#c: syhrwyda maetityrbwyn

[fistsoflightning]

if you catch a rogue a fish

ffxivwrite2023 04: OFF THE HOOK allowed or able to avoid blame, responsibility, obligation, or difficulty.

syhrwyda, valdis, zaya, & a fish. a really big fish. 913 wc.

“And you brought this t’ port… why?”

Even with a small crowd gathering around her and Syhrwyda, Valdis seemed just as unflappable as ever—at most, a touch confused. Zaya watched in amusement from the relative safety of the Fisherman’s Guild’s archway as she glanced at the forty-fulm-long fish floating in a bubble by the guild pier, swimming restlessly in loops, and said, “Wanted to show Tehra’ir. And ask for one of his daggers to eat it, but that’s later.”

Syhrwyda’s face made an incredible journey in the span of a few seconds from baffled through concerned straight into a replica of the face Y’shtola gave Zaya that one time they admitted they ate a lightning crystal shard once. “This fish? T’ show him?”

“Not this fish, exactly,” Valdis said, waving her free hand in the air as though this revelation cleared anything up. “The coral ray and elasmosaurus didn’t bite during the spectral currents. I should have asked Alle to come along and help me.”

The crowd of excited fishers and baffled merchants around them got louder and rowdier, and Zaya had to press themselves up against the stone wall to avoid their knee colliding with the fisherman guildmaster’s face as he darted by. Something about legends of the sea?

“An’ this one?”

“What about ‘this one’?”

Across the harbor, Zaya caught a flash of something silver and green pause at one of the carved-out windows go from still to a blur as it rushed out of view.

“I—well, just because th’ change of all the aether currents o’er the star means you could fish up new deep ocean monsters an’ bring them back to Limsa don’t mean you should,” Syhrwyda said while rubbing the back of her neck, seemingly unable to decide whether she should look at the horrible leviathan with knife-teeth, Valdis herself, or over to Zaya—the last specifically with a frown. They must not have been doing a great job of stifling the silly grin they could feel edging on outright laughter.

Maybe they ought to feel some measure of guilt, but Syhrwyda did lose the three rounds of rock-paper-scissors when they’d rushed down here from a nice lunch at the Bismarck to deal with ‘a sea witch and her menagerie of monsters’ and instead found Valdis at the center of the storm. She really needed to stop leading with rock.

Valdis, seemingly still oblivious or mayhaps playing it up, tilted her head. “But then, no one but the Sharlayans will know about the new fish,” she said, and then: “Do you think Tehra’ir is out on a job? I was hoping he’d come out by now…”

“Why not just… go in an’ ask for him?”

“The doorman doesn’t like me.” Valdis crossed her arms, letting her fishing rod nearly thwack the poor lalafell guildmaster. Not that he seemed to notice. “Though, V’kebbe does...”

She turned away to look across the docks at the door leading to the Dutiful Sisters, at which Syhrwyda took the chance to fully turn towards Zaya and do something with her hands that was neither a combat sign nor any official Eorzean sign Zaya knew, but conveyed the general meaning of WHAT DO I DO???

As far as Zaya knew, it wasn’t a secret that Tehra’ir had something against deep sea fish—or any fish that fell outside the usual standards of ‘fishy-ness’ towards ‘could-be-a-terminus-horror’, really. Just half a moon ago he’d burst through the door to Zaya’s room with his tail all fluffed up mumbling about some truly awful-sounding sharks he’d seen while walking down to the Rogue’s Guild, calling them the Navigator’s mistake before launching into a frantic rant that ended with him swearing vengeance on Mitron, somehow. How Valdis seemed to be unaware was a mystery to them, as were many things about her, but here they were with a fish four times Syhrwyda’s height and teeth long as Tehra’ir’s daggers anyways.

Zaya looked back up at the window again—now, they could vaguely make out a figure that was probably Jacke standing there with his arms crossed, with Tehra’ir’s tail flicking in and out of sight—then looked back at Syhrwyda, still looking at them helplessly. They shrugged, trying not to smile too much about the situation or bust out into laughter, and gave her the combat sign for protect hoping in this situation she’d take it more as COVER FOR HIM I GUESS.

Syhrwyda grimaced, but the gap in the crowd closed just as she raised her hands, moving in a wave of sorts towards some of the other fish-carrying bubbles Valdis had enchanted. Not wanting to get swept away or miss Syhrwyda and Valdis maybe leaving, Zaya pushed through the crowd towards them.

Thankfully, Syhrwyda’s height and voice were there to act as a lighthouse in the crowd.

“Why did you want t’ show him this big one, anyroad?” she asked. “Aside from th’ others not bitin’.”

When Zaya broke through, Valdis had turned back to Syhrwyda.“Sisipu told me this was a roguesaurus,” she said, now frowning. “I thought he would think it was funny, instead of scary.”

That was, unfortunately, Zaya’s last straw; they broke out into wheezing laughter at the side of the pier, now one of four standing in front of the roguesaurus. Who named these things?

Syhrwyda put a comforting hand on Valdis’ shoulder and said, “It’s after the river, actually.”

“Oh. Damn. I suppose we can just skip to eating it.”

[fistsoflightning]

updated shadowbringers pictures for my wols! they all get a glow up except dewah who decided to dye his hair purple.

little descriptions below for fun/info for future asks!

FIRST ROW: TANKS

SYHRWYDA MAETITYRBWYN: a rowdy rogaedyn warrior that could probably be your mom! she’s real peppy and tends to indulge in a little fun despite being, like, fourty years old. her axe, sunshimmer, is probably the size of your head, so watch what side of her you’re on! if you see her pulling out her grimoire, you’re in trouble...

LUMELLE DE LIPINE: the teensy elezen paladin that started adventuring when she was like.... thirteen for ‘being thrown out of ishgard for supposed heretical thought’ reasons. her sense of justice is generally well used, and her loyalty is unmatched by any of her friends! she tends to get a lil stuck in her head, and she’s also like.... a baby. second youngest of the group? you found her. also; do not mention stardiver around her or she will scream. she hates doing that dragoon jump and is deathly afraid of heights. her brother, elwin, can attest to that.

SECOND ROW: HEALERS

DUSCHA VESNASCH: our tired hrothgar archon scholar/dad.... he just wants to take a nap with eos. he is a hardcore bookworm and would rather write a letter than talk to people in person just cause his eorzean is Too Formal. his fairy friend, eos, loves to just. sleep on people’s shoulders and heads, so if he feels comfortable around you, you’ll know by eos’s reaction to you! though he’s real laid back and tired, he can still stand for himself if you give him a proper gunblade! his training as a child wasn’t for nothing.

A’DEWAH TIA: an anxious miqo’te white mage that really, *really* cares for your wellbeing and tends to forget his own! his magic feels like fluffy clouds and warm sunshine, and his smiles are just the same! however, please don’t spook him because he will jump through the ceiling and scream like a child. he’s real meek and very wound up, but can still pack a punch in battle. he vastly prefers white magic, but his innate ability for red magic isn’t something he’s going to pass up if it helps keep others alive.

THIRD ROW: MELEE DPS

TEHRA’IR NAPHTO: the charming rogue ninja miqo’te of the party! he’s real sneaky and can twist your words without you noticing, but will absolutely never do that to friends; its his code of honor. if you need someone to eavesdrop for you, he’s your man! it’s pretty simple to find him; just make a loud call out in hawker’s alley stating you’re selling tuna miqo’a’bobs and he’ll be there in like... ten minutes. yell around six pm, however, and you’ll just disturb his daily meditation with his katana and he’ll probably dive into the ocean after it.

ZAYA QESTIR: my main wol and the reckless au’ri monk of the group! they’re an avid bird love, tend to run out into thunderstorms and turn themselves into a lightning rod, and really love adventuring! you’ll probably not meet another person as rambunctious and unable to sit still as them, though they do turn that down a notch after shadowbringers! their skillset encompasses kriegstanz, song magic (to an extent), and archery, but some rumors tend to circle about their devastation with a greatsword...

FOURTH ROW: RANGED DPS

VALDIS OTOEL: our optimistic viera black mage! well known for her tricks around eorzea, and known to few as their saving grace; her knowledge of aether and magic is pretty good! she could probably be an archon if A) she went to sharlayan like duscha and B) weren’t such a gremlin. as it is now, her nickname ‘little spitfire’ is for her blunt charm and penchant for fire spells! however, her fire magic spans much further than traditional black magic. perchance have you heard of... the flames of rebirth and blue magic?

ELWIN DE LIPINE: the babbiest baby.... the even teensier lalafell machinist sibling of lumelle! he may be tiny and look like a kid, but he’s A) on par with machinery with cid garlond B) a perfect shot with his own guns C) the main little dude to go to for prosthetics and D) knows how to handle money unlike his sister lumelle. his smarts only add onto the charm of his trusting nature, and he’s always!! cheering!! for you!!!!!! if he doesn’t have his machines and guns on hand, however, hand him a starglobe and he’ll show you the night skies in midday! he loves being an astrologian and is forever thankful for his surrogate father/lumelle’s father gifting him one of very few astrologian soul stones from his time in sharlayan...