#Sokhatai

[maki-xiv]

Day 17 - Meal

Hanging out with friends and grabbing a bite to eat.

[inkedinfantasy]

FFXVIWrite #2: Horizon

The night after the outsiders braved Bardam's Mettle, Magnai finds Kaoru on the roof of the Dawn Throne.

Read on AO3 here.

Magnai found Kaoru on the roof of the throne room, seated on the ledge. A massive yol sat perched before her as she gave it a gentle once-over, occasionally offering it a bit of food for its cooperation. It would almost be a peaceful scene if not for the large slab of freshly killed meat she was carving the bird’s treats from, her hands still bloody.

“Your yol will be safe in our care so long as you remain with us,” he said by way of greeting, a touch defensive. Did she think them incapable?

“I’m sure she will,” Kaoru replied, not looking up from where she smoothed a few feathers into place. “Thought I might get in a bit of bonding, is all. She’s still freshly tamed.”

“Even so, most would not wish to forgo their rest so close to the Naadam.”

She glanced at him then, grinning. “Are you kidding? As a child I dreamed of the day I’d conquer Bardam’s Mettle and earn a yol of my own. Never thought I’d get the chance after I left the steppe.” Her yol nudged at her shoulder and she fed it another scrap. “Are you so concerned for our welfare?”

Magnai bristled. “No. Merely making an observation.”

“Of course.”

Silence fell, broken only by the sound of the bird tearing apart its meat.

“So which one’s yours? Does it have a name?” she asked, looking out over the other yols roosting on the roof for the night, several of them watching her bird eating jealously. He searched the gathered birds until he spotted his.

“There,” he said, pointing to a large yol nestled in the corner between two others, already sleeping. “Her name is Sokhatai.”

Kaoru looked her over as best she could from a distance, humming in approval. “She’s a big one. And clearly well cared for.”

“Of course. One must treat one’s partner with the same respect they would treat themself.”

“Very true.” She carved the last bit of meat off of whatever creature she’d hunted down, and her yol snapped it up as she began to clean her hands. “It was never just about the status, for me. That was part of it, sure, but that idea of flight, that freedom you could grasp at with the yol you bonded with…I wanted it all. I wanted it to be like the stories. And when I finally got the chance, when I faced the trials and we found each other, it was like…”

“Like nothing else,” he finished softly, still staring at Sokha. He turned back to see her smiling at him, wryly. Her good mood had not dimmed, lit by the faint glow of the camp’s lights below them, the brightness of the stars, the thinnest sliver of the waning moon as it rose above the distant mountains.

“You know, you make a far more agreeable conversation partner when you’re not being imperious and demanding.” Her tone was teasing. She hopped down from the ledge and giving her yol a final pat. “Well, I should be off to bed. Wouldn’t want to forgo my rest.” Her smile turned just a touch more genuine as she passed him. “Good night, Magnai.”

“Good night,” he echoed automatically. He watched her walk away, the night descending into silence once more.

[tae-ffxiv]

Prompt #4: Reticent

He never says anything. Just stares at him - glares at him? - body tensed, jaw clenched. But he'd smile at him anyway. Try to talk to him. And he'd say nothing back. He'd stand there in awkward silence for a minute. Two. And then he'd leave.

--

*"What's he doing here?"

*"We're trying to see if he has any aptitude for magic."

"Does he?"

Dayir's father hums in thought. "Seems promising."

"Does he ever talk?"

"Rarely."

Dayir frowns thoughtfully at the spot the boy had been sitting some time earlier.

--

He'd be there when Sokhatai was busy, waiting for his lesson. Dayir would sit with him in semi-silence, contributing to a one-sided conversation, occasionally subjected to an unwavering gaze that he pretended he didn't find off-putting.

At least the other boy didn't tense up in his presence any more. And sometimes that gaze would soften to something more curious when he hit upon the odd topic - and he'd ramble on about that, in response to what he thinks is interest.

--

Sokhatai seems to like the idea of having someone to teach.

"Do you ever wish I would've been good at magic?" Dayir asks.

Sokhatai smiles and ruffles his hair with a heavy hand. Dayir pulls a face and reaches up to try and fix the misplaced strands.

"Do you think you'd enjoy learning magic?" Sokhatai asks.

Dayir tilts his head in thought, "I like the idea of it… buuut… I don't like the casting part, I guess."

"Then you're better off learning something you like more."

--

"Do you like learning magic?" Dayir asks.

Ambaghai gives him a long look, then nods.

"What do you like about it?"

He's given another long stare, then Ambaghai's eyes drift away, his mouth twitches like he has an answer, but nothing comes out, and he only head and body to the side and stares up at the roof ring. He frowns and leans back a little.

Dayir smiles and waves it off. "Nevermind. Don't worry about it."

Ambaghai relaxes and slowly returns to his usual sitting position, and Dayir offers a snack to him, which he takes and nibbles on in silence.

Dayir leans back on his hands. "Y'know, my dad says the next horse that's born is gonna be for me," he muses. He glances over at Ambaghai. Hard to tell if he's even paying attention. "I think I'll name it… after a food, maybe?"

In the corner of his eye, he can see the other boy look over at him. He blinks at him, then turns his attention back to his snack.

He and Dayir sit in silence as Dayir muses on a food-based horse name.

"It makes sense."

Dayir's thought process halts as he turns his head to Ambaghai. He blinks a few times in disbelief, suppressing the impulse to to remark on the fact he'd spoken. "Huh? Naming a horse after food."

Ambaghai frowns at his snack. His mouth twitches slightly again.

"Magic," he says eventually. "I can't - I'm not good at the rest."

"Oh. Well… my dad says you're a fast learner."

Ambaghai shifts a little in his spot. He takes another bite of his snack.

Dayir stares around the inside of the yurt.

"I didn't know you spoke," he comments, then freezes when he realizes he'd said it aloud. He can feel Ambaghai's stare boring into the side of his head.

He glances over to see he'd tensed up again.

"Sorry," Dayir says.

He doesn't get a response.

[ffxivxd]

Sokhatai of the Dataq is the niece of Khalja, the khan of the tribe. Her parents and husband were claimed by a sickness, ushering her into depression. However, the 28 year old of Qalli heritage came to terms with her loss and now uses singing and poetry as a hobby.

[xivkasumi]

𝕷𝖎𝕶𝖊 𝖆 𝖇𝖑𝖆𝖈𝕶 𝖗𝖔𝖘𝖊, 𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖉𝖆𝖗𝕶𝖓𝖊𝖘𝖘 𝖜𝖆𝖘 𝖇𝖊𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖎𝖋𝖚𝖑𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖆𝖙𝖆𝖑..

[kookriart]

My spotify discover weekly has started recommending me Mongolian throat singing.

Sokhatai has come to peacefully acquire your property.

[bogentumet]

“Bogen! Do you mind?!”

“I don’t mind at all actually...”

“BOGEN!” 

“Okay, okay, I’m leaving.”

[eunnieverse]

Sokhatai Oronir

She's known throughout The Azim Steppe as "Sokhatai The Headache".

[broken-duskblade]

Self-Knowledge Questionnaire

NEEDINESS

Being affirmed and nurtured by others is a central requirement for you to feel safe. This means you can be slow to warm up to other people, which is difficult because what you most need from them is their warmth. Yet you know how to be vulnerable: to let down your defences and accept that you need another person. This lack of pretence is a valuable trait, and ultimately more endearing than the macho efforts others make to deny their childlike sides.

INDEPENDENCE

You don’t set out to be different for its own sake; you are more easily guided by what interests and moves you. You are more concerned about what is right for you than about the pressure to fit in. In sex you are more aware than others of impulses which are not entirely conventional. You know the value of selective irresponsibility, of forgetting occasionally about being ‘good’.

MISANTHROPY

You have seen the darker side of human nature, even in daily life. When you look beneath the surface everyone is pretty messed up; there’s more selfishness circulating that others admit. You are never surprised by the stupidity of others, even though it annoys you. Your streak of misanthropy is, in fact, a requirement of remaining sane. You’ve wisely come to terms with your need to sometimes confidently reject people.

[areax]

i made sokhatai morozova as an oc for pathologic before i even knew what shadow and bone was but now she and the darkling and also that deer are siblings. they will come to her house in that terrible town and he will start even more shit than usual

[maki-xiv]

At your local town's fair world ending extinction event, posing with the attractions.

[scowlart]

I like to draw people facing left.

[twinfoxtails]

[ff14vamir]

Eureka is a pretty place.

Ft. a pretty lizard @sokhataitheiriq

[xivkasumi]

𝓐 𝓯𝓮𝔀 𝓭𝓻𝓲𝓷𝓴𝓼 𝓪𝓷𝓭 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝔀𝓪𝓼 𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼— 𝓼𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓱𝓮𝓻 𝔀𝓱𝓲𝓼𝓴𝓮𝔂 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓪 𝓵𝓸𝓪𝓭𝓮𝓭 𝓰𝓾𝓷...