#t'vahje

[aces-and-kings]

Armel. The gallus bastard. "When boasting begins, there dignity ends…", he'd muttered to the collective. Mere moments after bragging about the havoc he'd cast upon the guilty and innocent alike.

Thor scoffed, "Says th' guy boastin' aboot his power spread far 'n' wide." "Mm. Touché. Yes. We will not come to blows this evening - nor any other until this little tournament takes place", he conceded to the proposal set forth by T'vahje to put an end to the unnecessary slaughter. While the unwelcome guest were escorted out, having delivered their ultimatum, Thorstyr took the binder he'd obtained earlier to the hangar and met up with the crew. The Doc was ecstatic to review the company's notes in regards to recent activities but he gained a quick understanding of just what precisely made Armel so dangerous. His colleague had indeed gotten mixed up with the worst sort of company and now he was faced with a moral conundrum himself. Being able to understand villainous motivations wasn't exactly high on the most desirable traits list. What Armel sought for his kind was undoubtedly despicable, though hadn't the same been said of the Doc's own experiments all those years ago?

There was truth in the horror of it all, but the ends justified the means, to some in any case.

The binder snapped shut. "I- I must prepare. For what is to come." Semex stopped and looked up at Thor, a sort of bewildered shock upon his face. "What a privilege it would have been to study your changes as the world around you plunges into chaos, ceaseless in it's endeavors." He smiled a crooked grin, patting Thor's forearm with a gloved hand. "You will learn to adapt or you will crumble with it. Remember that."

[talesfromthegameff14]

Prompt #21: Foibles

[CW: Nightmare, murder, blood, cannibalism, aphrodisiacs, the works. It’s a wild ride.  Mood Music:  https://youtu.be/NI702RlxBbY ] It was dinner time and the yard of the house in Hingashi rang with the sound of people talking and enjoying themselves.   A large table was set up not too far from the firepit where several cuts of meat were being cooked. It was set to be a good night, a comfortable one spent in the company of friends and family. The sound of the surf faded as the sun went down over the trees that were once waves on a sea.   The scent of roasting fat and savory spices wafted through the door of the Mason and Manticore as more people filed into the building to celebrate an anniversary of a marriage that no longer existed. 

Why they were celebrating Dunrai’s death was beyond Aya, but that is what Bremwyda and A’sana wanted to do when they came back from their month long Honeymoon on an airship that had skimmed over land and sea instead of soaring through the air at the mother-to-be’s refusal to fly.  It had only been a month, hadn’t it?  Yet Sana looked like she was ready to give birth any moment.  Was it because she had twins?  No, looking at Tolemy the Seeker was the same way, but?  Oh right, it was December, that is when Aya had gotten married.  Or wait, was it Kindoron’s and Kadour’s anniversary they were celebrating?  That would make more sense, the feast being laid out on the table in the main foyer was suitable for a Steppes Warrior, even one with the most voracious appetite. 

There were even donuts.  Heart shaped and frosted in deep crimson that matched the blood that stained Aya’s hand from the still warm heart he held.  Stopping by Twi, the Uyagir sliced off a piece and offered it to her with a smile.  It was the sweetest thing watching her joy at accepting the offering, how her tail wagged with delight even while that bit of uncertainty lurked in the woman’s eyes.  Walking past the dwindling pile of donuts, Aya cut off a slice large enough to share, placing it on a donut and putting the plate between the two men so the meaning was clear.  Not that it mattered, by the time Aya had taken two steps past their chairs, Kindoron was all but swallowing the treat whole.  Kadour’s fingers twitched over the empty plate, the businessman’s mein showing a brief moment of yearning before he straightened up and tugged his suit back into place, ever the professional.  Except for his tail that is, it curled upwards like a snake, the end flicking towards Kindoron as if scolding him for his gluttony.  A familiar voice rang out, the words unclear but the tone playfully scolding, Aya turning towards the door that closed behind Soliam with a warm smile.  A one armed hug is given to the older xaela and a kiss on the cheek before red eyes cast down to the heart in Aya’s hand with a hunger that the Uyagir has not seen within the Murr’s eyes before. Not outside of the bedroom that is.  A generous piece is cut off and given to the elder, as is only right.  Turning to walk away from the door Aya almost walks into Zareen and Melody, matching spears across their backs from training earlier in the day.  They looked up at him with matching predatory smiles, hands held out to receive their share of the bounty from the hunt.  It was unnerving to see both of them look up that way, Aya fumbling the first slice that he dropped into a metallic hand.  By the time he’d cut the second, slightly jagged piece, Melody broke the ruse with a single, muffled giggle that tugged Zareen with her until the two were laughing from the wool they pulled over his eyes.  Dusk walked in after Soliam did, calling out in a ringing tone that the meal was done and everyone should sit down to eat.   The heart in his hand started to sluggishly beat at the sound of her voice.  Thump-thump Everyone else sat, except Aya, panic freezing him in place despite the abrupt heat that traveled along his veins with every movement of the not so dead muscle in his hand.  Blood pumping out of severed arteries to stain his white shirt and splash on the floor.   Thump-thump The heat made his silken pants uncomfortably tight and his temper turn vicious, straining at his control to keep in check.  It wouldn’t do to hunt here, it was a celebration, nothing more.  Wait, when did the drums that called the Coeurl to dance at Holi start to play?  When did everyone end up with a cup in hand, how did he?  Thump-thump C’arha bounded up onto the table where Dusk was laying out the feast, holding her cup up high above her head before she roared, “JAI BHAVANI!”, then she drank down the contents of the cup, wiping away the sanguine smear left behind from her lips.  C’tolemy echoed her words and did the same, urging the others to drink up in celebration.   Thump-thump Aya hadn’t had a drink, yet he felt like he had, world going dizzy and queer while the need he couldn’t indulge raked across his nerves.  Dark eyes catch his and a knowing little smile crosses Dusk’s lips before she walks off towards the stairs that led to the basement of the Mason with an inviting sway to her hips.  Thump-thump

Blood continued to spill on the floor as the party goers drank and started to feast upon the roast before them, exposing rib bones and an empty cavity within that once held the heart in his hands.  Thump-thump But that was too small for a mammoth?  Thump-crash

The door was knocked in then, the sound of the frozen wooden plank hitting the floor then shattering into quick melting shards of ice sending the celebrants gathered into silence.  Brass Blades flanking either side of Edda and T’vajhe. Voice raised to shatter the silence, Edda pointed aggressively at Aya, “Him! Right there!  See! He holds the man’s heart in his hand, half eaten!  He’s a monster.  Both of them!”  Thump-thump With the bleeding heart in his hand, there was no way to protest his innocence to the Blades that poured in through the hole left by Edda’s magic. Gunblades of obvious Garlean manufacturer were shouldered and pointed at the feast-goers who stood frozen in macabre positions of celebration, clothing half discarded from the heat brought on by the Coeurl drink.  Thump-click Hammers were pulled back, and a tall woman with greying hair and a third eye walked into view behind the phalanx.  “FIRE on them, but leave the traitor to me!”, she commanded, mossy green eyes locked upon Aya with a vengeful gleam.  The satisfaction faded from her eyes a moment later, the tip of a hunting dagger sliding out from between smiling lips.  “Thank you for leaving him for me.”, muttered Kojhin, jerking his dagger free from the Tribunus Militum in a quick movement before cutting into the Brass Blades between him and his quarry. Thump-CRACK-splat

It was supposed to be a celebration? Why were the walls painted with blood?  Why were there so many unmoving bodies? Why?  Turning questioning eyes to the only friendly face in the room, Aya was greeted with a warm smile and a shrug from T’vajhe before he answered, “I always wanted to be a hero.” 

                                                ~fini~

[Thank you to everyone who let me drag their OCs along for this ride and a special thanks to Edda who let me write this companion to an earlier story she wrote for FFXIV Write Month. The chars who have an online presence are:  

Zareen = @yzareenxiv

Brem = @eyesofsteelandsky

Melody = @realmoffantasy

Kadour = https://kadstories.carrd.co/  

C’tolemy & C’arah = @ala-mhinyan

Sana = @songsofbloodandfire

Dusk = @varyinglevelsofdisaster  

Kindoron = @kindoron

T'vahje = https://tvahjetia.carrd.co/ 

   Sorry if I missed anyone’s links!  ]