#Illian Runetide

[chocoblep]

#23: The Jeweler

Prompt: On Cloud Nine

Illian strolled through the Jeweled Crozier, heading for a shop that he liked to frequent whenever he was in Ishgard proper. It was a jeweler, and they dealt not only in cut stones and settings, but also raw gems for foci and other uses. Today he was on an errand; he’d been contacted by the shop’s owner, and he needed to stop in to take a look at a stone that had come into their possession. This one was important; he’d been asking for a blue opal of sufficient quality for a project that he was working on, and if this one was sufficient, he’d likely be able to make the sentinel earrings he’d been working on a reality. 

He’d heard of a ring that someone had developed that put a shield around a person that fit like a second skin. They employed blue opals, which was not surprising given that those stones were often used in protective spells to begin with, and he wanted to see if he could duplicate that effect with an earring. If he could, then M’rath would be much better protected, even without a bodyguard, though having one was usually very effective in preventing attacks from occurring in the first place. Still, when one dealt in money, one made enemies, and Illian was determined to keep his friend safe.

He walked into the shop, pausing with the door still open to tap some of the snow from the bottoms of his shoes before wiping them on the mat. His ears twitched as he caught snippets of the conversation that was happening between a couple and the shopkeep. Settling himself near the other end of the counter, he waited for his turn.

“I really had my heart set on the mythril,” the Elezen lady said, and looked at the man standing beside her. “Are you certain we couldn’t afford this pair?”

“Not if we’d still like to get them enchanted,” the man replied. Our budget wouldn’t cover both…”

“Perhaps if we waited on the enchantment?” she asked, her brown eyes hopeful.

“Ah, I was hoping we could do that before the ceremony, so that our oaths and the enchantment went hand in hand. But with the price that enchanter quoted us, we wouldn’t be able to afford both.”

The woman turned to look longingly at a set of wedding bands. Illian’s brow furrowed, and he slid closer along the counter. 

“Excuse me,” he said softly, and the trio turned to look at him. “I happen to be an enchanter as well. Perhaps I could give a second opinion?”

“Oh,” the shopkeep said, brightening. “Yes! Master Runetide is not just an enchanter, he is also an inventor, and very knowledgeable besides! He would be a good one to ask about enchantments.”

“Ah, you flatter me, Rinelle,” he said, waving off her compliment. “I simply overheard and couldn’t help but wonder if you were given a fair price. What kind of enchantments were you wanting, and what were you quoted?”

The man looked Illian up and down, and he was suddenly glad that he’d chosen one of his fancier jackets. Idly he wondered if his ears were poking out of his hair–he typically arranged it when he was in Ishgard to hide the pointed tips to avoid racists. Apparently he was satisfied with what he saw, because when he spoke, it wasn’t to tell Illian to buzz off. Instead, it was to inform him that they were looking for two simple enchantments–a resize enchant that was coded to its owner only, and a warming enchant for the cold weather. When he rattled off the price he’d been quoted, Illian arched his brows.

“I hate to inform you, but for two simple enchants such as those–even on two pieces instead of one–you are being swindled. Depending on the starting material, enchantments can be complicated, but mythril is highly conductive, and so the materials you would not need to use nearly as much in the way of spellcasting components to attach the enchantments. It’s part of why mythril is so expensive. Have you signed a contract with this other enchanter already for the work?”

“Ah, no,” the man replied. “We were going to do that today, after picking out the rings.”

“All right, then. I have a proposal for you.” Illian fixed them both with a smile and pulled out a business card, and then turned it over and pulled a self-inking quill from his pocket. Uncapping it, he beckoned it to life, and it scrawled out a series of numbers for different enchantment options. When he set it down on the counter, he capped the pen and stowed it again. “I will offer you a safety net. If you wish to stay with the enchanter you’ve met already, show this to them. With mythril rings specifically, you could easily enchant them with a resizing spell with a single keyed host or about this much,” he began, tapping his finger next to the first number. They all huddled around it. “If you wanted just a simple warming spell, tack on this much,” he said, tapping the second number, and then pointed his finger at the third. “But if you wanted a temperature regulation spell that would also keep you cool in warmer climes, tack on this much instead. That is how much I would charge you for this job, and that includes both rings. If they will not match my price, or at least give you something more fair…” He picked up the card, turned it over, and held it out to them. “Then I will do it for that quoted price.”

The pair stared at him, and then the man took the card. “That’s…. That’s a little over half the other’s price,” the man breathed, relief relaxing his shoulders a bit. “Thank you…” he squinted down at the card, and then smiled. “Illian Runetide. What a fortuitous name.” Then he turned to his wife-to-be. “I think, with this, we can get the mythril rings and the enchants.”

The squeal that left the woman before she brought her hands up to cover her mouth was one of pure delight, and she looked to Rinelle and then pointed to the pair of rings she’d been lamenting over before. “We’ll take those, then!”

Rinelle looked over to Illian gratefully before pulling the pair of rings out. “And if you are getting the resizing enchant put on them, then I could knock off the resizing fee that is typically included in the price.”

“Oh! Wonderful!” the man said, and then turned again to beam over at Illian. “Thank you, ser. We will contact you, most likely. You seem a much more trustworthy sort, and you have truly made both of us so very happy.” He held out his hand for a shake, which Illian took with a smile.

“I do not typically advertise my services, as I work directly for a man in the Shroud, but I do offer my services from time to time,” he replied. “I just couldn’t stand to see you pay more than you needed to on such simple things. Weddings are expensive enough.”

When the couple had left the shop, Rinelle ducked into her storage room and came out with a parcel, which she unwrapped on the counter to display about six blue opals. “I ended up with more than I thought I would, so you've got your pick this go ‘round,” she said, giving him a smile. “I know you said you only needed two, but pick four. I’ll give them to you for the same price.”

Illian looked up at Rinelle, his lips curling into a lopsided grin. “Really, now? Why, Rinelle, you’d better be careful, someone might get to thinking you’re sweet on me.”

The shopkeep scoffed, but her cheeks gained a bit of color. “Oh, come on, Illian, we both know I’m sweet on what good you do for business.”

He leaned in, lowering his voice to something almost sultry as he asked, “is that why you told me to come by at four bells? Because you knew I’d get you an upsell?”

Rinelle gasped, an almost affronted look on her face. “No, no! It wasn’t the upsell! It was because I know them, and I know that enchanter, and I was hoping I might be able to bring you both together to spare them from being overcharged.”

“And the upsell,” Illian said, waggling his blonde brows.

“Well, I’m not made of money, you know! Best get to picking before I change my mind, you miscreant!”

“Yes, Ma’am,” he said with a little salute, which only made her laugh. They chattered about his most recent innovations as he figured out which opals to take with him, and then headed for the door. When he twisted to wave at her on his way out, he was surprised to see that her entire face was red. Oh. Well, he wouldn’t comment on that.

This time.

[naivaria]

It is a bit of a big order, but ... 4: How do you get into your OC’s mindset to write for them? How do you find the muse for them? -- can I get it for all of them? Or at least several? Your characters are all very different!

My characters ARE very different! So I’ll try to do this for all of them. Oddly, I listen to music only when the situation calls for it, and not the muse. It’s often aspects of their personality or their “voices in my head” (oh god please don’t take that as me being schizophrenic) telling me that they have a thing to say. Sometimes I have trouble getting into one’s head because another is trying to step up to the plate. Specifics under the cut!

@naivaria : Nai is a very adaptable character. She’s got some very strong psionic talents that have only come to manifest as a strong empathy because of a condition she is currently using most of her mental faculties to prevent the pain it causes. For her, getting into her character is rather easy, because I like being kind to other people (but just a little bit wicked sometimes), and I connect on that with her.@riverblade : He’s another one that’s easy to get into. He’s a confident man and quite a bit of a flirt, so I think of things I would be too afraid to say in public and make him do it instead. For a while, he was my way of trying to become more confident–both as an RPer and in the community at large when I first moved to WRA. He’s also a secret dork, which fits me perfectly.

@rheythe : She’s a hardass when it comes to certain things, and sort of a softie when it comes to others. She’s also a complete badass. I have to work for this one sometimes because I am not a badass or a hardass. So I just imagine her wearing “deal with it” shades all the time instead of a blindfold. XD

@caelendras : Oh, this dual-faced personality. On the one hand, he’s the bringer of dad jokes with a customer-friendly smile and a tendency to troll others. That side of him speaks often, and I think of him every time my husband makes a stupid joke. He has a side of him that he typically does not show others, though; at his very core, he’s a melancholy individual who hates being alone because it gives him time to think about the things that he’s lost. He doesn’t like being angry or emotional or feeling empty inside. That part of him inspires me to write solo stories for him, mostly because no one’s cared enough to take the time to really get to know him on any sort of serious level.

@lyandiel : Andi taps into my nearly self-destructive patience, though she has the spine that I wish I had in real life. She is an independent woman, a mother, and a person with a zest for life. Many times I do not identify with her, because she is a very accepting person, even of things that I myself would not accept. She also doesn’t let some things bother her that would bother me. To get into her head, I try to remember how much I love life and learning, and others.

@lydianah : She’s a bit of a fiery one, with a stubborn streak like her mother and a lot of her qualities, too. She can be cool and distant, or assertive and driven (mostly assertive and driven). She also has a tendency to be unintentionally alluring. I am none of these things, but I just think of the kind of warrior I want to be and bam!  Lydi.

@melorath : He’s a dick. I just think of all the dickish things I’ve seen people do and there he is. He’s got some morals and a code when it comes to hurting others, but otherwise? Massive prick. I don’t get to play him much in public because people run and hide, and it’s really hard to find people who will accept beforehand that he can (and will most likely) fuck with their minds.

@eiralia : This little sweetheart is quiet but excitable and incredibly creative. She taps into the side of me that likes to make things and figure them out. When I want a challenge, likewise, I will try to play her. Because she can’t speak above a whisper, she tends to try to sign or gesture instead.

@avendelle : Avendelle has always been my frost queen. She has the ability to turn the bitch switch on or off on a whim, though most of the time she’s pretty cordial, even friendly if one knows how to crack her shell. For her, I basically think of what I would do in any emotional situation… and do the opposite. Hah!

@sivariel-sunwing : Sivariel is a fairly multifacted character with at least three very clearly different faces. Because of this, she’s actually somewhat easier to play. I know her triggers and what brings out which aspects of her personality or her identity, and because of that she’s a little easier for me to navigate. That said, I haven’t been able to get any serious story going with her yet, so we’ll see if that continues.

@illian-runetide : Illian is a steward, and often behaves rather formally. Because of his close association with Melorath, when people look at the two of them, they are often construed as a servant/master duo. Illian is content to let this fly, but actually he is one of Melorath’s only friends. This kind of attitude is one that I can heavily identify with, and one I have had to employ quite a bit at my previous job. But it’s not always as easy for me to be cool as a cucumber as it is for him.

@valyndrian : Valyndrian is fairly solitary, even if he does love adventure and people in general. He’s kind of all over the place. He’s very gentlemanly, but also very craft-oriented. But most of all–MOST OF ALL–he loves to cook and is a huge foodie. So it doesn’t take much to get into his character sometimes, and other times I just can’t handle his level of affection for people.

@aerenas : Aerenas is also a character with two faces. There’s the take charge version of Aer, who is the man that made commander and then kept his boys when he retired from the military. But then there’s the nice, laid back farmboy version of him, and it’s interesting because he can get really awkward around women. For him, I have to figure out which version of Aerenas has come out. Once I’m firm in that knowledge, he’s easy to play.

@syrellian : Here’s another alt I haven’t gotten much play with. Syrellian is very much a ‘fly by the seat of his pants’ type of guy. He’s extremely skilled with a bow, but lacks much of the focus that is expected of those with his training. Easily distractable, he’s the guy you don’t expect to come home with dinner, but somehow he did. I love this bab. He’s so hilariously low-key and sometimes very gullible. To get into his mindset, all I have to do is just clear my head and move on the first instinct that pops up for him.

@shevyn-vethan : Shevyn is a pit fighter-turning-sailor with a will of iron and a heart of gold. He’s fierce in many ways, but gentle in most others. To get into his mindset, all it takes are grounding his principles in my mind. He is very rigid about them.

@little-red-rylli : Ahh, my tiny tin-can medic, and currently my only A-side alt on WRA. Eryllis has sometimes been a little hard to get into, and that’s because despite her innate love for life and faith in the Light, her life is downright depressing. Right now I’m at the point where getting into her character is very difficult.

I have other characters as well, like Cainath and Cyrolar (Cal’s little brothers), Venysse (a buxom bartender), and a few others, but you asked for all, and I gave you most! :P

Thanks for the ask, @kharrisdawndancer !

[chocoblep]

#15: Warming Up to the Idea

Prompt: Freee day! (Achieve)

Illian leaned over the temperature control panel that he’d nearly finished embedding into the wall, screwdriver in hand. He was fairly certain he would have to adjust the crystals below the floor once he finished this step and turned it on, as he’d used a modified version of the one he had in his own workspace. Now that he’d had sufficient time to test it, he’d slowly started installing these temperature controls in other places around Highvale Manor. This particular unit was for the kitchen–specifically, the larder. If he could get it to keep a consistently cold temperature, then they could store more in the space while using significantly less ice crystals.  Thankfully, they’d just cleaned it out and moved the contents they were keeping to a temporary cooler, so if this didn’t work, at least things wouldn’t spoil. Still, he was fairly sure it would.

He finished the panel’s install, and then went to double-check the wires he’d attached to the regulator below. The only differences in this setup was the lack of switch from warm to cold and the presence of two ice crystals instead of an ice and fire crystal from which to draw aspected aether. Once he was certain all of the connections were in place, he moved back outside the larder and began to press buttons on the panel. Setting it to freezing temperatures, he confirmed his choice, and then tipped his head to listen.

When he heard the tell-tale whir of the fans, he smiled and rounded back into the larder to feel in front of the three ducts along the top of the wall with his bare fingers. Satisfied with the cold air pushing into the room, he covered the floor panel and then walked out and closed the door.

“What’s for lunch, Khalan?” he asked, and the cook–an older dark-skinned Miqo’te woman with silvery streaks in her pulled-back dark hair–turned her tea-green eyes toward him. A smile lit her face.

“Oh, done already, are ya? That was quick!” She was already pulling out a plate and setting it on the counter. “Popoto crisps are almost done, and I could build ya a sandwich ahead of the rest of ‘em.”

“I’d appreciate that,” Illian said, swinging his leg over one of the stools that usually went unused at the kitchen counter. Most people ate in the dining room, and Rath seemed to vacillate between eating with his staff and taking his meals privately. It really depended on whether or not he was absorbed in a task.

As Khalan built his sandwich, the pair chattered about different things that he could improve around the kitchen. The device he’d made to mix ingredients for baked goods had saved her aging arms many aches, but her knuckles were starting to get knobby and stiff.

“Should we be looking into getting you an apprentice, or an assistant, to take over when you finally decide to retire?” he asked, not bothering to hide his concern.

“Oh, you know me and my kitchen,” she replied.

And he did. He’d once tried to help her prepare a meal, and gotten the biggest lecture of his life  for it. M’rath was banned from using it, and he’d floated the idea of an assistant or apprentice several times with no luck. He gave her a nod as she loaded up some of the finished crisps onto a plate and then finished his sandwich, sliding the food over to him.

“At least have Lord Highvale look at your hands,” he implored, before crunching into his first crisp and biting back a groan of happiness.

“That, I’ll do,” she replied, turning back toward the stove to pull out the last tray of crisps and set them out to cool. “At my age, I wouldn’t terribly mind an extra set of hands–ah, but they've got to be capable! Not somebody like you coming in to help!”

“Firstly, rude,” he said around a bite from his sandwich. “Secondly, you’re right; I’m not an experienced cook, unless you count campfire meals.”

“Which I don’t. If you’re going to insist on hiring me an assistant, then I need to test them.” She eyed Illian with a stern expression, placing both hands on her soft hips.

“I’ll talk to him about it, and we will bring any prospective candidates to you. I promise.” It was an assurance that he could keep, and as he watched her nod and go to grab the tongs, moving slower than she used to, he thought that perhaps he should initiate that process sooner rather than later.

When he was done eating, he checked on the larder’s temperature, delighted to find that it had chilled to the temperature he’d set. Supplying Khalan with instructions to monitor the panel every half bell and report any fluctuations to him, he set off back through the manor to attend his other duties. Nothing else was going to give him the satisfaction of convincing Khalan to entertain the idea of someone else sharing her kitchen, but they had to be done nonetheless.

[chocoblep]

#5: Putting Out Fires

Prompt: Stamp

The early evening’s dying light streamed in through a large window, illuminating Illian’s workroom in a soft coral glow and casting shadows as it caught on the various magitek parts and enchanting materials strewn about every surface. He had already lit the work lamp on his desk, though he knew that soon the entire room would be dark save for that one little bubble of space if he didn’t take a break from his project to see the wall sconces lit. Sighing, he rose to do just that, striding over to the wall and flicking a wall switch next to the door. The sconces flared to life with a soft, yellow-white arcane glow, courtesy of the connection that the switch made to the crystals housed within, and soon enough Illian was sitting back down in front of the small machine he had taken apart to repurpose.

This little heating unit was mostly done, and with fall’s cooler weather fast approaching, he wanted to get this installed as soon as he could. He’d been making sure the new suite of rooms that Rath had ordered prepared for his new bodyguard were in working order, and unfortunately, the temperature control unit had had to wait until he could source more of the airship controls. He’d never outright made them before, but he knew how to modify them to handle arcane energies from crystals rather than their ceruleum. As he brought his welding gun close to the bottom casing, the door flying open caused him to jump and nearly singe his pants as he dropped it. He hastily grabbed a towel and dropped it onto a small patch of rug that had caught fire as he turned the gun off, and then stomped the towel to ensure the fire was out before glowering in the direction of the interruption.

“Do you mind? I was nearly done with–” he cut himself off when he saw that not only was it M’rath who’d stormed in, but he had a look on his face that was perturbed, which was unlike him. “Whoa. What’s wrong?”

“I had to put him down,” the Miqo’te began. “As soon as I got into his head he latched on and I couldn’t get out.”

After setting the welding gun back on his worktable, Illian came over to stand in front of his employer and best friend, laying his hands gently on the other’s shoulders. They were tense, as he expected, and he tried to send calming energy Rath’s way as he worked his thumbs gently against the muscles there. He knew how the man got when he was in this specific mindset, and to have it turned on its head and directed back at him… He couldn’t imagine how badly that had probably messed with Rath’s mind.

“If you would like, I could draw you a bath… or perhaps you would like to see your partners? I’m sure they would love to hear from you.” Illian fixed his bright blue eyes on Rath’s green-and-golds, and the pair stared at each other for a moment. He couldn’t really read what was going on in Rath’s head right now–but then, he wasn’t the one with that sort of power, anyway.

“I…” The emotions that passed through his expression were uncharacteristic of him to show. Worry. Discomfort. A sort of vulnerability he’d only seen a handful of times. “I do not wish to bother them with this. I am not in the best mindset to be good company for them.”

Illian just sighed. Of course M’rath would not want them to see him in this state. Especially not after the activities he’d been partaking in just a short time before. Still, this was as much a part of the man as all the others, and what sort of friend would Illian be if he couldn’t call him out on that?

“You do realize,” he began, “that this sort of thing is precisely something they would want you to talk to them about?”

Rath’s hands curled into fists at his side, his knuckles going white, and Illian wondered if he’d have bloody nail marks in his palms when he relaxed them again. “I know,” he ground out. “I just…”

“Call and see if they’re available,” Illy replied firmly. “Do not shut them out. You will come to regret it if you do.”

When the Miqo’te looked into Illian’s face again, there was something else in his eyes that Illian hadn’t seen in a good, long while. Guilt.

“I would not be surprised if they refuse, it has been too long” he said, his voice quiet. “I just need someone steady right now. An hour, and I will be fine.”

Illian glanced back at his work table and the nearly finished control unit, and then back at M’rath, who still looked a bit rattled. “Fine. But you’re calling on them tomorrow. I know you’ve been busy with your quarterly visits, but you’re nearly done with them now. Come, let’s go relax.”

As he led his friend from his workroom to Rath’s quarters, he tried to think reassuring thoughts. M’rath was not a bad person. His manifestation of the Echo had never treated him kindly, and sometimes when he picked up a new guest, their crazy seeped into his mind a little more than it should. Rath had spectacular impulse control, and he’d never acted on any of his borrowed neuroses, which always managed to impress the half-elezen. Regardless of how he felt about the torture that Rath put his guests through, it was the only way that the man had found to cope with his own traumas, and Illian couldn’t begrudge him that. Especially when his guests were the worst sorts of people, and deserved every mindfuck they got.

As he settled in a lounging position on Rath’s bed, he waited for the Miqo’te to lay down beside him before pulling his head onto his thigh and massaging his scalp.

“They do, don’t they?” Rath asked, his voice wavering a bit as he relaxed into the touch and curled in toward Illian.

“Mmm?”

“Deserve it.”

“You were listening in, were you?” Illian asked with a little smile, and then allowed his thoughts to become more intentional.

You are not a monster. You are loved. And you are doing everyone a service by taking out the trash.

The silence following those thoughts was heavy with hesitation, and Illian calmly reached over to Rath’s nightstand and found the remote he’d made for the room’s orchestrion. Clicking it on, he set it to play one of Rath’s favorite calming piano pieces. It wasn’t until the Miqo’te began to melt against him that he responded, sounding tired and only half-convinced.

“I am not a monster,” he repeated. “I am doing a service.”

“You are,” Illian agreed aloud. “Unless you’re trying to cook. You do no one a service, then.”

He didn’t even know where the pillow came from, only that it flew into his face with a decent amount of force, and he grabbed it before it could get away so that he could smack Rath back with it. “Excuse me, I did not deserve that!”

M’rath’s mind suitably diverted from the horrors he’d been subjected to before, Illian kept bantering with him until he fell asleep, and then tucked him in and crept out of the room. 

He was lucky that Illian was the kind of friend who would absolutely dispose of a body.

[chocoblep]

#17: Plan D

Prompt: Sally

:This is a bad idea.: Rath directed that thought at Illian, who crouched near the outer wall of their makeshift shelter. It was little more than a cave, a small hole about the size of Rath’s face the only thing allowing light to permeate the space. They’d shoved a huge rock in the other hole, the one that they’d entered through. :They pick up on the slightest of scents. They leave trails for their friends to follow. Who knows if they can hear us if we make noise.:

:Yeah, I don’t know,: came a thought in return. While Illian was not a mind-reader and had no telepathic tendencies, Rath was unable to turn off his ability to read surface thoughts. Thankfully, that was a relatively short-range ability, so the only things he could hear in his mind were Illian’s mental thoughts in response to his own communications and the vague sense of consciousness that less intelligent species gave off within earshot that were preoccupied with their search for food. :I know you wanted to distract them, but who knows if they would go for it? And besides, Fox’s been wanting to try out her new toy. Let her have some fun.:

Rath stared at Illian, watching the half-elezen as he in turn peeked through the hole in the wall. :I hate this,: he thought sourly, and several scenarios ran through his mind of ways that Fox could have been killed or seriously injured.

:I know you do. But we’ve only been waiting for an hour, Rath. She’s fine; the earring hasn’t gone cold yet.: He only glanced in Rath’s direction; shrouded in shadow as he was, he didn’t expect Illian to be able to see him.

He swished his tail in annoyance and let out a quiet huff in the darkness.

Soft, rhythmic clicking answered him, and both he and Illian froze in place as one of Cutter’s Cry’s sentries skittered past. Something had alerted it, and it paid the two intruders no mind as it left the vicinity entirely. 

Either Fox had been successful in her distraction, or she was in big trouble. The two of them started going through ideas and throwing them out in rapid succession. When Illian glanced to the rock blocking the entrance to their little safehouse, Rath turned to reach out a hand toward it–and nearly jumped out of his skin as a loud, panicked thought pierced his senses.

No, not panicked. Excited.

:HOWDY BOYS! IT WORKED BUT THEY WERE IN THE WORST POSSIBLE PLACE OH GODS THEY’RE GAINING ON ME OPEN THE HOLE!:

Leveraging all of his mental strength, Rath used his mind to yank the boulder aside just enough for a person to squeeze through. It wasn’t a person who came through first, though; a massive cocoon was shoved into the space, and Rath recoiled from its sudden proximity. A hyuran woman followed quickly behind, practically shouting at him in her mind to close the hole again. He did so, and heard multiple thuds against it as other bodies tried to follow. The boulder immediately started moving inward, and Rath scrambled to hold it in place with his power.

“WHOOOOO, SUCK IT, ANTS,” the woman half-shouted, half-panted as she caught her breath.

“You were supposed to give us a signal to bail you out, Fox!” Illian had to raise his voice as he scrambled back from the wall to avoid giant ant limbs as they probed through the face-sized hole. 

Thankfully, they couldn’t fit through that hole either, but the thought of them pushing the boulder into their tiny cavern sent a wave of nausea crashing over Rath. If they got in, there would be no room to fight. They would be dead.

“I dropped the pearl in the water and couldn’t go in after it,” the woman replied almost nonchalantly, pulling a cobweb out of her silky black hair.

“And now we’re trapped with an army of ants outside,” Rath growled, his tail flicking double-time. The entire colony was on alert, and all of the alarm in their heads had pervaded this area, making its way into his own mind. His heart hammered against his rib cage. He felt like he was going to crawl out of his skin. “We have to go. I can’t hold this rock in place much longer, so think of something, please.”

Illian’s hand found Rath’s shoulder in the darkness; perhaps he’d heard the way Rath’s voice had begun to rise and quiver at the end of his request, or perhaps Rath wasn’t being good about containing the sudden panic that had washed over him, but he was grateful for the stability in that moment.

“I’ve got an idea,” Illian said, “But we’re still likely going to have to fight our way out. If you can concentrate on keeping the cocoon away from them, Fox and I can drive them off.”

“What do you want me to do?” Fox asked, shifting nearby. “Wait. WAIT. Is it time for Plan D!?”

The rock jolted in place, and Rath doubled down his efforts, but it didn’t matter too much; ants were very good at tunneling, and what was once a face-sized hole had already grown big enough to accommodate an ant head, which was already shoved into it and snapping at Illian’s jacket sleeve. Rath’s panic spiked again, and he grit his teeth to try and work his way through his quickly scattering mental faculties.

“I’m not touching it!” Rath protested, but Illian was already addressing Fox.

“It’s time for Plan D,” Illian confirmed, and Rath’s stomach dropped. Plan D was the absolute last resort, but there really was no other option. “On my count. Three…”

Rath’s muscles tensed.

“Two…”

All three of them shifted into ready stances, shimmying along to one side of the tiny cavern, away from the hole in the wall but closer to the giant boulder that the ants were still trying to move.

“One…”

Fox clicked off the safety on her gun. It sounded like it was less than an ilm from his ear, even overtop of the commotion outside. 

“GO!”

Illian threw his hands out toward the ant who’d shoved its head through the wall, and streaks of flame shot from his fingers. Rath had never heard a giant ant scream before, but the sound it made as it backed out of the hole was enough to make him pin his ears flat to his head and wince. Almost immediately, Fox was bunkered next to the hole, the barrel of her revolver aimed out at the mass of writhing bodies outside. Two shots rang, and the noise got louder as giant insects scattered, but the pressure on the boulder lessened.

“Three still on it!” Fox shouted, and shot again. More clamoring. Another shot. Two more and she’d need to reload. “One!”

“Move the rock and grab the prize!” Illian shouted, and Rath didn’t have time to tell him that no, he was not touching this disgusting thing. He moved the boulder and Illian shot a fireball right into the last ant, and then Rath was floating the cocoon in front of him as they bolted out of the chamber. The ants that had scattered immediately gave chase, and though they were fast, Illian’s spell-work was faster–or perhaps it was the fire-crystal-powered gun he pulled out of his jacket pocket. Rath didn’t look back to check, but he felt the heat at his back and saw Fox reloading her revolver as they ran. 

The colony was a maze that they’d mapped out already, but more than once they took a wrong turn, left with no choice but to follow the path until they encountered one of the marks they’d made. Fox led them down a narrow corridor. Ants poured in behind them, forced to march single file through the bottleneck, and Illian kept them at bay with his fire as they went, managing to burn one badly enough that he heard another of those terrible screams.

“Got it! They won’t be following us through here!” Illian crowed.

Rath was too busy concentrating on keeping the cocoon airborne to reply, his thoughts occupied by just how gross the thing was. Seriously. There was an ant twitching inside it. It was much smaller than the ones chasing them, but it was still a giant ant, and if there was one thing that Rath hated with a passion, it was bugs. As they rounded another corner, he saw sunlight and nearly wept. Not much longer, and they would be outside and he could put this thing down and make someone else carry it.

The sound of Fox’s gunshots startled him out of that thought, and he threw all of his energy into getting out of the cavern. All three of them put on a burst of speed as they hit the open air, and Fox suddenly stopped, whipping around and bringing something up to her mouth.

“FIRE IN THE HOLE!” she hollered.

Rath nearly tripped in surprise as an explosion sounded behind them. Illian cursed. All three of them kept running until they couldn’t anymore, and they stumbled to a halt, panting heavily as they bent over their knees. Rath lowered the cocoon onto the ground, and Fox pulled a wad of fabric from her bag. It was a sack, which she carefully put the cocoon into, and then tied off. 

“Phew! Thanks. I’ll carry it from here,” she said, and then hoisted it over her shoulder.

“You couldn’t have put it in the bag back in the cave?” Rath asked, wrinkling his nose.

“And get ant pheromones all over it? Nah. It’d lead ‘em straight to us.”

“And if any part of that had touched me, it wouldn’t have made it out of that cave--no, stop thinking about it, augh!” He turned away from Fox, as if her mental image of him running after the cocoon while shouting ‘Ew, ew, ew, ew!’ on repeat in rapid succession could be shoved out of his mind simply by doing so. He hadn’t done that. At least, he thought he hadn’t done that. His breakfast nearly came back up when her mental image turned into him running into the thing face-first. “Fox, please,” he pleaded, and she cackled madly.

“Let’s take this thing to its new home, eh?” she said, and Illian came to collect Rath, threading his arm around the Miqo’te’s shoulders as much to hold him up as to comfort him.

“Come on,” he said, “It’s time for you to wake up.”

Rath shot upright in his bed, breathing heavily, startling Illian and causing the man to jerk his hand away.

“Gods above!” The blonde half-elezen gave a startled laugh. ”I just came in here to wake you and you were talking in your sleep. Didn’t even lay a hand on you before you shot up!”

“Was I? What was I saying?” Rath asked, the grogginess starting to win out against the startlement of jerking awake.

Illian’s blue eyes twinkled, and dread crept into Rath’s limbs as the man leaned in and down, his golden braid sliding over his shoulder to hand down and swing like a pendulum between them. He pitched his voice high and breathy.

“Ew, ew, ew, ew!”

Rath groaned, falling backward into his pillow again. “It was the ants, Illy!” he called out, trying to drown out the syllable as Illian repeated it, getting into Rath’s space. “You’re lucky I like you, you insufferable asshole!”

“You really should stop letting your dreams bug you so much.” As Illian straightened, he flipped his braid back over his shoulder and started toward the door, laughing as a pillow soared right into his head.

M’rath loved his best friend, but it was too early in the morning for these shenanigans. He rolled over and pulled the blankets back up over his shoulders. Another few minutes of sleep wouldn’t hurt.

[chocoblep]

#9: Scars

M’rath stretched out on top of the coverlet on his belly, his hands linked below his cheek. There was a familiar weight on the bed next to his waist; his chief of staff, gently seated on the bed’s edge.

“Did you ever think that it would turn out like this?” The half-hyur was tracing his bare fingertips over Rath’s exposed back, each delicate touch a reminder of the scar that lay beneath it. There were many of them; a network of mostly faded stripes that he’d had since his teenage years. Before Illian had discovered them, they had been much more visible, and even the twisting snake tattoo that ran up the length of his spine and curled along his back wasn’t enough to hide them from a casual glance.

But Illian, bless his big, beautiful heart, had developed a concoction that had, over the years, minimized the appearance of the scars so that they only glinted faintly in certain light conditions, and otherwise stayed mostly invisible but for the slightest difference in smoothness where scar met unmarred flesh. And he’d done it without provocation, on the premise that it wasn’t right that he had to bear those stripes for all these years for no other reason than that his master had decided he needed them when he was young.

He’d even told Illian what had happened to his old master, what he’d done to secure his own life. What he’d promised himself would never come to pass again, for him or for those he cared for. And the man had only gathered him into his arms in the privacy of his own quarters and told him in no uncertain terms that he was the strongest man he’d ever met.

Willful, perhaps. Cruel, at times. Angry, jaded, and weary, often. But strong? Please, he’d said. It’s unbecoming to lie to a man like that. But it wasn’t a lie. He’d known that when Illian had opened his mind to him. It had baffled him then, and it still baffled him now.

“My scars?” M’rath murmured, turning his head so that his other cheek rested on his hands and his particolored eyes regarded the man next to him. “No. I knew they would fade with age, but I never imagined that a smart man might try to make them disappear altogether.” A lazy smile pulled at his lips as Illian snorted and reached for the pot of cream on his bedside table.

“A smart man might have avoided you,” Illian said, blue eyes focused on Rath’s shoulders. “I am not a smart man. And that was not what I was referring to, anyway. I meant this. All of this.”

“All of this?” Rath echoed. “No. Everything that has happened up to this point has been a mixture of luck and circumstance.”

“Mmmn, I will respectfully agree to disagree.”

“How else do you explain a loyal staff? If anything, that is your doing, not mine.”

“Is it?” Illian asked, and Rath hissed briefly as he felt the cold cream make contact with his back. “If I were to ask any one of your staff why they are loyal to you, they would give me three answers: Good pay, good living conditions, and a good heart. You pulled most of them out of very bad situations. Why would they not adore you?”

“They don’t know what I can do, or what I do in the places they are not allowed to wander.”

“I do. I still don’t think you are the monster you make yourself out to be when you look in the mirror.” 

The feeling of Illian’s hands rubbing the cream into his skin has his eyes drifting closed and his tail settling finally against his thigh with naught but a lazy flick of the tip every now and again. When his voice sounded, it was tired. “Well, you’re welcome to think what you think. Not a smart man, indeed.”

Rath made a sound as Illian smacked him between the shoulderblades, and then laughed.

[chocoblep]

The FFXIV Site Write 2024 Master Post!

Hey, y'all! Gonna be doing this again this year! Got a bit of a late start due to being ill yesterday, but I'm catching up now! I'll be editing this post as I post entries. As I write for different characters, I will be putting them in the following format: # [Prompt Word] Post Title (Character Name) List below!

[Steer] Molding an Opinion (M'rath Tia)

[Horizon] Sails in the Distance (Shev Mhalikh)

[Tempest] Fighting Form (Kismet Kaze)

[Reticent] The To-Do List (Rhyle Moonreed)

[Stamp] Putting Out Fires (Illian Runetide)

[Halcyon] Market Day (Hinan Akaruta)

[Morsel] Dinner Disaster Protocol (Shev Mhalikh)

[Free Day (Spontaneous)] The Other Cheek(s) (Qorin Iriq)

[Lend an Ear] Fireworks and Family (Lydjana Silvaret)

[Stable] Viaga (M'rath Tia)

[Surrogate] Spitting (Rhyle Moonreed)

[Quarry] Mystery Solved (Hinan Akaruta)

[Butte] Perfect Balance (Shev Mhalikh)

[Telling] Just A Hare More Excitement (Qorin Iriq)

[Free Day (Achieve)] Warming Up to the Idea (Illian Runetide)

[Third-rate] Tempering Expectations (Lydjana Silvaret)

[Sally] Plan D (M'rath Tia)

[Hackneyed] Plotting a Hunt (Kismet Kaze)

[Taken] The Woods at Sunset (Rhyle Moonreed)

[Duel] Basic Instincts (Shev Mhalikh)

[Shade] Soaking Up the Sun (Hinan Akaruta)

[Free Day (Warning)] Home Invasion (Qorin Iriq)

[On Cloud Nine] The Jeweler (Illian Runetide)

[Bar] Asking a Friend (Kismet Kaze)

[Perpetuity] Letting Go (Rhyle Moonreed)

[Zip] The Calling (M'rath Tia)

[Memory] The Bully (Qorin Iriq)

[Deleterious] Shiny (Lydjana Silvaret)

[Free Day (Crash)] The Fruit Cart Debacle (Hinan Akaruta)

[Two Heads are Better Than One] That Stag, Doe (Shev Mhalikh)

[chocoblep]

#26: Change in Plans

He kept reminding himself that this was necessary. Though he’d had a will drawn up already, it needed to be revised. Taking a deep breath, M’rath stepped into the office of the official in Gridania who was in charge of the document’s safekeeping. He was also one who specialized in such things.

“Ah, Master Highvale,” said the Elezen, standing from behind his desk to approach and hold out his hand. Rath shook it, tail swishing slowly as he put a smile on his face.

“Master Perrier,” he replied, and the pair seated themselves on opposite sides of the desk. “I thank you for meeting with me today.”

“Truly, it is my pleasure,” the man said, going through the motions. Though it wasn’t exactly a lie, it was not said for the same reasons that might have been present in someone who liked him particularly well. He respected the man’s honesty, which was why he was still his client. “You wished to make some changes to your will, yes?” He asked.

“Yes. Specifically, I want to add two people to it, and I want to make a specific provision that no changes are to be made to it after my death for any reason.” Rath drummed his clawed fingers against the armrest of the plush chair he perched upon, and the Elezen nodded.

“Go on.”

“Two next of kin, though they are not related to me,” he continued, and then took a deep breath. “The first is Daephrin Astramente. He is to receive a sizeable amount equal to one-fifth of my holdings. The second is Jaxon Tavard, to be left with the same amount as Daephrin. Of what remains, my estate and the remainder of my holdings will go to Illian Runetide, on the condition that he keeps my staff employed. If he decides to dissolve the estate at any time, he has agreed to pay out two thirds of his inheritance equally divided among the staff.”

When Master Perrier had finished his notations, he leaned forward and smiled. “So still no children?”

“I would be an unfit father,” M’rath said, shaking his head. “The best I can do is give what I can to those I care for.”

“You know that it is often the very same people who say such things who are the best caregivers,” the Elezen said softly.

“I am the not-so-often situation,” M’rath said with an entirely too predatory smile as he stood. The Elezen seemed to understand, then, what M’rath did not say out loud.

He was simply too dangerous to trust with a child’s life.

“I will have this drawn up and sent to you for review within the sennight,” he said, standing once more to extend his hand for a shake. Rath took it again, squeezing, and then let go. “Thank you, Master Perrier. A good evening to you.”

As he walked the short distance to the Aethernet shard, M’rath smiled. He’d not told either Daephrin or Jaxon that he was leaving them anything; he knew they would both likely protest. Still, it felt good to finally get things in motion. And it was necessary, because taking care of his people was the thing first and foremost in his thoughts.

(( @tavard-ffxiv and @starsworn for mentions!))