#Heavensward Rosie was having a VERY BAD time okay

[sleepymoonlady]

Roevember Day 2: Roots

Vermilion Rose had lived in Ul'dah for most of her life. It was home, for better or for worse, for her and her family for almost as long as she could remember.

Almost.

She had had another home--her first home. The house she and her sister were born in. The house with grey stone walls stained a hundred colors from her and her sister's doodling. The house that would get icicles in winter, that her and her sister would break off and pretend to swordfight the other children with. The house where her mother would take her into her lap, in that cozy chair by the fireplace, and tell her stories of dashing knights and beautiful princesses and fearsome dragons. This house in a quaint little logging village in western Coerthas was her first home--but it was home no longer. Not since the little family was uprooted, and four became three.

A lot had happened since then: they moved to Ul'dah, mum remarried, and their family grew and healed. Their family put down roots again, even though they all thought that might never happen. Then, Rose had set off on her own, an adventurer, and had been through countless trials and tribulations. She saw Bahamut savage Carteneau, despite her best efforts to stop it. She left Eorzea to see the world, then returned and found herself fighting the Empire a second time. She had experienced so much love, and laughter, and loss, and sorrow. She had been triumphant, and she had suffered bitterly, but she always knew she had a home to return to.

But never, in all those years, had she even thought to visit her old home. Not until she found herself in Falcon's Nest. She hadn't even considered making the trip North at first--she was just there to buy supplies for the journey that she was going to be making with Alphinaud and Estinien. But her mind kept wandering to her new home. Ul'dah. After all that happened that night, that horrible night, she had lost everything. Did her family even know she was alive? Were they safe? Would the Crystal Braves and their cronies kick the door down looking for her, she wondered? Mama would be furious--she'd... Twelve help her, Rose hoped she wouldn't try to fight the Braves.

Rose shook her head, trying to push the thoughts out. There wasn't much she could do now. Mama and mum were smart--she had to believe they'd lay low. She had to believe there would be a home waiting for her when she could finally return. If she could return. What if she never cleared her name? What if...

"Oh, SOD this." Rose groaned. She wasn't used to just thinking. She acted! And now, she couldn't. And it was driving her insane. Against her better judgment, she decided to take a break from shopping and just take a walk, despite the frigid winds howling like a banshee across the highlands. Maybe, just maybe, that would clear her head. At the very least, it'd sate her curiosity--she hadn't seen this part of Coerthas since before the Calamity. Before it had been smothered to death by the permanent blanket of ice and frost that descended in Bahamut's wake.

She didn't intend to seek out Hemlock when she departed Falcon's Nest. She only intended to walk aimlessly, take in the scenery, occupy herself with something other than her worries. But after a couple hours of walking, she recognized what was in front of her. That was Hemlock's front gate, all right. She remembered watching carts full of freshly-chopped lumber going in and out. She remembered the heady smell of pine that they carried, that suffused the village. She remembered the bustle of lumberjacks, the yelling of children.

She smelled nothing now. She heard only the howling of the wind whipping past her. Hemlock's gate lay open, its fences scattered and broken, the wood left to rot. The small but formerly lively village that lay past it was...

It was dead. Rose had heard the term "ghost town" used before, but never until now had she realized just how real that turn of phrase was. The Hemlock she remembered was a living, breathing, vibrant thing. The place she saw before her now was as cold and quiet as a corpse. She had thought for sure, that someone must still live there, even though she knew that most of the western highlands were abandoned once the ice had set in. They were unlivable, utterly barren, the soil cracked and frozen. Logically, she knew this. But still, she half-expected old miss Jautefeaux to totter out of her home, still smiling that gentle half-smile. She thought maybe her old friend Alwault might still live there--he was always helping his father whenever he could. He had wanted to take over the family business even back then.

But there was nobody. Nobody and nothing. Slowly, she made her way to her old home. Frozen over or no, it still looked... mostly the same. Maybe a bit smaller. She traced her fingers over the front door. Had anyone moved in after they had to leave? Or would she find all of the furniture still there, lying half-rotten in the corners they were hurriedly shoved into during the family's flight from Coerthas? Gingerly, she reached for the door handle. Then she hesitated--this didn't feel right. Like rifling through the pockets of a corpse at a funeral. Her old home was gone. No matter what happened to this building in the years afterward, it wasn't her home anymore. Shakily, the roegadyn sighed, as she felt a tear freeze halfway down her cheek. There was nothing for her here.

As she turned to walk back to Falcon's Nest, she couldn't help but feel strangely grateful that she had seen this place again, despite it all. Hemlock may not have been her home anymore--nor anyone's--but Ul'dah still was. Once, the Inquisition had torn Rose from her home. But she had put down roots in Ul'dah, despite everything, and in Azeyma's name she was not going to let those thrice-damned Monetarist pigs do the same.

Resolved, Vermilion Rose spoke an oath into the icy winds--a promise that she would not lose another home.