"But mother, will we ever go back?" the elder of the two girls inquired, clinging to her father's neck.
The mother hesitated, smiling sadly with a few tears fighting to escape as she looked to her soulmate and lover. Yet as their gaze met, the father found himself hesitating as he reached with his free hand to pet the tiny thing atop her head.
"See the the moon over the water?" Father gestured with his proud gaze. "Once we step on the shore waaaay beyond its reflection , there can be no turning back."
"But what about the others?" Cotan questioned, tugging on their mother's skirt. "Will we ever see them again?"
Their mother shook her head, placing a trembling hand over her daughter's. "No matter where we must travel, we still sleep beneath the same sea of stars." Bending down to Cotan's level, she held her daughter close. "In due time, you both will understand these words."
As the sea rocked them back and forth, both sisters stole a moment to glance at one another before holding tightly to their parents. They did not understand, nor could they ever hope to, what that night under the Spire would mean to them. For as the sun rose once more, so did it set on the peaceful lives they once knew. Cotan awoke that morning with a start, Bax having slammed the door shut, breathless and sweating profusely. That she could plainly tell even under the hempen cloak the other wore, and in the dim light of the candle the other had left by the windowsill.
"Cotan, we need to move. Now." Bax said, sealing the door behind her with a nearby bookshelf despite someone pounding against the door. "Do not bother bringing more than you need - we will have to make do until we are out of this city."
"But what is going on?" she asked with an eyebrow raised as she shot out of bed, grabbing what she could from a drawer before Bax pushed that bit of furniture in front of the door as well.
"Never mind that! I will fill you on the details later! Grab a sack and come with me. And Matron's teats, put a cloak on." With little other explanation, the elezen woman teleported away to leave Cotan with a pile of laundry now strewn about the floor. Angry shouts could be heard from the other side of the makeshift blockade, wood beginning to creak from the strain. Without much thought otherwise, she grabbed a satchel as bid and shoved what she could of her own and her nephew's things into its gaping maw before pulling the lad out of his bed and accepting the teleport as well.
Though not before she caught glimpse of a familiar royal azure and white uniform. Her mind began to race as she found herself pulled by the aetheric flow to Bax's outpost in Gridania, being tugged by the elbow by the elder woman before a large hat was thrown on her face by a cloaked woman who had started to run after them. It was just large enough to hide her horns, something she was consciously aware of. The young toddler, now quite awake and thoroughly alarmed at the suddenity of it all, began to scream before a close-range Sleep spell overcame his small body.
How Cotan loathed to use her magic so, but stealth seemed their only option as the now quartet made a break for the White Wolf gate. Only once they were long out of hearing distance of the guards at the gate did the fifth member of their group make themselves known as they stepped out of the shadows. His black hair escaping despite the hood of his cloak, tail flicking impatiently as the three ladies and small child finally arrived. "Cotan. Good to see you and young Nasang escaped the city."
"Bhen'a," she breathed a sigh of relief. Bax wouldn't tell her, and Rose remained silent despite her sniffles. But Bhen'a... Bhen'a had always been blunt and willing to answer questions without beating around the proverbial bush. "What's going on? Why are the Crystal Braves..?"
"Your sister is wanted on charges of treason and regicide."
Cotan's breath hitched, a veritable onslaught of profanities caught in her throat, realizing why Bax had all but thrown a cloak at her, and Rose plopped a large hat atop her head. They feared for her safety were she mistaken for her elder twin. She shook her head. "But... but that's impossible! Koko would never- She and the Sultana were-!"
"N-nearly as inseparable as she and Raubahn, aye." Rose spoke up, tears still streaming down her face. "But the Monetarists don't care... She is a loose end w-who they could not reign in for their own personal gains. Of course they would want her and the Scions out of the picture. A-a-and any close to her...!"
"Where is she? Where is my sister?" When the other three remained silent, the silence was like a dagger in her breast. So, none of them knew. Just as she didn't realize the tears starting to sting in her eyes. Holding just a little closer to the small child in her arms, she sniffled. "T-then she remains free."
She had feared this day would come, yet knowing that her elder sister remained yet free... that was more than enough.
"If... if I may," Bax replied, resting a hand upon her shoulder. "We should keep moving."
"But where?" Rose replied, subconsciously reaching for Bhen'a's hand.
After a lengthy pause, Cotan muttered a single word. "Ishgard."
It was not a kind place for outsiders. This she knew from personal experience. Yet it was their best shot. Perhaps after what Koko had done, they could use their similar looks to...
"It would be a convenient place to hide, considering the relations with her sister nations." Bhen'a spoke up, nodding. "It may be our best chance of finding her. However, ware that the Brass Blades and Crystal Braves would likely have thought similarly. Thus, I propose we split into pairs. Cotan, stay with Bax. Doubtless the two of you will blend in far better than I and Rose."
"Right." Bax replied, ever the calming presence. "Here, allow me to carry the little one. You are far more experienced in combat, should we run into trouble."
"...Alright," Cotan sniffled, but relented, loosening her grip on the little tyke as she tried to compose herself. They were far from out of the woods yet. Nasang clung ever so slightly in his magically-aided slumber, but Bax won out before shushing the restless lad and held him close to her heart.
"It's alright, young master... I got you."
With that said, the four nodded to one another before Rose and Bhen'a both faded from view - utilizing stealth, no doubt. With a reassuring nod, Cotan led Bax through the boughs of the Twelveswood. Ever keeping one hand on her staff. She was their last, and only, defense against both nature and man. Would that she could have held into her nephew longer.
She smiled, she nodded, and she stood firm. A pillar of strength from which the distraught Alphinaud could lean upon. Yet in the silence, she could not help but let her mind wander. She had had no time to inform her retainers of what transpired. What had become of them? Her sister and her son?
Alphinaud still wouldn't look her in the eye, but Tataru noticed the hint of wetness behind her dark eyes. "Koko? A-are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thank you." She responded without little thought as she looked toward the door. And yet, the receptionist rested her tiny hand upon her knee. Even Alphinaud was briefly pulled away from his thoughts when the warrior's breath hitched. "It's just that I..."
As if on cue, the door to the intercessory opened, the night's chill winds escaping into the warmth of the room. Yet that cold bitterness did naught but warm her spirits further by the first voice carried by it.
"Mom! Mommy!" Too tiny legs carried themselves into the room as their owner slipped by the knight who had let them in, eyes beaming and hands reaching out. Tataru blinked, only having moved out of the way just in time for the half-Auri youngling to launch himself into his mother's arms and cling so hard with tiny hands. "I tol' you she's otay!" he huffed, though through her robes, she could feel the wetness of more than just her own tears.
"You're right..." she replied, breath hitching ever so slightly as her eyes stung and her breath hitched. "Thank the heavens."
"There are two others on the way, as well," Bax interjected as she entered the room with a polite bow to the knight who let them in. "Though they may be another several bells, as we split up into two groups."
"Of course. I shall let Lord Haurchefant know."
Yet whatever else was said, Koko heard not beyond the two most important people of her life clinging to her. With eyes filled with tears of joy, it was almost as if the light within her never wavered at all with doubt of their well being. Mayhap in a moment, she would have to return to the reality before her. Would have to introduce the young lord sitting there in shock to her young son, twin sister, and her most faithful retainer. But for now, as the fresh snow fell outside and covered their tracks, she was content.
The wind blowing in her face, the crisp air of the Abalathia's Spine crackling around them with powers both mundane and extraordinary. The ruins seemed to pass in a blur below them, and for a moment, she could almost swear she'd heard a whisper amidst the roar her heart cried out with in unison. Could almost see whisps of blonde hair from the corner of her eye amidst the blue of the open sky; the white of her own hair and the great wyrm's majestic wings as they carried her ever faster. Could sense a light that was both so familiar and yet lost forever in the aetherial sea; a pillar bound.
"For those we have lost, for those we can yet save..."
The words seemed to echo in her heart, from a time when everything seemed to have become too much. When pangs of loss were too fresh, and hope seemed to flicker in and out as a candle's flame fighting to remain lit amidst the storm. Perhaps it was those words that stuck with her, nothing more. Yet she couldn't help but remember the long days and nights, tirelessly struggling, yet finding a moment's reprieve by the fire.
A fire that burned so brightly, made by young-but-proud hands. The smell of a stew boiling, the sound of a moogle snoring quietly beside her. That despite the tenseness in the air, she could almost swear she'd caught glimpse of a smile from the other three.
Smiles, that were not unlike what belonged to faces she could barely recall. Oh yes, she could remember well the days of her childhood. Of days spent beneath the stars, when home was what you could carry upon your back. Struggling with her pack before an elder laughed and plucked her from the ground as he hummed a song that now seemed to hum in the breeze. And even more so, how that humming ceased as a group of knights was spotted blocking the pass...
Koko shook free her mind of the image, not truly realizing a tear had fallen from her cheek and fallen to the back of the great wyrm. Indeed, she failed to realize she shed a tear to begin with, or that it had gotten his attention. The low gutteral roar that shook his entire form beneath her forced her to realize herself, a quiet word of reassurance uttered. Something that left a bitter taste in her mouth the moment it was said. One never truly recovers from something like what was witnessed all those summers ago, the bodies littering the grass and dirt that were once kith and kin, left for the vultures. From the anger, the thirst for vengeance, or even wanting to distance oneself from it altogether.
"Is aught amiss, friend?" the young lord called out over the beat of dragon's wings. "An injury, or...?"
"Forgive me. For a moment, I could almost sense..." Koko began, but shook her head as she reached up to dry her own tears. "I am well. Thank you for your concern."
After having to face down her own dark reflection, Koko had done her best to be honest with herself. That honesty also extended to those she trusted with her life. Alphinaud was too young, deserved to enjoy what little was left of his teenage years. She couldn't continue to show her own weakness in front of a young lad who fretted like a young maiden that she may not return from a battle with a primal. However much bitterness was left in her mouth over it.
"Mayhap such thoughts are best suited for after the battle," she pondered aloud. T'would not be best to envoke the cliche that often seemed to lead to the death of those who had--
Yet as she thought of it, her linkshell buzzed next to her horn. Blinking, she answered the call.
"Sister, where the hells are you?!" the voice on the other end demanded. "Don't tell me that great dragon swallowed you whole after everything we've been through. If you think for one. Minute. I would not journey to the seventh hell to drag you out, or 'borrow' your overcompensating sword to--!"
"Flying over Falcon's Nest, Sister," she interrupted, curtly. Yet for her tone, the relieved smile was unmistakable. "We'll be having company for supper, so don't forget to clean up the dining area."
"Oh, certainly! And mayhap you can not be late this time? I would hate to finish before you or our guests a-- I am talking to my sister, you overgrown godsforsaken lizard!"
Ah yes, the familar sound of something being roasted from within... She nearly allowed that cackle to escape her. "We'll be there soon, dear sister. Do save some for me?"
"Well, I suppose I could save you the main course..." Koko could almost hear Cotan's eyes roll in their sockets. "Look after that Sharlayan runt."
Ah, Cotan... Never change. With a shake of her head, she allowed the line go silent and leaned forward as the blasts of fire along the Steps of Faith in the distance became visible. There was a job to do. Anything else could be dealt with as time allowed. She owed a friend and comrade her undivided attention, after all. Complacency would be the end of her if she allowed it, and they had lost too much of late to lose another.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
umbralshadows) wrote2016-06-25 02:59 am
2.x Spoilers
MAJOR 2.55 SPOILERS
The mother hesitated, smiling sadly with a few tears fighting to escape as she looked to her soulmate and lover. Yet as their gaze met, the father found himself hesitating as he reached with his free hand to pet the tiny thing atop her head.
"See the the moon over the water?" Father gestured with his proud gaze. "Once we step on the shore waaaay beyond its reflection , there can be no turning back."
"But what about the others?" Cotan questioned, tugging on their mother's skirt. "Will we ever see them again?"
Their mother shook her head, placing a trembling hand over her daughter's. "No matter where we must travel, we still sleep beneath the same sea of stars." Bending down to Cotan's level, she held her daughter close. "In due time, you both will understand these words."
As the sea rocked them back and forth, both sisters stole a moment to glance at one another before holding tightly to their parents. They did not understand, nor could they ever hope to, what that night under the Spire would mean to them. For as the sun rose once more, so did it set on the peaceful lives they once knew.
Cotan awoke that morning with a start, Bax having slammed the door shut, breathless and sweating profusely. That she could plainly tell even under the hempen cloak the other wore, and in the dim light of the candle the other had left by the windowsill.
"Cotan, we need to move. Now." Bax said, sealing the door behind her with a nearby bookshelf despite someone pounding against the door. "Do not bother bringing more than you need - we will have to make do until we are out of this city."
"But what is going on?" she asked with an eyebrow raised as she shot out of bed, grabbing what she could from a drawer before Bax pushed that bit of furniture in front of the door as well.
"Never mind that! I will fill you on the details later! Grab a sack and come with me. And Matron's teats, put a cloak on." With little other explanation, the elezen woman teleported away to leave Cotan with a pile of laundry now strewn about the floor. Angry shouts could be heard from the other side of the makeshift blockade, wood beginning to creak from the strain. Without much thought otherwise, she grabbed a satchel as bid and shoved what she could of her own and her nephew's things into its gaping maw before pulling the lad out of his bed and accepting the teleport as well.
Though not before she caught glimpse of a familiar royal azure and white uniform. Her mind began to race as she found herself pulled by the aetheric flow to Bax's outpost in Gridania, being tugged by the elbow by the elder woman before a large hat was thrown on her face by a cloaked woman who had started to run after them. It was just large enough to hide her horns, something she was consciously aware of. The young toddler, now quite awake and thoroughly alarmed at the suddenity of it all, began to scream before a close-range Sleep spell overcame his small body.
How Cotan loathed to use her magic so, but stealth seemed their only option as the now quartet made a break for the White Wolf gate. Only once they were long out of hearing distance of the guards at the gate did the fifth member of their group make themselves known as they stepped out of the shadows. His black hair escaping despite the hood of his cloak, tail flicking impatiently as the three ladies and small child finally arrived. "Cotan. Good to see you and young Nasang escaped the city."
"Bhen'a," she breathed a sigh of relief. Bax wouldn't tell her, and Rose remained silent despite her sniffles. But Bhen'a... Bhen'a had always been blunt and willing to answer questions without beating around the proverbial bush. "What's going on? Why are the Crystal Braves..?"
"Your sister is wanted on charges of treason and regicide."
Cotan's breath hitched, a veritable onslaught of profanities caught in her throat, realizing why Bax had all but thrown a cloak at her, and Rose plopped a large hat atop her head. They feared for her safety were she mistaken for her elder twin. She shook her head. "But... but that's impossible! Koko would never- She and the Sultana were-!"
"N-nearly as inseparable as she and Raubahn, aye." Rose spoke up, tears still streaming down her face. "But the Monetarists don't care... She is a loose end w-who they could not reign in for their own personal gains. Of course they would want her and the Scions out of the picture. A-a-and any close to her...!"
"Where is she? Where is my sister?" When the other three remained silent, the silence was like a dagger in her breast. So, none of them knew. Just as she didn't realize the tears starting to sting in her eyes. Holding just a little closer to the small child in her arms, she sniffled. "T-then she remains free."
She had feared this day would come, yet knowing that her elder sister remained yet free... that was more than enough.
"If... if I may," Bax replied, resting a hand upon her shoulder. "We should keep moving."
"But where?" Rose replied, subconsciously reaching for Bhen'a's hand.
After a lengthy pause, Cotan muttered a single word. "Ishgard."
It was not a kind place for outsiders. This she knew from personal experience. Yet it was their best shot. Perhaps after what Koko had done, they could use their similar looks to...
"It would be a convenient place to hide, considering the relations with her sister nations." Bhen'a spoke up, nodding. "It may be our best chance of finding her. However, ware that the Brass Blades and Crystal Braves would likely have thought similarly. Thus, I propose we split into pairs. Cotan, stay with Bax. Doubtless the two of you will blend in far better than I and Rose."
"Right." Bax replied, ever the calming presence. "Here, allow me to carry the little one. You are far more experienced in combat, should we run into trouble."
"...Alright," Cotan sniffled, but relented, loosening her grip on the little tyke as she tried to compose herself. They were far from out of the woods yet. Nasang clung ever so slightly in his magically-aided slumber, but Bax won out before shushing the restless lad and held him close to her heart.
"It's alright, young master... I got you."
With that said, the four nodded to one another before Rose and Bhen'a both faded from view - utilizing stealth, no doubt. With a reassuring nod, Cotan led Bax through the boughs of the Twelveswood. Ever keeping one hand on her staff. She was their last, and only, defense against both nature and man. Would that she could have held into her nephew longer.
She smiled, she nodded, and she stood firm. A pillar of strength from which the distraught Alphinaud could lean upon. Yet in the silence, she could not help but let her mind wander. She had had no time to inform her retainers of what transpired. What had become of them? Her sister and her son?
Alphinaud still wouldn't look her in the eye, but Tataru noticed the hint of wetness behind her dark eyes. "Koko? A-are you alright?"
"I'm fine, thank you." She responded without little thought as she looked toward the door. And yet, the receptionist rested her tiny hand upon her knee. Even Alphinaud was briefly pulled away from his thoughts when the warrior's breath hitched. "It's just that I..."
As if on cue, the door to the intercessory opened, the night's chill winds escaping into the warmth of the room. Yet that cold bitterness did naught but warm her spirits further by the first voice carried by it.
"Mom! Mommy!" Too tiny legs carried themselves into the room as their owner slipped by the knight who had let them in, eyes beaming and hands reaching out. Tataru blinked, only having moved out of the way just in time for the half-Auri youngling to launch himself into his mother's arms and cling so hard with tiny hands. "I tol' you she's otay!" he huffed, though through her robes, she could feel the wetness of more than just her own tears.
"You're right..." she replied, breath hitching ever so slightly as her eyes stung and her breath hitched. "Thank the heavens."
"There are two others on the way, as well," Bax interjected as she entered the room with a polite bow to the knight who let them in. "Though they may be another several bells, as we split up into two groups."
"Of course. I shall let Lord Haurchefant know."
Yet whatever else was said, Koko heard not beyond the two most important people of her life clinging to her. With eyes filled with tears of joy, it was almost as if the light within her never wavered at all with doubt of their well being. Mayhap in a moment, she would have to return to the reality before her. Would have to introduce the young lord sitting there in shock to her young son, twin sister, and her most faithful retainer. But for now, as the fresh snow fell outside and covered their tracks, she was content.
3.x Spoilers
MAJOR 3.3 SPOILERS
"For those we have lost, for those we can yet save..."
The words seemed to echo in her heart, from a time when everything seemed to have become too much. When pangs of loss were too fresh, and hope seemed to flicker in and out as a candle's flame fighting to remain lit amidst the storm. Perhaps it was those words that stuck with her, nothing more. Yet she couldn't help but remember the long days and nights, tirelessly struggling, yet finding a moment's reprieve by the fire.
A fire that burned so brightly, made by young-but-proud hands. The smell of a stew boiling, the sound of a moogle snoring quietly beside her. That despite the tenseness in the air, she could almost swear she'd caught glimpse of a smile from the other three.
Smiles, that were not unlike what belonged to faces she could barely recall. Oh yes, she could remember well the days of her childhood. Of days spent beneath the stars, when home was what you could carry upon your back. Struggling with her pack before an elder laughed and plucked her from the ground as he hummed a song that now seemed to hum in the breeze. And even more so, how that humming ceased as a group of knights was spotted blocking the pass...
Koko shook free her mind of the image, not truly realizing a tear had fallen from her cheek and fallen to the back of the great wyrm. Indeed, she failed to realize she shed a tear to begin with, or that it had gotten his attention. The low gutteral roar that shook his entire form beneath her forced her to realize herself, a quiet word of reassurance uttered. Something that left a bitter taste in her mouth the moment it was said. One never truly recovers from something like what was witnessed all those summers ago, the bodies littering the grass and dirt that were once kith and kin, left for the vultures. From the anger, the thirst for vengeance, or even wanting to distance oneself from it altogether.
"Is aught amiss, friend?" the young lord called out over the beat of dragon's wings. "An injury, or...?"
"Forgive me. For a moment, I could almost sense..." Koko began, but shook her head as she reached up to dry her own tears. "I am well. Thank you for your concern."
After having to face down her own dark reflection, Koko had done her best to be honest with herself. That honesty also extended to those she trusted with her life. Alphinaud was too young, deserved to enjoy what little was left of his teenage years. She couldn't continue to show her own weakness in front of a young lad who fretted like a young maiden that she may not return from a battle with a primal. However much bitterness was left in her mouth over it.
"Mayhap such thoughts are best suited for after the battle," she pondered aloud. T'would not be best to envoke the cliche that often seemed to lead to the death of those who had--
Yet as she thought of it, her linkshell buzzed next to her horn. Blinking, she answered the call.
"Sister, where the hells are you?!" the voice on the other end demanded. "Don't tell me that great dragon swallowed you whole after everything we've been through. If you think for one. Minute. I would not journey to the seventh hell to drag you out, or 'borrow' your overcompensating sword to--!"
"Flying over Falcon's Nest, Sister," she interrupted, curtly. Yet for her tone, the relieved smile was unmistakable. "We'll be having company for supper, so don't forget to clean up the dining area."
"Oh, certainly! And mayhap you can not be late this time? I would hate to finish before you or our guests a-- I am talking to my sister, you overgrown godsforsaken lizard!"
Ah yes, the familar sound of something being roasted from within... She nearly allowed that cackle to escape her. "We'll be there soon, dear sister. Do save some for me?"
"Well, I suppose I could save you the main course..." Koko could almost hear Cotan's eyes roll in their sockets. "Look after that Sharlayan runt."
Ah, Cotan... Never change. With a shake of her head, she allowed the line go silent and leaned forward as the blasts of fire along the Steps of Faith in the distance became visible. There was a job to do. Anything else could be dealt with as time allowed. She owed a friend and comrade her undivided attention, after all. Complacency would be the end of her if she allowed it, and they had lost too much of late to lose another.
We will save you, Estinien.