"Ah this aether. I've not felt this presence in a long time. The Blackwolf is coming home."
I've been staring at the ceiling for a what feels like a hour now. Unable to sleep.
Being back in Kugane just feels strange. I thought to myself as I got out of bed. Having given up on the idea of sleeping.
I looked back at the bed after I got dressed To see Leah still sleeping soundly.
I smiled and left the room. There was something I wanted to confirm.
As I went out into the empty lobby of the inn something felt off.
It's unusually quiet I thought to myself as I went for the door.
"You look well my dear." Said a voice from behind.
My blood ran cold as I turned around and saw a silver haired Viera sitting on the bench.
"Greywolf." I said.
"Oh come on now there is no need to call your Aunt by that name." The Viera replied.
"I had I feeling that I was being watched from the very moment I stepped of that ship. But I never expected it to be you Aunt Yuko." I said.
"Who else? Not only did I want to be able to see you my dear niece again. But also I wanted to be the one to tell you that you are welcome home." She said as she walked over to me and put a hand on my cheek.
I did not know what to say.
If it would have been anyone else who would have said something similar. I would disregard it as a trap.
But Yuko would not lure me into a trap. Or would she?
"Welcome home?" I finally said looking very confused.
"Well I have to clarify that this does not mean that you are being reinstated or the end of your exile." She said
"Then what?"
"It's the Chieftain that wants to talk to you regarding of what happened in Eorzea with the Bloodwolf." Yuko replied.
"So you know about that?" I said.
"Yes we were there. And the plan was to come to Eorzea to get you to come home. But to our surprise you came to Kugane on your own." She continued.
"So you think that I would actually agree to this?" I asked.
"Well no, and for me that would have been fine. Cause I would like for your return to be on your own terms. However there are people within the Tribe that would not grant you the choice to reject this offer" She replied.
"So I have no choice in the matter then?" I said.
"Sadly no." She said.
"Can't imagine that my mother is to happy about this." I said.
Yuko facial expression changed into a disappointed frown. That she usually had when I bought up my mother views on me. As she said.
"She definitely have shown resistance to this. But the Chieftain have been surprisingly stubborn in this. And your mother has not been so happy about the death of Bloodwolf."
"I can imagine." I replied.
"But anyway a boat is waiting for you by the dock . And you are also welcome ms Moonseeker." Yuko said and turned around towards Leah who was hiding in the doorway.
"You should perhaps tell your other friends that you are going as well. So see you by the boat. " Yuko said as she left.
"Lyn?" Leah said as she walked up to me.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"A bit shaken that's all" I replied and smiled back at her. trying to hide my concern
"So what are you going to do now?" Leah asked.
"What other option do I have the to go." I replied.
"You are not going alone." She said.
"Oh no you are not." I started but stopped when I noticed the look in Leah's eyes.
I gave of a small laugh and shock my head as I said.
"I should know better than to try to convince you."
Leah's face turned into a big grin.
I laughed again and said.
"Let's go then."
"Should we not tell the others?" Leah asked.
"We can check if Tataru is still at the Bazaar if not then we can leave a message there." I replied as we left the inn.
We went out on to the mostly empty streets of Kugane.
It was not hard to notice that shadows were following us.
So I moved us onto a empty side street.
"What is it?" Leah asked.
I did not reply I instead said.
"The two of you can come out of hiding now."
"So you have kept some of your skills at least" Said a masked Viera appearing behind me.
"It seems like the reports were accurate. A normal Samurai would not have noticed us." Said another one appearing in front of me.
"Had a feeling it would be the two of you Hari and Hara." I replied.
"You have some nerve showing up here again" Hari the one behind me said.
"I have no plan to go against the Tribe at the moment and I've agreed to what the Greywolf have told me. So I see no need to shadow me." I said.
"True. But you have been in Eorzea for quite some time. So you can not blame us for being cautious when you suddenly appeared here again." Hara the one in front of me said.
"So what is your plan now when you have been discovered?" I asked as an eerie silence fell over the street.
Suddenly a kunai knife came flying towards me. Leah quickly blocked it with a magic barrier, just as I had to parry a attack from Hara with my sword. And I also noticed Hari launching towards me as well, I quickly summoned one of my daggers and parried her attack just in time.
"Not bad." Hari said.
"To be expected from our former Commander." Hara said.
I was going to reply to their comments but was interrupted by a voice.
"Enough!"
The two twins suddenly jumped back a bit and I look up a the roof where the voice had come from.
I could hardly believe my eyes, when I saw who was standing there.
"Snow." Was all I was able to say.
"We were not here to fight what were the two of you thinking?" Mizuki Snow-wolf said as she jumped down.
"We are sorry my Lady." the two twins said.
"It's good to see you again Lyn." Mizuki said and shifted the focus to me and smiled.
I did not know what to say or do. Was this just a trick to catch me off guard or what.
"I guess some things never change." She said with a small laugh.
"Why are the three of you here? It's not like the Tribe to send people who has a connection to the target." I finally said.
"Well normally yes. But in this case Greywolf wanted to be sure that you got on that boat." Snow replied.
"I see."
"Yes It is important that you meet the Chieftain to speak regarding the incident with the Bloodwolf in Eorzea." Mizuki continued.
"So you know about that as well." I said.
"Yes, I was there. And also the plan was originally to get in contact with you there. But then you showed up here. Which made things a lot easier for us." She said.
"I see." I said. Again not knowing what to do. This was most likely their plan.
They knew that this would leave me conflicted.
" The boat is waiting for you by the dock. You are also of course free to tell your companions like Ms Moonseeker here, that you are going." She continued and smiled towards Leah
"Very well meet you by the boat then." I replied and the three Viera nodded and disappeared into the shadows again.
I had not seen Mizuki since before I was branded a traitor. What is this game they are playing on me?
"Lyn?" Leah interrupted my thoughts again.
I looked up at her and said as I started walking.
"Come let's go."
Leah stood still and looked at Lyn for a short moment before she followed her. Things that the Bloodwolf had said and Lyn's reaction went through her mind.
We meet Tataru just as she was leaving the Bazaar. It was not easy to convince her that we had to go alone, but eventually she agreed to tell the other.
"Just be careful you two." Tataru said as we left for the dock.
We were met by a servant of the Chieftain.
"Lady Blackwolf, Ms Moonseeker. Lady Greywolf told me to expect you. " The Servant said and made a motion to the boat.
I nodded in reply as we boarded the boat.
"Why do you call her Lady Blackwolf?" Leah asked the servant as we got on the boat.
"Because it is still her name, as a Wolf carries their name until they die. So it would be impolite to call her something else." The Servant replied.
"But she is a exile?" Leah continued.
"Wolves are normally not exiled for a crime." I replied.
"What normally happens to Wolves then?" She said.
"We are executed." I simply replied.
"Why?"
"We are to valuable and to dangerous to the tribe. So they feel like they can not risk our skills falling into the wrong hands." I continued.
"That being said it is also rare for a Wolf to fall into such a situation in the first place." Yuko said as she came on to the boat.
"As seen in the most recent history only two have been convicted. With one of them being falsely accused." She continued as she signaled to the servant to get the boat moving.
"What about the other three?" I asked.
"I sent them on ahead. They fulfilled their part of the mission so no need for them to stay around." She said as she sat down.
"I see." I replied.
"But come now why don't you join me just like the old times." Yuko said as she took out her kiseru pipe.
I nodded reluctantly as I sat down opposite to her and took out my own kiseru.
Meanwhile.
"I can hardly believe you two some times. To charge in like that." Mizuki Said.
"We only do what we have been told to do." Hara replied.
"You know where our loyalty lies in the end." Hari replied.
"Yes that is true." Mizuki said.