#Ezma Auburnbrie

[housetummelt]

She didn't often go elsewhere other than the hut where Meldacio's admin met for meetings, but today Ezma waited 'till she knew her boy was gone on a hunt an' knocked on the door of his home an' waited for the blonde lady to answer it. The surprise was obvious on Ida's fine features an' Ezma offered a polite smile.

"I wonder if I might have a word with ya?" She waited for Ida to open the door more, knowin' the lady would be too polite t'deny her. Ezma was careful an' quiet in her movements, makin' sure the little'uns were asleep 'fore she spoke to Ida.

"I done heard what yer boy told Kaleb's girl. Now, I don't want ya thinkin' I was told neither - I been around long enough t'know there was more to yer story than bein' a simple refugee an' that's neither here nor there." The old lady didn't mince her words, but they weren't unkind neither. If anythin', Ezma kept her voice low and sympathetic; this was the lady that'd made her David smile again after all.

"I tell everyone that comes here that Meldacio is safe, an' I mean it. Even for you an' yer boys Ida." She fixed her spectacles before lookin' the elegant lady up an' down. "Them fellers think they know best an' that's their own ignorance." She meant her own boy, Kaleb an' Reno in all of that - maybe even jus' fellers in general. "- but it's women who run this place, don't forget that."

"I got eyes an' ears across this continent an' in Nifelheim too. You an' yer boys are still safe, I want ya to know that. An' yer David's family ... that makes y'all mine. I don't take kindly t'folks threatenin' my kin. Ain't no one gonna get any wind o' yer past, y'have my word."

Ida indeed was surprised to see Ezma here, when Dave wasn't around. Not that she would have ever denied the matriarch of Meldacio entrance to her son's house, but there usually was good reason Ezma came to visit.

She stood still when Ezma talked. It were... direct words. They were honest, nothing honeyed. And yet... somehow they offered comfort, too. Ida had her hands folded in front of herself and her knuckles turned white at the tight grip she had on herself.

The past hours had been a rush. The admission and then argument with Reno. The bags Ida had prepared. Telling David what had happened. And still... nothing could subdue her fear. The fate of her family now laid in the hands of a young girl, whose life had been wrecked by Niflheim. Ida had no faith in that. Because having that would be naive. And she could not be naive when her sons' lives were concerned.

"I guess I should just put up a sign to advertise where I and the boys hail from by now."

Dave knew. He had told Kaleb. Against Ida's insistence. Reno of course knew. He had told Selena. Against Ida's warnings.

Somehow Ezma knew, too - and somehow Ida couldn't blame her any more. She had given up on this secret, because honestly... now it was out anyway. Though, still. Ezma was somehow different.

And maybe it was the way this older woman behaved, the way she always acted, the way she always seemed to be in control... somehow that broke Ida's otherwise very collected composure. She could feel tears trickle down her face for a moment, quickly wiping them away again.

"Thank you... I want to trust your promise. But I am not sure a promise will be enough against bullets or blades. Not even yours. Tensions are high enough as it is. And now this just paints the perfect target on us - for all the grief and anger Niflheim caused the Lucians. I don't expect anyone to listen to my pleas, when it comes to that. Not anymore. It's not like even those around me listened before. No one will listen."

@ezma-auburnbrie

[somnus-lucis-caelum]

There was finally some light on the horizon ... after so many years o' them fightin', battling and scrapin' t'get by. She'd done thought her ol eyes were playin' a trick on her at first, but that was definitely a watery light on the edge o' the horizon.

Slowly the folks o' Lestallum made their way onto the Outlook to watch the first sunrise in ten years. She'd come here about two or three years ago; David reckoned the city was safer for someone o' her age an' he'd been right. Her boy had somehow convinced the whole o' Meldacio's committee to relocate t'Lestallum for safety's sake; they weren't spring chocobos so t'speak.

But she'd always undertook she'd go back to her home when the sun came back. Jus' maybe there'd been a bit o' her that thought that might not happen in her lifetime. But with that thin, watery light, came a sudden hope she'd be able t'go back to the outpost she'd been born in, the same place her daddy'd been born an' his dad 'fore him. The hunters were Meldacio an' Meldacio was the hunters.

Slowly makin' her way down the steps from the Leville, Ezma felt her age more than she'd done in a long time, but she'd get to that outlook an' see the sun rise over the chasm of the Taelpar Crag. Blinkin' as someone fell into step beside her, the hunters' leaer looked up ad there was a happy smile on her face as she recogised the tall, handsome young ageless man. "Ya mind lendin' me yer arm, old friend?"

There'd been a time, an entire lifetime ago when her age had matched his apparent one, an' they'd shared a privacy no one was privy to, an' that trust still held to this day as her young great-granddaughter raced by with other young'uns t'see the sun for the first time. But Ezma had a smile for Somnus instead as she linked her arm with his and leaned on his support. "Will ya finally get some rest now too?"

It had been done.

Noctis Lucis Caelum had mended what had been broken in Somnus' time. he had finished, what the First King could not. And Ardyn was free. Finally. Ardyn and all those that had been bound by a fate that no one of them had wished, for millennia.

Somnus was one of those, too.

Finally he was allowed to move on. His soul travelling further into the Beyond. And be reunited with those he had missed for so long... he had wished for this.

But also... there were a few souls still in Eos that he had to bid farewell to. One of them was Ezma.

So as the first rays of sunshine poured over the world again, Somnus appeared alongside the light. Of course he would lend Ezma his arm. She was the head huntress after all. One of the people that had saved countless lives in Eos. Her life's work could not be measured by neither scale nor tape. She had changed the trajectory of thousands of lives for the better. Few could claim this kind of influence. And fewer could claim that it was for the better of Eos, even in its darkest time.

Her question was left unanswered for a few moments. It were those magical moments when the sun finally appeared beyond the horizon. A sliver of gold. So white and bright that everyone who watched had to avert their eyes. Surprised and happy squealing from little children who saw such for the first time in their young lives. Stiffled crying, full of relief. Cheers and laughter. It was a silent chorus that greeted the light.

Somnus had closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in deeply.

"I will finally be able to rest now, yes."

That was what she had asked. And it was something he had already told her a long time ago. Still. This now made it final. This would be their last walk together on Eos.

"My time to depart here was long overdue. You know that, Ezma. And while it was a curse, I also was lucky to find people like you in this long time. You were a truly rare one. I was honoured to make your acquaintance. Truly."

Somnus turned his head to look at Ezma, a gentle smile playing around his lips. Taking half a step back, he took her hand to lift it to his lips, while bowing down. Just the hint of his lips against her hand, like the old-fashioned greeting he knew.

But it was not the hand of an old lady he was holding onto anymore. No.

It was that of a young head huntress in her prime. And there was a certain glow to Ezma's own form. Sparks of crystal magic dancing around her silhouette. And the sun's first rays actually cast no shadows onto her face - they fell through her just like they did through Somnus.

The moment the King of Kings had shattered the shackles of fate had been the moment Somnus' soul was freed, too. He would have never been able to come back to Eos the way he had been before. A physical form was denied to souls... and no human would have seen him. At least no human alive.

He had once promised Ezma that he would guide her on her last journey. And he was here to see that promise through.

In the end... Ezma would have been right with her estimation. She would go back to her home - but not in her life time. Barely not. Her young greatgranddaughter had raced past her at the Leville's steps. But not out of ignorance. No. Little Ana would have stopped and offered her own arm to Ezma - had she been there. But Ezma was not.

The matriach of the hunters still laid in her bed back at the Leville. The first rays of light falling through the windows. Letting dust glow like magic, as they painted bright lines over her sleeping face. A sleep that knew no awakening.

Somnus rightened himself again, still holding her hand tight, as the world around them continued on - without them. A small nod as he saw the realization in her face. But he would not let her despair. he was here. To guide her on this journey into a world that laid beyond Eos.

"Are you ready then, Ezma?"

@ezma-auburnbrie

[galahdanblade]

'Your surname, it is not common on this mainland.' That was a statement, not a question, and Ulldor didn't wait for an answer. Instead he walked a slow circle around this man. This was David Auburnbrie's second-hand man ... he could b an asset, a tool or an obstacle. It all depended on how he approached this questioning. 'I never said I wanted anyone.' So the Ulric mentioned in the Crown City was this man's son. Made sense really. Walking another slow and pensive circle around this man, Ulldor stopped before him and looked into hateful Galahdan eyes. "I spoke to you before, floating the idea of re-establishing a trading relationship between us and the Hunters. And I politely enquired if you would ask about a close friend of mine who went missing. Is there an update on either?'

well, ezma had always told him that his mouth would be his downfall ... turns out she was right. not that she'd be glad to know that right now. kaleb chose to believe the brigadier general had known the connection between himself and nyx. his comment was probably angled to throw the hunter off and make him as uncomfortable as possible.

' it isn't a mainland name. ' kaleb answered flatly, eyes following ulldor as he traipsed out a circle around him, like a coeurl toying before it pounced. nodding his head at the man's mention of them speaking before, kaleb had nothing to hide - he'd held up his side of that bargain. dipping his head, the man curtly agreed, recalling their prior conversation.

’ and i told you back then that i couldn't make promises on behalf of the hunters. that i'd convey your message to the committee ... which was done. and a decision was made to pass-over a trading relationship with yourselves in favour of giving our goods and quarry to the flood of refugees who needed it. '

all the truth. not a word of a lie in that. the proposal of trading with the bases and garrisons had been brought up, but given what had happened in the crown city and the throngs of people it had killed and displaced, sentiment to aid the imperial troops had been non-existent. so they'd turned their attention to helping those the war had affected the most.

as for his close friend?

kaleb hiked his shoulders in a shrug, blue eyes locking with ulldor's unwavering gaze, ' no update on your missing metalsmith. the hunters have been preoccupied with ferrying refugees from insomnia to any outpost that can house them, and we're spread thin as matters stand - in case you haven't noticed, the nights a are arriving earlier and earlier as they days go by. '

[meldacioxhq]

WHAT SKY ARE YOU ?

sunrise

no matter how many times you get knocked down, you always get back up. you defy expectations and stay true to yourself. you are a leader - maybe not in a traditional sense in that others follow you, but you've carved out your own path in life. you are kind but unyielding. you have strong opinions and values. there's a part of you that just wants to make everyone else around you happy, but you know your limits - that you can only share what you have to give. you may seem unassuming to others at first but in time they will watch as you grow into something incredible

tagged by: @enokvirkow

tagging: @ezma-auburnbrie and anyone who hasn't done this yet - i'm pretty late to the party ^_^

[proxnotxaxfool]

❝ Doesn’t anyone in this house ever say ‘hi, nice to see you’ anymore? ❞

after the shit-show he'd caused in the kitchen last night with his mother, it had just been easier to sleep on ezma's couch. less hassle to explain to loqi and kim why things were weird ... young as they were, the dynamic-duo would sniff out the tension in a heartbeat.

not that this wouldn't leave a few question marks for them to query neither - like why he wasn't sleeping in his room? why he'd been awake so early? why he wasn't hanging out with selena?

rolling his eyes against the grey light of the early morning that seeped through the thin curtains of the living room, the teenager lifted a hand to scrub sleep from his eyes, only then realising that someone had put a blanket over him when he'd been asleep. a hand grabbing the back of the couch, he pulled himself up to peer get a better look at the blanket.

blinking dumbly at the patch-work of crocheted granny squares, his sleep-addled mind took far too long to put two and two together and it was ezma's curt voice and comment breaking the morning quiet that had reno flopping back down onto the soft couch, another self-sorry groan as his plan to sneak out before the old woman awoke was well and truly fucked.

' hi, nice to see you ezma ... i - i didn't knock. it was late, didn't want to wake you. ' not that the door was even locked - or ever locked for that matter.

@ezma-auburnbrie

[proxnotxaxfool]

had this happened a few weeks or months after he'd settled in meldacio, then maybe reno would have been able to hear her words for the truth that was in them. maybe he would have been convinced that she'd decided to leave too?

but this wasn't back then and he wasn't the same teenager who had longed for some modicum of what he'd thought was friendship back in gralea. too much had happened since and there was too much at risk ... he had a family now. and the twist in his gut had him questioning if this was how his father had felt all those years ago on gralea's docks, knowing he was caught between a rock and a hard place and he'd chosen his son's welfare above his own.

' i hope that you are. ' he meant those words, the edge had dulled on his tone, but there was still doubt in the back of his head. a quiet little voice that told him not to be complacent ... wasn't this a play right out of their tactics book?

find a chink in the armour and exploit it - children were leverage.

lips pursed into a thin line, reno canted his head to the side, quietly mulling over freya's words until indecision forced him to pivot - standing still, hiding behind a building would only draw unwanted attention.

nodding his head back to the dining area he'd frog-marched her past, reno led the way back into the open of meldacio. striding past the side of ezma's porch, reno noticed the old woman eyeing him as he emerged from the shadows - he'd loop back to her later.

' diner on your right,' turning on his heels, he kept walking backwards, giving an exaggerated wave of his hand towards ezma, keeping court on her porch, and knowing full-well that he'd pay for his cheek later,

' on your left is the matriarch of meldacio herself ... ezma auburnbrie. she sees everything, hears more and has the deciding say on everything that goes on here. '

"Oh I don't doubt that." They might have only been teenagers when Reno left, but Freya could well remember the reputation he had had in the Turks back then. He was dangerous and she wasn't dumb enough to take that for granted.

But neither was she here to be a threat.

"I'm an ally, Reno." She shrugged her shoulders with those simple words. This plan of her joining the hunters had been in the works for the past few months, before she knew anything of Reno and his family surviving. It made sense; the hunters worked across Lucis and branched out to Accordo too. How betetr to assimilate and learn about her new home than to immerse herself in the locals?

"- not everything has to be a threat." She truly didn't know what Veld's plan was from this point, it was need to know, but her mission was clear; join the hunters and become one of them. "I'm here to be a hunter, if I can help you out, I will."

[a-world-in-grey]

Sunshine Never Stops au hcs- part 3

part 1 part 2

(for fuck’s sake whERE IS ALL THIS COMING FROM)

-Nyx is in Insomnia when he hears the first reports. Of the base over in Cleigne lighting up like so many Founder’s Day fireworks. Of the fire that burned white, reducing even the stone to charred remains.

-Then the reports from the small team sent to investigate. How every MT and human soldier in the base was found dead; shot, stabbed, beheaded, crushed like tin cans-

-And Caligo Ullder’s head, spiked on an MT’s spear, SCOURGE-SPREADER and BUTCHER written in ash below the late Colonel’s head.

-There are no other clues, leaving the Kingsglaive with nothing but a new opening to push through and the knowledge that someone is very, very angry.

-As angry as Sola is, she doesn’t go on a one-woman war against Niflheim. The three of them have families in Niflheim, and they only have to get caught once. So instead they return to hunting daemons and clearing out the Scourge in Lucis’ outlands.

-Sola stumbles across the first of the Menaces. She knows of three, the knowledge gifted to her by the Oracle years ago when she pulled too deep on the Crystal’s magic. But there could be others, and after she opens the Solheim doors sealing the first daemon (thank you Ifrit of Fire and Knowledge) and kills it with extreme prejudice, Sola, Ravus, and Loqi hunt down the only people who might know how many Menaces there are.

-Ezma Auburnbrie eventually coughs up the locations of the other Menaces, but it takes Sola revealing Ifrit’s Blessing, revealing gold eyes once blue and the golden markings where she held the Holy Fire.

-Sola, Ravus, and Loqi proceed to plan a daemon-killing roadtrip, making detours for other Hunts because the Menaces aren’t going anywhere. Sola enjoys the irony of it - twenty years old and she’s going on a road trip just like Papa did. She wonders if she’ll meet someone like Papa met Mama.

-Sola quickly learns that anything with sleeves longer than her elbows will quickly burn to ash when she uses Ifrit’s Blessing. Thank the Six for the glaive Uncle Ardyn forged her, because it’s survived everything Sola’s put it through. (Including when she had to wedge it between the jaws of a Manxom to keep it from eating her, turning herself into a human version of the Infernian to roast it alive and disintegrating everything on her but her glaive.)

-(On the other hand, Sola can confirm her Shield definitely has hormones. Poor Loqi couldn’t look at her for days without turning bright red.)

-They meet rookie Hunter Selena Ulric when after accepting a Hunt and coming out to find the woman cheerfully spoiling Abyssus. Loqi groans when Sola immediately takes a liking to the Galahdian woman and Selena joins their group.

-Initially only for the next couple Hunts on the way to Lestallum, but Loqi wins the bet with Ravus when in three weeks Selena becomes the third member of Sola’s Retinue and Sola’s Hand. Loqi despairs at having to Braincell for another reckless idiot. Especially because Selena can Braincell but chooses not to. (Ravus stop laughing and help me you bastard-)

-And it’s a good thing that Selena is in on everything, because everything goes to Ifrit’s Pyre when the group takes a Hunt near the Tempering Grounds. The daemons retreat into the Tempering Grounds, and Sola can only scream in horror when Loqi is sent flying by a blow - straight into Gilgamesh’s territory.

-Sola, Selena, and Ravus bulldoze their way through the Trials, and arrive just in time to stop Gilgamesh from taking Loqi’s head off. They then proceed to murder Gilgamesh and Sola sets his remains on fire, just to make sure he never touches any of hers ever again.

-Loqi struck the killing blow, so he gets Genji as a trophy. Loqi is starry-eyed for a week before he decides to send it to Cor as a gift. Sola falls off her chair laughing and Ravus tells Loqi that he’s a little shit.

-(They do it anyway. Sola even makes a postcard that they all sign.)

-The spit-take Cor does when he opens it is legendary. When they get done hyperventilating, Regis and Clarus have no sympathy for Cor, nOW YOU KNOW HOW WE FELT-

-And in between contacting Nyx, Sylva, and Luna (Who did not know what their relatives were getting up to, what do yOU MEAN THEY WENT AND FOUGHT GILGAMESH-) Regis and Cor finally put together the pieces and realize that if Sola’s companions really are Ravus and Loqi, that means Sola’s also Alata Mederi, and the ‘Uncle’ she’s been referring to for the past fifteen years is Niflheim’s High Chancellor. 

Regis proceeds to sit on Cor with Clarus’s help, because if Regis doesn’t get to run off to Niflheim and murder the High Chancellor, NEITHER DOES COR.

So busy with Cor, none of them think to keep an eye on Aulea.

[dizzymoogle]

Ezma Auburnbrie

For those that missed it in game, she is Dave’s mother

The fifth picture is showing how wide the handband thing on her head is

[ciao426]

Even more female ffxv characters.

[proxnotxaxfool]

ezma-auburnbrie​:

“Ain’t nothin’ happens in this outpost I don’t know of, young’un.” Ezma sat there, noddin’ her head and watchin’ Reno over the rim of her glasses. She’s sussed somethin’ wasn’t quite right ‘bout those boys arrivin’ in the middle o’ a stormy night an’ their mama arrivin’ weeks later.

She’d seen a lotta this world over the years, before the war had shut down all the borders an’ Ezma had learned how t’read folks an’ their tells. Ida an’ her boys were faultless in their cover-story, though maybe that’s what’d piqued the old woman’s interest ‘till she finally asked her David about it.

“I can’t tell ya what yer were meant t’do Reno, ain’t never been in her position.” Another mouthful of tea that fogged up her glasses and Ezma rocker her chair back an’ forth for a long few moments. “I rekcon there’s a part o’ what ya done is admirable - takes courage. But I do doubt yer mama’s gonna see it that way … it done took y’all a long time to settle here an’ now that’s safety’s gonna be gone in her eyes.”

note to self, dave gave straighter answers than his mother.

this whole situation was a mess. everyone had a different opinion and no one had an exact answer to give him. he liked plans - he liked intel, patterns, plans, back-up plans. he’d never cared about the morality of a decision before, not if it got the objective done, but this had been morally correct.

telling selena the truth about where he had come from and what he had done was morally correct. but it had been operationally suicidal. he had blown not only his own hard-earned cover, but his mother’s and loqi’s too.

it had been selfish.

‘ she deserved to know the truth. ’ reno repeated, with a bit more certainty this time around. sitting forward on the couch, he rested his elbows atop his knees, ‘ after everything that happened to her, she deserved to know. i could have picked a better approach, but i can’t change that now. ’

‘ — i just don’t know where to start tryin’ to fix this. or how to fix it, even. can’t take back words. ’

@proxnotxaxfool from here

"Yeah an' I reckon it's nice t'see you too." The old woman ambled on past Reno as he sat up on her couch an' she busied herself at the stove, heatin' up some breakfast for the boy.

They had never had anythin' fancy here in Meldacio, so it was plain ol' porridge an' some tea for the kid. Turnin' to look at him as she placed the breakfast in front of him, Ezma noticed jus' how gangly an' leggy Ida's oldest boy was getting. He'd turn into a fine feller.

Reminded her o' David when he was that age.

"Yain't ever gotta knock on my door, y'know that." It was always unlocked for anyone that needed it. Though it was usually the younger duo o' Kimi an' Loqi that barged through the door; Reno'd always been a bit cagier an' guarded. That was why she was surprised t'find the kid on her couch.

"For future reference, my boy, there's a spare room yonder down the hall. Yer too tall for that couch."

[picklesffxvphotos]

[domesticfluffsimulator]

I didn’t have time to prepare anything for my own!! femslash week!!!! But I really really wanted to talk about Camelia/Ezma as soon as I saw the ship generated so allow me:

Ezma probably was already old when Camelia was a young adult but just, not that old, but she was already a leader amongst the hunters while Camelia was just a young punk

(there is no universe in which Camelia Claustra didn’t listen to punk rock while wearing torn t-shirts take this to my grave)

She’s this very ambitious young wolf and the war isn’t really raging at this point, Accordo’s still free and Camelia comes to Lucis to learn more about their power structures and of course she’s got Strong Opinions about the sort of free, unsupervised police force that the hunters represent

And Ezma likes a young, wild spirit asking “trick” questions so she appreciates the exercise and she appreciates young people taking interest in politics, always, so she makes sure to answer her questions as honestly as possible, and encourages her curiosity

So naturally the sexual tension skyrockets between them

At first the hunters find them really funny, then they become vaguely uncomfortable when the discussions get longer and longer like “are they gonna........ you think????” and after a while they just find it unbearable

(Problem: who’s gonna tell Mama Auburnbrie, their Boss(tm) that she needs to bang the punk girl before they all become insane?)

Needless to say by the time they decide to Intervene they’re actually weeks late, because both women are women who know what they want, and realize with horror that it actually doesn’t change anything to their heated debates

When Camelia becomes governor of Accordo she allows hunters to have a small branch of their group working in Altissia for old times’ sake.

[galahdanblade]

❝ well, you may lack sense — but you don’t lack courage. ❞  

that little shit of a chickatrice had kicked the crate of supplies into the west waters along the west bank of the vesperpool. like hell he was leaving it to the depths, there were gold bangles and sapphire bracelets in that crate.

sense, courage ... they weren't such polar opposites. caution though? oh that was sure as hell opposite to courage. but what had he been meant to do?

no one else had been willing to get their boots wet, and he was a strong swimmer thanks to growing up in galahd. surfacing and tossing a gold bangle onto the bank, watching it bounce on the grass alongside ezma's boot, kaleb grinned against the sunlight as he treaded water.

' — i'm gonna choose to take that as a compliment. '

@ezma-auburnbrie

[ffxvptgs]

[proxnotxaxfool]

“Wow, you really stuck that landing.”

hitting the ground with a deflating groan, reno acted on muscle memory and rolled out of the way before the creature's hooves could make contact with him.

okay, so growing up in the heart of gralea, he hadn't really come across much wildlife. sure, every now and then a daemon might spawn within the city or find its way through the patrols, but the soldiers dealt with it before it could cause too much harm.

but gralea was a concrete jungle. outside the capital, it was a frozen thundra, inhospitable to most forms of life. a world away from this place.

getting his knees under him, the teenager got back to his feet and dusted himself off - nothing broken. a few scrapes and some bruises come tomorrow, but nothing that would stop him from trying to outdo jacobi's record for staying on a mesmenir.

looking up as a familiar voice caught his attention, reno cracked a smile when he saw the amusement on ezma's face ... trust her to be watching as he became abruptly introduced to the dirt.

' c'mon, that has to be a solid seven out of ten? i got away without fucking up my ankle even - that earns an extra point, right? '

@ezma-auburnbrie

[ffxvfemslashweek-blog]

Day 5 is starting now!

The prompt for this day is: “my hero”

The suggested ship is: Cindy/Holly

The challenge ship is: Camelia/Ezma

As always, don’t forget to tag or @ “ffxvfemslashweek” to be seen!