Disclaimer: I do not own FFXIV nor Heavensward, or several of the characters mentioned in this story, or the FC featured.
Riqe was a tad taller than Wolfie.
Unlike her, her hair was a stark black, jet, almost as dark as Ragnar's.
She had forgone the traditional face paint and tattoos and the typical hairstyle. She let it loose and kept it clean unlike her desert sisters. For an assassin, Disco was surprised how...warm and kind she was. She was not the sociopath she imagined, she smiled among her kin and laughed. Nothing remotely close to being a killer of men was found in her when Wolfie introduced her to them.
Ragnar remained silent though his eye was on her at all times.
"...the journey here was as quick as the winds that come and go," Riqe said as she sat with them,"enough of myself, tell me who your friends are."
Just as the others from the tribe, she had that characteristic purr in her dialect.
"My mate, Pax," Wolfie started, she gestured to Disco,"my close friend Disco and then Ragnar."
"So all of you are adventurers?" Riqe asked.
"Indeed," Disco confirmed, she tried to keep up appearances as she smiled slightly. "I travel, write songs, let the people know of those who inspire my lyrics. Ragnar here is a scholar of sorts, he studies anything and everything he can find. Pax, well, I'm sure Wolfie has told you about him enough."
The woman nodded. "Interesting..."
A small girl came running by, she grabbed Riqe by the hand and tried to bring her somewhere else while saying,"Riqe! I wanna show you something!"
"Alright, alright," Riqe said warmly, she waved to Wolfie and ran with the little girl.
Wolfie waved back in turn, telling her,"I'll see you at the ceremony!"
"...a shame she has family to think of," Ragnar said as he crossed his arms over his chest. "A pure shame."
Disco placed her hand on the crook of his arm, she wrapped her fingers and kept a firm hold on him as though to tell him to contain himself. She felt how tense he was under his sleeves, her smile faded as Pax looked away.
"Your time will come," Disco assured him.
-...-
When the sun was at its highest did the festivities begin.
As Wolfie was being prepared, Disco had left her. She could not add her own personal touch as she did not know what was appropriate. Weddings in the Shroud sure, she knew what was permitted but out here in the desert, they had many rituals she could not partake in. As a result, she ended up going outside the village to where Pax had his tent set up.
Inside, Pax was readying for the ceremony as Ragnar aided him.
He had more knowledge of these people than Pax or Disco.
As she approached, Ragnar was painting upon Pax's face as best he could over the burns. He was using the blood of a drake to draw intricate patterns across his cheeks and around his eyes.
"Do you boys need help?" Disco inquired as she sat by, she crossed one leg over the other.
"I'm quite fine," Ragnar replied, in his slender hands he held Pax's face in place. "This tribe in particular worships several gods and there is a hierarchy as to who belongs on what part of the face."
Disco hummed as Pax remained silent.
"So how do you plan on taking Riqe down?"
"I will need Pax's blades for this."
She scoffed. "You're a mage, not once had I seen you use a blade in a battle."
Upon Ragnar releasing Pax's face, the groom told her,"You don't think all those morning jogs were just purely jogging, do you?"
"Months of training, but for her she had a lifetime," Disco pointed out, he merely nodded as Pax remained silent for his lips to be painted.
"You're forgetting I'm a Warrior of Light-"
"As am I and Pax but that does not make us immortal."
"Do you not want me to fight?"
Disco huffed as she crossed her arms.
Once Pax's lips were colored properly, he finally spoke,"Riqe will not think of this as an actual duel to the death. Everything will seem staged to her, Ragnar should be fine with this under the guise of being a friendly opponent."
"Surprise and minimal training...Ragnar, you never killed by hand before. Sure, say your spells and light them ablaze but it's different when you kill in person, very different." She stood and headed for the entrance. "It's just different."
-...-
Rituals proceeded throughout the morning, the usual sacrifices and prayers resounded through the oasis but Disco and Ragnar kept their respectful distances. As they watched Wolfie and Pax slice open a drake together, Ragnar leaned slightly over towards Disco and murmured,"The knives."
"What?" She asked.
"Give them," was all he demanded of her, she hesitated to give them to him but if this was what he wanted, then so be it. She undid the belt and handed them to him, in turn he latched it around his waist and settled them comfortably. He had both hands over the knives and began to murmur something, they had disappeared and the belt seemed nothing out of the ordinary. "You better know what you're doing."
He did not reply as they watched the rest of the sacrifice being offered to the sun. By the end of it, the Nunh spoke up, calling for Ragnar to come forth. Following the beckoning was Riqe. The fight was to take place in the square for all to witness the representation of a young male proving himself worthy to the Nunh.
Ragnar approached one end of the large circle of the crowd while Riqe took her own place across from him.
While she was dressed in traditional hunting attire of cloth, Ragnar had opted to fight shirtless.
As it turned out, Pax was telling the truth about Ragnar. Compared to when she first saw him in his new form, he had acquired some bulk and muscle. While it was nothing compared to Pax's own physique, he had trained enough for his muscle tone to be defined. Amazingly, she had never known this, he had a tattoo over his heart, one of a raven whose wings spread over the right and up to his shoulder.
She could not recall when he had received it, it must have been recent when she was not paying attention to him.
"He is who I am to fight?" Riqe questioned.
He remained silent.
"The Duel Under the Sun is a long tradition," U'doh Nunh began,"it stems back to when the first Nunh, whose name we had lost to time for his misdeeds, fell to the blade of a young man, allowing him to ascend to Nunh. His life brought prosperity to our tribe and for generations afterwards, we practice his Duel as a proving for an ascension. But for now, betrothal is now its purpose. It is to prove that the young can protect his mate."
He chuckled as he paced between the two opponents.
"My bones are brittle and in these times, we can allow substitution. My daughter Riqe will represent myself and Ragnar will do so for Pax. In this Duel, let their displays of prowess show that we can maintain tradition. The Duel shall end when one calls for defeat."
To finish his speech, he gave a roar that sounded like a beast, yet in this chaos he bellowed out words that Disco knew nothing of.
He then walked away and stood among the crowd as the two fighters were given spears.
Riqe tested its weight, she twirled it in her hand as Ragnar held his confidently.
The crowd suddenly fell silent until the drums began to beat, it was as though three beats later they rushed at one another.
Ragnar immediately ducked from a thrust from the Shadow, he responded by trying to sweep her leg. She leaped up and attempted to drive her spear into him. He moved swiftly to get up and avoid her as she swept the spear, hitting Ragnar on the side. He gritted his teeth as he tried to shake it off.
It was obvious that he was not experienced with a pole, she had the upper hand in her arms. She continued to thrust her weapon towards him, all he could do was dodged her as nimbly as possible. However, at one point during one of her jabs, she grazed his arm and left a thin slice on his skin that started to bleed. She had not a single scratch on her and she was clearly the swifter one of the two.
Their fight continued on, however, Ragnar was beginning to show wear. He was growing tired over time, his chest was rising and falling as he tried to keep up with her. As for Riqe, she continued to assault him, jabbing at him as if to mock his inadequacy. Disco rushed over to Pax as Ragnar was struck over the head, he collapsed on the ground as the pole fell from his hand.
"He's not going to be able to do it, he can't even get close enough," Disco said quickly though quietly enough for none of the others to hear her.
Pax merely had his arms crossed as Riqe approached Ragnar, her spear at her side. "You understand this is Ragnar, correct?"
"What are you talking about? He's going to forfeit right now!"
"Just wait..."
As Ragnar brought his head up, he found himself staring at the end of the spear, the point so damn close to to his eyes. He glared at her as she was smirking, she was panting as though the Duel was a routine workout for her. He got to one knee, eyes still trained on her.
"Do you admit defeat, Ragnar?" She asked.
He remained silent, just as he was earlier, he stayed still as a mountain.
"Well?"
His muscles began to relax as though he were letting go of his high. For that split moment, Riqe lowered her guard, her spear slightly lowering as he opened his mouth. He had intention to speak but then suddenly he wrested the spear out of Riqe's hands; it was loose enough for him to yank it away and cast it aside. She was taken by surprise of this as he lunged up and forward.
He swiftly drew one hidden dagger and flung his arm back as his free hand grabbed her by the nape of her neck.
Immediately she was thrown off balance by his weight, and as soon as she hit the ground, Ragnar dove the knife into her throat. As though he were a predator, he tore her throat wide open; blood spilled over the golden sands as he withdrew the blade and went for her once more. Without a pause, he drew out the second knife and drove it into her chest.
Again and again, he repeatedly stabbed her, slashed away at her, he was an animal and no longer man.
He shouted as he dug the blades further and further, his arms stained.
The people remained quiet, shocked at the sudden shift from a traditional show that turned into a spectacle of blood and flesh being torn apart.
Disco's mouth hung open but Wolfie spoke softly,"Is no one going to stop him?"
"Let him have it," Pax told her.
Disco made to move but he held her by her shoulder.
It went on for what felt like ages but as soon as it began, it ended.
Ragnar stood up, heaving as he stood over the mutilated body of Riqe.
A child cried as he sheathed the blades and simply walked away.
Upon turning, Disco saw that he was covered in blood down his front, the raven upon his chest was stained crimson, just as the locks of his long hair were covered in the front. As he walked on, he brushed his bloodstained hands through his hair, bringing more red to dye his hair.
The trail of blood left in his wake sent a sense of dread down her spine as he disappeared.
It was supposed to be a mock of a fight, innocent with the intention of maintaining tradition. But he had changed it as relatives rushed to Riqe's body, a woman sobbed uncontrollably as the crowd closed in.
"Is this...?" Disco started, yet she knew she would not get an answer from her friends. "Wolfie?"
There was a light sniffle.
"...I just sent my own family to death," was all Wolfie could muster.
-...-
Morning had come and when Disco was fast asleep, she was jostled a bit. She grunted and tried to brush away the hand that tried to wake her. Instead, she was shook even harder, her slumber was now broken as she reluctantly opened her eyes. She glared through her half-lidded vision to see Pax over her at her bedside.
In truth, she had a hard time sleeping.
The previous day's events were etched in her mind, all of what Ragnar had done and then committed to made her question what sort of man he was becoming. It was hard to accept the thought that Ragnar had any sort of liking towards her. For all she could see, there was only a broken mind who had become hellsbent on nothing but destruction.
With this and the Echo, with his bloodlust apparent now, how can he be satisfied when he had accomplished his mission?
"...what?" Disco murmured.
"Ragnar is gone, we need to track him."
She brought herself to sit up, her feet were over the edge of her bed now. "Did he...did he leave a note?"
"Nothing, his chocobo is gone, as are his possessions."
She thought for a moment, then she realized something.
"He's going to blow the operation," Disco quickly said.
Pax craned his head as he watched her stumbled out of bed to untangle herself from the sheets. "How?"
"The Echo, Pax! He must have used it when he was fighting! Get our chocobos ready, I'll explain!"
