospect it didn’t make much sense even to his own ears.

“You know the… circumstances under which we fled Ul’dah… I couldn’t… um… the fact that we didn’t even know what happened to our friends… I wanted to find out, because it doesn’t seem fair to me that we escaped while all of them didn’t…”

“Mhh…”, Haurchefant nodded thoughtfully but let go off the topic for now. Instead he asked, „And how are you feeling today?”

Somehow that question confused A’viloh even more.

“What do you mean?”

“It’s a simple question, isn’t it?”, he said still smiling politely.

Of course it was a simple question. Just the answer felt unreasonable complicated to him. To make things even more difficult people who asked such a question usually wanted to hear “I‘m fine, and you?” or “Very good, thank you.” for an answer and rarely the truth. They certainly didn’t want to hear “A few days ago I was convinced I was going to die and honestly it wasn’t that bad, so now I‘m still not sure wether I am happy to still be alive or not”.

“Alright… I guess.”, he mumbled instead. He had never been a good liar and could only hope that this fact wasn’t too obvious for the Elezen.

“You know what?”, Haurchefant proclaimed after watching him thoughtfully for a second. “Today is a wonderful day. We should go for a walk.”

“A walk?!”, A’viloh exclaimed wide-eyed, as if he had just asked something unreasonable of him.

“Why not?”

A’viloh couldn’t think of a good reason why not, other than that he was supposed to stay in bed, so he shrugged.

“Where’s Rael?”, he asked instead.

Haurchefant smirked. “Do you need Rael’s permission to go outside?”

“Of course not.”, the Miqo’te protested. “But Rael will be mad if I run off again, especially against their orders to stay in bed.”

“Rael and Alphinaud went to the observatory earlier.”, Haurchefant explained. “We’ll be back before they are, I promise.”

What was A’viloh supposed to say against that and also against the expectant look on the Elezen’s face. He took another glimpse towards the window and decided that it looked nice enough to go outside.

“Fine.”

“Good!”, Haurchefant exclaimed happily and collected their empty bowls and mugs. “There should be warm clothes for you in the wardrobe. If you need anything else just ask someone. I’ll wait for you by the northern gate.”

After Haurchefant had left, A’viloh remained sitting in his bed for a moment longer contemplating on the Elezen’s question. Yes, he felt better again. But better in what comparison? Better than a few days ago when he had felt and also been half-dead? Though he didn’t feel sick anymore now, there still was a weigh on his heart. From his plan that had failed so spectacularly and even more so from the dreams he wouldn’t have minded to keep on dreaming forever.

Vehemently he shook his head and decided not to think about that now or he would just crawl back under the blanket of his comfortably warm bed again. Instead he got up and took a look into the wardrobe. Almost none of these were his own clothes of course since all he possessed were the ones he had worn on his body that day they fled Ul’dah. Very unsuitable for this climate. But neither did he see the borrowed clothes he had worn that night when he had tried to run away. Everything in here looked even softer and warmer like someone had wanted to make sure he was feeling comfortable. To his surprise the things didn’t look that much too big for him either, unlike his last set of clothes. Besides a few Hyur most people here at Camp Dragonhead were grown up Elezen but these clothes looked like they belonged to neither. Maybe it were clothes for Elezen children, he wondered and also thought that in that case someone must have brought them here just for him.

Grateful for so much effort he picked a few pieces and got dressed. Lazily he ran his fingers through his hair to get rid of the worst knots but the look into the small mirror at the washbasin, where his tired face stared back at him reproachfully, just made him sigh. Once he was ready he took the warm coat out of the wardrobe too and went out to look for Haurchefant. Just as he had said, the Elezen was standing by the gate that led to the north-east, towards the ruins of the Steel Vigil.

From afar Haurchefant already recognised the Miqo’te, his bright red hair a singularity among all the people living here. Pleasantly smiling as always he waved at him and A’viloh couldn’t help but smile a little too and wave back as he hurriedly walked towards him.

“There you are! I see the clothes fit you nicely.”

A’viloh nodded.

“They do. Thank you very much for these.”

Haurchefant dismissively waved with one hand. “It’s the least I could do…”

But he had done a lot more than that, A’viloh thought. “I think there’s more I need to thank you for. Rael told me it was you who saved my life.”

“Mhhh…”, Haurchefant tilted his head as if he wasn’t sure if this statement was entirely the truth. “Rael is too humble. They played a bit of a role in that too. After all it was Rael who noticed you were gone. And it was also Rael who didn’t leave your bedside and tried their best to heal you.”

A’viloh remembered waking up and finding the usually quite touch-averse viera cuddled up to him with a look on their face so horribly sad like he had never seen on them before. Rael had pretended it was nothing but it had been a very unconvincing performance. Asked about it Alphinaud had only offered a few sentences about how worried Rael had looked and how they had used all kinds of spells he himself had never seen or heard of before, all of it to try and save him. It had made him feel even more guilty for his stupidity.

So maybe Haurchefant was right. But still it had been him who had risked going out into the storm to find him.

“Anyway. I still want to thank you! Honestly.”, he insisted. But how honestly was it really?

Sure, he was glad to still be alive. After all his plan hadn’t been to run out into a blizzard and freeze to death, although some of them seemed to think that was the case. But once he found himself in this situation he had to admit that he had welcomed his fate rather willingly. A fact that shocked even himself a little looking back at it now.

“You’re welcome. After all you wouldn’t be any help to your friends frozen to death out there.”, Haurchefant joked with a wry smile on his lips.

“I guess not...”, A’viloh muttered, the topic of his friends making his mood visibly sink again.

Of course the Elezen noticed and his smile turned into a playful grin. “But I acted a little selfish too, you know? I think Camp Dragonhead is a lot friendlier with your company and I would like to have you and your pretty smile around a little longer.”

For a moment A’viloh’s eyes shot up to look at the others face before he quickly pretended that something somewhere a little bit to his left was a lot more interesting. Sometimes Haurchefant randomly said things, A’viloh hadn’t had the slightest idea how to react to. Not because he was that oblivious but simply because it puzzled him. Nonetheless the air suddenly didn’t feel that cold anymore on his face.

Haurchefant was always very kind to him. Well, he mostly was kind to everybody but sometimes he seemed to admire him especially. Him of all people, although there was nothing special about him. Haurchefant sometimes spoke of him like he was one of the greatest heroes of all time and it felt so ridiculous to him. He was just silly, cowardly A‘viloh! What had he ever achieved in his miserable life to justify such admiration? The people called him a Warrior of Light but wasn’t that some grand overstatement? Some days he thought all of this had been a horrible mistake. A great misunderstanding! Then he wondered how he had ever gotten entangled in this madness in the first place and also if he ever would get out of it again. But what else should he do with his life anyway...

While A’viloh’s brain still screeched in desperate search for a proper response, Haurchefant seemed to realise he had flustered him and glossed it over by gesturing to the gate.

“How about we walk a few yalms? There’s something you need to see!”

Still too dumbstruck to speak or to even wonder what the Elezen was talking about, A’viloh nodded and then proceeded to follow him out into the snowy landscape.

After a few minutes Haurchefant paused and took a deep breath. “Isn’t the air wonderful today?”

A’viloh followed his example, breathed deeply and let his gaze wander over the snow covered landscape with a few pines here and there and the mountains and ruins of the Steel Vigil in the distance. The air was cool and fresh, still cold enough that the warm sun couldn’t melt the snow. Instead the rays of sunshine made the scenery shine and sparkle as if everything was covered not in ice but in millions over millions of tiny diamonds.

“It is.”, he answered and smiled, surprised how beautiful this inhospitable landscape could be, before with a sudden spark of curiosity he finally asked. “Where are we going?”

“It’s not far anymore.”, Haurchefant said with a grin on his face and pointed into another direction. Shortly after and only a bit further ahead they reached a small lake.

As they got closer A‘viloh noticed that it not only was covered in a layer of snow and ice but also that quite a few off-duty soldiers, given the proximity to the camp he assumed they had to be, were standing right on top of the frozen lake. No, they were not quite standing. It looked more like they were dancing or flying maybe. More or less gracefully they moved over the lake‘s surface in fluid swift strides, some just moving in wide circles and other swirling around this way or that. A’viloh had never seen something like this and it looked strange and impossible but at the same time very beautiful to him.

The two of them had almost reached the lake by then, A’viloh a few steps ahead to get a better look at the wondrous people on the ice and he already wanted to ask how they did that, when his attention was drawn elsewhere by a curious squawking sound.

“Oh! Look at them!”, the Miqo’te exclaimed, his fascinated smile still turning a little brighter, as he gestured to a small flock of wild geese resting at the shore of the lake. With ruffled feathers they sat closely huddled together at the edge of the ice and suddenly A‘viloh couldn’t help but worry about them. They looked so unbothered by his presence, sleeping through the day and all the hubbub around them, looking all exhausted and frozen with their puffed up feathers. Like anything could happen to them and they wouldn’t even mind.

Strangely he wondered what he himself had looked like when Haurchefant had found him unconscious in the snow. He must have been a pitiful sight. Had the Elezen thought him beyond saving too, just like he himself had. What if he had found him a little later or not at all? Maybe that would have been better, a voice murmured to him just like it had so many times before and for a moment, tempted by the grief heavy on his heart once again, he almost believed it.

But no, he would be dead then and while he would have liked to imagine that this would mean he could be with his loved ones again, it was not exactly what either of the tribes he had lived with believed.

Vaguely he remembered his father working for hours, digging a grave at what used to be Wellwick Wood. An elderly woman too exhausted by their long journey, his grandmother if he remembered correctly, had died shortly after they had arrived there. With a sad smile on his face his father had explained to his children, who had stared down into the hole in the ground with confusion in their eyes, how by returning her body to the earth there could still grow new life from this death.

Or the drake tribe of the Sagolii Desert, who always burned their dead and left the ashes to be carried away by the desert wind, believing that it would make it easier for the deceased‘s aether to return to the Aetheric Sea and create something new elsewhere.

With a sudden sharp pain in his heart A’viloh realised that neither of the people he loved had gotten the burial they would have wanted for themselves. And neither had A‘viloh himself wanted to die in the coldness of Coerthas and be forever forgotten under a thick layer of snow and ice. He had thought about dying before but never had he been this close to it. For a second he wondered if this was something worth speaking to Rael about, but he wasn’t sure they wouldn’t misunderstand and get mad at him again.

“Why do you make such a sad face now?”, Haurchefant asked having noticed the smile slip from the Miqo’te’s face. But A’viloh just vehemently shook his head and focused on the geese again.

“They must be horribly cold.”, he wondered in a voice that suggested he already planned to take all of them to the safety of his comfortably warm room.

Haurchefant chuckled. “Don’t worry, they survived the storm out here after all. They keep each other warm, that’s why you‘ll rarely see one of them alone. A bit like you and your friends.”

“Maybe…”, A’viloh answered thinking about this comparison for a moment. “I just wish it wouldn’t always be me who needs to be taken care of. But as proven in Ul’dah and now once again I am simply too weak and useless to keep myself alive, not to mention anyone else.”

The Elezen’s face got a little stern as he folded his arms in front of his chest. “Don’t say that, I am sure it’s not true! This was just bad luck! You are neither weak nor useless!”

A’viloh shrugged. “But that’s how I feel right now...”

Slowly Haurchefant nodded before speaking again with a silent but determined voice. “Listen. I‘ll never forget how bravely you fought for Francel although you barely knew him. You could have gotten yourself in trouble with that and you helped him anyway.”

“It’s not like I did that on my own -”, A’viloh tried to protest but was immediately interrupted. “But you still helped! And I’m sure even without Rael you would have done so!”

Another shrug was all Haurchefant got in response, so the Elezen thought for a second before making an offer. “You want to make yourself useful, right? Get stronger? I could teach you how to fight like a real ishgardian knight, with sword and shield. Or we have some dragoons at Camp Dragonhead too! I’m sure there’s a lot you could learn from them.”

A‘viloh‘s face turned to disbelief. “I really don’t think I could fight with armor and weapons this heavy…”

“You can’t say so if you don’t try! And I have you know that dragoon armors are surprisingly light. How do you think they could still be this agile otherwise? Promise me to at least try training with them a little!”

He didn’t really want to agree to that. He knew he would make a fool of himself. But how could he say no with Haurchefant trying everything in his power to cheer him up. Weakly he shook his head and muttered: “Fine…”

“Perfect!”, Haurchefant exclaimed with a bright smile on his face. “I think an early reward for your efforts is appropriate then!”

Confused A’viloh watched him take a small bag off of his shoulders, which he hadn’t even noticed until now. For a moment the Elezen was busy undoing a knot before he opened the bag and presented to A‘viloh a set of two weirdly shaped blades attached to pieces of wood with leather straps. He had no idea what these constructs were meant to do and that was plainly visible on his face. “What’s that?”

“Ice skates of course!”, Haurchefant said as if that would explain it all but the Miqo’te‘s face remained clueless, so Haurchefant gestured to the lake behind them. “You attach them to your boots so you can walk on the ice like this!”

“Oh!”, A’viloh exclaimed as he understood what Haurchefant was planning. “I don’t think-… I mean I‘ve never-… You don’t really want me to step on that lake do you?” The idea somehow scared him.

“Why not?”, Haurchefant asked for the second time today with this smile that made the question sound like a challenge.

“It’s just a bit of ice!”, A‘vi objected. “What if it breaks?”

The Elezen shook his head and proceeded to fasten the metal blades beneath his boots. “Ah, don’t worry. The ice is thick enough, it will take at least a few more days to melt.”

“I don’t know…”, was all A’viloh replied as Haurchefant pressed another pair of skates into his hands. But the Elezen remained determined and took a few wobbly steps through the snow and onto the ice. “See! I can stand on it and it doesn’t break! You are a lot lighter than me, so why wouldn’t you be able to?”

Oh, you don’t know my bad luck!, A‘viloh thought but Haurchefant didn’t look like he would take that for an excuse. Instead he stretched out a hand towards the Miqo’te. “Come one! Believe me, this is going to be funny!”

For a second A‘viloh pondered his options. The idea of nothing but a little bit of ice between him and the water still terrified him but Haurchefant seemed so excited about this and the other people actually seemed to have fun too. Maybe he should at least pretend to try... Reluctantly he sat down on a rock and tried to put on the skates just like Haurchefant had done a moment ago.

“The clasp on the back too. Make sure none of them are loose… Yes, that looks fine!��, Haurchefant helpfully explained. As A’viloh got up, he almost flopped right back down into the snow. It was a weird feeling to balance his whole weight on only two thin pieces of metal. As he carefully took the first few steps towards the lake Haurchefant reached out for him once more. “Here! Take my hand! I don’t want you to fall…”

Hesitantly A‘vi stepped onto the ice and immediately felt like the ground was being pulled away beneath his feet. He struggled for balance, feeling himself falling backwards, so Haurchefants arm was a very welcome thing to hold on to.

With a chuckle the Elezen tried to loosen A‘vi‘s desperate grip on his arm and instead took each of his hand in one of his own before carefully making slow steps backwards pulling A‘viloh over the ice, which A’vi could swear was making suspicious crackling sounds below them. There was no way to tell the blades beneath his feet not to move, so all A’viloh could do was try not to fall and plead to Haurchefant with ears flat on his head and panic in his eyes, as he slowly was pulled further onto the lake. “No, no, no. Take me back, that’s a horrible idea!”

“Calm down. There’s nothing to be afraid of. I promise.”, Haurchefant said soothingly and continued to explain to him how to move on the ice skates. And in fact the Elezen’s calm voice slowly made A’viloh feel less anxious. His hands, frantically clasping at Haurchefant’s, relaxed along with his legs. It was still a weird feeling to be standing on the ice but now it felt a lot easier to remain balanced. He glanced at the people around them while remaining as still as possible, studied their movements for a moment and then tentatively tried to mimic the way they slowly pushed their feet above the slippery surface. To his surprise he really moved forward without much effort and also without feeling the sensation of falling again, closer to Haurchefant who had steadied him with his outstretched arms so far.

“See! It’s not that difficult.”, he said while making another step backwards so A’viloh had to follow with another step forward. The Miqo’te, strangely excited about the fact that he was actually moving on these weird ice-blades, laughed happily. “You are even going backwards!”

Haurchefants laughed. “One step after the other. Let’s teach you how to go forward first, hm? I‘ll let go off one of your hands but don’t worry, I still got you. One feet after the other just like you did before…”

In fact it almost felt easier now that he could use one of his arms to balance himself. Very slowly at first they floated above the icy surface of the lake but soon A‘viloh got braver. Once he almost lost his balance but for a comparably tall and strong person like Haurchefant it seemed like a very easy task to keep a small Miqo’te on his feet. Almost falling had felt like a shock for a second but only moments later they were laughing about it and in the end A’viloh was surprised and also a little proud how quickly he had learned and how much fun this was.

He wasn’t sure how much time they spent there on the frozen lake but at some point a bell sounded from the nearby Camp. Startled A’viloh looked up (and almost lost his balance again). “How late is it? I’m sure you have more important things to do than this! I’m sorry if I’m keeping you from doing your work.”

But Haurchefant just laughed and teased, “What could be more important than prove to you that not all of Coerthas is a deadly wasteland trying to kill you? But I think we really should return soon. I don’t want you to get cold again and after all we also don’t want Rael to find out about this little excursion, do we?”

For a second A’viloh wished the viera could see him now and wondered what their reaction would be like. The thought made him chuckle.

And as they floated, one last circle around the lake, A’viloh couldn’t help but wonder that maybe it was happy moments like this. The reason he was still here. Moments that made his life worth living.

---

inspired by the poem The Reversal by Leila Chatti

[vierandancer]

@diademreigned

As encouraging as Meiko had been in Alphinaud's ability, she did not like watching him depart for Garlemald. Even if Maxima seemed a decent sort, there were too many unknowns to account for; so much could happen between their departure and arrival, and...

And it didn't matter. As different as he could be from Alisaie, both twins could dig their heels into the ground and never be convinced to move if they thought it right. There was no point in arguing with him once his decision had been made.

But she could not help but ache for Alisaie, could not help but see herself in the sister fearing for her brother's safety, while believing in his ability all the same; it was a helplessness that no one could remedy. But at the very least, she could try to lessen the constant weight.

"Fancy a trip to Costa del Sol, Alisaie?" she approached her in the Rising Stones that morning, training chakrams in hand. "Figured now's as good a time as any to start our trainin' whilst we've little else t'do but wait. If you're up for it, I mean. You can keep your linkshell on, o'course, in case there's any news."

[hriobzagelthewanderer]

"...for all those enemy spellcasters, necromancers, demons, liches, and other arcane assholes who wish to challenge me, I wish you luck-"

"because I am protected by about 99 spellslots worth of Counterspell, among other things."

[likemosaic]

“now  i’ve  got  something  i  want  to  protect.  it’s  you.” Also leaves this here from zenos,

howl's moving castle sentence starters. / @aetheryic

a lover's words, and too sweet for her taste. tsuyu's mouth curls in old habit--though she likes to think she's making good progress in diluting her bitter crone's heart down into something softer for gosetsu's sake, the presence of zenos galvus (yae no longer, she supposes, from what news has come to doma in the time since she's become tsuyu) makes all her old wounds flare: including the deep sorrow of a young woman unloved by all in the world, even her only patron. zenos' clear disinterest in a woman who could not fight him had been better than what she was used to. better than her brother's torment, her husband's drunkenness, her father's resentment.

but the cruelty rises too, unbidden, at seeing his face after all this time. the emptiness in his eyes, not unlike her own. "protect?" tsuyu spits the word, her white hair blowing gently in the wind. her heart hammers in her chest, old fears rising up, but gosetsu stands in the distance. tsuyu knows he would never let zenos hurt her. "perhaps this is the tale you spun to your new eorzean compatriots to gain their trust. but i know the truth of who we are, and the monstrous sickness we carry." she turns her face away, as if disgusted, but mostly it's grief, her mouth a tight line of distress. once, zenos was the most powerful man she knew, and cowering behind him was the safest place she could possibly be, but now? where is his armor, his sword, his cutthroat demeanor? worse, what is he thinking about her? white hair, no makeup, a practical traveler's outfit. pathetic, both of them.

"if you're thinking about assisting with the assassins after my bounty, then do not. garlemald is a ruin, now; those men are merely desperate for money. and gosetsu will continue to cut down however many desperate garlean bounty hunters as he must." she levels her sharp eyes at him. "i doubt you capable of the same. nor do you have any sway in your homeland anymore. we are both traitors to our nation, after all, and have been disposed of as such. it must pain you so." but tsuyu does pity him, and her words aren't entirely mocking. does he have his own gosetsu, she wonders? could he stomach the indignity of being loved, as she has? it's difficult to imagine him so.

[tsckcyomi-archived]

One step. Two steps. Three and four. Ah yes, it does wonders when you can hop, skip, and bounce around in a body that is like this. After all the dead is no longer using the body, it was fitting for him to use it as a vessel, a hollow cocoon that can make MANY have different reactions. He enjoyed the different looks on their faces. It was the satisfaction that brought him a little bit of enjoyment.

"Oh dear. Seems you stumbled upon my little dance now, have you?"

A turn to his body to face the other, a tilt to the side as his arms were spread open, a mocking gesture displayed.

"MY my. Sister Dearest, yes? Or perhaps sweet cousin! Yes, yes. I wonder how much you enjoy looking at my face as ai stand before you here and now! I could only spindle each definition for you if you would like! After all...!"

Big steps are taken now. Face to face as that grin never leaves his face. What is the harm in having a little fun?

"We are going to grow, oh so much closer, my dear. Rest assured, I'll be happy to stay glued to your hip at every step we take together." - Fanny Danny ❤️

In spite of everything that's happened, Yotsuyu is still very much used to hiding behind a calm, arrogant mask. It's something that she learned throughout her marriage, learned better during her time in the brothel until it was second nature. There are so few occasions when she lets the mask slip.

When that mask inevitably falls the moment she stands before the man she's called her brother since she can remember, she feels like a stranger in her own body. As though she can't breathe. It's grotesque, watching him dance about so carelessly, a grin splitting his mouth. The way Asahi moves, the way he talks, it's so, so wrong. It makes her want to throw up.

"No." It's the only word she manages when this demon approaches her. Because that's the only explanation that she can come up with in her panic. After all, she did kill him. His blood was on the palm of her hand. When she barely managed to flee Castrum Fluminis, she saw his body and his eyes staring into nothingness. There's no way that her brother survived �� …

Before Yotsuyu can think any further on the hows and ifs, he's standing right before her, and all her thoughts grind to a screeching halt. His words have a way to incite a new kind of fear in her, one that she has not known before, so much so that she finds herself almost incapable of moving. Almost. She turns her head away to not have to look into the man's dead eyes anymore.

And then, in one swift movement, she backhands him.

[vixlenxe]

Sometimes, you hate someone so much, & are so utterly out of your mind with that hate, your unacknowledged trauma & lowkey suicidal thoughts, that you briefly consider doing something that will get you killed all for the sake of killing that son of bitch.

[witchofthescions]

@creepy-crowleys

Did it not go well?

Ah, well... kinda got interrupted, haha. Someone came to me for the kinda help only an adventurer can provide and then got pissy when his stuff came back bloody. Like seriously, what was he expecting to happen when he asked someone to go kill some bandits and get his stuff back?

[unmeiha-arc]

𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐓𝐄𝐑 ▹ @senshian   ↳ the cruel prince starter prompts

  The flames of war have only just been doused, the embers still smoking even as their people are only just beginning to pick up what remains of their lives from the ashes to build something new. And yet, still there are those who would threaten this hard-won freedom under the guise of peace. Her jaw clenches, nails digging into the palms of white-knuckled fists at her sides as even the memory of his voice grates in her mind.

  Go on, he had told her, lips curving into a smile she would have given anything to drive her sword into. Lash out like the beast you are. At an emissary. And jeopardize the newfound peace between Doma and the Empire. He thought himself untouchable. No, he knew he was untouchable. Because she wouldn't do anything, couldn't do anything without immediately undoing all they had achieved.

  ❛ I am done being weak. I am done being good, ❜ she murmurs and the words, as much a threat as they are a vow, come from a place deep within her that is far darker than the promise she speaks. A place that whispers to her more and more and louder and louder with each passing day. ❛ I think I am going to be something else. ❜

  With a sigh, she relaxes her hands and turns away from the river, back towards the Enclave, only to let out a startled gasp at the young woman with surprisingly light feet that had come up behind her while she had been lost in thought.

  ❛ Ah... Rei. I apologize, I didn't hear you approach. ❜ The Au Ra shifts her weight, one foot to the other, back and forth, anxious. Had she overheard? ❛ How... how fare the restoration efforts? If there is aught needed, I shall see to it that we have it. ❜

[brightblessed-aa]

(from aanemos) “try to stay awake. talk to me.”

@aanemos

⸻ ♞

His head was spinning. The last few moments were missing from his memory. All he knew was that his body ached. He couldn't force himself to move. He felt heavy as if his limbs had turned to stone. He could feel the familiar scouring pain that came from burns. It was scattered across his flesh and he couldn't pinpoint the exact places the injuries were.

One eye was swollen shut. He could feel warm blood pouring over it. He had obviously hit his head. Blood and sweat made his hair stick to his skin and he almost wanted to try to brush it out of his face. His chest felt tight and he tasted copper and ash. He tried, yet again, to move his arm but agonizing pain shot through him. He almost screamed, but his voice seemed unable to come out. Even if it did, he could hardly hear anything over the ringing in his ears. His throat burned and his mouth tasted like metal. His arm was broken badly. He didn't have to see it to know that. Just like he knew he was bleeding horribly from various places all over his body.

He does hear her voice. The garleans had shot projectiles at them. He tried to reduce the damage to himself when he decided to take the most of the blow. He used his dark power to protect himself. Without it, he would be dead. If he didn't die in the aftermath. It had hit the shield he summoned, but the explosion after had sent him flying to the ground.

He tried to reply to her, but he only makes a gurgling sound as blood pours from his mouth. It's getting hard to breathe. He chokes it out. It burns. Bloodied teeth clatter together as his body responds to the extreme pain.

".... C-can't...." He's shaking. Let him sleep. Let the pain stop. Let him die. Dying like this... surely they couldn't be angry, could they?

[vierandancer]

@diademreigned - for Alisaie!

It felt like so much had happened -- and it had, really. A whole lot of it in a span of a few weeks.

That mad bastard Ilberd forcing Eorzea's hand into returning to Gyr Abania. Papalymo's noble sacrifice. Lyse being...not her sister, and nearly everyone apparently knowing. Zenos nearly killing her brother, the rat bastard. The destruction of Rhalgr's reach. Traveling to Kugane, and now onto Doma proper, and the Ruby Sea, and...

Really, all she wanted to do was sleep. But how could she with everything racing in her mind as it was? Not sure of the time, she reluctantly dragged herself to sit upright and had a look around. A'kihiko was asleep. Lyse, too. Gosetsu was leaning up against the wall, but also asleep. Yugiri was nowhere to be found, but she was likely speaking with her subordinates. And Alisaie....

Alisaie was awake. Or at least, she looked that way from this distance, sitting at a table. She wasn't fallen over, at least. Curious now, Meiko willed herself to stand and carefully tiptoed around the unconscious bodies of her fellow Scions to make her way over.

They had only managed chat about Scion-related business so far, but Meiko could acknowledge a fondness for the teen. She was very much the opposite of wee Alphy, but in a way that made sense for two siblings. And clearly they cared for each other regardless, so that was all that mattered.

Whether Alisaie cared for it or not, though, she did want to say something about her earlier strategy in recruiting the Confederacy. So she would. And if by any chance she was told to fuck off, she could just head back to sleep.

"Y'know, I've slept on rougher floors than those mats they've given us, but s'still hard to fall asleep on 'em." She sat herself down opposite the other, offering a small smile in greeting. "You havin' the same troubles? Or just restless?"

[turnsorrow]

remakes my tags bc i hate the style they are currently. ☠️ tag drop pardon me. ALSO TY FOR THE NICE POST COMMENTS Y’ALL PLS KEJNRHMKJNM UR SWEET.

[likemosaic]

@glacierfront / @snowmelts : ❝ what side are you on anyway? ❞ chiyo siobhan after... blond man prompt: god of war: ragnarok starters.

they're still arguing about this? they're still arguing about this. they'll probably be arguing about this until the heat death of eitherys. though "arguing" between siobhan and chiyo doesn't entail much yelling. mostly cutting remarks that would gut lesser men, of which neither of them are. chiyo will admit that any remarks regarding her love life as of late are somewhat deserved, in their cutting entirety. she's not proud of her choices, but those choices have not yet tended toward physicality or anything that she could be held criminally liable for. hydaelyn forbid she find a man somewhat charming and attractive, because siobhan will inevitably appear from nowhere to pass concerned judgement.

instead of saying all of that aloud, chiyo replies, deadpan as ever: "your left side." inflammatory, thy name is mistress kanshi. though notably, she doesn't answer the question. "come now. are you saying you've never made a poor choice or two about a pretty face? excused a few crimes committed during wartime, here and there?"

[brightblessed]

@heirbane said: "From then, and all the summers until now - has it been as you wished?"

To reunite with the Warrior after so long felt as if he were back among the burning shrapnel - even in the Burn, where very little life remained.

Maybe it was poetic. Maybe it was fate laughing at them, broken men in a land bereft of everything. Gaius wasn't sure how he felt.

"You..." The fiery rage in Roi's eyes burned brighter than a star for a moment. White hot fury boiled the blood in his veins. As exhausted as he was, trapped here in the land totally bled of aether and separated from his comrades... The surge of anger felt like a jolt of energy.

Gloved hands quickly took hold of the hilt of his sword and gripped it tightly. He needed to save his strength, but how could he relent now? When Roi had faced Gaius years ago, he had been a Black Mage. He had never held a sword in his life. Now, he was ready to slice him limb from limb. He had come far since he first took up the blade in Ishgard. He had beaten Gaius before. He could do it again.

"How the HELLS did you get out of there alive?" The way that something close to relief washed over him was concerning. The righteous fury of knowing he may be able to end his life with his own two hands. Zenos was right. He was just a monster, wasn't he? He doubted Gaius even knew he was from Ala Mhigo. That while Gaius played viceroy there, his soldiers killed his mother and burned his village. All because of the actions of a child....

"Draw your sword." Despite the fury burning in his soul, his words are as cold as ice. Dying in this place wasn't ideal, but he didn't care if it meant he could gut this bastard. Still, Roi was lost and tired. Could he even beat him if he tried? Dammit... Why did he still feel like that scared boy hiding behind his mother sometimes?

"The empire was chased out of Eorzea. And now Doma and Ala Mhigo too. There's nowhere for you to run."

[styxisms]

@unrealization

There were few warnings regarding the spell 'Flow' aside from that of death. Being tossed into the aetherial sea and getting stuck was a hypothetical possibility. Few who cast the spell had returned from that state. Castings of the spell tended to result in cases like Thancred, whom where actually whisked far away to people like herself. Lost in the sea forever. Most likely didn't have such tenacious companions or important contacts. Most were never fished out. And while she could only remember her time there in hazy dreamlike visions... She had certainly paid dearly for her hubris.

For someone that was so close to the souls of the departed and someone that had studied aether her entire life... It was not difficult for her to find a way to see via aether. Though, she would be unable to explain how to do so to others. It merely came to her. By using her focus and her own aether, she had the ability to see the world on an aetherial level. It was exhausting. And yet... she could not allow herself to give up her work as a Scion. This way of seeing would allow her to continue as if nothing had changed. She would not mention it. Of course, she would not openly hide it. But she was not the sort to give her vulnerabilities so freely to others.

She had learned much in the short time since she had returned. Using voices to match the aether to the people she once could see in person. Context clues for sights once familiar that now appeared wholly different. She could still read. Some books were simple. Written with impressions that made reading easier for someone unable to see. But the aether of the ink contrasted with that of the page. If she really focused, she could read. She could still study. The cost was just... Being exhausted by the end of it.

And then there was one more discomfort. She had seen Ashlynn during their work as Scions prior to this change. Using the contraption to see aether, she had once seen the girl. Not enough to memorize everything. But enough to know she had changed. Her aether was different. It was not only that. She seems to have changed. In the way she behaved and the way she fought. So as soon as there was a small amount of peace, she would seek her out. She knew they had only just stopped Thordan from whatever he had planned, but she doubted her comrade would be resting as she should.

"Ashlynn. Can we speak for a moment? The matter isn't urgent but I would prefer the conversation stay between us. If you are not currently occupied, perhaps I could borrow you."

[tenuuchlegch]

@kolak-magiya liked {X}

         She was angry; infuriated even. Fortuitously her frustration had ebbed enough to where Odtsetseg refrained from acting rashly. Regardless that did not prevent her from sulking into the Mol’s encampment and tossing weapons aside with a clatter as she promptly sat near some fire. A raen man watched her with a conglomeration of pointedness and hints of regret from afar, a fresh scratch donning his cheek. Nevertheless, he did not approach her and simply went back into elder’s yurt without saying a word. Not that any more conversation betwixt them would have helped. The twins had said what needed to be uttered and exchanged an adequate amount of blows besides. 

           Lowering her head, Odtsetseg sighed. Gods, she hoped this decision was the correct course of action for BOTH their sakes. 

[witchofthescions]

@creepy-crowleys

If nothing else I can imagine you have a fair few fans who'd like to have a poster of you if they don't have one already.

Ha! Yeah, I imagine so!

...I hope no one's been creating portraits of us without us knowing and selling them or something. That would be kinda weird. Kinda flattering too, but weird.