#klynt is best mom

[potionmakergame]

Benthos

Title - FFXIV Write 2021 - Benthos Fandom - Final Fantasy FFXIV Rating - Teen Characters/pairings - Klynt Gohtawyn, Clutchfather Novv Summary - “It’s a fishback! Kill it!” “It’s a child!” Notes - Warnings for... cannibalism?

“Helluva haul,” you said, poking around inside of the wagon. Said wagon's “owner” was sitting nearby in cuffs, complaining bitterly. You leaned out to be able to see him. “You got documentation on these sandwyrm eggs, friend?”

“Go to hell,” the man snarled, yanking at his bonds.

“That’s a ‘no’. Illegal smuggling of sandwyrm eggs, Sargeant.”

“Copy, Private.”

You and another private kept searching through the smuggler’s ill-gotten wares. The man had been wanted for a time, and luck just so happened to place him square in the path of a Maelstrom training exercise. Luck, and maybe a smidge of information from Minfilia’s network. Your sergeant very specifically never asked, and you very specifically never told.

A larger, heavily bound chest near the back caught your eye. “What’s in the big one?” you called over your shoulder. Only curses came as a response, and you sighed and hauled yourself up into the wagon. “It’s probably alive,” you warned the other private, edging closer to the chest. “I’ll crack it; tell me if you see anything.”

“Joy,” she responded, readying her daggers.

You crouched behind the chest and carefully lifted the latches. Something alive was definitely inside; you could feel it shift against the chest walls. Slowly, you lifted the lid just a few ilms.

“Thal’s balls!” she shouted, rearing back from the chest. You quickly dropped the lid, and whatever was inside hissed and- splashed? “It’s a fucking fishback!” the other private yelled. “‘E’s got a miniature fishback in there!”

Your eyes went wide and you threw the chest lid open, much to the dismay of your companion. The bottom of the box had two ilms of water in it, and wedged into the corner furthest from you was-

A child.

The sahagin was tiny, maybe a fulm in height. It lacked the jagged fins and bony frills of the adults, and its claws were short and blunt, made to cling to another's hide, rather than rend it open. It still had the disconcerting amount of teeth, but its eyes were larger and more luminous. And it was very obviously terrified.

“Oh, no,” you said softly, crouching down and peering over the edge at it. “Oh, child, you are so far from home.”

“Child? It’s a fishback! Kill it!”

“It’s a child!” you snarled over your shoulder. Its eyes ticked between you and the other private. “Do you ssspeak common?” you managed, trying to mimic the sahagin hisses. It tilted its head, blinking, and you nodded, grinning. “Yesss! Ssspeak? Know?”

It blinked again, slow and eerie, and then crossed the box towards you, its arms held up. You made gentle shushing noises as you lowered your arm in and it wrapped around your forearm like a gauntlet. You tucked your arm against your chest and it shifted, crawling under the wide lapel of your jacket. Its many teeth were very close to your throat. You curled your arm around the bony lump and climbed out of the wagon.

“Awful cuddly with a fishback, Gohtawyn,” the sergeant remarked, but his eyes were cold and flat. “Care to explain such treason?”

“It’s a child,” you repeated, only a little less snarly. “A babe. A fucking infant. I’m not murdering an infant, Sergeant.” Said infant’s claws were dug quite far into your undershirt and skin. You ignored the discomfort. “If that’s treason, then string me up. Else, I’m taking him back to the spawning grounds.”

“So he can kill you in a year?” the smuggler spoke up, the first thing he’d said that wasn’t curses. “Pah. At least I help thin them out.”

“And who are they sold to?” the sergeant demanded. “And why?”

“Register says it’s due for Coerthas,” the other private spoke up, from where she’d retreated to the front of the wagon. “No name. Listed as ‘foodstuffs’.”

“They eat them?” you asked. The smuggler shrugged, but his grin was sickening. Your stomach lurched. “No, to every hell with that. I’m taking him back home. They’re people, for fucks sake!”

“Beastmen aren’t people,” the sergeant argued.

“Fuck you,” you snapped back. You turned and stomped off towards the nearby river, where you knew you could rent a boat. Your shoulders crawled in anticipation of an arrow the entire way.

o o o

The boat was tiny, powered by an even tinier air crystal, but it was all you could afford with what you had on hand. Once you reached open ocean, the baby stuck its head out of your jacket, it’s odd little face turned into the sea spray. At some point, it began to chitter and spit and wave its little finned hands and it was delighted, a strange alien joy that brought a smile to your own face. It would twist around at times, and blink up at you with its huge benthic eyes, chirring out sounds that were almost questions.

Once, it reached up and stuck a briny claw in the corner of your mouth, pulling down your lip, and clacked in clear disapproval at your teeth.

It took several hours to skirt the bay up around to Saspa, and as you approached, you started to notice shapes in the water, pacing your little craft. You ran up one of the few basic flags the boat came with, white truce unfurling in the winds, and aimed for a flat, sandy stretch of sand.

They let you get rather close before one cut you off, flashing brilliant fins across your course. You let the boat slow to a drift, bobbing in the surf. A clawed hand wrapped around the gunwale and a sahagin pulled himself up enough to look at you. “Exsssssplain, sssshorewalker,” he snarled.

You noticed that the baby had hidden itself inside your jacket again. “I seek an audience with your clutchfather,” you said, patting the baby through your jacket. “I have something that belongs to him.”

The odd slits that served for a nose flexed, and the sahagin stared hard at the bump under your hand. “Bring in,” he spat. “Sssslow.” You gave him a short nod and he disappeared into the water, barely visible in the twilight as he raced for the shore.

You puttered up to the surf and got out, dragging your boat far enough to dig into the sand, and waited. Sahagin surrounded you, in water and on land, and your tiny charge was peeking out of your lapels and squeaking. After a moment that seemed to stretch on forever, a few more sahagin came from the caves further up the beach, one among them bedecked in golden chains. As he drew closer, you maneuvered the baby from your clothes. “I found something,” you said.

The clutchfather pulled up short, his eyes gone wide behind his helm. The baby chirred and reached for him. He came close enough to reach out and take it, and it immediately wrapped around his wrist, chittering as it clung to his armored plates. “How?” he asked, too soft and wondering to be a demand.

“A monster shaped like a man,” you shrugged. “We will deal with him as such.”

The clutchfather ran a single claw down the baby’s spine. It trilled and arched into the touch. “Why, sssshorewalker?” Now it was a demand, and he glared at you. “You kind isssss not our friend.”

The baby reached for you. The clutchfather stared you down as you reached back and let it wrap its tiny hand around your fingers. “I don’t hurt children,” you said. “Any children. Even if they have gills.”

The clutchfather let out a wretched blubbery snort, and you thought it might be a laugh. He reached up with his free hand and unclipped a decoration from his helm, a string of coral beads on a fine chain. “You have ssssaved one of mine own,” he said, handing you the string. “Clutchfather Novv owessss you, ssshorewalker. Ussse your favor well.” He jerked his head towards your boat. “Leave now. Mine will essscort you back to your watersss.” he turned away and barked something to the surrounding sahagin, the baby held against his chest. Not willing to press their good will further, you pocketed the trinket and turned back to your boat.

You looked back just once. Novv was watching you go, surrounded by his kin. The baby watched you as well form his arms, and lifted a claw to wave at you. You waved back and climbed in your boat, willing the air crystal to set sail.