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final fantasy 14 is great. why did i do this to myself
(@tankoushoku on twitter)
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Older comic from the bird app
Eggman’s announcement but with Varis
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> That monent where in your flu adled thought process you realise, due to where you put your WoL's homeland, they're technically Spanish, making the events of DawnTrail potentially very akward.
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therapist: Lalafell G'raha can't hurt you
Lalafell G'raha:
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Reblog if you're hoping 2011 will be a fresh start.
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Treating yourself right is writing a crackfic in your Roleswap AU where your PC character wrote a novel based on the misadventures of the comedy sidequest character under a different-ancestry pen-name and is being teased about it by their catboy friend to their eternal embarrassment.
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...
feels so embarrassing to b hyperfixated on your own oc like the smallest thing that reminds you of them has you giggling and kicking your legs and smiling goofy in public but it’s like sorry everyone i was thinking about shmoopsie from my brain again. yeah the one like max 10 ppl know about
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more people need to give themselves permission to write and draw pornography
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He’s a forg now
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Cucco Soup For The Soul
Another Time, Another Place
Light Spoilers - Post Lv. 90: Endwalker
Even the Warrior of Light, she who is the Endwalker, is not immune to the common cold
Softfic - WoL (female, lalafell) x Tataru
CW: Sudden Hug
���What do you mean, ‘the common cold’?” Tataru asked indignantly, standing at the front door of Yuyujo House, the abode of Yujo Palms, the Warrior of Light, in one of the many districts of Empyreum—the adventurers’ housing in Ishgard.
"The way I heard of it from Alphinaud, Yujo was deathly sick, and had collapsed!"
Yujo’s butler and trainer, Nu’aka Phaphro, a Viera man of advanced age, shifted his glasses awkwardly. “I suspect there has been a mix-up in communications. I said to Master Leveilleur that Yujo had collapsed from exhaustion during her morning routine. I get the feeling he overreacted and sent you here in a panic.”
Tataru clicked her tongue. “Oh, Alphinaud!” she huffed slightly before turning back to Nu’aka. The look of worry from before still lingered on her face. “But she will be fine, right?”
It had been about a month since Yujo had been given the all-clear from the infirmary staff in Old Sharlayan, recovering from the injuries she had sustained during the battles in Ultima Thule. As Yujo had told Tataru, the three months it took to heal had left her feeling stir-crazy, desperate to return to training.
Needless to say, she was still vulnerable.
Nu’aka smiled warmly. “Oh, absolutely. In fact, I was just about to head to the market to get some Cucco meat for the soup I am making. Could I ask you to look after the house? I won’t be long.”
Tataru nodded with a smile. “Sure.” With that, the thankful, bunny-eared man left for the markets.
= = =
Inside, the house exuded a cozy Ishgardian charm, with just enough decor to feel homey without being cluttered. A small table held various nicknacks, and in one corner stood an orchestrion softly playing wind chime melodies. Next to it sat a pair of fluffy carbuncle-themed slippers, fluffed up as if freshly worn.
At the back of the room, a small table with an open book and an inkwell caught her attention. Curiosity getting the better of her, Tataru peeked at its contents. It was a journal of Yujo’s adventures, written in her signature messy handwriting. Judging by the number of filled pages, she was only a few entries away from finishing the book.
A warm smile crossed Tataru’s face.
A loud sneeze, followed by a sniffle and a small groan, echoed from downstairs, grabbing her attention. Carefully, Tataru followed the noise and made her way down to the bedroom. It was a spartan affair: a single wardrobe for the clothes that weren’t stored in a glamour dresser, a small desk—convenient for jotting down thoughts—and a futon mattress on the floor. Around the head of the mattress were several plush dolls, framing the ill Warrior of Light, dressed in chocobo-print pajamas. She groaned softly, occasionally shifting in her restless sleep.
For someone who stood so stout- by Lalafell standards, the Warrior of Light looked surprisingly adorable when riddled with a cold. A warm grin crossed Tataru’s face as she basked in the sheer cuteness of the scene. Emboldened, she waddled to Yujo’s side and knelt beside her.
With a tiny giggle, she poked the Warrior of Light’s chubby, freckled cheeks, watching them wobble slightly under her finger. Another giggle escaped Tataru’s mouth as she watched the sight.
Groaning, Yujo, in a half-awake, flu-addled haze, grabbed Tataru’s hand.
“Uh-oh,” Tataru whispered as she tried to pull her hand away, only to find the Warrior of Light’s grip surprisingly strong despite her condition. Before she could protest, Yujo pulled her into a tight hug, sending her sprawling onto the futon beside her. Tataru yelped as she landed with her back against Yujo’s chest.
“Mmm… Tataru,” Yujo mumbled in her sleep, letting out a soft giggle.
Tataru’s face flushed as she found herself in the inescapable grip of someone who had mastered the martial artes of Ala Mhigo.
“My personal support lala,” Yujo sighed, squeezing Tataru tighter in her sleep. “…I love you.”
Tataru’s blush deepened. She knew Yujo was aromantic; she’d made it clear that any suitors could be politely but firmly declined. This love was the love of someone who cared deeply for her friends, almost familial in nature. But still, in this moment, Tataru allowed herself to feel special.
Mostly because she wasn't going anywhere.
“…I love you too, Yujo,” she whispered.
= = =
Some time passed, and Nu’aka returned, paper-wrapped Cucco meat in hand. He called out for Tataru but didn’t find her in the living room. Placing the meat on the table, he made his way downstairs, only to find the two of them sleeping peacefully in each-other’s embrace.
With a hushed tone, he simply uttered a solemn, dignified, “Oh, my.” Turning on his heel, he headed to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
= = =
Two weeks later, Tataru lay in her bed in the apartment block in Old Sharlayan, a bag of ice perched on her head, her face the epitome of annoyance. Yujo sat beside her, holding a flask of freshly prepared Cucco soup, concern written all over her face.
“You look like death! What happened?” Yujo asked, the question almost bursting from her lips.
Looking her friend in the eye, Tataru groaned and uttered a single command:
“Don’t ask.”
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If Tolkien didn't want people to think hobbits were bunny people, he could have spent the word count going on about shit of little import to be super specific that hobbits were not tiny bunny people.
Man was a literary genius, but bugger me if he refused to just shut the hell up at the best of times.
i read the hobbit in 3rd grade and i thought it was really lame. however i liked bilbo baggins for some reason and i was fully convinced he was some sort of rabbit/mouse thing until i saw the lotr movies and was really, really confused
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Under The Fury's Eye
MSQ Adaptation
Events of Lv 50. - "Divine Intervention"
DRK ARR Questline
A still recovering Yujo is called to the defense of Alphinaud and Tataru when they are accused of hearsay.
CW: Language, Verbal Abuse of a Minor, Depiction of a Panic Attack
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Once again, Yujo found herself alone with her thoughts.
The only thing separating her and the halls of Ishgardian justice was an ornate set of double doors.
It was bad enough that milk-sup idiot, Alphinaud, had gotten himself accused of heresy for snooping around in the school yard, but he just had to drag Tataru into his mess as well.
When she got her hands on him- Yujo thought to herself- she was going to make absolutely sure he knew exactly where he stood, and- when she was done with him- that he was a foot shorter than her.
"'My' Warrior of Light." she uttered under her breath with disdain, shaking her head.
She replayed Alphanaud's bragging on endless loop in her mind.
The prologue to the Scions' downfall.
Each detail of Alphinaud's foolish scheme replayed in her mind, slower each time. The more she thought about it, the more each moment stretched, taut with the gravity of impending failure.
She should have strangled the idea of a fourth, independent, grand company in the cot. Just one rebuke, sewing the seed of doubt Alphinaud mind would have sufficed.
The words, festering with the poison of hindsight, bubbled up her throat like bile. "Alph, I've seen the play you took the name from. The Zodiac Brave Story? The airship that the final battle happens on explodes, killing everyone. Naming ourselves after the victims of an airship explosion is just asking for it."
But no. Instead, She stood by- encouraged it, even-, and watched as he fashioned the noose around the Scion's necks, and kicked the platform from under foot.
She felt her teeth clench, her jaw aching from the pressure. "Stupid… mother-latched milk-sup, know-nothing, lordling…" The last words erupted from her lips like steam escaping a kettle at full boil. Her words hissed through clenched teeth, like steam straining against the confines of a kettle at boiling point. With a sharp kick at the empty air, she released but a fragment of her pent-up anger.
"Arsehole!"
Just as the cuss came out from her mouth, Yujo could hear a similar ring echo in her ear. Her heart skipped a beat. It was her linkpearl, ringing a sound that was so familiar but yet so alien in it's prolonged silence. Wearing it had become a habit, more decorative than functional since it was disconnected from the Scions' network. It wasn't even attuned into any network. It was more the symbol of some forlorn hope on her end that a member of the Scions had escaped the monetarists' wrath and would call her for help. She needed an excuse- 'any excuse'- to escape from this whole gilded of a country. To break free of the golden chains of political machinations, and do something that mattered again, and fight back against the shadows she knew still lurked in the corners of Eoreza.
She pressed her finger against the linkpearl, and pushed it deep into her ear to take the call.
"H-Hello?" she asked, her voice trembling with trepidation, barely registering a whisper. In the darkest part of her mind, she half-expected silence- a cruel trick played by her strained senses- and yet, she clung on desperately for the hope of a voice- any voice- of someone who mattered.
'Yuyujo.'
A coldness washed over her, one that pierced with more bite than even the chill of the snow-covered walls that enclosed her. Even as the linkperl whispered a soft static- a reminder of its disconnection- Fray's penetrating voice came through, clear and sharp. She was watching. Silent, unseen, but undeniably present through the linkperl, her presence making whatever small motes of candlelight in the room bow before it. In turn, the shadows around Yujo's tiny lalafell body grew more dense, and oppressive.
She had made it clear, even in her silence, that she was always watching.
'I, too, shall be in the stands. I expect to see progress in your training today.'
"Well, yes. B-but I won't be-"
'Yes, yes. You will be using those Martial Artes of yours, and even in your weakened state, you can absolutely beat up a couple of self-important religious thugs. Besides that, deploying my dark artes in a holy tribune is suicide by rank stupidity. The milk-sup's way of things.'
Hearing the derogatory slang out of someone else's mouth- even if it was something she had just muttered to herself- made it quite clear how rude and awful it sounded.
And yet, she couldn’t argue with it, not really.
'The wildwood brute that levied the accusations against the brat and the moppet- Grinnaux- was the one that tried to put me to the sword. He certainly gave it his worst, but… well… we both know how that went.'
Yujo nodded.
'He will be too busy beating the shite out of the milk-sup to notice you. Your opponent will be his second. You're the moppet's champion, after all.'
"I don't see how-"
'I want you to take them 'both' out.'
"But isn't that-"
'I know what I said, Yuyujo. Take them both out. No mercy. The rules don't protect you- they bind you, and make you watch as they gleefully destroy what you love. Every. Single Time.'
Yujo bit into her bottom lip at that point. Fray was right.
'Don't be sloppy. Use every trick you have as a martial artist. You have one task. Tear. Your Opponents. Apart. Am I clear?'
"I- Yes."
'Good. You will overcome this trail and it will not be close. Make sure you don't have to do it a second time, understood?'
The call cut itself short, and Yujo was on her own again.
As the linkpearl's static faded, a heavy silence fell over Yujo. She paced across the dimly lit room, each step a battle between fear and resolve. The weight of what she must do pressed down on her, as tangible as the fingerless gloves that protected her fists.
She didn't know what to make of it. Fray was right- she was always right. Yujo had absolutely let herself be led by others- even those with good intentions Minfilia, and Nanamo- and it was high time that came to an end.
It was her decision to leave Spira. She walked out on the Archery guild when she could no longer tolerate the offensive nonsense spewing out of Silvairre's mouth. She agreed, with a handshake, to join the Scions.
She decided, believing she had all the time on the star, not to not return to the Waking Sands immediately after she defeated Titan.
…
Fray was right- she was always right.
"… So I clam the right to name a champion!"
Hearing Tataru's terrified squeak- vaguely following the script that Haurchefant had trained her and Alphinaud to recite during this trial- pulled Yujo back to reality.
"Very well." the adjudicator announced. "To the old, the infirm, the young, and the weak, this right we allow. And who will stand for this woman and fight in the name of her innocence?"
Oh well—Yujo thought to herself—whatever reservations she had needed shoving right to the back of her mind. She could wallow in her self-loathing about it later.
'Or never', she could imagine Fray arguing. 'Never sounds good.'
"I will!"
At her call, the doors opened, and Yujo walked through.
Alphinaud's expression betrayed his surprise; he hadn’t been sure if Yujo would answer the summons. Tataru's face, in contrast, lit up with relief and gratitude, glad that her fellow Lalafell had come to her aid.
After a brief consultation with his fellow judges, the Adjudicator raised his hand solemnly. "O, Halone, render unto us Your Judgment!" he proclaimed, invoking the ceremonial words as the pit separating the court's benches from the judge's row was bridged by platforms cranking into place from both sides.
"Thank you, Yujo. I will do what I can to support you." Alphinaud began, his voice tinged with hopeful determination. "Now, let us teach these noble sers the folly of—"
"Stop." Yujo raised her hand, cutting him off sharply. "I'm not here to wipe your arse. I'm here to save Tataru." Positioning herself, she adopted the coeurl stance, her eyes scanning the forming arena.
"Just stay out of my way."
"Right," Alphinaud replied, a flicker of hurt crossing his features as he opened his tome. "Sorry."
Yujo took a deep breath and exhaled, her breath slowly escaping as a vapor. 'No more games. No more politics' she thought, her fingers flexing inside her gloves. 'It's just me, these two brutes, and Tataru's freedom.'
"Raise up, those who are righteous," Proclaimed the Adjudicator "And cast down the wicked!"
Grinnaux, a tall- even by elezen standards- dark skinned man, smirked, and readied himself to strike Yujo. "This is too easy. I will enjoy pealing this upstart brat open. Teach her the truth of things."
His second, Ser Paulcrain- also an elezen, of the Heavensward, but a lighter complexion- shook his head and readied his spear by pointing it at Yujo's direction. "Just focus on your target. The lalafell is mine. Go play with the boy."
A grunt of annoyance rumbled out of the brute. "But it was you who… Humph. Waste of my bloody time. Come on then, Brat!"
Alphinaud made the first move by jumping back and firing a couple of bolts at Grinnaux. The magic glanced off his opponents armor, leaving barely an impression.
He barely had the chance to utter something to the effect of "Oh Shi—" before the bull charged him. Alphinaud's face registered shock as the brute’s charge connected, hurling his body across the arena like a ragdoll. He hit the ground hard, his tome scattering beside him, pages fluttering wildly as if a chobobo had been caught in a sudden gale.
"Alphinaud!" Tataru called out, her voice tinged with panic for the boy.
Yujo caught sight of Grinnaux's devastating attack out of the corner of her eye as she was avoiding Paulcrain's spear jabs. Even with all the hatred for Alphinaud that had festered inside her over the last six months, she knew she couldn't leave him to his fate. She turned her attention to Grinnaux, readied herself to flash-step over to the Bull, and—
'Stop.'
The command ringing clear in her ear gave made her hault mid-action. Continuing to wave through Paulcrain's thrusts, she quickly scanned the the arena's viewing gallery.
And then she saw Her.
Fray, as she had promised, In full view.
Why was she…?
Why wasn't anyone…?
'I have not changed my mind. Yuyujo. You can let The Bull chew the cud for a little bit. Focus on Paulcrain.' Fray's voice was calm. Dispassionate.
Yujo found herself caught between the instinct to rescue and the directive to focus on her immediate threat. Her every movement was a delicate dance to avoid Paulcrain's deadly spear.
"I can't just let him-"
'He 'deserves' this, Yuyujo. A couple of broken bones will serve well to remind him the game he is playing. Focus on Paulcrain.'
Grinnaux, watching the scene unfold, allowed a dirty, undignified grin to cross. "Let's just put this to bed, already." From under his armor he pulled out a chain, he took his attention away from Alphinaud, and whirled it over his head to prepare it with aetheric energy.
The grin growing manic, he threw the chain at the distracted Yujo. Seeing what was happening, Alphinaud gritted his teeth, and willed every thing in his body to pushing himself up to stand up.
"Yujo!" he shouted pushing off the ground with desperate effort.
With a solid shove, he sent Yujo sprawling to the ground and narrowly clear of Grinnaux's attack. The chain, missing it's intended target, whipped around like a snake hunting for pray, and wrapped around Aphinaud, closing around him in a vice grip. As they dug deep into his flesh, Alphinaud could only cry out in horrific pain as he struggled like a animal caught in the viper's grip.
"Yujo!" Tataru shouted out as Yujo pulled herself together, "Alphinaud's in trouble"
Alphinaud's cries became even more pained as the chains coiled tightly around him. The sounds were punctuated by the sickening pop of joints cracking, drawing her attention back to his suffering.
Yujo turned her attention to the stands, to Fray, desperate for her permission.
Instead she met the burning gaze of her mentor's red eyes, piercing into the back of her soul.
'Leave. Him.'
At the cold, heartless, command of her teacher, memories overwhelmed Yujo like a dam bursting open.
Every failure, every victim, every loss pressed down on her, threatening to swallow her whole. The victims of the Rising Sands massacre. Livia, Rhitahtyn, Gaius. G'raha. Nanamo, sprawled on the floor, her body ravaged by poison. Rahbuan, broken and mutilated. The other Scions—
"I… can't!"
The faces of the dead blurred into Fray’s veiled visage, her gaze knowing and damning, burning with red intensity. ‘You have failed everyone you've met,’ her master's voice hissed. ‘Will you fail yourself?’
Yujo closed her eyes tight, steadying her breath as her teeth ground together. She had reached the line she would not cross. The decision weighed heavy in her chest, but it was, undeniably, hers.
"No."
Grinnaux sneered at Yujo’s hesitation, mistaking it for weakness. "Some champions you two turned out to be." He spat in contempt. "Oh well, time to skin the rabbits!" he said, ready to pull on the chain, drag Alphinaud into range, and put his axe through him.
Alphinaud, bound, desperate, and in termandous pain, could only clench his teeth, and brace for a swift end.
“Grinnaux, to your side!” came Paulcrain's panicked cry.
Instead of Alphinaud’s screams, the crowd heard a sickening crunch. Grinnaux’s axe clattered to the ground as he clutched his nose, shattered by Yujo’s powerful soaring kick. The chains loosened and fell slack as their master staggered backwards in shock.
Silence fell over the arena, all eyes on the Lalafell who now stood beside Alphinaud, the air still crackling with the force of her intervention.
"Y-Yujo!" Alphinaud managed to sputter, surprise etched across his face.
"I'm borrowing this," Yujo stated matter-of-factly, as with a swift motion, she untied the blue ribbon that bound his silver hair. His hair cascaded freely as she pulled the ribbon taut in front of her, then gestured provocatively at Paulcrain—an invitation to come closer, to engage her directly.
"You upstart cow!" Paulcrain yelled, thrusting his spear forward. Yujo sprang into her counter, leaping up to plant both feet on the spear's shaft and crossing her arms. In a fluid motion, she looped Alphinaud's ribbon around Paulcrain's face. He howled in blind terror as she yanked the ribbon taut, using it to catapult herself forward. She loosened her grip just long enough for the knight to glimpse her pulling her head back. Then, with a thunderous crack, she delivered a decisive headbutt straight to his face.
He slumped to the ground, his spear falling beside him. Yujo landed lightly on her feet, staring down at his crumpled form.
“Well, that’s one down, at least.”
Yujo could tell, without needing to look up, that Fray was not impressed.
The red mists of rage descending over him. Grinnaux roared and grabbed his axe, swinging it down on the ground with brutal force to strike the lalafell.
Yujo effortlessly leapt aside. Before he could even register his miss, she launched herself at his neck with a flying knee press. Despite his towering height, the Bull crashed to the ground.
Still perched atop his neck, Yujo looked at him, fixed him with resentful eyes- dark, stagnant pools of nothing- and drew her clenched hand back.
For the first time in his life- one that had no want but for his own brutish desires, one that allowed him to do whatever he pleased under the shelter of his house-leading uncle's coin- The Bull was intimate with Fear.
"Don't…"
Her fist shot past his head and slammed into the ground. An instant later, it erupted into a crater around them.
Grinnaux stared, transfixed, at the tiny fist—smaller than half his own—that had shattered stone. When he looked back at Yujo, her chilling gaze made it clear: that could have been his skull.
She said nothing at first, letting the silence choke him. Then, a single word:
"Yield."
As he lay, his smallclothes now damp and reeking of stale ale, The Bull had no option but to submit, his voice soaked in horror.
The crowd could only utter amongst each other in hushed tones, astounded at the sight of two of the Heavensward, the Archbishop's own personal guard, having been bested- not just that, laid low- by a lalafell.
Finally, the Adjudicator lifted his hand. "This trail is over, and The Fury has spoken! Alphinaud Leveilleur, Tataru Taru. You are hereby acquitted of all charges."
Realizing what had just happened, Tataru perked up. "W-We Won? I-I mean, YES! WE WON!"
"Blessed are we who receive of Her wisdom, and see justice wrought by Her divine hand! Petitioners, accused, go forth in peace!"
Slowly, the crowd began to murmur and file out of the tribunal hall, their appetite for Ishgardian justice sated.
Yujo slowly eased herself off of the blubbering Grinnaux, short on breath, and weak in the knees. Her mind was a mess. She wasn't even sure if she call this a victory.
She noticed Alphinaud's hand, an offer to the Warrior of Light up. She looked at the hand, and then Alphinaud. Slowly, hesitantly, she reached towards the hand.
Inches away from taking his hand, the visions struck again.
"My Warrior of Light," echoing over and over in her head. His tone twisted with each repetition, growing more malicious until it hammered at her skull, relentless and cruel, until—
With a hard, sharp, crack, she slapped the hand away. The sound echoed in the now silent arena. Without uttering a word, she turned and walked off, each step becoming heavier than the last.
Alphinaud, left dumbstruck, could do nothing but watch her go. Tataru approached, placing a gentle, reassuring hand on his back.
Two guards approached and motioned for them to return to the defendant’s chambers. They obeyed, Tataru's stride far more steady and sure with the danger past.
All the while, Fray lingered, watching the scene with burning eyes before she vanished into what was left of the dispersing crowd.
= = =
"What were you thinking?!" Fray's slicing roar echoed in the defendant's chambers.
Alphinaud shrunk back, reduced to trembling at the Dark Knight's imposing figure as she leaned in on him.
"This is not a game, Alphinaud Leveilleur!"
He didn't dare meet her gaze, his eyes settling instead on Yujo, who stood silently beside Fray, her expression unreadable.
The Dark Knight's voice cracked as she threw her hand towards Tataru. "Every time you do something like this, you put people's lives at risk!"
The outburst sparked a raw nerve in Yujo. Her hands trembled as they rose and found purchase in her hair, fingers raking through her head in frustration, desperate to find the source of her woes from within her blonde locks, and tear it out.
She barely noticed Alphinaud flinch, or how Tataru's eyes widened at the rebuke.
"Seven Hells, Alphinaud!" Fray continued, unbridled fury in her voice. "People- No! OUR FRIENDS!- HAVE died because of your recklessness!"
"I… actually… It's… It's my fault." Tataru’s quivering yet determined voice interjected.
Fray spun around to face Tataru, the fire in her eyes dimming, if only slightly. The lalafellin secretary stood, her trembling fists clenched at her sides, and on the verge of tears.
"Those knights started a fight in the Forgotten Knight," She explained. "I… I tried to help an au ra man and an elezen girl out of the pub, and they caught me. Alphinaud… he jumped to my defense. They used his research at the Scholasticate as an excuse to accuse him of heresy."
Fray tilted her head. "An au ra man… and an elezen girl?" she asked, her tone softened. The question lingered in the air, as she tried to remember why that was important. Suddenly, she shook her head and her frustrations bubbled up again. With a stark and heavy sigh, she pulled Alphinaud's ribbon out of her pocket, and threw it his feet.
"Just… Just get out of my face, Alphinaud."
He stooped down to pick up the ribbon, muttered something inaudible, and retreated. Tataru hesitated, glancing back at Yujo with concern before quietly slipping out after him, the door closing with a soft thud behind her.
Silence pressed in, thick and stifling. Fray rubbed the bridge of her nose and sighed wearily, her frustration palpable.
'That goes for you too, Yuyujo.'
Yujo looked up, startled. There was Fray again, leaning against the chamber wall with arms crossed and crimson glare fixed on her. It felt as though the woman had always been there, looming in Yujo’s periphery, waiting for this moment.
'I distinctly remember telling you 'not' to save the milk-sup from The Bull. And what do you do?'
"I know," Yujo muttered with her voice trembling with guilt, head bowed slightly. "I didn’t think… I just… my body just moved on its own. I'm not any happier about it than you are."
Fray's eyes narrowed into tiny red slits. 'Oh, I'm quite sure. But this… this can't keep happening, Yuyujo. Are we clear?'
That question bore into her, heavy and inescapable, making Yujo’s stomach churn. She could feel the her teacher's reprimands lingering like chains wrapped tightly around her chest, squeezing the life out of her. She raised a trembling hand to her temple, brushing the edge of her hairline as she tried to steady herself.
"What in Yunalesca's name am I 'doing'?" she whispered.
The silence stretched uncomfortably, amplifying Frey's unspoken judgements, until the doors burst open with sudden, almost childlike exuberance.
'Tch, we'll finish this later.' Fray curtly muttered. Yujo blinked, and in that instant, Fray was gone, as though she had evaporated into the shadows.
Confused and detached, Yujo turned toward the doors. There stood Haurchefant, arms spread wide, his face alight with a grin as warm and radiant as the Ul’dahn sun.
"The woman of the hour!" he proclaimed, voice beaming with pride and enthusiasm.
The abrupt shift left Yujo’s heart fluttering. Moments ago, she was drowning in remorse and rebuke, and now she was blinded by this all-too carefree brightness. She was too stunned to speak, forced to stand between the shadow cast by Fray’s scorn and the light of Haurchefant’s earnestness.
= = >
#yujopalmswol#alphinaud leveilleur#tataru taru#fray myste#ffxiv#ffxiv fanfiction#xiv dark knight#xiv DRK#heavensward
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Yaknow, I feel like a right bastard feeling good about how I'm writing Warrior of Crystal- and I really should. At the risk of the obvious, suicide is not a topic to do jovially.
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Dance of the Pryreflies
Warrior of Crystal AU. - Prologue (2)
Spoilers up to ShB : Lv 80 - Shadowbringers
Split Timeline from 7AE - The World of Darkness
Another Time, Another Place : In a just world, no parent should have to be the one to bury their child. This is not a just world.
CW: Themes of Suicide (aftermath of completed act)
The beauty of the Spiran archipelago could not be laid low by the clear signs of the damage that still- after now going six years after the Calamity of Dalamund- beset the land. It was not hard to see how Yujo came to become who she was with her homeland's scene of bull-headed resoluteness, G'raha thought to himself.
It was also, unfortunately, not hard to see how it also brought her to her nadir.
Yujo's funeral was a small gathering, the inner circle of the scions, a small contingent of Crystal Braves lead by Vice Commander Ilberd Feare, Widargelt Beake, a visibly upset huyr man wearing Ala Mhigan attire who had been her mentor in the martial artes, and- representing the Eorzean tri-state by her own request- Admiral Merlwyb Bloefhiswyn.
Noticeably absent was Alisaie Leveilleur, Alphinaud's sister.
The mark on his cheek made clear her reaction to the news.
Minfilia had always been a soft soul, even if her faith in the Tri-State was far from unconditional, but the incident had galvanized her, and she was done- as she put it to the tri-state- with the Scions being treated as their lap dogs.
She had been insistent to them that Yujo's death would be reported as her having fell in battle in the voidsent's lair, and with her body being unrecoverable. The loss of two of her people in as many weeks, the horrific manor in which Yujo lost her life, and the establishment of Alphinaud's Crystal Braves, made her face up to the reality that she had to accept her role as a leader.
She was going to be damned if she going to let Yujo's life be remembered by her death. She had deserved far much better than that in life, and in death she was going to get it.
For his part, the weeks leading to this ceremony had been a numb blur for G'raha.
He felt his body go through the motions; file the reports for the incident- edited with the version of events that Minfilia had insisted upon- for Sharlayan, wake up, wash himself and be reminded of his reality by seeing the awful scar that marked his chest, do something- 'anything'- to get his mind as far away from the incident as possible, go to bed, sleep, repeat.
None of it stuck in his mind.
His thoughts were interrupted by Ilberd putting a hand on his shoulder. He looked up to the Ala Mhigan man whose stern demeanor belayed an understanding aura.
"This isn't your fault. 'Tia. Remember that. 'None of this' is your fault."
G'raha Tia didn't even know how to respond.
In the middle of the pool of water, a small basket weaved coffin- lacking the body it should have had- floated. An older, slightly stocky, lalafell woman, with short blue hair that curled at the end, and a tiny pair of glasses that rested on the bridge of her tanned nose- stood at the edge of the pool dressed in the traditional ceremonial clothes of Yevonism. A white kimono like dress with a yellow obi and a black strapless under-shirt.
She was Rorose Rose. She was Yujo's mother.
Her tiny frame shook as she readied herself and began to walk on water- a feat preformed by means of a simple magic.
Then she began to dance.
This was part of the funeral rites of Yujo's homeland. The dance was part of a spell that released the aether in the body of the deceased and allowed it to flow back to the farplane- as they referred to the lifestream- and pass on.
This spell had two effects; the first was to rapidly decompose the body until it dissolved to nothing, effectively making the ritual a cremation of the sorts, and the second was that the aether released took on the form of pyre-flies, twinkling firefly like patches of light.
The followers of the religion believed that this was the form of the soul passing on to be reborn anew.
Of course, no pyre-flies flew from Yujo's casket.
The look of distress was clear on Rorose's face as she was lifted by the ritual's spell and the lights around the funeral guests lit a bright blue, reacting to the spell.
It was a beautiful dance, G'raha Tia thought.
And he never wanted to see it again.
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