#unegen mankhad

[sea-and-storm]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #6: Onerous (Arukh)

To say that Arukh felt out of place walking amongst the seaside caverns of the Mankhadi udgan and their apprentices was but an understatement of woeful proportion.

Not only had it been the better part of two decades since last he had set foot upon his own people's lands, but even before his Choosing, he had never once walked these hallowed seaside corridors of stone and salt. None did, save for the Storm and the Sea's children. Such was a privilege - or a sentence - afforded only to those like his sister, favored by their gods. 

Occasionally, others of means were allowed brief entry when the need to consult with the tribe's advisors and lorekeepers arose. The khan of the Shuurga, for one, but never those of simpler origins such as himself. So whenever he had received the summons to speak directly with the Elder Stormcaller in her own Cloister, Arukh had been shocked.. but not exactly humbled by the invitation, for a host of his own personal reasons and misgivings.

He carried himself with spine straight and rigid as the well-worn blade he had been asked to leave behind before entry would be permitted. His face was a careful mask of neutrality, but the whitening of his scarred knuckles as his hands tightened into fists at his side might have betrayed more emotion than he wished. Not to mention the occasional thrash of the darkly scaled tail that followed in his wake.

If the older man next to him noticed the signs of his irritation, however, naught was said of it. Such was the way of him, as Arukh recalled, never one wont to invoke any manner of unnecessary conflict. Baidu Khan of the Shuurga had led his people through countless storms in his years, ever the steady hand that guided the clan through choppy waters but never the one to rock the boat upon which they sailed. 

When Arukh had been but a fresh-faced boy, he had admired Baidu's placid and measured carriage, every bit the image of the calm that lie within the Storm's eye. The Shuurga had always treated him with great respect and reverence precisely because of his even-keeled temper and his wisdom. 

Amongst the Kharlu, however, he'd heard no few cruel jests and insults levied at his former leader. Baidu the Coward, as he had heard the Kharlu warriors refer to him on no few occasions, was but the most mild of monikers of which he had learned. Such had irked him, but none had incensed him as much as hearing him denigrated and derided as Bayanbataar's most fruitful whore by one of the Kharlu fighters that had sought to get a rise out of him. 

He's given the Khan more children than all his wives combined, the man had sneered as he had poked and prodded for chinks in Arukh's normally impregnable, icy armor. Weak though they are, at least they're good to fall upon the sword in his true childrens' stead.

Arukh wasn't proud of the fact that the man had successfully found a weak spot that cracked his carefully maintained mask of detached apathy. He was proud, however, that he had handily laid his harasser out cold in the dirt in front of his own kin, and left him with a few less teeth in his head besides. 

As he fixed Baidu with a sidelong glance of his seaglass eyes, the battle-scarred warrior wondered if those same jeers had ever crossed the coastlands' winds back to his ears. He wasn't sure that even if they had, that the Mankhadi Khan would have done more than accept them in his usual silence. Worse, Arukh didn't know after having spent so much time amongst the Kharlu where might made right, if the thought of him turning the other cheek to the insult impressed him with Baidu's unflappability or disappointed him for its passivity. 

 "The Elder Stormcaller rarely leaves the Cloister these days," he explained as he escorted Arukh through the winding corridors carved out naturally by thousands of years of sea’s ingress. "Age catches up with her and her health is declining, which is why she has asked you come to her instead of answering your summons. I pray you will not take her request as a slight."

Something about the explanation and roundabout apology struck him, though it took a moment for him to place his thumb on the discomfort's source. It was that he spoke to Arukh with the same cool, careful deference that was normally reserved for the Kharlu anytime they descended upon their camp. Realizing that the other man viewed him now not as a former clansman sharing the bond of blood but as one of their brutal protectors that expected submission made Arukh’s stomach churn uneasily. 

Now it suddenly made much more sense why Baidu Khan himself had seen fit to guide him, rather than one of the handful of young apprentice udgan now quickly scurrying out of their way. The last Baidu had seen Arukh had been when he had been surrendered to the Kharlu, and surely he had never expected to see him returned. That he was here again now so many years later must’ve made clear that he had earned his place amongst them, rising from his former slavehood by merit of ferocity. The Kharlu considered him as one of their ilk now, even if he knew they would always view him as lesser. And considering that he had not shared the reason of his calling, the shrewd Khan would naturally be left with only the assumption that Arukh was here on their protector tribe’s behalf than a matter far more personal. 

His mouth opened at once to correct those surmised assumptions that Arukh suspected Baidu of harboring, but stopped short. He could not – would not – admit that he had come here upon Ghoa’s request to relay her messages. 

No one besides those she had tasked him with reaching could know that Bayanbataar’s Escaped Wife not only lived, but had recently set foot upon coastland soil once more. None could know that she sought to return one day besides. If word were to somehow make its way back to the Kharlu Khan’s ear, his unrelenting hunt for his sister would assuredly alight with renewed intensity fueled by more than a decade’s worth of pent up cruelty and frustration. The Far East had likewise become far easier to traverse in the wake of the defeat of the iron men of Garlemald than it had been when Ghoa had first fled, and so Arukh doubted not that Bayanbataar would send his finest trackers even beyond the Steppe’s furthest borders in pursuit of his greatest humiliation if given the chance.

The already tight fists at his side only tightened further with the knowledge that he could offer no reassurance to Baidu of his intentions without arousing suspicion. It kindled anger within his breast, to know that he would have to continue playing the role of the Kharlu envoy rather than that of the long-lost son of the sea returning to the shores of home. That he would have to endure being treated as an unwanted, untrusted stranger in his own homeland.

What an onerous duty this had suddenly become.. but one he certainly could not begrudge Ghoa for asking. Until Arukh could bring peace to these lands to clear the way for her safe return, it was the least she deserved.

“Elder Unegen,” Baidu announced as the pair reached the corridor’s end, opening into a wide cavernous cove that echoed with the soft churning of the waters pooled at its center and the ever-present drip of moisture off stone that would’ve driven Arukh mad to endure days in and days out. “Arukh Kharlu answers your summons, if you would kindly receive him.”

[sea-and-storm]

FFXIV Write 2022 Prompt #8: Tepid (Arukh)

"Elder Unegen," Baidu announced as they had reached the mouth of the Cloister. "Arukh Kharlu answers your summons, if you would kindly receive him."

The winding natural pathways that Arukh had been led through by the Shuurga's khan had been almost claustrophobic at times, but they now opened up wide before his eyes. The cavernous cove boasted a high, craggy ceiling dotted with salt-crusted stalagtites. At their tips gathered heavy droplets of briny moisture borne of the humid sea breeze that blew in from the cove's cliffside opening along its back wall. It gave birth to a ceaseless symphony of dripping as they fell to the seawater lapping at the stone below where it pooled in the Cloister's center.

He assumed the sound might have been meditative to the udgan whose summons he was now answering, but it did little else but grate on Arukh's nerves. Then again, it just as easily could have been the place in which he now stood. Even more likely, it was simply the sight of the elderly woman sitting by the water's edge alighting a long-simmering grudge within him.

Elder Stormcaller Unegen of the Whispering Winds looked up from the seat of stone that she was perched upon at water’s edge at Baidu’s words, though her gray, clouded gaze never quite focused steadily upon them. She looked different from the figure of Arukh’s memory, once proud form withered and worn with the ravages of age and possessed of an undeniable air of frailty at odds with the image of stern strength that he had long associated with her. Though her braided hair had always been gray of color, the hue had shifted now to the stark white of sun-bleached bone and seemed every bit as brittle. 

Using the gnarled driftwood staff resting beside her as a cane, the udgan slowly and unsteadily rose to her feet to greet both her khan and her guest. Behind her, another woman seemingly closer in age to Arukh’s own forty-odd summers quickly stepped forward at her obvious wavering, gently reaching out to take her arm for support.

"Please, Elder," she implored quietly, her brow drawn and voice heavy with obvious concern. "Do take care. You shouldn't push yourself.."

"You worry overmuch, Yesui," the elderly Xaela chided in nary more than an exasperated whisper, but made no move to push her or pull away from her assistance. “I am but old, not ill.. And it would be unforgivably rude of me to ask an honored guest to join me yet not even show such respect as to rise for their arrival.”

With her own sigh, the dark-haired woman at the Elder’s side seemed not wont to argue a point that would clearly fall only upon deaf ears. Only once she was certain that Unegen was steady on her feet did Yesui release her gentle hold upon her and step back, remaining close but allowing the woman her independence with a deferential nod.

If her talk of respect and honor was meant to please Arukh, it had fallen woefully short of its mark. He felt now the telltale flicking of his tail behind him, betraying his steadily mounting irritation. It wasn’t that Unegen’s choice of words itself had offended him, but that she uttered them with the same tepid deference in her tone that all of the Shuurga had entreated him with since his return. It was bad enough coming from Baidu Khan and those old friends and acquaintances whom he had spotted as he made his way through the same. Coming from Unegen, it was nigh unbearable for even the normally cool-headed warrior. 

But as Yesui stepped back and Unegen refocused her attention upon him, he found himself put squarely on the backfoot as the Elder’s thin lips pulled into a smile to regard him.

“Welcome home, Young Arukh,” she greeted, paused, then let out a breathy chuckle with a shake of her head. “Ah, but forgive me. I do suppose you are not young yourself any longer, but a man grown. Still.. you are ever a child of the Shuurga, and the gods smile at your return to Their bosom.”

His lips parted to answer, but no words bubbled up from between them. Instead, his brow and jaw both set in a look of conflicted confusion at having been taken so thoroughly off guard. 

This was not the manner of reception that he had at all envisioned within his mind’s eye. Not from the woman who had come to their home spirit away his sister when he was still but a child himself. Not the woman who had answered his protestations then with condescending placations about how this was a great honor. As if he should be grateful to her for shattering their family into innumerable, irreparable pieces.

His tongue passed over his lips as he bit back a far less gracious, unbecoming answer. Instead, he straightened, his posture rigid with tension as he fouggt to control the sharpness of his words.

“I must speak with you alone,” he answered, pointedly side-stepping her warmth. 

“Elder..” Yesui began from behind her, once more the concern rising to her voice but with greater urgency. 

Arukh wondered if she had picked up on his barely contained temper simmering under his skin. As if he would lay the first hand of harm upon this frail woman, regardless of his own misgivings towards her.. But it was clear that despite Unegen’s words of warmth and welcome, the others yet viewed him as Kharlu now. So he bitterly supposed it was only natural that they worry what capriciousness and cruelties of which he was capable with the Elder at his mercy. 

This time, however, Unegen stopped the other udgan's protests short by raising a wrinkled, gnarled hand.

“Very well,” she answered him with a nod, then glanced back to the other woman behind her. “Yesui, escort Baidu Khan to the storeroom and inform him of which herbs and reagents we’ve need of restocking and how much we should be grateful to receive from the gatherers. We've much work to do ere the next migration and it would be prudent to start now."

With no shortage of reluctance, the other woman left the Elder’s side and started towards them. Her bright blue eyes met Arukh's own as she approached the Khan beside him, fixing him with an appraising stare. He raised no protest to the manner in which she scrutinized him for signs of ill intent. 

“I will not keep the Elder overlong,” he offered by way of reassurance. “I’ve simply a message to relay. Nothing more.”

Whether or not she was satisfied by what she found in his eyes and his words, Yesui’s gaze finally broke from his in silence as she looked instead to Baidu. Without acknowledgement, she guestured for the khan to follow as she departed the Cloister and left them to their talk.

Once they were out of sight and the reverberating echo of their footsteps had faded into silence once more, Unegen lowered herself back into the seat she had just risen from with a groan. It was clear the movement gave her no shortage of grief. Little wonder it was that she scarcely left this cove these days if even something so simple gave her such obvious discomfort.

“Pray pay no heed to Yesui’s protectiveness,” she sighed once she was settled again. “I’ve but recently informed her that I intend for her to succeed me as Elder.. and I suspect that she is intent on delaying the passage of that mantle as long as she can manage it.” She let out a soft huff. “A more skilled healer than Yesui of the Calm Waters I have not met, but.. her confidence could withstand a measure of tempering yet if she is to lead one day.”

“With all due respect, Elder–” Arukh interjected suddenly, having little intent to entertain such conversation of a way of life that clearly no longer welcomed him. “I would relay my message to you and be on my way, if it is all the same to you. Yours is not the only message I come bearing.”

Unegen’s pale brows rose as she regarded the stiff-lipped warrior, but she showed no sign of offense at his impatience. She only offered an understanding, silent nod.

"Very well."

“It was Ghoa that bade me seek you out,” Arukh began, but paused when he saw the faint hint of concern begin to arise upon the elderly Xaela’s face. His head shook softly. “Though our paths did cross once again upon Steppe soil, rest assured that she is hale, whole, and well looked after. The Kharlu do not know of her interlude here and keeping it as such is the reason for my request of privacy for our talk."

He couldn’t help but let his words trail then, if only for a moment, to watch how they were received. At first, the chief emotion that took over Unegen’s countenance was that of surprise, followed quickly by concern. But with Arukh’s reassurance, that too faded away – into a look of peaceful knowing.

“I see..” she murmured, a small smile pulling at her lips as she cast her cloudy eyes back out to the sea beyond the Cloister. “The sea has been unseasonably restless of late, I had noticed, but I had yet to surmise its meaning. Now it becomes clearer.”

Once more Arukh felt the irritation rising up the spine as she spoke of signs and their meanings. Unegen of the Whispering Winds had always been revered and respected amongst the rest of the Shuurga for the keen ear she kept to the gods’ will. However, Arukh had only ever viewed it with bitter, if not sacriligious skepticism. 

“She wishes for me to relay to you that ‘she understands now’,” he continued, having to work to keep his tone measured but unable to keep the tension from sneaking its way in entirely. “She no longer blames you for the decision that you made not to intercede on her behalf when she was Chosen, and.. she feels that she owes you an apology for her doubting of you.”

Clearly, from how he was simply unable to keep from spitting those last words out as if they were bitter upon his tongue, Arukh did not share his sister’s sentiment. 

“So, then.. I take it that you revealed yourself to her? Who you were to her, in truth?” Unegen spoke up suddenly, but surprisingly.. there was no judgment there in her voice. Only curiosity. Once again, she had caught him off-guard.

“..Yes,” he answered, but not without the tone of a person suspicious that they were about to step into an awaiting trap. “She knows now that we are blood.” A pause, then he continued with perhaps a touch more venom underlying his words than even he had meant. “And she knows now of the rest of her true family.”

He had been expecting the words to meet Unegen’s disapproval.. He had been hoping for it, in truth. Though he did not wish to inflict any physical harm upon the woman in front of him, there was still a part of himself deep down that wished to cut her in the same way as she had cut them so many years ago. By stealing back the sister that had been taken from him.

So when the Elder’s expression turned to relief rather than rancor, Arukh was not rightly sure how to feel about it. Disappointed? Angry? He settled instead upon bewilderment, and she smiled knowingly when she saw how plainly it marked his scarred features. 

“You are surprised that it brings me peace to hear this?” she asked with a soft cant of her head. "But I suppose your surprise should neither surprise me. It is clear that while Ghoa has extended her forgiveness, your heart still harbors much resentment when you look upon me.”

There it was, the open acknowledgement of his anger and discomfort. And now that Unegen herself had opened that door, Arukh made no move to slam it back shut again. Rather, he gladly stepped right through its threshold.

“I considered not relaying the message at all,” he admitted in a huff, eyes narrowing upon her. “Ghoa owes you no apology. By my figuring, you are the one who ought be apologizing. To her. To our parents. To the other families from whom you’ve stolen loved ones.”

There was a long pause after the heavy accusations fell from his lips while Unegen’s gaze drifted off, her mind clearly turning with thought on how to answer him. Was she going to once again patronize him with her talk of the gods’ will as she had when he was a child? Chide him for his own sacreligious selfishness? Make excuses to justify what she had done?

“You speak a truth that has weighed heavily upon my heart now for years,” she sighed. Once again, the Elder Stormcaller had defied his expectations in the most unexpected of ways with the admission. “But lest you think I say so simply to pander to you without sincerity, I ask that you permit me to tell a tale from our clan’s long history.”

[sea-and-storm]

REFLECTIONS || A Drabble..

Ghoa's eyes land upon the glowing evening horizon from the high-rising stone pedestals and bridges of Limsa Lominsa, and instantly her mind has wandered just as far from her present. 

It drifts from those near that walk Eorzean soil alongside her now, and rather ventures out to those who tread much more distant lands. It's been some time now since last she saw their faces;  for some, that time has stretched far longer than mere moons. But despite the time and the malms that separate them now, thoughts of them come to her now as if they stand right beside her. 

:readmore:

First, her mind flits to Arukh. The brother she never knew she had, but who had apparently watched over her as best he could whilst their paths did intertwine with one another. There's a twinge of regret that lies buried in her chest even now, that she had declined his offer to return to Kugane back with her once the ruins had been set to rest. Even more, that regret gives birth to guilt, that she would ever even consider tearing him away from those he so obviously cared about. 

She wonders how he's been in the time since they parted. Does he think upon her in moments of quiet reflection, just like this, and feel the same long overdue joy and relief at finally having been able to know one another? She hopes so, just the same as she hopes that those thoughts of her don't take away from his living of the present and the enjoyment of the love that surrounds him. After all, they're of the same blood, and she knows how wont she herself is to looking back to the past and asking, "But should I have…?".

And with the thought of kinship, so does her mind wander again. Their names are Ambaghai and Ibakha, and there's still a nervous eagerness that swells like a rising tide within her when she thinks of them. The parents that she never met -- not truly, anyroad -- and whom had apparently never stopped loving her even long after a much younger Ghoa had resolved that their absence proved their apathy. 

She hopes that the day will come soon when she will be able to meet them and know them. Arukh had told her once that her absence in their lives had left their once vibrant mother heartbroken and their once warm father cold and distant. She wonders now if the message that she had sent along with her brother to them had helped begin to stitch together the pieces of Ibakha's broken heart and to rekindle the lost warmth within Ambaghai. "One day when it is safe, I will return to you," she had asked Arukh to tell them. "Until then, know that you are never far from my mind nor heart."

But theirs was not the only message she had asked her kin to relay in her stead, and it is to that recipient that her train of thought wanders next. When Arukh had told her that Elder Unegen still lived, Ghoa had felt a weight lift upon her shoulders that she had nary been aware of its existence. She thinks back again now to the last words they exchanged before and feels heat rise to her cheeks. Yet it isn't anger that slights them now, but regrets. She had begged and pleaded with Unegen to intercede when the Kharlu had chosen her, and when she had refused, Ghoa had hurled vile accusations of betrayal at her -- and Unegen had remained somberly silent through the barbs and jabs that her young apprentice had inflicted upon her. 

"Tell her that I understand why now," Ghoa had asked Arukh to relay to the now elderly shaman. "That I know she was faced with an impossible choice, and I no longer blame her for the decision she made to keep the tribe safe." Much more quietly, she had added, "And tell her that I am sorry I ever doubted her love."

Her brow furrows at the recollection and she lowers her head, words of quiet prayer on her lips that have become all the more common these days. She beseeches the Storm, the Sea, the Dusk Mother and any other gods that might lend a listening ear to help those trying to bring peace to the coastlands so that she might one day soon be able to make that apology again in person as her mentor deserves.

Peace. That word again sets her thoughts to wing, and this time they land on a man for whom her emotions are yet still conflicted. Ghoa has yet to truly forgive Arasen for what he had done to her, bending her will under his thumb without her knowledge. The feeling of betrayal still coils like a venomous serpent in the pit of her gut, threatening to strike with fangs bared if she draws too close. Normally, this feeling is enough for her to recoil, to keep a safe distance from those uncomfortable thoughts. But today, she dares to venture closer.

Last she saw the Kharlu shaman, he seemed but moments from crumbling under the weight of all his careful machinations now collapsed upon his already heavy shoulders. And despite the anger that wells within her when she thinks back to what he has done to her and those she cares for, alongside it also rises a thread of well-meaning concern. She hopes that Arasen still remains upright despite that undoubtedly crushing weight;  more than that, she hopes that it might even become lighter in time if he only just allows others around him to help share his burdens. In that particular stubbornness of his, Ghoa has seen herself and she knows just the same the freeing lightness that comes when one no longer feels that they are alone in their trials.

Maybe, she thinks now, she might be closer to forgiving him for his trespasses against her than she thought she was previously.

Yet there is more forgiveness than hers than Arasen ought seek, not least among them being that of the man to whom her thoughts now inevitably turn as they often do in quiet, thoughtful moments like this. Batuhan was subjected to a far worse betrayal than she, as Arasen was anything but a brother to her. In the wake of all that had happened, the hurt and disappointment that the older Kharlu had felt was obvious to her. It hurts her heart now just as much as it did then to think upon it, and she can only hope that one day the trust and love between them might be restored. For both of their sakes. 

But more than his relationship with his ward, Ghoa worries more for the warden himself. She had left him clear instruction that he was to take care of himself in her absence. Was he? He had promised her he would, and she knows that Batu is anything but the type to break his word. Yet even if he does keep his word to her, as she is sure he will, there's always a niggling fear in the back of her mind wont to remind her of the dangerous game that he and the others play in their efforts to see peace return to the coastlands. Perhaps that is truly the hardest part of this separation, she realizes now, knowing that even the most fervent promises are not always strong enough armor against the dangers of life itself.

But she breathes deep, holding the briny sea air within her lungs for a long moment before she lets it go slowly. With it, she releases the fear and uncertainty; for the time being, at least. As she ever has to remind herself when her thoughts wander here, all she can do is have faith: in Batuhan's promise to her, in the friends and allies that surround him, and to the gods that hear her quiet prayers to keep not only him but all others near to her heart safe and happy in her absence. 

It's another of these pleas that Ghoa finds herself uttering quietly to herself. When it ceases, her silver gaze once more focuses upon the sunset-stained horizon before her rather than thousands of malms away to the Steppe beyond it. 

And she smiles in contented peace, the corners of her eyes wrinkling in mirth, as she wonders if any of those whom cross her mind are now standing at the sea's far edge thinking of her, too. 

[sea-and-storm]

Prompt #16 - Bond ;  (Make-up)

                                                [ MANY YEARS AGO ]

Ibakha could remember when she was but a youngling when time seemed to move as quick as a startled hare. Each turn of the season would see the Shuurga moving onto their next camp, and she had spent many of those days with her siblings and friends exploring as far past their camp as their wary parents would allow them;  sometimes further beyond still when their backs were turned. Everything back then was new and exciting and an adventure just waiting to unfold. Though they never quite seemed to unearth all the secrets of the land before it was time to move along again, leaving them to pick up their search in the following year upon their return.

But as she had gotten older, time had gradually begun to slow. With each year that passed, the novelty and excitement of exploration had faded more and more. By the time she was a young teen, Ibakha had memorized the lay of the lands that they called home like the back of her hand. The bright-eyed excitement of childhood was giving way to the hum-drum mundanity of adulthood looming on the horizon.

Then she was a young woman with all the responsibilities such entailed. There was no longer any time for the adventuring of her childhood, but even so, the busy days still crawled along. Almost maddeningly so. Day in and day out, there were always the same tasks to be done. Weaving and repairing the nets. Walking the coastline in search of the plants their healers and poison-makers requested. Cleaning and cooking the day's catch. So on, and so on. A seemingly endless list of chores and tasks for the good of the clan's whole.

When naught seemed to change any longer and each day seemed more-or-less a repeat of the last, Ibakha had begun to feel as if time had stopped altogether. She had spent no few evenings staring out over the sea on the horizon, wondering what laid beyond. What new lands were there? What strange creatures and people? That thought had ignited within her a longing for something new and interesting to break up the monotony.

Perhaps she would have followed that yearning and curiosity, if it hadn't been for Ambaghai. She had known him first as the boy who had accompanied her on many of her girlhood adventures, taking on the self-imposed duty of making sure the she and the other younger children kept from harm. It seemed then only natural that as he had grown into a man that he would take up a protector's role for their people. It seemed more natural still, given their early childhood bond, that Ibakha would eventually come to call him her husband.

Life had changed and once again, it seemed as if time had resumed its forward march. It came quicker still when she learned that she was carrying their first child. And if it weren't already moving quickly enough, the days had started to positively fly by once she had actually brought their son, Arukh, into the world. The monotonous feeling of each day being the same that she had once felt was long gone then, but was instead new and exciting -- a feeling she hadn’t felt since her own youth -- as she watched her beloved son learn and grow.

When the gods saw it fit to bless them with a second some years later, Ibakha had been ecstatic at the thought of adding yet another to their family. Motherhood very much suited her, and she was all too eager for the chance to bring another life into this world and marvel with pride as she watched them come into their own.

But she had never once anticipated that when this child came, the selfsame gods that had blessed them with her would just as quickly lay their claim upon her and steal her away.

Ibakha had known what it felt like for moons to pass in the blink of an eye, and for days to drag along at a snail's pace. Somehow, this last year of her life -- knowing what was to come at its end -- had done both simultaneously. Each day that she held her daughter in her arms felt as if she had been hers for an eternity, and the love she felt for the tiny babe had only grown exponentially as such. Yet still, as she laid abed of an evening, Ibakha wept as she thought of how each coming of dusk meant that she was yet another sun closer to having to say her good-byes.

Now, as she sat across their yurt watching Arukh and Ghoa happily playing with figures of steppe creatures their father had carved for them, Ibakha couldn't shake the thought of this being their last evening together as a whole family from her head. Shortly after first light of the following morning, Elder Unegen would come and leave with the toddler in tow, to be raised by the udgan of their clan not as the daughter of Ibakha and Ambaghai, but as a daughter of the gods.

"How do we explain this to him..?" she asked in a quiet, almost broken whisper. "Arukh will be heartbroken."

Neither she nor her husband had had it within them to try and keep Arukh away from his younger sibling. Already the spitting image of his father in temperament, the young Xaela had resolved from the moment he had laid eyes on his sister to take care of her. In the beginning, Ibakha had wanted him to be able to have these precious memories to cherish, yet now she couldn't help but wonder if it had been a terrible mistake. He had bonded with her more deeply than she had anticipated. They all had.

At first, Ambaghai said nothing, not even looking up from the bone darts that he was carving. He had always been a man of few words, but they had become even more scarce in recent moons. She hadn't once seen her husband weep in all the years she had known him, but all the same, she knew that his heart hurt just as deeply as her own. He was trying to be strong for her sake, and she loved him for it, but she knew that even he must have been reaching the limits of the hurt he could carry in silence by now.

"He will be," he finally sighed as he put down his whittling, tired silver eyes rising first to his wife and then to the younglings by the fire pit as they burst into happy peals of laughter. A hint of a smile tugged onto his face at the sight, the barest twitch of his lips and the softening of his sharp features alone enough to speak volumes of the love and pride that he felt -- and when they disappeared again but a tick later, it spoke volumes of his sadness as well. "We all will be," he continued in a softer voice, one reserved only for her. "But we will learn how to live with that hurt. We must."

Ibakha bobbed her head in a slow, reluctant nod at his words. She knew he was right, for there was no other choice. They had already discussed it once, not long after they had learned of Ghoa's choosing. Refusing to allow it to come to pass would only see them all facing exile, Arukh included, and their daughter would be wrested from them regardless.

They had also talked of taking their family and escaping in secret, but both she and her husband knew it was no real option. Without the protection of their clan, meager as it was, they would be easy pickings for capture by either the Kharlu or Jhungid. That was, if some other hungering steppe beast didn't set upon them first. There was no life for them beyond the Shuurga's territory, and especially not with young children in tow.

At least by cooperating, both Ghoa and Arukh would be safe. As much as she hated the situation, as much as she had wracked her brain trying to figure out any possible way to avoid giving up her child, Ibakha knew as a mother that that was what was most important.

Still, it made it no easier to swallow, and the longer she sat there and thought on it, the more a frustrated, helpless anger began to bloom in her chest. How cruel of a tradition it was, to not only take a babe from their parents but to do so only after their first year of life. After giving them such and long-yet-short time to form a bond that would take the breaking of hearts to sever. She knew that, logically, it was because none of the childless shamans would be able to care for a child before its weaning. But right now, her heart wasn't thinking with logic.

"I don't know if I can, Ambaghai.." Ibakha whispered hoarsely. Her hands curled into white-knuckled fists, her lip quivered, and her eyes stung with the beginnings of tears. She had done such a good job to hide her grief from her children all these moons, always rising and hiding away from their eyes when it became too much to suppress. But now that they were down to the very last of their time together, she couldn't bring herself to let Ghoa leave her sight for even a single tick.

Seeing the impending breakdown about to occur, Ambaghai rose from his seat to kneel in front of her own. So very carefully, he pulled the much smaller woman in close, one hand rising to stroke her hair. Beneath her, she could feel a slight tremble in her husband's form, and but a moment later the telltale dripping of moisture onto her bare shoulder. Only then did the sobs begin to wrack her body in earnest, mercifully muffled against his chest.

Only fulms away, both Ghoa and Arukh continued to be engrossed in their playing, blissfully unaware of their parents' hearts breaking for them.

[sea-and-storm]

FFXIVWrite 2022 Prompt #5: Cutting Corners (Ghoa)

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[TW] Beware for there are dark and depressing vibes ahead. Sexual assault, drug and death mentions.

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As Ghoa stared out into the harbor towards the Navigator’s Pride, the ship upon which Master Sarasvati had so graciously booked her passage to Eorzea, her brow furrowed and her lips set into a deep frown of consternation.

Travel usually didn’t evoke such a deep feeling of negativity within her. Restless as she was, any opportunity to go forth and discover new horizons that she had only ever imagined had sparked within the ever-wandering Mankhad delightful anticipation and wonder. Even when she had decided to flee Kugane, despite the rotten circumstances that had pushed her towards it, the thought of arriving in Thavnair and being able to begin anew had given her not only excitement, but hope.

Staring at the ship that would now bare her across the sea, however, she felt no excitement at the new beginning to come. She certainly felt no hope that things would be different there.

Sarasvati’s scathing words to her the evening prior as she had retrieved her from the gaol had still not ceased their reverberation within her skull ever since their poisonous uttering. It had been one thing for the mentor she had so deeply admired and respected to express her deep disappointment in her wayward pupil. But a certain sentence kept playing on repeat in her mind, over and over.

“I was the one who created the monster that was nearly their undoing!”

Ghoa's stomach churned once again with the complicated feeling it evoked within her, sick nearly rising up the back of her throat in answer. Instinctively, she wanted to rail against that accusation. She wasn’t a monster;  she was a victim of a string of horrid circumstances that had led her to such a state of desperation. She wanted to do better, to be better. She could be. She would be..

But another voice whispered in the back of her mind, filling her with doubt. 

‘What if you truly are the monster she claims you to be, Ghoa?’ it hissed, primed to pounce upon her weakness as a hungering baras would stalk its prey. ‘Maybe that is why the gods cast you aside.. They saw how rotten Their child’s heart truly was, long before she herself did. They sent you to the Kharlu because their cruelty was what you deserved. They sent you to the Mifune family because their hearts were as black as yours. They took Ino from you because you didn't deserve her love, because you're incapable of loving anyone but yourself.'

Her eyes squeezed shut against the words and her stomach revolted against the thought. Unable to hold it back any longer, Ghoa crumpled over the side of the railing, retching into the waters below as any protest she might have against that voice of insidious doubt died within her then. 

Because they were right, and the realization of the truth they rang had suddenly and violently turned the world she had thought she knew upside down with sickening clarity. 

It wasn't from victimhood her penchant for cutting corners and going errant when things became too much had been birthed into life. It was because her heart was black as the storm clouds that had heralded her arrival into this world. And looking back on it now, she saw all the signs so clearly and wondered how it had taken her this long to see them for what they were.

When the Kharlu had selected her at the Choosing, Ghoa had beseeched Elder Unegen to put an end to it. The duty-bound but clearly distraught Elder Stormcaller had refused, and so the young apprentice udgan had cursed her for it even when she knew that for Unegen to do so would endanger, if not spell the end of the Shuurga.

Living amongst her captors, she had looked into the eyes of Bayanbataar's myriad children and smiled all the while praying with every onze of her being that their father would not only die, but suffer for his crimes against her. She had even contemplated bringing that very fate to bear against him with poison no few times as his hands wandered uninvited over her body. It wasn't for his innocent childrens' sake that she had not acted upon it, but the fear of swift and deadly reprisal against her for daring to harm the Kharlu's beloved Khan.

When finally she had escaped their grasp, Ghoa hadn't allowed herself any worry of bringing the wrath of her Kharlu pursuers down upon those who had harbored her during her escape, like the kindly Kahkol whom had nursed her back to health. Without a doubt in her mind, Saran and Muunokhoi would have fought them to protect the weakened Xaela had they come calling for her. But Ghoa would not have done the same for them.

Perhaps the most egregiously obvious sign was her time in Kugane spent thieving, deceiving, and concocting drugs which ruined just as many lives as they ended. Worse still, Ghoa had paid back the very woman who had saved her from the wolves of Hingashi tearing her apart with an infidelity so blatant that it had ultimately led to her dying for a love that the Mankhad was clearly incapable of reciprocating in earnest.

And then she had become so good at her own black-hearted ways they she had even deceived herself into thinking she was capable of change and of doing better when she had fled here to Radz-at-Han for a new start.

As Ghoa stared down into the dark, murky waters lapping at the dock below, her heart raced and her chest heaved and her eyes burned with tears she stubbornly forbade from falling where any passersby might witness them.. Because the worst realization of them all had broken over her like an angry, crashing wave.

All the pain she had felt and the suffering she had endured.. It was because she had tried for so long to be something, someone that she was clearly never meant to be:  a person of pure heart and intention, a force of good in this godsforsaken world. Moreover, a person who deserved peace and happiness. 

But now Ghoa saw the truth. She was owed nothing. She deserved nothing. So if she was intent on wresting anything good out of this wicked existence of hers, she would have to do so with claw and fang bared as she climbed upon others' backs to seize it as her own. 

Master Sarasvati had been wrong about her, Ghoa thought with sardonic bitterness, but not about her assessment of her. She was a monster, just as the Hannish woman had accused.

But not one of her mentor's making.

[sea-and-storm]

CIGARETTES & FIREFLIES DRABBLE MASTERPOST -- - -

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FIGHTING PITS ARC -- -

TOO LITTLE - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Elam Grave, Lehko'a Nhali.

TOO LATE - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Elam Grave.

EXPECTING THE WORST - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Nabi Kharlu.

CROWDS - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave.

THE PACKAGE - Hisanobu's Perspective MENTIONS: Hisanobu Mifune, Saya Mifune, Ghoa Mankhad.

GARDENIA - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Hisanobu Mifune, Saya Mifune, Elam Grave.

WEAKNESSES - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Hisanobu Mifune, Nabi Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn.

DEAREST NABI - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Elam Grave.

INDISPENSIBLE - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Nabi Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn.

OPPORTUNITY - Saya's Perspective MENTIONS: Saya Mifune, Hisanobu Mifune, Ghoa Mankhad.

DOUBLE OR NOTHING - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Nei Uzuka, Saya Mifune, Shael Stormchild.

ESCAPE - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Nei Uzuka, Musa, Hikomoro, Nabi Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn, Shael Stormchild, Tserende Valqirelle.

NEVER BEEN BETTER - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali, Elam Grave.

FAREWELLS, PT. 1 - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Elam Grave.

FAREWELLS, PT. 2 - Saya's Perspective MENTIONS: Saya Mifune, Hisanobu Mifune, Ghoa Mankhad, Elam Grave, Nei Uzuka.

FAREWELLS, PT. 3 - Hisanobu's Perspective MENTIONS: Hisanobu Mifune, Saya Mifune, Ghoa Mankhad.

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FLOWER ARC -- -

LUCKY - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali, Batuhan Kharlu.

PROOF - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Akhutai Khatayin, Arasen Kharlu, Batuhan Kharlu, Nabi Kharlu, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

NIGHTMARE (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali, Ino Ghostwalker, Batuhan Kharlu, Nabi Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn, Shael Stormchild, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

COMFORT (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali, Nabi Kharlu, Batuhan Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn, Shael Stormchild, Otsuyu.

STARLIGHT - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Shael Stormchild, Anchor Saltborn, Batuhan Kharlu, Nabi Kharlu.

FAVOR (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali, Arasen Kharlu, Nabi Kharlu, Tugan Kharlu, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

BENEATH THE WAVES - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arasen Kharlu, Anchor Saltborn, Batuhan Kharlu, Nabi Kharlu, Shael Stormchild.

CRUX (TW) - Arukh's Perspective MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad, Ambaghai Mankhad, Ibakha Mankhad, Ghoa Mankhad, Chakha Kharlu.

MUSTER - Arukh's Perspective MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad, Ghoa Mankhad.

SWAY - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arasen Kharlu, Batuhan Kharlu.

ANSWERS - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arukh Mankhad, Ibakha Mankhad, Ambaghai Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad, Galdan Kharlu, Tseren Kharlu, Maa Kharlu, Chakha Kharlu.

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CORRUPTION ARC -- -

REFLECTIONS - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arukh Mankhad, Ibakha Mankhad, Ambaghai Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad, Arasen Kharlu, Batuhan Kharlu.

NOSTALGIA - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Anchor Saltborn, Naseem Malakar, Farrah Malakar, Bashir Malakar, Leila Malakar.

MISTAKES WERE MADE - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Egil Nylor, Estrid Nylor.

CROSS - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Nabi Kharlu, Egil Nylor, Estrid Nylor, Luri Kai.

CHANNEL - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Luri Kai, Nabi Kharlu, Estrid Nylor, Egil Nylor, Anchor Saltborn, Shael Stormchild.

YAWN - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Luri Kai, Nabi Kharlu, Egil Nylor, Estrid Nylor.

[sea-and-storm]

HEARTBREAK;

This is a real heavy drabble. REAL heavy, to the point that I hesitated in writing it. But it ultimately has plot relevance so here it is. Please take care of yourself and don't read it if you aren't in a good spot mentally to take some serious heavy feels!

[TRIGGER WARNINGS] Rape mention, domestic abuse mention, abortion, and just generally not at all a happy drabble. Take care in reading if you proceed!

(P.S. went back and cleaned up my writing a bit with an edit. :v)

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A couple weeks had passed now since Ghoa had slept in her own bed. Ever since the night of the celebration of the Kharlu warparty's return, she'd been able to find no sense of safety except when hidden away in Togene's tent. Even though the other was just another wife to Bayanbataar like herself, the older woman was the closest to a mothering figure that Ghoa would ever get within the Kharlu camp. And she was the only one that the young Mankhad trusted enough to share in what haunted her.

Of course, her odd behavior had begotten questions, most notably from their husband. Bayanbataar had demanded to know why his newest wife was acting so strangely, scarcely leaving Togene's quarters. The fourth wife had assuaged his temper and offense by reassuring him that Ghoa had fallen ill. With her having always been a loyal and loving wife, he hadn't suspected any deception from Togene. So, if not reluctantly, he had allowed her peace and rest 'til the Haragin saw fit.

Even so, Ghoa had known that that reprieve had a time limit. Togene had reminded her of that as well, in her own kind and gentle way. She couldn't stay hidden away forever. Eventually, Bayanbataar would grow impatient -- or worse, suspicious -- and demand her return to routine. She knew that whether she was ready or not, she would have to face her husband again sooner rather than later. Worse yet, she would have to face Tugan again and pretend that nothing had happened, and that was a thought that made her blood run colder than the winter seas.

But even though she knew that returning to her life was as inevitable as it was imminent, that hadn't made the thought cause her body to stop seizing up with fear. It hadn't made the nightmares come any less often, nor cause her to wake up in a cold sweat on any fewer occasions. How was she supposed to return to normal when it felt as if she would never know the feeling of normalcy again? Time was supposed to heal wounds, it seemed that the only thing time had allowed her was to fall deeper into the clutches of despair and fear. Especially now, after this latest and most cruel twist in her time spent amongst the Kharlu.

Togene had been the one to realize it first, naturally. When she had begun to put together a fish stew -- which she knew to be the coast-dwelling woman's favorite meal -- she'd watched as the smell that usually roused her spirits at least for a time caused her stomach to churn. As she'd held back the younger woman's hair, she'd asked her warily when last she bled. Only then had Ghoa realized that in the span of all that had happened, she hadn't realized that it should have since came and went. And that connection had her heaving all over again.

What a sick joke the gods had decided to play on her. When the initial shock of realization had worn off, she had jumped rapidly between fury and betrayal, to sadness and worry, to fear and panic, and right back to anger until she had completely tired herself out.

Togene herself had seemed conflicted as well. She had always told Ghoa that once she became a mother, her life among the Kharlu would become easier and she would finally find contentment with her lot. She hadn't quite meant it like this, Ghoa knew, and she could see that she was grappling with her own emotions. And there was something else besides in her eye. Some manner of concern seemingly not for the younger woman herself, that had her worriedly looking to her own young son cradled against her chest as she held him closer.

When she had woken from her rest, Ghoa's mood had calmed to a dull, numb aching. She awoke knowing that something had to be done. There was no scenario in which she could bring this child into the world. Either it was the offspring of the man who had stolen her from her home and made her his slave-wife, or it was that of the man who had taken her for himself out of envy of the first. Whichever case it was made little difference to her.

The hardest part would be making sure that didn't come to pass, or so she had thought. She would have to have Togene's assistance and she had thought the woman would be hesitant or resistant to her plea for help. It had surprised her when she had asked for the other's help in discreetly bringing to her what herbs and reagents she needed that the woman agreed right away. Was she truly that sympathetic? Or was she simply trying to protect her own family from the inevitable conflict that would arise if word spread that Tugan had done what Bayanbataar could not, whether or not that was true? Either way, she didn't question it for fear of causing the other woman to doubt her choice.

Over the next few days, Togene had quietly gathered what herbs and plants Ghoa had sent her after. She supposed that she had Unegen to silently thank too for her tutelage in herbalism, remembering her strict lessons on exactly which concoctions not to give to expecting mothers. And once all components of the draught were within her hands, it had taken her but a few bells to put it all together into a thoroughly unappetizing but drinkable solution.

But now as she sat there with it ready in her hands, it was not half so easy to lift to her lips as she had thought. Her hands trembled, her eyes stared into the glassy surface of the dark yellow-green liquid inside the earthenware cup she held. Her eyes suddenly blinked rapidly, tears welling up unexpectedly and rolling over her cheeks.

Seeing the emotion swelling, Togene leaned in close, her hands coming to rest over Ghoa's own around the cup to steady them. Her head craned downwards to catch her gaze, and to hold it once she had.

"Oh, sweet girl," she cooed softly. "Would that I could take this pain away from you.. It hurts me to see you hurting." One hand moved from the cup to her cheek, brushing away a tear with her thumb. "You are sure about this, yes?"

Ghoa hesitated at that question. She had been certain of it before that she hadn't really stopped to think about it. Now that the moment had arrived, all those doubts she hadn't considered before had pounced like hungry gedan upon a straggling sheep. Now she had to truly ask herself:  was she really sure?

Togene's advice from moons ago still rang clear in her head. If she was with child, Bayanbataar's hand would still against her. Perhaps even the deep resentment he felt towards his apparently barren, and to him useless wife might disappear or at least fade. She might be able to finally tolerate a life among the Kharlu with his rage calmed and with something -- a child -- to focus her attention on other than her own plight.

But.. could it really be that simple? No, she knew herself better than that. Even if her husband's abuses stopped, she would still have to find means to live with the deep fear Tugan instilled within her. Worse, if the child was his and such came to light, she wasn't sure that her husband would be so willing to believe that a hurt had been committed against her. As tense as their relation was, she couldn't see it as impossible that Bayanbataar might kill her for suspicion of transgression against their marriage -- no, his ownership of her.

Most convincingly all, however, was knowing that no matter the father nor the circumstance, she would never be able to be a good mother to this child. She had been raised having never expected to raise a family, given that the udgan of her people weren't afforded such luxury. Without that expectation, she had grown into a woman out of touch with any sort of mothering instinct. That, combined with the fact that in either case, this child was one borne of violence against her by men she reviled..

All children deserved love, and she knew she would never be able to give it. And it pained her deeply to think she would resign a child to the same loveless raising as she had had herself.

"...yes," she answered, voice quiet and strained but certain. "I'm sure."

"Then you needn't torture yourself, Ghoa," Togene cooed soothingly. "If you are sure, then drink." She leaned in and pressed a kiss her forehead. "I'm right here. I won't leave your side, dear."

The tears began to flow heavier and quicker at that, but all the same, Ghoa finally brought the stoneware to her lips and tipped it back. It was bitter against her tongue, and between it and emotion, it threatened to rise from her stomach again. But she swallowed, and she kept it down, and she collapsed into sobs within the comfort of Togene's embrace and the slow stroking of her hair.

The other had told her but a few weeks ago when this had happened of Sechen, the escaped wife returned. That horrific tale had terrified her out of the thought of running. But now, she knew she had to escape anyway. She didn't know how or when, but she had to escape eventually.

No matter how strong she tried to be, Ghoa couldn't withstand this sort of heartbreak a second time.

[sea-and-storm]

BACKSTORY, AU, ETC. DRABBLE MASTERPOST -- - -

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BACKSTORY DRABBLES -- -

BOND - Ibakha's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arukh Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad.

NOT A WEAPON - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Arukh Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad.

ATTRITION (TW) - Arukh's Perspective (The Steppe)MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad

CLOSE - Unegen's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Unegen Mankhad, Baidu Mankhad, Bayanbataar Kharlu, Ghoa Mankhad.

CHOOSING, PT 1 - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad.

CHOOSING, PT 2 - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad.

RUNAWAY (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Yisu Kharlu, Togene Kharlu, Bayanbataar Kharlu, Tugan Kharlu, Sechen Kharlu.

HEARTBREAK (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Togene Kharlu, Bayanbataar Kharlu, Tugan Kharlu.

PRAYERS - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Cota Kharlu, Togene Kharlu, Yisu Kharlu, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

OFFERING (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

ARUKH - Arukh's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad, Ghoa Mankhad, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

SURVIVAL - Ghoa's Perspective (The Steppe) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Saran Kahkol, Muunokhoi Kahkol.

THE CRATE (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (Kugane) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Saya Mifune.

UNNOTICED (TW) - Ino's Perspective (Kugane) MENTIONS: Ino Ghostwalker, Ghoa Mankhad, Hisanobu Mifune, Saya Mifune.

MISS THE BOAT - Ghoa's Perspective (Thavnair)MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Dinesh Sutar, Sarasvati Parikh.

CONFLUENCE - Ghoa's Perspective (Thavnair)MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Sarasvati Parikh, Dinesh Sutar.

TEMPER (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (Thavnair) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Ino Ghostwalker, Sarasvati Parikh, Naseem Malakar.

CUTTING CORNERS (TW) - Ghoa's Perspective (Thavnair / Eorzea) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Sarasvati Parikh, Unegen Mankhad, Bayanbataar Kharlu, Hisanobu Mifune, Ino Ghostwalker.

ONEROUS - Arukh's Perspective (The Steppe, Post-Flower Arc) MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad, Ghoa Mankhad, Baidu Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad, Bayanbataar Kharlu.

TEPID - Arukh's Perspective (The Steppe, Post-Flower Arc) MENTIONS: Arukh Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad, Baidu Mankhad, Yesui Mankhad, Ghoa Mankhad.

HISTORY - Unegen's (?) Perspective (The Steppe, Post-Flower Arc.. sort of) MENTIONS: Khenbish of the Final Tempest, Sorocan the Stormkeeper.

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AU & MISC. DRABBLES -- -

ECHO - WOL!Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Unegen Mankhad.

FLING - Ghoa's Perspective MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Lehko'a Nhali

ROW - Ghoa's Perspective (Pre-Corruption Arc) MENTIONS: Ghoa Mankhad, Shael Stormchild, Anchor Saltborn, Nabi Kharlu.