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FFXIV Write Prompt 25: Wish

Question: How many Dotharl does it take to empty a wine barrel?

Answer: Just one.

Kholyn-suns was drunk to the point of introspection. As introspection was not something she had ever really done in the past and was not good at it this is the same as if to say she was drunk to the point of calligraphy. She would pursue the goal with single minded (and malted) fervor but would end with nothing but horribly stained clothing and a huge mess on her hands in the morning.

I miss my family. I wish they were here. Naxia. Mom. Angui…

The thought of her best friend brought a lump into her throat. Their parting had not been a happy thing. Ever since she confessed a desire to leave the tribe Angui had grown distant and cold until finally Kholyn confronted her. Angui’s frustration boiled over then and it ended with a sharp slap to Kholyn’s face and the following admonition: “You never see what’s right in front of you, you stupid bull!”

Kholyn didn’t understand it then. And she didn’t now. She had hurt her friend somehow but she wasn’t sure what she had done. Thinking back on their time together. Talking. Playing. Spending nights curled into the same bedroll. What didn’t she see? I’ll come back, Angui. And when you see what I’ve become you’ll see that it was all worth it.

Kholyn was an idiot and she was wrong about this but she would find out why for a long time. Her future was going to be full of stories of her failures. The triumphs would be few but in the long run, it would all work out. 

Right?

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FFXIV Write Prompt 24: Beam

Kholyn-suns would leave the Dotharl the next night. But now she had something she wished to do alone. No friends, no family. Just her. It was after midnight and the cloud dampened sky was black as pitch. Left with the light only of her torch she moved out into the desert around their camp.

It wasn’t a far or dangerous trip really but Kholyn could feel her body threatening to tremble with every step. She had received the blessings from those around her but she couldn’t trust those who knew her and loved her. There was only one. She stood in front of the half buried statue. The beauty of the Dusk Mother always took her breath away but now, shrouded in darkness and without a star to shine upon her Kholyn could only see her features in the flickering light of her torch. “I feel it, Mother. The spirit inside me will do so much and I fear that if I stay I will limit its growth. Please, give me a sign that my path is the right one. That my spirit will grow and when the time is right the one who bears it will be a hero for the Dotharl and all the Steppe. A hero that will be known for all time.” Kholyn spoke the words she had rehearsed in her head so many times and looked up to the stature for something, anything that could be Her answer.

Silver light suddenly fell upon Nhaama as a gap in the clouds revealed the moon above and as the gap widened the light fell down until it illuminated just Her and Kholyn in a thin beam of light.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 23: Shuffle

Dusk knelt on the mat across from the fortune teller. The teller was a wizened old hyuran woman, one of the oldest Dusk had ever seen. She held in her hands something like a vase covered in Doman script that Dusk could not read. In the vase were dozens of thin sticks, each with a number upon it. 

“Now, as I shake one stick shall emerge. Focus on your wish and in the shuffle of fate your future will reveal itself.”  The crone croaked hoarsely and Dusk gave a firm nod.  

She focused and closed her eyes. Her wish. To find those she had wronged and to seek atonement. That was her wish and she drove that desire as deeply into her heart as she could, the rattle of the sticks ringing in her ears as the old woman shook the vase until one stick had risen to prominence. 

“Now see.” The fortune teller said as she held the stick out for Dusk to see. “One.” Dusk stared at the stick, uncertain but of all those sticks receiving the number One felt auspicious to her. 

“What does it mean?” She asked, trying to mask her nervousness.

“It means that something will come to you soon, something of great importance.” The fortune teller said cryptically.

“And my wish?” Dusk’s voice was tight with worry.

The crone smirked slyly.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 22: Argy-Bargy

Years ago two young Dotharl were camping under a cliffside in the Azim Steppe. One was Kholyn-suns and the other was her then best friend, Angui. They were trying to light a fire. 

“I’m telling you! You need to gather more kindling! Tufts of fur and dry leaves! It will never light!” Angui protested as Kholyn stubbornly rubbed sticks together.

“What we have is fine! We need more sticks though if these break! I know what I’m doing!” Kholyn snapped back. “Go find some!”

“You’re being too rough with them!”

“This is how my cousin taught me!”

“Well MY sister showed me how and you didn’t even set the base right!”

“Well YOUR sister can barely string a bow so what would she know about anything?”

“Don’t you talk about her like that you scrawny bird!”

“Don’t you call me a scrawny bird you… you….” “Can’t think of an insult?” Kholyn snarled at being justly called out on her lack of creativity and the sticks in her hand snapped and she began to stomp off. “FINE! You do it!” After night fell and the cold set in, she did wind up coming back to the camp. The fire was lit.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 21: Foibles

Kholyn-suns danced back from the blazing tip of the rapier. The mage she battled had done some manner of incantation that lit the length of the blade on fire and Kholyn was not keen to be burned. Streaks of fire lingered in the air as the mage pressed forward with thrusts and slashes that kept the young Dotharl on the defensive.

Kholyn hadn’t had even a moment to lift her spear as the mage pressed her back towards the wooden wall behind her. When she hit the wall the mage reared back to deliver a deadly stab that appeared to well and truly skewer her head to the wall. What the mage didn’t see though was that at the last moment Kholyn had turned her head slightly and the thin tip of the rapier had slipped past between her cheek and her horn.

There was a moments pause as the mage caught his breath only to have that breath stolen as Kholyn swept the shaft of her spear up and then brought it down sharply. The horizontal beam of her spear along with all of her weight came down heavy on the rapiers weakest point, the foible, and it snapped clean with a sharp metallic sound.

Kholyn rolled to the side then and readied herself for her own attack, a smirk growing on her lips.

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FFXIV Write 2020 19: Where the Heart is

(Another Dusk nightmare)

GIVE

Dusk raced through the dark, her flimsy night close torn by brambles that clutched at her with cruel indifference. She could hear the breathing of her pursuers behind her. They were so close. Their wide, yawning mouths and grasping hands desperate to tear her apart. 

IT

She burst into a clearing and found herself pressing against a stone cliff face. There was no hand holds to grab and no cave or crack to squeeze into. She turned and pressed her back to the wall as those that pursued her came into view. They had the shapes of people but were indistinct like sloppily cut figures of cloth. The edges were frayed and they had no features, just masses of writhing blackness in the shapes of humanoids.

BACK

Dusk felt fear seize hold and she began to tremble, making herself small against the ground and curling to protect herself as she watched them form a wall around her. Seven figures there surrounded her and were furious in their need for revenge. They raised their arms and pulled open their chests like a hideous version of a Starlight Calendar. Within each of them no heart was present, only a hollow void that demanded that what was stolen be returned.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 18: Panglossian

“So you want the seal, eh?”  The hefty Roegadyn pirate leered down at Kholyn-suns of the Dotharl. “I’ll gladly hand it over little lady, but first you need to best my little pet.” Kholyn looked to where the sound of heavy clanking chains was coming from and saw a truly horrifying sight. It was mostly a Gyuki but it was easily the biggest one she’d ever seen. 

Fully 9 fulms tall at the shoulder it bore a  heavy collar of steel lined with spikes and manacled wrists from which dangled massive chains. It’s tusks were painted blood red and were each bound in razor wire. It glared at Kholyn and let out a tremendous bellow that washed everyone present in the fetid stench of its last meal.

Kholyn stared, slack-jawed for a moment before slowly looking back at the Roegadyn. He was grinning with malicious glee at her but that look faded as her expression shifted from shock to one that displayed her enthusiasm for the coming challenge. She then spoke a single word.

“Sweet.”

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FFXIV Write Prompt 17: Fade

The world around her was dull gray fog and she drifted, unmoored and directionless through it. Her name was Wandering Smoke. It had been once at least. To have a name she had to be a person. To be a person she had to exist. To exist she had to be somewhere. There was no ‘where’ though. No ‘when’. No ‘what’. 

A thought came near like a glittering diamond. Be. She reached out without thought or reason and the thought became stronger. Be. Be a thing. A thing in a place. A person. A person named Wandering Smoke.

The fog swirled violently and along the edges seams of light began to pierce through. She was a person so she had to be somewhere at some time. She found that she could focus on that idea and so she did and the fog began to thin. Colors came then and mingled into the gray. First white and black but soon yellows and greens, browns and reds. 

The place that must exist began to come into focus. Somewhere she was once. She saw a shadow in the mist and pushed against it with what force of thought she could muster. It was familiar somehow but as she strained it began to grow distant. She tried to move but found herself flailing at nothing. The varied tendrils of her identity grasping at wisps of air and light but unable to find a root to pull her forward. 

She was Wandering Smoke and somewhere in the formless nothing where she dwelled was something to grasp. A word, a thought that would pull her closer to the shadow. It would take time and strength of will to find it but she had both to spare. She would find it if it took a thousand lifetimes.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 16: Lucubration

Kindling Dusk spent her nights in the wilds outside of Doma and thus far her protective wards had kept her safe. After more time examining the strange flora and fauna of this land she began to become concerned that her knowledge of Eorzean plants and animals may not be enough to carry her through this new land safely. She would need to study.

Firstly though, she would need to know the language. The locals did appear to keep ample written works that would be invaluable to her to find the threads that tie what she knows to what she doesn’t but they were all written in the common tongue of the region and thus useless to her. She tried to learn what she could from observation and though she caught enough to be able to at least barter a bit there was much she did not know.

She needed a tutor. She doubted the masked hunter she met before would be of any help there. He seemed rather brusque and disinterested in her to be honest. Instead she focused on people who appeared to be in ‘helper’ positions around the city. Women watching children or artisans giving lessons. 

Her attempts to gain guidance were stymied though as none appeared to want to take on a fully grown foreigner as a student for little pay and those that did seem willing to help wanted a very specific (and inappropriate) exchange for their services that Dusk was unwilling to provide. No,she had to have gil to buy lessons but needed the lessons to earn the gil. Truly a vexation. 

So she spent day after day in Doma, interrogating bilingual people to the extent of their patience while all the time keeping an eye out for someone, anyone who could properly teach her to speak, read, and write the language.

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FFXIV Write 2020 Prompt 15: Ache

Kholyn, despite her better instincts, was back in Kugane. The work was plentiful and there was no better place to be exposed to more of what the world had to offer. In fact the work may have been too plentiful. Kholyn had been training at night and working various jobs during the days unloading ships. It had helped her put on a fair amount of muscle but the labor had given her aches that were making it tough to keep up with her training. She knew what she needed. A massage.

When she had been training with her cousin Naxrai he had shown her the incredible effect massage can have on a worn out body so she set out looking for a therapeutic masseuse with strong hands. She had been searching for a good long while before she came to a stop in front of a fanciful looking storefront resplendent with gilded lettering and warm red lanterns. Thinking that it looked quite nice she stepped inside and was greeted to a warm scent of oils and incense. A hyuran man greeted her and when she explained what she was looking for he smiled brightly and led her through a curtain and past a series of closed sliding doors until opening one and ushering her inside. He lit some incense and bade her to make herself comfortable while he sent for a masseuse. 

Kholyn spent her time alone in the room wandering around the edges, inspecting the decorations and equipment in the room. She ran her hands over the towels and robes and marveled at how impossibly soft they were. They must have cost a fortune! Opening a drawer she found a variety of implements set in velvet holders. She wasn’t sure what to make of them, cylinders of various lengths and widths and a set of small balls of what she guessed was steel. Quite shiny though.

When the door slid open again a woman's voice called to her and she turned and nearly lost her footing. The woman was hyuran, taller than Kholyn by a head with her hair done up in an elegant bun. When she spoke Kholyn’s head began to swim and she had trouble focusing on the words through the heavy fog of heat that suddenly rushed through her skin.

The woman sat her on the bench in the middle of the room and encouraged her to take off her shirt. Kholyn normally didn’t have a problem with that kind of request but something about how this woman looked at her made her acutely aware of her nakedness and she pressed herself face down into the massage table as quickly as possible. 

Kholyn couldn’t tell you what happened in that room if she wanted to. It was entirely a blur of whispers and sensations. How could her hands have been so soft and so strong at the same time? Is this what being ensorcelled was like? Her mother had taught her about witches. Was that woman a witch? Why did she feel this way? Why did she want to go back?

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FFXIV Write Prompt 14: Part

Kholyn-suns sat cross legged next to her mother as she spoke to the leader of the Dotharl, Sadu. It was Kholyn’s desire to test herself away from the tribe. To seek strength among both the other tribes of the Steppe and beyond. She had spoken to her mother and they met with Sadu to discuss what this would mean to her as a Dotharl.

“You are Dotharl no matter where you go so when you return you will be welcomed back with glad tidings. Of course, there may be those who will want a sample of what you have learned before you come to the village.” Sadu smirked slightly and Kholyn grinned wide.

“I will gladly teach them all I have learned then.” Kholyn replied with an expression of fierce pride.

“Good. One last thing though before I wish you well.” Sadu’s expression turned serious then and she focused on Kholyn’s eyes. “You may meet your death far from home. If you find yourself outmatched I have one command for you.” Kholyn straightened up and the grin she wore was replaced with a serious and intent expression. Sadu continued. “Your last moments must bear a fury those foreigners have never seen before and will never see again. Spill their blood until your very last drop is spent and stain the place where you fall so deeply that their children's children will not dare to tread upon it. Make them fear you so intensely that should they ever meet a Dotharl again they will cower as if before a raging demon.”

Kholyn felt a thrill race through her then and she gave a firm nod to Sadu. Such an end it would be and in her heart of hearts, she couldn’t wait to see it through.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 12: Tooth and Nail

(This story takes place just before Dusk boards the ship bound for Doma.)

Now confident in her direction Dusk made a return to the forests of Gridania to the dilapidated ruin of her childhood home. She knew now that she had been happy here once. That her parents, adoptive though they were, loved and cared for her. How different would her life have been if that horrible night had not taken place and set her on this path?

Stepping into the ruin of the home she examined the wood walls searching for something. After over a bell of hunting she found a suitable prize. A nail half protruding from the wood and made of iron. She gripped it tight and after much grunting and straining managed to wrench it free from its place.

That’s one down. Stepping out of the home she took a deep breath and focused on what next she sought. She knew it was near but time is a clever criminal and it hides its sins well. She held out one hand and focused, letting herself follow the pull of energies around her looking for something specific. When she felt a hint of it she turned and moved in that direction. She walked a meandering path for a long while until she found what she was looking for. Death. 

She stood over a corpse long ravaged by wildlife and the elements. Barely any of it remained to be seen and as she knelt over it she feared it might turn to dust at the slightest provocation. She examined it closely, looking for the parts most well preserved and settled on one of the teeth. With gentle reverence she whispered soft words of thanks and then pulled a tooth free from the skull. She didn’t know if it was her mother’s or her father's skull but she was certain it belonged to one of them.

Taking the tooth and the nail in hand she cut a lock of her hair and used it to bind it all together before putting it into her bag. A bit of home to carry with her, a sacrifice of a parent whose love will be with her always, all bound together with her energy. It was a simple totem really and would bring comfort in times of darkness and fear. She took a deep breath and knew it was time to go.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 11: Ultracrepidarian

Kholyn-suns was in utter awe of the hustle and bustle of Kugane. She was there to procure a special crystal vial for a ritual her mother was performing at the next full moon but she could not help but be distracted by the colors, the sounds, the smells and the people! So many people all in one place!

Even in Reunion on big market days it was nothing like this. She knew the shop would have the vial waiting for her so she wasn’t in a big rush and let herself be swept along the currents of people until she saw some excited looking kids all rushing off toward a courtyard where some kind of demonstration appeared to be taking place. Curious, Kholyn made her way to the courtyard and weaved her way up to the front. What she saw utterly astonished her. A wise looking old hyuran man in pristine white robes knelt in the center of the crowd while a group of younger men in similar robes waved pamphlets and kept the crowd at a distance from him. “What’s going on?” Kholyn asked the man next to her and he responded with a mild shrug. “Old man claims to have mastered an unbeatable fighting technique. They say he can stop the strongest fighters in the world and knock them out without so much as touching them. Seems like a lot of bull-” But Kholyn had stopped listening to the man at that point. He was a fighter! Her focus galvanized and she became keenly interested. If she could learn a technique like that and take it back to the Dotharl they would be unstoppable! She leaned in and after a few more moments of the men giving out their pamphlets to people in exchange for donations (also known as selling) they gathered around the master and told the crowd that a demonstration was about to begin. Kholyn could not have been more excited. She leaned forward, eyes wide as he assumed a strange stance. Must have been to harness his mystical energies, she reasoned. Around him the other men positioned themselves in traditional martial stances before with a ‘Huh!’ they began to charge him. One by one he sent them flying with but a flick of a wrist and a passing motion of his palm. The men sailed through the air as if bucked off by a Goro’s horse and Kholyn gasped in astonishment. When the demonstration ended the group of men picked themselves up, groaning and limping and they addressed the crowd again, this time for volunteers. Kholyn’s hand was the first up and she was waving it frantically not a yalm from the nearest of the robed men, her eagerness earning a chuckle from those around her.  Instead a young man was drawn from the crowd to experience the masters power. When he attempted his strike the master just waved his hand and the man flew back as if hit with a tidal wave of force. Again they asked for a volunteer and again Kholyn’s hand was first up, this time earning a small burst of laughter from those around as in her exuberance her heavy tail had begun to beat back and forth and cleared out a large space around her. Again, they chose another man from the crowd and he met the same fate as the first. Again and again volunteers were drawn from the crowd only to be sent flying by the masters techniques. Meanwhile the entire crowd had begun to notice Kholyn’s exuberance  and a chant of ‘Let her try!’ had been taken up by some in the crowd. When it was announced that only one more volunteer would be taken and a final young man (funnily enough all the volunteers had similar haircuts) was selected the assembled crowd reacted with a massive chorus of boos that seemed to shake the demonstrators who quietly assembled around the master to have a brief conversation.

After their consultation one of the men approached Kholyn and looked her dead in the eye. “Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked gravely, his tone suggesting a life or death struggle would be upon her.

Kholyn set her jaw and stared back into his eyes, her firm nod being met with a rousing cheer from the crowd before he gestured her forward to approach the master. He beckoned her to crouch beside where he sat and the old man spoke to her in soft tones that would not be heard beyond just the two of them.

“My dear, I want you to know that I have no intention to harm you but the powers I wield can be extremely dangerous. Are you sure you want to do this?” He asked her, again with all the gravity of an executioner. “Yes.” Was her breathless reply. It didn’t occur to her to wonder why none of the other volunteers were given this moment of conversation with the master. He frowned and looked her up and down before shaking his head. “Fear. I can sense it in you. No, I cannot do this in good conscience.” “I am not afraid!”  Kholyn responded at a shout, drawing a curious murmur from the crowd. Noticing this she yelled, “He says he won’t fight me because I’m afraid! I’m not though!” The crowd immediately began to boo and the chants returned, this time ‘Let her fight!’ being chorused over and over again. Kholyn raised her arms in the air and paced back and forth, soaking it in before looking back to the master and pointing at him. “I think YOU are afraid, old man!” She challenged him with a grin, drawing a cheer and a laugh from the crowd. The old man sat for a few moments in silence before slowly climbing to his feet again. “Very well, child. I did try to warn you.” The other men in white robes looked on in shock at this sudden turn of events and Kholyn adopted a basic boxing stance Naxrai had taught her. She wasn’t great at hand to hand combat but maybe if she was quick enough she could get in before his otherworldly powers had a chance to work on her. That was her plan anyway. Even if she lost she might impress him enough to teach her his secrets! A worried looking man in white robes set his hand between the two and announced the start of the bout with a chopping motion of his hand. Kholyn was ready and she ducked low to the right, hoping the mystic energy would be directed where she was standing a moment before, and lunged in. Her right fist came back and then rocketed forward, striking the old master just under his eye and rocking his head to the side. He fell back immediately and was caught by some of his disciples. Kholyn readied for a counter strike but then noticed that the old man appeared to be unconscious and that blood was trickling out of his nose, mouth, and most worryingly his ear. Kholyn looked down at her fist and then up to the man. One of his students was waving a fan in front of his face and he was unresponsive as others tried to wake him. Realizing that there was a decent chance that she just killed an elderly man in the middle of Kugane Kholyn turned bolted through the crowd of stunned onlookers, weaving and cutting her way against the tide of shoppers and merchants as she made her way back to hide in her meager hotel room. She would get the vial tomorrow morning and get out of the city the moment she had it in hand.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 10: Avail

Kholyn-suns had grown dramatically as a warrior under her cousin’s tutelage. Naxrai drilled her in all aspects of battle and taught her use of her fists, the sword, the axe, the bow, and most important to her, the spear. Now as she was nearing full womanhood her initiation into the way of the warrior was almost complete. There was just one last weapon she had to learn.

“I’ve taught you much, cousin. And you’ve learned it well but there is one tool in a warriors arsenal that you must avail yourself of first in any battle. It must be the sharpest and keenest of weapons and it will always be with you no matter how dire the fight. Do you know of what I speak?” Naxrai asked with a lofted brow.

Kholyn pursed her lips and thought of her training. What to use first? Oh! Simple. “The bow!” Kholyn said proudly. “Use it first because they’re farther away.” Naxrai shook his head. “Oh umm…” She thought again. Nothing else had that kind of range but maybe he meant as something to wear down defenses? “Axe!”

Naxrai shook his head.

Kholyn was getting frustrated now. She hated riddles. “Spear?”  She said more tentatively only to see his head shake again. “Sword!?” Another denial from Naxrai. “Well I can’t well sharpen my fists now can I!?” She shouted, starting to truly get heated.

“Your mind, Kholyn-suns. You have the physical mastery but your mind is… well not where it should be.” Naxrai said, trying his best to tell her that she’s kinda dumb but in a gentle way.

Kholyn drew her head back and frowned. “My mind? But I’ve never used that before!”

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FFXIV Write Prompt 9: Lush

CW: Sex, Gore, Cannibalism

(This story takes place long ago, before Dusk’s 2nd death while she was fully in the grip of the God of Dark Waters…)

Dusk’s hands pressed into his chest and her hips twitched with every little spasm of his body. She could feel his grip on her waist, how tight and demanding it was. The swell of him pouring into her had brought to her own peak and she revelled in it, her lips parted and body arched as a look of triumph came to her lips. 

He started to move again and she gasped, startled by his vigor. The pleasure of him within her was to be savored and she felt a touch of remorse for what was to come. He would have been a fine lover. Strong hands. Good body. A rough kiss. It was a shame really.

Her body rocked with his thrusts and even as the pleasure began to distract her she could feel the cold touch in her heart growing larger. It was time. She pushed against his chest and raised her arms up, her hands moving behind her head and giving him such a view of her body that he must have though the moment could not have gotten any better. 

Even though her body was being assaulted with such bliss Dusk could only feel her hands. First the chill building to an agony of ice as her fingers were reformed and hardened to shining black stone. She could smell the hatred in him even through the stink of sweat and sex and it called to her more tempting than any pleasure he could muster for her. 

When she could stand it no longer she cried out in ecstacy and plunged her hand into his chest, fingers sinking deep like knives and drawing a scream of horror from his throat. With practiced ease she turned her hand at the wrist, severing veins and muscle tissue as if it was cotton floss before drawing her hand back, the desperately thudding heart of him clutched in her hand.

Blood streaked across her dark skin as the last of his life drained away and she sat back, gazing at her prize and feeling utterly intoxicated by the promise it carried with it. Bringing it to her chest she cradled it in both hands. She could feel the still warm blood smearing across her skin and running down her tummy as she lifted it higher, close to her lips.

She could smell his hate. In his heart she could feel the strength of it and that which didn’t belong to him. A fraction, a fragment of the God of Dark Waters so long lost into the hearts of men and then carried generation by generation until it came its final owner and ultimately to her. She parted her plush, dark lips and gently touched her tongue to his heart. 

The taste was unlike anything before. A rich, dark, complex flavor that overwhelmed her tongue but did not deter it. All sanity abandoned in her quest for this power she tore into his heart. Her teeth sank deep and she felt the rush of the hidden hearts blood and the snap of muscle and tendon in her mouth. Every bite carried with it a new sensation. Not just the raw physical feeling of eating the muscle but the feeling of his life. Every hatred no matter how petty. Every time he lashed out in a rage. Every moment of fury for his own failings. All of it was hers now. 

And soon, all of it would be His.

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FFXIV Write Prompt 8: Clamor

Dusk lay on her side in a field of soft grass. Meadow flowers were made pale by the moonlit sky. She had one eye open, looking out through the upper stems of the flowers and at the underside of their blossoms. A sudden sound brought her up to sitting, looking out across this boundless field. Long and level it stretched out until her eyes could no longer discern between the ground and the night sky above. 

The source of the sound could not be found though. She looked all around her but nothing else lingered in the empty field. She stood up and looked to the sky above again. The moon seemed too close now. The stars were too uniform in their glimmer. Where was the chaos of reality? 

Unsure what to make of it she began to walk only to hear a voice calling out to her from behind. She turned and headed that way but another voice drew her to the side. They called her name and she rushed. They sounded afraid. They needed help.

Dusk…

She stopped suddenly. That voice. It was so familiar and so close. She turned but found only empty darkness in front of her. 

“Who are you!?” She called into the emptiness. “What do you want?” 

Silence was all that came back to her. She focused and tried to muster her mystic strength to reach out but found that the power that she had courted her entire life was failing her now. With that failure came fear and she crossed her arms over her chest, suddenly aware of how very, very alone she was in the darkness.

DUSK… 

Her own name felt like a knife in her heart when spoken with such malice. She felt cold hands grasping her arms, her legs. She tried to fight but found them overpoweringly strong. She could see only shadows, indistinct shapes of utter blackness in the moonlight. 

Give it back! Give back what you took from us!

“I don’t understand! I didn’t take anything from you!” Dusk cried but in her heart she knew that was a lie. She had taken something but what was it? What could she have taken that could cause such rage to seek her even here?

Devourer! Consumer! It was never yours!

“What!?” Dusk cried, desperate to be free of the icy hands that clawed at her flesh. She could feel them moving into her, fingers moving under her skin like worms burrowing through her flesh.

We will have it back from your soul! From the blackened heart of you! Tear it from you as you tore it from us!

Dusk tried to fight but she felt the slither through her chest and around her heart.

“LASS!”

Dusk jolted up from her cot to stare into the lamplit face of the Captain. She felt the sensation in her chest recede to be replaced by the thunderous pounding of her heart.

“Gods ye sleep like tha’ dead. Mind yer thrashin’ eh? Yer spookin’ tha crew.”  He admonished her sternly before departing to leave her alone in the cramped accommodations they had provided. She could feel the ship rocking and remembered she was at sea. Not much longer yet. Soon she’d be in Doma and hopefully there she could begin to find answers.

[varyinglevelsofdisaster]

FFXIV Write Prompt 7: Nonagenarian

Kohlyn-suns lay on her back on the blanket her aunt had given her after her first successful hunt. She wasn’t alone. Her best friend Angui was with her and they lay next to each other staring up at the stars. Like her, Angui was just over seventeen summers old and the pair had been inseparable since they were infants.

“You ever think about time?” Angui asked, shifting so she could turn onto her side without rolling onto her horns.

“Not really. Why?” Kholyn wasn’t one to think deep thoughts typically. She preferred the here and now.

“Like… eventually we’ll be like the elders you know? What will the Steppe be like then with everything that’s gone on recently?” Angui referred to the recent Nadam where the Mol of all tribes were victorious, though with the help of foreigners.

“I try not to think about it.” Yawned Kholyn. “Besides, I figure I’ll be dead before that’s even a worry.”  She grinned at the thought. 

“If you die before me I’m going to be very annoyed.” Angui said, nudging Kholyn in the ribs.

“What’s the problem? I’ll be back. Besides who would want to live to be an Elder anyway? Too old and weak to fight anymore. Tch. Waste of a soul.”  She sat up and stretched. “I figure I make it far enough to be a great warrior that’s good enough. Then if I get too hurt or old to fight I’ll just paint my face for a final hunt and come back.” Kholyn spoke of it casually. As if she were making plans for the weekend.

Angui frowned, looking at her friend. “There’s more to being an Elder you know. Besides you’d just up and leave me?” She sounded hurt and this didn’t pass by Kholyn’s attention.

“Hey I didn’t… I mean you’d have a family and all that by then right? It’s not like you’d be alone. Plus I’d be back! I could even be your grandchild, that’d be pretty awesome right?” Kholyn tried to sound chipper and reached out to put a hand on her shoulder but Angui pulled away.

“Just… forget it.”  Angui said brusquely before standing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” She took off back toward the camp leaving Kholyn confused and along there under the stars.