Meddling Guardians: A Fresh Start

Following a peddler onto the deck, Rayen caught a glimpse of his new home; Limsa Lominsa. After everything he escaped from, it was a sight for his sore eyes. Normally he wouldn't believe in things like fate, but escaping the slavery clutches of the Lambs of Dalamud gave him a new look on life.

Moments later the ship had docked and let the passengers out. Rayen set his first steps onto new soil and took a deep breath before walking down the pier and markets where a roegadyn guard addressed the hyuran man. The yellowjacket, as these guards were called, examined Rayen from his brown hair with red highlights down to his weathered boots. Without giving him a moment to respond that he wasn't an adventurer, the roegadyn suggested he took the elevator to the adventurer's guild to speak with the owner, and returned to his duty.

Arriving upstairs he was met with a big meeting area, with people walking in and out with leve quests or catching up with their friends around a table with some ale. A middle-aged man motioned at Rayen from behind the counter and welcomed him to the Drowning Wench, an inn with a guild for adventurers. The man introduced himself as Baderon and was well versed in what went on in this city. Baderon also enjoyed a high level of influence, something Rayen noticed when he covered for his ass by telling the passing yellowjackets Rayen was his distant relative's son from his mother's side. After that, he helped Rayen on his way to get to know his new home town with some small duties. He was hesitant to becoming an adventurer and would have settled as a dock worker, but Baderon made it seem like a great thing to do with so much enthusiasm that Rayen decided to give it go.

Stepping outside the Wench, Rayen caught his first glimpse of the entire city up close. The view was stunning under the blue sky and emerald ocean. This place looked and felt lively with freedom and opportunities. So different from the Golden Bazaar at Thanalan, where he had to endure heavy labor and beatings for the welfare of a dark organization that would sell out their slaves to the Amal'jaa whenever they felt like it. Rayen psyched himself up and set on his first duty.

After attuning to the city's aetheryte and several quests across the city, Rayen was surprised how friendly everybody was. Even the toughest marauder had a sense of decency. Looking up his quest list, his next delivery job was picking up a package from a qiqirn at the markets ward. He gulped down his orange juice and set out to meet with this rodent type creature.

When he spotted the qiqirn, a blonde hyuran woman was having an upsetting conversation with the critter. Not wanting to get between them, the qiqirn had spotted his delivery boy and waved at him. Rayen walked up with confidence and spoke with the qiqirn about his package. Silly as their talk was, Rayen had enough experience with them back home to understand their heavy accent. While the creature continued speaking, Rayen briefly looked at the woman and met with her eyes before she ran off. As she turned, Rayen caught a glimpse of a familiar brand hidden under her tuft. Touching his own dragon brand scar on his left cheek, he turned his attention back to the qiqirn who was far from finished talking.

His delivery jobs eventually led him back to the cooking guild again. During his last visit to the guild, he was taken in by the view of the bay, where all kinds of ships were docked. He could look at that for hours, but it felt crowded at the cooking guild. The receptionist of the guild was giving him a warm welcome again, and had a little conversation with him before Rayen went back to delivering more packages and documents.

After a while, he stopped in the center of a bridge. With the people of Limsa Lominsa being so nice, it was easy for him to interact with them. Putting his hands on his hips, he tilted his head backwards and felt sad. If La Noscea had one thing, it was freedom, and Rayen decided to use this freedom to find a way to help those he left behind in Thanalan.

He snapped out of it and continued walking. He had noticed a statue behind a rock pillar when he visited Fisherman's bottom and was curious to find out what that was. He met with the statue dedicated to the nation's guardian deity and a lovely vantage point overlooking the entire harbor of Limsa Lominsa and what he learned was the Mizzenmast, a huge pillar building build in the center of this city. Standing on the ledge, he briefly took in the view.

Considering his delivery break over, Rayen turned around and was surprised to find the blonde woman behind him who was about to leave. Witnessing her startled expression, he turned his to a smile.

"I've been following you for some time now," the woman blurted out.

Feeling awkward by what she said, Rayen instinctively laughed. "Well, that makes you a very good stalker."

Surprisingly she joined him in laughter as well. It wasn't for long that they found themselves standing on the ledge together, looking out over the water. Remnants of Bahamut's destruction could be found across the bay. Destruction that was now five years past, and the city had begun with a fresh start, just like Rayen himself, and possibly the woman he was with too.

Having the urge to commemorate their new beginning, Rayen cleared his throat and turned his head to look at her. "Would you like to dance?"

She shook her head, but he didn't take no for an answer and just stood there completely serious. She gasped when a gust of wind tousled their hair, revealing his own scar of the dragon brand.

"I suppose, just one," she answered quietly and took his hand.

Guided by the sound of the waves lapping up on the shore beneath them, the two strangers, survivors of slavery and forever branded, danced cautious and formal without a care for time. Rayen watched over her shoulder, wondering what brought her to this nation. The fate of women with the dragon brand was much worse than that of the men, especially for those well endowed as she was. Feeling sorry for what she had gone through, he pulled her in tighter to console her. But the moment he did, she withdrew.

"I have to go," She said sternly and turned to leave abruptly.

"Thank you for the dance," Rayen said to her back as she began to leave. For a moment she seemed to hesitate, but continued on eventually.

Rayen felt he went a little too far during that dance, but couldn't blame her for her discomfort around men. With the sun setting low, he stretched out and headed back to the Drowning Wench.