#ah for 2023 I hope I can finally open commissions (╥_╥)

[zazrichor]

I wasn’t as active as I had hoped to be because I was and am part of some very lovely zines I’m incredibly excited about.

In 2023 I want to do more masterstudies like in April and I’ll have the companion piece to September’s Merlin piece ready in Jan or Feb. Thank you all for sticking with me and leaving all those kind messages - they keep me going!

Be kind to yourselves! ( ˘ ³˘)♥

[bloodstained-bard]

Prompt 6: Ring (FFXIV Write 2023)

Set Two Months prior to Envoy

—-

We are fated, you and I, to meet at the edges of the world and beyond, aren’t we?

The city was cooler that day than it had been in days. Dust still hung in the air, but the oppressive heat had abated to something bearable, at least. Most of the people wandering about carried on with their day in better moods than he’d seen in almost a fortnight. It was enough to leave him with a smile despite the growing nerves twisting in his chest. That familiar sensation had built the past few days culminating in him navigating the stone hallways from the Exchange and into the deeper heart of the city. Here the echoes of voices and the looming fountain bled together in a cacophony of sound that surrounded and invaded the senses.

It was a dizzying place to be in for even a moment, but days had passed since he’d arrived. Information, goods, and now one final piece of business had called him away from the shelter and comfort of his distant woods, away from her warmth. He reasoned that leaving was worth the risk, even for a short while, to try and discover who had set them on this path of destruction and murder. What had been a joyous few months had turned into a pitched battle for survival that had forced his small clan to retreat to their own home, to shelter behind wooden palisades and question what each day would bring. Ruin, or safety?

Banishing that somber thought, Vanric’s boots carried him deeper still until he found himself standing before the merchant's stall. His commission had been submitted weeks ago by courier, and now the moment of truth had come. “Ah, Mister Retelle was it? Welcome back sir, I assume you’re here to pick up your order?”

Nodding as he drew close, Vanric laid a hand to the edge of the counter with a glint in his eyes, and an uncharacteristically jovial smile to his lips. “I am. I know you said it would be another day but I thought one extra wouldn’t hurt. So…?”

Sileas’ smile was confirmation enough and after a bit of digging, she retrieved a small, wooden box and laid it onto the counter.

“I have it just here for you, sir. You know…I don’t often make a habit of asking but the particular nature of this commission, I have to ask is it..?”

A conspiratorial light drew into the Elezen’s gaze as he peeked back at her and he idly brushed a finger across the surface of the box. Unable to keep from glancing inside he slipped the top open, and felt the breath leave him in a sigh. His expression sobered, and his fingers hovered above the small gift inside for a few moments.

“Sir..? Is everything alright?” Drawn from that brief reverie he glanced up at once, surprised by his own absentmindedness. “Forgive me, yes, it’s…perfect. Exactly as I envisioned it…I just…seeing it in person..Thank you, and please pass along my thanks to the rest of the artisans. This…well I’m sure you hear this quite a bit but this means the world to me. Thank you. Now I just need to get it delivered.”

He watched her raise a hand to stifle the little laugh that escaped, and the warm smile veiled behind it. With a gracious bow of her head she wished him well along with a hope he’d return to do business with them again. As he slipped away, through the dizzying spirals of the inner courtyards, the stone pathways leading out into the morning sun, he tucked that small box away keeping it safely nestled in his satchel. It would take another two days to return home, but now that he had everything he needed, they’d pass swiftly enough.

But fate can be as cruel as it is giving…

He’d come to her that day clad in traveling leathers, bow at his back, and a small box held in one hand. What words they shared in parting were spoken letting the wind carry them to the horizon, and the gift was offered. Within a thin wooden box, in a bed of soft lavender cloth, was an earring that glinted in the morning light. A small bar of spun silver twisted together to form a pointed loop, at its top a trio of crimson flowers. 

Their surface was vaguely reflective, the tempered glass drinking in the light to give the appearance of morning dew on the petals, and adorning each in the middle was a single lavender-colored pistol. Beneath the flowers lay a small bronze chain that hung loose, a single strand of crimson hair braided along its length. A tiny translucent crystal shaped like a teardrop clung to the end of the chain glittering in the morning light, and drinking in the glow to cast various colors within. 

“We began on separate paths.”

A hand rose to gesture towards the silver band, following its path to where the loop began.

“And together were wonderful…now we move on separate paths again.”

He slowly curled his finger to follow the diverging path that wound to beneath where the flowers bloomed.

“To one day join again and fulfill a promise. You showed me there is more to the world than the walls I surrounded myself with and called it freedom. I intend to know this new world, to gaze upon it with fresh eyes, and one day…return to you with those stories and make good on my word.”

He drew a breath, swallowing only once before speaking again.

“Until then keep this with you. If you ever have need of me..no matter when, or where, or why…you need only speak to it and I will hear you, and I will come. Until we meet again..”

One final gesture was left; a small kiss laid atop her head in a bed of lavender, a small breath, and then he turned to take the steps that would carry him into that new world.